Imagine witty banter inserted here.
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Kegi Springfield
Chapter 71
"Uncle Qrow, what are you doing here?" Ruby asked, laughing nervously and shooting Jaune a panicked, questioning look. He shook his head. He certainly hadn't done anything to draw the huntsman, and was for the most part as in the dark as Ruby. Then again, given that Qrow worked with Ozpin and what Ozpin was…
"Here to keep an eye on you, obviously." The huntsman ruffled Ruby's hair. His outfit was a little dirty in places but not quite the same as theirs. For someone who had ostensibly followed them, it looked remarkably like he hadn't. "Heard from your sister how you all slipped off to Mistral and decided I had to come along before you did something reckless."
"Yang's awake?" Ruby, Jaune and Nora asked in unison. In a show of complete sexism, Qrow smiled at the concern from the two girls and glared at him.
"Is she okay?" Ruby asked again. "She's not angry, is she? Wait, how did she know we were headed to Mistral?"
"Yang's up and about, though not feeling quite so well from what I saw. As for how, she said she heard you decide it."
"How? She was unconscious!" Ruby's entire body seemed to stiffen and she whirled on Jaune, one eyebrow raised so high it looked to have disappeared into her hairline. He tried to look innocent, failed, and quickly hid behind Nora. Luckily, Qrow didn't notice.
"Beats me," he said with a little shrug. "But since she was right, I don't think there's any room to question it. I've heard some people can hear people talking at their bedside while they're in a coma. That kind of thing isn't all that well-known. But what is well-known is just how dangerous Mistral is right now, especially with what happened in Vale. You three are walking right into the hornet's nest." He eyed them curiously. "And speaking of, why is it just the three of you? Wasn't there a couple of others?"
"Blakey left with Stalkers One and Two to go to Menagerie and rescue Renny from the White Fang," Nora reported, saluting. "Weiss got stolen by Atlas. We're going to take a return trip back to Atlas from the Grimmlands, once we've rescued Pyrrha."
"The Grimmlands!?" Qrow's frown grew. Ruby winced and Jaune shot Nora a pointed look, reminding her of exactly who he was and how much Qrow couldn't realise that. "I love the enthusiasm there, but you're not ready to take on the enemy yet. Good job I arrived when I did," he muttered to himself. "Else you three would be running right into the meat grinder. It's a miracle you got this far without any trouble."
"Hey, we've done okay," Ruby complained. And they had, though luck had predictably little to do with it. "And we have to save Pyrrha, Uncle Qrow. She's my partner."
"Look, Ruby, your partner. You have to let her go…"
"But-"
"I know how it feels to lose someone, Ruby. I know it more than you can ever understand. Rushing off to your deaths though, that's not the right answer. Trust me. I've been there." He smiled bitterly and ran a hand through Ruby's hair, ignorant of the indignant and annoying look on her face. Qrow walked on by. "You three follow me. If you want to do this, we'll do this properly. But first, I think we need to meet with someone."
"Who?" Ruby demanded. "Where?"
"Haven. As for who. Well, you'll see… You wouldn't believe me if I told you now." The huntsman laughed and wandered off to the edge of the clearing. Ruby looked like she was about to explode. She stamped one foot on the ground. Jaune and Nora slid over.
"She's not dead!" Ruby hissed, equal parts frustrated and defeated. "Pyrrha's not dead, but… I can't prove that to him. Can I?"
"Not if you don't want him to kick Jaune's butt," Nora said. She looked to him. "Could he take you?"
"I've no idea. I'm strong, but he's much more skilled than me. If I turned and fought him as a Grimm, I might be able to." He eyed Ruby. "But I'm not sure that's what any of us actually wants." It would be a fight to the death or at least a fight until he was forced to flee. Qrow might not surrender out of a desire to protect his niece, and it would either end with Qrow dead or Jaune having to leave the party.
"You can't fight him," Ruby decided. He didn't argue the point.
"So, what do we do? It's obvious he doesn't want us to go to the Grimmlands," Nora said. "We can't exactly argue with him, though. He'll want to know why. He might even fight us to stop us going on what he thinks is a suicide mission."
Jaune saw the indecision war in Ruby's eyes. He wanted to say they should cut away, lose him in the forests or even sneak off when they made camp, but this wasn't his Uncle and it wasn't his decision, either. "It's your call, Ruby," he said. "You're the leader here."
