AN: So here's that prequel I mentioned that for Lightforge. For new readers, this follows the Lightforge AU that I've created. While it mostly focuses on the Rosebird pairing, this does eventually become PolyParents. The story is through Raven's eyes. While I originally intended it to be something short, it's already up around 20 chapters and really even close to done. I had started this going in one direction and now I've redone what Requiem was supposed to be in order to keep up with Lightforge's darker themes. It's intended to be a bittersweet ending and deals with determining one's worth and when expectations becomes too much. Let me know what you guys think.

ooOOoo

"I have an assignment for you."

"Is that so?" A thin girl with silver eyes watched the headmaster emotionlessly.

"Yes," he pushed over a cream colored file. Within was information on a student with an alarming background. She gave him a concerned look, leaving her question unasked. "I'm curious as to why both the children of the most notorious family of Faunus are being sent here."

"The Branwen family, right?" The girl asked as she looked over the information. They were information brokers in the Underworld, but they had a reputation for being as deadly as they were shrewd. They collected information at all costs and quickly dispatched of their enemies.

"Listen," the headmaster clasped his hands together, interlocking his fingers. "I need to find out why they are here and I believe you're the only one that can do this."

"If they're anything like their father, I doubt that," she said distantly, brushing her thumb down the outline of the girl's face. There was something about those red eyes that gave her a shiver of excitement. She needed to find out what it was.

"Depending on your findings, we may be able to use this as leverage for your freedom," he smiled. "You won't have to-"

"I'll do it."

"You haven't even let me finish yet," the man gave a perplexed sigh. "Nor have I seen you look over the brother's file."

"Doesn't matter," the girl shook her head slowly as she spoke. "I've already decided."

"Oh?" He smirked at her impishly. "There must be something that's caught your attention then. Anything I might not have seen."

"No." He raised an eyebrow in disbelief and she sighed. "Would you buy it if I said something like She's cute?"

"No, not really," he rested his chin on his hands. "You don't get swept up in your emotions… Besides, you're not exactly in a position to be chasing girls around, are you?" With a loud exhale, she slid the file back over to him and stood to leave the room. "I'm not finished yet."

"There's more?"

"Yes," he smiled, knowing he was irritating her. "I called you here this morning to ask you to greet them and ensure they make it to your shared dorm in one piece. I've accepted them into the school under the new Faunus Program. I've decided to place them on your team. I was going to ask you to pick one as a partner and the other will be assigned to your former partner."

"Was?"

"Yes, your interest has told me enough," he chuckled to himself. "I do hope that Miss Branwen is prepared for you. I guarantee you will leave quite the impression on her."

"…let's hope…"

"Hahaha, one last thing," he added as she headed to the door. "Let's keep this from Miss Willow and the rest of the Schnee."

ooOOoo

"Rae… Rae…" Someone was shaking her and she swatted at them. "Rae, wake up! We're here!" Huh? When had she fallen asleep? "You okay? It's not like you to have a hard time waking up…"

"I'm… fine…" She blinked as she processed her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was boarding the charter bus in some small town on the outskirts of the city. There had been wide open fields and then everything went blank. She'd dreamed of silver warmth and a childhood wish that was never meant to be. She often found herself waking from dreams with a feeling that there had been something important locked away deep within them, but when she tried to recall it, she only drew blanks and brief flashes of vague images and desire for something more. With a sigh, she stood up and stretched before hoisting the bag that had been in her lap over her shoulder. "Let's go."

Following behind the other passengers, they got off at the Vale station. They still had a bit of a walk to go, but it wasn't anything too demanding – no more than a couple miles. It was actually a good thing they'd packed lightly; otherwise this would probably suck a lot more than it was already going to. They'd be living among humans for the next few years and that wasn't something she'd ever had a desire to do. Still, this school proudly boasted its equal treatment of all species, despite its association to the Schnee Corps.

"You were mumbling in your sleep," he brother pressed as they left the station. "You seemed upset." She rubbed at the sword at her side. Honestly, she'd had these strange dreams many times over the years, but she'd never told him about it. Branwens did not dream – they achieved. "Oh… was it about Coral? I'm sure that something just happened and-"

"No, Brother," Raven shook her head. "That's how humans are."

"Look, Rae," Qrow sighed out loud. "Just like not all Inhumans are the same, not all humans are the same. Gasp," he spoke the expression rather than performed it. "I know! Such a foreign concept!" Opting to tune him out, she rolled her eyes and continued moving forward. "Everything will go smoother if you just learn to get along with them."

