Apologies for missing last week's release, real life intervened. Here's the next set of cut snippets along with the usual notes about why they were removed. Hopefully everyone enjoys, today is going to be all about the many Raven elements that got cut (mostly out of act 3).
For those that missed it, I've self-published a pair of books and have a third currently in the editing phase. So that is definitely the death-knell to any idea of me writing a sequel to Student of Vacuo, though I do still plan on doing a heavy editing pass in the near future to fix the many grammatical problems.
If you want to know more about the books, wish to discuss Student of Vacuo, want to adopt either of my other RWBY concepts, or you think you'd like to do a sequel: Feel free to PM me or join my discord at:V EHqnnVqcg
Thanks, Kat
An extension to the discussion between Taiyang and Raven regarding the Spring Maiden. Originally intended to setup Vernal playing a role in the story, cut when the plot was simplified and the Tribe was relegated.
Taiyang let out a long, slow breath, finishing his cup as well. "Something like that. I don't approve... but the world's getting dark, you probably know that as well as anyone. I want to end this war before Yang and Ruby have to learn what we did."
Raven's small smirk faded into a scowl, "Then you're years too late. They're involved now, and no amount of deluded questing on your part will change that. You should be encouraging them to stand on their own legs instead of trying to martyr yourself to protect them."
Tai felt his anger rise up again... then narrowed his eyes. Every word out of her mouth, every bit of this conversation... she'd been pushing his buttons. Baiting him, trying to keep him angry, keep him from focusing. The revelation of what Yang was involved in, trying to stoke his own anger at Ozpin...
"What are you hiding?" He asked quietly, feeling the calm roll back as he let slowly tried to let go of the rage. "Is it the Spring Maiden?"
Raven stared at him without expression, without saying anything.
"That girl outside... you called her Vernal." Tai puzzled over that, "But I've seen pictures of Spring, she's much darker skinned, and would be far older by now. Oh... gods, Raven, tell me you didn't."
She let out a sharp breath, "That girl was pathetic, fleeing Haven, fleeing everything. We took her in, tried to train her... and she wouldn't learn a damned thing. All she did was whine and cry about her pathetic fate, that she didn't want her powers. We tried to make her strong, and when that failed, I tried to teach her to hide her talent, I thought at least that would conceal her from Salem for one lifetime."
Tai set his cup down, listening raptly, praying she was telling the truth.
"Then..." Raven's jaw worked, "The emotional little wreck of a brat decided to leave, decided we weren't good enough anymore. We told her she wasn't ready, wasn't capable, and that she wasn't going anywhere. Better she be a prisoner here instead of fodder for Salem... and she attacked us. Vernal landed the killing blow after Spring killed her parents in front of her."
He reached up and rubbed at his face, "...why are you just telling me this?"
That earned him a somewhat arch look, "We're you going to snoop around for several days trying to find her? Maybe send Qrow as well once you returned to Vale?"
"Well... yeah." He admitted.
"I hardly need a stalker following us as we move camp." She shook her head once, "And you would have already heard Vernal's name, and thought up all kinds of stories. Tell Ozpin that Spring is mine, and she's not going anywhere."
Taiyang nodded slightly, "All right... but we we could really use her help, yours too."
Genuine anger entered her own expression, "No, Tai. I will never be used by that man, or by anyone else, ever again."
The original first meeting between Raven and Yang, intended to take place shortly before the Dance / Breach. Cut because it didn't quite fit in anywhere, and didn't quite feel right.
Yang made it until Friday before Ruby couldn't take it anymore.
"Yang." Her tiny sister scowled at her, clearly trying to imitate Weiss, and clearly looking more like an angry puppy than an angry team leader. "You've been freaking out about what dad said since Monday morning, could you please calm down just a tiny bit?"
"I'm fine Rubes." She shook her head, "Really, I'm good."
Weiss scoffed. "Yang, you've been as moody and anti-social as Blake over the last two days." Said dark haired girl gave Weiss a dirty look that went ignored as the ice queen continued, "Look, we get it, your birth mother promised she'd get in touch with you this week, and you're nervous and a little stressed... but the foot tapping is becoming irritating."
Her foot was tapping? She glanced under the cafeteria table and blinked when saw her knee going up and down.
"And the sighing." Blake added, flipping a page in her book, "And the talking to yourself."
Yang blinked. "I've been talking to myself?"
"Yup." Ruby nodded, "You were just wondering if you should hug her, or punch her, or hug her and then punch, or just punch her a dozen times or so."
...oh. She'd been debating that, yeah, but she'd been sure it had just been in her own head.
