Chapter 4: A Meeting of Fate
Sunset was a little curious as she walked to Dust Haven. "I'm curious about who Ozpin wants me to meet," Sunset thought as she entered the mall. Sunset went to the place where Ozpin told her to wait and thought about her day.
"For today to be boring would be an understatement, first off I felt an odd feeling when me and Storm walked by a house. At first I thought it was Phaze, but I realized that this feeling was something that was calling me. I then receive a call from Ozpin that he had set a meeting with a student by the name of Tempest. I don't know what he had planned, but I accepted and now I'm here."
It was after Sunset finished that thought that she felt a familiar feeling. "This feeling, it's the same one from this morning," Sunset thought. As she walked towards the source, she felt both something calling her and something comforting her. "What is this feeling? It's different from the one I felt this morning," Sunset said to herself. As she was paying attention to the feeling, she didn't notice anything around her. This resulted in her bumping into someone and the feeling going away.
"Sorry, I really should have paid attention to where I was going. Are you Ok?" the person she bumped into said in an apologetic tone.
"I'm fine, and I'm also guilty of the same thing" Sunset said as she looked at the person she bumped into. The person in question looked to be a girl around her age wearing a cyan jacket, a dark blue shirt, blue jeans, and an odd bracelet on her left arm.
"Sorry about that, I was just in a hurry to meet someone, but I don't know who they are," the girl said.
"Huh, I was going to do the same thing," Sunset said. The two stood there for a moment before turning to each other.
"Are you the one Ozpin told me to meet?" The two asked simultaneously. Both Sunset and the girl giggled at that perfect timing of the question.
"Wow, what are the chances that we would happen to meet each other by bumping into each other?" the girl asked.
"Just trust me when I say stuff like this happens to me a lot. Anyway, you must be Tempest, the one Ozpin told me about," Sunset told Tempest.
"That would be me. You must be Sunset Shimmer," Tempest said with a smile on her face.
"That's me, it's nice to meet you," Sunset said as she extended her hand. Tempest shook Sunset's hand and the two somehow seemed calm. The two stayed silent as they realized that they didn't have anything to do.
"You want to go do something?" Tempest asked.
"That would be a good idea," Sunset said. With that, Sunset and Tempest went to find a place where they could talk.
After some walking around, the two eventually ended up where Sunset talked with Nova. "Wow, this place is very nice," Tempest said as she marveled at the view.
"I figured that you would like it," Sunset told her.
"I do like it, but why bring me up here?" Tempest asked curiously.
"Well, at this time of the day, there is not many people here, so we can talk in peace," Sunset explained.
"That is a good idea," Tempest said as she sat down on one of the benches. Sunset sat down next to Tempest and asked the obvious question that was on both their minds.
"So, did Ozpin say why he wanted to two of us to meet?" Sunset questioned.
"Well, I guess he wanted us to meet and get to know each other for some reason," Tempest suggested.
"You know, I'm just going to stop wondering about it because I don't want to think about it anymore," Sunset commented.
"I agree with you," Tempest commented as she smelled the flowers on the balcony.
"So, where do you live?" Sunset asked.
"Out of curiosity, why are you asking me about that?" Tempest responded.
"Well, since we are here, we might as well get to know each other," Sunset explained.
"That's a very good point. Anyway to answer your question, I was living in an apartment in Vale for a few years, but about a week ago, my father gave me a house and I've been living in it for the past week." Tempest told Sunset.
"Wait, your dad bought you a house?" Sunset asked out of surprise.
"That is correct," Tempest responded.
"Ok, so this is a question that I have. Are you and your family rich?" Sunset asked curiously.
"Well, I am from a wealthy family, but I rely on myself to make money for myself," Tempest explained.
"That seems odd, but I can see why you would do that. I have no family myself and I've had to support myself for a while," Sunset told Tempest, think about her family in Equestria.
"Well if you don't have any family, where do you live?" Tempest asked in a caring tone. Sunset was about to answer when she realized what Tempest asked.
"Aren't you curious as to why I don't have any family?" Sunset responded. Tempest stayed quiet and got up off the bench. "Are you ok?" Sunset asked as Tempest walked to the guardrails.
"I'm fine, it's just complicated for me to answer that question," Tempest told Sunset as she leaned on the guardrails.
"You had trouble to some trouble with family?" Sunset asked as she leaned beside Tempest.
"It's something I don't like talking about," Tempest told Sunset. Sunset stayed quiet and thought about her life at that moment.
"Well, I guess I have no choice," Sunset thought somberly. "What about if I tell you about a time in my life? A time that I wasn't at my best," Sunset asked as she looked around.
"What could you possibly have that I would tell you about my family, which I am really private about?" Tempest responded to Sunset.
"Well, I could tell you about my time as a high ranking commander in the White Fang," Sunset whispered nervously. Tempest thought about that offer and then jolted up remembered something from her past.
"Wait, she couldn't possibly be her, could she?" Tempest thought.
"Is something wrong?" Sunset asked.
