Ruby lunged forward, silver flame trailing in her wake as Crescent Rose tore through a slew of grimm with reckless abandon, carving through the creatures with a particularly satisfying lack of difficulty.

Where her scythe blade struck, grimm were bisected, their segments rapidly solidifying into the same odd stone-like material that had signified each and every one of her kills ever since she had become a Fall Maiden.

Summer had said that it was likely in part due to her new twin statuses of Fall Maiden and Silver Eyed Warrior, that in time she would probably learn to turn off her power at will. For now, however, it seemed to respond in tune with her emotions- triggering whenever she came face to face with a grimm.

It was almost like a semblance in that regard, albeit strangely more volatile. Whether it was due to her ever-so-illusive understanding of her supposed mystical silver eyes, or some inborn trait of her Fall Maiden power, she wasn't sure. What Ruby was sure about, was that it felt like Ruby could finally graduate from being more of a 'fragile speedster' and instead take the role of 'particularly angry flying brick' instead.

So. Improvement.

Probably.

With a glance off to the side, she spotted her Mother and Kirakishou supporting her- as they always did. Kirakishou was off to her left, dealing with a group of ursa major, while Summer was dealing with a flock of griffins that had shown up sometime during Ruby's slaughter of the initial pack of grimm.

Her Mother was… well, a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, that was for sure. As it would appear, whatever weird N-Field shenanigans Kirakishou had used to repair Summer had given her back her original weapon, Null Value, in all its monstrous glory.

When Ruby had found out about the weapon, she'd damn-near swooned at the sight. Had it not been for her doll, who may or may not have caught her at the precise right time, Ruby would have suffered yet another awkward stumble in what was becoming a mounting pile of embarrassing scenes around both dolls.

It was- just- something about being near the two dolls just filled her with this overwhelming set of sensations, that it was difficult to focus on something as boring and mundane as….

...well, balance.

Getting back to it, Ruby ducked underneath a swipe from a beowolf, sweeping her scythe low and ripping through the ankles of the creature. Without a moment to spare, she spun around and carried the momentum of her swing, bringing the blade around once more and decapitating the beast once and for all.

Her initial cut would have been enough to kill the grimm, she was certain about that. Her weird Silver Eye Fall Maiden combination was apparently all manner of toxic to the creatures of grimm. But, she wouldn't deny that it looked far cooler if she did a big finish at the end.

Plus her doll was looking her way. Showing off in front of your partner was, like, relationships 101. Or, well, Kirakishou seemed to like it judging by her smile and Ruby enjoyed doing it. So, no harm no foul. Except for the grimm, who is in fact quite harmed. They were also pretty foul, but, like, the other foul. Words are difficult.

But, eh. Grimm.

Summer didn't seem as interested in her display, instead, all of her focus was on the flock of griffins assaulting her. During one of her strikes, Summer had managed to draw the griffins into some dense vegetation-

-oh, right, they were all fighting in some big honking forest of some sort. Not crystalline, unfortunately-

-and it was enough for the partially avian grimm to be forced to retreat to the land in order to pursue. Which, naturally, was exactly what Summer had been betting on.

Ruby was quite knowledgeable in regards to the inner workings of Null Value, having obsessed about the weapon for what felt like most of her prepubescent life, the unique design being the one to get her initially interested in weaponry in the first place.

Thus, Ruby could safely say that Summer had likely been aiming to draw the griffins into melee range to avoid having to utilise the beaming capabilities of the thermic lance. Null Value's design inevitably catalysed any-and-all dust thrown inside, resulting in a single shot before requiring a reload.

While it was a hell of a shot, supposedly capable of seriously injuring even the largest of documented grimm, it had a lengthy reload time and was incredibly costly to maintain in terms of ammunition supply.

As they were currently neck-deep in a forest between kingdoms, of which most governments would probably be a little upset with them through association with Kirakishou, ammunition was in tight supply.

So, yeah. Ruby figured her Mother wanted to focus on stabbing the creatures instead. Which she was doing, to great effect. She looked more akin to a wild artist running amok, where the grimm were the unfortunate canvases to a painter that could only paint in a single colour.

Black.

Wait. No. Black isn't a colour, it's a shade. But shades aren't what they call paint when you're… wait, are they? Ruby wasn't that much of a painter, or really even an artist outside of designing weapon blueprints but-

A slash to her side caused Ruby to cry out in affronted alarm. That damn grimm caught her when she was trying to understand her internal dialogue! That fiend! It even had the gall to roar at her, as if she was the one at fault!

With a roar of her own, Ruby lashed out with a flare of silver fire, the molten element bursting from the blade of Crescent Rose and setting her rude voyeur ablaze. She whipped her blade around to face the other beowolves, glaring fiercely at the disgusting creatures.

"Anybody else?! Huh?! Huh?!"

The grimm roared at her challenge. She charged.

They fought.

She won.

It was with a bright and cheery grin that Ruby left her sight of devastation, irrespective of the silver flames lighting up the vegetation nearby. There were only small flames, anyway. It wouldn't do any real damage. Probably.

