"A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare
to the jeweled vision of a life started anew."

- Abherjani


RWBY: Volatile Spaces


Blood...

A crimson red liquid which has always been a body fluid for about every living thing in existence. Blood seeped through the rough sand, and soil. A gentle breeze along with a sunny sky shining upon the critical body of a washed up young man by the shore. The saltwater drawing more blood as it hit his body, and retreated back into sea. The body was covered in armor, which adored a large winter coat, which was already ripe with gore and the mixed bloody of the owner, and others. The body suddenly started to move, and slowly rolled over crawling away from the sea, a pool of blood marking his way behind him.

Once the man made it to the rocky bed which separated the rough sandy shore from the soft green grass, he slowly reached his hand up to his helmet, the three blue visors started to lose their glow. He tapped the side of his helmet, near his ear, and his helmet started to fold down his face, and condense around his neck, revealing the face of Wyatt Ward, Ex-UEG Merchant Marine, now survivor.

Wyatt Ward sported a black, military fade as his hair, with a scar going across the left side of his head, separating some of the fade. He shut his shiny silvery eyes, grunting in pain as he felt what had punctured his armor and stabbed into his right kidney. He felt the Marker shard embedded in his body, and he grabbed it with his right hand, while he brought up his left arm to bite on. He slowly started to twist and pull the 8 inch long shard out, and sunk his teeth into his synthetic fiber coat, screaming as he started to pull the bloody shard out of his gut. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and brought down his arm that he was biting on, and finally yanked out the Marker shard.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Wyatt cried out, slamming his head back on the rock he propped himself up against. He opened his eyes as his Rig's holographic display popped up a meter in front of Wyatt, showing him the diagnostics of his suit and his body's condition. The first thing to pop up on the display was his Health management system, the piece of his Rig which covered his spine. The display showed the bars on the system drop down to 30%, the aqua-blue coloring turning a dark shade of orange. The health monitor condensed into a little box, and moved to the right of the screen, allowing a heart monitor to show up, with a display of his body and its internal organs. The newly formed display showed his heart monitor beeping rapidly, and a red mark on his body showing that his right Kidney was the are affected, and it was currently bleeding and in critical condition. The system started reading off various ways to fix the problem, and get his body back to working function. Wyatt dismissed this, and made the display shut off.

Wyatt looked to the peaceful ocean, seeing the sun go down, and waves form, crashing into the beach. He smiled, leaning his head back onto the rock. He closed his eyes and whispered to himself. "Is this your way of saving my ass, god?"

He chuckled, but his eyes immediately shot open, and alert, when he heard footsteps and voices coming from the woods behind him.

"This way, to the beach!" A female voice ordered. "I heard the scream coming from here!"

Wyatt tapped his helmet around his neck, and it unfolded, covering his head once again. Wyatt grunted as he lifted himself up, using the various rocks around him as support.

'It's...people.' Wyatt thought. 'Maybe they can help me?'

Wyatt slowly climbed over the rocks, making it to the luscious, green grass as he clutched his side. He walked to the woods, seeing a small group of people led by a woman in a red outfit and wearing some sort of mask. He stumbled to his knees, seeing the group rush to him. He collapsed to his hands and his knees, looking up to see the group of people all around him. Wyatt notice that they carried all sorts of weapons, ranging from swords, bows, and to a Revolver. He was a little put off by this, as he would expect anyone in the year 2217 to carry projectile weapons. Even so, he looked at the revolver, and realized it was an old 20th Century .44 Magnum. He started to shift uncomfortably, but the man spoke.

"What the hell is this?!" He asked, a little alarmed as he pointed his revolver to Wyatt's head.

"Maybe it's a new Atlast AK bot?!" A girl carrying two swords said, raising them in a defensive stance.

"Bullshit, Atlas wont send their military anywhere near Mistral! Let alone Anima!" Another male said, arguing with the two who where with him.

"What do you think, Raven?" The man asked their leader, who walked up in front of Wyatt, looking down upon the bleeding boy. Wyatt didn't dare to utter a word, as he was still shocked at what was going on, who these people where, and what the hell they where taking about. The woman didn't move, eyeing him, until she saw the blood seeping down his armor, and dripping into the grass.

"Robots don't bleed...he's probably one of their special operatives." She said, gripping the hit of her sword. "Should be a good ransom. Sell him off with the Schnee girl."

"WHAT!" Wyatt finally spoke, but it was too late, as their leader, Raven, rose her boot.

CRACK

Raven kicked Wyatt's head as hard as she could, and her boot made contact with the side of his head, knocking him out cold. Raven's face contorted in discomfort, as he leg felt like she just kicked the hardest wall in existence. Raven shook her head, wincing through the pain, and motioned her subordinates to pick up the body, and bring it back to the camp. She could tell sometime about this person was different than most Atlas personnel, and she was going to find out what it was.


"...Hey..."

"HEY!"

"HEY WAKE UP!"

