A/N
I deeply apologize for the suuuper late delay on this chapter. I always keep my chapters within a 2 week mark at most, even on the busiest days of X mas last year, but because of this WFH stuff, apparently some asshole clients took this chance to exploit us as if we were working as freelancers that they personally pay OT (Which they don't btw). 8 to 5 suddenly became 8 to 11 in their book (No pun intended), and even forcing their orders into weekends at times, squeezing the creative juices out of me to even produce a decent sentence off of this fic.
Other than that, the internet has been super slow due to heavy traffic of other people working from home lately, whether it'd be mobile data or Wi fi. Thus, resulting in me having to rewrite this fic over and over for about 4 times since it never saves and I do it directly in FF which, if you don't know, needs internet to save.
To add even more salt to the wound, my grandmother had just passed as well within last week, resulting in my aunt blaming herself if she was the one who caused it, since she was forced to go out to get groceries for her kids to eat, and my mother constantly blaming pretty much the whole family that we didn't pray hard enough, seeing as how we have so much 'free time' to 'Do hobbies' (This and basically self-improvement/exploration) so you can pretty much tell how difficult it had been for me to even get a proper paragraph out in the past weeks without getting interrupted every 10 minutes or so.
Yeah... joy.
Something tells me there won't be any dancing African dudes there with Astronomia playing in the background.
Anyways, I'm just making those tags I put on this fic became more and more misleading with this AN huh? Wherever you are located, I hope that this quarantine or self-isolation hasn't been too bad on your ends, and to make up for the delay, here's about... twice the length of an average chapter at about... 10k ish words. (1 Average chapter being between 5-7k) Some peeps left the fic after it didn't update for 2 weeks, which I once again apologize for.
Yep, you didn't read that wrong. Somehow, through divine intervention, I did this in about... 3 days and little to no sleep on the weekends plus Monday. I hope it came out at least half decent. Take your time to read this mega chapter, and help flatten the curve by, as Samuel L Jackson puts it, staying the f*ck at home, and I'm sorry I couldn't make it longer to occupy more of your time. Hope you get something to counter your boredom. Probably write a long ass review to kill time and help me kill my time by reading it. Hope that helps.
Enjoy!
"So, you're saying mom has him."
"Yup." Qrow agreed with a half-assed nod, not once turning back as he used Harbinger as a makeshift machete to plow through thorny bushes and in some cases, small trees, hacking a clear path for the group to thread on.
Meanwhile, the group of teenagers arranged themselves behind him in a single file, with Kevin giving the seemingly hollow vessel of Penny in a piggyback ride with his large frame directly in the middle, being the divider between genders directly behind Blake.
For obvious reasons.
"And mom is somewhere in this area." Yang raised a brow.
"Your mom kidnapped Louis?" Blake asked over her shoulder.
"Yep." Qrow resounded again, answering both questions in one go.
"So you knew about her whereabouts this entire time."
"Yep."
She grit her teeth and her shoulders shook. "Why didn't you just tell me she was in Mistral back at Beacon?"
"Because you would've gone and searched for her. Alone." The unkempt man added when his blonde niece made to open her mouth.
"You know me so well." She grumbled under her breath. "Still, I have the right to know. You'd knew I was searching for answers ever since you saved me and Ruby from that abandoned house all those years ago."
"And remembered what happened that time? You nearly got both yourself and Ruby killed." Her uncle scoffed.
"Yang...?" Ruby asked in a small voice without looking back. It went ignored.
"I'm not about to let history repeat itself. Your mother left you, Tai, and me." Qrow accentuated his point by hovering a lazy finger towards her then the clouds above him, before finally settling on himself. "What do you even hope to achieve by approaching her?"
"What? Afraid I can't take care of myself?" She countered, clearly offended if her tone was anything to go by. Qrow may have still threaded onward without a care in the world, but the slight tenseness in his shoulders told Ruby that he knew Yang's eyes were burning crimson directly behind him. "I can fight my way out if things go south!"
"And that," He halted abruptly in his tracks, causing Ruby to emit a startled yelp as she planted her face onto her uncle's back, resulting in her grabbing her nose with both hands. "Is exactly the problem."
"What...?"
"You act like you could solve everything with these." He spun around and raised both fists to chest level, with one still grabbing onto Harbinger's handle, to further emphasize his point.
Blake and Kevin had to duck out of their way from being beheaded, while Ruby merely bent her knees, and for once she had her lack of growth spurts to thank, for had she been even a foot taller, the drunken swordsman would've sent her back down by half a head.
Despite the glares the trio was giving him from near-instant decapitation, they dared not interfere with the conversation of what must've been two of the strongest members they had at the moment.
Derrick and Dwiki glanced at each other nervously, backing off by a few paces in case things got messy.
"Guess what firecracker? You can't. Say I let you through. Say I give you the information of her whereabouts and you meet her. Say you find her camp and get through the gates without a problem by telling her goons that she's your mom. Then what?" Qrow flung his hands to the side, instantly splitting a tree trunk not 5 meters away in half.
Ruby visibly winced.
"What were you gonna do huh? You're not gonna sit down and drink some tea to have a peaceful mother and daughter chat." He swiped his free hand that cut through the air. "If the Ice Queen's sister was still here and tagged along, you might as well hand her in to some White Fang goons to be toyed with." Qrow spat as he glared intensely into unyielding crimson eyes. "The first thing she'd do is demand the SDC for ransom." He sneered. "And that is if the brutes from the tribe don't roughen her up first for further 'convincing'. No offense." He added as his eyes flicked to Blake for a split second.
"None taken." The cat faunus replied dryly, but she didn't particularly disagree.
Yang's POV
"I..." Her voice died in her throat and resulted in nearly snapping her tongue in half as her teeth gnashed against each other.
She'd replayed this situation over and over again in her head. Yet now that it had come to it... Why was she left speechless?
