Author's Notes: Rabbit Heart by Florence and the Machine is worth a listen to. Rabbit Heart is basically one of this series's anthems.
I Will Not Scatter
Chapter 38
Warren
Raven burst from the final portal sending a wave of ice before her, catching several of the Unseelie by surprise. Hissing in outrage, the Unseelie scattered back before taking to the trees and air. Raven attacked the one's she had trapped ice, shattering them into grotesque chunks. The Unseelie in the trees observed this aggression patiently, perched about her like a murder of mutant crows.
They were thin, inhumanly so, little stick people with expressive faces. The Grimm had fluttery, bony wings and huge black and red eyes set in pointed white faces. They looked like nightmare children.
Raven placed a foot before her, sword up as she studied their movements, plotting out her own attacks. Time slowed to a crawl, the leaves waving languidly in the breeze. The Unseelie continued to observe her. She was still alone.
Taiyang had created a chain, using Qrow's pistol to launch portals where he wanted. Ozpin's drones, of which he had brought a handful, spotted out the cavern and the best portal sites to utilize. A few of the drones even placed the portal's focal points where Qrow could not see or make shots. It had been an excellent plan, one which Raven would normally have approved of.
Summer and the others had expected the Unseelie to chase them as they emerged, but to be confounded by the portals and disorganized. Raven, for reasons she could not logically explain, knew that was not the case. She anticipated that they would lay a trap at the final portal; but she couldn't communicate that to the others without feeling completely mad.
Instead she had volunteered to go first, to see if she was right for herself; and again, Summer had told her no. Her partner had commanded that Qrow go first, to sweep the Unseelie with his Semblance. Or that was the explanation she gave, anyways.
Summer had continued to give her uneasy looks as if she expected Raven to burst into tears at any moment, and it was making her furious. She was not some fragile victim in need of coddling. She was a trained warrior and a Branwen raider; and raiders do what they ultimately know to be right, regardless of orders. So Raven chose to ignore her glorious leader, charging through first anyways; she did not encountered any Grimm until the final portal, as she had predicted.
The Unseelie cocked their heads in unison, childish teeth bared in curious smiles. It sent a chill through her, terror mixing with an inexplicable recognition. Grimm are not capable of higher thought. Grimm do not comprehend language. Grimm are monsters, not their equals.
They trilled at her. Raven scowled, preparing to attack, when she heard pistol shots and shouting further back. She paused, hairs raising on the back of her neck. The Unseelie saw her face and literally giggled, cavorting about the perimeter. Her teammates were being waylaid further back on the portal chain. Raven had been effectively isolated, like a fool.
"Well then," she growled to conceal her anxiety. "What are you waiting for?"
"Waiting?"
"Waiting? Waiting?"
The Unseelie took up the word, repeating it back at her, bobbing along to a rhythm like school children with a sing along. Raven did not lose her patience; she settled into her stance, breathing slowly.
These creatures presented a fascinating puzzle. In spite of her better judgement, she wanted to solve it. How had they known STRQ's plan if they couldn't understand what they were saying? How could they strategize?
The faerie Grimm froze, tilting their heads at her in a disturbingly familiar way, before launching into the air. Raven swept a slew of ice attacks their way, taking a few out of the skies before they attempted to swarm her.
Her blade was a hot blue flurry of motion, freezing wings, limbs, necks; dozens of them came at her at once, and Raven lost herself to the battle and the adrenaline. They were fast, and surprisingly strong for their stick bodies, but not hard to hurt. Raven took a few hits to her aura, but in reality, she was fairing much better than perhaps she should have been.
The Unseelie withdrew suddenly, leaving her panting. Perhaps they were trying to wear her down over time, get her to expend all of her energy at once; they had the numbers to outlast her, even with the littered corpses of their companions sprawling across the dead grass.
Their expressions had not changed. All Grimm glared at people with a loathing so deep one could feel it in their gut. It was hatred so undiluted, so other, that one questioned its source. As she stared into the bony masks tittering at her, Raven knew that the Unseelie did not hate her even after hurting them. The realization made Raven wonder if she really was going insane. They only grinned at her confusion.
