Special Thanks

Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people

who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!

Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other

person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!

Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!

(Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!

Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)

Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 7

Weiss sat at the table inside her apartment with the 4 people she had run into earlier. The most menacing of the figures stood around 6 feet and 7 inches tall and was extremely well built. He was a broad man with choppy black hair and cyan colored eyes. He had the stance of a well-trained combatant and she wouldn't be surprised if he was a participant of the Vytal Tournament - one of the only places where uninhibited fighting was allowed in present days.

Then there were the 2 girls, both were lithe and fast looking. The first one had been quiet so far and the almost completely black and lightweight outfit said she was either quite the emo, kind of like Blake, or was used to faster forms of combat. She was about average height, being around 5 foot 8 inches or so. Her eyes were green and her hair was an orange that faded into a pearlescent white.

The other girl was much shorter than the rest, around Weiss' height. But she looked no less dangerous than the rest of her company. Her hair was a dark purple color that traveled to her sternum and she wore a robe that was covered in golden etchings. Her eyes were a dull grey as if she were born blind. She noticed Weiss' inspection of everyone and flashed her a friendly smile. Weiss returned it nervously.

But it was the last person, the person who called out her name, that held her attention. A man that stood around 6 foot himself and that had dirty blonde hair and a dark blue beanie on his head that matched his eyes. He wore a white button-up shirt and a blue scarf, vest, and jeans to go along with his beanie. He was the only one that Weiss was able to recognize, and his name made her a bit nervous.

"So, Seraine… it has been a while has it not?" Weiss finally broke the silence, not really knowing what to say and just hoping that he wasn't here because of her father. He snorts and lets out a laugh.

"That's an understatement. You kinda just disappeared a few years ago. Didn't even say goodbye to your favorite student." He said it, obviously feeling a bit hurt about it. The orange haired girl snickered at him.

"Hey, shut it, Angel! She was one of the few friends I had back then!" Seraine threw his beanie at her, much to her obvious amusement.

"You had friends? That's a surprise." The first words out of this 'Angel' girl's mouth was meant to tease Seraine, and it put her at ease a bit. She was still wary of these people but so far it looked like they weren't after her. The purple haired girl seemed to notice her lack of trust towards them as she leaned over to whisper something in her ear.

"Hey, don't worry too much. We don't have any plans to take you back to your father. We were never his biggest fans, to begin with. Plus you seem to be on Seraine's good side so, you know, even more reason not to." She flashed another smile at her before pulling away.

"Anyways, it's good to see you again Weiss. I was a bit worried for a while. Thought something bad had happened. Although I will admit, I was kind of glad to hear that you had run off. You weren't exactly living in the best place." He gave her a smile of her own and a thumbs up. It seemed like everyone was all happiness and smiles. Except for the big dude.

"Sorry that you got worried. But anyways, I believe you have some introductions to do. And maybe a reason as to why I should believe that you aren't going to bring me back to Atlas?" She trusted Seraine, but only to a degree.

"Oh, right! This is my team for the tournament! I'd like you to meet, Team VVAS!" Weiss gave him a curious look, trying to make it obvious that she didn't really understand what he was getting at.

"It's uh… well, we took the first letters of our names and formed a team name. Viskrio is the big quiet guy here, and Violet is the one sitting next to you. They make up the V's of the name." Violet once more leaned over to whisper to her.

"Don't let Viskrio intimidate you too much. He just doesn't really know how to deal with people." Weiss smiled a little at her words as Violet giggled to herself. Viskrio rolled his eyes but finally let out a small smile, somehow knowing what the girl had said.

"Then we have Angel! Who, I'm pretty sure, I've already mentioned. Speaking of which, can I have my beanie back now?" Angel leaned back in her chair and gave him a look of pure innocence.

"What beanie? If I recall correctly I already returned it to you." The smile that crept onto her face didn't help convince anyone and Seraine gave a sigh before shaking his head.

"And lastly there's me as the S. Team VVAS, or pronounced as Vaise if you want to just say it as a word." He looked quite proud of himself at that. Weiss looked around the table and saw that they were all smiling at her in a friendly manner.

"Well, it is nice to meet you all." Her own smile that she had been wearing faded.

"And what about my second question?"