"For the sake of the Birds of Prey, I will... consider it…" Somehow, she could feel the frown on his face boring straight through her. He always had this way of expressing himself that she could somehow always feel rather than see. Ignoring it didn't work because he had somehow learned how to turn up the metaphorical volume beyond their imaginary decibel limit. "Take it or leave it. A lot is riding on the success of this mission and I won't let your love for humans get in my way."

"Right, right, right," he muttered, sounding thoroughly bored. "I forget the whole coming of age thing and that you actually give a shit about what Dad thinks."

"You should too," the raveness snapped back. "You should be proud to be of service."

"Still, an infiltration mission into one of the bigger players in this war is pretty huge just to prove yourself to him, Rae," he shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, just for him to treat you the way he does…"

"His treatment of us is to prepare for the future," Raven defended the man's behavior toward them. It wasn't as if she liked being pushed to the point of hushed sobs in a bathroom, while Qrow tried to comfort her. That may have been a definingly low moment for her and she refused to let herself sink so far down, ever again. Branwens were not weak and that was weakness. It was not allowed.

"There are rumors of the Schnee working on a weapon so powerful that it could turn the tide against all Inhumans," Raven explained with urgency. "We cannot let this go unnoticed. Our duty is to all Faunus and Were-kind above all else."

"Ah, so we're supposed to blend in, right?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Signal recently started pushing for more Inhuman recruits, specifically Faunus."

"Right, and Faunus have pretty recognizable features. Which means," he was leading this somewhere, but she wasn't exactly following him on this. "That different species…" He probably thought he was practically spoonfeeding it to her, but it wasn't that obvious. "Have unique traits! And some of us have traits based on our particular family, like, let's say… Oh, I dunno' the Branwens! You know, with our blood-filled eyes and long, leathery, black wings of doom!"

"What part of our feathers are leathery?!" She buried her hand in her face. Sometimes he was completely obnoxious when he was trying to make a point, but as always, his points were valid. "Damn, I hate you so much sometimes!"

"No, you don't!" He chirped as he roped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in. "You wouldn't know what to do without me!... Which is why it is my unfortunate job to – and this pains me, by the way – to inform you that we tend to stick out really badly!" He pulled out the single remaining feather in his hair and twirled it in his fingers. "Ah, I knew I missed one!... It's gonna' hurt way more for you because you waiting so long is going to cause problems."

"And why would you think I would do something like that just to fit in with humans?!" She spat out as she smacked him hard. The very thought of removing her precious feathers sickened her. "Unlike you, Brother, I am proud of our heritage and if they are making an attempt at an inclusive environment for us, then it is my right to display my feathers proudly!... But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

It all started a few years ago, around the time the only human who had ever mattered to her vanished. Qrow had grown a sudden distaste for the Branwen Way and taken a stand against their teaching. He regularly removed his feathers to the point they grew in much more slowly now, but try as he might, he could never truly remove the red eyes they had inherited. They'd never spoken about what had happened that made him lose his love for the family, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was something that had to do with her. Even if she tried to clarify things, he would most likely brush it off and change the subject.

"I mean, c'mon, Rae," he sighed out loud. "What are we actually doing here? You hate humans, but you're gonna' live in a room with three of them."

"No," Raven crossed her arms and frowned at him. "It's already been arranged that you and I will share a room. I will only have to tolerate two humans. I'm sure you'll entertain them enough to keep them distracted while I work."

"So I'm just supposed to run interference?"

"Qrow, you have nothing at stake here." Raven looked to the sky as they strolled toward their destination. "You are more suited to playing with humans than I am. I'm sure you'll be much happier with this task."

"Rae," he frowned at her dismissive tone. "I like humans and all, but you're my sister. You'll always come first. Besides, someone needs to be around if you-"

"You don't have to worry about that," she cut him off and brushed her hand against the sheathe of the sword at her side. He didn't need to keep bringing it up. She was so much better now. Things were looking up and everything was the way it was supposed to be. Father had acknowledged her and given her this important task. Nothing would get in her way – not even herself. "Well, this is the path that you have chosen and it seems that fate would have us travel parallel roads."

"Oh wow!" In his excitement, Qrow sped forward and stopped at a gate. Before them, the school yard was lined with white marble tiling that emitted a gentle glow. If she had to take a guess, she suspected the very stone and walls themselves were infused with the very essence humans used to repel Inhumans – Lightforge… Who was she kidding? Of course it was. Signal Academy was known for churning out Hunters left and right. Of course they'd pull out all the stops to protect their future assets… Unfortunately, it sapped away the strength of those who weren't quite human… such as the Branwen twins…

As Qrow went on about the different architectural techniques that went into building the school, Raven found her mind in other places - namely, their orders. This wasn't a sightseeing trip, like Qrow was acting. A war was brewing and the Branwens were never on the losing side. It would be her duty to calculate the severity of what the Schnee were developing and ultimately decide whether it could be sabotaged… or if they would have to do something even more reckless.

