Hello hello! I'm back with another chapter! Last time we squared away the last of volume four, and I'm ready to jump right into volume five!
As I said last time, I'm not particularly fond of volume four and five. Too much nothing happening while they make it sound like stuff is actually happening.
At any rate, please keep up the reviews! They're all appreciated!
Weiss packed away Myrtenaster and made sure she had dust on hand. She sighed as she prepared the bribe she had acquired for the cargo pilot. It was enough that no working class man would say no to it.
She heard a knock at the door. It was too informal to be Klein and her father rarely knocked, preferring to announce that he was there so as not to dirty his hands. Which really only left one person.
"Come in Whitley," she said aloud. The door opened and she turned to see her brother smiling at her.
"Off to the races are we?" he asked. She nodded, clasping Myrtenaster to her hip and adjusting her dress.
"We are indeed. If I could bring you with me I would, but we both know it's too dangerous," she reasoned. He nodded, not even arguing.
"Indeed. I'm afraid I'm much more accustomed to the life of a businessman and a CEO. I don't fancy my chances in the wild after what you've told me," he claimed as he stepped into her room.
"It's not nearly as bad as you'd think," she said, hands on her hips. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Weiss, you literally told me about a beast called a Deathstalker. Death is in the name," he said. Her ears went red but she refused to blush in front of her brother. Schnee pride at its finest.
"At any rate, please do be careful," he said, now in front of her, "it'd be nice if the next I see of you isn't in a casket."
"Please brother," she said, brushing her ponytail over her shoulder, "I refuse to die."
"I'm sure the Grimm will happy to respect that sentiment," he rolled his eyes. She laughed and he joined her shortly after. When it ceased, she stepped forward and hugged him.
"I'll return as soon as I can," she promised. He hugged her back and snickered.
"Don't be careless. I'd rather you took your time and came back alive than rushed to get back to me and hurt yourself," he said. They broke apart and she nodded.
"I'll be okay," she said. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I suppose that's the best I'll get," he said. They left her room and she closed her door. As they walked down the hall they took care to step quietly. It was almost midnight, and the shipment of dust that Ironwood had tipped her off to was set to leave soon.
They stopped in front of the back door of the manor. She turned again and looked her brother in the eyes. He smiled and they hugged again, when they broke they shared no more words. They nodded to one another and she left.
She found her way across the back courtyard and to the private bullhead docks they owned. She found the pilot standing outside the bullhead and walked up to him with purpose.
"I'm really putting myself out there doing this," he said as she stopped in front of him. She nodded and handed him the lien. He flipped through it quickly and sighed, pointing a thumb behind him.
"Get in the back, we take off in five," he said. She exchanged no words as she stepped into the back and got as comfortable as she could on top of the boxes. She sighed. Not the most luxurious of travel experiences she's had but it'd do. She'd be in Mistral soon enough.
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the side of the ship. She'd try and catch any sleep she could get.
"Okay, I spy with my little eye, something made of stone," Mercury said. The others all groaned.
"Is it the stones in this tunnel?" Jaune asked. Mercury snapped and pointed to him in fake enthusiasm.
"You got it buddy!" he said. They all shared a brief laugh.
"Why the hell did they build this long as tunnel to Mistral!? Why not just build a road!?" Miltia whined. Melanie nodded.
"Oh, I can't wait to finally get a real meal and a stiff drink," Roman groaned. Glynda said nothing but nodded subtly.
"Well then you're all in luck," Qrow said. They looked ahead to him as he stood in front of a large set of doors.
"Welcome to Mistral everybody," he said as he pushed them open. They all stepped out onto the platform behind the door. It overlooked the large valley that Mistral was settled in and had a great view of all the tall houses and buildings. Waterfalls surrounded the city and Haven Academy sat overlooking the kingdom from above.
"Damn," Melanie said. She and her sister smiled as they observed the view.
"Nice to see something new right?" Yang asked as she watched Ruby hawk at the sight. The twins shook their heads in unison.
"Nah, this isn't new to us," they said. All of them but Roman and Neo looked at them in confusion.
"I thought you guys were from Vale. Don't you live with your uncle?" Jaune asked. They looked at each other and shrugged.
"Nah, we were born here but our mom sent us to live in Vale with our dad's brother after he died. That's Junior," Melanie said. Miltia nodded and followed up.
"Yeah, our mom runs a crime ring in the seedier parts of Mistral," she said without a second of hesitation. Glynda smacked her face and Roman laughed.
"Sounds about right," Mercury said. They all took their time walking down into the city, and then had to walk around looking for a bullhead up to Haven for another hour.
"Man, I remember this place being a lot less... grimey," Roman said. Glynda raised an eyebrow his way.
"You've been to Mistral before?" she asked. He nodded.
"Yep. Back when I was still in Shade. My old team and I came here and got absolutely fucked up on some Mistrali Black," he smiled as he reminisced. Qrow and Glynda looked at him in concern.
"Wasn't that stuff banned a few years back for being incredibly bad for your liver?" Qrow asked. Roman shrugged.
"Probably. All I know is that we had a good time," he smirked. Glynda slapped his arm and he laughed.
"Enough about your awful drug addled past. The next bullhead arrives soon and we're still ten minutes away from the loading platforms," Glynda said. They all started to hurry and move faster.
"Don't you two wanna see your mom?" Pyrrha's asked as the twins as they all moved through crowds and past street vendors.
"Nah. She'll find out we're here and call for us. We should probably handle the important shit first," Melanie said.
"Yeah, plus our mom's pretty cool. As long as you don't act up with her she's pretty chill," Miltia said.
"There's the bullhead!" Nora cut the conversation off as she pointed to the bullhead slowly coming down. They were still two or so blocks away from the loading bay.
"Ruby run ahead! Use your small body to keep the doors open!" Roman said. She saluted and ran ahead, a blur of red as she zipped between people.
