A Cosmic Journey

by Sleepless Elite

One minute asleep in an apartment, the next clearly not. This is no quest with a goal, no adventure voluntarily undertaken. This is a journey without acquiescence, a constant fight for survival, with the creatures of Grimm being just one problem. This is a story, now woven into that of many others, that better not end anytime soon. (SI/OC) (OC/?)

11. Chapter 8: Those Living In Glass Houses

A Cosmic Journey

A/N: Hello everyone! Happy Yom Kippur to any who celebrated it, and Happy Monday to everyone in general.

Chapter 8: Those Who Live In Glass Houses

Chapter Date 10/14/19

The throbbing of a magnificent headache pierced the veil, and I jackknifed to a sitting position. 'Fuuuuu…there's the collarbone pain.' A quick check confirmed my journals and phone still on me, thank the gods.

"Kouzai! You're awake." I turned to see Ren and Nora in separate cages. Meaning…

"How fortunate. I was beginning to wonder if you were so weak that I killed you." Ice shot through my veins, and I spun to face the familiar voice.

Enough red and black to make Ruby jealous. Impractical clothing like a dress and heels mixing with combat attire like gauntlets. Waist-length feathery dark hair and crimson eyes like Qrow's and Yang's. Even without the nevermore mask, the dust sheathe by her side was a grim reminder.

Raven Branwen was here.

"Well, now that everyone's awake..." Raven placed a hand on her weaponless hip. "How did you three know my men would be at Argus' relay tower?"

"Why should we tell you anything?" Nora growled back, gripping the bars of her cage. Raven lifted an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Because if you don't, then I have no use for you," Raven stated matter-of-factly. "And if you're not useful to me, then there's no point in keeping you." Keeping us alive was implied.

"We have no guarantees that you would let us live even if we did have information for you, so your premise is flawed," Ren replied, remaining in a meditative position. Nora and I could tell that his posture was far too tense with worry, though.

Raven smirked. "True. You must be the brains, and your girlfriend here the brawn. What does that make you?" Her question was directed with a stare at me.

One of the top ten strongest beings on Remnant was questioning me. One should show proper respect.

"At times, I'm the intentional comic relief. Other times, I'm just the guy that asks the curious questions, such as what a bunch of bandits wanted with a CCT relay tower in the first place?" Unfortunately, I wasn't in a particularly respectful mood. It was tough to hate most of the characters from RWBY, but hating Raven? Easy.

Plus, my question was valid, and it'd been driving me nuts. 'Terra likely didn't experience something so traumatic in canon, so why the hell were bandits here this time, and why did Raven send them? Because she definitely sent them.'

Raven's smirk slid off her face, artificial as it was. A calculating eye took its place, likely appraising my value. Her other hand fell close to her sword handle. "I suppose that is a question worth asking, isn't it? It's just too bad that I don't have to tell you anything. Annoying, isn't it? The difference between us is though, you can't force information out of me. My tribe though…we can force things out of you."

Nora's breath hitched, and her fingers released the bars as she curled up, shaking. I'd only seen her so fearful one time in the show and on Remnant, and judging by Ren's expression its reappearance wasn't good. Mental speed chess then. "You could certainly torture us, and I have no doubt your tribe has experience in such cruel acts. However, something tells me it's not exactly good experience. Even if you tortured me, there's no way to know if my information will be truthful, and believe me, I'm your only option for information. Touch either of them and you'll never hear any truth from me."

Ren's eyes widened at my nonchalant stance on torture, while Raven's eyebrows drew upwards. Then she smiled amusedly, bringing her hands together to slowly clap. "Impressive. I've met grown men with less stoicism and sense than you. You're right, admittedly. We have our fair share of liars, thieves, robbers and killers, but none actually skilled in torture. But we have people here skilled in recognizing lies from truth, including me, so that makes your advantage moot."

"Does it now?" I asked smugly, enjoying being able to fuck with Raven Branwen of all people, despite the catastrophically dire straits. "I'd like to think I have a rather good poker face. I could tell you that I'm actually an old man from another planet, and I wouldn't be giving anything away, would I?"

Oh, I enjoyed her narrowed eyes as she tried to find my tells, but it's a good thing I wasn't fracking lying about any of that! 'Just a different perception on what old is, which I'm definitely not!' This time, the smile that disappeared off her face wasn't fake, making it all the more sweet.

"Fine, I'll admit that you seem to have experience lying. So tell me, if I can't force information out of you or them, and I can't tell if the information you might give me is truthful, why should I keep you all alive?"

'Welp, here goes everything.' I smiled. "Because I'm willing to exchange the information, in return for our release. For every question of yours I answer, you free one of us."

This time, Ren was the one to suck in a breath, given the audacity I possessed to make the damn offer in the first place. Raven, on the other hand, let out a chuckle. "And why, would I make a deal even remotely benefitting you? I think you've forgotten which of us is in the cage."

"And I think you're forgetting that you're the one who wanted information from us," I shot back. "You want to figure out why and how we were at the relay tower, because you needed something from it. If it was so urgent that you'd send bandits to attack the Atlesian military, you must be pretty damn desperate. Here, I'll even answer your first question; we didn't know your men would be at the tower, we just knew there was trouble."

Raven's red eyes did their best to bore into my mind for the barest hint of a lie. Seeing none, she stood still for a moment, then two, three…before turning her head. "Get the green boy's cage open. He seems like the physically weakest of the three of them."

Immediately, a bandit with a shiner of a cheek bruise limped to the cages, slotting a key in and opening Ren's as he dragged Ren out. I tensed as I noticed Ren's eerily calm expression; he was using his semblance. Meaning, he didn't trust himself not to get emotional right now. 'Well, if that didn't highlight our situation…'

"Very well. If you want to play games so badly, so be it. Some of my men saw you in the presence of the Atlesian military multiple times after defending the relay tower. What connection do you have with the Atlesian military?"

