Here we are again. This is likely going to be the last chapter that I am going to be able to write before I go off to Basic Training. I am going to be gone for about 4-6 months, assuming that I won't get any time to write in between that time. I'm sure most of you would understand.

Strangely enough this is the only one of my story's in which I really have no idea how I am going to end. The concept itself is basically a runalong idea that can only last as long as the show lasts. We'll see how that goes, I suspect it may be the future longest running story I write for a while.

Beta: CrowSkull

YBWR

Chapter 23

Blowing Out the Fire

He once prided himself to be the best at what he did on the eastern side of the world, whereas his older sister of just a few minutes was the best at the same on the western hemisphere. Right now however, Qrow Branwen, Noncommissioned Officer of Mantle under the name of Sienna Khan herself and also registered Huntsman of three kingdoms, found himself sitting down at a bench in Vale. A kingdom he hasn't returned to for two years, as he was too diligent in his tasks and drills elsewhere. In this circumstance however, he had to return. Not just under the pretense of visiting his nieces, but because the enemy was moving out much further than he could have ever predicted.

He rubbed his face over his piercing red eyes and through his slicked back graying black hair as he sighed while overviewing footage of a certain failed robbery attempt of a Dust store before this semester at Beacon began. He watched as his blonde fighter of a niece destroyed almost all of the would-be thieves and only had trouble with the last, the renowned criminal Neopolitan. Only if it weren't for Professor Fall, his niece would have certainly met her end. In all his time studying and trying to find hints about the minions and allies of the current King of the Grimm, all paths led to here. In Vale, in Beacon even. It was why he was now on his way to Beacon as he thought about it now. Salem and Sienna needed to know this and be told about it in person. With a certain tech maniac on the enemy's side, a mere scroll call could not be trusted. Not with such important information and with him being a known quantity on both sides, anyway.

One last time before he knew the Bullhead would land at Beacon's air docks, he watched the security footage of Yang's first battle against criminals. As much as he'd like to assure her that fighting people rather than Grimm would be something she'd be doing little of, he didn't want to be called a liar later. There was a reason Beacon taught its students how to fight other huntsman-level opponents. Sometimes, people were worse than the Grimm and needed to be treated as such. In this case however, he was thankful that his niece had a good stroke of luck. The criminals that she fought were mediocre at best and didn't know what they were doing at worst. He studied her fighting style, it had been a long time since he had been able to train the girls himself or even watch them train. That had been Taiyang's job for Yang when he was still around, while Ruby normally stuck with either him or his sister. She was good at holding back when she felt like she had to. That was good. For a girl whose punches could level buildings if she put her all into it, holding back against opponents she had no intention to kill was a good trait to have. However, her luck ran short when it came to fighting against Neopolitan. The diminutive sour-mouthed criminal may have been smaller and weaker, but she was faster, much faster, and arguably more skilled. She also had a semblance which was very difficult to deal with even on a good day. The only reason Yang was able to keep track of her was because she made a mistake making noise while climbing up a fire escape. Sadly, the normal security footage stopped there, so he couldn't see what happened on top of the roof when Yang chased her.

Instead, he continued watching the blurry and grainy footage all the way until he watched Cinder Fall sprint across the street and leap up onto the building. From that camera's point of view, there were several flashes of orange light, likely from the explosions of Cinder's semblance, and the abilities of the man he had failed to protect Ambert from. His suspicions were previously confirmed when he saw the Bullhead Neopolitan escape dipped underneath the edge of the building before rising back up to escape through the sky. Inside the ship, he couldn't see the man's face, but he could see the way his eyes glowed in the darkness within the Bullhead's hull. The man had green eyes, which made his abilities make his eyes glow green with flames. That much was enough, and Qrow knew that Salem's enemies were here.