"Hey! Watch it you little snot!" some greasy street rat yelled as she bumped into him while he was searching through a trash can and kept running. As they all ran by, Neo took an extra moment to kick the man into the pile of garbage and keep going.
"Wait! Neo go back and grab his shoes!" Roman said as he saw the opportunity. He and Neo turned around and jumped the man, stealing his shoes.
"No wait! Those are the most expensive things I own!" he yelled.
"Exactly!" Roman shouted as the two ran away with his shoes. Once a thief, always a thief.
"When my boss hears about this, she'll have you both killed!" the man screamed at their backs. Neither even turned to acknowledge him as they ran. When they finally caught up nobody seemed to question why they had a pair of shoes with them.
They all looked around for Ruby and saw her being stopped by a guard. She seemed to be trying to squeeze pay him but he wasn't moving.
"I already told you that you need a ticket!" he said. She whined.
"But we don't have any money left!" she cried. Roman grabbed the pair of shoes out of Neo's hands and walked up to the man.
"Want a new pair of shoes?" he asked the guard. The man looked the shoes over and then looked at Roman.
"Aren't you that famous thief from Vale?" he asked.
"No, you must be thinking of someone else," Roman said. The man looked back at the shoes and shrugged. He took the shoes and stepped aside.
"Right this way," he said as he extended an arm out. They all thanked him as they stepped on the bullhead.
"Onwards to Haven!" Nora shouted, a fist in the air. The bullhead lurched and took off, ascending the valley quickly. It was only a short amount of time later that they arrived at Haven grounds, all of them stepping off the craft and looking around.
"It's... pretty quiet here, eh?" Mercury observed as they all glanced around. The others mumbled forms of agreement as they scanned the area.
"Strange. Where is everyone?" Glynda asked aloud. Qrow looked skeptical as well and he moved with a certain alertness now.
"I don't like the feeling of this," the man mumbled quietly. Roman nodded and looked towards the windows of the buildings around them. There were no people watching them back either and he made sure to say so.
"Cool! So there's nobody here, and we aren't being watched, which circles back to the first point that there's nobody here," Yang groused.
They all followed Qrow and Glynda as the two navigated the group to the headmasters office. As they wound their way through empty halls, Ruby asked a question.
"What's the headmaster of Haven like?" she looked ahead to her uncle and the former headmistress. Glynda took the lead while Qrow answered.
"Leonardo Lionheart is an... interesting person for a huntsman," he started, rubbing the back of his head, "you'll find that he's a little more..."
"Skittish?" Glynda proposed. Qrow shrugged.
"I was gonna say antsy buy that works too," he finished.
"Oh great. I'm sure a super paranoid leadership figure won't somehow come back to bite us in the ass," Miltia groaned.
"I'm sure this guy's not that bad," Roman tried, before mumbling to Neo, "nobody can be worse than Fall."
Neo nodded and quickly signed 'bitch' to the crook. Seemed she was still mad about the whole neck slicing thing. Who would've thought?
As they approached the doors to the headmasters office, Qrow readied himself. He turned and put three fingers up. As he lowered one, they all prepared their weapons, just in case. When he lowered the next he took a small step back. He lowered the last finger and reared back before kicking to door off its hinges.
They all leapt into the office and took aim, pointing in every direction and being on full alert mode.
"There's... nobody in here," Ren said after a moment. They all sighed and sheathed their weapons. As they were about to turn around and leave, they heard whistling.
"~Da dada da da da— AHHHH!" a lion faunus screamed as he turned the corner and came face to face with the merry band of hunters.
"What!? Why!? Where!? When!? The door! That was hand carved!" Lionheart shouted in rapid succession from the floor. Qrow sighed and strolled forward. He reached a hand out and hauled the older man to his feet.
"Leo, we're here to help," he stated bluntly.
"Wha- Qrow? What the hell are you doing here!? Better yet, when and how the hell did you get here!?" the headmaster asked. Qrow looked back to all of them. He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face as he watched Roman slowly slide a trophy from one of the shelves into his coat. The thief looked back, froze, and waved, smiling the whole time.
"We uh, had a little journey and were supposed to meet Oz here. He should be arriving any day now," Qrow said. Lionheart looked to all of them nervously before looking back to Qrow.
"Ah. I see. That's... wonderful," he smiled in a very fake manor.
"This guy's a rat," Roman whispered to Glynda. She elbowed him quickly and he rolled his eyes.
"So... Ozpin's still... alive, eh?" Lionheart asked, fingers tapping together in front of him.. Qrow nodded.
"Yeah, you know how it goes. You hear from him at all?" the drunk asked. He shook his head.
"Not that I know of, no. Knowing Ozpin he could be anywhere," Lionheart claimed. Qrow nodded. That was true.
But Ozpin was probably fine right now.
"... And that's why you should never trust Ozpin when he says that he's got humanity's best interest at heart. If you ever have another run in with him, it would be best for everyone if you offed him," Hazel said as he and Oscar stepped off the train.
"Why did you not tell him to stop?" Ozpin asked.
He's got some valid points. You are kind of an asshole, Oscar thought. Ozpin replied by forcing the taxes from Beacon from the last ten years through the boys mind all at once. Oscar got a headache immediately.
"And don't even get me started on how Ozpin likes to kill children!" Hazel ranted, fully invested in what was essentially an entirely one sided conversation.
"Please walk away now," Ozpin begged. Not wanting the information of math and numbers forced into his brain again, Oscar made up an excuse.
"Um, I have to meet with... an old friend soon. It was nice talking to you Mr. Hazel!" Is at said as he bowed slightly. Hazel grew an incredibly small smile and nodded before handing the boy a slip of paper.
"This is my number. Call me if you ever need Ozpin-killing related help," he said. He turned and walked away, people clearing a path for him as he moved slowly down the street.
"Thank every god," Ozpin sighed in relief, "now. Time to go meet that friend."