Besides, she could spot a few patches of bushland converting into stone, anywho. The fire would put itself out eventually.

She could feel her muscles tiring from the battle. They'd been pushing it pretty hard recently, in a mad dash towards the slums of Mistral, where Summer said a contact of hers could help them in their quest.

As Ruby had quickly found out, when two of the three members of her little team were artificial beings with no major need for sustenance, sleep, or basic human necessity, it become something of a chore for Ruby to remind the dolls that she needed those things.

Rozen Maiden were beautiful creatures, but they were also almost entirely needless, choosing to partake in desires only as a passing fancy rather than an actual tool for survival. Ruby could admire such a thing. Theoretically, if they wanted to, they could work on a new weapon desire from start to finish without break. Ruby could only imagine just how much she could get done without having to worry about such things. How cool would that be?!

Ah. If only.

Turning back to the fight, Ruby could see that Summer had easily dispatched the griffins that had been foolish enough to follow her into the thick bushland. There was a horrid amount of black smoke wafting through the trees, the tell-tale sign of a mass death event for the grimm. Heh. Sucks to be them.

She looked off to the wide, towards her doll.

Kirakishou was… strange. Even outside of her Palace of Beginnings, the N-Field followed her everywhere. It would grow around her in small patches, converting flora and fauna alike- seemingly centred around the doll herself. They would never last, not for long, but it would steadily accumulate the longer they stayed in a single area.

Were they to rest in an area, Ruby would oftentimes find herself awakening to a crystalline terrain where there had once been simple bushland or, in one case, an inn. The poor innkeeper had been frightened to the point of her severe reaction triggering a horde of grimm to target the small town. The two dolls and Ruby had been forced to escape in the chaos, knowing that it would only be a matter of time until the event was reported.

Ruby had tried to kill as many grimm as she could, but her powers had made discretion neigh impossible. Instead, she had been forced to rely upon killing the grimm by external means- such as collapsing buildings on top of grimm, instead of through the use of her weapon. It significantly limited the number of grimm she could destroy, but she hoped it at least helped a bit.

She still felt a bit bad about the inn. And all the property damage she inadvertently caused. But in hindsight, it was a pretty silly idea to stay there. Even with Kirakishou's strange ability, they were still pretty recognisable.

Ah, right. Kirakishou.

The trio of girls had, early on in their journey towards Mistral, discovered a unique facet about Kirakishou's power.

While the appearance of the N-Field would slowly disappear when Kirakishou moved, any changes she made to the surrounding terrain and environment would stay. She could reshape a relatively flat piece of assimilated land into a deep valley or warp the crystals into temporary lodging for them to rest in for the night, and when they departed the next day the ground would be returned to the same elements as they were in prior- albeit in Kirakishou's configuration.

It had caused a need for ensuring that the small doll 'cleaned up her messes', so-to-speak, lest they be discovered by… well, practically anybody who had heard about the situation in Vale.

For this little skirmish, Kirakishou had utilised her shaping abilities to a great extent, ripping apart the earth from under the grimm's feet and entombing them underneath a mass of shifting crystal. Judging by the sudden muted yelps she had heard from beneath the ground, Kirakishou had likely used some of the more razor-sharp crystals in order to puncture and kill off the grimm inside their crystalline tomb.

She shuddered. Ruby was quite glad to be on Kirakishou's side, because she certainly didn't want to face the doll in direct combat. Not that she ever would, of course. She'd rather go up against, well, anybody else. Just not her doll. Never her doll.

They were together, after all. Bound. How could you ever fight a part of yourself?

"Good work, Ruby. You handled those grimm well."

She turned to her Mother, who was levelling a knowing look her way as she folded up Null Value. She blushed. Caught staring again. Ruby knew that Summer Rose had been remarkably welcoming in regards to the reveal about her relationship with the blonde-haired Rozen Maiden doll, but it was still embarrassing to be caught.

"U-Um. Thanks Mom… I, er, how did you go?"

Summer gave a shrug. "They're griffins. Barely a threat, no matter how many there are. Knowing the right patterns and their movement is easy enough to predict. Though, I have to admit that this batch was acting rather strange."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. Noticing Kirakishou walking over to them, she gave the doll a brief smile before returning to focus on Summer's words. She didn't know why, but they were giving her an odd feeling of discomfort.

"...How so?" Ruby inquired.

"Hm? Oh, welcome, Kirakishou," Summer greeted the other smaller doll first, smiling pleasantly. "Ruby and I were just speaking about how the grimm were acting."

Kirakishou nodded, brushing up beside Ruby and resting against her. She blushed at the position, squirming. It was nice and all, but Summer was right there…

"Please, continue," Kirakishou spoke. Ruby twitched. Her voice sounded so low, so sensual. It slithered around her body like a serpent, drawing her close. She shook her head. She couldn't think like that. Not now.

