I HAVE RETURNED.
God it's been a while, what, two months since the last chapter?
Blegh, awful.
Sorry about that. i'll be real and say that it's really been setback after setback with this chapter honestly. From weeklong headaches to crunchtimes in college and preparation for interviews life just sort of takes over and leaves you with very little time to do what you want to do. House of thorns didn't even have real updates. I'd written those months in advance for this exact situation.
All the same, it's good to be back and I realised just this morning that it's coming up to four years since I joined this site which is just... huh, time flies way too fast. It barely feels like anything. I was fifteen when I first started writing here with stories not even on my profile anymore.
I don't know, it just feels weird, and it makes me want to just say thanks, you know, for reading these amateur stories and all. It makes me proud to know that I tricked you all into wasting a couple of years of your lives on these stories.
See? I'm all sentimental.
...
The air felt like it was rippling all around her, distorting before her yes, and worryingly, Raven couldn't even tell if it was her own hazy mind that was the culprit, or the man standing above her.
"Raven." The Bandit dread king spoke, the single word carrying more weight than an Ursa bearing down on her.
The Huntresses fought back a shiver. "Hawk… I honestly didn't think I'd see you here."
"You didn't?" The man hummed, tilting his head to the side slightly, though she could tell not in confusion. She shivered again. It felt like she was kneeling before a predator, and she was the prey. "Now why is that Raven? You know I wouldn't leave the Tribe. No, that would be ridiculous. Only a traitor would do something like that. You couldn't have thought I had died either. Could you?"
Raven's tongue felt as if it was tied in a knot, she couldn't even breathe under the pressure.
Dammit.
Dammit what was she doing?
She was a huntress! Not just some weak damsel he could quake into submission.
"Or maybe," he went on. "You were hoping for it. Is that it Raven? Were you hoping for my death?"
He stopped, and smiled.
A sick, twisting grimace of one, that showed too many teeth to be anything but murderous. "That's it, isn't it Raven? You prayed to the gods that I was dead, because if I wasn't you feared that I would come for you."
He laughed. A laugh that made Raven's stomach churn.
It was the laugh of a killer, of someone who enjoyed the slaughter. Whatever instincts she had, it told her he was a threat. A dangerous one.
And then it stopped, and he was smiling again. "That's hurtful Raven. I wouldn't think that way about you. We're a part of the same Tribe. Why, we're more than that. We're both Brawnen's. We're part of an ancient line, we should be sticking together."
His face morphed into a snarl. "We shouldn't be turning traitor and becoming an outsider's whore."
Raven's couldn't even comprehend he was moving before it was already too late. She winced as Hawk's hand clenched around her throat, dragging her up to look him in the eye as he growled. "You turned your back on us. And you feel into the arms of some stranger, some pathetic weakling. You think I wouldn't know? That I won't find out everything I could on you? You were mine."
"I never yours." Raven spat, struggling for breath. "You never beat me. You only own what you take. And you never took me."
His snarl grew louder. "And that was a mistake I made because I thought we were smarter, that you knew what we would become. But no, you decided to dilute our blood the way you did and make some half-and-half child that won't even share our name."
Raven grit her teeth, and through the haze in her head, glared at Hawk. "Leave Yang out of this. You don't get to talk about my daughter, you don't even get to think about her without my permission!"
Hawk's face soured, and he dropped her. Raven gasped, coughing as she struggled for air on her hands and knees.
"So you're not completely wasted yet. It might have been admirable if you didn't look like a half-rotting corpse. No… you're a mangy dog, a decrepit bitch that needs to be put down…. But, I can give you mercy. That's what you came for, isn't it? My mercy?"
"I can-" She gagged. "For a place to rest, because I didn't have anywhere else. I needed somewhere safe where I could… were I could recover."
He spat to the side. "You can't cheat me. I can tell that it's a lie… you're an animal on death's door. And even now you insult the Branwen Tribe by crawling your way here instead of showing any backbone."
"What are you talking about?"
He bared his teeth. "You should have proven yourself loyal and removed the other traitor you should have brought me Qrow's head."
Raven's head snapped up to stare at the man in shocked disbelief.
Was he serious? Was this bastard that fucking insane that he thought she would kill her own brother as a fucking apology?!
He caught her expression and sneered. "And that face tells me all I needed to know. You're too weak, too much of a coward to do what needed to be done. You're a disappointment Raven. Well I'm not. While you were away breeding a mistake into the world, I singlehandedly raised this Tribe up into infamy. We're feared, we're powerful and we rule over Mistral's populace."
"You're bandits," Raven snarled, her rage lashing through her mind like a baying animal. "You pathetic wastes of space with no goal, rhyme or reason to the things that you do. You have no purpose, and no dream. You haven't raised this Tribe up. You've turned it into a place where every sort of thug and criminal can be at home. You've tainted it. It's like you now."
It was a mistake to respond. Raven knew it as soon as she'd finished uttering the words.
Hawk's eyes burned.
"You dare?" he growled. "You think you can speak to me like that? The leader of the Branwen Tribe? The Dróttinn?"
"If you have to say it," Raven spat, the fever returning suddenly, with even more vitriol. "Then there's no way you could ever be the Dróttinn."
Hawk stilled and let out a hissing breath.
Very, very slowly.
It was like he's just… shut down every part of his body.
And he stared.
And stared.
And stared.
And when he finally spoke, it was in a whisper, so low, and so soft, and yet it froze Raven's blood like ice.
