…

His Corvian Father

…

Some people say that the Branwen were horrible caretakers. That they were nothing more than good-for-nothing bandits living in the outlands of Mistral, and that they held no love for their family whatsoever. I might be inclined to agree, since our father never gave us the time of day, instead choosing to amuse himself with drink whilst hitting Raven and I for even the slightest mistakes. I still remember my first kill, standing over the cooling corpse of a well-to-do man that even had the grace to just give up his belongings without a fight. Yet the tribe said to leave no witnesses.

I could still remember the look on his face as I moved in with a gleaming knife, amidst the burning village that was filled with the raucous laughter of my fellow 'family', filled with fear, regret, and a burning rage to make a last stand. However, given that he didn't have Aura, he didn't stand a chance. I dodged against an obvious maker, stabbed him right through the heart and twisted, watching as the light faded out of his eyes as his blood began pooling around him.

The visage never got out of my mind. It never did. The image served as a moral compass to me; that every life was precious, and my first kill only notified me of the fact that human life was so fragile. After that raid on the village, I…I had snuck into my father's quarters, slit his throat when he was too drunk with booze to realize that I wasn't even hiding, all under my twin's gaze. It was a hard decision for me to make, but one that I ultimately didn't regret in the end; it signified that I wouldn't take any more of the tribe's shit – Raven and I were splitting off from them until we die. We went to Beacon to escape…to run away from the past that had defined us all our lives as rascals, bandits, and thieves.

Oh, little did I know that big sister dearest took more heart to our father's lessons than I had expected. That was my first regret. I always thought that she had mellowed out under STRQ's care, but it turned out that she was…'distorted' from the start, is what I wanted to say. Where it was enough to subjugate, she killed. Where simple interrogation was enough, she tortured. Where I was more suited to spying missions, she was more suited to wet work. Ozpin noticed, and privately showed me the evidence that proved that Raven hadn't moved on from her life of killing. It was all there, just under the surface, and so under the radar that not even Summer, the squirt whose Semblance was telepathy for goodness's sake, couldn't even figure out that Raven acted like that. It was like a switch inside her; a switch that changed her from aloof teammate to remorseless killer.

I kept it silent. That was my second regret. I believed that Oz could change her thinking; that an immortal wizard with enough experience could actually change my sister's bullheaded attitude about life and death. Still, I shouldn't have been surprised. Oz might've been immortal with lifetimes' worth of experience, but he was still a warrior first and foremost, standing in the frontlines in the fight against Salem. Of course he wouldn't know anything about therapy.

So, it all came to a head when Yang Xiao Long was born. The moment where Raven realized that there was no turning back from the deeds that she has done; wherein no matter how hard I tried to convince her that there was still a way for us to atone for our mistakes, she had just called me a fool. Two months. Raven had only held my first niece in her arms for two months before going back to the tribe. It was a stab to the heart. All these years that I trusted her, and she had repaid my efforts in keeping us alive by stabbing us in the back and going back to her 'family' of killers, thieves, and bandits. Tai wasn't the only one that got hurt the most, since he got Summer to 'comfort' him right after Raven left.

No, it was I that was stabbed in the back twice.

My third regret was letting Summer out in the outlands, alone. I knew that she could take care of herself. I knew that she was a better fighter than me. I also knew that Tai was busy in trying to raise Yang and Ruby, both of them only six and four at the time, where they needed all the attention that they could get. Still, it was the outlands of Mistral, an area that I knew like the back of my hand. Why was it that I left her alone, in search for a lead to Raven, no less? I could've just told her that we were still in contact with one another; that even though we had our differences, we were still twins. If only I had just told her that before she left, then Summer would've…

Tai broke apart and my heart even more so. Summer…she was the light of our team, the one that was responsible for making sure that all of us stuck together through thick and thin. Without her, the two of us drifted apart, with me taking on solo missions far away from Patch like those in Vacuo or in Atlas. I thought that Tai could handle it alone. That he was strong enough to live through it all. A Semblance describes a person's core after all, and so I knew that Tai would've been fine.

But Yang and Ruby were almost killed, searching for Summer's tracks.

It was one of the few times that I was truly angry at Tai for letting such a thing happen. It was one of the few times that I saw him for the broken man that he truly is, and how badly he's holding things apart. That the smiles that he always wore were nothing more than mere facades, meant to reassure others that everything was fine, even though he almost lost everything. It was the first time that I heard him say that he was contemplating suicide. That he would be better off dead rather than stay in the living where living evidences of his mistakes hung on him until the rest of his life.

A punch broke him out of that thinking. It took an all-out brawl just to make sure he won't say such an idiotic fucking thing again when Yang and Ruby were still in the house. The healing process was slow; I had to book him a therapist just to make sure that he wouldn't crack again. Still, years pass, and as time flows on the pain lessens just a bit – it makes the loss all that easier to cope with. Now, Yang was fourteen with Ruby twelve, with the blonde just starting at Signal and Ruby getting some special treatment from me.

The mission was supposed to be an easy one, and once again came from Mistral. I was supposed to investigate rumors of a silver-eyed kid living in an orphanage in the area, and report back to Oz as to what I had found. Everything had gone to shit the moment I got inside the orphanage: turned out that the caretakers were nothing more than renamed child slavers, and the kids inside had staged a plan to get out on the same day. It seemed that my Semblance wanted to take a piss out of me, and it showed in the fact that I arrived just in the nick of time before a Beowolf managed to slash a boy's face in. About seventeen, with a lanky frame but with an abnormally tall height for his age, and was covered in scratches and bruises that might have come from running through the forest.

I ended up adopting him, named him 'Hheron' for his long legs and tall height. And it all came back around in full circle.

…

His Corvian Father

…

"Qrow, you don't even know how to take care of a child", Tai nagged over the sound of frying omelets; "He's seventeen, turning eighteen in a few months! That means that you've only got a few months before he's on his own, for crying out loud!"

"And what do I do?" I challenged him, "Leave him off for another orphanage, except this time the owners are actually madmen who wanted to experiment on children?" A growl rose out of my throat, leaning forward so that I could meet Tai's eye. "Whatever those bastards at the orphanage did, they did a number on him. That and he was the only one that I managed to find in the whole forest, so he's probably nursing a lot of survivor's guilt." Damn my Semblance. Damn it to hell. If they were expressions of our individuality, then did that mean that I saw myself as nothing more than someone who shits on everyone's day?

"You don't think I know that?" Tai growled, setting down the plates on the table a lot stronger than he was supposed to. The china cracked ever-so slightly, and the nails on the table creaked in place. "That kid lived in a situation that would've normally killed him. Of course he's going to feel regretful of the fact that he was the only one able to survive." It was a good thing that Yang was currently in Signal and Ruby was currently in elementary. Oum knows what might happen if they were to overhear this.

Tai perked up, glancing towards the back door, where my adopted son entered, his face still set in a blank tone. His hair was messy as usual, with color like a raven's feathers, and a single tuft of hair stood up, unable to be combed down by any means. Gray eyes devoid of passion and life stared at the table, idly noting Tai's gaze and mine, quickly brushing it off as he moved towards us with slow, lethargic steps. Meet Hheron Branwen, my newly-adopted son of a few weeks. Might be a part sloth faunus, but I think that's just how he normally does things.

All conversation died between Tai and I as my adopted son seated himself at one of the empty chairs, accidentally taking Yang's own as he sat down on it. The look of relief on his face was enough to make me snort, but still – no conversation. Oum was I doing a good job of being a parent. "Here", Tai said, sliding a plate towards Hheron as the latter simply looked on at the egg, "I made another one just for you, so just eat up. You can't possibly survive on an empty stomach."

"I'll manage", was the reply that came out of his mouth, taking the spoon with the same lethargic moments and stuffing a bite of the omelet into his mouth. He hummed, didn't say another word, yet by the fact that he paced himself faster; I could say that he liked the food. "…This is good."

"Heh, made it myself, you see", Tai said, preening with pride at the fact that someone had praised his skills in cooking. He regaled the kid with the tales of his experiments, as to how he wanted to get everything right for his 'little darling angels' (as he described them), and Hheron was content to simply just listen, never doing more than humming, nodding, or smirking. By this point, I could only equate the kid's smirk with a smile.