No matter how much she ached to feel the doll, to touch and hear the sound of her giggles as they-

"The griffins seemed to throw themselves towards certain death. It was odd behaviour. The markings on their masks showed that not a single grimm had lived for anything less than twenty years. They should have been beyond mindlessness."

Summer could identify the age of grimm by the markings on their masks? Her eyes sparkled in awe. Ruby really needed to learn that skill when she had the chance. It was so cool!

Less cool, however, was the concerning nature of Summer's words.

"...Perhaps it is a unique interaction with our Rozen Maiden physiology?" Kirakishou helpfully suggested from beside her, glancing Ruby's way momentarily. "A rose cannot say for certain if the beasts of dark she encountered acted out-of-character for their species, as she has not fought enough of the creatures to understand their actions. But they did perish easily…"

Could the grimm be going after the Rozen Maiden? Wow. That was a scary concept to imagine. And an annoying one. The grimm had taken so many lives, destroyed so many kingdoms. Now they were trying to kill the only two people that mattered to her?!

Her grip on Kirakishou tightened, her lips curling into a frown as she thought on the idea. It was unacceptable. A desecration to everything she held dear. She would kill them all before she ever allowed any harm to befall her precious Rozen Maiden.

Summer could defend herself, easy. Her Mother was a very strong woman, after all. Borderline legendary in certain circles. But, as Kirakishou said- the smaller doll was new to killing grimm. Her control over the N-Field was able to defeat the creatures this time, but she had no training. No experience.

Kirakishou needed Ruby in order to protect her. And with her new powers as a Fall Maiden and a Silver Eyed Warrior, she would do so. Gladly.

A-And… if people decided to ignore her pleas and cries, and go after Kirakishou. Just like Yang…

Ruby would show them no mercy for their transgressions.

Kirakishou was hers.

Besides… a tiny part of her mind thought, Kirakishou can just add them to her N-Field at the end. They can dream their stupid dreams, while all the more making Kirakishou stronger and more able to defend herself. A fitting end, no?

Yes. It was.

And if they happen to have any memories of Summer, then perhaps Kirakishou can use them? She did say she was limited in what memories she could harvest, after all.

"...Well, it is a possibility that the grimm are only going after us because of our unique physiology…" Summer answered slowly, agreeing to a degree with Kirakishou's suggestion. "However, there are… shall we say… things about the grimm which may have prompted this reaction."

Ruby blinked, the doll beside her tilting her head in mutual parts confusion. "...Like what?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing I would want to concern you both with if I can avoid it. For now, it is better if we stick together during future encounters with any grimm we may find."

Ruby went to argue and try to learn what her Mother had been talking about, but the stern look in Summer's silver eyes steered her away from such a thing.

Besides, the last thing she wanted to do was make her Mother upset. She had already gone through so much. It was probably for the best if Ruby allowed bygones to be bygones, in this instance. If the situation changed in the future, then she would likely hear the full story from Summer Rose. She didn't strike Ruby as the type of woman to withhold information without a good reason.

After everything that her Mom had told them about Ozpin and his grand betrayal, and regarding her Dad, she owed it to Summer to trust her words.

Unless those words brought harm to her own doll. Then all bets were off. But something like that would never happen. She would be protecting Kirakishou with every ounce of her body.

"Right," Ruby nodded, both to herself and to Summer. "Then we should get moving, yeah? We don't want to be caught in these woods when the sun goes down."

"Very true," Summer agreed with her, looking relieved with Ruby's choice of words. "Come on. If I recall correctly, there's an abandoned village not too far from here. It'll make a good resting place for the night."

Kirakishou smiled, pecking Ruby on the cheek before the girl could think to stop her. "And, perhaps," the Rozen Maiden whispered into her ear with a soft voice, "your doll shall make this abandoned village into something beautiful. Just for us~"

Qrow Branwen had experienced many things over the years. He'd participated in wars, fought alongside nameless operatives in shadow operations for secret societies, spoken with his sister… but none of those events compared to how utterly uncomfortable it had been to ride alongside the beaten and battered remnants of the White Fang branch that had been foolish enough to invade Vale.

Squeezing the information out of them had at least been an interesting affair. Emphasis on affair, as his partner would attest towards. They had been most informative as… how had she said it… two lonely souls confiding in each other in a moment of silence?

Yeah. That sounded about right.

He had spoken of his departure from the Branwen Tribe and the pain it had brought him over the years. She had spoken of her brothers and sisters of the White Fang being butchered by all manner of huntsmen and huntresses driven to madness in a crystal-laden grimm-infested hellscape.

In a way, he almost felt sorry for them all. Were they not a group of murderers bent on wiping his species off the planet, Qrow could see himself sitting down to share a few drinks with a great many of their members. Everyone held a story. And once he'd become intimate with one of their members, they were more than happy to divulge their own stories.

Qrow could pick up the pieces of the plan from all of their various retelling. Even if they were clearly being told to keep him at an arm's reach, the ol' Branwen charm had yet to fail him.

As it would appear, Adam Taurus, the leader of the Vale section of the White Fang, had gotten himself in a bit of a tizzy on account of some human woman with strange powers.

