Well, well, well, I bet you guys thought that I was dead and-or done with writing fanfiction. Naturally, you'd be wrong if you thought that since I am returning as of this moment. As a short explanation as to what I've been doing in these past few weeks and months, I was writing and finishing an original story CrowSkull and I came up with and have been planning for over a year, and I am here to announce that the book has been fully written and in now in the editing-slash-sharpen up phase. Of course, it goes without saying that I will let all of you know when the book is published, of which I plan to publish it to Amazon, and I hope to see some of your support for me head over there as well. With that said, I am back! And Blind Huntsman shall continue!

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 106

Volume 4, Episode 6

Expectations

Weiss walked tensely alongside a rather large party of bandits surrounding her. She would have commented that they had to resort to all that just for one girl if she didn't know any better. These people were just bandits, not trained by any professional, and likely relied on raw strength and what brutish experience they had when targeting villages for raiding. If she wasn't so tired and out of aura after her great escape from Atlas and those Lancers, she may have tried to escape already. However, not while knowing that Malienna, her friend's young sister, was there. What shocked her was that the little girl didn't look frightened at all as she walked next to her. She didn't know the girl extremely well, only meeting her every once in a while but just enough that they knew and trusted each other. It frightened her to see such a young girl walking around with bandits without a care in the world, it was like the bandits and she were friends, or they at least tolerated her. That brought her back to the grown woman walking just behind her, her silent threat to cut her down with her long deep red sword if she tried anything stupid. She looked back at her over her shoulder, seeing tense and annoying red eyes glaring right back at her in a warning. After getting a better look at her, she might have been able to figure it out without ever knowing it for sure that this was Yang's true biological mother. She didn't know the details, but she knew that this woman abandoned her friend and teammates near the time of her birth for one reason or another. What that reason was, she frankly couldn't care less. All she knew was that Raven Branwen was the estranged mother of Yang, and she left her when she needed her most. That was already more than enough to have Weiss glaring right back at her with hardly restrained resentment. She has had enough with terrible parents as it was already, but compared to her, Jacques couldn't hold a candle, because, at the very least, Jacques didn't abandon her when she was a baby.

"What have you been doing with Kai's little sister?" She asked once again, knowing for a fact that Raven heard her since she was staring right at her. Though of course, Raven still didn't bother to respond. Seeing that, Weiss continued. "I know you couldn't have hurt her in any way since she seems to trust you… are you planning to turn her into one of your throwaway bandits?"

"Hmph," Raven scoffed. "Schnee's, always so quick to make up their own conclusions. Isn't that what got your entire family widely hated around the world?"

"Don't you dare try to turn this against me or my family," Weiss fumed. "I'm not the one who kidnapped a little girl."

"She didn't kidnap me!" to her and Raven's surprise, Malienna rose up to her defense. "She saved me! I was in a Bullhead that was crashing out of the sky and she pulled me out just in time! Sure, she can be weird sometimes, but she's never hurt me too bad!"

"Too bad!?" Weiss' eyes locked onto Raven, completely forgetting the former half of what Malienna had just said and focusing on that one crucial detail. "What does she mean by that!? What have you been doing to her!?"

"Training her." Raven spat back. "Don't act like all those teachers your daddy bought for you while you were growing up never left a few bruises on you after a training session. She'd be useless if she was weak, and she needs to be strong. She's living with a constant target on her back, after all."

"She's not even ten years old!" Weiss remarked. "There's a difference between training a young teen and a toddler!"

"Stop trying to paint me as some kind of abuser," Raven snapped back. "Kai started training at five years old, my daughter started around that age as well, and her sister likely started young as well. Everyone you knew at Beacon probably started training young. What I'm doing for this little runt," Raven placed a hand on Malienna's head, gripping it tightly but not tight enough to hurt the girl. "Is making her strong so I don't have to protect her all the time. She needs to learn to protect herself, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you that now of all times the world needs powerful fighters."

Weiss was caught between yelling at her again and staying silent. On the inside, she knew that Raven was absolutely right. But… it still felt so wrong that the nice adorable young girl she'd met before was now wearing similar clothes to one of the members of the Branwen tribe and training with the leader of said tribe as well on top of that. Slowly, Weiss calmed herself down and shook her head, looking away from the much taller and older woman as she was pushed ahead deeper into the forest and toward the bandit camp. She wanted to ask one last question, however and asked it without turning.

