The air was thick with fog, her eyes watering as she strained them to see more than a few inches past her face. Her steps were unsteady as she walked, the loose gravel on the path crunching and grinding against each other with each step she took. It was all she could hear, if she stopped moving there would be silence, not a bird tweeting, not a leaf rustling.

She was in some sort of garden, or at least she thought she was. She had walked into bushes more than once as she wandered blindly through the cloudy expanse. Each bush was littered with countless roses, ranging from white to black, red to blue, not a single rose the same as any previous. The bushes had pushed her gently off of their forms mass, thorn-less vines steadying her form as she collected her bearings once more.

Ruby wandered for what felt like hours, content to walk as cool air comforted her. She looked down at her arms and notice that her skin was unmarred by the welts and scars that had been there only that morning. She ran a finger along the length of her wrists, where there had previously been scarring from her shackles constantly rubbing against her flesh, yet all she felt was soft white flesh as she pulled the digit across her forearm. She noticed that she wasn't wearing anything, yet she didn't feel cold. She had been sweating from the constant walking, but the fog had seemed to stop her from overheating.

Her absent tracing of her, now invisible, scars was interrupted as she heard a high-pitched ringing, like silver bells dangling from strings as the wind gently buffeted them. She frantically looked around, searching for the source of the quiet melody. She turned to her right, finally deciding on the direction, she ran towards the sound. The ringing grew louder as she ran, slowly she could feel herself get closer and closer, and yet after long minutes of running; she saw nothing.

But she felt it. Something was pressing against her bare back pushing her forward as she ran, stumbling every so often as she sprinted. Finally, the fog cleared revealing a figure in a white cloak standing in a small wooden structure, the face of the figure shadowed by the hooded cloak it wore. She looked behind her to see who had been pushing her along, only to be met with a blood-red rose bush from where she had come. She looked back at the figure puzzled.

The ringing of the bells drew to a close as the figure reached out a pale skinned hand to cup Ruby's face. She had initially pulled away but as the warm, outstretched hand made contact with her skin she couldn't help but nuzzle into the familiarity it provided. She could feel tears form in her eyes as she looked up at the figure, yet she didn't know why. All she could do was lean further into the touch as the vines of the garden slowly wrapped around her form, gently cocooning her within its mass, the last thing she saw was a pair of piercing silver eyes look her in the eye before saying.

'Good luck'.

Junior had known that Apep was mad, insane even, but this? This bordered on suicidal. What was he thinking? Junior looked around at his staff, gathered in the private booth of his club, the music quietly playing in the background. He had ordered an early close up after everyone had gathered and all of the club-goers had been shooed out leaving the group of twenty-six people sat around a large table in the back corner. To his right were the twins, both looking exhausted, though not as exhausted as Joy who Jack was supporting beside them. Ruby hadn't seemed to be in a life-threatening situation, but out of precaution Joy had used her semblance to undo as much damage done to her body as she could, the girl would still scar but she wouldn't have any lasting injuries from her time with Apep.

To Junior's right, stood with his arms folded over his chest, was Jax, running an occasional hand through his highlighted hair. Mavis was to Jax's left and from there the rest of his staff panned out, looking towards the centre of the giant table with Jill being directly opposite Junior. There was a light chatter permeating through the room as they waited for Junior to start talking. Some discussed what they thought this was about, whilst otherwise exchanged small talk or bragged about various un-important things. The last member joined them, making their total number twenty-seven.

His name was Bartholomew, or Bart as they called him, he was one of the few in the inner circle that didn't directly work for Junior though he was born into the orphanage just as they had been. Bart had been prodigiously smart, going on to attend Vale University and later enrolling in a hunter college. He currently worked at said hunter college as a professor of history. He was tall, lanky and unkempt, with round spectacles halfway down his nose and shaggy green hair that had never even seen a comb. He wore a white shirt and a red tie for the occasion, but it was poorly done up and the top few buttons of his shirt were either undone or buttoned incorrectly.

"Sorry for being late everyone, you wouldn't believe the traffic in Vale, even at this hour." Others at the table nodded agreeing with his statement as he sat beside Jill causing her to shuffle away slightly and hold her nose for a moment. It made some of the others chuckle at the sight, Bart had never been the best at remaining hygienic, not because he didn't want to be, but simply because he forgot to stop working to shower, often times falling asleep in the middle of his work. Junior sighed at his friend's antics before standing and grabbing everyone's attention, the room falling silent as he did so. He looked around at them, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Thank you all for coming, I'm sorry for calling on you so late at night, but this cannot wait." He saw the others nod in understanding around the table curiosity sparking in their eyes as he spoke. He glanced at Joy who had resumed glaring daggers at him, causing him to sigh again. Most of them understood that big meetings like this weren't called simply to catch up and Junior had only called a dozen or so of them in his time running the club. He would often call then when a large, often risky business option arose and he wanted their opinions, some may have thought that to be the case this time, but as they saw him ponder how to speak most knew it was not.

