Yang stared up at the sky.

She stared up at the bright blue sky just revealing itself through the trees.

It was all she really could do, considering she was flat out exhausted, lying on her back with burning lungs to remind her that yes, she's been up all night holding back the wild beast which was her mother.

A weak glance to the side showed the others in a similar position. Blake was in the same position as her, flat on her back and red in the face from the strain. Respect where respect is deserved, she'd managed to hold out almost as long as Yang had, her strength only failing her near the end.

Sun and Neptune were even worse off. Between the Sun using his semblance to correct mistakes and Neptune just not being built like either of them for that sort of physical exertion over hours, they looked like they might drop. Hel, the only thing holding them up was each other, by a bare minimum allowance. If Yang was honest, it looked like a stiff breeze might knock them over.

And Ilia?

She was flat on her face, completely still on the grass. Yang wasn't entirely sure she wasn't dying, but, well, as long as she was groaning in pain she was alright.

Right?

Yang threw an arm over her face weakly, and let a groan of her own slip past her lips. Gods her muscles felt like they were on fire.

A shadow leaned over her, blocking out the sun, and forcing the blonde to look through her fingers.

Vernal stood over her with her hands on hips, and a smirk plastered across her face.

Ugh, what a bitch.

"You're all still alive then? Good, I'd be disappointed if this was enough to make you keel over.

"It almost was." Yang breathed. "You guys do this every month?"

"Yep, sometimes more, depending on whether the moon decides it wants to be a pain or not."

"Heh," Yang groaned, turning her head to gaze at the Bandits. Pretty much every one of them was better off than her. They looked exhausted too, but only in the way Yang felt after a hard workout. Through the night they'd been like a machine, working in perfect motion without fail.

And, well, all that work definitely worked up a sweat. Most were shirtless.

Damn, they made Yang feel self-conscious. These guys were built.

Another glance at Vernal showed her the same. Seriously, how did a bandit have the chiselled abs of a god?

"You know what?" Yang groaned. "Props to you guys, seriously, I don't think I could keep this up if I tried."

Vernal rolled her eyes, leaning down to drag Yang to her feet and throw an arm over her shoulder. "What did I tell you? Raven puts us through the grinder and this is our reward. There's a reason we're the most feared bandits on the continent."

"You know telling a Huntress in training about your long criminal record isn't the best way to make an impression?"

Vernal shrugged. "Eh, what do I care who's gonna come after us? Huntsman?"

"I mean, yeah?"

She rolled her eyes. "Too focused on Grimm. I'm telling ya, I haven't seen any in months around these parts. And even if we didn't have Raven, we could take them easy."

"Yeah, I guess so." Yang relented. "What's the saying? Quantity has a quality of its own?"

"Something like that, and I'm telling you, we're plenty qualified as well."

"No argument there." Yang's eyes drifted to the centre of the circle, where half a dozen men and women had crowded around Raven's form so that she couldn't see her. "What are they doing?"

Vernal hummed, helping Yang to her feet in the process. "Making sure the boss is breathing for one, then they'll carry her back to camp. She'll rest for a while I think, enough to catch up with what she missed. The rest of us will too."

"What? The whole tribe's gonna be out like a light?"

"Pretty much yeah," the older woman shook her head in mirth. "We'll have a few on the lookout to make sure we don't get ambushed in the meantime, poor bastards will be up a little longer, but for the most part yeah, everybody's going to be resting up

Vernal looked at Yang's group up and down. "You guys are obviously welcome to do the same. We can have a few tents set up with stuff to sleep in. I think you'll need the sleep more than we do."

Ilia's groan came in response again."

Yang laughed tiredly. "Couldn't have said it better myself. Yeah we'll take you up on that offer. When uh, when will Raven be up again?"

Vernal shrugged. "Dunno, usually just after noon, maybe an hour or two after that."

The blonde grimaced. "Six hours?"

"Hey, don't sweat thinking about it. The time'll fly considering you'll be comatose after it."

"What are you talking about, I'm not that bad."

"Oh yeah?" Vernal raised an eyebrow. "I'll admit, you've got some stamina, a crazy amount actually, but if I had any guess it's got something to do with that." She said, tapping the thin scar right between Yang's breasts, the one that trailed over her heart.

"Um, okay, maybe it has something to do with that… a little bit."

The bandit rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh, like I said, it's got something to do with it, but let me tell you a little secret; it's not all that special."

"Say what?"

"You'll see, I'll explain it later, right now you should see if you can even make it back to camp."

"Of course I can."

"Take a step forward then." Vernal offered, gesturing wide with her hands.

Yang blinked. "Alright I wi- oof!"

That was as far as Yang got before her legs gave out beneath her and her face got acquainted with the ground."

"…ow."

Vernal laughed, waving a few of her tribe members over. "See, what I tell you? You just went and did a near nonstop workout holding down one of the tightest bitches this side of the continent after an entire day getting here in the first place. Anyone would be exhausted after that."

"This is- nothing." Yang panted, the new feelings crashing into her all at once, as if her body had only just realised how spent it was. "Just gimme a minute, I'll be up."

"Uh-huh, well until then;" Vernal reached down, scooping Yang up and hooking her arm under the blondes left side. "I'll do you a little favour and help you along yeah?"

"…. Yeah." Yang allowed. "Thanks."

"Don't-" Vernal frowned as she took a few steps forward, glancing down. "Okay no, this is going to be a little bit annoying. Is there anything you can do about those?" she asked, looking down at Yang's dangling right limbs."

Yang winced. "Sorry, I forget sometimes that Obsidian's heavier than the rest of me."

"Well magic is weird I guess. Is there anything you can do to make yourself lighter?"

"I… no, I could but… my magic's spent too. I used it all last night to help keep me steady."

"What a pain, can you even move those things?"

"…"

Vernal made a noise with her tongue. "Guess that's a no, must be some serious off-putting dead weight." They don't act like limbs unless you put magic into them do they?"