"Is that so? Well… then to prove it with action, I'd best carry out the punishment that Traitors of the Tribe face, shouldn't I?"
And just like that, Raven grew even paler. "Hawk. No."
"Raven Branwen." He snarled, loud enough for all to hear. You stand accused of treachery, of turning your back on your family, and disrespecting your leader. For all of this, the insult is too high. As a Branwen, you only have the mercy of defence. You'll be subjected to a Trial. A decision of ownership. The stronger rule the weak, as they always have, and always will, and you fall under that now. A Trial by Combat will be your plea, and when it is over, I will re-educate you on the values of the Tribe."
The Tribe was wild. The mere mention of blood, of her, traitorous blood, was enough to whip them into a frenzy. They were hungry for it now.
Hawk leaned down, his face a hairs breath from her own. "What is your answer? Do you accept?"
Did she accept? The other option was forfeiting, offering herself to him to do as he pleased. Tortured, butchered, murdered… or worse.
With all of her hatred, Raven glared into his eyes.
She didn't have a choice.
…
…
The trek through the woods was slow and deliberate.
Raven knew she couldn't run. There'd be no point. At this rate, she'd likely die before she made it a mile away from camp. If she was right, then she didn't have much time left.
Around her, the other Tribesmen moves through the trees, and yet all kept their distance.
She'd been marked for death now. None wanted to approach.
None of them but one.
"Can you do it?" Vernal asked, falling into step beside the dark-haired woman as they made their way through the forest. "Do you think you can beat Hawk?"
"At full strength as a Huntress? I might have stood a chance I think."
The younger girl grimaced. "But not as you are now right?"
Raven didn't answer for a moment.
Hawk was…
Well before she'd left for Beacon, he'd been the strongest fighter the Tribe had. He was the reason they were feared. Every strong fight, every powerful opponent or piece of equipment he took for himself, and he was vicious and cruel in a way that made him feared inside the Tribe as well as out.
"No." she said at last. "No I… I don't think I can win."
Vernal's face twisted. That wasn't the answer she'd been looking for.
Raven notices.
"Why do you care so much, huh kid? Don't tell you've gotten attached to a stranger like me already. It'd be cute, but we barely know each other."
She expects some rude swear in return, and insult of some kind. Instead, the girl at her side quietens down, her gaze trailing off to the side. Raven follows it, to where the rest of the Tribe is walking again. A small group has formed around Hawk. Not bodyguards. No, more like his personal group. His weapon.
"Hawk is a monster." Vernal murmurs. "He's the strongest. He's the best. His word is law and we all follow it… but that doesn't mean I like him. He does what he wants. He kills what he wants. And he takes what he wants."
The younger girl looks up at her. "He takes anything he wants. And nobody stops him."
Raven lets out a long breath. There's no need to ask her to elaborate… she understands what she means.
"I…" Vernal grit her teeth, as if angry at herself for even asking. "I want you to kill him. He's worse than the Grimm. Worse than any bastard I know… and I know a lot of bastards."
She hums. "I guess you do… like I said though. I don't know if I can beat him." And she wasn't about to let herself fall to him the way he wanted her to. If he beat her, she'd slit her own throat before he could get his hands on her.
"Sorry kid. This was never a good option for me."
Vernal's shoulders slump. "Well I guess that's it then… for both of us."
"Uh?" Raven turns to her in confusion.
Vernal lets out a breath and shrugs half-heartedly.
"I'm here with you… talking to you. What do you think he's going to do to me afterwards? He's seen me already."
Raven's eyes shoot up, and just like she'd said, Hawk's eyes were on them.
Those crimson orbs boring holes into Verna's skull, and her own.
When this was over. He would kill Vernal too.
"Damn it kid." Raven hissed. "If you knew this would happen then why the hel did you come over here?"
"…Don't know." She admits. "I… I think you're cool, I guess… and it's not like it'll be much better afterwards anyway… might be easier to go out this way."
"Stop talking like that!" The huntresses warned. "You're a kid. You're not supposed to be talking like that."
"Shouldn't you be worried about yourself first?"
To that, Raven wasn't even sure she had an answer.
She didn't have a chance to contemplate it either, because at that moment, they came onto a clearing.
A wide, open circular space with low cut grass and trees all around that obscured everything else from view. It looked unnatural, manmade. And yet, Raven knew it wasn't. If the stones on the edges of the ring were anything to go by, this had been made by something far more ancient.
'ᛒᚨᚱᚱᛁᛖᚱ'
It was written on twelve stones, each circling the place… what did they mean?
Again, there was no time for such questions, because Hawk had entered the space, and stood in its centre. She took a breath, and hobbled her way in to meet him as the Tribe surrounded the outskirts.
And Vernal watches, on her own.
"…So," Raven breathed. "Should we get this over with?"
Hawk gave a grunt, unsheathing the sword at his side. It hissed from its sheath, and Raven's eyes took in the blade.
A long, jagged, serrated blade, with a curled and messy hoot at the tip. A sword forged for the single purpose of causing pain, as much of it as was possible.
She had to suppress a shiver at the feeling it gave off.
Hawk had used it plenty.
In response, all she can do it reveal Bifrost in turn.
"This won't be quick."
"I- what?" Raven stares.
"This won't be quick." Hawk repeated. "This won't be a skirmish where I'll give you mercy. It isn't a battle you'll be able to give up in, and when I'm finished with you here, I'll make you regret your betrayal to the fullest. Your screams will haunt the trees for passers-by to hear in the depths of night, your blood will stain the ground, and you'll be an example of what happens to those you cross the Branwen Tribe."