"Why haven't you sent her back to Kai, at least? He'd protect her, we both know that he'd probably train her as well…"

Raven looked at the white-haired girl in the back of her head and sighed, shaking her head and choosing not to answer that question right away. She looked past the Schnee girl's head and toward the guards set on temporary guard towers that were built quickly to serve their purpose. Upon seeing the return of their raiding and scouting party and her among them, they allowed them in without so much of a warning. Raven clasped a hand on Weiss' shoulder and pushed her forward, a sign of strength to her bandit underlings. The gesture painted the Schnee girl as her own prize, something that was hers and hers alone, and warning the other bandits not to get near her unless they wanted to lose their heads. Weiss didn't know that and kept trying to shake her off and free herself from her grip, something that the bandit leader did not let her do. Entering the camp, the bandits started cheering and shouting, throwing scraps of food and literal shit at the Schnee which she eagerly dodged and avoided. Malienna got in her way and shouted at the bandits to stop, but it was Raven raising her hand that truly got them to cease their abuse and usual tradition when capturing a valuable ransom target. Raven pushed the Schnee through the camp and over to her own personal tent, pushing her into that as well and shoving her over to one of the seats, which was just an expensive-looking cushion that Raven had stolen from some rich person house in one of her previous raids. Malienna went and sat across from her, smiling brightly as she held her hands and told her once again how happy she was to see her. It was a comfort receiving such warm attention for a change, and Weiss almost protectively patted her head in response.

"You're lucky you knew the girl," Raven said as she took the bread out of a basket and tossed it at the former heiress. "Because otherwise, I would have had you thrown into a cage right away. You'll still go in one, of course, but it's going to be that one."

Weiss followed Raven's finger when she pointed and gulped nervously at the sight of a cage barely tall enough for her to stand in. It at least had a bucket for her to use the bathroom and some hay put on the floor of it for some small comfort. It looked better than the cages that she saw outside on the way to Raven's tent anyway, so she'd rather take the one Raven was giving her rather than those outside.

"That way this runt won't complain about not seeing you or something. Saves me the headache, anyway," Raven paused to drink something out of a silver flask. It almost looked like the one that she'd seen Ruby's uncle drink out of, but it was a darker shade of silver and had no markings on it as the male Branwen had. When she was done with it, she closed it and tossed it to the side, removing her sword from her waist and setting it aside as she sat at the same low table in front of her. Weiss looked up at her, still strong and refusing to bend in front of the bandit leader. Raven didn't look impressed or bothered by that at all. She didn't want to know what happened to rowdy prisoners, so she'd have to be submissive and steadfast at the same time.

"My bond with Kai was broken, somehow." Raven suddenly started, answering the question Weiss had asked her just before entering the camp. "I can still sense him, but I can't create a portal to him anymore. That's why I haven't been able to send the girl anywhere. So I kept her here instead."

"Broken?" Weiss questioned. "I don't understand, why would you need a bond with someone for your semblance to work."

Raven shrugged her shoulders. "It's just how my stupid semblance works. I didn't write the rules, or else I'd eliminate that one entirely. But, this had never happened before. I hope that answered your question, girl, be sure to remember it because I am not keen on repeating myself."

"Yeah, she really doesn't like to." Malienna helpfully echoed. "She gets really mean and scary when she has to explain something over and over again."

"I can tell…" Weiss said slowly. "Even still, there's still Yang, your brother, and others you can portal to, right? Why haven't you sent her to them? Why keep her here and put all this effort into training her and protecting her?"

"Girl, do you know what's happening out there in the world?" Raven asked with an amused scoff. "For the past year, her brother had been traveling through Vale to Vacuo and then back through, my brother and daughter had been traveling through the wilderness infested with Grimm as well at the same time, and my Ex is all the way in Menagerie, the home of the fucking White Fang. Where could I have sent her where she would have been safe? Where she could have become strong enough to take care of herself? Unless you think being at risk of Grimm every day is a better life than being here, then by all means, I'll send her away with you right now."

"I don't wanna go yet though!" Malienna exclaimed. "You'd be all alone if I did and besides, you're making me stronger. I want to be able to help my brother! He's done so much to protect me and our friends, I want to be able to return the favor!"

