Legends.

Stories scattered through history.

Mankind has grown quite fond of recalling the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting the truth so easily. Remnants, byproducts left by time.

...

But isn't it just human nature to change the stories of the past? To remember fondly the lessons passed through his children? Or does man rather forget his failures, moving blindly through the ages?

Maybe man does not want to look back and see the heroes that fell too soon, the loved ones he lost.

But is it not his responsibility to protect the light of hope? To stand tall against the darkness so that those that come after may live in peace?

Maybe man has forgotten what it means to be a hero. His children choosing blood and death over what made them special ones. When all they ever needed to prosper was nothing more than a simple soul to lead the way.

And maybe, when the final days are upon them, man can stand against the darkness... and the light.

Together


Two years ago

~DING-A-LING~

"The bar hasn't opened yet- Oh come on Raven. This is a bar, not a nursery!" Junior yelled as he hurried to put his magazine behind the bar counter, its contents wholly inappropriate for the child running towards him.

Ignoring Junior's half-hearted protest, Raven went up to her usual spot, setting herself down at the bar. The little blond girl beside her struggled to move the adjacent stool, trying to imitate her mother. With a grunt she finally got it into position, climbing it up quickly, grinning proudly at her accomplishment. "Very mature of you, ladies." Junior groaned as he leaned against the bar to pick up the little blonde who was already waiting for him with her little arms raised. "Ugh, you are lucky that your presence scared off the mob."

"Isn't that a problem, Junior? As far as I know, the mob makes up most of your clientele." Raven teased while sitting her other daughter on the bar; little Ruby more interested in chewing on her Beowolf plushy. "What do we want, Yang?"

Hitting the counter with both hands, Yang yelled, "Burger!" Just as mother and daughter had previously practiced (Ruby joined in with a happy squeak). "Pwetty please, Uncle Junior?"

"At least you learned to say please since last time blondie." Resigning himself to playing cook for the little pipsqueak and her mother again, Junior poured both a glass of water before heading into the kitchen. "Normally you don't bring your little monsters here until dinner. Any reason for showing up this early?"

"We come from the head doctor! Ruby is broken!" Yang yelled, happily playing with the little girl she just insulted.

"Don't say your sister is broken, Yang. Ruby is perfectly fine the way she is, understood?" Raven corrected, flicking her firstborn's forehead before making sure Yang had a good grip on her sister before jumping the bar to prepare some porridge for the younger girl. "We came from the child psychologist Glynda recommended to us. And while I hate to admit it … you two were right."

"I will spare you the 'I told you' this time." Junior answered from the kitchen, the sound of oil cooking and the smell of meat on the grill making mother and daughter salivate. "One of my little brothers was just like Ruby. Of course, our parents refused to take him to a psychologist for years. So tell me, what is it?"

Raising her right index finger to ask for time, Raven got her scroll out of her pocket, searching for the notes the doctor gave her.

"Dr. Gray says that it is too early to be sure, but that we should be prepared. Right now, Ruby struggles to recognize expressions and associate them with feelings. That, combined with the anxiety she suffers with strangers or changes in her daily routine are possible symptoms of a lesser degree of Asperger's Syndrome. By the Brothers, why are these reports so full of medical terms ..."

Junior didn't respond until he returned to the bar with the two plates of hamburgers and fries, sitting on the stool next to Yang. "Looks like your sister is gonna need someone to look after her. Think you're up to the task blondie? Patch may be a haven, but there are still bad people, like everywhere else. Bad people who may hate Ruby for being a faunus or for not being ... as they say nowadays, neuronormative? Is that real or did I just make it up? " Junior asked, looking expectantly at Raven. The huntress simply shrugged her shoulders without looking at him, more concerned with trying to feed her one year old her porridge.

Pounding her chest with her right fist, Yang raised her head high. "Of course! I'm going to be the best big sister in the world and punch everyone who makes my little sister cry!"

"Yang." Raven said, turning around to scold her eldest. Ruby took the opportunity to spit her food out, hitting Junior in the face. The man just sighed as he went to wipe himself clean, used to being the but of the little girl's antics.

"Okay, punching is not always the answer, but it always helps you find it!" Yang yelled proudly, remembering her parents' lesson.

Stroking her head, Raven muttered "That's my girl." before turning her full attention back to feeding Ruby, obvious to the little girls mischief. Watching the whole thing, Junior couldn't help but laugh to himself. "Can you tell me what's wrong with you?" Raven asked, annoyed. Focusing her attention on Junior again.

"You have to admit Raven, this is kinda funny. Could you imagine someone saying that the 'great Raven Brawmen, legendary huntress' would spend her days feeding two little brats? While wearing a tracksuit covered in baby food? You really became domestic in the last few years."

"First off, you try to have two children as young as this-" Raven pointed at Yang, covered in ketchup, reaching for a frie that had fallen on the other side of the bar. "And this one." Raven pointed at Ruby, covered in the mush she had managed to spit out. "Honestly, if I had known it was going to be so difficult to deal with two girls I would have asked Summer to wait a couple more years before having Ruby ..."

"Are we hard to handle, mama?" Yang asked innocently, her pigtails swaying dangerously over her ketchup covered plate. "We are hard, Ruby! Fist bump!" Yang offered her fist to Ruby. The little faunus giggled, grabbing her sister's fist with her hand. "No Ruby, don't grab it. You gotta bump it with your fist, like I taught you."

"Simply amazing. Instead of teaching her useful things like walking, you taught her to bump your fist?" Raven asked incredulously. Leaving her two daughters to their little lesson, she took some fries. "See what I have to put up with? Say junior, are you sure you don't want to try Tai's recipes? These fries are awful."

"I told you, I will not let that man in any of my kitchens again. Not after the crab incident."

The memory of so many crabs fleeing through the streets still lingered in Raven's mind, making her shudder. "Okay, I give you that, but back to the point. There's nothing great about me anymore. Ever since I saved Marias life my aura has been practically non-existent. Whatever that poison was that this basta-" She stopped herself, looking over to her daughters. "-this damn Rufus used was devastating. My life as a huntress is over."

Junior sighed, getting up to move behind the bar to get started on cleaning up the mess the little monsters left behind. Getting out a clean rag, he turned to Raven. "I know staying behind while the rest of your team went out to be heros has been hard. But you can't forget what you did. Summer lost her family once already, losing Maria would have been just like that night again. You're a hero Raven, Summers hero-"

"I'm a failure!" Shouting in frustration, Raven jumped up, her bar stool clattering to the floor. "I sit at home all day, safe and sound. While they are out there without me. Because I can't even use my aura, my soul, to protect my family anymore! Every day I wonder if this will be the day they would have needed me to-" A loud wail interrupted her. Wide eyed, Raven looked around, seeing Ruby crying loudly in Yang's arms. The older girl trying to hold back tears yerself.

"Oh no."

Taking one large step, Raven scooped the two crying children up. Hugging them tightly, she tried calming them down. "Hush now, you two. Everything is fine. Shh," Taking small steps around the empty bar, the two slowly stopped crying. With a sigh, Raven sat down again. Still holding the two close.

"I'm sorry Junior, it's been … difficult. I know I did the right thing. Hell, Summer told me for months how thankful she was that I saved her mother. Even Qrow told me I did good, and you know my brother. Getting a compliment out of him is like giving a Goliath a tusk cleaning."

Junior continued cleaning the counter, not really surprised about Ravens outburst. He had known the women long enough to know that this whole situation was starting to get to her. And while he would never admit it, he has become rather font of team STRQ and their little family. Despite how often they destroyed his previous owned establishments. Maybe he should talk to them, let them know what Raven was dealing with.

But first, he would try to cheer the two little ones up. They still looked a little shaken. And, smirked to himself, he would do it by embarrassing Raven.

"Now listen here kids. Your mother is many things. A weak drinker, a horrible poker player and the worst cook I have ever seen." The two girls nodded enthusiastically, Ruby more copying her sister then really understanding what was going on.

"You have a point there Junior?" Raven was clearly not as amused as her daughters.

"But she is, above all else, a good person. No matter how much she tries to be the cool and stoic type. Nothing can stop her when she sets her mind to it." Looking behind Raven as the front door opened, he continued. "Except her knights in shining armor that just arrived."

Summer and Tai walked in, both sweating and out of breath from running halfway across Patch during summer

"And that ends my little speech. Someday I'm gonna expect money for all the praise I give you. Or at least for the food you keep munching off me." Junior grunted while going back to the kitchen to get the other hamburgers he had preventively made. If one STRQ member shows up, you can expect the rest to be close behind.

Something the whole of Patch knew at this point.

"Rae! Sorry we're late!" Summer ran, throwing herself at Raven. Skillfully catching the little blond missile that jumped out of Ravens arm mid stride. "Yang, have you been a good girl at the doctor's office?"

"Yes mommy, I behaved! You promised me ice cream if I was a good girl, I want my ice cream. Ice cream!"

"Okay okay! We'll go for some ice cream later, so now be nice and go play with Mommy's Scroll, okay?" Giving her Scroll to Yang and taking her back to the vip area, Summer returned moments later.

"So how did it go Rae?" Tai had sat down at the bar, hugging her to him. His face showed clear concern as he looked at Ruby. Said girl was wagging her tail, trying to reach her papa.

Raven shrugged, handing Ruby to Tai so she could continue eating her burger. The little girl was screaming happily in her father's arms, her wolf tail flapping back and forth. "I have the report on my Scroll. And I'm sure that you will understand it much better by reading then if I explained it. For now let's just say that Glynda was mostly correct with her diagnosis," Raven explained, rummaging through Ruby's trolley backpack until she took out a keychain with notes hanging on it.

"At the moment this is our new best friend. Gray has given me six, one for each of us." Curious, Tai began to study the cards. Drawn on each was the face of a wolf faunus, along with the emotion their face showed written underneath. "According to Dr. Gray, the best thing we can do for Ruby right now is to teach her what emotion belongs to what expression. For that she gave me this… teaching tool… to help her understand that a smile means happiness for example."

Looking at the drawing for happiness, Tai positioned it so that Ruby could hold it by herself. "I see that it's a faunus edition. Though it's funny, it looks like all these fanus have the same wolf ears like Ruby. The right one is even dropping like hers-"

"I did that." Raven said quickly, sounding somewhat bashful. "I thought that if the faces looked like her, Ruby would be able to understand the expression-emotion association more easily ... It's a shame I don't have markers to paint the eyes and hair."

Hugging her wife from behind, Summer planted a kiss on her cheek. "You are the best, you know that?"

"Summ, not in front of Junior!" Raven groaned.

Returning with the food for the two huntsmen, Junior sat on the other side of the bar. "Don't cut yourselves short. I still remember when I caught the three of you in the bathroom for the disabled-"

"Junior!" The three parents shouted, Tai trying to cover both sets of Ruby's ears unsuccessfully. "There is a baby here!"

"Precisely because Ruby is a baby can we still talk about this! She's too young to remember any of this. She just sits there, wagging her adorable little ears ... have you gone to a specialist to see why the right one doesn't hold up straight? Ruby is only one year old, wouldn't it be time to see if there is something you can do? Maybe some doctor from Atlas... better from Menagerie. Maybe Ghira knows someone."

Tai shook his head, sitting Ruby on his knees so that the little faunus could rest her arms on the bar. "It isn't really something you can fix. We have already been warned that babies born by the Halo method could suffer some types of slight malformation. In Ruby's case, the muscles in her right ear didn't grow right. Unless we get some for of prosthetic, it will stay that way"

"A real pity. At least you were able to get pregnant with her." Rubbing his chin, Junior sighed, slightly annoyed that a girl as adorable as Ruby had to live with such a visible flaw. "You were lucky Torchwick knew people from Merlot Industries and got the contact info for one of their best in the field of genetic research… What was her name, Anly?"

