Canary

by Imyoshi

So a Crow and a Monkey bump into each other in the woods.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Kim Possible or RWBY.

Canary

By: Imyoshi

Sometimes Qrow wonders why he takes these missions for Ozpin.

And other times it's not worth the effort to care at all.

Although he does plan to give the guy an earful for making him trek through a Grimm infested forest all alone to search for information on the whereabouts of other Maidens. At least he's been given some good news. Turns out his little flower got accepted in Beacon two years early. Poor Rubes, she's going to get into so much trouble if she's anything like him or even her old man. Almost makes a proud grin blossom before he takes a quick swing of his flask and continues to move forward for a pointless hunt.

Maybe if he wasn't so damn hungry the hunt wouldn't be much of an issue. Not that Qrow doesn't have trail mix and rations, but he prefer something with a little more kick and taste. A lack flavor eventually gets to a man. Only problem, the next town was at least a day by running and he's starving now. In fact, he's so hungry now that he smells cooked pork somewhere in the forest. Now he can see some smoke where the food was being cooked and—?

Oh.

Stopping to consider if he should venture in and take his chances with Fate, Qrow shrugs his shoulders and heads in to the source. Food's food and he's sure the other people might not mind sharing some with a weary traveler. Minus the menacing looking scythe of course attached to his back. Manners make the man. Well, that and how hard he can deck a person with either their left or right hook.

So when Qrow pushes the last branch obscuring his vision of the fire pit with a roasting pig as its main source of fuel, he's extremely confused to why only a kid no older than Ruby—maybe a tad older—is sitting by the fire by himself. Then he's looking at him the moment he steps out of the forest and into the clearing, just as confused as Qrow was. Like the idea of seeing another person—another human was completely foreign to him. Farfetched Qrow would even go so far to say.

Pleasantries forgotten Qrow's eyes travel down to the food and his stomach rumbles with a roar. The smell's intoxicating and the kid hasn't moved an inch. Then the fire crackles to the point some wood breaks inside the fire pit and the meat looks tender and just so impossibly perfect to the point Qrow remembers why manners are also one of man's greatest enemy.

"Are you gonna share some of that or not?"

…

Qrow's sitting on a nearby by stone while the kid does the same, each of them taking their sweet time to finishing their meal. The fire continues to burn and there's a good portion of pork left. So seconds and even thirds were still a very high possibility, one Qrow planned to exploit if possible, and he really wishes that's an option. Not to say Qrow's exaggerating—and it's not because he's starving—but this is probably some of the best food he's had in a long time. The meat's nice and tender to the point it's easy to chew through, but not overly cooked where it's burnt and tasteless. Just perfect!

Hunger satisfied and appetite strong, the man took a moment to catalog the incident for future reference for Ozpin. This moment might just be a footnote for anything he has to repot, but Oz really likes to know everything that goes on during his travels. And meeting a random kid in the middle of nowhere might strike Ozpin's curiosity for a second or two. And speaking of the kid, Qrow looks off to where he was sitting, giving him a second peak this time when his attention wasn't divided between him and the food.

Taking in his appearance, Qrow noted the kid's outfit with a passive interest. Long-sleeved black shirt, grey gloves with cargo pants to match tied the outfit decently well. The material looked sturdy enough with only a small amount of wear and tear, there's a brown belt that hung off his hip with many mysterious pockets that tempted the dusty, old crow, and then straight comes his facial features. A strong jaw with messy blond hair that sticks out from the top and barely passed halfway his neck with light brown freckles and eyes that matched the off-color to finish off the look is what Qrow noted. And not only that, but this kid's posture spoke volumes of someone who's ready to act a moment's notice but makes sure to keep his position casual to distract any possible enemies into a false sense of security.

Interest peaked; Qrow took a quick glance at what else caught his eye. The strange tri-hilted katana resting on a rock made his instincts churn. Down to the brutal honesty of it, the weapon was relatively scarce and simple in design. No real features popped out at him and Qrow couldn't personally see the weapon being worth much if anything at all. It appeared strong and durable; at least the sword had that going for it. But he didn't see what use it could have in a Grimm infested forest. Maybe a shield would've completed the look but he didn't see any around and the area's pretty barren except for the trees.

Stuck between a stone and a hard place, Qrow shrugged mentally to himself. He's never been for pleasantries anyways.

Screw it. "So?" the kid looks up from his meal. "Tell me what a kid like you is doing out here in a Grimm infested forest alone? You're pretty far from any towns or kingdoms."

Qrow could've sworn the kid mumbled so that's what they're called underneath his breath before shrugging at his response. The kid then glanced down at the fire, lost in the dancing flames, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. The name's Ron Stoppable by the way."

