Author's Notes: Can you say 'emotional whiplash'?
Music Choices: Contagious by Night Riots, It's Alright by Mother Mother
Eclipse
Chapter 53
The White Rook
Part V
Noise.
In her bones. In her teeth. Under her fingernails. Inside her skull.
Humming, moving, spinning - a living, singing, fractaling twilight gyrating all around her; ready and eager to tear her apart for her intrusion. Images and sensations, incomprehensible visions of arcane planes interwoven together in a great web that threaded through everything and every- time in existence and beyond; all of it bombarded her at once in a terrible cacophony.
She was vomiting, possibly on her hands and knees, coughing like she was trying to physically remove her own organs. She felt like she was caught between dissociation and - gods her lungs hurt, her wrists, everything hurt - she couldn't breath. It was impossible, and now she was being whip-lashed between a panic episode and the onset of the guttural, terrifying madness that was the Mirrorways self-defense mechanism.
A weight on the back of her nape, one she instinctively invited in her desperation. She could feel something akin to a live wire going from the top of her head all the way down her spine and latching furiously to something in the cool ground. Helping her focus, tethering her to herself and to those forces she could control and make manifest.
Ground yourself! Breathe! In for four - hold it!
Something warm and downy and weighted spread down her back, her limbs; it felt like she was changing skins, trying to fly away from what was a terrifying magical attack. Her lungs ached as she forced air into them; her claws sank into the ground desperately.
Out for four! Breathe! Get up! You have to get away, get up!
She was forcing her mind back into her panicking body, she was making it work. She was going to get up; and she was going to kill that little blue-haired bitch who had just appeared in front of her.
"Shit - my bad! My bad, I'm sorry about that! Hold up, here, I've got something!"
The anxiety and existential dread that had been beating her ass like she owed it lien flicked off like a light switch. Raven nearly toppled, horribly disoriented; but no longer having a mental breakdown. Something heavy and herbal scented was hanging around her neck now, smelling musky and a little pungent, but far better than the scent of vomit at least.
She coughed, her voice sounding bizarre and raspy.
Nearly inhuman.
"Yea, I just totally forgot about the wards' effects on you guys! I'm so sorry, I don't typically get to interact with other magic users, so I just assumed you would-"
Raven had her sword in hand and had taken a crimson swipe at the air in front of her. She struck nothing, and her grip on her hilt was off. Clumsy and too thick. Her hand, no her fingers , were too big, the fingers were wrong and her palm wasn't right-
"Woa, okay! That was a little rude!"
Rihanna was somehow, impossibly, behind her. No - the space had physically shifted around the pair of them, and it seemed that the other girl had warped space with her voice and magic.
Raven nearly vomited again, panting as her head swam and nausea rolled through her like a storm at sea. Suddenly, her emotions swung towards the complete opposite end of the spectrum, going from fury, anxiety and distress to something almost disturbingly warm, cuddly and honestly alien to her own mindscape and body. She stumbled, still panting as she fought to stay on her feet and collapse into a puddle.
What the -Gross, what is this!?
She felt like fluffy bunny soup and liquid sunshine, her body having gone from taut and aggressive to limp noodle in an instant. She was strongly tempted to just lay on the floor and try to listen to musical chords whipping around her; it felt as if all the dopamine she had on stack had been unleashed into her system at once, on top of gods knew what else. The fact that she was still standing instead of giggling on the ground was a testament to how badly she wanted to hurt the person responsible for subjecting her to this horseshit.
"Are you going to try to take my head off again?" Rihanna's voice prompted, like some adult scolding a naughty child. "No?"
Her Semblance - I remember her Semblance is emotions based, or something similar- but this feels like far more than just that.
Raven turned slowly, her body still feeling completely off and woozy from the imposed Semblance high. She glanced down at her hands, unsure of what to expect.
Black bird digits, curling sharp but awkward around the hilt of her sword. Black feathers appeared from beneath her gauntlets, trailing from her wrists to her elbows, before growing longer and larger. Her arms were coated in feathers, in fact, as was her torso, neck and head, and thighs. Her feet, hands and shins were more like that of a bird's or raven's feet, or that of a Nevermore's. However, she wasn't coated in bone spires nor armor, nor Grimm ink - she was still very much alive, and this body reflected that.
