Chapter 9 – Spiders and Power

Author Note: Just so then everyone knows, I have decided to change the format of my writing from Present Tense to Past Tense. This is because my brother and I are now working on our original series which is being written that way. So this will help me get used to writing this way. If I do have slip-ups and accidentally do go to present tense and don't realise then don't be afraid to let me know. I want to make sure this becomes muscle memory for me.

At least this way it will help me improve upon my writing.

I hope you understand – Matt

Jackdaw

His red eyes burned like coals as he stared in the direction that he thought he saw them watching, listening. He could feel it, he could hear it – the whispers of Valravn Branwen in the back of his mind.

"Valravn, Valravn, Valravn!" They all whispered, soft spoken voices constantly surrounded him and it hurt like a fire in the back of his mind. He clenched his gloved metal fist tight, stared off into the distance at where they were once stood in the plain. Sat at her table in front of him was Lil' Miss Malachite.

Lil' Miss Malachite was a heavy-set middle-aged woman with light skin and short blonde hair kept in a bob haircut. She had a spider in its web tattooed on her left shoulder, a beauty mark under her right eye, lipstick on her upper lip and purple nail polish on her fingernails. The top of her dress was white and backless, with long sleeves and details, such as beads and straps, in purple. Below was a purple corset, and a long pleated skirt that was yellow on its top layer, purple in the middle one, and white in the lower layer. Her shoes were brown and decorated with a green ribbon.

Stood as her bodyguards were her two Twin Daughters – Militia and Melanie Malachite.

Melanie – once the teenage fighter hired by Junior with her sister – now had grown up into a young adult. She looked harder but wore the same style of clothing with long black hair and pale green eyes, highlighted by heavy cyan makeup. She wore a white, strapless dress with cyan lining. Her accessories included a large white flower hairpin above her left ear, a white feather scarf, a silver pad with cyan and red feathers on her left shoulder, white gloves, a small silver bracer over the glove on her left arm, a bow in the centre of the top-most part of her bodice, a silver chained belt, cyan wings on the lower back and long white boots with blades at the heels.

Militia – also grown up over the five years – also had returned back to her mother to serve alongside her. With short black hair and pale green eyes, highlighted by heavy red makeup. She wore a red strapless dress with black lining. Her accessories included large red and white feathers above her left ear, black fur hanging off her shoulders and held at the front by a dark grey chain, red gloves, a black bow tied around her waist and long red boots with very high stiletto heels.

The two sisters seemed to enjoy mirroring each other in subtle ways, and were much smaller in comparison to their mother. And yet the one that really gave off the more intimidating vibe was not the bodyguards but their mother instead.

She held her fan and gently cooled her face. "Little jumpy today, are we?" Lil' Miss asked Jackdaw as he stared over his shoulder, and then those burning red eyes glared at some of the other Spiders inside of the place. The Gangster had plenty of minions, all of them armed and tattooed with the same spider in its web on their bodies. Some of the people had them on their shoulders, others on their backs, some on their sternum and others in placed covered by clothing. There were also some young women dancing on the poles and others flirting with the men inside, there were many ways to make money in Vacuo, and none of them were exactly pretty jobs.

"I've learned to prepare for anything." Jackdaw answered, looking back at her as he slowly retracted the Grave Dust formed blades back into his arms. He could still hear the faint whispers in the back of his mind though.

"Valravn…Valravn…Valravn."

It was constant but fading away, and he managed to push them away, swallow them up so then they could not affect him anymore. Lil Miss Malachite leant back into her chair, a silver dish with richly made dessert upon it, her spoon sat beside it. "Do you have the information I asked you to get me, or not?" Jackdaw asked her, and she chuckled.

"I do…but I was hoping we could chat first." She said to him, but he gave her a stern glare.

"Tough shit, give me the information and I will leave." Jackdaw demanded, but Lil Miss did not work that way – and when in her house, you follow her rules.

"You would like to be more careful with your tone with me – Jack the Ripper." Lil Miss said, and he stared down at her with narrowed eyes. She smirked up at him, and she took her fancy cigarette and tapped the glowing orange ashes from the end into her ash tray. "Surprised? My little spiders have been following you for a long time now, Mr Branwen. Not everything can be buried, and I know plenty of information about you." She warned, and Jackdaw narrowed his eyes at her. "So I would like you to be more polite to an Information Broker like myself, or I will spill all your secrets to the public. Then there will be nowhere left for you to hide." She warned, and Jackdaw exhaled through his nose, he glanced at some of the Spiders that had their eyes on him.

