Chapter 8 – The Branwen Tribe


Weiss


The Schnee Heiress softly moans as she begins to wake up, hearing the tweets of morning birds in the trees outside of their dorm room. She yawns and stretches her arms, looking up at the pressure in the bed above her where Ruby should be sleeping. She slumps out of bed and glances over at Blake, seeing her still snuggled up in her beg, peacefully resting – something she has been happy to see after Blake's struggle to sleep due to her past with the White Fang haunting her, Adam and simply stressing herself out over everything to do with Roman Torchwick.

Still crazy for them to believe that he is dead, for so long they never thought that he would be defeated, and never in their lives did they think he would die the way they did. In a way, they wish that he didn't die, and was imprisoned in an asylum somewhere. It was the least that they could have done for him, since in their minds very few deserve to die. But Jackdaw…that is something else entirely, because he has been imprisoned multiple times now, and yet every time he breaks out and kills more people. Like some sort of plague that spreads and kills everything in its path.

As Weiss gets up she rubs her tired eyes with her closed fists, yawing yet again as she approaches the bathroom, completely unaware that Ruby and Yang are not in their beds. But at the end of the day, she is usually the first one up. Then Blake and then Yang – and then Ruby, since she always sleeps in, even four years after first arriving at Beacon in their beloved dorm room. She brushes it with all the minty paste into her teeth, whitening them bright as she spits it out into the sink, staring at her messy ice white hair. She picks up her hairbrush and starts pulling it down her strands of hair, some of it knotted up in places as she swiftly yanks it through the strands.

After beautifying herself up with makeup and cleaning her hair, she turns and walks out, finding a groaning Blake as she starts to wake up. "Morning." Weiss greets as she gets up, scratching her cat ears, looking at the Schnee Heiress walking out of the bathroom. Blake still is not all there right now as she rolls her shoulder.

"I think…I slept funny." She grumbles, rolling her aching shoulder, feeling her whole arm go numb in the process. Her sore skin itches as she touches her shoulder, getting up and approaching her chest of drawers to find her outfit as she walks into the bathroom after Weiss to get changed. Already changed when in there, Weiss walks in there and she sits down at the study table in the corner, checking over Myrtenaster with her cloth. She glances at the two beds where the sisters should be sleeping.

"C'mon sleepyheads." Weiss says to them, but there is nothing, just silence. Normally they would moan and roll aside, so Weiss raises a brow at the mysterious silence. She gets up and approaches the bunkbed where Ruby would be. She jumps up and grabs onto the duvet sheets and she pulls them from where Ruby is – or where she should be. Weiss' eyes widen and a gasp of shock leaves her mouth, staring at the bed only to find it empty with a few pillows stuffed underneath the duvet itself, the one on her pillow merely looks like it was her head, just an optical illusion. Weiss' mind begins to race and she staggers back. "No…no, no no…NO!" Weiss screams, causing Blake to yelp, opening the door with a toothbrush still stuffed in her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Blake slurs with toothpaste still in her mouth.

"They're gone!" Weiss exclaims with distress in her voice, pacing back and forth. Blake turns and she spits the paste from her mouth in the sink and washes it away with the tap. She turns and returns to Weiss, looking around and she grabs onto Yang's duvet and rips it off. Only to find her blonde haired friend is missing too. Her eyes widen as she starts to look around, noticing their bags and weapons are not here either – alongside those Black Feathers they had on the table. "They're gone! They're gone! They're gone!" Weiss yells with both anger and concern in her voice as she paces back and forth, so Blake walks over to her Icy Friend and grabs her by the shoulders to still her.

"Weiss, calm down." Blake tells her as she looks at her, her amber feline eyes reflecting off the blue irises of the Heiress. "Focus, we need to see where they went." Blake says as she checks underneath her bed to see if they left a note behind. They keep searching for their weapons in the vain hope that this is some kind of elaborate joke on Ruby and Yang's part. It wouldn't be the first time they have pulled that on them, once they truly made them think they lost their weapons when they were just underneath their beds. It would not be crazy to assume they would pull something like that again. But with every location they search in their Dormitory, they cannot find any clues behind them – except for one – that leaves them troubled.

"The Black Feathers are gone too." Weiss says to her, covering her mouth with one hand and the other behind her head as she stands with her legs shaking. "How could they do this to us? We promised we'd talk about this…" Weiss softly says with a stressed voice. Blake walks back and forth, then hear ears flick up when she hears movement outside their door. She turns and she opens the door, to see Jaune and Pyrrha doing the exact same thing now. They are looking up and down the halls outside of their dorm room, calling out their names.

"Ren!" Jaune calls out.

"Nora! Where are you?" Pyrrha too yells out, but no response, so Blake walks out and Jaune turns to see her there.

"Nora and Ren too?" Blake asks with worry in her voice, wringing her hands together as she looks at the two of them.

"Too? You mean Ruby and Yang are gone as well?" Jaune asks, and it does not take them long to deduce what is going on.

"The four of them all had those damn feathers, you saw it." Weiss states with anger in her voice as she slams her elbow into the wall to get that anger out. Weiss has always taken it to heart when their teammates – their friends – have taken matters into their own hands instead of going to their teammates. Blake did it a long time ago, and now Ruby and Yang have done the exact same thing. "What is wrong with her? She's our leader! She should know better." Weiss growls, unable to find a place for her frustration with Ruby right now. They all feel so betrayed, that these friends of theirs, their family, could not trust them enough that they needed to sneak out of Beacon Academy.

"They're following Jack the Ripper's Trail." Jaune states as he thinks about it, turning to look at the three others. "C'mon, it's obvious right? They talked about it last night, they all had those feathers. Where else would they be going? They were adamant of going after him and were against us on our decision of the Consensus." Jaune explains to them, and Weiss nods her head, pinching the bridge of her nose with stress in her bones.

"Damn it you're right." Weiss says.

"They'll get themselves killed if they go after him like this." Pyrrha states, and Blake sighs, shaking her head as she presses her hands to her head.

"You're right." Blake agrees as she paces back and forth, but as they go to continue the debate of their plan of what to do next, they hear the thundering footfalls of many soldiers headed in their direction. Marching up the stares at the Stockholm Troopers, rifles in hand and aiming them down the hallway at them, kicking open doors one at a time to check the amount of Graduates inside of them. They shine their lives as they enter their rooms, throwing the duvets off their bodies to make sure that they are not hiding from them.