"Being the leader sucks. Where's Weiss when you need her?" Ruby sighed. "We're headed in the same direction," she eventually said. "We wanted to go to Haven anyway, and if Uncle Qrow wants to take us there, we might as well go with him."
"And when he tries to stop us later?" Jaune asked. Not if. When.
"We just need to keep Jaune a secret from him. That shouldn't be too hard, right? You can keep the Grimm away from us and it won't take that long to reach Haven."
"That might work for now, but what about later, when he decides we can't go save Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.
"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
"Hey!" Qrow called, waving one arm. "You three coming or what? We've places to be."
Ruby hurried after him, and Nora did the same after a moment's thought. Jaune trailed a little further behind. The fact that Qrow had found them in the middle of nowhere was bad enough, even before he'd come in and basically taken over. He made it sound like an impulsive idea.
I don't believe that for a second. This had `plan` written all over it, and he couldn't help but notice the cane strapped to Qrow's back. A very familiar cane, indeed.
"This is going to backfire," he mumbled.
If only Ruby would realise it.
/-/
Blake stared at the teacup in her hands. She stared straight into it, through it, down into the woodwork and deep into the centre of Remnant, where she tried to imagine herself burning in the fires that made up the core of the planet. It was preferable to what was happening before her, far more preferable.
There had been many a time, both within the White Fang and after, where she'd wondered what might happen if she ever saw her parents again. She imagined that they would be angry, that they'd sit her down and condemn her choices. After she'd abandoned the White Fang, she imagined them as pointing out how they'd been right all along, how she'd let herself be led astray and now had to come crawling back. Intellectually, she'd known they wouldn't do that. They loved her. But as well-read and analytical as she was, even she could admit that she'd never been good at judging people or making the right choices.
Adam was a fine example. Weiss was too, though only in the sense that she'd assumed Weiss an evil bitch without getting to know her. In a way, maybe she'd been the same with Nora. But none of that mattered right now, and frankly Blake would have given anything to have Ghira and Kali sat opposite her with furious expressions, lashing out at her for what she'd done and what she'd help twist their life work into.
Instead… instead… she found herself faced with her mother's sparkling smile as she sat across the table, one hand holding a cup of tea and the other pressed to her cheek as she regarded both of the faunus sat on either side of Blake, and Ren, sat trapped between her mother and father.
"Oh Blake, it's so good to have you back," Kali said. "And you've brought your harem, too. How sweet."
Her… her harem.
Oh Gods…
"W-We're not together," she whispered. She wished she could have said it with more force, but the heat creeping up her neck didn't allow it. "I'm not with any of them. I'm still single." It was clear from Kali's little humming sound that she didn't believe a word Blake was saying. She looked to her father for help, only catching his eye once he'd stopped scowling down at Ren.
"What's that around your neck?" he demanded gruffly.
Her neck? Blake wasn't sure what they meant but reached up almost automatically. Her finger brushed against metal and a light, tinkling sound echoed across the living room. The bell chimed gently.
Oh, she'd forgotten about that.
"Who bought you that?"
"Re-" She realised her mistake quickly, but not quickly enough. Her lips sealed shut and her eyes grew wide. "No one," she said.
It was a futile effort. Ren's face had fallen into his hands and Ghira had somehow grown a full inch, despite being sat down. Blake's face flushed with colour, which all but confirmed it for her parents, despite them no doubt getting very much the wrong impression.
"It's not what you think," she gasped.
"Oh my," Kali giggled. She patted Ren's shoulder. "That's so sweet. I remember that your father bought me a collar once with my name on it. Oh, the fun we had."
Sun choked on his drink and nearly died behind her. Ilia had known Kali before and was all too aware of the things she could say, while Ren was already shaking his head and Blake was busy wishing a hole would open up and swallow her. "M-Mom," she pled. "Too much information!"
"Oh Blake, there's no need for that here. Your father and I will always be understanding of your choices and needs." Kali flashed her husband a coy smile. "He was certainly understanding of mine. Ah, to be young once more."
Sun, no doubt seeing a chance to get in with the parents and closer to her, said, "Heh, you hardly look old now, Miss Belladonna. If I didn't know better, I'd have said Blake was your sister."