"Good job, Yang," Qrow whispered as he put the scroll back into his breast pocket. He stood up with a sigh, cracking his back and then his knuckles as he made his way out of the Bullhead which had just landed at one of Beacon's most crowded air docks. He thanked the pilot for his good flying skills and made a promise to pay for a drink for him sometime later that week. When his foot touched the ground outside, he let out a reminiscent sigh. Seeing Beacon after so long was always a sensation he could never get used to. The castle-like academy was just as massive as it was when he first stepped foot into it. He remembered his time as a student here as if it were just yesterday.

"It's like I never left," he said as he walked into the opening of the courtyard. With the Vytal Festival Tournament Ball drawing near, there were plenty of students out and about even on a weekend. They were in charge of setting events up for Beacon's grounds specifically, so of course they wanted to make sure that they were going to have the best time they could have. That was the kind of freedom that he enjoyed the most.

"Beacon never sleeps," a voice he recognized all too easily said from his right as he began walking toward the school. "Just like a little brother of mine who never visits, calls, or writes…"

"Raven," Qrow greeted her politely. "It's good to see you again, sister, how are the girls?"

"Don't change the subject." Raven barked. "You know just as well as I am that they are in Beacon and probably training around this time. Your business is with me before anyone else."

"I was afraid that you were going to say that…'' Qrow sighed, shaking his head and crossing his arms before turning and making his way to his sister. "Can we not do this right now…? I am an adult, I mean, I may be the younger of us but it's only by minutes and yet I am the one with graying hair."

"That's because you don't tend to your hair as much as I do mine." Raven remarked. "You've been working too much. Little brother. You always have. You're thirty-eight, and yet you look like you're fifty."

"Wow, that's um… harsh," Qrow said, mildly embarrassed as he scratched at his face. "I did shave this morning, so I thought I'd look younger than that."

"I speak the truth. I understand that the kind of work you do is the kind you believe you have to do no matter what. But there is a time for investigating and a time for rest." Raven spat to the side. "There is never a time to work yourself to death."

"Well, when my job involves protecting the world from evil deities, it kind of does."

"Don't take that tone with me young man." Raven jabbed her finger into his chest. "First you will treat me and the girls to dinner tonight, then you will have a good nights sleep. Then you can go to Salem and that tiger lady-"

"General Sienna Khan." Qrow corrected.

Raven didn't care.

"-whatever it is you discovered on your months long scouting mission. Am I understood?"

"Listen, Raven, as much as I'd love to sit and have dinner with you and my nieces I'm afraid that is going to have to wait. I have information that I need to pass on to the headmistress and the general. Important information."

"More important than your poor, worrying older sister?" Raven took a kind teasing tone that was much too kind and teasing to be considered actually kind and teasing. It was a warning tone. The kind of tone only a little brother could comprehend and think twice before replying to his older sister.

And yet still, Qrow made that mistake.

"You don't need to watch over me anymore, Raven." Qrow said, his own frustration boiling forward. "I am not a little kid. I am a grown man, and I can take care of myself."

"Is that so?" Raven raised an eyebrow, pressing a hand down on the hilt of her sword and popping it out of its sheath with her thumb. "Would that mean you can best me now? Can you prove that you don't need to be protected anymore? Because if my memory is correct, then I have saved your life through my portals three times in the last two months alone."

"I appreciate your support, Raven." Qrow said, reaching a hand behind his back and grasping Harbinger with one hand. "But whether or not I win or lose, I will always do what I think is right. No matter how much it might make you worry. I have a duty to the people of Remnant."

"You're starting to sound a little too much like Salem now…" Raven sneered as she slowly drew Omen out of its scabbard. "Another thing I am going to have to fix very soon…"

Blake grabbed her head and sighed explosively.

"Fine!" She exclaimed, looking at Yang with wide yellow eyes and a look of submission at last. "Fine! Yes! You can come with me, not like I needed to tell you that anyway since you've been following me for the past hour!"

"Yes!" Yang exclaimed, pumping one fist up in victory. "About time you finally gave in! Really, you can't just say "I'm going to go see my soldier boyfriend" and just expect me to not want to come and meet him myself as well."

