DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to RWBY
NOTE: Thank you everyone for being patient with the slow releases, as well as to those kind enough to spend their time to leave a review. I read through every review and am always open to constructive criticism or suggestions as I want this story to be as great as I can possibly make it.
The guards shift uncomfortably as a dark mood takes over the throne room.
"Explain it to me once more," Sienna says in a low voice. Her nails dig deeply into the wood.
"He has defected and was last seen going West, presumably to Sanus, and most likely, Vale." Adam reports while kneeling on a knee with his head down. "In addition, several of our brethren are missing from their respective posts, likely defected as well."
"And why do you believe he's taken such an action?" Sienna slowly asks.
"Among the casualties of that incident was his brother. The ones who have defected with him also had kin who were victims of that massacre. The most logical conclusion is they are driven by revenge, one greater than the hatred they feel towards the general human public and the SDC," Adam responds neutrally.
Sienna loudly sighs and waves a hand, dismissing the guards from the room. When they leave, she rubs her temples with her eyes closed as she processes the current situation.
"We still have brethren situated near Vale, but they have not responded to our messages for over a week. I have a very difficult time believing that all of them are working with Lieutenant Banesaur..." She mutters. "This is all very strange, and something does not quite add up."
"Then send me," Adam requests with his head down. "I'll get down to the bottom of this, if you'll be gracious enough to grant me another chance."
Sienna raises an eyebrow, then thinks for a moment.
"Though I'd previously sentenced you to remain in HQ... perhaps I should rescind that order." She slowly nods to herself.
"Very well. Seeing that he was previously under your command, it is only right that you be the one to deal with him. Go to Sanus and investigate what exactly is going on, and if possible, apprehend Banesaur. Be cautious... I have a sneaking suspicion that Banesaur's vendetta is not the only factor at work. Take care not to make any hasty decisions while you are there."
Adam's hand balls into a tight fist. Finally, a chance at redemption.
"As you command. I will head out tonight."
He stands up and salutes. As he turns on his heels to exit, Sienna whispers just loud enough for Adam to hear.
"Be careful..."
A burly masked Faunus is sitting on top of a log in front of a tent, cleaning his weapon. His head tilts up as an even larger figure approaches with several armed Faunus accompanying him with wary eyes.
"So, you're an acquaintance to that Cinder woman?" Banesaur bluntly asks.
Hazel slowly nods, "Yes."
His naturally deep voice rumbles the air like thunder, causing the surrounding Faunus to feel greatly intimidated.
"She did not leave the greatest impression in my mind when she burned dozens of our brethren to death," Banesaur says. "So what makes you think that I would give you any more of my time?"
"Do not pretend that you actually cared about them," Hazel neutrally responds, then glances at Banesaur's weapon covered in blood. "Just a few hours ago, you mercilessly slew the White Fang that were stationed here."
Banesaur pauses cleaning his chainsaw, and sets it on the ground by his side.
"They were fools who remain loyal to coward leader Sienna Khan. I could not risk revealing our exact location near Vale. Not before we get our revenge on Jaune Arc," he growls. "Spit it out. What do you want? You're obviously not here just to say hello."
"The employer of Cinder and myself is interested in working together with you," Hazel says. "We can guarantee you that you will be interested."
Banesaur leans forward.
"Oh? How so?"
"Before I say anything else, how does the White Fang currently feel about the attack on Beacon and Vale?" Hazel questions.
Banesaur scoffs with disdain, "The majority of them think it was a mistake. Especially Sienna Khan. She knows who Jaune Arc is and what he did that night. It was confirmed by those who'd managed to escape. Yet, she chose to merely leak that photo with no name attached, solely to garner sympathy from the masses to offset any perceived negative view of the White Fang. Utter coward."
He glares directly into Hazel's impassive eyes.
"I'm different from those weaklings, and so are all the brethren here who have chosen to follow me. Blood will be paid with blood, and we will get our revenge!"
The Faunus surrounding them bristle with fury, clearly in agreement with Banesaur.
Hazel deeply sighs to himself.
'This could be a very big mistake. The Mistress has stressed repeatedly not to trifle with the Arcs without careful consideration. These fools have no idea what they are messing with... Not that it matters. We only need them for a small portion of our plans."
"If bloodshed is what you desire, and you believe that the attack on Beacon was the correct course of action, what say you to striking at another Huntsmen academy?"
Banesaur leans back and crosses his arms.
"Which one?"
"How do you feel about Haven Academy in particular?" Hazel asks.
Banesaur maniacally grins underneath his mask.
"A chance to get rid of that old fool of a traitor Lionheart? Tell me more."
'I suppose that works... so long as he gains interest,' Hazel thinks to himself.
*** In a remote dark forest ***
A lone woman of medium stature with long auburn hair treks alone through a dead forest. Within this forest, the sky remains gray and no vegetation grows from the land. The branches of the trees lay bare without leaves, and a permanent cold layer of mist limits visibility.