"And there's your second answer," Raven continued. "She doesn't even want to go. Trust me, saving her and practically adopting the girl was not in the plan. But I couldn't just let a silver-eyed warrior with blood like hers just go to waste like that."

"Silver eyes…" Weiss whispered to herself, then looked the younger girl in the eyes and quickly realized what that meant. It was hard to believe, but she kept getting hints. There was something special about that silver color, Kai had them, Ruby had them, and after seeing Ruby slay that Wyvern at Beacon during the battle, she now knows for a fact that silver-eyed warriors truly existed and held incredible power. A power that destroyed the Grimm on a molecular level. "That explains something, at least. So, if you say you can sense Kai, can you tell us where he is?"

"On his way to Mistral," Raven hesitantly replied. "I've been keeping tabs on him with whatever I could sense with what little connection I still have to him, but I still can't perpetuate his exact location. I can only assume that right now, he is on a ship since he is in the middle of the ocean. Probably on the way to Haven, I can assume. That's where your other dumbass friends went."

"Why can't we just find him and bring him here?"

"Hmph, so it's we now, is it?" Raven snarled. "You may not know it but right now Kai is viewed as a criminal after what happened during the tournament. He did supposedly kill another student on live television."

"That wasn't him!" Weiss exclaimed. "It was an imposter, Kai would have never done that!"

"I know, but the world doesn't see it that way and they don't know him as you all do. Besides, I can't just send people to find him, and even if I did, how do you think he'd respond to bandits going up to him saying that they know where his sister is? He isn't as reasonable as he was before, so I doubt he'd listen."

"Then I can go!" Weiss said. "Let me go, I won't even ask you or anyone else to come with me. Let me recover my aura and strength and I can find him and bring him here, so that way he can see his sister again and you will have another powerful warrior to help you."

"It's not that simple!" Raven shouted, slamming her fist into the table and startling both Weiss and Malienna. "If it was so easy don't you think I would have done that myself already!? I can't leave my tribe for too long, they need me. I'm sure you haven't noticed, but the Grimm have spiked up in activity all around the world! I am the only huntress-level fighter in this entire camp, If I leave, and the camp comes under attack, my home will be destroyed." She already tried once, she didn't bother to tell Weiss. But only a few days after she left in her bird form, she sensed Malienna was in danger and came back to the camp being attacked by Grimm. If it weren't for Malienna being there acting as an anchor for her semblance to portal herself back, the tribe would have been destroyed right then and there. "So we will wait. If Kai comes to find us then so be it, I'll give him his sister and he can choose to stay or go on his merry way to do whatever he wishes with his life. But until then, we are all staying right here, and you are only going to stay here as long as it takes for your father to send ransom money for your return, and I am not letting you out of my sight until that happens."

"N-No," Weiss hated herself for stammering. "I can't go back… I just sacrificed everything getting away from there."

"She can stay, right?" Malienna asked, speaking up for her. Raven looked at the silver-eyed girl and raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. "She's strong too, a huntress in training who survived Beacon. She can help protect the tribe and maybe help train me too?"

"Are you suggesting that she work for me in exchange for me not ransoming her back to her father?" Raven asked, smirking and almost proud of the girl for coming up with that idea.

"I mean, why not?" Malienna asked. "It's not like you need the money anyway, right? You live in a tent in the middle of the woods, at least I don't think there are any stores around here."

"I don't even know if my father would even pay for me," Weiss continued for her, earning Raven's attention back to herself. "Not after what I did, escaping our home and being stripped of my role as his heiress… I wouldn't be surprised if he publicly disowned me like he did my sister."

"Fine then," Raven leaned in. "You will help me train the brat, as well as making sure my warriors can start handling themselves for once. Maybe if I get comfortable knowing that these fucks can protect themselves while I'm gone, I might try to find this brats brother and bring him back here, and if you catch me in a good mood I might let you go with him and his sister at the end of this whole mess we have ourselves. But only then, do we have a deal?"

If it meant not being forced back to Atlas? Weiss extended out her hand, nodding her head.

"Deal."