So I did shift! But only partially ? How?
Raven touched her face and neck; down, thick feathers, and a long beak. She still felt like she was holding onto a live wire, one that was funneling magic into her aura and magical reserves, coiling around her spine. In her desperate attempt to protect her mind, Raven had apparently tapped partially into the Mirrorways own innate magic, and that was what was likely maintaining this half form. Briefly, she thought about how Tai had described Verdant during their fight, and her feathers ruffled in suppressed irritation.
In front of her, Rihanna was studying her openly, silver light pouring out from her eyes; in the Mirrorways, her eyes were clearly that of an aetheri, glowing like white-silver lamps and surpassing the contact lenses she wore; she cocked a hip and grinned.
"Ok, wow, I did not know you guys could do that! That's actually pretty cool!" the aetheri stepped closer, trying to inspect her like some exotic creature on display at the Valish zoo.
Raven hissed at her despite the gooey, 'peace and love' feelings Rihanna's Semblance was pummeling her down with.
The other girl paused cautiously, her face betraying her surprise.
"Turn your Semblance off. And get away from me, " Raven rasped mildly, doing her best to sound intimidating and failing. It probably helped a little that she looked like a goddamn were-bird, though.
Rihanna pursed her lips in consideration, but was clearly unimpressed by her attempt to sound threatening.
"If I do, are you gonna play nice?"
Bitch, I am going to literally peck you to death the first chance I get.
"Yes," she rasped, trying to sound 'nice'.
Rihanna looked extremely skeptical, if also amused. Raven glared, but not as well as she should be able to glare, considering she felt like Purified Essence of Flower-Child was being mainlined directly into her veins.
She wanted to go lounge in a mossy field and make daisy chains and flower crowns. She wanted to hug every single person at school, including Professor Ozpin, Petey, and tell them she appreciated them; though not as much as she wanted to hug Professor Arc and thank her for looking out for them. She wanted to cuddle Yin-yin and tell her what a precious widdle baby girl she was, but to be fair, Raven always felt that way, she just waited til everyone was gone and now she didn't care who saw-
Ok, this is just plain evil!
"Uh huh, sure," Rihanna grinned cockily. "I'll dial it back a little, but you've got to keep it cool, ok?"
Raven croaked in refusal, stepping backwards.
"No. Turn it off all the way, or I'm not helping you," she insisted seriously.
Rihanna's eyebrows shot upwards at her demand, before she let out a laugh, silver rippling outwards.
"Uh, I really don't think you realize where you're at if you think I need your help, sweetie!" Rihanna chuckled condescendingly. "Thanks though!"
Raven tried to smirk, but she was currently a goddamn werebird or something, and had a beak. She settled for sounding even more condescending than her would-be kidnapper.
" Sweetie ? You're either incredibly desperate? Or incredibly stupid to kidnap me in the middle of the school day - at Beacon , no less," Raven drawled sluggishly. It was hard for her to form a coherent sentence, much less a mocking one; but she was nothing if not experienced. "You are going to need me to cooperate to get out of the mess you just made for yourself. Making me feel like I am rolling on some serious love drugs is not going to incentivise me to do so."
A tiny flicker of hesitation, as Rihanna ran her fingers through her icy blue locks, trying to conceal her nerves.
Raven made a show of inspecting her claws for dirt, but was honestly fascinated.
This will come in useful. Can I do this in normal space, though? Or just here? Wow, I really wanna cuddle something fluffy so bad. Wait, I'm fluffy now, so-
She shook her head, trying to focus as Rihanna huffed in amusement. She clearly believed that Raven was trying to trick her or talk her way out of whatever this was; which, yes, of course she was.
However, she was also being completely honest at the moment, as there was a high percent chance Ozpin had seen Rihanna's little trick with the drones or detected it in some manner; and the fact that the aetheri had complete disregard for the veil he and his little mystery club worked so hard to maintain for whatever reason - to hide and allegedly protect the existence of magic and its practitioners - meant that Rihanna was headed directly for his shit-list at the speed of light.