"You're thinking of Andy, the Salem agent that burned down your first Club" Summer corrected him while trying to steal some of the fries off of Raven's plate.

Said woman blocked her hands without looking, eating her burger seemingly undisturbed by her wife's antics. "Her name's Ashley, she created the Halo method. Even offered to use her own faunus genetics for the process. Sh - come on Raven, you don't even eat Juniors fries!" Summer shouted, getting fed up with her inability to get past her wifes perfect plate defense.

"I don't, they are vile things. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna share them with you." Pounting, Summer sat back down.

"Anyway, with that, Rae could carry our little Ruby for me, isn't that right pup?" Looking at the little faunus, Summer smiled, remembering the month before her conception.

It was hard on all of them when they learned that Summer couldn't get pregnant. Tai and Raven did their best to convince her that it wasn't her fault.

But she knew.

When they met Ashley and learned that there was a chance, Summer was overjoyed. And she would be forever in the doctors dept for not only making her dream come true but also offering everything they needed. Knowing that the Rose bloodline would continue, if Patch accepted it or not, was enough for her.

She couldn't watch her whole family die out, not again.

"That's it, Ashley! Certainly an interesting girl. I have never met a Faunus with only the nose as a trait before. I remember that she still owes me for the bottle of wine she took the day Ruby was born.

"Mean." The couple muttered simultaneously, all three ending up laughing when Junior raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey! You don't get to where I've gotten by giving away free bottles! I lose enough money on you guys and the pits that you call stomachs. I have to make ends meet somehow!"

The four kept chatting and laughing as Yang seized Ruby and carried her to the VIP couch, where both sisters began viewing one of the older sister's favorite cartoon series on Summer's Scroll.

One more day for the Rose-Xiao Long-Brawen family, one more peaceful and quiet day on Patch Island.

Patch, City of Patch

20:30, August 16, 68 post-Great War

~DING-A-LING~

"The bar hasn't opened yet- Oh come on Raven. This is a bar, not a daycare!

Raven stood on the open door, clearly amused at Junior's protest. Backing away slightly to let two little blurs run towards the counter.

Sliding to a stop just in front of one of the stools, Yang put her hands together to give her sister a boost. Ruby jumped mid run, did a flip in the air with her sister's help and landed perfectly seated. Moments later the adjacent stool collided with Ruby's, Yang already on it.

Glancing at each other for a second to make sure the other was ready, Ruby and Yang hit the bar counter with both hands. "Burger!" The sisters cried out happily. With the most innocent smile they continued. "Pwetty please?"

Slapping his forehead, Junior sighed. With a scowl, he leaned forward, getting close to the two smiling girls. "Now listen here you two . This is not your playground and I'm not your personal cook. This is a bar that serves very bad people."

"We know!" Ruby said happily, her tail flapping and whipping around behind her.

"But you make the best burgers, Junior!" Yang continued nudging her sister, trying to get her to do as they practice at home. "Can you please please please make us dinner? We are tired from Master Hunter Port's class… and who knows when Mommy and Daddy will come home from their mission… we may starve before they are back..." Yang whispered, pretending to wipe away crocodile tears.

"You do realize, Yang ... that Raven is standing right there?" Junior pointed towards Raven who was trying to keep her face serious without much success. "I'm pretty sure the great Raven Brawen knows how to cook-"

"Mama burned the kitchen down today!" Ruby interrupted, smiling brightly. Junior stopped for a second, not sure how serious the young faunus was. Looking at Raven, he saw the woman hold her head, not meeting his gaze. The muttered 'we weren't supposed to say that Ruby' was the last clue.

"You … actually burned down your kitchen? Really Raven?" He could remember a time when STRQ was the bane of his existence. A thorn in the side of every criminal in and around Vale.

If anyone would have told him that the scariest of the four would regularly show up in his bar because she failed at the most basic of every day tasks he would have laughed the guy out before said huntress would come and beat both of them.

But if he was honest with himself, this wasn't even a surprise anymore.

"It's not my fault Tai can't write clear instructions." Raven muttered as she went to sit down next to her children. "And I thought we practiced what to say to Uncle Junior Ruby." The fanuns looked up at her mother, face concentrated.

Getting a little keychain out of her pocket, she flipped through the cards hanging from it. "You're … annoyed?" Sometimes Raven really wondered if her youngest did this on purpose.

With a sign, she patted Ruby's head. "Got it in one pup, good job."

Cheering, she turned around to fist bump Yang, the older sibling praising her for getting it right.

They definitely did this so they wouldn't get in trouble. She wasn't sure if she should be annoyed or proud of them.

Who was she kidding?

Watching them laugh and joke with each other she could feel nothing but pride for her two girls.

Junior watched the whole thing in silence. When had his life taken such a strange turn? He used to live in the underbelly of society. Is clubs filled with drugs, sex and violence. This very bar was supposed to be like that, a respectable place for the seedier site of Patch … right in the same neighborhood that Sanctuary Tower was located in.

The very epitome of hope and peace on the archipelago.

Looking back at it, if he truly wanted to return to his roots, he would have never bought a bar this close to the center of law on Patch. No, it was just a good spot to do business, that was all. That it was close enough for Ruby to feel comfortable or that most of his … friends could reach it easily was just a happy coincidence.

"Come on boss, don't keep your best clients waiting!" Melanie Malachite, the club's head of security, hit her boss on the shoulder, causing him to step aside so she could serve the sisters a fruit smoothie. "Don't tell the rest of the clients, dwarfs, but you two don't have to pay. You are on the VIP list." Yang and Ruby nodded happily, holding out their pinky fingers. With a shuckle, Melanie took both to seal the promise.

"Melanie! What did I tell you about sharing company secrets? You are my head of security, for the love of the brothers!" Junior groaned, unable to be truly angry. Yang and Ruby were… his weakness. "You want hamburgers, huh?" The two girls nodded excitedly. "You know the game, only the winners get food. Blondie, answer this: How much is seven plus seven?"

The older sister was silent. Putting a finger to her forehead, she said. "It's … fourteen!"

"You got lucky. Your turn pup!" Ruby raised her head, face serious and ready.

There was no need for a question. The wolf knew what she had to do to get her price. Studying Juniors face carefully, she said. "You are … happy." Flipping through her cards again, Ruby held up one of them for Junior to see. "There, corners up means happy."

The smile he held for Ruby to guess widened, becoming more genuine. The little wolf had come a long way since the first time he asked that question. Guesswork had turned to actual recognition. And while he didnt want to toot his own horn, the little game he created for the two girls definitely helped.

Turning around to get the two their well earned reward he said. "Good work girls. Two burgers coming right away."

Raven smirked, seeing a chance to tease her old friend. "You've gotten soft in your old age, Junior." She continued, a forlorn smile on her face. " But I guess I'm no better. A few more years and those two are gonna run circles around this old huntress."

"No way! You're way too strong mama!" Ruby and Yang yelled at the same time, appalled their mother could even suggest such a thing.

"Just yesterday you opened a portal for the first time again. It was small, but only a strong person could manage that. Momma and Dad said so too!" Yang explained, nodding proudly. Ruby joined in, praising the now embarrassed Raven.

She turned away to hide the fact she was smiling, touched by the words of her two daughters. They had been her strongest support ever since she started to try regaining the strength she lost.

Raven had accepted the fact that her days as a huntress were over years ago. Ever since the moment Rufus' venom entered her body and reduced her aura to a minimum.

It would have stayed that way, with her being content to stay home to take care of their little family whenever the rest of the team was on missions. But Yang was growing quickly, already smarter than she was at her age. And with Ruby being way ahead of her age group, Raven had less and less to take care of each day. The sisters already very much capable of looking after themselves.

Mostly.

What little help her daughters still needed consists mostly of answering endless questions about combat, Grimm and the job of hunters and huntresses. There was no doubt that they would follow in team STRQ's footsteps. And Raven was certain that they would not only reach their level one day, but surpass them.

But they still had a lot of growing to do until they reached that point. And until then, they needed someone to train and protect them. And it was that thought that reignited the flame of defiance inside Raven. That strength of will that had allowed her and her team to accomplish the impossible countless times before. Beating a poison that left even the strongest of hunters crippled for life would be child's play.

Summer and Tai had been on board immediately when she first mentioned her desire to return to her old form. The latter showed her notes on multiple possible treatment methods and potential doctors that same day. Both in and outside of Patch that had experience with rehabilitating aura.

She remembered that day well, confused how he got this much information in just a few hours. He just smiled at her.

"Come now Raven, we know you. It was only a matter of time until you got back into the game. There was no way our little bird would be brought low by something like this."

He gave her a kiss and left the room to call one of the doctors. And while she would never tell a soul, she cried happy tears there, surrounded by the proof that her family always believed in her.

The following months were hard but successful. Raven's progress astounded the doctors that were helping in her recovery. The time until they expected her to be able to activate her aura again shrank from years to months.

Determined to not only regain her strength but also be able to return to active duty, Raven worked tirelessly. Spending many of her days in Sanctuary Towers training facilities. Alongside her, Ruby and Yang started their first introductory combat class for huntsmen, taught by no other than Master Hunter Peter Port. Though the only ones that called him that were the young children in his class.

Both girls took to combat like fish to water. Yang was a natural fighter, picking up her fathers style and already starting to combine moves from both her mothers in it. Ruby was a prodigy in every sense of the word, keeping up or even surpassing her fellow classmates while being two years younger. Something that caused no small amount of trouble, some of the children seeing the younger one as an easy target. Often followed by a beatdown from Yang, which landed her in Glynda's office on multiple occasions.

It was during one of these encounters that Yang unlocked her semblance.

Fittingly named "Burn", it awakened when she found her sister crying, surrounded by three older boys making fun of her droopy ear. Seeing red, literally in this case, she jumped between them and the young faunus, hair burning bright with anger. When the three parents showed up in Glynda's office that day, she simply shoved the still burning child into their arms with the words "Do NOT set my academy on fire".

"Have you finished daydreaming Raven?" Junior asked, snapping her out of her trance. "Your girls have gone with Melanie to tease Militia in the office. Don't worry, I haven't left any Dust crystals lying around… again."

"Why should I worry? If your club explodes due to dust you left lying around it's your own fault. Also, I do not daydream. Summer is the daydreamer in the family. Just last week she drooled on me while thinking about Tai's fries on icecream. Don't ask."

Junior chuckled, long since used to weird little stories involving Summer. "We changed, haven't we Raven? Sitting around reminiscing, telling stories about our home life."

"Time waits for no one, I guess. It felt just like yesterday when we were young and full of aspiration. Having dreams like changing my clan from within. Or you becoming the king of the underworld. And now look at us. Me a mother and you the owner of the most popular night club on our not so littles island."

"That's why we have to work hard, Raven!" Junior responded, tapping his drying cloth on the bar. "You have to go back to being the legendary Raven Branwen! Yang and Ruby may be the future but they will need someone to protect them until then."

"If someone fifteen years ago had told me that Hei Xiong himself would be encouraging me to become a huntress again, I would have punched them. Maybe give them a good kick while they're down for good measure" Raven laughed, covering her mouth.

"If someone told me fifteen years ago that I would spend my days helping team STRQ I would have told them they had enough for the night. I still remember the first time we met. You and your brother trashed my entire club. And a month later you bring your team with you and proceed to bring the whole building down." That had been one of the worst days of his criminal career. Yet, despite all the money it cost him, he couldn't help but think fondly of that time now.

"Speaking of good old times, I just got my hands on some quality stuff. Even your brother doesn't have something like this, a Kostoko Whiskey. What do you say, share some for old times sake?"

Cocking her head, Raven shrugged with a half-smile. "You pose a dilemma for me, Junior: My 'responsible mother side' makes me say no. My 'huntress' side reminds me that Yang and Ruby have already seen all the authority figures in their lives drunk."

