Hi everyone !

Thanks a lot for your reviews for the last chapter, and sorry for making you cry n_n'

I know you're all sad about Raven's death, I was sad when I wrote it too, but it has always supposed to be the real beginning of Yang story, this is what marks the transition from one part to another in fact, part I tells Yang's childhood in the tribe and with her mother, and part II tells what happens to her after, between that and her entry into Beacon.

On this subject, I basically had the plan to put two versions of chapter 8, which would lead to two different versions of the story from there, except that I'm much more inspired for one than for the other so for now I continue the one I started and I will see if I have enough inspiration and motivation for the second.

Well, I will not hold you any longer, I will let you enjoy this chapter, which I had a lot of trouble writing but of which in the end I'm proud.


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The sun had just risen, the birds were singing. A few warm rays made their way through the curtains of the room, and came to tickle the cheeks of the little girl who was sleeping in her bed. She turned muttering, not wanting to be woken up now, but finally woke up because the light prevented her from going back to sleep. As she rubbed her eyes with a yawn, a small detail came back to her mind.

-It's my birthday!

Ruby stood up, flipping her blanket and ran to her parents' room. She opened the door in a loud crash and pulled the heavy duvet down.

-Mom! Dad! It's my birthday! Huh…?

The bed was empty. However none of them was supposed to work today, they took their day specially to spend it with her. Oh! Maybe they were waiting for her downstairs with a big surprise breakfast! Without wasting time, the little girl, now eight, rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs. She was a year older, and there were only four years left before she could enter Signal Academy! She was so excited! She could finally learn to fight the Grimm, just like her mom! She could also make her own weapon! And maybe everyone would finally stop treating her like a baby! She could go to school by herself, she was already a big girl! Oh, she couldn't wait another four years!

When she arrived in the living room, she saw her parents sitting on the sofa, and ran to them, full of energy and with a huge smile on her face.

-It's my birthday!

There was a heavy silence in the room, and only then Ruby noticed that there was a third person, but as the chair was turned back to her, she could only see his short gray hair. Suddenly, her father got up and left the house, slamming the door without even looking at her. The little girl then gave a questioning look to her mother, who got up and came to squat in front of her. Wait, she was crying? Why was she crying? She was an adult, adults never cried.

-Mom, what's happening?

-Nothing sweetheart, it's just...

Summer was silent, not finding her words, and the gray haired man stood up. He looked at Ruby for a few seconds with a strange look, then stepped forward and leaned towards her, smiling kindly.

-Everything is okay young girl, your parents just received very bad news.

-Bad news? Like what?

-Like-…

-Ozpin, she is too young to hear that!

-Hear what? What's going on mom?

Summer pursed her lips, then looked up, forcing a smile.

-Nothing serious, sweetheart, just… adults problems, don't worry. How about we make you a big birthday breakfast now?

-Okay.

Ruby was pretty sure things were more serious than she was told, but she didn't ask more questions, her mother didn't seem to want to talk about it now. And apparently, even a year older, she was still too young to know about adults things.


The sun had just risen, the birds were singing. A few warm rays made their way through the curtains of the room, and came to tickle the cheeks of the little girl who was sleeping in her bed. She turned muttering, not wanting to be woken up now, but finally woke up because the light prevented her from going back to sleep. As she rubbed her eyes with a yawn, a small detail came back to her mind.

Slowly, her left hand rested on her right shoulder, then descended along her arm, until it touched bandages, then void.

-AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

The shrill cry woke Qrow with a start, so that he fell from his chair, before rushing to the bed and hugging the little girl to try to calm her down. Of course, she struggled with all her might, but hurt and exhausted as she was, she couldn't do a lot but scream.

-Let go of me! What's happening?! Where're we?! Where's my mother?!

Qrow did not respond and hugged her tighter until she stopped fighting. He also said nothing when she buried her head in his chest to cry, or when she clung so tightly to his clothes that she almost tore them apart. He simply hugged her, stroking her back.

When she finally stopped crying, almost two hours had passed. She pulled away slowly and Qrow let her go, without having said a word yet.

-Where is my mother…?

He had feared that. Still silent, Qrow stood up and motioned for the little girl to follow her. He walked to the sofa at the other end of the room, on which a white sheet covered something that was shaped like a body.

Qrow spent the night curled up against the wall, without being able to sleep, then had been shaken by a phone call from Leo, who offered his condolences and assured him that he would lend him a way to take his sister's body to the location of her tribe. Everyone was united in the Ozpin's circle. After the call, Qrow finally noticed that he had a dead body in the middle of the room, and that, even worse, the little girl could wake up and see it any time. Letting her find the horrible scene exactly like she left it might not do her much good, but taking her mother's body away from her without her being able to say goodbye either.

So he swallowed his sorrow and regret, and took care of Raven.

Her clothes were lost because of the blood, but he knew she wouldn't care. He still removed the piece of red cloth he had torn from the bottom of his own cape to try to stop the bleeding, in vain. He then put off her Dust blades scabbard, which she still had on her hip, and replaced her katana inside. Not knowing what to do with the weapon, he left it against the wall until he finished what he had to do. Remembering that she had an object in each hand when she arrived, one of them being her sword, he looked around where the second had gone. Then his gaze fell on the doll which had almost rolled up under the sofa. A myriad of memories came back to him, and he couldn't help but falling on his knees to cry again.