As the conversation was winding down and his omelet was almost finished, I made myself useful and spoke up. I was never one for subtlety after all. "So kid", I said, waving my flask at the table before placing it gently on top of the woodwork, "What are you going to do? Go to school? Help out around the house? Get started on earning yourself a job?"

Silence was my reply, and I could feel Tai's disapproval from across the table. But I didn't care. What I needed was to make sure that Hheron had set himself a goal for the past few weeks that he's been here. To make sure that after all that shit that he's been through, he still hasn't lost who he fundamentally was. "I could handle myself academically", he said, his voice once again a low whisper that made me strain my ears just so I could hear him. Always soft-spoken, never raising a voice unless he was required to. It was probably another one of the things that the 'caretakers' managed to drill into his mind. "As for helping around the house, I don't have much experience in housework, but I'm a little bit interested. As for earning a job, I think that I'm going to need a few credentials and various references first before I could reliably get one."

I hummed, nodding along to his quite frankly logical explanation. It would seem like he had thought this through, or he was just someone that always liked thinking about such things. "Then what are you going to do?" Tai asked, a look of concern on his face as he crossed his arms and stared at Hheron with worry written all over his face. "You've got less than a year before you're on your own. What could you do, then?"

Hheron kept silent, instead letting his eyes do the work for him. They glanced towards the far corner of the room, where Harbinger leaned against the wall in its sheathed form, and promptly glanced back towards me, a look of determination on his face. "I want to protect people from going through the same thing as me", he began, and even I was taken a little aback by his maturity. "Being a member of the militia or the police isn't going to work, since most orphanages inside settlements and cities are closely monitored by the governing body. No, most of the things that happened in…that place were done in far-off villages, where they have all the sense of secrecy in the world as long as they have a dedicated force to protect them against the…Grimm. I want to be one of those people that can put a stop to their operations."

"So you're going to be a Huntsman." Tai summarized with a frustrated sigh, and I can't help but glance at my adopted son in slight worry. Less than a year left before he's a full-fledged adult, and he wants to do a profession that takes a decade of initial training before everything could fall into place. My heart sank, and given that Tai's eyes were clouded, I could say the same for him as well. "It's going to be a tough job. Not to mention, those who wanted to be one started off about a decade ago. You're going to be well behind them in…well, everything, really." As of the moment, Yang could probably beat him up. Plus, Hheron still didn't have his Aura unlocked.

"If that's what I'm going to be called, then that's what I want to be."

Both of us sighed, a flash of Summer and her stubbornness going through our minds before staring at one another and giving out an imperceptible sigh. "If you want to, then we'll train you", I said, rising on my feet and moving towards the corner to get Harbinger, nudging at the back door. "Get out the door then, Hheron. We're starting today."

He paused for a second, a slow blink coming across his eyes as he stared at me with wide eyes like a fish. Fitting, since his eyes looked exactly like them. I stood by the back door, pushing it open with the handle of my weapon, and he stood up whilst giving me a suspicious look, as if it was too good to be true. I had to applaud him for that. It seemed like Hheron had a good head on his shoulders – a fine trait for a good Huntsman to have.

My adopted son was right on one thing, though – that the offer was too good to be true.

…

His Corvian Father

…

Less than a year had passed and yet I was already seeing my son off an airship leading out from Patch, the airship headed towards Vacuo. The damn thing was nearly empty as always, but it could suddenly seem quite full when you've got a loved one ready to strike their own fortune. He seemed comfortable in his seat, and he gave me a thin smirk, giving me a salute as he strapped his weapon to his thigh. Truly, less than a year had passed, and he already was more experienced than some of the brats that I've seen graduating out of Signal.

His mind probably had something to do with that. Ever since our first spar, he had always used it to its fullest extent, sharpening it in order to function as a tool that would help him fight. He already knew that he was going to be far behind the rest of the flock when it came to fighting, Aura, and Semblances, so he compensated by specializing in the matters of the mind. No trick too dirty, no tactic too impure – my son struck out with cold, unyielding efficiency that even I was astounded by the fact that he could do such a thing. Sure, he looked like a noodle whose definition of good time consists of just sitting in a corner and reading a book, but damn did he have fucking claws.

Aura, though…that matter was tricky. I unlocked it the 'family's' way, only doing so when he manages to prove himself towards me. It brought a bad taste to my mouth, using the Branwen way in order to train up my son, but I did begrudgingly agree that it had results.

The problem though, was that the moment that I unlocked Hheron's Aura, it was almost nonexistent. Oh, it was there, manifesting as a gray light that hugged close to his skin whenever he took damage, but the amount of it was so miniscule that a simple punch was enough for it to break. So, the training still continued, and he still got bruises, scratches, scrapes, and scars from the training, but there wasn't enough Aura to make sure that they healed properly. Oh, the scars on his arms had healed properly, alright, but his back and front? There were mostly unnoticeable, but they were still there.

Still, he pursued his career. In hindsight, it should've been so unnatural – the fact that he wanted to be a Huntsman without the usual tools that a Huntsman had should be enough to clue me in that something was wrong, but I only realized it when the airship had already left towards his destination. With barely enough Aura, piddling fighting skills, and no Semblance, would he get rejected even before he reached Vacuo? There was a high chance that he would. Still, I couldn't say it to his face. It was better if he experienced it for himself, and learned that there were other things to do in this world aside from wasting time.

I know that I'm a shitty father. It was literally in the Branwen blood that we simply do not know how to raise children. But one day, Hheron would be looking back to this moment, and realize that at least I wasn't as bad as Raven.

So, it was to my complete and utter surprise that I found him accepted into the Vacuan Academy for Gifted Children. Like, it was the premier school in the area, just like how Beacon was for the rest of Vale. I hadn't expected him to be accepted, but apparently he did. Oh, and I got a sneak peek at the place where he was staying.

You know what people say about Vacuo, and how it wasn't important? Well, they obviously hadn't seen the Vacuan Academy for Gifted Children; or VAGC (heh) for short. It was in short, a city over the largest oasis in the Vacuan Desert. There was plumbing. There was sewage management. There was the fact that the water that came out of the sewage management plant was do damn clear that it was just dumped back into the oasis. Oh, and there was a large dome around the damn thing that served as a water collection area. Was this what Vacuo was supposed to be hiding all along? Because if it was, then I'd be shooting for the moon, my manners damned.

The VAGC was the closest thing to a desert fortress that I had ever seen, hidden below decades of propaganda echoed by Vale and Atlas. Might be the reason as to why the Great War had been so damn degrading. Who knew that Vacuo was hiding a goldmine such as that?

Still, I cheered him on, gave him some pointers on living with a co-ed dormitory. It wasn't a learning experience for me since I was raised in the tribe, but the 'orphanage' where Hheron had been probably had such things as segregation laws. I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't even seen a girl naked yet.

…

His Corvian Father

…

Three years passed, and on one sunny afternoon, I turned on the news to discover that the Grimm overran the VAGC. I could feel my blood still, my afternoon drink forgotten as I surged out of the bar and ran towards Tai's lodge. I hadn't even realized that I had switched forms until Tai told me so. "I'm contacting Ozpin. Maybe he could get a Bullhead up in the air within a few hours, and I'll run for Vacuo as soon as I get on."

"Qrow."

"Or maybe I could just fly the whole way? I mean, the distance is far yes, and I'll be stuck out on the wilds for days, but if that means that I won't be detectable to the Grimm, then I guess I should go for it. I might even get a headstart if I start flying now."

"Qrow!"

"What!?" I snarled back, meeting Tai's cool gaze as I heaved a deep breath and allowed the tension to go out of my body. Right. I shouldn't panic. Panicking in this type of situation would only make things worse. Keep yourself calm, and think about the situation logically. How could you contact your own son if he's in the middle of a Grimm invasion?

It was quite simple, actually. You don't; at least, not until the invasion was over. Only thencan you call them via CCT, ascertain if they're fine, try to let them go through the motions while you're holding onto a therapist's number in your other hand…Three years. It had been three years since I shipped off Hheron to the VAGC, and Oz had used that opportunity to shuttle me on missions constantly, citing that with my son in a relatively safe place for the moment, I should focus on my original task. Spying on villages, tracking down Maidens, finding out what Salem's plans were…It was an unproductive three years.