Strange powers, in this case, amounted to supreme control over flame without the use of dust or a semblance. And there was only a single method of which Qrow knew about that could generate flame without external means.

Maiden powers. Most likely, those originating from the Fall Maiden. Which would infer that the people who attacked Amber and left her in her condition were the same people who had approached Adam some time ago.

Which, considering the manner of how Amber's powers were divided in the first place, meant that these agents were working with Salem. The Queen Bitch herself.

Troubling.

Considering the sheer number of stories that Qrow had listened to from the surviving group of White Fang members, this woman had been influencing Adam for quite some time. More than a fair few of the stories had involved the woman arguing with Adam Taurus over 'nothing important'. Which, likely, meant it was something important enough for the survivors to remain tight-lipped with him.

It was easy enough to piece together. The White Fang invading Vale at the precise worst time was too well-time to be coincidental. Likely, they had been manipulated by Salem's half-maiden agent into attacking Vale and by extension, Beacon Academy, in the hopes of gaining access to the relic stored within Beacon's walls.

However, they hadn't accounted for Kirakishou's bizarre semblance- one that seemingly grew more powerful the more aura was fed to it. In the end, all that their illustrious 'crusade' had amounted to was little more than feeding an out-of-control semblance with even more aura.

The White Fang was a dangerous group, after all. Heavily armed and on a mission. Throw in a bunch of frenzied grimm and place them both in the middle of Vale when it's filled to the brim with huntsmen and huntresses, and, well, you have a recipe for disaster.

To Kirakishou's semblance, it hadn't mattered what side fell, only that they fell in the end. The White Fang merely copped it worse than most, being attacked by all parties present until all their superior arms and planning went down the drain.

Many of the White Fang members seemed to place the blame on a supposed inside woman that had given them information on Beacon Academy. Supposedly, it had been this same inside woman whose information had revealed Adam's coercion by Salem's agent to Sienna Khan in the first place.

Privately, Qrow believed it to be little more than internal politicking with Adam's subordinates. They had witnessed his struggle against Salem's agent and decided to take matters into their own hands.

However… that did not explain why they had given information on Vale to the White Fang in preparation for an invasion. A person ratting out their boss to a higher power doesn't bother to assist with some other event. It's a desperate move by a desperate person. No planning. No foresight.

Yet, this mystery person had done exactly that. And their supposed knowledge had led to most of the Vale sect of the White Fang and a good portion of Sienna's own personal faction getting trapped inside Kirakishou's wayward semblance.

Sheesh. No wonder why they had yet to reveal themselves. Sienna and Adam would be out for blood when they figured out who it was.

"So. How far out are we?" Qrow entered through the bridge doors, voicing his question aloud to the room.

Several sets of eyes snapped to focus on him a moment, before dismissing his presence entirely and returning to their duties. He almost laughed. Sleep with one random member and suddenly everyone could care less about the grizzled human huntsman laying in their ranks.

Sienna Khan, however, was no fool. The tiger faunus had yet to warm to his presence, treating him with the utmost suspicion. He supposed it was completely understandable. Prior to this, he had been actively trying to kill them all before they slaughtered all the children at Beacon Academy.

War makes for strange bedfellows, apparently.

"About a day's trip of fuel remaining. We'll be nearing the outskirts of Mistral, near Old Folk Crossing. After that, we'll either be bartering for fuel or moving on foot," Sienna voiced, gesturing for him to approach. "Regardless, it will be where we part ways."

Qrow gave an uncaring shrug as he leaned against a nearby ruined console. It didn't matter much to him, though his little paramour would probably be a bit upset about his departure. Shame, but that was the job. He'd find another lay somewhere else.

"Sounds fair enough to me," he answered dismissively.

The High Leader of the White Fang raised a brow at his answer.

"I had assumed you would be quick to voice your disapproval over leaving our side," she voiced, gesturing over to the side where his little faunus partner was trying and failing to hide the fact that she was listening in on their conversation.

Qrow snorted. "Then you assumed poorly," he waved a hand, airily gesturing to a few of the faunus that had stiffened at his words. "Look, I can sympathise with everything that's happened to you all. Oum only knows how horridly the faunus people have been treated over the years. But, it's not my fight. I have my own wars I need to fight."

"I've heard similar countless times in the past. It's everyone's fight, Qrow. I will not stand idly by and let my people be trod upon by humanity."

"And I can understand that. Truly. But what I'm doing cannot be pushed aside, or the consequences won't be pretty. Not for me, not for you, the faunus people, or even the rest of this Oum-forsaken remnant of a planet."

Off to the side, Adam Taurus gave a dismissive huff that sounded awkwardly similar to some of the ways Qrow had reacted to people over the years.

If people had told him a few days ago that Adam fucking Taurus would be huffing at his words good-naturedly without trying to murder him soon after, Qrow would have been rightly confused. And/or heavily intoxicated and likely hallucinating.

But. No. It was reality. And reality was feeling pretty damn unrealistic right about now.

"What could possibly be so important?"