"Tch," she spat. "Do you think over the top threats like that are going to get in my head?"
"Threats?" he sneers. "Threats… No, I intend to carry them out. They're statements. I promise you, you'll know hel."
"I already do, you're nothing special."
And then there was no time to think. Raven's years as a Huntress saved her like they always had, and she throws herself back in time to avoid Hawks blade that carried through and carves up the earth beneath her.
She swore, sweeping wised to catch him in a counter attack.
To no effect.
Hawk rolled with his sword. Raven watched it in slow motion, like a twisted vision she saw how his body redirected the flow of his weapon like it was a physical extension of himself.
An interesting little phenomenon, considering the next moment here it flew up far faster than should have been possible and crashed into Raven's blade, shattering it and throwing her back in one move.
She rolled in the air, landing on her feet and drew a new blade just in time to redirect Hawk as he came for her again.
And then Raven was truly on the defensive.
Raven met his blade each and every time, her speed, and her reach the only things keeping her alive as Hawk ate up the landscape with each and every trike.
Five clashes.
Five steps lose.
Ten clashes.
Ten steps lost.
A single connected hit, and Raven was flying again.
She was losing ground and losing it pathetically fast, her blades shattering like glass after just three passes if she was lucky.
And what was worse, even when she blocked an attack, glanced it off her sword or deflected a hit, it rattled her hard.
She was losing aura. She was losing it just from meeting him and it was showing.
Her lungs burned, her legs screamed out and it felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest.
And he just. Wasn't. Stopping.
"Is this it?!" he roared, catching Raven's arm suddenly, the hook digging into her aura as she cried out and was flipped overhead, hurtling into the ground with enough force to cave it in. the Huntress barely got out of the way in time to avoid the follow-up. "Is this the strength of the deadly Raven Branwen? The one that was supposed to be strong? Look at you! You're pathetic!"
Shut up.
She wanted to scream she wanted to shut him up for good, permanently, to stop that voice from digging its claws into her skull. She wanted him dead. She wanted him rotting. But more than anything she just wanted him to shut up!
That little lapse in attention, that ager than caught her focus, was enough for Hawk to take advantage of. He swung his sword down in both hands like a hammer, decimating Raven's defence in one blow, and as he dragged her arms down, he let go of his weapon and reached out. His hands clasped around her collar and he dragged her close so fast Raven couldn't react.
Hawks forehead smashed into Raven. Ignoring her aura in the shock and shattering her nose.
Blood spurt free like a fountain, rattling Ravens brain at the same time. She howled in pain, planting her feet desperately between them and kicking off with all her might. She slipped from Hawks grip and dropped to the ground, gasping as her own blood blinded her.
She didn't stop. She dived further back, barely avoiding a blow that could have cleaved her in two.
This was insane. This was insanity! Hawk didn't fight like a man. He didn't fight like a warrior or a savage or a killer.
He fought like a monster. One that was hungry for her blood.
And there was nothing she could do about it. Her body groaned in protest as she pushed herself up to her feet, desperate to at least stand to face her what she got in return was a force so strong it brock everything.
Raven would have screamed, but her lungs had stopped working. She's folded over Hawks fist like nothing, like she hadn't even been there, and he let her drop to the ground in a pile
And she shook, curing in on herself as her body wracked with agony.
Everything has shattered. Her aura. Her bones. Her will.
She couldn't stand. She couldn't move. She could breathe.
Her ribs. They'd snapped and splintered inside of her, she could feel them. They'd pierced her lungs, impaled them, all the way through, and more. Her stomach, her intestines, her spleen. She could feel it all. She could feel the way they flooded with her blood.
Was this what it felt like to die?
This wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair at all.
Why couldn't she- die peacefully? Why did it have to feel like this? Why did it have to feel like she was about to expire in the most excruciating way possible? All the while, her mind clouded in a haze of-of-
"Pathetic." Hawk growled, as his boot came down to shove Raven's head into the dirt, grinding his heel against her temple, all Raven could do was groan. "It's insulting seeing one of our Tribe so weak and useless. You couldn't even give me a decent fight. You've just wasted my time."
She couldn't hear him. Nor anymore.
Everything was ringing.
Louder.
Louder.
She just wanted this to stop she just wanted this to end she just wanted him dead.
And then everything changed.
And then, it was midnight.
And then, the moon was high in the sky.
And then, it shone down on her.
And then, the curse awakened.
And then, all Raven saw was red.
ᚲᛟᚾᛋᚢᛗᛖ ᚦᛖ ᚱᛟᛏ᛬ᛒᛖ ᚱᛖᛒᛟᚱᚾ ᚹᛁᚦ ᛒᛚᛟᛟᛞ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚠᛚᛖᛋᚻ
…
…
Raven opened her eyes.
And saw red.
It was…
Everywhere.
Not in her eyes.
No. This was real.
This wasn't her eyes playing tricks on her, fading out or making mistakes. All around her was red. Stained red with… with blood.
It wasn't her blood.
Raven stared, and looked down.
Down, at Hawks eviscerated body.
And his blood that stained her hands.
Raven breathed.
She breathed, and realised that her lungs were working again.
She breathed, and realised her bones were enacted. They were healed, in place.
What?
She was… on her knees. She'd… she's just been hunched over and now she was-
She looked down again, and took in Hawks visage.