He remembered this doll. It was old and damaged, it had lost its curls, and its clothes had changed, but how could he ever forget Raven's face when he put the toy in her hands, the tears of joy that flowed of her eyes. After a few weeks, he didn't see it anymore, he thought that she had moved on, that now that she could have everything she wanted during raids, she no longer cared about a toy for kids, all in frills and lace.

He carefully picked up the doll. Its face was marked with a large oblique crack, and another smaller one that ran from its chin to the side of its nose. It crumbled a little on the lips, it must have been recent, surely from its fall the day before. Despite this, its hair was perfectly untangled, tied with a thin white ribbon in a loose ponytail that rested on its shoulder. And her brand new red dress had been put on with care, each knot and each lace correctly positioned, as well as its little hat. There was not the slightest stain, not the slightest trace of neglect. Raven had kept this doll, she had always taken good care of it, and she even considered it precious enough in her eyes to take it with her in her death. Behind the cold mask, the strong and merciless warrior facade that she showed to all, she had always cherished the toy that her little brother once offered her, at a time when they were closer than they had never been, even though he hated her for a decade now. And he only learned about it after her death.

Her daughter, her doll… How many more things was he going to discover that were going to drive nails into his heart?

Qrow wiped his eyes for the umpteenth time and put the doll on the bedside table, before continuing what he was doing, moving like a zombi. Between lack of sleep and emotional fatigue, hard to do better, especially since the hardest was yet to come.

Hands trembling, he put an arm under Raven's shoulders, and another under her knees. Her body was heavy and cold, and her still smiling face continued to taunt him, he could almost hear her say "I didn't need you to be happy". And she would be right, he hadn't been there for her even once in the past ten years, he had turned his back on her, he had been angry at her, and she still died with a smile, holding his hand.

He laid her gently on the sofa, even bothering to put a pillow under her head, despite the uselessness of the gesture. He then took her hands to put them on her belly, and another detail reached him. She was still wearing her wedding ring. He immediately looked away, not even wanting to imagine what it could mean to her. He was already suffering enough like that.

As he was about to lay the sheet, his limbs stopped obeying him. There he was, a white sheet in his hands, standing in front of the sofa on which she was resting. It looked like she was sleeping peacefully, dreaming of happy memories, like if she didn't suffer from a slow and painful death, like if she wasn't worried about what would happen to her daughter with him, like if she hadn't hammered the nails she had planted in his heart since the second she had passed through that portal a few hours ago.

He didn't want to say goodbye to her, he couldn't, it was too much to take in at once, it was above his strength, he would have been unable to even let go of her hand if he didn't have had to take care of the girl. This little girl who just lost her mother, who had only him, whom he promised to protect.

He couldn't let her down. So he closed his eyes, and placed the snow-white sheet over Raven's lifeless body.

The little girl lifted the sheet, and Qrow looked away. If he was already devastated by the sudden death of his sister, he didn't even want to imagine what a ten-year-old child could feel at the death of her mother. He heard her fall to her knees and start sobbing again. He wanted to help her, but what could he do? Stay close to her? Give her some space? He didn't even know her name… But he had to do something, Raven had chosen him to take care of her daughter, him over Tai and Summer, him who was one of the most faithful supporters of Ozpin, him who had turned his back on her twice already, him who had not known how to be the brother she needed.

He had to act, but he had no idea what to do, he couldn't handle it alone. But who could he ask for help? He had already more or less decided not to tell Oz before talking to the kid about it. Leo was a good colleague, sure, but they weren't close enough for Qrow to tell him a secret that Raven had kept until her death. And he couldn't decently announce it to Tai and Summer by phone, he wasn't even sure if he could face them after that.

As he thought about his options, a detail got him out of his mind. The little girl was still on her knees in front of the sofa, her fist clenched on her thigh, trembling with all her being, but she didn't make the slightest noise, not the slightest sob.

-Hey kiddo, you're okay?

No answer. Gently, he approached and put a hand on her shoulder.

-Hey?

-Let go of me.

-Wha-…

-I SAID LET GO!

The girl turned suddenly, waving her arm, or at least what was left of it, to dislodge his hand, and Qrow took a step back, not so much from the fury in his niece's voice, but rather because of her eyes. Not only had they gone from a sad purple to a red burning with rage, but in addition, red flames escaped on the sides, and he had unfortunately seen that enough times during his missions for Ozpin to know what it meant.

-Oh shit…

Before his stunned look, the little girl frowned, then her eyes widened and she looked at her remaining hand. After a few seconds, a small flame lit in the air a few inches from her palm, confirming Qrow's suspicions. Both remained motionless for almost a full minute, gazing as hypnotized at the fluid and random movements of the small magic fire. The little girl suddenly closed her fist and pressed it aginst her chest, taking deep breaths. She refrained from crying, something that Qrow had been completely unable to do for the past few hours. With a sigh, he stepped back to the bed and sat there, sticking his head in his hands.

As if the problems were not numerous enough, the girl had to be a Maiden, obviously… The only Maiden whose position was unknown was the Spring Maiden, and if she had been in Raven's tribe for all this time, they could have been looking for her for a long time... It was surely why Salem attacked them, she found it out before them. And considering the reaction of the kid, she must have obtained the powers during the attack, after the death of the previous one. She was the chief's daughter, it would not be surprising if she was in her last thoughts.

This little girl making it to him alive was a fucking miracle...