Her sister continued, "I think you should got talk to Jaune about it. We can tell Doctor Oobleck that family stuff is bugging you, and you can borrow Weiss' notes later."
"Ruby, I mean it, I'm f-"
"Yang." Silver eyes narrowed. "Go. See. Jaune. Or I will pay Nora in pancakes to drag you there."
Yang stared at her, then sighed and turned to glare at Weiss. "I blame you for this. This whole responsible team leader thing? Your fault."
Weiss sniffed disdainfully as she lifted her cup of tea, but Yang could still see the almost proud smirk on the other girl's lips. Sighing, she glanced at Blake and found her partner still utterly occupied with her smutty book, another page flicking as her eyes ran left to right.
"Don't look at me." Blake said without looking up. "I agree with Ruby."
"Traitor." She muttered as she got up, "Betrayed by my best friend... what is Remnant coming to? Next thing I know you'll be helping Ilia turn my hair pink."
Blake rolled her eyes, "Keep your voice down unless you want to give her ideas."
"As if I'd let her get me with that twice." Yang countered, but she still made a quick check to be sure that Ilia hadn't heard. Since the poor girl was currently at the end of the table being shaken by Nora as an epic tale of something was being told, she felt fairly safe in assuming she hadn't. "Fine, fine, I'll go talk to him if it'll make you all feel better."
"It will," Ruby visibly relaxed, "And it'll make you feel better too, and you know it."
Privately Yang was more doubtful on that, but she gave her sister a grin and a wave as she headed for the exit. Don't get her wrong, Jaune was a great guy, for a teacher. He was giving Ilia and Blake someone to vent and talk to, which seemed to be helping them both quite a bit, and he seemed to be helping Pyrrha be a bit more assertive in social situations.
But none of her friends' moms was a huntress turned super-bandit who'd ditched you when you quite a year old.
Then again... she was pretty sure Weiss wasn't even on speaking terms with either of her parents, Pyrrha obviously had a small mountain of issues even if only Ilia knew the details, Blake and Ilia were former terrorists, and Ren and Nora were both orphans who hadn't ever really given anyone else any details. By those standards, a girl with a disappeared mom but a functional dad and uncle was pretty lucky.
"I really need to stop dwelling on this." Yang sighed as she walked outside, rubbing at her forehead.
She'd already had a mom after all, a real one, who'd come home from hunts to bake cookies and tell them stories of her fights against the Grimm. Summer had been amazing, had spent nearly ever waking moment when she was home with her and Ruby, and had never once seemed to care that she hadn't given birth to her. Her only flaw had been that she'd cared too much... a lot like Ruby.
It was one of her worst memories... Summer and dad arguing about Summer going out on a mission. Qrow had gotten hurt on their last assignment, he hadn't been healed and ready to go... Tai had wanted her to cancel the trip, to have someone else go, but Summer hadn't wanted to hear it. That would have been a delay, a delay that might have cost lives... and so she'd gone out alone; determined to keep being the hero she was.
And she'd never come back.
Yang shook her head, feet taking her off of the paths and into the gardens and trees, taking the slow way to the central tower.
If Raven could make portals to people she cared about... why hadn't she been there for Summer? Why hadn't she saved her? Why hadn't she been there when Yang had dragged Ruby out into the wilderness? Why had she only started watching her like a creepy stalker when she'd started attending Signal? It couldn't have bee to avoid dead, since he'd started teaching there well before she'd started.
She slowed, letting out a slow breath as the wind rustled leaves above her. "Mom?"
It was a stupid thing to do, but she'd started doing it when she was alone outside ever since Qrow had told her that her mom was stalking her. That she could be nearby at any moment... but, as always, the only response was the wind.
"Why do I even bother?" She demanded out loud. "Why do I even care?"
It just didn't make any sense. She shouldn't care. Her mom, her real mother... was Summer Rose, and she was gone. Raven Branwen was a stranger in every way that mattered. Yang shouldn't have given a damn about who she was, what she did, where she'd gone...
But she did.
"Dammit." Yang muttered tiredly, not sure who she was cursing before raising her voice again, "Raven! We need to talk!"
She nearly had a heart attack when a woman scoffed from somewhere nearby, "Oh, are you done brooding then?"
Yang did her best not to yelp, stumbling back and whipping her head around. There wasn't anyone around her, and after a moment the same person spoke, "Yang. There are three dimensions."
A muscle in her cheek twitched as she looked up, and spotted a dark form lounging in the branches of the tree. She could just make out the mask covering her mother's features, the same red and black outfit in the pictures she'd seen, the same massive weapon resting in her lap.