"Look," Qrow shook his head and rubbed the space between his eyes. "I know you're angry. I was too. Still am." He sighed, jabbing the tip of his greatsword into the soil before placing a hand carefully atop of her hair. "If it were that simple, Tai would've stopped her ages ago and you'd never had to see her leave." He chuckled lightly. "You can't just go in there and pummel her face into a pulp like you do with everything."
"Ugh."
Yang let out several long breaths to calm her nerves and closed her eyes.
Her uncle took that chance to drag her head into his chest, which turned out to be the right move when she didn't resist and instead leaned in, heaving a heavy sigh as she visibly tried hard not to link her own arms behind his back.
When Yang's lids fluttered back open, it was back to it's old, lilac hue.
"It's not fair..." Her muffled voice remained audible despite being smothered by Qrow's clothing.
"Life's not fair firecracker." He chuckled, ruffling the top of her head. "As much of a thorn to the side she is, you can't just beat it into your mother."
As much as she'd hate to admit it, Qrow was right.
"I won't-"
"Literally."
...
"What?" Her shoulders stiffened, then her eyes snapped wide open, and her head slowly moved upwards to meet the Pro Huntsman's.
"You can't beat some sense into her... literally. The difference in strength between you and her are exceptional. You may be the strongest fighter in your team by far," He shot Ruby a cheeky grin. "And maybe you're the strongest in your current batch if you don't take that Nikos kid into account, who knows? But against Raven? Keep dreaming." Qrow glanced down with a shit eating grin, the height difference of a foot or two making Yang look younger than she should be, and her newly formed pout wasn't helping.
"You can't even beat Tai in a spar, and even then he was holding back so he wouldn't hurt you. Any of you." His red pupils flicked to Ruby for a split second, who echoed Yang with an even heavier sulk forming on her face. "We're talking to the person who shacked up with him." Yang heard somone audibly retch. If she'd had to take a guess, it was Ruby imagining dad kissing someone who's not Summer. Had she not been bamboozled by the sudden rapid change of topics, her mind would've surely told her to do the same with her more... accurate imagination.
"Sure, she may not be mom of the year material, but she sure as hell can put up a good fight. We're talking about the person who created this li'l monster after all." He proceeded to ruffle her hair once the tension seemed to drain out of the air. "And you're expecting to beat her firecracker? Not a chance. You can't even beat me!"
Yang heard Blake snort and Ruby trying her best not to bend double laughing.
In the end, Yang couldn't help but join them with a smirk that was slowly forming on her face as she linked her hands behind her neck. "Well, who knows," She shrugged with a sigh. "If I can't beat it out of her, maybe Louis could do it for me. He did you good didn't he?"
The smirk was wiped off his face faster than Ruby could burst into rose petals on a lethal dose of sugar. "I still don't get what you see in him." His eyes roved over to Ruby, who was trying her best to blend in with a tree. Her red, fluttering cape wasn't helping. "But, if Raven of all people has him, then I guess I'm about to find out."
Louis's POV
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Raven's back barreled onto the small wooden table, cracking it in two.
"Does the kids nowadays like it rough?" Raven flicked specs of sawdust off of her bare shoulders while a pink mark laid across her stomach in the shape of my boot, before her hungry eyes sought mine once more. "I don't even remember Tai being this feisty, and he was at his prime back then."
My face turned green as the mental image of the father of two popped into mind, tanned muscles with a muscular tattooed arm as he laid his dominance over-
I visibly retched as both hands flew to my mouth.
Nope
Nope nope.
Fuck NO!
"No matter," Her shoulders rose and fell. "We will make the strongest warrior. With our DNA's combined, nothing can stand in the way of our offspring. Especially not her."
"I am NOT. Making a child with you!" I wiped the back of my arm over my mouth which was still stained wet with her saliva.
"Oh?" Her hands moved down to her toned abs, roving up and down the length of her torso as if checking for flabs.
There were none.
Her abs were sticking out of her naval like a sore thumb. Being the apex bandit of Anima, along with a well trained Huntress had kept her figure in shape throughout the years.
"Am I not good enough? Maybe the years have caught up with me. Would you prefer to impregnate Yang instead?"
"FUCK. NO! She's-"
"Not hot?" The woman offered, her hips swaying from side to side, sashaying over to the end of the tent where I was once more. If it were in any other situation, I would've deemed the brawler's love for puns were inherited from her mother's side, but my mind was in no place to have such thoughts.
My brain was swirling with thoughts of the fastest means to escape, but I could imagine Vernal guarding the main entrance like a bloodhound, ready to pounce in the tent in case things go south or ready to decapitate me if I poked my head out. Knowing her hatred for me, it wasn't too hard to imagine a psychotic smile creeping it's way up her face as her arm blades molested my innards.
Before I knew what was happening, the bare woman seemed to take advantage of my time idle to close the distance.
My other brain seemed to wander... elsewhere.
"Oh," She smirked. "Seems like I still am attractive enough to warrant this kind of an effect from you..." Her inner thighs caressed mine, a hand pinning my back to the inner walls of the tent to prevent my escape while the other roved down to feel the miniature version of it within my pants.
"Even after all these years..." She sighed, then chuckled in a way that could even be described as euphoric relief as she put me into a kabedon deadlock. Her hands gently rubbed the thin piece of clothing that separated her digits from my manhood. "So why does your lips lie of your true feelings, strong one?"
What do you mean feelings?!
This is a male's natural reaction when looking at a woman's bare body, especially in YOUR assortment of lingerie!
And netted stockings... My mind added.
...
GODDAMMIT, I LOOKED AGAIN!
"I'm not going to bear any children!" I repeated, twisting my head to the side when she made to engulf my lips again. It hit my cheek. "I'm not ready to do that even with the people that I like! Why the hell am I your first choice for a personal concubine anyways?! There is no reason what-so-ever for you to think of me this way!"
I felt her halt mid air, and when I finally plucked up the courage to crack open my eyelids, her lips a mere inch away from mine.
She let out a steamy breath that puffed and tickled against my neck, causing more moisture to form on the surface of my skin.
