"I thought you'd bring me to your camp."
"You thought wrong." Raven told Qrow as she took a glass of whiskey that the man offered.
The red portal that Raven had created had dumped Qrow in front of a bar somewhere in Mistral. Qrow hadn't needed much more persuasion before he was sitting in one of the bar's more secluded tables with pair of glasses and a bottle, locked in a staring match with his not-exactly friendly sister.
"Not that I'm complaining, but why did you choose a bar?" Qrow asked, pouring himself a generous amount of the fiery liquid before taking a controlled sip. He needed to be at least semi-sober for this. 'Goddamn Ozpin and his stupid ideas…'
He needed to figure out just what was Raven's agenda regarding to the Queen of the Grimm and what was going on with the rest of the Arc family so Oz could push his agenda into the Arc kid… not that he agreed with the plan. If it were up to him, he'd ask the brat straight-out to either join their cause or die… preferring latter if the brat's moves towards his nieces were accounted into the decision.
He did not want Ruby to discover an alternative use to the tentacles the brat had sprouted in the camera recordings Ozpin had showed him.
"Lets just say that I don't trust you enough to allow you access to our camp anymore… and the place sells well-aged whiskey" Raven's voice shook him out of his thoughts, and Qrow looked up from his glass, prompting Raven to continue as she leaned her head on her hands with her elbows resting against the wooden table. "You won't be getting into the camp- Not after what you did, or what you took from me."
"After I did what, left behind the band of murderers and cut-throats we called family?" Qrow asked, lifting his eyebrow. "I'd award myself a medal for that."
"The band of murderers and cut-throats I call a family." Raven corrected him. "But enough speaking of the past. What do you want?"
"What, I can't come to just say hi to my beloved sister?" he asked somewhat challengingly. "After all this time?"
"I wouldn't mind if I was your beloved sister, but as it is, I am not one. I am your sister who is getting increasingly tired of your antics." Raven narrowed her eyes. "You want something. Out with it."
"Well… I'd hate to disappoint you, but I'm here to just check up on you." Qrow stated. "Really. How are you doing? I heard your tribe is doing well, you know, spreading chaos, raiding villages, killing innocent people?"
"You're talking about Shion, aren't you." Raven said quietly, and Qrow leaned closer.
"Hell yes I'm talking about Shion." Qrow growled. "I don't know if you noticed in your bloodlust or in that bullshit doctrine of yours, but you killed a lot of good people there."
Raven raised her eyebrow in response. "Anything I don't know already?"
"I want to know why." Qrow stated simply. "Why do that? Were you just following your 'only the biggest asshole survives' thing?"
"Only the strongest survive." Raven corrected, unfazed by his horrible attempt to mangle her ideology. "We needed supplies to last the winter- food, medicine, warm clothes. Shion was the wealthiest village around with the fewest defenders. They had grown fat and careless, and paid the price. It was either them, or us... and in the end, the stronger survived."
"Yes, and the Grimm who followed to clean up after you left were completely unintended, right?" Qrow's drawl was interrupted as Raven grabbed his hand, stopping him from drinking from his glass.
"We didn't know the Grimm would swoop in so fast after we left." Raven told him. and Qrow was anyone other, he might have even believed her.
"Yeah sure… and what did you expect would happen when you raided and pillaged a village? That the survivors would radiate happy emotions that wouldn't attract Grimm?" Qrow scoffed, pulling his hand free. "You knew all along that the Grimm would swoop in as soon as you left... and they would finish off what you started."
"I gave all villagers who surrendered an option. Stay, or come with me." Raven narrowed her eyes at him as her bluff was called. "Those that refused my aid choose their own fate."
"Uh huh… and you had no qualms letting those who didn't join you to die." Qrow growled. "Did you even know that one of our old classmates was in there?"
"Oh, you mean Nicholas Arc?" Raven said with sweet tone, blinking her eyes. "I must confess that the years had done their thing on him as I didn't recognize him at the start of our small duel…"
"You bastard…"
"Maybe if he had been stronger, he might still be amongst the living?" Raven mused. "Not that it matters anymore."
"And his family?" Qrow asked. "Remember that thing? You used to have one. Or maybe you forgot? You seemed to give up on your daughter easily enough..."
His words seemed to hit a nerve as Raven's hand dropped on her sword's hilt, and her red eyes flashed. "Quiet."
"Just imagine if someone just happened to go and shove a sword into Yang?" Qrow asked…
...And dodged as the half-empty bottle of alcohol disappeared from the table, and was flung at his head with enough force to break his neck if it had hit. Qrow didn't look behind him as he heard a sharp crack of the bottle shattering against the bar's wall.
"Doesn't feel good, right?" Qrow asked, ignoring the red blade of Raven's sword that she had drawn and was pointed at his throat.
"You know damn well enough that it was you two who took Yang from me!" she growled as Qrow lifted his glass to his lips and downed the rest of the alcohol within.
"You mean it was me and Tai who stopped you from taking Yang with you when she was just a baby and you left us…" Qrow told her, putting his glass on the table. "We know you kept eye on Yang for several years afterwards… waiting for a chance to snatch her. Your raven form is pretty distinctive with its red eyes."