Then suddenly, the closest thing to a desert fortress was currently being sieged by armies of Grimm. The whole think simply reeked of sabotage. Just what the hell was I doing? Back then I knew that Vacuo wasn't just a Kingdom on the verge of falling to the desert sands, so just why hadn't I investigated the damn place for any sort of backhand dealings? Did Oz just send me out on other missions because he knows that I'll be worried? Or does he want to keep a secret of some sort?

Either way…my son was probably dead out there, his corpse being feasted on by the Grimm. The thought of it made my heart sank, and a pit to form at the bottom of my stomach. Gods…just thinking about it was enough to make me retch. I need to have a drink before I contact Oz about this… "Qrow", Tai's voice snaps me out of my thoughts, and I glance towards him with a half-lidded glare, "Think about this, Qrow. If Ozpin doesn't want you to be going on missions in Vacuo, then what else has he kept hidden from you?"

I shut my mouth up at that. Tai had a point; if Oz had been keeping information about Vacuo from me, then that means that he doesn't want me finding anything out about…Vacuo, of all things. Ugh, it was hard to get rid of the sludge that they forced onto me about that Kingdom. 'Totally useless' this, 'only good for sand' yadda, even though I received a live transmission from my son that showed the fact that it was an actual, thriving Kingdom. Ugh, hard to change perspectives when you're already an old man…which I'm definitely not.

"Then–"

"–Qrow, if you're about to do something stupid, I'll stop you right here. I…I don't know what to tell Yang and Ruby if they come in here and find you missing." Anger flared up at Tai's words, but I forced myself to calm down and think of it from his perspective. Yang and Ruby were just entering their teenage years, with all of the damn hormones that came with it. Normally, it was something that I'd foist on Tai, but…I'm starting to think that it was going to be more than just a possibility now.

"Tai", I said, gripping his shoulder and making sure that I gripped it tight, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "That's my fucking son out there in Vacuo, being decimated by piles of Grimm. I don't care whether or not I'll get a corpse or see him up and running without a care in the world. I. Will. Find. Him."

I didn't wait for Tai's reply. There wasn't really a need to. A shift of will, and I flapped my wings, zooming out of the window and out towards the expansive sky. It was already sunset in Patch, and the hues of oranges and blues were usually a sight to die for when you're flying across the winds.

Now however, the only thing that I could think about is how much distance I have to cover before I could reach my son.

…

His Corvian Father

…

Another three years passed. This time, I'd lost all hope of finding my son. I scoured through the remains of the VAGC, went through every metal scrap and sandstone that I could dig up, but I found nothing. Not even a proof of his existence. Not even a single scrap of bloodied cloth that I could've traced back to him. Come to think of it, it was the last time that I realized that Oz wasn't as benevolent as he tried to be. Just what the hell was he thinking, only sending help two weeks after the Kingdom was burned to the ground?

…Great. I'm now hearing Raven say 'I told you so' in my mind.

Still, Hheron's…my son's loss wasn't something that I could normally recover from. Not normally anyway; alcohol helped with dulling the pain – the years spent idly mumbling about the idiosyncratic things that he'd say, or the fact that he ranted about almost anything while we were training. It was worse during the day that I brought him back from the clutches of a Beowolf – his so-called 'birthday' so to speak, and I'd need something that could kill an elephant just so the day could pass by without much fuss.

Now…I'm on another mission by Oz, this time in trying to track down a fucking Maiden out of all things on foot, wings, whatever. She escaped, ditching her guards since she 'wanted to be left alone', but all I could see was that she was having that time of the month. Really, was Oz on crack when he made the Maidens? Because that's the feeling that I was getting when the woman at that time of the month shooed her guards away with a lightning bolt.

Gave her about a headstart of about three days. I was too busy trying to recover from the fucking hangover to even give a shit about trying to track the Maiden down, so I was a bit slower than I had expected. By the time I caught up however, I found someone trying to do their best to ambush her, with less-than-predictable results. Honestly, I don't even know why Oz made sure to assign guards to Maidens. I mean, they could just blast the walls of a Kingdom open and let the Grimm come, and they'd be perfectly fine in the thick of it.

So, what I did was just sit down and try to find some sort of close substitute for popcorn. I mean, I could always come in if Amber was feeling a little bit too overwhelmed, but I think that I just wanted to stay for the fight. Oz's orders could go fuck themselves. I could always say that the bitch slammed a lightning bolt in my face, after all, and he wouldn't even notice…Senile old man…

…Oh, looks like Amber's down for the count. Well, time to help her out…

My eyes narrow, watching the telltale markings of a Grimm coming out of the ambusher's skin. Salem's people, I could guess. Well, it wasn't as if I had any problem in just letting the scene pass. I mean, sure it would be a complete annoyance if Salem's allies had a Maiden in their ranks, and it would be funny to see Oz's face contort as if he had a bout of indigestion. But the whole 'draining Maiden powers' thing? That looked a little bit iffy. Guess I could care after all, if only it was for investigation.

I took a step forward, taking a deep breath to will my body to shift, and I surged forward with a burst of Aura on my feet, swinging Harbinger towards the Grimm parasite-thing that seemed to be sucking off Amber. Sucking out Amber. Sucking out Amber's powers. Whatever. The point was that Harbinger cleaved through the damn thing as it let out a dying shriek, and even the woman that it was connected to let out a pretty good scream. Good. I was dreading that it was just some form of commensalism or something. Lucky me.

Another swipe drove them back, with one idiot thinking she could use her mind powers against me. She got smacked in the side for that, and Harbinger sent her flying off to the side with a nasty gash on her side. A quick pull of the handguard later, and Harbinger shifted to a scythe, and I charged forward once again with gleaming steel at the ready. I headed towards the woman wearing red, my instincts telling me to cut the head off from the snake, and I drew back my scythe so that the gray-haired guy launched himself towards the butt of my scythe. This was the problem with dealing with two opponents.

…Lucky for me however, it seems that the tables were going to be turned. A cloaked man moved, a black blade hurtling through the air and impaling one of the silver haired dude's legs. He squawked, pinned to the ground by the force of the throw, and the cloaked man immediately moved in and stabbed the bastard through the heart. Again, again, and again, until his Aura ran out and the black blade now moved smoothly in between the ribs.

With such an efficient kill done, I turned back towards my opponent, only to find her nursing her wounds with the green-haired skank from earlier, already running back into the forest. I moved to pursue, but the cloaked man blocked my path by holding up an arm, and I growled as I pointed Harbinger to his neck. To my surprise however, the cloaked man simply edged the blade away with his black blade. "Nice seeing you again, Qrow."

I blink, the world around me slowing down to a crawl as my mind tried to process the voice. Three years ago…six years ago, yes…a teen about to be eaten by a Beowolf…No. No way. There was no fucking way that he's still alive. I went through the ruins! There was nothing left! "Who the fuck are you!?"

The cloaked man turned around and pried off his hood with the black blade, revealing messy unkempt hair that probably hasn't been washed for weeks. The eyes were still the same as I could remember – gray, and devoid of passion and life. A thin smirk was on his lips, and even the black blade that he wielded was the same one that I had seen him use before he went off, with a few slight modifications.

"Hheron Branwen", my dead son replied, "…Congratulations, Qrow. The prodigal son returns."

…

His Corvian Father

…

"Just where the hell have you been!?" I roared and slammed the table backwards, prompting the rest of the inhabitants to get out of the tavern. They probably knew what it was like to have a pissed Hunter wanting to blow off some steam. I tossed a bag at the counter, where it promptly dented the wood, and turned back to face my son with blazing eyes. "Not even a call from a CCT. Not even a peep with you. Just how am I supposed to know that you've been alive for years now, Hheron!?" I controlled my breath, steeling my nerves as the arm holding Harbinger shook, slowly inching away from my son's neck. Great. Less than a day after meeting my supposedly-dead son, I've already got a blade by his neck.