He could take on all of them, but he did not want to leave a bloodbath. He needed his information, that was it, but if they push him any further, they would leave him no other choice. So he gave her what she wanted – as much respect as he could lend. "As you wish." Jackdaw said to her, and she nodded her head.

"That's better." Lil Miss said with a chuckle, she glanced at her daughters and held her hand out to Militia. "My scroll, Darling."

Militia turned to the other table and she approached it, and Jackdaw looked at her walk away. "Beautiful things aren't they? The man I had them with was kind…but a bore." She sighed and Militia came back with her scroll, placing it in her hand. "That's a good girl." She said, opening it and it formed a hologram, showing a Map of a specific location – Atlas.

Jackdaw stared at the highlighted location, beyond the safety of Atlas' Walls – the Atlesian Wildlands.

"The location in which you seek is hidden in the Atlesian Wildlands. The Black Gallows made a big point about keeping this location a secret before they changed facilities, whatever it is you seek is in there. It also seems to have a network of underground tunnels – all of which feed into Atlas, a Ratway of Sorts." Lil Miss explained to Jackdaw, pulling the chip of data out and handing it to Jackdaw. He picked it up and he looked at the green dot that glowed, meaning all the data was installed into the drive with ease.

"Every Kingdom has its secrets." Jackdaw said, and she chuckled.

"Indeed. And one does not become the most powerful Kingdom on all of Remnant without having a dirty side. I believe these old tunnels were used to…mitigate…loose ends, if you catch my meaning." Lil Miss chuckled, and Jackdaw nodded his head, pushing the drive into his pocket, and he turned to walk away from her.

"Many thanks." He said to her, and she smiled.

"You know…you've been quite the interesting customer." She said to him, and then two Bouncers that held the entrance stood in front of Jackdaw with their large axes in their hands, ready to cut him down if they had to. "But I would like to tell you something first – and you will leave, when I say you can leave." Lil Miss said to him, and he looked over his shoulder at her with a glare. She gestured him to return, so he did, he did not want to bring the entire Kingdom down on his head. He could kill everyone in this room with ease, but it would not be silent by any means.

Jackdaw approached her and she smiled. "It seems like you're afraid. Y'know…I used to be afraid of spiders. Wanna know what I did about it?" Lil Miss asked him curiously, and he raised a brow.

"Killed them?" He presumed.

"Oh no! The world needs Spiders, honey. I just made the spiders work for me." She told him with a smile on her face, and he glanced at all of them that surrounded him. "I was weak once, a beggar on the streets with no name of power. But when I started to get the Spiders on my side, they brought me whispers. And within days, that information lifted me from the gutters I was starving in – to leading an empire based on Knowledge." Lil Miss Malachite held out her arms to her small little empire she built with spiders everywhere. "You see? The woman who holds the keys to the books is Queen and honey…you should see me in a crown. You want to know what real power is? Knowledge is power." She told him with a smirk, and Jackdaw stared at her.

Then he laughed, slowly it built and she raised a brow with confusion. "You think me afraid of your fancy words and arachnids that follow you?" He asked her. "You cling to what you claim is power, but your just hiding from the cold hard truth." Jackdaw stated.

"Mhm? And what truth is that, sweetheart?" Lil Miss Malachite asked him curiously.

Then he launched the Fatal Feathers towards her, and they landed in the walls right next to her head, ear to ear, the same for both her daughters at her shoulders. Their eyes were wide and she felt fear, terror of how close that just was – everything she built could have ended just then. Jackdaw lowered his swung arm and he smirked sinisterly at her, he took off his hat and dusted off the particles from the air, before straightening it atop his dark brown hair again. "Power is Power." He told her, and he turned to see all of the Spiders with weapons drawn on him, from firearms to melee weapons, all of them ready to attack him.

But they were all scared of him, and he walked towards them all, and he touched the blade of the machete that belonged to one of the men. "You all live in a fairy tale, you stand here thinking you run this Kingdom, and yet a man like me entered and could tear it all down. I could slice through every single one of you like carving a cake, and I would not even break a sweat." Jackdaw warned, and then he looked at them all. From the men to the women and he pointed at them one at a time.

"Murderer. Thief. Beggar. Prostitute. All of you are just criminals thinking you are more than what you are, like you are all kings and queens atop an empire of sand. But you are all nothing more than spiders – small insignificant life forms beneath the power of man." Jackdaw explained, he looked down at his boot at a small spider crawling across the ground. "And you know what's the kicker?" He asked Malachite who stared at him. He raised his boot over the spider. "Even the Broodmother, can be crushed under a boot, in an instant." He told her, slamming his boot down and crushing the spider, he twisted the boot and left the squished and mangled remains of the spider across the floor.