Her body is covered with heavy armor marred with damage from a recent battle. Despite her average height and build, she does not seem to be hindered by her bulky armor, nor by the large kite shield across her back. She cautiously traverses through the forest while making as little noise as possible. Her eyes constantly scan her vicinity for potential threats. This forest is notorious for taking the lives of many capable Huntsmen, and shes does not plan on adding to that number due to carelessness. She suddenly pauses her steps and brings an arm up to reach for her shield.
A cold chill runs down her spine and her instincts scream. Without thinking, she turns on her heels and lifts up her shield just in time to intercept an unknown object. The force of the impact makes her heels to dig into the forest's permafrost soil.
She slightly lowers her shield and looks up at a branch, finding a humanoid figure landing on it into a perched position. Its features are hidden by the shadows.
The figure stands up and hops down onto the ground, then steps into view.
"Heather Shields," Tyrian chuckles, his face menacingly illuminated by the moonlight. "It truly is your lucky night."
Heather silently depresses a button on her shield, activating its hidden mechanisms. The kite shield splits down the middle and a hidden shaft extends out. The edges of the kite shield flair out, giving them a sharp edge. She tightly grips her double axe and glares warily at this unknown man. Just now, he'd casually said her name, and based on his demeanor, he is not looking to just say hello.
"And who are you?" She slowly asks.
Tyrian bows dramatically.
"Tyrian Callows at your service," he replies. His head tilts up and he flashes a mad smile. "And tonight is your lucky night, because you've been chosen to be sacrificed for my goddess!"
Without warning, he dashes forward at high speed and extends his claw-like weapons from his wrists.
Mentally cursing her luck, Heather lifts her axe above her head. Taking in a quick sharp breath, she infuses her Aura into her weapon, then swings it down with great force and speed using a single hand. A thick cleave of flashing Aura blade rages through the air at Tyrian.
When Heather had begun to lift her axe, Tyrian's ears had picked up on the subtle change in air pressure. He preemptively kicks off the ground and cartwheels sideways through the air, easily dodging her attack. The large Aura blade tears through the ground and blows apart a tree in the background.
Having taken into account Tyrian could dodge her attack, Heather twists the handle of her weapon, separating one of the shield halves from the shaft. With the flick of an arm, the half-shield secures onto her left arm in midair. In a smooth motion, she swings that arm down and channels her Aura into that shield half, activating her Semblance.
Based on the current sound cue, Tyrian predicts the speed of her arm's trajectory and begins to move accordingly. However, Heather's arm instantly speeds up without warning, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. Having no other choice, he brings his arms up to block. Despite reinforcing himself with Aura, the force behind Heather's shield bash sends violent shockwaves throughout his body, causing his head to ring as he flies backwards through the air.
Tyrian skids to a stop several yards away by digging his claws into the dirt. He straightens himself and tilts his head curiously.
"You suddenly sped up, catching me off guard. Bravo Miss Shields," Tyrian slowly claps. "Was that your Semblance?"
Heather twirls her axe with great dexterity and glares at Tyrian.
"Who knows?" She grits before widening her stance in preparation for the next exchange.
Tyrian casually shrugs before cracking his neck. He squats down like a frog and flexes his legs, strengthening the muscles with his Aura. He explosively launches himself towards Heather like an arrow.
'What is he up to?' Heather wonders as she takes a deep breath and charges her axe with Aura.
'Try dodging this in midair!'
Heather swings down directly onto Tyrian's head like a lightning strike. Her eyes widen with shock when Tyrian suddenly twists to the side, seemingly defying physics, and dodges her blow. He suddenly appears to her left, so she brings her shielded arm up to block his claws. As her right arm lifts to counter with her axe, she feel something pierce her neck, where it is unprotected by her armor.
The axe drops from her lifted hand, and blood pools out from her mouth. Her trembling eyes gaze upwards, finding a large scorpion tail coming from underneath Tyrian's coat.
'A... Faunus...'
Heather's vision begins to grow dark.
'B-but... My Aura...'
She notices clumps of dirt on Tyrian's tail.
'That's how he dodged in midair...'
Her eyes roll backwards and she crumbles to the ground.
A lone crow soars through the night skies. Its red eyes constantly searching the grounds below like a hawk. The sound of clashing metal echoes through the air, alerting Qrow. Rapidly flapping his wings, he changes direction towards the sound.
As Qrow approaches, a male voice madly cackles.
'Not good!'
Qrow draws his wings in and dives down. As he approaches the ground past the mist, his stomach sinks when he sees an armored female with familiar auburn hair laying motionless in a pool of blood.
'Heather!'
His eyes turn bloodshot as he transforms in midair and swings his sword at the man standing over his friend's body.
Tyrian's celebratory laughter is cut short as his ears twitch. Without hesitation, he dives forward and rolls across the ground. He skids to a stop and turns around, eyes narrowing to focus on the new arrival.
Qrow stands protectively in front of Heather's body and holds his weapon ready. His eyes glare daggers at the man standing before him. Thick killing intent exudes from him and fills the air, causing the surrounding forest to go deathly silent.
Uncaring for the pressure coming from Qrow, Tyrian leans forward and tilts his head from side to side. A look of recognition finally appears on his face, and he begins to clap with glee.