And now he had a ten year old kid, with one arm missing, raised in a tribe of bandits, who just lost her mother, and who possessed the Spring Maiden powers. And he couldn't tell anyone about it yet, not even the kid's own father. Will that be all or he should expect for more? At this level, he almost expected Salem to knock on his door to sell calendars...

Speaking of Salem, the girl had said her name several times after passing the portal, and she clearly knew what powers she had inherited. So she knew everything. It was always that less to explain.

After several more minutes of heavy silence, the little girl got up and put the sheet over Raven's face, with much less hesitation than he had, and went to take the doll placed by the bed, then held it against her as she curled up against the wall, exactly where he had spent the night.

Qrow watched her sadly. He wanted to do something, at least say something, but the words were stuck in his throat. What exactly was he supposed to tell her? That he was sorry for her mother's death? That he would have to tell Ozpin that she was the Spring Maiden? That she had a father who didn't even know she existed? Did she even know who her father was? Had she heard about team STRQ? If Raven told her about Salem, she must have told her about Tai. And she must have heard of "Qrow Branwen" in the tribe, not in good, but still.

Finally, he decided there was nothing good to say at the moment, so he fell silent. It was the end of the morning, none of them had eaten today, and even if he had absolutely no appetite and knew that she didn't either, it was the only option he had in mind at that moment. Well, the only option other than "stay planted there until the end of the day". So he got up and turned to the little girl, who hadn't moved an iota.

-I... I'm going to get us some food …

Of course, she ignored him, but he knew she heard. Since the microwave didn't seem to be working yesterday, Qrow went out to pick up something from the local grocery store. The fresh outside air was smacking his face, but he didn't care. On the way back, he passed a bar. The girl needed to eat, but he felt he would go for a walk later in the evening, just to get his mind off things. He wasn't the type to drink, but who knows?

When he returned, she still hadn't moved, and Qrow thought for a moment that she was asleep. Then she looked up and gave him the darkest look he had ever seen. Great start.

He was going to offer her a sandwich, even if he knew he would be ignored, but his Scroll rang before he could. The girl did not take her eyes off him as he took it out of his pocket, so that he hesitated to answer. But it was Leo at the other end, surely about the means of transport. Surely she wouldn't say no to have her mother buried near their last camp.

So without looking away from her purple eyes that were screaming "traitor", Qrow picked up.

-Hello? ... No no, I'm ... not okay but better than this morning anyway. ... Yeah, that's fine with me. … Tomorrow morning, okay. … Yeah, and thanks again…

Qrow hung up. The little girl had not stopped glaring at him during the whole conversation. It was hard to believe he was intimidated by a ten year old child, but he was. He felt like she was blaming him for what happened to Raven, for not saving her, for abandoning her. She was not wrong. But now that they were stuck together for a while, he should at least explain the situation to her. So he took a deep breath, and forced himself to speak, stuttering more than ever before.

-I ... I managed to get Rav-… my sister… Well, get her body be brought back to your camp… You're okay with that?

She didn't answer, but Qrow didn't expect her to, and as long as she didn't disagree, it was fine with him, because he was pretty sure that when she would, she would let him know, and not necessarily the calml way.

A heavy silence returned to the room. It was unbearable. So Qrow continued talking about the first thing that came to his mind.

-And ... Has she ever told you about your father? He's a good friend of mine, you know? I can present him to you if you want. I'm sure he will love you.

The converse, however, was more than doubtful. The little girl still didn't answer, but her brow furrowed as she looked away in disgust. So she also hated Tai. Perfect. Really perfect!

Silence returned. No, no silence, it was too unbearable. Find something. Now.

-I-I got us food!

Qrow turned and took out two triangular sandwiches from a plastic bag. The little girl insisted on not answering, but he didn't care and put the food next to her on a plate, before going to eat his own part in the kitchen to give her some space. He was absolutely not hungry, and had to force himself to swallow every bite. He sometimes felt tears rising as he chewed, but he did his best to think about something other than Raven's body which lay in the other room. A body he had had in his arms just a few hours ago. He still remembered the moment when he felt her hand relax, the precise moment when life left her body.

Qrow restrained himself just in time from vomiting the quarter sandwich he just forced himself to eat. He couldn't get those images out of his head, he could put them in the background when he was doing something else, but as soon as he stopped, as soon as silence returned… The sandwich in his hands seemed to suddenly be the most disgusting thing in the world, and he threw it without regret in the trash. And silence returned. Always this silence. This silence that would drive him crazy!

-AAAARG!

His fist crashed so hard on the table that it cracked. His cry and the sound of wood filled the room for a few moments, before silence returned. It was too much. Qrow stood up and left the apartment, furious, slamming the door behind him. The girl could manage for now, he needed a drink.


Yang watched the man walk out again. Qrow Branwen. She didn't know what to think of him. Until then, she had never been interested in his existence, he may have been her mother's brother, but it was the only thing that linked them. He was a traitor of the tribe, he had abandoned them to become a Huntsman, he worked for Ozpin, he was a pawn blinded by beautiful words. And above all, he made her cry. He made Raven cry. And just for that, Yang wanted to hate him. But… When she died, he too cried, he tried to save her, he took care of her body while waiting to bury her, and he even made sure to do it where she'd want it. So Yang couldn't only hate him.

But it was stronger than her. Late regrets were not going to erase all the tears that Raven had shed because of him, because of them .

Yang's eyes fell on the figure under the white sheet.