"First off, I didn't say it like that!" Blake yelped. Face flushed with red. "Only that Adam was someone important to me that I wanted to see again after months of not being able to see him in person!"

"Yeah, but you text him and call him like, every day?" Yang pointed out. "At least almost every day. It really wasn't that hard to piece it together you know. Late night calls and texts, bathroom calls and texts, I mean," She elbowed her knowingly in the side. "Were you actually trying to hide it?"

"If you're suggesting we do anything like that over the phone, then you are very wrong."

"But you didn't deny that you two were dating."

"That's-" Blake sighed heavily. "I can't have it be public, Yang. My father… he doesn't exactly approve of Adam. This is serious."

"I am taking this seriously now." Yang said, halting her amusement and attempting to tease her as she lended an ear to listen instead.

"Adam and I only got together rather recently. About five months ago. It might not sound recent, but we've known each other for about six years before that." Blake began. "His family has always been involved in the military, even back when Mantle was still called Atlas. He's a prodigy, and he learned skills and weapons and his own semblance extremely quickly for his age. It was why he was made to become my teacher."

"Okay, what's so wrong about that?" Yang asked.

"He was fifteen and I was eleven." Blake said next. "Now he is twenty one, and I am seventeen, almost eighteen very soon."

"Ah… I see where you're going with this." Yang said. "One of those age difference problems. Still, you're practically a legal adult anyway right now. Isn't the age of consent over there in Mantle sixteen?"

"It is, but not always." Blake said. "It used to be eighteen before it was lowered. My family, namely my father, is rather old fashioned. It doesn't help that Adam openly speaks against his business practices, and… well…" she pulled at her collar nervously. "Accuses him of abusing me."

"Does he?" Yang asked.

"Yang-"

"Blake, does he?"

"My father… is a complicated man." Blake relented. "He has a legacy to uphold. We are descendents of Ben Belladonna. The man that earned faunus their acknowledgement and acceptance all around the world. Now that the Belladonnas have gone from military heroes to business manufacturers of Dust, he has shoes to fill. Sometimes that can stress him out… to a point where sometimes, yes, he does get rather… aggressive."

"Just because someone has a few bad days at work doesn't give them the right to ever lay their hands on their children." Yang snapped, her brow furrowed as she clenched her fists tightly in anger. "Adam is a good man for calling him out on that. I already approve of him for that. No wonder your dad hates him, he might just be the only one who calls him out on his shit."

"Thank you, Yang." Blake said, smiling calmly as she put a hand on her partner's shoulder. It was rare that she genuinely enjoyed her company, though exaggerated as that may be, right now, Blake was grateful to have Yang at her side. "I feel a little less worried about bringing you along with me now."

"Heh, glad to hear it."

Adam was seen leaning against a stone pillar with his eyes closed. Yang whistled internally when she first saw him, he was handsome, with bright red hair that probably made her sister like him immediately and a black outfit. He wore a long coat buttoned up from the front and flowing down to the back of his knees. Black boots and pants to go with it which all looked uniform. What caught her eye next was the choice of weapon. Blake told her that he called his weapon Wilt, but for some reason Yang saw it and thought of her mother's weapon. She wondered how similar their styles could be granted they used the same kind of weapon. Though even from far away she could tell that Adam's sword was slightly shorter than Raven's. She also wondered if it also had any firing mechanisms for longer ranged battles. He was a Specialist, so Yang didn't doubt for a minute that it did.

He seemed to have sensed their arrival, for he opened his bright blue eyes and looked at Blake and smiled. He pushed off the wall and went to her, all but ignoring Yang as he grabbed Blake's hands and squeezed them. Blake looked up at him and smiled, squeezing his hands back. It was a romantic scene, Yang's heart melted just by looking at it. The two of them clearly cared about each other very much.

"It's good to see you again, Blake." Adam said. "How have you been?"

"Okay," Blake said. "Can't complain too much. This is my partner and leader of Team YBWR."