Gods, I'm becoming more and more like Raven every day…I guess that realization was telling enough, since Hheron placed a hand on the blade and carefully lowered it back down onto where the table should be…if it were not for my earlier outburst. "I go by Acht nowadays", he said, his tone calm and even. As if he had already expected such a thing to happen. "Makes me harder to identify as a…survivor, of the VAGC." My eyes narrow as he smirks, placing a worn Scroll on the table. "Looks like you caught on quick, dad. The whole incident was sabotage." He motioned to the Scroll, keeping his expression schooled into a neutral line as he continued, "…This was the Scroll of one of the perpetrators. Owned by one Arthur Watts." My eyes widen before I knew it, and Hheron– no, Acht (because I couldn't remember him smirking in such a way), smirked. "I guess the name's quite familiar to you?"

He knows.

That was the only thought that ran through my head for a few seconds, before something snapped into place and I looked at my son– no, at Acht with cold eyes. "What evidence do you have to prove that the Scroll is actually his?" Seeing as his expression didn't change, I could only sigh, picking up the Scroll and browsing through the files…and promptly choked on my own spit after seeing just what they contained.

Once again, I turned back to meet his eyes, one that was both blank and calculating at the same time. I knew those types of eyes; those were the ones who always kept their expressions neutral, those who never shared what the thought with others. Those eyes were what I saw in Acht…and now that I think about it, those eyes were also what I saw at every other player in the game. A sound of realization crossed my lips, and I gripped Arthur Watts' scroll tighter. Another new player in the game. My son was a new player in the game of Remnant.

Another mistake that could be absolved by simply choosing to enroll him somewhere else.

I let out a sigh. A tired and frustrated one, brought about by the various revelations that kept on happening today. First was Salem's minions coming after Amber, and nearly taking her out for the count. Another was the fact that my errant, wayward, supposedly-dead son was still alive, and now…he was another player in a game that could affect everyone on Remnant.

To think that his melancholy would only come from experience…It seemed that I still thought of him as a kid that was lost and was simply trying to find his way. Now that he's all grown-up, though…I can't help but regret wanting to stay by his side a little while longer. "Alright", I said, opening my eyes as I focused back on the topic at hand, "You've got me interested. What do you want?"

"Protection." He succinctly replied, folding his hands on his legs as if trying to emulate a businessman. I give him seven and a half out of ten. "I was the one that took the bastard out–" My eyes widen at that admission, but if Acht recognized it, he simply ignored my outburst and continued, "–and whatever parasitic Grimm that Salem had implanted to her minions would most likely report back to her about Watts' death, and his murderer."

My lips moved, and he silenced me with a glare, answering the question that I was supposed to ask. "I don't care about Salem, nor about Ozpin", he said, with complete and utter certainty that I couldn't help but blink. "They're nothing more than senile old fools willing to drag the world to hell along with their selfishness. In fact, I'm more than willing to take the chance to eliminate them both, if the opportunity arises." My eyes narrowed, and a hand itched for Harbinger, only for a part of my conscience telling me that I shouldn't raise a blade towards my son. "…Well, I guess it's alright for you to act that way", Acht said, a depreciating smile on his face that looked like he was taking pity on me. "You haven't had a conversation with the genie, after all."

I froze, the hand itching towards Harbinger staying still as I looked towards Acht with wide eyes. It was a given that he knew about the Relics and the Maidens used to contain them, given the amount of information on Watts' Scroll, but to secure a Maiden to his side? Amber. "You…" I managed to get out, a growl coming forth from my lips as I found purchase in Harbinger's handle, but Acht simply stared at me with the same – now unnerving – calm as before. It was like staring at a second Ozpin, but one that developed over a single lifetime.

"The Maiden that let me into Mistral's vault wasn't Amber", he said, a thin smile on his face as he frowned, a flicker of emotion finally surfacing in his eyes. It would've been comforting to note, but a rock only dropped deeper into my stomach when I realized that Acht, my son, was staring at me in anger. "Let's just say that we had…a family reunion."

Gears clicked into place, and the shock on my face was replaced with regret. I stared outside the window, making sure that Acht didn't see the clenched fist that I hid behind me. Damn Raven. Damn her, alright. I was going to tell him sometime later, but she just had to stick in her head where it didn't belong, didn't it? "Qrow. Look at me."

My name brought me out of my thoughts, and I found myself glancing back towards my son, only to find a familiar black blade pressed against the edge of my throat. For the first time, I stared into my son's eyes and saw the unbridled rage hidden within. Rage at me for keeping the truth. Rage at everyone else for keeping silent. If he kept on showing his emotions like this, then he'd attract Grimm to the village, in numbers that even I wouldn't chance on fighting against.

I already knew the question that he was going to ask. The only thing is…I don't know as to whether or not I want to answer it.

"…Was my birth a mistake, or not?"

…

His Corvian Father

…

"What are you doing here?" My voice was cold, the adrenaline from my fight with Ice Queen not having mellowed down to a more manageable level. Once again, Acht stared at me with cool indifference, but now I knew better. He was observing – analyzing me for any potential information that might benefit him in the long run. Was it weird that I'm getting played by my own son?

"I'm a professor here, Qrow." He coldly replied, before stepping out of Harbinger's blade and turning back towards Beacon. I held onto Harbinger's grip for a little while longer, knowing that glint in his eyes now that I had seen it, but when a Maiden slammed into his side, I knew that he wouldn't do anything…probably. They were still in public, after all.

""Uncle Qrow!""

The voice of my nieces pull me out of my thoughts, and I turned towards them with a lazy smirk on my face, sheathing Harbinger and pulling out my hip flask just to reinforce the image. The taste sucked, but that was what you get when you start drinking nothing but ordinary water again. Damn Acht…I think I'm going to be losing my hair before I turn forty if this trend keeps up. "Hello squirts." I said in a lazy drawl, doing a formal bow like what those uppity Schnees…and failing, much to my nieces' laughter. Good, all according to plan, then. "Glad to see that you're all doing well."

"Yeah, well we were just having a normal day until someone started to fight a Schnee." As usual, Yang was boisterous as ever, still keeping that lazy smirk on her face that all verified Branwens seemed to have. Gods, did she look like Raven whenever she does that. All the more reason as to why I needed to have a drink.

"Oh yeah, that was cool and all, with all of the slashes and the guns and the jumping it was like–" I tuned Ruby out, simply giving her a smile and a pat on the head. It was weird, seeing her jab her hands at mid-air whilst making some sound effects, but she was still fifteen, so I guess it was warranted. Granted, they're still teenagers, so they were bound to have some hormones running through their bodies. It would seem like only Acht was the exception…again.

"Uncle Qrow, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby hollered once again, and I hummed while I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. "Why'd you start to pick a fight with Professor Acht?"

My eye twitched before I knew it. I swear Summer's kid with Taiyang picked up an uncanny way of manifesting her mother's traits. How did she know when to put someone on a spot? I'd like to learn as well. Maybe I can nudge Acht into one. "Right, that", Yang spoke up, and it was that moment that I knew I was screwed. The moment those two were interested in something, they weren't going to give up. "You seemed like you were pretty angry and surprised that he came here at Beacon. You had some bad blood with him?"

"You could say that." Additionally, you have no idea. I glanced towards the tower, where I could only assume as to where Amber had taken him, and my hand twitched as I moved to give Acht a salute. If he can pull through with both Ozpin and Jimmy on his heels, then I'd be damned. Whatever he was planning, those two probably deserved it.

"Ooh, ooh, can you tell me Uncle Qrow?" I snorted, shaking my head as Ruby squawked and started punching me in the stomach. Luckily for me, my eyes were closed, so I didn't give in to those damnable puppy dog eyes. "…Meanie." Luckily, good thing that my eyes were closed, since Ruby was now probably pouting.

When I opened my eyes, I made sure to immediately focus on Beacon's main building before anything else. "So, you said that Acht teaches something, right? What does he teach?"

""Hunter Combat Class 101."" Both of them replied at the same time, and I narrowed my eyes at that. Teaching kids how to fight against other Hunters? It sounded like Glynda's class, but it wouldn't be an actual subject if it didn't have some kind of planned curriculum. Knowing Acht…Well, knowing what Watts' Scroll had, I'm pretty sure he's preparing them for what was to come.

A smile formed on my face, even as I slid a hand down my pocket and thumbed Watts' Scroll. It seemed that even though he wanted their plans to happen, he took steps to make sure to limit damages…a far cry from how Ozpin operates. Once again, I sighed, turning towards my nieces with a thin smile on my face.

"So, you think you can take me to his class?"

