Yang had passed through Haven once or twice before, but it wasn't until she was forced to walk its streets that she realized what an unusual place it was. The city was built on the face of a great mountain, with uneven districts connected vertically by roads and stairways. Navigating the city on foot meant constantly going up and down the mountain's height, which Yang could barely wrap her head around, even with a map and a clear destination.

She had taken the opportunity during the flight to do some research on the massacre – after getting some proper sleep. Yang was now sure that Blake's theory of Beacon stopping the news from getting out was right. There had been reports online, but those had all vanished without a trace. For such a horrible story, it might as well have never happened.

Luckily, whatever was going on hadn't gone completely unnoticed. After much digging, Yang discovered a conversation in a less than savory forum. The people involved weren't the kind Yang would normally trust – full-blown conspiracy loonies, really – but she didn't have the luxury of picking sources. The page had been taken down minutes later, but not before Yang had saved an address.

She knew where to go. She only wished she knew how to get there, preferably without dying from staircase overdosing. Honestly, what ancient dumbass came up with the bright idea of building a city on a mountain? That was just asking for half of it to be destroyed by a landslide.

Yang did eventually find her destination. Visually, the district looked similar to the others before it, but she could tell she'd walked into a dangerous part of the city. She saw barely any people walking the streets, and the ones she did see never met her eyes as they shuffled past, a nervous energy on their steps. There were no cars on the road – no vehicles of any kind. It all added up to an unsettling silence that hung in the air, so much that if Yang weren't so confident in herself – and her powers – she would have turned right around and gone back home.

The building was the tallest in its street, standing four stories tall, crammed between two smaller ones. Yang walked right up to it, shuddering as she looked it up and down. Maybe it was the prior knowledge of what had happened inside it, but she felt sick just being near the place.

She stared at the front door, blocked by yellow tape, calculating how far she was willing to go to get to the truth. Breaking the law? That only lasted a few seconds, before she shrugged and started ripping up the tape.

"I'd think twice before going inside that place, little missy," someone said behind her, and Yang turned around to find a man leaning on a lamppost, his arms crossed over his chest. "Nothing good waiting for you in there, I guarantee you."

Yang looked the man up and down. He looked about her father's age, and he talked smoothly enough, but she immediately got a bad vibe off of him. She highly doubted he just happened to be hanging near the place to kindly warn off strangers about it.

"Thanks for the concern, mister," she said, putting a hand on her hip. "But how would you know what's good for me?"

"Well, I wouldn't presume to know," the man said, smiling. "But I got a daughter your age, and I wouldn't want her to go in there either."

"That's very sweet of you. Maybe you should give your daughter a little more credit, though," Yang said. She started to turn back to the door, but stopped as the man pushed off the sign and walked towards her. "I think that's close enough, mister."

"Last warning, kid," he said, all friendliness vanished from his voice. "You're gonna walk away now."

"Oh? So you must be a cop or something, ordering me around like that?" Yang said.

The man walked right up to her, his nose almost touching hers, and cracked his knuckles. "Piss me off, and you'll wish I was a cop."

Yang smiled. "No, I think you've got that backwards," she said. "'Cause you see, if you were a cop, I'd hesitate before splitting your nose in two."

The man snarled and made a motion to grab her, but Yang stepped forward, forcing him to move back. She put a hand on his chest and shoved. She put hardly any strength in it, but he went stumbling for a good while, barely keeping himself from tripping over the curb and falling on the road before he recovered.

"Yeah," Yang said. "I don't think I'm the one who's gonna walk away."

He stared at her, his arms going limp, before he shook his head angrily and walked away. She watched him stop next to an alleyway and look back at her, before he entered it and disappeared. Yang rolled her eyes and went back to the door.

"So much for Mistralian hospitality…"


Yang didn't know what she'd expected to find inside. The building didn't seem any less unremarkable than it appeared outside. She got the impression it had been an office space of sorts, or at least a poor imitation of one. A gang had been using it, maybe they'd wanted to feel more legitimate.

That hadn't worked out very well for them.

