Qrow had managed to get all the way to Junior's night club without Wendigo tailing him. He burst through the door sending the guard outside flying across the dance floor. The guard hit the wall beneath the DJ booth so hard that he knocked the needle off the record. "Ugh, not another one," Junior groaned pinching the bridge of his nose, "first blondie tears up the place, then some huntsman in training terrorizes a member of the White Fang, and now…"
"Look, I know things have been crazy lately for your club," Qrow said, "but my sister here needs some blankets before she freezes to death." He lay Raven's unconscious form across a booth.
Junior looked to one of his men and nodded, "Sorry for the lack of hospitality, sir," He said, "but we've been having a bit of trouble lately. Mostly because of…"
"My niece, Yang Xiao Long," Qrow said pointing to Raven, "I know who she gets it from. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Junior's eyes widened, "Wait, you mean…"
"That's her mother, Raven Branwen," Qrow said, "I think she'll need something warm to drink too, and I'll have a shot of bottom shelf stuff."
"What makes you think I'll give you those drinks so willingly," Junior asked.
"You think that Yang's terrifying when she's angry," Qrow inquired with a serious look on his face, "I'll say that my sister is much worse."
Melanie and Miltiades came from the back room with blankets as Qrow removed the Nevermore mask. The twins were shocked, "See where my niece gets her looks from?" The huntsman asked.
"Wow, the resemblance is scary." Junior swallowed hard, "You're welcome to stay the night, no problem with me at all."
Cypress Whitemane's eyes darted open as a ray of first light hit his face. He groaned in discomfort. He looked around to see where he was, "Beacon infirmary," he whispered quietly, "right, I came here to keep an eye on Ruby." He looked down to see Ruby waking up, "Psst," He hissed, "Weiss, Razhul, wake up, it's Ruby."
"Huh, whuh, what," Razhul woke up rubbing his eyes, "Where, how, oh yeah, Beacon."
Weiss sat up and stretched, "What is it, Cy?" She looked over to see Ruby's silver eyes locked on Cy's. "Ruby, you're alright," She said.
Ruby sat up and hugged Cy tightly, "Thank you, Cy," She said.
"What for," The Faunus asked.
"Rowan showed me everything," Ruby replied, "how you saved me."
Cy blushed, "I didn't want to lose you. You are to me what Weiss is to Rowan."
Ruby and Weiss both blushed, "Really?" Ruby asked.
"Yes," Cy replied.
"Sal-u-tations friends," Penny said coming through the door, "And good morning Ruby, I am so happy you are alright."
Ruby and Cy broke off their embrace, "Penny, what're you doing here?" She asked blushing fiercely.
"I came here to see if you were alright," Penny replied, "With General Ironwood's permission of course."
"Well I'm glad I wasn't the only one worried," Weiss said, "Also, I'm impressed with your technique. I know that you're… different from us, but like us you have incredible potential. And, for what it's worth, Penny," She smiled, "thank you for saving my friend, you're a true friend for that."
"You are welcome, Weiss," Penny said. She turned to see Razhul sitting on the floor, "Sal-u-tations, I am Penny, it is nice to meet you."
"I'm Razhul Azrael, it's nice to meet you too," The boy said, "My father was the guy using the musket last night."
"Oh," Penny said, "He was the one fighting alongside the professors."
"That's my father," Razhul said.
"Oh, that's right," Ruby said, "Weiss, Cy and I have something to tell you."
"What is it," Weiss asked.
"Rowan's going to come back, tonight," Ruby and Cy both replied.
Weiss' eyes couldn't help but feel her heart swell with so much happiness, "YES!" She threw her arms up in excitement and fell back on the bed laughing, "yes, yes, yes! That's wonderful!"
"Glad to see someone's in good spirits today," Redwood said walking in through, "this will make you feel even better, Weiss," He paused, "you and Ruby are cleared to leave."
"But, what about," Weiss asked before being cut off by Redwood.
"Last night's events proved to me that you're capable for the smaller tasks," Redwood replied, "not extended combat by any means. However, the lower level things like crowd control, using glyphs for defensive purposes but not more than five minutes or so."
Weiss frowned, "I guess I can manage that," she said.
"Don't take things too hard, Weiss," Ruby said, "I think I might be under the same stuff."
"Very astute, Ruby," Redwood smiled, "you and Weiss are limited for the next three days to help you build your aura reserves and regain your stamina."