- "The weak die, the strong live. "

Yang's fist tightened on her doll. That was the biggest lie she had ever heard. If that were true, her mother would still be alive, and she would not die until age began to hinder her abilities. Raven Branwen was strong, stronger than everyone, stronger than the Huntsmen, stronger than a madwoman with pink hair, she was the leader of the tribe, she was the Spring Maiden, she was her mother , she was strong, and she promised Yang that she would always be by her side!

-THEN WHY ARE YOU DEAD?!

In an excess of rage, Yang suddenly stood up and carried the doll over her head with the firm intention of smashing it on the ground. What was Raven thinking?! That an old falling apart toy would be enough to replace her?! Did she really think that was all she meant for her daughter?! If it was just to bring her that, she could have just stayed at the camp to die! Yang didn't care about this doll and its frilly dress! She didn't want it! She just wanted her mother…

There was a slight noise in the room when Yang fell to her knees.

She couldn't destroy something her mother cared about so much. They never talked about it, but Yang wasn't stupid, she had understood that this doll was important to Raven, if only by seeing how old and yet well maintained it was, with its clothes mended and its hair perfectly disentangled. She couldn't destroy it. It was all she let, the only thing she left her…

The sun was setting. How long had she stayed like that, kneeling on the floor with her doll? With a great effort, Yang managed to hoist herself up on the bed where she had slept the day before. Qrow wouldn't say anything, he was a former member of the tribe, he knew how it worked, "first come, first served". Sleep came surprisingly quickly. Yet she was not tired, she had done nothing all day except crying. But as her eyes closed, all the tears she had refused to shed in front of someone else started to flow. Only her doll saw her cry that night.


-Hey… kiddo?

Yang slowly turned her head towards her uncle, with a look indicating that he shouldn't have bothered her for nothing. She was not in the mood.

-I… Mmmh… We'll land in a few minutes.

And he left without waiting for an answer, having understood that she would never give him one. She hadn't spoken to him even once, she still wasn't sure whether she hated him or not, and she didn't want to talk anyway. In fact, she didn't want to do anything. She glanced out the window of the mini airship. It might be the first time she took one, but it was nothing compared to the sensation of flying, and she had already been much higher than that. Her eyes fell on what was left of her arm. Could she still fly in this state? If she transformed, would she also have only one wing? Did she really lose everything?

The airship descended and landed in a small clearing, a few minutes' walk from their last camp. As they walked through the woods, Qrow carrying Raven's body in his arms, Yang felt her heart speed up. She still remembered the cries of pain of the members of her tribe as they were massacred by the countless number of Grimm, the light and the hellish heat of the flames which devoured the tents and all that was inside, the smell of blood that seemed so different from what she smelled during raids, the red that covered the ground on which she had taken her first steps, the pillars she liked to climb crushing the tents and the people who slept peacefully inside without suspecting the death that awaited them, and their blood spilling, red, red everywhere, the ground, the tents, the flames, the dress of Salem's minion, her own blood flowing from her torn arm, the clothes of her mother where she had been injured to protect her, and her eyes when she was ready to sacrifice her life to save her.

-I am proud of you.

Yang suddenly opened her eyes. Qrow's face was right in front of her, and his eyes sparkled with concern as he held her shoulders tightly. She looked around and saw that they were still in the forest, and that she was on her knees on the floor, hugging her doll against her, breathing heavily.

-Calm down kiddo, it's okay. It's over now.

Yang forced herself to take a few deep breaths before regaining her composure. She shouldn't panic like that, especially in front of someone she barely knew. She had to stay strong, never show her weaknesses to others. Just like Raven.

She got up and walked on as if nothing just happened. She knew Qrow was looking at her, she could feel his gaze behind her, but she ignored him the best she could. Inwardly, she wanted to scream, cry, and run away from here. So she wiped her eyes, and kept her face as neutral as possible, walking briskly, back straight, head held high. She was no longer a child, she was a warrior, the heiress of the tribe, the daughter of Raven Branwen, and now the Spring Maiden. She survived, she must be proud of it, show that she was strong.

-The tribe did not deserve to die.

Yang closed her eyes to remove these absurd thoughts from her head. The weak die, the strong live. That was what she learned. The weak die, the strong live. The weak die, the strong live!

Suddenly her foot hit something.


Qrow stopped a few yards from his niece, she needed some space right now. And he had to admit that what he had in front of him also made him feel sick. He may have left without regrets, treated them as thieves and killers, and blamed a lot Raven to come back there, but he had spent a large part of his life here, with these people. Many should have left and others replaced them, yet he didn't feel like if he knew absolutely no one. In fact, it was almost as if he was just coming back home, as if he was coming back to his old parents after leaving home a long time ago. He just didn't want to come across such a scene when he got there.

The majority of the logs and tents had burned, everything had been trampled on by heavy gauge Grimm, and charred corpses covered the ground. Villages destroyed by the Grimm were deserted and devastated, but the buildings, even if well damaged, were still standing, recalling that there were once people who lived there. Here, everything was made of wood and fabric, only the tools and some of the tent pillars were made of metal, and the fire had destroyed almost everything.

The little girl stepped over the corpse at her feet and began to move forward, looking straight ahead, like if walking among the bodies of people she knew made her neither hot nor cold. But Qrow wasn't blind, he could see her fist clenching so hard that only her Aura prevented her from piercing her palm with her nails, he saw her shoulders lift regularly due to her deep breaths, and he saw her steps slow down slightly each time she unfortunately looked in the direction of a corpse, before turning her head sharply and accelerating to try to ignore it.