Jackdaw turned to walk away from them and Malachite yelled. "I have powerful friends, Jackdaw Branwen! Friends who will take pleasure in punishing you for this!" She yelled and he smirked as he walked towards the exit, he pushed the two bouncers down to the ground with the strength of his metal arms.

"Send them. I'll be waiting." He told her, and the doors slammed shut behind him.

Cinder

She winced as Vernal tended to some of her wounds after her battle against Ruby. Yang, Nora and Ren, a sewing kit on the bench beside her. Vernal used it carefully, using the needle and thread to pull her skin back together and hold it there. She got that wound on her arm from fighting against Ren, he managed to slash her arm with Stormflower and it left a mighty good gash on her. Cinder gritted her teeth together and pounded her fist against the table. "OW YOU BITCH!" Cinder exclaimed and Vernal rolled her eyes.

"Y'know you've said that about six times now." Vernal calmly pointed out as she kept going, ignoring her friend's winging.

"Well…it hurts!" She exclaimed once again with pain as she stared up at the starry sky, the sun was soon gonna rise but they were still in the dark of night at this moment.

"Oh wah, wah, wah. Just a cut, get it together." Vernal ordered and Cinder scoffed.

"Easier said than done!" She strained once again as Vernal pulled the thread through the wound and out the other side, pulling the skin together. "OOO-HA-OOW!" She exclaimed once more, punching the table again. "You did that on purpose…"

"I never thought the Fall Maiden could complain so much. What're you like with a paper cut?" Vernal scoffed as she kept on going, nearly finished up with fixing up the damage done to her.

"Paper cuts hurt like a bitch." Cinder defended, which made Vernal chuckle at that. Fall Maiden right here, and she is making a fuss like a child who has a boo-boo. But as she kept going she turned to see Oscar Pine approach them with his weapon attached to his belt, chained hammers retracted back to where they should be.

"How's she doing?" Oscar asked her.

"HOW'D YA THINK PAL?" Cinder screeched in pain, she felt the needle dig that time. "Why did you do that?"

"She may be the loudest patient I've worked on. You know I've had children quieter than you." Vernal stated with a deadpanned expression directed towards Cinder. Cinder gave her a stare and she so wanted to go full Fall Maiden on her, but she couldn't be bothered. And even then, she can't.

"Damn powers…why's it taking so long for me to recharge them?" Cinder groaned as Vernal finished up on the stitching. She got the gauze and started to wrap up her arm where the stitches have been used. She wrapped it up tight to prevent infection and also to stop any further bleeding.

"There, done." Vernal said to her.

"Raven said you need to keep working at it. Like a muscle." Oscar said to her, he walked over to a barrel and jumped up onto it, picking up an apple from the bowl on the barrel next to him. He took a big bite out of the apple, the juice trickled down his cheeks and his lip, and he enjoyed the sweet taste of the red apple.

"Sure, but how can Raven know how to train me? I respect her and all that, but she's not a Maiden." Cinder said, and Vernal chuckled.

"True, but her theory is that it is no different to working a semblance." Vernal stated, which just made her scoff.

"Semblance…yeah having telekinesis that can only move grains of sand is a great ability, huh?" Cinder stated as she stared at the floor, she held out her hand and used that very same semblance. She could not even move the petal of the flower down by her boot, only the grains of dirt and sand beneath her. She only can lift a small cloud of it too, nothing more than that. It forms into a spherical shape and she holds it in her hand, before she gasps from the strain and it crumbles through her fingers. She punched the table with anger, so hard that the leg of the table broke and it fell forward.

"Cinder…" Oscar sighed.

"I'm not as lucky as the rest of you alright? Not as lucky as those kids. I can't get stronger through electricity and I can't turn into rose petals. Everything I can do, I had to suffer to get. I had to fight, I had to actually work for it. And now that I have it…I can barely use it for long." She explained with anger, she had always hated herself for how weak she is. Even with the power of the Fall Maiden she could not use them for very long. It was something that Salem would scorn her for, it is most likely a reason why she did not return to her. Salem is cruel and deadly, those who fail her usually wind up dead, and the same goes for those who disappoint her.

Where else was she to go?

"Was that girl, the one with the Silver Eyes. Was she the one that did that to you?" Oscar asked her, pointing to his eye as he looked at her. Cinder stared at him and she rolled her only amber eye.