"Dearest Daughter," the current Head of the Branwen's sat on his throne. "You kneel before me as one of my greatest and most talented assets. You will one day sit upon this throne and lead our people to greatness. It is my firmest belief that it is during your time as the future head of the Branwen House that Faunus will come to power and humanity will suffer for their sins… but before that, there is something you must do…"

"Father," Raven knelt before her father - the Branwen patriarch. "For the House of Branwen, I offer you my will and my sword, my honor and devotion, my freedom and my life… such is tradition. This is the path that I have chosen."

"A path well-chosen," he nodded firmly. "The Schnee are planning something in Vale… a weapon the likes we have never seen."

"How do we stop it?" Raven asked earnestly. "What is it?"

"We are unsure," he sat back in his throne, a hint of tiredness in his voice. "We only know that it has been under development for quite some time, but that is where you and your brother come in."

"Me… and Qrow?" Raven asked in confusion. "You've never openly assigned him to a mission. He's always volunteered himself."

"He will be instrumental in your task, due to his… desire to be accepted by those monsters," he scowled at his son's fascination with humankind. "You will need to blend in and raise yourself through their ranks, starting from the bottom… You have been enrolled into Signal Academy's recently developed Faunus program, where you will be among the first Outsiders to step foot into their school. You will need to keep up appearances as a student aiming to become a Hunter, but you will learn their ways and look for any information on this weapon. Sometimes, even the lowest of peons can provide a wealth of information. You'd be surprised just how much humans entrust the future to their juvenile offspring."

"I understand, Father." Though he was technically doing the exact same thing, she kept her thoughts to herself. He had chosen her for a reason and she wouldn't give him a reason to question her.

"Do not fail, Daughter," his eye narrowed on her. "For you are the legacy that I have chosen."

"Look, I know it's not your thing." Raven shook her head and snapped out of her thoughts to find Qrow rubbing the back of his neck. "But just try to enjoy something with me and then we can back to being all moody and broody."

"I am not broody!"

"Ah-ha! But you admit to being moody!"

They're so pretty...

The words popped into her head and her feathers stood in alarm, but she told herself that her mind was playing tricks on her. A brief flash of silver glinted just beyond the fountain Qrow was prattling on about so passionately, but there was nothing there. She shook the thoughts away and reminded herself that the shimmering colors that haunted her dreams was just that – a dream... A dream that must have affected her more than she thought.

It still didn't change that from the moment they had passed the gate, eyes had been on her… but of course there were. She was a Faunus that proudly displayed her features. She was bound to catch people's attention, but not like this. Even among the harsh glares and hushed whispers that surrounded them, this particular gaze was observant and strangely calm. She pressed her fingers to her sinuses and sighed. What a time to be thinking about this sort of thing…

"Human architecture is so amazing!" Qrow excitement broke through her thoughts as he continued whatever recitation about human-developed things and she really didn't care for it.

"Qrow," Raven quirked a brow and set her hands on her hips. "You do know that we're just as capable of this as them, right?"

"Rae," Qrow matched her mannerisms. "You do know that Faunus are just humans with benefits, right?"

"Are you mocking me?!"

"Yes."

"You don't even have the decency to try to hide it!" Her brother shrugged and gave her the ugliest smile he could think of at that time.

"Wouldn't be your twin if I did."

"Shove it up your-"

"So we're just letting Red Eyes into the system now?" A cocky presence approached them, spelling trouble for the twins through the snide tone of his voice. "They're just letting anyone into Signal now, aren't they?" Standing tall with his chest puffed forward, he loomed over them and continued to prod. "So… what have we got here? Just another filthy Faunus and her… human lover?!"

"Hey, I'm-"

"What's it to you?" The feathered twin cut her brother off and glared at their antagonizer as she sized him up. Light brown gelled-back hair, blue eyes, a chiseled physical – probably some rich guy's kid that bought his way into a prestigious academy. Yeah, he was definitely douche material – a real grade A chump. "He's free to choose what company he likes."

"Yeah, it's just the wrong kind." A few other boys started to surround them and he made an off-handed comment to his fellowship. "See that guys, you give 'em an inch and they think they can take a mile. Already thinks she can walk all over him, but that's alright. There's an order to how things work around here, so I say we liberate our comrade of his ailment! Who's with me?"