Wyatt jolted awake, sitting upright from a makeshift medical table. He was in complete shock, and tried to move his hands and feet, but couldn't. Wyatt looked down to his feet and his hands to see that they where tied down to the table. He grunted, and tried to break free, looking around the rather large tent he was in.

"Hey calm down!" A young woman grabbed his shoulder, trying to restrain him. Wyatt realized he didn't have his armor on, and was just in his under-suit, so he started to get even more aggravated. He turned to stare at the woman with hate-filled eyes, studying her. The young woman had tan-colored skin, short brown hair and icy blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. She seemed to be wearing a brown vest over a torn white shirt, with a collar that appears to spike up behind her neck. Wyatt tried to headbutt her, but failed, causing her to step back.

"What the hell man, we just saved your life!" She said in anger, jabbing her finger at Wyatt.

"Who's we!?" Wyatt asked, lessening his struggles, but keeping a death glare at the woman, staring right into her eyes. He suddenly felt cold metal make contact with his throat, and he stopped moving completely, looking down to see a blood red blade pressed against his neck. He looked to his right to see who was holding the blade. He saw Raven, the woman who lead the team that captures him, and kicked his head in.

"That would be Vernal and I." Raven said, staring down Wyatt, causing him to glare at Raven, a small twitch coming from his eye. "Angry?"

"You damn right I am! You kicked my head in, stole my armor, stole my SHARD!" AT that moment, Wyatt's pupils came to the size of pinpoint needles, his body freezing as he just realized how serious the situation was right now. He didn't have the Marker shard, it was in his coat! Wyatt froze, about to lash out again until he was stopped by Raven.

"We also saved your life." Raven said, obviously irritated. "You do realize you would have bled out and died if it weren't for our doctors stitching you up and restoring your internal conditions?"

Wyatt started to control his breathing, but still needed to get more information about this place, and what happened to his suit, and marker shard. Wyatt closed his eyes, and clenched his fists.

"Where is the Marker shard?" Wyatt asked, his voice dreaded with resent.

"You mean this?" Vernal said smugly, as she took the Marker shard from her pocket. Wyatt saw the shard, dried with blood, and he grunted, whipping his left hand up, snapping the ropes, and snatching the shard away form Vernal.

"JESUS CHRIST DON'T HANDLE IT SO CARELESSLY!" Wyatt yelled, holding the Marker shard in his free hand. Wyatt quickly used the shard to cut his other hand and legs free. Raven watched as this unfolded, while Vernal was still shocked.

Wyatt rolled off the table, trying to stand but his legs where asleep. He groaned, looking up at Raven who din not look amused. She sheathed her large Odachi sword, and shook her head.

"Why should we be so careful with this..."Marker Shard"...you call it?" She asked.

Wyatt raised the shard up, allowing Raven to look at it. It was covered in odd symbols which she had never seen before. Wyatt shook his legs awake, and stood up, towering over Raven by 3 inches. He was still in his under-suit, which showed off the bulk of his muscled body, and he gripped the shard threateningly.

"This shard..." Wyatt began, not knowing how to explain the significance and danger of the item he held. "...is a piece of alien technology which can produce and send waves that can alter a person's DNA, and turn them into horrific monsters when they die. Their body and flesh are mutilated, and twisted into something so inhuman and horrifying, that most people rather commit suicide than to face these things. These...Necromorphs."

"What, so does that mean we're already infected!" Vernal asked, seeming a little bit afraid.

"No." Wyatt answered bluntly. "Well, kind of...the shard is much smaller than a whole Marker, so you would need to be in contact with the Shard for a VERY long time for your DNA to fully mutate."

Vernal sighed, seemingly relieved. However, Raven didn't seem to buy, it, and grabbed Wyatt, pushing him up against the wall with immense speed. Wyatt wasn't ready for this, so he gasped for air, as his back hit hard against the wooden wall around the tent.

"What kind of lies are you telling us! What is the Atlas military hiding, why did Ironwood send you!" Raven yelled. She seemed very pissed, and Wyatt didn't want to deal with someone who wouldn't listen to him right now, because it was IMPERATIVE that people listen to him. Suddenly, Raven's frown became a slow smirk.

"Oh I know what you're here for." She said. "You're here for the Schnee aren't ya? Did Winter send you!?" Wyatt was pushed against the wall harder. He became very pissed at this act, and decided to rebel against this psycho-ass bitch.

Wyatt headbutted raven as hard as he could, causing her to lose he grip, allowing him to grab a splintered piece of wood, and attacked Raven. Wyatt tackled Raven down, stabbing the piece of wood down next to her head. Vernal immediately sprung into action, using a Rapier she stole from the Schnee girl to attack Wyatt. However, Wyatt anticipated this, and rolled over, releasing his own grip on Raven. Vernal had to stop herself so she wouldn't stab Raven, and she barely did so, as the Rapier stopped 1 inch in front of Raven's face.