"Oh my, how sweet." Kali tittered and placed a gentle hand on Ghira's forearm.
Blake had to agree. It was sweet, though only in the sense Sun had saved Ren and her from her father's attention. His eyes were now fixed on Sun, and not in a manner the young man might have liked. He swallowed. Ilia snickered. He was lucky Kali had her hand on him. It was probably the only thing keeping Ghira seated.
"S-So, how did you find Ren?" Blake asked. "He didn't get in trouble with the White Fang, did he?"
"Oh no. Your teammate and I ran into one another." Kali giggled. "He was quite the gallant young man, stopping to help pick up my shopping. It was only when he mistook me for you that I realised he knew you. Of course, he's told us all about Beacon since then. Your father and I were so pleased to hear you'd become a huntress, and to know you made such wonderful friends!"
"Y-You were?"
"We are," Ghira corrected, gruff in tone but finally softening a little now that he was looking at her. "Glad to hear you finally gave that angsty boyfriend of yours the boot. He was never good enough for you, kitten."
"Oh Ghira, no man is good enough in your eyes." Kali giggled. Ghira grunted, but didn't disagree. "Anyway, we were happy to hear you left the White Fang, especially with what happened between them and Beacon. Terrible news, that. The populace here would be furious, but, well…"
"But what?" she asked.
"They don't know." It was Ren who spoke, finally looking up. "The broadcast of what happened didn't reach here and the White Fang are keeping their involvement secret."
Damn them. It made sense, of course. The attack on Beacon was reprehensible, even to most faunus, and with Menagerie being one of their biggest recruitment pools they wouldn't want to do anything to turn people off. Menagerie was also distant enough that no one would get any news from outside of its borders. The White Fang could control everything that was known.
"Let's not talk of such things at the dinner table," Kali said, tapping her cup on the table to clear the mood. "We should be happy for now. Blake has returned, and you've found your teammate once more, safe and sound."
"I'll have to leave again," Blake warned. "I can't stay here."
"We wouldn't expect you to." Kali's kind smile calmed her down a little. "Our daughter is growing up, Ghira, and she's become so responsible!"
"Hm." Her father nodded. "You've grown up well."
Despite herself, Blake felt a little bit of pride rush through her. She couldn't quite hide her smile, even if she did aim it down at the table. There hadn't been much to feel proud of in her life, not since she joined the White Fang. But hearing that they were proud of her specifically for recognising and leaving it? It was enough. It felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders.
"You'll stay here for the duration of your stay," Kali decided. "I know you probably want to get back to Mistral, but you need a little rest, sweetie. And I think your father wants to speak to you about the White Fang once you're had a night's sleep."
The look on her father's face said it was a serious issue, though not about her once being a part of it. She had a feeling the White Fang were up to something here. Why else would they need to hide the truth from the populace? Could she stay and handle that, however? Nora and the others would be waiting for them back in Mistral.
Then again, they have to travel on foot a lot of the way, while we saved time getting here by ship. We should have a week or so until we're expected to meet with them. They needed rest too, and a way to get Ren out without being spotted.
"Alright. Thanks for letting us stay here."
"It's no problem, sweetie. I've been dying to meet with your friends, anyway. So has Ghira." She giggled as her husband grunted angrily. "Oh, don't listen to him. He's only playing grumpy. He's been eager to meet your harem as well."
"T-They're not my harem…"
It was a lost cause. Blake wasn't sure if they genuinely believed it, or if the teasing wasn't their own way of getting back at her for running away and turning their civil rights group into a terrorist organisation. Either way, Sun had made himself a tempting target for Ghira and Ilia, known as a terrorist, earned her fair share of wrath, too. As dinner was brought out and her parents cornered those two, Sun digging his own grave by responding to her mother's flirty attitude with his own smiles, she slipped over to Ren, who had for the most part been completely silent.
"Are you okay?" she whispered.
"Define okay."
"Are you healthy?" she tried. "Are you in one piece?"
"Physically, yes. Emotionally, that is debatable. Your parents are… interesting, to say the least."
Blake gulped. "What did they tell you about me?"
"In the interests of maintaining any semblance of a comfort relationship between us, I shall refrain from answering that. All I'll say is that I've learned too much, both about you, your parents, and their… amorous habits." The way he said that had her wincing. "Let's just say I'm surprised you don't have as many siblings as Jaune does."