Qrow paused. Oh, well. It may even be for the best that he gives them a bit of information on how they'd all been used as plastic soldiers for Salem, without mentioning how said woman was some horrific grimm abomination hell-bent on fucking over the world.

"The woman who set you all up for this invasion of Beacon," Qrow voiced aloud, taking a certain pleasure in the silence that permeated the room following his proclamation. He could see the look in their eyes, seeking blood. It was clear that Salem's agent was not held in high regard even with the higher-ups of the White Fang.

Especially Adam Taurus, given the scowl that had etched itself upon his grizzled face.

"...Explain, now," Sienna commanded, levelling her full attention at the aged huntsman.

Qrow raised his hands in faux-surrender, knowing full-well that it wasn't worth antagonising the extremist faction despite his inner prankster downright relishing the utter idea of attempting such.

Besides, just by hanging around the group for an extended period of time, his semblance had caused more than enough amusing shenanigans to last him a good long while.

Now, it was the time for proper discussion.

"That woman, she has a master. Or, in this case, a mistress. You may know of her. Salem."

Sienna raised a brow, but didn't outwardly respond any further to the mention of Salem's name. How very interesting. Adam was clearly clueless, his increasing agitation made all the more noticeable when standing next to his flat-faced High Leader.

"...Continue," Sienna spoke after a moment's silence, her expression carefully controlled.

"Right," Qrow coughed. "I won't go into details about her, but she's bad news. She commissioned her agent-"

"Cinder,*" Adam growled, before shaking his head at the inquisitive look that Qrow sent his way. "She called herself Cinder. Cinder Fall. You deserved to know."

Qrow nodded in thanks, his mind already running wild with the implications. If he recalled correctly, there was a woman with the same name that appeared on Ozpin's list of applicants for the Vytal Festival Tournament. Coming from Ol' Leo's academy.

Could this person be Salem's agent? Or, was Salem's agent merely using a conveniently-placed name of a student in the Vytal Festival Tournament?

If it was the former, then it was a rookie mistake. Never make a paper trail. When you established a network, you exponentially increase the chances of being discovered. For large crime syndicates such as Lil' Miss Malachite's Spiders, it was a useful way to increase your reputation, but for a stealth operation it was an unnecessary risk.

However, if it was the latter decision, then what was the purpose of stealing some random student's name? Was it a contingency set in place for the possible event of Ozpin's faction discovering her involvement? Could the girl have been involved in some way? A scapegoat, or the puppet master herself?

"Qrow. Continue."

"Hm? Oh, right," Qrow waved off the High Leader's words. He would need to investigate at a later date. "Continuing on, I've been led to believe that Salem commissioned this 'Cinder' to target Beacon Academy. For what purpose, I couldn't tell you, but if she was willing to reach out to the White Fang and the likes of Roman Torchwick, then I doubt it was anything good."

...It was to kill off Amber and steal the rest of her powers. But he sure as hell wasn't about to tell a bunch of violent extremists that the old stories about the Maidens are true and that magic exists. The last thing he needed was some maiden-empowered White Fang mook. Or, worse, Sienna Khan herself throwing about magic in one of her conquests.

Now that would be fucking terrifying.

"...Interesting…" Sienna mused, stroking her chin in thought at his words. "Naturally, this all could be a part of some monumental fib that's hiding some major conspiracy of your own," Qrow gave his most innocent looking smile, sparkles and all, prompting a roll of the eyes from the tiger faunus and an amused grunt from Adam. "However, much to my own consternation, I'm inclined to believe you. Adam's own report on Cinder corroborates with much of your story. Many in the Fang held their suspicions in regards to the plan to invade Beacon, long before I took charge of the operation."

It took a sizeable portion of his inner willpower to not make some snarky comment in regards to Sienna's plan. Occupying Beacon Academy was more of a political statement in his eyes, than an effective strategy. Though, he supposed it was far better than the group staying in the last base, which he had been both viscerally amused and downright horrified to learn had been Mountain Glenn.

The accursed mountain had been abandoned for a reason.
The less he said about that place, the better.

"Yes, any agents connected to Salem tend to be ruthless. They could care less about who they hurt in order to achieve what their mistress desires."

Adam growled, one of his hands instinctively reaching towards his sheathed blade as the man trembled on the spot. "...Damn her… should have known the offer was too good to be true…"

Interest peaked, Qrow raised a brow. "Offer?"

"Adam was approached by this Cinder some time ago," Sienna decided to interject after sending the bull faunus in question a warning look. "At first, they came to Adam's camp under the disguise of peace- looking to hire Adam's contingent of brothers and sisters like filthy mercenaries, promising a substantial amount of lien in reward. When Adam rightly denied their offer, they returned in force and razed the camp to the ground. Only then as the tents burned, their offer had become an ultimatum. Join or die."

"...I should have known that something was wrong, back then," Adam shook his head, visibly agitated at his past actions. "The way she fought, her aura seeming completely unaffected by every display of her supposed semblance… Such a thing isn't normal. It isn't natural. Could this Salem figure have caused such a thing?"