"Try me."

Obviously amused, Ron tiredly grinned, "Okay… well, for starters, I'm not from around here. And when I mean here… I mean here." Ren gestured with the spreading of his arms to emphasize here. "The short story, I'm not from this place… this world."

Qrow paused into his next bite, filing away the kid's name for later and instead glancing hard at the stranger now. If there are two things Qrow's learned in his life, it was to never deny the impossible and anything sounding even remotely ridiculous always had some truth hidden in between the words. Helped that he worked for a man whose main purpose was to keep fairy tales and legends hidden from the public eye.

Still, "You're gonna have to give more if you want me to believe you. I'm not calling you a liar… yet. But even I know a fake story when I hear one."

Ron sighed, tossing his dinner remains into the fire, "Sorry, that's all I got. I've been stuck here for a while. I didn't even know there were other people around until you showed up out of the blue and that's why I'm telling you this. It is what it is. Sorry," he laughed. "I got nothing."

That makes two of them.

Not wanting Ron's kindness to go to waste, Qrow kicked a leg back to listen, "Okay, how about the long story then. Maybe after I listen I'll change my tune. Consider it thanks for the food."

"Alright," Ron laughed silently, glad to have someone to talk to after all this time. "Long story it is then. Take a seat because it's a doozy!" Qrow can tell the kid's an energetic person. There's a trace of pain behind his words, but he's overall a kind person. "It all started when I was at some freaky, secret public ninja school. I was training to be this chosen one and junk. Then the next thing I know, there's this ancient scroll that crossed wires with my Mystical Monkey Powers—!"

"Mystical Monkey Powers?" Qrow snorts, almost laughing at the ridiculous name.

"Hey!" Ron pouts, crossing his arms defiantly. "I didn't name them. They came with it—so anyways, the scroll transported me here to this place with all these freaky monsters that are black and have sharp claws. If it wasn't for my powers, I would've been monster chow by now. They really got an amp up from this strange place, must be something in the air." Ron sighs, mumbling, "I tried contacting for help but my kimmunicator couldn't pick up a signal. And I've been here ever since."

"For how long?"

Ron looks up to the clear blue sky, "I don't know, maybe a few weeks. I stopped counting." He laughs, throwing a nearby stick into the fire. "Crazy, huh?"

Putting down his food with a semblance of patience, "What makes you think you're from a different world still? Maybe you're just lost in a different kingdom."

Ron laughs even more, it's a hollow one, "Well, for one, where I came from we didn't have kingdoms but countries. And B, I've been all around the world and trust me, I've never seen or heard about those things you called the Grimm. Plus the moon was never broken. Never! Trust me on that."

He didn't know what to say. Ron Stoppable's story seemed too impossible even for him to take seriously. Mystical Monkey Powers and different worlds, it's all too absurd. Yet, the kid had an honest face. Ron lacked anger, maybe he was sad and if his story was true that made a whole lot of sense, but there's no traces of a hidden agenda behind that smile. It almost reminded him of Ruby's, so full of innocence that the idea of lying is next to impossible.

Not impossible—next to impossible.

There's a difference.

Tossing his remains into the fire, Qrow loses the rest of his appetite and stares long and hard at Ron, mentally wondering what a responsible adult would act or say in this scenario. Perhaps play along with the delusional kid and get him to the nearest town. Maybe even find out if he's been missing for some time. Or simply just get him out of a forest breaming to the teeth with Grimm? All very possible ideas and all very good ones if Qrow does say so himself, which means of course they're great, they're his.

Sighing, he reached into his pocket to pull out a flask of his strongest drink, taking a quick sip before standing up. "I'm not saying I believe you and I honestly don't, but we can worry about that later. I can take you to the nearest town if you want."

There's a hint of surprise and want in Ron's eyes before he looks away with a slightly narrowed vision, "I'm survived this long. I think I'm good here."

Surprise doesn't normally catch the veteran Hunter, but Qrow plays it off cool, "Yea, okay, sure, but who knows how long that dumb luck will last."

"Hehe, it's called dumb skill. And I'm chalk full of it." Ron bragged, not moving an inch from his spot.

Qrow might've taken Ron's easy laid-back attitude with stride since he's like that ninety-nine percent of the time. Yet, the Hunter knows that's not the case. Not entirely. If Ron's story checks out—an impossibility that would shadow over all the fairy tales he's learned—then that means the kid here knows to stay away from places that might want to experiment on him. He's not an idiot. A bit awkward? Sure. A little too trusting? Maybe. But stupid? Not a chance.