"Yeah, me too." There was a reason she'd always been so desperate to get out the house and go train with Adam. "You managed to get away from the White Fang, though. That's good. Nora was pretty worried about you."
"It's to be expected. This is the first time we've been apart in years. How is she?"
"In one piece and keeping an eye on Jaune and Ruby for us."
"Hm. That's good." Ren sighed. "Blake, you need to listen carefully to what your father says tomorrow. Things here… they're not in a good way. I know you want to get back to the others. I do, too. But the White Fang are planning something big. Something bad."
"When are they not?" Blake sighed. "Well, we have time, and you're technically team leader. I'll listen to what you say, Ren. I trust you."
For the first time, Ren smiled. "Thank you."
The mood was quickly broken.
"Oh, just look at them," Kali crooned. "The smile, the softening of the eyes, it's like seeing you and I when we were younger. Oh, he already has her wrapped around his finger. We'll be grandparents in no time."
"Indeed," Ghira grated, voice like chipped granite. "Though not too soon, I hope."
Ren sighed.
Sun and Ilia scowled.
Blake's face turned bright red.
"MOM!"
/-/
Yang sat on the edge of a small lake in the middle of Patch. Her hand cupped her face, massaging and pinching her temples as she tried to concentrate. It was hard enough with everything that had happened recently, but the constant splashing and laughing certainly didn't help.
"Can you stop that!?" she hissed. "I'm trying to think!"
Her arm – her other arm – froze. It was pitch black, the colour of oil, and had odd bone plates on it in places, as well as horrible red lines that looked all too much like veins. The sheer evilness of it was offset somewhat by the way it splashed in the water, though that had now stopped. It turned to face her, the fingers forming a head in the same way one might a crude finger-puppet. If it was even possible, her hand managed to look… guilty.
"Sorry," it whimpered – and it was a whimper, an honest to goodness tremor in the voice, high-pitched as it was and filled with sorrow. People were fairly simple, Yang too, and she had to fight not to cringe at the sound. "I've never seen so much water before…"
Ugh. She had to resist. She could not feel sorry for shouting at a bloody Grimm.
"J-Just stop making so much noise." Damn it, Yang. Be strong. "And didn't I tell you not to come out whenever you feel like it? You do realise we'll be in trouble if anyone sees you."
"But there's no one around. I looked."
Her eyebrow twitched. "And how did you look?"
"I peeked out from your neck."
Yang's entire body shivered. It was bad enough the thing could come out of her severed arm, but what really sucked was how she never felt it. Okay, she wouldn't have wanted it to be agonising each and every time, but at least something would have been nice. As it was, the damn thing could pop out without her realising it, and often did so. In its words it was being friendly or trying to help. And maybe it was. It was just that a Grimm had a different idea on what help really was.
"Stop sticking your head out without asking," she growled. "This is my body."
"Yes, mom."
"And stop calling me mom!" Gods, she was seventeen, almost eighteen. This wasn't supposed to happen for at least another seven years. Taking several deep breaths, Yang calmed herself down and returned to thinking, trying to ignore the splashing that had resumed once more. If nothing else, it was being quieter about it and no longer hummed or laughed.
Once her dad got back, and after she'd convinced him to put down the meds – and no, dad, she wasn't having a fit or going insane – she'd finally managed to wrangle the full story out of him about what happened at Beacon, or at least the full story as he knew it. Cinder had turned traitor, Pyrrha was gone, presumed dead, and Ruby had run off with Nora, Jaune and Blake to go and get `revenge` for Pyrrha's death.
Yang wasn't convinced on the latter, obviously. As much as she hated her new `guest`, it had proved convenient at times and it somehow remembered that Jaune and Ruby were working together, and there was also something about Pyrrha still being alive. Maybe it just knew these things because it had been a part of him before he'd put it inside her.
And there goes my sanity once more. Damn it, Jaune. You could at least have let me experience the pleasant parts of baby making first.
Not that she was its mother. No way. It was just… It was just made of a combination of genes between Jaune and her, which was totally not like a baby. No way. Not at all.
"You're doing the strange noise again…"
"J-Just play with the water," Yang said, fighting past the keening whine she'd let out.