"So that's a yes?"

"You bet your ass it is! But just one. I have to at least pretend to be a responsible adult. Also I don't think I can afford to put any more lien in the swear jar." While Junior busied himself with preparing two glasses, Raven started walking towards the office to make sure her kids didn't blow anything up.

But the night was about to take an unexpected turn.

"RAVEN!" The club's doors slammed open, hitting the wall hard enough to leave a hole in it. A faunus woman stumbling into the club "RAVEN!" The cat faunus screamed again, running awkwardly to her best friend and neighbor.

"Kali?! What are you doing here?" Raven was taken back by the sudden appearance of her friend, Kali's bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair giving the women a crazed look. "Are you OK? What happened?!" Kali began to babble, trying to explain through the tears. "Junior, a little help here?" Raven yelled, trying to hold Kali by the shoulders to calm her down.

Kali went limp in her arms, still sobbing. "Qrow … Qrow …"

"Qrow what?!" Raven asked, even more scared and beginning to fear the worst.

"He found them Raven … He found them" Kali whispered, weakly.

Sinking to the floor with the crying women still firmly held in her arms, Raven couldn't help but laugh. "I told you he could. There's no one better at finding people than my brother. Did you tell James? We need to get a team ready right now."

"That's why I came to find you" Kali said, calmer now but still shaken. "He got the information from Torchwick but he can't ask for official support without being forced to report to Bleu." Raven was starting to understand why Kali was looking for her. "I've ... I've been trying to contact Summer and Tai all afternoon but I can't get them to respond."

The security protocol preventing other kingdoms from intercepting communications with teams far from Patch required that all transmission channels for the Bullheads and Mantas remain closed until receiving a confirmation code. A code Kali didn't have access to.

And with James unable to intervene there was nothing she could do.

But there was one way. The ability to reach out over any distance to connect with those dear to Raven's heart. Yes, it would be easy to reach her spouses with "Kindred Link".

And thanks to her training and rehabilitation the last few months, Raven had managed to regain the use of her aura. And with her aura active again, using her semblance was one of the first things she tried.

The first few attempts were promising, being able to open a small portal for a few seconds to her brother in the room next to her.

But this was on a completely different level.

According to the last missions briefing Summer and Tai received, the two would be close to Atlas at this point. Extracting part of the Schnee family as a personal favour for James.

So half a world away. It would have been a simple task during her prime, yet now it seemed impossible.

But as she held her crying friend in her arms, Raven knew what she needed to do.

Team STRQ always beat the odds, and today would be no different.

The attack on the New Vale courthouse and the kidnapping of Ghira and Blake had dealt a severe blow to the fight for Faunus rights around the world. Kali had been devastated, quickly losing hope of seeing her husband and child ever again. She spent the last eighteen month paralyzed, barely being able to leave the bed in the morning. Raven shudders to think what Kali would have done if she and her team hadn't been there for her.

She remembered how powerless she felt every time she saw Kali. While the rest of her team was out trying to find them, all she could offer were empty words. She hated it. Sitting helplessly by as her family suffered.

But she wasn't helpless anymore.

Taking Kali by the shoulders, she pushed her slightly. Looking her in the eyes, she made a promise. "This will end tonight, Kali. I failed you enough. By this time tomorrow, our family will be whole again." Raven stood up, taking the slightly dazed cat with her. "Junior, can you take Ruby and Yang home? We're going to Sanctuary Tower."

Junior looked at them with worry. He didn't know exactly where the dynamic duo of STRQ was right now, but he was sure it wasn't close by. But seeing the look in Raven's eyes, he was reminded of earlier days. When the name 'Raven Brawmen' was feared across the world.

"I get the two home, don't worry. You hurry up and make sure those two knuckle heads of yours get the rest of the family back in one piece."

Giving Junior one last nod, Raven left the bar, leading a still shaking Kali out into the quickly darkening night.

Wasting no time, the ex-criminal went towards the backrooms. Opening his office door, he saw the two girls happy eating some candy while his twins watched them with amused expressions.

"There better not be any Dust between those candies again. I don't want a repeat of last time. Now kids, get up. Your mom had to leave for an important mission, so uncle Junior is going to get you two home." Turning two the twins he added. "Keep the club closed until I get back, shouldn't be long.

"What mission is mama on? Is she gonna save a princess?" Yang asked, clearly excited by the thought of her mother away on a secret mission. Ruby peaked up at her sister's idea, tail wagging happily.

"You're not so far off you little rascal. But I'm sure she's gonna tell you all about it when she gets home. Now let's go. If you behave, I'm going to buy you Ice Cream on the way."

Spurred on by the promise of Ice Cream, the sisters jumped up, racing off towards the entrance of the club.

Atlas, Mountain pass between Mantle and Atlas Valley

22:15, August 16, 68 post-Great War

The old second-hand military car was moving slowly along the mountainous roads of Atlas. Outside the climate regulated cities, the rarely used street was mostly frozen over.

The road from Atlas to Mantle led over two mountain passes, and the patrols were no doubt made aware of their escape by now. So while much more dangerous, the less traveled path was the best option they had.

Weiss struggled to stay awake, the rattling of the engine and her little brother's snoring making her eyelids heavy. To avoid falling asleep, the little girl played with the magazine of the rapier that Winter had risked so much for to take with them.

Myrtenaster. The weapon of liberation.

According to the legend, her great-grandmother Ivory Schnee wielded it during the start of the Great War. Using it to rise up against her own kingdom and setting in motion what would later result in the treaty that secured peace between the kingdoms.

A piece of her family's legacy that was now entrusted to her. Even young as she was, Weiss could feel the weight of responsibility as she held the rapier.

A responsibility Weiss would uphold.

And while she fought sleep, her sister sat in the front, nervously tapping the dashboard. Every few minutes she would check her scroll to make sure they were on the right path.

"The extraction will be in the middle of no man's land between Atlas and Mantle. I don't like this Klein. We are completely exposed out here. If any of my fathers men find us here..." Winter whispered, trying to keep Whitley from waking up.

The younger brother slept peacefully, resting his head on Weiss' legs.

"Don't you worry miss Winter. Everything is going to be fine. We have more than enough fuel to take a safe route. Your father won't reach you here, I promise." Klein tried to reassure her without letting go of the wheel, the older sister's uncharacteristic nerves and fears began to seep through to the butler, who silently struggled to let any of his other personalities take over. "But remember, there will be patrols before we reach the extraction point. Just let me do the talking and we will-"

"There will be no patrols! The general's soldiers will be… will be there waiting for us. They have to be. Torchwick assured me that Ironwood would send his best!" Winter bit her tongue, trying to stifle tears, her weary eyes on the map she had received earlier that morning.

She had been trying to reach the General for years, each attempt more desperate than the last. And each failure would bring harsher and harsher punishments from her father. Winter never stopped trying, but her conviction had started to waver.

When the punishments became physical, she tried to stop it... by stabbing him. Just as her mother was supposed to have done. No one found her body, but Jacques didn't hesitate to show his scar as proof that his 'mission' was a necessity.

He used the scar on his chest to further his goals, spitting on her mothers last attempt to protect her and her siblings... While all she could do was look at her own scared back in disgust.

It all seemed hopeless until a few days ago when she met the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick.

During a gala event, Jacques made the mistake of introducing her, thinking Roman to be a honest businessman specialised in export and shipping.

Winter had recognized the criminal who had given General Ironwood so much trouble immediately, and forced him to accompany her outside. With the threat of revealing his true identity, the heiress and criminal reached an agreement:

Deliver a message in exchange for the location of a private shipment of Dust.

Forty-eight hours later, her gamble had paid off when Klein's personal Scroll received an encrypted message that only Winter could understand. Torchwick had kept his word to take the message to Ironwood.

The response was one simple sentence:

'I will come for you'

Ironwood was going to save her. Ironwood was going to save her siblings and Klein…

Ironwood was going to end this nightmare.

That single thought was more than enough to restore strength to her bruised body. After explaining everything to Klein, the two managed to buy an old Atleasen army car from the base under the floating city, loading it with as many valuables they could carry out of the mansion.

With her weapon prepared and Myrtenaster in their hands, the four took the first teleport to the mainland.

Explaining what was happening to Weiss and Whitley had been easier than the 15-year-old would have thought. Both of them more than willing to flee from the family patriarch. While they may not fully grasp the monster that their father was, they understood the pain he caused their sister.

It was risky, and if they got caught the consequences would be dire… but the chance of reaching Remnants safe haven was worth it.

"How far are we from Patch?" Whitley yawned, twisting in the seat; the constant clatter of the car over broken pieces of asphalt had finally managed to wake him up.

"Just a little more, Whitley…" Weiss whispered, trying to sound as confident as Winter was. But her inner fear filtered through her voice, making Whitley lose the desire to sleep.

Seeing Winter so... obsessed with the map, calculating the distance to the extraction point continuously was really starting to get to her. Something in the older sister's face said that the situation wasn't looking good, no matter how much she tried to reassure them.

Weiss looked out the window as they traveled further along the empty road. The stone walls of the mountain pass blocking the light of the broken moon above them almost entirely, leaving most of the area around them in darkness. It was a frightening sight so far away from the safety of Atlas, knowing what lurked out there in the shadows.

Grimm...

Weiss had only seen statues of them that decorated the mansion, reminders of the Grimm's that her mother and grandfather had defeated in their younger days. If they were as terrifying in person as they were as statues... Weiss wasn't sure they could escape.

The only one with any training was Winter. And while she has seen her sister fight, she couldn't imagine her standing up against these monsters alone.

The silence continued for another half hour, finally breaking thanks to Weiss's Scroll.

The sound of an incoming call made all four jump, the car almost going off the road before Klein regained control. . "W-W-Winter..." Weiss whispered in terror, turning the device towards her sister to show her who was calling.

"How is it possible... I had made sure... I... don't answer!" Winter stifles a scream, trying to keep her fear from overwhelming her. Taking the Scroll from her sister, she declined the call and turned the device off. "We have to hurry, Klein. We have… We have to hurry!" Winter urged, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Weiss held her breath, completely shocked to see her sister in such a state. The same Winter who had endured everything Jacques had done to her, always keeping a smile on her face for her siblings.

Seeing her… seeing her so terrified was a shock and one Weiss didn't want to see again.

"You don't need to say it twice, Miss Winter. Hold on tight, everyone!" Klein said, biting his lower lip, accelerating as much as the old second-hand vehicle could. Whitley clung to his sister's arm, confused and holding the urge to cry so as not to attract the 'monsters' as Winter had explained the day before.

Jumping with every bump, the car practically flew over the road. Howls and squawks accompanied the engine's roar as they accelerated faster, hoping that Winter was right and they were close to the extraction point.

For a few moments, the four of them thought that perhaps they could escape, moments that ended when the light from two spotlights began to approach them head-on.

"Atlas Border Guard. In the name of Saint Nicholas, stop your car."

A voice shouted from the megaphone of the military vehicle, four Atlas soldiers coming out of it and pointing their weapons at them.

"We just want to help you, hikers-"

"You don't need to lie to them, you idiot. They know who we are." A fifth soldier scolded as he climbed down from the front passenger seat, the rest of the soldiers rising up in his presence. "Let's make this easy, Young Mistress. You will get out of the car, slowly. Keep your hands where I can see them and no one will get hurt. This is your only warning."

The tension was palpable, Winter gritted her teeth as she discreetly readied her sword. "Weiss..." The older sister whispered, sounding more confident than she felt. "I'm going to buy us some time. I'll need you to use Myrtenaster to protect Klein and Whitley, okay? I've seen you shoot an air rifle during training,"

"Winter, no ..." Weiss's broken voice was like needles in Winter's ears. "They are ... there are too many ..."