'Not the question I was expecting, but the fact that she asked means there's something she's digging for. But what?' Racking my brains wasn't yielding an answer, so I went with distorting the truth. "We were sent on a mission to meet with Atlesian officials, and after thwarting your attack on the relay tower we gave our report to the specialist in charge, and returned three days later to meet with a second specialist before receiving further directives."

Raven nodded, seemingly digesting my words and playing them over in her head. Then she nodded to the man, who walked over and unlocked Nora's cage. Nora shakily walked out, coming to stand by Ren as the two stared at me, fearful for themselves, each other, me, the entire current situation. But all I had to do was answer one more question.

"Last question then. Why have you been lying this entire time?"

I couldn't help stiffening as I gazed at Raven, who looked victorious.

"You're wondering how I was able to gauge that you were lying from your tells. The truth is, you're a good liar, and either you have no tells or nothing that you said was a lie. Now, everyone has tells, and just because nothing you said was a lie, doesn't mean that it was truthful. So instead of gauging you, I gauged your words. Giving me information, but keeping aspects of your statements vague, either to intrigue me or hide some other intention. Well, consider me intrigued, but also know that the game is over. No more half-truths for you."

'She won this round, no doubt on that. But…' I glared up at her smug expression. "I distorted my answers to make it seem like the Atlesian military had some sort of attachment to us. If you thought they were coming to rescue us, you'd be more likely to let us go, unless you wanted to have Atlas come down on you."

Her smug expression remained, but her eyes narrowed. "It's true having Atlesian forces trying to track us would make our lives difficult, but only if Mistral gave Atlas the jurisdiction to find you, which they never would. An oversight on your part." Russet stared back at crimson, before Raven finally waved her hand. "Something more believable. I for one, am tired of dealing with chessmasters, and despite your cunning, you're still quite a few steps behind the best I've faced. A mere child."

'Considering that chessmaster is thousands of years old, I'm not torn up by the comparison.' I was pulled out of my cage and pushed into Ren and Nora, who caught me with bound wrists. I straightened and turned back to Raven. "Well? Would you like to ask questions now to cut us free?"

"No…as I said, the game is over." Raven motioned with her head, and the three of us were shoved away from the prison area into the muddy snow covering the center of their camp. Around us, dozens of bandits emerged from their tents and fires, the reflecting light doing wonders to highlight the bruises, gashes and slings most had. "This is the last question, because your answer won't matter. Why did you ever think I would play on close to your terms, or not renege on our trivial agreement? A foolish sentiment, one that got you and your friends killed. You can take them away and shoot them."

'Fuck, nonono. Not HAPPENING!' I blurted out the first thing in my head. "What's the matter? Too scared of us? Or too weak to do it yourself?"

'Really, brain? I just called out Raven Branwen, the fricking bandit queen of Anima!' My thoughts crawled to a halt, owing to the red katana at my throat.

"You dare call me scared, like a little girl? You would call me weak?" Raven growled. Ren and Nora tried launching themselves at Raven, but sheer numbers held them down.

'Fuck it, time to go all in!' "Well, what other reason do you have for executing us like animals? We've already beaten your men in two separate occasions. Once is happenstance, and twice is coincidence, but if we fought your men and beat them a third time…three times is proof. Proof that your tribe and you aren't as strong as everyone thinks you might be."

"I beat all three of you singlehandedly," Raven replied, fingers clenched around a blade that my collarbone still ached from. "And don't try to play your way to a chance at freedom. The weak die, and the strong-"

"Survive right?" I spit back, drawing close to Raven's face. My Aura prevented her blade from cutting my neck, at the cost of my voice becoming a little raspier. "Because your tribe is so strong, right? Pillaging innocent villages, cutting down anyone in your way. But as soon as people even slightly capable of defending themselves against your men show up? You take them down yourself since your men can't. Then you tie them up so they can't fight back. Now you're having them drag us away to die by firing squad. Petty revenge, a real morale-booster, isn't it?"

"You think," Raven hissed, "that I'm putting on a show for my tribe? For Anima itself? That our way of life is just a game?" Low, angry voices were meshing around the loose circle of bandits.

At this, I laughed, and the blade scratched the Aura around my throat, something I ignored for now. "Isn't it all just a game, just smoke and mirrors for the masses? You want everyone, your men, Anima, even you, to think your tribe is invincible. And sure, your men have fighting experience, enough for say forty of them to take on a town of a hundred or more. But what happens if they had to fight five hundred? How about a thousand? You talk a big game about survival of the fittest, but it's all just a numbers game on who has more pieces. So well played, chessmaster."

Raven shot away from me as if burned, ceasing the pressure at my throat. She faced away from me, though I knew my words, especially my last jab comparing her to Ozpin, got to her. The buzz around the camp was still low, but had shifted from anger at me to confusion. I didn't care whether they believed me, but so long as they wondered…

Then Raven turned back around, and her face was back to its default superior, smug expression. 'That's either good, or really, really bad.'

"So you think my men are only strong because of our numbers, hmm? Or because we're merely armed?" Raven's tone was closer to a purr like Cinder's, which made every dang alarm in my head go off simultaneously. "Well, if you want to prove that so badly, be my guest. You will fight one-on-one with a member of my tribe, and prove definitively that your words are empty."

This was what I'd been aiming for! But…

"We can't have you fight me, obviously. No one would call that fight fair." Raven began, and despite her vehemence against 'theatrics', she was buttering her men up. "And you three have injured most of my men in your last two encounters. I could set you against one of my personal guards, but that would be unfair, wouldn't it? No, why not have a child fight another child."

