Disclaimer: I do not - nor do I claim to - own RWBY or any other media that may be referenced in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. The only thing I lay any claim to are my OCs (and what do you know, we finally get to meet one).
"Alright you lot, I'm going to head off and see Leo. See if I can get anything out of him. While I'm gone, set up a patrol roster and get your things unpacked or whatever. Maybe someone can go and get food," Qrow tells them ten minutes after they'd arrived at the rental house they were going to be staying in for the next however long.
The journey had taken them nearly seven months, would have been shorter if they'd managed to catch a transport, but they'd all been unavailable for one reason or another.
Qrow heads out and after a moment of awkward standing around, Oscar's eyes glow for a second and Ozpin's voice begins speaking. "Ms Nikos, perhaps it would be better for you to lay low. If Salem's forces catch on that you are here, your loss would be one of the worst blows dealt to our forces."
"They shouldn't know who the other half of the Fall Maiden is though. They would have no reason to target Pyrrha other than for her working with Qrow," Rosa points out.
"That would be more than enough for them," Ozpin pushes.
"Wouldn't they think that you're still hiding Amber though? They wouldn't have found her body, and they could easily assume that she was taken to Atlas for better care," Pyrrha argues.
Jaune shrugs. "It is a possibility, but I agree with Ozpin, its too much of a risk."
"Logic then follows that you should take a back seat as well," Mercury points out.
"What, why?" Jaune asks.
"Because the two of you are together. You've made no effort to hide that you were travelling together, and that you were only travelling with us because we were safer in larger groups on the road. If one of them goes patrolling and the other doesn't, then our enemies could figure out they are part of our group, and then logic would ask why have Pyrrha sit out, unless they're trying to hide something," he explains.
Ozpin sighs. "Mr Black is correct. We want to avoid people questioning us. While that will make patrolling more difficult with our smaller numbers, we will just have to manage."
"I'll take first watch," Rosa volunteers. "Who wants to join me?"
Oscar's eyes glow again, and this time the young boy's voice speaks. "I'll join you. That way Oz can weigh in on where the best places to set up watch are."
"Sure."
"How much longer until we arrive in Mistral?" Weiss asks her pilot.
"Not much longer. A few hours. I'm just hoping that our friends in distress keep any grimm in the area away from us," the pilot tells her.
"I still think we should have helped them," she mutters.
"I'd rather we get to Mistral safely."
"I know, you said that," Weiss says with a roll of her eyes.
A loud explosion reverberates through the air.
"What was that?" the pilot asks.
"That's the airship that was being attacked!" she exclaims.
"Shit!"
They watch as a second ship gets torn apart by grimm, and the lancers start chasing them.
The fight is short, but it is brutal. And it ends with their ship crashing.
Thrown from the ship, Weiss sees two men approaching, and begs them for help. A third figure holding a grimm helmet walks up, and without ceremony, knocks out the former Schnee Heiress with a kick to the head.
"Raven, we have a problem," Vernal says as she enters her leader's tent.
"What is it? We have a raid to go on soon," Raven asks, pausing in sharpening her sword.
"Its… Salem… she's found us."
The older woman puts down her whetstone and lets out a small sigh. "Salem… okay. Bring me my helmet."
"Four of her followers are waiting to speak with you outside. One has the ability to take away sight and did so to intimidate the guards at the entrance into letting them into the camp," Vernal informs Raven as she fetches the latter's grimm helmet.
The elder of the two stands up and pulls the helmet on. "We've planned for this, but be on guard, Vernal."
"Of course."
Raven whips aside the fabric opening of her tent and walks out, surveying the scene in front of her.
"I don't remember inviting so many guests into our home. So either I'm losing my memory, or," she raises her voice, "you've all lost your spines."
"Don't be so harsh on them," the man in the heavy coat drawls. "They clearly know power when they see it, especially the power of a maiden."
"Which is why we'd like to have a word with you," the woman dressed in a fine red garb finishes.
Behind her helmet, Raven's eyes narrow. 'So, Salem has already managed to get her hands on a maiden. That doesn't bode well for us.'
She raises her voice again to address her bandits. "Leave us. Pack your things, then break down camp. We're moving."
"Little late to run and hide. You've been on our master's list for some time, so you must understand that we cannot allow you to slip away," the man in the heavy coat drawls again, his tone condescending, talking down to her. She growls under her breath.
"I know all about your master, but I don't believe we've met," she snaps out.
The green haired woman scowls up at her. "We're the ones you should be afraid of."
"I doubt anyone should be afraid of you," Raven says, purposefully lacing her words in a belittling tone.