"I…" Yang sighed. "Yeah you got it. I… don't worry about it, I'll do my best to keep it from dragging you-"

"I got it." Came a quiet voice, as a dark arm linked itself under Yang's right arm, lifting her up straighter, holding her between two figures now."

Yang's eyes widened imperceptibly.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping." Blake mumbled. Quietly, more intent of helping Yang shuffle forward than talking.

"I-" A myriad of features crossed over Yang's face, before she settled of confused. "Aren't you tired?"

"Enough to drop." Blake admitted. "But… only on one side…. I'd noticed it before but not as much as now… I suppose dead parts don't feel fatigued."

Yang looked away.

"Don't worry about it." Blake went on. "It's not so bad if I can be useful right?"

"…"

Blake noticed the quiet. "Okay." She said. "I'm just doing this because I want to... you don't have to talk to me."

Another beat of nothing as Blake and the Bandit girl fell into place, other men and women already moving to help the rest of their gang to their feet.

"Thanks." Yang murmured reluctantly. "For this."

Blake's lips twitched upwards. "Don't worry about it."

"Dear fucking god." Vernal muttered from Yang's other side. "I can't believe Raven was right about you two. This shit is killing me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ugh, just don't even," Vernal cursed. "I owe her fifty lien when she wakes up. You two are a fuckin' disaster."

"No I agree with Blake on this, what are you talking about?"

"Ugh, teenagers."

…

…

"So how much farther is it?""

Footsteps crunched through the forest, snapping twigs and branches that had fallen to the floor, yet curiously, it didn't look like they had fallen from anywhere. The trees around them were flush with life, fresh as they could ever be. Curious, it was like someone was overseeing the forest, did caretakers for things like that exist?"

"No idea, sorry." Pyrrha sighed, glancing down at Ruby as they lead the group.. the rest weren't too far behind, though the divide was lear within it

Team CRMSN and the three members of JNPR had plenty of space between them, and Weiss… well, she was with Penny, her only companion at the back of the group. Ruby was beginning to get worried about that. Ever since last night Weiss had been… almost wary of talking to her.

"Is there any way of telling which maiden it is?"

"I'm… not sure. maybe, but it's not like I have much of a standard to go off of."

"What aboutCinder?"

Pyrrha's lips pressed together in a line, but she hummed. "I suppose… it's a feeling, or a taste, a smell maybe?

"You can't tell the difference between them?"

"It's not like it's an actual sense Ruby."

"Right sorry." She winced. It probably sounded like she was nagging at Pyrrha. "I didn't mean to act like you were wrong or anything."

"It's fine." She bit her lip."I suppose it's like…. Freshly burnt wood." Pyrrha explained. "With cinder I can…. Feel a stir in my stomach but it'snot uncomfortable. Not nice either. As soon as you arrived on the continent I knew there was something, but that might have just been because it was the other half of this power."

"And it was…."

"Have you ever had cinnamon on porridge?"

"That's oddly specific."

"It's literally what it tastes like,or, doesn't, I'm still not sure.I know it doesn't make sense, more so because Amber never noticed Cinder even being in the same city as her."

"Maybe because you got it naturally?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha blinked. "What do you mean."

"Well, when… when Watts took half of Ambers power it was… with some sort of machine that captured it, I think before he transferred the contained power I mean. Maybe it's… no" Ruby shook her head. "No, what am I thinking? The Maiden powers have never been split like this. This is the first it's been like this."

"It doesn't explain Amber though." Pyrrha admitted. Sometimes I think that…."

"What?" Pyrrha sighed. "I don't think Amber was..cut out for this, having the Maidens powers.. I can't remember it all too clearly, her memories,the ones that welded themselves onto my soul are there but… she wasn't improving at using her powers at an effective rate to-"

"Don't. Please." Ruby grimaced. "Just… don't talk about Amber that way. She did the best she could."

The champion smiled down at the reaper. "I never said it was a bad thing."

"Huh?"

"Amber was a normal girl, something I wish I could have been but…she was given a responsibility she never wanted, that she never knew existed all by random chance."

"…Yeah. I remember the first day we met. She was alone. She'd run from her home town when her powers acted up too much for her to handle,too much for her to deal with in front of people. I don't know if she ran away from her parents or…or some other family members."

"She didn't." Pyrrha assured."She had an aunt, but lived by herself in that place…if I''m honest she had no real connection… it's sad in its own way. For her to have gotten these powers when all she wanted to do was live out her life. Al lof her plans must have been thrown out the window after that."

"I guess they were." Ruby looked away. "We were always moving after that. I tried to be the best friend to her I could, even if I was way younger than her. I tried to be what I was to Cinder to her, not like that worked. The…. The reasons were different, and I guess it didn't matter in the end. When we got to Beacon we… were a lot more distant."
"That's normal though isn't it?" Pyrrha asked. "I mean, you had your team, you had a lot on your mind and she was learning to use the maidens powers with Ozpin."

"She was changed by Ozpin." Ruby frowned. "Not a lot, but enough that I noticed and… and when I found out what was happening, what had happened it was too late."

"What do you mean?"

Ruby bit her lip. Could she… how much did Pyrrha trust Ozpin exactly? How much did she prefer his opinion over hers? "Pyrrha, are we… okay?"

"I'm sorry?" Pyrrha blinked, startled by the sudden question. "I- what do you mean?"

"I mean the two of us? Are we… are we still friends."

"Why are you even asking that? what's brought this on?"

"…I lied to you." Ruby murmured quietly. "I lied to everyone but… I lied to you about something important. About who Amber was, about what Ozpin wanted you for, who I was, and how I was connected to Ozpins circle, that I was a part of it." She looked up. "When you found out… when I tried to talk to you. You didn't want to."

Pyrrha looked away, but she didn't argue.

"And, you deserved your space, I know that." Ruby said quickly. "That's not your fault at all, I don't blame you for it. But… after that, after everything that happened with…with the attack on Vale, how we were separated… we never got to talk. And the next thing that happens when we finally see each other after nearly a year is a fight nearly to the death."

