Notes: Part of "The Grimm World We Live In" series, but can be read independently.
"What did you just say?"
Raven asked forcefully, the small gap in her teeth barely letting the words through to convey her disbelief at her brother's suggestion.
"I think we should stay," he said again, this time looking into his sister's red eyes determinedly, and raising his voice to match hers, "We should stay; this is our home now."
"We have a home, don't be foolish."
"That isn't our home," he said, clenching his fists in anger, "Those people aren't our family, they never were; they were just using us!"
"They saved us," she countered in a similar anger, trying to hold herself back.
"They took us!"
He shouted, the veins on his next bulging as he said the words that had remained formless for years.
"You may not remember what it was like before they came, but I do. I remember our real family and those people aren't them. This one is real though, we can stay."
The wind blew coldly in the Emerald Forest as the siblings stared at each other intensely, carrying lush green leaves everywhere.
"I remember them."
The black-haired Huntress said these words silently, perhaps hoping that the Valean winds would carry the confession away along with the leaves.
"What?" as he asked the question, Qrow made his way next to his sister, grabbing her by the shoulders with an expression of disbelief.
"You told me you didn't have any memories of our parents... why?"
Raven turned her face away, as though ashamed to look at her brother's face.
"Why?!"
"You're attracting Grimm."
"Answer the damn question," he said placing his hand on the hilt of his weapon; whether it was in anticipation of the Creatures of Grimm or against his sister, it was impossible to tell.
She looked at him sadly, breathing in deeply before deciding to speak.
"I remember them taking care of us," she said wistfully, looking past the anger and confusion in her brother's face, "I remember when he put a flower in my hair just before he headed back from the farm. I remember that it was so pretty; a bright purple one, purple just like her eyes were... I remember so, so much."
"Most of all though," she said, her voice losing the reminiscent sadness it had and instead turning cold and sending a chill through Qrow's spine; a chill so potent that he was forced to let go of her.
"I remember them on their knees, I remember them begging for their lives and for ours. I remember that firm hand, the same one that had planted a flower in my hair, going limp after he was struck down. I remember those bright purple eyes and how they overflowed with tears as she tried to shield us with her body."
"I remember..."
"...I remember that our parents were weak, and that they died without being able to protect anything."
"How could you?" he asked furiously, advancing on her once more, "They loved us!"
"What did that love amount to?" she asked back, just as furiously as he did, this time her eyes not backing down from his stare.
"Did it stop them from being slaughtered like animals? Did it stop her from weeping over his corpse? Did it stop us from being dragged out of our home? What's that kind of love good for if it can't even protect those close to you."
As soon as the last word was said, a Beowulf lunged at the pair, aiming her nape from behind. Just like she had said, Grimm Creatures were attracted to their negativity. The Creature was split in half, falling to the ground silently.
AWOOH!
A demonic howl sounded a few metres from the position of the twins; the defeated beast seemed to have been a scout of sorts; the rest of the pack was on them.
Without a word said between them, the two warriors stood back to back, an instinct formed from a thousand life or death scenarios experienced together. Despite shooting wicked glares at each other, they didn't move from their position; they were ready to fight.
xXx
Why were there so many? Raven asked herself as she resheathed Omen and turned towards her brother.
"What are you doing?" she asked him in annoyance as he planted his blade, Harbinger on the ground, "That's your weapon; a symbol of your membership to the tribe, you're supposed to handle it with care."
"Not anymore," he said, looking at the crimson red katana with a measure of sadness, "It doesn't belong to me anymore; I'm no longer a part of the tribe."
"Think about what you're saying;" she grabbed his arm as she spoke, pleas in her red eyes, "That's our home you're talking about."
"That's not my home," he said, pulling his hand free slowly.
None of the rage that had been present earlier was there, there was only a coldness and this time, Raven felt compelled to let go.
"And you're not my sister."
xXx
That went great, Raven said to herself sarcastically as she walked towards the cafeteria looking for Summer. She was generally around there, either that or the training room.
Raven hoped it was the former because if she was in the training rooms, then she would most likely be with Tai and she couldn't talk to him, not now.
Who was she kidding? She couldn't talk to Summer now.
Can't I just leave a note? This would be easier if Qrow hadn't bailed.
On thinking of her brother, her eyes strayed towards his blade and she remembered- she remembered that he wasn't her brother anymore.
The brunette fisted at the tears forming in her eyes just as she noticed her team leader from the window of the cafeteria.
I can't do this right now.
