1,000,000 Million Lien:
Piles of snow were on the ground. Two birds were in the leafless trees. A crow and a raven. Their red eyes locked before they shifted into human form. One Qrow and one Raven.
"Qrow, why did you call me out here?" Raven asked exasperated.
"Because you need to go see Yang." Qrow stared at his flask.
"I thought we agreed that was the one thing you were to never ask me to do. Not that you listen. Besides Yang is with her father. She is safe enough." It was one of his most common requests. See Yang.
"Raven. You need to see Yang. After you see her I'll give you a list of names." Him and mystique didn't work.
"Qrow, what's going on? Why are you persistently saying that I need to see her? What names?" her tone was slightly changing from anger to concern.
"That'd defeat the purpose of what I just said. After you see her I'll give you a list of names." He took a drink from his flask.
"Why?"
"Because you need to see her Rae. I never told you that you needed to see her before because I always said that you should, but now I'm telling you something else entirely!"
Raven backed down slightly. Qrow could be open with his feelings, yes. He never shouted at his twin sister before. The change in syntax wasn't enough to cause this reaction. She decided to be his twin for a moment.
"What's wrong? Answer me. Caw?" A gentler voice for her brother.
"See for yourself. She's in the room upstairs on the right of the front door."
The talk was over. The twins turned their backs on each other with a lot of things unspoken. Qrow would go to the north, and Raven would go to the south. So much to do.
Raven turned into a bird and flew to Taiyang's house. It wasn't a journey she wanted to make, but she did it anway. It was the dead of night when she got there. Raven perched on the snow covered windowsil and peered into the room.
Inside the room was Yang sleeping. A sunflower was on the dresser behind her. Raven looked her progeny over. Hair wasn't cut, both eyes still there, nose wasn't broken, mouth still looked like hers. Then she saw.
The sight caused her to jolt backwards and lose her grip on her transformation. She lay in the snow in shock. It couldn't be possible. Her daughter's arm was still there, just hidden under the covers. Yang couldn't have lost her right arm.
Raven sat up. Her right arm. If Yang had died in battle, she would have understood. She would then kill the person responsible and retrieve her daughter's body as was the natural course of things. Her arm was a different story.
Raven flew back to the spot where she and Qrow had met and signaled for him. He came an hour later to find his twin pacing in the snow, mask on. Qrow hated that Grimm mask more than almost anything. Raven turned on her heel to Qrow.
"Tell me his name."
"Hmmm?" Qrow pretended confusion.
"The name of the man who cut off Yang's arm. I want you tell me the name of the man who cut off my daughter's arm, so I can kill him, cut off his head, and send it to Yang."
"How'd you figure it was a man?" Qrow asked with a drunken slur.
"Cutting off her arm was both sadistic and stupid. A women can't be both at once."
"Sadistic I get but stupid?"
"Stupid because I am now going to kill him."
"Right. Here's that list."
"This is nothing more than a list of doctors," Raven spat out.
"Specifically weaponized prothsetics." Qrow kept up his cavelier tone.
"Qrow," Raven muttered dangerously.
"You think sending Yang a decapitated head is going to help matters?! If you were in her situation, would you want someone else killing him? No? Because from where I'm standing that means you don't think she can go after this guy. If her own mother doesn't think she can do it, then she should just become a drunk like me or a coward like Tai!" Qrow took a shakey breath.
"She's in a depression, Raven. You know what it's like. Everyone tried, but even her little sister couldn't snap her out of it. She needs you. More than money for new arm. Give her something with the money that can do that. Anything. Even if you just state the facts."
Raven and Qrow left on better terms this time. He made it clear that Summer's daughter would take presidence with him. She made it clear that if he offered so much as a drop to their team leader's daughter she'd pluck his feathers out. He said if she didn't get Yang back on her feet he'd kick her ass. They both agreed that once Yang was on her feet they'd both kick Taiyang's ass.
Raven went to her nearest stash. There she collected enough funds that she deemed necessary for Yang's fund. Raven put the money in an envelope along with other necesities. She then set it on the table before writing down a missive to her daughter. It took a few hours to get right.
At last she managed to find the right words to say some time around 4:45 am. She tore it out of her notebook and put it in her pocket. Only then did Raven allow herself to sleep. She reached the Xiao Long-Rose residentcy at 2:25 the next day.
