I'm enjoying writing this a lot more than I expected. Perhaps it's because it's a fresh idea for me?

. . .


. . .

"Pardon me, mister Deathstalker, but I do believe I need to get by."

The Deathstalker clicked its powerful pincers together and let out a loud hiss. Its tail was taut with tension, ready to snap forward with enough force to punch through a thick slab of steel as if it was paper.

"I seem to have angered you. My deepest apologies. Are you a missus Deathstalker, by chance?"

The tail shot forward at a speed that could outclass Dust rounds, but its target vanished. The stinger impaled the ground, sending up a large cloud of dirt, and the Deathstalker retreated a few steps as it pulled back its stinger.

"Miss Deathstalker, perhaps? Terribly sorry, I am unfamiliar with the physiology of your kind, so I do not know how to differentiate between the males and females of your group."

The voice came from behind the cloud of dust, and the Deathstalker lunged forward. The moment it appeared on the other side of the cloud, it lashed out with its pincers, each being capable of crushing an armored Atlesian vehicle with ease. However, its pincers hit nothing as its target took a quick step backward, easily avoiding the crushing blow.

"Please, there is no need for such hostilities. I only wish to enter that forest behind you, but if you continue with this unneeded aggression, I am afraid I will have to retaliate for the sake of my own safety."

The Deathstalker ignored the words as it moved forward once more. Its prey let out a sigh, casually dodging another swipe from its large pincers. It watched as its target raised a single hand with a thumb and middle finger placed against one another. Dodging another attack from its stinger, the human snapped its fingers.

The air hummed with electricity and there was a tingling feeling that coursed through its body. It never had a chance to figure out what the feeling was as its vision flashed a brilliant yellow. Then nothing.

"Truly, I wished no harm to beset you, but I was given no choice."

Robin dusted his hands before brushing off a few specks of dirt from his beloved cloak, which was different from the one he wore during the war against Gangrel and Walhart while still looking different. The one he wore now was a gift he received only weeks before the second Plegian war and against Grima himself.

"Now then…"

He started walking again towards a grey forest. Grey seemed to be a constant color on this continent. Everything was that color; the ground, sky, rocks, shrubs, trees, everything. At least, for this corner of the continent.

"Time to restock on my coffee beans."

Just as he passed the first line of trees, he came to a stop. Another Grimm was in front of him, this one far older and powerful than the Deathstalker. Fortunately for Robin, he learned his lesson from the overgrown scorpion.

"Greetings, Lord Nuckelavee. I hate to be a bother, but would you kindly let me pass through?"

While the terms "mister", "missus", and "miss" were gender specific, the term "lord" could be used for either male or female. Of course, there was "lady", but that one was most definitely gender specific, while "lord" was not even if it was generally used for males. Hence, when referring to anyone as such, there was a very little chance of offending them.

Robin would never start off on the wrong foot with a Grimm again.

. . .

Pyrrha took a seat in her usual spot at the lunch table. The rest of her team sat down with her with Jaune on her right and Ren and Nora sitting on the other side.

"So!" a girl in red chirped from the two seats down. "What are you guys planning on doing today?"

Her team glanced all looked at Jaune. After a brief second, he shrugged.

"Bleehhh, so boring!" Ruby whined. "It's the weekend! Do something fun!"

"True, I guess we could do something," Pyrrha nodded. "We haven't really gone outside of Beacon, have we?"

Ren shook his head as he took a bite out of his sandwich. "Homework and exam studying took up most of our schedule, unlike a certain team." He threw an accusatory glance at Team RWBY. "But since we don't have major assignments coming up, I suppose we can make a trip to the city."

"Why not try that one cafe that's been the craze lately?" Jaune suggested.

"Ooh! You mean A Shepherd's Rest!" Ruby's eyes lit up in excitement. "You should definitely check it out!"

"I heard that the owner is a magician. Is that true?" Pyrrha skeptically asked.

"A magician?!" Nora squealed while Jaune's brow furrowed.

"You mean like the ones at parties that pull bunnies out of hats and make a deck of cards disappear? We all know they're fake."

"You sound like you're little too familiar with them," Yang grinned. "Why? Was one of your birthdays ruined by a magician?"

"Wh-What! N-No, of course not!" Jaune stammered, his face turning red.