Yang walked about the first floor, peeking into rooms and behind the counter at the entrance. The bodies had been taken away by the local police or Beacon, but the marks they'd left on the building remained. Yang had braced herself for anything, but she still felt queasy at the splotches of red on the floor and walls. That, and the smell… The smell of murder!

"Okay, horror movie Yang," she whispered. "Let's take it down a notch."

She went up to the second floor and took a look around, but there was little of interest there either. Moving on to the third floor, it was more of the same. Yang was starting to feel just the tiniest bit stupid. Investigating a crime scene was outside her area of expertise, and seeing as she wasn't a detective in some TV show, she wasn't going to all of a sudden recreate the massacre in her mind and start drawing chalk lines to get to some obscure clue.

Disappointed, Yang went up to the fourth and last floor. The sight that awaited her at the end of the stairs struck her out of her lull. Unlike the other floors, this one comprised just one hallway, and a short one at that. Whoever scrubbed the place hadn't done as thorough a job here, or maybe they hadn't been able to do enough. There was so much red on the walls, she could barely tell what color they had been before.

"Holy-" Yang turned away, her eyes welling with tears from the smell alone. She took a moment to breathe, then covered her nose and forced herself to move forward.

How can a person have done this?

The rooms along the hallway had nothing to be seen – nothing outside the established pattern, that was. But the very last one made Yang think. The door was hanging precariously from its hinges, and across from it lay a ruined bookshelf, almost like it had been launched across the room.

Yang stepped inside. To her surprise, she saw no blood anywhere. Someone had definitely holed up inside, though. Maybe they'd been dragged outside before they were killed? That was the only explanation that made sense to Yang, but thinking about it made her feel sick, so she chose to leave it at that.

There was a desk in the room, undisturbed except for the fact that all its drawers had been opened and emptied. Yang crouched to examine it. She hadn't seen anything like this in the rest of the building. Had something been stolen from this room? Had her mother killed all of twenty people to steal something?

Yang stood up and laid her hands on the desk, so agitated, the smell didn't even register anymore. That couldn't be the reason this had happened. It just couldn't be. There was something more at play here, something she didn't understand yet.

Speaking of things she didn't understand… What was that feeling in the back of her neck? It wasn't like an itch or anything she'd felt before in her life. In fact, she wasn't sure it was just her neck. Or just any part of herself. The feeling seemed to go past her body, to the whole room around her.

Yang waved her hand in front of her. Was there something in the air here? Something she couldn't see? She felt like an idiot, but-

"-still here. Check every room."

Yang pressed against the wall, kicking herself mentally. There were other people in the building with her, which could only mean one thing. She had taken too long looking around uselessly, and in that time the jerk from outside had gone and come back with friends. Now she was in trouble.

But was she really? Listening closely, Yang couldn't tell how many people there were, but even if there twenty goons searching for her downstairs, did they pose any real danger to her? She had no reason to hide from them. If anything, this was just what she'd been looking for.

Yang walked out of the room and made for the stairs at the other end of the hallway, making no effort to be quiet. When she got to the third floor, she found a man hunched over as he peeked into the rooms, his back turned to her.

"Hey, you looking for something?" Yang said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder. "Lost and found is that way."

The man whirled around with wide eyes. "Vernal! She's up here!" He raised his hands, leveling a double-barreled shotgun at her. "Don't you fucking move."

"Woah, there!" Yang said. "All that firepower for little ol' me? That's no way to treat a lady. Especially when you haven't even given her your name yet."

He pumped his gun, which Yang guessed was meant to be intimidating, but she was pretty sure served no real purpose. She heard someone yelling below, followed by stomping on the stairs behind her.

"Okay, look. I can tell you're not a very chivalrous fellow, and I really don't appreciate having a gun pointed at my face, so let's just get straight to the point," Yang said. "I'm Yang – let's fight!"

She took a step forward, and he blasted her at near point-blank range, stumbling back from the recoil. Yang staggered for merely a second, before she reached him and yanked the shotgun from his hands. She tossed it aside, then stared the man in the eyes, watching as fear set in.

Yang grinned. "Warned ya."

She kicked him in the chest, launching him across the floor, until he hit a wall and fell in a heap of limbs.