Her lips were glossy from our entanglement earlier, while her body was covered with a thin sheen of sweat from the heat trapped within.
As much as I'd hate to admit it, she wasn't wrong about being able to turn me on, even with an aged body, so are the wonders of anime moms and their youth. Obviously, I'm never gonna admit that to her face, especially not with her hands threatening to pull my pants down.
Or crush my balls.
With the spat out denial and her face set in an uncertain manner, I really hope it wasn't the latter.
I tried hard not to gawk as the thoughts betrayed me.
With the current standstill, I tried to distract myself with other thoughts.
This was wrong, all so horribly wrong.
What the hell caused this?!
I have the right to know the reason why.
It made no sense what-so-ever why she of all people, would want me.
She has nothing to gain from taking me into her camp, exposing both her location and... herself.
Unless what she wanted was information from me as an overseer for much-needed knowledge to add on to her arsenal of Maiden powers.
Which made no sense since she doesn't know I was one... unless either Qrow or Yang told her, which was a big no.
What did I even do to elicit... this sort of a reaction off of her.
Raven never seemed to display any sort of emotion of wanting... anything at all really, but to survive in canon, having hid her intentions from both the audience and the people who know her well enough to the point where it would even make Ren look like an amateur.
She may have been a horrible mom to Yang, but when Yang had approached her personally, she seemed to have all but forgotten what she sought out to do in the first place, with the then missing Ruby being a top priority in the blonde brawler's mind.
Never had we got a reason why she had left Yang, or if she really had talked to Tai right after the events at Haven. Or why she didn't agree to talk things out with Yang and settle it right then and there.
"Raven." I said cautiously as I gently grasped her wrist that was dangerously close to crushing my man nuts, which was still possible even with me resisting her with all the strength I could conjure. Naturally crimson eyes gazed longingly into mine, and I can see a twinge of regret in it.
After what seemed like forever, slowly, she took a step back.
Then another.
Eventually, when I felt the pressure lessen more and more and she was a good few feet away, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
She turned around to face the other side of her tent, crossing her arms over her dark lingerie-clad breasts while she rubbed her shoulders, as if a sudden chill just brewed past her.
"Nobody had ever declined me before..." She muttered close to a soft whisper. "Especially not the strong men I offered myself to for the sake of her protection..."
Strong men?
Offered?
Yang...?!
"Why do you decline your reward?"
Reward...?
"Look, just tell me why I'm here, and I'll be on my wa-"
"Raven."
Vernal used her forearm to disclose the tarp over her head, and stepped into the tent without a care in the world.
She didn't seem bothered over her leader's lack of clothing.
Instead, she seemed more surprised by the fact that we were still wearing anything at all, if the way her eyes widened and flicked to my dressed state were anything to go by.
She eyed me warily, her face scrunching up in disgust as she looked like she was about to desecrate me for not taking up her leader's 'generous' offer.
"What is it Vernal?" Raven asked, regaining the composure of her stoical posture once more, though the lack of the clothing and the Grimm mask she wore made all the difference for her intimidation factor.
"We have... visitors."
My head snapped to her direction so fast I caught whiplash.
Oh no...
Ruby and the others had arrived already?
If they find us in such a state, there would be no talking our way out.
"Visitors... huh?" Crimson eyes flicked to meet my dark eyes before locking with her second in command. "Who are they?"
"I don't know, there's this woman with long, dark hair and amber eyes."
Chills traveled down the length of my spine, making the hair on the back of my neck stand upright.
Blake!
By the gods, there was no way she would take this scene in for anything else. I already broke her heart once! Yang won't forgive me if I do it again! If she sees this, there was no coming back!
Gah! I grabbed my head as I sought out answers. What should I do?!
...What could I do?
There was no way out other than the main entrance, and it looks like Raven was comfortable enough to streak out there to welcome her daughter if needs be!
Shit...
Guess there's no choice but to face the music-
"... And a tall, mustached man with a yellow lined tailcoat..."
... And if Yang's gonna beat me in for breaking Ruby's heart because of this, then so be it. My Aura should hold up to her punc-
Wait a minute...
... That didn't quite fit the description of Qrow.
Or anyone else for that matter.
"I... see." Raven hummed as she put a hand onto her chin. She seemed to realize it wasn't whom she expected as well.
Mustached...
Yellow lined...
Amber eyes...
Dark hair...?
...
Something clicked in my head.
Fuck.
"Should we let them through?" The second in command asked.
"Did they tell you what they wanted?" The dark-haired woman questioned back as she thought of a way to possibly end this peacefully.
"No." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "They just said they wanted to see you, they called you by nam-"
"It's the same people who attacked Beacon. Salem's men."
Both Vernal's and Raven's heads snapped in my direction, and I had to gulp down the urge to flinch under their gazes.
"So?" Vernal scoffed after she recovered from the shock of hearing me speak. "What does that have to do with us?"
"They're dangerous, powerful elites that won't hesitate to destroy the tribe if needs be. Even with the two of em, they're more than capable in handling an army of bandits."
"Suddenly you care what happens to us?" Vernal's eyes narrowed as she stepped in front of Raven, deploying her arm blades as she took a defensive stance.
"Hey, did you forget I was in this tent with you?" I pointed out. "You dragged me here, I just gave you information that could save both you and your camp's asses. You should be thanking me."
"Than-! Oh, I see." The short-haired woman's frown slowly fizzled out as the edge of her lips tugged up into a sly smirk. "They're here for you, aren't they?"
... What?
"Hah! You flinched." Vernal turned to look over her shoulder. "Raven, just get rid of this sperm donor and find a new one. There are plenty of stronger men around who are more than pleased to even feast their eyes on you."
I bit back the urge to argue.
Vernal accusingly pointed in my direction. "You ungrateful bastard! Bringing a catastrophe to the tribe even when we took you under our protection! This is unforgivable!"
If I say that they were here to unlock the vault at Haven and needed Raven as the key, they would never let me out of her sights. The information of who the Spring Maiden is is too sensitive to unveil, with possibly the only two in front of me being the only people of Remnant knowing who it is. She could even go as far as to keep me as her personal pet in the Brawnwen camp for, god forbid, life.
