So a bit of an Author's Note, mostly because the settings on FF don't allow more than two crossover categories and I feel like this story will take a bit of explaining. I know, I know 'yawn, blech' but bear with me. For those of you familiar with my 'Nevermore Sweetling' universe feel free to skip this AN, the only thing you need to be aware of is that there are minor spoilers for the main story if you've not read chapter 54.

For those of you unfamiliar with my 'Nevermore Sweetling' universe, it's a mix of RWBY, Cthulu Mythos, and Secret World where Qrow Branwen is the Guardian of Remnant, chosen to stand against vile eldritch beings who want to destroy/corrupt the world. Here are some things for context:

In this universe Qrow wields fire through a pact he made with the Elemental Lord of Fire: Sarongar. Most monsters are not really hurt by anything other than magical means of some kind, and so this is primarily how Qrow gets shit done.

There exists two sources of magical energy: mana, which is used by monsters and cultists, and anima which is from Gaia. Using anima can be difficult unless you're chosen to do so and Qrow usually has to cheat in some way to use it.

The gods of Remnant have been imprisoned by the eldritch beings, and Grimm themselves have almost entirely dissappeared. Semblances have either withered away or have changed to become more magic-like in nature.

All of that should be enough so that you're at least not scratching your head every minute or so trying to figure out what's going on; and hopefully you enjoy this little tale.

"So," Ruby leaned back against a tree as we sat across each other over the campfire, "Winter and Kali told me all about this whole… 'Guardian' thing…"

"And?" I asked.

She shook her head, "Come on, it wasn't really that surprising to me… I always thought you were a superhero. It wasn't much of a leap." She grimaced, "Now the whole monsters thing? That was a bit harder, but then again I'd seen stuff that couldn't be explained any other way… Mr. Freezy, the Whipper Whills, the Snathi…"

I winced, "Oh… I guess that kind of ruined them for you?"

"Realizing that you were surrounded for years by a bunch of squirrels that would be eating people if your uncle hadn't made a deal with them does cast a different light on childhood memories." She agreed.

"Welcome to my life." I told her.

"So…" She leaned forward, "What's the craziest thing you've ever experienced?"

I lifted an eyebrow, "Damn, where to even begin…."

I began counting off on my fingers, "Well, recently I survived a killer carnival… then there was the time I fought a crew of orc pirates that flew around in a dinky wooden sailing ship… I once survived a drinking contest at a dwarven Thing…"

"A dwarven what?" Ruby asked.

"A Thing… it's kind of a massive party that doubles as an election for their clan leaders."

"Did you win the contest?"

I winced, "Oh Maidens no… not even close… like I said, I considered just surviving it an achievement."

She laughed at that, "What else?"

I scratched my chin, "Well, there was the time that I teamed up with a monster hunter from another world."

Ruby's eyes lit up, "Okay, that sounds way too cool, tell me that story." She demanded.

I smiled slightly, "Heh, figured that's where this was going… alright."

It started as most of my stories about being the Guardian of Remnant start: some whacko cultists were doing whacko things.

These particular nutjobs at the time were in the process of opening a portal; which apparently is one of the classics for a cult.

Just as classic was that I got the the ritual chamber just before the portal had fully formed. I swear it's not like I'm procrastinating or anything. I might be a bit of a drunk asshole, but I'm the Guardian of Remnant damnit, I take pride in my work.

Anyway, there I was, slicing into monsters and blasting cultists when something happened that I've only seen a couple of times before.

The great green fireball floating in the middle of the room that was the nascent portal exploded into a ring and a green material formed a mirror-like surface in the center.

"Oh crap." I muttered, as I ran the last cultist through the chest with Harbinger; I yanked out the blade and he slumped to the floor.

That, boys and girls, is the sign of a fully functioning, and stabilized portal... which meant two things. The first was that just about anything could come through it at any moment. I had tried questioning one of the cultists about just what they were trying to summon, but he had been singularly unhelpful.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I couldn't get him to talk, it's that he just wouldn't shut up about 'lords and ladies of the night', 'our lords and masters, for whom even being cattle is an honor'.

Trust me, that rules out like… maybe a handful of things. Of course, there's every chance that they had screwed up the portal and even they didn't know what could come through. That was a fun thought… and the head cultist's Old Tongue pronunciation had been kind of sketchy.

The second thing that meant was that shutting this thing down was no longer a case of jogging the metaphorical eldritch elbow really hard by killing the cultists conducting the ritual. It was gonna have to be a little more involved now.

I cast my gaze around the room, there had to be a focus of some kind that they had used to conduct the ritual. Cultists may be batshit crazy and absolutely fanatical, but even they understood the principle of work smarter, not harder. So most of the time they would have runes, or an altar, or a statue…

My gaze locked onto an orb that was currently floating a little off the ground. It glowed with a light that was the same green color as the portal, casting eerie shadows that seemed to shift and dance on the stone floor.