The bandits began cheering, as Ren and Nora looked around in confusion. Me though…the cold sweat down my back made sense now. 'No…she's not…'

"We'll have you face…Vernal," Raven announced to the crowd, as the girl in question stepped out to join her. Her attire was marginally different to her appearance in the show, likely because it was winter. Instead of a torn white shirt under her brown vest, it was now whole, covering the bird tattoo likely already on her left arm. Her maroon pants were also rolled down symmetrically, her knee guards and boots still present. She brought her gloved hands up and cracked her knuckles, highlighting the ice-blue eyes and the sneer on her face.

"Now, my tribe already knows that Vernal has…special abilities. To make it fair, she won't use them. It'll just be her and her weapons, against you and yours. Just how you want it." Raven signaled, and a bandit cut through my wrist bindings, and I caught Mirror's Edge as it was tossed to me.

'Aww, grimmshit. Exactly what I asked for, in the worst possible way. She played her men like a fiddle; win or lose, the tribe comes out looking peachy.' I rubbed my wrists, before levelling Mirror's Edge at Vernal in its greatsword form. 'Need to use every card I have to catch her off-guard."

Raven slipped her Nevermore mask on, before walking to her tent's entrance, towards a comfortable chair placed down for her. The rest of her tribe backed away to the fringes of the camp, leaving the large circle in the center clear for Vernal and I. Ren and Nora sat on the ground, close to Raven's tent and on the opposite end of the circle from my position.

"Time to see how you fight without your allies," Raven called out, a raucous cheer coming from the bandits. "Though, I'm sure you're not used to such hostile intent directed at you, so let's even the field. Vernal, if you would?"

Vernal smirked, then raised her hand in the air.

'Raven said no maiden powers in the fight so…no…' "NOOOOOOOOO!"

The clouded sky above grew even darker as the only warning. "NORAAAA! REENNNN!"

I flooded my entire being with Aura and launched forward, just as the sky lit up. Adrenaline and Aura in my veins, I was just fast enough to watch the lightning bolt come down, and far too slow to do anything as it lanced towards Ren. With a flash, the air suddenly reeked of ozone.

Vernal, currently in front of me, said something as she lashed out with a chakram. Compared to the inertia generated by my Aura and rage though, she might as well have been moving in slow motion. Mirror's Edge slammed into her guard, and I pivoted to shove her as far as my arms allowed before dashing to Ren…

…Only to see him gaping in shock on the ground. Knocked over, yes, but clearly unhurt. But that meant…

My eyes slid to the the superheated ground where Ren had stood seconds earlier. At the center of the impact zone laid Nora, on her side and unmoving. I dropped to my knees and grasped her arm while Ren remained where he was, aghast.

"If you want to tend to your friend, I suggest you do your best to fight Vernal," a voice came from above, and it took a second or two to remember. Raven, the real Spring maiden. Raven, who'd struck Nora with lightning…wait…

Ren let out an unearthly howl, before jumping from the ground, hands bared and thrumming with Aura. Before he could get close to Raven, I caught his leg and dragged him to the ground. "Ren! REN! Snap out of it, dust-" Seeing no other option, I slapped his face, then brought him in for a hug while angling his face towards Nora.

"Listen to me," I whispered into his ear. "Nora is alive. I know it. Stay with her and protect her. Do not jeopardize her survival." A crash behind me alerted me that my reprieve was up, and I shoved Ren towards Nora as I twisted back around.

Vernal was pushing off the remains of a ruined wooden structure as she walked back into the ring. "Quite an arm you've got. With your guts and skills, you would've made a good addition to the tribe." I opted not to reply, letting the point of Mirror's Edge do the talking. At opposite ends of the ring again, I tensed. Only…

Maybe it was repeatedly focusing on my eyes. Maybe it was being absolutely pissed. Maybe it was just time. Whatever the reason, as I channeled Aura to my eyes again, something clicked into place and the world slowed.

Actually, legitimately slowed. As Vernal rushed forward, each of her steps took nearly a second, and the bandits forming the ring's perimeter were lethargic in their jeers and fist-pumping. I tore my eyes away for just a moment and looked out at the almost-hovering snowflakes in the air like so many stars.

'No way...this is my semblance? Time dilatation?' I had no qualms, so long as I could sic it on Vernal as she closed in. I raised Mirror's Edge to block her chakram …

'What the…nono, hurry up! Crap, damn…no, can't make it!' Mirror's Edge was only halfway to a guarding position, but Vernal was almost on me! I bailed, diving to the side, and it was this action that clued me in.

'Dust, why am I moving so…I'm not moving slow at all, am I? Everything around me, including me, is moving at regular speed! Which means…I'm just seeing things quicker!' Coming out of my roll, I turned as Vernal threw her chakram like a freaking boomerang. This time, I moved to bring Mirror's Edge up immediately. Like there was some sort of delay in my nerves, my weapon moved at a snail's pace, getting into position as the chakram inched into my guard. With a low, warbling clang, the chakram was knocked away and spun back as Vernal caught it.

'Ok, not time dilation. The only thing that's moving fast is my eyes! And well, my brain I-OH DANG!' I ducked behind Mirror's Edge as Vernal spread her feet apart and pointed her chakrams at me. Having seen the show, I shielded myself behind my weapon as concentrated fire dust streaked towards me. Weylin's craftsmanship held up though, as the bullets dispersed against the blade or ricocheted off.

'Ok ok, rules, set rules to this. Only my eyes are faster, so I need to move like things are in real-time because they are. More time to see and think means more time to plan though. So in short…" Using Mirror's Edge like a riot shield, I advanced on Vernal, who switched her weapons' back to melee. As she lunged forward, I watched until… 'THERE!'