"Okay!"
It was sickeningly sweet – and it was sweet, in a way – how innocent and childlike it could be. Even so, she was the only one who could hear it and she knew her father, and any sane person, would tear it out of her if they got the chance. She might have too, if not for the simple fact that they were connected now. It didn't know what would happen if it was removed, but considering it could move all over her body, she had a feeling the damage would be catastrophic…
And besides, that wasn't the important issue right now. Beacon was buggered and the world had gone to shit, with her team scattered to the four corners of the map, almost literally. She was stuck in Patch, left behind like some kind of invalid. That wouldn't do.
But am I really fit to go after them?
Well… maybe…
She was awake and her aura was fine. She felt a little out of it and a little sickly, but that was just all the time she'd spent on medicine and sleeping. It would wear off. The biggest issue was her missing arm, except that – from a distance – it didn't look like she had a missing arm.
"Look, you…"
"Me?" The arm swung at her, or the wrist turned anyway. Talking to her hand felt stupid. Probably looked it, too.
"Yeah, you… Calling you that feels weird. Don't you have a name?"
"Considering I was only born a week ago? No."
"Huh, I guess that makes sense. Not sure if Grimm have names anyway." Her education said no, because Grimm couldn't think, but, well, everything she'd learned was kind of up in the air right now. She was basically dating a Grimm. "Would you mind if I gave you one?"
"Really? You'll name me!?"
It sounded so excited that Yang had to look away awkwardly. "Y-Yeah, sure." It didn't escape her that the reason it was so happy was because it considered her its mother. It would normally be her to name her child anyway, wouldn't it?
Did Grimm follow the colour naming rule?
"How about… Rebecca?"
"Isn't that a girl's name?"
"You're a boy!?"
"Yeah…" He said it in a `duh` kind of voice, but give her a break, he was a black-carapaced beetle-Grimm most of the time. It wasn't like he had anything she could judge.
"Have you been watching me get changed?"
"Not like I can help it," he whined. "And think about how I feel! I have to watch my mom go to the toilet. I'm mentally scarred. I'll never be able to not be mentally scarred."
Yang sighed and rubbed her head. Okay, well, at least he wasn't being a perv, though she supposed that didn't fit, what with them being massively different species and all. Naming someone was hard. What would her father do? Well, nothing, probably. He'd leave it to her mom to make the decision, which didn't help at all.
Summer… Look, Summer was a great mom, no arguments, but when it came to naming, she was about as good as Ruby, which is to say she'd named their first dog Eins and their second Zwei. One and Two. Seriously. From a child she might have accepted that, but Summer had been an adult and a huntress.
Ruby was lucky to have been called Ruby, and not something like `Girl` or `Daughter`. In a loving way, of course. Summer really did love them, but she'd been an epic huntress and a loving woman, and that didn't translate into original naming skills. But maybe that was hereditary? What could you expect of a family that named their daughter `Summer`? Her parents had presumably just named her after what season she was born in, which was pretty damn lazy. Might as well call her Tuesday or something. So, dad was out and Summer was out. Yang groaned.
Was she really about to ask what Raven of all people would do?
Yes, apparently. Yes, she was.
Okay, so Raven had me and had to name me. Wow, in hindsight it really is obvious how little she gave a shit. She didn't even give me a real name. She just slapped a bit off dad's name and left it there. Yang's eye twitched at the realisation. Then again, this was the family that called one child Raven and the other Qrow. Not Crow. Qrow.
Seriously...
But hey, it was a naming method.
"Yin," Yang said, cringing even as she did. "Your name will be Yin."
"Yin?" The parasite tasted the name, considered it, relished it. "Yin! Yin! I like it. You named me after you. It's like we're connected! That's so sweet!"
"Y-Yeah." That was definitely what she'd done. It totally wasn't that she'd just been as half-assed as her real mother. Oh Gods, had she just become Raven? No way. A-At least she wasn't abandoning her new child, right?
Though she would have if she could.
Oh my God, I'm the second coming of Raven…
"I have a name," Yin cheered. "I can't wait to tell dad!"
"Yeah, and I can't wait to get my hands on him and-" Yang froze. That was it! Perfect! "Actually, I think we should tell your father. I think we should go and see him as soon as possible. After all, it's pretty irresponsible of him to leave you behind, right?"