However... if I say that I was indeed what they were looking for, Raven, along with the not-so-subtle persuasion of Vernal, wouldn't hesitate to hand me over, and I'll get burnt to a crisp on the spot. After all, the safety of the tribe comes first, and it'll take time to relocate.
Death by snu snu or get burnt on a stake like a witch during medieval times.
...
Yeaaaah, not a lot of great options there.
"How about you tell me what you want from me, since I believe you kidnapped me for a good enough reason seeing I'm not dead yet, and I'll tell you what they might possibly want." I offered as I spread my arms out wide. "Sounds like a win-win solution to me."
"Or we can go in front of the tent with you in tow, and if they don't know who you are, they'll leave you be and we'll decide what to do with you afterwards." The short-haired woman sneered. "However, if you are what they're looking for, they'll be the ones to decide what happens to you, and the tribe remains out of harm's way, as it should be."
"In any normal circumstances, I'd agree with you a hundred percent." I nodded along. "But if you hadn't watched the news lately, which I take it you, who look like you have Grimm feces for half a brain don't,"
"What's feces?"
"My point exactly," I continued and ignored the questioning look Vernal was sending me. "They think me dead."
"Then let them confirm that you're not." She shrugged nonchalantly and settled with a hand to her hip. "That way, they get the pleasure to kill you all over again. We could even charge them extra, claiming we did the bounty hunting and hard work ourselves."
Damn this bitch is a tough nut to crack.
I personally never got a good grasp of Vernal's personality. What I knew about her stems at the fact that Raven definitely raised her like one of her own instead of Yang. Seeing how hard-headed and untrusting she grew up to be, I had to thank the Brother Gods that Tai was the one that raised the blonde brawler instead.
Despite having eerily common traits, such as the stubbornness when she set her mind on something or when it came down to protecting Ruby, the tendency to act haphazardly and irrationally, and add the fact that she may be easy to burst, but at least she was more willing to listen if it wasn't something she was proficient at.
Her hardheadedness came from the determination to do something right or the want to help, not the desire to prove someone wrong so badly she's willing to pester and bask in a pool of petty excuses and sell her soul to the devil for it.
Dammit, looks like I'll have to give out some cards to draw some.
"If you give me up, they'll kill you two, and possibly set the camp ablaze for the information they think you squeezed out of me. They won't leave any survivors behind."
"And what information would that be?" Vernal scoffed. "If you were that famous we would've heard of you already. Nothing gets past us, you're not worth shit."
Looks like we're gonna have the Maiden fight faster than anticipated.
"Oh really?" I said in a reassuringly mocking tone. "Perhaps they're not searching for me and instead are here for something within the camp. Something you two personally know about and want to keep under wraps for as long as possible."
Their eyes narrowed into near dangerous slits.
"After all, they did target your camp instead of any of the other small villages around here." I shrugged back. "The Brawnwen name is quite infamous throughout Remnant won't you agree?" Vernal growled under her breath and squared her feet. "Add to the fact that they requested you, Raven Brawnwen, by name, you'd think they would've brought the whole party here instead of just a pair if they think they couldn't handle themselves don't you think?"
"They think they could ever hope to defeat us?!" Vernal shouted in rebellion. "We outnumber them, and we have-"
"Vernal." Raven warned.
She bit back her tongue.
"Oh?" I grinned. "Please do continue. You seem to have a mouth that could do more than just sucking dicks."
"Shut your mouth!"
"You're right." I pushed on, savoring the look Vernal was giving me that just screamed she was gonna get heavily punished after this whole ordeal was over. "I shouldn't be talking to a fair Maiden like that."
I ducked without effort as the arm blades scythed through the air.
"Nice try."
"Wha-!"
The top of my head met her chin, launching Vernal and sending her crashing into some furniture on the other side of the tent.
"But I've sparred against faster." I cracked the kinks in my neck. "And stronger."
"Why you-!" She spat out some blood from nearly biting her tongue off. "I'm going to-"
"What do you know about the Maidens?" Raven cut off, her now cold gaze seemingly glared into my dark pupils.
"Oh, you know, maidens are women that are located in shrines, most of the time a virgin, are very young and beautiful-"
A red blade's tip tickled the Aura on my throat.
"Try again." Raven said, somehow seizing her signature katana in the time it took me to form a sentence.
"You're not gonna do that." I smirked confidently. "You need me."
"What if I don't?"
"Then I would've been dead seconds ago."
She was caught wet handed, if the way she bared her teeth were any indication.
"Don't push your luck."
"And I thought you were based on a raven, not a praying mantis. Why don't you eat my head while you're at it?"
"I would've if you'd let me."
I froze as I looked for any signs to indicate her screwed up sense of humor. When there were none, the cogs in my head turned as I processed what she said.
"Not that hea- Ugh, nevermind."
"You have my attention." Raven's impatient frown was growing grimmer with each every passing moment, and her second in command's death glare wasn't helping. "Who are you?"
"Me?" I scoffed. "I'm your daughter's teammate, as well as her friend. Speaking of which..." I glanced at what could be considered a 'door' to a tent. "She should be on the way here by now."
Raven's eyes widened.
"Let them through."
"What?!" Vernal's eyes echoed Raven's as she looked at her leader incredulously. "Raven, clearly this guy is manipula-"
"Let. Them. Through."
Vernal took a second to look at her leader once more, before nodding slightly and exiting the tent.
"Why is my daughter here?!" She demanded, the tip of the blade being further jabbed into my Aura, threatening to break it. "You... you caused the fall of Beacon didn't you?! Are you with those outside?!"
"Uhh... I thought that was obvious before you tried to rape me."
"Answer me!"
I just did...
"If your question is if I'd brought Yang here for the purpose of handing her over, though I don't get why they would want her, the preferable of the two being Ruby no offense, or putting her in harm's way, then the answer to that is no." I raised a calm brow at her panicked look even when I basically gushed that whole sentence out to get the point across. "She's my teammate, and I wouldn't have saved her during the Fall or the train otherwise."