"Sure, why not? He's our next class, anyways." Yang replied with a shrug, and egged her sister towards the main building, shooting a smile at me to follow her lead. I sighed, something that I seemed to do a lot more often after meeting Acht, and trudged along with them until we entered Beacon's training hall. There were still some students trickling into the hall by the time that Acht came in, and all of those who came in after him were immediately marked as late.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that. Another Glynda. Great. I glanced towards Yang and Ruby, who were seated to my right, "So, what do you here, exactly?"

"Oh, that's simple!" Ruby piped up, "We try and hit Professor Acht, and then he keeps on beating us down unless we find new ways to beat him up as well!" Then, she grew sheepish, and promptly began pushing her fingers together, "I mean, we still haven't hit him yet, but you know…it's a work in progress."

That good, huh? I turned back towards Acht, who was now standing in the middle of the arena like what Glynda does in her classes, and he gazed down towards the Scroll in his hand, a finger lazily scrolling through (heh) the list until a glimmer of something flashed across his eyes. "Emerald Sustrai, you're up."

A guy from somewhere in the bleachers groaned, standing up at the urge of his teammates as he began making his way towards the arena. My eyes immediately locked onto his figure, noting the confident poise that the student had in spite of looking everything like a first-year student…Weird. I glance towards his teammates, finding a redhead with an eyepatch over the left side of his face and a young woman in a brown vest and bandages wrapped around her body. My eyes glanced back towards Acht, a question forming from the eye contact, and my son gave me an imperceptible nod.

Huh. It seemed like Oz wasn't even running proper background checks, anymore. What is he, senile?

"Well, today's a little bit different, since an evaluator's watching us", he began, shooting a smirk my way, "Which means that for this one time and one time only, you guys would be seeing my weapon." Ruby gasped from somewhere beside me, and the rest of the class began whispering towards one another until a storm of chattering enveloped the entire training hall.

Wait… "So, he beat up all of you guys while he's unarmed?" It was more of a statement than a question, and even I could see Yang shirking under my smug stare. I even waved at the board above for emphasis, "…Even though he has almost no Aura?" This time, even Ruby wilted, and I quickly focused on the fight in order to avoid her pout, shaking my head as I did so. "…Looks like both of you still have a long way to go."

The student called Sustrai (if she was even a student or her name) readied her weapons, and Acht smirked, withdrawing something from the back of his waist and pointing it towards her, end-first. It looked like a sword's handle, but the entire blade was missing – only a slot for…something else, I wasn't sure. There was a lever built into the handguard that swiveled at the center, and extended towards the pommel, and the handle itself was wrapped in cloth. The entire thing looked like the handle of one of those katana-things that Raven always seemed to be fond of…so was Acht the same?

"Begin."

Sustrai charged forward, the revolvers that she held extending into mini-scythes as she quickly swung them down towards Acht. I could see her teammates glimmer in anticipation, and I hummed, making sure to take a note of that before reporting those three to Oz later. As of the moment, I was interested in how much Acht had improved since he left for Vacuo.

And oh boy did he not disappoint.

My son pulled the lever on his weapon, with black dust shooting out from the slot before solidifying into the shape of a…yep, that's a katana alright. Using the newly-formed blade, Acht forced Sustrai into a deadlock by catching the insides of the mini-scythes into his blade, before yanking backwards to unbalance her. Sustrai retaliated by pulling the triggers to her revolvers, but Acht had already ducked, sweeping her legs as she finally fell. Knowing a chance, Acht immediately surged forward, sliding out of the blade lock with an elegance that I haven't seen before, and quickly lashed out towards the girl's legs. Before she even hit the ground, her Aura was no more, and the match ended with a spy and potential Salem minion cradling her head in pain as she walked back towards the bleachers.

Little did I know, but a smile formed on my face back then. It seemed like he inherited the best of both worlds…and I couldn't help but be proud of what he's become. The match done, he pulled the lever once again, the black dust dissipating into vapor, and I watched in mild curiosity as he loaded a Dust cartridge onto the pommel. His eyes glanced towards his Scroll, and a smirk formed on his lips, glancing towards his audience with a sadistic gleam in his eyes. "Who's next?"

Everyone shirked away from him…except for Ruby, who was so busy in her tirade about my son's weapons that she had accidentally raised her hand up while she was expounding on how their professor's weapon probably worked. "Miss Rose, glad to see that you have some enthusiasm today." My son's voice proved enough to shock my niece out of her thoughts, and she quickly whirled towards the ring as blood paled from her face. Yang patted her back in consolation, while the rest of her teammates made supportive gestures, but it was clear to see that nobody wanted to be in the same ring as Acht.

I nod, satisfied with my thoughts for the moment as I rose up and began making my way out the door. Second coming of Glynda, indeed.

…

His Corvian Father

…

"Qrow, get off." I tilt my head to the side, squawking at my son's annoyed expression as I kept on pecking him on the head. With an annoyed grunt, he picked me up by the neck and threw me off, but not before I took some hairs off him. Less than a second later however, I felt myself unable to move, courtesy of black blades pinning my feathers to the wall, and I couldn't help but squawk once again as Acht stepped towards me with a glint coming from his glasses, his blade raised and ready to cut me down in one swing.

Of course, I reverted back, rolling once and narrowly dodging the blow that came for my neck. I stopped myself by jamming a heel onto the wall, and quickly rolled to the side as the black blade sung through the space to my side. I caught myself and went back to a standing position, situated quite a distance away from my son, and he sighed as the black blade dissipated back into vapor. "There are easier ways to get my attention, you know."

"How the hell did you even know that I was–" I paused, before remembering the fact that he knows, before cursing for forgetting such an important statement. He knows. That, plus given that he went on a 'family reunion' with Raven, meant that he knew about her bird form, and the powers that Oz gave us as well.

"So you're the tail that Oz sent, huh?" He stated more than asked, sending a quirked brow towards me as I turned my gaze back towards the night sky and kept silent. "…Seems pretty senile of the old man. Did he really think that you wouldn't be compromised by the fact that I'm your son?"

I frowned, but conceded the point. Acht had been getting on my nerves lately, and couple that with the various cards that he held close to his chest, there had been a few times where I acted irrational in order to gather some of the information that he had stockpiled. Burned a few favors through the underground as well…Damn it. "Let's talk."

"Oh, so now you're willing to talk." The calm façade went down for an instant, showing me the hate behind his eyes, and I froze up at the sheer bloodlust that he exuded before my nerves calmed me back down. "Go on, then. Talk. You still haven't answered my damn question." Acht leaned back down against the wall, making sure that I saw his weapon nice and clear, before he pulled out something that I didn't expect on someone like him. A hip flask, just like mine.

"Been drinking?" I asked, taking a step towards my son as cool gray eyes swiveled onto me before going back to his drink.

"…A ritual." He conceded after a moment of silence, and he gulped the alcohol down before offering it towards me. "Know what day is it today, Qrow?" He asked with a raised brow, and to my confused expression, replied with exasperation. "…Figures. Three years are a very long time. Most outsiders wouldn't even know what today even means, given that they simply watched it from behind a screen. They weren't there…didn't hear the screams, the cries for help. And you couldn't do anything but keep yourself alive." His hands shook, and he stared out towards the broken moon with a dead look in his eyes. It was then that I remembered the swathes of black that ran throughout the desert – their numbers so great that even a sandstorm couldn't completely block out their numbers.

"The VAGC."

"I'd prefer you not use that damn acronym." Acht snapped back, a twitch in his left eye as he took another sip out of his flask. The way that this was going, he's going to pass out. And he's got class tomorrow – just what the hell was he thinking? "Still, better late than never, I guess." He angled the flask towards me once again, a small smirk on his lips. "…Want some?"

"Sure." Booze was still booze, right? And even though I'd sworn off to plain water, well…a habit's hard to break. I took the flask from his hand, tipping it back and letting the amber liquor burn through my throat, and I let out a throaty sigh. "…Damn, this stuff burns."

"Vacuan."