Turning to her sister, ignoring the teachings of Atlas Academy, Winter reached out until she could take her hand. "Listen to me well, Weiss. Klein and Whitley have no aura, so they need you to protect them. You are the only one who can, if something happens to me-"

For the first time all night, Klein released his hand from the wheel.

Hitting both knees with his fists, the butler took a deep breath. "Miss Winter, don't suggest something like that again. We are going to be fine, please have faith in Ironwood."

The soldiers were getting restless, starting to move closer to the car. "Klein..."

"Just… have faith, please."

Without giving her time to reply, Klein grabbed Winter's gun-saber, named 'Nirvana' by her late mother, and got out of the car.

The butler's actions caught Winter by surprise, unable to react to him taking her weapon and getting out of the car. "My name is Klein Sieben, butler and caretaker of the Schnee heirs!" Klein screamed, making sure to get the attention of the soldiers. His hands were shaking in fear but he kept moving forward. The three children behind him needed him and he would not fail them.

The soldier who looked like the group leader stepped forward, keeping his rifle pointed directly at Klein's head. "We know who you are, Sieben. There is a search and arrest warrant with your name for the kidnapping of the Schnee heirs and the theft of valuable property from the Schnee mansion. Drop the sword and kneel with your hands behind your head."

Klein closed his eyes, breathing in the cold night air. "No… I can't do that. I need to protect these children. I can't let them down!" The butler yelled, pointing the sword at the soldier. "You know Jacques is a monster. If he were to lay hands on them again… They are just kids, they deserve better."

"It's not our business to decide what they deserve. You have kidnapped the heirs of the Schnee family and that's all I care about." The soldier yelled back. "We know you don't have your aura unlocked and you don't have any notion of combat, so do yourself a favor and don't do anything stupid."

Klein stifled a laugh, reaching out with his index finger for the trigger. "The only stupid thing would be to not risk my life to bring them to Patch."

The leader of the soldiers stopped his men from laughing, lowering his gun without releasing the trigger. "To Pacht? Do you think they will accept you? Patch has closed its borders, they have chosen to isolate their islands from the world. You are chasing an impossible dream, Sieben. No one will get to Patch unless they want you too."

"General Ironwood-"

"That's it, isn't it? I thought so. Ironwood is dead, I don't care if you believe the rumors or not. I'm one of his men, they made me watch as they executed him and dumped his body in the ocean. Made me watch as the Grimm devoured his corpse..."

"IRONWOOD IS ALIVE!" Winter yelled, getting out of the car. Ignoring the screams of Klein and Weiss. "He is in Sanctuary, I know he is. I will not believe my father's lies, and neither should you!" Winter kept screaming, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You really think he is alive, huh? Young mistress, you should act a little more your age and stop believing in fairytales. I don't know who told you that lie but he's a real jerk." The leader yelled as he regained his composure, his rifle still pointed at Klein.

"Atlas has everything you need, Patch can't even compare. They are a powerless nation in the middle of Vale and Mistral... I wouldn't be surprised if sooner or later they will be absorbed again. Atlas has already won the war, young mistress, we just need to wait for it to start. Don't miss the opportunity to be on the winning side because you can't accept the truth."

Winter growled and clenched her fists, her bloodshot eyes fixed on the leader. "Now, don't make any stupid moves, young mistress. One glyph and your butler will just be one more dead traitor."

"Miss Winter, please." Klein whispered, approaching slowly with the gun-sword still pointed at the leader. "Get back in the car, I'll take care of this."

"No, Klein, the recoil would break your wrist." Winter growled, the comment causing the soldiers to start laughing again. "Let me take care of it, it's my responsibility."

"You're just a kid, Winter ..." Klein said, opting instead to grab Winter's shoulder. "You don't deserve to have to carry this weight by yourself ..."

Appreciating her butler's gesture, Winter activated her aura, forcing all the soldiers to react and target her.

Before Klein could say anything, a defensive glyph appeared in front of the two. "Jacques made sure that I couldn't feel like a child years ago. So we have to get Weiss and Whitley out of this hellhole before he does the same to them. They still have the opportunity to just be children. To grow up without fear. You're right, Klein… I have to have faith in Ironwood."

"STOP RIGHT NOW!" The leader yelled, giving the order to fire at the glyph without aiming directly at Winter. "LAST CHANCE, YOUNG MISTRESS. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE OF YOUR SIBLINGS WHO DOESN'T NEED TO BE CAPTURED ALIVE."

The comment, aimed to intimidate her, only managed to anger her more. "No need to take me alive? Then there's no reason to hold back!" Winter screamed, creating both a second Shield Glyph and preparing her Summon Glyph behind the car. "Answer my call, Manticore!" The gigantic white Grimm appeared behind the car. Its roar terrified the soldiers, making them break formation and take cover behind the military vehicle.

"Idiots!" The leader yelled, swapping the rifle's standart magazine for fire Dust. "Shoot the young mistress. Without her the summon will vanish!"

Winter cursed her luck; the leader had done his homework before going after them.

With one hand holding both shield glyphs and the other casting reinforcement glyphs on the Manticore, Winter noticed her strength draining quickly. And as much as the teenager tried to hold on, there was simply nothing left...

"You're not that tough against a real opponent, young mistress." The leader scoffed as he fired the rifle with one hand, using the other to slide down the vehicle's hood to dodge a tail attack from the manticore. "You may have been Ironwood's protégé… but you're not a real huntress yet I've been studying and training for years-," The leader yelled as he threw a Dust grenade backward, hitting the manticore, the dust explosion freezing it solid. "And spend years defending this shitty kingdom from those Mistralian bastards." The leader kept going, changing the rifle's aim towards the manticore. An accurate shot to the beast's neck destroying it instantly.

The violent end of her summoning was like a physical blow, bringing Winter to her knees and breaking her concentration. Her glyphs vanished alongside her summon. Taking advantage, the leader fired at Klein, hitting him in the arm. 'Nirvana' flew out of his hand, clattering to the ground behind him.

"You want to fight real soldiers? Well, this is what you're up against."

The butler cried out, biting his lips to keep himself from screaming. The shot went cleanly through his forearm. "You should have listened to Klein, young mistress." The leader growled breathlessly, pointing his gun at Winter's head. "You are just a child who thinks she can prevail through sheer force of will. This is the real world kid. Unless you have the strength to win, this world will devour you. One last chance, give me Weiss and Withley and I let you and your butler go. You can go die in the tundra chasing your delusions."

"NO!" Winter screamed, creating a new shield glyph with what little aura she had left. "I'd rather die than let them go back to Jacques!"

"This isn't a negotiation, young mistress. Our families depend on us bringing the two heirs home. I'm not risking them for the delusions of a stupid teenage girl who hasn't gotten over the death of Ironwood!" The leader yelled, firing again until the shield glyph shattered. Walking slowly towards Winter and Klein, he quickly sent the butler to the ground with a quick blow of the butt of his rifle. "11% aura, you have lost, young mistress."

Noticing her own body giving in to exhaustion, Winter knew that he was right. Too little aura to defend herself, too little aura to protect her family.

For the first time in years, she gave up.

"That's better. Now don't do anything stupid, please. I'll turn a blind eye and say the Grimms got you. Go back to Mantle and find a way to escape to Argus." The leader whispered as he passed by, ignoring his injured platoon behind him, his eyes on the car

What he wasn't expecting was the open back door.

There, shaking, was Weiss holding Myrtenaster with both hands. "So that's Myrtenaster, huh? As beautiful as in the founder portraits. Young mistress Weiss, please… drop that."

Shaking her head, Weiss stood firm, aiming at the leader. "You're not going to hurt Winter ... I'm not going to let you..." The five-year-old said, voice hitching from tears.

"Of course not, I am not going to kill a kid. I just need to take you and your brother home, you understand? Don't you want to go home to your warm bed instead of being here in the cold?"

"I will not return to that house ... we will not return to Jacques!" Weiss yelled, activating Myrtenaster's trigger. For a split second Weiss felt the Dust obey her, forming on the tip of the weapon like an icicle. The euphoria of having managed to use Myrtenaster overtook her, making her forget the situation she was in for a moment

Unfortunately, euphoria quickly turned to terror. The force of her projectile caused her to lose her grip on the sword and pushed her backwards, the projectile flying harmlessly into the night sky.

The leader sighed heavily, stepping to pick up Myrtenaster and throw it out of the girls and Winter's reach. "It's over, Mistress Weiss. End of the line."

"NO! WE WILL NOT RETURN! WE CANNOT GO BACK!" Weiss yelled at the leader. Curling up on the cold ground she started crying. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Winter was supposed to save them. Get them away from that horrid place. But it had all gone wrong. And as the steps of the soldier drew closer, Weiss realised something

Sometimes, having faith is not enough.

...

...

...

But not this time.

"No one will force you back, little one."

A kind and gentle voice said behind Weiss, warm and motherly. It reminded her of something, a forgotten face and soft voice that made her feel safe and loved. The winds swirled behind the figure, twisting and turning until a woman emerged, clad in a white hooded cloak and wielding a gunsword in each hand.

Before anyone could react, the stranger drove one of her swords into the ground. Without wasting a single second, she began zigzagging around the surroundings like a lightning bolt, knocking all four soldiers down in the blink of an eye.

"I..I…Impossible ..." The leader whispered, his voice shaking. He stood frozen as the figure appeared in front of the military vehicle, raising her sword. The straight lines formed by its movement exploded in a wild blast of wind, sending the vehicle flying several meters back. "That semblance? Here? ... no, it can't be ..."

"The possible is only possible when it is believed impossible." The stranger said with a smile, quickly turning confused. "No, wait a minute. It wasn't like that… Sheet. This is what I get for trying to use other people's lines…." Raising a hand to her ear, the stranger pressed a button on her glove. "Tai, what did you always say? The impossible thing... No, the other one-"

"WHITE DEATH!" The leader finally screamed in terror, throwing his rifle aside and crawling back until he ended up in the same position as Weiss. The stranger grunted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, don't you know it's rude to yell when someone is on a call?! I expected better from one of Ironwood's men, you know? Also, I earned the title White Death for killing Grimm, so please don't make me sound like some lunatic, please."

Not understanding what was happening and seeing that Winter and Klein were unable to speak, Weiss got up, ignoring the leader of the soldiers. Walking slowly towards the stranger illuminated by the broken moon. "Bist du ... bist du ein Engel?"

The huntress didn't respond. Weiss shrunk back, berating herself for speaking Atleasian with a stranger.

"Sorry, my Atlesian is not that good. But I am not an angel, my dear." The stranger giggled, kneeling down to Weiss' level. "I'm a huntress. But I do have two angels at home waiting for my return... Well, one of my angels tried to kill a cockroach with her fist yesterday and caused the sofa to catch on fire ... and my other angel tried to put the fire out by throwing pure ice dust at it… flash freezing half the couch while the other half burned down. You know what? They're not really angels..." Bowing her head in confusion, Weiss took the hand the stranger was offering her. "Anyway, my name is Summer, Summer Rose-Xiao Long-Brawen, but you can call me aunt Sum!"

"You ... you have a lot of surnames?" Weiss said, making it sound more like a question.

"Right? You see ... There are times when you can come to like more than one person. Most people choose one of them but sometimes, sometimes the feelings are so strong that you couldn't possibly leave one of them behind ... and if these people also like each other, you can become a family together. It's a bit weird and it usually only happens between huntsmen." Summer explained, unprepared for the question, making a mental note to have Tai prepare a better one when they get back home. "Going back to the important thing, I've come to take you with us to Patch, okay?"

"R-R-R-Really?" Weiss asked, tearing up. unable to help herself.