"Well, you'll want to believe this one. He's different from those party magicians," Blake said, her head buried in her book.

Pyrrha raised her eyebrows, partially because she recognized the book's title, The Divine and the Fell: The War of Sand, and also partially because Blake actually spoke. It wasn't often that Blake would talk in the group, so for her to speak now added a lot of credibility.

"Yeah! Robin's like an actual magician!" Ruby beamed. "It's like he can do actual magic! He made ice cream appear out of thin air and took out his menus from nothing and made our drinks appear onto our table when he wasn't anywhere nearby and made the cups move without even touching them and - "

"Ruby, deep breaths. No one's going anywhere," Yang laughed, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Ren gave Weiss a deadpan stare. "Is that true?"

"…Quite," Weiss sighed. "However, I believe his "magic" is more of a Semblance." Her grip tightening around the butter knife in her hand did not go unnoticed by Pyrrha. "The audacity of that man… How dare he? Acting like a teacher, telling me that I should know better," she grumbled.

"Uhh…what's up with Snow Angel?" Jaune cautiously asked. "She seems kinda…angsty about something."

"I am not angsty! And do not call me that!" Weiss glared.

"She got played by Robin the other day," Yang cheekily answered, much to Weiss' chagrin.

"I did NOT get PLAYED!"

Now that was something. Someone getting the better of Weiss Schnee? If it was someone like Yang, it'd be more believable. The blonde wasn't known for keeping her cool, after all. That was something that Weiss was known for, and if someone was able to "play" her…well, it was needless to say that Pyrrha's curiosity was piqued by this Robin.

Which is exactly why Team Juniper was standing in front of the doors to A Shepherd's Rest just before breakfast the following morning.

"So…" Jaune stared up at the simplistic sign above the door. "This is the place, huh?"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go meet this magician!"

Nora gleefully ran forward before J_PR had a chance to stop her. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to as the energetic girl slammed her head into the shop's door and comically fell backward onto the ground.

"Nora!" Ren cried out, running up to his fallen friend. "Nora, are you alright?!"

"Uuuhhhh…Reeeennnnn… The magician sealed off his workshooopppp…" Nora slurred, looking up at Ren with unfocused eyes.

"I don't think that's the case here, Nora," Pyrrha laughed, pointing at the "Closed" sign on the door. "I think the cafe's just closed for today."

"What! No way!" Jaune pulled out his scroll and frantically tapped on the screen. "Welp said that it's open every day of the…oh…" His voice trailed off and he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "It says that this place is closed on the weekends."

"That makes sense. I'd be more surprised if A Shepherd's Rest was open every day," Pyrrha said.

"So, what do we do now?" Jaune asked.

"Mrblgrahgr…"

"No, Nora. We will not break into the store, nor will we break the owner's legs for being closed on weekends," Ren reprimanded.

There was another string of incomprehensible words from the dazed girl.

"We will not camp out here all night either," Ren sighed, shaking his head. "It's nine in the morning and A Shepherd's Rest will not open until two mornings from now. We should utilize our time more efficiently rather than waste it outside of a closed store."

"I'm surprised you can understand her," Jaune muttered.

Ren shrugged and picked up Nora in his arms.

"We could always train," Pyrrha offered. "The Vytal festival is coming up in two months, so we should get some practice in while we can."

"Yeah, you're right," Jaune dejectedly sighed. "Let's head back to Beacon."

A third jumble of words came from Nora.

"Uhhh…but before that, you guys wanna grab some breakfast?"

. . .

Robin crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. His brow was furrowed in mild irritation and he narrowed his eyes at the man seated across the table. The digital clock on the table flickered as the numbers changed to 08:09.

"I don't want to," he firmly said.

"I ask that you reconsider." The man laced his fingers under his chin. "This will be beneficial to the both of us."

"And I ask that you stop asking me this question. Beneficial or detrimental, I couldn't care less."

"What if I have a proposition for you? You can say "no" if you - "

"No."

"…You don't even want to hear it?"

"Nope."

"I'll say please."

"Still no."

"Please."

"I don't give a damn if you make some grand offer or honey-coat your words, my answer isn't going to change."

"…There is truly nothing that I can say to make you agree?"