Several cheered as a larger crowd began to grow around them, while others turned a shameful, blind eye to the events unfolding. It was sickening just how cruel and cowardly humans could be. All this was doing was proving her right and what little hope she'd held waned with each passing moment. Humans had no place in the Faunus world the White Fang would create.

Displeased by her lack of reaction to his jeering, the douche grabbed Raven by the wrist and pulled her forward, turning her around. He was clearly hell bent on punishing her for just simply existing. From behind, he could see the distinguishing feathers of her tribe and sneered at them, pulling hard until a few came out and her world went white with pain.

"What's this shit?"

"Stop!" Qrow lunged at him, but the guy pushed him into his buddies, who forced him to the ground to watch as he tormented his sister. Qrow struggled harder, but was pulled harder and a knee was planted into his back. Anything but her feathers! He watched as this monster crumpled them in his hand and tossed them away… They may have been trash to him, but to his sister, they were her treasure...

"Qrow!" He jolted at her commanding tone. "Don't." A look in her eye said that even through the pain, she would be fine and could take whatever he would dish out… but Qrow was so tired of this. She was the brave one and he was the coward. Even now, she was maintaining the belief that he was human so that only one of them would get this treatment. Maybe it was his innocent beliefs that were the last strand of hope she may ever hold toward humanity, but even that was wearing thin these days.

"That's right," he threw her to the ground and stepped on her chest. "This is where you belong. You know, just because the Schnee is feeling all charitable, it doesn't mean that the rest of us are so willing to tolerate this kind of pandering. You're even more disgusting than the beasts!"

With a loud cough, the wind was knocked from her chest and the pressure from his foot wouldn't allow her chest to expand to bring in any air. How could all these people just stand there and watch this happen?! Her eyes caught Qrow's and she felt horrible that he had to watch this. If they had been anywhere else, she knew she would have retaliated in a heartbeat, but that wasn't a luxury they could afford. Instead, she would settle for ingraining this moment deep into her mind for later.

The lack of air was finally starting to catch up with her and she could feel her body preparing to shut down from the oxygen deprivation. Darkness had already begun to crackle around her vision, leaving a small area of view. The foot lifted from her and came back down hard, but in that moment, the world was washed in familiar achromatic tones. White petals fluttered in front of her, as if foretelling a more spectacular event unfolding.

"Such a troublesome little birdie already," a figure hooded in white appeared in front of her, kneeling toward her with a warm smile. As they picked Raven up, the world warped around them and Raven clenched her eyes shut tightly as a wave of cold stillness washed over her briefly. When she opened them, they were in the branches of the thickest tree in the courtyard.

A loud yell came from across the courtyard as a blonde boy barreled through the crowd, liberating Qrow from the ones holding him down. Lifting one high above his head, he threw him across the crowd into the fight's instigator. He put himself between her brother and anyone else who had antagonized them, daring them to take him on.

"Ah shit, it's Xiao Long and Rose. Let's get outta' here!" The bully recognized the snow white cape as it fluttered to the ground in front of him. "Freaks of a feather flock together! It fucking figures you're Faunus lovers, too!" Raven wasn't too sure what was happening around her, but the last thing she remembered were soft words whispered to her.

"You're safe now. I won't let them hurt you…" Raven tried to focus on the movement of their lips as she slipped away from consciousness. "Don't fight it." No, not yet. The scent in front of her was so unbearably familiar that there was something she needed to see. Something she should have done before.

Fighting the darkness enclosing her sight, she struggled to lift her hand toward the hood that shrouded their face. She wouldn't regret not looking again. When she reached it, she almost expected them to stop her. Instead, she could feel her rescuer's chest still as their breath caught in their throat. Why did this feel so frighteningly familiar?... Why did she feel so afraid to put a face to this figure?

Her hand hung in place, unmoving and her eyes jarred. Still focused on their lips, a feminine voice registered in her ears, whispering something that she couldn't make it out. Everything was so hazy and her muscles were growing weak. Fingers wrapped around her own and the girl leaned closer to her. God, that scent was so much stronger up close. Her eyes lidded as the world grew, but the closer the girl drew, the more she could make out her features. She lifted her eyes and found herself entranced once again in something so beautiful.

…her eyes…

"Wake up soon, Little Birdie…" Her savior spoke softly. "I won't let you go this time…"

… they were so si-… scared?…

ooOOoo

AN: So our protagonists meet! The STRQ story is going to be a bit different that the RWBY story. While the RWBY story is the resolution of the Lightforge AU, Requiem will tell how the responsibility fell to RWBY. It will also give a deeper background into the different factions, certain storylines, and state of the world. I've actually grown rather attached to writing these versions of the STRQ characters! Anyway, Happy Halloween to all of you and don't let the pandemic ruin things!