"Oh, what gave you that idea, Pine?" Cinder sternfully said back, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, jeez…just asking." Oscar said, and Cinder sighed, she felt bad about snapping at him over the subject. She looked at the eighteen year old guy stood by the barrel now with his head held low.

"It's alright…I'm sorry. I'm just in a…fighty…mood right now." Cinder said, and Oscar raised a brow.

"You're always in that mood." He said, and Cinder chuckled.

"True." Cinder agreed. "Well let's just say I can't blame them for attacking me first…I did cause the Battle of Beacon. And caused Emerald to cause Pyrrha to kill Penny. And nearly killed Ozpin. And nearly killed Pyrrha." Cinder listed and they all looked at her, and when you add it all up, they can't overly blame them either. She did do more bad than Ruby did to her, and Cinder sighed. "I guess I just wanted some payback…that burn hurt like hell after all."

"A lot of nearly killed scenarios." Oscar commented.

"Don't get me started on how many times I screwed up. Hell I managed to get caught hacking by that same girl. Although their security is shit." Cinder admitted and Vernal gave her a stare.

"Language." She said, which made Cinder stare at her with disbelief.

"Oh raiding villages is okay but swearing is a no-no?" Cinder questioned, until she turned to see the little girl that they took in a few weeks ago. She couldn't be any older than seven years old, with short brown hair and huge brown eyes she gazed at them curiously. She tilted her head with a smile and Cinder looked away from her. Oscar got up and he walked over to her, he crouched down and he ruffled her hair.

"Hey, Amber. Whatcha up to?" He asked her.

"I…I wanted some water…" She softly cooed, and Vernal sighed.

"I need to go see Raven, keep out of trouble for five seconds?" Vernal asked Cinder and she gave her a thumbs up.

"Can you watch her whilst I get her some water?" Oscar asked Cinder.

"Uh…I don't think I should…"

"Thanks." Oscar didn't even give her the chance to answer, he just walked off to go get her water. Leaving the Fall Maiden alone with the little girl who looked at her curiously. She tilted her head and waddled closer.

"H-Hello." Amber sweetly greeted with a tiny wave with her tiny hand. Cinder did not turn her head, she just kept trying to use her Fall Maiden powers, trying to ignite a flame in her hand. But nothing she tried gave any merit, gave her a chance. The flames just kept extinguishing as soon as she ignited them.

"Hi." Cinder hardly even gave her much of a response, she muttered that greeting as she kept trying to ignite the flame. A smile of intrigue graced the little girl's face as she looked at Cinder's scarred hand that tried to ignite the flame.

"How're you doing that? Are you magical? Are you a Witch?" She asked her curiously, and Cinder chuckled as she looked at the magic across her hand.

"No. I'm not a Witch." She answered, and Amber looked at her, that curiosity grew with every second that passed her by.

"What happened to your eye? Did someone steal it?" She asked her curiously, which made Cinder chuckle, and she looked at her,

"No…actually…I'm a Pirate." She joked with a smile, and Amber giggled with such life in her soul, shoulders bouncing and she hid in her hoodie at that.

"No you're not! Pirates are long gone!" She giggled, and Cinder chuckled.

"Oh yeah? Then what would you call me?" She asked her, she looked at her, but then that smile seemed to fade and she looked away from her. Because deep down, she did not want to know what she would call herself.

Monster?

The woman who killed so many all for a power she can hardly even use?

A weakling?

Maybe I am a Witch…People treat me like one, and I can't blame them.

Cinder knew of this girl that they took in, all they knew about her was her first name – which was just Amber. And that was what hurt Cinder when she first heard about her, because the girl she killed to get these powers in the first place had the exact same name. She also had bronze skin and brown hair just like this little girl, like she is some kind of dark reminder for her to always remember. She stared away from her, unable to picture her face, and instead she kept seeing the woman she killed. Was she like that girl beside her? Was she so kind that she just wanted to make others happy?

And she took that soul from the world, all for this power that she can't control.

The town they found her in was completely overrun by the Grimm, and it took them quite a bit of time to clear it out. Creatures feasted upon the cadavers of people, some of them were still screaming and alive, torn apart. They found Amber in her home, locked in her room, crying after she heard her parents be eaten alive by Beowulves. They knew what did this though, the Grimm attack was not what brought them there – at least it was not what killed them. It was the after effects of a Human Attack – an attack by the Vasillias Cartel. Their pull in Anima is extremely powerful and they have fought their men quite a few times, a reason why they cannot build up a permanent home. Soon they will need to move again.