"You... you're here." The words came out before she could stop it. "...I didn't think you'd show, not after seventeen years. Even after dad said you would.."
"There are reasons for that." Her mother replied, not coming down from her perch.
Yang felt her eyes brighten to furious scarlet. "Are there? I'd love to hear them, mom."
"You might regret that." Raven said, her voice level. "It will change the way you think, about a lot of things. Your family, your Uncle... and this school."
"What, trying to scare me?" She scoffed, "Seriously? All I want to know is why you left us, why you were never there! Why you ran off to be some stupid bandit instead of being there! I don't care about anything else!"
There was a shift, then her mother lightly dropped out of the tree, landing in a low crouch. She rose in a smooth motion, and Yang fought the urge to step back from the soulless mask starting back at her. "Then you are nothing more than a child wailing in the night. If you don't start caring about more than such small things, if you don't start asking better questions, you're going to end up just like your blind uncle... and your fool of a father."
And just like that, the anger roared back in, she was surging forwards before she realized she was moving.
"Don't you dare-!"
Her mother neatly ducked the haymaker aimed at the center of her head, triggering something on her weapon as she did. The hilt of the sword shot out from the chamber, ramming into Yang's gut, making her choke and gasp on her words.
Raven seemed to blur, something impacting both of her legs and sending her tumbling, her back striking the tree as she coughed, trying to catch her breath. There was a flicker of motion, and she felt her heart almost stop as a thick blade made of pure dust brushed against her left ear before sinking almost entirely into the tree.
"You also need to work on your temper." The masked face leaned in until it was just a few inches in front of her nose. "That was pathetic."
She could only stare, feeling the cold blade still touching her skin. "...what?"
"You need to actually think in a fight, not just react." Her mother stated flatly, drawing the blade free. "Is this not the kind of lesson that you've been teaching her, Professor?"
Yang startled slightly when Jaune's voice carried through the garden. "I don't think I was quite that blunt about it."
"Then perhaps you should be." Raven stepped back and off to one side, letting Yang see Professor Arc standing off to one side. He'd actually drawn his sword, but he held it low and at his side rather than up and at the ready. "She's strong, determined... but also arrogant, short sighted. I'd rather not see my daughter die because she mistook possessing a temper tantrum of a semblance for having actual skill."
She felt her teeth grind as she pushed herself to her feet, "...I'm starting to get why Uncle Qrow doesn't like you. What are you doing here Jaune?"
"Ruby texted that you were looking for me." The teacher replied, his eyes entirely on her mom. "Figured I'd meet you halfway and heard you shouting... I take it this is your mother?"
"Unfortunately." Yang muttered. "Jaune Arc, Raven Branwen. Mom, my teacher."
"I know who he is, Yang." Raven replied shifting so that she could keep both of them in front of her. "His classes have proven to be interesting viewing."
The open admission that her mother had been practically stalking her made her anger start to stir again, and made the professor's eyes narrow slightly. "I don't recall you participating in my course... but I also don't think this is the kind of conversation we should be having out in the gardens. Perhaps we should retire to a more private area."
"It is also," Raven spoke before she could, "Not one to be had in front of outsiders. In either case, I am out of time for the day. Ozpin has become aware of my presence, and I would rather not end my day with a fight to the death against the school's headmaster."
Yang narrowed her eyes, "What? That's it? You just show up to taunt me?"
"I showed up to tell you I am free all weekend." Her mother replied sharply, "You are the one who lost her temper. If you want answers to all of your questions and more, take the early morning Bullhead to Vale alone. I will meet you there."
"As if I'd meet you alone." She shook her head sharply. "I don't trust you."
Her mouth dropped open when Raven nodded, "Good. You shouldn't trust anyone just because they showed up in your life and offered you something... you have to question everything, and everyone. Bring your partner, if it will make you feel better. I'm sure she'd find my knowledge... enlightening."
Yang felt her fists clench, "Do you really have to be such a bitch?"
Her mother's mask seemed to stare at her, then her arm twitched, and red and black light washed over her body as Raven took a step back into the portal she'd just summoned. It winked out before she or Jaune could take a step forwards to try and do anything about it... leaving Yang standing in the gardens with a confused looking teacher... and again leaving her with far more questions than answers.
The second draft of Raven meeting with Yang, this time taking place at Beacon. Cut because it also didn't quite feel right, and their conversation was instead moved to after the Breach.
