Badabing-badaboom here I am with another chapter. I don't have much to say so I hope ye enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any of the other elements I've taken from other shows, all of them belong to their respective owners.

Ryver looked on at the shattered village from afar with his fists clenched. The raid was over and the tribe had gotten what they had came for.

When he first experienced the raid as a victim, he never really noticed what went down around with all the adrenaline pumped in his system and the whole avoiding being shanked shtick. Now that he was in the attack squad, Ryver finally witnessed firsthand how messy things got.

His fists tightened as he recalled the screams and the blood of the people. They stuck to his mind, endlessly reminding him of what he had contributed to.

The light of Remnant's cracked moon shone onto the quaint village.

"Quiet as always." A boy with lilac hair said, the night breeze blowing against him. He gazed at the moon before snapping back, feeling a hand on his shoulder.

"We should get back before Lyla starts nagging again." An older man with the same lilac hair and a scruffy beard appeared by the boy's side. "We both know we don't want to hear it again." He said with a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I don't know what her lungs are made of, but once she gets going, she can't stop." The pair laughed as they made their way back home. "So, what'd you think of today's training?"

"That you like playing dirty." The boy eyed the man, causing him to snicker. "Hey, that's cause you did it first. I say that was me getting even."

The boy rolled his eyes as his frown was replaced with a smile. "So how long do we have to wait until you finally move us to Argus, so we can attend Sanctum?" He asked the man eagerly.

"When I decide you're ready. And with all the bandits acting up again I'm not sure if we should leave."

"Isn't that more of a reason that we should leave?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

"Are you forgetting that it takes at least a week or two to get to Argus? I don't want to risk the danger of running into any of those bandits with the two of you." The man then ruffled the boy's hair. "Besides, are you that eager to leave Kousa? It is your home."

They boy looked down, frowning again seemingly reminiscing something unpleasant. "It's just, ever since mom and dad... I want to feel what it's like to be a huntsmen like them. They were always smiling no matter how much danger they were in, even on that day. I just...wanna know how it feels." He finished clenching his fist.

"Hey," The man put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're a great kid, Viridian. It's only a matter of time before you get enrolled into Sanctum. Your parent's would be proud of you." He reassured the boy.

"Thanks, Uncle Heath." He said feeling a bit better.

"Now, let's hope we're not too late." Heath said as they both turned to the door of their home.

Entering, they were greeted with a short lilac haired girl with her hands on her hips adorning a pout.

The two males looked on nervously as they sweat dropped. "We aren't too late are we, Lyla?"

"I finished preparing dinner an hour ago." The girl deadpanned. "I thought I told the both of you to be back before sundown?"

"We got caught up in training." Viridian scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact with his twin sister.

"Do you have anything to say?" She turned her gaze towards her uncle who sheepishly coughed. "What he said." Heath jabbed his thumb at his nephew before also turning away.

"What am I going to do with the two of you." The girl sighed, placing her hand on her forehead before shaking it. "I'll reheat dinner so go sit down or something."

"Thanks as always, Lyla." Her uncle said as the two males grinned cheekily.

The two set their weapons aside before sitting down at their dining table. Lyla returned shortly with two plates. She set them on the table as the two males eyes widened in delight.

"Porkchops? What's the special occasion? We rarely get to eat them." Viridian turned to his sister drooling, much to her disgust.

"Nothing, I just got a good deal from granny Birch."

"Well, thank granny Birch for providing us with cheap pork!" Heath said grabbing his knife and fork.

But before either of the two could enjoy their dinner, screams echoed from outside. Their heads snapped to the windows from where they heard the scream.

"What happened?" Lyla asked a little worried.

Heath got up and looked out the window. "Bandits..." He muttered, although Viridian was able to hear him. "What?!"

"I need to stop them." The man picked up his weapon before being stopped by his nephew. "Let me go with you."

"No, it's too dangerous. You need to stay with your sister. Head towards the shack in the forest behind Kousa. I'll meet you there when I'm done." Heath stated firmly as the boy wavered. "But-"

"No buts. I made a promise to not put the two of you in danger. If worse comes to worse, remember what I taught you. Now go." He ran out the door leaving the two kids behind.