His face, cold, dead, and twisted in horror. Legitimate, pitiful and horrific fear marked his face like a burn. He was missing an arm, both of his legs, there was a hole in his stomach and his chest had been carved out and his... his heart was… it was free to the air, and it was missing a chunk, fang marks scaring the muscle. How did-
Raven gagged, her sense of smell, of taste, coming back to her, and she realised that her mouth was wet with blood. Oh gods. Has she…
Something rustled to her left, and her head snapped to the sound.
Vernal flinched back as her eyes locked onto her.
Just for a moment, before the girl took another step forward, and another. Until she was beside her.
Raven breathed.
Her fever was gone.
Her body ached.
But it was nothing like it had been before.
She felt alive.
"What happened?"
Vernal's eyes flicked down to the corpse. She was a child, and yet she looked at it like it was a common thing. Maybe it was around here, but with Hawk's, she actually looked like she was savouring the image. They rose up again, to Raven, and then around them.
The Tribe was watching them. They were afraid. They were shocked. They were in awe.
And they were on their knees.
"You won." She said. "Guess he really wasn't anything special against someone who's really strong."
And then she kneeled. "What do you want us to do, Dróttinn?"
…
…
Blake watched.
She sat there in silence and watched. It wasn't her place to speak not here, so as Raven told her story, she watched and listened. To all of the… Insanity, all of the revelations that Blake knew now ere true.
She listened to Raven's truth.
And she watched Yang.
She was pacing.
She'd gotten up, halfway through Raven's story and begun to pace. Back and forth. Back and forth. Head down. Face pulled back in a grimace as her hand shook, as her body remembered with what Blake assumed was barely restrained rage.
And when it was over. When Raven had finished.
Yang stopped.
And breathed.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
And Blake waited for the anger.
She didn't expect Yang to laugh.
Blake stared at the blonde as she laughed, loud and rich. As she threw her head back and her clear, beautiful laughter filled the tent.
The Faunus, unsure of what was happening, turned to look at Raven for help. All she saw was the dark haired woman watching her daughter, waiting for the laughter to end with a blank, expectant face.
It went on and on, for a good five minutes, before Yang let out a breath.
And she screamed bloody murder.
"God. Fucking. Dammit!"
Yang swung, her fist connecting with one of the tents support beams. It was fortunate that there were multiple of them, because the thing splintered into millions of shard-like pieces and flew out of the tent like a missile.
"Why has this happened again!?" she screamed, her voice taking on a pitch Blake had never heard before. So enraged she was that Blake was frozen stiff. "Why is it that every tone I confront someone that left me they have a good fucking reason for it. How is that fair!"
She spun. Eyes wide, red and wild as they bore into Raven. "It was Ruby first. I spend years not knowing she was even alive, and having her cut off from me when I see her again, and I hate it, I hate her for leaving and coming back like it's nothing and I do my best not to show it and to try and be a good sister and it all goes to shit so many times and I just can't deal with it and then she tells me the truth and I can't be angry at her because she was being hunted down all her life! Summer left too, but she died protected us not just from some random Grimm, but fighting someone that's trying to end the world and then you, you the one person I thought I could hate, the one person I thought I could be valid for hating because you ran out on me, on us, and you fucking drop this on me?!" She screamed, her hands flying up to grip her hair so hair Blake thought she might tear it out at the roots. "How is this fair?! How is any of this fucking fair!?"
Yang fell to her knees, still gripping her head. "You went through fucking hel, and I hated you the entire time! What the fuck is wrong with me? What kind of piece of shit person am I?"
"You're not-"
"Yes I am!" she screamed, her voice cracked so painfully as she cut off her mother from arguing.
And Blake felt her chest ache as she watched.
"I-I did nothing! My entire life I just felt- felt sorry for myself!"
"Like any normal person in your situation." Raven grunted, struggling to get to her feet. It was a problem for her. They could both tell. Her legs were shaking just holding up her weight.
"You were a toddler when I left Yang, Summer died and you were left with Tai in his…. In his situation. None of that is your fault. It's not your fault for growing up believing I'd abandoned you. Even if it wasn't my intention I did leave. There's no one to blame in that but myself."
She coughed, leaning against one of the untouched support beams. "I was a coward."
"How can you say that?"
"Because it's true." She snaps, a growl emanating from her throat. Upon realising it, she stiffens, and pulls back a little. Her face screws up in discomfort and she works her jaw slowly, as if testing her words in her head. "I became what I did, yes but… it never would have happened I I decided to face things head on. If I'd stayed. Or if I'd just come back sooner, before Ozpin could have done anything. No, that hesitation is the reason Summer died as much as anything else."
Yang scowled. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
She shrugged weakly. "Maybe, but if I can't put at least some of the blame on myself for my choices then I'll never be able to make things right. I-" Raven let out a breath, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yang I… I couldn't be there for you. I chose not to after I became a lycanthrope. I was afraid I'd come back and lose myself… I still am."
"Lose yourself? What does that mean?"
"it used to be… back at the start I didn't know what to do. The first change was short but they go longer as time went on. Every full moon I would change and… and I didn't have a schedule for it, most of the time I was delirious or I just didn't care. I'd lock myself in a cage sometimes, but eventually that wasn't enough either and… and I'd changed outside of that time too."
