Hello there, I'm The Royal Protector and you're reading the ninth chapter of The Silver Eyed Prodigy. I would like to thank every one of you for following/favoriting this story. Thanks to you guys we have reached the 500 followers mark and will probably reach the 400 favorite mark soon enough as well. I honestly didn't think this story would get as much attention as it has now and I'm only happy to write more stuff for you guys.

merendinoemiliano: Ask and you shall receive, furthermore the next chapter will almost entirely be Summer/Caryll interaction as we reach the end of Act 1. Think of it like chapter 5, but with significant plot development.

Blaze2121: Training arc is just about done, strap in for the meat of the story.

3-13 Sniper: I did say sword fighting techniques lol.

Chesire1999: The people of the kingdoms will notice the more notorious ones disappearing because as you'll see later on, you can't exactly stealth kill a Titan, but the other less known ones will only be noticed by the people in Frontier settlements. I can actually envision rumors or legends forming around a cloaked and masked man/spirit going around Remnant and killing Titans, who can disappear in the blink of an eye, only to be seen on the other side of the world.

riveg: Uhh… *quickly googles what you're talking about* I guess? I'm really not sure, I haven't seen Hitman: reborn at all but you'll get your answer this chapter nonetheless.

Guest: Not really, Tsukuyomi only creates an illusion world where the caster has total control over everything. Physical damage done to the victim doesn't transfer over to the real world, only the inflicted pain does. This can still kill you, but without any real bodily harm.

Nightmare Fog on the other hand is entirely real. It doesn't create a new world, it infects the real one with its smoke and converts it into a sick and twisted version of the victim's psyche.
That's why I named it Nightmare Fog.
The only thing that's similar between NF and Tsukuyomi is that the user/caster can manipulate it however they want it to. In NF's case it can manifest in limited space and time manipulation; like a room that's bigger on the inside than on the outside and slowed down time sort of deal.

Is it OP? Hell Yes. Is it infallible? No, like Caryll said; no Semblance is perfect and all have at least one weak point that can negate their advantages, Eileen just had decades to master NF and hide its weaknesses.

If you really want to compare it to something then I would say it's Silent Hill in Semblance form. Also funnily enough, when I was creating Eileen's character at first I considered giving her an Izanami-esque Semblance but then quickly scrapped the idea as the basic concept of being able to cast an ability like Izanami multiple times in quick succession without consequence is just plain broken.

Ander warrior: I'll say that S isn't from Bloodborne, but from RWBY itself and for an explanation of Nightmare Fog you should check out the previous review response.

Guest: No, he won't be using those, but given his genius and creative mind Caryll can achieve surprisingly much with those knives of his.

Other guests/well-wishers: Thank you guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, if I did, I wouldn't be writing this. OCs are mine though.


Chapter 9: Sanguines

"Eye Of The Tiger?" An Inferno knife sailed through the air towards the roaring Ursa Major. The Grimm got on its hind legs and swiped its massive claws to deflect the projectile, unfortunately for it I yanked on the ethereal string connected to the knife and guided it around the moving appendage. The knife lodged itself into the bear-like creature's throat with effortless ease.

The Ursa howled in pain and missed the second glowing Inferno knife flying towards it. The two knives attracted each other and caused the Ursa to fall face forward as the second knife flew between its legs. Meanwhile I sprinted at the Ursa and used its head as a stepping stone to jump up into the air while calling back the second knife. It quickly changed course towards me and just before it would have collided with me I kicked it towards the downed Grimm. It hit the base of its skull and the two knives exploded in a large fireball while I landed a bit farther away.

"Hmm, I don't know… I'm just kinda not in the mood for singing anymore" Summer appeared beside me with a tired expression.

"Yeah, my throat got a bit coarse after Sweet Dreams too…" I conceded as I looked around for more Grimm to kill.

"It's also getting late, I just wanna go home and sleep for two days straight" Summer yawned loudly as we scanned the tree line with glowing eyes.

"I second that, who knew a simple mission could be so tiresome?" I responded with a yawn of my own. Now 9 year old me and Summer were on a small search and destroy mission. She made good on her promise and taken me along on an originally simple and straight forward mission.

A few Ursai and Griffons were sighted near a large farm close to the edge of the agricultural sector of southern Vale. Our, or I should say Summer's job, as my presence was completely under the table in this instance, was to survey the area for signs of Grimm activity and exterminate the threat.

Easy on paper and should be doable in a single afternoon if not for the simple fact that the reports were grossly underestimated, Ursai meant Ursa Majors and a few Griffons meant an entire nest. Nothing we couldn't handle of course, it was just annoying to have to deal with so many enemies that seemed content to hide in the forest and in the fields of corn.

So we sang songs to attract Grimm and to keep our tired spirits up while tracking these damn things. I personally wasn't much of a singer but to both our lucks, Summer had the voice of an angel, plus she was willing to sing along to the songs I taught her from my previous life, which was a great silver lining.

"Sorry about this, I wanted your first mission to be less tedious…" She apologized sheepishly but I just waved her off.

"Don't worry about it, I knew the dangers that came with the mission, doing what amounts to chores included" We shared a chuckle before both of our stomachs rumbled in unison. We both looked down at our stomachs with a wince and adopted a serious look. We looked back up at each other and shared a moment of mutual understanding.