"Does that mean I can't play tag with the kids anymore?" Ruby asked.
"You can still do that, Ruby," Redwood chuckled, "just no super speed."
Ruby frowned, "You still get to have fun with Ashe, Winter, Razhul, Luna, Nora and me," Cy said, "and I'm not going to use my semblance during our games until you can use yours again, I promise."
Ruby smiled, "Okay, Cy, you're on."
Redwood's scroll went off, it was Professor Ozpin. "Yes sir," The older Faunus answered.
"I can see the airship with Kaiyo and his son, Azure, is fifteen minutes out," Ozpin said, "I trust you're nearly done in the infirmary."
"Yes, I've cleared both Ruby and Weiss for release," Redwood replied, "I'll be down at the landing bay in a few minutes."
"Good, see you then." Redwood said.
"So Ruby and Weiss are free to go?" Cy asked.
"Yes they are," Redwood replied filling out his chart, "Now, Could the three of you escort them back to their dorm? I have to be at the landing bay to greet some vital allies who will be of great use to us in our battle against Wendigo."
"I will do my best, sir," Penny saluted.
"Of course," Razhul smiled.
"I will, Papa," Cy nodded.
Redwood smiled, "You'll make fine hunters one day," he said as he stepped out of the room and headed to the landing docks as Penny, Cy, and Razhul helped Weiss and Ruby back to their team dorm.
The airship was making its final approach to Beacon, "We'll be landing soon," The pilot said, "You might want to wake your kid up."
Kaiyo looked back and saw Azure's eyes slowly open, "I think he heard you," The dragon Faunus said.
"My apologies, sir," The pilot said.
"Think nothing of it," Kaiyo replied, "He was always one to wake up with the sun."
On the ground, Ozpin, Glynda, Redwood, Grau, General Ironwood, and Azurus waited patiently as the ship came to a stop and began a gentle descent to the landing pad. When it touched down, Kaiyo disembarked with Azure in tow. Ozpin walked to greet them, "Kaiyo, my old friend," He said, "I trust the flight was quick and without any trouble."
"No trouble at all, Ozpin," Kaiyo replied, "Not a Grimm to be found in the sky."
"That means the threat that Wendigo presents is greater than we'd anticipated," Redwood said.
"The negative energy presented by the Blood Moon must have elevated it to the point that it repulsed the Grimm around here at such a wide scale," Grau said.
"Even high powered Grimm like the Goliath and even Ol' Greyback would be forced to shy away from something that intimidating," Azurus added clearing his throat, "It's quite the imposing opposition when one looks at it thoroughly enough."
"That explains why my scouts have had no reports of any Grimm activities in the area since Wendigo appeared." Ironwood said.
"But there were two other shifts that I detected on top of Wendigo's aura," Kaiyo replied, "Neither of whom was malevolent in the least."
"One of those presences was probably Rowan preparing his escape," Redwood stated.
Azure's stomach growled, "Sorry, we didn't really get a chance bring any food with us on this trip."
"I'll take you to the cafeteria," Glynda replied taking the young Faunus toward the campus, "There are a few people who may be happy to meet you."
Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, the remaining three members of Teams WULF and PHNX, Razhul, the Whitemane siblings, and Winter were all in the cafeteria. Ruby and Cy looked over to see Glynda and a boy heading out of the lunch line, "Who's that with Professor Goodwitch?" Cy asked, "Is it a new student or something?"
"That kid looks a little young to be a student," Weiss said, "Even younger than you, Ruby."
"Hello everyone," Glynda said, "I'd like to introduce you to the third member of Guardian Families of Remnant. This young man is Azure Aquio, he just arrived with his father this morning."
Winter looked at Azure, "I thought that the Aquio family were supposed to be dragon Faunus."
Azure slowly lifted his hands and lowered his hood to reveal his pale skin, deep sea blue hair, and two horns that looked like filed down antlers. His eyes were the color of a bright yellow lightning bolt. Winter blushed a little, "I'm Winter Schnee," She said extending her hand shyly, "it's nice to meet you."
Azure nervously accepted the hand shake, "I-it's nice to meet you too," He said in a quiet voice.
"This must be his first time meeting a girl," Cy whispered to Ruby.
"Or his first time meeting a human," Ruby whispered back.
"Yeah, a human girl," Cy chuckled.
"Behave, little brother," Ivy smiled.
Cy felt a chill shoot up his spine, "Y-yeah, sure thing, sis."