She ran a hand through her hair, and lake grimace at how contrasting her hair is to the sickly pale sheen of her skin. "I'm weak right now, most of the time before a moon this is how I get. It's hel, but it's worse when I'm… aggressive. That's a thing too. I'll fly into a rage for no reason, something I can barely control and-" she swore to herself, muttering angrily as her eyes screwed shut. "And I'll change right then and there; without a full moon and sometimes even during the day. If my tribe can't calm me down or if I stay around people for too long it's just… out of my control. I hated it, but I didn't really understand how dangerous it could be to the people I cared about until… until it happened."
Yang's eyes narrowed. "You did something."
"Do you know how I became the spring maiden?"
Blake frowned. Spring Maiden? What was she talking about now? The Faunus shook her head. Obviously this was another in the long line of things she had no clue about. Still, it couldn't be that bad, could it?
A look towards Yang, to her face twisted up pensively, proved that line of thought wrong.
"I-" Yang bit her lip, but shook her head. "No. I'd figured out that you were but… no, I'd assumed you'd killed the last one in cold blood or something."
A bitter laugh escaped the bandit. "Not too far off. It… it wasn't in cold blood, but she died because I lost it one day. She… the spring maiden; her name… her name was Jade. She was just a girl when we found her. she was a student at Haven, she hadn't even graduated from her third year when she got the powers and… and it was too much for her. I felt a little bit of a kinship with her I think, that she'd left Ozpins circle and tried to head out on her own. She was scared though, and if we hadn't found her then someone worse might have."
"What'd you do?"
Made her a part of the Tribe of course." Raven said, a tiny curl of her lip all the pleasure she showed. It was like she was thinking back on a pleasant memory. If Blake had to guess, she was. "If I'm honest, she sucked at fighting. She had all the power in the world and she hated it. She wanted nothing more than a quiet life. I couldn't give her that, but I promised to keep her safe, make her strong so that she'd never feel scared again."
She broke off, and Blake saw the way her face twisted. She could already tell what was coming.
It didn't make it any better when Raven said it anyway.
"We were having an argument about… about something stupid. It was after a raid and we'd walked away with a good haul, enough that we didn't have to consider going again for a while. Jade wasn't happy though."
"What, did she not like the looting and pillaging bit of banditry?" Blake guessed aloud. She regretted it a moment later when Raven sent her a withering glare that set all her senses off on high alert. Right. Huntress. Werewolf. Deadly killer. Not someone she wanted to annoy by pointing out her criminality.
Blake coughed, and sank back.
A moment later, Raven sighed. "No, that wasn't it. Jade was a good girl, but she was more than willing to adapt to her new way of life. She didn't kill people unless they came at her with the same intention, but even then it was unfair. Even as a novice she had enough raw power that a proper Huntsman would have been in trouble. No, she was upset because she saw a better way for us to thrive."
The dark-haired moment's lips twitched. "Protection racketeering; instead of just taking what we could she wanted us to make it into a sort of service, make ourselves more sustainable, force people to rely on us. Honestly it might have worked, she'd been going on about it for months, pushing the idea but… on that day… it was a bad idea."
Yang frowned. "You were changing."
"I was aggressive, unhinged in a dangerous way and I… it just happened."
She shook her head angrily. "She could have fought me off. I know she could have if she really tried but…. But she didn't want to hurt me. And it killed her."
Raven turned to YAngm their eyes meeting, the brawler seeing the bandits agonised expression.
"I remember it you know? After the first time, I see it all happening, even if I can't do anything to control myself I can see, and feel and hear everything that's happening. And I watched as I tore that poor girl apart." She grit her teeth. "Jade's last thoughts were of me. How scared must she have been as I bore down on her… I broke my promise to her and she died because of me."
There was a pause, a range of emotions passing over Yang's face as she crossed her arms. "That's why you didn't come back."
"…"
"You thought you'd lose control… slaughter us."
"Jade came to us ten years ago. I'd known her for five before it happened and I… I cared about her, a lot. If I couldn't stop myself from killing her then I knew I couldn't risk it, I wouldn't, not when the first time I'd laid eyes on you I'd contemplated it."
"But you saved me!"
"Did I?" she sneered. "You're missing an arm and a leg Yang, because I was too slow, because when I'd sensed you were in danger I hesitated to go to you and it cost you two of your limbs. That was my fault, and then, instead of taking you back to my camp to heal you I leave you in the hands of Merlot, someone I didn't even know if I could trust because I couldn't trust myself."
"I don't care!" Yang snarled, she stalked forward, and for a moment Blake thought she was going to strike Raven, but instead, she pulled her in, clamping her hands down on the dark-haired woman's shoulders as her eyes bore into the matching red "It happened, it's over. You were caught up in something you couldn't control. You can't blame yourself for something like that. Alright? So don't."
Raven's lips thinned into a straight line.
"Isn't that hypocritical Yang? Coming from you?"
She blinked, her mouth opened as she was taken aback. "I- what?"
"Raven."
They turned to Vernal's voice as she entered the tent again, her face stern. "We need to go."
Raven grimaced, shaking Yang's hands off of her as she stepped past. "How much time do we have?"
"Thirty minutes now. I did my best to give you the time you needed but I don't think we should push it."
"Right… you're right." She sighed. "Call them in then, we'll move out now."
"Wait what?" Yang frowned, trailing after the bandits as they exited the tent. Blake stood up and did the same, not quite willing to be left behind. "Where are you going?"
"A clearing." Vernal explained. "We haven't got long before the moon hits its peak. Raven will transform then, we can't be in camp when that happens."