"As to why you should trust us not to turn you over to your father? C'mon Weiss, you know better than anyone why I detest Jaquass." Weiss couldn't help but let a smile escape at his apt use of her father's nickname.

"I trust that you wouldn't do that, yes. But what about these other three?"

"Eh, we're a close-knit group. We've been working together for around 2 years and I trust them. I can't really tell you their stories as to why they wouldn't turn you over. But I wouldn't have approached you if I didn't trust them."

Weiss nodded slowly and eyed the rest of the group. She, of course, didn't really trust them still. But she was willing to give them a chance. They would have to thank Seraine for that later though.

"Alright. Well, then how about you tell me about yourselves? Such as what you'll all be contributing to the tournament, or how you all met." Weiss gave them all a formal smile to make the question seem friendlier than her tone may have allowed.

"Angel was the one I met first so maybe she should go first?" Seraine suggested. The girl he mentioned let out an overly exaggerated sigh.

"I suppose I could humor you. So, I'm not going to get too personal but as for what I'll be contributing to the tournament? I'm mostly a ranged fighter. I was professionally trained to use an AS50 BMG sniper. So in the qualifiers, I'll be firing one of those." Angel did a little finger gun at Weiss with a wink. Weiss nodded back thoughtfully. Violet leaned in close to speak next.

"I taught myself how to use a Bo-Staff when I was younger. When I was skilled enough I then moved onto a bladed version. That's what I'll be qualifying in." Weiss was a bit skeptical as to how well this girl would do when she was only self-taught but she kept her opinion to herself for now. She especially found the girls' eyes to be a bit unnerving. It almost seemed like she was blind…

"Violet here is also blind and nearly mute in case you were wondering. That's why she's been so soft-spoken, and why her eyes are a bit odd." Violet smiled nodded and smiled happily as Seraine answered her unasked question about the girl.

"I'll be qualifying in melee combat with Seraine." Viskrio quietly and quickly surmised what he would be doing. He then stood up and nodded to Angel and Violet.

"We'll be outside. If you need us just call." He then proceeded to leave the room with Angel and Violet following behind him. Weiss eyed them curiously, still not knowing what to think of all of them.

"He's kind of the unspoken leader of the group. He doesn't talk much but he knows what he's doing." Seraine smiled at Weiss when he finished speaking.

"They seem like… good people." That was all Weiss could really say at this point in time, and thankfully Seraine seemed to realize that.

"They are. So don't worry, we won't tell anyone where you are. You know how to contact me if you ever need any help though. Just ask and we'll be there! Me and my team. We all got your back." Seraine gave her a wink before standing up to leave as well.

"It was nice seeing you again." Weiss said.

"Likewise. I hope next time comes around sooner than this time did. Anyways we have to go finalize our entry forms for the tournament. Cya some other time Weiss." He walked out the door, leaving Weiss to her chaotic thoughts.

That had been a lot to handle at once. There had been a lot of turmoil these past few days and it seemed that mentioning it more did not help. She'd have to keep that in mind.

Weiss let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back in her chair, glad to finally be alone. She still felt nervous, after all, she had been found yet again. Hopefully, things didn't make a turn for the worse with whoever found her next, because it definitely seemed like this was bound to keep happening.

Ruby sat on the couch with Yang. They were both bent over their knees rubbing their temples. Neither of them was really able to do much but they still sat there and worried over their dear uncle. He was an idiot, a drunk, and had the worst luck on the planet, but he was still their uncle and they loved him dearly. Although going around and getting into fist fights with Generals in the military, even if they were old friends, was certainly pushing what little luck he had.

"Do you think he's okay?" Ruby worriedly asked Yang, for probably the hundredth time that day. She didn't know whether she should be pissed or upset at Qrow next time they saw him, which would hopefully be soon.

"If he is then he won't be when I'm done with him. If not… well, in that case, we'll be there for him when he finally wakes up from the coma he got himself into." Yang started off with a joking tone but quickly became more serious.

"Do you think he got arrested or something…? He did attack a General…" Ruby quietly asked in response. Yang ran her hands through her hair, something she did whenever she got stressed or was 'guilty' of something. Like eating her cookies.