"What about grandpa?"
"Grandpa?" Oh geez, dad. Yang giggled at the title, and at the thought of what his face would look like if he found out. "Um. Grandpa will be fine, okay? We need to find Ruby – your… your auntie – and then Jaune. Do you know where they are?"
"Mistral," Yin dutifully replied.
"Yeah, but where about in Mistral?"
"They said… Haven, I think?"
Haven, huh? Made sense. Getting there before them would be hard, especially given that if her father was to be believed, all flights to and out of Vale were pretty much downed. Security was at an all-time high since the attack, and the airports had been hit pretty hard, since they'd been used as emergency shelters for the people evacuated out of Amity.
No way could she walk there and have any hope of beating them to it. She needed a different means of transportation – something a damn sight faster. And, given who she'd just been thinking about for the last few minutes, she figured she might have found one.
"Hey Yin. Wanna meet your grandma?"
"Grandma? I dunno. It's not like you let me come out and say hello to Grandpa."
"I'm willing to make an exception for her," Yang said, grinning. "In fact, I think we might have to make an exception. She's not likely to help if we don't give her a little… incentive."
"Mommy sounds angry…"
"You're imagining it. And don't call me that!" Yang sighed. "Okay, I think we need to work on some ground rules before we set off. First things first, I need a jacket. Preferably one with long sleeves. A pair of gloves wouldn't hurt, either."
In fact, if she swung it the right way, it might be possible to hide her new appendage entirely. Well, she'd still look insane, since Yin kept moving her arm in odd ways, sometimes impossible ways, bending back on an elbow that didn't exist or twisting the wrist in a full three-sixty, but it would work well enough as a disguise. Better crazy than half-Grimm.
"Can you fight?" she asked.
"Born a week ago," Yin repeated.
"Then I think it's time we did a little training."
"Yay! Mother-son bonding!"
Ugh…
/-/
The day started a nightmare and ended it. That was what Blake decided as she stomped into her bedroom, still somehow clean despite the years she'd been away, and kicked off her boots, slumping down on the mattress. Any such joy she'd felt at her parents welcoming her back, any pleasure at finding Ren safe and sound, all washed away because her mom had apparently decided she was the focal point of some trashy harem romance. Blake dropped her face into her hands and screamed silently.
What a fool she'd been, to think the greatest threat in Menagerie would be the deadly terrorists. Oh, what a fool. If hell had no fury like a woman scorned, then they'd clearly never met her mother. She'd been scorned by her own daughter for years now, which meant she was probably in for a lot worse before her mom forgave her.
Sighing in a mix of embarrassment and frustration, Blake rose and tugged off her top, stretching her muscles in the cool air as she tossed the fabric onto a nearby chair, atop the pants and shirt that already rested there. She padded on bare feet to the bathroom, stifled a yawn with one hand, opened it and stepped in.
And then stepped back out, slammed the door shut and leaned against it, eyes wide.
There was a knock on the door a full minute later. "I'm decent now," Ren said, somehow calm despite… despite… things. Blake tore the door open, fixing her eyes directly on his, ignoring his bare chest and the white towel that really only covered the important bits. His hair was dripping with water from the shower.
"What are you doing in my room!?" she hissed.
"Your room?" His brow creased. "Your mother told me to stay here."
Blake's mouth fell open. B-But her room, and Sun and Ilia had their own. Her eyes flicked away from his chest. His clothes were on the chair, under hers. Blake's hands automatically clung to her chest, hiding her breasts from view as best she could. At least she had a bra. He'd had nothing but steam and bubbles and that didn't cover- No, bad brain. No images. Nora would kill her! Her eyes finally trailed to her bed, a double bed.
Wait, since when did she have a double bed?
"MOOOM!"
/-/
Something was wrong.
Jaune knew it and so did Ruby and Nora. It was hard not to when Qrow cut through his tenth Grimm, splitting a Beowolf in two and turning to check on them. Ruby had finished off her aggressors and Nora had done the same, leaving Jaune to fend his off awkwardly. It wasn't that he couldn't kill it, only that he didn't want to. But it was leaving him no choice.
Reluctantly, he slipped past a clumsy attempt to grab him and cut the Beowolf down, turning it into smoke as it slowly fell apart on the floor.
