Gotta rehash some canon here. Pardon me.
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
"No this isn't right." I stopped wheeling Qrow in his chair and listened to him. We'd booked a train to Mistral after we killed the Nuckelavee. We had the evidence to bring back for it's death in the form of the ancient weapons on its back and it fetched a fair price from the locals.
Most of the time proving you had killed a certain Grimm was a pain but in this case we had an exception.
We didn't score enough money to get Qrow back on a new pair of feet but enough to get passage and start the process. Qrow needed a set of Titania legs and his weapon was non-functional entirely. He'd probably need his new legs to be Atlesian and damn near custom. Just like every part of his weapon would have to be custom, too. We could afford a chair for him, though. That was something.
It wasn't so bad since he could go to the bathroom in his bird form, but I could tell he hated it. Who wouldn't?
"The relic should be guarded at all times. This place is dead empty." He took a long sip from his flask in the chair. "Lionheart's office is that way." He pointed down the well furnished corridor. The Mistrali architecture and garnishment, what with the gardens and paintings, made Beacon look drab and dreary by comparison.
Ruby led the way forward following her uncle's directions. I followed more slowly with the chair.
An older looking man with greying hair and a square shaped face hidden under a bushy mane burst the door that Qrow had indicated open. "Qrow!" he let loose. Then he collapsed, a hand raising to his head. "What happened to you?"
"You know… You lose one fight…" The man in question said from the chair. "Enough of me, why weren't you waiting for us at the entrance?"
Lionheart pulled a watch from his robes and checked the time. "Oh right! Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me."
"You're joking." Qrow sighed.
"Where is everybody?" Nora wondered.
"Ah you must be the students Qrow mentioned." Lionheart regained his footing.
"Yes sir, Ruby Rose."
"Jaune Arc."
"Nora Valkyrie."
"Lie Ren."
"A pleasure to meet you all. Leonardo Lionheart at your service." He gave a quick bow. "I'm afraid most of my staff is currently away until classes resume."
"What?" Qrow demanded from the seat. "Leo you can't be serious. Who's guarding the relic?"
"Qrow! The children..."
"Already know. I filled them in. What do you mean your staff is away?"
"You filled them in?"
"So is this not going at all like anyone thought it would?" Nora wondered to Ruby.
Well it wasn't going as we planned; the situation seemed fucked.
This is more or less what I thought would happen.
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
"I have to say, Qrow, that this all seems very reckless. Even for you."
"No, reckless is leaving one of the relics completely unguarded. It's not checking in with Oz for ages."
"There was nothing to check in about before the fall of Beacon but since that day Mistral has been in chaos. Vale wasn't the only kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every kingdom saw that poor girl ripped to pieces, saw monsters crawling over the city, Atlesian Knights attacking citizens, and then nothing. You could feel the dread in the air. With all that negativity you can imagine what it was like when the Grimm came for us. Mistral's controlled territory is the widest reaching in the world you know, and that makes it infinitely hard to protect. We lost so many great huntsmen. Teachers from this very institution. And it's only gotten worse." Lionheart finished.
"What do you mean?" Ruby wondered.
"We may have dealt with the Grimm but the Mistral council is still at odds with representatives from Atlas. First it was the dust embargo. Now it's the closing of borders. I'm not sure what happened to James in Vale but it seems to have only worsened some of his more unfortunate tendencies." He sighed. "On top of everything we still don't know where the spring maiden is."
"All the more reason we need huntsmen and huntresses here."
"Okay! Okay. Things are bad. They're bad." Ruby glared at her uncle. "But we can figure this out. Why is the spring maiden so important?"
"I thought you filled them in." Leonardo jabbed.
"Mostly filled in. Look there's a lot to cover, okay?" Qrow drew his flask. "I quit teaching for a reason." He took a long drink and Lionheart sat down.
"The four maidens are capable of performing feats of magic. And they are the only ones capable of reaching the relics."
"What?" I wondered aloud. Tightening my grip on Qrow's chair. He tried to swivel to look at me before giving up.
"The relics are each locked inside a chamber that can only be opened by a specific maiden. Winter for the gift of Creation, Summer for Destruction, Fall for Choice, and Spring for Knowledge. Spring is the problem."
"What happened to her?" Ren interjected.
"She was determined at first when she inherited her powers. But the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child. She ran. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now."
"I know. At least I have a pretty good idea," Qrow began.
"Are you serious?"
"It's not exactly good news."
"What are you talking about, after all these years."
"I did some digging around. Looks like after spring ran away she was picked up by the Khans, specifically the Branwens."
"Raven." Leo murmured.
"Yang's Mom?" I tried to confirm.
"That's right."
Qrow set his scroll on the desk and pulled up a map. That's about where they've set up their main camp. It's where they fall back to after raids and scouting missions. Raven has managed to gather a lot of followers since she returned to the tribe. I'm sure when the spring maiden showed up they only made things easier."
"Well, Qrow, I've got to hand it to you. With these coordinates we can mount a retrieval force and head out in a few weeks."
"A few weeks?"
"That's right."