He nodded in response. Maiden powers operated without aura, instead relying upon the inner reserves of magic contained within the user. A fully trained Maiden armed with both an apt Semblance and their own Maiden powers could fight for much longer than any regular huntress. Salem would know this, and certainly wasn't above abusing such a trait for her own purposes.

"Judging by your reaction, this was expected," Sienna noticed perceptively, crossing her arms.

Qrow grimaced. Damn. He hadn't meant to reveal that piece of information. Though, he supposed that fuck-ups were bound to happen when you got too comfortable with someone. He'd been exploiting that same idea for days now. Only fair that it'd eventually happen to him, as well.

"...Some of Salem's associates have demonstrated something similar in the past, yes," Qrow tried, frowning. "To be frank, it was a miracle that she didn't slaughter you all."

Adam scoffed, but it was clear that the blindfolded faunus could recognise the gravity contained with Qrow's words easily enough. He merely seemed pissed off at the reveal of how outclassed that he'd really been when compared to Cinder.

"As I said before that tangent, rather than offering to hire Adam's sect, they gave Adam a simple ultimatum," Sienna continued. "Join or die. Pressured into a corner, I can understand why Adam rightly chose life. Too many lives had already been lost that day," she stated with a shake of her head. "Soon after, Roman Torchwick was brought in as another associate to assist in the takedown of Beacon Academy. The human had, supposedly, stolen quite a fair amount of dust from the city of Vale."

"No-doubt in order to ramp up dust prices and eventually cause Beacon to run dry. Smart," Qrow mused with a scowl.

Sienna nodded. "Yes, it's certainly looking that way," she agreed. "Much of Cinder's plan seemed to rely upon this mass quantity of stolen dust, for use in both outfitting the White Fang and demolishing key targets in Vale's infrastructure. I've prepared a missive of the details," Sienna gestured to the side, where a young rabbit faunus handed him a small portable drive. "Take this information to your superiors. Hopefully, it shall aid you in tracking down this… detestable woman and her supposed mistress."

Qrow nodded, accepting the drive with thanks and sending a sly wink to a thoroughly-embarrassed rabbit faunus, much to the chagrin of Adam and Sienna.

He shrugged apologetically. His little bed-mate had known that they weren't anything serious when they first slept together, despite her obvious attempts to encourage such.

"Will do. Thanks."

Adam shook his head, glancing away. Qrow downright smirked at the sight. It was clear that the bull faunus hadn't been the one to decide this course of action, likely being overruled by the High Leader herself.

"Do not take this for charity," Sienna advised. "This is a business transaction, nothing more. You did us a favour in escorting us away from that shitstorm of a city, and we have repaid you by giving you safe passage and key information that should prove useful to your investigation."

"Of course, of course," Qrow waved off Sienna's words, spinning on his heels and turning to walk out of the room. Before he left, however, he looked over his shoulder to focus on the two White Fang leaders. "Give me a shout when it's time for me to depart, yeah? Don't want to overstay my welcome."

Relaying the events that led up to Kirakishou's N-Field swallowing up everyone, to her long-lost Mother, had been something of an experience for Yang Xiao-Long.

Yet, Raven Branwen was clearly an avid listener. She had waited for the entirety of Yang's tale to be uttered, before speaking her own words.

And her own words had been horrifying.

Reports had come on through various channels, speaking of crystals growing from all sections of Vale city and the surrounding forests, going out as far as the outer edges of Forever Fall.

As time continued to tick forwards, the reports had only increased in severity, more and more sections reporting a sudden growth of crystals.

Yet, all of them had paled in comparison to the final report that Raven had been able to decipher. Or, at least, the final one that she had told Yang about.

The entirety of Vale city, Forever Fall, and the Emerald Forest had been completely overtaken by the crystals. Whatever had happened to necessitate this change had prompted a complete cut in communications for the continent of Vale.

And, in thanks to Laplace's Demon of all things, Yang knew that it was Kirakishou that was behind it all.

The entire area had been converted into Kirakishou's N-Field.

Whatever that actually meant for the world, Yang wasn't sure, but she knew that it couldn't be good. Raven had agreed with her. Not for the same reasons, but out of a concern for what had occurred to those who had been inside Vale at the time.

Only a handful had escaped.
A handful.
From over seven hundred thousand, including those merely visiting.

Raven had speculated that the movements of the N-Field during the fiasco at Beacon were suspicious, as well. It had been actively chasing after clusters of people, growing around them. Containing them.

Raven suspected that this harvest was the reason that Kirakishou's N-Field had grown so large. That it had been powered by all of the many hundreds of thousands of souls contained within.

It would, also, explain why damn-near everything that Yang did to the doll was shrugged off to the point of absurdity. Sure, it had looked like Yang had been dealing damage at the time, and it had been enough for her in the heat of the moment, but now that she had gone over the events in her mind did she realise that there was a good chance the doll wasn't harmed in the slightest.