Viridian clenched his fists as he picked up his weapon. "You heard him, grab your rifle and let's go." He said bitterly.

Lyla nodded quickly getting her weapon before the two of them left their home for the last time.

It was all so sudden. In a matter of minutes, Kousa was overrun with bandits. It was as if they appeared from nowhere, striking when everyone was unwary. Chaos ensued as people and stores were getting robbed and threatened left and right.

Ryver carried a bunch of supplies in his bag which he stole. Unlike his peers, he only threatened the people and took what he needed. He didn't unnecessarily hurt anyone out of enjoyment or whatever reason the others acted on. At least, that was what he told himself to justify that he was different from the other bandits, although he knew that that was just an excuse.

He watched as his fellow bandits pillaged the village of it's supplies while injuring it's people in the process. Vernal certainly was having a 'fun' time, grinning all the way.

Ryver headed towards another store before seeing one of the tribesmen being flung away by someone.

"What the hell?" He perked up dashing towards the direction the tribesmen was thrown from.

Standing away from him was a man with lilac hair armed with a- "Is that a fucking sword mace?!" Ryver's eyes widened. "It looks exactly like the one Barbatos used."

The downed bandit looked at Heath in panic as he noticed Ryver was next to him. "Kid, you have no idea how happy I am to see you."

The masked boy scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'll assume you're way too weak to take him on and you want me to instead?"

The bandit nodded and immediately Ryver's bag was shoved into his arms. "Then do me a favor get the fuck out of here with that. And make sure you don't lose it, or you're going to be the one to explain to Raven why I came back empty handed."

"You got it." The bandit gulped before scramming away.

"Oh no you don't!" Heath dashed towards the man but was stopped by Ryver's blade. "If you want to chase after the buffoon, you'll have to deal with me first." The masked boy said pushing Heath back.

"That sword mace is heavier than I thought. Without Ren my arm might have bent the wrong way." Ryver narrowed his eyes as he brought his free arm up and placed his blade at the back of his hand.

Heath eyed him, bringing his weapon to rest on his shoulder. "Aren't you a little young to be a bandit?"

"Unfortunate circumstances." Ryver scoffed, leaping forward.

The two clashed, parrying strikes. Trying his best to push back, Ryver found it difficult to push back the man as the sheer weight and force of his weapon was too much for Ryver's blade.

Even though he had coated his sword with Shu, he was being forced back. "This one's different." He noted, stepping back to regain a safe distance. "You wouldn't happen to be a huntsman would you?"

Heath raised an eyebrow, before charging at the boy. "So what if I am?"

Ryver dodged as soon as Heath's weapon hit the ground. It boomed, as the sword mace left a small crater in the ground.

"That was a close one, I could have gotten smashed by that thing." Ryver clenched the handle of his blade, gazing at the huntsman. "I doubt I'll be able to beat him. I'll just have to stall until the others are done. God knows Raven or Vernal won't help me. 'You'll learn from it', I'm sure they'll say."

Shooting forward, Heath brought his weapon up for an overhead swing. Ryver spun around it, barely dodging the strike, slashing at the man's abdomen. Before it could fully hit though, Heath leaped back, the blade only slightly grazing him.

"I've got to say, you're not bad. You've got the skills to be a huntsman in training, so why join bandits?" Heath asked preparing for another strike.

"That's," Ryver pulled his head back from Heath's slash. "not really any of your concern." He spun back parrying the sword mace away, throwing a kick at the man only for his foot to meet with his arm.

"That's true but," Heath spun his weapon around slamming into Ryver's blade. "there's got to be a reason why."

"You know old man," Ryver grunted, leaping up in the air. "You should worry more about yourself and your village instead of some bandit." Their weapons clashed again as they tried to push each other back.

"Hey, I'm not that old." Heath said as he pushed closer to Ryver, nearing his face. "Well," Heath grunted as Ryver kicked him away with Gyo. "you definitely look like it."