"Nice to meet you Azure," Ruby said, "I'm one of the team leaders here at Beacon, and these are my teammates, Winter's older sister Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and my older sister Yang Xiao Long. I'm Ruby Rose, and together we're Team RWBY… and yeah it does get a little confusing sometimes."
Azure shied away behind Glynda, "N-n-nice to meet you too." He said.
Cy approached but kept at a distance, "I'm Cypress Whitemane," he waved, "and the other wolf Faunus are my siblings, Ivy and Sycamore." He looked to see his little sister peeking out behind him, "Oh, and this is my little sister Ashe." The little girl peeked out from her hiding place with her wolf ears flat against her head, "Sorry, she's a little shy around new people. But I think she'll warm up to you pretty quickly."
Glynda went through the motions of introducing the timid twelve year old dragon Faunus to the rest of the group. "I-I'm Azure A-Aquio, f-from Vacuo." The nervous boy stammered out, "I-i-it's nice to m-meet you all." The rest of the group could see how racked the boy's nerves were. He was visibly trembling.
Cy walked over to Azure and said, "None of us are going to hurt or judge you, Azure. We all just want to get to know you is all. After the night we all had…" A sneeze from Cardin interrupted him, "… the guy who just sneezed included, this would be a nice change of pace."
Azure followed the wolf boy to the table and sat down beside him. Pyrrha moved and sat next to him, "Hello, Azure," She said in her gentle voice, "is this your first time away from home?" The dragon Faunus nodded, "I see, would you like to know something?" Azure glanced at Pyrrha, "I was scared the first time I was far from home too."
"Really," Azure asked in a small voice. Pyrrha nodded, "What… what did you do?"
"Well, I started out by making friends and getting to know them," Pyrrha replied.
"That's pretty much what we all did," Ruby added.
"Some of us still have a little way to go, though," Cy said. Ruby put an arm around Cy's shoulder and pulled him toward her. The wolf Faunus blushed.
Azure smiled, slightly, "That's a little obvious."
"Yeah," Jaune laughed, "some of us are still a little awkward around certain people."
'Some of us more than others,' Ren signed.
"So, young dude," Umbra started, "what do you think of Beacon Academy so far?"
Azure looked to the laid back student, "So far… I th-think it's a nice place." He said quietly.
"Think you might want to come here when you're old enough," Luna asked, "Or will you be going to Shade Academy?"
"Um, I haven't r-r-really decided yet." Azure said.
"I'd stay away from Atlas, if I were you," Weiss said, "I hear that reptilian Faunus don't do very well in cold temperatures."
"I'm only twelve years old," Azure said, "and I'm still not able to use a semblance yet. I don't think I'll be anywhere near ready to attend a combat school."
"Have you tried meditation?" Cy asked, "That worked for my family."
"I haven't actually," Azure said, "But I might need to find someone who can teach me first."
Cy smiled, "I learned how to meditate from my brother, Rowan, I think I can teach you."
"Can it wait until after I'm finished eating," Azure asked.
"Sure thing," Cy said, "I almost forgot to eat mine too."
In Ozpin's office, the headmaster, Ironwood, Redwood, Kaiyo, and Grau were discussing the issue caused by Wendigo. "Seems like things have only gotten worse since the call you made," Kaiyo stated.
"That's putting it lightly, Kai," Qrow said approaching the group from the elevator.
"Where have you been, Qrow," Ozpin asked, "I haven't been able to get ahold of you all morning."
"Believe it or not," Qrow said taking out his flask, "Raven was in town last night."
Redwood raised an eyebrow, "What brought her here so suddenly?"
The dusty old huntsman took a swig and closed his flask, "It was an anomaly from the portion of aura that Wendigo stole from Yang. It must have caught my sister's attention and drew her in."
"Where is she now," Ozpin inquired.
"Past experience says that she left before sunrise," Redwood said.
"And the weirdest part is, I think I saw Cherry's ghost." Qrow said.
"That's preposterous," Grau said, "there's no such thing as ghosts."
"Then how do you explain a gray-brown wolf with cherry blossom pink eyes?" Qrow asked, "It's eyes had the same mix of intensity and gentleness that Cherry's had."
Grau felt a chill rush up his spine, but he shrugged it off, "I suppose anything is possible with the right level of intoxication."
"Ahem," Ozpin interrupted as he poured coffee into his mug, "It seems that the only hope we have is for what I felt last night to come to fruition."