"Well," Tyrian grins. "If it isn't Qrow Branwen. Today truly is my lucky day. She will surely be pleased with me..."
'She?...'
"Salem," Qrow growls.
A frown appears on Tyrian's face.
"To use such a tone while uttering her sacred name... Such disrespect warrants death!"
Without further warning, he lunges forward with his claws extended. Qrow swings his sword, knocking Tyrian's arms to the side, then kicks out at his torso.
To avoid the kick, Tyrian's tail slams onto the ground and springs his body up into the air above Qrow. He spins forward, swinging his tail down onto Qrow from above.
Qrow stabs his sword into the ground and depresses its secondary handle. Within a split second, the blade expands and segments, before curving into the blade of a scythe. As a result, Qrow is sprung through the air following the direction the curve, escaping from Tyrian's tail.
He lands gracefully and switches his weapon back into sword form. Then he depresses another trigger to reveal the barrel of gun. He quickly fires off several Dust rounds.
A pair of barrels appear from Tyrian's wrists and he fires his own hail of bullets. The Dust rounds intercept each other in midair, causing a firework of explosions and kicks up a mixture of soil and dust.
From the cloud of debris, Qrow sprints out and swings the backside of his sword at Tyrian's neck. As Tyrian brings his arms up to block, Qrow depresses a trigger once again, causing the blade to curve around towards Tyrian's back. Qrow fiercely pulls his weapon towards himself, drawing the blade of the scythe onto Tyrian like a guillotine.
Tyrian lifts his tail up between himself and the blade, and actively concentrates a large amount of Aura to reinforce it. He winces from the impact, then grins at Qrow viciously. He swipes a clawed hand at Qrow's chest with his Semblance activated.
An ominous feeling washes over Qrow when he sees Tyrian swipe at him. Obeying his battle hardened instincts, he undoes his scythe and jumps backwards. The tips of Tyrian's fingers barely nicks Qrow's chest, tearing away a sliver of his Aura. A gleam flashes in Tyrian's eyes, and he strikes his tail out.
Qrow manages the knock the tail away, preventing himself from being stabbed, but the sharp tip of Tyrian's tail still manages to graze his skin. Almost immediately, a burning sensation begins to spread from the cut.
'Shit.'
Qrow mentally curses as he presses a hand onto the wound. Despite the minuscule amount of venom, Qrow's vision immediately begins to blur and his muscles grow weak.
He tries to take a step, but stumbles as his knees buckle. His joints begin to shiver and his bones feel as if they're filled with molten lead.
Tyrian strolls towards Qrow with his tail raised. As he reels it back to deal the finishing blow, a metallic sound rapidly approaches from his front. He jumps backwards just in time to avoid a curved dagger from striking him. A long chain is attached to the weapon's handle and trails into the darkness of the forest.
The face of confidence on Tyrian falters when he sees the weapon. His body unintentionally goes tense when a feminine figure walks out from the shadows.
The woman who'd just arrived is dressed in a simple white gown. Her sleeves are unusually spacious and just long enough to keep her hands hidden. An elegant ornament in the shape of feathers decorates the sides of her head above her ears. From her ears, a small set of crescent moon earrings glitter against the moonlight.
As she gracefully strolls forwards towards Qrow, her mid-shoulder length blonde hair trails behind her as light as the wind. She briefly acknowledges Tyrian with an impassive stare from her aquamarine eyes, before setting her attention back onto Qrow. She reaches into her sleeve and withdraws a small glass vial. She kneels down and lifts Qrow's head to pour the contents of the vial down his throat. She pinches his nose, forcing him to swallow the liquid in his unconscious state. Qrow's breathing immediately begins to stabilize and his trembling greatly reduces.
Nodding in satisfaction, she sets him back down down and stands back up to face Tyrian, who had not moved from his position since this woman had arrived.
She tilts her head before sighing, "Did you not learn your lesson the last time you stepped foot onto Anima? Tyrian Callows."
Her soft spoken voice seems to permeate throughout the air.
Madness rages across Tyrian's eyes and he growls, "Bitch. I'll slaughter you this time."
Showing no reaction to Tyrian's comment, the woman lightly flicks her wrist, quietly dislodging her weapon from the ground and catches it. She walks several yards away from Qrow's position, and reaches into her sleeve to retrieve two more identical weapons. She holds the weapons between her fingers and throws them out. Two of them fly adjacent into the darkness of the forest, while the middle one flies straight towards Tyrian's head.
Tyrian's eyes squint, trying to focus on the movement around him. He dodges the middle chained dagger at the last second, tumbling across the ground. His head whips back and forth, searching for the other two. The woman's voice buzzes directly into his ear.
"You should watch your sides as well."
Tyrian growls in frustration and ignores the woman's words. He brings his arms up and fires Dust rounds rapidly while sprinting around her perimeter. While doing so, he keeps a close eye on his surroundings. Once again, the woman's voice speaks into his ear.
"Watch your back," the woman says.