"En, oh. No. I even spelled it out for you to make it easier."

"Would you both just shut it already? I'm only a third of the way through my flask, and that's not even a tenth of the amount I need to drink to even begin dealing with the two of you."

Robin threw a glare over to his right. "Piss off, Qrow! You're named after a bird and you don't even have wings!"

"Pot, kettle, black, you ass! At least I can turn into a bird and fly!"

"And I can use Spellcraft to fly without having to turn into a rodent with wings! So what?"

"A crow is a hell of a lot less likely to draw attention than some freak of nature flying through the sky!"

"And a crow is a hell of a lot uglier than a human body!"

"Why are you two arguing in my office…"

"You called me here, you obstinate old man!" "You called me here, you senile wizard!"

Robin and Qrow yelled at Ozpin simultaneously, causing the headmaster to massage his temples in an attempt to relieve the stress that was building up. He looked over at Robin.

"For the last time, I will not take up a teaching position at Beacon," Robin said, not giving Ozpin the chance to speak. "I'm very content with my current job and I have no plans on leaving it any time soon."

"I assure you, we can work around the fact that you're working at A Shepherd's Rest while also taking up a position here as a professor," Ozpin insisted. "Just a couple of classes per week of your choosing. Not only will it help the students, but it would help put my own mind at ease if you're on Beacon grounds should anything happen."

"I can travel the distance from my shop to your office in a literal second. We all know this," Robin countered. "And should anything happen, I'd be one of the first to know, if not the first. I was the one that put up safeguards and wards throughout the school, after all."

"Will you at least tell me why you don't want to stay in the school?"

"Will you at least tell me why you want me to stay in the school?"

"Touché. Will you be joining us for the Vytal Festival?"

Robin stood from his seat. "Lemme think on that and I'll get back to you."

"By all means. Good day, Robin," Ozpin said with a wave of his hand.

He suddenly stopped after taking a few steps away from the desk and turned around.

"Right, before I forget…" Robin reached into his robe and pulled out a small pouch. Tossing it over to Ozpin, he continued, "Coffee beans. They aren't roasted yet, so have fun doing that tedious process yourself. I do enough of that already at my place."

Ozpin opened the bag and peered inside. His eyes widened a second later. "Robin, are these…?"

"The latest blend of coffee that I procured? Yes. And before you ask where I got them from, let's just say I went overseas. Somewhere northwest, and I'm not talking about Atlas."

Qrow burst into laughter and leaned back in his chair. "You're telling me that you went halfway across the damned world to an uncharted continent that's crawling with powerful Grimm? Just for some beans? You got guts, I'll give you that much - woah!"

Qrow's reflexes kicked in, honed from years of being a Huntsman, and caught the maroon bottle that was hurled towards his face.

"I didn't go just for coffee beans, you drunk lout. I went for two other reasons, one of them being that there's a certain ingredient that I can only get there, which is used to make that drink in your hands," Robin lectured. "Just one thing about that; it is at least ten times more potent than Olympian Hearthfire, so have fun with it. That's the only bottle I'm giving away so if you want more, you'll have to pay me for it. And it is not going to be cheap, given the effort needed to brew it."

Now that he finished saying everything he wanted to say, Robin prepared a short distance warp spell. Just as it was finished, he heard a thud from behind him.

And then he was gone, reappearing in the lobby of Ozpin's little tower.

"Done already? I'd expected your meeting with Ozpin to be at least an hour."

Robin gave a polite bow to Goodwitch. "He was merely extending his offer once again. Nothing more than that."

"I see." The blonde nodded once before turning back to her desk. "If there is nothing else, then you may leave."

"Actually, I was planning on briefly walking through the school grounds," Robin said, grabbing her attention. "I'm not sure whether or not Ozpin told you, but I placed wards all around the school some time ago, and I would like to check up on them."

"Yes, he has given me the papers on them that same day," Goodwitch replied, pulling up a manilla folder. "It took me the better part of two days to decipher your methods, and even then, I do not understand all of it. With your...Spellcraft, I believe you called it? With it being this complex and unknown, I doubt that any student or faculty member could have tampered with it."