"Nothing is wrong, but I will take you up on that offer," Tempest said.
"That's great, but do you mind if I tell you at another place?" Sunset told her.
"You know, that seems like a good idea," Tempest said.
"So, where do you think is a good place?" Sunset asked. Tempest thought about that for a few seconds before deciding on a place.
"My house would be good," Tempest said.
"That sounds good, but do you mind if I go pick up my weapon first?" Sunset asked.
"Sure, I'll wait for you at the outside of the mall," Tempest said.
"How will I know how to find you?" Sunset inquired.
"Trust me, I'll be easy to find," Tempest said smiling. Sunset decided not to question Tempest any further and just nodded in response. After that exchange, Sunset left to go get her weapon while Tempest went to wait for Sunset.
After Sunset left the balcony, she headed for The Haves Forgery to see if Draco was done with her weapon. "I'm not sure if I can trust Tempest, but I have a feeling that making her my friend will be a good idea," Sunset thought as she walked toward the store. As she was on her way, she noticed Draco waving to her.
"Hey Sunset," Draco said as she approached her.
"Hey Draco, what are doing here?" Sunset asked curiously.
"Well, I was looking for you, here," Draco said as he handed her a container.
"It's done!?" Sunset said as she put container on her hip.
"Yes, and don't worry about my payment, it's free of charge," Draco said.
"Really, wow that's really generous of you," Sunset said.
"Don't mention it, I'm just repaying a favor to an old friend," Draco told her.
"Well, thank you, see you later," Sunset said as she hurried to the stairs, waving goodbye to Draco. After Sunset ran down the stairs, she hurried to the entrance when she passed by a familiar face who didn't notice her. "Nova, is that you?" Sunset asked. Nova turned around and saw Sunset there.
"Sunset, what are you doing here?" Nova asked.
"I was just meeting with someone, what about you?" Sunset asked happily.
"I was just coming here with my family to spend some time together," Nova told her.
"Well, that's nice," Sunset said.
"You in a hurry?" Nova asked.
"I am, sorry I can't stay to talk," Sunset said.
"Its fine, I have a feeling that we'll be able to talk again soon," Nova said.
"Ok, see you later," Sunset said as she rushed to the entrance.
"See you," Nova said as he waved goodbye. Sunset went to the entrance and passed by a group of four people. As she passed the group, she felt the same feeling she felt earlier. She decided to ignore it, but kept it in the back of her mind. Soon, Sunset found Tempest, who was standing in one spot and seemed to be waiting for something.
What took you so long?" Tempest asked.
"Well, I ran into a friend of mine and we talked for a little bit," Sunset said as she caught her breath.
"That's good, I actually ran into four friends that I made," Tempest told Sunset.
"Cool, anyway, how are we going to get to your house?" Sunset asked curiously.
"Don't worry, I called for something," Tempest said, a smile forming on her face. Sunset was about to ask why, but soon heard an engine coming closer to them. The two girls saw a motorcycle with no driver approach and stop in front of them. Sunset tried to process what she just saw when Tempest handed her a helmet.
"I'll tell you how later. For now, hop on," Tempest said as she got on the bike. Sunset dumbly got on and put on the helmet she was given. "You better hold on," Tempest said as she revved the motorcycle. Sunset did as she was told and the two rode off to Tempest's house.
After riding for about ten minutes, Tempest and Sunset started to pull into Tempest's garage. As they came to a stop, Tempest felt Sunset gripping her tightly. "Hey Sunset, you can stop holding on to me so tightly now," Tempest told her as she turned off the motorcycle. Sunset opened her eyes and saw that they were stopped.
"Sorry, it's just that you were driving very fast," Sunset said as she let go of Tempest's waist.
"Its fine, but don't tell me you didn't like going that fast," Tempest said as she took off her helmet. Sunset thought about that as she did the same.
"Ok, I'll admit that it was very exhilarating, but not something I would like to do again," Sunset told Tempest.
"Fair enough," Tempest said as she walked to the garage door and opened it. As Sunset stepped into the house, she was amazed by just the living room. "You like what you see?" Tempest asked as she entered the house herself.
"Of course I am, when you said your dad bought you a house, I was thinking a nice one floor house, not a two story luxury house," Sunset said.
"Well, what can I say, he has me spoiled," Tempest said as she smiled. Sunset said nothing as she continued to look around. As she looked around, she noticed a picture of five people on one of the stands.
"Hey Tempest, is this your family?" Sunset asked curiously. Tempest looked over and saw the picture that Sunset was looking like.
"Yes it is," Tempest said, some tears forming in her eyes. Sunset was about to ask what was wrong when she remembered the conversation they had at the mall.
"Oh, well do you want to talk about your family first or do you want me to talk about my time in the White Fang?" Sunset asked in an awkward tone.
"Do you mind going first? I need to think about how to talk about my family," Tempest requested.
"Ok, just be warned that I do have a lot to talk about, so if you have any questions, I would recommend you ask after I explain everything," Sunset explained.