"Okay, maybe I didn't actually warn you," Yang said. "But I feel like it was implied, what with my reckless confidence and all."

Yang turned around and saw two people come up the stairs. The first was the man she'd met outside, carrying a pistol. The other was a woman, Yang guessed in her mid-twenties, with brown hair in a shaved cut. She wore shorts and a top with ripped sleeves, revealing a tattoo of a soaring bird on her left bicep. Two crescent-shaped blades hung from either side of her belt, with a ring-like handle in the middle from which to be gripped.

"You!" the woman stepped forward, stopping a few meters from Yang. Her companion waited behind her, glaring. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just standing here, minding my business," Yang said, blinking obliviously. "Oh, you're talking about your guy over there?" She gestured at Shotgun-Guy, currently bemoaning his existence on the floor. "Yeah, sorry about that. Although the way I see it, he was being rude, so he kinda had it coming."

"Don't play with me," the woman said. "Tell me what you're doing here now, or I'll cut your head from your neck."

"That's… hardcore." Yang whistled. "Before you try, though, you should know – that's not gonna work out the way you think."

She put on a serious expression.

"I'll tell you why I'm here," Yang said. "Vernal, I'm assuming?"

The woman gave her no response except to take out her blades and glare at her.

"Okay, Vernal. I'm trying to figure out what exactly happened here, and why," Yang said. "Now, I'm no detective - I got no answers from staring at dried blood - but you and your goons showing up to stop me tells me one of two things. Either you were with the lowlifes that used to hole up here… or you're with the woman who slaughtered them. So which is it?"

"The tough guy act isn't cute, girl. It'll be even less cute once I'm through with you," Vernal said. "I'll give you one last chance, since you clearly don't understand who you're messing with. Leave now, and never think about what you saw here again."

"Right. I think I've got my answer," Yang said. "You mind telling me about Raven Branwen?"

Yang saw Vernal stiffen, and thought she might just attack her in that moment.

"How the hell do you know that name?" Vernal said.

"Seriously? I'm Yang Xiao Long, haven't you heard of me?" Yang said. "I'm-"

"Forget this." Vernal waved her off. "Just blow her brains out."

Her companion pointed his gun and shot. Yang's head snapped back, the bullet bouncing off her forehead and landing somewhere behind her. She slowly craned her head forward again, moving her jaw to try and stop the ringing in her ears, and set her eyes on Vernal.

"Okay, then."

She stomped towards Vernal, but Outside-Guy put himself between them and unloaded on her. The bullets didn't bother Yang one bit, and she grabbed him by the wrist, twisting it and making him drop the pistol. She shoved him aside, and continued walking.

Vernal didn't wait for Yang to reach her, charging headfirst with her twin blades. She swung them at once in opposite directions, aiming for the neck right away, but Yang ducked under and punched Vernal's exposed belly. Her fist didn't meet with soft flesh, however, and though Vernal reeled back, she didn't collapse like Yang had expected.

Yang stood, shaking her hand. "Aura, huh?" she said. "Good. I don't have to hold back, then."

"Shut up."

Vernal threw her left blade, but Yang ducked again and dashed at her foe. Before she got to Vernal, though, she felt something hit her back. Whatever it was, it was sharp and would have sliced right through her if it weren't for her Aura. As it were, it just kept pushing against her, and the pain was almost as bad as the real thing.

"Motherf-" Yang rolled on the ground, and Vernal's blade came swooshing above her, returning to its owner's hand. "Boomerang blades?! Or is that your Semblance?"

Vernal spun her blades once, then aimed the right one at Yang. Though they were inside, Yang suddenly found herself being buffeted by a wind so strong it nearly knocked her off her feet. She covered her face with an arm as she was pushed back, hopelessly confused.

Daring to raise her head, Yang saw Vernal point her other blade. From seemingly nowhere, fire started to gather around it, until a ball the size of Yang's head floated before it. Vernal thrust her arm, and the fire launched towards Yang. She brought her other arm up to block, but the explosion struck her like twenty shotgun blasts, and she fell on her back, breathless.