"We should wrap this up" I declared in a firm tone "Guiding Light?" Summer relayed her idea to me. I thought about it for a second and nodded in agreement, all of the grounded Grimm were dealt with and only the flyers remained.

"Got it" I looked up and warped myself up a few hundred meters in the air. Gravity took hold of me and I began freefalling towards the distant ground. I waited a few seconds as I built up pressure behind my eyes and then released a brilliant white flash of light. Of course this high up in the sky it wouldn't do any harm to Grimm on the ground, but it wasn't supposed to.

I blinked away the brightness and observed the forest and fields below me, sure enough I saw several dozen black dots moving around erratically. Remember what I've said about Grimm and Aura? That Grimm are enraged by positivity and light? I compared Aura to a beacon in the night, by following that analogy Silver Eyes are like the flash of a nuclear detonation.

In reality this means that by flashing my eyes like that I just woke up the entirety of our hunting ground.

I smirked and flashed my eyes again and again for a few times as I fell downwards. Consequently the black dots began moving in my direction, more than likely to kill whatever was provoking them into action.

Feeling like I was about to fall asleep from exhaustion I stopped using my eyes and relaxed myself as the wind blew my hair and clothes. Finally after what seemed like an entire minute a Griffon came close and dived after me like an eagle with its wicked claws extended. I put my hands behind my head in a relaxed position and didn't give the creature much thought.

And why would I? I was only the bait after all.

As if it heard my thoughts a white arrow struck the Griffon in the chest and knocked it off course. The creature shrieked in pain as it was slowly petrified before the Fire Dust in the arrow head detonated and shattered the impromptu gargoyle apart.

Wait, what? How did Summer do that?

Wailing from behind me made me turn around and witness a similar arrow flying towards another diving Griffon. This time I chose to observe the arrow and realized that it wasn't the shaft itself that was white, but rather the fire it was coated in. The arrow hit true and the Grimm shrieked in pain as the freshly petrified parts of its body were rapidly melted and electrocuted by the Lightning Dust in the arrow.

I've got to learn how to do that.

Loud cawing from behind me surprised me and I was shocked to see a massive claw protruding from my chest… for about one whole second as what looked to be the Alpha of the group passed through me with effortless ease.

I really don't know if I should be proud about being the perfect bait…

The large Alpha quickly regained its bearings and attempted another dive at me, only for another arrow to strike the side of its head. This time the flaming arrow tore apart the Grimm's head in an explosion of ice, then like the shrapnel of a grenade the flaming ice crystals expanded in all directions and struck at least half a dozen other Griffons. The white flames instantly turned the creatures into falling statues.

The rest of my fall went by like that, whatever intelligence the Griffons might have possessed was pushed aside in their berserker-like state, and so they flocked to me like moths to a flame, completely unaware or just uncaring to the danger below.

Eventually only one of the flying menaces remained and seeing as the tree canopies were rapidly closing in I let out a sigh and took out a single Inferno knife. It began its deep dive at me and I waited until we were just about to hit the ground, then I flicked the knife upwards and warped myself away into Kamui within a split second. The Griffon impacted the ground harshly and no doubt suffered heavy injuries, but what sealed its fate was the rapidly expanding ball of hellfire that engulfed it a moment after impact.

A Kamui vortex deposited me besides Summer and I stretched my arms tiredly. Another little detail about Kamui that I remembered was that I could control the ejection speed of objects, including myself. This allowed me in this case to bleed off the excess momentum of my fall entirely.

How's that for a landing strategy?

"How did you do that with your arrows?! Can you show me?! I want to do it too!" I jumped up to Summer excitedly. My mind was swimming with ideas on how I could incorporate it with my knives and other future weapons.

"It's another aspect of our gift I found out after some experimenting back when I was younger" She giggled at my enthusiasm "But you can't learn it yet" and just like that my dreams were crushed.

"What? Why?" I asked with a heart broken expression.

"Your eyes are not strong enough for it yet, but don't worry, give it a few years and you'll be there" She consoled me with a pat on the shoulder.

"My eyes are plenty strong" I huffed indignantly, just because I can't flash-freeze a Leviathan doesn't mean my eyes are weak.

"You can't rush basic biology Caryll, I'm already amazed that it's even possible to awaken our eyes so soon. Do you know how old I was when I awakened mine?" At my inquisitive expression she continued "I was 14, and even then my father told me that our family's previous record was 16" I blinked in surprise at that and frowned in thought, maybe she was right… there are some things that just take time and patience.

"Alright… but you'd better show me how it works when the time comes" Waiting wasn't anything new to me, a couple more years wasn't going to be the end of the world.

"Talk to me when you can petrify a Giant Nevermore" She ruffled my hair patronizingly while my lips twitched into a small smile "But I have another thing I have to give to you!" She declared and stepped back to take out something from under her white cloak.

"Congratulations on your first successful mission!" She said cheerily and handed me a large folded piece of clothing. I blinked in surprise and unfolded the present.

"A travelling cloak?" I asked out loud as I examined the full-body hooded cloak in my hands.