The green-haired woman starts to speak. "Tell that to your-"
"Quiet," the other woman scolds making the green-haired woman shrink back and the scorpion faunus to giggle.
"That's what I thought," Raven mutters.
"I'm Cinder Fall," the woman in red rasps. "And these are my associates, Arthur Watts and Tyrian Callows, and my disciple, Emerald." She gestures to each of them in turn.
"A child you've tricked into following you, a disgraced Atlesian scientist, a psychopath with more murders than marbles, and a maiden with a surname so appropriate she probably picked it herself. Something tells me you've got more than a slight case of egomania," Raven drawls, unimpressed with the display. "That about right?"
"Technically, I was also a doctor, but the rest is spot on," Watts interjects.
"You're perceptive," Tyrian speaks up for the first time.
"It's what's kept me alive," Raven retorts lazily.
"Actually, the only reason you're alive is because you have something that our master wants," Watts stipulated. "Of course if we're wrong, I'm sure Cinder and Tyrian would enjoy getting to utilise their respective abilities."
Tyrian chuckles and brings his weapons out, raising his tail as he does so. Cinder raises a hand a lets fire dance around her palm, a grin stretching across her face.
"Vernal," Raven barks out, and behind her, her second-in-command exits the tent, walking to her chief's side.
"So this is the long lost maiden. Prove it," Cinder croaks out.
The two bandit women exchange looks (though Raven's are hidden behind her helmet), before Raven nods in a command. Vernal lets out a soft sigh before closing her eyes and stretching out her hands.
Around them, the wind picks up, and clouds form rapidly overhead. The followers of Salem, with the exception of Cinder, brace themselves against the gale.
Almost as soon as it starts up, it dies back down, though the clouds stay in their new position above them.
"Vernal has done well under my guidance, you would do well to remember that," Raven informs them coldly.
Cinder scoffs as her associates brush themselves off. "Raven, I won't underestimate you or anyone else, so please don't insult my intelligence. There is a slim chance you and your Maiden could escape today, but if you know our master as well as you claim to, then you know you could never truly escape her. But we come bearing an olive branch."
Watts takes over as Cinder coughs and rubs her throat. "The Maidens are merely a means to an end. Salem's true desires are the Relics locked inside the Huntsman Academies. Come with us. Allow Vernal here to unlock the Relic of Knowledge, and all previous acts of defiance against Salem will be forgiven."
"It's a better deal than I would have offered you," Tyrian says giving his two lien.
"And it's the best deal either of you are going to get," Watts finishes after glaring at Tyrian.
Raven eyes them warily from inside her helmet. She needs all the information to make the right choice for her tribe here, so prod she will.
"You say that as if walking straight into Haven will be easy."
"That's because it will be. Professor Lionheart is loyal to Salem, to us now. You aren't the only one to turn your back on Ozpin," Cinder rasps.
"I don't want any part of this. I'm not helping Salem, and I'm not helping Oz," Raven bites out.
Tyrian cackles. "You lost that right when you decided to defy our queen by keeping a little maiden in your ranks and not sharing~"
Emerald glares at him, but says nothing. Cinder rolls her eyes. "He isn't wrong. However, if you come with us to Haven, we'll leave you, your tribe, and your little secret to live out the rest of your lives squabbling in the wilderness. We just... need... the Relic."
"I need time to think this over," Raven tells them.
"Time is on our side, Raven. Take all the time you need but don't think you can run away from this. We will find you again," Watts cautions.
"Fine," Raven bites out. "Stop all leaving preparation. We're continuing to stay here for now. Get your backs back into raid prep," she barks out at her men.
"Now, leave us. I won't have outsiders wandering my camp while my men and I go on a raid," Raven orders.
"Of course, but know that we will be keeping an eye on you to make sure you don't decide to run away," Watts accepts.
"So, what do we do? We know that Adam is planning to attack Haven, and we can't let that happen, so what do we do instead?" Blake asks.
"I… don't know," Sun admits.
Ghira and Kali sit there somberly.
They'd tried to recruit people to take up arms to defend Haven, but they couldn't get anyone to join them.
They couldn't blame them.
When you're jaded, scarred from the past, you wouldn't want to walk back onto the front lines of war. Not when you're safe, not when you've got a family and are finally beginning to heal. For so many of Menagerie, this is exactly how they feel.
Above all, the people are scared. Who wouldn't be?
"Does anyone want another cuppa? I'm going to boil the kettle again," Kali asks.
"No thanks, Mum," Blake sighs.