"She would have grown strong under my care." Raven said simply.
"Would she have grown as someone who makes their own decisions?" Qrow asked dubiously with a raised eyebrow for added effect. "Or would you have just stuffed her full of your own ideals, made her a miniature Raven Branwen?"
"Enough." Raven said, pulling her sword back and turning around. "I don't need to hear this. Goodbye, brother."
"Nicholas had most of his family with him in Shion." Qrow reminded her, and Raven stopped momentarily. "Did you kill them as well?"
"Why do you care?"
"Oh, I'm just wondering just how much of a soulless murderer you have become over these years… Summer would be sad. She used to be so fond of you…" Qrow drawled.
"She was too good of a person for this rotten world we live in." Raven sighed. "If only someone had taken a good care of her and not let her…"
"That doesn't answer my question."
"And neither does yours answer mine. Why do you care about that particular family amongst the others? Don't feed me the drivel about you caring what I am, and I know you weren't that close to Arcs..." Raven countered Qrow's question, turning back around to face the man.
Raven and Qrow stared at each other for good minute, neither wanting to back down, before Raven's eyes widened ever so slightly in realization.
"What?" Qrow asked challengingly, noticing the change in her expression.
"So Nicholas's brat survived." Raven said simply, causing Qrow to freeze slightly. His reaction didn't go unnoticed and Raven's lips turned to a smirk. "And he sent you to find out what happened to his sisters…"
Qrow was quiet, which might as well been a confession. Raven sheathed her sword and sat back down on her seat with a calculating look on her face.
"You want information- for him." Raven said, and Qrow could practically feel the glee in her voice. "Look at you… Ozpin's fabled scout and spy, reduced to a boy's tool. Was he afraid to come meet me by himself? Perhaps he's afraid that he'd meet the same fate as his father in my hands?"
"He doesn't know about this." Qrow said.
"And you just wanted to play the role of goody-two-shoes? Don't make me laugh…" Raven said, motioning for a terrified waitress to bring another bottle of alcohol. The waitress seemed to be on the verge of passing out but a stern glare sent to her direction made the woman stumble to the table and place another bottle of whiskey on it before practically fleeing away from the two Hunters.
"So the kid didn't die." Raven said. "Impressive. He ran into the Grimm-infested wildland alone, unprepared and just before winter… He must have grown strong if he survived that."
"Don't tell me you're into kids now." Qrow gagged at the thought. "I didn't take you for a cradle robber."
"I am into strong people." Raven lifted her eyebrow. "That hasn't changed nor will it change."
"Uh huh…" Qrow was unconvinced. "...But if you were planning on meeting the brat, take my advice… don't."
"And why is that? Perhaps you are feeling protective? Have you taken more kids under your wing?" Raven taunted. "Perhaps Nicholas's son is calling you 'uncle' now? After all, it's not unusual for those who serve Ozpin to take kids and turn them into his weapons…"
'I'm telling you to stay away from him for your sake…' Qrow wanted to say, but something held his tongue. Perhaps it was that if he'd told Raven that the brat might be on par with her she'd take it as a challenge, or that he secretly hoped for her to have a run-in with Arc brat's tentacles- and that she'd discover the alternative use for the appendages. 'It would serve you right... you self-righteous, hypocritical, murderous bitch…'
Qrow shook himself off his thoughts by offering his glass to the bandit who filled it, and he took a long sip. He didn't want to have the image of Raven getting physical with the brat in his head. 'Why am I thinking about that anyway… I don't usually get this distracted…'
"Right… No, we're not turning Nicholas's brat into a weapon." Qrow lied, and Raven lifted her eyebrow in response. "Honestly."
"Uh-huh." she didn't sound convinced. "So he must be quite strong indeed if he's got you running around doing favors for him… or you haven't managed to get your claws into him just yet, and you need leverage."
"..." Qrow was quiet as he tried to find a way to turn the conversation to his advantage- and it seemed that Raven took his silence for more than what it was.
"And you want something… You want me to tell you about the brat's family so you can hold them in ransom for him, to press him into doing whatever you want." Raven's voice was filled with glee. "It looks like the tables have turned, brother…"
"What have you done to the brat's family?" Qrow tossed subtlety out of the window and leaned closer. "Are you allied to the Grimm? You used them to clean up your mess so easily… are you trading with the devil?"
"Not telling." Raven singsonged, twirling her glass of whiskey in her hand- and Qrow noticed that her glass was still almost full. A quick glance to the side told him that the whiskey bottle itself was half-empty already, and that was after a bottle that Raven had tossed to the wall…
'Shit... ' Qrow cursed his carelessness as he realized her ploy, and why she'd taken him to the bar in the first place. 'She's trying to get me drunk so I'd slip and spill Oz's secrets… The whiskey is darn strong in here, and I've already drank almost a full bottle of it…'
He shook his head drunkenly, using it to hide how his eyes hardened for a moment. 'You underestimated my power, sister… Now is my time to strike...'
He pointedly drew his hand away from his glass and slid it next to the bottle, and leaned on the table, using the motion to hide his hand slipping into his sleeve for a moment to press a small, soundless button- which was hardwired to switch his Scroll's voice recording on and off. "Raven. Please."