"Mhmm, I got mine after my first successful mission too and I thought you would appreciate one as well" She nodded in confirmation. I smiled happily in response and threw it over my shoulders and checked out how it looked on me. The outside of the cloak was of a light silver color while the inside was all black, all in all perfectly matching with my overall color scheme to the letter. The cloak reached down to the middle of my calves and the hood itself was spacious enough to be comfortable for me.

"I love it… thanks m-Summer" I said sincerely. While I disliked capes and other unnecessary pieces of clothing like that, as they only got in the way during a fight and could seriously jeopardize your safety, travelling cloaks were actually useful in some circumstances. They can provide protection against all the elements like rain, heat and snow if I ever decide to visit Vacuo or Atlas.

Plus, rule of cool. Can't forget that.

"You're very welcome" She beamed a megawatt smile at me before looking around tiredly. She let her shoulders sag in exhaustion, then looked back at me with a calculative expression that turned into a grin soon after.

"What-?" I began cautiously, only for her to slouch over and fall on top of me like a sack of potatoes "I don't want to wait for a Bullhead" She whined while I grunted under the sudden strain "Take us home, my minion!" She instructed in her 'leader' voice as she rested her head on mine. I snorted and let ourselves be enveloped in a Kamui vortex that transported us back home.


"We're back!" Summer announced as soon as they stepped inside the house. It wasn't that late as the sun only just now dipped below the horizon, so she wasn't afraid of waking up the girls. Tai was probably playing with them right now or was in the process of tucking them in before grading tests from Signal. She didn't know where Qrow was now exactly, her poor teammate has been run ragged with the amount of missions he was assigned by Ozpin. Summer herself would have gladly helped her friend with the workload, but even she knew that she would only hold back her avian teammate in his scouting missions. She was mainly suited for combat missions, that's where she earned her name after all, and even she would admit that subtlety… wasn't her strong suit.

"Mommy!" Her mood immediately lifted when she heard her littlest's voice. Sure enough the small, 3 years old frame of Ruby rounded the corner leading to the living room with a huge smile plastered on her face. Summer didn't hesitate to open her arms and bend down slightly to catch the charging little Rose.

"Hey there, little petal" She picked up her little gem and planted a kiss on her cheek. Little Ruby blushed like her namesake and enveloped her neck in an affectionate hug.

"Mom! 'Ryl!" She heard her eldest daughter call out and subsequently charge her elder brother. Caryll reacted somewhat similarly to her and opened his arms to embrace the young blonde. He grunted a bit at the impact but managed to remain standing despite both of their exhausted states.

"Hey Yang, did you do what I asked you to?" She heard her eldest whisper conspiratorially to Yang. What were they up to this time? She swears those two always cause some form of ruckus one way or the other. The worst part was that she couldn't even pin it on Caryll corrupting her little sister, not entirely at least, as Yang is the one who initiates things half the time.

"Mhmm, the grand master plan is done!" She nodded eagerly and Summer found herself narrowing her eyes in suspicion. She was about to voice her concerns when her husband rounded the corner with the biggest 'I'm too old/tired for this' expression on his face.

Plus with a few gallons of whipped cream spread over his body and clothes.

"Should I even ask?" She tried to hide her giggle with a hand over her mouth. Tai's tired expression told her everything she needed to know, he was done with the world for this evening.

"Quick Yang, now or never!" Caryll whispered loudly and gave a… cherry to Yang. The little blonde took the fruit with a grin and ran over to her father. She then expertly climbed on top of the couch next to him and placed the cherry on top of Tai's head.

This time she didn't even try to hide her laughter and was soon joined by the soft giggles of Ruby. Caryll broke the moment with a flash of his scroll and the two older siblings high-fived while declaring a 'mission successful'.

Her poor husband let out a deep sigh "We can talk about your mission when we're in bed… I think I'll spend the next two hours in the shower" He stated and sauntered over to the bathroom.

"You two know that there will be hell to pay tomorrow, right?" She asked when she managed to regain her composure, though her lips still twitched when she pictured Tai like that.

"Only if you can catch us" Caryll countered with a grin and she sighed internally, as his siblings discovered while playing hide and seek or tag Caryll can be quite… elusive to say the least. She had no doubt she could catch her son if it really came down to it, but he could always just retreat to his weird refuge and live there for who knows how long. With the things he conjures up out of thin air she wouldn't be surprised if he had an entire house there.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by Ruby wiggling in her arms. She focused back on the real world and saw that Caryll was holding out a strawberry to her.

"…Are you trying to bribe me?" She asked with an amused expression.

"Depends, is it working?" He asked with a similar smile on his face. She rolled her eyes and took the sweet fruit from him. There was really no point in punishing Caryll, with him being only four years younger than herself, even if he sometimes acted like a real kid his age she knew he only did it for his sisters' sake. She gave the strawberry to Ruby, who gladly took it and began devouring it like a starved Beowolf, besides she knew what Caryll was trying to achieve with these pranks.

She looked back up and saw Caryll offering another strawberry to Yang, who was already eating at least five of them at the same time. She chuckled at the scene, it was clear that the girls looked up to him, in the case of Yang it was pretty obvious while Ruby did it with more subtlety, a copied gesture or mannerism here and there or just simple attempts to get him to play with one of them.