"Nobody move!" One of the Raven Talons yells as he heads up the hallway, keeping his rifle trained on the four of them as they stand there. They hold their hands over their heads and the soldiers push them against the walls, rifles aimed at the back of their heads. "Don't make this difficult. Where did your teammates go?" The Raven Talon commands, noticing that they are not here.

"W-We don't know!" Weiss cries out as she feels the armoured hand grabbing her by the nape of her neck, pushing her face into the wall. But as they interrogate them with shock and fear, they turn when hearing Killian's voice.

"Stand down." Killian orders, and the soldier does so immediately, lowering his rifle and stepping away from the four Graduates. Killian looks at them, noticing that they are the ones that agreed with him on the idea of the Vytal Consensus, the ones that are thinking about the future opposed to the here and now.

The soldiers barge into the Dorm Rooms of Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R and they start rifling through everything that they have in there in order to locate any clues of the missing Huntresses and Huntsmen that have just gone missing. And are the suspected thieves of one of their Wasps. Killian lets them do their work, despite the worry of the two Huntresses, who look at all their possessions being pushed aside, shining lights and looking for whatever they can find. Weiss and Blake both turn back to Killian as the soldiers keep on pacing down the halls, ordering the students to stay down as they check for any sneaky traitors in the area.

"Apologies for my men, we have a strict rule when it comes down to this sort of procedure." Killian explains with a huff.

"Assaulting students?" Weiss scoffs as she massages her jaw from getting slammed against the wall the way she did.

"They had reason to assume you were hostile. It is what we are trained for." Killian tells her, and Blake scoffs.

"What? To be paranoid?" Blake questions.

"In a way. It has always been our duty as Black Ops to be ready for anything, although they were indeed mistaken to attack you the way you did. I could tell you were just as shocked of this revelation as I was." Killian explains as he rubs his tired eyes. The Commander of the Black Gallows must have been up for quite a long time now, since the news of one of his ships being stolen like that is bound to keep you on your toes. "I feel due to the recent events my men have every reason to distrust people, too." Killian explains, referencing the betrayal of the Construction Workers that night, the leader of which he killed with the sample of Grave Dust he acquired from one of Jackdaw's blades.

Killian looks at Pyrrha and Jaune behind him, seeing their rightfully judgemental glares on their faces towards Killian. The Commander sighs as he massages his brow and he walks into their dorm room, looking at the beds that the soldiers are tearing into in order to find any clues they can. "Why are you ripping up their mattresses?" Jaune questions with disgust.

"You would be surprised how many suspects hide things of interest to us in their mattresses, son. One time we found a gun in there." Killian chuckles as he picks up a chair and he sits down in the hallway with them. The others crouch down into a sitting position on the floor as Killian speaks with them, since he needs as much information as he can muster.

"They left us, didn't they?" Pyrrha sadly asks as she wraps her legs around her bent knees.

"It certainly looks that way. I guess we should have expected it, but I never expected them to lie to any of you. Thought all of you were a tightly knit bunch." Killian presumes as he taps his finger against his knee.

"We've always had each other's back…" Jaune sighs, then Blake – the one who was in between in the discussion – stares at Killian with judging eyes.

"Y'know, if you hadn't have pushed this damn Consensus none of this would have happened." Blake reminds, and Killian crosses his arms.

"And then what? You would have another rebellion on your hands, of people against the Academies." Killian states, still adamantly standing by his decisions, in which makes Jaune scoff as he stares at him.

"How the hell are you still in office after what you did?" Jaune questions, then Killian just stares straight into his eyes.

"Careful son – I'm being nice to you right now. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." He states, and his words really send shivers down his spine. Because he never gave him a definitive answer to his question. After everything he did, he should have been punished. Even though he managed to cover up his atrocities from the public, it is almost certain that the Government know what he did that night. What he did to Jaymes, how he was the man behind the Black Smog attack four years ago.

And yet…here he is…like nothing has changed.

Did he…kill anyone who stood against him?

Jaune thinks this questions in his mind, but he is too afraid to ask the man, since he is a Black Operatives Commander, meaning he is more than willing to kill to get the job done and prevent any further panic from occurring. "Now, enough of this pointless banter." Killian states as he leans forward and crosses his arms, glaring at the Graduates. "Where are they?" He grills.

"We don't know." Weiss answers.

"Really? You don't have a clue?" Killian scoffs, finding that hard to believe due to how much Ruby, Yang and Nora talk. "Qrow Branwen and Eryka Vasillias have disappeared as well, that cannot be merely coincidence."

Weiss' eyes widen when she hears that her sister's girlfriend has potentially abandoned them on this hunt for Jack the Ripper as well. "Eryka…but what about Winter?" She softly asks, and Killian nods his head.

"She is still here, and has only recently found out about her deceit. To say she is angry right now is an understatement." Killian chuckles as he crosses his arms, leaning back against his chair. "Well, if you don't know, then tell me everything you know. Did they say anything in; particular to you? Anything at all?" Killian asks them, oddly enough not using any threats to get what he wants.

They look at each other, and Killian sighs, scratching the back of his neck. "Look, I just want to know where they have gone so then we can get them back. The Ripper is not a foe you want them getting into contact with." Killian assures, and considering everything that has happened to them so far, seeing the amount of lives he has taken with such ease, that is most certainly the truth.

A truth that terrifies them.

So despite how much they want to protect their friends from Nathaniel Killian, they have been left no other choice but to follow his rules. "I…I think they went to speak with Raven Branwen…Yang's real mom." Weiss reveals to him, and Killian raises a brow.

"Raven Branwen? She is the leader of the Branwen Tribe, why the hell would…" Then he stops speaking, realising the truth in the back of his mind. But he does not reveal it to them, the truth about what Jack the Ripper is to the Branwens, to Yang in particular. Because all of a sudden it now makes a whole lot more sense.

They want to know about Summer…it was her death by his hand that tore Team S.T.R.Q apart…Ruby and Yang…it makes sense.

He pushes his hands against his knees as he gets up. "Thank you for your cooperation." He snaps his fingers to the soldiers. "Clean up their rooms, exactly as they were before you smashed them up. Get them new mattresses too. We have our target." Killian orders, another order they never expected from the Commander.

