DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN RWBY OR ARCANE.

In any other night, Vale would've been a fun place to be in. There were many places where one could find some entertainment, and Junior's club would've been a great pick if they weren't as shady as they were. Then again, business is business. However, with the current situation Vale was in, it would be a surprise if someone was in the mood to party.

Both the Grimm and the Atlesian Knights were a danger to the city, attacking every civilian they encounter. The people were panicking, fear overrode rationality. Qrow Branwen couldn't care less. Not now. James would take care of the situation in the city, the only thing in Qrow's mind was to find out where his niece was.

While in mid air, Qrow shot at the Nevermore's wings, first on the left where Qrow was closer to, then the right once the oversized bird grimm tilted. He changed into his bird form and flew towards the Nevermore's front, just above it's head, before changing back into his human form and cutting it off with Harbinger in it's sword form. Qrow turned back into a crow and watched the large Grimm disintegrate as it fell.

The fall of Beacon. He knew it would happen someday, especially when he saw how many Grimms Salem had made during one of his mission, but he didn't think that it would be so soon. Then again, he didn't expect his niece to get into beacon so early either. Part of him still hated Ozpin for recruiting her at such a young age. He knew his niece was more than capable of taking care of herself. He trained her himself after all, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be worried about her. And right now, Qrow is very, very, worried about his niece. He saw the Grimm wyvern, and every part of him was screaming at him to find his niece and get her out of there.

Qrow immediately flew at top speed, heading towards where the Grimm wyvern was at. Usually he wouldn't charge head first into danger so recklessly, but the fact that his niece could be in a situation she couldn't handle made Qrow ignore his instinct to get back to safety. Maybe this bad luck of his would actually help him in this situation, though he wouldn't expect it.

Qrow saw two figures fighting once he was able to see the tower, one with red hair, whom he assumed was the Nikos girl, and the one he couldn't recognize because of the distance. As he got closer he could see the Nikos girl on her knees with an arrow lodged through her chest. For once, Qrow hoped that this was just one of his drunken hallucinations, and that whatever he was seeing wasn't actually happening.

In the corner of his eye he saw glyphs form from the ground floor to the roof of the building and in an instant, a flash of red rushed through them. He immediately knew it was his niece. Not caring whether or not it was an hallucination, Qrow forced himself to fly faster. The thought of his niece unknowingly heading into danger fueled him, but even he can't match Ruby's speed. He can't stop Ruby from witnessing what has happened.

The moment she got on top of the building, Ruby witnessed her friend turn to ash and Qrow could do nothing to stop it. Ruby was too stunned to move and while the woman was distracted, Qrow changed into his human form and changed Harbinger into it's ranged mode. He then shot multiple times at the woman responsible for the friend of his niece's death.

The woman was unaware of Qrow's presence, which was the only reason the woman wasn't able to dodge his attacks. Not wanting to waste time, he immediately turned back into a crow and flew towards her, using the same strategy he used on the nevermore. Qrow saw the woman's eyes. She was a maiden, which would make it harder for him to beat her, but with the way she yelled in pain when Qrow's attack hit, he could only hope that it meant her aura was down.

The moment he was just within reach behind the woman, he heard his niece scream out and a flash of white light erupted from her eyes.

"WHAT?!"

The woman yelled, her focus shifting to Ruby as the light enveloped them. Not wasting any more time while the woman was distracted Qrow turned back into a human and sliced her throat. Her aura was down. Good. The golden eyed maiden's head left her body, killing her in an instant.

"Ruby!"

Qrow rushed to his niece once his feet hit the ground. With Harbinger in his hand, Qrow dropped to his knees and held her, closing his eyes in the process as the light from her eyes was far too bright for his to handle. He didn't know why, but there was ringing in his ears.

"It's all right. I gotcha kiddo. I gotcha."

Qrow whispered to Ruby, hoping she would hear him despite the ringing and would calm herself down. It seemed to work as he could feel her become less tense in his hold. He kept his eyes closed as the light only got brighter. He remembered Summer using her eyes back in the day, but it was never this bright. Then again, they never faced a Grimm wyvern before. Qrow began rubbing his niece's back as he hugged her in hopes of offering comfort. He didn't forget that she just saw her friend die right before her eyes, and he knew how painful it was to witness a friend, heck even a comrade, die for the first time. The light slowly began to dim, and Qrow could feel his niece's knees begin to buckle.

Once the light died down, he put Harbinger back on the holder on his back and hoisted his niece up to carry her before opening his eyes. Surprise filled the man the moment he did. This wasn't Beacon. The ringing in his ear was still there and he could barely hear anything. His eyes were still adjusting, but from what he saw he could tell that they weren't on the roof.