'Bluffing again. Like I'll fall for-'
One of the curved daggers slithers out from the darkness without a sound and strikes at Tyrian's back like a viper. Tyrian stumbles from the blow and reels around, only to find that the weapon had retreated back into the darkness. Furiously cursing under his breath, he forgoes caution and lunges directly at the woman.
The woman remains standing in her position as calm as water. Her expression does not change in the face of Tyrian rapidly approaching her position. Before he could get within arm's reach, dozens of chains that were buried beneath the ground erupt out and twist together to form a barrier between the two fighters. From the wall, several chains separate and strike at Tyrian, who jumps high into the air and lands on a branch. He begins to jumps between branches at high speed, looking for an angle of opportunity.
Like water, the chain barrier shifts its position around the woman as Tyrian ricochets between the branches. Her eyes never losing track of Tyrian's position. Cursing loudly, Tyrian retreats further away, cloaking into the darkness.
The wall of chains falls and the woman waves her arm, dispersing them across the forest floor and trees. She calmly closes her eyes and focuses for any disturbances to her web.
Tyrian slowly and methodically crawls from branch to branch. His eyes are much more suited for darkness and glow purple as a result. He positions himself onto a branch facing her back. With a vicious grin, Tyrian digs his claws into the branch and anchors himself at an angle. He flexes the muscles in the legs and compresses his tail like a spring. He rockets off the branch like a bullet and flies out from the darkness.
The woman's eyes snap open and she raises an arm behind herself. Underneath her sleeve, her fingers move intricately like master puppeteer, manipulating her network of chains with near perfect Aura control. The numerous chains come to life and surround Tyrian in midair, and despite their numbers and rapid movement, they make no noise.
Tyrian madly roars and activates his Semblance. In a frenzies midair dance, he strikes at every chain he would reach using his arms, legs, and tail. A gleam of victory flashes across his eyes when the ones he stuck go limp and collapse lifelessly.
'I knew it! She's controlling them with Aura!'
He bursts through the chains in front of him, ignoring the ones that strike him repeatedly from behind and rapidly deplete his Aura. He only needs enough for a single strike with his Semblance, then his victory would be ensured.
He lands next to the woman on all four limbs with his tail raised up high. Immediately, the tail strikes out, imbued with his Semblance and dripping with his deadly venom. His tongue hangs out in ecstasy, confident that victory and revenge was at hand.
'Her weapon choice means she must be weak in close quarters. This is my win, bitch!'
Or so he'd thought.
Facial expression as calm as when the fight had begun, the woman brings a hand up and deflects the tail away using the back back of her hand. She then steps forward and stomps into a horse stance. Drawing strength from her legs and core, her other hand curls into a fist and fiercely punches Tyrian in the face.
The little Aura Tyrian had left shatters, and the full force of the woman's blow is transferred into his skull. With a loud crack, his nose breaks and bends into a odd angle. A trail of blood traces the air as Tyrian's body skips across the ground before slamming into a tree. Wasting no time, the woman grabs several of her chains, and whips the daggers down onto Tyrian, intent on finishing him.
Tyrian's mind races as he skips across the ground and his vision fades between red and black. He is fully aware that this wench would not waste an opportunity to follow up on her strike. Through his teary eyes, he spots his chance at escape as he tumbles. He mentally worships his goddess for granting him such luck.
For the first time since the fight had begun, the woman's unchanging expression suddenly shifts. Her eyebrows twitch in annoyance when Tyrian suddenly extends an arm out and fires several Dust rounds at Qrow, who is still unconscious, therefore, completely defenseless. Having no other choice, she flicks her wrist to divert her weapons to shield Qrow. When she looks back to where Tyrian was, he is nowhere to be found.
She channels her Aura through her chains and throws them out into all directions, but is unable to sense any sign of the scorpion Faunus.
"I was careless," she sighs. "I'm going to get scolded when I return."
She turns her head towards Qrow, who is beginning to stir awake. Locating a log near him, she quietly sits down atop of it and waits patiently.
Qrow groans as his eyes crack open. As his memories start to return, his eyes snap open in alarm and he quickly sits up, ignoring the urge to scream from the pain in his body. He exhales a cold breath as he scans his vicinity. When he finally turns check his hear, he nearly falls over due to an unknown woman quietly staring at him.
"Who... are you?" He cautiously asks.
The woman politely bows while seated.
"Greetings Qrow Branwen. My name is Camellia," she says softly.
Qrow immediately grows alert, noticing she'd referred to him by his name.
Keeping his voice calm, he asks, "Should I assume that you saved me from that maniac? By all accounts, I'm pretty sure I should be dead."
Camellia nods, then glances over at Heather's body.
"Unfortunately, I was unable to get here in time to save your companion."
Qrow's eyes grow dark when he sees Heather's lifeless corpse.
"I can't even save my friend or avenge her. Then I nearly died in the process..." Qrow says in a low voice. He stares blankly at Heather's body.
"If it is of any comfort, she would have died almost instantly. Tyrian Callows' venom is dangerously potent," Camellia says softly.
"Tyrian Callows," Qrow growls with rage simmering in his eyes. After a moment, he closes his eyes and sadly sighs.