"That-" The taller redhead winced. "Was overboard for us. I'm sorry for all of us. We've been in a lot of danger, travelling through Vale, through Mistral without knowing who we could trust and learning all this new stuff about ourselves we… we reacted violently upon realising Cinder was there, and when you stood in her defence we too it as a threat. I know the others are sorry, even if they don't say it. We've all been dealing with a lot."

"It's… it's not fine," Ruby sighed, running a hand through her hair. She needed to cut it soon before it got too out of control. "But it's completely understandable." Mean, apart from me, you had a criminal mastermind, a thief, and assassin, the woman who had a hand in the fall of Beacon, Weiss, who's stuck between being a criminal and a victim, Penny, an escaped military combat android and Neo who's… well, Neo. With that sort of group, I think I'd do the same in your situation. Well, not the same, I don't think I'd be crazy enough to attack them."

She grumbled. "Even if Jaune was kicking my ass. Seriously, how does the weakest guy at Beacon take on me and Weiss at the same time?"

"Well, you know the reason for that don't you?"

"Hm?"

"His Avatar is all about impossibly rapid growth is it not?"

It was all Ruby could do not to stumble and fall flat on her face. Even so it was a close thing, and she had to steady herself. When she looked up again, it was with wide eyes. "How do you-" she cut herself off. "Amber's memories really gave you that much?"

"Some," she admitted. "I'll be honest it was a lot to take in, there was so much there, and yet it felt like the knowledge was made of mist, right when I try to grasp it, it vanished into the morning. No, what gave me true information was what Amber passed on to me."

She glanced at Ruby. "The library is interesting don't you think."

Of course. Ruby bit her lips. How could she have forgotten? A key to the odyssiuem. Amber had possessed one. How likely could it have been that the key wouldn't have passed on with Amber's soul?

Apparently the answer was very likely yes.

"Well… I guess you've gotten a little bit of help thanks to it at least."

"Yes." She nods before adding, with a tiny twitch of her lip. "And, I have to admit it was more than a little amusing to read who I was based off of."

Ruby gave a nervous laugh. "Ha, yeah. I think that's a good enough explanation of the invincible girl was any."

"Quite." She agreed, laughing along lightly.

They fell into silence as they walked, and Ruby suddenly felt conscious of the fact that the others were a little distance behind them. Had they decided to give them space?

"Pyrrha…" Ruby made to say, before realising she really didn't know what she was going to say at all. It felt like there was something there, something she needed to talk to her about, something to set the record straight but… no. she couldn't even place it and she'd trailed off. Hopefully they could just ignore the fact she'd even spoken

"Yes?" Pyrrha prompted, ending that hope soundly.

What could she say. the thoughts were still bouncing around in her head and she picked at the first one that rose to the forefront, even as she spoke she winced. "Do you blame me?"

"Hm?"

"For… for what happened… not… not just at Beacon but with what happened to you. you… never really got a choice with being recruited as Amber's protector… you didn't even really get the chance to know her."

"I didn't." Pyrrha agreed. "But I liked her, during the short time I knew her. She was polite in a way that wasn't faked and… I wouldn't have said no to the position, after I graduated I mean. A Huntress is there to protect people, and making sure the maidens powers didn't fall into the wrong hands would have helped so many." She looked away. "I cannot say I support your companions, but we've gone over this what feels like a thousand times now, so I will not go over it again. As for… your involvement…" she trailed off.

Ruby swallowed. "I was a part of it from the beginning, even before I came to Beacon, you already know that but… I wasn't part of the people who wanted you for the job Pyrrha."

"Is that meant to be an excuse?"

"No? Yes? I don't honestly know. It doesn't feel like it's much of one either way but it is the truth. I know it doesn't hold up much but none of you were meant to be involved in this. Beacon wasn't meant to fall and… and I'd honestly hoped this part of the world was something I could forget about. I couldn't. Ozpin was sure I always stayed a part of it."

"Is that all it was?" Pyrrha mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"Was it just Ozpin that kept you where you were? Just his influence, really?"

"I… don't know." Ruby let out a long breath. "I… I'll be honest, I don't remember much about the days before I knew. I was so small then, or, smaller I guess, but I was different all the same. Maybe… maybe I forgot along the way that I'd wanted to make a difference. I guess even with everything that went on, all the problem's, Ozpin had looked like the best option to do that."

"I agree." Pyrrha nodded slowly. "He's our best bet and reorganising. he's not here now, but one day we might find him again, when that happens, he can set things straight again, can't he?"

She… she'd forgotten about that.

The realisation came crashing down on top of her like a landslide.

Ozpin would come looking for them. he'd come looking for the power of the maiden. If he was feeling vindictive, or vengeful for what she'd done to the Relic of Choice then he'd come for her Ruby too. To 'set things straight' with her.

Could she manage that?

Nervously, Ruby shuffled around slightly. "Listen, Pyrrha, there's… there's something you should know about what happened in-"

She never got to explain herself because everything around them stilled in an instant.

She'd noticed it, and even if the other's hadn't they'd sensed it from those that could.

Ruby's eyes flickered side to side.

The insects had stopped chirping, the birds had stopped singing and there wasn't a sign of wildlife in sight.

Anxiously, Ruby's good hand drifted down to her scythe. Pyrrha shot her a look as she did the same, and gestured that she should take the lead here. Ruby cleared her throat.

"It was a good try." She called out to the silent treeline. "But you startled the animals. If an ambush is what you were looking for you won't get it but if you're not here to fight then neither are we. You can come out and talk with us and it can stay just talking."

For a moment, there was no answer, and Ruby worried she'd spurred their observers to strike at them, or worse flee and try again.

Behind her, she knew the others had taken her cue and readied themselves for combat.

She needn't have. The next thing she knew a man appeared from the undergrowth with a pleased smirk on his face.