"I'm so sorry Ra-!" Vernal was cut off, as Wyatt kicked her kidney, causing her to loose her breathe and drop to the ground. Wyatt punched her twice before ducking to dodge Raven's sword, which slashed horizontally at his neck. Wyatt slid around, sleeping his foot under Raven, but she jumped over it, and kicked Wyatt in the face, drawing blood form his nose. Raven noticed this, and decided to test a little more. She raised her sword at Wyatt as he got up, and slashed at him, missing on purpose just so she nicked his arm. Blood suddenly leaked out of the cut, causing Wyatt to grab it in frustration. Raven shook her head, finding out her assumption was correct.

"You don't have an aura...do you?" She asked Wyatt, as he dropped to a knee after being hit in the back by Vernal. Wyatt shook his head.

"What the fuck is an aura?" He asked, irritated.

"It's the manifestation of one's soul, sued to become their own protective shield, and heal them at faster rates than normal. This also allowed the person to unlock their semblance, a special ability unique to the user."

Wyatt shook his head.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Wyatt said. He come to his senses real quick, and decided to ask something he should've a bit ago. "Where am I? What planet is this?"

Vernal looked at Wyatt cautiously, yet also surprised. She couldn't tell of Wyatt was trying to trick them, but the genuine concern in his voice egged to differ. Raven knew Wyatt wasn't trying to trick them, as she has had her fair share of that sort of stuff. She sighed, and sheathed her blade, motioning Vernal to do so as well. Though reluctant, Vernal eventually sheathed the stolen Rapier.

"Vernal, step outside, I wish to speak to this man alone." Raven said.

Vernal bowed, and walked outside without a word. Wyatt thought this was odd, but was grateful as he slowly got up, and leaned against the table. He picked up the Marker shard from the ground, and placed it onto the makeshift medical table. Raven motioned him to follow, and so he did, picking up the shard, and taking it with him. She pulled over a curtain, allowing her and Wyatt into the main room of the large tent. It had a fireplace, a table, and finally, his armor and weapons, set on a rack. Raven walked over to it, and picked it up off the display. She turned and tossed Wyatt his armor, but not his weapons. Wyatt was confused.

"Why are you doing this all the sudden?" He asked, slowly putting on his Rig. He placed the coat on first, which connected to his pants by zipping it up, and buttoning the coat as well. The spinal heath system on his Rig was placed on his spine, locking onto his under-suit and skin. His back muscles contracted as the heath system locked in place, reading his vital signs. The health counter sped to the top, each square becoming a light aqua-blue. He finally grabbed the armor pieces, and pulled them over the coat, locking them in place with the synesthetic fibers. His helmet was last, and he pressed a button on the contracted head-wear, unfolding it and making it cover his entire head.

"Think of it as a peace offering, considering you're obviously not Atlas military, and you're obviously not from around here." She said, grabbing his Plasma Cutter, and examining it. "I'm not stupid you know. We may have fought just then, but I'm also very civilized when the time comes. I made a mistake, so I am making up for it."

Wyatt was completely dumbfounded by this. Sure, she may have saved his life, but she also kidnapped him, and attacked on too. What kind of bipolar ass person was this? Wyatt shook his head in disbelief at what was just happening, and why this was going by so quickly.

"So, you ready to tell me where you are from, and I can explain where you are?" Raven asked, sitting down on a couch by the fireplace. Wyatt was absolutely confused, but decided that trying to be civilized was better than taking his weapons and running as far away as he could. So, Wyatt came and sat down on a seat across from her, staring her through his blue visor.

Raven decided to start the conversation off.

"Tell me where you are form, no lies, no bullshit." She asked sternly, looking Wyatt up and down.

"Well...are we on Earth?" Wyatt asked, causing Raven to raise an eyebrow.

"There is only one planet, Remanent, which we are currently residing. There is no space travel technology, and I've never heard of Earth. however, we do have a moon."

"Okay, what year is it, because it was the year 2217 last time I checked." Wyatt said.

"It's currently 81 A.G.W, 81 years after the Great War." Raven said. "I am assuming where you come form, you have extremely advanced technology. I mean, you're referencing space travel, not to mention your armor and weapons. Never seen anything quite like it, it's not even powered by dust."

"Dust?"

"Basically the raw source of power for almost anything on Remnant. Ranges from elements like fire to gravity."

Wyatt placed his hand under his chin, and started to think. He was wondering how he got here, as the last thing he remembered was hitting the bottom of a Ravine on Jupiter's moon Europa. He wasn't even in one of the other solar systems far out in the Milky Way, he was in his own! He shook his head, weighing the ideas of the power of the Markers sending him here, or something far more powerful...something celestial. He looked at Raven.

"Have you ever heard of God? Jesus Christ?" Wyatt asked.

"If you're speaking of religious figures, we only know the twins. The brother of life, and brother of darkness. Together, they created all life on Remnant, and the creatures of Grimm." Raven said.

"What are Grimm?" Wyatt asked, obviously perplexed.