...continuing down the path and leaving him to his own devices. It wasn't a long walk around the outer perimeter of the building to where one of Beacon's infiltrators was holding his class, the hedges and trees giving way to a small clearing that lead to another path towards the cliffs.
She followed it, emerging from the gardens in short order, and found a broad space occupied with teenagers. Most were sitting or standing in a broad circle, leaving space near the cliffs themselves for the current spar underway. Her feet slowed to a stop behind everyone else as she observed the 'fight' in progress.
It was an utterly confused melee, with twelve students plus the mute huntress all engaged in hand to hand combat. It actually looked something like a real brawl, or at least far more so than what she had come to expect from students, and she found herself intrigued as it continued.
The goal, as she worked out about twenty seconds in, was to be the team to capture the diminutive woman. However, only one team could actually win, and actually tackling the slippery target was leading to the mess she was observing. Two teams established some kind of temporary truce to work together that promptly fell apart when the third team didn't coordinate with them, a situation not helped when the huntress got a hold of one of the team leaders and fell into a roll that flung him over the cliff's edge.
Footsteps made her glance aside, Arc himself walking her direction though his eyes remained on the fight. A seconds' sweep of her eyes revealed her daughter's team off to the left, too absorbed in the spectacle to have noticed her yet.
"Professor." She drawled as he arrived, standing beside her.
"Miss Branwen." He replied quietly, making her lips twitch in approval. "Can't say I expected to see you at Beacon."
"A woman can't visit her daughter?"
Arc hummed, his voice still low. "They can, but bandit leaders aren't usually welcome at schools."
"Neither are criminals." She responded, just as softly, smiling more openly as his entire body tensed. "Relax. I'm as fond of Ozpin as you are, though you already knew that."
He let out a slow breath, but didn't relax, a hand subtly coming to rest on the hilt of his weapon... impressing her further in the process. She'd never revealed herself to him, and he knew who she was, what she did, and he was appropriately wary of her. It seemed she had been right in her assessment after all.
"To some extent," Arc murmured, "I think we need to talk over the details. This weekend?"
"Saturday, after sunset, leave your office window open." Raven nodded, "But for today, I am here to see my daughter, I will be taking her from class."
Bright blue eyes narrowed slightly, probably because she had stated both rather than asking for his opinion or permission. Then he took a long, slow breath, removed his hand from his weapon and affixed the smile that seemed to be his default expression back on to his face. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. If you could, tell her team they're free to go with or call it a day."
She tipped her head slightly as he walked away, easily moving through the students towards the brawl in progress. The motion evidently drew attention their way, as when she turned back towards her daughter she found Summer's brat staring at her in something like pure shock. A shaking hand reached up to frantically tug at Yang's arm, and when that got batted aside so that her daughter could keep watching the fight, the little rose physically grabbed her head and forced her to look.
Yang's jaw all but fell off of her head, making Raven shake her head as she started walking in their direction. A few other students noticed her, but merely gave her curious glances before their attention was drawn to Arc as the teacher called the spar complete.
She only half listened as he started remonstrating the various children for not doing the obvious move; throwing her off the cliff and all achieving a draw by ring-out, instead watching as Yang slowly got to her feet, her eyes locked onto hers.
"Mom?" Her daughter's voice was disbelieving as her team quickly rose, the Schnee and the faunus looking uncertain, while Rose's expression kept changing between hopeful and afraid.
"Yang." Raven replied, stopping a meter or so away. "Did you father forget to mention that I was coming?"
"He... did." Yang managed after a second, "But... I didn't really think... what are you doing at Beacon?"
She lifted an eyebrow. "That can't be a serious question."
"It kind of is! You're... a you know! And this is Beacon!"
Raven rolled her eyes, "Use full sentences, I didn't come all the way to Vale to listen to my only daughter babble like an idiot. You've been excused from classes for the rest of the day, I'm taking you to the mall complex so that we can talk."
Lilac eyes had started to redden after the first sentence. "...seventeen years, and you just show up now, out of the blue? Say we're going to talk!?"
"I'm sure you've got questions-"
"You're damned right I do!" Yang's roar had the entire class around them go silent as heat began to shimmer around her hair. "And you're going to answer them right now!"
Tai... of all the things you gave her, your temper was hardly necessary.
"Yang." Rose grabbed onto her sisters arm, "Calm down!"
Yang shook her off, stepping forwards, "Why!?"
She regarded her without any real expression on her features. "You need to calm down. A temper tantrum will hardly convince me to stay, I would have thought your fool of a father-"
Her daughter snapped.