I separated Mirror's Edge just as Vernal entered my range, and watched her eyes widen as I parried her first strike before slashing her torso. Her Aura shimmered and her face contorted slowly in pain, but she brought her chakrams around to fire at point-blank range. I lodged my right longsword in between, then wrenched my blade as hard as I could, disarming her. As Vernal recovered, I rushed her for all I was worth.

Slash across stomach. Elbow block her kick. Front kick to gain distance. Slash down, use momentum to kick. So long as I was already in motion, I could fluidly readjust to answer her moves with my own.

After that last kick, Vernal backflipped to reclaim her weapons, taking my other longsword and throwing it towards the bandits. As she charged back towards me, I stopped Aura-reinforcing my longsword, as the other began shooting backwards. Vernal focused on trying to gun me down, and despite my newfound ability to perceive bullets as they shot towards me, I could only deflect a portion, taking one in the arm and torso. As slowed shouts reached my ears, I watched Vernal turn and dive away as my longsword sought its other half. Plucking it out of the air, I leapt forth and front-kicked Vernal onto her back. Before she could move, I grunted and sliced down with both longswords towards her neck. Stopping just before actually impacting her Aura, she was caught in an inseparable, sharp pillory, both blades' at her neck, the handles out of her reach and the opening too small to fit her head through. Wrenching her chakrams out of her hands, I threw them aside and re-grasped my longswords as I closed my eyes, stopping the flow of Aura. When I opened them, the world was normal again.

"What the hell was that!"

"Vernal, get up!"

"You little brat, I'm gonna grab your neck and-"

As normal as a bandit camp could be. I turned, facing Raven as a glance showed Ren, although stunned at my victory, taking care of Nora. Further glances showed Ren actually holding Nora down on his lap and using his semblance to keep her from squirming from the influx of electrical energy into her system. 'Oh, thank the gods her semblance activated.'

"So, Raven, any more caveats or conditions?" I called out, digging my blades deeper into the ground to highlight the situation. Raven, who looked supremely displeased that I'd actually won, slowly rose from her impromptu throne.

"You…those eyes…"

'Well damn, she's sharp to pick that out so fast.' "It's my semblance. You like?" My statement seemed to both relax and unnerve her at the same time.

"So your eyes aren't naturally silver then?" Raven asked, and I started, before dropping slightly to study my reflection in Mirror's Edge. Concentrating, I activated my semblance.

'Oh…OH…yeah, I can see why that would bother her…' Staring back at me were two orbs of shining silver, brimming with Aura similarly to what actual silver-eyed warriors looked like. Faking it would've been useful, but I'd already shown my hand. "Nope, I've got beautiful brown eyes. But if you have any more questions, I'll be happy to not leave my scroll number on the way out."

"And why, would I let you leave? After the disrespect you've shown my tribe and the disrespect that you have shown me. Don't forget, you three are still the-"

"Anyone have the time?" General shock abounded at my casual interruption of Raven's spheal. "Seriously, someone has to have a watch or scroll. I mean, you guys literally took our scrolls when we were knocked out."

Some brave soul that might've been Shay D. Mann piped out, "It's about a quarter past one-errr…"

"If you wanted the time of your death, I would be happy to leave it on your gravestone," Raven said, voice tight with thinly-disguised anger.

"That's pretty funny, ha ha. And everyone said that Raven Branwen had no sense of humor," I said to the now utterly silent tribe, likely waiting to see what kind of avant-garde art Raven would turn me into. "But seriously, that was a good joke. Saying you'd be kind enough to give us gravestones if you killed us, and saying you could kill us."

"Have, you, forgotten, that I beat all three of you myself? Killing you would be child's play," Raven growled.

"It would be, if your ass wouldn't be on the line," I replied coolly. "I asked for the time to get an idea of how much time you had, not me. You see, when we left Argus, and on the way there too, I knew there was every chance something we encountered might be too much for us. Grimm, bandits, natural disasters. So naturally, we set up an emergency contact system. Every week without fail, I'd call our hometown, and I'd call Preto Reyes in Wind Path to check in. Yes, we know Preto, try to keep your jaws off the ground.

Scrolls signals can get spotty at times out in the wilderness. Calling once a week ensured that we were actually safe, and was doable because there was passable signal at least once a week."

"The reason I mentioned all that is…" I smiled at Raven, some hopefully sharp teeth on display. "The deadline for this week was about…thirteen and a quarter hours ago, while we were unconscious. So tell me, how long can you spend on us three before you have to run with your tail between your legs?"

There were a great many gasps around the camp, and even Raven looked unsettled before she glanced to the side. Regaining her smug smile, she replied, "If this system was in place, then why do your friends look so surprised by it? Hiding secrets from them too, hmm?"

"Uhh, duh," I shot back, surprising Raven. My eyes stayed away from Nora and Ren; I didn't think I could sell this if I saw their expressions. "Of course I kept it secret. They already have reservations on knowing Preto, but to hear I was calling the guy weekly? That's a bunch of nagging that I didn't wanna deal with. After all, everyone's entitled to their own secrets, right Raven?"

I couldn't have possibly loaded that statement with more hidden meaning, and Raven seemed to grasp that as her eyes narrowed to slits, her hands clenched. "You're still lying. There's no way you thought of something like this. You're just-"

"I'm just a child, right? Just stupid, and naïve, and weak, and…oh wait, have I been any of those things so far? Let's take count. I would certainly hope you don't think I'm stupid, considering I nearly outsmarted you once already, before making a 'mistake' and revealing we weren't tight with the Atlesian military. Big whoop. Naïve? I would hope not, since all your threats and bluster and I haven't so much as batted an eye. And weak? Well, Vernal can give her opinion on that, right Vernal?" I closed the gap between the blades just a smidge more, the edges now pricking her neck.