"Wait…you're having your men do that? Why?" Pyrrha asks as she gets up, and he turns.

"I know I am an asshole, I'd never lie about that. But I'm hardly unreasonable." Killian states, which makes Blake scoff as she crosses her arms.

"Yeah, I find that hard to believe." She states.

Killian stares right at her, and his words burn deep. "Didn't you once misjudge someone?" He asks her, and her eyes widen, her ears jolt when she hears him say that. Because they all know exactly who he was speaking about just then.

Adam Taurus.

Killian turns away from them and he gestures to his other men, having them follow him down the hallway back to their operations centre outside. Leaving the remaining members of Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R behind.


Ruby


This was not something they ever foresaw, especially not Yang.

Her blood and the Ripper's…he is her uncle by blood. The two of them are sat down outside the house, on the front step with their hands on their lap. Ruby glances across the front garden to see Ren and Nora walking around as they talk, whilst Taiyang, Raven and Qrow are still inside talking about what happened. Poor Taiyang knows very little, and Qrow saw it all, so this has been quite the day for everyone involved. Ruby looks at her sister, able to see the strife in her eyes as she ponders over this new information.

"Yang? Are you…okay?" Ruby timidly asks her older sister with concern in her voice as she looks at her. Yang looks at Ruby and she blows out a heavy breath, pressing her metal hand against the side of her head.

"I…I don't know how I feel right now, Ruby. I just found out that this monster is my frigging uncle, that same man killed the woman who raised us, and on top of all that – he killed Glynda, Ironwood, Yatsu and a bunch of others." Yang explains as she pushes her hands through her blonde hair and groans, squishing her face up, which makes Ruby giggle. She looks at her sister with her cheeks still squished together, and she looks at her – seeing her smile has always been a way to take her mind off things.

So with her face all squished together, she puts on a silly voice to keep her that way. "Hewwo, mah name's chubbeh!" Yang slurs, making her giggle again, and Yang smiles as she sits there. But in the back of her mind she still keeps thinking about what has given her so many conflicting thoughts, all of them surrounding Jackdaw Branwen. What else has he done? How far will he go to get what he wants? Can he actually beat his own semblance, and if he does – will he be unbeatable?

It seems the Branwen Siblings are bound by a Fate-Based Semblance.

Luck.

Ruby calms her giggling down and she sits there, unable to keep Yang's mind off the subject of Jackdaw, even though that is just what is on her mind too. He was the one that took her mother from her, the mission that she never came back from – that must have been the one where it happened. "I always wondered why Uncle Qrow drank so much, I guess now it makes more sense." Ruby states, and Yang softly scoffs with the nod of her head.

"Mhm…guess having a psychotic older brother who killed someone you loved would do that to you." Yang states, which makes Ruby look back at her Uncle through the crack in the door, seeing him sat there with that sad look back in his eyes. She never really understood why, she just assumed it was because they were friends.

"He loved her…I didn't…even realise." She softly says, and Yang chuckles.

"I kinda had a feeling something like that was going on, honestly." Yang admits, and Ruby raises a brow.

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" She asks her.

"Think about it? He's always been closer with you than he has with me." Yang says as she fiddles with her boot. The idea of that upsets Ruby, because she would never want to be the favourite child.

"No, Yang…he loves us both." Ruby reminds and she nods her head with a sad sigh.

"I know…but some days it didn't feel that way. At first I thought it was because I was a bit of a trouble maker as a baby, but maybe – maybe something did rub off on him when it came to you." Yang explains, looking at her little sister. The idea of this makes Ruby look down at the floor sadly, but she feels Yang's arm go around her. "I'm glad though."

"Huh?" Ruby asks.

"I'd have hated it if we were copies of each other. It's what makes us special." She says with a smile, and Ruby smiles back.

"Yeah…although we still have a lot in common." She says to Yang with a smile.

"Of course we do, hell where do we start?" Yang wonders, since despite their differences they still have plenty of things that connect them together. Then Ruby grins adorably – yet deviously – at Yang.

"Well…for starters…" Ruby begins, when she suddenly taps Yang. "I'm better!" She squeaks as she gets up and runs away, and Yang reaches out to tag her back.

"Hey! Get back here!" She calls back, which causes the three adults inside the house to turn. Raven walks towards the window as she watches her daughter and her best friend's daughter chasing each other around in the field. She holds her forearm and smiles softly at them, for despite the dark and scary truth they have just burdened the girls with, they are still acting like the close sisters they have always been.

Taiyang walks over to Raven and he leans against the wall with his arms crossed. "Thank you." He says to her, and she turns.

"For what?" Raven asks.

"For coming to me…for when you told them." He says to her, and she closes her eyes with a sigh.

"I had hoped you wouldn't be involved." Raven states.

"It's okay, Raven. I wanted to be here when you told them about what happened to Summer, Ruby had the right to know." Taiyang explains, and Raven's breath turns shaky as she sees Yang catch Ruby, tickling her as she giggles.

"How did you do it?" Raven asks softly, and he looks at her with curiosity.

"Do what?" Taiyang asks her, Raven watches intently as her daughter hugs her sister lovingly, kissing the top of her head as she watches.

"Raise them…to be so…kind?" She asks her, and Qrow lowers his head with sadness, since he knows what she is talking about, and so does Taiyang. His answer to that is not what she was expecting.

"I thought to myself…what would Raven do?" He reveals, her red eyes widen and she turns with shock in those irises.

"What?" She questions.

"Like it or not…when you were pregnant with Yang, she was all you thought about. All you talked about. You always said you wanted to prove you were better than your parents were, to raise them with love, and not as weapons for a Bandit Tribe." Taiyang explains, and Qrow nods his head with a chuckle.

"We all saw it sis." Qrow tells her, and she sighs, looking out the window again at the two girls.

"And here I am…a failed mother…just like ours." She says.

"You're here." Taiyang reminds and she looks back. "You may not have been able to raise her like Summer and I did…for the time we had together…but you always looked over her."

"Like that should be enough. Yang hates me, Tai…I left because I didn't want Jackdaw bearing down on your heads any longer than he already was. Part of me really thought it could be forgiven…but she was a baby…and I left her, alone and confused. And bitter." She says those words, harsh words about herself, and Taiyang leans against the wall beside her, looking at their daughter as she laughs with her sister.