"That's fine, also should mention, you don't have to explain everything, only what you feel is necessary," Tempest told Sunset.
"Ok, well I think it's a good idea to start from the beginning. I was going through a rough time in my life when I joined the White Fang; I had just left my home and wanted to do something with my life. That was when I was scouted for the White Fang by a woman named Cinder. She took me to the Vale Branch of the White Fang and was the commander of my unit in the early days. She was a ruthless commander always expecting success from her troops, but she treated me differently.
I remember when the first mission I was on ended in failure, she got after everyone who took part in the mission. It didn't help that the mission I went on was my first time seeing how ruthless the White Fang were. They burned an entire village to the ground and I didn't take it well. While she was delivering her scolding, I silently moved away from the group and went to the roof of our HQ at the time. When I got there, I proceeded to sit down and instantly start to panic about what I saw.
After about a minute of panicking, someone eventually came up to me. That someone turned out to be Cinder. Apparently she came to look for me because another member of my unit saw me leave. I told her I was sorry and that she could scold me for being a failure, but she did something that I didn't expect. She asked if she could talk with me privately and I told her it wasn't a problem. We went to her chambers in the HQ; each commander of the White Fang has a guarded room for themselves.
When we arrived, she told the guards by the room to leave and they did as they were told. Upon entering the room, she said that while she was disappointed in me, she wanted to know why. I explained to her that I didn't know how to fight and was mostly a peaceful person before breaking out into tears. I told her I was a disgrace and that she should just get rid of me. To my surprise, instead of getting the reaction I was expecting, I received a hug from Cinder. She explained that she had no idea and felt sorry for me, which came to a surprise for me. She then offered to train me personally and help me get used to being in the White Fang."
Sunset then stopped there to let Tempest take in all of that information. "So I imagine that you accepted that offer?" Tempest asked.
"Of course I did, it was the only way I was going to survive," Sunset explained as she recalled the memory.
"Well, why don't we stop with your story for now?" Tempest offered.
"Why are you offering me that?" Sunset responded.
"Well, I think that this is a good stopping point for your story, plus I don't want you to remember any bad times you might have had," Tempest explained. Sunset thought about that offer for a minute before making a decision.
"I think that I will stop in that case," Sunset told Tempest.
"Ok, now what do you want to know about my family?" Tempest said, her tone becoming serious.
"Well, I just want to know why you don't want to talk about your family," Sunset said. Tempest let what Sunset said sit in her mind.
"The reason is don't talk about my family very much is because I don't know them very well," Tempest said.
"Let me guess, you were kept hidden from them?" Sunset guessed.
"That's right; it was actually my father's idea. After an incident I had in my past, it was the best course of action we could take," Sunset said.
"Ok, then how do you explain that picture of your family?" Sunset asked curiously.
"That was sent to me by my mother and father, they were the only ones who knew about what happened to me," Tempest explained as she held the picture.
"So did anything happen to your family?" Sunset asked tentatively. Tempest stayed silent as she put the photo down, got up from the chair, and grabbed her weapon from her waist.
"My mother died," Tempest said sadly.
"Oh, well now I feel like a bit of a bad person now," Sunset said as she rubbed the back of her head.
"It's fine, just try not to tell anyone else about it," Tempest said.
"Ok, so that's your weapon?" Sunset asked.
"They are, my mother actually designed these for me and I named them for my appreciation for her. These are known as the Frost Edges," Tempest told Sunset.
"Wow, I guess they mean a lot to you then. Do you want to see my weapon?" Sunset said.
"I wouldn't mind," Tempest said. Sunset grabbed the container on her waist and opened it to grab her weapon. Sunset reached in, grabbed her weapon, and pulled it out of the container.
"This is my weapon, I call it the Solar Divider," Sunset said as she showed it to Tempest.
"That is an interesting choice of weapon, I've never seen someone with twin swords before," Tempest said.
"Well, I could say the same thing about your elbow blades, so let's just leave it there," Sunset said jokingly. Tempest laughed at that statement and Sunset soon followed.
"You know, you're a good person Sunset," Tempest commented as she smiled.
"I could say the same about you; I've never been very social with anyone, but you seem different for some reason," Sunset told Tempest. Sunset then heard her Scroll ring from her pocket.
"Who could that be?" Tempest asked as Sunset took out her Scroll. When Sunset looked at the screen, she saw that she had an email from Ozpin.
"It's from Ozpin," Sunset said as she quickly opened the mail.
"What does it say?" Tempest asked curiously. After a few seconds of reading the mail, Sunset looked at Tempest.
"It says that he needs to speak to the both of us," Sunset said.
"Well, you want to take my bike to Beacon or do you want to walk?" Tempest asked.
"I think the bike is a better idea," Sunset said.
"Then let's go," Tempest said as she moved toward the garage door. The two girls entered the garage and put the helmets they left on the bike on. Tempest got on the bike and turned it on while Sunset grabbed Tempest's waist. "You ready Sunset?" Tempest asked.
"I'm ready," Sunset said nervously. A few moments later, the two were on the road to Beacon.