"So, not a good track record, Ms. Branwen. Or would that be Mrs., because I'd be shocked if no one tried putting a ring on you." More loaded barbs, and the closer Raven got to cracking. "Now, I could be lying about calling to check in, because I'm 'just a child'. But seriously, a child especially knows to call home. And I'm really not lying about knowing Preto. Really, the next time you have a chat with him you can ask about me. So I could be lying about all of this just like I was with our game earlier, but is that something that you want to bet the survival of your tribe on? Your survival on?"

Everything was silent, and the falling snow only exacerbating that. Only Raven's heavy breaths were audible from my position. And all of a sudden, they weren't.

I didn't even have the time to activate my semblance before a monstrously powerful slash came at me from the side, knocking the one blade that I pulled from the ground aside. A roundhouse kick came next, and I barely grasped my other blade before the blow collided with my arm, sending me flying across the whole freaking ring.

"Regardless of how much time we have, it won't take much to kill you at least," Raven seethed, crimson eyes just inches from mine. I jumped back and activated my semblance, but Raven chased me like a homing bullet, slashing my blades aside as easily as Nora with Magnhild, and much quicker. "Weakness one: it doesn't matter if your eyes can catch motion quicker, if you can't react in TIME!"

A thrust slipped past my escrima form, digging into my solar plexus. I hunched, short of breath as the pain broke my concentration. A mistake as Raven's kick rocketed upwards and whipped my chin back full speed, the impact dropping me to my knees. "Weakness two: having to concentrate on using your semblance means a good hit will knock you out of it."

Whirling around, Raven went for a full-strength slash for my skull, and even activating my semblance, all I could do was guard weakly with Mirror's Edge, as my own sword knocked into my face blunt-end first, momentum sending me rolling to the side. Finally stopping on my back, I tried activating my semblance, but balked as my perception flickered between normal and fast. Soft footfalls on snow came closer. "Weakness three: your semblance is still a semblance. Without sufficient Aura, it is lost to you."

She hovered over me, katana pointed downward at my head. "So tell me, despite all your plans, all your lies, all your skills…how does it feel to be so weak?"

'Ah damn. Less than two years on Remnant. I guess that's a good run.' No one was coming to save us, after all. But as a dead man walking, there was still something I could do. "I don't know, you tell me. At least I won't die a coward."

CRUNCH

I went flying with my Aura shattered. Hitting the ground, I turned sideways to see Raven's leg outstretched. "KAAAAAAGGH…" 'A kick? That's all that was?'

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE CALLING A COWARD!" Raven shrieked, advancing on me. I pulled myself to my feet, holding Mirror's Edge out. "I am here, I've survived because I'm strong enough, to do, what others won't!" Every few words came with a slash. Zero finesse. All the power. My arms creaked with every blow.

The dam broke, and my thoughts on Raven Branwen poured out. "Really? Does that include leaving your allies behind? Your friends?" Raven's onslaught paused as I struck a nerve, but I was on a roll.

"I mean, look at you! Heels, a skirt, fancy dust weaponry and that mask? You just scream huntress, or the illegal equivalent. Either way, you must've had people you trained with, people you trusted, friends. I see a scant number of those here, so where are they, huh? Did you survive, by leaving them?" Evidently the wrong thing to say, as Raven's fury reached a controlled peak. Controlled only to prevent her maiden powers from spilling out.

"Tell me, are they dead?" 'Like Summer…' A particularly vicious slash knocked one longsword away.

"Or worse, are they alive?" A brutal heel jabbed my wrist, another kick sending my other longsword tumbling as the pieces rejoined away from me.

"Who'd you leave behind, huh? I'm not seeing any family here, either!" Wrath filled her eyes now, as she actually sheathed her sword.

"A brother then, or si-GUUHHHH!" A hook into my ribs left me gasping for breath. A second gauntleted hand slammed into my cheek from the opposite side. I hit the snow, and watched pristine white darken with red. But only for a moment.

"How about a husband? Or wife, I don't ju-!" I wasn't even fully up before a chopping right cut me down again. This time, a heel pressed down on me, and cruel eyes leaned forward, strength crushing my ribs and stopping any movement.

'Coup de grace then…' "Any children? I don't see any around here, 'less you count Vernal…a son maybe, or is it a daughter?" Murder clouded her eyes, and she dropped down on me. No weapons needed…

THUD

POP

CRUNCH

SNAP

…drip…drip…

Everything…haze…still…one thing…

"Hey…" I murmured, unsure if my un-swollen eye actually saw her. I couldn't breathe, so maybe still on me? "Was running…worth it?...How's…life…treating you?"

The mirage wiped tears away, flicked her hands. Something wet hit my face and eye. I could breathe.

Pushing through the pain of a dislocated shoulder, I used my one good arm to reach a sitting position. Wiping my face, the flecks were actually my own blood, and a broken nose made breathing difficult, painful and bloody. Then I remembered the cause of my trip through the meat grinder.

Raven was off to the side, staring up at the slow snowfall, unmoving and unspeaking. All those around her remained silent as well, meaning the only one making noise right now was the half-dead mess that was yours truly. I rose to my feet, nursing broken ribs and some deep bruising on my left leg. I waited, ready to go kicking and screaming.

Raven slowly turned, took a step…and walked past me. Past the ring. Past a restrained Ren and massively restrained Nora. All the way into her tent.

…Welp, if I was dying, might as well get a last message out. Hobbling over to Nora and Ren, I half-collapsed in front of them.