The wind stopped, and Yang pushed herself into a sitting position. Vernal walked towards her, blades aimed at her throat.

"Had enough?" Vernal asked.

"No." Yang blew her hair off her eyes and clenched her fists. "You just made me angry."


Qrow landed on the sidewalk. He looked up at the building as he rolled his shoulders, trying and failing to will the soreness out of them. He had a feeling that things were going to get bad, but then again, he'd felt that way for most of his life. Today was particularly bad, but he chalked that up to… well, the obvious.

Maybe it was just the old pessimism. He'd almost convinced himself of that when he heard what could only be an explosion inside the place.

Qrow rubbed his eyes. "Hell."


Yang swung at Vernal, an explosive force behind her punch that would have shattered a regular person's bones, and put a severe dent on an Aura. It was smart of Vernal to dodge that attack, then, and every other that came after it, always moving backwards and sideways to stay out range of Yang's fists. When the situation got too hairy for her, Vernal used her weapons and pushed Yang away with a gust of wind, putting more distance between them.

It was getting tiring, but Yang didn't let herself be discouraged. She'd done kickboxing from her thirteenth birthday to the day she graduated high school, and though she could have easily defeated all her opponents by brute force alone, she'd always held back, for the spirit of competition. That meant she knew how to fight when things weren't so uneven - and most importantly, she knew when to put in the real hurt.

Her opportunity arrived when she closed in on Vernal again, driving her ever nearer to the wall behind her. Vernal realized she would soon have no room to dodge a moment after Yang did, and raised her wind blade to make room again. Yang didn't falter, aiming a punch at her foe's face, and Vernal lifted the blade higher to block – but as the wind hit her, Yang dropped the punch and spun in place, bringing her leg around in a roundhouse kick.

Vernal shouted in surprise and pain as her blade went flying from her grip. It landed far from their reach, the wind taking a few seconds to stop. Vernal shook her wrist for a moment, before she raised her remaining blade and shot a fireball at Yang.

Without so much as blinking, Yang dashed through the smoke and embers and kicked Vernal in the chest, launching her against the wall. As Vernal came bouncing back, Yang drove a knee into her stomach, then planted an open hand on her sternum and shoved her to the floor.

The whole building seemed to shake from the impact, and for a moment Yang feared – for purely practical reasons – that she might have gone overboard and knocked Vernal out. But despite being caught between coughing violently and trying to keep the air in her lungs, Vernal was still very much conscious.

"So…" Yang crouched beside Vernal. "Had enough?"

Vernal glared at her and tried to stand, but Yang pushed her back down and kept her pinned with a hand to her chest.

"If you think that was me being rough, you've got no idea," Yang said. She stared at Vernal, leaning closer. "Now, tell me everything you know about Raven Branwen."

Vernal moved her right arm, and Yang braced herself to be punched in the face, but instead Vernal laid her hand over hers and squeezed lightly. Yang squinted at her fingers.

"What are you-"

Her breath failed her as the world suddenly became a blur around her. The sensation reminded Yang of being tossed around by a Grimm, or that one time she'd gone flying off the playgrounds swings when she was a kid – except a hundred times worse. She would have thrown up on the spot – she felt she ought to – except for some reason it appeared she was physically unable of doing that.

The world stabilized around her, and Yang realized she was on the floor, and Vernal was leaning over her. She was pinned down, stopped from moving by a hand on her chest – a hand she was squeezing.

Yang looked up at Vernal. "What the hell just-"

And then came the punches. Vernal struck her right on the nose, once, twice, three times, before she stood up and walked away. Yang sat up, her head swaying, and watched as Vernal grabbed her two blades and turned to face her again.

"Did you just…" Yang blinked and rubbed her face. "Did you just switch places with me? How many Semblances do you have?"

Vernal scoffed and raised her left hand. For the first time, Yang noticed a copper ring on her index finger, unremarkable except for the faint glow it gave off.

"You're as ignorant as you are pathetic," Vernal said. "I told you, you have no idea who you're messing with. And now you'll pay the price."