"No."
"We need him. The Arc kid." he said while offering to pour more whiskey on her almost-full glass after filling his. "He might hold a key to ending the Grimm... Please. Give his family back to him."
"And you'd think that I'd just hand over something you could use to control him?"
"We just want to return them to him. To make the Arc family whole again- or as whole as it can be after what you did…" Qrow whispered loudly. "For Nicholas, for all those you've killed…"
"Guilt-tripping won't work on me. If you want them back, then take them from me- but until then, I'm keeping the family." Raven drawled. "If he wants to join them, then tell him that he's free to seek me out and ask to join the tribe. He sounds strong enough…"
"You'd try to recruit him?" he asked, making sure that his tone sounded surprised. "You'd keeping him from focusing on the real threat… Are you working with the Grimm?"
"Yes, I'd take him in if he was as strong as you claimed he was." Raven tilted her head at him, sipping lightly from her glass. "As for the Grimm… I didn't take you for a deluded drunkard. Have the years done a number on you, brother?"
"If you weren't working with the Grimm, you'd give the Arcs you hold hostage to us…" Qrow drawled. "Are they even alive?"
"I am not working with the Grimm… I'm merely using them when it suits me." Raven narrowed her eyes, and Qrow detected a miniscule slur in her voice. "As for the Arc kids, they are... a part of our happy family."
'You've always been a lightweight when it comes to booze, sis… let's ramp up the stakes…' the crow-shapeshifter thought as he glared at his sister.
"You told your men to torture and rape them, didn't you?" Qrow growled accusingly, slamming his hand down on the table and covertly pressing the button hidden inside his sleeve again. 'I know Raven's a right bastard, but she wouldn't sink so low… and if she did, I can just ask something else.'
Ozpin had asked him to deliver 'evidence' of Raven's deeds after all...
"No." she responded, her red eyes flashing with fury. "I am a bandit, but I am also a woman… The old chief would have ordered such barbarics, but I won't. Broken people make poor workers."
"So Svart's dead?" Qrow remembered the old chief of the tribe, back when he and Raven had still been in Beacon. The barbaric man had been one of the big reasons Qrow had chosen to leave the tribe and band together with Ozpin in the first place.
"I didn't approve of his methods, and he didn't approve of mine." Raven said simply. "The stronger won, and the weaker was buried."
Qrow sighed, and prepared to press the button in his sleeve again after he asked his next question. "So you're the new leader of the tribe?" '...and click'
"Yes" Raven rolled her eyes. "They obey me. My word is law, and they know better than to defy me. Those that try to do so end up dead."
'And there it is… ' Qrow reached to sip from his glass again, using the motion to press the button again to end the recording. 'I got it now… Ozpin better appreciate this.'
"What about... " Qrow started, but Raven cut him off.
"Now now, brother… you've had your questions. Now it's my turn to ask." Raven asked and her eyes flashed sharply. "Tell me what is this power you told that Nicholas's kid had, one that could push the Grimm back?"
"Not telling." Qrow mimicked Raven's earlier tone, and her eyes narrowed in response.
"I didn't take you for petulant child, brother…" she drawled, "Didn't you want to know what's the current status of the Arc family?"
"..." Qrow pretended to be thoughtful. "I don't think the knowledge worth revealing the brat's power, to be honest…"
Raven's eyes narrowed even more. "You're bluffing."
"Nope." he replied, putting his empty glass on the table and making a show of fumbling for the bottle. "Try me."
"Fine." Raven said, equally stubborn. "I have other ways of finding out."
"I'd advise against it." Qrow warned her. "You're planning on using your bird form… we know how to recognize it. You wouldn't survive the full wrath of Beacon at once, in our chosen battlefield and without your tribe to back you up- no matter how strong you are individually."
"Oh, I wonder… I was merely going to offer him an option. Perhaps he is wise enough to take my advice and put our past… conflicts behind us." Raven picked up her white Grimm-styled helmed from the table and put it on her head. "Well, do remember to tell him of my offer. Whether he takes it or not is up to him… and remember, if you try to push him against me, to pump him full of your agenda..."
She rose up and swung her sword behind her to create a red-shimmering portal. "...It won't be only him who suffers."
Qrow sighed as he reached for the whiskey bottle after the portal closed behind the unpredictable bandit chief. 'Well… that went about as well as it could have.'
He admitted to himself that he felt a pang of guilt as he thought about giving the recording he'd taken to the Arc kid, but he steeled himself against it.
'We can't afford to be soft… there's too much at stake. If we have to sacrifice him to save us all…' He ditched the glass, and brough the bottle to his lips. The fiery liquid hit him hard, and let him harden himself against the morality of what he'd done. 'If we have to sacrifice him so no-one else has to sacrifice themselves… So Ruby or Yang don't have to do it... Then so be it…'
He tried his best to ignore the mental image of Summer Rose, brought forward by his drunken state, glaring down at him disapprovingly.
"So uh… what's this about?" Jaune Arc asked Weiss, and got a shrug as a response as the students of Beacon gathered to the initiation hall where the headmaster of Beacon was testing his microphone in preparation for his speech, and Glynda Goodwitch was standing beside the man, flicking rapidly between screens in her Scroll.