Upon being introduced suddenly, Yang greeted him. "Yang Xiao Long is the name," she said with a smirk. "Glad to finally be able to meet the fabled Adam after catching Blake texting you all the time. You didn't tell me he was so tall, Blake."

"I just didn't think of it," Blake shrugged uncaringly.

"It's good to meet you, Yang." Adam said, shaking her hand when she offered. "You may know me already but I'd like to introduce myself again anyway. I am Specialist Adam Taurus, though you may call me Adam off the clock."

"Then let me just say this, Adam," Yang looked at his outfit a second time. Not checking him out, but just admiring the fit. "You look badass."

"Hmph," Adam looked at Blake. "Your friend is funny."

"Heh…" Blake looked like she had just swallowed a lemon. What was she so worried about? Yang wondered. She was great at talking to new people.

One hundred percent success rate so far.

"You've met the best of her, which is something that I am grateful for. Shall we go to lunch like we said? I hope you don't mind her coming along, she wouldn't stop asking once I said I was going to see you…"

"That's fine with me." Adam said. "It gives me the opportunity to get to know your leader I'd like to also meet your other teammates if that is alright."

"One day I will have you meet them all." Blake promised. "Now, let's go before-"

All of their eyes widened when they heard a crash as two bodies came smashing through a solid concrete wall. They were all outside and this wall lead to the grass outside into a small nature reserve Beacon kept on grounds. But the two who came through it were two people none of them expected. One of them being another Specialist, Qrow Branwen, who was also Yang's Uncle, and another which Blake had met only once, Raven Branwen. They both looked like they had fought through an army of Grimm. With several cuts and bruises on their bodies, their aura's flickered red as they ground their blades against each other. Sparks flew, both from their aura's and also from their weapons as they pushed against each other.

"Surprised to see that you can keep up with me." Qrow said through gritted teeth. "Here I thought sitting in the house all day would have made you soft!"

"Don't make me laugh!" Raven scowled as she pushed harder. "I train every single day! I will never let my little brother become stronger than I! I may be a mother now, but I will always be a warrior!"

"Is… is that?" Blake weakly pointed at Raven.

"Yeah… that's my mom." Yang said, her face showing barely contained excitement. "And… that's my uncle Qrow!"

"Uncle?" Adam questioned.

"Eh?" Qrow looked over, seeing Yang and then feeling his eyes widen. "Yang! I'll say hi soon, I'm kinda dealing with something right now- Urgh!"

"Pay attention!" Raven shouted as she pushed Qrow away, winning the battle of strength as Qrow sent back skidding across the ground with a fresh new bruise across his cheek thanks to Raven punching him in the face with her off hand. He recovered gracefully, righting himself back up as he held Harbinger out in a defensive posture.

"That was a cheap shot!" Qrow exclaimed. "That doesn't count!"

"It counts because you were a dumbass!" Raven shouted back. "Focus on your enemy! How could you forget that simple rule!"

"Not all of us were raised by bandits!"

"Not all of us were raised by pussies!"

"I've… never seen Specialist Branwen in such a manner." Adam said, holding a hand on the hilt of Wilt as he sighed and began walking forward. "But in any case, I cannot allow this to go on."

"Oh, oh, are you going to fight too?" Far from worry or concern like Blake thought she might have seen from Yang, she only saw her excitement double when she saw Adam take steps toward Qrow and Raven Branwen. "Please do! I want to see how you fare against the strongest huntsmen of Vale and Mantle!"

"Wait… but… Adam is supposed to be…" Blake weakly said.

"It is said that I am the best of Mantle." Adam said. "But that is yet to be proven."

"What do you think you're doing?" Raven said when she saw Adam step in between her and Qrow. "This is a sibling debacle. Go back to your tiger lady and let me finish knocking some sense into my little brother."

"You two are causing a disturbance in this area." Adam said. "I wouldn't be stepping in if you weren't putting bystanders in danger. They may be students of Beacon, but anything can go wrong if you are caught off guard. I will be issuing this warning once." Adam drew Wilt, its long red blade shining in the sun as he pointed it at Raven. "Stop this now or take it elsewhere."