I thought she wasn't supposed to care for Yang.
"Then why is she here?!"
"We were here in pursuit of Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven." I explained while her unrelenting eyes bore into mine. "We have reason to believe, that he's working with her, and we're here to do what any Huntsman or Huntress would. Also, Ozpin's en route and has no idea of Leo's betrayal as well, so we're sorta at a time limit here."
A few moments passed where she eyed me like a hawk, scanning the windows to my soul as if trying to seek something in them.
Her blade finally left my throat.
"Well...?" I offered as I rubbed my throat. "Do you trust me now?"
"Trust must be earned." She replied as she sheathed her sword. "So, you and the entire calvary is here as a messenger." She scoffed and brandished her sword in the air, before sheathing it with a loud clink. "What do they want?" Her patience was seemingly running thin if the way she spat out the words were any indication.
Taking into account what she did earlier was a 'kind hospitality' in the tribe's book, I did not want to know what would they even considered to be a punishment.
"They're after the Maiden's powers, to unlock the vault at Haven." I got straight to the point when the dark haired woman raised a brow at me. "They have reason to believe that she is located in this camp along with you, and that you're sheltering her under your protection."
Like hell am I going to reveal that she's standing in front of me right now.
"Seeing as how they're here, they must've already passed by Haven, since their reason to believe the maiden is here was information that were only leaked to some people, and said person you are looking to behead, is none other than Leo himself."
"Then how did they find our whereabouts?" Raven crossed her arms across her bare form and raised a brow. "We relocated ever since the Fall of Beacon, which could still be considered a recent event. There was no way Salem's forces could find us that easily."
She seemingly forgot that I wasn't supposed to know who that was.
But she did raise a good point.
"Uh..."
In canon, Qrow gave away her location, not knowing that Leo was a traitor and gave that information away freely.
Here though? ... I'm preeeetty sure both me and Evans gave it away by throwing a small nuke in the sky.
"I guess they followed one of your men back to the camp after a raid." I improvised.
She eyed me like a hawk and then blinked owlishly.
After what seemed like minutes, she let out a heavy sigh and shook her head.
"Those imbeciles... I always tell them to clean their mess and watch their backs before they head home." She growled. "They never listen."
Wait...
It actually worked...?
"What'd you reckon we do?" I asked. "You're planning to just hand over yours- the Spring Maiden?" I managed to catch myself from slipping just in the nick of time. "They'll kill you afterwards, you do know this."
Luckily, it seemed to go unnoticed by the dark-haired woman, who put a hand on her chin and appeared deep in thought. "There's nothing else we can do. I've just given Vernal the signal to open the gates. We'll confront them and make sure that if a fight does break out, it'll be here, far away from wherever your group is right now."
"You... sorta took that option away from yourself when you kidnapped me." I deadpanned. "They should realize I'm taking too long right about now."
"But can't possibly know the location of this ca-"
"Qrow's with them."
The bluff seemed to have it's desired effect.
Raven seethed as she stared to the ceiling of her tent, but then settled on a distraught sigh.
"Things never are simple, are they? And people ask why I don't trust anybody."
"Well, seeing at how you're trusting me," I shrugged. "That's a good start, isn't it?"
"I'm not owing you extra for this."
Owe...?
Extra?
"You don't owe me anything." I held out both hands in case she tried to lunge at me.
Instead, what I got was a shocked expression and a gaping mouth. She then recomposed herself before she faced the tent. "We should probably confront them now."
"Okay but first..."
"Hm?" She eyed me curiously, who looked away and put my hand in front of my face to shield my eyes.
"You might wanna... put something..." My eyes flicked to her figure for a bit. "On."
"Oh right." Raven looked down at herself. "We were about to fuck."
"How do you say that so shamelessly while maintaining a completely straight face?!"
Cinder's POV
"Think she's home?" Arthur asked as he marveled at the simplicity of design and architecture of the great wooden pikes that resided along the circumference of the camp in a near-even radius, wondering how they stood up sturdy with little to no damage towards the relentless assault of Grimm time and time again.
"A raven is known not to take too long to hunt." Cinder seethed, her long, dark hair blowing in the afternoon breeze while she crossed her arms impatiently. "They go out, steal objects that are to their liking, and make their way back to their nests. They never carry too much at a time."
"You know we're talking about a person who's coincidentally named after a bird right?" Arthur snorted as he held out a hand dismissively. "It doesn't mean that they'll literally take in the habits or traits of one. Unless the said person is a faunus, which is a completely different topic of conversation altogether."
She didn't reply, and instead stared as the large wooden doors creaked heavily and opened.
"Finally." She spat.
"Patience is a virtue." The tall man sneered. "Perhaps if you'd have more of it, you would've succeeded in getting the other half of the Fall Maiden."
Cinder snarled but didn't make to go for a reply as they were escorted by ten or so bandits with primitive weapons, such as axes, clubs and maces just to name a few.
Their weapons weren't the only thing primitive, however, as most were dressed with spike leather jackets and their hair was messy enough it looked like they hadn't shaved since third grade.
And that was only the ones on top, there was no telling how smelly or overgrown the jungle had grown at the bottom.
Rows and rows of bandits lined up both to their left and right, forming a makeshift wall of muscle and brute force ready to take action should the strangers that entered the camp act out of line.
"Brutes, the lot of them." Arthur scoffed. "They don't even look like they know what they're doing. That signal might've been these plebians just messing around with more Dust than they could handle."
"No," The femme fatale's eyes narrowed. "That explosion was not made by any type of Dust. There is a Maiden nearby, just as Leo had said."
"Not any type of Dust you've ever encountered." The mustached man corrected. "I remember an old colleague of mine working on some compacted Dust back at Atlas."
Cinder hummed as she listened in.