Weekend was approaching, and the students had been instructed to attend the headmaster's speech before they would be released for their two-day break.
"Good evening, future Hunters and Huntresses. You might wonder why you've been summoned here- and since we're all eagerly waiting to be released into the wilds of Vale's streets and attractions, I'll keep this short. Tonight a new team joins us in our quest to safeguard Humanity of the Grimm threat." Ozpin announced to the crowd of students. "Please welcome Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black and Neon Polit." he motioned for the new team to stand on the stage. Jaune clapped politely alongside the other students as he saw Cinder again, and took in the appearances of her other teammates. Mercury seemed somewhat resigned as he walked on the stage while Emerald smiled politely as she walked beside Cinder, and Neon, the small girl with black hair tied to twintails was smiling a sweet, innocent-looking smile as she walked beside Mercury.
"The new team transfers from Haven Academy, and shall now gain a new team name as is tradition- They shall now known as team CEMN, or team 'Seamen'..." Ozpin's speech was interrupted as Glynda not-so-subtly stepped on his toe and pointed at something in her Scroll. "...My apologies, the new team shall now be known as CEMN, or team Cement"
The applaud rang again in the hall, even if a bit awkwardly. Jaune also noticed that Cinder looked positively murderous as she looked at the headmaster, and the act was replicated in full by both Emerald and Neon whereas Mercury seemed to be snickering ever so slightly.
"Regardless, please welcome our new students amongst your ranks." Ozpin continued as the applause died down and the newly named team walked down to join the other students. "Now, while the introduction of new students is important, that wasn't the main reason I wished to speak with you all- and I specifically arranged this little meeting to drive in the importance of the following message."
The headmaster took a small break to allow his words to sink in, and he continued just before any whispers could start to form.
"As you no doubt are aware. the city of Vale is currently suffering from a major crime spree directed towards our Dust shops, suppliers and traders." Ozpin told the assembled students. "The Vale's Police department has identified the mastermind behind the robberies to be Roman Torchwick- a ex-hunter gone rogue." Another pause.
"We remind every student not to engage him should you witness a robbery during your weekends off. While the robberies Torchwick has orchestrated have been largely without casualties, we do not wish to pit you against a trained and dangerous ex-huntsman, specifically since I believe you are strong enough to drive him into corner, but not strong enough to hold him there until help arrives." Ozpin's gaze swept across the students, briefly settling on Ruby before moving on. "There are few things in this world more dangerous than a huntsmen who have run out of options, so I strongly encourage you to leave chasing dangerous criminals to graduated Huntsmen and Huntresses."
Glynda Goodwitch stepped up and Ozpin stepped back to allow the Beacon's assisting headmistress and combat instructor to speak.
"Now, the first month of your training is about to reach its end." Glynda begun her speech. "Beacon is supplied Lien-wise by the city of Vale and its inhabitants, and while majority of it goes to maintaining Beacon's grounds, teacher's salary, studying materials and other costs we do our best to allow our students a monthly salary- an act of repaying you for what you sacrifice for the sake of mankind. The amount of Lien forwarded to your accounts monthly depends on few factors- the success of your assignments, grades and practical missions. Those of you that are second-year or higher know of this, and now the first years know this as well." She paused for effect, and continued as the wide display screen behind her lit up to show numbers and teams, displaying the amount of money distributed to each team and ranking them accordingly. Jaune noticed a pang of disappointment on Weiss's face as she saw that team SABR was nowhere near the top of the list, likely as a result of his failure.
"Second, third and fourth years are dismissed, first years please stay behind." Ozpin announced, and the older students left the hall with varying degrees of haste.
"Now, the first year students will be sent on their first missions after the next month's tests, and you will be assigned a overseer for the mission you choose from a pool of available missions that the city of Vale and its neighbours have forwarded to us." Glynda continued her speech to the crowd of first-year students. "The Lien you receive from your first mission will be reduced by twenty percent, which goes to the huntsman overseeing your mission, and the rest goes towards your monthly budget- and any missions you partake afterwards will have their Lien rewards deposited to your team account after two percent cut to administrative costs and one and half percent to…"
Jaune felt his eyelids starting to droop ever so slightly as Glynda went deeper into the numbers, cuts, taxes and other economical mathematics involved- and his act was replicated by many students with the exception of some like Weiss who lapped the numbers up with calculating, wary and eager looks in their faces.
"...And the deposit goes towards your potential medical bills." Glynda finished her speech. "Any questions?"
Before anyone could wake up properly to ask something Glynda snapped her Scroll shut. "Good. First years, dismissed."
"Have a nice weekend." Headmaster Ozpin added his two cents before walking off stage with Glynda in tow.
.
..
…
"Is this going to be okay?" Emerald asked somewhat worriedly as she sat on her bed in team CEMN's dorm. The dorm was largely undecorated and would likely remain so as its inhabitants felt no need to make the room feel like theirs.
"Relax, Emerald… Ozpin might have pushed our transfer forwards because of Roman's little spree, but this, in the end, serves our plans." Cinder told her as she looked through the Beacon's forums on her Scroll. She had led the search for hidden mics and other recording equipment in their room, and to their surprise had found none- even with the advanced searching tech their other allies had provided.