She said no more as the Tribe members saw them. Blake's eyes scanned the area, to the campfires littering the open. Sun. Neptune and Ilia were at one of them, talking to some of the bandits. Vernal caught the eye of one of the men, and they mouthed something to her. She nodded, and things suddenly started moving.
The while Tribe did. Making their way out of the camp, past the walls and into the forest.
"Come on," Vernal grunt, wrapping one arm under Raven's. "We better make double time."
"What's happening?" Sun asked as he approached them.
"You'll find out. Are you coming?" Vernal asked, her gaze turned to Yang.
The brawler frowned, but nodded all the same. "Let's see what's going on."
…
…
Vernal had been telling the truth, it was far out in the forest.
Blake wasn't sure why that surprised her, that Vernal was telling the truth, but it did.
This whole thing just felt… it felt like she was a passenger. Here she was being brought along halfway across the world under the pretext of some… conspiracy.
And there was a conspiracy, bigger than she'd ever thought possible.
Magic, reincarnating wizards, Grimm Queens and family secrets she hadn't been prepared for. It was all just so much.
No.
This was what she'd decided. She'd known it was bigger than the White Fang, Yang had outright said so when she'd pushed on going with her.
And as soon as she thought of her, Blake's eyes slid to Yang.
The blonde was ahead of her, following just behind Raven.
Raven, her bandit leader, magic werewolf mother.
The fact that it was one of the least crazy parts was enough to threaten headaches.
What must Yang be thinking right now? For all of this to have been thrown on her, that everything she'd known about her mother was a lie, that their headmaster, someone they thought they could trust, was some monster in human skin.
Blake had trouble with that all on her own. The idea made her… ill. Ozpin had accepted them into his school, accepted her even though he'd known what she was, what she'd done. What had been his plan? He was apparently willing to betray his most trusted confidants, so what had he wanted with them?
Blake's eyes flickered down to her own side. Her blackened fingers flexed, though thankfully under her own will. It just bagged the question though. If a… werewolf, was enough for him to brand Raven as diseased and a monster he was prepared to kill, then why hadn't he done the same to her?
Damn it. She didn't know.
It was all just information right now, information she couldn't use, that she didn't have a way to piece together. There was something she was missing, something huge that none of them were seeing right now. What was it?
What was it?
Ugh, what was she doing, there was no way she was going to find answers, not here and now, not when she didn't even know the answer to the most mundane of her questions.
Why had Raven decided that she had to know this too?
Yang, that was obvious, she was her daughter and easily wrapped up in the magic aspect of things. But her? Yes she was her partner, but that seemed like a flimsy reason, especially considering how they were now. Ex-partner was definitely more apt, even if the idea made Blake feel all queasy.
Why not Sun, or Neptune? They obviously knew far more about this that she did. They'd spent more time with Yang around this sort of stuff.
They'd… they'd spent a whole lot more time than Blake had.
Nine months almost. Was that… was that more than they had? It didn't feel right at all but… it had only been a single year right? A single year where Yang and her had called each other Partners, less than that because of Beacons Fall. Were… were they her partners now?
What did that make Blake?
She felt like the answer should have been obvious, it should have been right there I in front of her to see, it felt like it was on the tip of her tongue but… she just couldn't place it, couldn't understand it.
Something bitter swam through her stomach.
Just another thing she was missing right?
Maybe that was just how things were now. Maybe she was just forgetting things that were important. What would she even know? She was dead after all.
The treeline broke, and they came to a stop.
"Here we are," Vernal said, continuing forward with Raven, who looked like she couldn't even stand by herself now.
Blake's eyes were on something else though.
A little opening in the forest, with yellowed grass and patches of earth bare on the ground, like it refused to grow here.
There was a feeling here. A miasma Blake could sense. Not through magic, but her instincts. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end, her ears flickered back and forth wildly. It felt dangerous here like, this little open space was the home of a predator.
And in the centre of the clearing was… a collar. With six long chains extending from its sides.
The rest of the Tribe was here. Three hundred in all, maybe more that she'd missed, all encircled them. For a moment, Blake felt a thrill f fear make its way up her spine as she realised she was surrounded by deadly killers.
It fades though, when she realised their eyes were on Raven, being settled into the centre.
Vernal set the massive collar around her neck.
What is this?" Ilia mumbled beside her, eyes narrowed at the display. Blake had a feeling she was about to have that question answered
It was too big. Too big for Raven as she was now, it almost slipped off her shoulders at the moment.
Of course, it wouldn't stay like that. It'd fit soon enough, she knew that.
Vernal said something to Raven, but they were too far away, and it was spoken to quietly for even her to pick up. And then Vernal was jogging back over to them, barking orders to the bandits as they split into groups of fifty, each taking a position around one of the chains, some driving rods into the ground between the links at certain intervals.
"We're starting." She said to them as she stopped. "You can help if want, it'll make things easier, but we're not forcing you on this." Her eyes met Yang's. "Raven said she'd been fine with you not watching this part, that you can wait back at camp until morning."
"What even is this?" Neptune asked, eyeing the chains warily as the half the bandits took hold. "it feels like some creepy ritual. You're not summoning something are you?"
Yang shook her head before Vernal could answer. "They're restraints." She said. "For when she transforms… you're all here to hold her down aren't you."
She nodded, turning back to the chains. Raven was kneeling in the centre, taking deep laboured breaths. "Exactly. You know how strong Raven was just as a Huntress, it was a big deal, then she became a werewolf and that strength got a whole lot more crazy. Honestly, it might not have been as big as a problem if it was just that… you know what the maidens powers do to someones physical strength right?"