"Good ol' Pietro," Arthur shook his head as if he was remembering the naivety of an innocent child. "Always was too humble for his own good. He was all for the betterment of mankind, and tried to research a way to make a stable core for his... creation." He sneered "It was deemed too dangerous by the higher ups should it fall into the wrong hands, thus he came out with an alternative."
"And what was that alternative?"
"Use his own Aura as a source of it's power."
"What?" The amber eyed woman balked. "That could-"
"Kill said person donating the Aura, yes." Arthur shrugged as if to say that his colleague had chosen his desired path. A path that would eventually result in his death. "A shame he either doesn't realize or doesn't care his little project could end him someday." He shook his head. "I wonder what her thoughts would be once she realizes that she was responsible for her father's death. Project P.E.N.N.Y if I recall."
"Penny?" Cinder's eyes widened. "Penny Polendina?!"
"That's the one." The tall man chuckled.
"But you're sure he got rid of his other research?" His associate asked for confirmation. "The one to create her core. All of it?"
"So I was told." He replied with yet another shrug. "That was a long time ago. Remember, there were 2 explosions in the sky. It could be either one or the other."
"Or none." Cinder smirked. "So there is a possibility the Fall Maiden is here as well." She replied, ignoring the eye roll the mustached man gave her.
"And how certain are you that this is your Fall Maiden that did the fireworks?"
"Doesn't matter." She muttered to a near whisper. "If there is a Maiden here, whether if it'd be Fall or Spring, then they will fulfill the purpose of making me whole again. I'll drain all their powers out." She cackled softly, albeit sinisterly. "Every last drop."
"And you're just acting as if Raven Branwen would just... willingly give it to you." Her associate scoffed. "Or even come with us for that matter."
"She would."
"How could you be so sure?"
Cinder snickered with malice.
It wasn't visible before, but between them a gagged figure of a beaten child with orange gloves poked his head from between them, shuffling uncomfortably at the hundred or so eyes staring at the marching trio as they made their way deeper into the camp.
"I brought... reassurance."
Yang's POV
"How... often do you get to meet mom?"
"Quite." Qrow snorted. "Though if it wasn't necessary, I would like to see less of her."
"Is she... that bad of a person?" Ruby raised a brow.
"If you say it like that, I guess that makes the two of us." Her uncle chuckled, causing raised brows from the party around them. "I've... done things I'm not proud of, but what can you do when you're raised by bandits."
"Ban...dits?" Ruby squeaked.
"Your mom and I... " Qrow looked over his shoulder. "We didn't really grow up with proper... parenting, socialization or education. The law of the jungle where the strongest thrive and the weak fall is basically the only rule surrounding us as we grew up, and we've learned to adapt to that one rule even when we don't particularly agree upon it."
"How'd a tribe of bandits... raise enough money to get their kids into Beacon?" The small reaper asked.
Everybody just stared at her.
Some even gawked.
She blinked owlishly.
A moment later, it clicked.
"Oh... Uh... What about the transcripts?"
"Forged." Qrow laughed. "Easy to get when you have the correct amount of lien."
"Wait, so I didn't have to go to Signal?!" Ruby pouted. "Why'd I waste my years away training then?!"
"I'm so... telling dad on you." Yang deadpanned.
Qrow nearly choked and tripped on the spot, but regained his stature and continued to thread forward. "You need to do it because things like Grimm could get you killed out here squirt."
"But I did just fine with Cresent Rose! And I have you, and dad, and Yang." She held up 3 fingers.
"Yeah, sure," Blake rolled her eyes. "Tell that to the dragon Grimm or the Beringel the size of a house."
"Uh... heh... hehe..." The small reaper scratched the back of her head nervously.
"You don't even have to go that far, had that guy." Qrow spat, refusing to pronounce his name as if it was a great curse that would befall him upon saying it. "Not made you go prone, that Griffon would've wiped your head off your shoulders."
"A-anyways..." Ruby chuckled nervously in a desperate attempt to change the topic. "That was fine because you turned out for the better Uncle Qrow!" She cheered and pumped a fist into the air. "So two negatives make a positive! Besides," She waved a hand dismissively. "It's not like anybody we know actually forged their transcripts right?"
Yang suddenly felt cold behind her as the footsteps stopped.
When she made to turn around, it was to see Blake with stiff shoulders.
"Uhh..." Ruby mumbled.
"Being in the White Fang with criminal records... I didn't have anybody... official enough to give me a proper certificate." Blake admitted meekly as her eyes shied away from her teammates. "How I managed to maintain good grades towards various subjects in class stems from homeschooling back in Menagerie."
"I-I didn't- I mean- I-It's okay!" Ruby claimed quickly and rushed to her side, giving her hand a tight squeeze. "Same case with Uncle Qrow! Being in Beacon helped you resolve your problems with Weiss and you turned over a new leaf. It's all good! Good things, yep!" She smiled cheekily. "Nobody else does it... heh..." She looked around. "Right?"
Dwiki held out a finger and made to open his mouth.
He got smacked in the head not a moment later.
"Not. A. Word." Kevin warned.
"Why me...?"
"Oh come on!" She flung her hands into the air. "Why do I always get left out over these kinds of things?!"
"He'll tell you in his own time when he feels comfortable enough to do it." Kevin assured, making sure to keep his name vaguely concealed. "For now, our boy needs us, so let's keep going."
The group mumbled in agreement and eventually reformed the single file, with Qrow resuming the stories of his memories back at Beacon.
"So... Yeah, we didn't really get to experience what you could say a... normal childhood..." Qrow explained. "But Beacon changed that. Both Tai and Summer taught us things any normal person would, tended to us even when we were stubborn and socially awkward."
"Your mom taught me the first thing about sharing." He smiled dreamily at the fond memories. "At first, we pushed her away, but eventually, she was so insistent on helping us that we couldn't help but cave. It was difficult... but we eventually 'blended in'." He quoted the air. "Eventually, we made a complete turnaround."
"Except mom did a three-sixty and went back to the tribe." Yang spat.
Qrow frowned, but didn't comment on that fact.
