A/N:So I'm back with my next installment in the new Argent Series! Since this story is a bit more involved (I'm dealing with almost all of the characters) there will be longer delays between chapters. But I have already plotted out the next few chapters,
/meaning that it should be pretty easy to get those ones done. Now, since there are many characters, there may be a chapter/chapters between sightings of different ones. Please don't hesitate to comment on them- if you want more of a certain character
/or if it's been too long for you. I'll try my best to keep a decent balance, since this is more like a Volume. But as usual, I love the feedback!
It was in the black shadows behind his tent that she reverted her form. Drawing her sword, the red blade glowed like hot coals in the darkness. Slowly and silently, the sharp blade sliced through the tent cloth, cleanly separating it to create her own
/entrance, far from the prying eyes of his followers.
Deftly, she entered the main portion of the tent, mere feet from her goal. The dark woman's blade was still drawn as she neared the Faunus' sleeping form. With the broad edge of her blade, she tapped the side of his cheek. He startled quickly, jerking
/himself forward and almost on to her blade. His hand went for a hidden weapon, but her tsk stopped his motion.
"Amateur." Her voice was quiet, but loud enough for Adam Taurus to hear. The Faunus man scowled. The woman smirked under her mask, but allowed none of that to come across in her voice.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Raven Branwen, Lady of the Bandits."
She used the same broad edge of her sword to tap his cheek patronizingly. "Good boy," she purred.
Drawing herself, she continued, "You have 48 hours to move your precious stash of Dust, and followers out of Songji. At this time, in two days, Songji will be taken over by my people. Is that understood?"
Adam's scowl deepened.
"She will not be happy about this."
Raven scoffed, "We have an agreement, and this is me fulfilling it. This is a kindness for you though. You and I do not have the same arrangement. The only reason you're being given this consideration at all is because you're dealing with her associates."
Her voice dropped along with her head, looking more like her namesake.
"Be grateful. You have 48 hours. No more, no less."
In one fluid motion, she turned on her heels, removed her blade from off the man's neck, and turned the appropriate dial on her hilt. Before her one of the portals she used opened, and she stepped through without a word.
As soon as she passed, Adam Taurus was on his feet, his own blade in hand. Bursting through the entrance of his tent, he emerged into the campsite, startling both of his guards.
"Where is Hazel?!" He growled at them.
The first one to overcome his shock from his leaders outburst, mutely pointed to a bland, small tent. Shirtless with blade still drawn, the younger man tore through the entrance. The burly man was already on his feet, eye to eye with the anxious one.
Arms crossed, Hazel Rainart was still an imposing figure. His voice rumbled and filled the room as he spoke.
"What is it?"
"Branwen visited."
The older man sniffed. "I'm assuming you're talking about the female one."
Exasperated, he shrugged and threw his hands into the air.
"Of course! If it was the huntsman, one of the two of us would have been dead."
Hazel nodded. "What did she have to say?"
"She gave us 48 hours to leave Songji."
The older man raised an eyebrow, and turned.
"Then we better start moving."
"What?" Taurus sputtered.
"She held up her end of the bargain. So we hold ours."
The leader's eyes sparked, and he challenged the man, "Bargain? How is this a bargain? My new men won't out themselves yet!"
"Then they die at Branwen's hand. I may not always agree with that woman, but her belief in the strong surviving I understand."
"Salem will hear about this!"
"Not from you, she won't."
Adam Taurus sneered at the burly man, but said nothing. Turning back to the younger man, he signaled the conclusion of the discussion by his next words.
"It's time for me to visit Sienna Khan. I'll leave you to your new work. I'm certain you'll be busy for the next few days."
It was mid-day when the ship had landed, but it remained sealed for a bit. Anxiety gnawed at the stowaway's stomach, and she found her hands toying with the fringe of her skirt. Finding herself fidgeting, she quickly stilled her hands, her training scolding
/her nervous habits.
For the fifth time that day, she occupied herself with the contents of her small case. It had little to no use for her to do so, as there was nothing to be done about any forgotten items, as home was many thousands of miles away.
Loose lien, a prepared change of clothes, toiletries, dust capsules, night clothes, and the few trappings of her old life she couldn't part with: her mother's locket and her grandfathers capsule holder.
No, she thought, everything I truly need is here.
The difference of the woman on the run from the woman who started at Beacon little over a year prior was not lost on her. Her thoughts strayed from the current to remember the past year, from the things learned to the friends gained and ... lost.
She was startled from her reverie by the sound of the main bay door opening. Up on her feet, sword drawn, she greeted the cargo pilot with sword point.