"Yep, my little angel." Picking the little girl up unexpectedly, Summer held her close as she moved towards the still shaken Winter.

"You must be Winter, right? Good fight. I see James wasn't exaggerating when he said you had a lot of potential. I'm sorry it took us this long but the General has been fighting to get you and your siblings out of Atlas since the moment he set foot on Patch. Now it looks like I'm making excuses, but if it weren't for the council not intending to engage in a personal war against Schnee Industries we would have come much earlier. Don't tell anyone but I had pending accounts with your father for quite some years..." Summer explained as she shifted Weiss to hold her with one arm, using the other to help Winter up.

"And you must be Klein. Ironwood personally sends his thanks for taking care of the children. Everything's ready for you when you arrive at Patch. We have arranged for you to be registered as if you were an ordinary family, and a friend of ours at the central hospital of the islands says there is a vacancy for a GP... I'm talking a lot, right? Sorry, I've been running around the whole night and I've planned this conversation in my head for hours."

Letting Winter lean against the hood of the car, Summer went over to help Klein up.

"And you must be Whitley." Summer giggled as she ran to the still open back door, Whitley crawling over to the edge. Without giving the little boy a chance to say anything, Summer took him with her free arm, snuggling him against her. "You are cute, you know? You are one year younger than my little flower. Will you do Aunt Summer a favor?" Summer asked, turning the hand that was holding Weiss so that the palm was facing him. "Press the blue button on my glove, okay? My husband, Taiyang, will bring our Bullhead here and we can start the journey back to your new home."

Completely ignoring the leader of the soldiers, Summer returned to Winter and Klein to seat the two children on the hood of the car. As if it were a quiet Saturday afternoon, she walked to the trunk to start packing the family's bags. "You didn't bring many things, but don't worry. We have everything waiting at Pa- Cookies! With chocolate chips." Summer screamed with joy, completely ignoring the situation they were in. "Can I start the bag?!" The huntress asked without waiting for an answer, beginning to devour the contents until her eyes met the puzzled gaze of the leader of the soldiers.

"Want one?" Summer asked, approaching the leader. Without knowing how to react, he simply accepted the offered cookie silently. "Bastian, right?" Summer asked while putting three cookies in her mouth.

At the same time.

"How do you know my name?" The leader asked without looking away from the cookie-munching huntress.

"The scar on your forehead. I recognized you from one of Jamey's photos." Holding the bag of cookies by her chin, Summer carried the luggage without problem. "Your squad is fine, I've made sure to hit them with the flat side of my blades. Gather your things and go back to Altas, we will fire a couple of missiles at your vehicle so that you can say that you were defeated by unknown abductors."

" ...why?" Bastian asked, rising slowly from the snow only to find that his rifle was completely shattered. She must have destroyed it deliberately without him even noticing..

"You see, Bastian ..." Summer said as she set the suitcases down next to the younger siblings, turning to Bastian with her hands resting on her hips. "Things are bad all over Remnant… There is no reason to make things difficult for each other. I don't care if other huntsmen forgot about it, our Code of Honor is still important to me." Bastian didn't know how to answer, to discern if the huntress was really telling the truth.

"You know, Jamey always speaks highly of you. Talking about what a good tactician you are... Don't feel bad about losing, this mission wasn't one that we could fail. I know I just said you owe me a favor ... but I really feel bad about it, so let me do something for you: Between my new nieces and nephew, and all the stuff we blatantly stolen from Jacques a few hours ago, there isn't much space available on board. And since you also surely have a family to return to, let me give you an out-of-jail card," Summer said as she approached him, placing her Scroll-glove pointed at Bastian's tactical visor.

"I have recorded Jamey's private number and the security code, so if at any time you want to flee from Atlas with your family, just send a message and the code. We will come as fast as we can."

Returning to the Schnee heirs just in time for the roar of a Bullhead to be heard. Arriving moments later over the street, Summer gestured for Taiyang to land where the military vehicle had previously been. "Finally, it's about time." Taiyang yelled, standing at the top of the descending ramp to let the group climb aboard. "Winter, I know it has been a hard night but you are going to have to explain to me how you were able to miss the pick-up point. We had a little fight with your father's private forces before we came looking for you. I hope you don't miss the greenhouse, more like a wreekhouse now… hehe."

"Don't be too hard on her, my darling. If I didn't have a map in my glove I would still get lost in the mall." Summer jokes, taking Weiss and Whitley in her arms, carrying them inside the Bullhead for some much needed warmth. Klein followed closely, holding Nirvana and Myrtenaster with his free hand.

Only Winter remained behind, opening her Scroll. Reviewing the map and directions, she laughs humorlessly.

The entire time, she had thought the extraction point was 47 miles outside the city. Looking at it again, she realised it read 4.7. It would have been right at the edge of the extensive gardens behind the manor. Utterly spent, Winter climbed the Bullhead, ready to leave this night and Atlas far behind.

The suffering, the loneliness , the fear … it was all worth it for this moment. As Tai helped her settle down in one of the Bullheads seats, she watched Summer. The huntress was strapping her younger siblings in, talking softly to them.

For the first time in years, Winter relaxed as she closed her eyes.

And so ended the last night of the Schnee heirs in Atlas.

The Bullhead flew low, almost invisible against the night sky. Ever closer towards the fabled island. The archipelago of Patch, the last sanctuary.

...

...

...

At least, that was the plan.

"SUMMER, TAI!" A distorted voice filled the Bullhead. A small red portal appeared, no larger than the size of a hand. "Please, answer!" The voice sounded again, the red portal fading as quickly as it had appeared.

Without wasting a second, Taiyang activated the communication systems, recognising the voice. "Kali?! Where is Raven?" Tai and Summer asked at the same time, Summer diving into the passenger seat.

Receiving a request over open communications during a mission was never a good sign. That Raven risked trying to open a portal over this distance was even worse.

"Tai, Summer, you have to save them!" Kali pleaded. Sounding broken, her voice quickly replaced by the exhausted and breathless third member of the Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen marriage.

"Summ, Tai ... Qrow -*cough*- Qrow has called Kali," Raven explained, voice rough and pained. Her aura completely drained from creating just a single tiny portal. "He has located Ghira and Blake…" Slowly, Raven's breathing came back to normal. "The White Fang commander, Cho Taurus, has them held in a lumberjack camp in Feldspar, Vacuo. You are the only ones nearby with a Bullhead ... I hate having to ask this of you after three missions, but you are Ghira and Blake's only hope."

The two huntsmen looked at each other for a second, nodding in agreement.

Tai activated the Bullhead's microphone. "Rae, lie down to rest… don't do something so stupid again. Tell Kali to call the nurse on duty and that we're on our way. Let's hope Qrow is using secure communication line number 7… we need all the luck in the world on our side to get through this night."

And with only Winter still awake, the duo started the route to Vacuo.

Present, August 17, 68 post-Great War

Vacuo, west coast of Feldspar. 01:15 am

"Urgh, why is it so hot..."

Despite the total darkness of the night, Vacuo was no less hot than during the day.

'Of all the places in the world you could have taken Ghira and Blake, you had to choose Vacuo, you stupid cow.' Qrow thought as he unbuttoned his shirt. "Let's see what's on the evening news..." Whispering to no one in particular, he opened his Scroll.

"Multiple kidnappings of girls in Haven and Argus ... Disputes in the Menagerie council ... Hey, this is new! Tension in Argus! Schnee Group paralyzes Dust shipments until local government hands over ringleaders of the rebellion ... Oh, Jacques, each month you manage to condemn your soul more and more. I wonder when we will be able to see each other."

Sighing weakly, Qrow picked up his binoculars to take another look at the White Fang's makeshift camp. 'A little legion in the middle of nowhere. What are you playing at, Cho?'

With the information that had come from Menagerie and Torchwick, Qrow had two hypotheses:

Cho was using the current state of incertitude in her ranks to draw apart the men who were dedicated to the cause from those who still had doubts.

She was using Ghira and Blake's kidnapping to keep Menagerie and Sienna Khan's council at bay.

Qrow usually wasn't wrong with this kind of guesswork. When your Semblance constantly attracts bad luck, you learn to expect the worst after all.

Without taking his eyes off the camp, Qrow climbed to the highest branch of the pine tree he was using, turning into a crow so that the light from the broken moon would not reveal his position.

Twenty well-trained adult faunus, armed with rifles and melee weapons of all types and sizes. The vast majority of them with their aura unlocked... This wasn't going to be an easy rescue.

As he watched the militia pick up the corpses from the lumberjack settlement they had taken as their base of operation, Qrow recalled Torchwick's message:

'They will be in the camp chief's hut, attached to the warehouse.'

'Torchwick… you'd better be right.' Qrow thought, not wanting to imagine the condition they would be in. But no matter what happened tonight, he wasn't going to leave without Ghira and Blake.

But a part of him doubted whether he could save them.

Memories crowded into his mind, guilt choking him. Qrow fought against himself, against the failures of his path. Yet no matter how many people he saved, how far away he ran from that place, they always followed him.

His arms were shaking, the sweat on his forehead unrelated to the heat.

The screams of all those important in his life, including those he had not yet lost, lived permanently in his memories.

Beacon

Ozpin

...she…

Raven, Summer, Tai

Ruby, Yang

Ironwood, Glynda, Kali

...

Ghira, Blake

And not least, the cause of his most recent nightmares, of his latest failure. The reason why he had flown almost three hundred kilometers in only four hours, ready to collapse:

Cho Taurus

He could feel himself spiraling. Memories of the past few years circling in his mind again and again, trying to drag him into the darkness. Those dark days where Ghira and Summer were fighting to get him readmitted to the islands. Those days he wandered Vacuo, lost and alone.

The constant reminder of the women he … could not forget, no matter how hard he tried...

The constant image of Summer having to stop him from destroying Old Vale...

Shifting back to human form, Qrow took a deep breath as he leaned against the trunk of the tree. Once again, he was forced to drown his sorrows in alcohol. Though he got the feeling that that wouldn't be enough this time. Reluctantly, he pulled a small bottle of pills from his vest.

A note in Raven's handwriting was still written on the cap, as tightly closed as the first day.

'Use them only in emergencies, okay?'

"This... this is an emergency..." The huntsman growled, pulling out two capsules, popping them in his mouth and downing them with a gulp of Whiskey. "I have to save them, I can't let my stupid mind distract me while they-"

"I think I heard something over there!"

Unfortunately for Qrow, his grunts and movements had not gone unnoticed by a White Fang patrol.

The first two salvoes of bullets were merely deterrents, the next two were exactly where Qrow was camped. "Damn my luck ... night vision and refined ears, Qrow! That's why Ruby always finds you while playing hide and seek." The huntsman scolded himself, quickly hopping down branches to reach the ground.

"Well, at least the adrenaline will shut my conscience for a bit" Qrow muttered to himself, turning his multifaceted weapon, 'Harbinger', into his tonfa mode. "Let's do this quickly, there is still time for Ghira and Blake to eat at Junior's"

The first to approach was a dog faunus, who had the misfortune to look to the opposite side of where Qrow was waiting for him, ready to deliver a simple and clean cut to the nape of the neck.

The noise of the body falling alerted two squirrel faunus, who fired blindly into the woods. "Don't mind me," Qrow whispered, pulling a vial of mixed light Dust from his belt and throwing it at the two faunus.

Unable to see, neither faunus could avoid the crow that flew between them, Qrow reforming behind them to deliver two clean cuts with Harbinger's sword mode.

"You damn-" Before the last faunus on patrol could open his mouth, Harbinger flew at him, digging into his throat.

"You haven't raised the alarm, have you? Good boy." Qrow extracted Harbinger, undeterred by the bloody gurgling of the faunus's last seconds of life. "Too easy, these are mere rookies. What are you playing at Cho? I don't really care, you and I have unresolved issues and I don't feel like waiting for Summ and Tai."

