RWBY: Son of Salem

Marek's POV, a few days later

"How much further?" I asked.

"Almost there." Qrow replied. "Figured I'd take you kids on the scenic route."

"I don't really care for scenery." I said with a shrug.

Qrow opened the doors and Ruby immediately ran ahead to see the view of Haven.

"This. Is. Awesome!" Ruby squealed.

"Still don't care for scenery?" Pyrrha asked me.

"I...may have misspoke." I replied with a chuckle.

Haven was gorgeous. A beautiful waterfall, the greenest grass I've ever seen, and the buildings fit in perfectly with the mountain.

"Look at all the weapons!" Ruby squealed.

"Vendors here will sell you anything, whether they should or not." Qrow said.

"They really made the most out of these mountains." Jaune said.

"Every inch. And stay away from the lower levels," Qrow said. "but the higher up you go, the nicer it gets."

"And we are going up!"

A few minutes later

We walked inside Haven academy, heading towards Lionheart's office.

"Shouldn't there be...students...or teachers...or anyone walking around?" I asked as we walked in silence.

"Hellooo!" Ruby shouted. A few seconds passed and there was no reply. "Helloooo!"

"Maybe try...louder?" Nora told her.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here." Ren said.

"School isn't really in session right now." Pyrrha said.

"Maybe that's it." Jaune said.

"No, this isn't right..." Qrow told us. "C'mon."

Qrow ran ahead as the rest of us followed. We stopped outside of a pair of double doors.

Qrow pulled his weapon of his back. "Get ready. It could be trouble." he told us as readied our weapons.

Qrow was about to kick open the doors when the professor opened them, causing Ruby, Ren, Jaune and Nora to scream as me and Pyrrha glanced at each other.

Qrow fell to the ground as the professor did the same.

"Al...right."

"Qrow!" the professor growled as he sat up. "For crying out loud, you nearly scared me half to death."

Qrow got to his feet. "Me?" he growled. "Why weren't you waiting for us at the entrance?"

"Huh?" Lionheart reached into his jacket and pulled out a pocket watch. "Oh, right. Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me."

"You're joking."

"Where is everyone?" I asked as we all put our weapons away.

"You must be the students Qrow mentioned." Lionheart said. He scanned over us but stared at me. "You're...a-"

"Yes, sir!" Ruby said. "Ruby Rose."

"Jaune Arc."

"Nora Valkyrie."

"Lie Ren."

"Pyrrha Nikos."

"Marek." I said as I crossed my arms.

"You...look a lot like-"

"Salem?" I interrupted. "Probably because I'm her son." he had a look of fear flash across his face. "Don't worry. I'm not with her."

"How can I be sure?" Lionheart asked.

"He's had moments where he could have betrayed us but didn't." Ruby said. "He's trustworthy."

"Qrow?"

"I trust the kid." Qrow said. "He helped us get here."

"Alright." he chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Leonardo Lionheart, at your service. I'm afraid most of my staff is currently away until classes resume, but-"

"What?!" Qrow asked. "Leo, you can't be serious. Who's guarding the relic?!"

"Qrow! The children-"

"Already know. I filled them in." Qrow replied. "What do you mean your staff is away?"

"You...filled them in?" Lionheart repeated.

We walked inside as Lionheart took a seat behind his desk. "I have to say Qrow, this all seems very reckless, even for you."

"No, reckless is leaving one of the relics completely unguarded." Qrow replied. "It's not checking in with Oz for ages."

"There was nothing to check in about before the Fall of Beacon." Lionheart replied. "But since that day, Mistral has been in chaos! Vale wasn't the only kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every kingdom saw that poor girl ripped to pieces, saw monsters crawling over the city, Atlesian knights attacking citizens...and then nothing. You could feel the dread in the air. With all that negativity, you can imagine what it was like when the Grimm came for us." Lionheart stood up and walked to the window. "Mistral's controlled territory is the widest reaching in the world, y'know, and that makes it infinitely harder to protect. We lost so many great huntsmen, teachers from this very institute, and it's only gotten worse."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"We may have dealt with the Grimm, but the Mistral council's still at odds with representatives from Atlas." Lionheart replied. "First, it was the dust embargo. Now, it's the closing of borders. I'm not sure what happened to James in Vale, but it seems to have only worsened some of his more...unfortunate tendencies." Lionheart said as he turned to face us. "And, on top of everything, we still don't know where the Spring maiden is."

"All the more reason we need the huntsmen and huntresses here." Qrow said.

"Okay! Okay." Ruby said as she stepped forward. "Things are bad. They're bad. But we can figure this out. Why is the Spring maiden so important?"

"I thought you filled them in." Lionheart said to Qrow.

"Mostly filled in." Qrow replied. "Look, there's a lot to cover, okay? I quit teaching for a reason." he pulled out his flask and took a sip.

Lionheart sat down in his chair. "The four maidens each have the power to perform feats of magic, and they are the only ones capable of reaching the relics."

"What?" Jaune asked.