Qrow Branwen saw it the moment he locked eyes with Ron Stoppable that this kid was anything but an idiot. Just by watching the way he sits and way he distract serious topics with easy jokes to the point like breathing puts the older man on edge. That's not something a person can pick up from an everyday lifestyle. It's a skill only born from a life lived in constant danger.

The sword resting by the fire and the physical physique of a fighter only fills the remaining pieces of the puzzle.

Snorting, Qrow frowns; this forest problem is reminding him of the time Yang took Ruby to an abandon building. He didn't like the idea of him possibly being a second late or the idea of Ruby and Yang alone in a forest full of Grimm. Sure, they're older now and can take care of themselves, sort of, but he still worries. And this kid was sitting in the mouth of danger.

So he's not just going to leave, "You can have the entire chalkboard if you want, but staying here will eventually get you killed. I'm surprised you managed to survive out here for more than a day by yourself."

Ron merely waves his hand, implying he's good. The light glow of the fire brings a pleasant warmth to his easygoingness and only furthers Qrow's determination to pull the kid out of this forest. Although, to be honestly fair, with a calm attitude like that, he hardly swears Grimm pick up on Ron's emotions. Yet, he's not a guy to take chances and ignores Ron's wave.

"How about I at least show you the nearest town? Does that sound good enough for you? Then you can stay and frolic in the forest all you want."

Ron's eyes widen ever so slightly and he's thinking over it. It's not a hard decision, he is getting tired sleeping in a forest full of monster even though they're pretty easy to avoid with his trusty blade and Mother Nature's tall trees. Just the idea of being near other humans reels him into the possibility. And honestly, where's the harm. If push comes to shove then he'll run away. His mad running skills have always gotten him out of tough situations. Why should this one be any different?

"We'll... when you put it like that, you make me sound unreasonable." Ron offered. "I guess I have no choice. Hate to be the weirdo."

Qrow smirked, "Too late, kid."

Enjoying the victory, Qrow took another swig of his flask and basked in the fire's glow. Another few minutes of doing nothing won't hurt and Ron doesn't look to be in a hurry to leave. It's one of those misery loves company type of deals and Qrow will admit it's nice to talk to someone as well. Traveling through the forest can get pretty lonely, and more importantly, boring after a while. And the kid's pretty interesting to talk to.

Taking a few minutes to unwind, they finished the rest of the meal, leaving nothing behind for the scavengers. The fire begins to dim and eventually Ron just kicks it out with dirt and reaches for the sword resting on the rock. Qrow, the entire time, watches the way he walks and definitely sees some training in the way his body moves as quiet as a mouse, until at least he felled down and yelled out some strange curses.

"Who trips on a flat floor?"

"Shut up! There was a pebble there!"

"Yea, sure, okay," Qrow hummed absently, smirking guiltlessly. "I'll pretend I didn't see that."

...

The moment the duo reached a dirt road; Ron sighed at his rotten luck of having never noticed such a thing while Qrow took some pity on the poor fool and offered him a sip of his flask. He didn't take any. Not even when the man offered it twice with a subtle shake to sweetened the deal. A brave soul this kid was. Nobody just turns down a free drink unless they hated the stuff. And that was just blasphemy.

Whatever! His loss.

Getting a feel for the moment, Qrow regarded Ron as they traveled down the dirt road. Nothing but for the obvious garnered his attention for a second time except this time his eyes did lock on the sword resting on the kid's back. More importantly, he's interested on how the sword's resting on Ron's back. There's nothing holding it there in place.

Strange.

Might as well ask, "So... Ron was it? Where'd you get the sword?" Ron allowed his eyes to roam over Qrow's weapon and the man hunches his shoulder up for Ron to get a better look. "What me to go first? Sure. That's fair."

Grabbing the large greatsword, Qrow flexed the weapon in shining beauty in the cool forest air. Its metal design and color are only trumped by the height of the weapon, almost reaching Ron's entire frame. He's barely taller the weapon and shorter than the man holding it, but it doesn't make the weapon any less threatening.

"Sword, shotgun, and scythe all in one. Made it myself."

Ron tilted his head at the strange weapon, fascinated by the mechanics behind it. He loves how awesome it looks. Totally brings this guy's powerful vibe up a few notches. Maybe if he was younger he would've been a tad jealous and frightened. He's not. Scared a little, yes, but not jealous. Not while he has his weapon to boast about.

"I like it. I like it." Ron grinned easily, enjoying a conversation for what's felt like an entirety. "Looks very sharp. Can probably cut a mean streak."

"Are you calling my weapon a giant butter knife?"