Lumber camp, Feldspar, Vacuo

01:25 am, August 17, 68 post-Great War

"Matriarch Cho, the four soldiers we sent to investigate the screams have not returned... permission to send a patrol to look for them?" Iros Amitola, caretaker of Cho's son, asked softly. Entering the office Cho had turned into her headquarters for the night.

The smell of blood was still strong, making his stomach churn. And that smell had a clear source; the cursed and still bloody Claymore of the Komodo Dragon faunus who had taken his previous job from him, Cho's new favorite lapdog.

Rufus, the ruthless mercenary who had caused terror throughout the kingdoms and independent cities. How Cho had managed to recruit him and turn him into her bodyguard was unknown to Iros. But it was clear that his influence was negatively affecting the already volatile Adam.

To see him smiling after having torn the camp owners to pieces was chilling, even more so because he was still bathed in their blood. Clearly uninterested in washing it off any time soon.

"Why would we do that? They have already accomplished their mission." Cho said with a half-smile, her scarred face and broken horns glistening from the recent consumption of Dust to enhance her Semblance.

Iros couldn't believe what he had heard, desperately trying to justify his leader's complete disregard for her people's life. "If they were too weak to survive, they didn't deserve a place in the White Fang. Don't you think so, my dear Gigy?" Cho teased, holding the panther faunus's head with both hands.

Staying impassive, Ghira struggled to keep his gaze down to not indulge his psychopathic kidnapper. "Oh come on! Did the cat eat your tongue? Aren't you glad your friends have come looking for you? Or do you think you can't function in that society of hypocrites you call Patch anymore? Oh, maybe you're not ready to see your wife again? Are you afraid of being too broken for Kali-."

"You're playing with fire, Cho," Ghira replied calmly, raising a single eye to look at the cow faunus. "I despise meeting you but you are not like this, you wouldn't sell the lives of your men. I don't know what you want from Qrow and I'm not sure if you are ready to pay the price that this madness will cost you."

Laughing as if her captive just told a joke, Cho turned to the table where Ghira had seen the poor human foreman mutilated hours before. And unfortunately, his screams were just one of many that already haunt Ghira's nightmares after 18 long months. "Adam, my little hero..." Cho knelt down in another corner of the room, where the young bull faunus was playing with his best friend, Blake.

For Ghira, seeing his daughter so... tired was a thousand times worse than any torture Cho subjected him to. The sparkle that Blake had in her eyes had long since faded; in its place were only the permanent dark circles and bruises all over her body caused by Adam's overly aggressive games.

Ghira still considered himself a man of honor. Fair and not prone to jumping to conclusions.

But even with all that, Adam's behavior wasn't normal. No nine year old boy would respond to everything with such violence and aggression. Cho didn't see a problem with it. On the contrary, she encouraged her son's violent tendencies. Iros' constant pleas and warnings for her son's health falling on deaf ears.

Not that Ghira had the right to say anything ... but as a father, he was heartbroken to see such terrible behavior rewarded.

"Do you want to take Blakey to play at the warehouse? Mom needs to speak privately with Uncle Gigy" Cho explained with a grin, not missing a beat as Adam got up and began to drag Blake by the wrist. The young faunus girl had long since given up on trying to resist him.

"To think that in a few months he will be ten years old ... how time flies, right?" Sighing wistfully, Cho turned to Ghira, slapping him hard enough to throw him against the floor.

"You can pretend to be a tough guy all you want, Gigy ... I've seen you cry at night. Qrow should be done with the rest of my men right now-" Her words horrified both her captive and Iros. "So I'm going to explain what's going to happen, okay? Qrow's contact has sold him out because he's a backstabbing coward, like all humans are. And the idiot has come here without stopping to rest or sleep. So he will be exhausted, no matter how strong he is. You and I are going to go out there. And once the match starts, you're going to make sure you keep those precious big eyes on me, okay?"

"For what, Cho? For me to watch him beat you?"

"You're such a bully, but not so much when your daughter depends on me. Listen good, Ghira, Blake's safety depends on you reading this note aloud if you see I'm losing." Cho explained, taking a folded note of paper out of the front pocket of her vest. "If you do anything else but this, I'll tell Adam that he can use Rufus' sword to rescue Princess Blake again. Do you remember the last time? The scar has almost healed. We were lucky it was just a nick on her hand. Next time we may not be so lucky." Cho whispered, patting Ghira's head. "Because this time, you won't be there to stop him."

"You ... you're a monster," Ghira whispered, shocked at how low Cho was willing to fall.

"No, Gigy," Cho replied, grasping the panther faunus chin with her thumb and index finger. "I am the damn mistress of this castle and I will not stop until I take my rightful place at the top of the world." Turning to Rufus, Cho handed him a notebook. "My dear Rufus, I need you to go with Adam-"

"No way, one of the Branwen twins already got away with their life, I'm not going to miss the chance to get the other one. The sister's still out there, so I want to gut the brother, send a message" The komodo dragon snorted, his permanent cruel smile turning into an angry grimace. "Besides, I am your bodyguard-"

"And Adam's, my dear Rufus. Don't you trust me?" Cho whispered sensuously, grabbing him by the shoulders and leaning against him. Despite being a behemoth at almost 7 feet tall, Rufus managed to make her look small. "Then I need you to follow the instructions in this notebook to the letter. I have it all planned out, everything necessary for the White Fang to fulfill our dreams... but only you can make it happen. Bring Iros with you and take care of Adam, okay? I promise I'll make it all worth it." Cho's eyes glowed blue, her smile emitting a strange aura. Iros had seen it a thousand times, but it was still as unpleasant as ever.

"I..." Rufus stammered, unable to tear his gaze away from Cho. "I will. I swear I will."

"That's what I wanted to hear! Now Gigi, get ready, the stage is ours." Cho grabbed Ghira by the collar of his shirt and stepped outside, prepared for the battle ahead.

The moon was shining over the camp, illuminating the slaughter in the most wonderful of ways. Just as Cho had hoped, Qrow had not been gentle when dispatching the runts she got to guard the camp. Their mutilated bodies littering the floor, killed in such brutal and varied ways

She always knew he was an artist. He just needed the right encouragement to be himself.

And there he was, the man she was waiting for. The one... the only other human worth the trouble. When the first one turned out to be such a coward, she had almost given up. But Qrow showed her that there was an exception to every rule.

She watched him climb one of the watchtowers, finishing off the last of her men. Fast, precice, ruthless.

Perfect.

"Doesn't it bother you that your confidants are selling you out for a few Lien?" Cho yelled, knocking Ghira to the ground, untying his hands. "That's the problem with humans, natural traitors, the lot of them. However, I have to admit that Torchwick has done well to get the message across quickly. Pleasure to see you again, my beloved little crow."

Ignoring Cho's provocations, Qrow scanned the rest of the camp. Unless the cow had reinforcements inside, the fight was going to be just between the two.

And in that quick glance, Qrow had to stop at his good friend, lying on the floor next to Cho, trying to get up feebly. Ghira looked thin; his once portentous and determined physique, which had served him well both on the battlefield and the courtroom, was now but a shadow of its former self.

His face bruised and scarred in a way that may never fade.

The worst thing is that Ghira was still wearing the clothes of that day ... or at least the rags that were left after eighteen months of torture. It was evident that Cho had dressed him like that to get a reaction out of him.

But even knowing it, Qrow couldn't help but feel anger seeing his friend, one of the strongest advocates for his permission to return to Patch, in such a terrible state.

Yet despite his efforts to drown out the memories of the past, Qrow aloud himself this short respite. Taking a deep breath, he recalled that day, one of his greatest failures. The battle in the courthouse of New Vale against Cho. "What are you playing at, Cho? I know this is a trap, so let's skip the whole monologue about how you got me here."

"A trap, huh? How wicked do you think I am? Do you think I would mobilize my worst men to this shithole... just to make you fall into a trap?" Cho laughed, activating the devices on her belt, a layer of metal rapidly spreading across her entire body to form a second deep red metallic skin. "Well, you were right, dear. It's a trap, and I have my favorite outfit to wear tonight. Do you remember Warbringer? It's polished and repaired so we can dance the night away, my dear crow."

"How could I forget. But I'm pretty sure it had more holes in it the last time I saw it. Now why don't we skip the part where you tell me your terrible plan and go straight to the part where I make you pay for everything you've done to Ghira and Blake? You've got some racists to feed, and I've got some friends to get back home."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? To be able to end this quickly... but that's not how this night is gonna go honey." Cho grinned, her armor gleaming as one of her arms extended out to grab the control tower hard enough to make it dib slightly. "You and I have a lot to talk about, little crow. And I like to talk-" With a cry, Cho ript through the tower's support completely. "- Menagerie style!"

Qrow leapt off the falling tower, landing safely in front of Cho. Reading Harbinger, he jumped forward to deliver a blow directly to the giant fanus' head. "There is nothing to talk about, Cho. You are a danger for the faunus, for Menagerie, for Remnant... and most of all, for my family. You think you have me trapped here? Oh no, Cho. I have you trapped and I will not leave until I have your head!"

Cho roared excitedly, a crazed grin on her face. Surprisingly fast for such a giant, she lashed out and grabbed Qrow's arm. "I'm not such easy prey, Qrow!" The faunus whipped her arm around, slamming the huntsman to the ground. "If you think you're going home with Gygy I regret to inform you that you're very... very wrong."

Each new attempt at a counterattack by Qrow was blocked by Cho's extending arms, her armor absorbing Harbinger's slashes with no trouble.

"You think you can keep them from me? They are my family and I will not-"

"A FAUNUS WILL NEVER BE FAMILY TO A HUMAN, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

Cho's armor glowed bright red, illuminating the camp. "We faunus have suffered enough at the hands of your kind. Never again!"

Cho roared to the heavens, grabbing the bodies of her fallen man. "NOT EVEN DEATH CAN STOP YOU, MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS." She shouted as she hurled the corpses at Qrow. 'You're completely gone,' Qrow thought, dodging the remains of the poor people that followed Cho to their death. He made his way forward slowly, the bodies piling up behind him. "SHOW HIM YOUR COURAGE BEYOND THE GRAVE!"

A ticking sound echoed faintly behind the huntsman's back, who understood too late what was happening. The corpses exploded one after another, throwing Qrow through the air and into one of the tents the White Fang set up. "Cho, what are you doing?! Those were your people, how can you-"

"They're doing what they must." Cho snorted, appearing in front of Qrow. With his vision blurry and a deafening ringing in his ears he didn't notice her approach. "And you will too, eventually." Grabbing him by the collar, Cho lifted him over her head. "I'll give you a chance, Qrow, for being the only decent human left. Tell me the truth about Beacon."

"What... are you talking about?" The huntsman growled, trying to get loose, waving Harbinger back and forth.

Cho smirks, squeezing tighter. "Don't play dumb, Qrow. I have contacts, and I know you're hiding something. Don't make me repeat the question, or I'll stop being so gentle with you."

He knew there was no reasoning with Cho. Even if he told her what she wanted to know, she would not stop. And after everything she's done, he had no interest in even trying to end tonight in a peaceful manner. With a flick of his wrist, Harbinger turned into its Scythe mode.

A precise slash to a small seam at the base of the neck made Cho yell out in pain, dropping Qrow. Taking advantage of the second in the air to turn and hit the armors belt. "Let's just get this over with- isn't the weak point there?"

"Fool me once, and it's a win for you." Cho yelled as she leaped toward Qrow, who jumped back in time to avoid the faunus's punch. "But If you fool me twice ... that means I'm doing something wrong." Cho licked her lips, delighted with the huntsman's furious expression.

"Woah, who knew that idiots like you can learn from their mistakes." Qrow said, spitting blood. With a quick breath, he centered himself, letting his aura wash over him again.