"Does she look bitter to you?" Taiyang asks her, and she looks at her daughter again, seeing the joy with her sister. "She's bitter simply because she doesn't know you. Give her time, she'll come around."

"I don't know if I deserve it, Tai." Raven states.

"You'll never know if you don't try." Taiyang says, and she sighs, lowering his head with a soft chuckle.

"I just hope I am worth her time." Raven states, her hand shaking with worry of being with her daughter…twenty one years later. "It's not gonna be an easy journey, Jackdaw will be waiting."

"That's what the Bandit Tribe is for. He won't get away this time." Taiyang assures, and Raven smiles softly to her Former Husband. He gently touches her shoulder, and she goes to kiss his lips, but he holds her back and lowers his head. It stings, but at the same time she can understand. Even if she had noble intentions behind leaving him, it still hurt a lot when she just abandoned him with a new-born daughter. "I'm sorry…but I can't." He says to her, she nods her head and blows out another shaky breath.

"I-I know…" She responds, looking at her brother who nods as he walks towards the cracked door and pushes it open.

"Good luck, Tai…" He says to him, and Taiyang nods.

"And to you, Qrow." He says,

Qrow walks out and leaves the two of them there, and Raven gently steps over to him and she just softly kisses his cheek. It is clear that she still feels love for him, but at the same time does not believe she does not deserve his love in return. "Goodbye." She says to him, but he holds her hand to stop her for a moment.

"Don't say goodbye…" He says, and he sighs. "I hate goodbyes." He tells her, and Raven sighs and nods her head.

"Me too." She says, walking through the open door, but it does not close behind her. Taiyang walks to the doorframe and looks at his daughters with a smile.

"I'm better!" Yang giggles with her sister, showing how they are both equally as competitive as one another.

"No I am!" She giggles in return, but then they stop when Raven approaches and Yang stares at her mother and Uncle as the two of them approach. They roll away from each other and they get back up, sloppily. Yang wipes the freshly cut grass from her sister's head and she sneezes from her hay fever. They both stand before Raven Branwen as she approaches them, and Yang stares right at her mother whilst Ren and Nora walk over. Raven looks past them to see Eryka sat on a nearby fence post, gently pruning the feathers of her beloved Eagle on her arm.

"Eryka." Raven calls, and she turns with Dulcis. She holds her arm to her shoulder and he jumps onto her. She kicks her bow into her hand and walks over to the leader of the Bandit Tribe.

"So? What's next?" Yang asks as she looks around, so Raven turns and she unsheathes her red Odachi and swings it behind her, opening a red portal before them all. Yang gasps when she sees it. "Whoa…"

"Not my semblance, as you know – but this blade is useful in that regard. It was my mother's, and it was her semblance to open portals. She bound her blood to the sword so then I could use it." Raven explains before sheathing the blade back into her scabbard of many other blades. Ruby – a total weapons geek – stares at the scabbard and her silver eyes bulge from their sockets in awe.

"That's…so…cool…" Ruby softly whispers as she stares at it, before standing tall once more and sorting herself out. She looks at Raven and her Uncle as Eryka approaches with her grumbling Eagle looking around constantly.

"This is it, once we go through this portal, there is no turning back. You will be with my Tribe until we stop and kill our brother. After that, you are free to do what you wish." Raven explains, and Ren chuckles, scratching the back of his neck.

"Working with bandits…" He softly grunts, which causes Raven to look at him. "…not sure if I'm comfortable about that. But Ruby and Yang deserve to know the truth, so I'll make do." Ren states, and Nora smiles as she holds his hand gently. Eryka nods her head as she tickles Dulcis' belly.

"Been a while since I've seen everyone." Qrow says.

"Well, since Val is back – things are definitely serious." She says, and Ruby looks at her father before she nods her head, but first she runs past Raven and Qrow and goes straight into the loving arms of her father. She hugs him so tight, and Yang does the same. He holds his two daughters and kisses the top of their heads as he holds them close.

"Love you, dad." She softly says to her father, and he chuckles.

"I love you too." He promises, and then she looks at Raven.

"I will keep them safe. You have my word." Raven promises, and he blows out a breath, letting his daughters go. They both walk over to Ren and Nora as they approach the portal. Raven looks back and she smiles at Taiyang, before she walks into the portal. Qrow and Eryka follow, leaving the four behind. They look at each other and Ruby and Yang sigh, walking in first.

As they exit the other side, there is a brisk cold air that surrounds them. Much colder than what they have been used to, and in the distance they can see the Anima Mountains. They are no longer in the warm comforts of Vale, they are now in the mountainous climates of Mistral. Nora and Ren emerge behind them, and they seem more welcome to this climate than Ruby and Yang, but that is because they were born in this land. Anima – a land of many small towns and cities, many of which have been reduced to skeletons due to Grimm attacks.

Like Kuroyuri.

The portal has taken the seven of them to the front gates of the Branwen Bandit Camp, huge wooden logs built up around the perimeter, and multiple tree stumps nearby from where they cut down the trees for usage of their wood. Alongside animal skulls adorned on the front gate. Raven approaches as she closes the portal behind them, and Qrow looks around with a chuckle. "Man…been a while since I saw this door." Qrow says, crossing his arms and looking upon it.

"Things have changed, little brother." She says to her twin, only being born a few minutes before he was. Raven approaches the door and she taps her foot. "Open up. We have guests." Raven calls to the Bandit Guards, and then the doors open up. Massive and grinding across the ground, sending clouds of dust floating away from where they moved. Never before have the four Graduates felt so small, because they are further from home than ever and without the other halves of their teams.

They enter and they look around at the many tents, quite large too, with torches set up that are aflame due to the night sky that stretches over their heads right now. Since it was morning for Vale, over here it is still the middle of the night. There are more skulls on tables and tents too, from Deer to even cast Grimm Skulls. Not real obviously, since the Grimm completely disintegrate when they are killed. But even still, these fake skulls still sell quite well in the Black Market, perhaps simply because they look genuine.