The look on Yang's face said she did. "So you need everyone you've got just to hold her down."
"Yeah. We've got it planned out, practised for years now. Twenty-five people holding each chain, at two-hour intervals until the moon goes down and she changes back to normal. We have to be on high alert the whole time for it."
"Sound's exhausting."
"Ha!" Vernal smirked at them. "This is the Branwen Tribe you're talking about. You think Raven would let any of us be weaklings. She dragged us all through the mud for almost a decade. Hel, just a year ago she kicked up our training a hel of a lot more."
"After she attacked Amber and Pyrrha."
"Got it in one. Going back to the old ways she called it." Vernal glanced at Raven's form as the woman began to slowly curl up on the ground. "She felt something was changing, that things were moving like they hadn't before. She was right."
"Tell me about it." Yang sighed. "I'll help, whatever it is you need me to do, I'm pretty sure I trump you guys in terms of raw power."
"Probably," Vernal agreed. "It's not exactly hard to understand anyway, just grab a chain and when she moved in the opposite direction pull, when she moves your way let it slack. Keep her in the middle."
"Uh," Sun interjected. "Does anyone want to tell us what's going on?"
"Oh! Right, yeah, sorry about that guys, we-"
Yang was forced into silence.
As the screams began.
"Grab a chain!" Vernal hissed. "Go on, all of you now!"
Blake doesn't need to be told twice, and she matches the other as they sprint to the three closest chains on their side. Vernal's already barking orders over Raven's agonised groans to the rest of the Tribe as Blake takes one in her hand.
Damn, it's heavier than it looks. Thick black chains made out of a metal Blake wasn't familiar with. Not iron or steel, something heavier, and layered with something... not much, it looked like the chains were laced with silver half way up. Right, silver worked on these 'creatura' didn't it? Would it have the same effect of Raven?
Whatever happenstance it may have been, Blake somehow ended up holding the same chain as Yang, the brawler just in front of her and gripping the chains tightly. What was she thinking right now, watching Raven writhe in-
"AAAGGHH!"
Blake nearly dropped it as the scream pierced through her head, and her eyes locked onto their source.
Raven sounding like she was being melted from the inside out, her voice tore through her thought as she tried to force it back to no avail and already it sounded raw, like she'd clawed straight through it. The only reason Blake knew she hadn't was because Raven's nails dug into the earth, bleeding as they scrapped and clawed for something to grip and feeling only the dirt slip in-between her nails.
It looked awful. Blake would have had to have been heartless not to feel sympathy for the woman as she was now, no matter her profession this wasn't something anyone should have to-
And then she heard the sound of bones crack.
Yang went ridge in front of her, and the Bandits with them started roaring at each other, as if psyching themselves out so that they didn't recoil for the sight.
Blake felt like she was going to be sick.
Raven's bones were visible.
Shattered and splintered things pierced through the skin, the white stained red and left with flesh and sinew hanging messily from the sharp ends as it pushed and pushed and pushed through. And still they splintered. Pieced made brittle by her previous weakness breaking off when their own weight became too much and plopping onto the ground atop wet piles of flesh that burst from her back. Gods. It was like something was trying to tear itself free from her!
And it was getting worse.
Blake watched as Raven's skin pulsed and elasticated, muscles expanding and having no place to grow, stretching her body and separating pieces of her as it did. Her fingers elongated, nails peeling off and giving way to blackened, gnarled claws and joints that a human shouldn't have had. Her legs bet and stretching, her shoulders swelling as her back arched, not just from the pain but from her spine snapping itself in two and reforming longer and more curved than before.
Raven was spewing blood. It swept from every pore, staining the earth red and Blake realised that the grass had been yellowed by just this, every time she transformed on a full moon.
And now the woman couldn't scream anymore. It might have been from how much she already had, from her vocals giving out, but Blake new better now from the rest of this madness. No, they'd torn and been remade as well, Raven's feminine voice now morphed into a low, curdling growl that felt like it crackled in Blake's ears.
And it Still. Wasn't. Over.
"Fuck," Yang hissed, and Blake noted how pale she looked. "This is worse than I thought it would be."
The Faunus couldn't help but agree. "Great ready Yang. You're the strongest here by far, we need your head steady."
"I know that you-"
Her words were cut off again this time in a scream as Raven's face exploded in a shower of gore.
Blake felt the contents of her stomach rise up almost too fast for her to prevent spilling over, but she managed it if only because the scene before her entranced her now in a sick, morbid sense of fascination.
Raven's face, now without skin and with patches of muscle and bone missing, elongated with an agonising slowness.
Her jaw unhinged and split, forced down further than it should ever physically have been as new muscle weaved itself through the gaps left behind, and her teeth rose in their place, widening and sharpening into nasty points.
A snout, Blake realised. It was forming into a snout.
Raven's black main bristled wildly, like it was being wrenched from her scalp by some invisible force, and the Faunus' eyes widened as hairs, no, fur, split through her skin, sprouting all the way down as her clothes tore and shred from the new body mass.
The collar groaned and creaked as the figure that had been Raven now revealed itself in its new form.
And there was silence as the beast rose up, and up and up.
Blake hissed through her teeth.
It, Raven, was a nearly twelve feet tall monster of rippling muscle and frothing madness. Blood red eyes lit up the night, glowing, burning into Blake's soul with a ferocity that shook her to her core.
A low growl rumbled through its chest, and it raised its snout up, sniffing the air.