"Wait, that wasn't a lie?" Oscar asked as he started letting Ozpin give him directions.
"Not at all. We need to meet my scout, Qrow. You know? The drunk man," Ozpin explained. Oscar frowned.
"That sounds like the kind of man my mom told me not to talk to," he said. Ozpin sighed.
"And yet here you are following the voices in your head," Ozpin shot back.
"Oh now you're the voice in my head and not 'a totally real' person," Oscar grumbled.
"Damn straight. Now get on that bullhead!"
Sun was currently living out one of his dreams.
The sun was high above his head. He sat in a pool tube and sipped from a tropical beverage of sorts. Occasionally he'd get the promiscuous look from a girl (and once a guy) and he sent the same look back (even to the guy, always good to keep your options open). He was without his shirt, having left it on the shore. Every now and then he'd bump a stray beach ball back in somebody's direction. It was paradise.
"SUN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Blake screeched from the sand. He looked over and waved at her.
"I'm enjoying my break!" he yelled back. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked up again, glaring at him.
"We're supposed to be investigating!" she whined. He scoffed and splashed water in her direction with his tail. None of it made it since he was easily twenty feet offshore, but the gesture still made her hiss at him.
"What's the pain of a little break? We searched all of yesterday!" he argued back. By this point people had cleared a long and narrow oval for the two to tell at each other and were watching in amusement.
"That's not the point!" she yelled. He shot her an incredulous look.
"What is the point? It's not like they're going anywhere! Plus you can just ask any of these people if they know anything!" he said. The surrounding crowds heads all snapped back and forth as the two yelled, as if watching a tennis match.
"We can't just announce it to people! That defeats the purpose of being stealthy!" she shouted, stomping a foot in the sand and hissing when a wave gently passed over her foot.
"Why do we need to be stealthy!? We were literally just asking people on the street yesterday!" he told, stirring his drink a little before taking a sip.
"Just get over here!" she yelled.
"Why don't you get over here!" he yelled back.
"You know I don't like water!"
"That's just perpetuating a stereotype!"
"Don't use the internalized racism trick on me!"
"Then stop making it so easy!"
People had started recording now. Even the lifeguard was simply watching with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
"Here! Watch how easy this is!" Sun shouted before spreading his arms out wide and addressing the crowd.
"Anyone here know anything about the White Fang? Anything at all?" he asked. Everyone looked among each other for a moment.
"Their base is on the south side of the city!"
"I'm pretty sure you can just walk in the base! As long as you mind your own business!"
"I heard that Sienna allows you to call and schedule ahead!" the last person was on shore and told Blake the number.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Sun shouted among the crowd. Blake just stared in shock and gave her a triumphant look.
"Now you gotta get in here! I just saved us a day of asking!" he shouted to her. She glared at him.
"No way!" she shouted. He rolled his eyes and paddled back to shore. He slowly walked up to her and grinned down at her.
"What?" she hissed. Without a word of warning, he lifted her bridal style and threw her on top of his tube. She yelped and screamed as she felt the water soak through her pants and touch her feet.
Before she could escape, he dove back into the water and kicked the tube off shore. She glared at him as they swapped places and smiled at her.
"See! Not so bad!" he yelled.
"I'm actually gonna kill you!" she shouted. He laughed and waded over to her. He looked up at her from the water and winked.
"You seriously need to loosen up," he said, now taking at a normal level of volume. Everybody seemed to have enjoyed their quarrel and was now chatting once again.
"For the love of God, get me out of this water," she hissed lowly. He rolled his eyes.
"What's with you and water and dogs and stuff?" he asked. She glared even harder. He put his hands up in mock surrender.
"Good. Now pull me back. My ass is wet and I wanna change," she huffed, taking his drink from his hands and taking a sip. She made a face and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Is this spiked?" she asked. He nodded.
"Yeah. Learned that the legal drinking age here is like fourteen so I decided to treat myself," he grinned. She scoffed and splashed him. He immediately had a glint in his eyes and she went pale.
"Wait, no! I didn't mean it—" it was too late as Sun laughed and dove underwater before springing back up and flipping the tube over. She squeaked as she went tumbling into the water.
"You started it," he said as she surfaced and sputtered. She gave him a look of pure hate and poked him in the eyes.
"Ow! Fuck!" he winced as he rubbed his eyes. He opened them and fluttered them a little as he regained his vision.
"Shore. Now," she demanded. He blew a raspberry and got the tube again, hauling her on top and paddling it back to the sand. She stood and shook herself a little before glaring back at him and stomping off. He shook his head.
"She needs to get that stick out her ass," he mumbled. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a few other faunus behind him, one holding a volleyball.
"Hey man, you seem pretty cool. Wanna join us?" one of the girls asked. He shrugged and nodded, following the group back into the water.
He was still going to enjoy his time off.
Meanwhile, Blake walked home and if ignored her mother and fathers confused looks as she stalked past them. She toweled off quickly and walked back to her parents who were sat around her father's desk. Without a word she picked up the home phone and dialed a number the person had told her.
It rang once, then twice. On the third ring it was picked up and a very familiar voice answered.
"Hello, this is the White Fang, how can I help you?" Ilia said in a bored manner.
"Ilia?" Blake asked. Her parents just watched in amusement.
"Blake!? What the hell are you doing calling this number!? Is this a prank or something?" the other girl growled.
"No. I'm calling to schedule an appointment with Sienna Khan," Blake said bluntly.
"What!? Who told you— nevermind, I don't wanna know. Why the hell do you want an appointment with Sienna?" Ilia asked suspiciously.
"That's none of your business is it desk girl?" Blake asked smugly. On the other end, Ilia blushed, both in embarrassment and anger.
"Fuck you. What time," she ground out. Blake smiled slightly and thought for a moment. She hummed.
"Friday at noon," Blake stated. She heard typing and then Ilia replied.