Which, whatever, fuck her; but Raven really, really didn't want to end up on it with her.
"Sorry, Raven, but your reputation kinda proceeds you, girl," Rihanna shrugged dismissively. "I'm not gonna risk you stabbing me the first chance you get. Also? My Semblance is one of the things keeping you from gibbering nonsense and upchucking all of your beans again. It stays on, but hey, like I said! I'll tone it down!"
It was time to change tactics. Rihanna was clearly wary enough of her to isolate her in an environment she apparently had total control over, and to try to defang her with her Semblance. So she wasn't underestimating her exactly; however, she still thought she had the upper hand - which she technically did - but had apparently underestimated the strength of Raven's portaling Semblance.
If Rihanna's Semblance was working in the Mirrorways, then there was a good chance Raven's was as well. She still had plenty of aura. She just needed Rihanna to lay off enough with her Semblance so she could access her bonds; right now, the empathic attack on her body was running too much interference, and was likely another reason the other girl refused to back off. However, Raven could still pick them up briefly if she focused really hard; and she knew if she picked one and worked on it, she could open that portal with some effort, emotionally high or not.
However, portaling away without determining anything about what the other girl's angle or incentive was for all this wouldn't benefit her or the others in the long run. She might as well find out what she could while working on an exit, or way to gain some leverage.
If I can get her to follow me through a portal, there's a chance I can turn the tables….
"Fiiiine," Raven practically slurred, laying it on thick. "Tone it down then, please? I can't help you if I can't function."
"Psh, there you go with that bullshit again," Rihanna rolled silver, her voice still vibrating with power and magic. "Here. Better?"
The sunshine, snuggly high faded to something far less soupy and unmanageable, to a pleasant but still rather incapacitating buzz. Raven wouldn't be able to defend herself like this, or go on the offensive; but she could run away.
"I guess it is a little," she huffed, ruffling. She glanced around her environment, taking in the great emptiness around her, before realizing it was like an immense hallway that stretched upwards and out.
So this is where Summer goes, hm? Just what is hiding in here that demands such a nasty security system on the front door?
"Now then," Rihanna smiled warmly, still trying to come across as charming or playful out of habit. It was an effort that was totally wasted on Raven. "Sorry about the rough ride! Again that was my bad, but you know how it goes - magic, am I right? Things get a little out of hand sometimes."
Raven eyed her like she was a mealworm. Rihanna grew a little nervous, but masked it extremely well.
"It's Rihanna, yes?" Raven droned, hunting for weaknesses.
A disappointed pout, before recovery.
"Yep!" the aetheri grinned, all swagger again.
"Well then. Rihanna," Raven gestured lazily with a clawed hand. "Why have you fucked up my already very bad day and potentially your entire life? I hope it's worth it, whatever it is. But I seriously doubt it."
Rihanna's stance shifted, as she tried to play it cool, clearly not taking anything Raven was saying to heart. Raven was just supposed to be her captive audience; not someone she was trying to get information out of.
"Things aren't fucked up, ok? I promise! It's just aetheri business. And trust me, it's really nothing personal towards you, or Summer! I just want your team leader to take a little more initiative and, you know, actually follow social protocol? But she keeps blowing me off for some reason! I need her to give me an audience and she won't do it!" Rihanna threw her hands a little, sparks and feathers of silver light rippling around her form like ethereal aura.
Raven stared incredulously.
"I have tried everything else, but she isn't taking me seriously and this situation is really honest to god's urgent! And I don't want to go to my own boss or pull that card on her, because that'd be super rude to pull on someone of her status and I don't want to actually piss her off!"
Someone of her status? This girl has Summer on a literal pedestal.
Also, if Rihanna was planning on murdering Summer by luring her into the Mirrorways, where Summer would likely be her most powerful, then she was a complete ditz; and if she was a potential assassin, she wouldn't likely be explaining herself like this to a captive, even if it was all lies. There'd be no point.
The entire situation was just too bizarre.