It had all been some grand deception, likely in order to push Ruby into siding with Kirakishou. Something that had, much to her shame and humiliation, unfortunately come to pass.

"You good, Yang?"

She glanced off to the side. Vernal was looking at her, seeming curious. Yang frowned imperceptibly. The woman was a strange one, hiding her true emotions behind some apathetic veil of some kind. Or she just didn't give a shit. One of the two.

But, she was just always there, following her around like some weird bandit-coloured shade of Ruby, sans the crazed blonde doll. It was both refreshing and unsettling.

"Eh. Decent, I guess," Yang murmured aloud, shrugging her shoulders.

Vernal punched her shoulder, "You really need to stop spacing out. You're setting a bad precedent for the tribe."

She withheld the groan that threatened to spill from her lips. Honestly. Tribe this, tribe that. Both Vernal and Raven had been spouting the same thing over and over again, to the point where it was beginning to annoy her. For the tribe. It was always about the tribe. About their honour.

They were bandits, for fucks sake. They didn't have such things, no matter what her Mother spouted out. It was all just some way of Raven preventing them all from getting out of line and pissing off one of the big players. Yet Vernal seemed to believe it like it was gospel or something.

"Right. Sure. Yeah. Whatever."

Vernal frowned, but she had seen that coming a mile away.

"Come on. Raven wants you."

Yang perked up at the mention of her Mother, surprised to hear that Raven wanted to speak with her. Following their initial discussion in Raven's tent, her Mother had left her alone to heal up while Raven sorted out everything.

To her, it sounded more like Raven was pushing her to the side and trying to escape the crazy. It made sense to her, after all. She would do the exact same thing to Ruby when she would go on a particularly-long rant about some weapon or manufacturing flaw she had discovered in some antique piece.

All this spiel about dolls and Rozen Maiden and Alice Games and N-Fields certainly sounded crazy.

But it was real. And, sooner or later, something needed to be done to stop Kirakishou. Raven just had to understand that.

"Well? You coming?" Vernal nudged her again, looking impatient as ever.

"Yeah. Let's go."

Following alongside Vernal, Yang allowed herself to glance around the Branwen camp. It was a very odd experience, to see murderous bandits just hanging out like nothing was wrong with the world. And, well, not attacking her or pillaging villagers or… whatever it was that bandits did.

Instead, they just seemed to be surviving, for lack of a better phrase. The evidence was abundant everywhere that Yang looked. It was as if every one of their actions was done in service to ensuring they lived to exist for another hellish day.

One of the few bandits that had introduced themselves to her by name, 'Shade' had been cleaning his revolver, after working on most of the tribe's weapons for the past few hours. Supposedly, any of the experienced smiths in the tribe, or those with advanced weapon handling experience, would occasionally inspect the tribe's weapons for any inconsistencies.

It was one of the many, many jobs around the tribe that were supposedly juggled between a few different people, cycling between them every few weeks to prevent the same person from getting overworked.

Even Vernal, crazed bitch that she was for the most part, was one of only a few bandits in the camp that held advanced medical training. Her assisting in Yang's recovery had only been done because it had been her 'turn' to play camp doctor.

"Oh? You brought her. Good. Thank you, Vernal," Raven's low voice interrupted her train of thought.

"No problem," Vernal waved her off, inclining her head in what Yang assumed to be a respectful manner. "Is that all you need?"

"It'll do. For now, go back and take an inventory of our medical supplies. Pay close attention to vitamin stores, if you will. I want a report in my tent by this afternoon, if possible," Raven commanded.

"Got it, boss," Vernal turned to leave, but not before shooting a hard look at Yang and smirking. "Try to stay in one piece, Yang. I'd hate to have to patch you up."

Yeah, fuck you, too. Yang thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes and Vernal departed.

"...She's a damn good field medic, but her bedside manner is some of the worst I've seen since my Academy days," Raven spoke up, shaking her head in bemusement. Yang smiled at the banter. She was glad that she wasn't the only one who had noticed that particular train with Vernal. "How's the tribe treating you, Yang?"

She shrugged, inwardly pleased that the action was not accompanied by a surge of pain this time.

"Well enough…" she trailed off, before looking to the side and tracing circles in the ground with her feet. "Um… thanks. For saving me from the Emerald Forest, and, well, Vale as a whole. I appreciate it."

Thank you for confirming that you're not dead and putting an end to a decade-long search… Yang added inwardly.

"You're welcome," Raven nodded curtly, looking neither pleased nor upset. Which was… good? Probably? Yang hadn't the faintest clue. Her Mom was weird. "How are the injuries?"

"No real pain when moving. Not at the moment, anyway. Though I still feel really stiff. Like, in my arms and legs. Kinda feels like pins and needles?"

Raven smirked. "Ah. I know that feeling. Lots of huntsmen and huntresses get it. It's an itch that can only be scratched by training, a sign that you've been out of the picture for too long. Happens a lot after big battles, during the time spent recovering."

She blinked. She hadn't known that.