The huntsman huffed, clearly offended. "Alright, well I was going easy on you since you are a kid. But I guess you're just the same as the rest."

Ryver felt a small pang in his chest. His eyes wavered a little as his grip on his blade tightened. "Yeah? I guess you shouldn't have assumed then."

He dashed forward once more only to be perfectly parried by Heath and kicked away. "Guh-!"

Heath narrowed his eyes as he placed his weapon on it's hilt. He placed his free hand on the mace as an audible click echoed. Slowly he pulled the handle away from what was the shell of the sword mace, revealing a great sword.

Ryver felt his eye twitch as he realized he was just about screwed. "Fuck me, how am I going to deal with that thing?!"

Leaping forward faster than before, Ryver found himself in a pinch trying to parry and block all of Heath's attacks. The strikes only felt quicker and hit harder as time passed, until...

*CRACK*

*BREAK*

Ryver pushed himself back as his blade shattered, leaving only the handle in his hand. Did he have a thing for breaking blades?

"What are you going to do now kid?" Heath spun his sword as he watched the crouched boy get back up.

Ryver didn't answer only clicking his tongue. Using a half-baked Ryu, he focused his aura to his legs and the handle in his hand.

In a flash, Ryver blinked forward chucking the aura covered handle at Heath. The man easily batted the handle away but was caught off guard by how hard it hit. Quickly recovering Heath swung his sword downwards at Ryver.

Using Gyo, the boy stopped the blade with his hand, albeit it hurt like hell. Shocked once more, the huntsman was again caught off guard as Ryver dug his foot with Ryu into his abdomen sending him back.

*BOOM*

Heath crashed into a nearby store as Ryver started to catch his breath. Surprisingly to the both of them, the boy had managed to separate the huntsman from his weapon.

Getting into a stance with the newly acquired weapon, Ryver readied himself as Heath got out of the store who was now equipped with the shell of his great sword.

"Viridian, this isn't the way to the shack! It's back that way!" Lyla exclaimed to her brother as she followed behind him. "Didn't you hear what Heath said?"

"I can't just leave him, we've got to help him." Viridian shook his head before he stopped in his tracks seeing the man he was looking for. "Uncle Heath!"

Heath and Ryver snapped to Viridian, the former shocked to see his nephew and niece had not gotten out of the village yet.

"What in gods name are you two still doing here?! I told you to get out of here!" Heath shouted in disbelief.

"There's no way I'm going to leave you alone to fight off the bandits! I'm training how to become a huntsman to help people not run away!" The boy countered.

Heath was taken aback at his nephew's words, giving Ryver a chance to blink forward one last time swinging the great sword now coated in aura at the man. Not being able to react in time, the huntsman was struck by his own blade before Ryver spun around kicking him, sending him flying back into the store.

*CRASH*

"Uncle Heath!" The siblings shouted as Viridian glared at the masked boy readying his weapon. "Why you little-!" But before he could do anything else, Raven's voiced echoed throughout the area.

"The Grimm are starting to show up, unless you don't want to turn in mush grab everything you can and get the hells out of here!"

Taking that as his cue, Ryver met eyes with the angered Viridian before tossing the great sword to the ground and dashing away.

Making it out of the currently demolishing village, Ryver noticed the corpses of the villagers who had been either killed by the bandits or mauled by the Grimm, while more screams echoed from all around.

It was a gruesome sight, as parts of the village was now painted red. And to think it was so quaint and peaceful before they had arrived. He felt sick in his stomach.

Meeting back up with Raven, Vernal and part of the other tribesman, he was greeted with a grin from Vernal and he couldn't tell what expression Raven had because of her mask.

"You held back the only person capable of getting in our way. He stopped some of us, good job." Raven said stoic.

"I would have loved to take him on myself, but Raven insisted that we left it to you." Vernal had her hands on the back of her head with a cheeky smirk.

Ryver nodded slightly, not saying anything. All he wanted right now, was to get the hell away from this place. Staying any longer would cause him a little too much guilt.