Ah. That makes sense. "So, I get that it's the anniversary of the VAGC's fall, but do you really have to–"

"–Watch your next words, Qrow", Acht said, and I felt the edge of a blade at my throat once again. "Those were my team fighting on the frontlines, fighting even when we were surrounded by an endless wave of Grimm." He pressed the edge closer, and I felt a warm liquid beginning to flow out. "Ornus Fischer was torn apart and pecked to death by Nevermores. Tyre Nikos was killed by pushing me out of a Deathstalker's stinger. Roman Torchwick is still alive, but now fundamentally changed, spending his life in hedonistic pleasure, wanting nothing more than to keep himself safe from all the dangers of the world. You think that what happened to your team was tragic?"

He scoffed. "…Doesn't even compare to what I've been through, old man."

Red flashed across my vision, and a vicious swing from Harbinger was enough to knock Acht back a few meters. I let out a sigh, my mind telling me that I should stop; that Acht was just leading me on for whatever purpose that he might have in doing so. But there was that other part of me, the part of my soul, that wouldn't stand for my son insulting my family. My loved ones. "You want a fight?" I managed to get out of gritted teeth, "…Then you can have one."

In a burst of speed, I appeared by his side, swinging Harbinger towards his flank. He parried the heavy blow, sending it to the side, and I stepped on his feet and whirled as I shifted Harbinger to its scythe form, a burst of shotgun pellets speeding up the swing as it made its way towards his face.

Pain blossomed on my leg as I screamed in pain, and I looked downwards to see Acht holding a pistol towards my right thigh, now sporting a blooming splotch of red as blood dripped down towards the rooftop ground. I glance back towards the gun, seeing the simple yet efficient design, and the casing of the bullet as it clattered to the ground. Dots started appearing in and out of my vision, and Harbinger dropped as it gouged a deep trench on the rooftop. Acht sheathed the gun, using his hand to force me to look up towards him, and I could only blink at his eyes, which weren't concealed by the lens of his glasses any longer.

"I doubt this would work on you a second time…" He said, shaking his head as something began ringing through my ears. Was that…Summer? I stared into Acht's eyes once again, with cold fear gripping my heart as he let me go and I collapsed on the rooftop, bleeding out from a thigh wound that had hit a major artery. No…Not like this. I don't want to see those eyes in that way again.

Summer's eyes were so bright, like the silver of the moon. Acht's…my son's…his eyes looked like the glint of a blade, ready to cut down something. They glowed in unearthly silver against the light of the moon, just like how Summer's eyes looked whenever nightfall comes in. However, staring at my son now, looking like a blade read to shatter, I couldn't help but fall asleep regretting…

…Did I raise our kid correctly, Summer?

…

His Corvian Father

…

"Qrow, you can't possibly stand up to your son any longer!" Jimmy roared, slamming his fists on the table set in front of me as I stared at him with a blank expression. True to form, the table was broken, the contents of an early-morning breakfast spilling out over the blank white sheets currently draped over my legs, and the blank stare slowly changed into a murderous one.

"…You're paying for that."

"And I will", Jimmy brushed the hook off, and continued on staring at me with an indignant expression on his face. "Qrow, your son tried to kill you. He's tried poisoning the next generation of Hunters in front of our own eyes. Ozpin's growing senile, but I know that you're more than capable of connecting the dots. Your son's planning something, and I need to know what."

"You won't get anything from me, Jimmy." I said with an exasperated sigh, calling for a nurse to change my sheets. And didn't that sound like I was an invalid? "Lock me up in a cell, call me a conspirator, or execute me in front of the whole city …You won't get anything out of me." I sigh, meeting his gaze dead-on with a determination that I hadn't found before, and something blazed into life. Protectiveness? Acht can hold himself together. No, this is something different. It's just me…trying to fix some old mistakes. "I know all of your tricks. Intimidation. Coercion. Bribery. No matter what you do, you won't get through me. Get your information from my son or from other sources, I don't care."

This time, I affixed Jimmy with a glare. Harbinger was less than an arm's reach away, and I'd be willing to grab it off and defend myself if the need comes. I had a goal now – one that's more personal than wanting to work under Oz to save the world. Those silver eyes that glinted like blades…I'd make them into Summer's. That, I swear.

"…It looks like you won't be changing your mind any time soon", Jimmy said, letting out a sigh as he stood up on his seat and walked away. He stopped at the door however, barely sparing a glance at me before a thin smile formed on his face. "…You wouldn't mind if I have a talk with your son, would you?"

A smirk formed on my face at that. "If you can even find him."

The Scroll on the wall flickered, changing its image into the visage of a black Queen. There, a voice began speaking, in a soft, seductive tone that would've paralyzed any men into place, if it were not for the fact that the sheer maliciousness in their voice. My eyes widen ever-so slightly, my gaze moving towards Harbinger as the speech started. Jimmy looked affronted, before turning his wide-eyed gaze onto me, to which I replied with a shake of my head. Acht wasn't responsible for this. Although, whatever damages that occur would be indirectly his fault, since he didn't do anything to stop it.

"Qrow…" Jimmy began, and I quickly shut him up with a glare as I tossed my sheets off my person, taking my first steps in a while and wincing as I put too much force on my right leg. It seemed that wound was still acting up. Just what the hell did Acht shoot me with…? "Qrow, you're still not in any condition to fight!"

"Shut up, Jimmy", I snapped back, grabbing Harbinger's handle and sheathing it behind my hip, turning to face the general with a limp in my right leg. "You see that?" I pointed towards the cloud of Grimm slowly making its way closer to Vale, and I gulped down a cup of water before slamming it on the table. "That's Grimm, coming to Vale's doorstep. They perfected the damn strategy three years ago, and now they're testing their improvements on Vale itself." Jimmy's eyes widened, and I let out a growl. "…Yeah, the attack on the VAGC was a precursor to this. Planned out my Salem's minions, meant to sow discord and chaos amongst the populace while they move in for the kill and debilitate humanity as a whole."

"Look at Vacuo now", I said, "Nothing more than a shithole of bandits and warlord all fighting for a desert that nobody wants. Before, the VAGC was Vacuo's equivalent of Beacon – allowing various villages and cities to exist there, but now? Nothing left. Nothing but smoldering ruins set in the middle of a hellhole."

I took out Watts' Scroll from my pocket, tossing it over to Jimmy as the half-cyborg caught it with his prosthetic. "That's what I found during my trip there", I smoothly lied, "Arthur Watt's Scroll, found on the ruins of the VAGC ruins. Do with it as you wish – I'm going out, and you can't stop me." Surprise colored Jimmy's face as I made my way outside the door, giving him a wave as the infirmary door closed behind me with a hiss.

My feet didn't have to walk long before I glanced out towards a window, seeing a large number of Grimm flooding into the schoolgrounds. Bullheads went to and fro the Amity colosseum, dropping Grimm left and right, and I growled as I saw the familiar masks of the White Fang opening cages and letting the Grimm run wild. I saw another familiar figure make his way towards the cafeteria, that distinctive black suit allowing me to recognize him instantly. Sprinting after him was the kitty cat and Yang, and I couldn't help but groan as I leaned on the glass, wondering how far this walkway was to the ground.

"Ah well. Guess I'll wing it." A quick kick to the glass shattered it, and I quickly unsheathed Harbinger as I jumped down, the greatsword quickly shifting into its scythe form as I spotted the extended arm of the Arc statue in the courtyard. Wrapping the inside of the blade to the arm, I killed my momentum by whirling around the statue once, my arms straining as I held onto my grip with the additional strain, and I landed on the cobbled courtyard with a soft thud.

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang called out, and I gave her a lazy smirk as I whirled Harbinger once and let the shaft rest on my shoulder. I glanced to her left, seeing the look on kitty cat's face, and I can't help but frown at that. So determined to fight…to die. Normally, I would've left her out, but considering that my niece is coming along with her…

"If you two are going to fight Adam Taurus with just the two of you alone, then I'm afraid you're gonna' need some little help." My eyes weren't laughing right now. I was completely serious, and even the smirk on my face was gone – replaced by a thin line of neutrality. Yang was taken aback, her lackadaisical attitude completely falling away, and I glance towards the kitty cay, only for her to nod at my statement. Good. They both know what they're going to get into. "…Alright, now that I gave the both of you some heads-up, then let's go."