"Quit fucking around and fight me," she growled, spinning her cartridges to red.
"Waiting."
What?
Her eyes widened as her breath hitched. The wind in the trees above sounded like the whispers of the damned.
"You do understand me. Don't you?" she asked, leering.
They laughed at her. They were actually laughing at her, at what she had said. The Unseelie peered at her with delighted faces, clapping and twisting into odd shapes as they gibbered to one another. The hairs on her neck rose as she listened to the rest of her team in the distance, shouting and fighting against numerous opponents.
This should be impossible. However, Raven felt validated, elated by the discovery if also incredibly disturbed. Suddenly, the Unseelie twisted as one to face the golden portal behind her. Raven drew her blade automatically as seconds later Qrow burst out, panting and haggard as he rolled across the ground. His pale eyes met her own before taking in the crowd of Grimm surrounding them with giggling, far too intelligent faces.
"Sis-" he choked out fearfully, and the Unseelie attacked again with wild screeches.
The twins typically fought well together despite their very different styles, a battle rhythm formed from years of practice. However, Qrow was fighting desperately. His scythe flashed and swept chaotically, as he leap and spun like a hurricane. The Unseelie seemed intent on him for some reason. Even with the advantage of his Semblance, sending their thin bodies scrabbling as they tripped or were slapped out of the sky by branches, Qrow was fighting with his back to some invisible wall.
Raven typically did not crowd her brother in a fight for obvious reasons, but she took the risk anyways. The Unseelie were practically crawling all over him, tittering and mocking as they slashed and bit. Qrow's eyes were wide, animalistic terror emanating from him in waves that was drawing the Grimm even more powerfully.
Raven swept the Unseelie from the air, triggering waves of fire over and over again. She re-coated after several minutes of this, head-butting an Unseelie that tried to grab her face and blow a raspberry at her. Her aura caved its laughing skull in with a grotesque crunch.
The Grimm grew more numerous, scurrying out of the bushes and trees. Their thin figures swirled and danced like black leaves in the wind as they filled the air. What little sunlight had been available to the twins disappeared as the numerous Grimm blotted out the watery patches of sky. Everything changed to shades of obsidian and crimson.
Qrow's white combat outfit stood out brilliantly in the shadows, making him an even bigger target than he already was. Her brother leapt over the scrabbling horde, spinning his scythe into the bodies of dozens of Unseelie. Raven used her own blade to finish of the ones that fell due to her brother's Semblance, before relentlessly burning a swathe of corpses through the crowd of Grimm. The multitude crowded around her, claws scratching over her aura, trying to find purchase in the dark.
The gap closed behind her again, separating her from Qrow. The Grimm flung themselves into the air even more thickly than before, completely barring her vision no matter how viciously she swiped. Qrow was shouting.
Raven tapped into her aura and spun, igniting the red Dust. A vortex of flame rolled through the air, burning wings and bodies as the firelight cast horrifying shadows. Somewhere in the dark, Qrow was screaming. Raven's whole body was sweating, aching even as she drew from her aura to supplement herself. She needed to get back to her brother.
The Unseelie relentlessly blocked her vision, taunting her in their gibberish. Raven snarled brutally, kicking one in the chest so hard it collapsed, black blood splattering her skirt. She couldn't see Qrow at all, but she could hear him. He sounded hurt.
A pressure was building in the back of her head. Raven brought her sword across a limb, a neck, a dozen grinning faces. The pain was an ice-pick behind her eye as she scanned the shadows, trying to find her brother. She had to get to him. White hot pain exploded in her skull, nearly crippling her.
"Qrow?!" she screamed, panicking.
The Unseelie were laughing once more, dozens of them, hundreds. Where had they all come from? Why had Raven been so stubborn, this was all her fault. Qrow wasn't answering her, but she could hear him cursing, yelling. A memory bubbled to the surface before being swept away by the migraine trying to consume her.
Singing, chanting, flailing figures, and hands holding her own as they danced. Euphoria.