He eyed the group of bandits that managed to get out and noticed the guy he had helped earlier. "Oh, ugh here." The bandit said noticing that Ryver had looked at him, giving him back his bag.

Ryver grabbed it nonchalantly before returning his gaze to Raven. He tossed it to her, who caught it easily. She gave the boy a slight nod before turning back to the tribesmen.

"We're done here, head back to the camp." Everyone nodded as they started to move further away from the village.

Taking off his mask, Ryver looked back at the ravaged village once more before joining the rest with a conflicted expression.

Raven sat in her tent along with Ryver. They had returned to the camp not too long ago and everyone began sorting out their stolen goodies.

Raven wasn't particularly too happy with losing a few of her men to that huntsman in Kousa. She didn't expect to run into anyone capable in any of her recent raids, but then again, this was the second time. The first obviously being Ryver. Speaking of which, she was extremely satisfied with his dealings with said huntsman.

Although if those kids hadn't intervened and distracted the man, Ryver would have lost the battle shortly after. It put a smile on Raven's face knowing that her new bandit in training stood his ground against an actual capable huntsman, unlike those pansies from Argus Limited.

However, she couldn't help but notice Ryver's conflicted look ever since leaving Kousa. She had expected a snide remark or two after they had met up again, but was met with expressionless nods instead. The boy was silent the whole way back and Raven quickly pieced together that he was dealing with some sort of moral dilemma.

That was the reason she had called the boy to her quarters. She couldn't have him feeling guilty over a single raid. They were bandits. They stole and killed not morally questioned if what they did was right or wrong. Whatever turmoil Ryver had, was nonsensical and pointless in Raven's mind.

"Whatever conflict you have in that head of yours, get over it. Questioning it isn't going to change anything. You're a bandit not a sceptic, so act like one." The woman narrowed her eyes at Ryver who had his head turned away.

Yet again the boy said nothing, his head still turned away from the bandit queen.

"Did you hear me, Ryver?" Raven growled, irked by the boy's lack of a response. Much to her chagrin, he again remained silent.

"Ryver," Raven grabbed the boy's collar and slammed her head into his. Her red orbs glaring into his. "did you hear me?"

He visibly winced processing the pain on his forehead. "Yeah, I heard you." Ryver finally replied in a soft voice.

The air tensed as the two stared at each other for what seemed like forever, until Raven let out an audible annoyed sigh and pushed the boy away. "Alright, go get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow's training."

The boy got up to leave but was shortly stopped. "And, Ryver." He turned back to receive another glare from Raven. "Remember what I said."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." He replied waving his hand in the air as he left.

Raven sighed once more as she watched her 'apprentice' leave. It irritated her that she let him respond to her the way he did, but she decided to give him a pass seeing as he actually went through with everything unlike the last person she took under her wing.

He was still a pain to deal with though. Nevertheless, it would be a matter of time before she had him under control. Or at least that was what she wanted.

Ryver made his way into the tribe's dining tent, hungry. "You mind whipping something up for me, Orion?" He asked the tribe's cook, who obliged. "Sure thing, grab a seat. Vernal came in earlier for something to eat too. I'll bring your food to you when I'm done." The boy gave the chef a nod and headed over to where Vernal sat.

"So what did Raven want with you? She didn't chew you out did she?" Vernal asked with a laugh.

Rolling his eyes, Ryver brushed the girl's comment off. "Nothing much, just the usual."

"And the usual is..." She said leaning towards the boy.

"Do you really need to ask?" The boy replied, not really in the mood to talk to Vernal.

"Aww, why the long face. Usually you're more snarky. You know, I noticed you were awfully quiet on the way back." Vernal teased as the boy looked away, causing her to blink for a moment.

She snickered realizing what was going on with the boy. "Are you seriously having a moral dilemma right now?" Vernal almost burst out laughing but held it back, much to the boy's annoyance.

"Well, sorry for not being raised in an environment where stealing and destroying villages were the norm." Ryver glared back.