"Not bad," Qrow said, dusting himself down. "I thought it was a little odd we'd not seen any Grimm."
Odd? He didn't know the least of it. While Qrow checked their perimeter, Ruby rushed over to grab him by the shoulder. The question was clear even before she opened her mouth, and he answered immediately, voice a whisper.
"I don't know. I'm telling them to leave!"
He had been for days now, and up until fifteen minutes ago, the Grimm had done exactly as he asked. The attack had caught them all by surprise, or at least him, Nora and Ruby. Qrow had leapt into action instantly, ironically saving their lives, but their hesitation was understandable. Not a single Grimm had dared challenge them since they'd left Vale.
This shouldn't have been possible.
"Why aren't they listening to you?" Ruby hissed.
"I-I don't know." He saw the momentary flash of suspicion in her eyes, mixed with hurt. "No, Ruby, I promise you I'm not doing anything here. I swear on everything I hold dear that I am trying to make them leave us alone. Something is interfering with my ability to order them."
"Okay, I believe you." The doubt was there but she tried to rise above it. "What could make them not listen to you, though?"
"I don't know."
"Could your mother order them not to?" Nora asked. "You got kidnaped by Grimm that wouldn't listen to you back at Forever Fall, didn't you? That's why you had to turn into Hentacle and why we saw you."
"It was," he confirmed, remembering the embarrassing moment. "And yes, she could, but that only worked because she knew where I was and sent Grimm there. If she wanted these to fight us, she'd need to know exactly where in Mistral we'd be, like, a week ago, and then send Grimm there. She'd need to have ordered it with enough time for the Grimm to travel all the way here." He didn't need to tell them how difficult that would be.
"She's not…" Ruby gulped. "She's not here, is she?"
"I-I hope not. No, no way. If she was, she'd have faced us herself – and it would be too dangerous for her to just wander around like that. She'd send my uncles instead, and while they're safe around Grimm, they can't tell them what to do like I can."
"You three done with your little conference?" Qrow asked, ambling up. The huntsman took a swing of his flask and let out a sigh. "You three almost lost it when those Grimm attacked. Don't tell me you're going soft."
"N-No way," Ruby argued.
"Heh. Well, I guess it's pretty late. Maybe you were tired. We should set up camp here and move in the morning. Do you three have a watch rota?" Qrow's smile fell when they looked at one another awkwardly. To be fair, a watch had never been necessary given his heritage. "Seriously? Damn it, what do they even teach you in Beacon nowadays? Fine, I'll take first watch and we'll do it in two hours breaks rotating. You three can set camp, though. Consider it punishment for being so dense as to not post a sentry."
Ruby and Nora grumbled, but they all ducked their heads and hurried to comply. Jaune even caught a glum look from Ruby, blaming him for her getting in trouble. He couldn't argue much. The only reason they'd not bothered was because he could tell the Grimm not to come near. That had ended up making her look silly to her beloved uncle.
Still, setting up a camp wasn't hard. With how much huntsmen had to travel, camping kits had evolved to be fairly self-sufficient, only needing a few stakes to be driven down and then the frames erecting on their own thanks to elastic. They shuffled the coverings over them and tied them in place at the key spots, Nora filling a large pot from the nearby river and setting it to boil. Once it was clean, Qrow tossed in some soup stock and vegetables, the lazy huntsman's approach to food on the go. They had rations to go with it, of course.
"So," Qrow began, blowing on his bowl of hot soup. "What exactly was your plan in coming here?"
Ruby exchanged a nervous look with them but Jaune kept his head low and Nora gestured for her to field the question. "We were going to go visit Haven," Ruby said. "We thought we could get a Bullhead there and maybe fly it to the Grimmlands to save Pyrrha." Left out was how, or in what way.
Which was to say that `left out` was everything that made the plan sound even remotely sane in the first place.
"That's it?" Qrow's eyebrows rose. "That was seriously the plan you three came up with?"
Ruby grumbled something under her breath, but didn't argue. None of them could without revealing things they weren't about to.
"You know, I really wonder what you lot took in during lessons. And I thought I was a bad student. First of all, how did you expect to fly a Bullhead into Grimm-infested land without it being knocked out of the sky?"
Because he could have ordered the Grimm away.
Ruby cringed.
