Cover art - powerfulpomegranate
The guard looked down at them from the watchtower. Shay grinned and gave him the one-fingered salute. The guard signalled the others to open gates to the Branwen Tribe's stronghold.
Home sweet home at last.
After the fight with the Karkadann, Shay thought he'd never be back. He took a long sniff of the air. Ah yes. The sweet smell of burning campfires, cheap booze and smoking meat. And was that a hint of blood he could smell too? Yup, this was home alright.
"Looks like we made it," he said to Troy who was lagging behind him. He shuffled Pyrrha-something further up his back. "She's heavier than she looks. Mind lending me a hand?"
Shay wheezed and laughed at the same time when Troy kicked him in the balls. The pain was worth it just to see his reaction.
It was a busy night in the tribe as always. Those that weren't on watch were either sleeping, eating or sparring with each other. He chuckled when he saw one guy get a face full of fist. He was quickly back on his feet and eager to return the favour. Shay and Troy got several looks from others as they strolled through. Shay made sure to give all of them a smile.
Some uppity snobs in the city would look at their little society and call them savages. They weren't savages. Everyone knew their place around here, everyone knew what the rules were. There was no dishonesty or trickery. What you'd see is what you'd get, and what you'd get is a knife in the belly if you got too close.
"We really doing this?" Troy said with a shake in his voice. "The boss will be pissed if we show up when she's trying to rest."
"I know what I'm doing," Shay grunted. "And besides you want that arm fixed, right?"
"My arm won't mean shit if I lose my head!"
The pair made their way to the biggest tent in the tribe. Big enough to house ten people, yet reserved only for one. Shay always got nervous approaching it. Everyone in the tribe did. If you didn't, you were either stupid or dead, most likely for being stupid. He could feel Troy shake behind him and he knew it wasn't from blood loss. It was time to see the boss.
They were stopped by the teacher's pet herself before they got too close. Vernal must have been in a good mood. She looked like she only kinda wanted to kill him and piss on his grave.
"Vernal!" Shay boomed. "How's my favourite baldy? You miss me?"
"Eat a dick, Shay," she growled. "Troy, you like shit. What happened? Where's the rest of your group?"
"We had ourselves a run-in with a Karkadann," Shay said. "We were just minding our own business, then it came up to us and started being a jerk. We asked it nicely to leave us alone, but it wouldn't listen so we had a bit of a tussle."
Vernal scoffed. "A Karkadann? You think I'm stupid? You should be red paste."
"It's true," Troy groaned. "That's why my arm's like this. The fucker bit down on it."
Vernal stared at him. Even she was impressed by that. "No way," she murmured.
"Oh what? You're gonna believe him but not me?" Shay said.
"Shut up. What about the rest of you?"
"Those guys? They're out celebrating. I think they said they were going to Vacuo. Probably to sunbathe and do tequila shots."
Vernal rolled her eyes. "Of course you had to survive." She looked at his back. "Who's that?"
"This is our guest of honour. Her name's Pyrrha. Say hello, Pyrrha."
Pyrrha the sleepyhead said nothing.
"She's just shy," Shay said.
"What's she doing here?"
"We had a bit of a misunderstanding - mostly her fault - but she stayed with us to fight the Karkadann. The least we can do is offer her a place to stay the night."
"What do you think this is, a hotel?" Vernal snapped. "Get rid of her."
"Not gonna happen. The boss will wanna see her. She's a special one. Maybe even more special than you, Little Miss Spring Maiden."
Vernal glowered. "Raven doesn't want her time wasted. Why should I let you see her?"
Shay pursed his lips. "Because you love me," he said sweetly.
Vernal shuddered, looking like she was about to puke. His good looks were obviously intimidating to her. "Look, I'll tell her what you want as long as you promise never to do that again," she snarled.
"I knew you'd soften up to me."
"Shut! Up!"
She disappeared inside Raven's tent. Shay thought she was adorable in a pathetic way. Her attitude might've worked on some of the other suckers here, but it was called the 'Branwen Tribe' for a reason. Only Raven Branwen gave the orders, not her asslicker who couldn't even fight back against a couple of jokes. Vernal could huff and puff as much as she wanted, just as long as she didn't forget who was really in charge.
