"Miss Branwen has a fire to her. It burns strong and vibrant."

"And what of her brother?"

"A subdued flame yet when kindled properly would rage greater than a mighty conflagration."

Ozpin chuckled. "You have a way with words."

Ulysses hummed. "What good are the old words when not even used and used properly?"

"That is true. Your vocabulary is as wealthy as your knowledge of the outdoors."

"Knowledge that should be instilled in the minds of those whose work inevitably takes them to the outdoors. Miss Branwen shows prior knowledge to what I teach. She lacks the skill to conceal her true motivations."

"The Branwen twins have had an interesting upbringing."

"One that would have merited them rapid death had they not left their wooden palisades for your concrete walls."

The headmaster tapped his cane on the marble floor of the empty corridor. "So you have discerned."

The courier paused in his stride. "I know my students, Ozpin. The Branwens are of an ilk that my kind would have exterminated without question."

"And now?"

"They are my students. What they do under my tutelage is my great concern. After their schooling however, 'tis not my responsibility."

"But their future is ultimately your concern."

A smile. "Yes, of course. As you are concerned for Miss Rose and her silver eyes, so am I concerned for the paths that the Branwens would take."

"They are being guided."

"By who, exactly?"

Ozpin frowned. "I thought that was clear."

Ulysses simpered. "The surface is clear but the mines are not. I do not know what you have planned for Miss Rose or Miss Branwen. But I do hope that you are fighting a survivable battle with them as your pawns."

Raven would begrudgingly admit that Professor Ulysses was a master of his craft. Barring his convoluted vocabulary and annoyingly vague 'advice,' she could not deny that he knew exactly what he was doing.

And despite everyone's absolute disgust at what they had to ingest, at the end of the day, they all agreed that it was greatly effective at what it was supposed to do: saving their lives.

"There is no name for it," Professor Ulysses had told the class over the sputtering campfire that early dew-drenched morning when the scent of wet pine was overcome by a strong dry aroma of sand. "What matters more is to drink it."

Qrow chose that moment to throw in a dumb question. "Does it have a buzz?"

Raven raised her brow when the grizzled survivalist smirked. "You can find out."

Thus, her idiot of a brother sauntered over with that arrogance in his step and snatched the glass bottle from the ground. Recycled bottle, hastily cleaned in the stream, and filled with that damning concoction that the students all reviled (yet secretly were grateful for). He took one long swig and promptly tumbled onto his rear gagging.

No matter what anyone said, Raven did not stand up to tend to him. No, she did not panic. Absolutely not did she show any signs of cracking. Such a show of weakness would have been fuel for the endless teasing from Gretchen and Summer. Though, she swore she caught Glynda smirking at her and her brother's discomfort.

"Swallow it," Ulysses ordered. "Don't spit it out."

Qrow did swallow. And despite his absolute horror, he did feel a lot better afterwards. In fact, his Aura returned in full in less than a minute and he was back to chopping through Grimm with intense vigor and cocky finesse. From then on, he adamantly refused to take another swig of that bitter drink.

Yes. The whole class called it 'Bitter Drink' after that.

Everyone had to sample it at the end of the day anyway. Raven hated it. But she valued its usefulness. Probably more than the rest of the lugs in this class, her brother included. That did not mean she was willing to chug it down again...unless absolutely necessary, of course. Pragmatism and all that.

The following morning, Professor Ulysses taught them how to make Bitter Drink. The ingredients were actually very common and the process rather simple. In fact, Bitter Drink was a less painful alternative to the trail powder that apparently stung when applied to the affected area. Both remedies were unpleasant but effective. Raven honestly preferred the powder over the drink.

A few days later, when the class finally returned from the wilds, Raven caught Qrow switching up their drinks in the cafeteria with whatever it was that was on his flask.

"Hey, Rae! Want some booze?"

"I'm not falling for that again."

A week later, Taiyang decided to play a prank on Bartholomew. The blonde idiot switched the speedster's coffee with Bitter Drink (or whatever disgusting concoction that dumb dragon came up with) and hid in the bushes to record the results.

What happened next ended with the whole of team STRQ in Ozpin's office. Followed by thirty hours of repairing the courtyard, filling up the pools, fixing the plumbing, replanting the uprooted trees, and chipping in to pay for Bart's therapy. Who knew Ozpin took slights to coffee so seriously?

On the bright side, Raven roped in that condescending hag Glynda who then roped in that annoying bitch Gretchen who went so far as to drag that arrogant skank Sienna as well.

Now the seven of them suffered together, cleaning up puddles of vomit and burying mounds of upturned soil, fertilizer, and someone's shit. With Glynda 'obliged' to help, it was easy. Well, replacing the debris and restoring the furniture was easy. The rest... Well, telekinesis had its limits.

"You're despicable, have I told you that?" Glynda groused as she scrubbed off the worrisomely permanents stains of odorous waste off the cafeteria floor.

Raven hid her snicker. "Ten times over the last two hours."

"We get it, Goodbitch," grunted Gretchen.

Sienna hissed loudly. "Shut up and scrub."

"This is fun," Summer chirped with a beaming smile.

The rest of them craned their heads to the STRQ's team captain. Among them, Raven had the most courage to say, "Shut the fuck up, Summer."

Raven swore to all that was holy that Professor Ulysses was eyeing her sharper than a starved vulture. She caught him this time and he did not even bother to look away! Rather, he smiled at her. Instinct would have forced her to run but Raven was a woman who held no fear—she faced her problems head on! She did, she really did!

So she marched over to the giant of a man while scrunching her nose at the powerful dry aroma coming off of him. "Is there something you need from me, Professor?"

To her horror, he handed her a necklace made of black corvid feathers. Her feathers. Her brother's feathers.

"Miss Branwen. You dropped this."

Raven watched him walk away. The accursed handmade haberdashery nearly fell from her trembling hands. Her heart raced and with eyes that were growing wider by the second, she turned on her heel and walked hastily back to the dorms. Maybe Qrow was there. Or her other teammates. Someone she could trust at least.

In her panic, she had failed to notice a curious Glynda observing her from across the yard as well as an unsmiling Ozpin watching from behind the stained glass of his clocktower.

Raven locked the door behind her as she pressed herself against it to calm her nerves.

"Rae? What's going on?"

Qrow! Her dumb brother was the only one around. He lay slouched on his bed, pulling away the dirty magazine that had been draped over his face.

Raven stilled her breathing though she was not doing a good of it considering how her twin leaped to his feet and rushed over with utmost concern. "Rae, calm down! What's going on?"

She held up the necklace and Qrow fell silent.

"... Shit."

ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: February 18, 2020

LAST EDITED: March 5, 2020

INITIALLY UPLOADED: March 5, 2020