"I have a small suggestion," Raven started, a tremor of anger trying to sneak past the metaphorical drum-circle where her more aggressive emotions were being held hostage. "Have you tried, oh I don't know - just fucking asking her?"
Rihanna smirked a little and chuckled, shaking her head. Raven desperately wanted to take a bite out of her head like a big blue marshmallow. That got her thinking about marshmallows, and wondering what it would feel like to be made entirely of marshmallow; or to hug someone made of marshmallow-
Gods help me, I am never getting high.
"Look, I don't know exactly how shifties do things socially, but aetheri culture is a lot more," Rihanna waved her hand. "Political. Very hierarchical. Very roundabout. I can't just go up to a more powerful aetheri in normal space like that, who is unaffiliated to my guild-"
Raven coughed a little in surprise.
There's a fucking guild?!
"-or any other influential aetheri I know, and request she help me with work stuff. That's considered hellaciously rude. Seriously, that's how you get fucked up!"
Raven inhaled quietly, trying to absorb the absurdity of what this girl was saying. She raised a claw, tilting her head pointedly.
"And...kidnapping her partner…won't get you fucked up...because?" Raven prompted slowly.
Rihanna simpered a little, playing with her stupid dangly earring.
"Ok, so don't get offended-"
She says, about to offend me .
"But when it comes to the job and the culture, you know, non-aetheri aren't exactly - uh, it's just not as big a deal," Rihanna explained, trying to sound casual and failing, perhaps made nervous by Raven's expression. "This is pretty standard stuff - it's not like I'm gonna hurt you or anything, and she'll know that."
Raven could feel a soft hiss escaping her. The only thing saving this twerp from a violent attempt on her life was the hippie drum circle.
"This is just our version of a 'Hey, look, I tried to leave you voicemails but your inbox is full, so you really need to pick up your scroll!' Kind of deal."
Raven hummed facetiously, nodding once.
"Oh yeaaaa," Raven drawled, pacing to her left as Rihanna watched her carefully. Raven made sure to slow her movements, and appear more sluggish than she actually was. "That's absolutely what she's going to think. Quick question: did it ever occur to you that, maybe, the way you're going about all this? Isn't the way things are actually done out here?"
Rihanna paused for a moment, still looking very skeptical.
She's not taking me seriously because I'm a skinchanger and not an aetheri. How bizarre. And how utterly moronic.
"Let me guess, you're from Vacuo, yes? Going off of that accent you're trying to cover?" Raven folded her feathery limbs. "And you guys have a cute little cadre of aetheri out there, who all banded together to survive! And your little guild has its way of doing things, and secret traditions and you think that you're all the most special, enlightened magical beans in the whole entire world!"
The freshman's face soured a little, and Raven knew she'd hit the mark or close to it.
"But guess what? Your experience? Isn't universal! Imagine that!" she pressed her claws to her beak in mock shock. "There aren't any super special-bean guilds or anything like that out here. In fact, there are next to no magic users running freely amok in the streets of Vale - and it never occurred to you that, maybe, there's a reason for that?"
Raven pointed a claw over her shoulder urgently, fighting through the haze of love-bug soup that was adding her wits and pressuring her to just fall over giggling about magic beans.
"Figured the scene was just stale," Rihanna shrugged after a minute, refusing to let Raven under her skin for long. "Most practitioners who matter wind up in Vacuo eventually, or I guess the free tribes - I haven't met a lot of those guys yet, actually? I'm still not allowed to go with my master on her visits. Always thought it was because they're cannibals or something and I make a good snack."
"Mhm. Oh yea, I can absolutely see why she wants you to stay home," Raven chuckled darkly, nodding. "You'd last about five seconds before someone punted your scalped head back over Vacuo's walls."
Rihanna chuckled again, giving Raven a look that said exactly how probable she thought that was. Raven snorted right back at her, rolling her eyes.
"Dust, someone's never met a Jiani before and it fucking shows."
Rihanna mouthed the word 'Jiani', her eyes mocking and Raven nearly wanted to slap her; mostly though, she just felt the urge to lie down. She pitied whoever this girl's 'master' was, but felt they must have filled this girl's head with at least some of this, and that's where her pity ran out.