Qrow dared to look around as he stepped forward, and his heart sank. He didn't recognize a single face, and not just because they were mostly half charred. He didn't know them, none of them were familiar to him, he might have been here at home one day, but that was no longer the case, he left and the tribe continued its life without him, like Raven. He no longer knew the tribe in which he had grown up, just as he no longer knew the sister whom he had lived with. He turned his back on everyone he knew to follow Ozpin in his fight against Salem alongside Tai and Summer, only people he had only known for a little over a year at the time.

He was starting to understand why Raven blamed him so much…

As they reached the site of the main tent, the girl stopped dead. Like the rest, the fabric covering the tent had turned into ashes, and the wooden platform on which everything had been assembled had collapsed, half burned. It looked like a fireball had crashed on it. The little girl had always lived in there, she might even be born there. It must be horrible for her to see her only home reduced to ashes with everything she knew. Qrow was an adult and he only lost his sister. He didn't even want to imagine what a ten year old child who had just lost everything, seen her family being massacred, seen her mother sacrificing to save her, and who returned to the desolate place barely two days later, only to bury her mother, could feel.

Qrow quickly looked around, and saw a large rock on his left, on the other side of where the ramparts were supposed to stand.

-Hey, kiddo?

She jumped before turning. Her eyes were shining because of the tears she was holding back. Qrow nodded toward the rock and she nodded too. She helped him dig, even with one arm, while he used Harbinger as a shovel. None of them spoke, but the noise they made as they moved the earth was enough to keep Qrow from getting angry again. Once the hole was deep enough, he picked up Raven's body, hitherto leaning against a tree, and placed her in it.

He stayed bent over her for a long time, only the sound of the wind was heard. She seemed so peaceful, lying with her hands on her stomach, hiding her wound, the blood on her face had been cleaned, her skin was paler than ever before, contrasting with her deep black hair, which some wicks passed over her shoulders, her eyes were closed, and she was still smiling. It looked like she was sleeping. Surely she was better where she was now. Where she no longer had to suffer, where nobody hated her for simply wanting to protect her child, where she had found her whole tribe, those who had never turned their backs on her, regardless of her decisions, her family, her real family… Not like him…

Tears flowed again. He didn't want to say goodbye to her, he didn't want to say it was over, that he would never see her again, that he could never have fun making her in angry anymore, that he would never receive her angry glances with a hint of amusement anymore, that they would never laugh together anymore, that she would simply no longer be there. As it had already been for ten years… He lost her ten years before, but he always had a chance to change everything, to learn the truth about her daughter, to listen to what she had to say rather than stop at the fact that she hated Ozpin for no apparent reason, to be at her side when she needed him more than ever, to find his sister, the Raven he was the only one to know. But he had ignored this chance, and now it was too late.

-I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…

With a lifeless look and tears silently running down his cheeks, Qrow filled the hole.


-Kiddo…?

Yang looked up from her lap and looked behind her. It was almost night, she had spent the whole day sitting in front of her mother's grave. The day before too. And the one before, when they buried her. She didn't say a word, and Qrow didn't try to force her, he didn't force her to eat or go to bed either. He kept his distance from her and it was very good, she didn't want him to harass her to try to make her smile or something.

-We leave tomorrow morning, so if there're things you want to bring…

Yang nodded and turned her back on him again. She was like her mother, not very attached to equipment.

-I'm not as attached to my weapon as others may be, but I still trust it to protect you like if I were there.

So she had kept her weapon. It was a right-handed weapon and she only had her left arm left, but she didn't care, she kept the large scabbard attached to her waist, and her doll in her hand. There was, to her knowledge, no other items that Raven was particularly attached to, but she would still go and check, her belongings were kept in a trunk originally used to transport Dust, they should be intact.

With some lethargy in her movements, Yang stood up and walked to the remains of her home. It didn't even hurt anymore to look at the disaster that had become of the place where she had grown up, as if her mind was numb and no longer felt the pain, or anything else. Even her missing arm left her indifferent. She rummaged around a bit, then pulled the trunk out of the rubble. Inside, her hand quickly found the flashlight, and she placed it under her right armpit to hold it.

She had looked in this trunk many times before, she knew what was in it. Survival gear didn't matter right now, clothes were the last thing to worry about, jewelry to. Her hand grabbed the photo of team STRQ, whose name was written on the back. She remembered the first time she saw it, she was six when her mother finally told her about her father and why she left. Ozpin. And Summer. Yang hated them both. Without them, Raven would never have had to leave and she wouldn't have been crying so often, alone out of sight. But if it was for staying close to people like that, to an old senile man who saw people as sacrificial pawns, to a husband who turned to another the second she left, and a so-called friend who stole everything from her and passed for a saint, she was right to leave.

And then there was Qrow. He had abandoned her too, he had even abandoned the tribe, but since she had met him a few days before, Yang had seen him display only sadness and regrets, and he had done a lot for her after Raven's death, so… Let's just say that her opinion on him had become neutral, he remained a complete stranger after all.

Yang put the photo in her pocket and continued to search with as much motivation as if she was taken to the slaughterhouse. She never searched that deep, usually her mother just asked her to bring her something. Her hand brushed against an all-too-familiar piece of red cloth, and she felt her heart squeeze when she saw the red scarf Raven always had in her hair. It smelled like mint tea, just like she did.