"True, but one can never be too careful with these sorts of things. A complex system is a double-edged sword, in a sense. While yes, the more complex a system is, the more secure it is. However, should a single thing go wrong in the countless algorithms, the entire system could fall on itself. I suppose that's what safeguards and contingency measures are for, but those can only do so much."

Goodwitch stared at Robin for what seemed like an eternity. She was definitely in what Robin and Qrow dubbed as her 'Professor Persona', and for good reason. The aura around her, not her soul-Aura, but her aura she emits, would change and adopt a professional feeling. Her eyes would gain a sharp glint as she carefully scrutinized every move of the person in front of her, and her already straight back would somehow straighten even further.

'If only you were here, Frederick. I believe I've found your perfect soulmate,' Robin silently joked. 'She's to Ozpin as you are to Chrom.'

"…Very well, you may do as you wish," she finally said, turning her attention to her work once again.

"Then by your leave, Lady Goodwitch."

Robin bowed once more and left the building. At least, he would have, had his Scroll not vibrated in his pocket at that very moment. He took out the small device and opened the message he received from Ozpin. A second later, a photo that the headmaster himself took popped up.

"…Lady Goodwitch? Would you, by any chance, be acquainted with a certain huntsman known as 'Qrow'?" Robin asked, his eyes not leaving his Scroll's screen.

There was a brief moment of silence before Goodwitch curtly replied, "What of him?"

"Nothing really. Just a simple curiosity," Robin said, tapping away on his screen. "I take it that the man tends to be quite brash towards you?" He received a slight tilt of her head in response and a second later, her Scroll beeped once. "I just sent you a…how should I put this… It is something that can be used as leverage in the future."

Pocketing his Scroll, Robin gave a polite bow to Professor Goodwitch once more before teleporting away.

. . .

"What a strange man…" Glynda muttered to herself. "Leverage, he said?"

She opened her Scroll and brought up Robin's message in a practiced motion. His message wasn't originally his, given by the "FWD:" in front of the attachment. She hesitated for a second, but her curiosity won her over and she opened the attachment.

Glynda's lips curled up into a chilling smile.

"Leverage indeed."

It wasn't every day that she'd have a photo of Qrow passed out on the floor with an alcohol bottle in his hand. The caption, "A single sip was all it took," made it all the more satisfying.

. . .

Three hours and eighteen minutes later, Robin pulled up another link in his ward. Neon blue and purple lights appeared before him, lighting up the hallway with its glow even further. The lights started to gather into a central area, creating a double circle with a myriad of strange characters in between. A multitude of lines crisscrossed the circles, and four smaller circles appeared in the air, three just on the perimeter and one near the center.

"Here we go again. Runic Graph Number 154 out of 154," Robin muttered. "At least I'm almost done."

His hands started to move automatically, moving around characters and circles all over the place in a well-practiced motion. He was somewhat aware of the students walking through the hallway as he worked. Most were dressed in the school uniform while a few were headed towards the training grounds in their combat gear.

Something touched his shoulder. Robin paid it no mind as he continued to work.

Something fell onto the ground next to him. Robin paid it no mind as he continued to work.

That something went "Oof," followed by a "Cardin, you good?" Despite all that, Robin still continued to work, but now he had a new piece of information in his mind. That 'something' that seemed to have intentionally bumped Robin only to fall on his rear apparently had a name.

"I'm fine!" That 'something' hastily stood to his feet. "Let's go and leave the nerd be. He's not worth our time."

"A'ight, your call, bro."

Robin was vaguely aware of the small group of students leave. He continued to grab the runes and circles in front of him and move them around. When he was done, he brought his hands together in a large sweeping motion, and the Runic Graph collapsed.

'Why in the seventh heaven did I make these things so complicated…' Robin mentally groaned.

Brushing his hands free of nonexistent dust, he started to walk once more. He could have easily shortened the distance between where he stood and to A Shepherd's Rest, making the near hour-long trip into only a single step, but he decided to take the scenic route home.

As he turned the third bend in the many halls, something through the window caught his eye on his left. It wasn't really anything of significance. It was a sight that was so common in Beacon that it was considered to be the norm. But to Robin, it was a nostalgic sight.

'Uncle Robin? May I ask of you a favor?'

Before he knew it, Robin was already walking towards the combat arena.

'Of course. What is it?'