Raven twisted her head to the side to avoid the berserker punch that had been thrown, her arms snapping up to grab the arm before Yang could retract it. Twisting her entire body, she heaved her daughter up and over her hip before slamming her face into the grassy soil. A booted foot came down on her spine before she could struggle free, her arm being wrenched back as Yang gasped in pain.
"Slow. Sloppy. Unfocused." She recited into the silence, ignoring Yang's struggles as Raven pulled a bit more on the arm she held making her let out a breathy sound of pain. "I could have cut this off in the time it took you to reach me. Your semblance is useless if you let it think for you, if you do not connect on your attack."
Her fingers let go, and her foot dipped to get beneath her daughter's stomach. A sharp kick as she struggled to get up sent her tumbling back over to her sister, who'd seemed to freeze halfway towards drawing her weapon.
"I'm willing to answer any questions you have." Raven continued, a hand reaching back to grasp her weapon as Yang's red eyes snapped up to hers. "But attack me again at your own risk, I won't go easy on you a second time."
Yang's jaw tightened, and she stepped forwards once more, only for rose petals to blur as her sister appeared before her. "Yang, no! She's here to talk! Please!"
The faunus quickly stepped up as well, wincing at the heat but still placing a restraining hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Yang, everyone's staring at us. You really want to do this in public?"
"...no." Yang bowed her head, the fire in her hair slowly trailing away as she let out a breath. "...you said any questions. You mean that?"
"Yes." She stated simply, walking forwards until she was a mere foot or so away from her daughter, voice lowering. "It's time for you to know the truth."
Of all the things Ruby hadn't expected to do today, her and Yang ending up at a restaurant with Yang's mom was definitely not on the list. She'd tried to get Weiss and Blake to come with, but they'd said that family business should stay private, they didn't want to interfere.
Which was nice of them, she guessed, but she could have really used some help.
I mean... what I am I even supposed to say? Or think? She fiddled nervously with her cup of water, glancing at the woman who looked so much like Yang had when she'd had her hair dyed. Hi! I'm the daughter of the woman who stole dad when you left, by the way, heard you're a baddie... what's that like?
It also didn't help that Raven had pulled her weapon off of the strap she'd had it on, resting it against their table... and it was insane. There had to be a few dozen blades forged from raw dust in the chamber, with some kind of launching mechanism. She'd never even considered what kind of edge dust might hold, if it would lend elemental effects to the cuts or-
"You're exactly like your mother." Raven evidently noted her attention, "I'll tell you the same thing I told her. Touch my weapon, and that hand won't touch anything else again."
"Sorry!" She squeaked on reflex.
"You sound just like her too." The woman sighed, "Well Yang? You haven't spoken since we arrived."
"I was waiting for you to answer my question." Yang replied flatly, having not touched the soda she'd ordered. "Why?"
"Why what?" Her mom asked, lifting her iced tea and sipping from it. "Why did I leave Ozpin? Why didn't I take an infant with me back to the tribe? Why didn't your father understand my decision? Some of those are obvious, some I would like to know as well."
Yang let out a slow breath, visibly fighting to keep her temper. "...why didn't you come back?"
"I did. Two years after I left, I had the tribe in sufficient shape to know they wouldn't collapse if I departed for a few days or weeks." Red eyes narrowed. "...Let's just say I was disappointed with what I found when I returned. Your father and I exchanged words, and then we exchanged blows. He and Qrow drove me back and told me to never involve myself in their lives, or yours."
Ruby winced while Yang's mouth twisted. "Really? Blaming them? I know what your semblance is, you could have visited at any time?"
Raven rolled her eyes, "I do have a life of my own, Yang. I could hardly spend every waking moment stalking your for that single hour when you were entirely alone."
"Oh yeah, life as a bandit queen." Yang countered, "What's that like? Fulfilling?"
First draft of Raven and Yang meeting at the hospital, cut because the amount of activity there made the scene illogical in my head.
Yang kept her left arm tightly wrapped around Blake as her partner helped her sneak out of the room she was sharing with Ruby, their slumbering dad not so much as twitching as the pair of them slipped away.
"And..." She tried not to pant with the effort of just walking. "You're sure... she's still here?"
"I'm sure." Blake murmured, the pair of them very slowly moving down the empty halls. It was well past four in the morning, and the crash after the fight was apparently very real. The small waiting area nearby was packed with people she knew, sprawled over chairs or even on the floor. Ren and Nora were all over each other in a corner, while Pyrrha and Ilia sat side by side, the faunus' girls head resting on Pyrrha's shoulder while the champion's face was buried in her hair.