"Fine. Be on time. Don't cause trouble," she said. Before Blake could say anything else the chameleon girl hung up.
"Huh, go figure, you can call," Blake said to herself. Her parents just sighed.
Another day with Blake.
Roman sighed as he lay back on the couch. They'd been given a large living space on Haven grounds and they had all been making the most of it. He ignored the commotion coming from the other room.
"Neo! You better not use all the hot water!" Yang yelled as she and the shorter girl ran for the shower. Neo had made it in first and shot the girl a smug grin before slamming the door.
"Pyrrha, what's uh... what's all this?" Jaune asked as he and Ren walked into the small kitchen. Nora and Ruby came up behind them and peered past their shoulders to the redhead.
"Oh! I just figured I'd try my hand at cooking! It can't be any harder than fighting right?" she asked. They all observed the kitchen and the absolute carnage that was held within it. There were splatters of ingredients here and there and tools had been taken out and used for things that definitely weren't their intended purposes.
"And... how's that going?" Jaune asked as he turned off a mixer that had been rattling in a bowl.
"Grand! I just finished actually! Take a look!" she said proudly. By this point Yang, the twins, and Mercury had also come to see what the champion had concocted.
She held a bowl out proudly and they all leaned back as the smell hit them. Whatever it was, it was definitely burnt. Alongside that, the color could only be described as sickly. It was a greenish brown and looked like a liquid that had been burnt and scorched on the top layer.
"What... what are we looking at?" Mercury asked in horror as he hid behind the twins at the sight. The girls had their hands over their faces and had taken a step back.
"I don't really know what to call it, I just mixed a bunch of the materials together and cooked them!" she said as she looked back at the stove. It was very on fire. Ren gasped as he ran ahead and took a fire extinguisher off the wall before letting loose on the flames.
"Pyr, we didn't go shopping for food yet. All the cooking stuff we have in the kitchen was like, cornstarch and oils and cooking spray and stuff," Jaune said. She tilted her head to the side.
"Can you not use that?" she asked. He winced and looked back at the others. They all shrugged and looked as lost as him.
"Uh, well I guess you can't not eat that stuff but—" he was cut off as he saw the hurt look on her face.
"So you won't try it?" she asked, looking very much like a child who'd just been told they didn't have time to play. Jaune swallowed and grit his teeth.
"Of course I'll try it," he said with faux enthusiasm. She smiled immediately again and held it out to him. She brought a spoon over with her semblance and handed it to him. He took it and looked between the bowl of... whatever it was and then back at the others. They all saluted him, Mercury was even crying and saying how much he'd be missed. He took a deep breath and scooped some I to his mouth. It couldn't be that bad—
Oh. No, it was definitely the worst.
He promptly passed out, eyes rolled back and gurgling noises coming from his throat. They all stared down at him in shock.
"Would you look at that," Melanie said with an incredibly fake proud voice, "he loved it so much he passed out from bliss!"
"I'm so glad he liked it! Would any of you like to try as well?" Pyrrha asked as she looked among them. They all looked as though somebody had just asked if they wanted to willingly be shot in the face.
"You know what? I'll pass. Big breakfast," Mercury claimed, walking away quickly.
"Yeah, Melanie and I were gonna, like, um, go out with Neo when she's out of the shower," Miltia said as she and her sister stepped away.
Ren didn't even say anything as he threw a smoke bomb at his feet, disappearing from sight. Nora laughed nervously and bolted out the door.
Yang and Ruby stood in front of Pyrrha who looked at them expectantly.
"Oh wow," Ruby breathed out as she slowly stepped away, "you know, I'm allergic to... that."
"Yeah and I..." Yang being the last one struggled to find an excuse. Pyrrha just blinked at her and the blonde sighed.
"Pass," she said quickly before throwing herself out the window and running away. Pyrrha stood there confused and looked back to her unconscious boyfriend.
"We at least Jaune liked it! I'll make sure to save it for him!" she said happily.
Back in the main room, Roman and Glynda sat together, talking and sharing a glass of wine. It was nice to do this again after so long on the road.
"Where'd Qrow go?" Roman asked. Glynda shrugged as she sipped from her glass.
"Probably a bar," she said. He laughed shortly and rolled his eyes.
"That sounds accurate," he sighed. She placed her glass on the table before them and leaned on his shoulder. He relaxed and leaned into her as well.
"You know, it's been quite a while since we've had the chance to... loosen up," she breathed into his ear. He shivered but smirked as he leaned into her ear.
"Why don't we go back to our room and change that then?" he asked quietly. She smiled at him and grabbed his hand as she stood. She pulled him up and back to their room. Whatever Qrow was doing, it was probably best he wasn't there to hear them.
Qrow sat in a bar and sneezed as he felt the overwhelming feeling that somebody was assuming he was getting drunk came over him. It was true, but that didn't make it any less hurtful!
"Um, excuse me," a young voice asked from behind him. He turned and saw a short boy playing with his hands.
"I know Mistral doesn't have the best or most sound laws but I didn't know they let kids drink now too," he mumbled. Oscar looked confused and his eyes darted left and right.
"Er, I'm supposed to ask—"
"I mean seriously! It's already bad enough that all the hunters are out since the attack on Beacon but this? This is just bad form!" Qrow continued, not hearing the boy.
"Um, I'm sorry but I've been told to—"
"And then Leo's acting all weird and there's the underground crime network. The one here is like, four times worse than the criminal underground in Vale!" Qrow rasped as he threw his arms around animatedly, spilling his drink here and there.
"Is he always like this? He is? How am I supposed to ask him for the cane if—"
"And don't even get me started on all the weird porn here!"
Oscars eyes glowed for a moment and he stood differently in an instant.
"Qrow, for the love of God man, give me my cane and shut the hell up," Ozpin demanded. Qrow choked on his drink and sputtered as he cleared his throat.
"Oz?" he asked as he looked over the boy.