Cho's monstrous strength was starting to take its toll on him. "But let me guess. You had no time to remove such a weakness, so you moved it. And since you have yet to turn your back on me once, I can guess where it is."

"Papa Schnee got really mad when we snuck up on him to steal his experimental armor back, but I have to hand it to him. That brainiac of his, Watts, does good work. And while I despise his kind more than most humans, they do have their uses." Cho smiled without stopping her onslaught of blows, alternating it by turning Warbringer's arms into tentacles and flinging them at Qrow. "Last time you managed to humiliate me, so I didn't want to look bad in front of you again."

Hating to do something like this, Qrow turned Harbinger into his halberd mode, trying to block as many blows as possible. The camp was being completely torn apart, Cho's wild and unchecked attacks destroying everything Qrow tried to put between them to gain space.

Normally Cho used to fight defensively, always preparing an escape route so that she and her men could continue fighting their damned war.

Tonight? The Faunus attacked blindly, not caring to keep her defense up and using even the bodies of her soldiers to weaken him. Something had changed, something terrible enough for the White Fang chieftain to come up with such a desperate plan.

The last exchange of blows had them both forced back, giving Qrow the time he needed to come up with some kind of plan. 'Misfortune' had already taken effect, which meant it was time to end this battle before Cho caught him off guard again.

Part of Cho's control belt had ended up open after one exchange of blows; the armor on her left arm no longer completely covered her forearm and the blood from the previous soldier Cho had thrown had ended up partially covering the armor's right eye socket.

It looked like his semblance was working in his favour for once.

"Come on, you bastard, fight me! Make me feel alive!" Cho yelled, charging towards him with a shoulder tackle.

"Game over, Cho. Check-" Qrow muttered, getting ready to act.

Dodging the attack as he feinted to her right, Qrow kicked the belt's control box. Sparks exploded from it, the armor control deactivating for a few seconds.

"What are you-"

Cho growled as she tried to grab Qrow, not seeing him slip behind her. The huntsman drew up his scythe, using her momentary confusion to slice her unprotected left arm clean off. "Don't cut me off. Checkmate."

Crying out in pain, Cho lost her balance, swaying and falling forwards. Her armor retracted completely.

He wasted no time, turning Harbinger back into a sword and holding it against her neck, a little blood running down its blade. "The night is over. Any last words?"

Qrow expected to receive a growl of frustration or a plea for her life, but received a smile instead. "You really think this night is over already? Come on, Qrow. It has only just begun. ADAM!" Cho yelled as she kicked Qrows feet, making Harbinger leave her neck for a second. "TIME TO PLAY-"

Before Cho could finish the sentence, Ghira crawled forward, opening the note she gave him. "I'm sorry, Qrow. Amber!" The huntsman stopped, Harbinger hanging mid swing. "Cho knows about the fake vault at Beacon and the new Fall Maiden. Where's Ozpin?" Ghira yelled, reading as fast as he could.

He had to protect Blake. He just hoped his friend could forgive him.

Qrow was frozen, the memories of his two greatest failures brought back by Ghiras' words assaulting him.

Cho began to laugh, taking advantage of the distraction to throw a punch with her unarmored hand. Sent flying by the impact, Qrow rolled over the ground, stopping a few meters away. Trying to get back up, he saw Cho reactivating her armor.

Metal flowed freely over her body, accumulating over the rest of her severed arm to form a new limb. With one last roar, the metal turned a deeper shade of red, almost as if Cho's fury fused with it.

"You were hoping to keep it a secret, weren't you? You were going to take it to your grave, huh?" Cho kept laughing, sounding more deranged by the minute. Her armour seemed to mimic her mind, twisting in grotesque ways around her body. "That bastard Ozpin had it all planned. But fortunately, you weren't the only one who knew his secrets..."

"How can you...?" Qrow tried to ask, only to receive a stomp to the stomach, silencing him.

"I know he built a second Vault in Beacon. I know there are many more tunnels under there than we know. I know he hid the death of the Fall Maiden and prepared a new girl to succeed her. This is what I've been waiting for, a weapon I can use to return the suffering we suffered a hundred fold. And I will not rest until every single one of you is dead! And if I can't have the Maiden for Adam, then I will become the next one. EVEN IF I HAVE TO RIP OZMA'S POWER FROM HER BODY MYSELF!"

"You have no idea what you're getting into, Cho." Qrow yelled, firing Harbinger's shotgun, buying time to get up. "The maidens are not what you think they are. Even if you manage to get the Fall Maidens power, you just end up as another of his pawns." Qrow yelled desperately.

"A pawn? Cho Taurus is no one's pawn! And nothing will be able to stop me from making my dream a reality. Not you, or your family or some scared old Wizard. " Cho roared into a new round of blows, Qrow struggling to block them.

"I'll win where that bastard Ozpin failed! I'll get the maiden powers, and I'll rise over SALEM-" She roared, Qrow barely able to hold Harbinger anymore.

"Over OZMA-'' Jumping on him, Cho smiled almost lovingly as she watched the huntsman drop his weapon. The opportunity was too good to ignore; Cho dropped her metal arm over Qrow's outstretched one. The sound of bones breaking was music to her ears. "And most of all, above you damn humans."

'Sweet victory,' Cho licked her lips, feeling the pleasurable thrill of victory…

Until a blast of fire Dust exploded on her back.

Rolling on the ground screaming in pain, the cow faunus saw one of Patch's Bullheads fly over the camp, two figures leaping out of it.

"I'll take care of Blake, protect Qrow!" Summer yelled, landing on the ground, using her semblance to launch herself straight into the foreman's office.

"You cowardly bastard, you asked for backup? This changes nothing! I will keep the Faunus' dream alive at all costs." Trembling with fury, Cho barely managed to dodge Taiyang's tackle.

The blond huntsman sighed as he injected his pain stimulant. His semblance 'Inner Dragon' needed the pain to activate. "You don't always have to do this alone, you know?" Tai whispered to his brother-in-law, stepping in front of him. "Don't move, I'll take care of her." Tai smiled before activating his semblance, his arms quickly covered in glowing draconic scales. "We can do this two ways, Cho. Surrender peacefully ... or I can finish you right here for what you've done to my family."

Cho screamed in furry, looking at Tai in disgust. "YOUR FAMILY?! They're not your family, and they never will be. We're not your pets, you bastard." Cho spit out blood and wiped her mouth with her metal arm.

"That you can't see the damage your words cause to faunus, Cho... it's almost sad. But I can't feel sorry for you after all you've done." Taiyang pointed to Ghira, who had managed to crawl a few meters to rest against some of the untouched logs in the camp. "You're saying that every family where one child is born faunus and the other human is not real, you're saying that two adopted siblings are not real... you're not fighting for the faunus, Cho. You're fighting for your own selfish revenge."

Breathing slowly despite her furry, Cho glared at the blond huntsman, eyes blazing. "A damn human like you can never be family to a faunus." Cho yelled, throwing herself forward in a blind rage.

Taking the impacts with his forearms, Taiyang began to let her lose herself in her frenzy. The glowing scales becoming thicker with every impact. "You have no right, you don't! You're nothing but a fucking human supremacist, enjoying your lies. Do you really think just because your daughter is a fanus you-" Mentioning Ruby made Tai's blood boil. " -are better than the rest of your kind? But I know what that faunus will think of you when she grows up."

When Cho raised her metal arm, Taiyang knew that the fight was over, having stored enough energy to transform his whole body in his dragon form. "Don't you dare speak of my little flower, Cho!" The furious father roared, lunging at Cho. The two went flying through tents and the camp's security fences, Tai carrying her up and throwing her against the fallen watchtower, cracking under her weight.

"You have chosen to fight a war that was almost over, prolonging it and making people suffer for no reason. You have turned the White Fang into a bogeyman, an excuse for racist humans to raise their finger and point it at innocent faunus. Because of you, Ruby will have to live in a worse world, so I will not let you leave here alive."

Cho could do nothing else, her body wasn't answering to her pleas. Warbringer had fused with her skin, its weight pulling her down. That Tai could lift her into the air by her neck was certainly a respectable feat.

"Ruby? She's already doomed, Tai..." The cow faunus laughed with her last breath, feeling the huntsman's claws digging deeper into her neck. The world was fading, but her dream would live on... she made sure of that. "From the moment you forced her to be born as a faunus into a family of filthy humans. Your selfishness will be the reason she will shun you... and someday, Ruby will be one of us. All faunus like her will be..."

For a second, Tai saw red. When his vision returned, Cho's neck was still in his hands, her torn and shattered head and torso stretched out around him.

His golden scales were stained with a foul, thick blood. He felt sick looking at it. Yet a part of him relished in the feeling of revenge. Returning to his human form, the huntsman took a deep breath before tossing a vial of igneous Dust onto Cho's corpse, making sure the White Fang had nothing to remember her by.

"Good job, partner..." Qrow celebrated by grabbing him by the shoulder, Tai still so dazed he hadn't even noticed him approach. "To the last breath, Cho was blinded by her rage. You did the right thing."

"At least today there will be one less problem for Remnant, though I doubt the White Fang will stop just because Cho is gone... Anyway, Qrow, you gave us quite a scare. You should try a little harder to avoid ending up on death Q-row."

"I almost died and the first thing that comes to mind is a bad pun? You don't know how much I hate you ... I could be bleeding to death here for all you know." Qrow said weakly, accepting Tai's open arms in a hug. "Thanks for being on time. Who is driving the Bullhead?"

"Winter Schnee, our other mission of the night. I would thank you for waiting for us but I see that you have forgotten that part of the plan." Tai joked as he used his jacket to do a quick prop on Qrow's broken arm.

Without wasting any more time, both huntsmen ran off towards Ghira who was waiting for them, the faunus not believing that it was really over. "I'm sorry it took so long ..." Tai apologized, choking back tears as he untied his friend before wrapping his arms around him.

"Don't apologize, it was impossible for you to find us until today ..." Ghira explained, accepting Tai's help to get up, finally being able to freely use both arms and legs for the first time in months. "They have ... by the Brothers, the White Fang have an underground base in Menagerie." The news left Tai and Qrow speechless. Before they could ask any questions, a cry of pain from the office building startled them. "But there's no time for explanations. Summer is strong, but so is Rufus."

"Rufus is in there!?" Both huntsmen asked, voices filled with rage. Cho had died tonight, hopefully Rufus would join her soon. "Stay here, Ghira. We will come back with Blake."

Running towards the sawmill, the duo followed the remains of the brief confrontation between Summer and Rufus, where a chilling scene unfolded before them:

In one corner was Rufus, mouth dripping with blood and poison, his body covered in cuts and bruises. His claymore was raised, flames emanating from it.

Behind him was Iros Amitola, holding Adam Taurus. The young boy didn't seem scared at all, his eyes fixed on the other corner of the room, hands clasped around a pair of scissors dripping with blood.

In the other corner, Summer held a terrified Blake, who was shaking and crying silently, taking refuge in the arms of the huntress. Summer also had cuts and bruises on her arms and legs from her confrontation with the bodyguard. Not to mention the trickle of blood dripping from Summer's left eye... or the socket where it should be.

The huntress pressed her lips together, holding back the pain and trying to offer the five-year-old faunus as much comfort as possible.

Seeing that Qrow and Tai had arrived, Rufus gritted his teeth, trying to control his rage.

"You will pay ... you will pay for what you have done to Chief Cho!" Rufus roared, throwing Adam and Iros at his teleportation circle, courtesy of his semblance 'Back-To-Home'. Slamming the pile of logs behind them, Rufus made a wall between the huntsmen and Summer, lunging forward to kill her.