"Good to see you're aware of your surroundings pipsqueak, you make an old man proud."

Before her, alone but not looking the slightest bit out of place was a person she hadn't seen in months even before she'd recovered enough for her journey.

Ruby's eyes widened.

"Uncle Qrow!?"

….

…

Just as Vernal has said, it had been six hours before there was any activity from Raven's tent, though for Yang, it certainly wasn't swift. The whole time, she'd been waiting for the slightest change, something that would let her know aven was awake. Nothing. Shed ben completely comatose, and it had given Yang plenty of time to think.

Sometimes, that wasn't a good thing.

So there she was, sitting with the rest of the group around a dead campfire and waiting. Just waiting.

Eventually however, it did pass, and Yang's head perked up from her sitting position when the woman in question stepped out.

It was a change.

Raven stood tall, taller than Yang had seen of her before. Confident, and completely free of the lethargy she displayed before.

She skin was a healthy glow, her eyes were bright and even the way she held herself spoke measures of how much better she was feeling.

And then Raven's eyes found Yang and she grinned.

"You waited then?" she laughed, walking over to them with her arms stretched behind her head. "You didn't have to. I would have called Vernal to get you as soon as I woke up."

"Yeah well… I guess I was just fidgety." Yang looked her mother up and down. She was without her armour, instead, a simple black tank top and shorts. Comically out of place, Yang felt, for a Werewolf bandit Queen, but there it was. What held her attention more though, were the hundreds of thin white scars littering her arms and legs. Right away, Yang could tell they crept further than she could see… not all of them looked like they were inflicted by an enemy. She swallowed. "Are you uh… okay?"

"Hundred percent," Raven chuckled, slapping Yang's arm slightly to pull her attention away from her skin. "Don't worry about those. I don't do that anymore. I got better okay?"

"Y-yeah." She coughed. "Sure. I get it." Deciding to move on to other topics, Yang coughed into her fist. "So uh, is this how you usually are after the transformation's done?"

"Pretty much. I'm as fit as I could possibly be right now, even if some of the aches from last night are still there," she winked at that. "But hey, give it a few more days and I'll forget all about it. I'm telling you, the afterglow goes a long way to make it feel, you know, not so bad."

Yang wasn't sure what to say at first, with this… new attitude. She went for the most obvious route.

"You… seem a lot different."

She hummed. "I guess I do. Not sure how I can explain it other than that I feel younger. You know like… I'm fresh." She grinned again. "Don't be too freaked out. I'll be off the high in a few days and back to a medium normal."

The older huntress let out a breath, looking over Yang's group. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you going to stay here?" she gestured to the camp. "I'll be happy to keep you and your friends but I'm guessing you have other ideas right?"

"Well, yeah." Yang scratched the back of her head. "Or, well, some of the people we know do."

"Your sister?"

She nodded. "I'm not sure how it'll work out exactly. But Ruby should have a way to find me. And then there's the Faunus from Menagerie. Sooner or later they're going to land on the shore. When that happens things are going to get a little crazy around here."

"They're planning on assaulting Haven." Raven summarised, nodding to herself. "That'll be a mess one way or another. The White Fang outgun them a lot, and with a defensible position they'll slaughter any attackers… but you've got a plan for that don't you?"

"Eh," Yang crossed her arms reluctantly. "Not as much as you think. I'm not a planner, not like that anyway. I was staking my luck on Ruby having a plan, or Cinder."

Raven frowned. "Cinder?"

"I mean she did have a few plans for taking down beacon, even if the one that worked required help from her former allies."

The bandit grunt. "I don't trust that woman. The brief moments I got a look at her, it gave me a bad feeling."

"Like she was off?"

Raven glanced at her daughter, shoulders relaxing slightly. "You got it too then?"

"Yeah. Listen you don't need to tell me. There's some stuff wrong with that girl, things that give me the creeps. But I mean, it doesn't take a lot of brains to know that she's got this weird… thing for Ruby."

"We have a word for that Yang."

"Yeah well I don't feel comfortable using it. Ruby trusts her so I'll go with it."

"Ugh, fine." Raven rolled her eyes. "I'll ignore it for now. I suppose as long as she helps us take Haven there won't be any problems."

Yang paused. "Us?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "What? Did you seriously think I was going to just sit this out when you're about to throw yourself into danger?"

"Well I mean… kind of. This isn't you Tribes fight."

"I'm sorry whose last name have you been using?"

"Huh?"

Raven's finger shot out, poking Yang right between the eyes, hard enough that the blonde flinched in surprise. "You're a Branwen, Yang. This Tribe might only have gotten back into tradition when I came back, but those traditions are still strong. If you're going into a fight, then I am, and if I am, the rest of them are following right behind me."

Yang didn't know what to say, and Raven grinned. "Besides," she said, leaning back. "Vernal thinks it'll be the perfect opportunity to loot the place."

Yang gave her a dry look. "Seriously?"

"What do you want from me? We're bandits. And can you imagine all the stuff the White Fang is going to have stocked up in that school?"

"Um." Sun scratched his head. "Should I feel upset that you want to rob my school?"

"What, you want a piece?"

"…Um-"

"Don't consider it!"

"Oh come on Nep! Can you imagine all the Lien? We do need to get paid to eat you know?"

Yang failed to hold back a chuckle and shook her head. "Well us… I guess I'm happy to accept your help, if you're serious but… even then we'll have to wait right?"

"We can prepare." Raven said. "If we're going into a fight, a real one, then getting everyone equipped is one of the best things we can do right now. I'll have my men put together some proper gear for you five as well."

"What this isn't enough?"

The maiden looked her up and down letting out a breath. "The Vale Order… they're the oldest and the most successful when it comes to fighting back the things that go bump in the night… but…" there was a pause. "Yang, you know you'll be fighting people right?"

She frowned. "Is this… going to be that talk? Look I've already done the deed plenty, even before Beacon fell."