Bandits watch the newcomers as they enter, all of them wearing a similar yet unique attire to one another. Some of them have skull helmets whereas others wear no helmets whatsoever. All of them have clothes fashioned from whatever they can find, pelt and fabrics, others are stolen gear from Huntsmen and Huntresses. All of them have the Raven Tattoo on their arms and bodies. A woman has one across her back, with swords replacing the feathers and having glowing red eyes. There are some alluring individuals here, but with all the bruises, dirt and cuts on their faces from constant fights, that quickly extinguishes that attractiveness.

They all have different weapons too, some with firearms like rifles, pistols and shotguns whilst others have simple machetes, axes, hammers and swords. But then there are the few that have Huntress or Huntsman level weapons. For example, the woman who approaches them has something that looks like it came directly from Haven.

The Bandit is a young woman with tan-coloured skin, short brown hair and icy blue eyes. She has a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. She wears a brown vest over a torn white shirt, with a collar that appears to spike up behind her neck. She wears maroon-coloured pants with the right side rolled up to her thigh. She also wears dark brown knee guards that go down to her brown boots.

"Vernal." Raven greets as she approaches, her weapons holstered on her legs. The weapons are two crescent shaped blades, each with a ring-shaped centre. The large outer blades have hooked points that point back toward the grip. They have four smaller blades located in pairs above and below the grip, which is wrapped in red cloth and curved to form part of the middle ring. The large outer blades are capable of collapsing toward the grip.

Atop the ring and below the upper blades is a pair of rectangular gun barrels. Within the main ring is a smaller, thinner ring connected by a pin to the forward facing portion of the weapons, acting as a trigger for the barrels. Ruby can tell from all the way over here what forms of dust they can use due to the colour of the glow within the barrels. Wind and Fire, fittingly named Firestorm.

"Good to see you back, boss. See you got us some help." Vernal says as she looks at the four Huntresses and the two Huntsmen that are here.

Raven points to her brother. "That's Qrow." She introduces – rather bluntly too – and Vernal's eyes widen.

"Oh…damn…didn't think it was getting this serious." Vernal says, and Raven scoffs.

"Trust me, it gets better." Raven says, stepping aside and Vernal does not even need her to say it when she sees Yang standing behind her.

"Is that…your daughter?" Vernal asks her as she stares at her, seeing the striking resemblances between them. "Man…like a damn clone."

"Hardly." Yang scoffs, and Vernal pulls her collar.

"Yeesh." Vernal chuckles awkwardly. "Take it things are tense between you two?" Vernal assumes, and Raven looks at her daughter.

"Seems it's in our blood to be…stubborn." Raven says as she looks at her daughter and her brother, which makes Qrow chuckle.

"To put it mildly." Qrow agrees, so Vernal turns her gaze to Eryka who holds Dulcis on her arm still.

"Well…been a while, Eryka." Vernal greets, which causes pretty much everyone bar Raven to turn and stare straight at Eryka due to this revelation. Eryka huffs and bites her lip with annoyance at Vernal. "Oh, crud – you didn't tell them did you?"

"Nope."

"Whoops."

"You ran with these guys?" Nora questions, and she nods her head.

"A long time ago…back during my Bare Knuckled Boxing days. I won money for the tribe…those were…different times." Eryka says, sounding like it is not really something he tends to talk that much about nowadays. Ruby looks at Eryka and then stares at her neck, seeing the small ravens tattooed there, the same ones that Winter asked her about. Clearly this is something she really does not like to talk about. Vernal continues to look at them and sets her eyes on Ruby, Ren and Nora.

"Aaand…you three…I don't know you." Vernal finally gives up trying to guess and flat out just asks them. "Who are you guys then?"

"Ruby Rose."

"Nora Valkyrie."

"Lie Ren."

Their greetings normally would be quite exuberant and excited, but here they do not show these criminals and thieves that kind of respect. End of the day, these are the kinds of people that they have sworn to defend innocents from. And Vernal is not blind, she can completely see why they feel that way. "I understand why you don't hold us high when it comes to your greetings."

"Yeah, you're bandits." Ruby points out, and she nods her head.

"We are, but we do not pillage villages. We fight against the other bandits, the more disorganised ones. It is how Raven has commanded us to lead our raids. Trust me, there are far more dangerous people out there than us." Vernal exclaims, until she hears a slurred scoff from behind them. They all turn to see a man standing there with a bottle of booze in his hand, chugging it down, stumbling towards them with a burp. With a triangular shaped jaw and a dirty blonde coloured mullet he approaches, scratching his stubble. He wipes the dust from his grey leather overcoat above his red loosely worn shirt underneath with a brown bandanna hanging from beneath his mouth.

He has a few scars on his face and a black eye at the moment, clearly from getting into fights with some of his fellow tribesmen. "Well, well…Raven said she'd be bringing company…but I never expected them to be so…fine…" The man slurs as he stares directly at Yang, and she rolls her eyes as she looks away from him. Raven gives him a hard stare, and is just about to punch him in the face for how he is speaking to her daughter.

"Shay, back down." Vernal snarls at him as he approaches, stumbling and barging into a tool box, knocking it off the crate with a metallic bang.

"Whoops…" He grumbles as he stares at the tools, looking around as he keeps that bottle in his grasp. "So…how about it? Why don't we let Raven…do all the boring stuff…and come hang out in my tent?"

"I'm find, thanks pal." Yang tells him, and Raven looks at her daughter, noticing her cybernetic hand is clenched into a fist. She knows better than to hover over Yang like that, so she stands back, and lets her deliver the punch she is so ready to do. Because Shay is not about to stop.

"Oh, come on, don't be hard to get sweetie. You're beautiful…not too bulky, not too lean…you're just…"

"Just right." Yang finishes before he can even do so, giving him one last chance. "As I said pal, I'm good." Yang tells him.

He slurs as he stares at her, reaching out towards her hair. "And your hair…"

Suddenly she grabs his forearm and holds him there, and his eyes widen, she stares at him and her eyes turn red. Her metal fist collides directly into his jaw and sends him crashing down to the ground with a heavy thud. He crashes down into the dust with a groan, almost knocked out instantly from that punch. Yang stares down at him and walks over his groaning body. Raven laughs at that one though, walking over one of her men like he is trash as she follows Yang. "I'm glad you did that, never gets old to knock that piece of trash into the dust." Raven chuckles as she walks beside her daughter.

"Honourable huh?" Yang questions.