Either Ozpin was getting soft, or someone had stopped him from wiring up the student's dorms.
"The students have reported few curious sightings, and we might as well investigate them while we're here... and I trust Roman to be professional enough to succeed in his Dust heists even without me looking over his back." Cinder continued. "The White Fang will continue their Grimm-gathering tasks through Mountain Glenn since it seems that Ozpin has withdrawn Beacon's license to import Grimm… a mere delay for us, nothing more..."
"So what should we do?" Emerald asked, ever eager to please her mistress.
"It seems that there's been quite few rumours starting to spread about a certain girl being able to control Grimm" Cinder told her, turning her Scroll to show Emerald a picture of one Weiss Schnee. "While I doubt these rumors have any basis, I'd like you to get closer to her, and find out if there's a hint of truth to those rumors- and if there are, find out justs how she does it."
"And if she gets suspicious?" Emerald asked, taking in the white-haired girl's features.
"Then pretend that you're just a Schnee fangirl or something" Cinder said, ignoring how Emerald's face scrunched up in disdain for the thought.
"While you're at it, I'd like you to see if you can get close to a student of her team, Jaune Arc. He has interrupted two of our operations, and I'd like you to keep an eye out for him" Cinder instructed. "As for Mercury, I'd like you to see if you can find the ones who are spreading those rumors about miss Schnee's unique ability and see what they know about it."
"So we're hunting rumors now?" Mercury scoffed and Emerald sent him a dirty look.
"Yes, since we're trying to merge into the student populace for now and we might as well be proactive about our objectives while we do it." Cinder told the steel-gray haired man, not offended by his tone- although her eyes took a dangerous glint as she continued. "Do remember that our true objective requires us to stay in Beacon until it is finalized. I hope you can keep yourself on leash and not maim any students until then..."
"Don't worry, I can control myself." Mercury said, feeling the threat underlying on her tone. "I am not my father."
"Good." Cinder nodded lightly before turning towards Neon- who had turned from a black-haired girl with emerald green eyes into a short girl with pink and brown hair and mismatched brown and pink eyes. "Neo."
The girl called Neo tilted her head and blinked, her eyes swapping colours, and she mouthed a wordless 'what?'.
"I'd like you to stay with Roman as much as you can. He needs your help more than we do." Cinder told her. "We can hold a image of you being a delinquent who skips classes if need be."
Neo blinked few times in rapid pace as she considered the order, and she lifted her eyebrow in question while pretending to write on invisible paper.
"Yes, do show up for tests… we don't want to get you kicked out of Beacon before our objective is complete." Cinder told her, and sighed as the small girl seemed to shatter into shards of glass as soon as she finished talking.
"You know, her teleportation could be useful in here." Mercury told no-one in particular as the shards of glass evaporated into nothingness and Emerald reached to swat him on his shoulder for his cheek. "What?"
"You just want an convenient reason to sleep in and have her teleport you to class." Emerald huffed.
"Nevertheless her ability to disguise herself and teleport with her 'mirror' Semblance is far more useful with Roman and his robberies… even more so now since Vale's police department is starting to properly mobilize against him." Cinder told them with a tone that gave no space for arguments.
"What should we do about the Red?" Emerald asked. "She's part of the same team as my targets…"
"She will be dealt with in time. We can't raise suspicion by moving against her just yet since Ozpin is no doubt keeping very close eye on her… however, try to get close to her while you work on miss Schnee." Cinder said, and turned towards her desk. "You have your assignments. Go."
…
Cinder felt her lips curl to a smile as she heard the last of her teammates leaving the dorm, allowing her some time to think about the recent events while she looked through a report Roman Torchwick had sent to her.
'Ozpin's push to accept transfer students early tells me that he's getting more and more paranoid- he wants the new students close and under his monitor… which means something must have set him on edge… No, there's more than that. There's something that he is unable to control or understand, and his paranoia is on overdrive because of it… I wonder if it's connected to the Schnee girl somehow?' She thought back to the time when she'd been instructed of the Headmaster's motives, strategies and psychology, back when she had been mere child.
She closed her eyes...
'"The wise wizard of the Vale is old and cunning… yet he is more paranoid than he is old, and is more hesitant than he is cunning." Cinder heard the soft words that her mother-figure told her as she sat in her lap with her head resting against the woman's considerable bosom.
She enjoyed how the woman's pale hands stroked her hair, and Cinder wanted to hear more of her soft, seductive voice.
"How do I defeat him?" she asked, eager to please her.
"You must distract him. Present him a puzzle, a mystery to which he doesn't know the answer, and he will focus all of his attention it. His cunning will work against him, and his paranoia will become his cage." Cinder looked up to the woman's pale face, black veins framing her lovely features and her red-shining eyes looking fondly and calculatingly down at Cinder. "He will hesitate, and he will allow you to complete your strike at your own leisure… And in the end, he will be powerless, trapped by his own wisdom, betrayed by his own plans and ready for your killing blow."
"What about the others?" Cinder asked, leaning back on the woman's bosom and closing her eyes so she could hear the woman's lovely voice clearer.