"Hah! Would you look at that, the third most capable fighter in the tribe is worrying about his morals!" The girl slammed her fist on the table, not able to further contain her laughter.

Ryver's face fell flat as he eyed the laughing bandit. Vernal wiped a tear away before recomposing herself. "There's no point in feeling conflicted. It's not like it's going to be the last time that happens anyways. Get over it and get used to it."

"So I've heard." He said blankly.

"Here ya are." Orion came over, setting two plates respectively in front of Ryver and Vernal.

"Thanks, Orion." The boy of them said grabbing their forks.

Ryver sighed inwardly, slapping himself mentally. He had to agree with Raven and Vernal. There was no point in debating his moral standing. It was better to just get used to it like Vernal said.

And as hard as he found it to be 'fun' talking to Vernal, conversing with her certainly took his mind away from his current dilemma. Which lead to another thing.

How in the flying fuck did he not notice how bad the food tasted here?

The boy looked down at his plate with an eyebrow raised, wondering what he had just put in his mouth.

"Did you just realize that the food here sucks?" Vernal said as an audible 'hey' was heard in the background.

"How do you people even live knowing you put this in your bodies?" Ryver said waving the piece of 'food' at the girl.

"There he is." Vernal grinned before continuing. "Well, food is food. No matter how bad it tastes." Another 'hey' sounded in the background as the girl shoved another piece of food in her mouth.

Ryver looked on his disgust, wondering how she or the others could sit with themselves knowing that they ate this stuff. No offence, Orion. But your food was terrible.

He shook his head, pushing the plate away from him as he got up. "Where are you going?" The girl wondered.

"To go get an actual meal. Unlike you, I have standards." Vernal raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You can cook?"

Ryver nodded. He had lived alone in his college dorm, so he cooked for himself most of the time instead of always ordering takeout. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was definitely better than the crap he just ate.

"Do you want me to make you something?" He offered the girl. Even if he wasn't exactly fond of Vernal right now, he couldn't let it sit with himself if he had to watch her eat Orion's 'cooking'. "If it's better than Orion's, sure why not. I'll be the judge if you're actually a good cook."

And Ryver took that personally. He huffed making his way into the kitchen determined to prove Vernal wrong.

A couple of minutes later, the boy strode back out with two new plates in a confident manner. Setting them down, Vernal eyed her new plate of food as Ryver already started eating.

"Well, you gonna eat or not?" The boy asked impatiently.

Vernal returned a doubtful expression and sunk her fork into Ryver's cooking. Placing the food in her mouth, her face instantly lit up as she began shoving the rest of the food in her mouth.

"Holy shit, this actually tastes good!" The girl exclaimed, to Ryver's delight. "Orion, you should learn a thing or two from Ry!" She whipped back to the other chef who responded with a 'fuck you, you try cooking!'.

"Ry?" The boy said with a puzzled look.

"What? Don't like it?" Vernal noticed the unamused expression on the boy's face and grinned. "Now that I know you hate it. I'll be calling you that from now on."

Ryver sighed, shaking his head. "We should get you to replace Orion as the tribe's cook. Everyone will be glad to know they no longer need to eat crap. Speaking of which I should go to tell Raven."

"Tell me what?" The two snapped their heads towards the tribe leader, who entered the dining tent.

"Great timing, you need to try this." Vernal approached the woman with her plate of food.

Raven looked at her with a questioned expression, but obliged picking up a fork. Just like Vernal before, Raven's eyes widened noting how good the food actually tasted.

"Did Orion make this? The things he makes normally taste disgusting." Orion let out a 'screw you guys!', as Vernal jabbed her thumb at Ryver. "Guess what else he can do."

"You can cook?" The woman peered over to the boy who was still eating. "You can't?" He deadpanned, shoving another piece into his mouth. "You'd think that a group of bandits who survived out here for gods know how long, by stealing and killing would at least be capable of putting proper food on the table. But none of you can cook?" Ryver said glancing at Orion seemingly saying 'no offence', which the chef replied with a grumble.