Ghira nods his head in reply.
The door closes softly behind Kali, and Ghira sighs.
"I can understand where the people are coming from, but I still can't find a way to help them see the larger picture," he says.
"They didn't see Beacon. They didn't see what happened there, that nightmare. They just hear us saying that it was a tragedy that can't be allowed to be repeated," Blake tells him.
"Then how can we get them to see what we saw?" Sun asks.
Ghira shakes his head. "We can't. For now, we can only continue our recruiting efforts, we still have time until we need to get to Haven, and perhaps by continuing to petition for help as the time grows nearer, we will have more volunteers."
A knock on the front door reverberates through the house, and the three faunus sitting together exchange looks.
"We weren't expecting anyone, were we?" Blake asks.
"No, you two stay here," Ghira orders as he goes to answer the door.
He pulls it open and growls when he sees the man standing standing there.
"Please, I mean no harm," he pleads, lifting his hands placatingly. "I am not my brother and I do not abide by the same morals that he does."
"I find that hard to believe, Taurus," Ghira growls out. "You wore the same mask as your brother not too long ago after all."
"He and I wore the mask for very different reasons, and I saw how his rationale for wearing it had tainted how mine was viewed, so I stopped. I'm not Adam. I never wanted violence, and if I knew back then how he would use what I taught him, then I would never have taught him to fight," the man explains.
"Who is it Dad?" Blake asks, walking into the entrance foyer before her hand reaches for her weapon. "Adam," she growls out.
"No, that's my younger brother. Please, I mean no harm," the man assures her.
"How do we know you aren't like him? How could we dare trust you?" she asks him.
He sighs, hands still raised non-threateningly.
"My name is Sylvester Taurus. Adam and I were born into slavery, but the White Fang saved us. I wanted to learn to defend myself, and I ended up teaching Adam how defend himself as well after I was confident in my abilities. I never wanted to fight. I never sought revenge for how my brother and I were treated. I would defend myself as needed, but the thing that would make me happiest would be to never need to fight again. That has never changed, I swear it," he tells them.
"Why come to us?" Ghira demands.
Sylvester drops to one knee and slowly detaches the sword and sheath attached to his belt and holds it out to them. "I pledge myself and my sword to the defence of Haven Academy. Do with me as you see fit."
"You're… you're signing up to help defend Haven?" Blake breathes out.
Sylvester nods. "I am. My brother has gone too far. I let him go his own way, and I taught him to fight. On some level, I am to blame for this oncoming disaster. I wish to atone for that, wish to do the right thing."
The two Belladonnas exchange glances before the older of the two sighs and nods.
"Welcome to the Defence of Haven," Blake tells him.
"Are you going to tell them? About… you know what?" Oscar asks.
Rosa lets out a sigh. "I… I don't think so. The safest secrets are the ones the least amount of people know."
"But, Jaune and Pyrrha are part of your squad. Qrow's your uncle and Mercury is our cousin. Wouldn't that be safe?" he challenges.
"How many people knew Penny was a robot?"
He startles and looks at her. "Wh-what?"
"Penny and I were rigged to face each other. Me for my semblance, and her for her robotic nature. Mercury confirmed that for us. Had Cinder never found out about Penny's origins, she may have still been here, with us," she tells him. Tears prick her eyes behind her goggles. "I-… I trust the others. I do, and if situations were different, I would tell them."
"Then why not just tell them? If you trust them, why not tell them the truth?" he pushes.
"Estoy asustada." The words fall from trembling lips and she grips the crest of the roof that they're perched on to keep herself from falling.
He stares at her, eyes wide in disbelief. "But… you're the best huntress in who knows how long! Why… what would you have to be afraid of?"
She doesn't answer straight away, and one shaking hand reaches up to her goggles before taking them off.
In the moonlight, he can see the tear tracks that had attempted to run down her cheeks, and he can see the fear in her silver eyes.
"Ojos Plateados," he whispers.
"I'm afraid of failing," she whispers back. "I've placed a target on my back by using the silver eyes at Beacon, and I'm afraid of getting taken out of the picture and leaving the people I care about to just get slaughtered. I was manipulated, used as a pawn by our enemy, despite the fact that I knew bad things were going to happen. I failed at Beacon, Oscar. I may have cleared the city of grimm, but I failed everyone there that night."
His eyes gleam gold for a moment and Ozpin speaks from her brother's body.
"Ms Calavera, you did not fail anyone. It was not your fault that anything happened that night. Cinder Fall outplayed us all, you were not the first, and you won't be the last. Do not blame yourself for that tragedy, you saved many lives that night with your actions."