"I know, but this isn't self-defence, not technically. Not to mention that this won't just be a fight in some ruins, or some unorganised splinter cell."

"Yeah? What will it be then?"

"Warfare, Yang. Proper, real-life warfare, the kinds they tell you is hel."

Yang stared her down. "You not just worried about what it'll do to me."

Raven sighed. "Prepare your team for it," she warned, voice low. "They'll be killing proper. I can bet that the cat and the chameleon have already gotten tier hands dirty… but even then…"

Right. She didn't need to go on. For the two of them, against this White Fang… it might just be more personal. Yang considered the fact that she might have to prep Ilia specifically for that, she wasn't actually sure how deep the girl had gotten before this all went the way it had… as… for Blake.

That sludge-like feeling rolled in her stomach again.

"They'll be fine." Yang delivered flatly. "They can handle themselves."

She wasn't sure why, but she got the feeling the wind had… lessened on more than just coincidence.

Raven's face went unchanged for a minute that stretched on agonisingly.

"Yang, come to my tent in a few minutes… I want to talk to you about something… important."

"Huh?"

She sighed. "Believe me, it's something you need. Something I should do before it gets in the way."

Yang said nothing as Raven walked away. She already had an idea of what she wanted to talk about.

And she wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

…

…

"Sit." Raven said as the tent flapped closed behind them.

Yang gave an irritated huff. "Are we really doing this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Raven dismissed instantly, waving a hand over to the table. "Sit down while I make us some tea."

"I know what you're doing, listen whatever you think you can say, don't. It's between us." Yang said purposefully even as she sat down. She made a point to cross her arms though. She didn't need this talk, she'd rather Raven had the tact to let her deal with it alone but she could understand she was probably overcompensating so she'd deal with it as calmly as she could. It's not something you need to get into."

"I wonder about that." Raven muttered. They fell into silence as the tea boiled. Minutes passing without a word as Yang fidgeted in place. When it was finished, Raven sat down, pouring the blonde a cup before her own. All the while, Yang's eyes followed her movements.

"I want to talk to you about the situation around you and your partner."

"Wow, I would never have guessed." Yang said dryly. "And she's not my partner anymore."

"Oh she isn't is she? My apologies I wasn't aware a falling out was all you needed to split the sort of partnership that makes people your family."

"Sarcasm, great." Yang huffed. "What is it you want yo to say Raven, seriously what makes Blake something to talk about?"

Raven's eyes narrowed. "How about the fact that every time you talk to her it looks like you're about to strangle her."

"Gee, it's almost like stabbing someone in the back caused problems in a relationship.

Raven sighed. "You haven't explained to me what that's supposed to mean. I… I wasn't there but Vernal filled me in on the fact that she hurt you during the attack on Beacon."

Yang scowled at her. "Why does everyone think that matters? Do you honestly think I care that she went crazy considering, uh, you know, she couldn#t control herself."

"That's.. actually a reasonable way to look at things." Raven said carefully. "Then I'm confused, what's the problem?"

"You can't be serious."

"I clearly am. If it's something I should be able to understand then why don't you just spell it out to me? Because I just don't understand your anger with her."

The look on Yang's face could have been considered a snarl. "Fine you want me to explain it to you like your five? Blake was supposed to be my partner, my friend, no, fucking more than that, we were more than that and we were going through something together because of Mountain Glenn and I thought I justified in thinking that meant something but no, apparently not." She scoffed derisively. "I opened up about my problems, made myself vulnerable to her like I hadn't to anyone else before; about my pretty obvious abandonment issues with you, then Summer, then Ruby, Qrow and even Dad partly and what does she do? She throws it in my fucking face."

Raven's face fell. "Yang…"

The blonde grit her teeth and gripped her arm as if to stop it from lashing out. She ignored the burning in her eyes, the wetness. It didn't matter, it wasn't important. She couldn't - she wouldn't show weakness like this again, not because of Blake.

"She left me!" Yang croaked. "I thought she was someone I could trust, I didn't care about what she'd done in the past, or what she was. I didn't care she'd been a part of the White Fang and when things got bad, when she wasn't sure what she was I was there for her like I was supposed to be and ignored my own shit. She lost a part of her body I know that but so did I and I focused all my time on making sure she was okay and what, the moment I need her she leaves like I never meant anything to her. Fuck, I know I'm not worth much to me because if I was she'd actually know what she'd done wrong but she doesn't! She just doesn't get it!"

Raven leaned forward. There was something in her expression that Yang couldn't place, that she wasn't really even paying attention to but- "What didn't she get Yang?"

The words left her lips before she could temper them.

"That she's mine."

And just like that everything else caught in her throat. Like saying the words aloud solidified something. A red blade, a white mask and bull horns flashed through her mind. Yang looked away. Raven sat back and gave a long, mournful sigh. "I had suspicions about… this but… I was hoping I was just being paranoid."

Yang didn't respond at first, and when she did her voice was flatter. "What are you talking about?"

"What do you think about me?" Raven asked unexpectedly.

"Huh? What's that got to do with-"

"Humour me for a second Yang. What do you think of me? I mean you talk about Blake leaving you, that it's a huge insult against you but I did the exact same thing. I mean you showed the feeling you held towards me the other day I suppose when you attacked me but I want to know how much you hate me."

"What?!" Yang recoiled, her face flittering between Shock, horror and indignant anger. "What are you talking about? I don't hate you!"

"Why not?" Raven prodded casually, like it wasn't a big deal. "I left just like Blake did, except I left when you were a baby and I had a hel of a bigger obligation to be by your side than she did. So why are you excusing me?"

"That's different!" Yang argued. "You- I already understand what happened to you. It's not your fault you became a werewolf Raven, it was out of your control!"

"It was out of Blake's control to become what she is, and if I'm honest, that girl's far more dangerous than me."

"She's…" Yang's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

The honest confusion gave Raven pause. "You… don't really know do you? Huh… I guess Merlot for all insight on magic, didn't have the proper tools to truly understand it."