"Yes. It's me. Now please give me the damn cane and show this boy to a bed," Ozpin said before his eyes glowed and Oscar was back, shivering and looking around.
"What just happened?" he asked in a scared voice. He got no answer as Qrow whooped and hollered before scooping the boy up and holding him underneath his arms in front of him.
"I did it! I found Ozpin!" Qrow exclaimed. The bartender just shook his head and took the bottle away.
"Technically he found you," Oscar pointed out. Qrow didn't hear him as he ran out the door and back to Haven, carrying the boy the whole time.
"Just you wait! Now they'll know I'm not crazy!" he slurred.
"I think you're really overestimating how well this will go over if you just kick the door in and present a young boy to a room of people," Oscar said. Once again he went unheard as Qrow sprinted back to their temporary home.
Oscar sighed. It looked like being kidnapped by older men was just part of his life now.
Weiss awoke with a start, looking around before realizing nothing was actually happening. She looked out the window and saw the city of Mistral passing by quickly under the ship.
"Oh, you're awake. We land in about ten minutes. Make sure to get moving before people come to unload the ship," the pilot said as he looked back to her. She nodded and stood, stretching and rolling her neck.
"We lucked out. Normally the route I have to take would put us through some pretty risky territory," the man said. She hummed. If she didn't have to fight she wasn't going to complain.
The ship touched down when the pilot said it would. He walked around and opened the back of the craft, ushering her out.
"Okay, you're here now. Get out of here before anyone sees you getting off my ship," he said, shooing her away. She nodded.
"Tha k you," she said. He smiled and shook his head.
"Yeah yeah, don't thank me. I took your money. This was a job. Now go, quick," he said. She turned and hurried out of the hanger. As she exited to the city she looked around and scrunched up her nose.
"This place looks like those bad crime movies Neo and Ruby always made me watch," she mumbled quietly. She walked around and looked for a way up to Haven. She saw it in the form of a bullhead docking bay nearby. Made sense to put all the aircraft space close to each other she supposed.
She took her time walking to the docking area. She had a little more lien on her and that bought her onto the next bullhead to Haven. Alas, only students of the school could ride to and from the academies for free.
She sat and waited once more, quickly growing tired of flying as the bullhead took off and went to Haven. She'd lucked out. Apparently they barely had any ships flying between the school and the city since a lot of the huntsman and huntresses were patrolling if what the pilot said was to be believed.
They landed and she stepped off and glanced around. It was dark now, the sun had set as she had landed in Mistral. She noticed the distinct lack of activity around her.
"I guess the pilot wasn't wrong," she mused to herself. She looked around for any indication that her friends were there already. She saw what looked to be Ruby and Yang's uncle drunkenly, and haphazardly carrying a small boy across the open area and towards a door. He kicked it open, and she barely heard him proclaim something before he slammed the door shut once more.
That was probably the best place to start then.
Roman leaned against the headboard of the bed, arms behind his head. Glynda had an arm draped over his chest and he leaned over to light a cigar.
"Satisfied?" he asked. She huffed.
"For now. We will pick this up later," she growled as she squeezed his arm. They both laughed and we're about to turn in for the night when they heard the front door burst open followed by shouting.
"I FOUND HIM!" Qrow said, clearly drunk and barely capable of full sentences. They both looked at each other and debated.
"Maybe if we ignore him he'll go to sleep?" Roman tried. Glynda nodded and they both pulled the pillows over their ears.
"EVERYBODY! HEY! HEY EVERYBODY! I FOUND OZ!" he said, hiccuping throughout the proclamation. They both eyed each other before groaning, standing, putting clothes on, and stalking to the main room. The kids were all there as well, and for some reason Jaune looked like he was about to die. He was awake, but he was sweating and pale. Pyrrha didn't even seem to notice.
Weird.
At any rate they glanced at Qrow and then immediately went on alert as they realized he had a young and very confused looking boy held in his arms.
"Goddamnit Qrow! You can't just take kids off the street! People will talk!" Glynda yelled. Qrow blew a raspberry at her and held the child in front of him.
"This ain't a kid! It's Ozpin! Tell 'em Ozzy!" he slurred and dropped the kid unceremoniously onto the floor. He grunted as he landed face first and rubbed his head. He stood and realized everyone was looking at him in what appeared to be concern.
"Please tell me out uncle didn't kidnap you," Yang begged. Oscar scratched his cheek.
"Well he didn't kidnap me per say..." he said quietly. They all groaned and Qrow laughed.
"I did it! I did it!" he cheered. He stumbled over a small patch of carpet and crashed into the large fish tank in the main room. Water cascaded from his entry point and flooded the floor. Nobody even made a move to stop it.
"Is he okay?" Oscar asked, pointing at the now unconscious man, body half inside an aquarium.
"Yeah he's fine," Roman said as he approached the young man, "so who the hell are you, kid?"
Oscar shuffled and pulled Ozpin's cane out from his belt. They all stiffened as they watched him fiddle with it.
"Uh, I guess I'm technically Ozpin?" he said.
Roman went over to Qrow's body and gave him a kick. Qrow jolted and got up, not noticing his soaked form.
"Whazzat?" he mumbled, one eye more closed than the other.
"Why the hell is Ozpin a kid!?" Roman shouted. Qrow snorted and shrugged.
"I dunno!" he said happily, throwing both arms up in joy. Roman kicked him again and he went back to being unconscious.
They all looked back and Oscars eyes glowed for a moment.
"Oh no, please don't tell me this is—"
"Magic, Roman. I'm sure you know of it by this point," Ozpin said, now in control.
"Wow, this day has just been full of surprises," Mercury whispered to Neo. She nodded and pet Chew, who was trying to sniff the new person.
"What's next? Who else is gonna make a surprise visit today!?" Yang asked aloud. There was a polite knock at the door. The blonde huffed and stomped over before tearing the door off its hinges.