The pressure was nearly incapacitating her, like an iron fist choking her brain stem. Sweat was pouring down her body, and it wasn't from the fighting. Raven was feverish, nearly delirious. She stumbled, rolled, climbed to her feet again. She could hear music, but she knew in her gut that it wasn't real or now.
Suddenly, the icy pain relented, easing to a bearable level. Her awareness of every object surrounding her, of every Grimm, suddenly exploded to such an intensity she would have been able to close her eyes and know precisely where they were; she could sense her brother, fifty feet away. He was stumbling heavily. Raven could perceive his aura like her own, and knew it had nearly broken. She could feel his fear. She could feel his pain. Raven reached out without moving and took these things as her own.
The pressure broke completely as something dark and swirling broke open before her. The Unseelie fluttered away from the object, chattering incomprehensibly. Raven knew the quickest way to Qrow was through that vortex, a feeling as certain and inexplicable as gravity. She ran.
The dark vale parted and Raven nearly stumbled to a halt. She wasn't in the gully anymore. She was instead on a blasted, rusty plain; above her something was spinning in a violet sky. Raven shook her head, spotted the other portal, red and venomous, and barreled through it.
Raven had her sword up and swinging as she burst out over the Unseelie's chittering heads; she rolled and swept her blade, cutting them down ferociously. A kick to a pointed knee, a decapitated head, a hilt strike to the teeth, black blood everywhere; Raven fought more savagely than an animal, more unrelenting than the most murderous Grimm. She wasn't a person anymore, she was a force of nature unleashed.
A hand clawed her face unexpectedly and she unthinkingly bit its skeletal finger off, spitting it back at the owner. The Grimm blinked in surprise before she gouged one of its eyes out, swirling to gut its companion. Eventually she spotted Qrow.
Her brother was prone, covered in crouching Unseelie. The creatures were staring at her brightly, bobbing as they gibbered. Raven bared her teeth at them, tasting copper from the claw marks dribbling blood down her face. They giggled.
She charged them and they scattered into the bushes. Swinging around, Raven crouched besides Qrow's form protectively; but the Unseelie were darting through the branches and undergrowth, laughing like school kids let out early for the weekend. Light was beginning to return, if dimly, as the airborne Grimm fluttered into the forest once more.
"Qrow? Qrow!" Raven took a knee, keeping her eye on her periphery.
His aura was pulsing in time with his heartbeat; he had a dozen slashing, nonfatal wounds. However, in concert they could drain his aura, especially combined with the constant pull from his Semblance. They would need to bandage a few when they had a chance.
Raven paused as she checked his other vital signs. He was surprisingly…okay. Raven knew she should be grateful, but he had been covered in Grimm with practically no aura to protect him. Logic dictated that they should have torn his throat out.
Her eyes flicked up. The Unseelie had all disappeared, except one. It was a particularly bony specimen, with black tufts of fur on its head like human hair. Like all of the little creeps it was smiling. She narrowed her eyes at it, blood still running down her face like war-paint. It waved at her, cackling as she gaped in fascination, before zipping away into the dark. Raven gazed after it for a few breaths, finally returning her attention to her brother.
"Qrow? C'mon, wake up," she patted his face, glancing around.
Her brother's head lolled unconsciously. The vortexes span silently around them.
"You can have all my medals," she said nervously. "You can be the best twin. Just. Please get up."
"Uuuugh, but I'm already the best twin," he groaned, eyes squinting blearily.
Raven smiled in relief.
"Ohhh Dust, I need a drink," he continued, pushing up. "Fuck. How are we not dead?"
"I honestly don't know," she replied, glancing back at the purple and red vortex floating overhead.
"I hurt," he grumbled.
"I know," Raven said apologetically.
She really did know. If she concentrated, she could feel his injuries like her own.
"Don't run off like that again, that was fucking stupid. I'm the one that does the dumb stuff, remember? We can't just go switching it up like that."
Raven nodded, wiping at her blood tentatively. Her aura was already working on the scratches on her face, and the other little nicks the horde had managed to land.
Taiyang's portal suddenly hummed as the rest of STRQ and Professor Ozpin broke through. Tai and Summer had wildly distressed looks on their faces, appearing to have fought a sentient blender. Professor Ozpin appeared mostly unruffled, the bastard.