"The tin man of Atlas is heartless and cruel, and will only care about victory no matter the cost." she heard her mother-figure tell her. "Give him an enemy that is stronger than him, and he will throw all his might against it- sacrificing his allies, his friends, and even himself to win a meaningless victory..."
Cinder shivered in delight as the pale hand caressed her back. "The Lion of Mistral is strong and mighty, but has no courage… separate him from his allies, and he will beg for mercy. Show him your power, and he will join you."
"What about the Vacuo?" Cinder asked, enjoying the caress.
"The straw man of Vacuo has no mind- you need to merely do nothing to him. His own machinations will be his doom. In his madness he will step on his own trap, and gnaw his own flesh from bone. His cadre of advisors is your true foe- fell them, and he will follow."
Cinder felt her consciousness start to fade as her mistress began to sing her lullaby to her protegee…
...And Cinder blinked as she came off her daydream, still grasping her Scroll in team CEMN's empty dorm room.
She sighed as she returned to her work 'I can't keep dozing off… there's too much work to be done.'
A thought that terrified her more than it should have passed her head a minute later. 'Daydreaming, dozing off… Have I grown old?'
Cinder shook her head, and pulled another screen on her Scroll, deciding to take a break from his work to check the student forums for information about the 'dreaded' Schnee girl. '...And according to this, she's holding… What? Orgies? Carnivals of sinful flesh? Hold on, that can't be right…'
She blinked as she thought about the underling she had sent to spy on the white-haired girl, and felt a miniscule pang of worry. '...I hope Emerald will be alright…'
"Aaaaand... it is done?" Ruby half-guessed as she looked at Blake's new weapon while Weiss sneezed on her handkerchief, and sent a reprimanding glare at Jaune just to be on the safe side. Team SABR had gathered to witness the sort-of grand unveiling of Blake's new weapon, or rather witness Blake screwing few last parts on the weapon before the team could depar for their weekend activities.
Ruby had wanted to have a hand in customizing parts to better fit the weapon, and Blake had, albeit begrudgingly. allowed her to help- which had both served to make the weapon stronger, but also take more time to complete as Ruby had wanted to make sure every part worked seamlessly with another
"It is done." Blake nodded. "I will still call her Gambol Shroud… in form, she is the much same, but also different to Gambol Shroud of old. I created the old Gambol Shroud when I was part of the White Fang- when I still believed that they were what they masqueraded as being- the defenders of equality between Faunus and Man. But what they revealed to be was nothing more than brigands and terrorists. The White Fang broke my old Gambol Shroud, and broke my trust in them. The name of Gambol Shroud will now bear my distrust towards them, and anyone who would use the name of something good, something just, to further their own agenda."
She picked the pistol-like weapon up, and Jaune took a closer look at it. The pistol was much like the old Gambol Shroud, with the exception that the weapon had far longer barrel, and had its blade folded under the barrel, sharp edge upwards and ready to be flipped up to form a massive bayonet just below the gun's barrel . The butt-end of her weapon had a slider which would spring the blade out, and when fully turned would split the weapon's handle off the barrel and firing mechanism while keeping the weapon's magazine attached to the main weapon. A reinforced ribbon connected the handle to the main weapon, and a thin wire inside the ribbon allowed Blake to fire the weapon through the ribbon- transforming the pistol between regular firearm and a chain-scythe that could also fire Dust rounds. Ruby had also incorporated Blake's new segmented blade into the weapon's folding blade, and added another slider into the weapon's side that would spit the weapon's blade into multiple razor-like blades connected by internal wire, and allowing it to be used like a deadly whip when the handle was connected to the weapon.
It had taken Ruby multiple nights to get the switching between the three forms to work fluidly- something that Jaune knew Blake appreciated even if she hadn't said so.
Blake sighed as she put the weapon to its holster, which Ruby had modified to accept the weapon so the holster could be used as a machete and gunblade whenever Gambol Shroud was holstered within it.
"You really went all out on Blake's weapon, huh?" Jaune turned towards Ruby who practically shined with barely contained pride as she observed the black-haired girl's new hybrid weapon.
"Yeah, Blake's our teammate, and I'm not going to allow her to go to the battlefield with a subpar weapon!" Ruby announced, and pointed her finger at Jaune. "I'd do the same for you if you could actually use a proper weapon."
"After you suggested that I'd lug around what equates to a naval artillery battery I'll pass, thanks" Jaune snarked back playfully and Ruby poked her tongue back at him. He snatched it up between his forefinger and thumb, which caused Ruby to panic slightly and her silver eyes widened comically as she tried to look down on her captured tongue before he let her go.
"Euwoh, meanie…" Ruby huffed slightly as she patted her lips. "I'm going to get you for that!"
"Oh no, please spare me your ire!" Jaune pleaded, and Ruby giggled slightly at his theatherics… until Weiss's irritated sigh broke them off their games.
"Aww, don't be so grumpy Weiss" Ruby moved to hover beside the white-clad girl. "I mean we didn't get to the top in the rankings, but we will- eventually."
"Wha- no, that's not why I was…" Weiss started, but fell quiet mid-speech- mainly because the over-eager red-clad girl had grabbed her hand, and was dragging Weiss towards the exit in an attempt to cheer the white-clad leader of team SABR.