"WHAT— Oh, hey Weiss," she said. The heiress had gone ramrod straight in shock at the unexpected greeting.
"WEISS!?" Ruby shouted from her place in the room. She bolted past everyone and tackled the girl, toppling the small suitcase she carried with her.
"You're here! And you're okay! AND I MISSED YOU!" Ruby cried into her partners dress. Weiss smiled and hugged her back.
"I missed you too," she said quietly before her demeanor changed back to normal, "now stop using my clothes as a tissue you dolt!"
Ruby clambored off the girl as she pulled herself up. Weiss entered the house and greeted everyone.
"Damn, that's fifty lien down the drain," Mercury cursed as he slapped the money in Ren's hand. The ninja smiled and pocketed the cash.
"Wait, you bet on my arrival?" Weiss asked. Mercury shook his head.
"No, we bet in who'd arrive first; you or Blake. You couldn't have gotten in a plane crash or something?" the assassin asked. She flipped him off and he stuck his tongue out at her.
"It's good to see you're okay Miss Schnee," Glynda said with a nod of her head. Weiss bowed back and smiled.
"Thank you Miss Goodwitch," she replied. Roman shrugged.
"Okay well that's my capacity for the day. Ozpin-kid you can sleep in Qrow's room since he's currently sleeping on the floor. Ice queen, there's a spare at the end of the hall," Roman said as he turned about-face and walked back to his own room, "don't wake me up before ten!"
Glynda turned to them and did a small curtsy before following the man back. They heard the door slam shut shortly after.
"They're totally boning," Miltia stated into the room. She received a chorus of 'blerghs' and one 'hot' from Nora.
"Welp, that settles that then! We'll talk in the morning!" Ruby said happily, dragging Neo away. Chew barked and trotted after them. Ozpin didn't seem to mind the delay and walked down the hall. Be found the room with several empty bottles and sighed. That was definitely Qrow's room.
"What do we do about the door?" Weiss asked. Pyrrha shrugged and propped the door in front of the opening it remained disconnected and still left enough space for pretty much anyone to come in without actually moving the door.
"Good enough for me!" Melanie said as the rest of them went to their rooms.
On the wet floor, Qrow laughed in his sleep.
"... I did it..." he mumbled with a sloppy smile.
Salem sat slumped on her throne. It'd been about ten minutes now and she hadn't said a thing.
"Um... my queen?" Watts asked. She slowly turned and looked at him. She said nothing and then slowly turned to stare back up at the ceiling.
"Is she dying?" Emerald whispered. He shrugged and Cinder groaned.
"My queen, what do we do? Shall we move on the spring maiden?" she rasped. Salem hummed.
"I suppose," she mumbled. They all exchanged looks again.
"What do we do?" Watts whisper yelled. Cinder shrugged and Emerald made a face. They were at a total loss.
"Has Leonardo retrieved my prize yet?" Salem asked suddenly. They all jolted and Watts cleared his throat to answer.
"No, my liege," Watts said professionally. She pouted and whined.
The queen of Grimm, sovereign of evil and darkness, pouted and sighed like a little kid.
"Damn," she swore, holding a hand over her face.
"Um, whatever is the issue?" Cinder asked. Salem growled and stamped a foot.
"Those damn toys didn't help! They just reminded me what sex I could be having! THEY ONLY MADE ME MORE ANGRY!" she shouted, the tower shaking. Tyrian looked sick at the idea. He lived his goddess, but that... That was an image he didn't need.
"I... apologize?" Watts tried. Her eyes slitted and her tongue whipped like a snakes as she hissed at the man. He screamed and fell out of his chair, hiding behind Cinder for cover. She looked offended at his use of of her as his own personal shield.
"Hazel has confirmed that he is in Mistral my liege. We need only move on the spring maiden and we'll have the maidens powers, Haven, and your... requested individual," Watts explained. The woman slammed a fist down on the armrest of her chair.
"Very well. Cinder, take your underling and go get the spring maiden. Watts and Tyrian you shall remain here and await orders. I have no need of your services at the moment," Salem commanded.
"Are we not going to try and use the White Fang for anything?" Watts asked.
"What would we use them for? They're hardly worth the time," Salem waved him off, "that's why I sent Hazel to Mistral early. We don't need anyone on that island. It's a waste of time."
"Yes my queen," Watts agreed. They all stood and left. Before they exited, Salem called out to Cinder.
"Oh and don't be afraid to ask Hazel for help. He is in the area after all," she said. Cinder slumped but nodded. After that the woman was left alone once more.
"Now what? Think woman, you've been around for generations! How do I make this work?" she mumbled to herself. She brought a mirror over and looked at herself.
"Hmm, maybe I should give myself a makeover. If he likes blondes then perhaps I should see about revitalizing my old looks," she said. She imagined it, her hair down and back to its original color. The dark veins on her face a little less pronounced. She'd keep her eyes the same. They commanded respect.
"Oh yes, perhaps a little reshaping is what I need," she hummed. She called Watts back in.
"Watts! Order some hair dye! I'm going to look three hundred years younger when I'm done!" she shouted. She received a muffled 'wait what?' followed by a sigh and a 'ad you wish' from the man.
She smiled. This would go swimmingly.
Blake stated the girl in front of her down. The girl glared back in kind.
"Fuck off," Ilia said, sat behind a desk and a monitor with a phone at her side.
"So... field work to desk work huh?" Blake asked with a smirk on her face. Ilia blushed and flipped her off. Sun stepped forward.
"Sup Ilia," he waved. Her demeanor changed in an instant and she smiled lightly at the boy.
"Hey Sun," she greeted in a friendly manner. Blake did a double take.
"Since when did you two become so friendly?" she asked with a small hint of frustration. Ilia sneered at her.
"I've been seeing him for the last two days since you called. He's been at the beach. I go there on my break," Ilia said matter of factly. Blake glowered at him and he put his hands up.