"What exactly happened last night?" Kaiyo asked.
"You mean that intense bit surge of energy that blanketed all of Vale about a mile out from where Wendigo appeared?" Qrow asked, "Funny thing is when I was helping to nurse Raven back to health, I felt a second surge of aura wash over Vale."
"I believe that second surge came from the Team PHNX's dorm room," Glynda said joining the group, "Telephe's teammates told me everything. She's entered a meditative state and her aura is growing at an astonishing rate."
"Then we have Whitemane and Phoena gathering their strength," Ozpin said sipping from his mug. He looked to Kaiyo, "Has Azure begun to tap into the bounty of Aquios' power?"
The dragon Faunus shook his head, "No, he hasn't been able to enter a meditative state as of yet."
Redwood smiled, "Let me guess, the fog was never dense enough to bring out the link between Azure and the spirit of Aquios."
"That's precisely the problem," Kaiyo replied.
"Well then," Redwood said, "be glad that Rowan's not the only one able to meditate."
After they had finished breakfast, Cypress took Azure to the forge, "Why are you taking me to a place filled with soot, Cy," He asked as he saw the smoke billowing from the workshop, "My father said I'm too young to use a weapon."
"I'm just going to introduce you to Beacon's forge master, Tesla Viridian," Cy replied, "and another friend of mine, Penny Pollendina."
"Why?" Azure asked nervously.
"Because," Cy noted, "if you're going to be here for however long you're going to be here, you might as well know who is who."
Azure sighed, "Okay, if I have to."
The two Faunus walked under the pavilion and saw Tesla and Penny behind a white curtain, "Uh, Tesla, Penny," The wolf Faunus approached cautiously, "if this is a bad time, I can come back later."
Tesla peeked out from behind the curtain, "You're fine, Cy, I'm just running a quick check on Penny's systems. I'll just~ be a moment."
"Penny didn't take any serious damage from Wendigo last night, did she?" The wolf boy inquired.
"I sustained no major damage last night, friend Cypress," Penny stated, "but thank you for your concern."
"That's what friends are for, Penny," Cy chuckled, "Oh, and by the way, Ruby and Weiss are both out of the Infirmary."
Penny gave an audible gasp of joy, "Sen-sational. That is wonderful news, Cypress."
"I figured after last night we could all use something positive," Cy said, "And more good news, the Aquio family representatives are here."
"I thought I saw the airship land when I was checking on the condition of everyone's weapons this morning," Tesla said, "Are they in Ozpin's office?"
"Well, one of them is," Cy said, "I have Azure Aquio here with me."
"Just give me a sec, I'm just finishing up." Tesla said. He finished up his work behind the curtain and walked to put away his small tools. Penny hopped off the table and put her blouse back on. "Good morning guys," Tesla said.
Cy chuckled, "You must've been working late last night with no shower, Tesla. You're all covered in soot."
The forge master looked himself over, "Huh, so I am," He said as his semblance activated. The coating of ash and soot started to fade into Tesla's skin, "Forgive me for that, I needed to make a few repairs on all of the weapons we used. I even managed to repair a couple of Knights and Valkyries that sustained critical damage while giving chase." The forge master went over to the boxes of weapons and selected a red and black box from a table, "Tell Ruby that Crescent Rose has been fixed up for her when she's ready to pick it up."
"I will," Cy said, "but she's under strict orders from my father to not do anything tough for the next few days."
"So she's going to be doing crowd control," Tesla said, "I'll just keep her sweetheart until she's given the okay to use it again."
Cy nodded. Penny stepped out from behind the curtain, "Sal-u-tations," She greeted in her cherry way.
"Penny and Tesla," Cy said, "allow me to introduce you to Azure Aquio. He's a vessel for a Guardian Beast like Telephe and Rowan."
"It is nice to meet you, Azure my friend." Penny curtseyed.
"Hi," Azure said quietly.
"Not much of a talker, huh," Tesla asked. Azure shook his head, "Well, don't worry, I'm sure once you get used to being around us you'll be talking up a storm."
Azure smiled faintly. Perhaps he would enjoy his time at Beacon, "I hope I will," He said.
A/N: I'd like to take a moment to wish a belated Happy Birthday to the man we lost two years ago on February 1, 2015, Monty Oum. You may be gone from this world, but your legacy lives on in the fandom you created that now spans the world over. We love you Monty, and we miss you.
~Cluny