Even though she said that to herself, she still walked into the building, trying to keep up a smile as she did.
"You know Gretch, you could give me the cookies now or after I bother you for five minutes."
"How do you know I just don't do it for the company?"
"Hey there," Raven said as she walked in, waving at the pair. The first was of course her team leader, come to beg for snacks as usual from the second person, Grecth the head cook, a skinny and bronze-skinned man with a deep wrinkles that added a strange charm to his face.
"Oh if it isn't my favourite Branwen twin," the man said with a wide yellow smile, "Congratulations in advance on graduating."
"Hey, why didn't you congratulate me on graduating?"
"Because they're probably going to realise that you're more fit to be a cook like me than a Huntress."
"Jerk," she said, punching his arm playfully.
"Gretch, do you mind if I borrow Summer?"
"Oh sure thing, make sure you get back soon though; the cookies won't stay warm for long."
"Okey-dokey," she said as she followed behind her friend, "What's up?"
She looked at her team leader, her closest friend for the past four years.
A look at her silver eyes reminded her of their first meeting.
xXx
"Hey there, I'm Summer Rose," a slender girl walked up to Raven and Qrow all of a sudden, offering them that greeting.
The latter regarded her outstretched arm with a degree of suspicion, whereas Raven didn't even regard it, looking away disinterestedly.
"I a graduate from Signal Academy and I love the colour red."
"I don't care," Raven said dismissively, not understanding why this pest was still hovering around them or why she was telling her her favourite colour.
Although the colour naming tradition along with an introduction with your favourite colour was popularly practiced within the Kingdoms, people like Raven who were raised outside the Kingdoms found it foreign.
The world outside the Kingdoms was completely different from the one within; The Vytal Peace Accords which introduced a measure of uniformity among the four major Kingdoms had never been agreed to by the tribes, cabals or grand cities outside that jurisdiction and therefore they had drastically different cultures and customs.
"That's not very nice now is it?" a soft masculine voice called from behind them.
"I'm Taiyang Xiao-Long," he said, stretching his hand out to the girl who had introduced herself as Summer.
"I know," she said with an awkward smile, although still taking his offered hand, "We both went to Signal."
"Is that so?" he asked, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "Sorry, I'm bad with faces."
"It's no issue. So you chose Beacon too?"
"Yup, it's the most prestigious after all."
"That's right, either way. I'm heading off for orientation, nice to meet you two."
"Wait for me," he called after her, flashing a smile at the twins before dashing after her white cloak.
xXx
"What did he say?" someone asked before the airship they were all in opened from underneath and let the students down.
They were all crashing towards a beach.
Raven and Qrow grabbed onto each other's hands as they observed the approaching landscape for a way to land properly.
"There," she said, pointing to a small forested ridge just before the beach.
As she said so, she grabbed onto his other arm and swung herself mid-air, using the momentum to catapult him towards it.
Success, she thought happily as she saw that he landed properly before activating her Semblance and appearing next to him.
"That was so cool," a voice said from a little ways away from them, it was the same girl they had met the previous day, Spring or something.
"I know right?" another voice called out, from the other side of them, the owner came out to reveal Taiyang.
Are they following us? That was Raven's first thought as her hand reached for the hilt of her blade.
"Where are we?" Tai asked, turning to the other three.
"According to my scroll," Summer said as she looked at the small screen in her hand, "We're around the Penumbra Sound."
The Penumbra Sound was a coastal lagoon that separated Vale with some of its smaller and less populated islands and the vaster sea.
"We were told that we'd have to retrieve the Dust crystals from the delta a little ways back that empties into this lagoon right?"
"Yeah, let's head there then."
Without consulting the other two, Tai and Summer went running in the direction of the delta.
xXx
Approaching the delta, the quartet slowed down, observing their surroundings.
There weren't any Grimm in the surroundings, as far as they could tell at least.
"These are the coordinates given; we should be able to find them so long as we stay along the banks. Spread out, we'll cover more ground that way. Make sure you stay within earshot though; losing a member would be disastrous."
Raven wasn't sure why this girl was barking orders at them -or indeed why she was heeding them- but she still complied, tracking along the bank to find the Dust crystal.
Either way, she was confident in achieving her goal; completing the test and mowing down the competition.
Qrow's Semblance should hinder them, she thought to herself maliciously.
Even though Misfortune caused a myriad of issues during missions, her years and years of dealing with it made her adaptive to a degree-although you can't ever fully adapt to such an ability- so she wasn't overly worried about going out on missions with him, especially in this case where two competitors could be eliminated from the running.