"What? I can't make friends?" he asked. She threw her arms towards the younger girl and glared at him. He just looked confused.
"Is it because she's gay? That's not very progressive of you Blake," he told her off, wagging a finger at her. She hissed ferally and turned back to Ilia. It was the chameleon girls turn to look smug.
"You should give this guy a little more of your time Blake. He's pretty chill," she told. Blake said nothing and walked into the large room that held Sienna Khan and her throne. Sun waved to the girl and she smiled and nodded back as he followed the brooding Blake.
He stared down the long hall and his eyes came upon a beautiful tiger faunus. She had dark skin and stripes that came from behind. Her dark hair flowed off to one side but was otherwise cut short. Her eyes were a light green and her ears were larger than Blake's own faunus ears. She worse a black and white dress white gold accents and had a long red cape draped in her shoulders.
"Hello and welcome to the White Fang, how can I— wait a minute, Belladonna? What the hell are you doing here?" she asked as she turned and saw them. Her voice was strong and sounded naturally commanding.
"Hello Sienna," Blake greeted politely. Sun waved shortly. Sienna rubbed her eyes and looked again. Then she turned to Sun.
"Who the hell is this?" she asked. Blake waved him off and he rolled his eyes.
"That's not important right now. I'm here for a meeting," she said. Sienna groaned.
"You scheduled the meeting? Ilia said I wouldn't like who it was but I didn't realize it'd be you of all people," the tigress grumbled, a hand held to her temple.
"I want answers Sienna," Blake demanded. The woman glared her down and Sun took the chance to step in.
"Um, er, what she meant to say was we wanted to ask you some questions," Sun said with a nervous smile. Sienna turned her ire to him and looked him up and down.
"Seriously, who the hell are you?" she asked again. Blake was about to tell him not to answer but Sun had already waltzed up to the woman, hand outstretched.
"Sun! Sun Wukong!" he said as he stopped in front of her. She eyed his hand and, after a moment, placed her own in his gently. He shook it lightly and stepped back. Finally, as though flipping a switch, the woman laughed and smiled at the boy.
"You sure improved since Adam, Belladonna," Sienna said as she looked past Sun. Blake growled and stomped up next to him.
"We're just friends," she said word by word. Sienna rolled her eyes.
"Your loss. You're a little too young for me Sun but I'm sure a boy as nice as you can find himself a lovely island girl around here," she smirked to the blonde. He smiled back and bowed a little.
"Thank you," he sang. Blake gagged and Sienna snickered.
"Enough talk," Blake groaned, "we want to know why you let Adam attack Beacon."
Sienna gave Blake a look that screamed 'are you serious?' and rolled her eyes.
"I didn't," she stated simply. Blake opened her mouth to argue but stopped immediately.
"You... didn't?" she repeated. The tigress nodded and gestured around her to the empty room.
"Taurus went off on his own, did some astronomically stupid shit, got himself killed, and to top it all off, I found out afterwards that he planned to kill me and usurp the Fang for himself," Sienna drawled on, "why do you think all the guards in this room are gone?"
"They weren't that good?" Sun asked. She scoffed but pointed to the boy.
"Not wrong," she smiled briefly before turning serious again, "no. They were some of Adam's fanatics. Ilia helped me pick out the rats. I had my more trusted men handle the rest."
"So... you had no say in what happened at Beacon?" Blake asked. Sienna had a look of mock pride in her face.
"Oh good job Blake! You understand!" she smiled in a painfully sweet way before dropping it and spitting to the side.
"Of course I had nothing to do with Beacon. What kind of message do we send if we say we're against the huntsman? And students at that?" she asked. Blake winced. That was... a fair point.
"Well what now?" Sun asked. Sienna sighed and waved a hand in a circle.
"No idea. I'm down half my men and have a lot of people out for my head right now. You're not the first to think I was involved at Beacon, not will you be the last," Sienna groaned. Sun grimaced and looked at Blake. The girl was in thought however. That meant Adam had to be working with that woman that Ruby had fought at the top of Beacon tower. Which meant the White Fang wasn't evil. Which meant everything was okay!
There was a loud bang behind them as the doors to the throne room burst open and a dozen faunus hustled in holding firearms and swords. They cleared a path down the middle as the two brothers from earlier walked down the center.
"Oh for the love of— Fennec! Corsac! What the hell do you want?" Sienna spat. They smiled at her and bowed.
"Sienna Khan, we're simply here to clear up any misunderstandings you may have with our vision for the White Fang," Corsac spoke. The tigress rolled her eyes and slapped her face, dragging the hand down slowly.
"What on Remnant are you talking about? I had you all excommunicated from the White Fang for your despicable ways! What misunderstandings could there possibly be?" she asked, Sun and Blake were already readying themselves for a fight. Fennec stepped up and answered the woman's question.
"The misunderstanding that you were needed in power anymore," he said as he raised his dagger and pointed it at her.
"Fire!" he shouted. The ex-Fang members shouted as they unloaded and charged forward. Sienna scrambled backwards and hid behind her throne as Blake and Sun stood before it and parties bullets where they could.
"Hear us Sienna Khan! We are the New Fang! And we are done with your small time raids! We shall see blood fill the streets!" Corsac chanted.
"You assholes couldn't have waited until Monday, could you!? Just gonna waltz right in and ruin my Friday afternoon!" the tigress complained over the gunfire.
"We gotta get out of here!" Sun shouted back. Sienna nodded and tapped a floor tile behind her throne. After a moment it slid back and revealed a deep hole.
"Shall we?" she asked as they looked back. They nodded and she leapt down, Sun following shortly after and Blake after him.
When they landed, Blake looked around. It was a tunnel that had been dug and extended forward. There seemed to be other tunnels that diverged off the main one.
"Follow me. They can easily follow us down but only I know the way out," she commanded as she started moving. They moved quickly and heard the shouting behind them. Sienna would turn here and there, until eventually they came across a torch on a wall.