"I mean, you got people like Rufus and Grizz to treat the most fucked up of wounds when needed. But cooking is a no go? I mean the two of you are resilient assholes," The two in question looked at each other and half-heartedly agreed. "but how in the hells did the rest of them make it this far?"

"Some of them do have scurvy and or rickets, but they manage. Somehow anyways." Vernal shrugged, making the boy put his fork down and look at them in awe. "Well at least I know one thing all of you can't do."

"Yeah, so it's a good thing we actually kept you around huh?" Ryver rolled his eyes as Vernal turned to Raven. "What do you think, Raven? Should we have him take over cooking duty?"

"He does make better food than Orion. It's settled then, Ryver will be the tribe's new cook." The woman said as Vernal let out a delighted hum. "I can't believe I don't have to eat crap anymore."

"Don't I have a say in this?" The newly appointed 'cook' raised a finger before being immediately shut down by both women. "No."

And just like that, Ryver went from morally questioning himself to serving the whole tribe proper meals in an apron. If anyone he knew from Earth saw him now, they wouldn't know whether they should question him or burst out laughing.

He sighed inwardly as he sent out another plate of food. While he was glad he was eating actual food, it meant he had to spend more time not training with his aura. Training remained the same as always; him getting whipped and all. Nevertheless, he still felt annoyed he couldn't train as much as he usually did. He wanted to get the hang of Ryu, seeing as the last time he half-assed it, he got a painful backlash from it.

On the bright side though, it seemed like Raven was getting a little fonder of him. Seemed being the keyword. She'd still glare and growl at him whenever she was unhappy with whatever he did or just in general. Albeit, it was less scary compared to when they first met. Vernal on the other hand, went from scowling and beating him up on a daily basis to making fun of him and beating him up on a daily basis. It appeared that he became her new favorite punching bag whenever she needed a good laugh or hit in. Whatever changed her view on him, he didn't want to know.

To think that in a month and a few days he'd begun warming up to them, albeit he had an ulterior motive and they probably did as well. He was definitely still Raven's new glorified attack dog, much to his dismay.

Ryver had to admit, when Raven wasn't actively threatening him and just overall being menacing, she was kind of an okay person to hang around. It made him wonder what she was like before she decided to ditch her duties as an huntress and her family. But alas, the boy could only guess.

Vernal snickered, snapping a picture of Ryver in an apron with an expression that screamed 'what did I do to myself'.

"We should get him to teach some of the others to cook. I'm can't have him in a kitchen if I'm going to send him out." Raven appeared next to the girl, seemingly also amused at Ryver's current state.

"You're sending him out?" Vernal raised an eyebrow.

"Not right now, but when I see that he's ready and have made sure that he won't cross me. Then yes, I'll have him deal with affairs outside the tribe." Raven crossed her arms as Vernal let out a small hum. "What are you going to make him do that the both of us can't?"

"Vernal," Raven turned her head to the girl. "you and I both know that we can't waltz into any of the kingdoms without being recognized by the authorities."

"I guess that's true, but what do you need him in any of the kingdoms for?" She questioned, not really getting where Raven was going.

"He gave me a good idea on what to do during our trip to Argus. Besides, Ryver's shown that he's not that keen on participating in raids. Having him act outside of Anima should make him feel a little more inclined to do the things I tell him to."

"He still hasn't gotten over Kousa?" Vernal said in disbelief. Raven shook her head a little disappointed. "He not like us. Not yet anyways."

Well, if there's one thing the Branwen's can't do it's cooking. Also, new oc's enters the fray! I wonder what happened to them?

Reviews:

Akurar: Covid can't do a thing to a shut in :^)

Everpeach: Well, it does take time to develop a big update like that. Sure it'll come out soon though.

GuysLord: Thanks for pointing that out! I'm embarrassed I didn't notice sooner and I'm glad you enjoyed!

apostlelord: Glad you do!

Asasyn13: Thanks! And I'm not dropping this anytime soon, I hope not anyways xd. Just suck at having a schedule.