She huffs and turns her head away from him. "I didn't ask for your opinion, Professor. I certainly didn't bare my soul to you," she says with gritted teeth as she puts her goggles back on.
"I know you feel that I am encroaching on your privacy, and I do apologise for that. I did not choose your brother to become my host. I have no control over the process, and while I deem it quite fortunate that this means I was able to stay close to Qrow and the rest of you, I feel no better about bringing one as young as Oscar is into this mess," he tells her.
She flops onto her back and her eyes look up to the stars hung in the night sky around a shattered moon.
"I never wanted this," she confesses.
"Bartholomew, Dr Oobleck, told the rest of the staff about your unique reasoning of wanting to be a huntress… so I can see why-"
"No. You don't," she interrupts. "I wanted to spend my life serving the world in the way I knew how to, exterminating the grimm. I always knew that I needed to know how to fight other people, but I never wanted that. War, bloodshed, a kingdom crumpling in the wake of disaster… I never wanted to be a part of that. I never wanted to be on the front lines of such a defending force, I wanted to be the lone wolf taking out the grimm that needed to be taken out. I didn't want to be going undercover, or taking down terrorist organisations, I never wanted any of that romanticised fairy-tale. I just wanted to fight the grimm. To play my small part in protecting the people against the grimm."
He lets the silence hang between them for a few moments before speaking up. "Then why keep taking larger roles?"
"Una cazadora defiende al mundo del sufrimiento hasta el amargo final," she says, exhaustion lacing her voice.
"I'm afraid I don't understand Spanish," Ozpin admits.
"A huntress defends the world from suffering until the bitter end." She turns to look at him. "I have the strength to fight, to defend against suffering, so I will."
Lionheart sighs at his desk and takes a swig of booze.
He owed Ozpin so much. He wouldn't be the headmaster of Haven were it not for Oz pulling the strings. His tail got him more trouble than it was worth, but at the same time, he wanted to do good, wanted to help bridge the gap between humans and faunus.
And yet, he still betrayed the man.
He had buckled when Salem had found him, given her anything she wanted. When she sent her followers to him, he accommodated them and their missions.
Beacon had fallen because of him.
He takes another swig of booze and slouches into his desk chair.
He doesn't deserve forgiveness, he knows that. He wouldn't forgive himself, and he knows the others wouldn't either.
The rippling sound of a portal forming across the room catches his attention and two women walk out.
The first is a woman dressed in a mixture of black and red, and a white grimm helmet covering her face. Behind her is a woman with short close-cropped hair, vibrant green eyes and brown leather pants, vest, and boots.
"Raven, what are you doing here?" he asks, recognising the helmet easily.
For a moment, she doesn't answer. "I know what you did. So does Qrow, and the rest of the inner circle will soon enough."
"I thought you left years ago," he accuses.
"Unlike you, I know how to not make powerful enemies, and I know how to keep my involvement hidden. You're a loose end," she tells him.
He tries to reach for his weapon discreetly. "A loose end?"
The second woman, Vernal, engages her own weapons. "That's right, and loose ends get trimmed," she says with a smirk.
Lionheart leaps into action, parrying slashes from Vernal as Raven watches on dispassionately.
"Why are you doing this Raven?" Lionheart asks as he holds off an attack.
"I told you, you're a loose end," Raven drawls, "one that Salem wants taken care of."
He falters, eyes going wide, giving Vernal enough time to overwhelm him. He topples to the floor and before he can even begin to fight himself, Raven plunges her sword through his chest.
He gasps on the floor, hands clutching at his wound and soaking in blood as the light leaves his eyes.
Raven sighs and sheaths her sword before plucking the little pocket watch from the coward's cooling corpse. "Come, we have work to do," Raven orders, another portal opening.
The two emerge in the school's grand main entrance.
Turning over the pocket watch she'd stolen from the headmaster, Raven presses it to an indentation in the grandiose statue standing in the centre of the room. The slow creaking of long unused mechanisms whirs at their feet and soon enough, a set of spiralling stairs is revealed, its entrance at the base of the statue.
"Nothing you've seen here tonight gets repeated," Raven instructs. "And if anyone finds out, are you ready to do your duty?"
"As always, I will do what I must, for the tribe," Vernal answers.
The elder steps aside and waves at the stairs. "Then lead on."
"You fill up the bikes, I'll go inside and see if I can get any info," Yang tells her dad.
"Sure, grab us some water while you're at it," Tai replies.
So, she walks in and sets down at the bar.
"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" the bartender asks.