Lavinia Vasillias is nothing if not persistent.

The Cartel would never ever wipe out an entire village for no reason, unlike most Bandits – it was likely that they did what they did due to the Mayor of the Town had a deal with them. And could not pay off his debt, so Lavinia got in back – her way.

Amber finally answered her question about what she thought she was. "I think…you're a good person. A Huntress." She told her, and Cinder froze when she said that, since that could not be a worse answer. She squeezed her eye shut and she blew out a shaky breath, she did not want to hurt the girl's feelings and she looked at her.

"Not really…I'm just…I dunno. I'm a survivor." She told her and Amber sat down on the log near her, but Cinder kept fiddling with the straps on her leg. "Haven't you…I dunno, got somewhere else to be? I'm terrible company."

"I'm happy here, it's warm. I don't like the cold…and my tent is dark." She sniffled, and Cinder was no fool, poor Amber must have gotten those fears from being trapped inside of a closet for days with no food after hearing her parents get ripped to pieces by Grimm. "I miss my mommy and daddy…"

Cinder looked at her as she looked at the floor, and she sighed, she clenched her hands into fists since she could not say the same for her parents. She could still feel the cold glass in her hand when she stabbed them to death with the broken slipper. It was awkward for Cinder, she did not know what to say over the situation. "I…I know what you mean." She said to her, and Amber looked at her.

"Did bad people come and hurt your mommy and daddy too?" She asked, and Cinder shook her head.

"Not exactly, kiddo." Cinder said, and Amber looked at her curiously. "I'm not a good person…but my parents…my family…they were worse."

Amber looked at her and her eyes widened. "I killed my mom and dad…that's why you shouldn't be a round me. I'm an evil bitch who doesn't deserve your company." She cursed and Amber tilted her head in curiosity.

"What's a Bitch?" She asked her and Cinder's eye widened and she gasped.

"Oop! No! Don't say that…bad word." Cinder begged her, she looked around and she started to giggle.

"Bitch?" She asked.

"Kid…" Cinder groaned.

"Bitch!" Amber giggled louder and Cinder groaned in defeat, rolling on the floor with a sigh, and Amber laid down next to her on the dirt. Cinder dwarfed her as she stared up at the stars that were beginning to fade.

"You're torturing me, kid." Cinder chuckled, and Amber giggled.

"Yay!" She giggled, making Cinder sigh and chuckle at the same time, she closed her eye as she laid there, staring up at the sky. Then Amber laid back down next to her, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Shouldn't you get some sleep, little turnip?" She asked her, already coming up with a nickname for her, whether or not she wanted to get close to her or not.

"I can't." She told her, and Cinder glanced at her. "I keep hearing it…"

Cinder reached her hand out and she went to touch her shoulder and she sighed, she could not bring herself to hug the girl. So just patted her shoulder and she stood back up. "Wanna know how I keep the demons out?" Cinder asked her, and Amber looked back up. "The Nightmares just wanna win. So I remember how much I like winning, when the nightmares come for you – tell them to go away. Stand up, stare them in the eyes – and you show them you're braver than they are." Cinder explained, and she picked up the little girl and carried her back to her tent, she looked ahead and Amber softly cooed.

"But…what if it is braver than me? What if its bigger? What if it laughs at me?" Amber whimpered.

"No nightmare is bigger than you, it just makes itself look like it is. But it's just a shadow, and shadows can't hurt you, can they?" Cinder asked her as she approached the tent, opening it with her leg.

"No…" She agreed.

She laid her down on her bed and she started to tuck her in, and she looked at her. "You're name is Cinder…isn't it?" She asked her.

"Mhm." She answered.

"Like…Cinderella?" She asked, and Cinder scoffed.

"Not…really." She chuckled, since she did the complete opposite of what the Fairy Tale Character did. Amber looked out the open tent and she saw some of the Grunts walk past, and Shay was amongst them. His bruise had healed and he also had already had the broken tooth replaced with a silver one.

"Are you people…are you good? The people who hurt my mommy and daddy…they burned my home…are you like them, or better?" Amber asked with worry in her voice, and Cinder did not know how to answer that question. She looked over her shoulder at the Grunts that walked around.

Some of us…but Raven does not have complete control over what the damn Grunts do.

But she needed Amber to get to sleep.

So she…half lies.

"We're good people, we just hurt the bad people. Like the ones who hurt your mommy and daddy." She told her and Amber smiled. "Remember what I said about Nightmares? I bet you'll get plenty of sleep tonight." She promised and Amber smiled up at her, and Cinder closed and zipped up her pink tent they gave her. She stepped back and glanced at some of the Grunts nearby, who were trying on stolen jewellery. She did not even notice Oscar walking up to her from behind.