"They are evil creatures with no soul, no organs, and only one goal in mind...to kill and devour all living things." Raven said. "They draw towards negative feelings like envy, fear, sadness, etc. They have no souls and therefore, have no aura."

"So they're basically the Necromorphs of this world." Wyatt said aloud, not realizing it at first, until Raven asked about it.

"What are Necromorphs?" Raven asked, seemingly interested in the topic. Wyatt sighed, not knowing how he'd explain these monstrosities to her.

"They are the monsters I said that are created from the Marker, and the Shard of the Marker." Wyatt said, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out the shard once more. "It'd be better if I show you, not tell."

Raven looked confused, but Wyatt activated his holographic display from the armor piece on his chest cavity, and the hologram appeared a meter in front on him. Raven was surprised when she saw this at first, but didn't show it. Suddenly, a slip started playing on the hologram, showing that is was a recording from Wyatt's Head's -Up-Display.


Wyatt was currently using his flamethrower to burn the copious amounts of Necromorphs which where assaulting him. He screamed as he melted away the mutilated and decayed flesh. The flaming bodies crawled to him, but their heads where crushed under Wyatt's boot, ending the second lives of the deceased. Soon enough, a Necromorph Hunter came through the flames, regenerating the melted flesh and limbs as they where burning.


"What is that?! Is that a Necromorph like the others?!" Raven said, raising her voice a little.

"A Necromorph on fucking steroids."

"Steroids?"

"Never mind...keep watching."


The Hunter charged at Wyatt, swinging its blade-like appendages. Wyatt dodged the limbs, while switching out his Flamethrower for his Cutter. Wyatt quickly jumped onto the back of the Hunter, and unloaded all 10 plasma bursts into the Hunter's limbs, and chest cavity, opening up it's mutilated internal organs, and spraying blood over his suit. The Hunter flayed wildly, regenerating its limbs, and trying to get Wyatt off of its back. However, it was too late as Wyatt armed an Incendiary Grenade, jumping off the body with the extra force of the fiery explosion, blowing guts all over, turning the cracked, and melted ice and snow into a crimson pool. This was when the ice sloped at a 45 degree angle, and Wyatt fell off into the dark ravine, losing his Marker Shard.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuuuuuuuuuu -"

The screen went static, reactivating and deactivating every 3 second interval. The sickening

was heard as his body made impact with the edge of the ravine, but his video feed caught one last thing before it cut off. Coming down the dark ravine was a light humanoid, bearing wings, slowly floating down the Ravine. It opened it's eyes to reveal two shining white lights, and folded its wings while the entire area imploding, leaving the video feed to stop and end in static.

***SIGNAL LOST***


The hologram closed into a small square and faded back into his display piece. Wyatt was perplexed about the entity that he saw on the last seconds of teh video, but his attention as brought back to Raven. Raven shifted a bit, sloshing something around in her mouth. Wyatt smiled through his helmet, knowing exactly what it was. He stood up, and pointed to the bloody stains on his coat, and the aroma which came form it.

"Like it?"

Raven's mouth burst open, shooting out a wave of projectile vomit, all over the carpet. Wyatt chuckled, as she wiped her mouth, looking a bit hazy.

"I'll give it to ya kid," She started, "First time I've puked from a video in...years."

Wyatt shrugged, but that was when Vernal quickly came into the room, looking very serious. She pointed outside and said, "Ma'am...your daughter is here."

Wyatt titled his head slowly, looking back at Raven, and then to Vernal, then back again. He put his hands in a box shape, and looked at Raven like she was a portrait. Did some dude really plow her? Damn, lucky guy. Of course she's gotta be about 35, 36 now. Wyatt chuckled, and looked over to Vernal, who was looking at the pile of vomit on the floor with disgust, and shock.

"Ey, girl, might want to get someone to clean this up, I made Raven spill her lunch." Wyatt said, almost as smug as his grin was. Vernal could obviously tell, and she sighed, getting a wash rag and bucket herself from a shelf, and walking over. Wyatt noticed Raven place her helmet on, and walk past him, not saying a word.

Wyatt followed behind her, turning the corner of the room, seeing her open the tent entrance, and walking out onto a stage, slowly. Wyatt poked his head out to see a young blonde girl wearing a crop-top and a long trench coat. Her hair was really long, but what truly stuck out was her...assets. Wyatt was surprised that she didn't look like she had back pain lugging those puppies around. She was flanked on each side by Raven's subordinates, who seemed like they got their asses kicked with all the bruises and cuts they had. Wyatt smiled at this display, and he knew this was gonna be good.

"Mom." The blonde girl spoke, placing her hand on her hip. Raven reacted by taking her mask off, and looking at her daughter, with some features of happiness form on her face.

"Yang." Raven said, placing her mask down on a box next to her on the stage. She walked forward.

"So..after all this time, you finally decided to visit me." Raven said, throwing her hands up, the only audible sound was her heels clicking on the stage. Wyatt saw Yang's left hand shake, and she grabbed the gauntlet on it with her right, robotic hand.