"Raven! Qrow!"
Raven winced at the panicked tone in Summer's voice. The other girl nearly blurred over to them, and was inspecting them before they could do so much as protest. After checking Qrow, Summer latched onto her and insistently turned Raven's face to study the claw marks.
"I am so glad you are ok, and I am equally so fucking pissed at you," Summer said, ears flat.
"Uh oh, she's cussing. Looks like I'm in trouble," Raven droned, getting to her feet.
Raven was too high strung at the moment to tolerate much touching; her wrists were itching, and the combination of hearing and seeing things that had not been happening was a very bad indication.
"Hey! Listen here, missy!" Summer glared up at her. "You could have been killed, stubborn butt! We all went running after you and then there mutant gremlins everywhere and we got separated – look, just because you don't agree with me doesn't mean you can just ignore me-"
Raven had heard enough. Sheathing her sword, she started scanning the bushes and trees for the cave entrance. Summer wasn't going to listen to her, but she still expected Raven to obey her orders; Summer clearly didn't trust her judgement and now she was going to blame Raven for the very thing she had tried to prevent from happening. All because…Raven was a hot mess who was too scared to communicate what was actually wrong.
"-Dust damnit, Raven, stop ignoring me!"
"Hey, c'mon. Let's bring it down a notch," Tai said soothingly, kneeling beside his partner. "Nobody's dead. We all made it. Qrow, you're ok yea?"
"Ha, I'll live," Qrow rasped, his wounds beginning to close. He pulled his flask out and took a long swig, ignoring the exasperated stare Ozpin gave him.
"Ok then. We all made it, and I don't think that would have turned out much different. Those things definitely had the drop on us; they were like, way too smart for our own good. Also, I would like to point out the mysterious vortexes to the void beyond."
STRQ and Ozpin beheld the 'mysterious vortexes'. Raven kept forgetting about them in the heat of the moment, even though she could sense them much like Qrow. She wasn't certain how to make them go away, however.
"Hmm. It would seem you've finally found your Semblance, Ms Branwen," said Ozpin at last. Apparently he was done with studying their group cohesion melt down. "Congratulations."
Raven nearly told him to fuck himself. Instead, she managed a shrug. She didn't feel very excited at the moment, even if it was supposed to be a big deal.
"Wait," said Summer. "What? Woooaa what?!"
"Is that…a portal?" Taiyang asked slowly. A huge grin was breaking out on his face as his eyes lit up. "Raven."
Raven glanced at him.
"Raven is that totally a portal? Do you have portals?"
She shrugged again, a hesitant smile playing at her lips.
"It is, totally, a portal," she said after a moment. A portal to where, though, she wasn't so sure. She would explore her new ability in depth later, once she wasn't feeling so off. Right now, however, she could barely concentrate.
Taiyang enthusiastically grabbed her shoulders and shook. Raven's eyes widened in panic.
"RAE! You have portals! Holy biscuits, this is awesome! This is going be like portal city!"
-A fist crashed into the side of her head, a rough voice telling her to shut up.
Taking a slow breath, Raven reached up took Tai's hands in hers. He was not trying to hurt her. He was just excited and sweet and didn't know any better. Gently, she pulled his hands away, trying to control the trembling in her fingers and failing.
"Yea. It's awesome."
Qrow was squinting up at her perceptively, climbing to his feet with some help from Ozpin. The Professor inspected the team himself after he ensured their surroundings were safe for the time being, speaking clinically about their injuries and the Grimm they had encountered. Raven refused point blank to let him touch her, backing away testily with her hand on her hilt when he tried. Ozpin accepted this almost passively, though his mouth twitched in thought.
The cave entrance was nearby, hidden by strategically placed dead shrubbery. Tire tracks and footprints were abundant. The remainder of Ozpin's drones, the few the Unseelie hadn't destroyed like the clever shits they were, bobbed about the perimeter and zipped down into the tunnel a few feet to look for threats as they took a breather. Even as they all took a few minutes to recover, however, tensions continued to mount.