"I said steak. Steak..." Ron emphasized, bridging his fingers away. "Not butter. That's all you, bro. It's not my fault you carry around a giant steak cutter."

"So..." Qrow trails while he fixing back his weapon in place, pretending Ron didn't call his weapon a large kitchen appliance. "What can yours do?" he joked easily. Clearly the katana's just a katana.

Still, Ron doesn't get the joke because his eyes light up comically and he reaches for the katana magically strapped to his back. Then the sidekick actually jumps back and holds out his hand for Qrow to watch and be slightly amazed.

"Lotus Blade! Let's show our buddy here what you can do!" Holding the sword out high, Ron thought hard for a second and glanced over to Qrow's weapon. A sudden light flashes Qrow before he's stuck gazing at an exact replica of his weapon in Ron's hands. "And there you have it. The Lotus Blade and all its glory."

Blinking once and then twice, Qrow actually rubs his eyes with his forearm to actually make sure he's not seeing some illusion. He's not. And questions begin to form in his mind. Lots of them. Although, they can all be easily answered with one simple explanation.

"That's one hell of a semblance you got there kid," Qrow remarks and Ron loses his smile. He's damn impressed, "Being able to copy my weapon, I gotta say, I'm intrigued."

"Semblance?" Ron repeats, completely and utterly lost. He looks between the Lotus Blade and Qrow. "What's a semblance?"

Qrow snorts, "Sure, alright kid. Let's play dumb again." Ron doesn't look like he's playing. "What? Seriously? How do you not know what a semblance is with having Aura?"

"Aura?" Ron's starting to sound like a broken record. "Okay, now I just know you're making stuff up. First this semblance stuff and now Aura... what's your angle? I don't get the joke."

"Seriously, Ron, it's not funny."

"Good, because I'm not joking."

Taken back from his sudden serious face, Qrow gathers his wits and comes to another simple conclusion, "Oh, I see now. You didn't know that power we have is called Aura. Simple mistake. Well, you see Ron, when you unlocked your Aura, your soul will eventually manifest itself a semblance. Everyone who has Aura gets one. Like yours and that nifty ability to copy my weapon's appearance. Makes sense now?"

Not at all, "No. I don't have this Aura stuff or power you speak of. It's all the Lotus Blade. It uses my Mystical Monkey Powers to transform into any weapon I want, see?" Ron turns his version of Qrow's weapon into a shield, rope, and then back to the sword's original appearance.

Qrow's having a hard time taking him seriously, "You're joking. You're messing with me, right? This is about the drink, isn't it? I offered you some." Ron shakes his head. "You really think this power of yours is coming from some ridiculous sounding power?"

"I don't think, I know."

Frowning, Qrow sighs and reaches into his pocket to pull out a scroll. "Here, I'm gonna show you that you have Aura. Watch," he points the device at himself and a gauge pops up. "That's my Aura and now for yours."

Error!

"Hn, hold up. An error happened. Let me try a second time." Error! "What the? What the hell's wrong with this piece of junk? It was working just fine a second ago." He points the device at himself at his Aura gauge pops up again. "There we go. Now just stand still and..."

Error! Error!

Glaring at the scroll, Qrow squeezes the device between his fingers, hating technology. Sure, this techno gizmo has its uses, but nothing can compare to good old natural. Clear case and point in front of him.

Sigh, "Sorry, Ron, looks like my scroll's busted and—?" The man stops the moment his eyes land on the floating sword hovering near Ron. The latter doesn't seem all too fazed about it, waiting for him to continue. "How's your sword floating?"

Ron blinks and looks over to the Lotus Blade, shrugging his shoulders thoughtfully, "I don't know. It's always been able to do that? You know what? I want to know now too. How do you float, Lotus Blade?"

And Qrow knows something is off the moment the sword turns into a pair of floating gloves that give the I don't know gesture the only way a pair of magical gloves can do, and again, Ron doesn't seem deterred by the sword suddenly having a mind of its own, nor is he freaked out by the sudden display of impossibility in front of him.

Semblance? What's a semblance?

Realization slowly sinking in, Qrow points his scroll at Ron and the same error message pops up again when he tries to search for any signs of Aura in the kid's body. Nothing's found and this leaves the man in a stupor while the kid gets in an argument over magic and stuff. It's all so confusing for Qrow, to the point the man wants to take a long sip of his flask. But he doesn't. Not now. Definitely not now!

Aura? Okay, now I just know you're making stuff up.

Kind of ironic considering Qrow told Ron something similar along those lines not too long ago. Now he's having trouble believing his own gut. More importantly, he's having trouble believing in the lie Ron told him. Had to be a lie! There's just no other way.