At the bottom of the trunk were boxes, more or less big. Yang picked out a random box, which looked like a shoe box. It contained a small amount of money, and Yang could have sworn that her mother had brought back much more than that in the past few months, had she spent everything recently? It didn't matter anymore. The next box was the size of her hand, and contained an extinct Scroll. The same Scroll she had used to almost call her ex-husband two years ago, the first and last time they had argued. Not something she liked to remember. The last box was a little larger than the previous one, and contained…

Yang dropped the box, and the photos spilled on the floor.

-Can you bring me a camera from the next raid? I want to have a photo of just the two of us.

She had obtained the camera in her hands, she had taken pictures, but she forgot them, too absorbed by her role in the tribe. But Raven had kept and developed them. There were photos of everyone, even of some who were dead long ago before the attack. Vernal, Ramy, even Shay, all were there, all those who were no longer there. And above all, there were photos of Raven. Not many, maybe three or four at most, but she was on them, there was her face, her red eyes, her long curly black hair, her reassuring smile, her pale skin, too pale, stained with blood that flowed from her forehead as life left her…

-Hey!

Yang opened her eyes. She hadn't moved, she was still sitting on the ground, near the rubble of her tent, her remaining hand held a handful of hair firmly on the side of her head and was pulling on it with all her might, while her breathing was strong and fast, and her heartbeat echoed in her ears. She looked ahead, Qrow was here again, still holding her by the shoulders. Her gaze went down, and she saw the photo box next to him closed. All the photos had been put inside, she could no longer see them. Her breathing started to calm down.

-Okay… Everything's fine, it was just a picture, it's over.

He pulled her gently against him, and Yang let him. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she unconsciously clung to her uncle's shirt. She felt he stroked her hair, as Raven often did. The familiar feeling made her calm down slowly, until she fell asleep.


When the girl finally fell asleep in his arms, Qrow took the box next to him and carried the girl to the airship. He suspected she might badly react to her mother's things, but he didn't imagine that she would have a crisis like this, he had to shake her and call her for five full minutes before she finally reacted. He didn't know how long it would take for her to recover, but he couldn't let her down. Even if she hated him, even if she refused to talk to him, even if she didn't even give him a chance, he didn't care. It was exactly what he had done to Raven, and she had surely suffered much more than he was suffering now, yet she had trusted him to watch over her most precious treasure. So if he had to spend whole hours comforting a kid whose he didn't even know the name every single time she started to panic, he would.

Qrow gently laid the little girl on the airship seats and folded a blanket over her. She was still crying. With a sigh, he sat down on the other side of their makeshift camp and opened the photo box. He hadn't had time to really look at them, he had vaguely seen that there were some of Raven and that had been enough for him to understand the problem, he had then packed everything urgently to be able to calm the girl.

He passed most of the pictures quickly, he didn't know anyone, and if there weren't logs or tents in the background, he could never have guessed that they were bandits. People seemed so… normal. They were walking calmly, chatting with each other, getting mad at the photographer when she took their photo by surprise… He had forgotten how the atmosphere of the camp was similar to an ordinary village, the people who lived there were no meaner than others, they didn't have a particularly bad temper, they generally got along well with each other, laughed together… He had forgotten all that.

A photo caught his eye, and a small smirk formed on his lips. Ramy, that rusty old ram who always left him a meal aside so that he could pick it up after everyone and not cause disasters. … Qrow had forgotten him too… Yet he had been one of the few people who did not despise him, who did not move away from him because of his Semblance, he had been like a grandfather to them when they arrived. And given the friendly gesture he made to the little girl while she was taking the photo, he must have been for her too.

The next shot made his heart miss a beat. It was Raven, sitting at the coffee table in her tent, a map in front of her, a pen in her right hand, her head resting in her left hand, her eyes were closed, and a trickle of drool flowed from the corner of her ajar mouth. In another time, Qrow would have burst out laughting, the great Raven Branwen who drools while sleeping seated in front of her work, he could have blackmailed her for having her desserts for years. Yet now he felt his heart tighten. In the past, he had been the only one who could even approach her while she slept without risking being stabbed by instinct. Today, she wouldn't even take the risk of being disarmed near him. It had not been less than a week since he lost his sister, it's been over ten years…

He no longer knew Raven, he no longer knew the tribe, he could draw a precise line between his life with them and his life without them, and from the moment he crossed that line, he ceased to see all that was on the other side. Raven had crossed that line with him, but she never lost sight of what she had left behind. She could call the tribe her home, her family. He couldn't.

He moved on to Raven's second photo. This time she was awake, but not for a long time. She was still seated, she still had her drool at the corner of her mouth, the pen had fallen from her hand, and she was looking behind the camera with a half-angry, half-amused look. It must have been the click of the camera that woke her up. Qrow could easily imagine the kid laughing on the other side, and he was pretty sure if anyone else had done this, Raven would have sent him to the other end of Remnant with a kick in his butt.

The third photo of her… was both the kindest and the saddest. Still in the same place, Raven held the camera high with one hand and her daughter with the other, her head slightly tilted on her, with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen from her. And he knew why. The little girl, her daughter, wrapped her arms around her and put her head on her shoulder, showing a big smile with two front teeth missing. She didn't seem to be more than six or seven years old…

Again, Qrow remembered that it was a whole chapter in his sister's life that he was unaware of, ten out of thirty-two years, almost a third of her existence, and certainly the most important to her.