Caryll knew it too, she could discern that the pranks with Yang were to focus the blonde's limitless energy on a single goal at a time and to improve her analytical mind. She didn't know how Caryll knew it would be so successful, it was as if he just knew how her personality would develop overtime and planned accordingly… but in the end it didn't matter, despite the pair being a handful to deal with on a daily basis, as her dear husband could attest, Caryll was a positive influence on Yang.

Ruby on the other hand was an enigma. She had no doubt that Caryll knew about her subtle admiration too, he's too perceptive to not notice such things, but he remained strangely inactive in the matter. In contrast to his treatment of Yang, he didn't do anything obvious to influence his youngest sister. She was sure it wasn't favoritism as he would spend time with both almost equally and his smiles seemed too genuine to be fake. Perhaps he was just biding his time, after all Ruby only now reached the age where her curiosity and energy would run rampant.

Speaking of the little gem in their household she seemed to want to run on her own. Summer kissed her cheek once more and let her down. Ruby immediately ran to Caryll and demanded a strawberry. Caryll chuckled and gave her another one from his cloak. The fruit vanished in her mouth in a split second and soon enough both of her daughters were demanding more and more of the sweet fruit… what was odd was that Caryll didn't seem to run out of them.

"Caryll sweetie, where did you get this many strawberries?" She asked with a dangerous edge to her voice, she didn't remember buying any in the past week and Caryll was often away to train in his pocket dimension or whatever he called it.

"Well, you see… I got a bit hungry while killing all those Grimm near the farm" He admitted sheepishly "Soo I may have borrowed a few strawberries for the trip" He flinched as her piercing silver eyes bore into his. She was always told that her eyes had that effect on people, and she was intent on using it to the fullest extent.

"Caryll, out with them, now" She commanded and saw her son hesitate. A full on glare later Caryll sighed in defeat and looked at his sisters. A red vortex opened from his right eye and deposited… at least a thousand strawberries on top of the girls in a large heap.

Yang and Ruby burst out from the pile while vigorously chewing on even more of the fruit.

"No more pocket money for an entire year"

"I don't even get pocket money!"

"Now you know why"


The slight creaking of my door woke me up from my sleep. I blearily opened my eyes and looked around my dark room for the source of the disturbance, the beam of light from my slightly ajar door caught my attention and made me realize that someone was in the doorway.

"Ruby? Is that you?" I blinked away my sleepiness and propped myself up on my elbows. In my doorway stood in her little pajamas the small form of my youngest sister. A bit of squinting revealed a book in her hands.

"You can't sleep?" I guessed and she nodded "Mommy and Daddy are asleep and I didn't want to wake them" She answered quietly. Judging by the book in her hands she wanted a bedtime story, Summer and Tai had a long day so they were probably out like a light and forgot to tuck her in properly, then there was Yang who couldn't read yet, so it seemed like I was her only option right now.

"Come here" I sighed and pulled over my blanket for her to lie next to me. She nodded eagerly and made to settle beside me. I took away the book and grabbed my scroll to illuminate the pages.

"Which is your favorite?" I asked once she settled down beside me and snuggled into my side.

"…The one with the girl and the tower" She told me after a second.

"Oh, why that one?" I asked curiously, not really expecting the answer. Ruby shuffled beside me before answering.

"Because the hero is so kind… he does what's right just because it's right" Her tone carried admiration "And everyone wins at the end" She added with an adorable smile.

"He does seem like a nice person" I agreed with a mirthful expression and began the story once I've found it in the table of contents "Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower…"


"… And they lived happily ever after" I finished the long tale quietly, fully expecting to find a sleeping Ruby next to me, but to my surprise she was wide awake and hanging onto every word I said.

"I want another!" She demanded enthusiastically. I blinked in surprise at her perseverance but obeyed nonetheless.

"Alright, do you have any other favorites?" I asked again as I turned the pages.

"The one with the four maidens!" She responded happily and I didn't even need to ask what she liked about that one as she explained it without prompting "I like the selflessness of the maidens and how they help everyone in need!" I nodded with a smile and began the story "Deep in the forests of Remnant, beside a great and mighty river…"


"…They promised to return every year to visit their dear friend" I finished once again and turned to see a half lidded Ruby staring at the pages of the book.

"I want another…" She slurred, desperately trying to stay awake. I shook my head and put the book away, it was obvious she wasn't going to last another minute awake. I turned off the flashlight on my scroll and pulled up my blanket to cover us.

"'Ryl…" I heard her say in the darkness.

"Yes Ruby?"

"I want to be like the heroes in the books. I want to be a Hunter like you and Mommy"

"I'm not a hero Ruby. Heroes fight to protect the world, I fight to change it"

"Oh… then what are you?"

"I'm your brother silly, and that's all there's to it"

"..."

"But I think… I know that if that's your dream you'll be the biggest hero of them all"

"Really? You mean it?"

"Yes, and I'll always help you along the way"

"…Thanks"

"Mhmm, goodnight Ruby"

"Goodnight 'Ryl…"


"Oh, that's like a cat!" Lily pointed at the sky. I looked over where she was pointing and scrunched my face in concentration.

"I think that's more like a fox actually, see its tail?" I countered and pointed at the bushy tail-like cloud.