"Bingo." I murmured as I swapped Harbinger to its shotgun form and took aim.

I was about to pull the trigger when the cultist I had just stabbed leapt up off the ground and wrestled the barrel off target.

"Son of a-" I began, but was cut off as the cultist landed a fist right into my jaw.

"You cannot stop it!" He bellowed, spittle flying from his lips, his eyes crazed. "Our true masters come and they shall-"

I leveled Harbinger and blew off his head, sending him back to the ground in a heap, "Stay in their own damn plane of existence if they know what's good for them." I replied. I shifted Harbinger back to the orb, but then something happened that I swear has never happened to me before.

Something came out of the portal.

I say "something" because I only saw a blur leap out and then something decked me so hard that I saw stars.

When my vision cleared, I was staring up at the ceiling, the stone floor cool on my back.

"Shit, shit shit." I scrambled to my feet and saw that the orb was missing, and the portal was shifting and writhing, "Shit."

The orb was gone, presumably taken by whatever that thing had been, that meant that the portal was collapsing.

I frowned, had whatever come through the portal not gotten the memo? Why had it closed the portal itself?

I supposed that I shouldn't have been too surprised, after all, most things that got cultists weren't exactly the sharing type… maybe it had wanted Remnant all to itself?

Still though, it had apparently decided to book it, it hadn't even made sure to finish me off; my Aura apparently keeping me safe from most of the blow.

Which meant that there was a possibility it had been running from something.

I looked back at the dying portal and shrugged; I would have to chase whatever that thing was down and take care of both it and the orb. But for now, I would make sure that nothing else was going to take the opportunity to slip through.

I cracked my neck and readied Harbinger as I watched the portal get smaller and smaller.

Then something else came through.

It dove out headfirst, landing in a heap on the floor.

It was humanoid, dressed in full armor that was a mixture of leather and mail; on its back were two sheathed swords. Its hair was pure white and it groaned as it got to its feet.

I frowned as I watched it get up, it certainly wasn't nearly as fast as whatever it was that had come through first.

It also clearly wasn't fully human, its eyes were like a cat's, yellow with pupils that were black slits, with the left one having a nasty looking scar.

The portal died behind it, collapsing into nothing with a wumpf.

It turned to regard the empty space behind it and then gave a sigh, "Damnit." It groused, "I hate portals."

Alright, so I could understand it, and as remarks go, that isn't exactly the kind of thing you expect to hear from something that had just crossed time and space to invade your world.

I was already against something that had knocked me flat on my ass without me being able to even see it; and there was still the theory that maybe that thing had been running from something. While first impressions definitely left me doubtful that this had been what it was running from, if I've learned anything in my line of business, it's to never judge by appearances.

So I tried something that I don't try very often: diplomacy.

"You've got about five seconds before I blast your head off your shoulders." I told it, levelling Harbinger at it, "So start talking."

It lifted its hands up in a placating gesture, "Whoah, slow down." His alien eyes darted around the room, "Where's the Bruxa?"

"The what-now?"

"The Bruxa." He said slowly and deliberately, "Vampire, fast, can turn invisible."

Turn invisible? Despite myself, I felt the back of my neck itch, and it took everything I had to keep my eyes on the stranger.

"I think it ran off." I told him, "Took the orb that the cultists used to make the portal."

"Cultists?" The stranger asked me.

I gestured to the asshole at my feet, "Cultists, you know… worship eldritch beings, make portals so that Guardians of Remnant have to come kick their ass instead of enjoying whiskey in a bar with waitresses in short skirts.'

"Remnant?" The stranger asked, "Where's that?"

"Remnant as in the planet, the world that you just came into through that portal."

The stranger let out another sigh, "Great, so I'm in another world."

"You're the one who dived in headfirst." I told him.

"I was chasing after the Bruxa." The stranger explained.

"That's it?" I asked him, "No 'conquering the world, spreading eternal night,' and 'destroying all mortals'?"

The stranger lifted an eyebrow at me, "Can't say that I've ever really had that on my agenda." He replied dryly, "All I want to do is kill the Bruxa and then get back to my own world."

I ground my teeth and did the mental math, I could fight whatever this thing was, and then go in completely blind against something that had knocked me senseless in the first half-second I had met it. Or I could trust this thing and at least get information on this Bruxa thing.

There was also something else, a feeling I had in my gut that the stranger was telling the truth.

So I lowered Harbinger, "Why don't we go get a drink?" I asked him.

He lowered his hands to his sides, "Sounds good to me."

"My name's Qrow, Qrow Branwen." I nodded to him, "You?"

"Geralt." He replied, "Geralt of Rivia, I'm a witcher."