"I know what happened to her." Yang said suddenly. "Merlot, he explained to me what it was: He'd managed to contain a Wraith and give it a tangible form, I read about it in his notes."

"Yes, that parts right, but it's clear to me he didn't comprehend exactly what it is a Wraith is/"

"It's a powerful spirit."

For the first time since their conversation began it was Raven who scowled. "A powerful spirit. That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. A Wraith would be considered an S-rank mission for a team on Huntsman if I were to lowball it."

Yang blanched at the idea and Raven shook her head.

"I guess I assumed too much of what I shouldn't have. You're a Branwen but you've barely known about magic for a year now. there's so much even I don't understand about it, and I've grown up with it my whole life. I shouldn't have expected you to know better."

"What should I know then? If it's so important then why don't you tell me?"

Raven gave a long sigh, and suddenly the energetics she'd gained recently seemed to seep out.

"It's killing her Yang. That Wraith, the very thing that's keeping Blake alive? It's killing her slowly."

"…What."

"Whatever Merlot was planning on doing with it, it's clear he never finished. It wasn't complete when he died and the product he was left with sure as hel wasn't ready to merge with a living thing." Raven refilled her tea. "Wraiths are parasitic by nature. They take what isn't theirs and feed off of it to grow strong. Merlot altered that but he didn't' change it completely. I suppose he wouldn't have been able to tell without eyes like ours. It's halfway towards a symbiotic relationship with the girl, and that's probably only really working due to the fact that Faunus are closer linked to magic than humans for some reason."

"I… didn't know that."

"Like I said, you've barely had any time to learn about this stuff, and it's not like you've had any teachers, right?" The Bandit shook her head. "It doesn't matter, what does matter is that the Wraith is slowly changing its existence to match Blake's because it's sentient enough to understand that it'll last longer if Blake isn't drained dry, but just because it knows that doesn't mean it can change what it is on any real level. Right now it's only working because as it feeds on Blake's aura, her soul is generating more of it, but it's not a perfect thing."

"It's draining more than Blake can handle." Yang realised numbly. "What does that… how is that happening?"

"It's trying to match her like I said, but to do that it's expanding more energy that is safe and feeding off more. Honestly I doubt Blake is even aware of it… it'll affect her like a cancer unless something is done about it… and if something is done, there's still the danger that perfect symbiosis might result in… her becoming something else. For all we know she might become a lich."

"What does this have to do with anything." Yang snapped suddenly, eyes flashing an angry red, the awful words Raven spoke bouncing around in her head even as she tried to burn them out. "Why are you bring this up?"

"Because I want you to understand that Blake's position is far worse than mine and my responsibilities were far more substantial than anything hers could be, so you should realise that there's something unnatural about your burning hatred."

"I…" Yang bit her lip, so hard she nearly drew blood. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say. How am I supposed to explain how I feel about this?"

"I don't need to, but what you do need, is to understand where these feelings are coming from."

Yang looked at her sharply. "Are you saying these feelings aren't real?"

"Really? No, they definitely are. It's completely normal to feel angry about this situation… but the amount of… vitriol that comes with them certainly isn't. Especially your reasoning. I don't think I need to tell you that Blake isn't yours in that way, not unless she gives herself to you like that."

The poisonous burning in Yang's core wanted her to argue against that, and even as she suppressed the feeling, anger flared up at the insinuation that she didn't have the right to say something like that.

The image of a red blade came again.

Yang spat sparks to the side as if to banish the foul taste in her mouth. "So what is going on then? What is it you know I'm being affected by that I don't?"

"Greed."

Yang blinked. "Greed?"

"Yes, Greed." Raven said, retting her cup down as she stood and paced around the tent. Her eyes travelled over the map of Remnant she had pinned up, and the vague diagrams of numerous beasts Yang didn't recognise. "There could be other words for it that make it sound far more… humanly disturbing than it is; entitlement, possessiveness, jealousy, but it's more basic than that…" she looked over her shoulder at the blonde, and her eyes trailed down. "It's more primal, almost like a Beast guarding its treasure."

Yang's hand shook, as if for a moment they hadn't caught up with her brain before they flew up to the scar on her chest.

On her heart.

"If we're speaking of things not quite symbiotic," Raven said. "I think we should talk about the very real fact that you were operated on and given something that is fundamentally inhuman."

"It's… it's just a heart. It's a muscle, how could that do anything?"

"Consciously? Nothing." The werewolf said. "But even I've experienced changes in my responses to things because of… well you know. It's not like it's changing your personality, you're right, it's a muscle, but it's also conceptually the heart of a beast."

"… You're saying that the concept of it being different from a human is enough for it to make changes to the way I act?"

"Yes and no. It's a complicated situation that I don't really have the time or tools to explain to you in full but… think of it the Heart you have producing chemicals that emphasis emotions like greed, anger, primal reactions and just general dragon-like behaviour. "

"What, you're saying it has a scientific explanation?"

"No, actual doctors likely couldn't recognise any differences, and their not it's just the way I can describe it best in a way you can understand without diving too deep into the magical side of things. The concept of a dragon is imprinted onto you, and because of that you react in the way a dragon would, in this case, Blake is something you value, like a hoard of gold to own and scare heroes aware from like in storybooks, rather than a person with their own thoughts, feelings and issues… you don't act like I've done as badly as her even though I've done worse. It might be because you're reacting to the situation more as a human would, you were still upset with me… you… you are still upset with me."

Yang looked away at that. what was she supposed to say?

Apparently nothing because after a pause Raven pressed on. "It might also partly be to do with the fact that you never considered yourself to own me the same way you did Blake beforehand. I was gone for a very long time, I'm guessing as far as you were concerned you didn't really want anything to do with me than to punch me in the face, so the possessive feeling wasn't there."

"I get it." Yang groaned, one hand holding the bridge of her nose. "I was a shitty person even before this and saw Blake as a possession instead of a person and the heart just amplified that. Great."