Jaune and Neo were sprawled out on the floor, Jaune's coat acting a pillow while Miss Neo was resting her head on his chest... though strangely Weiss was right beside them as well, curled up in a ball with her back pressed up against Neo's, the older woman's bloody coat serving to rest her own head.
"What's... up with Weiss-queen?"
Blake glanced at her as they shuffled past, and actually smiled a little. "Winter is going to make it. She came in to tell us that, then went over here and just collapsed."
Yang... could understand that, she'd almost had a panic attack when she'd noticed Ruby laying in the room's other bed. If Blake hadn't been right next to her, ready to calm her down, she might have freaked entirely.
They made it to the duty station before they ran into someone else who was awake, a male nurse who gave them a rather severe look.
"I've got her." Blake assured the young man before he could say anything, "We're just going to the next lounge."
He still didn't look thrilled, but evidently wasn't in the mood to argue with a huntress. Yang felt his eyes on her back as she forced her aching legs to keep going, finding more students in chairs near the elevator. All of MINT, down for the count... and right beyond them, evidently sitting guard outside of another room, was three quarters of CRDL.
"Dove is inside." Her partner murmured. "He got cut pretty bad, he'll have scars but nothing long term."
Long term... not like her, she meant.
Yang swallowed, glancing down at her right side once again... and fought down tears or a scream or just anything at the sight of a stump where part of her had once been.
"He's... he's really dead, right?"
Blake nodded, "General Ironwood crippled him, Miss Neo killed him... they called me and Ilia out a few hours ago to confirm it was really him."
Her eyes half closed as she let out a ragged breath, "...you don't sound upset. Thought you liked him."
"...the Adam I loved died a long time ago." Her voice lowered, "Whatever was left of him just... hadn't gotten the message yet. I heard what he said to you, saw what he did to Ruby. I'd have pulled the trigger myself if I could have."
Yang bowed her head, "...thank you, Blake."
"Thank the General and Miss Neo." Blake replied. "They're the ones who killed him."
"I will." She replied, "But... I meant for Rubes. For saving her."
The other girl shook her head, "I... we can talk about that later, we're here."
She glanced around as Blake slowed them down, spotting a second waiting area. This one, however, was empty except for a single woman who seemed to have claimed the entire area for her own.
Her mom looked... a lot like her, just older. Red eyes glanced up from the book in her hands as the pair of them arrived, the novel shutting as it was set beside a Grimm style mask on a chair beside her. She didn't rush over to hug her, or get teary eyed, or... do much of anything really. Just rested her elbows on her knees and leaned forwards, regarding them without much expression.
"Hey mom." Yang rasped, stopping a few feet away.
"Yang." Her mother replied. "Up and around already? Impressive."
"...that's it?" She demanded, as forcefully as she could. Which wasn't all that much really, but it was the thought that counted. "All these years... all the searching... and you just..."
Raven lifted an eyebrow. "Just what?"
"Just sit there!" Yang gasped, trying to wave an arm at her... then feeling her heart throb in pain as she realized she'd just failed her stump around. "Why?"
"I was tired of standing."
She just... gaped at her.
"Honestly." The woman rolled her eyes and stood with a quiet groan of effort before stretching out her arms, "We're in a public venue, this is hardly the time or place for a proper discussion and you know it. Come on."
Yang blinked as her mother began to collect up her things, tucking her book away and taking her mask in both hands. "...I'm kind of wounded."
Raven flicked a hand out, and a steady buzz filled the air as red and black power swirled. "You wanted answers, didn't you? I will tell you anything you want to know... if you're strong enough to follow."
Her teeth ground together, Blake stiffening as the woman walked into the swirling energy and simply vanished. "Yang... we should go back to bed."
"Yeah... we should." She agreed, "But that wouldn't get me answers."
Blake licked her lips, "What happens if she doesn't send us back?"
"Us? No, I'm-"
"You can barely walk Yang." Her partner shook her head, "I'm not letting you out of my sight."
Yang turned to glare at her, "I already almost got Ruby killed tonight, I'm not about to-"
Blake's arm tightened around her waist, and then she threw her forwards as hard as she could. Yang gaped in surprise, tried to catch herself, and promptly overbalanced thanks to the giant missing weight from the right side of her body. She had time to glare at her partner before she fell through the portal, Blake right behind her.
For a brief moment everything was dark... then she was falling onto her ass onto some kind of wooden floor, Blake nimbly leaping over her as she emerged as well.
"Well," Another woman drawled, "That was graceful."
Yang grimaced, getting her head up to see a short-haired girl with ice-blue eyes smirking at her as she stepped away from some kind of table. "Tea is ready, Raven."