It was still a long night waiting for him.


The bar was full that night. The noise of chairs, glasses and chatter filled the air as much as the smell of alcohol. Qrow walked to a small table in the corner, where someone was already waiting for him.

-Qrow.

-Raven.

Qrow sat down opposite her, glass in hand. He couldn't even say how long he hadn't seen her. She was waiting for him, elbows on the table and her chin behind her hands, as if she was going to interrogate him.

-You wanted to talk to me?

-I just want you to explain something to me.

He didn't like the smirk she had, it didn't mean anything good.

-What thing ?

Raven leaned forward a little more on the table, frowning, her piercing gaze scanning every corner of his soul. Qrow could feel the temperature in the room increasing, and sweat beading on his forehead. It was hot, too hot, abnormally hot. Raven's red eyes looked brighter than usual, they were less dull, reflecting the hellish flames that surrounded them, as blood began to trickle from her forehead.

-Why did you let me die?


Qrow woke up with a start, suppressing a cry. It took him a moment to calm his breath and remember where he was. With a sigh, he let his head fall against the back of the seat on which he had slept. He couldn't even complain, he knew that this day would haunt him until his death, and he was already surprised to have managed to fall asleep. He must have, what, a little fifteen hours of sleep on the last five nights? His gaze fell on the little girl, who, on the contrary, had spent more time sleeping than anything else. She wasn't in better shape anyway, if he trusted the tears that were running from her eyes at the moment.

Outside the sun was just beginning to rise. Knowing that he couldn't go back to sleep, not that he wanted anyway, Qrow got out of the airship, just to make one last tour of the place, Leo could only lend him the airship for a week, and the longer they stayed here, the harder it would be to leave, especially for the girl. His feet led him to Raven's grave, the upturned earth was still clearly visible where they had dug, and on the rock, Raven's emblem was engraved, just above her name. He would have put a little sentence that would sound like her, but he didn't know her enough for that anymore. Even her famous "The weak die, the strong live" seemed to no longer correspond to her, she had sacrificed herself to save an injured child after all.

He didn't know how long he had been there, staring blankly at the engraving in the stone, but since it was broad daylight when he regained consciousness, he must have spent at least two hours like that. It was a noise on his right that had woken him up, the girl got up and went back to rummage in Raven's trunk. Qrow walked to her and looked over her shoulder. There were clothes, weapons, some useful items like a bag or a lamp, jewelry…

-Is that…?

Qrow reached out, but the girl grabbed his hand tightly before he could touch anything. They looked at each other in silence for a few moments, then she let go of him. With her silent authorization, he plunged his hand into Raven's personal belongings, and took out a necklace, a pendant made of a purple stone on a gold mount. Summer had offered her as a wedding gift, she had kept something from each of them, the necklace, the doll, and her wedding ring. She never forgot them, she never completely cut her bonds with them. It hurt to know.

The little girl suddenly leaned down, almost plunging into the trunk, and took out a golden comb decorated with flowers in precious stones of different colors, two little gold chains falling on each side. It was the kind of accessory that you put in a complicated bun for special occasions, not a simple object to untangle your hair. Still, Qrow was pretty sure that was exactly what it had been used for. Raven had always paid particular attention to her hair, it was the only coquetry that she allowed herself.

The girl put the comb in a pocket of her pants and stood up, like she said "I'm done". Qrow nodded and watched her walk past him without even looking at him. As she walked away, he took a last look at the contents of the trunk. He didn't want to take anything for himself, he felt he didn't deserve it, and the tear at the bottom of his cape was already a good reminder of his incompetence. He closed the trunk and climbed into the mini airship. He absolutely didn't know how to pilot such a machine, but the autopilot was very simple to program. After entering Haven's coordinates, he sat on a seat, and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. In front of him, the girl had seated her doll in its own place next to her, and stared sadly at the red scarf on her lap, playing almost unconsciously with a dagger she had picked up somewhere with her remaining hand, paying absolutely no attention to what was going on around her.

BIIIIIIP~…!

The sound of his Scroll almost made him jump. Everything had been so calm for a few days, a silence that hurt his head. Seeing the name on the screen, he swallowed and picked up.

-Hey Oz.

From the moment he had pronounced his name, he saw the girl raise her head and stare at him with a deadly look, red flames coming out on the sides of her eyes now of the same color. Qrow swallowed again, having a hard time believing he forgot this detail…

-Hello Qrow. Do I bother you ?

-No, no… I'm on the way back.

-I see. Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to know when do you plan to return to Vale. I don't want to rush you, I just want you to keep in touch. For once.

-Yeah, uh…

The little girl was still staring at him.

-I don't know yet…

-I understand. Let me know when you have decided, I would like to have the details, in case she is involved.

Qrow's fist tensed, and his voice suddenly became much deeper.

-She is.

-Are you sure?

-Yes, the ki-…

He stopped just in time.

-… the kind of Grimm which passed by there is far too varied to be a normal attack. As far as I know, there aren't many Deathstalker in Anima.

There was a silence, Ozpin seemed to be thinking on the other end of the line. Qrow, on the other hand, was more uneasy than ever. He couldn't believe he was hiding something from Oz, especially something about a Maiden who had been missing for so long, a Maiden he was supposed to be looking for. However, that was what he was doing, he was lying to Ozpin. And he didn't even regret it, not when he saw the little girl's shoulders relax when she realized that he was not going to talk about her. Before being a Maiden, she was first and foremost his niece, Raven's daughter, a child who asked for nothing.