"Look - shit is dangerous in Vale for magic users in the open," Raven pressed on. At this point she didn't know why she was bothering to warn her of this. Let this idiot find out the hard way, like she had to. "And yes - that includes aetheri, too. There are bigger fish in these waters. Like the King's Service. And we need to get back to Beacon, you little twit. Before he notices we're both gone - if he hasn't already! You have no clue, you seriously could have screwed us both with this attention seeking horseshit!"
Rihanna stared skeptically, still playing with her earing while she studied Raven like a bowl of suspicious looking soup.
"Uh. Huh. And 'he' would be who, exactly?" she asked.
Raven kneaded her feathered brow carefully.
"The warlock," she sighed.
Rihanna laugh-snorted, slapping her knee.
"Ooooh! Oh no, not a fucking warlock! I'm sooo scared!" Rihanna tossed her fingers as she stood back up, her rings flashing. "Who's this warlock? Aww wait, is he bullying the shifties? Want me to go beat him up for you guys?"
Her beak parted in outrage, that was immediately, forcibly mellowed into irritation.
"Wh-Actually, you know what? Fuck it," Raven shook her head. "You're on your own."
She reached for the closest bond-frequency that she could feel through the emotional jamming. Her portal to Qrow opened immediately behind her and Raven fell through it, rolling over the rusty sand. Rihanna's Semblance cranked up immediately, to the point where she was guffawing like an imbecile, rolling back and forth in hilarity and completely unable to stand or function. She could feel the bond beginning to frazzle.
"Ok, that was definitely not one of the better escape attempts I've ever seen," Rihanna stepped in after her, shaking her head, hands stuffed in her pockets. "But - I'll give you points, though! I didn't think you could use your Semblance at that level! So full juice it is, cutie, sorry."
Raven was giggling nonstop, but could still feel the portals fritzing. Qrow hadn't poked his head through yet, which was a good thing; if they cut out, she didn't know what would happen if he was stuck between realms.
Rihanna reached down to grab her arm, to try to pull her back through to the Mirrorways, when with a hysterical cackle, Raven allowed her portals to both close. With the pair still trapped in the space betwixt.
Raven tossed her hands - her now very human hands - overhead in victory.
"I win! Yaaay!" she giggled like a five year old.
Rihanna stared down at her in bemusement, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around them.
"Huh! Looks a lot like home! Lovely! Can uh, can you open that back up pretty please?"
Raven shook her head, still giggling like a fool.
"Nope!"
"Fine, whatever," Rihanna rolled her eyes, reaching into her pockets for more mirror pieces. "Here we go - uh...What?"
Raven sat up woozily, tears running down her cheeks from laughing as she smiled loopily. The aetheri's eyes had widened; not in panic per se, but in greater concern.
"Why can't I - what did you do?" Rihanna squinted down at a giggling Raven.
"You can't use that heeeere," Raven hummed, playing with her own hair. "Summer can't either, we tested it for contingency purposes! So ha!"
Rihanna looked down at the useless shards in her hand, as if they'd never let her down before in her entire spoiled life, and Raven started belly laughing as she flopped back over again, making a sand angel.
"Ok! I'm starting to get kinda pissed off- open the portal!" Rihanna demanded, actually stamping her foot. "Right now! We need to go back!"
"Hahaha suck it, nerd!" Raven blew a loud raspberry, merrily channeling her inner ARSN. "I'm the only queen of this sand castle - woooo!"
Rihanna glared at her, though her eyes remained non-luminous.
"Yea, I really can't deal with totally wasted Raven - chill out a bit," Rihanna waved her fingers a little.
Raven could feel her wits gather again, at least to a degree; her drunk giggling turned to dark chuckles very quickly. She didn't get up though. The sand was comfortable.
"Not so much fun when it happens to you , now is it?" Raven hummed sardonically, shooting Rihanna a mocking crimson glance. "Don't worry though! I promise it's not personal!"
Rihanna sighed as she ruffled her short blue hair, muttering under her breath in what was possibly Old Vacuon, before sitting down on the sand nearby.