"She went back to sleep?" He asked her, holding the glass of water he got her from the tap. Cinder nodded her head and sighed.

"And I just had to lie to her." She said.

"About what?"

"That we're good people." She said, because the jewels of which those Grunts were messing around with were from an innocent village that they raided against Raven's orders. And she knew, but she cannot control them – sometimes they need to get out their worst impulses to stay under her command.

And Raven hates that.

All of them do, but the Grunts are merely firepower.

At the end of the day, no matter how many times they tell themselves they are doing the right thing – they are still Bandits.

Ruby

The Silver Eyed Girl felt so alien in this camp, people gave her stares, stares that looked like they wanted to kill her. All because of the colour of her eyes, she might not be the greatest of wordsmiths like Valravn but she heard what he was saying. It sounded like he was saying that they have been at war with her kind for a very long time, and that they do not trust her at all. It hurt, because she never said anything to offend them, but all of their reactions clearly were based around fear.

She did not forget what she did that night, the night she froze the Grimm Dragon and sent the Black Smog retreating into the Emerald Forest. She kept walking through the camp in search for her sister, since she lost sight of her when she was looking around the camp. She could not find any of them in the camp as she searched. "Yang! Nora! Ren! Qrow!" She called out their names in desperation and then she heard another voice.

"Y'know, I took Dulcis here so he could avoid the yelling." Eryka told her, sat on a rock as she stroked his feathers gently as he looked at Ruby. She smiled at Neptune's older sister and she approached her, at least she had found someone she knew in this alien location of people she had never met before now. "I could hear you when you were all the way back there, by the way." Eryka stated, due to her heightened senses thanks to learning how to bond her aura with an Altum Eagle. Ruby sat down next to her as they looked out across the fields of Mistral, the little clearing that the Branwens made their home in was beautiful and with the sun rising slowly over the mountains, it only made it prettier.

"Sorry." She apologised.

"Don't worry about it – I'm guessing that the black haired gal was Cinder Fall?" Eryka presumed and Ruby nodded her head with stern silver eyes.

"Yeah…"

"Sorry. But if she is part of the Tribe then we need to get on with it, they never sell out their own." Eryka stated, and Ruby looked at her. She couldn't really tell if she could trust her again, that was one hell of a secret to keep from her friends. Even her brother, but even then – she said it was a painful memory.

Ruby looked at Dulcis and she gently reached out to him, wanting to think of something other than Cinder Fall. "Can I?" She asked her and she held out her arm, and Ruby did the same. It was incredible, Dulcis gently stepped onto her unprotected arm, he made sure his talons did not nick her skin or cut her in any way. He softly chirped as he looked at Ruby and she smiled. "Hi…" She greeted. "He's so beautiful."

"Yeah…he gets all the fuss, don't you fatty?" Eryka teases and he softly chirps at her.

"Fatty?" Ruby asked.

"Trust me, he eats way more than he should." Eryka chuckled, she shook her head at the huge Bird of Prey whilst Ruby petted him. Eryka had a feeling the question was coming, so she was ready when Ruby asked her.

"Can I…ask you something?" She asked her.

"About my relation to the Tribe?" She asked, and Ruby was caught in her tracks, which made Eryka chuckle. "Sure…I mean it's a long and hard story for me to tell." She said, so Ruby gave Dulcis back to his owner and she let him bounce onto the rocks next to her. He sat down as she began to tell the story. "So…do you want the long or the short?"

"Just the truth…if that's alright." Ruby asked and Eryka nodded her head.

"Alright then…well to start – have you heard of the Vasillias Cartel?" She asked her, and Ruby nodded her head.

"I didn't think you and Neptune were related in any way though." Ruby said.

"We are – well by blood by any means – my Mother is a dangerous woman, and her desire has always been to control the Criminal Underworld. And she has succeeded in that…I left when she took over Vacuo's Underworld – you'll see the damage of what she did when we go there." Eryka explained to her. "When she did it though, I took Neptune when he was a baby and I got the two of us out of there. We found somewhere safer, far away from where my mother could find us. I don't think she ever wanted to find us though, it was easy to live away from her – she never sent anyone after us. Nobody ever came." Eryka shrugged her shoulders and crossed her legs.

"It was good for a while, we lived in an orphanage for a few years and then were taken in by this young couple. They were really good to Neptune, but I think they also admired me…which I think was what lead to Neptune looking up to me so much." Eryka explained, pointing to her blue hair in the process.