"Hmm, you're right! I like foxes better anyway" She declared happily and I snorted amusedly, who would have guessed? We descended into a comfortable silence and continued our cloud watching for who knows how long.

"Hey Lily" I spoke up when I gathered enough courage to initiate what would undoubtedly be a… heavy conversation.

"Hmm?" She hummed in response, hand behind her head and looking up at the blue sky.

"What is your sister like?" I asked at last, breaching a topic that was kind of taboo for her. She has told me about her parents a couple of times before but never her sister. Silence reigned for a good minute between us and I was beginning to think that she was ignoring the question, but she spoke up in a quiet voice.

"She-… Iris was… is the best sister ever. We would always spend time outside and take care of our garden…" She told me, still looking upwards with a slight tremble to her lips "She was the one who taught me about flowers and other plants" I listened silently, feeling like making any comment would be inappropriate.

"S-she showed me that there are things behind pretty flowers that you simply can't speak out loud, just because there aren't words for them, you know?" She said with tears in her eyes "She even bought me my first book on gardening and read it for me when she realized I couldn't read yet…" She looked upwards with glassy eyes.

"…You must miss her a lot" I noted sympathetically "I know I would if I somehow lost my mom or Raven" I told her and looked back up.

"I don't know how you could consider a hag like her family" I saw her scowl from the corner of my eyes.

"I think of her as family for the same reason I think of you as my best friend" I told her with a shrug. She looked at me with a puzzled expression and I continued "When I look at Raven I don't look at what she is, but rather what she could be" I explained it to her and tilted my head in her direction "You're right that now Raven is hardly more than a terrible person that deserves to be locked away or worse. But if I look past that I can see what she could become in the future, if only she just worked for it. You two actually have a lot more in common than you think" I remarked thoughtfully.

"I'm nothing like that old wench" She huffed haughtily.

"Believe it or not Raven was wrapped up in some big fight alongside her family and friends a long time ago. She fought for what was right, had a daughter, who's my little sister now, and was generally happy with life. Then one day she learnt that they couldn't win, do you know what she did then?" I asked Lily, who despite not being happy in the least with the topic was at least willing to hear me out "She ran. She left her friends, her family, even her own daughter behind just because she was scared. She is a coward" I sat up and turned to look at her in the eye.

"Like you" I stated with perfect calmness.

"W-what?!" She stuttered, shocked that I would even accuse her of something like this.

I nodded in confirmation "You told me that you were happy with your family and that you love them dearly, but when they took them away you just ran. Understandable as you really couldn't do anything at the time, but later when people offered the means to help you take back your family… you cried and ran away. Then when Raven found you in the wilderness she offered you a place and a means to rescue your family, yet you denied her and cried" I told her in a stone cold monotone, I really didn't enjoy doing this, but it had to be said "Tell me, if I hadn't shown up, what would have you done?" I asked rhetorically since we both knew the answer.

"I-I don't want to fight!" She bolted upwards and protested with tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

"And you want to see your family again. They are probably still out there, waiting for you to rescue them. You have the potential to do it and yet you are wasting your days away running away just like the woman you hate so much. You are a coward" I reasoned coldly with an impassive face, but on the inside I wanted nothing more than to hug the crying girl.

"I-I'm not a coward!" She cried defensively with hurt in her eyes.

"You can keep telling yourself that but it doesn't change the fact that you're doing nothing to even remotely help your family" I countered harshly. That did it and Lily broke down into a crying mess right beside me. Gods, if Summer saw me right now she would kill me…

"…But I see what you could become, not a coward but an amazing girl with a golden heart" I began slowly as she kept crying "You have the potential to save your family and do so much more. You just have to work for it and it will become a reality" I put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently "That's why when I look at you I can see my best friend" I finally allowed myself a small smile. Lily glanced at me and briefly met my eyes, before darting away elsewhere.

"I-I don't think I c-can…" She choked, breathing unevenly "I w-want them back s-so much, but I'm so s-scared…" She hiccupped and looked at the ground shamefully.

"That's why I'm here, dummy" I poked her in the forehead "Friends help each other when they're in trouble. So when you decide to save your family I'll be right beside you" She looked up weakly to see me smiling encouragingly "And if that's still not enough for you, I'm sure the tribe would also help out one of their own if asked" I continued in a suggestive manner.

"I d-don't need the help of those murderous brutes" She stuttered in denial, I hummed in acknowledgement and gazed at the snowy mountains in the distance.

"A little bird once told me that they were once good people doing what was right. As you can see they have changed since… but I believe that they have the potential to change their ways and become their best selves again, they just need someone to push them in the right direction" I stated as I reminisced on my conversation with Raven "I'm willing to give them a chance… You should too"

We once again fell into silence, this time it wasn't exactly like the previous peaceful, comfortable silence, but rather a more thoughtful one. I thought over our conversation in my head and sighed internally. I've been a bit… cruel in my methods but I only had one shot at this as failure would mean that Lily wouldn't have listened to me again if I brought this topic back up in the future. Lily meanwhile was hugging her knees while wiping away her tears with her sleeves.