"Hey, Weiss? Can we go read Dust cataloguesin the library? I saw an advert for new kind of explosive Dust round and I want your opinion on it and…"
'Well… it's good that Ruby and Weiss are getting along…' he sighed internally as the pair disappeared out of the workshop. 'I just… I don't know what to do about the Weiss situation- should I just try to propose to her? Do I really like her, or was that just some sort of uh… instinct back at the spa? Dad did always tell me that all I needed in life was courage and determination… although neither helped him to win, nor stopped the blade.'
"Jaune?" Blake's voice drew Jaune back to the real world, and he quickly replaced the snarl his face had contorted into with an embarrassed frown. Blake had holstered and cased her new weapon, and prepared it to be slotted into her armory locker on the way out. "Is something wrong?"
"Uh… My thoughts just kind of started to drift to some uncomfortable things." Jaune confessed, embarrassed as he realized how easily he had drifted off. "Everything's alright, but thanks for asking."
"Hm." Blake nodded lightly and lifted her filled weapon case. She headed to the workshop's exit, and Jaune followed behind her, making sure to turn the lights off and shut the door behind him as the pair exited the workshop.
The walk through the hallway that connected the Workshop to the Armory was largely spent in comfortable silence, although Jaune somehow got a feeling that Blake was expecting him to say something.
'...And what is that going to be?' he sighed internally. 'I swear, sometimes I wonder how other men get along with women without being able to sniff out emotions…' Jaune kept ransacking his brain for a solution to the unspoken dilemma while Blake was depositing her weapon into her locker, until it hit him. '...Oh yeah, I promised to take her out to Vale this weekend like how I went to hang out with Ruby…'
Jaune let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd held and started to think about where he could take Blake since the weapons expo had ended and he felt that going to the same place twice would be both bad idea, and that the whole expo was not quite Blake's style for leisure time activity... 'Vale's main library perhaps? Or some bookshop, and then we could go back to my home to read… hm, that might be pretty good, actually, since Blake hasn't been in contact with her parents for a long time, so maybe meeting my sisters might help her get used to the idea of having a family again… and if nothing else, I'm fairly sure she's looking forwards to visiting our library…'
"Blake?" he asked, and the girl turned to face him after closing the door of her weapons locker. "Would you like to go out to Vale today?"
"I'd like that." she replied, and Jaune saw her lips turn upwards into a small smile.
.
..
…
Jaune saw that team RYNN's door as slightly open as he walked back to the dorms with Blake to prepare for their trip to Vale- and to his surprise he saw Pyrrha stumbling out of her dorm almost as if someone had pushed her out. He saw a flash of ginger hair before the door closed and his attention was taken by Pyrrha who crashed against him.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, curious and slightly concerned about the red-headed girl's exile from her dorm after he recovered and helped Pyrrha back on her feet. "Did something happen?"
"Uh- no. Nothing. Everything's alright." Pyrrha stammered, and Jaune focused his attention on the emotions the girl radiated- or more specifically, he tried to seek for negative emotions that would imply something being wrong. While he was doing so he noticed that the girl had a small, black earpiece and he faintly heard Nora's voice coming through it although he couldn't tell what the pink-clad girl was telling Pyrrha.
'Odd- didn't Nora just push her out of their dorm? Couldn't she just speak to Pyrrha inside the dorm without needing the earpiece?' Jaune thought and he opened his mouth to ask the girl about the puzzling contradiction but Pyrrha spoke over him.
"Uh- Hi, Jaune!" she exclaimed and he tilted his head at the girl.
'Didn't we just greet a second ago?' "Um… hi?" Jaune was quite confused over the girl's behaviour- even more so since Pyrrha didn't seem to radiate any emotions that would imply distress. He glanced to the side to see Blake looking suspiciously at Pyrrha, and he focused his attention back to the red-haired champion.
"So uh… Weekend is here." Pyrrha started somewhat shakily. "And um… can we perhaps go and train together, maybe? And uh..." she seemed to pause to listen to her earpiece before continuing. "...And if you're feeling too tired from the studying to train we could also go to Vale together instead of training, right?"
"Huh, she could come with us, right Blake?" Jaune turned towards Blake to see the disguised faunus. "I mean, we're going to Vale so…"
"No." Blake's answer was both instant and adamant.
"...We could go together and visit a- no?" Jaune's speech came to a halt. "But…"
"But… you promised that you'd train with me?" Pyrrha's voice was somewhat muffled and he detected a definite pang of sadness and frustration from her as he focused his attention on the red-haired champion "You've delayed it so far…"
'That's true... ' Jaune sighed. 'And I did promise that I'd train with her…'
"Yeah..." he turned back towards Blake to convince her. "I did promise that I'd hang out with Pyrrha a long time ago, and I don't think that Pyrrha is going to be a problem if she comes with us."
"But you asked to go out with me!" Blake told him quietly, and he felt a definite emotion of annoyance from her. "Are you going to go back on your word?"
"No" Jaune was equally resolute. "The Arcs never breaks their promises… and didn't you come with me and Ruby when we went to the gunshow? Surely it won't matter if Pyrrha comes to hang out with us like how you hung out with me and Ruby..."