Blake Belladonna was very recognizable to everyone around her. She wasn't hiding her faunus ears this time, and she still had the same hairstyle that she had while she was still in the White Fang. She never really had time to change it, but that worked in her favor for once. No one tried to stop her, Ruby, or her father from walking through Menagerie on their way to the abode of the Chieftain of Menagerie. Part of it was strange, as even the White Fang didn't bother to get in their way. Blake thought that Adam would have given a reward to anyone who brought her to him, but it seemed that she was wrong about him in that regard. Still, she didn't trust the White Fang. It seemed as though Taiyang's earlier assumption was correct as well, as the White Fang couldn't afford to look like the monsters that the world was painting them as after they helped in the fall of Vale and Beacon. Since Blake had seen with her own eyes that they were still able to gain recruits, she knew that their numbers were still growing more and more with each passing day. They were massively weakened after the battle for Vale and Beacon, so it was obvious that they'd be desperate to take anyone if they could. Since just about Menagerie was the only place where faunus was more than plentiful and the other kingdoms were mostly like expunging any potential White Fang threat, this was their only hope for regaining the numbers they once had. Disgusting, Blake thought it was. The White Fang had truly devolved into a simple terrorist organization, and with Adam now in charge as the new Supreme Leader, he might just declare Menagerie to be an independent kingdom in its own right and start developing his own army. Blake couldn't let that happen, if the faunus formed another army, it would kickstart the second Great War.

Ruby placed a hand on her back and rubbed it gently, comforting her when she knew that she was having terrible thoughts like that. She smiled back at her, thanking her for the comfort with a grateful glint in her amber-colored eyes. Her old childhood home was just in the distance now, and seeing it again after all those years of being in the White Fang, leaving it, and then going to Beacon, made her momentarily forget about the world's problems around her. She remembered what it was like growing up there when she first met Adam as a young girl before he got his scar back when he wasn't the man he was now, the antics that she and Ilia got into, the mentorship that she endured under Sienna and her parents. It was a challenging life, but very fulfilling, and… dare she say happy? Yes, it was happy to back then. She could hardly remember the time when the White Fang didn't exist, but what little memories she had of those times were wonderful. Her heart leaped up into her throat when she saw not the normal Belladonna guards protecting the estate, but members of the White Fang instead, two of which she recognized almost immediately. The Albain brothers, she could never mistake the fox ears and tail that Fennec and Corsac shared respectively, and they looked at her with happy smiles and bright orange-brown eyes that made her immediately distrust them.

"Blake Belladonna, allow me to welcome you home," Fennec said, bowing his head respectfully along with his brother.

"We have been expecting your arrival. When we heard that you were returning to your true home, we were all very excited."

"What are you doing here, Albain's?" Blake asked, crossing her arms and refraining from the urge to grab her weapon.

"To simply welcome you, Miss Belladonna," Corsac said, then looked over to Ruby and Taiyang standing directly behind her. "I do see that you have brought two… interesting heritable friends with you. That was not in the reports we received."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Blake snarled, coming to the defense of Ruby and Taiyang immediately. Ironic, as the White Fang argued that they fought against racism, they were the biggest hypocrites in the world. "Because if not, I'd like to go inside and see my parents, so, respectfully, get out of my way."

Fennec and Corsac exchanged looks before sighing and nodding their heads. They stepped aside, ordering the other White Fang guards to do so as well. Blake, Ruby, and Taiyang made their way past them and into the home. Blake knew the halls very well, and Taiyang let out an impressed whistling sound to show what he thought about the inside of the building.

"This place is very rich looking, you didn't tell me your friend was rich, Ruby," Taiyang remarked.

"I didn't know either!" Ruby exclaimed. "Wow Blake, your house looks so nice and cozy!"

"Hm," Blake hummed. "I see where you got your complimenting observational skills from now. We weren't always wealthy… but my parents were the former leaders of the White Fang, the faunus here wouldn't just let them live any normal lives. It is one of the many sacrifices they had to make, but… it's not exactly a bad one, I'd say."

"Kinda makes it hard to believe you gave all this up to become a huntress," Taiyang said. "Or well, before that was uh… yeah, just forget I said anything."

"I also see where you got your conversational skills from." Ruby laughed upon hearing that joke while Taiyang sighed and shook his head, not bothering to correct her. He was Ruby's father, after all. The antics of her companions made for a decent distraction for now, but Blake was determined to see her parents again, she just had to make sure that they were okay. The guards within the estate didn't stop her as she made her way to the unmistakable sound of her father's voice as he spoke to someone. She couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but the fact that he was speaking at all was enough to bring some comfort. Blake broke into a soft sprint and almost busted the sliding door right out of its hinge as she slid it open with more strength than she intended. She burst into the room with a hopeful look in her eyes as her mouth took the shape of a wide smile, but the second she looked left and saw the four people that they were speaking to, it all died an instant death.