"Secondly, how did you think you could hope to find wherever your partner is?"
Because he knew where Salem's tower was.
Ruby cringed.
"And thirdly, what makes you think she's alive in the first place?"
Because Salem wanted grandbabies.
Ruby double winced.
"Heavens above," Qrow groaned. "I'm too old for this. Alright, you three get some rest and I'll keep an eye out. We've got a busy day ahead of us."
"What will we be doing?" Ruby asked nervously.
"We'll be finding someone who can come up with a plan."
Ruby looked to him and Nora. She swallowed awkwardly, and then turned back to her uncle. "We need to save Pyrrha, Uncle Qrow."
"We'll talk about this later, Ruby. Go to sleep."
/-/
Jaune awoke in the middle of the night to a familiar feeling deep inside his head. Though he was normally slow to wake up, and groggy at the best of times, his eyes snapped open and he went from being laid flat on his back to sat up in less than a second.
"Is that?"
"Yes," Remy said nervously. "It is."
Jaune swallowed. It made sense. It made too much sense. Nervously, he extricated himself from his sleeping back, still in his combat clothes in case an attack occurred. He tugged on his boots, unzipped the tent and stepped out into the cold, night air.
"It's not your time yet," Qrow said. He was sat on a log by the fire, and had naturally heard and noticed the young man leave his tent. "Something wrong, kiddo?"
"I need to use the bathroom," Jaune lied.
"Heh. Don't go too far, and shout if you see or hear something. Then again, with your Semblance, I guess you don't need to worry about that." Qrow hummed. "How come you didn't sense the Grimm before? The ones that attacked us?"
"I was distracted. I, uh, I was lost in thought… about Mistral."
"Hm." Qrow didn't look convinced, but shrugged his shoulders regardless. "Go take a leak," he said. "It's close enough to two hours. You can take over the watch once you're done."
"Do you want to go rest now?" Jaune offered.
"I'll wait til you're done." Qrow waved him away to do his business, turning back to face the treeline himself, weapon resting against his chest, the butt on the soft grass. The huntsman somehow managed to look both at ease and prepared. With a nod and a nervous look back to Ruby's tent, Jaune slipped away, between the trees and out of sight. He found a soft patch nearby where no one would see or hear him, but he went further, out of range of the camp entirely and towards a familiar presence he could feel in his mind.
Or not his mind, per se. It was Remy's, the parasite sensing the presence of another and responding to it. Just as he was Remy's host, so too did some of the parasite's abilities pass onto him. Only because he was part-Grimm, of course. Had Yang been close, he might have sensed her, but this wasn't Yang. Not at all. Jaune stopped in a clearing. It was empty and yet it wasn't. He couldn't see, hear or smell anyone.
With an audible gulp, Jaune lifted his head. "I know you're there. Y-You can come out."
A soft thud echoed behind him, a figure landing on the grass. Heart in his throat, he turned, hoping against all hope that it would be a young face he found, a gentle face. It wasn't. It was neither. Out of seven, he found himself faced by one, by stern red eyes inherited straight from his father's face in all but colour, and a scowl that was all his mother's. The tall woman wore a single braid that fell over her shoulder and down between her ample breasts. On her hip was a long, thin blade. Her arms were crossed, her lips tugged down and her eyes critical.
Sapphire Arc, his eldest sister, and first child of Juniper Salem Arc, faced him. The first of many… and the true heiress to all Grimm.
"It's good to see you again, Jaune. I've heard so much of what you've been up to lately."
"S-Sapphire," he gulped, laughing nervously. "What a coincidence!"
"No coincidence, brother."
"Y-Yeah? T-Then what are you doing here?"
"I should think that would be obvious." Sapphire reached out, and frowned when he took a step back, preventing her from gripping his shoulder. "And I see that it is obvious." With a sigh, she reached down for her weapon. "It's time to come home, Jaune. The war is beginning, and I will not see you dragged into it."
With not a word more, Sapphire's sword leapt out towards him.
Uh-oh. A challenger approaches, and Jaune has lost control of the Grimm. There will always be someone bigger than you, especially if Salem is involved. Meanwhile, Yang enjoys the early onset of motherhood and Blake goes through the pains of being an only child. The whole chapter is basically family issues.
Next Chapter: 28th June
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