Vernal came back out again after a minute. "You can see her now," she grumbled. She clearly had been hoping to send them away. Too bad for her.
Shay and Troy swallowed their nerves and entered the dragon's den.
There were many people out in the wilds that claimed to be the toughest, baddest son of a bitch there was. Shay had worked with loads and was even guilty of thinking it himself once. But none of them had anything on Raven-Fucking-Branwen.
She was the real deal. The only one strong enough to make all these thugs and scumbags fall in line and get their shit together. A demon in a woman's body. She made promises, not threats. If you got in her way, she'd give you two seconds to change your mind before she sliced it in half.
Shay had seen her decimate entire rival gangs all by herself. If this was just about control of the wilds, she didn't need any of them. She could run the show herself. But she kept them around because they all served a higher purpose. The scariest kinds of leaders were the ones that could think outside of themselves, and Raven was always thinking of the bigger picture.
She was sitting on her bed polishing that crimson sword of hers. Shay would've sold his soul for the chance to own a weapon as powerful as that. Her Nevermore mask was sitting on her bedside table. After all this time, Shay still didn't know why she owned that thing. She wore it to frighten her enemies, but she was plenty scary without it. But he wasn't about to ask. Her business was her own.
The tent was silent. Shay and Troy didn't dare say a word. If Raven wanted conversation, she'd start it herself.
"I didn't know you were in the habit of taking prisoners, Shay," Raven said.
Shay cleared his throat. "She ain't my prisoner, boss," he explained carefully. Raven knew he was terrified of her, but that was no reason for him to talk like a stuttering bitch. "She fought with us against the Karkadann. I'm thinking she'd be a good fit for us."
"Really?" She didn't look up at him. "Well, this is a surprise. You've never done this before. She must be important. Important enough to come to me at this hour. It's late, Shay. I'm tired. Yet you want me to listen to you vouch for a complete stranger?" She looked up at him. "You know, some jokes can be in bad taste."
Sweatdrops bulleted down his neck. "I do," Shay said as calmly as he could. "You should've seen her fight. She's not just dumb muscle. She's got skills. We can use that."
"Interesting. That's good news. I'm sure she'll make a wonderful replacement."
Her grip on her sword's handle tightened. Shay's breathing stopped. He felt icy daggers stab his heart.
"For your fallen comrades, I mean," she said. Her grip relaxed and her hard expression softened slightly. "What? I can make bad jokes too."
Relief washed over him like a warm bath. That was close. He had heard of people dying of fright before. He didn't wanna go out like that. Things like heart attacks were such an old person's way to die.
Raven sheathed her sword. "Put her down. Let me see her."
Shay placed Pyrrha down on the ground beneath Raven's feet. Raven got up and inspected her. Shay had been under Raven's red gaze several times. If Pyrrha was awake, she'd be squirming like a worm in the sunlight.
Raven smiled. "You two have made quite the discovery. That's Pyrrha Nikos."
"Feels like everyone's heard of her except me," Shay chuckled. "You know her too?"
"I do. But not in the way she'd be expecting me to. But she is an outstanding fighter. How exactly did you knock her out?"
"Weren't us. The Karkadann gave her a rough time. We found her like this."
"I see, I see." She crouched down and tilted Pyrrha's head. "Ozpin's guinea pig… yes, I can work with this."
Raven was mumbling again. She did that sometimes. Shay often heard her mumbling to herself about plans or people. Probably the result of thinking of everything at all times.
Raven stood back up when she was satisfied. "You've done well to bring her to me. She will make an excellent addition to our ranks. Let me take care of her. She and I will have much to talk about."
Shay nodded. "Yes, boss. Thank you, boss."
"A pity about the rest of your group. Did they die well?"
"Like badasses."
"Very well. They will be missed." Raven turned her gaze to Troy. "There is a question on your mind, Troy. Speak up."
Troy, who looked happy to stay hidden until now, stepped forward awkwardly. "Um… my arm got really hurt in the fight, ma'am. I was thinking… could you maybe… unlock my aura?"