The short story, I'm not from this place... this world."

Suddenly Qrow realizes why Ozpin loves to hear stories. There's always a spec of truth between the lines. All someone has to do is look beneath the subtext to find them. And the subtext here was quite simple. No Aura meant no semblance, and no semblance meant no special power, which in turns leads to only one possible, unlikely scenario.

Mystical Monkey Powers?

Catching his breath, Qrow screwed it and took a large swing of his flask before leaning on a nearby tree. Ron by then had finished arguing over his floating over some trivial matter that went under his radar, waiting for Qrow to add on into the conversation they were having, but that talk's done and a new one has just reopened.

"Remember how I said I didn't believe your story?" Qrow gives him the benefit of the doubt. "Well now you got five minutes to convince me otherwise."

Qrow Branwen decides to add another minute when both Ron and the sword lean towards each other like they're contemplating the next words to say.

...

Standing in the middle of the dirt road, the older man rubs his temples in frustration, finally knowing how Glynda Goodwitch feels after all this time. A hangover without the booze, that's the only way to describe the sensation he's feeling. And he doesn't like it. Not one bit.

And the worst part, he's run out of liquor. "Okay, okay, let me see if I got this straight. You're some crime fighter from some different world that got pulled into this ancient scroll magic mix-up and ended up here for Oum knows how long, and I'm really the first person you've seen since then?" Ron answers with a simply yup. "Then you're telling me you have this one-of-a-kind power with a sword that can transform into any weapon you imagine?"

Ron sighed, rubbing his neck awkwardly, "That's the general gist of it."

"Prove it!" Qrow challenges, hoping to Monty he's not crazy. "Make the sword turn into my weapon again with googly eyes and make it blue. I don't care what shade, just make it blue. And add a rope to the handle."

Humoring him, Ron grabs the floating sword and thinks it over for a second. Eventually he finds his muse and the Lotus Blade turns into Qrow's request, even going so far as to float next to the man and add in a little shake so the googly eyes can rattle. It's an exact replica, except for the obvious stuff, but an exact replica nonetheless, especially after Qrow grabs and tests the weapon out on some poor unsuspecting trees. Again, it's perfect, right down to the transformation, no matter how goofy and utterly ridiculous it looks.

Forget footnote. This guy deserves his own book.

Shaking the mock weapon around, he lowered the blade after being unable to take the rattling anymore. Qrow tries to transform it back into a sword, but the mock version of his weapon remains and his grip tightens more when nothing continues to happen. Finally he lets go of the weapon and it hover towards Ron again.

"How does that sword of yours work? I couldn't get it to transform back."

"Oh?" Ron shrugged. "You gotta have the Mystical Monkey Powers."

"Of course you do," Qrow muttered offhandedly, cursing his rotten luck. "And to get these Mystical Monkey Powers you have to..."

Ron shudders at the thought as he wills his weapon to revert back to normal, "Go through some strange monkey ritual. There were these freaky jade monkey statues from where I came from that pretty gave you the powers for free. They're broken now. I made sure of that."

Qrow didn't consider that a loss. If what Ron said was true, then it didn't matter. The power didn't belong in this world. There was no foreseeable way for him or anyone else to acquire the power. And perhaps that's for the better. Too much power is never a good thing.

Still, "Okay, I'm tempted to believe in your story now, kind of hard not to with that insane sword of yours and your non-existing Aura. So let's cut straight to the point, let's say I do believe you, would you be willing to come with me to meet a certain man who'll definitely be interested in meeting you?"

Qrow notices the subtle shift in Ron's posture. He's prepared to run if this turns sour. "I don't know. How do I know it's not a trap?"

"You don't," Qrow answered honestly. "You just got to trust me."

If Ron had been expecting such brutal honesty, he didn't show it with the widening of his eyes and sudden lack of posture. To be fair, Qrow can see why. Suddenly being asked to follow a stranger is something parents teach their children to never do. Yet, here Qrow was, asking young Stoppable to trust in him when he really has no real reason to.

"I don't know..."

"C'mon, it beats living out here in the woods any day. And if push comes to shove, then you got that sword of yours to bust you out. Shouldn't be a problem for a crime fighter such as yourself." Qrow teased, watching Ron's reaction.

The sidekick sighs and considers it. Getting out of these monster driven woods would be a nice change of pace. Trees were getting kind of uncomfortable and he missed talking to other people. Granted, everyone in this world's a complete stranger, but beggars can't be choosers. And he's not even that. He's a man in a world where he doesn't even know what to beg for. How sad.