"Erk!" Blake retreated to her shell as the gunshow was mentioned, and Pyrrha looked rapidly between the two as she wasn't aware of the last weekend's events. "F-fine. Just… gah, you're infuriating…"
"So yeah, would you like to come with us to visit Vale?" Jaune turned towards Pyrrha, although he didn't miss the feelings of betrayal and irritation that Blake radiated.
"I'd love to." Pyrrha replied with a smile, and Jaune faintly heard Nora's voice instruct something to her through the girl's earpiece. "Just give me a moment to prepare, please?"
"Sure."
"That in-development Dust round just cannot meet the specifications it proposes."
"Huh? Why?"
"The Dust payload is not sufficient to deliver the amount of force it promises to deliver- it would require the bullet to be almost twice the caliber. It is promising high yield to attract investors during development, but will later announce failure to meet expectations..." Weiss lectured Ruby as the pair had gone to the Beacon's library to read and study- the latter part having been something Weiss had insisted, and Ruby had insisted against. Ruby had, however, relented after discovering that Weiss wanted to learn about weapons and ammo as it was a major hole in her battlefield knowledge.
Ruby had quickly found a stash of weapon, armor and Dust catalogues and was currently showing them to Weiss, and Weiss was happily pointing out flaws, weaknesses, strengths and usages of the Dust crystals and Dust ammo displayed within the pages- and Ruby was more than happy to teach the white-haired girl about the weapons, armor and vehicles displayed in the weapon catalogues.
"That thing looks like it'd be fairly useful, do you think Beacon's students could buy one?" Weiss asked, pointing her finger at a picture.
"Weiss, that's a hybrid close air support gunship and paratroop transport… I don't think our student salary is enough to get one anytime soon, and we'd need to hire a pilot..."
"Oh." Weiss tilted her head. "But it doesn't even cost that much?"
"Its sixty eight million Lien, Weiss. We're only getting around 800 Lien every month before mission payments…"
"Do you think they'd do discounts? I have some Lien in my account…" Weiss's reply came to a halt as something crashed behind them, and both of them turned to see a tanned, green-haired girl picking up a pile of books that she had accidentally dropped.
"Ah, sorry!" she muttered. "I dropped these…"
"Hey, aren't you one of the new transfers?" Ruby asked as she hopped down from her chair and started to help the green-haired girl gather up her books.
"Yeah… I'm Emerald Sustrai, nice to mee you" the girl said. "Thanks for the help. Would you mind if I sat with you two? I'm still trying to get used to Beacon…"
"Sure, we don't mind, right Weiss?" Ruby nodded happily. "Oh yeah, I haven't introduced us yet, I'm Ruby Rose and the grumpy one is Weiss!"
"Weiss Schnee." the white-haired girl grumbled, but extended her hand nonetheless. "A pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine." Emerald smiled. "I think we're going to have a long and profitable relationship…"
Next chapter- 20-21.1
Omake:
Raven Branwen opened the door to her and Taiyang's house in Patch with a weak push.
She walked to the dining room to put a struggling piece of what had once been her flesh down into a elevated chair in front of the dining table and flicked a light switch to illuminate the small dining room.
A sudden sound from behind her caused her to jump and she moved her hand to the hilt of her blade...
"Congratulations on giving a successful childbirth and returning home!" Summer Rose announced from beside the doorway to the dining room where she had been hiding and waiting for Raven to come home, and she pulling a string on a confetti launcher held on her other hand. "Whoo!" she added with a bright smile as Raven looked at the enthusiastic woman through the falling confetti.
"Summer, I have no patience for your games. Taiyang just got pulled over by my idiot brother and he dragged him to a bar to 'congratulate Taiyang again for becoming a father'" Raven snarled while picking confetti from her hair. "I'll have to remember to reprimand those two later"
"Aaww, she's so cute!" Summer ignored Raven's snarling in order to lean over month-old Yang, cooing at the baby that Raven had sat on the elevated baby-chair. "Who's a good girl? Yes you are!"
"Summer, stop it." Raven said from beside her, and as soon as the baby girl heard her voice she started to cry.
Raven felt a vein pop in her head as the baby's crying invaded her ears. It had become a familiar feeling over the past few weeks in the hospital, although luckily the hospital nurses had taken the baby off to her crib whenever she had gotten too annoying.
"Aww, don't listen to mommy Raven, she's grumpy" Summer cooed at the baby who gradually stopped crying as she listened to Summer's voice, and instead started to squirm in her seat. "I think she's hungry. Raven, wanna feed her?"
"Haah, sure I'll feed the kid" Raven sighed and rose up from her chair and walked to a fridge. She pulled a refrigerated steak meal from the fridge and placed it in front of the baby
"Eat up so you become strong" she said to the baby before walking back to the chair and collapsing on it with a heavy sigh.
Summer felt sweat dripping down her brow as she looked at the steak dinner in front of the four weeks old baby.
"Uhhhh Raven? Rav? Babies don't eat steak…" Summer said weakly, which caused the black-haired woman in the cushy chair to lift her eyebrow.
"What are they supposed to eat then?" she asked, puzzled.
'This is going to take a while...' Summer thought as Raven's face scrunched up in confusion...