"Yeah? Well, you don't know who you're messing with either." Yang stood up and cracked her knuckles. "I don't care how many tricks you have up your lack of sleeves, I'll keep coming back stronger. The only way you can you're gonna take me down is if you kill me."

"Is that so?" Vernal said, running her blades against each other before she aimed them at Yang. "I'll just do that, then."

"No," Yang said. "You'll try."

She stepped towards Vernal – and her feet went straight through the floor, the wood breaking until she was buried in it up to her knee.

"Are you actually kidding me!" Yang shouted, trying to dislodge her leg from the hole. "Is this another trick of yours, 'cause this is getting old now!"

"Not me, kid." Vernal smirked. "That's just the universe sending you a signal to stop struggling."

"Yeah, well, I'll – I'll send a signal to your face, then!" Yang grunted. "…Just as soon as I'm free!"

Vernal walked towards her, spinning her blades, and Yang prepared to fight her off.

"That's enough!"

Yang didn't even have time to look around for the voice – she blinked, and her uncle Qrow was pulling Vernal away from her, a hand closed tight around her arm.

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang exclaimed. "You're here, for some reason!"

"Hey, kiddo," Qrow said offhandedly, and gestured at Vernal. "You don't move an inch – and put away your weapons. Try anything and you'll regret it."

"Yeah, that's right!" Yang pumped her fist. "He'll kick your ass!"

"You, shush," Qrow said, sending her a warning look. "Your weapons, Vernal."

Vernal stared at him for a moment, measuring him up, before she hung her blades on her belt.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Yang asked. "I mean, I guess that makes some sense, but-"

"What the hell are you doing here, Qrow?" Vernal said, ignoring her entirely.

"I'm with Beacon, what do you think?" Qrow said. "Your boss just killed twenty people in cold blood. I want answers."

"I'm not telling you anything, traitor," Vernal said.

"Vernal, I think you now, and Raven will agree, that talking now rather than later is in your best interest. Use your brains for once," Qrow said. "And you should be grateful I'm the one representing Beacon, and not someone else. This could be so much worse for all of you."

Vernal set her jaw, glaring at him in a dead silence.

"She's not going to talk like that, Uncle Qrow," Yang said. "I tried. You gotta, you know-" She mimed a punch "-beat it out of her."

"Yes, I can see how well that's worked out for you." Qrow shook his head. "Yang, be quiet. And get your leg outta that hole."

Yang scowled. "Hey, this is obviously your fault! I was doing fine before you showed up."

"Whining's not gonna fix your predicament, dumbass."

Well that was just rude. And accurate. Yang started pulling on her leg, trying to get it free.

"Who is this girl anyway? Why are you helping her?" Vernal asked. "And why does she keep calling you…"

She trailed off, conflicted. It was as if she knew the answer to her question, but it just didn't conflate with reality.

"I'll save you the brain power," Qrow said. "She's my niece, and Raven's daughter."

"What? That's impossible," Vernal said. "Raven doesn't have any kids."

Yang stopped fidgeting for a second. Well, that stung.

"I'd love to show you the DNA test results, but I'm afraid they fell out of my pocket on the way here," Qrow said dryly. "Vernal, I know you're not gonna tell me anything. You're too damn loyal to Raven. So how about you point me in her direction, and I can get answers from the woman herself?"

"You honestly expect me to give up the tribe's location?" Vernal said.

"Fine." Qrow sighed. "Then take me to her. That's the only alternative." He gestured before Vernal could speak again. "I will track down the tribe eventually. That's what I do. And before I find it, I can make life difficult for all of you. Would Raven want that, Vernal?"

Vernal stared at him, her hands hovering restlessly near her belt. She looked at her two companions, still dazed on the ground from the beating Yang had treated them, and shook her head.

"Meet me at the Kuchinashi south gates in two hours," she said. "I have some things I need to sort out before I go."

"Fair enough," Qrow said. "And Vernal, if you try and give me the slip-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll find me," Vernal grumbled. She clapped her hands. "You two! We're going."

She waited for her companions to join her and left – but not before fixing Yang with a lasting glare. Once their footsteps had faded away in the floors below, Qrow turned to Yang and walked over, his hands on his hips.