Looking off to the dirt road with endless trees scattering the horizon, Ron tries to peer across the green but to no avail. A thick silence falls over them and an inner debate rages within Ron's thoughts, one Qrow cannot partake in. He can't stop the kid from saying no, but he'll damned to tell Ozpin he didn't try. Too bad for him this kid's got a natural paranoid instinct to survive.

Qrow wouldn't blame Ron if he said no.

So the man smiles a bit when Ron asked a simple a question, "So this guy... what's he like?"

"For starters, his name is Ozpin, and he's the headmaster for some fancy school." Ron frowned at the mention of school. "And he's sort of an expert when it comes to... strange things. And you're on the top of the list as far as I'm concerned."

Ron shuffles his feet for a moment, considering the offer, "What kind of school? Are we talking about grade school? Middle school? High school?"

Qrow actually laughs, "No, you simpleton. He teaches a school for future Huntsmen." Poor Ron is lost in the shuffle and Qrow snaps his fingers. "Oh, that's right. You don't know what a Huntsmen is. Different worlds and all that good stuff. Gotcha." The man gestured towards the nearest town, "How about I tell you about my world on the way towards the town."

Only fair. Ron told Qrow about his world and now it's his turn to return the favor. He may not completely believe in Ron's other world story, but the evidence has built itself up to the point where he can't simply ignore the kid any longer. This has gone way past the point of just trying to keep the kid safe from the things that go lurking in the night.

Smiling, Ron chuckled, "Alright, I've got nothing better to do." He jokes and looks off to the horizon. "So... how far is this town?"

Glad to have him onboard, Qrow pulled out his scroll and checked, "Well, that depends. We can run or walk. Running, we'll be there by nightfall and walking, by tomorrow morning."

"Good, good," Ron answered absently, reaching for the Lotus Blade. A silent calm moved between them and Stoppable's eyes get glued to the floor. Then he smiled tastefully, "But I have a better idea."

And that's how Qrow Branwen found himself ridding a blue motorcycle through a Grimm infested forest. Luckily for them, it made no sound and didn't need gas. Even better, it handled like a beauty. Not like Qrow enjoyed driving motorcycles that much, but personally he enjoyed flying a little bit more. And speaking of flying, the man looks over to the sidecar which has Ron hanging his feet over the edge and a smile plastered on his lazy face.

"If you could've turned your sword into a motorcycle, then why didn't you turn your sword into a hover board to get around?"

Ron doesn't look at him as he answers, "I'm afraid of heights. Not a fan of flying."

And he couldn't very well drive a motorcycle through the woods with all the trees in the way, not at least until Qrow pointed out this dirt path for him. Didn't matter if the Lotus Blade could save him from taking a serious spill, heights and the sidekick don't go eye-to-eye. Unless of course he's riding a giant airship where seeing the ground wasn't a viable option except for the obvious window seat.

Fear is one hell of a motivator or handicap.

"Well, we'll be at the village within the next few hours, so how about I tell you more about Remnant."

Ron looks over to him, "What's Remnant?"

...

After driving for a few hours and a quick history and all the stuff Qrow deemed necessary to know about Remnant, they finally reached the nearest town before Vale. It's nothing special to the drunken bastard but Ron's amazed at all the other people around. He must've been in those woods much longer than Qrow thought, because the sidekick can't stop himself from jumping out his seat. And before long, Ron's having an inner fight whether to move right or left first.

The sight brings a laugh from Qrow, "Hehe, you know, you remind me of my niece. She's a lot like you, always moving from place to place. Gets kind of dizzy after a while."

Ron ignores him and runs into the village and the man gets off the bike. The instant he did, the vehicle reverted back into the Lotus Blade and flew straight back to Ron, leaving Qrow just outside the outskirts of the village.

"I gotta get me one of those." He runs to catch up, "Hey! Wait up!"

Qrow doesn't have to go too far to find Ron. The kid's centered at the village square, lost to where he wants to go first. That damn sword of his has already attached itself to his back with everyone none the wiser. And the people of this little village pass by a kid quite possibly from a different world like it is no one's business. How baffling that Qrow's tongue is tied for the longest of seconds.

He manages to eventually free it, "Like what you see?"

Ron has a hard time forming words, confused at all the simple buildings he's seeing. Everything's made out of stone, and he expected something a little more high-tech. Though, to be fair, Qrow did say all the villages are nothing compared to the kingdoms. So there's that to look forward to. And even the barest of villages have technology. Kind of need it with monster lurking at every turn.

"It's... different." Ron finally said.