The passing students gave him confused looks, most likely wondering what a man not in uniform was doing walking around Beacon's halls.

'A few of my friends and I were planning on practicing, and we were wondering if you could watch over us.'

He passed by the locker rooms. There was no need for him to change out of his coat. The Reinforcement spell he placed on it made it impervious to anything weaker than A-Tier Spellcasts and unique weapons.

'While I'm more than willing to watch, why me? I'm not the best fighter in the Shepherds. Lon'qu is a master of the blade and Frederick has been schooling the Ylissean Army for quite some time now. Your father has been winning our spars much more frequently nowadays.'

The sounds of fighting were clear now. He entered the spectators' seating area and sat down in one of the many seats.

'There is truth in your words. However, none of them have your eyes and mind. That alone puts you above the other Shepherds.'

Four students were sparring against each other in teams of two. One team was using the classic sword and shield combo while the other team had one wielding a giant hammer and the second wielding twin sickle-like weapons.

'You flatter me, Lucina,' he jokingly said. 'Very well, let us go. Who else will be joining us?'

'Inigo, Gerome, and Cynthia. The latter two wished to practice fighting without their mounts, and Cynthia has been wanting to try wielding one of our warhammers.'

'I don't think our warhammers and pegasi mix well. There's a reason why none of our pegasus knights wield heavy weapons during live combat.'

'I've already told her that, but she wouldn't listen. Instead, she said that heroes should be knowledgeable and skilled in all weapons. Unbelievable, that girl.'

Robin chuckled as they continued to walk. 'That certainly sounds like something she would say. I'd suggest that you and Inigo pair up against Gerome and Cynthia.'

'I would've thought that Inigo and I be on different teams to balance it out?'

'If they're not used to fighting without their mounts and Cynthia's wielding a weapon she doesn't know how to use, then it'll be better if they fight you and Inigo. The two of them can test the waters as they try to score a hit on you and Inigo, while the two of you try to evade them as long as you can. The greater the obstacle, the more growth there will be. They'll be forced to try new things that find something that feels right for them.'

'I see.' Lucina nodded as she pondered over Robin's words. 'Since we're on the topic of greater obstacles, may I ask something else of you?'

'If it is within the realm of possibilities, then yes.'

The two teams split apart and lowered their weapons. They casually approached each other and started talking. Since he was seated a little too far away, Robin was unable to hear what they were saying, but he was able to get a gist of what was going on from their body motions.

Seeing how they were done sparring, Robin stood up and started to leave.

"Um, excuse me?"

He turned around. All four of the students were looking at him and the blonde boy was standing in the front.

"Yes?"

"Can I…uhh…" The boy nervously glanced back at his team. The red-haired girl gave him an encouraging smile. "Uhh…can I ask a favor?"

. . .

"This guy's an absolute monster."

Pyrrha could only nod her head once in utter exhaustion as Jaune collapsed onto the bench next to her. Never before had she been pushed so hard in a fight. Not her multitude of opponents in the championships, not the Grimm she fought in the Emerald Forest, in fact, not even her combat teachers were as skilled as the lone man in the arena.

She watched in silent admiration as the man fought against Ren and Nora by himself. In all honesty, the spar itself was an impromptu match itself. Jaune had merely asked the man for his thoughts on their training, and the man pointed out many flaws in their teamwork and coordination. He especially talked to Jaune about his lackluster combat performance.

Then the man offered to help them with their training. When asked why he replied that it was simply because he "felt like it" and because the four of them reminded of a few of his past friends. While Pyrrha wanted to know more, she held her silence due to the tone the man had, and then their match began.

At the start, it was originally all of Team JNPR fighting the man. Pyrrha thought the man to be overconfident and boastful, wanting to take on an entire team that included a four-time champion of the Mistral tournaments.

That thought was immediately thrown out of her mind when the man took out his weapon. The reason why wasn't because of the beautifully crafted blade (which it totally was), nor was it because he seemed to pull the sword out of thin air.

No, it was because of how the man handled the weapon in his hand; because of how normal he seemed to look. She read that a seasoned huntsman would wield their choice of weapon as an extension of themselves, but she never saw it with her own eyes. Every huntsman and huntress that she saw, including the professors at Beacon, would use their weapon as a weapon, not as an extension of their own person, and Pyrrha herself was no exception with Miló and Akoúo̱.