"You know that I searched for you." Yang retorted, looking displeased. "I spent years looking for you."

"And you found me. You where patient, determined, and strong enough to make your dream a reality. Well done Yang." Raven said aloud, getting everyone' attention drawn to her daughter. Wyatt shook his head seeing as she was obviously planning this, "But did you have to be so rough with my men." Raven smirked.

"I didn't want a fight. They started it."

"Well you certainly finished it."

Wyatt saw Yang had her arms crossed, and was looking very irritated with her mother. Wyatt wanted to laugh so hard, but her knew it would attract unwanted attention to him. There was an awkward silence between everyone, the only audible sound where crickets chirping.

"Right..." Raven said, ending the short silence. "I'm sure this is all very overwhelming, but I must admit you've proven yourself. So, any questions you have, I'll be happy to answer. You can stay with us tonight...I'll even have the cooks whip up something for you.

"That's NOT why I'm here." Yang said, causing some commotion to erupt in the crowd of people, the tribe members.

"What was that!" Raven said louder, crossing her own arms, staring down her own daughter.

"I'm not here for you. Ruby is somewhere in Mistral. She's with Qrow, and she's going to need my help. I just need you to take me to her.

"And WHY would I do that?" Raven said, cocking her hips to the side.

"Because we're family."

Raven scoffed, "Family...only coming around when they need something." Raven started to walk back opening her eyes to see Wyatt with his helmet down, looking at Raven with amused eyes. This irritated her, as she looked back to Yang, covering up Wyatt from the eyes of the crowd.

"I have to say I'm disappointing. After all, you found me didn't you? Why not use that drive and find your little sister if she means that much to you."

"Because you're going to save me time." Yang retorted. "Ruby was heading to Mistral, but there's no guarantee she's made it there. Looking for her in Anima could take ages...but Dad told me how your semblance works."

Raven looked down, and whispered to herself. "Tai."

"You could bond to certain people, and when you do, you can create a portal which leads right to them." Yang said smugly. "You got one for Dad, one for me, and you've got one...for Qrow. He promised me he'd watch out for Ruby before he left, and I trust him. So, make a portal to my uncle and sister, and I'll be on my way."

"You know, it takes real strength to march in here and demand such a favor of me. I've got to say I'm impressed. It's very noble to want to help out your sister..." Raven said, pacing back and forth on the stage. "But if she's with Qrow...then she's already a lost cause."

"What does that mean." Yang demanded.

"You don't want to get mixed up in all of that Yang. Ozpin is not the man you think he is, and Qrow is a fool for trusting him. I would know, I trusted him once too." Raven said, looking back to Yang, with her hand on the hilt of her Odachi.

"I don't care what you think." Yang said boldly.

"You're choice is your own. All I'm suggestion is instead of getting wrapped up in something too big for you; for any of us. Maybe you take a moment to ask yourself if you're already where you belong."

"Save your breathe!" Yang started. "You could spout out whatever you want, BUT NOTHING is going to keep me from my sister."

"Oh, aren't you stubborn." Raven said mockingly, gripping her Odachi tighter.

"I got it from my Mom." Yang retorted with a bit of sass, smirking at the burn she just made.

There was a pause once again, only the wind breezing to keep the camp form being utterly silent.

"Well if that's how you feel, then it sounds like we're done here. Take her away." Raven demanded, turning back to the tent, walking to it. This made Wyatt a tad bit pissed off at Raven, for neglecting her own daughter like that, so he drew his Cutter, and made his way out onto the stage. He watched as Raven's forces surrounded Yang, getting closer to her every step. This didn't stop Yang's drive at her mother though, as she screamed.

"Did you not hear me!" She called out to Raven, who Wyatt was glaring at through the crack of the tent, as she placed a hand on it. "I said, SEND ME TO QROW DAMN IT!" Yang screamed, her eyes turning blood red.

"That's enough! You watch your mouth in front of our leader!" One of Raven's soldiers said.

"Make me." Yang retorted, causing the man to scream and charge Yang with a small sword. However, he didn't get close at all, as his body took 12 shots of Plasma in four bursts, causing his aura to break, and his body fly back, his gut being pried open by the plasma shots. His body hit a small tent, taking it down, revealing a cage with a small girl with a white pony-tail inside.

Everyone gasped, even Yang, as Wyatt sprinted his way down to Yang, equipping his Pulse Rifle in his left hand, and Cutter in his right, aiming both ways to protect Yang.

"Shut the fuck up ya bastards!" He yelled, turning to the cage which housed the girl. She stared at Yang, and then to Wyatt.

"Yang?!" She said, gripping the bars of the cage.

Yang moved past Wyatt, who kept his gleaming silver eyes on every member of the camp, finger ready to squeeze the trigger if anybody moved.

"Weiss!?" Yang said, surprised, as she took a few steps closer to the cage.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Wyatt asked Yang, tilted his head back to her.

"Yes, she's my teammate!" Yang replied, answering the curious man's question.