"Kid," Qrow chuckled as Adam turned toward him. "There's one thing you need to know about my sister. It's that she never listens to anything anyone tells them. There's only one language that my sister understands, and that's violence."

"Violence is the answer to everything in the right circumstances," Raven remarked, pointing Omen at Adam in turn. "And you are about to find that out very soon…"

"I was actually hoping it didn't have to come to this…" Adam said, sighing as he stepped back and faced both of them. It didn't look like the two Branwens were going to ally against him, but more like they were all going to fight each other at the same time. A fairly even battlefield that may even be in his favor since he was still fresh and full of stamina. "But if I must force the issue, then so be it."

Raven was the first to attack him, her crimson blade soaring through the air like a streak of blood. Adam raised his blade up to parry, but found himself surprised behind the power of Raven's attack. He was forced to convert his parry into a block and then slide the blade off of his before slashing forward horizontally. He didn't know how the middle aged woman was able to do it, but she managed to flip over backwards over his blade and somehow ended up behind him. He was about to turn to counter the counterattack, but a thick silvery blade came in to his rescue instead.

Qrow parried the strike and pushed Raven away. Then lunged after her in a spark of red. Adam didn't miss a beat, coming in alongside him and attacking Raven at her blind spot in hopes of dealing some actual damage to the nimble woman. However, the second he made the attempt, the same silver blade that had just saved him came to impede him. Red ground against silver and Adam found himself skidding back as Qrow now started going after him rather than his sister. Scowling, Adam did the same, clashing with Qrow head on and exchanging three rapid blows with him before going low and sweeping the man's out from under him. Rather than finish off any sort of combo, he instead pushed himself back up and slashed at Raven. Whom he had a feeling was coming from behind him to stop him from hitting her little brother any longer. Raven's red blade met his and they locked together, the woman smirking down at him with an impressed yet competitive glint in her eyes as they pushed against each other with all their might.

"Looks like you Specialists aren't all bark and not bite like I thought you'd be," Raven said as she shoved the back of her blade, forcing Adam away from her. "You're strong, extremely strong for someone your age. But you're ten years too early to be challenging me."

"Oh, is this all you have?" Adam asked, sounding tauntingly disappointed. "I'm holding back so I don't end up hurting you."

"Oh?" Raven, far from getting enraged, simply chuckled. "Looks like the bark has a sting too. Interesting. You remind me of me when I was your age."

"What about me?" Yang asked from the sidelines.

"Shut up, I love you." Raven snapped.

"Love you too…" Yang pouted, then turned to Blake. "Your boyfriend is doing pretty good. He can actually match my mom's strength to a certain extent. Am I going to be able to see his semblance here?"

"No, he won't use it." Blake replied.

"Huh? Why not?"

"It's too destructive," Blake explained. "The way it works is that he collects kinetic energy through his sword or his body, and then unleashes it all in one explosive attack that destroys even colors. It's similar to yours actually, now that I think about it."

"Really? That's cool, and disappointing." Yang pouted again. "I would have liked to see it in action after hearing that."

"Don't forget about me now!" Qrow exclaimed as he tapped Adam on the shoulder. The red haired specialist turned and swung at the man, to which the older specialist replied by simply backstepping and dodging the strike. "Good to see that my old student grew up to be so strong."

"Hm," Adam nodded back. "I would have said it was good to see you again since it's been so long since you've trained me. But as you can see, the circumstances don't exactly call for a touching greeting of reunion."

"You trained this kid?" Raven asked, suddenly behind Adam and grabbing him by his shoulder. Adam flinched and thought to rid the woman from his side, but controlled himself when he saw that she was making no motion to attack him. "Hm, I guess that explains things. His style of fighting is really aggressive. Similar to the Branwen way."