It was dark, but not as dark as it should be. He turned to look for both the Grimm wyvern and the corpse of the woman, only to find himself in a cramped, dirty alley. There was a huge difference between a roof and an alley, and even if he was in his drunken state, the dark haired man would still be able to tell which is which. Qrow was a hundred percent sure that he was nowhere near an alley during the fight, and with how his niece was still with him, he was completely sure that this wasn't one of his drunken hallucinations. It smelled far too horrible for it to be one, and the air here was making it hard for him to breathe. Concern filled his mind when he thought about Ruby breathing in the air from this place. He has to get her out of here. Not knowing what else to do, he took out his weapon just to be safe and walked out of the alley, keeping a secure hold of his niece.

Qrow heard the sound of crying as he was walking out of the alley. A child perhaps. He couldn't care less about a kid he didn't know so he chose to ignore it. What was he gonna do? Give them a drink? Qrow scoffed at the thought. However, the moment he stepped out of the alley, he saw a man with a scar on his face and a strange looking eye look at the child menacingly. That set off multiple alarms in Qrow's head which only grew louder when he saw the man holding something sharp. Qrow didn't care about the kid, he really didn't. She was a stranger after all, but Qrow wasn't a monster. He couldn't, in good conscience, leave a kid with a man who seemed to have questionable intentions. Setting Ruby down, Qrow walked towards the two and pointed Harbinger at the man. The man took notice of Qrow and glared at him. Qrow's only response was to gestrure at the man to go away, shooing at him with his free hand, just as three other people walked up to the scarred man and stood behind him, one of them carrying a woman who seemed to be injured.

'His minions I'm guessing. Guess the fucker can't fight his own battles.'

Qrow knew he could take them, they already looked beaten up. The man seemed to think the same thing. He had seen the look in Qrow's eyes, one that showed an experienced fighter who has seen the worst that the world could show a person. Knowing he wouldn't be able to win if a fight were to break out, which the scarred man assumed would happen if he were to step closer to the girl, he scoffed before gesturing at his companions to leave.

Qrow continued to watch as the man and his companions walked away from the girl, making sure he was out of sight. By now, the girl's cries have began to quiet, but she still didn't move from where she was. Qrow took notice of his surroundings, noticing the dead body that had weird purple veins all over, and the debris coupled up with the fire led him to think that there was an explosion. It wasn't safe here. The red eyed man couldn't ignore the possibility of another explosion to happen, and with that in mind, leaving the kid here would be heartless. And Qrow is anything but.

"Hey kid."

The girl looked up at Qrow. And just from the look in her eyes he could tell that she just experienced something traumatic. It was the same look he saw from new recruits that just finished school and decided to bite of more than they can chew. The same look of anguish he saw from Ruby just before she used the ability of her eyes.

"Where are your family?"

Qrow tried to sound as unthreatening as possible but with his voice, he didn't think that he would do a good job. His worries began to worsen when he saw the blue haired girl trembling, and before he knew it, she screamed and pounced on him. Qrow kept a hold of his weapon and just as he was about to raise it to strike her, he noticed the girl beginning to cry on his shirt.

"My sister left me."

Qrow frowned. He didn't expect that answer. What kind of person would leave a family member behind? Was this kid from an abusive family? He knew he probably wouldn't have the chance to ask her those questions. Not right now, and certainly not here.

"She's not my sister anymore."

'Heh. If only we had a choice in that matter, kid.'

Qrow could hear the anger from those words and the way she said it, but amidst the anger, there was sadness. He shouldn't have asked about her family. Home, maybe, but then that would also be related to family. It's not really his business to meddle in anything family related unless it was within his family.

Not knowing what else to do, he gently, albeit awkwardly, patted her head. Her hair was rough and oily, which led him to believe that it's been a while since she'd taken a bath.

"Let's... get you somewhere safe."

Safety. No one was safe around him, but leaving the kid to fend for herself would put her in more danger than taking her with him. And with how the kid responded to his question, he could only assume that the parents were out of the picture. No kid would cry on the middle of... whatever the place was called if their sister left. They usually head to their parents. If they were around. She only mentioned a sister. Who knows, maybe asking about a parent would make the situation worse than it already was.

"What's your name kid?"

At first there was silence. Seconds passed and he didn't get an answer, so Qrow asked the question again. This time, she answered.

"Jinx."

Jinx... Another bad luck charm.

Author's Note: I'm gonna edit this one day. This is just a half assed attempt to stop myself from thinking while I'm trying to fall asleep. Don't expect anything.