That crazy son of a bitch was actually going to ask. When Raven had unlocked Shay's, she had been the one to initiate it. How much blood had Troy lost to think that was a good idea?
Raven's unblinking eyes were locked on Troy. Shay counted down the seconds like he was waiting for a bomb to explode.
"Is that all?" Raven asked.
Troy swallowed. "Er, yes, ma'am."
"Very well."
Troy sighed in relief. "Thank you. It's really-"
Shay didn't even see the sword move. There was a brief red blur, then Troy's mangled arm dropped from his shoulder.
Troy opened his mouth to scream, but Raven quickly put her hand on the bloody stump and a red glow emanated from her touch.
"Come storm, come ice, come fire," Raven began chanting. "May your days be dark and your path be treacherous. May your foes be many and your allies few. And may you stand tall and emerge victorious. For you are indomitable."
Troy's body started to glow a faint orange. The wound closed and Shay knew the pain had disappeared too. He had gotten the same mantra from Raven when she unlocked his. At least he didn't have to lose an arm for it.
When it was done, Raven removed her hand and stepped back. "The arm was useless. You'd have to be repairing it every day with your aura. You're better off without it," Raven said. "You don't have much, so watch how you use it. Shay will teach you the basics."
Troy looked amazed at his stump, either from the lack of pain or the fact he was missing an arm now. "Thank you, ma'am," he whispered.
"There's no need to thank me," she said. "You survived a Karkadann attack. Be proud." She turned to Shay. "Find some rope and tie her up. Leave her in my tent. I want to keep an eye on her."
Shay looked down at Pyrrha. "Hear that? We're family now," he snickered. He and Troy both went to leave when they were stopped by Raven coughing.
"Troy? Aren't you forgetting something?" Raven said.
They looked back and saw Raven pointing at Troy's severed arm, still lying on the floor.
"Oh, right, yeah," Troy stuttered, scrambling back to pick up his arm. He looked horrified when he held the limb in his hand. Shay hoped for his sake that he wouldn't throw up. All the aura in the world wouldn't protect him if he did.
The second they left the tent, Shay was back to his old self. "That went pretty well," he laughed as they walked through camp. "You got your aura unlocked and I'm a local hero. Not bad, eh?"
"I'm holding my arm in my hand," Troy murmured.
"Don't look at it like that. It's your arm. Have some pride." Shay nudged him. "This'll be funny. Let's sneak it under Vernal's pillow when she's asleep. We'll pretend the tooth fairy had a nasty accident visiting her."
Troy stared at him. "If I wake up tomorrow and realise this isn't a dream, I'm gonna beat you to death with this," he swore.
Shay felt fuzzy inside. Once again, no tricks. Just pure honesty.
[/]
Ozpin should've made more bird people. That was Qrow's opinion. If he wanted to know more about the goings-on in Remnant, he would've made a whole flock of bird people, not just two.
As if his job wasn't hard enough. Watching over Ruby and her friends was already stressful, but then he noticed that Pyrrha Nikos was off on her own little journey. He wasn't gonna let Ozpin's successor for the Fall Maiden's powers slip under the radar, so he had to schedule when he'd watch over her too. He'd fly back and forth; a few hours with Ruby, and a few hours with Pyrrha.
Was it too much to ask for a few more eyes in the sky? Oh no, no, no, just go ahead and die, Oz. Leave him with all the work. Thank you very much!
He watched carefully from the branch he was perched on. The Branwen Tribe. That name made the blood in his little bird body boil. He wouldn't even be here if he hadn't seen some goons carry Pyrrha to his oh so lovely sister. He didn't know what Raven was planning with her, but he knew it wasn't good. If only that bullshit twin telepathy myth was actually true.
At least he knew Ruby's team was alright. They had found a village to stay the night. That allowed him to stay here and play the waiting game. Would he jump in right away and potentially make things worse? Or would he wait to see the situation play out before doing anything? Pyrrha could handle herself fine in a fight, but it wasn't a fight he was worried about.
Don't screw up again, kid, he thought to himself.