The test was not a team exercise; each person was to retrieve a crystal for themselves and return with it, so having her 'companions' come up short was scarcely an issue for her.
A little ways ahead, Summer observed the banks carefully, watching for the crystal.
Suddenly, her eye caught a flash of blue beneath the powerful current of the stream.
That must be it, she said to herself, walking towards it and stretching her hand out.
As she reached for it, another glow appeared; rather than the blue of the Dust crystal, it was an infernal flame colour.
Grimm, she shouted internally but too late for anything to be done.
The flash of black grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her underwater with a small splash.
Did she find hers? Tai asked himself as he looked in her direction on noticing the movement there, assuming she had dived in to get it.
Underwater, the Grimm had a firm grip on the silver-eyed girl and pulled her swiftly and forcefully against the current.
The beast had the body of a horse with sharp fangs and large cat-like claws instead of hooves on its forequarters and a pair of large fish tails as its hindquarters.
A Colpach? She thought to herself in annoyance at her own negligence; she had read that they operated mostly in deeper waters and would scarcely appear in shallow waters like these. Now, the shallowness of the water was what the Grimm used to its advantage; dragging her across the river floor and further draining her Aura.
I can't let it drag me to the deeper waters.
Currently, they were in the shallow distributary stream of the delta, but if she continued against the current, they'd end up in the river proper where she'd be surrounded by more of the Creatures and in literal deep trouble.
I have to...
Taking a risk, she decreased the Aura that she used to hold some of the air she had managed to breathe in before being dragged into the water, she expanded it outward suddenly, hoping to knock the creature back and be able to escape.
Her attempt was unsuccessful, as the moment she made the move, the beast struck her against the floor, leaving her groggy enough to take a hold of her again and continue the vicious attack.
Dang it, I was too careless.
At that moment, a bright light burned from above the water and descended, knocking her loose from the grip of the creature.
Tai! She thought excitedly, rushing to the surface quickly to catch her breath.
Still underwater, Tai's body which was covered in blazing golden light and clashed with the beast's sending it backward for a second before it recovered and shot at him forcefully.
Damn it! He thought on feeling the impact of its blow and wishing he could return it in kind; since he was punching against the current and had to be careful not to be swept further in lest he be taken into deeper waters and have to contend with a greater number of them, he found it hard to focus on his attack.
Suddenly, a Dust round broke through the surface of the water and struck home on the Colpach's head, clearing a good quarter of it off. The beast still struggled though, holding tighter while it thrashed viscerally.
With the time the shot bought him, he landed a mighty blow, sending the beast back and allowing him to escape.
He swam back up, flashing a smile as though he hadn't just been nearly drowned to death.
"Are you okay?" Summer asked, pulling him up and checking on him.
"Of course," Tai said confidently, reaching into his pocket to grab something.
Failing to find it, he began tapping his body frantically, in the hope of getting it.
"I had it in my hand," he said desperately, "That bastard must have taken it."
Colpai (plural) were known to be fairly smart creatures, they knew how to set traps and even bait humans, but it was a little bit of a stretch for it to take the crystal from him.
Most likely, it was just lost somewhere along the bank. It was too dense to float so it wouldn't be too difficult to find.
"I'll help you check the bank," Summer offered, "If it's not there, then we'll go farther upstream to get it."
"Thanks, tha–"
The blonde and Beacon applicant collapsed suddenly face first, his breathing hard and his face covered in sweat.
"What's happening?"
Raven went down on her knees, inspecting the body of the fallen warrior. Before leaving, the tribe's chief had given them a piece of advice: "Try to avoid anyone getting killed."
She had understood the implication of that; as people from outside the Kingdoms, deaths that occurred around them would likely be blamed on them since they weren't regarded as trustworthy. Although she wasn't in any rush to save anyone and was indeed rooting for their failure, she still would help when absolutely necessary as it was now.
"Seems to be water hemlock," she declared after a few seconds, "His Aura should make it impotent against him, but the beast may have consumed it and something about its anatomy made it more potent."
Since both her and her brother had already gotten their crystals, the other pair posed no threat so she felt no risk from helping them. They were also in far better shape if it were to devolve into blows.
"That... why didn't you help?"
Not knowing what to do, she swiftly turned on the other two; had they helped, they would have finished the beast of quickly and avoided him getting poisoned by it. Raven looked at her sharply, as though warning her to be careful.
"You're right... it isn't your fault, I'm sorry. How can we help him?"