"Oh, two waters. It's hot out," she corrects.
"Oh," he concedes, and ducks under the bar to find her order.
"You're telling me you're too young to drink? You look like a regular huntress, and a beauty at that," the only other patron in the rest stop (and acting quite drunk at that) leers at her.
"I'm good, thanks pal," she brushes him off.
"Seriously, not too bulky, not too lean. You're…" he pauses for dramatic effect but she doesn't let him continue.
"Just right. Yup, like I said, I'm good," she admonishes.
Of course, he doesn't pick up on her quite obvious signal of 'leave me alone' and leans in closer. "And your hair…"
He reaches out to touch it, but she grabs him, eyes turning a blazing red before decking him hard enough to send him flying out of the rest stop.
The bartender comes back up with a wince before placing the two bottles of water on the counter. "These are on the house. He's been driving me crazy."
She opens one of the bottles and tips it back for a drink as he continues to talk.
"So, what brings you around these parts?"
"Thanks, and, I'm… looking for someone," she tells him.
He lets out a nervous laugh before having a bit of a joke. "Not many people come out here, too far from the kingdoms. The only person worth noting around here is Ra-"
"Raven Branwen," she interrupts. "Thanks again."
"N-now listen here, missy, you don't want to go messing with more bandits! You might have been okay taking out that drunk one, but going after others? That's a whole world of trouble!" the bartender tries to caution her.
"So I hear. My partner and I will be careful, don't worry," she tells him, getting up and collecting the second bottle of water.
She crosses the cement and passes the bottle to her dad.
"We ready to go?"
"Yep. Just let me have my drink, and we can head on out," he tells her.
"Hey," the drunk man calls out as he stumbles upright.
"Seriously? You haven't had enough yet?" Yang grumbles.
"I heard you're looking for someone, heh, I could take you straight to her," he offers.
The two Xiao Longs exchange glances and Yang shrugs. Tai sighs. "Fine, but you're riding with me."
In her tent, Raven stares at the Relic of knowledge and rubs a thumb over the old script etched into the band.
"Just how does this work?" she muses to herself.
She's run her fingers over the exterior of the lamp numerous times, but so far it has failed to react.
As she runs her fingers over the grooves and intricate details once more, the top of the lamp shifts and pale blue-green smoke billows out.
Raven stands and twists the top further, and a figure spills out.
"It is so good to be out," the figure says with a grin as they stretch. "I am Jinn, a being created by the gods to aid mankind in their pursuit of knowledge. You're in luck as I am able to answer three questions this era. So, tell me Raven Branwen, what knowledge do you seek?"
Standing there, the bandit leader can think of dozens of questions she would like answered.
'What is Ozpin hiding?'
'What is the truth about Salem?'
'How do I protect my tribe?'
'How do I protect my family?'
She settles on one question.
Locking eyes with this ethereal being before her, Raven steadies herself.
"Tell me what I need to know to protect my family."
A small group of bandits trail the two Xiao Longs through the camp, herding them to the largest tent of them all.
They stop.
All eyes are on them. All eyes that is, except their own.
Their eyes are on the tent, waiting for the woman they know is inside to come out and face the family she abandoned so long ago.
The clacking of boots on wooden floors sounds and the tent flap lifts to reveal a woman that matches the Raven in Qrow's pictures of Team STRQ. She's older than in the photo, but over a decade and a half of living rough and having a baby will do that to you.
She takes off her helmet, betraying that her eyes are locked with Tai's.
If the bandits had ever seen the look in her red eyes before, they would have recognised how they softened, warmed at the sight of the man she had loved so long ago and the daughter she left behind.
But Raven's men are both too far away and had never seen that look in her eyes before, so they miss it. The closest she can get to conveying love and loss all rolled up into one, and without making her look weak to her tribe.
"Tai," she says, her voice missing all the steel and ice she uses to command her tribe. The sound is alien to them, unfathomable, and all those who were already questioning who these two blond strangers are, only have their questions doubled.
"Long time no see, Raven," he states, arms crossed across his chest.
A/N: Welcome back to the Grimm Reaper. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and honestly, finally getting to delve into Raven was awesome. Not to mention the first actual OC - Sylvester - joins the fray. While I didn't neccessarily need Sylvester to move the plot along, I wanted to add him in. He isn't going to be a major character, but he'll be around at least until the end of the Haven arc.
Anyways, let me know what you thought of this chapter with a review (I read them all as they come in), or send me a PM if you want and/or need someone to chat with. Otherwise I'll see you guys next week with another chapter.
- RebeccaMagic9