"Cho got what she deserved, and you will pay for what you did to Rae, you bastard!" Summer roared back, leaving Blake behind a toppled table and jumping with her semblance toward the Faunus, dual gunswords and claymore colliding with each other.

The exchange of blows was swift and brutal, with Summer in and out of combat with her semblance and Rufus setting everything around him on fire. And as soon as Rufus lowered his guard, Summer aimed her swords at the faunus's neck, firing a burst of electric Dust bullets.

But the faunus wasn't caught so easily, catching and biting the bullets in mid-flight. "You think you can get revenge for your little wife?" Rufus laughed at Summer's stunned gaze, unable to comprehend how someone could take a direct electric attack without showing the slightest bit of recoil or pain. "Open your eyes, I'm not your priority." Dragging his claymore across the floor, Rufus sent a stream of flames toward the table where Blake was hiding.

Forced to accept the blow, Summer used her semblance to lunge back and shielded Blake, taking the full force of Rufus' attack.

With her trusty hood burning and Blake sobbing in her arms, Summer had no choice but to let Rufus escape, using her remaining strength to scale the pile of burning logs with her semblance. "Wise choice. Tell Raven I'm coming for her. No one gets away from me." Rufus smirked, showing his teeth, running to the glyph where Adam and Iros waited silently. "No matter how much time passes, no matter what happens... I'll keep the dream alive. That's what Cho wants."

Seeing that Summer was leaping towards them allowed Taiyang to move, smashing the logs with a precise claw strike. Not intending to let Rufus and Adam escape, he jumped forward, trying to interrupt his semblance.

Only to be stopped in his tracks by a blood curdling scream. "PRINCESS! COME BACK! I WON'T LET THEM TAKE YOU!" Adam yelled, flailing in Iros's arms as they both faded away. Gripping the scissors in his hands hard enough to draw blood, the tool ended up falling to the ground as both faunus disappeared.

Once again, Rufus managed to escape.

With no way to follow them, Tai turned around to check on his wife..

"Sum!" Taiyang threw himself on his knees in front of her, Qrow already tending her.

Breathing hard while trying to keep her smile, Summer dropped into her husband's arms. "I thought about rescuing Adam ... but that bastard lunged at me like a little devil as soon as I got close to Blake... I don't usually condone violence against children... but I plan to get revenge on that creep for having removed half of my incredible laser eyes... literally, I have seen him put my eye in his pocket..."

"Do you really think this is the time to joke around?" Qrow asked, taking Summer's other hand while Tai tried to use his trouser sleeve as a makeshift bandage.

"Let's LOOK at the bright side ..." Summer whispers, vision going blurry. "This year my pirate costume for Halloween is going to be the … best..." Summer smiled, distracting herself with jokes. Waiting for Tai to finish his temporary bandage before getting up with Qrow's help and approaching her favorite cat faunus... with Kali's permission. "Hey.. Blake... you remember m-"

"Aunt Summer." The little girl sobbed into the womens dirty Cloak. Pressing herself into her aunt, the little girl kept crying.. Summer simply held her in her arms, slowly stroking her back.

None of the three wanted to imagine how much Blake had gone through in these past few months, simply holding her between the three of them until the little girl had enough, lifting her head and staring at Summer. "You... your eye Aunt Sum..."

"This? This is nothing." Summer smiled innocently, wiping away tears with the pieces of her unburned hoodie. "All that matters is that you're okay, my kitty..."

" I've... I've held on like daddy said... waiting for you to arrive..." Blake couldn't help herself, bursting into tears again. "I don't want... I don't want to see him ever again."

"Shhh, shh..." Tai whispered, lifting them both in his arms, Qrow picking up Summer's swords from the ground. "You won't have to see him anymore, Blake... Remember what Port always says?"

Blake nodded weakly, his mind occupied only with his mother. "A huntsman... can only cry when all is lost..."

The wait had been long, longer than they would have liked. But as they watched Blake jump off Summer's lap and run into her father's arms, a sense of victory filled them.

A real victory, however small it was on the grand scale.

Patch, Koa's Edge Koa Residential Area.

03:15 am, August 17, 68 post-Great War

"Are you kidding me?!" Junior shouted, only to quickly cover his mouth. Even if Kali wasn't home, he didn't feel like getting in any more trouble tonight. "How am I supposed to get your kids home if you don't give me a key to the house, Raven?" Frustrated, he emptied Raven's backpack on the porch of the house, looking for the keys again.

The family's three-story cabin was located on the path around the outer edge of the Koa Forest. The fence that limited the training grounds of the Sanctuary Tower directly beside the property.

"We can throw Ruby down the chimney. Or you can throw me. I can use my aura so I'm gonna be fine, I'm sure." Yang said with a cheeky grin, her face covered in leftover lemon and cookie ice cream.

Sighing, Junior looked behind him where the two sisters were enjoying the remains of their cones. "We aren't going to throw anyone down the chimney." Junior clarified, trying to see something through the front windows. Sights of disappointment made him look back, both kids pouting. "You do realize that your parents would kill me if I let you fall down the chimney? What if some guard sees me? We are in a rich neighborhood, they would take me to the police station."

"Mommy threw Zwei down the chimney the other day." Ruby happily explained, ignoring Juniors reasoning entirely. "He opened the door for us when we got locked out."

"Let me question what Summer teaches you another time. For now, thank you Pup. Zwei, here boy!" Junior started pounding on the door, getting a chuckle out of the two sisters. "I have seen you use a can opener once so I know you can open a door."

"Zwei isn't home," Yang explained, making Junior turn around quickly. "He is patrolling the forest with the fantastic Zweix in search of unfortunate Grimm."

"I still don't like the name ..." Ruby narrowed her eyes with a frown.

"You have no idea, Rubes. It's a great name for a team of super dogs."

"But there are seven! They can't be the fantastic Zweix if they are seven dogs, it doesn't make sense."

"That's the catch. No one expects the seventh member Woofsterio."

"Can the Beowulfs even expect anything?"

"I think the correct name is Beowolf. And they don't seem very smart, the one that Master Hunter Port brought to class the other day seemed pretty… silly."

"Girls." Junior interrupted the sisters' conversation. "Can we focus on the present problem? Do you know any way to enter the house? Without getting me arrested or causing property damage." The two sisters looked at each, never having considered the possibility of no grown-up to open the door for them.

While Yang folded her arms, thinking with her eyes closed, Ruby raised her head sniffing the air. "Why don't we ask mama for help?" The halo faunus asked, pointing to the other side of the fence, towards the Sanctuary Tower's hangars. "I can smell her over there."

"Good work Rubes!" Yang held up her fist toRuby, who bumped her own against it with a smile.

Scratching his head, Junior looked at the two sisters. "I'm not sure we can get in ... I don't have a Sanctuary ID card."

"We don't need it. Ruby discovered a hole that Zwei made to enter the other day. We spend half a day making it big enough to get through. I don't mean to brag but it's a pretty awesome secret entrance." Yang explained, clearly wanting to show off.

"A hole, really?" Junior asked doubtfully. "Zwei dug a hole... to enter Sanctuary Tower."

"Yep!" Both sisters responded quickly, popping the P and immediately running off, leaving their backpacks behind.

"Hey, wait!" Junior chased after them. He quickly lost track of the two, clearly not in as good a shape as he thought.

Unsure where exactly the two went, he kept calling their names with no luck.. "I'm dead-"

"Over here, Junior!" Yang and Ruby shouted from the other side of the fence, pointing to a bush not quite planted to the ground. "We're going ahead slowpoke."

And right there was what must surely be one of Sanctuary Tower's biggest security breaches: A freaking hole dug under the fence. "I can't believe I'm going to crawl through a hole under a fence. This feels like my first gig when I was still a teenager." Resigned to dirtying himself, Junior crawled under the fence. It was a slow and painful process, the size of the hole clearly meant for children. "You could have made it a little deeper, you two." Junior screamed as he checked his back, full of small scratches.

"They don't pay me enough for this… actually, they don't pay me at all."

With Junior left behind, Ruby and Yang ran through the hangars greeting the few mechanics and janitors that were working the night shift. None of them bat an eye at the two children running through a military hangar. Seeing the two girls where they shouldn't be had become the norm around here.

By the time Ruby had led them to the source of the trail, they were both loaded down with cookies, each drinking a juice can.

"Mama!" The two shouted happily, jumping up and down and each clinging to their mother's shoulders.

Raven sighed, having heard them run all the way across the last hangar to her. They may not have been stealthy, but they were fast. "Couldn't resist, eh?" The two sisters shook their heads, Raven sighing as she grabbed them around the waist, carrying them as she walked towards the approaching Bullhead. "You're just in time. Mommy and Daddy are landing."

Just as Raven said it, the Bullhead fell the last few feet against the ground, bouncing slightly. Kali and Ironwood almost felt their heart stop, the side door bursting open.

"You almost had it, Winter." Tai celebrated as the former heiress stumbled down, landing on the hangar floor. "Next time, let go of the wheel a little softer-"

It was on this night, illuminated by the broken moon, that a new story would begin

Kali jumped into the Bullhead, tears falling steadily at the sight of her beloved and her little girl sleeping in his arms. The faunus said not a word, throwing herself into Ghira's free arm when he offered it to her.

To hold them in her arms again, to see her little girl safe and sound... Kali felt life return to her soul.

And when the two of them reached land again, Blake opened her eyes for a second, emitting a small cry of happiness as she hung onto her mother's neck.

With Qrow's help, the three of them climbed down from the Bullhead, leaving Summer to finish helping Klein get Weiss and Whitley out of their seats. She and Tai climbed down next, joining Qrow who was already being smothered by his nieces.

The two joined the group hug, celebrating their arrival and showering them with hugs and kisses. At least until Yang noticed Summer's blindfold, her sudden panic causing Ruby to start crying. It took a lot of Tai's playfulness for the two to calm down.

Klein was last, the butler leading Weiss with one hand and holding a sleeping Whitley against his chest.

It may have been highly irregular and against Atlas' academy code of conduct, but as soon as Winter saw James opening his arms, she couldn't resist jumping up and running to him, crying into his arms.
Weiss however stayed on top of the Bullhead even though Klein was closing in on Ironwood.

The air breathed differently, and the heat was sticky compared to the acclimatized Atlas… but not in a bad way. There was a scent in the air, tropical and fresh... one that, for some reason ,made her happy.

Unbeknownst to those around them, four souls, united for the first time, connected

Yang struggled to restrain herself from hugging her first friend, remembering that her grandmother had told her how careful she had to be with Blake when she returned. To distract herself, Yang turned her attention back to her mommy while keeping an eye on the cat.

Blake looked at the faunus in Tai's arms, not recognizing her for a few seconds. But as soon as her left ear twitched and her right one swung back, the memories came back to her. Ruby was much bigger than the last time she saw her, but at the same time she was still herself... and that reassured her.

Ruby meanwhile was transfixed as she stared at the girl still in the Bullhead, her pure snow white glowing in the moonlight, giving her an ethereal look.

And Weiss on the other hand was frowning, snarling at the shouted questions of the noisy girl clinging to her savior's neck. They didn't look much alike, but it was clear to Weiss that this was the girl who had set the couch on fire.

Man thought magic has left the world, forgotten

But such a force did not so easily vanish

It adapts, just like those that wield it

And though much was lost over the ages, one thing remains

The most powerful magic man has ever wielded

Hope

And in those four girls would spring forth a light that would lead all of Remnant through its final days


This story is a collaborative work based on the ship pollination (no Enabler) between Alucard45 and myself. This Remnant follows slightly different rules and world settings, keeping the basic concept of RWBY.

The story is uploaded in Ao3 under the same name if you want to see it already, but here we will be uploading the first chapters re-edited. Once these are updated, the rest will come one every three days until we are up to date on both sites.

I hope you like and comment, see you on Sunday!