"We have experience crafting antidotes, but we don't have the beast's cadaver. Even if we did get it, it may still take hours to make, it'd take much less time to return to the rendezvous; they should be able to care for him aboard the airship."
This time, it was Qrow who offered advice in his first verbal interaction since arriving here.
"But he'll fail then."
"Any other thing would be a gamble with his life... and with me around, any gamble isn't likely to end well."
"It's up to you at any rate; my brother and I already have our goal so we'll be returning."
Summer bit her lip in frustration, holding his shivering hand in hers; she couldn't put his life on the line... even if it meant that he'd fail to make it into Beacon.
"Could I ask a favour?"
xXx
How did it end up like this? Raven asked herself as she ran through the forest carrying the blonde on her back.
Summer had asked her to carry him back to the rendezvous since she was the fastest. Raven obliged; she was heading back there anyway.
After several minutes of intense running, the black-haired tribeswoman arrived at the large carrier airship that had brought all of them there.
Standing at the entrance was a grey-haired man with dark spectacles and a bright smile, his name was Ozpin and he was the History Professor at Beacon.
"You're back," he said with a smile on seeing her, "What's the matter with Mr. Xiao-Long?"
"Water hemlock poisoning, from a Colpach."
"I see," he said as he took hold of him and moved him into the sick bay of the airship.
"Oh?" he exclaimed just as he lay him down on one of the beds.
"It seems he was able to complete the task."
"What?" Raven asked, before being greeted by the light of the crystal in his formerly clenched fist.
His was missing, no doubt. That means...
Her memory flashed back to when Summer held his hand in hers.
... She gave him her crystal? If she fails to find his, then it's over for her.
"What are you thinking?" she whispered to herself in frustration.
Better question: why do I care? It's the end of the road for her either way.
xXx
"We should head back, it's getting dark."
The advice came from Qrow who was positioned a distance away from Summer as she searched determinedly for Tai's crystal. He was right; they were supposed to be at the rendezvous latest by dark.
"You're right," she said, rising to her feet, "Thank you for all your help."
Qrow shrugged it off before turning to start moving, but before he did, he felt as though she was looking at him, asking for something.
On turning around, he saw her hand outstretched like it had been that morning.
"Hey there, I'm Summer Rose."
She probably wants a final greeting since she's going back home.
He obliged, her stretching his own hand out saying: "I'm..."
xXx
"Qrow Branwen, Taiyang Xiao-Long, Raven Branwen and Summer Rose."
The last name surprised all four people who had been called out by the Principal, a buxom middle-aged lady with deep brown hair and a severe frown called Edda Black.
What?
"You four will henceforth be known as Team STRQ and you'll be lead by none other than Summer Rose."
What?
"I don't understand," Summer started, unsure about what she was hearing, "I failed to complete my goal and even got Tai in trouble."
The woman smiled in amusement on hearing Summer vocalise what everyone else in her group must have been wondering.
"These tests are meant to evaluate you in more than one way," she started, "Yes, you did fail to return with a crystal and further got your teammate into danger by being careless, but you used quick thinking to signal to someone that you were underwater, you came to assist him immediately you could, and led your peers effectively."
"Last but not least, you sacrificed your future for the sake of another. You're not perfect Summer, but you're exactly the leader this team needs, congratulations."
Summer's expression was strange, she was clearly having a hard time processing all of what she had heard; she was a Huntress-in-training now, what's more, the leader of her team.
It was like a dream come true.
xXx
It's been that long huh?
Raven asked herself as she looked at the girl that had led Team STRQ through all those years together; she wished that saying this would be easy.
"Summer," she started, breathing out slowly to calm herself down, "Do you remember what I told you about my tribe?"
"Yeah sure," Summer said, "The cursed Branwen tribe, pretty intense."
"I'm returning there... I won't be coming back."
After thinking about it for months and months before, Raven had decided that she'd be as blunt as possible.
"W-what do you mean?" Summer asked, confused by her friend's simple words, "I don't understand you."
"I'm leaving Summer, this life... isn't for me."
"Come on," she said with a small humourless laugh, "Remember what we said? We'd become Huntresses, we'd get Gretch's cookie recipes and open a bakery too, that way anyone who came in for a mission would have hot pastry and..."
Raven looked at her friend who was now holding her hands in a pleading manner, her silver eyes trying to fight back the flood of tears that was welling up.
"I can't make cookies Summer; they always end up burnt, no matter what I do."