"What colour hair do you normally have?" Ruby asked and she smirked.

"You'll never know." She giggled and that made Ruby giggle too. "The couple got us through school…until I tried to become a Huntress. That was when things started to go downhill for me – I could never activate my aura, that came later on from different methods. So they rejected me, denied me entry into the training classes because of my inability to produce an aura. Even now, it's not strong enough for prolonged combat like you." Eryka explained as she let her ocean blue aura flicker across her body. "I went dark for a while after that, I worked in Coffee Shops, Restaurants, Tattoo Parlours…anything I could use my other skills to make money from. Our Foster Parents were very supportive…but…it wasn't right…not for me." Eryka explained.

"There's nothing wrong with being like other people." Ruby said with the shrug of her shoulders.

"Yeah, but I didn't want that life. I heard of the things my mom did, and I didn't want that to happen anymore. I wanted to make sure that crime stopped, at least at first I did. One night, at the Coffee Shop I was working at, a pissed off customer caused a ruckus so I defended the store and myself by knocking him on his ass." Eryka explained, and Ruby chuckled. "Turned out the owner of the Coffee Shop was also making money by betting on the Illegal Bare Knuckled Boxing Matches that took place, in the sewers underneath Vale. He saw I had potential, and wanted to make a tonne of lien."

"So he used you?" She asked.

"Not really, he hired me. We split the earnings fifty-fifty, we made a damn lot of money in those matches. But they were painful, bare knuckled boxing matches got bloody and violent fast, people were known to die down there." Eryka explained, when she pulled off one of her gloves and revealed the scarring around her knuckles and fists themselves. Her wrist shook as she showed it to Ruby, and Eryka could barely even look at it, and Ruby gasped when she stared at the scars. "I beat plenty of people bloody, it got to the point where I didn't know if it was my blood or not. I got my fair share of scars too from it." Eryka explained and Ruby looked at her, she really did fall hard after failing her Entry Exam into Beacon.

"That…sounded terrible."

"It wasn't really, I mean it was, but I was making lots of lien from these fights. I took my winnings and I moved on, and I thought I was gonna find better prospects…but as you can tell by my story…I didn't. I ended up falling off the wagon big time, I started drinking heavily one night. Getting completely wasted every night and most nights I returned back home to our Foster's home, falling and stinking of booze. Eventually…they kicked me out, and told me to make something of my life." Eryka explained, tears welled up in her eyes and it was clear that she felt so guilty for how their bond ended. "I don't think they told Neptune, otherwise he would've hated me."

"What happened after that?" Ruby asked her.

"Well one night I got drunk and caused a ruckus, got into a pretty serious fight that ended up with us both getting thrown through the glass and into the street. I won, but I nearly killed the guy. That's when I met this guy, who said I had useful skills. His name was Shamus Desmond Mann. Also known as Shay . D . Mann." She scoffed, and Ruby remembered his face earlier when he tried to flirt with Yang and got his tooth knocked out in the process.

"Oh god…him?" Ruby nearly gagged.

"Mhm, prick tried to sleep with me on multiple occasions but it ended a similar way it did with him and Yang earlier. He took me to Raven's Camp, and I stayed the night. I stayed more than that though, I ended up joining them because Raven helped give me a purpose after how far I fell. And at first it felt right, we were going after other Bandits and Gangs, killing and taking what they had. I went with Raven and we gave some of our earnings to some Villages to help them." Eryka explained to Ruby.

"But?" She asked.

"One night, I went with Shay and some of his Grunts on an errand run." Eryka used quotations on the word errand. "He told me one of the guys who owed us a debt wasn't paying, so we went to go sort it out. But…it was a family, a guy who had a dying ten year old boy. I thought we were just gonna scare them, it's what Raven said the Grunts should do. But…Shay and his men flayed the father alive…they…took his wife…and he beat his son to death…right in front of me." Eryka explained, and Ruby's eyes widened with horror, and she looked into the centre of the Camp, she could see him talking with the grunts.

"He…" Ruby stammered. "He's a monster."

"Raven uses him to get the dirty jobs done because he enjoys it, but she can't control him or her Grunts. They will follow her, but if she tells them not to attack an innocent Village…it will be burned down by morning. They are monsters." Eryka warned her. "We have come to a dangerous place, don't forget that. These people are Bandits…I realised that after I saw what he did to that family. So I packed my things and I left. I wandered for a long time…until I found the Summit's Claim." Eryka explained to Ruby, and the Silver Eyed Girl looked at her with curiosity.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Hey…what's going on here?" Shay asked as he walked over with a bottle in his grasp, and Ruby stared at him with fear in her eyes. He raised a brow with confusion. "What's up?" It was like he did not even know why she was staring at him like he was some kind of monster for the things he did. Eryka stood up and she sighed.