"I-I'm not a coward" She said quietly as she sniffled. I perked up at this and looked back at her, only to see her still staring at the ground "I d-don't want to be a coward. I want to go h-home and hug Mom and Dad. I want to play with big sis again" Lily finally held her head up high and looked me in the eyes "I want to save them. I want to fight" She declared with puffy cheeks and I broke out into a heartfelt smile and offered her a hug. She didn't waste a second and tackled me to the ground. I would never lie to her or anyone else, I just wanted to make her see that even if our world was cruel and unforgiving, she shouldn't despair and lose her passion towards the things she loves. So what if she and her family got marked for death just because one day she woke up as the next Spring Maiden? She had the power to fight back, she just didn't realize it until now.

"You know we'll have to talk to Raven now, right?" I reminded her half-jokingly only for her to clam up immediately and generally look a lot less confident.


Raven let the portal behind her close and fade away. She has just finished scouting out their next raid target, it wasn't anything special, just another nameless Frontier town that no one would even notice missing. Internally she was already making and discarding several plans of attack they could execute when she caught sight of her annoying self-proclaimed godson/nephew and his obnoxious little friend walking towards her.

The pair walked with a false sense of confidence, or at least the little Spring Maiden did, Caryll seemed nonchalant as ever. However he did have an arm over the girl's shoulders in a supportive manner, interesting. She looked over to the girl in question and raised a half-interested eyebrow, judging by the redness in her cheeks and eyes she had been crying. Her posture seemed skittish at best and outright scared at worst as well.

What were they up to now?

Raven halted in her march and faced the two approaching brats with crossed arms.

"Brat, training isn't for another two hours, what do you want?" She called harshly once they were close enough to initiate a conversation. The girl bristled at her tone but Caryll just adopted his usual expression that always radiated an air of smugness and obnoxious happiness.

"I want nothing from you" Her eyes twitched at his causal insult "But Lily wants to say something to you" He gestured to his companion as they separated. Her mind took a moment to process his words and she turned to regard the small girl interestedly. Had the brat managed finally convince his friend?

"Well? I'm listening" She crossed her arms and looked at her expectantly.

"I w-want to fight. I want to be strong" The girl stated resolutely.

"Oh, is that so?" She stared intensely at her in challenge. The young girl was shivering under her gaze like a leaf in the wind and averted her eyes from hers. Raven narrowed her eyes in annoyance and placed a hand on her odachi in a threatening manner. If she wasn't even brave enough to look her in the eye, then she didn't deserve to live amongst them.

However before anything could've happened Caryll placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl glanced to the side and saw him giving an encouraging nod. The girl nodded back tentatively and slowly lifted her head to meet Raven's gaze. This time she managed to shakily hold eye contact with her for a few scarce moments. She could even see some sparks directed at her beneath all the unease and fright.

Raven wasn't impressed. Even with support the girl was clearly intimidated by her presence. She still reminded her of a rabbit staring down the barrel of a rifle and her hands were balled into shaking fists of fear, not fury.

Pathetic, really.

"Very well" She eased her posture and lessened her near permanent sneer. The girl… Lily blinked in momentary confusion at the quick change in attitude and even Caryll seemed mildly surprised.

The girl was far from good, gods she barely even passed for adequate, but that small fire in her eyes pointed to a form of passion, a passion she could work with and forge into something useful and deadly.

And as unbearable her nephew was, he still managed to spark that flame in her. Who knows, maybe if she let him influence her even more the girl could become something more than passable… or even something like himself…

On second thought, she really didn't need another mini-monster running around.

"Meet me behind my tent in two hours. From now on you're participating in our training sessions with Caryll and me" She instructed the relieved looking girl in a brisk manner "But know that if I find you slacking off in any way I will not hesitate to end you where you stand" She glared fiercely in warning, it was a threat she fully intended to carry out, her time was valuable and there would be hell to pay if she found her just playing around.

"Y-yes m-ma'am" Lily nodded hastily, expression positively terrified, good.

"As for you" Raven turned to regard Caryll who perked up at the mention of his name "…You kept your end of the bargain and I'm a woman of my word" She sighed unhappily, even if he secured the Maiden for her, she didn't like to be in debt to anyone "Use it how you see fit, within reason" She added quickly after a moment of thought "Now, if that'll be all…" She said dismissively and turned to walk away but the voice of Caryll stopped her.

"Actually… there is something" She turned around to see him with an obviously fake thinking expression. By now she was confident she could see through whatever façade he would put up.

"What is it?" She asked suspiciously, knowing him it couldn't have been anything good. He grinned at her and an intangible vortex deposited an ornate looking object in his hand. Focusing her gaze at it she-

Her whole being froze when she realized what she was looking at.

"Would you share a drink with me?" Caryll asked innocently as he brought out one of his knives while holding a golden chalice in his offhand. Her mind went into overdrive again and numerous images flashed in her mind one after the other, further confirming her suspicions.

How he asked about their culture.

How he kept asking about the tribe's history.

How he pestered her about her family.

So that was his game all this time.

That pesky, cunning little bastard.

"Why?" She snarled with venom lacing her voice.

"Why what?" He tilted his head to the side in what seemed to be genuine curiosity.