"So, Camellia, what brings you all the way out here? This is the middle of nowhere and is hardly a place that most Huntsmen should ever come to."
"I was assigned to track down and eliminate Tyrian Callows. We have been keeping tabs on him for quite some time," Camellia replies.
"... We? Assigned?" Qrow slowly questions.
Camellia thinks for a moment.
"I suppose you may think of them as my employers?"
'Why is that a question?' Qrow mentally raises an eyebrow.
"I see..." Qrow grunts as he reaches into his shirt for his flask. He unscrews the cap and takes a long drink.
"You said my name earlier. That means you know who I am."
"You are rather... notorious in certain circles," Camellia simply replies.
"Fair enough," Qrow says, despite sensing that this Camellia woman was dodging his questions to some extent. "Not to brag, but I'd place myself at a much higher level than most Huntsmen. My point is that Tyrian was good enough to get the better of me, yet here I am, alive and well. So what does that say about your skill level?"
Qrow leans forward.
"Isn't it strange that I've never heard the name Camellia before on any Huntsmen ranking or mission board?"
Camellia shakes her head and lightly responds, "That is because I am not an officially licensed Huntress."
"A mercenary?" Qrow leans back and raises an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. "Pretty rare to find one as powerful as you. Typically, mercenaries are those who don't have what it takes to become licensed Huntsmen, or were revoked of their license."
"I never found the need for one. Having one would not make me a better fighter, and I do not enjoy bringing attention to myself," she says.
"Hmm," Qrow nods, then turns his gaze back towards Heather. He spends several minutes just staring before pushing himself onto his feet. He limps to her side and kneels down. Silently apologizing under his breath, he begins to remove pieces of her heavy armor.
"What are you doing?" Camellia curiously asks.
"I can't carry her back if she's wearing all this armor," Qrow grunts. "I'm sure she'd prefer to be buried by her family, rather than being left out here. She'd do the same for me if our positions were reversed."
Studying him for a moment, Camellia stands up and walks towards Qrow and Heather. She kneels down and assists Qrow in removing the armor pieces from the more sensitive areas, despite being fully clothed underneath.
"Thanks," Qrow mutters as he moves to undo a shoulder guard.
After about an hour, they finally manage to remove the last of Heather's armor. With a heave of breath, Qrow lifts her body onto his back, ignoring the blood dripping from her neck wound and staining his clothes. He regretfully glances down at the pile of armor and weapons, knowing he couldn't bring them back with him.
Reading his expression, Camellia moves her hand. Several of her chains are reeled in from her network and neatly wrap themselves around Heather's gear to form a bundle.
'Where did those come from and they did they make no noise?'
Camellia pulls the chains, dragging the bundle of gear behind herself.
"Don't you have to go after Tyrian?" Qrow asks.
"I am afraid that he is long gone. My current duty is to report back to my... employers, which just so happens to be in the direction you're heading towards."
"If that's the case, I appreciate the help," Qrow nods in gratitude.
The two begin to slowly trek through the dead forest. Though their progress is rather slow, Camellia shows no visible strain or effort as she drags the several ton package behind her with a single arm. Qrow eyes at her from the side.
"You sure you're going to be alright? The weight of Heather's gear is no joke. She was only able to handle it because her Semblance allowed her to reduce the weight of objects she channels Aura through."
"I will be fine," Camellia smoothly responds. "My chains are reinforced with Aura, as well as my body."
"Okay, but you're going to keep that up the entire way? It'll take at least a day of walking to get out of this place."
"It will not be a problem. I have enough Aura to spare without having to place myself in danger."
'Just how much Aura does she have?!'
As they walk in silence, Qrow would occasionally glance over Camellia, properly taking in her physical characteristics now that things were calm. Her blonde hair and deep blue eyes raise some flags in his mind, but he writes them off as coincidence. That is, until he finally notices the crescent moon symbol on her dress, as well as her pair of earrings.
Unable to resist, he casually asks, "Say... what was your full name again? I wasn't able to catch it earlier. Camellia..."
He pretends to think.
Camellia turns her head at Qrow and stares. He could swear there was a hint of amusement dancing within those still blue eyes.
"I do not recall mentioning my family name," she finally responds. "But I suppose it does not hurt for you to know. My name is Camellia Arc."
After a pause, Qrow chuckles to himself. Half proud and half surprised that his suspicion was correct.
"An Arc... Suddenly things make a lot more sense."
Camellia tilts her head.
"You say that as if you've met an Arc before. May I ask who?"
Though her tone is casual, her eyes are carefully studying Qrow.
"Well it should be obvious," Qrow laughs. "Since you knew who I am, then you should also know that I'm from Vale."
"Vale..." Camellia says to herself. Her eyes suddenly brighten. "Jaune?"
"You guessed it. He's actually pretty close friends with my nieces in Beacon Academy."
"Beacon..." Camellia mutters, before looking back up at Qrow. "Is he alright? Was he hurt?"
She rapidly fires off her questions, concern dripping from her voice.
'Guess this verifies it. This is definitely one of Jaune's sisters. Though, it's probably a very safe bet to assume that she and the rest of her family is unaware of his reincarnating situation and all that. So... I'll leave that out and let him deal with that can of worms when the time comes.'