"Picked up a few things from me, I see." Qrow said, holstering Harbinger. That made Adam relax, the fight was extremely short with only a few exchanges here and there. But it was making his blood boil with adrenaline despite that. It was a good fight. He shared a nod with Qrow, seeing that his prior goal in stopping the two siblings from fighting was actually successful. Now, he turned to Raven, raising an eyebrow toward her and wondering whether or not she was done with the fight.

"I want to fight you again someday," Raven said, yawning as she stretched her arms above her head. "But from where I live it's about time to sleep. So you can count on an actual match later." With that, she opened a portal back to her home, offering Adam a two finger salute as she began making her departure. "Don't think that we are done just yet, little brother," she said to Qrow. "I'm not done with you, we're going to continue our earlier conversation later."

"Looking forward to it," Qrow said drowsily as the portal closed behind Raven.

"That is a strange woman." Adam said once Raven was gone.

"Well hey, at least you passed her test!" Yang shouted as she made her way nearer to them, clinging onto Qrow's arm once she closed the distance and hugging him. "She didn't insult you or curse at you, instead she actually complimented her. That's rare coming from mom."

"She has a very strange way of showing affection then." Adam said as he wiped sweat from his brow. "I wasn't sure whether or not she was testing me or just messing around."

"Eh, that's the whole family, really." Yang said, then looked up at Qrow. "And where have you been! I haven't seen you for two years, Uncle Qrow!"

"Heh, you know how it is, kid, I have work to do nowadays. Also, I live in Mantle now, don't you remember that?" Qrow asked.

"I do but still! There's been nothing from you!" Yang exclaimed, pouting up at him as she pinched a certain nerve in his elbow that had Qrow wincing. "Apologize."

"I am severely sorry." Qrow drawled sarcastically, which earned him a playful punch from his niece.. "It is good to see you again though, kid, seriously. You look a lot stronger now."

"Hmph," Yang pretended not to preen under the praise. "No thanks to you, deadbeat Uncle."

"I am anything but deadbeat, excuse you." Ruffling up her hair, Yang and Qrow shared a laugh. "Hey, Adam, before we part ways again I do want to apologize for me and my sisters actions today. Me and her… We have a certain way of communicating with each other. It's a Branwen thing, beating each other up is just how we say we missed each other."

"Besides a shattered wall, there was no harm done." Adam said, turning away from him and toward Blake, who was all shades of red with embarrassment. "I want to be able to spend the time I have left with her though. If it's okay with you, can we catch up another time?"

"By all means, go hang out with your girlfriend," Qrow said, winking teasingly at the bull faunus. Earning an eye roll in return as Adam began walking away.

"I'm guessing you won't be able to hang out with me in turn?" Yang asked, looking down at the ground as she did so. Qrow suddenly felt guilty. In truth, he would love nothing more than to be able to spend time with his family. But it was one of the many sacrifices he had to make in order to ensure the safety of everyone as a whole.

"One day, I'll tell you why I am always so busy." Qrow said, reaching out and again patting Yang on the head. "But I can't now. My work is dangerous. There's a reason why I came back to Vale, and… You wouldn't like it if I said it."

"It's fine…" The way Yang squirmed said that it wasn't fine at all. But he was grateful that she was at least making an effort. Ruby was not so understanding. Which was why he was going to go see her after his talk with Sienna and Salem. "Be careful though, okay? Everytime I see you again you look older, and for a guy your age with an aura it's not healthy. Try to remember when it's time to unwind all that stress, okay?"

"I'll try, if I have the time," Qrow said. "See you around kid, trust me, it won't be long until you see me again. I'll make sure of it."

And that last line is essentially being said to you all as well. This is where I am going to have to leave things off for now. As I said before, I am going into Basic Training very soon.

But I promise that I will be coming back to this story someday. No matter if it's in January of 2022 or if it's somehow in the midst of my training. Don't keep your hopes up for that last part, I really doubt I will be able to sit at a computer for so many hours during that time in between.

Until next time, guys and gals. Thanks for the support I have received thus far.