Adam Taurus looked at her through his one good blue eye, seemingly surprised to see her. To his left, Ilia gasped upon seeing her, and two others stood nearby behind them. Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. Blake wasn't alone when she drew Gambol Shroud, hearing Ruby release Crescent Rose and Taiyang raise his fists as a sudden standoff occurred within her own home.

"Wait!" Kali shouted, jumping up and getting in between Blake and Adam just before she could lunge at him. She caught her daughter and immediately pulled her into a hug. "It's okay Blake, they haven't been hurting us, calm down, please."

"H-Huh?" Blake was confused. On one hand she wanted to break out of her mother's hold and attack Adam but on the other she didn't want to stop feeling her mother's warm embrace. Ruby and Taiyang were still on guard, and Ghira was standing as well. Adam stood and had a hand hovering over the hilt of his sword, but Ghira placed a hand on his and gave him a simple warning glare. Seeing that, Adam sighed and took away his hands, taking his mask and sliding it back over the upper half of his face.

"I was just talking to your parents, Blake." Adam said, crossing his arms as he continued to explain. "And here I thought I was supposed to be the violent one, hm?"

"How dare you!?" Blake screamed, almost breaking out of her mother's hold. "How dare you say something like that when you know damn well that the world is in the state it is in now because of what you did! Mom, let me go!"

"Well, this has become interesting all of a sudden," Mercury said with an amused laugh. "Hey there Little Red, brought your daddy with you too, I see. How's everything been?"

Ruby aimed Crescent Rose at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Awe, is that any way to greet an old friend? Heh," Mercury mockingly raised his hands. "Please, don't shoot, I'll tell you everything I know!" He sarcastically plead.

"Ugh, just shut up. We aren't here to cause any trouble," Emerald, being one of the only voices of reason exclaimed to them all. "We haven't done anything since we've been here, and we've been here for months. If we wanted to do anything we would have done so a long time ago, so how about we all relax and not ruin these new clothes I just got, please?"

"Blake, stand down," Ghira said, moving over to her as Kali continued to hold her. Blake looked at him as he stepped in front of her, blocking sight of Adam and gently stroking her hair. "It's okay, Blake, we're okay."

Blake looked at him, and then around him, and then looked back at him. Sighing heavily, she gave up and leaned into the embrace of her mother, and the tensity in the room dropped significantly. Seeing this, Ruby and Taiyang chose to stand down as well, the former putting her weapon back behind her back while Taiyang let down his guard. Adam released the tension of his own upon seeing that, sticking his hands into his pockets and letting out a silent sigh of relief. He didn't want to start any fights that didn't need to happen, now was the worst time to have one, especially on Menagerie.

"I suppose I'll let you three have your touching reunion," Adam said, turning to walk away. "Come on, Ilia, stop gawking at her. You can have your chance to say hi later."

"O-Okay…" Ilia almost shamefully stood and followed the supreme leader as he made his way out an exit on another side of the room. Emerald followed suit after shrugging, but Mercury stayed behind longer than he had to, giving Ruby specifically a look of mild interest and even winking at her. Ruby narrowed her eyes in response, to which Taiyang echoed. Seeing a boy, especially one like Mercury looking at his daughter like that would be enough to make any father immediately suspicious.

"There has to be a reason as to why they're here," Ruby said. "And why they're not causing trouble…"

"I don't like the way he was looking at you." Taiyang said, respectfully stepping away from the mess of emotions the Belladonna family were all giving off at the moment.

"First off, ew. Secondly, I don't think he meant it like that. I never saw him during the battle for Beacon or anywhere else for that matter since that fight at the warehouse. I want to know what they're doing."

"I do too, but we can't trust them." Taiyang pointed out. "Aren't they all allies of Cinder?"

"Allies, yes." Ruby said, still looking in the direction where Mercury and the others walked off in. The door was still open, as if inviting her to follow them. "I want to get some answers… let's give Blake and her parents time for themselves?"

Taiyang looked at Blake, Ghira, and Kali, and nodded his head. "Yeah, let's."

Ruby would have normally loved to stay and hang out with Blake and her parents but they were having a delicate family-only event at the moment. Besides, she just couldn't get it out of her head, the idea of Mercury possibly knowing that they were coming and perhaps even wanting it. It was a crazy hunch that she was sure wouldn't go down well if Goodwitch was there to hear her mind, but when she got an idea she wanted to see it through. Her father was trusting her with this as well, and with her speed semblance, she was able to quickly catch up to Mercury and Emerald before they could get outside of the estate. Hearing her, Emerald and Mercury turned around, the former narrowing her eyes at her while the latter smirked smugly.

"Stalking me already, Little Red? I'll have you know I'm not available at the moment, but just in case that changes I'll remember you if that's okay with you."

"Don't be ridiculous." Emerald groaned, walking away from them all as Taiyang caught up with her daughter. "If this is some "How could you do this?" kind of talks then I want no part in it."

"Awe, but Em, I was mostly joking about them doing that for us you know?" Mercury said.

"If you want to deal with it by all means, deal with it. I'm going to get a drink…"

"Eh, suit yourself," Mercury replied, watching the mint-haired girl leave the house and close the door behind her. Seeing that, the silver-haired man sighed and shook his head in relief. "That was a stretch and a half, I was only joking about that before just to get that seed planted in her head, y'know? Can't really trust her yet with some plans, but in the future, maybe."

"So you did want to talk to me," Ruby said, crossing her arms and looking up at the taller boy indignantly. Stupid short genes, she was trying to look intimidating here! "But I still want some answers. There are still so many questions that are unanswered and I know you have the answers to some of them!"

"Yeah, I'll stop you right there, that isn't how this is going to work." Mercury said, chuckling softly as Ruby glared up at him. In all honesty, he was more nervous about her dad, who is a looming threat he didn't know if he could deal with. "Like I said before, I have some plans I want to enact myself. Cinder was an alright boss at first, but she is a downright tyrant now as you can imagine. But, she did give me some ideas and I've been getting a lot better with this whole intrigue thing nowadays. But before I can tell you what those are, and what Cinder might be planning, I want to know if I can trust you."

"If you can trust me!?" Ruby exclaimed, insulted. "After what you did?"

"It's all a matter of perspective, Ruby," Mercury said. "If you were in my shoes, however larger they'd be then yours, you might understand. But no, you grew up with a nice loving father, right? Not saying that there's anything wrong with that, of course. I mean, at least yours didn't try to kill you."

"Wow, you really are messed up in the head." Taiyang commented.

"Who isn't? Nowadays, I think everyone's gone a little insane. Hell, you two as well to a certain extent. Couldn't have been nice seeing your second home get torn apart like that, after all." Mercury stopped when he sensed that he went too far.

"You need our help." Ruby said, smirking when she saw Mercury widen his eyes slightly. "You don't just want it, you need it, which is why you're going so far for this. I knew there was something up with you when I first met you, it was like you were forcing yourself to be something you were told to be. Pretending all that time… this is the real you, isn't it?"

"Huh," Mercury gave Ruby a mock round of applause. "Looks like you're not as dumb as I thought. Sure, let's go with that."

"How can we trust you?" Taiyang asked before any deals could be made. "How do we know you're really a double agent?"

"I'll prove it to you, I can't right now. But someone smarter than me can explain it to you." Mercury replied. "So, with that said, is that a confirmation of our new unlikely alliance? Do you wanna shake on it or…?"

Ruby stepped up to Mercury and poked her finger hard into his chest. "Don't make me regret this, Mercury. Please, I can't tell lies and truths like Kai can, so I'll promise to help you as long as you promise not to betray us. And you'll owe me a favor one day."

"Hm, well, sounds easy enough." Mercury said, nodding his head to those conditions. "This is just grand, as Cinder would say. Now, run along back to your cat friends while I run back to my bull one, we wouldn't want to make them suspicious."

Kai sat on a bed, shaking one leg in an antsy manner as he contemplated on whether or not he should go to sleep. Aiden had gone to speak to the captain about dropping them off at a specific port closer to Haven, so he was alone with Neo in their cabin below deck. His senses were erratic on the ship, the constant vibrations of the ship's engine and rotors caused his 'vision' to be blurred at best and downright non-existent at worst. It was one of the rare moments where he had to reel back the intensity of his seismic sensing as to give himself actual time to sit still and relax. Upon seeing this, Neo hopped over from her separate bed and sat next to him, patting him on the back to let him know that she was there. Kai turned toward her and nodded, giving her a thankfully grin in response. Understanding Neo was difficult, but after spending so much time with her coming to learn her signs and ticks became second nature.