"The kid's fine. The battle at Beacon roughed him up a bit, but nothing permanent."
Camellia sighs in relief.
"As soon as we'd heard the news, I'd volunteered to rush towards Vale, but..."
"Duty called. I get it," Qrow grunts, while Camellia sadly nods in affirmation.
Several moments of silence pass, until Camellia poses her own question.
"May I ask who trained Jaune during his time at Beacon? We saw his performances during the Tournament, and all I can say is that he has certainly... improved. Quite a bit."
'Geez, just how bad was this kid before reincarnating?' Qrow mentally sweats.
"Ah... well, I gave him a few tips here and there," Qrow quickly fibs. "May have taken a bit of trial and error, but once we found what made him tick, he began to learn pretty quickly."
"... I see," Camellia responds, though she looks rather unconvinced.
'Uh oh...'
Qrow mentally sighs when Camellia does not push the subject.
"So uh... there are seven of you?" Qrow asks, trying to change the subject. "I'd heard from the kid that he has seven sisters in total. Where does he fall within the entire lot?"
A rare smile graces Camellia's face.
"I am the third oldest of the sisters. Jaune... he is the youngest out of all of us. He is our baby brother."
"He's actually the youngest!" Qrow exclaims. "Now that I did not expect."
Camellia lightly laughs, "He was rather adorable when we used to dress him up as our eighth sister, much to his dismay."
Qrow coughs at the mental image.
"Anyways... I can see that you're stuck with duty, but how come no one else has come to Vale yet? What about your parents?"
Camellia's eyes shift.
"It... is a little complicated," she quietly responds.
Qrow raises an eyebrow, but decides to leave it be. Clearly, it is not a subject she is willing to talk much about.
As the two continue to go through the forest, the two occasionally converse in miscellaneous small talk.
After about a day and a half, they finally arrive at a large wooden gate guarding a small village. Qrow flashes his Huntsmen license up at the guard in the tower, who nods and signals the gate to be opened. He ignores the strange looks directed at him and Camellia from the village residents. Whispers could be heard about Heather on Qrow's back, his bloodied shirt, and the strange blond woman dragging a bundle of heavy armor behind her.
Soon, they arrive in front of a small home near the center of the village. Qrow stares blankly at the door for several minutes before finally mustering up the courage to knock. He mentally braces himself as the sound of footsteps approach.
*** Vale ***
"I believe that should be everything," Glynda says as she flicks her riding crop, sending a small pile of letters towards Jaune.
Storing them safely inside of his ring, Jaune asks, "You stayed up all night to write extra?"
Glynda stifles a yawn and rubs the dark spots under her eyes.
"It couldn't be helped," she sighs. "I can not afford to squander an opportunity like this. Especially during these trying times."
Jaune places a hand on her shoulder and relieves her fatigue with Vermillion Bird qi.
"My apologies. I should have made it clear that I was going to be leaving so soon after dealing with Mountain Glenn."
Glynda leans back into her chair and stretches her arms while arching her back, feeling rejuvenated.
"When are you expecting to return?"
"Hmm. It is difficult to give an exact answer. Ideally, I would like to be back in Vale within a week. Though, with Neo acting as my double, there is some room for leeway."
"We can only hope that she does not cause any trouble," Glynda sighs.
Jaune chuckles, "She is no idiot. I'm sure she'll do just fine. Besides, Roman is here to keep her in check."
"I still can't believe we're working with that man," Glynda mutters to herself.
Her office windows swing open on their own. Jaune wraps himself in a dark blue cloak and dons a blank mask, completely masking any of his characteristics and features.
"Well, I should be going. Take care while I am gone."
He blurs into thin air and the windows gently snap shut. Glynda approaches the windows and gazes out at Beacon Tower.
"Time to go to work," she sighs. With her riding crop in hand, she strolls out from her office
A sea of red flashes by as Jaune flies through the skies above Forever Fall. Eventually, the trees begin to thin out and the scenery transitions into a vast plain as far as the eye could see. Green grass as tall as a man carpets every inch of the ground below. The grass sways with the wind, sending rippling waves through the plain.
As Jaune slows himself down. Almost immediately, he notices slithering motions within the grass, and a quick scan of his divine sense verifies that the motions are being made by King Taijitu. In fact, the same effect could be seen all across the grassy fields. Though undoubtedly beautiful, the hidden dangers within the grass makes this place highly unsuitable for settlement.
After several hours of flight at a casual pace, the sun is begins to set and a treeline finally appears in the horizon. Jaune lowers his elevation to the forest's canopy, taking a mental note of everything he finds as he continues North.
His divine sense suddenly picks up some unusual activity. Jaune pauses when he notices a pair of children frantically stumbling through the forest floor.
A pair of raccoon Faunus no older than the age of 12, male and female, hold onto each other as they flee through the forest. The male's breath stutters due to a deep gash across his back. Though the girl tries her best to support her brother, they both lose their balance and fall onto the ground.
"Fenix! You have to get up!" she begs. "They're going to catch up. You have to get up!"