"As some of you know," he glanced to the staff that had been on duty that night, "I went to Apep's place today. There, I purchased two young girls not dissimilar to Melanie and Miltia. They were promising and so I made the decision to take them off his hands." He looked around to gauge their reactions, some looking at him disapprovingly, but most passively contemplating where he was going with this. "The first was a Faunas girl called Ilia Amitola. She is a chameleon Faunas and, though we don't know what her semblance is yet, her heritage will make her a useful spy. The second is a young human girl at the age of eight, by the name of Ruby Rose." He paused for effect before continuing some of them gaping like fish at his words. "Yes, you heard me right, Rose is her last name. At first, I thought Apep was lying to me about the girl's heritage, simply trying to sell me a product if you will. However, Joy and I have seen something tonight that is rather… concerning." He took a preparatory breath.

"The girl has a Grimm mark." The statement hung heavy in the air, choking all those in the room as they spluttered for further answers and let out disbelieving noises and gasps. Junior waited for a moment to allow them to partially work it out of their systems before he continued. "It's true. As you can imagine, this is a big deal, hell if we aren't careful, even we are not safe from the backlash." Bart looked at Junior disbelievingly with his eyebrows raised at the absurdity of the situation.

"Hei, you can't be serious, everybody knows only the royal family, the Branwen family, can survive the application of a Grimm mark. Are you seriously suggesting that Raven has a bastard born child?" The room turned silent as all in attendance turned to Junior. He shook his head causing Bart to further raise his eyebrows.

"No, if what Apep said was the truth, and Summer Rose is this girl's mother then that can only mean the Raven's older brother Qrow is her father." A few of the staff hummed in understanding seeing how that was plausible, after all Summer Rose had served as his bodyguard for many years before her mysterious disappearance. Bart wasn't so trusting.

"Well, what's to say that Apep wasn't lying, if it's as you say, and he was trying to sell her to you then he could have easily lied and made up her relation to Summer Rose." Many let out their agreement it did seem logical for the trafficker to make her seem as valuable as possible to bump up the price. They quieted again as Junior shook his head.

"Because, he had no reason to lie. You and I both know that Apep would have done DNA tests to find out who her parents were and if she was a Branwen, then he wouldn't need Summer's name to make her seem valuable; a Branwen child would have been worth even more." Chatter broke out again for a few moments before quieting down to allow the conversation to continue.

"Then why didn't he claim her to be a Branwen child?" the silence that followed was almost deafening as all heads turned to face Junior. He took another large breath before looking up.

"This is only a theory of mine, but it would make sense, to me at least." He waited for the warning to sink in. "As many of you know Raven Branwen is the second daughter of the Royal family, she is married to the Xiao-Long family's Taiyang. They gave birth to a child that is currently ten years of age and currently in line for the throne just behind Raven, Qrow and of course the current king. However, if my theory is right and Ruby is the bastard daughter of Qrow and his bodyguard and close friend, or in this case secret lover, Summer Rose, then Ruby would be next in line after Raven and Qrow." The silence was smothering as nobody moved from their chairs at the implications this had on their situation. He continued, deciding to put the whole theory out there at once. "What if the Xiao-long family found out about her existence and, after Summer disappeared, decided to get rid of the girl by selling her to Apep." Bart looked up confused and spoke again.

"Why not just kill her?" the question was sound and many in the room made their agreement known.

"Because, nobody knows if Summer is actually dead, she just disappeared as far as anyone knows. It's much easier for them to feign ignorance, should she reappear, as to not knowing the child's heritage and selling her off as a slave than it is to cover up a murder within the Rose household. A murderer runs the risk of getting caught and traced back to them, but simply being 'complacent' and letting someone like Apep into the house when the guards were fewest in number was something that could be chalked up to 'accident'." Bart finally nodded seeing the logic in the train of thought. It was Mavis that spoke up next.

"Well what does this mean for us? It's good an' all that we figured out where she came from, but what will we do with this information? It's not like we can hold her for ransom to the Branwen family or anything, she's a bastard, and unless Qrow acknowledges her as his legitimate kid and marries a woman that's been missing for six years, she's an easy target." Bart nodded before speaking up.

"Could we hand her over to the Rose household?" Junior shook his head and Joy spoke up to fill in his meaning.

"She would just be killed this time. The Xiao-longs wouldn't just let 'er reappear and it would just put a target on our backs for being associated." Jax let out an agreeing grunt as did a few others.

"Then what do we do with her? I mean How did she even get the mark? Don't they have some sort of special ritual that requires them to come of age or something?" It was Bart who interrupted Mavis as she spoke.