"Hey guy…sorry for the mess," I weakly chuckled, though my ribs hurt like a bitch. "Push comes to shove, I'll get her to release you two if she kills me. Honor system or something…"

"As touching as that sounds…" Raven drawled, before three objects slid to our feet in the snow…our scrolls. "That won't be necessary."

Then exploding pain assaulted my head, and I clutched my face. "UUUUUUHHHHH…what the hell?" Bending over, I put a hand down in the snow, landing on something metal, and cold. I raised it to my eye, and blinked at the barrel, spotted with blood.

"Did you…chuck a pistol at my broken nose?"

"You're in desperate need of a ranged option, and you'd likely sooner shoot yourself if guns were added to your weapon. That's a Tyro .45, one of Remnant's most common handguns. One of the oldest too. It's been sitting and gathering dust in my tent for years, so I'd rather some poor child use it to protect themselves from all the scary things in the world." The sarcasm was thick, but I was still baffled.

"Don't you need this? And why let us go in the first place?" I winced as my dislocated shoulder throbbed, reminding me it existed. "Not for nothing, but our tussle wasn't exactly going my way."

"Because the strong survive, and you've proven yourselves as strong," Raven espoused, before frowning. "Because you beat Vernal, and killing you on the coattails of such a fight would be using numbers, not to mention that you'd be severely outmatched. Because I feel apologetic for nearly sending you to the afterlife. My reasons matter not, only that I have them. As for ranged combat, well, I'm quite capable of holding my own without a firearm, but if needs be I have…options."

'That you do.' I took the pistol and tried firing to confirm there were no bullets whatsoever. Then I placed the gun in the until-now empty holster I wore. Seeing Mirror's Edge still glomped together, I limped over to properly set the halves back together. As I did, low buzzings of discontent spread around the camp, and Ren and Nora got tenser, if that were even possible.

"Does anyone have any issues with my decree?" Raven challenged, and all talk ceased. "Understand now, they cleared the trial I presented them, and so they shall survive by being strong. Anyone wishing to defy my ruling can do so against them."

If any of Raven's bandits considered it, Ren's twitching fingers on Stormflowers' triggers, along with the small sparks of electricity hopping across Nora's skin dissuaded them from mentioning it. As a group, and using my valuable weapon as a walking stick, we slowly made our way to the camp's gates.

"Just remember, children," Raven called as we stood at the opening gates. "I may not be so merciful the next time we meet."

"You weren't this time, either," Nora muttered as we passed through back into the forests of Anima. Once we were clear and away from the camp, I sagged as the need to look tough fled.

"Kouzai! Nora, see if you have signal and can determine the travel time to the nearest village. I'll check on Kouzai." As Nora fiddled with her scroll, Ren did a preliminary examination of the results of back-to-back fights with Vernal and Raven. Suffice to say…

"I'm amazed you're still conscious," Ren stated frankly, brushing various injuries. "Not counting the plethora of bruises and scrapes, you have a dislocated shoulder, broken nose, broken ribs-"

"Ren, with all respect, I don't need a list. Everything feels like it got pounded with Magnhild. And I'm still awake because I'm partially certain the pain would just make me nauseous. If it gets any worse, you'll be the first to know." Ren looked as though he was the one who'd just gotten beaten.

"Ren! Kouzai! We don't have signal!" Nora zipped back to us as, hands pressed together as if praying for forgiveness.

"Guess we're hoofing it," I sighed. I noticed Ren still had something he wanted to say. "Hey Nora, try circling our position, maybe a hundred meters out. The signal might be better out there, or maybe with a little elevation.

"You got it!" Nora exclaimed, glad to put her unexplained burst of energy to work as she bounded away. Ren turned, his expression indicating he was still unamused.

"Ren, I just took enough hits to the head that my Aura will focus on that before the rest of my lovely injuries." I gestured gingerly with my one good arm to the rest of me. "Needless to say, I'm both low on brainpower and more than a little irritable at the moment, so get on with what you have to say."

Ren gritted his teeth together. "You nearly got yourself killed. Again. I think that warrants my being short with you."

"Really, this again?" I groaned with a hand to my face, then again when I accidentally touched my nose. "There was nothing I could do. Raven wouldn't have allowed either of you to fight with me or in my place, considering that I'm the weakest one of us."

"That's not the point," Ren growled, pink irises contracting in anger. "You nearly got killed trying to shoulder everything by yourself again. You left, all blasé, to fight a superior opponent who could've killed you. Meanwhile, I had to watch over Nora, who I didn't know if she would live. If you died, like you could've with Vernal, like you almost did against Raven? I would've been left to protect Nora alone."

Any annoyance I had towards Ren deflated out. "Ah…I see. I am sorry for putting you in that position, I really am. But bluffing for a deal was the only plan I had, and we didn't have a backup. And if it meant drawing their ire to me, that was a risk I was willing to take."

Ren took a few deep breaths, the clouds of steam in the cold making his draining tension all the more visible. "I know that we were in an unfavorable position, and there was no time to formulate a safer plan. And I can't fault you for taking it upon yourself to save our lives. My concern is that despite your more resourceful mind, I cannot fathom why the riskiest roles, the most dangerous parts always fall to you. This is not me being a petulant child demanding more input, but a plea to let Nora and I take some of the responsibility off your hands."

"I know, and I hear you. If I saw a way to make the plan better, I would've. But Raven would only accept one of us fighting, and Nora was down. Maybe I could've convinced everyone that you were the weakest, and maybe you could've faced Vernal instead…but if you died, regardless of if Nora and I survived, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Better that I use myself to have the least risk to the group's survival, and if things didn't go my way, at least you two would live." Ren looked miserably at me, and it didn't take a mind reader to know I'd forced up some unpleasant memories of sacrifice for him. I laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hey…I'm here, and I'm fine. Sort of…I'll live. And the next time we find trouble, not only will I include you both in the plan, but we shouldn't be in that situation to begin with, since I'll be making backup plans on backup plans now."