But this man, this random stranger that simply happened to be watching them spar out of mere chance, held his sword in such a relaxed and natural manner that he seemed to be more comfortable with his weapon in hand than without.

When their spar began, Pyrrha noticed that the man was holding back within the first two minutes. The calm smile that he wore even before their match began remained even under the barrage of blows from her team. His movements were made with the least amount of effort required, weaving in and out of their attacks like water flowing between rocks. It wasn't until the man's first counter that Pyrrha realized just how terribly outmatched her entire team was and by that time, nearly ten minutes had passed.

By the twelfth minute, Pyrrha was the out of the match by tournament standards. While her Aura wasn't exactly low after her team's spar, which hovered just above eighty, her Aura was cut down to six percent after only four strikes. All delivered from the back of his blade. Pyrrha shuddered at the thought of what would've happened had the man used the sharp side of his sword.

Not even a minute later, Jaune ungracefully landed next to her, cursing and muttering under his breath, leaving Nora and Ren alone with the stranger.

"Taaaaaaaaaaaake THIS!"

Pyrrha winced as the stranger decided to not listen to Nora as he smoothly back stepped, avoiding Magnhild's earth-shattering blow. Cracks webbed out from where the hammer struck the arena floor and a moment later, Nora was tumbling across the ground and rolled to a stop in front of Jaune. Her Aura meter was dangling at a dangerous one percent.

"It's all up to Ren now," Jaune said as he helped Nora onto the bench and glanced up at the holo-screen on one of the arena walls. Only four gauges were displayed, each belonging to a member of team JNPR. "And seeing how Ren's Aura is at sixty-seven and how we couldn't land a single hit on the guy? I don't know, Pyr. Could be a close fight," he jokingly added.

Pyrrha held her hand over her mouth as she laughed. "I agree. Ren might just be able to…"

Her voice trailed off as the man seemed to converse with their last standing comrade. Pyrrha was too far away to hear what they were saying, but they must've come to some sort of agreement as both fighters stowed their weapons. Ren folded Stormflower and slid them into his sleeves while the man twirled his sword down to his side before the elegant blade vanished into nothing.

"I guess it's over now," Jaune assumed, starting to rise to his feet.

"Wait." Pyrrha grabbed onto Jaune's arm and pulled him back down. "The Aura screen is still up. If they called off the match then the screen would've vanished."

"You're right," Jaune muttered. "Then why did they put their weapons away?"

His answer came when both the man and Ren took unarmed combat stances.

"Aww…but that was such a cool sword!"

Pyrrha silently agreed with her partner. While she wouldn't call it "cool", she did admit that the man's sword could only be described as beautiful, and even that didn't feel right.

"I wonder where he got it from…" Pyrrha said to herself. "Perhaps he crafted it himself?"

. . .

Robin closed the door to his room behind him as he shrugged off his new cloak. Neatly folding it and placing it on his desk along with a couple of more items, he walked over to his bed with the intention of retiring for the night, were it not for the knock that came from his door.

"It's open," Robin called.

The door clicked open and his wife strode into the room, still wearing the silk, indigo dress from earlier in the evening.

"Happy birthday again, Robin." She warmly smiled at him. "Did you enjoy today's events?"

"Enjoy it?" Robin chuckled. "I think that would be a severe understatement and unfortunately, I cannot think of a better word for it in my tired state."

"I'm glad to hear it. I did help organize the events, after all."

"Did you also plan on getting nearly every Shepherd so drunk to the point that Vaike tried to kiss Sully's horse? I think Gregor tried to bed Laurent, thinking that he was a woman, and I had to electrocute Inigo when he tried to kiss Morgan in his inebriated state."

She pursed her lips. "I will admit, I did not expect things to escalate to that point. I'm sorry."

Robin laughed wrapped his arms around her in a loving embrace. "Don't be. This was the first time that I was able to celebrate my birthday with people that I can truly call my family, and I could not have asked for a better experience."

"Well…" His wife gently pushed herself off of his chest and stared into his eyes. "Are you sure about that?"

His brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Looking over her shoulder, she called out to the open door. "Morgan, Gerome? You can come in now."

His children walked into the room, one with a spring to her step and the other in a much more reserved manner. Robin did not miss the glee in his daughter's eyes as she tackled him in a hug.

"Happy birthday, Father!" Morgan beamed. "We've got you one last present!"

Rubbing the top of Morgan's head, Robin looked back at his wife, unable to stop the smile from forming on his face. "What's going on? You all got me a gift already."

He motioned over to his desk. There was an aged book on philosophy from his son that dated back to the time when the Hero King was still known as Prince Marth. Next to it was a gleaming cube that was suspended in the air on its own. It was a gift from Morgan, and the cube was imbued was an unknown magic that dispersed any Spellcraft into its basic form of pure mana. Years down the line, Robin would discover that the cube didn't disperse Spellcraft but would instead reverse the time of the Spellcraft back into what it originally was, but that was neither here nor there.

The last gift was from his wife, which was a hand sewn coat as a replacement for the one that was burnt to cinders by the Mage General Pheros. It looked nearly identical to his original cloak, and Robin would have thought so were it not for the seven petaled rose that was sewn onto the back, just between his shoulder blades. It was also heavier since Minerva's scales were sewn into it. How that was managed, Robin had absolutely no idea.

"That we did, but this last gift is one from all of us," his wife said before nodding at Morgan.

"Hehe, wait till you see this, Father!" Morgan held out her hands with her palms facing up. A silver light surrounded her body for a fraction of a second before vanishing, and then a long, thin box suddenly appeared in her hands. "Tada!"

Needless to say, Robin was taken aback at the sudden appearance of the box. "What was that?"

"It's a secret~" Morgan chimed.

"Morgan was working with Spacialcraft a couple months ago. Since then, she's been working on creating a pocket dimension to store items in, having only just gotten the hang of it two weeks prior from today," Gerome said, popping her younger sister's bubble.

"Gerome! You can't spoil it like that!" Morgan pouted, and Gerome avoided her eyes.

"She's been wanting to show you it for a long time," his wife laughed. "I asked her to keep her pocket dimension as a secret until your birthday, just for this moment."

"And then stupid Gerome had to ruin it," Morgan grumbled, which Robin found to be utterly adorable.

Still avoiding his sister's eyes, Gerome let out a "hmph" and Morgan stuck her tongue out at her older brother.

"Go on. Open it," his wife soothingly said.

Taking the box from Morgan's arms, Robin gently placed it on the desk. After taking the latches off the lid, he opened the box, and a gasp escaped his throat.

"I know your fondness for the blades of the Chon'sin variety, so I asked Princess - that is to say, Empress Say'ri to craft this sword for you."

The sword seemed to hum with delight when Robin picked it up. It was a beautifully crafted sword, if not unorthodox. The hilt was wrapped in a pure white, silky leather, or the 'tsuka', as the people of Chon'sin would call it. Was it called that? Perhaps he was wrong.

The guard was crafted into the shape of a seven petaled rose, the national symbol of Rosanne, and elegant engravings adorned the pommel. The blade had seemed to change color from a light purple into white, depending on the angle it was viewed at, but the most interesting part of the weapon was how the blade was attached to the hilt.

Where the blade would normally be was a much smaller blade, roughly a fifth of the normal size and twice as thick. It looked as if someone stuck a dull spearhead in place of the sword. Two protrusions stuck out from the thick metal, and the actual blade itself was attached to the two protrusions, giving it a mechanically strange yet beautiful look.

"What…how…?"

Robin was at a loss for words.

"I know how attached you were to Sol, and I knew how saddened you became when it broke during our fight against Walhart. I retrieved what I could of its remains and handed them to Empress Say'ri, which she gave to the master blacksmith. The blacksmith already created eight legendary weapons of Virtue and Cruelty, all of which were sealed away. This sword here…" His wife placed her hand over his. "…was his final work."

Robin gently placed the sword back into the case's velvet interior. Suddenly, he pulled his family into a tight embrace.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Even as the words left his mouth, they didn't feel right. They failed to carry the weight of the emotions he was feeling and he felt as though it wasn't enough. Thankfully, his family understood as they wrapped their arms around him.

After what seemed like an eternity, he slowly lowered his arms, and while Morgan and Gerome also lowered theirs, his wife did not do the same. After sharing a glance, his children decided it was time to leave their parents alone.