"Yeah, surprised you've kept him around, Raven. When I was here that kid was always a bit of a loose cannon." Qrow says to his sister, she nods her head.

"Yeah…but he has his uses. Good for scaring people, he has his sources in some of the dirtier areas in certain Kingdoms. Plus he's pretty good in a scrap. Other than that though, he's a bit of an asshole." Raven tells them, and Ren looks around at the Bandits fighting each other with bare knuckles in their rings they made out of fencing.

"That brings back memories." Eryka sighs as she looks at the ring of fighters. Ren looks at her and then at the gloves on her hands. He does not ask, but if she did take part in that kind of fighting then she must have her fair share of scares on her fists.

They continue to walk towards Raven's large tent, but as they walk closer, all four of them freeze, even Qrow does. The five of them stare ahead with disbelief as they see her carrying some logs and setting them down in one of the crates they have. She dusts off her hands and turns, staring straight at them. Her single amber eye meets theirs and her mouth parts slightly with a similar level of disbelief. Also carrying the Raven Tattoo on her arm like Vernal, her hair is shorter than before with a few new earrings too. She wears a crop top and a dark brown leather jacket too over it, along with some shorts and a pair of military class boots.

Ruby's silver eyes meet hers, and she scoffs.

"Well hell." Cinder says as she stares at the girl who burned away her eye. She now wears an eyepatch that covers the scars, and Ruby clenches her hands into tight fists, an anger building in her. In all of them when they see the new Fall Maiden.

"You…" Ruby growls with anger.

"Ruby…wait…" Qrow reaches out but it is too late, her mind has been made up as she draws Crescent Rose and fires it behind her, riding the recoil towards Cinder.

"PENNY'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" Ruby shrieks with rage, slamming straight into Cinder and they both take off into the sky. Yang, Ren and Nora charge after her and Qrow tries to stop them.

"Crap!" Raven exclaims.

"You've got Cinder in you're crew? And you thought they'd work together?" Qrow yells at her with disbelief, completely unaware that she has become part of the tribe after the Battle of Beacon.

"Damn it, I forgot alright?" Raven yells back, chasing after them.

Ruby and the Fall Maiden soar through the sky, Crescent Rose slashing across the Fall Maiden's aura as she blocks her strikes with great speed. Cinder opens her palm and her clothing flashes as the dust forms a large Obsidian Battleaxe and she swings it round and collides it directly into Crescent Rose. She scrapes the weapon across hers and twists round her, punching Ruby in the face and slashing the axe against her red aura. Cinder, now above Ruby, kicks downwards and sends Ruby crashing down towards the ground. Now in a forest nearby, Ruby slams the curved blade of Crescent Rose into one of the trees to slow herself down, splitting the large tree in half before she kicks herself off it. Cinder dives down like a meteor, flames surrounding her body as she collides directly into Ruby and smashes her head into the dirt, dragging her across the soil.

Cinder lets out a hollering battle cry, swinging round and throwing Ruby into another tree. Cinder tightens her grip on her axe and she swings round with a yell, igniting the fire around the axe head as she throws it. It spins as it shoots towards her, smoke trailing behind it alongside multiple embers. It crashes through the trees at her and she gasps, spinning Crescent Rose to block the incoming attack. She gets thrown back once more, and the axe spins round, returning back to Cinder's hand. The Fall Maiden rushes Ruby again, overpowering her with the sheer force of being the Fall Maiden. She grabs Ruby and lifts her off the floor by the throat.

"Well isn't this fortuitous? I was hoping I could pay you back for my eye." Cinder snarls as she ignites a ball of fire in her hand and pushes it towards her face to burn her eye off. Ruby screams with fear as the flame gets closer and closer.

"Penny died because of you!" Ruby yells.

"I don't even know who you're talking about!" Cinder yells back, when suddenly there is another roar. The sky darkens for a moment as pink lightning crashes down, and Nora suddenly blasts straight into Cinder. She swings Stormur Skeggox round and clashes it directly into Cinder's axe. They lock blades, and Nora stares directly into Cinder's burning amber eye, teeth gritted together as thunder claps above her head, pink electrified forks crashing and burning the soil around them.

"You tried to kill my friend…I'm gonna do more than try with you." Nora snarls with anger in her voice, but then Cinder blasts a gust of wind into Nora, pushing her back. She slides across the ground, and Cinder opens her other palm, forming a second axe. She blasts towards Nora and spins through the air, swinging both of her Volcanic Axes with great force. Nora blocks the strikes with hers, harnessing the power of her semblance that has enhanced itself after the Fall of the Black Smog. The Goddess of Thunder channels the power of lightning through her axe and blasts it straight into Cinder in a beam of pink light. The impact pushes her back and she grits her teeth with anger as it burns against her powerful aura, but Cinder has gifts of her own. She holds her hands out as she destroys her axes with a powerful pulse. The shards of obsidian fall but then they float around her, freezing the magma inside solid with ice.

She launches the shards towards Nora and she gasps, getting hit by them so hard that it knocks her back. Cinder forges her axes once again, thrusting towards Ruby and slamming her axe down at where her head was. She swings the second again at where Ruby just pushed herself away, hammering the ground over and over again, strike after strike, setting the grass on fire constantly. Ruby pushes her feet against the floor and thrusts upwards, sending both boots into the Fall Maiden's face. She grunts in pain from the shock of the attack, stumbling back, only for Ruby to blast through red petals at her again. She hooks Crescent Rose to her neck and drags her across the ground. Cinder grits her teeth, slamming her axe into the dirt to slow herself, hooking onto a subterranean rock. The sudden stop stumbles Ruby, and Cinder throws her Axe straight at Ruby, spinning sideways to behead her.

Ruby dashes away in petals and it circles around where she was, slamming back into Cinder's hand. She looks around for her, growling with fury in her heart. "I've been waiting for this, Ruby! Look at what you did to me!" Cinder yells, ripping the eyepatch from her face to show the nasty burn scars on her face, that have deformed her eye to the point of no return. She has also shaven the second of her black hair that was burned. A small section around her malformed ear. "You're gonna pay for this!"