"Why are you acting this familiar with me? Why are you trying to get closer to me time after time?! Why are you so fixated on me?!" She demanded heatedly, also managing to draw some attention from the other tribe members in the process. She didn't get an answer as Caryll remained in silence as he impassively regarded her furious expression.

"Uhm, I'm sorry but could one of you tell me what's going on?" Lily asked awkwardly from the side.

"It's simple really, Raven refuses to consider me family even with evidence to the contrary… So I just bargained off a favor from her and I'm using it right now to enter a blood oath with her" Caryll explained with an infuriating small smile that reminded her of his mother's.

"Ohh… and what's that?" Lily responded obliviously.

"Those who take a blood oath together swear their undying loyalty to each other" It was Raven who answered her with barely contained anger "The oath also formally binds their bloodlines together, marking them as family to the world" She spat disdainfully.

"Quite the simple pact, but quite unbreakable in Mistralian culture" He grinned widely "And no Lily, due to our age difference it's not considered marriage or anything like that. We just sorta adopt each other into our families" He sighed preemptively once he saw Lily opening her mouth to ask another question. She promptly closed her mouth again.

"As for your question…" he turned to Raven once more with a noticeably more serious gaze "Remember what I first said to you when we met for the first time? Well… I've changed my mind, I've actually changed my mind about a few things, but I think it's safe to say that I've come to care about you like I care about Mom or Yang…" He trailed off while looking to the side. He then chuckled and regarded her with mirth in his eyes.

"Then I've come to realize that we Roses have a pesky little trait that compels us to bring the best out of the people we're close to. Mom did it with Uncle Qrow and Tai, unfortunately you ran off before she could finish her work" He rolled his mirrored eyes and smiled warmly "She told me what you were like in Beacon and what she saw in you… After getting to know you I can say I definitely agree with her… So here I am, trying to finish what she started…" He shrugged with an amused expression.

"So you can throw us away, abandon us or run to the end of Remnant in fear all you want, but know that we'll just follow after" For a moment she swore he looked just like his mother with his expression and bright cloak "We'll never give up on you, whether you like it or not" He declared with unblinking, steely eyes. A tense silence descended over the camp as their little talk and stare-off attracted a small crowd of onlookers, Lily especially looked like she wanted to be literally anywhere else.

This obnoxious, arrogant, detestable… brat.

She swiped the chalice and knife from his hands, ignoring the nagging feeling that the former was from their treasury, and made a swift cut on her palm. She held the bleeding wound over the chalice while lightly glaring ahead.

"With this we're even" She stated curtly to a grinning Caryll, who nodded eagerly in response. Once she deemed the amount of blood adequate she gave the chalice to Caryll and let her Aura wash over the wound and seal it shut.

"So can my name be Rose-Branwen from now on?" He asked cheekily as he followed her example and bled his cut palm over the chalice.

"Don't push your luck brat" She warned him icily "We have more than enough witnesses to validate the pact and I don't care about the formalities so just get on with it" Caryll chuckled at her annoyed tone and took a gulp of their mixed blood.

"But it has such a nice ring to it!" He whined weakly as he handed the chalice over to her. A venomous glare from her promptly shut him up. She gazed at her reflection in the blood and sighed inaudibly, her self-… godson, her godson would someday be the death of her, she was sure of that. She lifted the chalice to her mouth and drank the remaining bitter fluid resignedly.

The gathered crowd began clapping and cheering in celebration, much to the confusion of Caryll and Lily.

"Uhh, why are they cheering?" Caryll asked awkwardly. Raven lowered the now empty chalice and regarded her godson with confusion.

"Honorary family member or not, I just-as-good as adopted you" She explained to the still confused looking duo.

"So what? You changed your mind about me calling you mom?" …Must not murder Summer's brat, must not murder Summer's brat, she recited in her mind until something occurred to her "You… learned from that book I saw you with, didn't you?" At his hesitant nod she continued "You didn't even finish it did you?" She asked blandly.

"I only read the parts that were important" He admitted shamelessly.

Somehow, whenever she thinks he can't remind her more of her ex-team leader and friend, he just goes ahead and does it anyway.

She massaged the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming "…Adopted or not you just gained a claim to be the next chieftain with your stunt" she explained calmly to an increasingly paler looking Caryll "They are cheering you on because unless Yang takes up the position you'll be the only other candidate remaining" She could pinpoint the exact moment when the realization of his situation dawned on him.

"Oh…" Her godson mumbled intelligently with a thousand yard stare.


A bi of a longer AN, because… well, a lot happened this chapter as I had to tie up a few loose ends and introduce new ones before we end Act 1.

Little preview of the next chapter:

"So what's this place called anyways?" I asked while hugging my cloak close to me. The chilly winds this high up pierced through even heavy clothing and managed to freeze my exposed hair into solid strands.

"My father called it the Valley of Death, but he had a flair for the dramatic. I just call it home" Summer shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly not even fazed by the lack of oxygen or the cold weather.

"It's certainly endearing" I drawled sarcastically as I scanned the frozen hellscape of mountaintops, giant mammoth pine forests and clouds from above "Any tips?" I asked while kicking down a pebble into the valley before me.

"Hmm, the nights here are cold enough to freeze even Qrow's stash, so unless you fancy becoming an icicle I suggest getting to that mountaintop before sunset" She informed me semi-seriously.