"Actually, from what my knowledge on the situation tells me, there are two ways for a Branwen to get a mark." Others leaned into the explanation. "The first is as you know 'the coming of age ritual' they do at the age of thirteen. In this ritual the Branwen child is pushed to their limits for a week straight, living off of only the bare minimum and training with an older Branwen day and night, until they collapse each day. The combined effects of their natural resistance to Grimm blood and their enhanced aura allow them to handle the blood with little issue." Everyone nodded having heard the gruelling tales of the Branwen ritual before. Bart continued.

"The second is far less common, but was how the first Branwens manifested their marks, before the ritual existed. This method is much, much harder." Some in the room gulped but gestured for him to continue. "Tell me Hei, did she have blood depicted on her tattoo?" Junior hesitated, thinking back to the nightmarish sight of the blood dripping off of the white thorns. He nodded. "I, see. That confirms it then. She must have been given Grimm blood at birth or shortly after. Many years ago, when civilisation was in its infancy, the Branwens decided to feast on the Grimm that they killed to survive. The experience would be extremely painful, for a normal person it would most likely prove fatal, with the Grimm blood attempting to devour the individual's soul. However, the Branwens gradually built up a resistance to the blood's effects. You see when a Branwen child goes through the ritual, their soul is pushed to its limits, there will to survive is pushed until it can't take it anymore. This forces their soul to strengthen in order for them to survive they learn to manipulate their souls in order to gain an unearthly power that the family are known for."

"The second method forces the soul to expand by threatening to destroy it with the blood, resulting in a much quicker transformation. This also allows a Branwen to obtain their tattoo before they reach thirteen allowing it to grow faster and stronger than the other method. The problem with it is that it becomes a lot harder to control, the Grimm blood never truly disappears. The blood fuses with the tattoo in order to survive, this means that if the Branwen child does not restrain the small part of them that is now Grimm then they can lose control altogether, becoming Grimm entirely." Bart finished his explanation, only to realise the room was eerily quiet, his friends and family staring at him over the table as he had explained. Junior was first to recover gulping quietly he spoke up, deciding it time they came to a decision.

"Well, there you have it. The question now is, what you all want to do?" he looked around waiting for someone to have the initiative to speak up and voice an opinion. For a moment none spoke up, instead thinking deeply about what options were available to them. It was a small hand on his right elbow that broke him from his own stupor. He looked up to see Miltia and Melanie staring pleadingly at him as they spoke.

"I say we keep her." It was Melanie that spoke first, and though Miltia winced at the blunt approach her sister took, she nodded in agreement as she continued. "She's been through enough." She looked around at the group she considered her family. "She's been a subject to Apep for at least a month, perhaps years, lost her mother, didn't know her other family and now survived being injected with Grimm blood. I can't knowingly push her away, not like everyone else has." Miltia put a hand on her sister's shoulder and walked slightly in front of her to show her support as she spoke.

"I know it seems dangerous, but I agree with the twins" it was Bart who spoke his head leaning on his fingers that were laced over his chin. "You wanted a powerful girl from Apep Hei, well you got one. I will take over her studies when she is ready to learn, and I will try to use my connections in Beacon to get an audience with Qrow. It may take years but hopefully I will manage it." The twins nodded to him gratitude clear in their eyes, he simply sipped from brandy he had swiped from the bar. Junior would have made him pay, but he was offering a lot right now, a cheap brandy was nothing on that. It was Jax who everyone turned to next.

"I've always wanted to fight a Branwen, get a look at that 'ungodly' power myself. Well, now I can train one, seems like that could be fun." The twins shuddered at the mention of his training, he may have been laid back in public, but when fighting was concerned, he was a demon. Junior nodded to his friend as some others slowly put in their own piece. None decided they wanted to get rid of her, most offering to help in some way. The last to speak was Joy who was brooding quietly until the attention turned to her.

"Of course, we're keepin' 'er, the real question is what to do about her tattoo, that ain't easy to simply play off as coincidence." The room hummed in unspoken agreement. "Not only that but none of us know how to control a Grimm mark, how is she gonna learn, especially since she got it harder than a regular Branwen child by doing the old method." Another hum permeated through the air. A voice cut in.

"I may be able to help with that" The voice was calm, if somewhat mocking as it spoke. All heads in the room turned to the man sat on Bart's other side a black bowler hat sat proudly on his bright orange locks as he smoked a cigar. He stood to gesture as he spoke displaying clearly his pristine white suit and black trousers, a red scarf accenting his outfit around his neck. He twirled around a cane as he paced, not out of dependence but just to make a show of it. "You see I have an individual under my employ who is in a similar boat to your young Branwen. If the same generosity is extended to her and Hei is willing, I will give her to you to raise alongside the Rose girl." Junior regarded the man sceptically.

"Roman, what do you mean by similar 'boat'?" Roman chuckled as he beheld the concerned look the usually stoic man was emanating. He corrected himself quickly realising he may be making an ass of himself.

"Well you see, it recently came to my attention that the Branwen family isn't the only one with a resistance to Grimm blood."