"Alright, well subtlety is out." Weiss said, annoyed, as she turned around in the cage, and a giant knight made out of ice formed, and grew larger, breaking the cage, allowing Weiss to break free, and run to Yang. Her Ice-knight following right after her. It stomped on the man that Wyatt shot, killing him. Wyatt, Weiss, Yang, and the ice-knight stood back-to-back, facing Raven's tribe on all sides, ready for a fight.

"What is that?" Yang asked Weiss.

"Don't worry about it! What are you doing here, and who is he!?" Weiss asked, pointing to Wyatt, as all eyes seemed to converge on him. He tapped his folded helmet, and it unfolded once again, covering his head once more.

"Well, I'm a guy whose gonna tag a long with you, and that woman up there is Yang's mom. Not to mention she can take you to some girl named 'Ruby' ." Wyatt said, pointing his Pulse Rifle straight at Raven. This came to Weiss a shock, and she began to rant.

"YOU'RE MOM KIDNAPPED ME!?"

"Wait, YOU KIDNAPPED HER!?"

All attention was brought onto Raven, but Wyatt was the first one to answer this.

"No shit Sherlock, I was also nabbed because she thought I was some Atlas special forces or some shit like that."

The three kept their eyes locked on Raven, mixed emotions flowed through them. The crowd around them started to rile up with anger, and hatred towards the group. The rest of Raven's tribe took out their weapons. They charged, and Yang, Weiss, and Wyatt charged back until a single bolt of lighting struck down in front of them, stopping everyone in their tracks.

"ENOUGH!" Vernal's voice echoed throughout the camp, getting everybody's attention, stopping the fight from happening. Rave faced her.

"Thank you." Raven turned back to the crowd and had an angry look on her face, mostly directed at Wyatt, who had just killed one of her men. "If you people don't keep it together, this place will be crawling with Grimm! Give the girl her weapon back."

Vernal looked back to Raven with surprise, but saw her angry face, and immediately looked to Weiss, throwing the Rapier back to her with a foul look on her face. Weiss caught it, and inspected it for any damages.

"You three!" Raven said sternly. "In my tent, NOW."

"Why." Yang asked, still pretty upset and angry.

"If you're really going after your sister, then you need to know the truth." Raven said, as she turned back, and walked right into the tent. The crowd around them dispersed, and Wyatt unlatched, and folded his helmet. down to his neck. He let out a sigh of relief. He took a few steps forward, but looked abck to see Yang and Weiss staying where they where.

"Sorry about tha-" Yang started, but was interrupted as Weiss dropped her weapon, and jumped to Yang, hugging her tightly. She seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"I missed you so much." She said, closing her eyes tightly.

"I missed you too." Yang said, with the first genuine smile Wyatt had seen from the busty blonde form on her face. Wyatt looked up to see the giant ice-knight dissipate into snow, and flow off into the sky, being carried by the gentle wind.


Weiss and Yang sat across form Yang, sitting on large red pillows as seats. Wyatt stood above the three, watching as Vernal served them all tea. Wyatt and Vernal both changed heated glares, which everyone around the table noticed, but didn't say a world about it. Raven looked up to Vernal.

"You can wait outside, thank you." She said in a soft voice. Vernal obliged, and walked out of the smaller room in the back of the tent, away from the room Wyatt made Raven puke in earlier that day. All eyes converged on Wyatt, who was still standing, glaring down with his helmet off, revealing his toned ace, but what caught everyone;s attention where his silver eyes, which seemed to be filled with rage right now. Wyatt looked away from Yang and Weiss, and glared at Raven. The feelings they had right now for each other where...mutual.

"So...I know I'm the odd one out here, but what;s the truth, Mom of the year?" Wyatt said sternly, but jokingly at the same time. Yang stifled a laugh, but was immediately shut up by Wyatt's glare being directed at her.

"You know, there should be some formal introductions here." Raven said, stirring her tea. Everyone looked up to Wyatt, who sighed, and slowly sat down at the middle of the table, not needing a pad as his heavy coat was all the comfort he needed.

"Name's Wyatt, fought your mom, made her puke, shared origin stories, blah blah blah, I already know who you two are." Wyatt said. "Oh, and apparently Raven said my eyes are interesting, but I don't really give a damn."

"Well, they look exactly like Ruby's." Weiss said, trying to prop a friendly smile, but was a little nervous to.

"Glad that a comparison was made , now I want to know just as much as you two do since I got dragged into this now." Wyatt said, nodding to Raven, who took a long sip of her tea, seemingly ignoring Wyatt. She finished, and looked blankly at everyone.

"You know, it's better when it's hot." Raven said, motioning to the tea on the table.

"You know, you're very obnoxious." Weiss said with a resting bitch face. This caused Wyatt to snort, and laugh.

"Oh my god, yes, this is the best thing I've seen all day." Wyatt laughed, getting a glare from Raven, but a small smile of approval from Yang and Weiss.