"That doesn't matter," she insisted, holding on even more tightly, "What matters is that you stay. If you do that, it doesn't matter how many times you burn them, we'll love them all the same."
"I'm not like you... that would never work."
Summer looked at her friend sadly before letting her hand go and turning away from her; the tears had started.
"I don't want you to go."
"I understand."
"Have you told Tai?"
"You're the first I told... I'll tell him today though."
"Will we see again?"
"I hope so, but my tribe is always on the move, it'll be difficult. Still, I'll find my way back... some day."
On hearing this Summer turned around, having already wiped her tears away, she stretched her hand out once more.
"Till then."
Raven looked at her hand with a hint of a smile appearing on her face before she pushed it aside and hugged her.
"Till then."
xXx
Raven walked into the Principal's office determinedly, desperate to be over with it fast.
"Ozpin I'm-"
"Leaving right?" he said, completing her sentence while stirring a cup in his hand.
"You're headed back to the tribe, alone."
"No, I won't stop you," he said simply, getting up and walking towards the window, "You're free to leave."
"What about the oath? The promise you made when you gave us that... power."
"I knew since I offered it to you that you wouldn't keep your promise, but I offered it anyway because it would be a waste for anyone else."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll understand eventually," he said dismissively, "Rather than wasting time with me, you should go talk to Mr. Xiao-Long. Qrow's already explained part of it, so he'll be waiting."
What? She said in her head as she ran out of the room, pausing for a moment to look at her teacher once more before dashing downstairs, running towards the dorm rooms.
A few minutes later, she was outside the door, trying to convince herself to knock.
Her fist stood stationary, a few inches from the wood, shaking slowly as though afraid of what would happen if she rapped it too hard.
Rat-tat-tat.
The door opened slowly in response to her soft knocking, revealing the face of the man she loved.
His beautiful violet eyes stared into hers mysteriously.
It wasn't what she had expected; no questions, no anger, no desperation.
She had answers for the questions.
She had patience for the anger.
She had firmness for the desperation.
But she didn't know what to do now that she couldn't tell what his eyes were trying to say. He opened his mouth slowly, as though it was laborious to do so.
What was he going to say?
"I... helped you pack."
Raven could have spent an eternity guessing and still never guessed that those would be the words to come out from his lips.
"Qrow... he told me everything; I understand why you have to go, so I helped you pack."
At that very moment, Raven collapsed.
It was too much for her.
She could bear her brother disowning her.
She could bear losing her best friend.
But at this moment, staring into the eyes of the man she loved and felt she understood and seeing something she couldn't understand, that, that was too much.
She collapsed to her knees in the hallway crying.
She didn't want to leave.
"I don't want to leave."
She accidentally said it out loud in between her cries.
"I..."
"I understand," he said, pulling her up and into the room before setting her down on his bed.
"I understand that, I honestly do."
As he spoke, he wiped her face gently with a tissue.
"Don't..." she started, before stopping for a moment to clean the snot that nearly dripped down to her lip, "... Forget me. I know it's selfish to ask, but don't forget me. I'll do everything to get back to your side, so don't forget me."
Earlier, when she had said it to Summer, it had been to put her at ease, but now, more than anything else, she intended to keep her promise.
He looked at her softly, a hint of sad amusement in his eyes.
Looking into them, she felt him saying: "How could I?"
She leaned in, falling in love with his eyes a thousand times in that moment.
The kiss was chaste and short, almost as if his lips were scalding.
Then there was another one, this time longer, but no less innocent.
Then another.
And another.
Until the night came and went by, swiftly yet lasting an eternity.
xXx
The next morning, before dawn the raven-haired warrior walked out of that room.
She was going home.
Notes: This is a short story centring about Raven and serving partially as a prequel to "Stains of Apathy", neither texts rely on each other so you can read either or both or none if you so wish.
Be prepared to learn a lot about the tribes and tribal system in Anima along with other parts of the plot.
I decided to make Ozpin a Professor at first because according to my calculations, he'd be too young to be the Headmaster when they first arrived. Using Theodore who is said to be older than him and in his 40s (I assumed 45 since it's in the middle) Ozpin could be anywhere from two to three years younger than he is or even more, I chose that range. And 22 years back (i.e. just as STRQ joins Beacon for four years plus the eighteen years from when Yang is born) he's be only 20 years old or so, younger than some of his students. Making him a Professor doesn't really solve the problem, but I think it made it better I guess.
I'll be taking a break from "I Met an Amazon" for a while to organise the plot threads and what not, so yeah.