"Thank your Vernal, you may go."
Getting upright, or at least properly sitting, left her more than a little dizzy... and she didn't even have the strength to shove off Blake when her jerk of a partner helped steady her. Once the world stopped spinning, she looked around more closely, and found herself in the middle of an enormous tent.
The decoration was... eclectic. There was an advanced holo-table in one corner, next to an antique map of Remnant, itself overlooking a pile of SDC containers... themselves next to a king sized bed with at least five different kinds of blankets on top of it.
"Welcome to Anima." Raven was already settling herself on the other side of a small table, "The tea is better when it's hot."
A mixed scene intended to combine Yang's training under Raven along with her and Jaune coordinating their plans. A late Act 3 cut, removed for pacing and exhaustion on my end.
Raven Branwen tapped a finger in a rhythmic beat against the hilt of her sword, watching her portal.
"This is childish Yang."
Her daughter's voice, distorted somewhat by the power, promptly carried through. "Screw you!"
She let out an irritated exhalation. "You intend to turn down the power and knowledge I offer? Out of some petulant sense of pride?"
"Hell no! I'm turning you down because you're a bitch who was never there for me!"
That had hardly been Raven's fault, but she doubted her stubborn brat of a child was in any mood to listen. "Very well then."
A gesture saw the portal vanish, and even through their limited connection she could feel Yang's smug triumph. That lasted for the fifteen or so seconds it took her to refocus her semblance and open a new portal parallel to the ground and about eight feet up, a high pitch scream being almost immediately followed by a thud as her daughter planted her face into the mud.
There was a short pause, then a faunus lightly fell down through the air as well, landing in an easy crouch... and a moment after that, a blonde Professor came through as well.
Excellent.
A dismissive wave of her hand dispersed her talent before anyone else could come through. "Welcome to the banks of the Black River."
Her daughter spat mud out of her mouth, hacking and glaring at her with blazing scarlet eyes. "Bitch!"
"Lesson number one is going to be learning to control that temper you inherited from your father." Raven informed her. "You were taught how to swim, yes?"
Yang got up onto her knees, her hand clenched into a fist. "What the fuck does that-"
Vernal struck her before she could finish, her protege seizing her daughter by her single arm as she flew over Yang's head, her entire body twisting as she came down in a roll... her grip release the moment her motion had Yang at the right angle to be flung out into the placid waters.
"If her eyes are still red when she returns, throw her back out there." Raven instructed, turning away from the spluttering sounds as her daughter thrashed her way back to the surface. "Assist only if you are sure she is drowning."
"Yes, Raven." Vernal replied, smirking as she planted her hands on her hips, clearly looking forwards to this.
While her daughter's professor looked calm, her partner's feline ears were flat with anger. "...you're just like how she described you."
"If she can't learn to control her emotions she's going to lose more than an arm the next time she encounters someone more powerful than she." She replied flatly. "If being thrown into the water is too humiliating for her fragile go then she has no business being on a battlefield."
Belladonna flinched, looking to where Yang was probably struggling with her one good arm to swim back to the shore. "She just lost an arm... a part of her body is gone. I think she's earned some degree of compassion."
"Then you're a fool." Raven countered. "There is no shame in being wounded in battle, but there is shame in not learning from it, in striving to grow in power so that it will never happen again. She has spent the last week doing little but mope and whine about her lot in life, and I will not tolerate such behavior."
The faunus narrowed her golden eyes to slits, clearly ready to retort hotly to that, only to stay silent as her professor rested a hand on her shoulder. "Jaune?"
"Try to be civil." He advised gently. "Don't piss off the only person who can get us back to Vale in under a month."
There was a grimace... then a reluctant nod. "What should we do?"
Arc nodded over to where Yang had gotten back, throwing a furious punch at Vernal... and overbalancing herself entirely without her right arm to even out her weight. Her protege lazily leaned back, grabbed Yang by the wrist and by the scalp, spun herself around once to get some momentum... then threw her back out into the water.
"Why don't you work on your hand to hand." He suggested.
Belladonna exhaled slowly, gave her a dark look, then shot forwards with little sound to come at Vernal's back.
"I don't recall offering training to more than merely my daughter." Raven noted as the two young women engaged one another, Yang shouted sputtered insults and encouragement in equal measure as she once again began swimming back.
"True." Arc agreed, "But I thought it implied since you invited Blake with, and personally I'd rather her not get involved in our conversation."
She snorted, "The girl is already involved, whether or not she knows it. She became involved the moment she attended that school, and was unfortunate enough to be partnered with my daughter."