"The truth, is that truth is hard to come by." Raven said, answering everyone's question the simplest way possible. "A story of victory for one person, is a story of defeat for someone else. By now, your Uncle has probably told Ruby and her friends plenty of stories."

"Well, he's never given me a reason to doubt him before." Yang said smoothly.

"That doesn't mean those reasons don't exist." Raven said.

"I agree with Raven on that one." Wyatt said, raising his hand. "I had a mentor named Isaac Clarke, who I always believed in, but when I blindly followed him, and had no doubts about trying to track the Marker with him, I lost him, and kinda died."

This helped Raven put her point through a bit, but Yang didn't want to hear any of it, as she narrowed her eyes and glared at her mother.

"You know, you and your teammates might as well be the postman for the Hunter Academies. your motives vary, but you all enrolled to make the world a 'better' place. It's adorable." Raven said, laying back a bit and putting her palm behind her on the pillow to support herself.

"It's what Huntsmen and Huntresses do." Yang said sternly.

"Not...all of them." Raven said. "Some people are just in it for the money and the fame, but there are even more who are just looking to grow stronger. Your Uncle Qrow and I didn't attend Beacon to become Huntsmen. We did it to learn how to kill Huntsmen."

Yang and Ruby both gasped, and looked to each other. Wyatt chuckled a bit, shaking his head in belief. The world wasn't as vanilla a it might have seemed. For someone so young, at the age of 19, Wyatt sure knew this. I mean, he seemed to only be a year older than Weiss and Yang, but know the real world a whole lot better than they did.

"Daddy and Uncle left that part out, hmm? Besides the Grimm, Huntsmen where the only ones capable of ruining our raids, and hunting us down." Raven said as she poured more tea into her cup. "Our tribe needed a counter force." Raven said as she took a sip of her freshly poured tea. "And Qrow and I where the perfect age."

"The entrance exams where child's play compared to what we'd already been through. We where good...so good that we caught the attention of Beacon's very own Headmaster, Professor Ozpin. Even after we where put on a team, we could tell he was keeping an eye on us. Back then I thought it was because he knew, but it was Team Stark (STRQ) he was interested in."

"What do you mean by that?" Yang asked, perplexed.

"Constant attention, extra training missions, turning a blind eye whenever we happened to break the rules and get into more trouble than we should've. Sound familiar?"

Wyatt must've guessed Ozpin did the exact same team with Weiss and Yang's team, but he still need to find out the other two. He though Ruby was in it, but still needed one more teammate to make his assumption complete. Weiss and Yang looked at each other like that was the exact case.

"What's your point?" Yang asked.

"How much do you know about Professor Ozpin, about his past?"

"He was...a prodigy, one of the youngest headmasters to be appointed to a school." Weiss said, answering the question which Raven had asked.

"Because that's how he planned it. Because the man you know as Ozpin designed those schools, and has followers inside every academy across Remnant that are loyal to him, and him and no one else."

"That doesn't make any sense." Yang said, shaking her head. "How could have have- no, why would someone even do that!"

"Because Old man Oz, has a great a terrible secret. One that could spread fear across the world. One that he eventually entrusted to our team, and once I knew, there was no going back. I needed to know more, but with every new discovery I made, the more horrifying the world became." Rave explained, turning back, and getting up from her seat, to look at a map of Remnant which was coincidentally behind her.

"Okay, then tell us." Yang demanded. "What's the big secret, what's so crazy that the rest of us don't know.

Raven closed her eye, and shook her head slowly. "The creatures of Grimm...have a master named Salem. She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest, until Humanity crumbles at her feet."

"What?" Weiss asked, but was cut off when Wyatt stood up in anger, jabbing his finger towards Raven.

"So you fucking give up, and not try and fight!? Everything in the world died, everything has a weakness! If you seek to exploit that, you can KILL the damn thing, or person! I know that with this information, I sure as hell wont stop until this woman's head is under my boot!" Wyatt roared.

"SHE IS NOT ANYWHERE CLOSE TO A NECROMORPH, BE REALISTIC!" Raven yelled at Wyatt, losing her cool for once. She realized this, and cleared her throat, looking back again. "You know...you three haven't even touched your tea yet." Raven said, trying to change the subject. She took a sip, as Yang got up

"Why should we believe any of this?" She asked.

"Now you're catching on. So far you've done nothing but accept what others tell you, but you need to question everything." Raven stared Yang straight in her eyes as they stood face to face, inches away from each other. Raven turned around, and stepped back towards the map. "Or else you'll end up a blind as Qrow...and your fool of a father."

Wyatt was about to break the table in half, but Yang beta him to it, slamming her fist down on the table, and shooting a powerful shotgun blast from it. The table crumbled, and a tea cup flew in the air, dropping to the ground and rolling by Raven's foot.

"Don't you DARE talk about my family like that!" Yang yelled, her eyes turning red once more. The sound of a gun cocking was all Wyatt heard, as Vernal rose a disk-like weapon at Yang.