We shared a grin, and I was relieved at the lighter mood. Seeing Nora finish her all-terrain exploration and start to return, I couldn't resist playing a certain card. "So tell me, oh smitten one? How's it feel that Nora cares about you enough to take a lightning bolt for you? And don't think I didn't see your lap pillow earlier."

Ren blushed a luminescent pink, impressively visible on his face as Nora arrived. Turning away from both of us, he muttered, "Too soon…"

"Whatcha guys talking about?" Nora questioned, taking a look at my teasing face, then Ren's still clearly blushing one, back to mine, then back to Ren's before slowly turning back to me. "Kouzai…you didn't take advantage of me being unconscious or searching to make moves on Ren, right?"

I would've laughed, but a crackling Nora holding an electrified Magnhild was an excellent deterrent. "No no, I would never, Nora. You're so far off the mark it's not even funny. Like I said, I prefer the company of women."

Nora then levelled Magnhild at me. "But I'm a woman! Gasp, have you been scheming to steal me away this whole time? Well, you-mgmpgmmsmg!"

"Nora, Kouzai has no romantic affections for you," Ren insisted, his hand over her mouth. "Now, in the interest of finding Kouzai medical attention, were you able to find a signal?" An emphatic headshake had us sighing.

"Alright, old-fashioned survival skills it is." I looked at the sun's bare outline. "Alright, south is that way. Assuming the Branwen Tribe didn't take us past Wind Path, if we head that way we should see it soon. Let's move, because my entire body feels like an overcooked noodle."

… … …

"C'mon Kouzai, we've gotta get going soon if we wanna get good seats for the flower viewing!" Nora groaned by the door, watching me look over another set of finance sheets.

"A little bit more waiting won't kill you, Nora," I replied automatically. "And Ren's already there, he'll save us seats. Besides, if you want to blame anyone, blame Ms. Fujiko for punishing me with so much paperwork."

"If I recall, you yourself chose that option over cleaning the entire orphanage for a month." Ms. Fujiko's entrance into the room had me clamping my jaw and Nora doing her best failed impression of a houseplant. "Maybe this will dis-incentivize you from returning a bloody mess so often."

"I'm already plenty motivated to have that not happen again," I grumbled. "If only someone would give me more time to train so I improve faster."

"Well, I'm sure you can use that budding mind of yours to create more efficient training regimens." Ms. Fujiko brushed off the pointed reference. "Now, I need to borrow Nora to move the food outside to the viewing area. Do join us soon, and if the work proves too long, you can always resume tomorrow."

"Yippee," I dryly replied, taking the head-smack without complaint. As both women exited, I listened to confirm they were gone, before pulling my journals out.

After stumbling around aimlessly, we made it to Wind Path, where I refused to enter a hospital if it meant Ms. Fujiko being notified again. Instead, we went to Weylin's, which may have been far worse. Adequate medical supplies he had; barebones medical training, he did not. Luckily, after I'd been bandaged, splinted and casted up, my Aura got to work healing my smorgasbord of injuries. Weylin was uncharacteristically quiet as Nora recounted the breakneck back-and-forth mind games between Raven and I, with Ren taking over to describe my fight with Vernal and thrashing by Raven. Weylin gave me a long, piercing stare to which I had no idea why, before zoning out while looking at Nora as he heard about her semblance. As our time was short to return though, we soon departed, but not before implementing the same emergency contact plan with Weylin that I'd bluffed having to Raven. I was not taking any more chances.

Even moving as fast as my injuries would allow, the delay meant our return, although before the flower viewing festival, was after the secret deadline Ms. Fujiko had set and never informed us of. Upon seeing my physical state, without having healed and without any notification whatsoever, I was lambasted to a point that sergeants in the armed forces would've feared. After appropriate punishment, I spent much of my time recuperating and doing a lot of financial work to accelerate Yozakura's growth to satisfy Atlas' potential requirements.

In between stints of work, seeing how I was banned from training temporarily, I spent the time coming up with ideas for my weapons, for dust usage, for my Aura and semblance. But most of all, for enemies. After Raven, I needed to put up a better fight for whichever villain I might encounter. Be it the Branwen Tribe again, the White Fang, Roman's group or Cinder's crew. Hell, if I encountered any of Salem's lieutenants, I would be prepared if it killed me. I think I was off the hook for planning for Salem herself, seeing as short of throwing a Relic or Ozpin himself at her as a distraction, I was screwed no matter what I did. And both Remnant and Earth would freeze over before I gave her information; I wasn't Lionheart.

So whatever came my way next, I was hitting right back.

Protect them all? So much to do then…

TIME REMAINING UNTIL START OF CANON: 3 YEARS

… … …

OMAKE

'Whoa…' I breathed, looking at the world in slow motion. It was serene, or would've been, if I weren't looking out the back of a truck with a literal ton of stolen adamantium, what looked like half of Vacuo chasing us in cars. Still, I'd take it.

Having tried to turn and nearly fallen over, I knew I had to stop my semblance to speak. "Roman, I absolutely hate you right now! Which part about this heist was supposed to be easy!?"

"The part where we're less than twenty klicks from freedom! Just make sure the cops don't blow us up and we're scot-free!" Roman whooped, firing Melodic Cudgel at the closest car, igniting something important under its hood.

"Twenty kilometers is long, Roman! And we're the opposite of scot-free! We'll be wanted by every kingdom for this!" I shouted back, ducking back into the truck to avoid a hail of fire.