To her surprise, the man actually bowed his head, as though honestly troubled by those facts. "That... may be true, but I would still rather team RWBY be kept out of this, if it is at all possible."
This was intended to be one of several scenes involving Yang, Blake, and Raven in Act 3, showing how that half of team RWBY was handling what was going on around them while showcasing Yang's complicated feelings towards her birth mother. Cut for pacing.
Blake Belladonna pursed her lips as a mop of blonde appeared in her lap, Yang showing no concern at all she shoved the book up into her face in order to make room.
"Yang..." She sighed as her partner got comfortable, sprawling out in the afternoon sunshine. "What are you doing?"
"Making Sun insanely jealous." Yang replied lazily, her single arm coming up to rest over her eyes. "How's it going?"
Glancing up, she found Sun quickly enough, the young man utterly distracted as he stared at the pair of them. That lasted until Ruby whipped her javelin over his knuckles, making him yelp and duck back before she could follow it up by bashing him over the head with it.
"He's either jealous, or so excited he's about to have a nosebleed." She reported.
"Yay." Yang yawned. "Take a picture if he does."
Blake sighed, reluctantly setting aside her book as she realized her friend wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. "You know I'd go in after you if she opens a portal under you again."
"Hrn...yeah, I know," Another yawn, "But no training today, said she had other things to do."
"...and you believe her?"
"Nope." Yang popped the end of the word with her lips, "That's why I'm resting instead of being out there with everyone else."
She hummed quietly at that, looking up once more. The gardens near the central tower had shifted from Jaune's unofficial classroom to becoming the unofficial place to be on the weekends, at least among the first years. Mostly because the training arenas were constantly booked by the upper years, and had been ever since the Breach.
Today was fairly slow paced, and nothing like the impromptu tournament that had started up last Saturday. Miss Neo, aided by Weiss, was working Sable Arc through properly sword play, while Ruby, Sun, and Neptune alternated light sessions with one another. The rest of team SSSN was over with team MINT, helping Meral try out some new strategy she wanted to use in Jaune's class.
It was quiet and peaceful, mostly because CRDL and RAVN were conspicuous in their absence.
Yang nodded as best she could when Blake brought it up, "No idea on CRDL, but Ilia said they got dragged into stopping some kind of gang fight when they went clubbing, then got questioned by Ozpin all night. I think they went right back to bed after breakfast."
Blake felt her left ear twitch once. "It wasn't more faunus violence, was it?"
"Don't think so..." Her face scrunched up a little beneath her arm, "...think it was more fighting over Torchwick's old turf."
"Ah." She nodded in understanding. That kind of thing had been a kind of constant refrain in the news over the last month. "Did they finally find him?"
"Don't think so."
"Dammit..." Blake hissed softly. "...how they could not have found him yet?"
Yang shrugged a little, "He's been avoiding the cops for a decade or something and knows what he's doing?"
Glowering, she reached down and gently whacked a hand over her partner's head. "That was a rhetorical question Yang. I know, I just... wish there was a way to do more."
"Don't let Jaune hear you talking like that." Yang reminded her, her tones shifting a little. "Or Miss G. Weiss said she heard her telling off an upper year team that tried to go out and play vigilante last week, she'd probably blow a gasket if you tried something."
"I know." She repeated with a tired sigh.
"Cheer up kitty cat." Yang lazily reached up and poked her on the chin, ignoring the irritated glare Blake sent at her, "News isn't all bad, right? White Fang kicked all the Vale people out, and turned over a bunch of others to Mistral police didn't they?"
"They did," Blake allowed, grabbing the offending hand and pushing it away, "And I'm happy about that, I just wish-"
She didn't get to finish the statement, on account of the fact that the ground beneath them abruptly ceased supporting their weight.
Yang tried, as she always did, to leap up and away, but the portal gave her no leverage to work with. So instead she mostly just got tangled up with a similarly started Blake for several seconds as they flailed in mid-air, right before a couple hundred pounds of huntress slammed into solid dirt.
Blake groaned, appreciating the return of gravity, not appreciating the fact that Yang had ended up on top of her at some point in their tumbling.
"Emulating your father already?" The voice of one of her least favorite people sounded entirely too amused, "I'm almost impressed, Yang."
There was a growling sound as Yang dragged her head off of Blake's chest, which her lungs rather appreciated, "Mom... I see you're as much of a liar as I thought you were."
There should be enough material for one, maybe two more of these files. Hopefully everyone is enjoying, should have some Pyrrha & Ilia for you next time.
Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
Thanks, Kat