-I see ... I will tell Leo to send a trusted team to investigate. And you need to rest, if I trust your voice.

-…

-How many?

-About fifteen hours in five nights…

-Qrow…

-I know, I know, it's just... too recent.

-I know well. But still pay attention to your health.

Qrow let out a tired little laugh. His own health was the very last thing on his mind right now. He and Ozpin talked a little more, he felt that the old man was just trying to cheer him up, and he appreciated being able to speak with someone who didn't just answer him with jaded looks. Speaking of looks, the little girl continued to stare at him, but the anger had been replaced by curiosity, her eyes had returned to their normal color, and the flames had gone out. And when Oz finally hung up, she lost interest in him and began to untangle her doll's hair with the golden comb. Still sitting in front of her, Qrow watched her do so.

For the first time in days, the silence didn't bother him, on the contrary, it was restful, calm. His eyes rested on his niece, sitting cross-legged in her seat, her doll between her legs to keep it straight, while the comb passed through its hair, apparently already untangled. Without the bandages on her stump, she looked like any ordinary little girl, who played to pass the time, without worrying about the problems that surrounded her. He remembered seeing Raven do that too at first, before the doll disappeared from traffic and he never heard about it again. Raven had wanted such a doll so badly…

-"A pretty doll with blond curls and lilac eyes, a small nose and cheeks all pink . "

The little girl looked up, raising an eyebrow, and only then Qrow realized he had spoken out loud. He coughed a bit and scratched the back of his head, laughing stupidly. Awkward moments were back…

-That's… That's what your mother said when she was young, and when she looked at the windows of toy stores…

He expected the girl to shrug and ignore him, but instead she put the comb next to her and held her doll against her chest, turned towards him, as if to listen to a story . He had her full attention… So he sighed, and for her he immersed himself in the vague memories of a childhood he had always tried to forget.

-Alright… When we were kids, we lived on the street, I couldn't tell you when our parents left, but it was soon enough that neither of us could remember. We had to work hard to survive, mainly by stealing on market stalls. We didn't have much of our own, so obviously, we wanted everything. And your mother wanted a doll. I never understood where she took that from, but she had a very precise idea of what she wanted, "a pretty doll with blond curls and lilac eyes, a small nose and cheeks all pink". Sounds familiar?

The little girl nodded slightly, without taking her eyes from his. He didn't know what Raven had told her about him or their past, but she was still paying attention, and he felt it was good to talk to her about all of this.

-After being found by the tribe, we never lacked anything. I'm not going to make you a drawing, you know how it works. In short, when we were old enough, almost, we participated in our first raid, we were a bit lost with all the agitation but we didn't care, we could have everything we always wanted. And at the corner of a street, I saw a little girl of our age who was trying to hide. She had a doll in her arms, exactly the one my sister wanted. I tried to snatch it from her hands. She didn't want to let go. I had a knife…

If at the time he didn't care, today, having killed a child to steal her toy almost gave him nausea. It wasn't the first time that he killed, and it was a time he would have done anything to Raven's smile. And now that she was gone and he saw what his gesture had meant to her, he didn't even regret it.

-I will never forget the face she made when I gave her that doll. She took it in her hands as if it was glass, and she hugged it, crying all the way back. … After a few weeks, I never saw this doll again, it's been a long time since we were in the tribe, we were trying to integrate, we became like them. I thought she no longer cared about a child's toy… Seems I was wrong.

A small traitor tear fell from his eye at the end of his story. He got up and opened the window behind him to get some air, it was almost noon and the sun was beating hard despite the season, and even if the atmosphere was less tense than before, bring back the past like that made him feel like he was in an oven. They still had a bit of road before reaching Mistral, and-…

-Yang.

Qrow slowly turned around. She was not looking at him, and had started to comb her doll again, exactly as before. He thought for a moment that he had dreamed, until she stopped and looked up at him.

-My name is Yang, not "kiddo".

And she returned to her occupation. Qrow froze for a moment, then, for the first time in what seemed like forever, a real smile appeared on his face.

-Mine's Qrow, before you call me "old man" or something.

She shrugged without giving him a look, but that didn't bother him. It was a step in the right direction. Arms folded on the windowsill, Qrow let his gaze get lost on the horizon, between the forest and the autumn sky. A little laugh escaped him.

-Yang huh? Seriously Raven…


That's it for this chapter 7.

If Raven's death chap is the one I'm most proud of, I still think I did a good job for that one. I love writing the relationship between Qrow and his new niece, especially the fact that they don't know each other at all but understand each other in a certain way thanks to their bond with Raven.

And to clarify things, Qrow is currently the only person to know that Raven has a daughter since the madwoman died without having transmitted the info to Salem.

Also, for the color of the flames in the eyes of the Maidens, since until then all the Maidens had the eyes of the same color as the flames, I went to "the flames are the color of the eyes", and since Yang's eyes change color, it was cool … but after I learned that the flames were the color of Aura ... So I tell you right now, I don't give a damn, here the flames are the same colors as the eyes, na.

And also, concerning Yang's powers, dare tell me she's not going to inherit them in the anime, seriously …

Well, it was the little info on the chap, and I'll see you at the last chap next week, bye!