"Yang..." She felt the cat faunus's hand crept up her shoulder, giving it a good squeeze.
"It's... okay Blake." Yang gave a sad smile as her hand overlapped her partner's. "I've gotten over the fact that she left us years ago."
She looked at the floor as they walked. "I just wanted to know why."
"If you need someone to talk to..."
"I know." The blonde brawler smiled. "I know."
"We're here."
Everybody halted in place to see a large wall of wooden pikes that erected from the ground that seemingly seemed to touch the canopies surrounding them, with some having dried gore and viscera of past Grimm that tried to enter.
Directly split in the center, were two scruffy and gruff men wielding clubs guarding two large wooden doors behind them.
"So... Louis is in... there?" Ruby asked meekly as she took out Cresent Rose, before having second thoughts and holstering it behind her back.
"Why'd you put it back?" Qrow raised a brow.
"Well... that is Yang's mom and technically your sister isn't it Uncle Qrow?" The small leader asked, getting a slight nod for the unkempt man. "Can't you just... go in there and talk to her? I'm sure she'll understand if you say that that we'd want Louis back."
"If she really does have your little boyfriend," Qrow growled under his breath. "Then you can bet your ass she isn't going to let him go without a fight. He's her property now."
"He's not my boyfriend!" Ruby's cheeks burned brilliantly as she pouted at her uncle.
"We can deal with that shenanigans later." Kevin rolled his eyes as a flustered Ruby swung her hands to frantically beat it into the elder man's chest. "For now, let's focus on getting our boy back."
Shift
"Remember what we're here for." Arthur warned while his nose twitched at the painful memory. "Her grace would not be pleased should you fail again. I would not take part in sharing the blame this time."
Before Cinder could made a remark, the group of bandits halted abruptly, causing the pair to do the same.
A large tent made from some high quality animal skin lay in front of them, a clear contrast to the smaller, deteriorated huts littering unevenly around them in seemingly random patterns.
If that message wasn't spelled clear enough to any outsiders, the woman inside disclosed the tarp over her head not a moment later.
"Raven Brawnwen." Cinder greeted as ornate armour gleamed in her eyes, long, choppy hair blowing in the gentle afternoon breeze while a mask in the shape of a Grimm was worn over her head, masking her features and by extension, the emotions that were visible on her face.
"I don't recall inviting so many guests into our home. So either I'm losing my memory, or you've all lost your minds coming in here!" She yelled.
"We've come with a proposition." Cinder started as Arthur raised a brow at her. "Time... is of the essence, so I'll make this quick. Give us the Spring Maiden or we'll kill all of you."
"And if I do have the Spring Maiden, what makes you think I'll just give her up?"
"We're here to unlock the vault at Haven containing the Relic of Knowledge, which is only accessible by a specific key-"
"I know all of this, you don't have to give me a history lesson."
"Then you know why we've come to you." The amber-eyed woman held out her hand. "Now hand her over to us. Or else..."
"Or what?" Raven's hand settled on the hilt of her blade.
Cinder's palm lit ablaze.
Raven's POV
"Hm, interesting." The armour clad woman scoffed. "A half maiden... But you're gonna have to do a whole lot more than that to take us down. You're vastly outnumbered."
"And you think quantity will help you this time around?" Cinder cackled menacingly. "I'm going to burn every single one of you to ashe-"
A hand grasped her wrist.
She glared at the person beside her.
"Don't think I see what you're doing here. I will not be made a fool in front of her grace again!"
That seemed to reign in Cinder's temper as the orange flame in her palm diminished.
"Look," Cinder seethed with grit teeth. "I have a better deal for you lot, unlock the vault, that's all you need to do, and we'll be on our way. You could even come with to make sure nothing happens to your little Maiden, and our mistress would even forgive you for your past rebellion against her." Cinder raised her hand and marveled at her manicured fingernails, blowing any dust that dare taint them. "A chance like this only comes once in a lifetime."
"Intriguing." Raven said. "But what's my assurance that you'll keep your end of the bargain?"
Arthur took one look towards his associate, giving her a look that spelled out 'You'd better be right.'
Cinder shoved the boy who Raven just noticed was between the two like parent and child, causing him to fall flat face first into the ground.
"You're offering... your child?" The bandit leader questioned. "I'm sorry, but what makes you think your child has any value to me?" She pointed her blade in his direction. "If you're offering him so freely, I doubt you have any emotional attachments to him."
"Salem forbid no," Arthur threw a disgusted look at Cinder's way. "That," He pointed at the messy boy who was bruised and wore tattered clothes. "Is Ozpin."
Raven's head seemed to remain locked in his direction for a few minutes as she observed him like live prey, before craning back to them.
"Or to be more specific," Cinder specified. "His next vessel."
Raven remained silent and swapped her glance towards the boy once more.
"So?" Cinder could just imagine her raising a suspicious brow which was arcing even higher behind that porcelain mask.
"So, you could do whatever you want to do with him. I'm sure you have a bone to pick after your little... debacle with some of her grace's minions." Arthur snickered. "Or perhaps you could even hand him over to her grace yourself, earning you a high seat the table."
"If this child is so valuable, why don't you hand him over to her yourselves?"
"Some things must be sacrificed in order to gain something else." The semi Maiden claimed. "You have only this one chance to make your decision. There will not be another."
Raven looked down to the gagged up boy, where he had one black eye and scratches that littered his body, along with a split lip and a nasty gash on his thigh.
She looked at the two awaiting elites.
"I need time to consi-"
"You don't have time." Arthur cut off. "The headmaster of Haven just announced tomorrow and the day after a public holiday for no apparent reason. What do you think would happen if he were to announce another out of the blue?"
"You didn't think to consult me before you made rash decisions like these?" Raven balked back with a harsh bite to her tone. "I don't know how you're any different from my men."
"Ungrateful whor-!"
"Arthur." His associate snickered. "I thought you were the one who told me not to lose myself."
The Atlesian man quickly recomposed himself.