"J-just go," the boy manages to gasp. "Leave me and run."
"No!" She screams with tears running down her face.
"G-go..." He says before losing consciousness.
Her lips tremble but she does not budge from her spot.
"Found you! You little animals!"
Several rough looking men carrying crude weapons and torches burst through the brushes. They smile greedily as they leer at the young Faunus girl.
"Look how fine of a specimen she is despite the dirt on her face. She'll catch a pretty penny for sure. Shame the male is as good as dead," one of them mockingly says.
"S-someone! Please! Help us!" the girl screams. "Anyone! Please!"
The men pause and look at each other before bursting into laughter.
"There's no one around to help you little animal! It's just you and us."
When one of them extends a hand to grab her, she tightly shuts her eyes. Silence suddenly envelops the area, and the laughter of the bandits abruptly disappear.
The girl cracks an eye open, finding none of the bandits in sight. As she turns her head to look around in confusion, she freezes upon noticing a masked figure standing beside her brother with a hand outstretched. Her eyes widen in panic.
"D-don't touch him!"
The figure pauses and tilts its head towards her.
Though terrified, the girl refuses to break eye contact. Though, for some odd reason, she feels as if the face behind the mask is smiling.
The masked head nods once, as if to tell her that it does not mean harm, then places a hand on her brother. After several seconds, her ears twitch at the sound of her brother's breathing stabilizing, and she could visibly see the color returning to his face.
When the mysterious figure pulls its hand away, she scrambles to her brother's side and finds that the deep wound on his back is completely healed. Her fear transforms into awe as she looks up at the figure, standing silently and looking North.
"T-thank you Mister um... Miss..." she struggles on how to address this figure as the clothing makes it impossible to tell. "T-the bandits attacked our village further North. M-my brother and I barely managed to escape."
The masked figure nods once, then picks the siblings up under his arms.
"Hold on," the figure says in a distorted voice, before bursting into a sprint.
Unwilling to unnecessarily showcase his abilities, Jaune opts to run rather than fly through the forest, though considering the distance required to travel, it made little difference. Within a minute, Jaune speeds through the burnt village gate and stops at the town square. The scent of burnt wood and blood lingers in the air. Strewn throughout the streets are the corpses of Faunus. With a pulse of his divine sense, Jaune locates those who still live, though mortally wounded. Setting the sibling pair down, Jaune disappears into a blur heal those he finds with his Vermillion Bird qi.
Within several minutes, he lifts his hand away from the last wounded Faunus. He frowns behind his mask. Just to make sure, he scans the entire village several more times.
Jaune promptly reels in his divine sense and molds it into a single strand as thin as hair, greatly reducing the total area he could sense at once, but exponentially increasing the distance. Like a radar, he circles it around him. Once he finds what he is searching for, he jumps into the air and flies East at full speed.
*** Camp in the East ***
"Gahahaha! Tonight was a good night boys! Did you all enjoy the slaughter?"
A large camp of bandits drink and cheer at their leader's comment. Invading that Faunus village was made infinitely more easy because of the lack of Huntsmen. All thanks to the destruction of the CCT.
The leader of the bandits, a large, bulky, and incredibly ugly man with an uneven nose, leers at the cage in the center of their celebration area. He is surrounded by two female members of the bandits, who seductively trace his chest while mockingly smiling at the Faunus women in the cage.
"Before we sell you animals off, we may as well enjoy them for a night," he says with a disgusting smile, displaying his uneven yellow teeth. "So which one of you will have the pleasure of warming my bed tonight?"
In response to his words, the women in the cage scurry backwards, wanting to get as far away from this disgusting man as possible. The bandit leader's eyes glint with pleasure, reveling in their fear. His attention is caught by a single raccoon Faunus in the front of the group of women in the cage. She is the only one glaring defiantly at him, and to make things even better, she is one of the more beautiful ones they'd captured.
He walks towards the cage and looks right at her.
"Will it be you?"
The woman's hairs stand on end and she loudly growls.
The leader finds this amusing and gruffly laughs, "I've decided! It'll be you. Oh how I'm going to enjoy breaking you!"
He swings the cage door open and roughly grabs her wrist. She scratches and kicks at him furiously, but to no avail. The bandit leader is the only one among them with unlocked Aura, due to when he used to be a Huntsmen.
"Let go of me!" She screams and hisses.
Ignoring her as he drags her towards his tent, he yells out, "Enjoy yourselves as well tonight boys! Don't damage the merchandise too much!"
The men in the camp whistle and cheer as they begin to surround the cage. The women inside scream in terror.
The bandit leader lewdly grins and throws the raccoon Faunus into his tent. The two women who were with him stroll in and hold the her down.
"You should enjoy this while it lasts," one of them snickers.
"It's only going to get worse for you from here on out," the other mocks.
"Good. Keep holding her down," the bandit grins. He reaches down to tear away her clothes.
All of a sudden, a deathly chill descends upon the entire camp.
"W-why is it suddenly so cold?" One of the women's teeth chatters.
Alarmed, the bandit leader grabs his weapon and bursts out of his tent.