"You. You little…" he said. "I don't even know with you sometimes."

"What? I didn't do anything wrong," Yang said. "Maybe a little property damage. But who cares, this is a criminal hideout anyway! I was doing the city a favor."

"You're not getting away with this by joking around, Yang. Not this time," Qrow said. "You're going to get up, and then we're going to have a talk."

"Okay, fine, we will." Yang groaned. "Can you help me out here, at least? Pretty please?"

She looked up at him, doing her best Ruby impression, and in response she got the most withering look she'd ever seen on him. It was enough to strike her silent, and she felt like a child for all the wrong reasons.

"I'll be waiting for you outside."


Qrow scowled at her over a plate of fries, yet to be touched by either of them. Yang had received many such looks from her uncle over the years, the kind that said he wasn't angry with her, just disappointed, but this was something else altogether. She was pretty sure he was both disappointed and angry with her right now.

"So," he said, after what felt like an hour of silence. "You wanna tell me what you're doing in Haven?"

Yang opened her mouth and closed it. Qrow's scowl was difficult to shake off, she had to admit. He probably used it on criminals all the time in his line of work.

"Same thing you're doing, apparently," Yang said, crossing her arms.

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

"You know what I'm talking about. You said it yourself," Yang said. "Raven Branwen killed a bunch of people. I gotta find out why. And I gotta find her."

"Oh yeah, you gotta?" Qrow said. "I must have missed it when you got recruited by Beacon. And when the Director sent you to do my mission."

"Maybe you forgot," Yang spat. "Wouldn't be the first time you forgot something important."

She looked at his vest, under which she knew he had to be carrying a flask, probably half empty already, if not entirely so. For a split second, Qrow stiffened, and Yang puffed her chest at that small victory, before he leaned on the table and looked her in the eye.

"Let me get this through your thick skull. Yang, you shouldn'tbe here," Qrow said. "You should be home, with your team of super-friends, running after Grimm, rescuing people, whatever crap it is you kids do."

"The team will be fine with me being away for a couple days. Ruby's got it all handled," Yang said.

"That's not the point. You should be with her right now," Qrow said. "You've got no reason to be here."

"Yes, I do," Yang hissed. "She's my mother."

"So what? That means you're just gonna drop everything and run off to another country, to chase after someone you don't even know? Again?" Qrow said. "I thought you'd gotten over this the last time, Yang."

"Gotten over it?"

Yang banged her hand on the table, closing it with a strength to crush metal. Qrow flinched and leaned away, and Yang somehow knew her eyes had turned red on him, but she didn't care.

"I didn't get over anything," Yang said. "I had no idea what I was looking for before, because you never told me anything about her, and neither did Dad."

"For good reason," Qrow said.

"Yes, I've heard that one over and over. And you know what, it's fine. I'm sure you thought you were doing what was best for me," Yang said. "You wanna know why I stopped looking last time? Because I got tired of being the asshole kid who ran away from her loving family. So there you go for getting over it."

As she finished speaking, Yang realized she was shaking. Had she even known she'd felt that way before now? It made all the sense in the world, but maybe it had taken saying the words out loud for those feelings to sink in.

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Qrow said quietly, eyes on his hands. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I'm sure Tai didn't either."

"I know," Yang said. "But you did anyway."

It somehow felt both empowering and excruciating to say those words. She didn't enjoy seeing her uncle like that, not even able to meet her gaze. But she had to be honest with herself and him.

"I understand why you feel you need answers. I don't blame you. Hell, if I were you, I'd probably go looking for them too," Qrow said. "But some things are better off left alone, Yang. I know you must be tired of hearing it, but there is a reason we never told you about Raven beyond her existing."

"Maybe. To be honest, all the blood didn't make a good impression," Yang said. "But I'm done being protected, Qrow. Seriously. I'm meeting her whether you like it or not."

Qrow sighed. "Okay."

"Okay?" Yang frowned. "You're not gonna try and convince me not to?"

"Nope. In fact, I'm going to help you."

Yang blinked. That couldn't be right. Maybe she'd hit her head during the fight.