"Leo, maybe you didn't hear me. My sister has the spring maiden and I know where she is. We need to go as soon as possible."
"And perhaps you didn't hear me. This kingdom is in shambles. As soon as possible does not mean tomorrow. It means as soon as I can convince the rest of the council that Khatun Branwen is a greater threat than the Grimm. Unfortunately bandit tribes aren't at the top of their list of priorities. Especially with the threat of war just on the horizon."
"What about unified bandit nations. She's going by Khagan, now." I interjected.
"Khagan Branwen…" Lionheart murmured before he was interrupted.
"Then damn the council we'll do it ourselves. You and I are trained huntsmen and these kids aren't exactly pushovers."
"Qrow…" Leo looked down at Qrows absent legs, then quickly back up to his face.
Qrow struggled. "You're right. I… I forgot." Ouch. "We're working on it. We're doing the best we can."
"I'm sure you are. I'm doing the same." Leo's voice was much more gentle. "Myself and these kids cannot defeat your sister, a bandit tribe, and a maiden. You should focus on healing, much like the kingdom."
"What about Cinder, she came from Haven. Do you have anything on her?" I demanded.
"We pulled her, Mercury Black's and Emerald Sustrai's files after Blackout-Day. Nothing but lies and forgeries."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"Well I can't say this has been a warm reunion Leo."
"I'm sorry. I know you've all traveled a long way. But I will do everything I can to help."
"Sure. We'll stay in the city for the time being. Stay in touch. Let's go kids."
"It was nice meeting you." Ruby parted with as we filtered out of the room.
"Likewise."
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
"What do you mean you don't have any range."
"I have eight-ish feet of range with this thing." I gestured to the weapon on my back as I rolled Qrow up to the bar.
"I mean a gun, kid."
"I don't like guns."
"What do you do when the other guy has a gun?"
"I have a bigass shield."
"Look I can show you some of what I know. It should help. What do you say?"
Ruby had convinced him to mentor me, then. That was fine. I needed the teaching and Qrow's weapon was a bit like mine. His experience also eclipsed mine by shades. "I don't have much choice."
"That's the spirit. Speaking of spirits, two whiskeys on the rocks." He ordered.
"Should you be drinking that much?" he did loose a bit of weight recently.
"I'm not. You're drinking with me."
"I'm the designated driver."
"You're my designated roller at best."
"I don't have much in this either, do I?" The bartender, overhearing us, carded me. I handed him my ID while Qrow took the drinks. I suppose I was a match for the guy in the picture so the barkeep handed it back with just a single nod. "So, you mentioned some plan to get some legs?"
I figured he'd appreciate some brutal candor. It seemed his style.
"I did. It's sort of something that Ruby doesn't need to know the details on."
"Oh I don't like that."
"Relax. A quick trip to some of the lower levels and a deal with an old friend. And after that I should be walking again."
"Oh I really don't like that." I sighed. "I'm not sure I can handle any more meetings with your friends, let alone secret dealings with what are probably criminals."
"Cute." He swirled his glass for a moment and I listened to the ice clink against the glass. "Well I don't like not having legs or a weapon. This should solve at least one of those. Besides, my understanding was that you're a bit of a criminal yourself."
"It was self defense." Sorta. He had a weapon and was running at me. That counted.
"I meant how you snuck into Beacon. Ruby mentioned it. But what were you talking about?"
"I uh, I killed a guy. With my semblance. Sort of ripped him in half."
"Stone cold killer. Who would have thought?"
"I don't know if I'd say that." I took a long drink on an empty stomach and my vision blurred fairly fast afterwards.
Qrow paused. "Did you cry?"
"Uh, no?"
"I cried the first time I killed someone. That makes you stone cold."
"Look," I searched my brain. "What sort of favors are we talking about?"
"Probably running drugs. I've done it before for her for some information."
"What kind of drugs?"
"Does it matter?"
"It will when Ruby finds out. So is it just greens or something harder, like ether?"
"I don't know yet, kid."
"Well, Ruby ran off with the last of our Lien to repair Harbinger." I took another drink and grimaced. I ignored his low chuckle at me. "So that's one of those problems down."
"Yeah. Just need to walk again and I'll be right as rain. So, we just need to get a favor from somebody on the lower levels. Now the reason I picked you is because I figured you were up to do something criminal, am I wrong? You're a murderer."
I groaned and slammed the last of my whisky. I hadn't realized I'd gone through it so fast.
"Excuse me?" A younger looking dude in farm hand attire approached our table. We looked at him, then at each other.
"Aren't you a little young to be in here, pipsqueak." Qrow wondered.
To be fair, the dude looked younger than me and was about five two. A solid maybe on that five two. He was well under one hundred eighty centimeters but he didn't have a drink in his hand so it was probably fine. Probably. I wasn't sure about the rules of a bar like this. Or any bar really.
"Shut up I'm getting there." He said to the air next to him.
Okay. Where was the wire?
Qrow didn't seem put off by this. Instead he wheeled himself around to fully face the guy.
Sure. Why not?
"I'm supposed to tell you, I'd like my cane back."
What the fresh fuck?
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq