Violet found a fitting couple. A young, wealthy pair that owned a real estate company, of sorts. Her future father had inherited it as part of the family business, but he already had a son, so she doubted he would attempt to force her into working for the company if she didn't want to.

They had plots of land and houses a plenty, including locations in both Atlas and Vale, which worked well enough for Violet's plans. 'Luckily', the woman had purple hair similar to hers, and the man had eyes that were close enough, if somewhat more muted than her own. To top it off, his family name was old, or at least older than most.

Nodding her head, Violet settled on them, then grimaced. She didn't enjoy this process. Whenever she wanted to truly make herself a part of the world this way, she had to grit her teeth and bear it. It wasn't the act of being born that bothered her, but the nine months of waiting that led up to it. It was boring and tedious, but it had to be done. She wanted to integrate smoothly, and this was the best way to do it.

So with a few suggestions on the couple's consciousness, and nine months of boredom, she was brought into the world in the best medical facility Atlas had to offer, which is to say, the best there is. Their technology had always been leaps and bounds ahead of any other, especially with the Relic of Creation being used without Ozpin's knowledge.

Her birth was as easy as it gets. Entirely uncomplicated, Violet made sure of it. After a whole lot of patience, 'I didn't even have teeth to grit together', and a few mild suggestions, she was finally born.

Violet Regalia's cries greeted the world with tiny open arms.

The first seven years were entirely uneventful, as is the case with most children raised by wealthy parents with a dozen maids to wait on them and their offspring, hand and foot. Violet wanted for nothing, and her parents made sure of it. She excelled in the lessons that her private tutors gave her. How could she not? Violet flew through the material they presented her with, and she made sure to power through and make sure they kept it coming.

This phase of life was always boring. More of a chore than actual life. On top of that, Violet only slept if she wanted to. She didn't truly need it, like the mortals around her. Instead, she took that time to check in on the world, making sure everything was going as it should.

Raven left Tai, Summer fell in love with him, Ruby was born not long after. Ren's village was destroyed, and he escaped with Nora in tow. Blake joined the White Fang that her dad had created, a pitifully small child holding up a sign. Weiss grew up similar to Violet, if only with even more wealth at her family's disposal.

And Jaune… Eh, Violet didn't bother peeking in on him as much. He was a terrible child, far too naive, spouting that he would become a great hero, while putting in no effort to actually attain it. He seemed to believe that everything would come to him naturally, just falling into place as if the world itself revolved around him.

Violet's mind wandered as she pondered one of her constant issues. She was dimly aware of one of her tutors still in the room, but his voice was drowned out, background noise to the conflict taking place in her mind. Who's team did she want to be on? She didn't want to take the place of anyone on Team RWBY. They're group meshed far too well to break up. That really just left JNPR as her only option.

'I could always join Team CRDL,' she snorted in amusement.

"Miss Regalia, are you still with me? I know these issues can be confusing, but please keep focused."

"Sorry, sir," Violet spoke to the large man on the opposite side of the table from her. He had been writing on the chalkboard as he spoke, and only turned around when he heard her. They were in her study room. It was a comfortable size, spacious enough that she could run around in it if she needed to blow off some steam, as she had done in the past to take a break from the sheer boredom of studying.

Her thoughts started to drift off again, 'Jaune would be the easiest to replace...'

"Miss Regalia, may I ask what it is that's on your mind? Perhaps I can assist so that we may sooner get back to the lesson at hand."

Not really much chance of that being the case. 'Well, professor, I'm actually a goddess trying to trade places with characters in a story and I'm having trouble deciding which to choose,' didn't sound like something that would go over well. Instead Violet thought on it a moment, and asked an unrelated question. It was still of some interest to her, at least.

"Do you believe in destiny, Professor?"

The older gentleman placed a hand on his hip, the other moving up to stroke at the light stubble on his face. His eyes drifted off momentarily before focusing again. "I wouldn't say I do. At least not in the way you may be thinking of it, young miss."

"What do you mean?" Violet's face betrayed her confusion.

"People think of fate from the stories as some grand, sweeping event that happens in their lives. The father dies, so the son must take up his sword. The step-mother's evil machinations force the princess to go on a long journey where she meets friends and foes alike. That is all ridiculous, and rarely happens in the average person's life. It is the thing of fairy tales, and should be regarded with as much academic credit," the old man paused for a breath and turned back to the chalkboard, picking up a piece of chalk and drawing a long line across the empty space.

"The only version of fate or destiny that I would give any merit, is the type that works on a smaller scale," he punctuated his words with a dot, near the left-most end of the line. "This is your life, from the beginning," he pointed at the first dot, "to the end." He punctuated his words again, making another dot near the end of the line on the right.

"Everything that happens in your life will find its way on to this line. Your first birthday," another mark, "your first words", another mark, "riding a bullhead", another mark, "and when your parents hired me to be your tutor," a final mark.

"Now tell me, what makes any of these occasions remarkable?" he asked lightly.

"None of them appear all that remarkable, Professor," Violet replied, then paused with a blush, not wanting to offend the man, "I mean, aside from you becoming my tutor!" she finished with a rush.

The professor chuckled and turned back to the board, "The day after your first birthday, your parents were flying back to Atlas. While on the bullhead (he paused to draw a line between the two), you said your first words (another connection). You were a very quiet child, waiting so long to finally speak, so your parents wished to celebrate. They went to a fancy restaurant, paid the staff a ridiculous amount of money to skip the queue, and ended up sitting near enough to my table that I could overhear them. Naturally interested in the subject of child development as I was, I introduced myself to them and helped to calm their nerves. It is not unheard of for a child to wait so long to begin speaking. It was then and there that the roots were set, and eventually (he drew the final line) when you came of age, they hired me on to be your tutor."

The dots literally connected in Violet's head as they did on the board, "So from the moment I was born, it was 'destiny' that you would be my tutor. Not by some wild happenstance, but by simple, everyday occurrences."

"Right you are, Miss Regalia," the professor turned back to the board, "If any of these had not happened, and many, many other things along the way, we would not be sitting her now as we are, talking about this issue as we are. Fate is not something you can control so easily, because there are far too many variables. Or rather, it might be more accurate to say that no matter what you believe the future may bring, all it takes is the slightest change to upset what might have otherwise seemed inevitable."

Fear gripped Violet's heart with the professor's last words. Would her presence at Beacon upset too many things? Would her changing the slightest thing upset the balance, tipping the scales too far in one direction or the other, rippling outwards as more and more events became unrecognizable?

The professor chuckled lightly, bringing her back into the moment, "I see I have given you much to think about. On that note, we shall end our lesson for today. Be prepared next week for continuing with the actual lesson (he tapped the board near the things she had been supposed to be learning before). I hope you will have come to terms with our little discussion by then."

Violet thanked him profusely, but remained sitting where she was as the professor exited. The door closed quietly and she was left with nothing but her thoughts.

'Is that really how it goes? I've created so many different worlds, and I guess… Yeah, they weren't ever the same as from their story counterparts. Not unless I stayed out of it entirely. But that never really bothered me, and large scale events always seemed to remain the same regardless. Harry became the Seeker, Frodo dropped the ring in Mount Doom along with Smeagol and one or two fingers, and Obi Wan always greeted General Grievous with 'Hello there'.

Violet smiled as realization hit. If that were the case, then she wouldn't need to do something huge or dramatic to end up on team JNPR. All she had to do was remove Jaune, and the chips should fall into place. Don't mention Pyrrha's fame, avoid CRDL, and the only other option left was to become a part of the new…. VNPR? VRPN? Violet shook her head, she would let Ozpin come up with that one.

How should she do it, though? She wouldn't hurt Jaune. As useless as he was, Jaune was still good natured and wanted to help people. Well, she had another ten years to think about it. Violet's thoughts shifted to the other objective that she currently had her mind set on.

Summer had died a few weeks ago. It was time to give Patch a visit.

It was rather simple for Violet to put the suggestion into her parents heads that they take a vacation in Patch of all places.

In only a day, they were packed and boarding a bullhead for Vale. From there, they took a ferry out to Patch. The long bullhead flight from Atlas to Vale was unbearable, the boat ride much less so. Violet took her time enjoying the breeze that rippled across the water's surface, the sound of the waves lapping calmly against the side of the ship, and the cries of the birds flying high above.

She stood at the front of the ship, looking out across the water as they made their slow approach to the island. At first glance, it was heavily forested, but Violet had been here often enough in her out-of-body visits to know that wasn't the case. Much of it was, but the docks that snaked out of the woods would lead them into a small town, and from there, a handful of roads forked outwards into different parts of the island. Each road was no more than a dirt trail, but each would separate multiple times before finally winding to their respective houses. The best part about Patch, aside from the near-total lack of Grimm, was the privacy.

This fact was not lost on her parents when she had given them the suggestion. Violet's father's life was filled with constant board meetings and land disputes, legal teams fighting over who owned what, and her father was always in the thick of it. In a way, he fought for the business, not tooth and nail, but through his pen and his words, which Violet knew could be all the more frustrating.

Violet looked over her shoulder and smirked, her parents were standing a short distance away, also watching the island's approach. His father had a smile on his face, and an arm around her mother. Both looked to be enjoying themselves. Violet's brother was currently attending a private boarding school, and as such, could not attend. She didn't mind so much. It wasn't as if the two never got along, but they had very different interests.

Peri was dedicated to his studies, wanting to make their father proud, and as far as he was concerned, his sister never paid much attention to what was going on around her. 'I can't help it when I'm bored'. Violet had many siblings throughout her different lives. Some older, some younger. It rarely mattered to her, since they weren't usually the focus of the story she was recreating.

'Speaking of spacing out...'

The ship was just then pulling up into the dock, having finished the last leg of its journey. Violet stood on the deck, calmly remaining out of the way as sailors ran to and fro, tightening or tying off lines, shouting orders back and forth as they brought the ship to a safe and gentle stop. Violet headed to the gangplank ahead of her parents, eager to finally meet two of the young heroes in person, and perhaps even see 'Drunkle Qrow' in action.

Their servants gathered their bags and followed closely behind her parents, ready at a moment's notice to serve. Violet had insisted that they hire an equal number of faunus as they did humans, and paid them the same. Violet was all for showing favoritism to the characters of whatever story she was recreating, but aside from that, she despised racism. Her creations were all equal in her eyes, and deserved to be treated as such.

The breeze across the waters continued for only a short time into the treeline before it was cut off by all the vegetation. Violet followed the path, careful not to venture too far ahead of her parents in case she drew their ire. That would be left for later, and she didn't want them keeping too close of an eye on her before then.

The tree line opened up abruptly, giving a nice view of a wide clearing that the path led to. It turned into more of a proper road, if still made of dirt, by the time it reached the small town. That road led into a crossroads, situated in the center of the collection of buildings. Those three other roads that connected to the one she was currently on wound deeper into the island, branching out into many different homes along the way. Violet eyed the road she needed to travel on. She knew which way she needed to go, but would need to give her parents, and their servants, the slip.

There were any number of ways she could do so, if she was willing to dip even slightly into her godlike powers, but pushed the thought away absent-mindedly. That path led to boredom. If she was stronger than anything in the world anyway, and didn't mind abusing that fact, then what fun was there to be had? It would be like playing a game where the enemies don't even shoot back, which admittedly could be cathartic at times, but certainly not when she was in the middle of a story.

Townsfolk mingled around the shops with each other, giving greetings of goodwill and well-wishes. Violet's eyes lit up on one of the buildings. She paused long enough for her parents to catch up, and let them lead her to the inn they would be staying at. They were taken to their rooms, if only to know where they were, as the servants unpacked their things for her family. Violet was sure to thank them before heading downstairs and regrouping for lunch. Her parents made mild small talk, and as the food was eventually finished, they looked to her. "Is there anything you would like to do this evening?"

"Actually, I saw an arcade across the street from here. Do you mind if I spend some time playing games? I don't get to very often with all the studying I do," Violet said as she gave them the widest pair of eyes she could muster.

Her father chuckled and nodded to one of the servants. She was a faunus, one that particularly doted on Violet. She watched Henna's fox ears perk up as she smiled, "When would Miss like to go?"

"Right now would be great!" Violet chirped heartily and scooted her chair back, practically bouncing on her feet as she headed for the door. With a curt nod, Henna excused herself from the table as well and beat Violet to the door, holding it open for her.

"Thanks, Henna!"

Together, the two of them crossed the road to the arcade. It was a small place, all things considered, but there was a multitude of games to play. Violet set about playing them, and kept her eye out for the best way she could leave the place without Henna noticing. To Henna's credit, she kept a close eye. This wouldn't be as easy as Violet had hoped.

Violet came across a punching machine. One where you hit it as hard as you could to try and get the high score. It wasn't the machine itself that caused her to break out into a wide grin, though, it was the list of scores that scrolled down the screen. TAI stood out, right at the top in first place. Just beneath his name, there was QROW, then beneath his, YANG, and right down at the very bottom, with the most pitiful score of all, RUBY.

Violet could barely contain her laughter, as the mental image of a small Ruby being held up to flail at the punching bag refused to leave her mind. The show had never mentioned them going to any arcades, but she supposed they did have a tendency to play games on their scrolls. Where else did kids go to play games before they owned scrolls?

Violet's mirth slowly subsided, and she reminded herself of the task at hand. She turned around and noticed Henna's gaze was off to the side. Violet followed it, and saw the object of her attention. To that side, currently in use by a boy that looked not much older than Violet, was one of those groundhog pop up games with the mallet.

Except each time they popped up, Violet got a peek of a very non-threatening looking Grimm. The boy was having a tough time as the pace quickened, trying to adjust the hammer and pick up his pace. As time wound down, the Grimm popped up and then retracted faster and faster. The look of concentration on the boy's face was enough to send Violet into a fit of laughing coughs.

The boy seemed to have heard her, and turned, suddenly embarrassed at being laughed at, his concentration lost entirely. With a loud "BZZZZ" that signalled the end of the game, he turned back to it and huffed, wiping a few small drops of sweat off his face. He seemed hesitant to try again, and with Violet still nearby, seemed to decide to cut his losses and hurriedly left the arcade. Violet didn't fail to notice the slight glimmer in Henna's eyes as she looked longingly over towards the game.

"Do you want to play?"

Her simple question, quietly spoken, still elicited quite the reaction from Henna. Her cheeks brightened and she turned back to Violet, holding her hands up placatingly, "No, I couldn't possibly, Miss. This is your time to have fun!"

"Oh nonsense, Henna! I want you to enjoy yourself too!"

Henna shook her head, but Violet was not taking no for an answer. She quickly strode over to the machine and deposited the required lien before picking up the hammer. Henna had no choice but to move closer to keep an eye on her.

Violet feigned at being more inept than she actually was. Not that it was far off anyway. She hadn't done a single day of manual labor in this life, and her body certainly showed it. Violet glanced out of the corner of her eye, and each time she missed by a wide margin would elicit a motion from Henna, an attempt to try and help her. Violet's first round ended with barely any Grimm being bopped on the head, and she stepped back, wiping imaginary sweat off her brow to mimic the boy.

"Wow, Henna. This game is harder than it looks. Can you show me how to play?"

A wide array of emotions crossed Henna's face in a flash. Her ears perked up, then flattened, then wavered somewhere in between, then flattened again, before slowly raising back up, "Yes, I think I'll do just that. Watch closely, young Miss. My brother and I used to play this game a long time ago, and I'm proud to say I was always better than he was."

With a smirk, Henna stepped up in front of the game and deposited the necessary lien. She then adopted a stance, poised over the top of the game, hammer in hand, like a fox ready to leap on top of her prey at any moment.

Violet grinned despite herself, even as she slowly backed away from the faunus. Henna's attention was entirely diverted to the game in front of her, and as it started, Violet made a break for the front door. It opened with a 'whoosh', and she breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped outside. The lack of any 'little miss!' or 'where are you going!?' getting shouted out behind her was comfort enough. She didn't want to try her luck by waiting around, however, and took off across the dusty streets.

Destination, the Xiao Long cabin.

Henna breathed heavily as she stared at the brightly lit numbers on top of the game, displaying her easily achieved high score. Who did this RAVN person think he / she was? Henna would not be bested! She quickly used the select buttons to type in HENA, and stood back to give her achievement one last look, "And that, is how you play this game, little Miss."

She choked as she turned to find the young girl was nowhere to be seen. "LITTLE MISS!?" Henna cried out, turning her head frantically back and forth to try and catch a glimpse of Violet. Henna had no thought to what might happen to her for losing the young girl, only of finding her and making sure she was okay.

She quickly sprinted to the bathroom and slammed the door open, and cried out loudly, "Are you in here, little Miss!?" Silence. For good measure, she crossed the short distance to the opposite door and slammed that open as well. "Little Miss! Are you here!?"

A surprised squawk rang out through the bathroom, and a man's voice answered, "Sorry, no little miss in here, ma'am! This is the men's room!"

Henna didn't wait to hear the last part, as she was already tearing through the arcade, checking every nook and cranny. She ended up near the front door, breathing heavily, eyes darting back and forth, double, no, triple checking.

"She's not here," Henna said with a bubbling cry. She turned and ran out, scanning the streets, "It will take forever to search this place by myself!" Henna grit her teeth and ran back across the street into the inn. All the faces in the area swiveled in her direction as the doors pounded open from her impact. Her masters' numbered among them, and she wasted no time moving to them.

"Henna? Where's Violet?" the man asked, worry starting to crease the lines on his face.

"She… I don't… I don't know. We were playing games one minute, and the next she had just disappeared!" Henna said as quietly as she could manage, which is to say, everyone in the building still heard it.

Her master stood and looked around at the assembled servants that were on duty for the moment, "Go get the others, then waste no time in scouring this city. I want my daughter found, now!" He yelled the last fiercely, in such a commanding tone that even some of the regular townsfolk made for the door.

One of the other servants ran for the stairs, bounding up them three at a time to get to the servants room. Henna could hear her pounding on the door even among the milling of those that had gathered.

A scent caught her, and Henna's breath paused despite the rapid beating of her heart. She left the table, walking further into the inn itself, towards the bar. A man sat there, ignoring the commotion and drinking from the glass in front of him. His red cloak obscured most of his body as he sat on the stool.

From the looks of it, he was already several drinks deep, but that was not what had clued in Henna. She stepped up behind him, giving the man a couple feet so as not to surprise him in any way, "Excuse me… you're a huntsman, aren't you?"

The man gave a gruff and noncommittal "Hmm" before downing the rest of the glass and gesturing for a refill from the bartender.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I could tell from your scent. You can tell if you know what to distinguish it from."

"Others might have gathered as much from the weapon," the man said gruffly, reaching over and patting the compacted hunk of metal and gears next to him.

"I'm sorry to bother you-" Henna began, but the man turned towards her slightly, arm still on the counter to support himself and raised a swaying finger to his lips.

"Shh, shh, let me stop you there, kid. I promise, whatever problems you think you have, mine are worse," he turned back away from her, resting his elbows back on the counter, head nodding low as the drink the bartender had brought him sat waiting. He didn't touch it yet.

"Please, my master's daughter vanished from sight. I… got caught up in something and wasn't watching as well as I should have, and now she's out there somewhere, probably as worried as we are. Having a huntsman to help lead the search would help us so much."

"I'm sure she's fine-" the man started before Henna cut him off.

"She's only seven!" she yelled.

The man's eyes seemed to clear, his expression sobering as he turned back towards her and slipped off the stool. His right hand reached back and grabbed his weapon, as he looked at Henna with determination on his face, "Give me her description."

Violet skipped merrily down the path, knowing the exact route she needed to take to get to the Xiao Long cabin. She had visited this place far too many times at night to not recognize the landscape around her. In took her half an hour before she finally saw the cabin through the trees. It was still light out. Violet figured they would have another three hours or so of daylight before night fell upon them, plenty of time to stop in and say hello.

However, as she approached, she stopped when she noticed the front door creak open. A tiny, adorable Yang stepped out first, but Violet's breath hitched when she saw the passenger Yang pulled along behind her. Ruby was lying down in the small wagon, cloak wrapped around her and pulled tight.

As she watched, she heard Yang say down to the small figure, "Don't worry, Ruby. We'll find my mom. She'll take care of us, too. Just like Summer did." The only response Ruby gave was to roll over on to her other side, still clutching tightly to her cloak.

Violet could see where this was going. Maybe she really would get to see Qrow in action! She practically skipped over to them, incapable of holding in her excitement. Yang stopped in her tracks, finally noticing the bouncing bundle of joy headed towards her and her sister. Yang dropped the handle and stepped a little bit more between Violet and Ruby, unconsciously defending her sleeping sibling. Violet let her emotions recede a little, she didn't want to be off-putting to Yang. The girl's life was certainly in turmoil at the moment if this was her greatest plan of action.

Violet gave a small wave, "Hi, my name's Violet. My family came to Patch for vacation. Who are you?"

Yang seemed to ease a little, but not fully, not yet. "Hi, Violet. Sorry to break it to you, but I'm busy, so could you come back another time?"

"Nice to meet you, Busy!"

Yang took a moment to register what Violet had said before she cracked a small smile, "That was a good one."

"Thanks! So, whatcha up to? If you're going on an adventure, can I come with?"

Yang looked uncertainly at the sleeping Ruby, then towards the edge of the forest that she planned to venture out in to, "S-Sure!" she wavered, "One more person should be fine."

"Great, we can talk on the way!" Violet replied, now moving much closer to Yang. She pretended to see Ruby for the first time now, gasping, "Is that your sister?"

"Yeah, that's Ruby. We're going to find her another mom."

Violet's heart dropped, but she gave a hearty, "Lead the way!" before grabbing the other half of the wagon's handle. Yang gave her an appreciative nod, and together the trio set out into the woods.

It was a small trail they followed at first. They had to go slowly over the bumps to keep from waking up Ruby, but they managed. One of the back wheels popped over a rock at one point, and Violet was sure Ruby would wake up, but she merely grumbled into her cloak and shifted to press herself down against the wagon more. Some time passed in silence before Violet could work up the courage to speak.

"What was she like?" Violet asked quietly, glancing to Yang.

"Mom was the best. She was always happy, always smiling. Even if she wasn't my real mom, she still loved me," Yang replied simply, but Violet could tell she was fighting the urge to cry.

"Wow, she sounds great. I'm sorry for your loss," Violet whispered.

The trail eventually met up with another dirt road. It was little better than the trail had been, but at least here they didn't have to watch out for tree roots or big rocks, and their pace quickened somewhat.

They continued for a little over two hours, making the occasional small talk about school, or friends. Violet steered the conversation away from family for now, knowing that it would just make the girl even more sad.

The strain of pulling the cart was lessened because there were two of them, but even still after such a distance, Violet was starting to really feel the strain on her muscles and back. Her legs ached as well. This was easily the furthest she had hiked this lifetime, and it showed. Sweat slowly dripped from her forehead, and her feet dragged across the ground occasionally. She was so focused on the ground in front of her that she didn't stop when Yang did.

"Ow! Hey!" the blond rubbed the small of her back then turned back around, "We're here!" Yang said excitedly, drawing Violet's attention up to the decrepit lodge that hunkered before them.

The broken door lay open, held up by only half its hinges. The windows were broken in places, and there were cracks in some of the logs. Yang let go of the cart handle, and Violet mimicked her and dropped it as well, if only to put a hand up on Yang's shoulder to stop her from walking further in.

"Wait, look at it. This place is beat up," Violet said, drawing Yang's attention to the actual state it was in, "I don't think anyone has lived here in a long time, Yang."

"N-No. My mother is supposed to be here…"

"I'm sorry, Yang. I don't think she is…"

Yang sobbed and turned towards her, tears already streaming down her face as she threw her head into Violet's shoulder, "No! This was supposed to be it! She was going to be here, and then she'd take us all home, and she'd stay there with us! For good this time!"

Violet put a comforting hand on the back of Yang's head and stroked it down through her golden hair. Her hand stopped halfway down as a low growl rumbled through the small clearing. Violet held Yang close to her as the girl spun in shock, staring towards the lodge with dismay written across her face.

Their eyes fixated on the lodge as the door slowly swung open, pushed by some unseen force that revealed itself only moments later. Two glaring red eyes regarded them, surrounded by ebony black fur covering the rest of its body. Four paws tipped with massive claws cracked the floorboards beneath them as it pulled itself free of the lodge, its mouth locked in a snarl that dripped malice. Once it was free, it threw its head back and howled, a blood curdling sound that reverberated through the clearing.

It was not nearly as terrifying as the echoing howls that answered it. Close, but not yet in the clearing with them. They were certainly surrounded.

"What have I done? What have I done? It's all my fault!" Yang repeated to herself over and over, gaze now moving from Ruby to the beowolf in front of them.

The creature took its time, slow in its approach, keeping the girls locked in place with a growl that would put every other canine on the planet to shame.

'Alright, Qrow. Any time now, buddy. Just swoop on in here, cut this beast in half, then save us from the rest while you're at it.'

But there was no sound of flapping wings, nor angry screech of a bird falling out of the sky to transform and kill the Grimm in front of them. The beowolf continued its lazy stroll forward, believing them completely defenseless. The easiest prey of its life.

'Seriously, Qrow! I'm going to put in a complaint and get you exchanged. 'Here take mine, it's broken.'

The beowolf was now within pouncing distance. Violet watched as it lowered its body, preparing to leap..

'What the hell? This isn't how it happened!' Violet's mind raced, finally settling on the talk she had with her professor. 'Shit! I changed something! I don't know how, I don't know why, but Qrow isn't going to show up!'

"I didn't even make it to Beacon!'

The tiny scream from behind Yang and Violet made them both turn quickly. Ruby had finally awoken from her nap, and was staring death in the face. The beowolf's growl almost seemed to change into a deadly laugh, finally launching itself towards them.

Three hundred pounds of murder came hurtling in their direction. Time slowed for Violet as she watched the teeth open, tracking the trajectory. It was going to sail right over the top of them… and go for Ruby first.

'Unacceptable!'

Violet's eyes flashed. Her usual vibrant eyes turned almost neon for a moment as the path of the beowolf changed. Its body was carried much further, a dozen feet past the cart as it landed with a pained shriek and rolled roughly across the dirt trail. The beowolf staggered to its feet and bared its fangs again, dropping its body low to once again launch itself at them.

"I said NO!" Violet screamed at him aloud, shocking Yang next to her. Violet's eyes flashed once again as the beowolf's body suddenly ignited in amethyst colored flames. It gave a scream of pain as its body was suddenly immolated, the energy that kept it alive vanishing with the fire. The body gave one last pained 'HMPH' before it dropped heavily on to its side, mouth open, eyes still glaring at the prey that had somehow defeated it.

The howls of the approaching pack closed in. Violet spotted a half dozen emerge from the trees. These ones were smaller, lacking the same bone structure as the one she had already set aflame. Her eyes flashed once again as she repeated the process to all those that would dare attempt to harm them. Six guttural howls of pain were cut short as their lives were unceremoniously ended.

Yang quivered next to her, and even though Violet was shaking a little herself, she put a hand around the girl's shoulder. "Get in the cart, Yang. I'll get us out of here."

Yang shook her head and picked up the handle once again, her voice hoarse, "I have to protect my sister."

Violet patted Yang's back, and grabbed her own half of the handle again. The girls nodded together before setting back out for Yang's home.

Violet's rule about not cheating started to waver while they walked. 'I already did it once, right? What's a little more going to hurt…"

They were making slower progress on the way back, due mostly to them both being dead tired. Ruby hadn't spoken yet, she was just hiding with her head in her cloak, softly sobbing into it. Violet's legs felt like jelly, her breath came out in ragged gasps, and every inch of her felt like it was coated with sweat. She couldn't do much more than keep her eyes on the ground in front of her and keep trudging, never mind trying to console a petrified Ruby.

Yang at least seemed to have found her stride a bit more. Her sisterly instincts had kicked in, and though her face looked set with determination, Violet could tell the strain was having nearly as much of an effect on her.

"Firecracker! What happened!?" a man's voice cracked as he shouted out in their direction. Violet glanced up to see Qrow sprinting towards them, clearly panicked. Violet's body gave out and she slumped onto her hands and knees, breathing heavily.

'We made it. We're saved.'

Fear kept Yang on her feet as she stared at her uncle running towards them. She backpedaled a single step then stopped, muscles refusing to budge. Yang's tough exterior vanished in an instant as Qrow got within arms reach and brought her into the tightest hug Violet had ever seen. The man's eyes were half crazed as he took in Ruby, the wagon, and Violet. Tears that had been barely suppressed suddenly surged to the forefront, the dam that had been holding back Yang's grief washed away in the tsunami of fear, shock, and sadness that contorted her face simultaneously.

"Uncle Qrow, I'm so sorry!" Yang cried into his chest, not quite able to wrap her little arms around his torso.

"Hey, hey, its okay Firecracker. You're okay," Qrow soothed, rubbing a hand through Yang's hair and tightening his grip on her even further, "I need to check on Ruby, okay? Can you let me do that?"

Yang nodded pitifully, but didn't protest as she was lowered back down to the ground. She kept a hand firmly attached to Qrow's pant leg though, as he stepped slightly past her and put a comforting hand on Ruby's back.

"Ruby! Your uncle Qrow is here. Come on, sit up so I can see you. Nothing to fear while I'm around, eh?"

Ruby's body still racked with sobs, but she raised her head slowly. When her blurry eyes settled on Qrow's face, she weakly launched herself off the cart in a death hug. Qrow held her close and whispered into her ear, comforting her with soft words and running his hand up and down her back. After about five minutes, Ruby was once again sleeping, dried tears streaked down her face, and Violet had recovered enough to breath normally.

"Come on, let's get you three inside," Qrow began to slowly walk along the trail again, leading Yang and Violet with him. Yang didn't let go of Qrow's leg until they had stepped into the house, and no one talked along the way.

Once they had gotten inside, Qrow vanished to a back room, coming back without Ruby in hand. 'He put her to bed. Good.'

Qrow saw them both still standing there and gestured towards the couches in the living room, "Go ahead and sit, you two must be tired."

Yang silently nodded agreement and walked over to sit on one of the couches. Her feet dangled over the side, not quite long enough to reach the floor still. Violet followed her example and sat next to her, about a foot away.

Qrow gave them a final glance before he stepped into the kitchen. They could hear the sound of pots and pans rattling around, drawers being opened and closed. Honestly, it sounded like he didn't really know where anything was in there, but after a few minutes, he emerged back into the living room holding aloft two steaming cups of hot liquid.

Qrow set both cups down in front of them on the table before seating himself in a chair across from them, "Go ahead, drink up. Make sure you cool it off a bit first, though."

Yang took her cup gratefully, sitting back on the couch after she grabbed it and holding it gingerly to keep it from spilling any of the hot liquid. Violet recognized it now as cocoa. She grabbed hers as well, if a little more timidly, before settling in as she had seen Yang do.

"I called someone in town while I was in there. Your parents were worried sick looking for you," Qrow said to Violet first before turning back to Yang. His expression grew far more serious.

"Yang… what happened."

Yang put off answering the question for a moment by taking a quick sip of her cocoa. She blanched quickly, realizing it hadn't had nearly enough time to cool yet and began blowing across the top.

"Yang…"

Yang started to speak, but choked up. It was a few moments later, after another sip of cocoa to help clear her throat, that she was able to begin speaking, "I went to go find… mom."

Qrow sat back a little, his face softening as he heard the admission, "Yang, Summer is gone. She's not coming back."

"Not Summer… I mean, my mom."

"Summer was your mother, Yang."

"You know what I mean…"

Qrow sighed heavily, "And where did you go?"

With trembling hands, Yang reached into her pants pocket and withdrew the folded up picture. She shakily tossed it across the table for Qrow to pick up, "I found it in the attic. I'm sorry."

Cold fury crossed Qrow's face for a moment and was gone. He tucked the picture into his own pocket and looked back up at Yang, "That was a long time ago, Firecracker. That place is long since abandoned."

"I know…"

"You mean... you walked all the way there and back? Is that why Ruby was so broken down?" Qrow asked, the shock plainly written on his face.

"We did. Violet helped me… and that's not why Ruby was like that."

"What happened to her?" Qrow asked slowly, sending a glance towards Violet.

"The Grimm attacked us. There was just one at first, but there were more closing in, and we were too scared to move… and then Ruby woke up and saw it, and it jumped at us…"

Qrow rubbed a hand across his face and pulled out his flask, drinking deeply off it, "How'd you escape?" he finally asked.

"They… they died."

Qrow stole a glance over his shoulder, back towards the shadowed part of the house where the sleeping Ruby laid.

"Was it, I don't know, like a flash of silver?" Qrow asked tentatively.

Yang quickly shook her head and glanced at Violet, "It was… like purple fire. They just suddenly lit up."

"That what you saw?" Qrow turned to Violet finally.

'Oh shit! I didn't think of a cover story!'

"I… I don't remember what happened, really. Like Yang said, they just sort of caught fire and died," Violet eked out. 'Come on! What kind of half-ass excuse was that!?' Violet topped it off with a half-hearted shrug, her arms too tired to do much more.

Qrow seemed to just take it in stride, though, and sighed.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there, Firecracker. I should have been home sooner."

'My fault!'

Violet didn't know what exactly had happened back at the town, but she was sure that this all led back to her somehow. If she wasn't there, Qrow would have been. Maybe it had all changed the instant she stepped off the docks, maybe even sooner. She tried to trace back the cause and effects that could have led inevitably to here, but she couldn't. Her puzzle wasn't complete. She was missing the necessary pieces.

There was a knock at the door that pulled Violet out of her thoughts. Qrow stood up and headed over to it, wrenching it open, "Hey... your kids in here."

Violet's parents bowled past Qrow to get into the house, their eyes searching hastily before spotting Violet sitting on the couch. Violet gingerly placed the untouched cup down on the coffee table and stood up as her parents nearly tackled her. Violet only had time to notice Yang quickly pulling her feet up on to the couch before her parents moved past. Violet's mother reached her first and pulled her into a tight embrace. Her father stood behind her, wringing his hands. It was the most nervous Violet had ever seen him.

Her mother finally pushed herself back, and Violet noticed her face was set in disapproval, "Why did you run off like that, young lady? We were worried sick. We had half the town out looking for you! You're lucky this man," she flicked a hand towards where Qrow had been standing before, not noticing he had long since returned to the chair across the table from them, "found you when he did! Explain yourself!"

Violet had never seen her mother get this emotional, about… well, anything. Ever. Her voice stammered out slightly as she replied, "I j-just wanted to see more of the island!"

"Wanted to see more of the island… Did you hear that, Mauve? She wanted to see more of the island!" Her mother's voice turned sickly sweet, mocking Violet near the end before the anger returned, "You had us all worried sick!"

"I'm sorry! It'll never happen again!" Violet cried out, trying to stop this side of her mother that she had never seen before.

"It had better not!" Her mother yelled one final time, cutting off as Mauve placed a placating hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Violet's father asked, trying to hide the tremor in his voice, but not quite managing it.

Violet could only nod dumbly. She didn't trust her voice right now.

Her father nodded back and turned Violet towards the door, "Thank you, Mister…?"

"Branwen. Qrow Branwen."

"Well, Mr. Branwen. I'll be sure to have the reward sent to you. Thank you for finding my daughter."

Qrow put a hand up and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Actually, that won't be necessary. I don't need your money, I'm just glad she's okay."

"Well," Mauve held his hand out and offered it to Qrow, who shook it back, "I'll be certain to pass along what you did here to the higher-ups in Atlas. A good word, as it were. Thank you again."

Qrow chuckled something barely audible about "Jimmy" before stepping back and letting them leave.

Violet had a long, silent car ride to think things over.

'It really must have been my fault, huh?' From the sounds of it, her parents had asked Qrow to help with the search for her in town, and it had entirely diverted his attention away from the two nieces waiting for him at home. Violet shivered.

"Can we… leave Patch tomorrow morning?"

Her father shrugged his shoulders, "Honestly, I'm not really feeling up to a vacation anymore."

Violet's heart sank, but she resolved herself. 'I can't be here to mess up anything else.'

"So that's really how it happened, huh?" Qrow asked one final time before putting Yang to bed.

The girl seemed to struggle with herself, then looked up into Qrow's eyes, "I'm sure she did it, Uncle Qrow. That girl, she killed the Grimm."

"Alright, Firecracker. You just get some sleep now, okay? It'll do you some good."

Yang nodded and sank into her bed. In less than a minute, her breathing had changed to the soft, slow whispers of sleep. Qrow rose off the side of her bed where he'd been sitting and walked back into the kitchen, where he had left his scroll. He pulled up his contacts, scrolling all the way down to the only name starting with an 'O' and dialed it.

The line picked up immediately, "Qrow? This is awfully late for you to be calling me."

"I know Oz, I know. But this is important."