"There's no use trying to stop you, so the best I can do is make sure you don't get into too much trouble," Qrow said. "Also, and I mean every offense with this, you wouldn't know how to track someone down if they had a neon-sign over their head."

"Hey! I could totally find her without your help!" Yang said.

"Mhmm. And what was your plan, wander around town, punch random mooks 'til one of them pointed you the right way? Or do you have some underground contact I'm not aware of?" Qrow asked.

Yang grumbled in her seat. She had to admit he made a good point.

"We'll meet Vernal in an hour. Hopefully she'll stick to her word and not disappear on us. I could find her easy enough, but it'd be annoying," Qrow said. "But first, we should actually eat what we ordered."

He grabbed a fry and tossed in his mouth, then reached under his vest and – yup – took out a flask.

"…Thanks, Uncle," Yang said.

"Trust me." Qrow uncorked his flask and leaned back. "You don't wanna thank me."


Qrow made navigating the city much easier. He knew it like the back of his hand, taking them through shortcut after shortcut on their way down. In twenty minutes, they reached the Kuchinashi district, which sprawled all around the base of the mountain. It was the only way to get in or out of the city from the ground, and through no coincidence, it was also Haven's biggest district.

They walked to the south gates, which gave way to a rough dirt road. Yang got the impression not many people used this road, and she didn't blame them – she wouldn't take Bumblebee out here if her life depended on it.

She looked around, expecting Vernal to be waiting for them there, but there was no sign of her. "Oh, wow. The criminal didn't show," Yang said. "Who could have seen this coming?"

"Stop moaning," Qrow said, and kept walking. Yang shook her head and followed him.

The gates grew farther and farther away, and the ground beneath their feet only got rougher. Yang was about to say something, when finally she spotted Vernal further along the road, sitting beside it on the hood of a pick-up truck.

"Oh, wow. There's the criminal, right where she said she'd be," Qrow said, imitating Yang's voice. "Maybe I should try exercising some patience every once in a while, but that'd be boring!"

"You know what? I deserve that one," Yang said. "You need to work on that impression, though."

Vernal jumped off the hood, leering at Yang as they approached.

"What's she doing here?" she asked.

"She's coming with," Qrow said, in a voice that gave no room for argument. "Where are your pals?"

"At a safe location," Vernal said, leering even harsher, which was just impressive, "nursing their wounds."

Yang shrugged. "Nothing that a little kiss won't fix."

"How far is the camp?" Qrow asked suddenly, taking a step to stand between them.

"Far," Vernal said, and entered the car, taking her place behind the driver's wheel. "We'll be there by nightfall."

Qrow nodded and made to sit beside her, but Vernal closed the door on him before he could get inside. He raised his hands in exasperation, but Vernal simply gestured at the back of the truck and turned on the engine.

"Rude," Yang said.

"Very," Qrow said. "Let's just make ourselves comfortable then."

"I don't think that's gonna happen, but sure."

They climbed onto the back, which was bereft of anything to hold on to or lay on. Yang had barely sat down when Vernal turned the truck and pulled into the road, going at the speed limit right out of the gate.

"Yeesh!" Yang exclaimed, grabbing onto the edge. "Is she always like this?"

"Like a dog that got kicked one too many times?" Qrow said. "Yeah. But I think she's taken a shine to you."

Yang threw her hands up. "Wow, I wonder why!"

"I think this is what some people call karma."

"She attacked me first! Kinda."

Qrow shrugged and took out his flask. Just as he brought it to his lips, they hit a bump on the road, and the flask slipped from his fingers and went soaring away, but not before he got a great splash of whiskey on his face.

"Well," Qrow said, wiping his eyes with his shirt. "This trip officially sucks."

Luckily for them, Vernal seemed to find a shred of mercy in her soul a few minutes later, and slowed down to a more manageable speed. Yang slumped against the side of the truck, feeling drained all of a sudden. Her couple hours of sleep on the plane hadn't been enough, apparently. Getting into a fight hadn't done her any favors, either.

"Grab some rest, Firecracker," Qrow said. "I'll make sure you don't go flying off this death machine."