"Y'know, a blind guy like me and a mute girl like you. One would think that we wouldn't have been able to come this far as companions," Kai said, reminiscing in the past. "We fought together, bled together, killed together, patched each other up, and we even slept together every once in a while. Though that's mainly just you using me as a pillow. I don't really get a say in the matter most of the time.

Neo jabbed him in the hip softly, causing a soft chuckle to escape his lips. "Not that it's a bad thing, of course. A warm bed is better than a cold one after all. Thinking back on it now, I could almost forget how we tried to kill each other a few times. Now we train and spar with each other, and I dare say I've come to trust you. Can you say the same for me?"

Neo patted him twice with the side of her hand.

"Fifty-fifty, heh, I'd guessed as such." Kai's blind eyes looked at her mismatched ones. "Still, you being around despite everything we did to hurt each other, it's nice. Not having to do this alone. When we're not trying to kill each other, you can be pretty cool."

Neo reciprocated his thoughts on that, tracing words into his back as her method of communication. She said that he was able to teach her a lot about fighting people overwhelmingly strong when taking into account his semblance and eyes, it made her better at adapting. Kai had to agree, Neo was weaker than him without a doubt, but she was still to give him a run for his money very easily even now. She might have even been more skilled than him, though that was left up to potential debate. A debate that Kai didn't care for having right now.

"This is quite the story I can tell my friends when I see them again… I will vouch for you, you know that." Neo bumped her head against his, showing her teasing thanks. "But, I still have a concern that I haven't really gotten a chance to bring up until now. I know you were only helping me in the beginning because Roman asked you to in his dying breath. He wants you to help me kill Cinder eventually. He thinks you can help me do it, and he's right, you can, but that is exactly why I have to question your true loyalties. I'm not that naive, Neo. I'm not so blind that I can't tell where your heart is, but in this case, I really can't tell whether or not you are doing this just because Roman asked you to, because you want to kill Cinder, or because some way or another, you share my feelings when I say that I can trust you."

For one of the first times, Kai felt Neo get extremely nervous. She felt hot, seemingly embarrassed? He couldn't tell, she was always the hardest when it came to recognizing certain emotions. She kept her hand on his back and she still sat close to him, and he was genuinely curious. Was she still helping him just because Roman asked her to, or was there something more to that than he knew? Neo bit her lip and looked like a deer in headlights, not that Kai could see that. She was put in an awkward spot, but she didn't know what to say. Her first instinct was to confirm his thoughts and say that it was because of Roman, but she couldn't lie and say that she hadn't taken a liking to him lately. It was slow at first, but after spending so much time with him and doing so much with him, it was only a matter of time. Expressing such emotions like that was harder than she thought it'd be.

Thankfully, Neo was saved from giving an answer when Aiden returned to the cabin, interrupting their moment entirely and thankfully not noticing the fact that she was red in the face and threw herself on the bed in an effort to hide. Kai sighed upon seeing him, not entirely pleased with having a moment like that interrupted, but he supposed that he could ask it again later on anyway.

"Anything?"

"We're going to be left off at a port relatively secluded and relatively close to Haven," Aiden explained. "It's not really a popular one, it might just be the least safe too because of all the Grimm running around, but with your eyes, my bullets, and her deadly sword, I think we can handle it."

"Alright, that's good news," Kai said with a smile. "Good job, Aiden. I won't forget what you're doing for me, I'll owe you for this."

"Hmph, I might call you up on that so be careful." Aiden teased. "Anyway, the bathrooms are open again and mostly everyone is headed to bed for tonight. If you want to go pee or shit, now is the time."

Neo disappeared with her semblance immediately and Kai stood up to go as well. He'd been holding it in for a while and was happy to have the chance to empty his bladder at last. WIthout word, Kai went out into the hall and held a hand up to the wall to read the braille signs for people like him, quickly finding the bathroom several rooms down the hall. He entered the bathroom and did his business, washed his hands, and walked out. Stopping only when he felt an eerie silence that made him uncomfortable. He went to place a hand on Silver Ebony but stopped when he remembered that he left it in the cabin. The weapon may have been too destructive anyhow, and Kai continued deeper into the hall away from the bathroom, looking for the source of his uneasiness.