"Not before you pay for what you did to Pyrrha! You hurt my friend!" Nora yells, remembering how Cinder put a hole through Pyrrha's heel and nearly killed her at the same time. She erupts through the trees and holds her axe above her head with anger, channelling the explosive power of a grenade launcher in the form of pink lightning. She slams it down right at Cinder, the pink explosion throws her back and she throws the axe towards her. The thrusters built into the back of the axe blast and causes it to spin through the air, slashing up Cinder's aura with every single hit made, before it returns back to her. Nora has a glove on her swinging hand, that has some small magnets built into it that she can use to call the axe back to her after she has thrown it.

One of the many new upgrades she has acquired since she started using a smaller weapon – that she actually prefers using now, due to how fast she can make her attacks now. Cinder staggers from Nora's attack and grits her teeth, forming ice across her hand and she slams her fist down into the ground, blasting massive shards of ice up through the ground. Nora yelps as she gets hit by one, so hard it throws her back. Cinder turns and her eye widens, seeing Ren and Yang also charging forward. Yang catches Ren and she swings round, throwing him towards Cinder. He tackles her and slams his knee down into her face. "Judgement was going to find you eventually, Cinder." Ren growls, showing an emotion he usually hides.

Anger.

Cinder punches Ren in the side with a growl. "Get! Off!" She yells, as she gets back up she takes her axe and slams it into Ren's side with both hands. The attack blasts him through the trees and she lets out a yell of fury as the fire erupts from her eyes. She turns and faces Yang next, her eyes flushed with red but not using her semblance yet. Yang swings her fists at Cinder with speed and hate, hitting Cinder in the face on a few occasions, causing her to stagger back from each strike. Yang ducks down under the swing from Cinder and she blasts Ember Celica aside when she takes her axe and slams it downwards towards her head. The axe lodges into the ground, setting more grass on fire. Yang slides across the ground and blasts above Cinder, diving down to punch her in the side of the head, firing the shotgun at the same time. But as she does it, Cinder staggers and manages to swing round and slam her axe into Yang. The hit knocks her to the floor with a grunt, so Cinder grabs her by the leg and swings round, throwing her straight into Nora who was going for another attack with Stormur Skeggox.

The two of them crumble down to the ground, and Cinder rises up into the air and the sky darkens once more, rain starts to fall onto their heads as they fight her. She holds her hands out and blasts bolts of lightning down towards them, one of them explodes right next to Ruby, throwing her onto the floor from the buzzing shockwave. But Nora gets up and she smirks, staring up at the sky as the lightning crackles above her. The bolt crashes down onto her, and her aura glows bright pink. "YeeeeeaaaaAAAAHHHHHH!" Nora screams, and Cinder's eye widens with disbelief and a bit of fear as the glowing pink ball of energy shoots up towards her.

Nora swings her fist into Cinder's face, so hard that it blows the rain from the sky, and the explosive punch blasts Cinder down into the forest below. She tumbles into the mud and growls, looking ahead to see Ruby and Ren blasting towards her. Ren kicks Cinder across the face and fires both Stormflower pistols repeatedly at her aura, but she eventually manages to spin her axe through her fingers to deflect the incoming bullets from his guns. Ruby spirals Crescent Rose at her foe, slashing at her but Cinder keeps backing up, holding her axe and blocking each incoming scythe strike. She swings forward and locks the blade of her axe into Ruby's scythe. Ruby cannot break free, then Cinder opens her other palm and forms her second axe, and she jumps and spins, twisting round and slashing both of her axes across Ruby's aura. The attack knocks the young woman down into the ground and she pins her down with her boot, holding the nineteen year old on the ground.

"Even after all these years, you still never think about what you're fighting do you?" She scoffs.

"I beat you didn't I?" Ruby yells.

"Surprise attacked me, you hardly beat me." Cinder states, as she goes to slam her axe down into Ruby's head, only for Ren to jump onto her chest, wrapping his legs around her neck in a scissor hold. He slams his body downwards and throws Cinder straight into the swinging fist of Yang. The punch cracks into her face, knocking her down, and Cinder slides, touching her throbbing cheek. Yang managed to actually open a wound there, only for her powerful aura to repair the damage. "Not bad, blondie." She chuckles.

Cinder suddenly slams her fist into the ground and sends multiple rocks up into the air, using the element of fire to melt them down, and then ice as they form into spikes. Then with wind, she launches them towards them, all of them hit the four Hunters, throwing them back. Except for Nora who burns them to dust with her axe's beam, but Ruby suddenly blasts up and she and Cinder shoot towards Raven's camp once more. They both crash into the camp once more, tumbling right into the centre with dust and dirt stuck to their bodies. The chunks of wood fall and they crush down onto one of the tents.

Cinder growls as she pushes her hands against the dirt, and Ruby gets up, about to attack again. He blasts forward until a hammer slams straight into her face, so hard it throws her back. She groans as she lays there on the ground, looking across the path to see what hit her. A hammer like head attached to a chain gets dragged back into the handle of the weapon's user, and he stares at her with hazel coloured eyes. He wears the same leather overalls like the rest of the Bandits, standing beside Cinder. "Leave her alone." He growls, helping her up, only for Cinder to shove him back.

"Get off me, Oscar! This is between me and them!" Cinder snarls, but then Vernal stands beside her with her guns aimed at the two of them.

"Well this went to hell in a basket real fast, didn't it?" Vernal sighs as she keeps her guns trained on Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren. "Put your weapons down and let's talk this through like adults!" Vernal yells, and Raven and Crow return, erupting out from their Corvid Forms.

"Enough!" Raven yells as she stands in the middle of the confrontation. "If we keep this up this camp will be swarming with Grimm! And that's the last thing we need now that the wall has been breached thanks to this little scuffle of yours." Raven growls.

"She caused the Battle of Beacon! So many died thanks to her! Penny died!" Nora yells as she holds Stormur Skeggox in her fist, crackling with pink lightning, and Cinder grits her teeth together as she stares at them.

"Oh…I'm starting to remember her…the robot girl." Cinder coos as she starts to get back up, pushing her hand against her knee. "Y'know, I'd like to remind you I didn't kill her. Hell I nearly avenged her that night if not for your silver eyed friend here." She says, pointing her obsidian axe at her.

Ren grits his teeth and he goes to attack her, only for Qrow to stop him, holding him back from attacking. "She is our friend! Do you know how much pain you put her through?"

"How about me? Look at what that silver eyed bitch did to me!" Cinder yells, pointing at the burns on her face, pulling her patch from her pocket.