"I'll, er, get right on that?" Yang tried, unsure. "Is there, like, a sparring ring or something around here? Or a gym?"

"Well, definitely not a gym, but we do have something like a sparring ring. Though, we'd never call it that. More of just an arena for letting out frustration or settling disputes in the tribe. I'll show you later, if you want. Might be interesting to see how my daughter fares against some of our more grizzled tribesmen."

Yang could get behind that. Especially if said grizzled tribesmen involved those two idiots a couple of tents over that kept sneaking glances at her ass and making snide comments about her when they thought she wasn't listening.

"Sounds fun," she nodded approvingly. "But… err… I was wondering what your thoughts were on the whole Rozen Maiden thing. It's been a while and, well…"

"You wanted to make sure I didn't think you were crazy?" Raven sardonically finished for her, earning a wince. Had her thoughts been that obvious? "It was written all over your face, Yang. Don't beat yourself up about it. Every one of us in this tribe is trained to read people. It's how we've managed to last so long. You'll get better at it. It'll just take time."

"Er, right, yeah, I get it. So… what'd you think?" Yang pressed.

Raven sighed, a frown growing on her face, "Well, to be honest, that is exactly why I asked Vernal to bring you here. There's been something of a development and I wanted to get your opinion on the matter."

Interest peaked, Yang rose a brow, "Development? What are you talking about? What kind of development?"

"...Well, at first, you see, I didn't believe a word of what you were saying," Yang bristled immediately at the statement, but Raven continued pressing onwards before she could say a word of rebuttal. "It was nothing personal. Many of the people we've picked up in the past have had… shall we say, traumatic experiences. For some of them, this resulted in delusions. Completely natural."

"...I'm not making it all up, Mom," Yang frowned, crossing her arms.

Raven's eyes narrowed at her tone for a brief moment, before the older woman shook her head. "And I know that now. But, at first, after hearing your recounting of everything that's occurred, I had my doubts. Until this arrived not too long after you left my tent. It's addressed to you."

A small envelope was handed her way. She frowned, grabbing the small piece of paper and inspecting it. Looked pretty strange to her. The paper was oddly thick, not like regular paper that she'd used for taking notes at school. It was brown, but looked to be less of a design choice but more of a product of age.

Yet, strangely enough, it was immaculately preserved. Not a sign of age or degradation whatsoever, excluding the colour of the paper.

Her name was printed on the envelope, in some gaudy-ass loopy font that was difficult to read.

There was some kind of marking on the sides of the envelope. Golden swirls? Looked like the type of paper some rich noble would use for their letters.

"What's this?"

Raven raised a brow at her. "You look confused. Surprised, almost. You honestly don't know what this is? Not at all?"

Blinking in bewilderment, she shook her head. "...No? I've never seen this thing before in my life," she paused. "Er, I mean. I've seen letters before. But not something like this one. Who the hell would send me a letter? I have a scroll, duh. No need."

Raven grunted at her answer. "Hn. Open it, then."

Feeling some kind of odd falling sensation in her gut, Yang went about doing exactly that. She tore at the envelope, ripping it apart to find a… letter?

No. It was just a single piece of paper. Thick and aged like the envelope itself, but… a bit lighter in colour? Strange. There was something scribbled on the note, in the same loopy kind of cursive writing as the envelope itself. It took her a moment to decipher what was written.

WILL YOU WIND?
WILL YOU NOT WIND?

A/N:

Hello all! Here's another chapter for this story. I hope you're all enjoying it so far. What'd you think of this one? We finally are out of Vale, people, and making our way through Remnant. All of the Main Cast our outside the 'starting zone', so to speak.

First things first, as per RWBY tradition, is fighting and combat. How'd it go? I went for a more descriptive-focussed retelling of a fight, rather than the 'Figure A attacked Figure B' style. From Ruby's perspective, it was oddly zany but quite fun to write nonetheless. Her Silver Maiden powers are also something of a Disk One Nuke, for lack of a better phrase. Think of it as a very angry Medusa, turning everything to stone. But, like, with fire.

Summer and Kirakishou, meanwhile, demonstrate their abilities by playing to their strengths. Summer uses her wisdom and skill with Null Value, while Kirakishou makes the universe figuratively sneeze and overwhelms her opponents through sheer force alone.

And, now, they're heading to Mistral.

Writing Qrow Branwen, on the other side, is like holding onto a rocket with your eyes closed and your pants down. It's insane. Makes no damn sense. How did you even get to that scenario in the first place? He's a fun character, but just snarky enough to prompt the weirdest things happening to him. Having him play buddy-buddy with the White Fang made for an interesting scene. Strange bedfellows indeed.

And, finally, Yang. Spicy plot development shenanigans ahoy. For the more RWBY-centred readers of my story, the final two lines of text may seem meaningless. For the more Rozen Maiden-aware readers, you all know what is coming.

For both sides, there will be a lot of development ahead, that will explain and explore the purpose of those two lines of text.

Be sure to let me know what you all think of this chapter, yeah? If you want to chat about it, my messages are always open.
Until next time!~