"That's the idea! And you won't be wanted, considering you've got that fancy getup! Now, since your shielding skills need work, borrow Neo's backup weapon and use that new semblance of yours to get these goons off, our, tails!" The last three words were punctuated with offensive swerving to knock some agile bikers away.

"The last time I tell either of you anything…" I grumbled, extending a hand to Neo as she handed over a, you guessed it, tri-colored pistol. After some colorful gestures coming out to, "Scratch it and you die, lose it and you live," I aimed at the proverbial barrel of fish before me, glad the voice modulator mask and dark cloak somewhat hid my identity, despite the burning temperature outside.

'Ok, just aim, and…' From my perception, the bullet made its way to the oncoming truck's tire, the impact setting off the dust cartridge inside, instantly turning its side into a fireball as the truck flipped over. The encroaching horde attempted to skirt around the flaming wreck, but the majority either stopped or piled onto each other.

I turned back to Neo. "I have got to get me one of these."

… … …

I stood transfixed, holding an umbrella of steel over my head as the rain of black feathers descended slowly, as if suspended by wires. I glanced upwards at the large Nevermore attempting to pierce my cover, piles of deflected arrows growing around me. Although smaller than the Grimm in the show's initation, it was still larger than the Taijitu I'd faced earlier this year, and likely had a lot of feathers at its disposal.

'Ok, you've trained for this. No better time to practice than when you're staring down a storm of enemy fire.' I kept my greatsword above my head as I reached behind my back for my 'birthday present', a gift from General Ironwood of all people that he passed to Ozpin while both were at the 39th Vytal Festival. 'Probably a play to build favor with Glynda. Fat chance of that, but good try.'

Still, I admired the weapon's handiwork. Modeled off Ironwood's own Due Process, the revolver was weighty and painted a sleek white, making the kingdom of origin obvious. "Okay, here we go." Activating my semblance, the world slowed and I holstered my sword as I stared up at the Nevermore readying another volley of feathers. I took aim, and as the Grimm fired, so did I.

BANG

Even slowed, the sound still reached me, and the bullet tore through one of the Nevermore's wings as it began losing altitude. Meanwhile, I observed the razor-sharp feathers hurtling towards the ground. 'Look at the trajectories…'

Like a game of chess, I moved according to the movement of enemy pieces, sidestepping whenever in range of a feather. Bringing my blades around, I parried the last few and stepped out of the feather field as the Nevermore finally hit the ground. Before it could take off again, I leapt into the air, and with my combined greatsword, guillotined down onto its open neck as the blade carved through Grimm flesh. Deactivating my semblance as the head thudded onto the ground, I turned back to the forest, where Glynda observed proudly.

"The Nevermore, as requested." I flashed a winning smile. "So what's next?"

A/N: Hey everyone, hope you liked this one. As you might've noticed, I swapped the order around this time, putting the Omake before the stinger. Partly due to trying things out, and partly because the of flow. Better to go from positive to heavy, rather than heavy to positive. If the new order is something you all favor more, let me know.

… … …

… … …

"Was running…worth it?...How's…life…treating you?"

Ruby Rose chased her dog around the kitchen and under the table. Ein? Zwei? Zwei. She was a physical copy of Summer. Although their personalities differed slightly, the hopefulness, the optimism…it was all passed down to that little girl.

Taiyang was busy preparing dinner, stepping out of the way and chuckling as his youngest daughter and Zwei ran circles around him. It was likely that soup of his in the pot; one of the only things he could cook in Beacon. After Summer though…

Then she stepped into the room, blonde hair untethered and free-flowing. Similarly untethered, she moved with easy grace and effortlessly caught Ruby in a headlock, fist digging into dark locks as Ruby squirmed and lilac eyes squinted in mirth. An absentminded shove by Tai upset her balance, and both girls went tumbling to the floor, all parties sharing a laugh.

Yang. The hardest part of her absence.

A branch rustled as she took off, circling before changing in midair and landing upon the ground and straightening. The front door was a mere five steps away, but even with Kindred Link, it might as well be five thousand miles.

No, this was just a moment of weakness, and she would not, be, weak. She had seen enough, time to-

"Tell me, are they dead?"

Summer's smiling face rose unbidden from her memories as her hands clenched. The emptiness of one of her bonds disappearing…

Four steps.

"Or worse, are they alive?"

Her first moment of weakness, returning to see them after Summer's death. Qrow's drinking, Tai's shellshock, Yang's…Yang's loneliness…

Three steps.

"Who'd you leave behind, huh? I'm not seeing any family here"

The way they came together…the strength each showed…but still less, for having known Summer…less, for having known her…

Two steps.

"A brother then"

The times she'd met with Qrow after. First pleading for her return. Then raging. Then slowly…the indifference…

One step.

"How about a husband?"

Tai. The years on his face after. He carried himself with sheer will, but…that hole in his spirit…how much of that was because of her?

Zero steps.

Close enough to rest her head against the familiar door. If only she could raise either of her arms, dead and numbed at her sides.

"Or is it a daughter?"

Yang…her determination…her strength…her ambition…would anyone say that it had come from her?

An arm raised…

"Any children? I don't see any around here, 'less you count Vernal"

…and stopped.

What about her tribe, her people? Vernal, her protégé? Her plan to survive what was coming, away from either Salem or Ozpin…she'd spent over ten years away because she was strong enough to avoid such weakness. Would she give in now, just to fall with the rest of them?

"I don't know, you tell me. At least I won't die a coward."

A moment of weakness. A moment in time. That's all it took.

Three knocks sounded at the door.

A/N: Wow, that…that was heavy. Writing Raven, despite my opinions on her character, made for a deep dive. And so the wheel turns, as Year 2 finishes. More to come. Much, much more. See everyone next week!

-SE

Next Chapter Date: 10/21/19