That's one way of putting it, "Anyways... here we are, a nice little village for you to stop by in if you decide to stay in the woods. Now comes the next question. Are you coming with me to meet Ozpin... or not?"

Ron stops his sightseeing to settle his glare on the taller man. Ironically, now Ron's tongue-tied. Not too sure whether or not to cut his losses and stay at a relatively safe looking village or venture deeper into the greater unknown and accept Qrow's invitation. A tempting sitch if he does say so himself, one he almost wants to take but his natural paranoia prevents him. So he looks over his shoulder and the hilt of the Lotus Blade to help him decide.

"What do you think, buddy? Should we got and explore or stay here?"

Qrow would've found it funny that Ron was purposely talking to his weapon like his niece if it wasn't so damn amazing and important. Unlike everyone else's weapon, this one can actually respond on kind. A very troubling and terrible thought if the sword sought out Ron's protection, thus making the idea of staying by a nearby village and away from Kingdom eyes sound all the more tempting by the second.

It's been a very long time since Qrow Branwen has held his breath for anything. A little funny perhaps coming from him, but something tells the man that losing this kid could prove all the worse. With a weapon like Ron's and the good nature beside him, it would be a shame to lose such a valuable person in their struggle for good versus evil. Sure, he doesn't know Ron's full extent, hardly seeing anything even remotely skill breaking, but appearances can be deceiving.

A lesson he's learned the hard way.

Ron stops his talk with the sword to glance at Qrow with a skeptical look, "If I say no..."

"Then I leave and you'll most likely never hear from me again."

Thinking it heavily over, Ron crossed his arms and looked over to the many people bustling about. He doubts he'll ever tell his story to these folk, content to the idea of them never labeling him as a freak. Meanwhile, Qrow here knows his entire story from start to finish, minus a few details that didn't seem important, and following him would mean he wouldn't have to lie about his existence.

It's such a confusing dilemma for Ron Stoppable.

Stay and live a lie or go and take his chances to find the truth.

"This Ozpin dude, he's wouldn't to try to send me to school, would he?"

Qrow shrugged, "He might actually, if your story checks out. But don't worry, I'll throw in a good word and get you out of all those boring classes."

Hating himself, Ron fought the urge to run his hands through his hair. Even after all this time, there's a sudden pull in his chest to reach out and take his chances with the odds. Screw normality. Why live a simple life in a town when trouble and possible danger can be within his reach. And the thought hurts the sidekick.

Even now, even when he hates it, his body misses the thrill of adventure. And he's not going to find any of that here. Not in some small town with a population as high as he can count. Kind of sad when he really thinks about it. Honestly, for him to miss the thrill of adventure must sound insane.

Or maybe he just misses his old life and anything even sounding remotely close to it makes the young Stoppable yearn to reach out and grasp the fading threads of what was his old life.

"I don't like math or history."

Smirk, "That's fine. Neither do I."

"Fine!" Ron says reluctantly. "Let's go meet this Ozpin dude. How far is this kingdom place?"

...

Thanks to this sword of his, they turned a two day trip into a few hours trip. Almost brings a tear to the old crow's face as they pass by Vale's streets. He didn't expect to be back so soon. He also didn't expect to leave behind his previous mission, but this kid took priority over everything else. And as Ron took in the scenery, Qrow wondered how he should break the news to Ozpin.

Not once did he decide to alert Ozpin to his closing presence. Figuring surprising the guy is way more fun than giving him a heads-up. Just imagining his reaction brings a smirk to Qrow's face and honestly, Ron's growing on him. His attitude is almost like his niece, excluding other differences and the weapon he wields. Something he knows will make his niece jealous. Gosh, to be fair, he's jealous as well. With a weapon like Ron's, well, Qrow hates to admit it but he wishes he had this strange power Ron spoke of. If it even existed, and there's no reason for it not too. But there's no reason for it should either.

Closing the gap between the city and a nearby land ship docking that'll take them to Beacon, Qrow kicked up the throttle and did a quick slide with the bike to land a perfect parking. Some people stopped to glace over their direction but carried on their merry business with little distraction.

They got off the bike and Ron willed the blade to return to normal. He then looks around, "Where's the school?"

Qrow gestured with a simple nod of his head towards an airship. "We have to take a Bullhead to get there. Oh, by the way, that's a Bullhead. So let's go."

Slightly amazed by the flying machine, they entered the vehicle and Qrow went to the pilot to request something. Moments later Ron feels the ground lift up from his feet as they took off and Qrow returned and took a seat next to the sidekick.