"Just trading war stories, Shay." She told him, and Shay nodded his head at her.

"Oh yeah? How about we share some War Stories…in my tent? I know you like guys too honey. Come on, we all know you can't resist me." Shay whispered to her, and Eryka glared at him, and then he turned to see Ruby with her weapon in her hands. "What's with the kid?"

"Don't worry about me – she'll kick your ass." Eryka warned as she gestured to Crescent Rose. "I've seen her chop up Grimm like a chef chops up a salad. So…do yourself a favour. Leave us alone." Eryka snarled at him, and Shay sighed as she shook his head.

"Never any fun are you?" Shay sighed.

"Even if I did – I'm spoke for." Eryka stated, shoving past him and Ruby followed. They left the Bandit behind and he smirked as he stood there, then he turned to see Dulcis glaring right back. Instead of even trying anything, he just walked away from the huge Bird of Prey.

"Of all the places we could have gone for help…I honestly think I can trust Killian better than I can trust these savages." Ruby snarled and Eryka chuckled.

"I doubt it, at least with Bandits you know their assholes. Killian? I can never get a read on him." Eryka stated as she and Ruby walked towards Raven's tent. They pushed it open and they looked around. Everyone was here, Yang was in the corner Ren and Nora were stood beside Qrow. He was speaking with his sister and his Uncle after what they saw, and Qrow turned when he heard her enter the tent.

"Oh, there you are. We were just getting ready to go to Vacuo." Qrow said to her and Ruby nodded her head, still a bit shaken from Eryka's story of what Shay did to that poor family.

"That's right. We will not be taking a large team with us, probably just the people in this room." Raven explained.

"Count us in too." Oscar said, and the four of them stood up as they saw Oscar, Vernal and Cinder walk in, and they all looked at each other again. Qrow held up his hands between them, looking at both sides.

"Don't…start…another…fight." Qrow requested.

"No way, she doesn't come with us. She'll stab us in the back." Yang snarled.

"If I wanted to kill you, blondie, I would have done it already." Cinder growled with her fist clenched.

"We need her, Vacuo is a deadly place, so it would be better to have a hard hitter there. And besides we have plenty of people remaining here to guard the place. Shay will be one of them." Raven explained.

"Good, he's a loose cannon anyway." Eryka stated.

"Agreed." Qrow nodded his head.

"When we go there, keep your eyes peeled. Vacuo has kinda…lost its focus after the Vasillias Cartel decimated the Vacuo Mafia. Gang Wars everywhere and Crime is at record highs now." Qrow warned, he had seen the results ever since it happened. The four of them look at each other, the fact that they must go into the Criminal Underworld to track down Jackdaw is quite terrifying.

"And be careful around Lil Miss Malachite. She has Spiders everywhere, and their whispers allow her to learn everything about you. And just watch yourself. Everyone ready?" Raven asked them, and the four looked at each other and nodded their heads. They all stood at the ready.

The Branwens.

Cinder, Oscar and Vernal.

Eryka Vasillias.

Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren.

Raven walked past Valravn who stepped aside and she swung her red sword, opening up a portal for them to walk through. As it opens some grains of sand got blown through into their tent and Raven looked to them.

"Here we go…the adventure begins." Ruby said, as she walked first into the portal.

Into Vacuo.

Author Note - Oh I love Character Devlopment Chapters (Also known as CD Chapters)

This one stuck with me because it had three characters I love in one, Jackdaw, Cinder and Eryka. The Jackdaw part was fun because it was the first time I have been able to write Lil Miss Malachite so that was cool. One of the things I love about Act 2 is exploring the Criminal Underworld of Remnant. You have the Spiders in Mistral alongside the terrifying Vasillias Cartel (can't wait to show more of them.) The late Vacuo Mafia will be explored soon, with their demise and what Neptune and Eryka's mother did to them. The stuff with Cinder and Amber is a favourite for this series too, because Amber is such a sweet little boo, whilst Cinder is...well...Cinder. And I finally showed more of Eryka's past! Yay!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and did not mind the format change from present to past, I did the same on my newest KoG chapter because of the same reason. Wanna learn to do it this way and it has been helping.

Please review, follow and favourite!

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

- Matt