"I can just make you open a portal. You know that right?" Rihanna informed her pointedly folding her arms. "I read your file. I know everything about you. And I know your Semblance relies on your emotional connections - all I have to do is juice them up as high as I can and watch em pop! Which I don't want to do, because that'll feel really unpleasant."
Raven grinned threateningly at the aetheri, all teeth and glinting edges. Daring her to fucking try. Rihanna, to her credit, didn't look away. She did, however, turn the dial up on her Semblance to take the edge off Raven's snarl.
Tch. Coward.
"Well, Gladsbrook, maybe you can do that," Raven shrugged, her tone utterly unimpressed. "But can you tell which portals are which? And where they actually go? Trust me, most of them? You don't want to open if you value your hide staying where it is."
A bit of a lie, but who's counting right?
A slight, inconspicuous twitch. Raven's mouth twisted in a hungry little grin.
"Mmmm, tsk tsk. Doesn't look like it! Hey, if you get lucky, maybe you can get to meet some free folks!" Raven teased nastily. "For about five seconds! How do you feel about disembowelment: pro or against? Compared to say, cannibalism?"
Rihanna glanced around them, looking irritated but still unwilling to compromise.
"Cool! Awesome! Great!" the aetheri huffed sarcastically. "Guess we'll just hang out here in yet another nameless void! Not like cataclysmic magical forces are at work and I'm on a fucking schedule or anything!"
Raven snickered at the other girl's blatant hypocrisy, tossing a rock in her hand; the texture was strange, almost glassy.
"Blah blah blah- oh, what is that saying?" Raven paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully, before flopping onto her back. "Poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine?"
A handful of sand was tossed her way. She ignored it.
"How about I just beat you up instead?" Rihanna grumbled.
"Then you'll never leave here, idiot," Raven sneered as she stared up at the pitch black sky. No stars, no structures or clouds. Nothing. "I will instantly leave your blueberry haired behind to die without a second thought. And if I'm feeling charitable and don't? Then you'll still probably piss Summer off- but hey! Maybe not, since I'm 'just a shiftie' right? You bigoted little dipshit-"
More sand. Raven spat dirt from her mouth, but was not compelled to swing at the other girl. She was busy making sand angels.
"I am not a bigot!" Rihanna shouted, outraged at the accusation.
"Said the bigot, bigotedly. Crying little bigot baby tears."
Rihanna let out a noise of pure frustration, and Raven chuckled spitefully.
"You have no idea, " Rihanna flopped over herself, ready to pull her hair out. "None! The shit I'm dealing with right now, and what I had to pull just to be here! I do not have time for this! Seriously!"
"Awww, no? Am I wasting your time?" Raven grinned, ignoring the intermittent sand showers. "Your majesty's precious time table is getting a little screwed up because I didn't want to get kidnapped and ransomed like my partner's missing pet? Are you feeling a little fucking overwhelmed? Wow, that's so awful, I'm sooooo mean !"
Rihanna looked on the verge of actually dropping her pretense of a cool demeanor and becoming legitimately upset. Raven hoped dearly she would start crying. However, the waterworks unfortunately did not commence.
There was a long, tense pause, where the aetheri sulked as she collected her wits and emotions, and likely thought about what she needed to do to convince Raven to agree to her demands. Raven glanced to her right, looking for the structure that was often hanging in the distance, but this time it was nowhere to be seen.
She still hadn't been over there to investigate it. She hadn't actually known she could close her portals while standing between them, and was a bit nervous about what the result would be. However, if this could be managed without adverse effects? It would give her the element of surprise during combat. Raven could shut a portal and open another - or maybe even several.
She looked back up at the sky, studying her outstretched hand; pale fingers held up over her face against a black backdrop. She still felt the ghostly sensation of claws, and wondered if, with practice she could pull that off in less extreme circumstances. She narrowed her eyes in thought. The only upside to the effects of Rihanna's Semblance was it had mellowed most of the anxiety that had been tormenting her all morning, and she could think a little more clearly about things.