The window wasn't open, and while she still knew where the outside key was, she didn't want to risk detection. Raven flew to the roof, circled the chimney three times, and dive bombbed inside. Down chimney and out out of the fireplace without a trace of soot on her shiny black wings. The smell still clung to her as she went up stairs and saw Taiyang in his chair outside Summer's daughter's door. All of her reasons for not seeing her daughter, best friend, and her best friend's daughter in the past came flooding back to her, so she paused for a moment on the knob of the gaurd rail.
Her transformation was lost as she frantically tried breathing exersizes to regain control, clutching the knob. Her eyes went back from faded berry to fire engine red after a minute. Face to beak. Talons from feet. Wings from arms. Clothes to feathers. She flew gracefully above the head of the sleeping Taiyang.
She changed back to being human in front of her daughter's new room and gripped the doorknob. Slowly she turned it so as to not make a sound. Carefully she pushed it open bit by bit. Gently Raven moved closer and closer to her daughter. Slowly, carefully, and gently she laid the the envelope down.
There came a small problem with the paper though. It didn't look right laying against the bulging package. It seemed like it would fall to the floor in the slightest breeze. Raven had a small debate within herself before folding the paper into neat thirds. Then she let herself look at Yang.
They looked so much alike. The same sleeping face from when Raven had once held her in her arms. If she just hadn't inherited his glaring blonde hair and default eyes maybe things could have been different. Raven walked backwards softly before shutting Yang's door. Out of the house and out of Yang's life again.
Yang woke up just like she had every morning, with the conviction her arm was still there. She sighed in disappointment as dream faded to reality. She avoided looking at it by facing the door. Something new caught her attention.
An envelope stuffed to the brim and a piece of paper folded neatly into thirds lay on her table. Yang sighed, thinking it was another way for her father to avoid the situation. None the less, she decided to give him a chance. She reached out with her left arm and unfolded the paper.
~Dear Yang,
It's been a long time. Enclosed within this envelope is enough money to cover your new arm, a list of professionals, as well as one of my feathers. Don't mind the blood on it.
I'm going to go after the man who did this to you. When I find him I'm going to cut off his head and send it to you in a package. That's when you'll know you'll be unable to exact vengence on him. Keep that in mind with the time it will take for you to get a new arm.
~Raven Branwen.
Tears filled her eyes and she smiled for the first time in months. Her mom had finally contacted her. Even though a bunch of new questions were now raised and none of the old ones had been answered she was happy. She had been acknoledged, given a keepsake, and had someone out there hunting down that monster.
Taiyang came in to see his eldest daughter smiling with tears running down her face. In her hand was a piece of notebook paper and by her bedside an unopened envelope. He stood frozen wondering how the hell those two things had appeared on her bedside table. She set the letter down carefully and wiped away the tears with her fingers. As she reached out to grab the envelope she saw Taiyang in her doorway.
"Mom left me a letter, along with some money for a new arm. Could you count it? I want to look at the other things she put in there."
Taiyang snapped out of his confused state. He walked over akwardly as Yang held the envelope in her hand. She carefully pried the seal open a little bit at a time. Once it was open she set the list to one side and retrieved the feather. Taiyang began counting the money.
His eyes grew wide. A small notecard was mixed in with the Lien.
~Tai. I swear, if you try to pussy out of this I will come back into your house late one night and murder you in your sleep.R.~
He set to counting it in a frenzy. Then he recounted it. On his third recounting he looked at his eldest daughter then back at the money. Yang was twirling the feather with a smile on her face. She looked up at her dad.
"So how much is in there? Dad?" she asked with a slightly out of focus smile.
"One million Lien," he whispered.
Yang became quiet as she tried to process this information. There were a lot of factors to think about. She glanced over to the list. The names of doctors and their prices scratched out on a tiny piece of paper in Uncle Qrow's handwriting. She put the two side by side.
Uncle Qrow's was rushed and had ink blotted twice. Her mom's wasn't perfect cursive but elegantly formed. Two distinct styles of writing. Two different people. It was really her.
"Just my arm is worth a million Lien," Yang thought before crying like a child.
If no one one minds me saying this, wow. Most of this came out really fucking dark. Shit. I think writing Her Gaurd Dog is getting to me. That or the season three finale fucked it all up. Tell me if this portrayal of Raven was alright in the coments below. Basically, rated T for foul language. I leave it up to you to determine what has the blood on it.