"Easy there, your highness, you've made it safe." The sarcastic drawl of her pilot unfazed her, as she understood his irritation. Instead she was sincere in her response.
"Thank you for doing this."
The man looked taken aback. "Um..." he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, "you're welcome, I guess."
He shrugged, "I mean, you did pay me."
"Still," she insisted, as she passed him into the clear and humid day, "thank you."
The pilot mumbled again to himself, as the young woman started her trek to the exit of the hanger. She knew that there had to be public restrooms nearby where she could alter her appearance, so as to not draw attention to herself. Finding them, she purposefully
/made her way there.
Reemerging, changed and dulled in color, she blended into the city's bustling crowd, no longer Miss Schnee. Instead, Weiss started her path through the multitude up to the school nestled high on the mountain.
If Winter's here, that's where she'll be.
Checking the page in her hand for yet another time, the young woman confirmed that it was indeed the address given. Raising an eyebrow, she shrugged and moved her way into the inn.
It was definitely nicer than she had expected, its lobby, while modest, was clean and well-apportioned. An entirely too-cheerful older woman greeted her as she entered.
Sauntering to the desk, she engaged with the older woman only to the extent necessary.
"Hate to be a pain," the blonde woman said with a crooked smile, "but I'm looking for my sister: Ruby Rose. Got anyone here by that name?"
The older woman's brow furrowed as she checked her current listing.
"Oh, no, I'm so sorry, but I don't see anybody here by that name!"
Yang shrugged and started to move away from the desk, until she remembered a detail from the letter. Raising a brow, she turned back to the lady.
"How about Branwen?"
"Oh!" The older woman exclaimed, eyes wide, "the injured gentleman! Of course he's still here!" A slight flush reached the woman's cheeks and Yang had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Maybe all of her Uncle's stories about the ladies he'd met over
/the years weren't such exaggerations as she'd assumed.
Putting the kindest smile she could manage on her face, she blinked at the woman.
"The room, please?"
"Right away!"
As Yang moved away from the desk and towards the room given her, she heard the woman call after her.
"Oh! Please give him our best wishes!"
If Yang could have rolled her eyes harder, they might have been lost in her skull.
"So, I still have to call you Uncle Qrow?" Ruby sat with her arms crossed, looking slightly perturbed.
Qrow Branwen emerged from the bathroom in the huntsman gear that Jaune, Nora and Ren and returned with the night before.
"That's the idea."
"Why? I don't get it."
"Because, Tyrian."
She furrowed her brows, watching her father as he moved about the room. "That's not fair. He was a lot more experienced than us."
The huntsman leaned over with a brow raised and a finger to her nose.
"Annnd that's why."
Straightening himself, he smirked at the spitfire before him. Her shoulders had started to raise into her ears. She had definitely inherited his sense of fairness.
"Kid, that's the whole reason why I didn't want you to carry my name with you. It's bad enough that Tyrian has connected you with me. Start calling me 'Papa' and Salem's going to have a field day. It's not like Vacuo was the first and last time I frustrated
/her plans."
Ruby's shoulders dropped as she sighed. Defeated, she tried a compromise.
"Can I at least call you Papa when it's just us?"
Qrow thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, his back to his daughter. "I don't see why not."
"And... what about Yang? Can I tell her?"
Her tone had changed from frustrated to hesitant, and he turned to look at her. Fully dressed in her huntress gear, she looked the part, but her body language was of a little girl wearing her mother's clothes. The young woman's head was down, and she
/was staring at her hands resting on her knees.
Qrow kneeled in front of her, attempting to make eye contact.
"Ruby, that's up to you. The only thing I ask is that when you do, she keeps the same level of secrecy as you and I do."
The older man placed a hand on her shoulder, and she finally raised her eyes to meet him. A sad smile was on his lips as he continued.
"I'm not going to lie, kid, this will change your relationship, but you two have always been sisters, even when you weren't. You love her, and I know she loves you too. That won't change."
He used the side of his knuckle to raise her chin, and she kept her eyes locked on him.
"Trust her, pipsqueak."
Slowly, her lips turned to match his small smile.
A knock startled them both out of their reverie and both turned to the door. Qrow raised an eyebrow at her. She shook her head. Neither of them were expecting visitors.
"Well," he cocked his head at the door, "it could be the other three, but..."
The huntsman stood and made his way to the door.
"Stay out of sight." Ruby nodded and tucked up her legs as she leaned back from the eye line of the door. Drawing his sword, he cracked the door.
"Heh."
Straightening his back and a smile on his face, Qrow opened the door wide.
"Well, I'll be damned."