"Yang," Raven sighed, reaching over to place a hand on the younger girls shoulder. "It's not… wrong to want someone. The two of you were in a relationship, there is a certain level of commitment at that, monogamy is an idea that you're with one person and one person only. People might not consider that bad but it's still a type of possession, an acceptable one mind you but still. The fact that you latched onto Blake with something more intense likely wasn't helped by the fact that honestly your life's been unfairly filled with people who left you behind."

Yang sniffed. "Doesn't make it right does it. I can throw a pity party for myself all day but it won't change how I feel will it?" She looked up as Raven shook her head and puffed angrily. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"I'd consider getting a therapist for one." The glare Yang shot her was not an amusing one, but Raven just gave a dry smile. "You think I'm kidding but honestly I don't know Yang. You've gone through a lot that I Definitely can't help you with."

"I had a therapist. They gave me pills for something I didn't have."

"I suppose." Raven acquainted. "But… there are other ways to get that sort of help, like the Order's."

"You mentioned them before, what do you know about the Order?" Yang blinked.

I'm assuming you met aversion of them in Vale? I was more ta referring to the ones here in Mistral keeping things from falling apart behind the scenes but you get the picture. They have an entire group of people that might be more qualified to help you with… this." She leaned back. "But right now we need an immediate solution."

"To…"

"You're problems with Blake."

Yang shut her eyes sombrely. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You said she didn't understand the real reason why she hurt you," Raven said. "Tell her. I know you're still Young Yang, but you should know enough to understand that communication is the best way to solve problems like this. Work this out with her like adults."

The blonde groaned into her palm. "It's not that simple."

"I know, but it'll never get better unless you decide to do something about it."

Yang swallowed as irritation flared up at the idea of settling things with Blake in a way that didn't involve her own vindication.

She pushed it down as deep as she could and stood up. "Alright… I guess I shouldn't put it off then right?"

Raven smiled. "There's a spot to the east near a waterfall where the two of you can hash things out in private."

"Right." Yang nodded. "I'll… I'll go do that then."

She made her way towards the flaps of the tent, steadying her breath as she did so only to stop as Raven called out one last time.

"Good luck Yang."

"…Thanks," she said at last, before throwing a smile back. "And by the way, don't think I'm done with the questions. When we have time I want you to explain as much as you can about your own knowledge of magic, and whatever the hel a lich is."

"I'll put it in my calendar." Raven laughed and Yang left it at that.

Her attention was suddenly on the outside, where the Branwen Tribe was busy with anything they could get their hands on. Which was crazy in of itself considering how much work they'd done just last night.

Her eyes were drawn to her target almost right away: Sun, Neptune, Ilia and Blake were in the middle of being entertained by Vernal and another guy, Shay is she remembered right. There all wore vague looks of amusement as Shay told them some tale and gestured wildly around him, Vernal interjecting every once in a while and from the looks of it setting the record straight.

Right. That was something she'd have to interrupt now.

Yang took one last breath to steel herself and made her way over.

They say her coming pretty quick, and Blake was careful to avoid eye contact, like she didn't want to bother the blonde. That was at least until she realised Yang was looking straight at her, then she'd gone stiff. The rest of them had gone quiet too.

"So…" Sun coughed inelegantly. "Are you done talking to your mom?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah… yeah I… I am… Blake."

The Faunus jumps at her name. "Y-yes?"

How to say this right, that was the question wasn't it. "We need to… or… I want to… Can we talk?"

"Talk?" Blake echoed, like the word was foreign to her, or some kind of trap.

Yang ignored her temper because that wasn't fair to Blake this time.

"Yeah. Talk, you and me, alone… if that's fine with you."

"I…" Blake gnawed on her lip for a while before nodding and standing up. "Alright. Okay, lead the way."

Yang returned the nod with some semblance of relief, turning on her heel and making her way east out for the camp like Raven had suggested.

She listened carefully for Blake's footsteps behind her.

…

…

Adam stared down at the war table, taking in the view of the digital map as the Albian brothers entered.

No matter how long he looked at it, the landscape didn't change, didn't offer him any new insight or information that would calm his worries.

It didn't even do anything to help him ignore the Grimm on the other side of the table.

"You told me you're people wouldn't get involved in the runnings of Mistral."

"I did," a voice, a human voice, came from the floating black orb. Adam couldn't see their face in the rolling red mist, but he knew who they were from Vale. Arthur Watts seemed just as pompous as before, even with the grave injuries he had supposedly received during the attack on Beacon. If Adma looked closely, he thought he could almost see the electronic lights in one eye. "And I have stood by my word. This is simply an offer of aid to your cause. There have been ships spotted landing on the coast to the east of the city. My sources are accurate."

'You're sources are Grimm.' Adam felt like snapping, but he forced it down. To get angry at a projection would be wasteful, even without taking into account who Watts was… or, rather who his master was.

"Fennic," He said. "Does our own information line up with this?"

"It does, High leader." The man nodded. "While the missive was slow getting here thanks to extenuating circumstances, it confirms that a respectably sized army has left Menagerie."

"And there you have it." Adam could hear the smile in Watt's voice. "This is simply a little bit of a warning to help you in the right direction. I want you to be prepared, Adam Taurus. We want you to be prepared for what comes."

"I… appreciate your support." The words felt like bile on his tongue, but he spoke them as if they were his true feelings. Though he doubted Watts was fooled in the slightest.

"Worry not High leader, you wish to keep Haven and we do aswell. So long as you do so you will be fulfilling your end of the deal."

"And when you find this… maiden… you'll complete your work here?"

"Indeed. You have found the vault haven't you?"

"Yes." Adam said, remembering the first time he'd seen it. Adam hadn't truly believed in magic, not really. HE knew of the strange and unique powers of semblances of course, and the brief meeting with Salem had affirmed his view that there was something more he didn't understand.

But that strange tree and that door, the vault. That had solidified the idea of true magic in Adam's mind.