"What is going on?!" He roars.
He notices that everyone in the camp have their gaze centered on a cloaked figure standing beside the cage containing the Faunus women. The sheer amount of pressure emitted by this figure has everyone frozen in their tracks. The air is heavy and cold.
The leader activates his Aura and Semblance before pointing his weapon at the intruder.
"Who the f*ck are yo-"
He never finishes his sentence as he suddenly explodes into a cloud of blood.
Panic erupts amongst the bandits, while the Faunus women watch with wide eyes, feeling a great sense of satisfaction at that man's death.
"He just exploded! What the fu-"
Another explodes into mist.
Panic and fear overriding their senses, they begin to flee into all directions. However, none are able to escape from Jaune. He points a finger up into the air, conjuring White Tiger. Invisible blades of qi rapidly fire out into all directions, accurately pinpointing each and every one of the bandits. None are spared, as even the two women in the bandit leader's tent get ground into dust.
After only a few short seconds, a deafening silence fills the air. With a quick swipe of a finger, Jaune cuts the cage open. He points at another cage situated at the edge of the camp, cutting it open and allowing the children inside to rejoin their mothers. By this point, the raccoon Faunus emerges from the tent with wide eyes, as she'd just witnessed those two bandit wenches turn into dust before her very eyes.
As the Faunus children reunite with their respective mothers, the raccoon Faunus frantically scans for her son and daughter.
The masked figure says in distorted voice, "Your children are safe at your village."
She jolts at the figure's voice, then sighs in relief. She gathers herself and bows.
"You have saved us Great One."
"Do you think this person is a Huntsmen?" One of them whispers.
"Have you ever seen or heard of a Huntsmen being able to do something like that?"
"Is this even a person? Wasn't what we saw akin to the actions of a deity?"
Murmurs ripple through the crowd.
"A god in physical form came to save us."
"Our savior..."
They begin to get down on their knees to kowtow, while Jaune silently stands there with his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Before they could fully kowtow, Jaune reaches out and prods their minds with his divine sense, rendering them unconscious. He then levitates them into the air and takes them along as he flies back West towards their village.
Back in the village, the survivors are gathered in the town square. All of them greatly confused by their current situation.
"I remember being stabbed in the stomach..."
"My arrow wounds are gone..."
"Haven't any of you noticed? We are either dead or completely uninjured without a middle. Isn't this strange?"
"Nevermind about that, our children and wives are still missing! We have to go after them!"
"How? We don't even know which way they would have went. Even if we can track them, we won't make it in time."
"Then we just sit here and wait?! You know as well as I do of what they'll do to them!"
"That's not what I said!"
The men finally notice the pair of siblings.
"You two! You managed to escape!"
The girl says, "We ran through the forest, but Fenix got hurt trying to protect me. When the bandits caught up, someone appeared and saved us. Then healed Fenix and brought us back to the village. After that, the figure disappeared."
"Someone? Who?"
"She said this person healed Fenix. Doesn't this coincide with the fact our own injuries are suddenly gone?"
"B-but, there's over fifty of us! How could someone heal that many this thoroughly in such a short period of time?"
Suddenly, woman and children Faunus appear within their midst out from thin air, all sound asleep.
"What the- where did they come from?!"
"Bella?!"
The men begin locating their missing wives and children and rush towards them, who begin to stir awake.
"Mommy!" The two raccoon Faunus sprint towards their mother.
"Fenix! Felma!" She exclaims with teary eyes. They crash into a hug. "Where is-"
"D-daddy didn't make it," Felma sniffs. "We almost lost Fenix too, but we were saved."
The woman's eyes widen and she frantically looks around for any sign of their mysterious savior, but Jaune is nowhere to be found.
Up above the village, Jaune contemplates for a moment and makes a his decision. He brings out a common steel sword and molds a strand of his divine sense into it. Injecting his qi into it, he throws it straight down into the center of the village, silently embedding it into the stone foundation as it penetrates with zero resistance.
'That should ward off Grimm for some period of time. The sliver of will I've left will be enough to ward off another attack like those bandits, but it will be once and only once. The rest after that will be up to them...'
Nodding to himself and not sparing another glance, he soars North towards the northern coastlines of Sanus. Not long after, he pauses and gazes towards the eastern.
"Qrow?" He murmurs. He'd suddenly felt a tug in the back of his mind, similar to when Pyrrha was in mortal danger. But just as quickly as the sensation came, it had disappeared, leaving Jaune in deep thought.
"That feeling... Qrow was in mortal danger just now, but it quickly disappeared. Did a third party save him?"
His eyes narrow behind his mask. He finally sighs, then turns back North to continue his journey. If Qrow was no longer in danger, then he should not let it distract him from his current task.
*** The village ***
"Where did this thing come from?"
"It came down from the sky! Can't you feel the power radiating from it?"
"It must have been left behind by the divine being who saved us!" One of the Faunus women exclaims.
"We must enshrine this place. This is holy ground!"
Though tragedy has struck their village, and many of them had lost loved their loved ones, a sense of hope continues to linger within their hearts. That prayers can be heard and answered.