"I would hope not. He did say that they were old friends. And Qrow may be an idiot but he's not stupid. If you understand what I'm saying. But I won't lie to you, Rubes… things aren't exactly looking great for our uncle right now."

Ruby sighed despondently before glancing through an open door and at a nearby table that held a couple of her different projects. Amongst them was a partially crafted rose that could be hung, a sketch of a lush and forested valley that had massive plants and was surrounded by rocky mountains and flatlands, and a petal from her mother's favorite rose bush.

Her gaze went to the petal. It had been crystallized long ago and she had turned it into a pendant, one that Ruby almost constantly wore. The only reason it hadn't been worn lately is due to the meticulous cleaning that Ruby lavished upon it when the occasion demanded.

She sighed again, before getting up and walking into the room with all her projects in order to distract herself. She quickly got to work cleaning her necklace with care. If she wasn't careful then the whole thing could break. At least she thought it could. Either way, she didn't want to risk it.

After finishing with that, she returned it to its rightful spot, which would be around her neck. After that was complete, she returned to where Yang was sitting, to find her intently watching something on her phone.

"Whatcha doing sis?" Ruby was genuinely curious, as it both sounded and looked to be something action oriented. Although it wasn't turned up loud and she didn't have a clear view so she didn't know for sure. And she definitely didn't want to pry into Yang's business.

"It's a recorded file from Qrow. Take a wild guess at what it's about." That immediately piqued Ruby's interest as she plopped down next to her sister and leaned over to watch. Yang dutifully restarted the video for her.

'Qrow. How did you manage to drag me into this fool of an errand anyway.'

That was most definitely Raven speaking. Yang obviously knew based on how her nose crinkled at the sound of her voice.

'Well seeing as the person that usually records my misguided attempts at satisfying the public's need to see misfortune and idiotic stunts refused to come along with me, I had to pull one of those favors you owe me. So stuff it with the complaining and let's go.'

And great, that was Qrow alright. In all his excessively drunk glory. And he obviously wasn't in the mood for Raven and her crap. He had probably been dealing with her for a while, what with the need to first find her and then to travel to wherever this was. Which seemed to be Atlas, but Ruby wasn't quite sure.

Qrow and Raven never got along too well after the disappearance of said sister. Since their father and uncle had always gotten along quite well, Qrow had stayed around while Raven left behind everyone in her current life. She only recently came back but refused to completely commit to being in her daughter's life again.

Nobody, except Qrow, knew exactly where Raven had run off to either. And he, oddly enough, kept that to himself. He would only say that it was an unsavory place. Probably the exact same place they had both been raised. Yang personally thought that meant she had been in Vacuo. It had been known to be a bit on the lawless side until recently when government officials had stepped in.

They both sat and watched the video. Eventually, it ended with both parties going to the hospital. Luckily it was the public hospital and not one on the inside of a jail. The General that had gotten into a fight with Qrow, someone by the name of Ironwood it sounded like, had told all soldiers in attendance to stand down and proceeded to accept the issued challenge.

The entire video then skipped to a scene in the hospital, where both men were sitting on the edge of their beds. They were both bandaged and bruised but neither seemed bothered by it. After a few moments of talking, useless banter and whatnot for the video, Qrow got serious.

'Yang. Rubes. I'm going to be sending you the unedited version of the video. I know you two are probably worried out of your minds right now. Or pissed off. Either way, I know I'm going to hear quite the scolding.'

Both men laughed at that.

'I just want to let you know that I'm perfectly fine. No charges pressed, no medical bills that James here won't pay for me -'

'Excuse me?'

'And no permanent damage. So I'll be home in Vale soon enough. Love ya kiddos and I'll see you soon.'

The video cut off there and both girls let out an exhausted sigh. Qrow was right. He wasn't going to hear the end of it any time soon. But at least they knew he was okay. That meant that they could both finally relax and get some rest. Ruby stood up and headed towards the kitchen. First things first. Food, and then sleep.

A/N:

Hey at least everyone and everything is fine!

And hope you all enjoyed meeting

VVAS! You'll see them in other stories

So that should be fun!

(In fact, Violet already popped up

In one of my one-shots.

Although she was a bit different

Since it was in the more currently cannon

RWBY-verse)

Anyways! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

E/N

?

- Sky

(Seem's like my editor got lost and is now confused...)