"You need to calm down." Vernal demanded in a soft voice. However, the sound of Wyatt's pulse rifle clicking silenced everyone, as he had a laser sight aimed right at Vernal's head.

"She has the right to be mad if her own mother is trashing her family." Wyatt said sternly.

"Yang, Wyatt, please." Weiss said, grabbing onto Yang's hand, and looking at Wyatt, who had his finger on the trigger.

"You should listen to her Yang, your teammates never let you down before, and you too Wyatt, I know you're smarter than this." Raven said.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT MY TEAMMATES! ABOUT ME! YOU WHERE NEVER THERE, YOU LEFT US!" Yang started to scream, and go off on her mother. However, this fit stopped and her red eyes turned to their normal blue hue, and she slumped her head down. "Why?"

"I know more than you realize. Not just about you, and not just what I've been told, BUT things I've seen, with my own eyes." Raven grunted. "I know the Grimm have a leader, I know people that can come back from the dead. I know that magic is real...and I can prove it."

Weiss stood up, and Wyatt glanced his gaze from Raven, then back to Vernal. He wouldn't drop his weapon until this bitch dropped hers.

"You said Tai told you all about my semblance. Raven said. "Well I doubt he ever told you what Oz did to my brother and me." Raven walked to the back of the tent behind the map of Remnant, and opened up the side. She walked out, leaving everyone in the room. Vernal dropped her weapon, and so did Wyatt, He joined Weiss and Yang, when they where told to go see for themselves. They all walked outside to see...

Nothing

The backyard of the large tent was empty, Raven nowhere to be seen. Yang decided to call out for her.

"Mom?"

"Yang, are you okay?" Weiss asked with genuine concern in her voice.

"I'll be fine once we get her to take us to Ruby." Yang retorted a little brash.

"It's okay if..you're not okay." Weiss shrugged, as Yang looked back to her.

"You didn't believe what she said, right?" Yang asked looking at Weiss, then to Wyatt.

"Wyatt stayed silent as Weiss stuttered, trying to find an answer. However, she was topped when they all heard a bird squawk in the tree-line. They all looked up to see a Jet-black Raven flying overhead, circling them. Wyatt gasped, getting the attention of Yang and Weiss.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me." Wyatt face-palmed.

"A raven?" Weiss said, confused.

"I've...seen that bird before." Yang said, staring at the bird as it flew overhead.

"Maybe it belongs to your mom?"

"How about it IS her mom!" Wyatt exclaimed, as the bird dove down, and swooped through the tree-line. The Raven flew past a really large tree very quickly, and transformed behind it. Raven came out, behind the tree, falling down, and impacting right in front of the three. Yang and Weiss where amazed and confuse,d while it was painfully obvious that Wyatt was trying to stifle back his laughs.

"How...did you do that?" Yang asked her mom, as they faced each other.

"Well, I could explain it to you," Raven said, smirking as she drew her Odachi, and turned around, slashing down vertically, creating a large, red portal through thin air, opening up behind her, "Or you could ask your Uncle."

"You're letting us go?" Yang asked, as if she would never expect this to happen.

"I'm giving you a choice." Raven said, looking back to the trio. "Stay here, with me, and I'll answer alllllllll your questions and more. We can have a fresh start. Or, you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's impossible war against Salem...and meet the same fate as so many others. But...can you really go back to trusting someone that's kept so much from you?"

Weiss seemed to tense up a bit looking at Yang, and then to Wyatt, and then back to Yang. The cat had gotten her tongue, and she didn't know what to say, or if she should say anything!

"All I care about is making sure my sister is safe." Yang said sternly, causing a frown of displeasure to form on Raven's face. She sighed, and looked down.

Yang grabbed a mechanical box from he back, and placed it on the ground, allowing her Motorcycle, Bumblebee, to form. She grabbed Weiss, and they both hopped on. Yang turned the key into the motorcycle's ignition, causing it to sputter and start up. She slowly drove to the beginning of the portal, with Wyatt walking by her cycle. That was when Raven stopped them all.

"Yang." Raven called out, getting her daughter's attention. "If you side with your uncle, I may not be so kind the next time we meet."

Raven seemed to be threatening them, or forewarning them. Yang glared at her and spoke.

"You weren't kind this time either." Yang said as she drove into the portal, leaving only Wyatt and Raven. Raven and Wyatt had a stare down, until Wyatt spoke.

"I'd like to thank you for saving my life, but I am leaving, now." Wyatt said, feeling his Plasma Cutter on his thigh, threatening Raven. He knew it wasn't the bets idea, but he had to act as if she didn't cause him any discomfort. Raven closed her eyes and nodded, sighing heavily.

"Wyatt." Raven said, grabbing Wyatt;s attention for one last time.

"What..."

"Look after them...you know as well as I do that this fight against Salem is a lost cause."

Wyatt shook his head, disagreeing with her. Without a word, he stepped into the red portal, leaving Raven and her ridiculous tribe behind. He went to go join her daughter, and possible find out more information on where he is, how he came here, and what to do with the Marker Shard.