"Oh yeah? Wanna go for round two? Let's go!" Ruby yells, her silver eyes actually flicker for a moment there as well, and Cinder snarls with anger.

"Stop it! Now!" Raven yells.

But then…in the middle of their argument, Eryka hears it first and it scares her.

The whispers…

Hundreds of them, so sharp they are like daggers stabbing into her brain. "Valravn! Valravn! Valravn! Valraaaaavn!"

They all begin to press their hands to their heads, only Raven and Qrow are able to withstand it and the other Bandits watch in awe as he emerges from the tent behind Ruby and Yang. Emerging from the tent, is Valravn Branwen – the oldest remaining Branwen left on the planet, the Uncle to the Branwen Siblings. He towers above them, an intimidating white and red marked mask like Raven's, but more in the shape of a Raven Skull with herbs smoking from within. He holds a large Sceptre with Corvid Feathers and windchimes attacked to it that clink as he emerges, his voice burning into their ears.

"What's this?! Hunger for blood?! I taste the copper in the air, within the walls of this camp?"

"Back in your tent, Val." Raven steps in his way, but he shoves through with his chiming staff.

"Head of gold? Ah yes… blood of the raven." He stares at Yang, venting the herbal smokes through his mask. "Mothers rage… fathers heart. All stitched together, through misplaced marriage and unity. At least she learnt her place is not in wedlock."

Raven frowns, staring at her Val with daggers in her eyes. He turns to the others, speaking through more riddles as always.

"My ravens tell your story. Copper head and lotus. They watched, black birds in the smoke, as the monster levelled your lands. Monsters that which fell from the skies."

Nora and Ren shrink under his faceless stare, Kuroyuri mingling in their minds. He is unlike anything they have ever seen, they have met terrifying monsters – but there is something quite unnerving about him. Is it the massive coat forged from the feathers of birds? Is it the long stilt legs he walks upon? Or the fact they cannot even see his face?

His masked face turns, staring directly at Ruby Rose.

"And you… Summer's little petal."

"Hey! Leave Ruby alone." Yang steps in front of him. He scoffs, nudging her back with a prod of his wind chime staff.

"Ah the shining light in the sky, that shrouds it's darkness from within… " He walks around her. "… I wonder, what will we find when we cast your shade upon your light. What secrets will we find? What mistakes?"

Yang looks at Raven. "Our mistake was coming here! You never told me you were part of some sort of cult! That you were harbouring the very person who nearly levelled Beacon! Who killed Penny, who nearly killed Pyrrha!" Yang yells with anger and disgust, she wanted to know more about who her mother is but she never expected to find anything quite like this.

"A cult is a band of misguided fools that follow a liar. We follow the truth, it carries on the wind, like the ravens that tell of your stories." Valravn snaps from behind the four. "What truth? In your tales? That you were naïve in trusting people welcomed into a tournament, with the sole intent of causing harm, for a spectators pleasure? Who is the real fool?"

Valravn stares down at Ruby, and she has never felt so small as the hulking old man stares down at her. "Eyes of a shattered moon, ancient enemy of my kind – punishment for an ancient failure." He snarls, sounding increasingly hateful towards Ruby – or perhaps just her Silver Eyes.

"Back in your hole, Val." Qrow steps in front of them with his fists clenched. "They're just kids!"

"We were all Corvus children. The call of the nest has sent us all into the same kingdom for the first time in decades. Tell me Qrow. Is this you answering the call? Or do you wish to pluck more feathers from this wounded family?" Valravn questions as he stares down at his Nephew.

"Look. Lemme and Raven speak in private." Qrow requests.

"We haven't the time. I feel it, a chill in the air. The same quiver in my spine from Beacon's ashes. The Jackdaw will feed. Soon. The Crow and Raven must answer the call!" The King of the Ravens demands.

Valravn grabs Qrow by the shoulder, then Raven. Their eyes roll back and suddenly their minds do not inhabit their bodies anymore. Ruby steps back in confusion, before running forward and shaking Qrow by his collar.

"Uncle Qrow! Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cries out, Cinder getting back up and touching her bleeding cheek as Oscar helps her over to one of the tents to get patched up.

Qrow opens his eyes, and he is in the blizzard. Only Raven and Valravn are by his side.

The Branwens.

They look forward at the silhouette of Jackdaw, not facing them. He is talking with someone else, unawares of their existence, or the snow.

"Val…" Raven looks up at Valravn. "Are we… eavesdropping right now?"

Val doesn't answer.

The three Branwens stare into the storm, seeing him standing there, a ghostly apparition of their enemy, speaking with someone. For the most part, her voice was deformed, but there was one sentence that they heard clearly.

"Of course I have information, darlin'. Lil' Miss always delivers." The voice with quite the flippant accent tells Jackdaw.

But then…

It is like he hears something, and he suddenly turns round and his red eyes glow like that of a demon, the caw of a thousand crows enter their mind. But they manage to escape just in time before he could latch on, and the snow vanishes from their gaze. Raven and Qrow both collapse to the dirt with a groan, whereas Valravn does not seem fazed by the event in the slightest.

"The hell was that?" Yang questions, crouching down beside her Uncle to check if he is okay, and Valravn looks upon them., staring straight at Ruby.

"The Jackdaw is on the hunt – his flight has taken him to Vacuo." Valravn tells them, and Qrow stares at his Uncle with confusion.

"What? How could you tell?" He questions.

"The woman of which he spoke – an Information Broker. Who goes by the title – of Lil' Miss Malachite."


Author Note - This might be one of my favourite chapters in Eclipse so far.

I absolutely love writing Valravn, he just has some of the coolest lines I have written because of how he speaks in riddles and wordplay. And not only that, his design is absolutely awesome. I would love to see artwork of him some time XD. But not only that, we got Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren Vs Cinder which was a fight I have been waiting to do for quite a while now. We had Oscar protecting Cinder with Vernal at her side, which was very strange but awesome to write. Had the Raven and Tai stuff, and I finally get to show off the Branwen Tribe.

I hope you have been enjoying the series so far! If you haven't checked it out yet, please check out Knights of Grimm if you can! I love these stories and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them.

Please review, follow and favourite, and if you wanna join my discord PM me and I will send you the code!

Stay tuned for the next chapter - Bandits of Truth

- Matt