Today had, so far, been downright awful. One of the worst days she'd had in a long, long time, despite all the other bad days preceding it in recent months; today was the worst, because she had felt so cut off and alone. Contagious. Undesirable, unlovable, just, a complete hot mess that broke everything instead of fixing it and didn't deserve understanding or anything at all.
However, despite all that toxic, burning garbage obscuring her faculties, she'd still pulled it together enough to make some interesting discoveries at least. She wasn't ransomed or in need of some embarrassing rescue. She wasn't dead.
She hurt; but she was going to be ok.
A handful of rusty sand thumped against her torso. Raven sighed in annoyance.
"Yes?" she prompted, drier than the surrounding desert.
"What do I need to give you so we can leave?" Rihanna grumbled, waving broadly at the far too silent wasteland.
"Information," Raven sat up languidly, leaning back to rest on her hands. "Obviously."
Rihanna gave her a supremely arrogant look, which Raven smirked at in amusement.
"Such as?" Rihanna asked testily.
"Hmmm, let's see," Raven tapped her chin in thought, grinning a little as Rihanna shuffled in anger. "Do you work for the Blank One?"
Rihanna's eyes widened in outright shock, unable to conceal her gobsmacked expression before trying to recover.
"Excuse me - what?" she started, her voice vibrating with magic and outrage as she stood up slowly. "How in Hekate do you know that fucking name?"
Raven appraised her reaction coolly. It wasn't likely that a spy or servant would have revealed herself in the first place, much less in such a dramatic and attention seeking manner, and going from the look she was giving Raven currently, the Blank One was an enemy - not her master.
Let's rattle her cage a little and see what else falls out…
"Set's been gossiping," Raven shrugged casually, getting another explosive reaction. Rihanna looked torn between wanting to attack her or perhaps running away. A very telling series of reactions.
It means that Set is no friend of Rihanna, her master, or likely this guild that they are members of in Vacuo; which told her that their alignment fell more towards that of Kingdom based magic users, focused on their own inner circle drama than anything on the scale that Set, the Morrigan or any of the others were working on.
These guys are small time, or small minded at least, and stuck in their own drama. But perhaps that's unfair. It's not like I fully trust Set either, and Summer definitely hates him. Maybe aetheri have more to fear from Set's meddling than I do? I know he likes to snatch them off into the spirit realms for a lark.
"You have little gossip sessions with that one, do you?" Rihanna glared openly, gritting her teeth.
"Not willingly, no," Raven snorted, waving her hand dismissively. "He shows up whenever he's bored and wants to stir shit up. Which I'm guessing you already have some experience with? So relax. I just wanted to eliminate you as a greater threat."
Rihanna eyed her warily, before sitting back down. Raven resisted the urge to smirk at the freshman's newfound, genuine caution.
Uh huh. That's more fucking like it, brat.
"Who are you really?" Rihanna asked, reevaluating Raven carefully. "Are you working for one of the others?"
Raven glanced up at the pitch black sky.
"I work for myself," Raven said after a moment. "And for the people I care about. That's it."
The aetheri eyed her skeptically, but didn't challenge her on that statement. Yet.
"Anyways," Raven continued. "When do we get back to the school? We need to be prepared to be intercepted and questioned by the warlock. We will need to be on the same page if we're going to deal with him without serious repercussions."
"There you go about warlocks again," Rihanna rolled her eyes. "Look, shiftie, there's no such thing as a warlock! He's just calling himself a warlock or whatever lame thing to sound powerful! I swear, this guy's just a penny mage or a freelance - they can be annoying, but they're never that powerful! At least, ya know? For us !"
Rihanna gestured between the two of them, making a face.
"I'm not trying to be a bitch, it's just true! This is just reality - look! If this guy tries to jump us? I promise I'll turn him into primordial soup before he can mess with you! But seriously? Come on!"
Raven briefly envisioned Ciara or Nwfyre magically turning this dumb little fuckshit inside out and hanging her guts from a coat rack, before exhaling very slowly.
"Hmmm. Ok!" Raven suddenly cocked her head, her expression betraying how fed up she was. "Bet me!"
"Tch, what?" Rihanna snorted dismissively.