"You're welcome…Father," Gerome solemnly said.

"Love you!" Morgan smiled behind wet eyes.

The door closed behind them and his wife tenderly wrapped her arms around him once more. Tears threatened to form in the corners of his eyes as they held each other.

"Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you," Robin said, his voice no more than a whisper. "How can I ever repay you for this?"

"You don't have to. It was a gift."

Robin shook his head. "You've already done so much for me. You even blessed me with something that I thought I'd never have, even in my dreams; you've given me a family." A lone tear rolled down his cheek. "And now you've returned not only one, but two of my belongings that were with me for as long as I could remember. Please, let me do something in return for all that you have done for me."

"The same goes for me as well," she gently said. "You liberated my home from the conqueror's rule and freed its people. I lived in service to House Virion for as long as I could remember, and I thought that I would live out my life alone. Just as I've given you a family, you've given me one as well. That alone is more than enough."

Robin said nothing. He couldn't say anything.

"Just promise me one thing…"

"Of course."

When she spoke again, her voice was fragile, almost like glass.

"Promise me that we'll stay together."

. . .

Robin walked into his room one floor above A Shepherd's Rest. He took off his coat and hung it in his closet. After closing the closet door, he took in a deep breath.

"I made a promise to you and I fully intend to keep it," Robin vowed. "Until I see you, Gerome, and Morgan again, I will not stop searching for a way back."

Robin reached into the void and pulled out his gifted sword, Sponsus. Even after years of use, there wasn't a single sign of wear or rust on the blade. It looked the same as it did when he received it all those years ago.

Stowing Sponsus back into his spacial storage, Robin pulled out the book of philosophy and the time cube and placed it on his desk, right next to a photo of his family that he kept ever since Libra painted it for him.

"And as you said, 'Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it.' Right, Cherche?"

. . .


. . .

To those of you who guessed Cherche, you are correct!

It's amazing how Robin's mannerisms change depending on who he's speaking to in both speech and actions. Kinda like how most people are to their close friends and those that aren't friends.

Robin's sword design is pretty much the same as Virtuous Treaty/Cruel Blood Oath from NieR: Automata, just with purple and gold instead of white and black/gold and black. It's not exactly as large as, nor is it as small as Contract/Oath. It's somewhere in between (blade length of ~80cm/31in (for comparison, a standard katana usually has a blade length of ~70cm/28in).

As for the sword name, "sponsus" means "promise". Like a promise of engagement/of a wedding, not just a regular promise.

Also, has that top-left most continent in Remnant been mentioned/shown yet in RWBY? The one that's shaped like a dragon? Cause that's where Robin went in the intro. How did Robin get there? Magic.

And this chapter is all over the place in both setting and mood. Kinda like the ideas in my head. Starts off in the perspective of a Deathstalker (humor), then to Robin as he becomes a little more cultured in the ways of the Grimm (humor), then to a cafeteria setting with teams RWBY and JNPR (casual-humor), then to Robin being a sassy upstart (serious-humor), then to him doing some magic stuff (casual), then to Pyrrha's POV at the end of JNPR's spar against Robin (serious-casual), and then another glimpse into Robin's past (serious).

Speaking of his past, I promise to get the story back onto its not-so-serious/playful mood in the following chapter.

. . .

By the way, if you haven't played NieR: Automata yet, you're severely missing out. The game came out for Xbox players on June 26th, so every platform has access to it. Do yourself a favor and play the masterpiece of a game.

. . .

On a completely other sidenote, I just realized how easy it would be for me to just write off Salem in this story. Neither Shepherd!Robin nor Salem's true strength has been established in both A Shepherd's Rest and the canon RWBY respectively. And since Shepherd!Robin is a little different from AA!Robin, I could do something like…oh, I don't know, have him tap into Grima's power. It'd be an army of Grimm fighting an army of Risen, and since the Deadlords are a thing, well…let's just say that the tips would not be tipped in Salem's favor, especially if Robin is the acting mind of strategy.

Or maybe this all just me being super biased. Who knows.

Just a thought. Seriously. It's one that popped into my head while writing the beginning of this chapter with the Grimm, and I doubt I'll be doing anything with it.