Before I took a single step however, Yang drew me back. "Uncle Qrow, you're going to fight with that injury?" She pointed towards my right thigh, and I simply smirked at her in response, hiding the wince behind it. The bullet wound still hadn't healed, so her concerns were accurate. One single cut, and it's going to open up once again. Still…

"When you're out in the field, you've still gotta' fight even though you could barely stand up." I said, patting Yang's head once as I moved my gaze towards Beacon's cafeteria, finding Adam Taurus staring at us from the windows of the cafeteria, with an arrogant smirk plastered on his face.

So, he wanted a challenge…Then I'll gladly oblige.

…

His Corvian Father

…

"I had expected more from you, Qrow Branwen." The taunt from Adam Taurus came as I parried another quick blow from the bull Faunus. Another step backwards, another wince caused by the lance of pain that ran up my leg, and the momentary freeze was enough for him to get a blow in as a slash rent across my chest. I grunted, the force slamming into me with a force of a truck as the wall of the cafeteria slammed behind my back a second later.

Alright, that hurt. Guess my Aura's in the red after taking a heavy blow like that.

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang screamed, turning an aside glance towards me before her Semblance unconsciously kicked in and she rushed towards Adam Taurus, who had glanced towards her with a smirk and a hand on his sheathed sword. My eyes widened, forcing myself out of the small crater that I was stuck in as I reared back and threw Harbinger, the metallic scythe flying through the air and catching the release of the Faunus' Semblance. Red energy met my prized weapon, and the force slammed it back towards Yang, a pained yelp coming from her as she was knocked down to the ground, with Harbinger's blade a single inch before her neck.

Kitty cat charged in, distracting Taurus long enough as I got myself out of the wall and grabbed Harbinger, focusing on concentrating my Semblance on the White Fang's leader. A quick whirl and a look at the handguard told me that Harbinger's shifting capabilities were fine, and I let out a relieved sigh at that. Nevertheless, lesson learned; don't let the bastard sheathe his blade.

I ducked, narrowly dodging kitty cat's body at the last second, and Taurus aimed his gun-sheathe towards me as I smirked, surging forward as I let Magic take hold of my form. The White Fang leader fired, and the barrel promptly blew up due to a misfire, and Taurus hissed as he dropped his gun-sheathe, gingerly holding his left hand while he moved towards Yang, who was still suffering from a slight concussion. Well…that won't do.

Shifting back into human form behind Taurus, I swung Harbinger down in a heavy blow, forcing the bull Faunus to block as he gritted his teeth, shifting his balance and falling down onto one knee. I caught him on the chin with a quick whirl of Harbinger, the butt of my scythe's staff smacking against bare skin, and he scowled in pain before rolling backwards and lashing out with his katana. I moved to take a step back, but my leg once again lanced in pain, and the tip of the blade sliced through the bandages on my right thigh and ripped right through the skin.

A grunt of pain escaped my lips, and I staggered back a few steps, with blood already beginning to seep through my bandages and pants. I buried a part of Harbinger's shaft into the ground, using it as a cane to help myself up in a standing position, and watched as Taurus stood up as well, now sporting a small smirk on his face. "It seems that I was right", he said, flicking his katana to the side as my blood splattered onto the ruined cafeteria. "At first, maybe I thought that it might be a ploy in order to make me commit to a mistake, but it seems that those bandages aren't for show."

He stood up, his Aura sparking and fizzling out, but I knew better. He won, if not by choice. I knew that Yang and that kitty cat weren't going to be of much help in this, since Taurus is far above their current skill level, but who could've expected Acht's injury to debilitate me this much? My Semblance was acting particularly fickle nowadays, and it wasn't causing as much misfortune as I had hoped. Damn it…

Kitty cat's attempt was good, but almost perfectly see-through, and Taurus didn't even have to lift a finger as he backhanded her across the hall, approaching Yang with his katana glinting in the moonlight. I tried to move towards him, using Harbinger as a crutch and trying to focus my Semblance on him, but he barely seemed to trip over before he got moving once again. Each step sent a lance of pain through my head, and each drop of blood that I spilled on the ground during my short walk made dots dance around my vision.

Static played in my ears as I continued on trudging forward, to make sure that damn bastard won't kill my niece, but my body wouldn't move. Too much blood had been lost since the last few days that I was losing consciousness even faster. At this rate, Adam Taurus would get to Yang…then to Ruby…

Regret dances across my mind, and I reach out with my arm to try and reach out to Yang. Once again, I can't protect them. Can't protect the ones that I love… "Seems that I arrived just in time."

Once again, I look up, seeing Acht's eyes boring down onto me with his unearthly silver eyes. This time however, they weren't the glint of blades that I saw on the rooftop, but instead, Acht's eyes shone like the light of the moon. Like Summer's. Like his mother's. A smile formed on my face, entrusting him to save Yang, to save Ruby…to save the ones that I couldn't.

Warmth blossomed within me, overshadowing the cold grip of death was nearly about to claim its grasp on my soul. Blood red eyes snapped open, seeing Acht's eyes crinkled with warmth, and a thin smile formed on his face as he wiped off something from his eyes, whirling around and standing back to his full height as figures manifested from behind his back.

They were swords, ones made without even a handguard, and he brandished them like a third limb as they flowed behind him like a cloak. Heh. A cloak of swords. I guess Ruby would gush over that if she was here. "Stay here with Yang for a moment, dad", he said, and the way that he mentioned me stoked the fire of life even higher. "I've…got a bull to wrangle."

"Heh", I finally managed to croak out, glancing towards my leg and my Aura shimmering a light gray against the injury. A pool of dried blood had formed around my body. It was fine – I was still in the land of the living. Was still here to see my son grow up and finally let go of the grudges that he might've had. Was still here to know that Summer would've been proud of me…of our son.

"Give him hell, Hheron."

"…Actually, it's Hachiman." He curtly replied, before brandishing his cloak of blades once more and charging into the fray, his expression once again reminding me of Summer's. Really, it was as if the kid had taken the best parts out of both of us.

I'm still not sure as to whether or not it was a good thing.

…

His Corvian Father

…

Acht– no, Hheron– no, Hachiman, moved like a gale, sending out attacks at a faster rate than what I had seen from the first time that we met. I recognized that his sword cloak seemed to sharpen each minute, as if gaining more presence in reality. Of course, given that a sword cloak out of Aura was pretty unnatural in the first place, I wasn't an expert on that.

Taurus was already pretty much on the defensive, his katana blurring as he deflected strikes to and fro, trying to keep himself alive as superficial wounds began piling up all over his body. Meanwhile, Hachiman seemed to be only getting stronger, as evidenced by the fact that he could summon even more Aura swords to chuck at Taurus. Soon, a few seconds later he was completely rooted in place, his focus completely on the blades as they tried to set an elaborate trap for Taurus from which he could never escape from.

Blades were flying in from all angles, not even afraid to hit below or at the back. Some were even summoned from underneath the ground, tearing up the cafeteria floor in order to unbalance Taurus, while at the same time trying to get a jump on his feet. Flashes of red energy shone across the cafeteria as the rubble was reduced to fine dust, and even though Taurus' Semblance may be enough to cut down the Aura swords, he couldn't keep up against the storm of blades that he was currently facing against.

The White Fang leader tried moving towards his blind spots, but was met with a cloak of blades for the trouble. They seemed to be semi-sentient, swinging themselves around in graceful arcs as they warded off Taurus, and the rest of the blades seemingly converged on his position a second later. Gray Aura glinted in the light, the swords slamming against the walls, ceilings, fixtures, and within five minutes, turned the whole cafeteria into a pincushion.

Yang groaned beside me, her lavender eyes slowly blinking as she took in the scene in front of her. "Professor…Acht?" She asked, her voice still slightly out of it, but I could see that she was already connecting the dots by the time that she glanced towards me. "…Uncle Qrow?"

"We were in a bad spot", I explained, chuckling in self-deprecation as a line of swords gouged out a trench in the middle of the cafeteria. Taurus seemed exhausted; the little papercuts that he had accumulated meaning that he was already sprouting blood all over his body. The grip on his katana was loose, no doubt due to the blood slickening his grip, and the bull Faunus readied himself in a drawing stance as Acht's Aura blades were held at the ready, forming an unstoppable phalanx of gleaming gray swords. Taurus took a step forward, his body beginning to turn at the waist, only for a gray sword to come bursting out of his chest and finally taking him down for the count.