"Bet me one thousand Red Dust crystals right the fuck now," Raven stuck her pale hand out. "That when we get back? The warlock will be waiting for us."
Rihanna groaned in annoyance.
"I don't know who this dumb warlock is ! What is his name? His grade? Who are you talking about!?" the aetheri pounded her fist into her hand repeatedly.
"You will know him the moment you see him," Raven promised, pushing her hand towards her insistently. "Now shut up and put your Dust where your arrogant fucking mouth is, and bet me ."
Rihanna looked ready to throttle her, which was a totally mutual feeling. Ater a pained sigh, Rihanna pressed her hand into Raven's, rolling her eyes.
"Fine! I bet you the warlock won't be there or whatever. You can pay me next week! Now can we please go? I still need to talk to Summer and handle a lot of other shit."
Raven stood up, shaking the sand off her skirt and cracking her neck.
"Sure. Turn your gross fucking Semblance off first."
Rihanna climbed to her own feet, watching her not captive-captive carefully, before acquiescing; Raven could feel her emotions swinging back to baseline, and her Semblance connections springing back into alignment. She was immediately bombarded by the sensation of her teammates in a state of upset, fear and worry; it was not for themselves.
Yup. We're fucked. Yay.
"Don't try anything funny," Rihanna insisted as Raven drew her blade, her fingers resting on her hip. The freshman's own weapon was a Yellow and Blue Dust infused Kyoketsu-shoge, which she casually wore at her hip, but which Raven knew she could deploy to rapidly ensnare and subdue larger or physically stronger opponents.
"Whatever, nerd," Raven waved her hand dismissively, before slashing her sword through the air, focusing on her twin. Qrow's portal flashed open, the bond supplying a wave of concern, relief and anxiety. "By the way? You can pay me next week."
She stepped through before Rihanna had a chance to respond to her quip. She took note of her surroundings, recognizing them instantly. She wasn't surprised at where she was. r
Spinning gears, skylights, and lofted ceiling; and a large desk, where her team was seated in front of a smiling Ozpin. Raven noted that it was dark outside, and a tremor of concern ran up her back.
How long have we been gone? Surely it hadn't been hours?
Before Raven could say anything to the people staring at her with a wide array of expressions, Rihanna pushed next to her, already talking.
"Ok, so listen, Shifts, I still need to-"
A gently clearing throat.
Rihanna's voice trailed off as she blinked in surprise at her surroundings, before her eyes found Professor Ozpin's and the stares and glares of the rest of team STRQ.
"Ladies!" the Headmaster started calmly, utterly unsurprised by their sudden appearance. "There we are, right on time. Please come in. Have a seat."
Raven shot Rihanna a parting, droll look before striding up to one of the empty chairs, the one between Tai and Qrow, and settled in for the long haul. She couldn't really bring herself to look at any of them.
Rihanna was far more hesitant to approach, and seemed to be considering using the Mirrorways to flee whatever trap she'd walked into. Ozpin smiled, though the little glint in his eyes seemed to harden.
"Ah, I'm afraid that won't work here, Miss Gladsbrook. I have unfortunately had to increase my security recently," the Headmaster stood from where he was leaning on his desk, before walking towards the remaining chair and gesturing openly to it. "The King's Service has been trying my patience with their little escapades onto campus. And it seems for, some mysterious reason, you felt compelled to break into my desk and go through private records. I'd like to talk about that as well, please."
Raven rubbed the space between her brows in frustration.
Oh my gods, what was she thinking? That's where she read my file?
Rihanna, for once, was at a total loss of words. However, she approached the empty chair, shooting STRQ frequent glances as she tried to determine how much danger she was in and just what she had walked into. Raven personally didn't envy her situation whatsoever, but it wasn't like their's was much better most likely.
I have to get us out of this.
As Rihanna took a careful seat and Ozpin smiled reassuringly, before moving to sit down in his own chair, Raven's mind was already rotating through ideas.
"Now then," Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, deceitfully casual. "Who would like to go first?"
Author's Notes: Cue it's Always Sunny in Philadelphia theme
Have a good weekend everybody.