The idea that such a place would be built, that the academies were constructed for the sole purpose of guarding these places and whatever was inside of them… it made him realise there was so much he didn't understand.

"It was excavated by our teams." Corsac explained in Adams stead. "Lionheart had the key to the elevator hidden in the statue, but it appears there were… extra defences set up to dissuade those seeking to make an attempt at these vaults. we lost some of our brothers clearing them out."

"And you will be compensated for your losses, I assure you." Watts told them. "Now where would the headmaster be at this time if I was so bold as to ask?"

"Contacting the last of the Huntsman." Even as he said it, it made Adam despise the headmaster more. He understood sacrifices, he understood closing your heart to complete the mission… but he also understood that the Huntsman and Huntresses that Lionheart was deceiving were children he had taught throughout the years. Young men and women that had grown into defenders under his gaze, men and women who would have loyally fought for him if asked to.

And on the orders of Watts, the people he led into traps to be captured by the White Fang.

Adam understood logically that such a thing was beneficial for his people, and he would not refuse captured enemies. False ideas of honour were enough to bring an organisation such as the White Fang to its knees… but he valued loyalty… he loathed the idea of trust being betrayed.

And he hated that he was working side by side with such a man every new day it was a reality.

No one else cared. Not Corsac, not Fennic, both who saw it as an opportunity for the White Fang, who had been so eager to support him and turn on Sienna even before they had been exposed to the truth of Salem. Watt's certainly didn't care, but at least in that case he could understand it.

Whatever his master wanted; Adam assumed it was far behind any of them.

"Good," Watts said, ignorant to Adam's thoughts, though even if he knew he likely wouldn't have been concerned. "Once the final batch of them are rounded up and been accounted fr you can do whatever you wish with them Taurus, though I would recommend making an example out of them to keep the populace in line, attract more Grimm while you're at it as well."

"I'll consider it."

He wouldn't, not to that extent at least. No promise would ever allow him to trust the Grimm more than he feared them now.

"Very well then. That is all for now then. I will be in touch for your report one the fighting is done."

With that, the red mist rolled again, becoming stagnant and dark. The Seer Grimm floated low and silent.

Adam let out a long breath as his attention turned to the brothers, though he did not glance their way. "What of our own men?"

"Doing well, Hight leader." Corsac told him. "They have been preparing for combat for the week now on your orders, when news that it was for this attack they will be pleased with your foresight."

"It's not foresight if it's common sense." Adam grunt. "There should have been an attack months ago, that there wasn't shows just how deep Lionheart's rot really travels. It's doesn't matter. What of our forces themselves? Did our spies in menagerie give us an accurate detail on the army marching its way here?"

"It is an estimated four thousand. More than out own bu a fourth, but they very few of them are properly trained other than what Sienna likely put them through. They'll be outgunned and in a difficult position with the terrain of the mountains on our side. It is unlikely they will succeed at all."

"You sound pleased with that." Adam remarked. "If their chances look so dismal, then it's because they have something else up their sleeves, or more likely they expect help of their own to come from another source. I want our defences shored up more. I want the best weaponry you can get and I want eyes in every direction for this secret threat. I will not lose Haven in this attack."

He couldn't afford to. Salem wanted Haven for the vault. His success in keeping it in her hands would dictate what she would do to his people in the future. To the Faunus.

He couldn't fail, or there would be no Faunus left soon enough when she finally won.

He would fight, with everything he could, until he couldn't fight any longer.

Because that was what the world was now.

A world he wasn't sure they would survive come the end, but one he would struggle against to make sure that everything he'd ever done hadn't gone to waste.

His hands sparked with something that wasn't aura, something new, and dangerous he had learned now that the veil of the world had been lifted from his eyes

Even if it meant becoming even more of a monster, he would make it worth it.

It was all he could do.

...

I can't really give any explanation for my rather long absence because it's of a pretty personal nature, but I am really glad to be back to post this, it's one I'd been working on since before the gap and it marks the real beginning of one of the big events of this arc so I hope you'll stay tuned for that.

I've been away for a while, and a lot of stuff has happened since then, mainly Volume 7. I've got a few thoughts on it but of course it's up to you if you want to read them here.

I want to say that it was almost all of what I wanted it to be. Of course there were things I thought it could have done better, like the political side of things, things were a little too simple and surface level I think, but it was servable enough that I don't have an issue with it. Other than that I loved the volume.

The new characters were fantastic, the Ace-ops were an interesting team that makes me wish I'd been able to catch up to the Atlas Arc in this story because holy crap I predicted them and have my own characters that fit as Ironwoods personal team based on Fairy tales already written out. (I'll likely be splitting my own characters into other places and using the Ace-ops later anyway, but it was nice to see these characters in canon) Robyn hill was another good character in my eyes because honestly I liked her brashness and hothead disregard for the law, it was a conflict I'd like to see more of. Penny was back and we got the rest of team FNKI which I loved. (other than Neon but at least she looks more tame now so it's easier to stomach her I guess?)

And of course, the too most important characters with minimum screen time- Willow Schnee and the Winter Maiden. Having now as solid characters in the RWBY world was just the icing on the cake.

Going through the rest of the volume I liked the development of characters like Ironwood as well as the development of Atlas and Mantle as places themselves.

The Music as always was fantastic and the fights though not really linked with anything I could right about, were the best they've ever been I think, and it's always the best part to see how new characters use weapons and semblances.

And course Salem.

I'd like to state that I had the idea of Salem taking action… earlier in the story, and I'll be keeping it as that, but since it's still not for a while and she's taking a more active role in the canon now, that I have my own version of Salem for this story I'll be sticking to because it hinges on this AU-ish world, just a reminder that you'll at least be getting some new and hopefully interesting backstory soon and that I'm at least semi original.

Anyway, I loved the volume and I'm excited for Volume 8 almost as much as I am to get back to writing this story. I hope you are too.

It's been a long wait for most of you, but I hope I can make it worth it soon.