He sniffed the air, snarling when he smelt something venomous. He hardened his stance and prepared to use his dark power before he heard a voice call out to him. A voice he couldn't forget ever since he first unlocked the dark silver-eyed powers.

"Now, now, none of that." Kai gasped when he heard a beeping sound coming from the direction of the voice. He sniffed the air a second time, and the disturbing scent of explosive dust made him hesitate. "We wouldn't want every person on this ship without aura to die now, do we?" Tyrian Callows said as he emerged from the shadows, holding the beeping detonator in his left hand as his cloak flapped as he walked toward him. "It's good to see you again Little Kai! Or should I say… Prince Matsuoka?"

"I am no prince," Kai snarled.

"My oh my but you are in my eyes! Salem is the Queen of the Grimm, and since you are her only remaining male descendent, that makes you a prince!"

"What do you want, Tyrian!?" Kai snapped.

"Want? What do I want? Hmm, that is a good question. I want you to understand that I am not here to cause you or your friends any harm! In fact, I have been ordered to help you! Help you realize your true destiny." Tyrian explained dramatically waving his arms around as he spoke. "Please do tell me if I am lying! That is one of your funny tricks, isn't it? Don't tell me you're not using it because quite frankly I wouldn't believe you."

The problem wasn't that he was lying, but that he was actually telling the truth. Kai didn't know what to do with that information, but even if he wanted to take Tyrian down despite that, he couldn't afford to place the lives of every innocent person onboard the ship in danger. Gritting his teeth, Kai chose not to answer the question directly.

"How did you find me?"

"Ah, so I'll just assume that I assumed correctly," Tyrian laughed. "And, to answer your question, I found you a long time ago, my prince." To Kai's shock, Tyrian bowed toward him, even going as far as bending down on one knee. "I've been keeping an eye on you the entire time, but, I wasn't able to find you alone, you see. Your new friend, hehe, helped me find you."

"Aiden!?" Kai's eyes flashed black.

"The very same! He plans on leading you and your friend into a trap, by the way." Tyrian went on. "He has an entire party of friends he's made to beat you and your friend down and kill you! All because of something your father didn't do before you were even born. Petty, isn't it?"

"That bastard, I'll kill him! I'll make him suffer for lying to me… but how? How did he manage to get past my senses?"

"Oh! I can answer that one as well!" Tyrian exclaimed. "He has a silver tongue, that one! He can be very convincing at times, and he pulled out all the stocks against you! By telling truths and lies at the same time, and trusting that you would believe him because of his former relationship with dear Malikai, he was able to dupe you! And once you started trusting him? Hah! I can only imagine how easy it was for him to start lying to your face!"

"Why are you telling me all this?" Kai asked, definitely being sure to detect if Tyrian was lying at all, and finding no signs of such. "What do you gain from this?"

"Your trust, I hope. But do be sure not to attack me or him for the duration of this trip." Tyrian went on. "These explosives I hid around the ship as insurance may go off if either of us meets an untimely end. It was a contingency plan of his, you see, just in case you tried anything while he was stuck on the ship with you."

"But, once you are off the ship and it sails away…? Fair game! No boom!" Tyrian cackled. "Now, now, I am sure you have a lot of anger within you right now, but do be sure to hold back until you are standing on land. I'll be watching Little Prince! Do be sure you make the right decisions in the coming days! Hehehehehehehahaaa!"

Kai let Tyrian go, feeling powerless. He couldn't go after him, and at this point, he didn't even want to. Reluctantly, he turned around and made his way back to his cabin and wordlessly went into his bed and under the covers. Aiden didn't say anything and he was glad because if he tried talking to him he might have tried to kill him right then and there.

Later. Later he'd get his revenge. He'd make sure that Aiden regretted ever deciding to seek revenge on him. He'd bide his time for now and restrain himself, but as soon as they were alone…

Kai wasn't going to hold back any longer.

And with that, The Blind Huntsman makes its return! It is good to be back, I must say. I also plan on trying to finish some more fanfics soon. I actually have a fully ending arc and epilogue all planned out already, a nice side effect of having so much time to think about fanfictions during my time off of writing my book. This means that I know how this story ends, which is already a really good step in the right direction for the sake of this story. When the time comes, you'll understand what I mean by that. See you all next time!