Yang nodded and lay down on her side. It took her a while, but eventually she fell asleep.


"Her name's Raven."

Yang looked from the picture to her father. "Raven… So, Raven Branwen? Since she's Qrow's sister?"

Her father nodded, and Yang sat down on the couch, putting the picture on her lap. She figured she ought to feel something when staring at the face of the mother she'd never known. It was supposed to be a dramatic moment. Cathartic, even.

"Why show this to me now, after all this time?" she asked.

"Because you deserve to know something about her. You always did," Taiyang said. "Honestly, I should have shown you way sooner."

"Can you tell me about her, then?"

He sat down across from her, his shoulders slumping, and what little hope Yang had fostered was promptly dashed.

"It's complicated, sweetheart. The whole situation. And Raven," Taiyang said. "I haven't seen her since you were a baby. For all I know, she's not even the same person I used to know."

"Okay. I get it," Yang said. "Did you love her, at least?"

Taiyang thought for a while, before he looked at her and smiled sadly. "I did."

Yang nodded, and offered the picture back.

"No. Keep it," Taiyang said. "Take it with you to Vale. It's yours now."

"Are you sure?" Yang asked. "I don't wanna take away the only thing you have to remember her by."

Taiyang shook his head. "I'll always have you."


"Up, Firecracker."

Yang sat up and rubbed the drowsiness off her eyes. She looked around, realizing the truck was stopped in the middle of the road, with heavy tree lines on either side of it. It was dark, the only light coming from a distant fire Yang couldn't yet see. Qrow was standing outside the truck, his hands on his hips as he waited for her.

"Why are we stopped?" Yang asked.

"We're here," Qrow said.

Yang slipped to the ground beside him, and they walked around the truck to join Vernal. She threw them a disinterested look as she turned off the engine, then walked away and gestured for them to follow.

It didn't take long for Yang to see where they were going. A long wall sprung from the ground, built of thick tree logs strung together, their tops sharpened to a fine point to prevent someone from climbing over. There was a metal gate in its center, with a torch on either side, and a man standing guard before it.

The guard stood to attention when he saw them coming and began to turn, but Vernal raised a hand to pacify him. "It's me!" she said. "These two are fine. They're here to see Raven."

The man was quick to bow to her authority, opening the gates and stepping aside to free the way. As Vernal walked through, Qrow touched Yang's arm and stopped her.

"Last chance to turn back," he said.

Yang wanted to puff up her chest or make some joke about walking off into the woods, but she suddenly found her stomach in a knot. All she could think about was that, in a few minutes, she would finally be meeting her mother. She didn't know how that was going to go, and she didn't know what would happen after.

"I'll be fine," she said breathily. "I forgot to ask – does Raven usually… kill people?"

Qrow contemplated the question for a moment. "I'd say that's not her go-to move, no."

"I guess that's a little comforting," Yang said. "Let's go?"

Qrow patted her on the back, and they walked through the gates. At the other side Yang found a camp, with tents and racks spread across a wide, earthy terrain. People walked about, clad in rough leathers, and all with mean faces that only got meaner when they looked their way. Tribe indeed.

At the very center of the camp stood a huge bonfire, casting light across the area. A figure stood facing it, arms crossed, and that was where Vernal went. Yang watched the pair exchange words, time slowing with every step she took towards them.

Finally, Yang and Qrow stopped close by, and the figure turned to face them. Firelight reflected off pale skin and night hair, and red eyes met with Yang's violet with a calm precision.

Yang breathed in shakily. "Hi."

Raven tilted her head to the side. Her lips quirked in a half-smile, a tenuous warmth softening her features.

"Hi, Yang."


Oh, hi, Raven. Well, that happened fast! I wonder if people are gonna be surprised that she's here already. It was never my intention to have Yang actually physically searching for Raven all that long. Much more interesting for them to meet early on and, uh... spend some time together.

Also, hi Qrow. Funny how he hasn't appeared in a Ruby story yet. Truly supporting cast for Yang. (maybe that'll change in the future...)

Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. The next one is, uh... it's quite something!

-Zeroan, sweating profusely