They settle in a comfortable silence and each do little things to pass the time. Qrow's curiosity wins him over eventually and he looks over to see Ron playing with rectangle shaped gizmo in his hands. It's blue and has a few buttons on the front. It's nothing like a scroll and looks a little low tech actually, but Qrow pushes that thought aside after having thought Ron's sword was essentially useless.

A mistake's he's not going to make twice.

So his curiosity does win him over, "What's that you're holding?"

Looking away from the device, Ron waved the machine in a playful display, "This is the Kimmunicator, a device that can do a whole bunch of stuff! My buddy Wade made it for me before I got stuck here."

That's right, Ron did mention something about a Kimmunicator, "Really? What does that hunk of metal do?"

Ron settles back into his seat, "Play games, music, videos," Qrow nods his head. All those features are very similar to his scroll. "Hacks into villain's files. Scans stuff to learn about it. Jam radars. And the list goes on."

Wait? Qrow ponders. Did Ron say hack into files? Jam frequencies? Scan stuff?

Qrow doesn't believe him. No way can that tiny device do all that and more, "Prove it. Here, try to hack my scroll or jam its frequency or whatever. Do something."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ron messes around with the gizmo for the better part of a minute before the Kimmunicator locks onto Qrow's scroll's radio wave and disables pretty much all of the scroll's functions. Ron even goes as far as to shut down the device from the Kimmunicator. Then Ron turns Qrow's scroll back on and plays some catchy elevator music for them to listen to.

"Oh, catchy," Ron laughs, not noticing Qrow's disbelief.

Hacked! Just like that, didn't even need to remotely connect to his device with a wire or nothing. No set-up or anything. Just a few simple presses of a button and the scroll is under the control of this kid's tech with him unable to do squat.

"Ron..." Qrow says after a small pause. "You're really going to make Ozpin's head turn and I can't wait to see it. I'm actually going to record it. So don't hold back. Please don't hold back."

Ron presses a button and Qrow's machine is given its freedom, "Sure. I'm all for the head turning!"

Qrow's really starting to like this kid.

The Bullhead shakes a little and begins to make its landing on Beacon's grounds. As they land, Qrow urges Ron to follow him as they disembark. Some people are littering about, students mostly and they pay no mind to them. Looks like classes for the semester have already began, which means the message he received from Oz about his niece must've been slightly delayed.

The two cross the courtyard with Ron's head almost spinning from the tall structures. It's all so breathtaking for the sidekick who's been living in the woods for who knows how long. Sometimes even Qrow takes a moment to appreciate the beauty of the school. Usually after he finds the nearest bar and gets himself hammered. Nothing like good old alcohol to make everything ten times better.

"We're supposed to make Ozpin's head turn, not yours." Qrow joked easily.

"Ha. Ha." Ron commented. "Cut a guy some slack. My idea of a building was a shoddy tree house I made out of sticks."

"Did it stand?"

"That's not the point! I'm just... surprised, okay."

Qrow grins teasingly, "Sure, sure, whatever floats your boat. But we can sight-see later. The faster we get this meeting done with the faster I can crash the nearest tavern. And the faster you can do whatever it is Ron Stoppable's do."

"We play video games and do nothing."

"Perfect. You'll fit right in with most of the people walking around here."

Cutting through the mass of teens all slightly older than Ron, they find themselves at Beacon Tower's elevator and it's there Qrow settles to get a somewhat serious face. It's not that it confuses Ron, it's just so out of place for a guy who loves to joke just as much as him.

Taking the elevator up, Ron suddenly feels like he left his stomach behind as they get closer and closer to the top of this tower. Parts of him wonder if he should've stayed back at the forest where life was so much simpler and another part crushes that idea. There were monsters in the forest and he got tired from hiding from them. Be it as they may, monsters are still living things and Ron prefers not to take a life and have that on his conscious.

Ding!

Qrow paused at opening the elevator doors, "Ready to meet Ozpin?"

Ron tilted his head, "Uh... no?" Qrow smirks and opens the doors and as the office comes to view, Ron suddenly remembers why he was here. "By the way, you never told me what you were doing back at the forest."

"Would you believe me if I told you I was hunting down fairy tales?"

Ron doesn't get a chance to ask what as the door finally open completely to an office with a gray-haired being its only occupant. He sat behind an expensive looking desk with a fresh cup of what Ron smells is coffee in his hand. His small glasses shine with knowledge and his old eyes travel over towards Qrow before landing solely on him.

Ahem, "Qrow?" Ozpin acquired. "This is an unexpected surprise."

"You and me both, Oz. You and me both."

---

Author Notes: If your job is to hunt down fairy tales, then of course you're going to run into some entirely new ones along the way. Another version of what if Ron Stoppable got stuck in Remnant.