"Got it, anything else?" I asked and stepped closer to the edge. I still had at least two hours of sunlight to work with.

"Don't rush through the valley or you might regret it" She said thoughtfully and I blinked in confusion at the contradicting advice.

"Wait didn't you just say-" "Time to go! Clock's ticking!" She declared cheerfully and she shoved me over the edge and down into the snowy forest, which was at least a clear 100 meter drop.

"Ah I remember when I was pushed down there… Ah they grow up so fast!" Summer shook her head with a dreamy expression while the voice of me cursing her name echoed through the valley.

Omakes:

Caryll: *gives up all the strawberries*
Caryll: Oh, uhh….*fumbles with a few random hand-signs in quick succession* Secret Rose Style: Strawberry Whirlwind Nimbus Dance!
Ruby/Yang/Summer: …What?
Caryll: Oh it's just that a lot of readers always draw parallels between Naruto and anything I do… So I decided to just embrace it and channel my inner Minato *dons a white haori that has Yondaime Rosekage written on it*
Ruby/Yang/Summer: …Can I have a cloak like that? / That's an awesome name! / …Please never do that again.

Caryll: *warps inside Yang's room, startling her*
Little Yang: 'Ryl! Where were you- *A completely mortified looking Caryll grabs Yang and warps her away to the Branwen Tribe, right in front of Raven*
Caryll: Raven, this is Yang, your daughter, I'm sure you'll get along just fine. Yang this is Raven, your birth mother, she's a bit rough around the edges but she'll warm up to you in no time, she'll teach you all about kicking ass and being a leader. Now be a good girl and I'll come back and pick you up later, okay? Bye! *warps away*
Yang/Raven:…
Yang/Raven: I have two mommies? / I will skin that brat alive.

Team combos with Summer and Caryll, I also have a few others planned once I reveal Summer's Semblance.

Whew, the last two scenes took up two thirds of my overall writing time, this is like… my fourth draft for them? Anyway I hope it was enjoyable, I had to rewrite/rephrase them so many times just because they didn't feel right to read…

Regarding the white flames I always envisioned the light/fire (at the battle of Beacon when Ruby first uses her eyes the light looks like malleable fire) of the Silver Eyes as the polar opposite of the violet fire used by the God of Darkness. That flame only killed humans while the Silver Eyes only harm Grimm, what's more is that their effect is pretty much the same on their respective victims (nuclear flash that only leaves ashes behind or petrification on lower levels, granted we don't see GoD petrify anyone, but then again he was eradicating humanity so I think we can agree he didn't intend to do things halfway). In the show we only see the omni-directional flashbang mode being used so I made the precise control of the flames a sort of 'end-game' for the Silver Eyes, or the pinnacle of what they can achieve at their full potential.

So is Caryll not a hero? Is he some morally grey edgy character? No, I will say that now that Caryll is a hero, I actually plan on representing multiple hero archetypes in the story and Caryll will be one of them.
Lily is our reluctant hero who is only trying to save her family.
Ruby is our good old paragon of virtue that we see in the show.
And Caryll? Well, so far the way I portrayed him might paint him as an OP Protagonist, and I'm fully aware of that, but this OPness can wonderfully lead into my favorite hero archetype that I… won't share with you guys, I'm open to theories on your part but I'll remain tight lipped about it until we reach the point in the story where it becomes obvious.

Shit, I had to watch RWBY Chibi for an hour straight after writing the bit with Lily so that I could feel less shitty about myself. Then Indomitable had to drop and I successfully managed to both exhaust my tissue reserves and binge watch RWBY Chibi 2 times.

Also, random useless trivia fact for the day: Lilies symbolize purity, passion and sweetness among other things.

So is Caryll a Stargazer (Summer x Raven) baby? Eh, kinda.

Physically? No. Emotionally? Depends on how you look at it.
While there's nothing going on between Summer and Raven in this story apart from being ex-best friends, they are what Caryll views as parental figures, or at least the closest equivalent to the term as right now he would never admit the former on his own. He may be a 29 year old adult at this point in the story but even adults can influence each other and pick up each other's traits, Summer and Raven being mentor figures to him only drives this point further. He clearly cares about them and even picked up an unholy combination of their more prominent traits.

What do I mean by that? Well look at his interactions with everyone, he inherited his moral compass from Summer with the cold determination of Raven. Or another example would be the social understanding displayed by Summer and the calculative mind of Raven. These are generally useful if not positive traits, but what about the negatives?

From the fight with the Wyvern you could remember that Caryll didn't give a damn about dying again. He was already pretty selfless even before he got to know Summer, but after that his selflessness amplified to a level that is frankly scary and just plain wrong. Then there is his pride/arrogance that only grew under Raven's influence. How does this manifest? Remember how he only accepted Summer's help only where it was absolutely necessary at first? Or how he is literally waiting years to buy/make his own weapon rather than simply ask Summer to help him out? Or how he basically shit-talks people who are way stronger than him (basically all of his encounters with Raven) just because he thinks he's untouchable? These are subtle things at first but will pile up as time goes on.

These combinations of traits may look weird at first but they do make sense after a while and are really interesting to write.

Next chapter is the finale of Act 1!

Until next time.