Hachiman heaved a breath, watching the White Fang leader gurgle out his last words on a mouth full of blood, yet he didn't show any mercy. His silver eyes shone like the telltale glint of blades, willing the rest of the phalanx to surge forward and envelope the bull Faunus as I covered Yang's eyes and ears, the tearing of flesh resounding throughout the whole cafeteria.

I closed my own eyes as well, denying the fact that my son could do something so heartless. I waited until the sounds were gone, and slowly opened my eyes, seeing Hachiman standing over a bloody smear on the cafeteria with a disgusted expression on his face. I let go of Yang's eyes and ears, and she immediately locked onto the smear with wide eyes, and her expression grew pale as she turned to the side, with gagging sounds coming out of her mouth.

"Killing…never gets comfortable." Hachiman began, and he turned towards me with a thin smile on his features. It looked like he was serene, but in his eyes were a cacophony of expressions. Emotions that I once saw in a mirror after my first kill. The rationalization, the weighing of the benefits against the costs, and the overall realization that it was necessary, but not an act to take pleasure in. "Don't you agree…dad?"

"Eh?"

"It never does, son", I replied, chuckling as Yang stared at me with wide eyes. Given that Hachiman was the one who let the bag spill, it meant that he was ready to share whatever he's got on his mind with me, Yang, Ruby…Taiyang. The rest of our family. A smirk formed on my face, and I proffered up an arm towards him, "How about you help out your old man?"

"Sure", he replied, stepping towards me as Yang slowly inched away, finding purchase in kitty cat's body which was starting to grow awake. Wide amber eyes stared at the splotch of fresh blood on the middle of the cafeteria, and her eyes immediately turned towards Hachiman, paling at his visage as he grasped my arm and pulled me up. She looked like she was ready to bolt at the sight of him. To be honest, if I was at their age too, I would've done the same thing.

But this was Hachiman. My son. The greatest treasure in the world that I thought to have lost…and seemed to gain back once again, for one more chance at redemption. I patted his back, holding him close as a warm liquid began forming in the corner of my eyes. Damn Hachiman and those dust clouds that he made earlier…making my eyes irritated. "…Thanks, Hachiman." I said, and somehow I found those words oddly fitting. "Thank you. For saving Yang…for saving me…If it weren't for you then her…I would've…"

"If I just stopped the flow of my Aura to your wound, then you could've taken him without much problem." Hachiman said, his voice lifeless as his grip on me grew tighter. There it was…after six years of thinking that he was lost, I finally found him once again. The socially-awkward kid hiding behind an aloof mask, always blaming himself for every little thing that happens to all of us. "It's my fault. If I could've just told you that I didn't want to go to Vacuo, then maybe this whole thing…"

"Shut up", I snapped, the stern tone in my voice snapping my son out of his self-induced thoughts. "If you hadn't gone to Vacuo, then you wouldn't have figured out what Salem's plans were for Vale. You wouldn't have made plans to minimize the damages…to strike back at her when she thought she was victorious. You won, Hachiman. You won, alright?"

Warm streaks of tears began falling on my shoulders, yet I ignored it as I lightly pushed my son away from me, staring at him like what a father does during an important event. My eyes moved towards the top of Beacon's tower, its peak completely shredded away by the Grimm Wyvern. I could still see sparks of metal coming from the top, and a cold feeling settled into my gut as I did my best to harden my own gaze. "There's still one last thing to do, son." I said, not feeling any sort of awkwardness by referring to Hachiman as so. My son met my gaze, wiping off the tears in his arms with a resolute look in his eyes, and he nodded once before he shot off towards the Beacon tower.

"…Damn, does he make me proud."

"Uncle Qrow?" Yang's voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I snapped back towards her, watching as she stared at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. "You called Professor Acht your 'son'…is he…is he our cousin…?"

I sighed, leaning on Harbinger's shaft as I took a seat back and leaned against the wall, right beside Yang and her partner. Should I tell her the whole truth or not? There were still a lot of things that I didn't know…Things that I wasn't sure about Hachiman, or Acht, or Hheron or whatever. What I do know was that he was my son. And I plan on being that way.

"Well", I began, "It all started during our last year in Beacon…"

…

His Corvian Father

…

It's been a week since the Invasion of Vale. Not 'Fall', as Salem's minions had intended, but a simple invasion. The fact remained that we were still able to fight back – to make sure that hope still exists in a world where light only exists in small specks. Look at me, trying to be all philosophical. It wasn't me, nor it would be me – I'd only spout such nonsense if I ever choose to retire from Hunting.

The door to the back side of the cabin opened, and Hachiman stepped out, a blank expression on his face. Mine was blank as well, for most likely the same reasons as his, and I gripped my flask a little bit tighter, sipping the bitter liquor within as I felt the liquid fire bolster a sense of courage within me.

He sat next to me on the bench, leaving practically no space for both of us. Silence filled the chilly night air for a few moments as we kept on staring at the skies and the shattered moon, and I began by asking him questions in order for me to receive some confirmation. "So…my Hheron is really gone, huh?"

"Yes, he is", Hachiman replied back in his curt tone of his. I sighed, with melancholy crossing my features once more as I slammed an arm on the bench. Once again, I was too slow to save the ones that I loved.

"Then who are you?"

"Hheron Branwen died when he was seventeen, succumbing to the wounds that the Grimm gave him a few hours before you came", Hachiman recounted in an emotionless tone, yet I could see a glimmer of expression in his eyes. "With his dying breath, he unlocked his Aura and Semblance simultaneously – spirit channeling, if you will. Guy always wanted someone to talk to, since he felt like he was all alone in that hellhole of an orphanage."

"Back then, the spirit known as Hikigaya Hachiman had possessed his body and lived on according to the body's will. I couldn't even differentiate between the two", Hachiman let out a laugh, and he reached inside his pocket for a flask, before taking a sip from the metallic container. "…It was only until the fall of the Vacuan Academy for Gifted Children did I fully emerge as a separate consciousness, egged on by Hheron's previous memories. Those two senile fools would've known about it – it was my Semblance that showed up on the CCT, after all."

"Wait…that was you?" I asked, turning towards Hachiman with a raised brow as he nodded, grasping the flask in his hand a little tighter. Come to think of it, I saw a gray light envelop everything in the final stages of the VAGC's fall, but I didn't expect it to be a result of a Semblance…

It seemed that Hachiman knew what I was going to ask, since he thumbed the edge of his flask and took another sip. "My Semblance…well, I guess you could call it 'Adversity'." He explained, holding out his hand as a gray crystal shimmered into existence with his Aura. "The more Grimm there are in a 5-kilometer radius around me, the more Aura I have." My eyes widen at such an unnatural, exceptionally powerful Semblance, but Hachiman simply gave me a smirk, and the lifeless look in his eyes worsened.

"…As expected from someone who was everyone's scapegoat. It seems that Semblance truly mirror the individual's flaws." He let out a sigh, his gaze moving towards the shattered moon, and his voice dropped an octave lower. "…However, it would seem that Semblances only exacerbate the flaw, and not help in healing it." He turned towards me with a smile. "Don't you think so too, Qrow?"

My Semblance. Bad luck. Permanently active due to my belief in the fact that I had screwed up one of the Branwen tribe's earlier raids, and that negative feeling of being unlucky festered and eventually established itself as my Semblance. Maybe Hachiman was right – that Semblances simply avoid the problem, instead of actually fixing it. Ruby still runs away from her past. Yang still tries to protect others by putting herself in harm's way. Summer was anxious about what other people thought of her, which unlocked her telepathy. Tai didn't want to face reality, and so had a Semblance that denied. Hachiman…Hachiman could only become a scapegoat to help other people, thus leading to his Semblance.

"…Jeez", I said, letting out a sharp laugh, "It seems like our family's dysfunctional as ever, huh?"

"You could say that, dad." He drawled with a smirk on his face, holding out his flask towards me. I blink, staring at him with confusion on my face, only to see him staring back to the sky. "…Still, it's a good start, isn't it? Trying to fix everything back together again."

I chuckled, banging my flask against his before we drunk in sync.

"Yeah. I guess it's a good start."

EDIT: Go on and vote as to whose perspective should I write next. Poll's up and updated.