"Why a torch? We can all see fine in here," Sun asked. Sienna grabbed the torch and pulled it down, the wall sliding away and revealing a small ledge overlooking a lake. They stepped out and Sienna pulled the torch back up, the door sliding shut again.
"Now how do we get down?" Blake asked. Sienna smirked at her and jumped, crossing her arms and legs and going straight as she landed in the lake a hundred feet below. Sun looked at her and laughed as he too jumped.
"I fucking hate this place," Blake mumbled as she shut her eyes tight and leapt, plummeting into the waters below.
As they all splashed into the lake, they swam to the closest shore. Sienna coughed and twisted her hair to wring out the water.
"First time I had to use that," she coughed more, "glad to see that it didn't kill me."
"You mean you never tested it!?" Blake screeched, kicking water off of herself. The woman shrugged.
"Didn't feel the need to. Didn't know that many of my own men wanted me dead," she replied.
"Fair!" Sun shouted from downshore, having washed ashore further away. He jogged over and wrung out his tail.
"What about Ilia?" he asked. Sienna hummed.
"Hm, I don't know. What about Ilia?" she asked, turning to a pile of rocks. The other two looked over and watched as the girls skin changed colors and she stepped forward.
"Those guys almost got me. Good thing none of them can aim," Ilia said as she walked up to them.
"A little warning would have been nice," Blake deadpanned. Ilia scoffed.
"Sorry, I didn't really get much of a chance when they held me at gunpoint and I had to run for my life," the chameleon girl replied.
"Enough. Bicker later, we need to leave the area," Sienna said.
"Where the hell can we hide you on the island though?" Sun asked. The woman put a hand up to her chin and hummed.
"It'd have to be the last place anyone in the Fang would expect," she mused.
"Yeah, but where would that be? It's not like we can ship you to Atlas or something," Sun claimed.
"We don't have to," Ilia stated suddenly, "I have an idea."
"I'm listening," Sienna said. Ilia slowly turned to Blake. Sienna turned as well. Sensing what was going through their heads, Sun looked at her as well. Blake looked confused.
"What?" she asked.
"Ah... Sienna. How... terrible it is to see you again," Kali winced as she gazed upon the four people coming through their backdoor.
"Hello Kali," Sienna sighed. Ghira walked in holding a tray of tea and promptly dropped it and let it shatter on the floor as he looked at the party.
Ilia looked sheepish and was slightly red. Sun didn't seem to notice the atmosphere or just didn't care. Blake looked like she was seething with rage, and Sienna just looked resigned.
"I must ask a favor of you," the tigress said.
Ghira had a feeling he was going to hate this. No, negative thoughts. Think positively. It couldn't be that bad.
"I need to lay low and live here for a spell," she asked.
Ghira looked to Kali who had the same pale, forlorn look on her face as he did.
It was actually somehow worse than he thought it would be.
"And... why is that?" Kali asked, clearly unenthused with the idea.
"Funny story about that..." Sienna laughed as she retold the events of the last six hours.
Ghira denied creating the hole in the wall the next day.
It was hard not to make another one when Sienna was the one bringing it up as she ate breakfast in his living room.
And that'll do for now. It didn't make sense to add any more in this chapter.
Sienna is that one roommate that doesn't pay rent and eats your cereal without asking.
Weiss didn't get abducted by Raven, but worry not, the bandits will make an appearance.
Please leave a review as it helps me see what you guys want more of and if you like what I do, consider following and favoriting!
Have a wonderful time!
Don't bite off more than you can chew!
Omake: Oscar learns who everyone is from Qrow
"Okay so I guess I can explain who everyone is," Qrow grumbled as he woke up and leaned back against the couch. For clarification, he was laying against the couch as he sat on the floor, having only just woken up from passing out the previous day.
"That... would make sense," Oscar said. Qrow mumbled as he closed his eyes and wondered where to start.
"Well, Ruby and Yang are my nieces. Yang will knock your lights out and Ruby will apologize for her," he stated. Oscar nodded.
"The girl with the white hair is Weiss Schnee. Kind of a big deal. Don't get on her bad side," he warned.
"Is she that bad?" Oscar asked.
"No. Just annoying if she doesn't like you," he clarified. Oscar made an 'oh' with his mouth and nodded again.
"The team with the two redheads and the two dudes is team JNPR. They exist. Don't really talk to them. I know they're all fucking or something," he mumbled. Oscar just looked confused.
"Like, all four of them or...?" Qrow waved a hand.
"No, like, in pairs. I just don't know who's fucking who..." he said as he scratched his chin. He coughed and continued.
"The silver haired brat is Mercury. He's an ass," he continued, "and the twins are... I don't know which ones which actually."
"What are their names?" Oscar asked. Qrow looked confused still.
"Uh, yeah," he replied. Oscar sighed and waved for him to continue.
"The woman with the glasses is Glynda. She can and will tear you in half if you get on her nerves," he said. Oscar gulped and nodded. So far all these people sounded... scary? Extreme was probably a better word.
"And the other two?" he asked. Qrow blinked and looked around for a moment.
"Roman and Neo," he said quickly and succinctly.
"And what's up with them?" Oscar asked. Qrow coughed into his fist.
"ROMAN! WHEN DID YOU STEAL THE ENTIRE DESK FROM THE HEADMASTERS OFFICE!?" Glynda shouted from down the hall.
"NEO! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TRYING TO STAB OLD LADIES ON THE STREET!?" Ruby whined from the same direction.
"Ah," Oscar said.
"Ah indeed," Qrow replied.
"Welcome to your new life," Ozpin congratulated sarcastically. Oscar sighed. Maybe they weren't that bad.
"AND YOU TOOK HIS WEAPON!?" Glynda howled. Oscar twitched as Ozpin laughed at him from within.
Brothers help him.
"Believe me when I say; they wouldn't," Ozpin answered.