"I... apologize," He grit his teeth and glared in a way that said he wasn't sorry at all. "For acting out of place, but I will not have my intelligence insulted."
"If you're that smart, you would learn to plan things accordingly, so I don't see what you have to gain from backing me into a corner like this."
"If you think we're doing this on purpose, we're not. But since you are unaware of the current circumstances, I'll do the honor of entertaining you, even if it is just wasted breath." Cinder snorted and rolled her eyes. "It looks like we won't get past your suspicions unless we do."
"Ozpin had revealed that he had contacted Qrow." She looked down at the adolescent. "He intended for it to be a bluff, so we would let our guard down and split up, search the perimeter for any form of reinforcements..." Cinder spat out the words. "But he didn't think upon the consequences that we could have taken him hostage."
"But could you blame him?" Arthur chuckled darkly. "After all, he'd thought both him and Leo would be enough to deal with the two of us. Little did he know that he had switched sides."
"Mpppph..."
"Shut up!" The tip of a heel planted itself deep in the boy's side, and Raven could've sworn she heard a rib or two crack.
"MPPPPH! GRnnH..."
The piece of cloth that was gagged into his mouth tainted red.
"So?" Cinder placed a hand on her hip. "What's it gonna be?"
Raven's head took one more look at the child, then she scanned the sea of faces that were her men. Her tribe.
They were filled with fear and uncertainty.
A decision was made.
One she would regret, but one that would keep the tribe, and Yang, safe.
"I-"
"How about you two fuck off, and the whole lot of us can kick your asses all the way to the shattered moon?"
Cinder's eyes widened.
At that moment, so did Raven's.
Louis's POV
"I told you to stay in the tent!" Raven screamed. "Weren't you the one who said not to reveal yourself?!"
Even when the Grimm mask she wore onto her face to conceal her emotions, the fear in her voice was evident.
Fear that her tribe, the only family she'd known, would fall to ruins.
Fear that the identity of the Maiden would be revealed.
Fear... of Salem.
"Fat lot good it did for you bird brain," I scoffed and put both my hands to my hips. "You were shaking harder than a rattler equipped on a toddler."
"No..."
"Hey Glass Thot." I smirked as Cinder's eyes widened into dinner plates and took a staggering step backwards. "Missed me?"
"No."
I don't know if that was the answer to my question, but by the look on disbelief on her face said it might be both the fear or shock, along with the answer to my earlier question.
"Impossible..." Arthur's eyes widened as if he'd just seen a ghost.
Considering how much they knew, that assumption was probably very accurate.
"No." Cinder repeated. "No, no. NO! Y-you died!" She screamed, her shoulders rising and falling as she pointed an accusing finger at me.
"Jeez, I heard you the first time." I stated as I used my pinkie to clean my earlobes. "Could you get any louder?"
"Evans killed you! We saw the footage on his scroll!"
Apparently... she could.
"As you can see," I gestured from my head all the way down to my feet. "Not quite. Evans may have fatally wounded me, and I was near death, make no mistake." I spread out both arms and pointed to my waist. "Cracked a few ribs and screwed up my heart enough to make me feel like an old man thrice my age having a cardiac arrest. Probably took off a few years, but dead?" I let my eyes rove up to the skies as I pretended to appear deep in thought. "That's a little... far fetched."
"He swore he saw the light drain out of your eyes!" Cinder snarled as she drew a palm back, which lit ablaze. "He made sure you-" She seemingly cut off and paused mid-sentence. Her shoulders shook as her throat made an almost inhumane chuckle, causing me to raise a brow towards her.
Then, a cackle tore out of her throat. She cackled so hard, it made her hack at times to gulp in huge amounts of air, and eventually made her bent double.
This time, it was Arthur's turn to look concerned. "Have you finally lost it? Could I finally ask Salem to replace you?"
"Amazing." Cinder finally settled on applauding me with soft, mocking claps. "Just a... mazing. I knew you were always smart, even if you pretend to be his lapdog, and you always did love the intimidation factor, but never had I thought you would use petty tricks like this to toy with the minds of someone you dislike."
What...?
This day just couldn't get any crazier.
"Why don't you take that disguise off and reveal yourself, and I'll give you a proper cremation? That is, if you don't melt first." Cinder's glare was bone chilling. "Face me like the assassin you are..." She spat. "Neo."
That took... forever.
Again, apologies are in order, I'll try to get the next one done by 2 weeks. I'll promise to get the next chap out on time.
If it takes longer, I'm preparing the African dudes and a huge ass coffin for my self-respect.
In other news, my P atreon page is finally done!
I think...
If the cover art was blurry and shit, and you want to check out the sharper version, you can check the HD version as the cover art at
P atreon . com(/)R26
Delete the brackets and spaces, obviously.
Still working on the 'Commisions' part, since role assigning in Discord was a bit more tedious then I'd thought, but I think the donation part is ready to go!
Reviewer Sessions
Kage-kitsune9001: Always willing to reply to those willing to comment. Do hope it goes accordingly to what u imagined.
paradox0.5white: Maybe, I'll have to see as to which situation it fits in. RN nobody in team IKEA + DD knows how to fight except L and E. I'll have to see if the situation fits. Thanks tho.
Gobert600: Hoo, looks like you predicted this one right my friend... I wonder if you'll continue doing that.
The Ancient Irish Viking: Uhm... *Sweats nervously* No... 2) Seeing the delay on this fic, it should have gotten out when you're juiced and ready to comment again, I cant wait to hear from you.
Zero sum13: Damn in the what god?
DankAnon: You read way too much stuff, wondering if BakedAlaska really is your favourite ship. I'm afraid the milfing will have to be put on postpone, since Cinder, who's still hot and running, is here!
Sacke110: Hey, glad to have you commenting, as always. Thanks for your support even if I delay stuff, hope this one didn't take too long for you. Blake's dream being interesting. That's... one way to put it. This arc is sorta about Raven... so you're gonna have to bear with me here xD. Glad you like the Pyrrha reflection, that was a bit... tedious to do since well... She died in canon.