Having determined the twins were not actually dead, Summer was back to being commanding and 'in charge', trying to reassert her authority after Raven blatantly disregarded it. This display was irritating, but ultimately unimportant. So instead, Raven spent a few minutes attempting to calm herself.
Yet the more inwardly focused she became, the more Summer tried to persistently draw conversation or acquiescence from her. Summer wanted to talk about Raven's new Semblance, she wanted to ask why she'd refused to listen to her, she wanted what she wanted and was not listening to Raven at all.
Raven was becoming extremely fed up with this, because it seemed that Summer was trying to use her authority to demand Raven's attention. Before she could snap on her girlfriend, however, Qrow pulled Summer off to the side. The two of them spoke quietly, Qrow gesturing in frustration as Summer glared at him stubbornly.
"Are you still feeling alright, Ms. Branwen?"
Raven peered cautiously at Ozpin. The Professor had his hands shoved uncharacteristically in his pockets as they studied the cavern entrance. Taiyang hovered nearby, clearly troubled by the underlying hostility in the air.
"Why?" Raven sneered. Tai shuffled.
Ozpin smiled pleasantly, as if she had told a quaint joke.
"You seem distressed."
"My brother was just mobbed by a posse of angry stick figures. I'm sorry if my anxiety is fucking up your zen," Raven growled. "Have you tried yoga?"
Overhead, a violet vortex reappeared, having dissipated silently a few minutes before. The portal glowed malignantly. Of course she wouldn't have a charming or fun Semblance; it would be unpleasant and unsettling, just like her.
Ozpin removed his hands from his pockets, clasping his fingers behind his back.
"That isn't what I'm referring to," Ozpin said, amber eyes flicking towards the cave.
"Then say what you mean," Raven grumbled.
Ozpin glanced at her collarbone, at the point right above her heart.
"If we find something truly unpleasant…will you be safe to continue?" he asked.
Great, now he's trying to send me packing.
Raven valiantly attempted to not rise to the bait, but her mouth was already opening with a scathing reply when Taiyang beat her to it.
"What's that mean?" Tai asked, frowning. "Why do you always have it out for her, man? Just leave her the fuck alone for once."
The clearing was silent. Raven's eyebrows rose exponentially as she stared at her teammate, a swell of affection for the boy arising at the proclamation. Ozpin examined Tai as if he had never really noticed him until that moment. Summer and Qrow gaped at the blonde from across dim glade.
"I do not have it out for anyone, Taiyang," Ozpin said finally. "Part of my duties, however, are to ensure you are all as safe as possible during your training. Emotions can be extremely hazardous if handled without care in these scenarios."
"Annnnd you think antagonizing her will somehow make things better?" Tai asked skeptically. "I don't buy it. You wanna know what I think?"
"I am certain you're about to tell me," said Ozpin drolly.
"I think you're trying to upset her on purpose," Tai frowned. "Because you're looking for any Dust damn excuse to not like her, so you won't feel guilty when you try to expel her."
Raven could have kissed Taiyang right there; because that was exactly how she felt.
Ozpin hesitated, inhaling lightly before sighing in contemplation. He removed his glasses, rubbing the surface with his sleeve.
"I see. You're wrong about my motivations and intent, Mr. Xiao Long. However, I recognize how my actions can and apparently have been misunderstood," the professor said, placing his spectacles back on his nose.
Summer moved quietly towards them, circling around before protectively inserting herself between Ozpin and her teammates. Her ears were flat, pupils contracted in anger.
"We're here to help people," Summer said firmly. "Not for you to play your little mind games. And very frankly, if you keep it up, sir…I'll send you back."
Ozpin's own brows rose at this declaration. Summer's face screamed 'bet me, motherfucker'. Raven had no doubt that she actually would try to send their Headmaster home, even if she had absolutely no power to do so. Raven could have kissed her too, even if she was still a little angry with her.
"Very well, Ms. Rose," Ozpin conceded. He looked both vexed and impressed at the same time. "I will do my best to reign myself in."
As Raven's wrists continued to itch, she wasn't certain if it would make much of a difference at this point.