And that was all Blake had left to comprehend before a horrifying roar tore through the forest and the werewolf lunged for them.
Startled cries ran out as they yanked at the chains, jerking the beast back.
With the combined strength of a hundred men they managed to lift it off its feet as the chains tightened, and the wolf let out a yelp from the force on its neck.
Blake flinched at the sickening crack.
"Holy shit!" Ilia cried out in horror as the sound reverberated through the trees. "Did she just break her neck?!"
The cracking didn't stop as Blake's realised that yes, Raven had broken her neck on the charge, and even now in front of her, it was forcing itself back into place as it snapped and snarled at them.
No.
At Yang.
"She's got her target!" Vernal snapped. "Keep the boss away from her kid!"
A choir of roars met her in answer, as the Branwen Tribe tore at the chains in all six directions, pulling, pulling, pushing Raven down to her knees, struggling against their combined strength.
She thrashed and raged, fangs bared as spittle and foam dripped from her maw, red eyes locked on Yang as she tried to drag herself up.
Yang grunt, doing her best to keep her arms steady as the beast struggled. "I don't know if I should feel insulted or not." She muttered. "Why is she going for me anyway?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Blake groaned, her own arms shaking from the exertion needed to keep Raven grounded. Vernal was still shouting orders, and they'd gotten into a rhythm of some kind, one that was allowing them to slowly keel her back.
"Oh obvious is it?" The blonde snarked. "So you're suddenly an expert on magic are you? Why don't you grace me with your knowledge Blake? Tell me what it is I'm missing."
She scowled, her side writhing just under the skin in annoyance. "Can you not act like there's something more important that your grudges and hang-ups for two seconds?" she snapped.
"Ex-fucking-cuse me?"
Blake ignored her, heaving at the chain again. Raven stumbled, though it was probably less to do with her and more to do with the three hundred other men and women working in sync.
"It's magic isn't it? Lycanthropy or whatever it's called. And she's some kind of magic maiden as well right? Don't you think she has some way of feeling that? You have a dog, you should know how animals react to perceived threats already. She can probably feel whatever magic you give off."
There was a pause before Yang spoke. "Shit." She swore, realising that Blake was probably right.
"Can't you turn it off or something to make this easier?"
Yang looked down, though Blake missed where her eyes stopped. "No. No I can't. Damn it. We're just going to have to deal with this as it is."
Blake grit her teeth. Damn. They were in for a long night.
…
…
"Do you feel that?"
Ruby looked up from the campfire, eyes flickering towards Pyrrha.
The Mistralian's eyes were wide, searching the forest as if something was about to leap out at them.
Beside her, Jaune tried his best to follow her gaze, it was far too frantic to do so however.
"No I don't feel anything," Ruby frowned. "What is it?"
"I… I'm not sure." The champion swallowed. "It's… it's familiar, but different. I don't know. It... it feels..."
"Heavy." Cinder finished, eyes trailing in the same direction as her half-maiden counterpart. "I feel it too."
It wasn't hard to realise the implication of that, though the way the two women's eyes locked in that moment confirmed it either way. Ruby's eyes widened. "A maiden? Here?"
"Not close." Cinder acknowledged. "But not far away either. I… I can't get an exact number on anything. It could be ten miles away or a hundred."
"But you know where they are?"
Pyrrha nodded. "Yes. The general direction anyway. I don't know why I can suddenly feel them."
"Anyone want to explain to me what's going on?" Weiss asked. Ruby's gaze slid her way. Her partner was separate from the rest of them, more so. She sat on a log by herself… as if she'd purposefully isolated herself. She'd been acting distant for the fast couple of days for reason Ruby didn't know.
"Cinder and Pyrrha just got a lead." Ruby explained. "Neo, Roman, can you two make sure we've got everything? Pack everything we can up, erase our tracks here so people can't follow is they stumble onto this camp."
"Are we moving?"
"Maybe." She looked to JNPR. "Is it alright with you?"
Jaune shared a look with his team minus Pyrrha, who was still too focused on whatever energy it was she could feel. Ren and Nora nodded, their faces set in determined lines. It was trouble. Ruby hadn't been able to get a good read on them this whole time. Nora was too quiet for how Ruby remembered her, and Ren… felt different. How different, she wasn't sure.
But it worried her.
"Yeah," he agreed, standing up as he gazed into the fire. "We'll go. I guess you'll be up front then, right?"
"Cinder will."
He hummed, and Ruby tried to ignore the way his hand fell on his sword, or the way his eyes flickered between Pyyrha and Cinder. "Then lead the way."
She tried her best to pretend it didn't sound like a threat.
...
Geez Ruby, a little bit of trust would go a long way right? I mean it's not like they'd do anything to hurt you right? They haven't tried to kill you recently or anything...
Wait.
And well, we've come to the end of Raven's explanation and we see her transformation it's its full... not-quite glory.
Yeah. I've always wanted to do my own version of a lycanthropy transformation because let me tell you it does not sound fun. Can you imagine what it would feel like to go through that sort of thing? You're body and bones literally tearing themselves apart to change you into a beast?
Yikes.
But hey, it got me to do a lot more research on werewolves. Here in Ireland, they've been shown in mythology as bodyguards to kings and queens and stuff. Which I think is cool, a little different to the classic mad beast. I did find something cool though on the britania verson. Did you know one of the knights of the round table was a god damn werewolf?
I swear, you look up the knights of the round table and you realise they had anime powers before it was cool.