"The relics are each locked inside a chamber that can only be opened by a specific maiden." Qrow said. "Winter for the gift of creation, Summer for destruction, Fall for choice, and Spring for knowledge." he took another sip. "Spring is the problem."

"What happened to her?" Ren asked.

"She was determined at first when she inherited her powers, but the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child." Lionheart replied. "She...ran. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now."

"I know." Qrow said. "At least, I have a pretty good idea."

"Are you serious?" Lionheart asked.

"It's not exactly good news." Qrow added.

"What are you talking about?" Lionheart got up and walked towards Qrow. "This is incredible news! After all these years? Where?!"

"I did some digging around." Qrow said. "Looks like after Spring ran away, she was picked up by bandits. Specifically, the Branwen tribe."

"Raven."

"Yang's mom?" Jaune asked.

"That's right." Qrow said. Qrow took out his scroll and placed it on Lionheart's desk, displaying a map. "That's about where they've set up their main camp." Qrow said as he pointed to a part of the map. "It's where they fall back to after raids and scouting missions. Raven's managed to gain a lot of followers since she returned to the tribe. And I'm sure when the Spring maiden showed up it only made things easier."

"Well, Qrow, I've got to hand it to you." Lionheart said as he placed a hand on Qrow's shoulder. "With these coordinates, we can mount a retrieval force and head out in a few weeks."

"A few weeks?" Qrow repeated.

"That's right." Lionheart said as he handed Qrow his scroll and sat back down behind his desk.

"Leo, maybe you didn't hear me. My sister has the Spring maiden and I know where she is. We need to go as soon as possible!" Qrow said as he shoved a pile of books of the desk.

"And perhaps you didn't hear me." Lionheart growled. "This kingdom is in shambles. As soon as possible does not mean tomorrow, it means as soon as I can convince the rest of the council that I need huntsmen more than they do. Unfortunately, bandit tribes aren't very high on their list of 'priorities' when the threat of war is just on the horizon."

"Then damn the council, we'll do it ourselves." Qrow said. "You and I are trained huntsmen, and these kids aren't exactly pushovers either."

"Yeah!" Nora said.

"Perhaps there's a more peaceful way to approach this?" Ren asked.

"We need to get Spring as far away from here as possible," Qrow added. "but Raven isn't going to give up her most prized possession without a fight."

"Unfortunately, you and your sister are evenly matched, and I'm not the fighter I used to be." Lionheart replied. "No offense, but these students and I can't take on an entire bandit tribe and a maiden that's no doubt had years to hone her skills. We need to be positive we can apprehend Spring, because if we fail, Raven and her tribe will scatter and we'll be lost. We get ONE shot at this. And it needs to be perfect."

Qrow sighed. "You know, Oz wouldn't be happy with any of this if he were here."

"Perhaps you're right." Lionheart said. "But he's not and I'm doing the very best I can."

"There has to be something we can do?" Pyrrha asked.

"What about Emerald and Mercury?" Jaune asked. "They came from Haven along with Cinder. Do you have anything on them?"

"We pulled their files after the Fall of Beacon." Lionheart answered. "Nothing but lies and forgeries."

"Well, I can't say this has been a warm reunion, Leo." Qrow said.

"I'm sorry." Lionheart said. "I know you've all traveled a long way. But I will do everything I can to help."

"Sure." Qrow said. "We'll stay in the city for the time being." he pulled out his scroll and waved it back in forth in front of Lionheart. "Local comms are still up. Keep in touch."

We all walked through the halls.

"What do we do now?" Nora asked.

"You six go back to the house." Qrow replied. "I need a drink."

A few minutes later

I laid down on the couch with my right leg and arm dangling off the side.

"You look relaxed." Ruby said as she grinned at me.

"Hey, Ruby." I said as I sat up. "Need something?"

"Nope." she shook her head. "Just a bit tired." she plopped down next to me and yawned, stretching her arms as she did so.

"Really?" I asked. "YOU'RE tired?"

"Is that a crime?"

"No." I shook my head. "Just surprising coming from the second most hyper person in our group."

"Who's the first?"

"Nora."

"Hey!" Nora glared at me.

"He's not wrong." Ren said getting a glare from Nora as well.

Ruby rolled her eyes as she rested her head on my shoulder. "Comfy."

I smirked and laid my head back, slowly closing my eyes.

A few minutes later

I was woken up by a knock at the door. I looked beside me to shake Ruby awake but she was gone. I glanced at Ren and Nora who shrugged.

I got up and walked towards the door, opening it to see some kid standing there.

"Can...I help you?" I asked him. He stood his ground as he stared in my eyes.

"Um...yeah...is there a...Ruby Rose here?" he asked.

"Why?" Nora asked as she and Ren got to their feet.

"Well..."

"IIII found him!" Qrow said as he stumbled through the door. "Pffft ha-ha-ha-ha." he fell onto the couch.

"I think her uncle could use some help..?" the boy said.

"I found him." Qrow said.

"What is going on out there?!" Ruby asked as she stormed out of her room. "Can't a girl read her comics in peace?" she noticed Qrow on the couch and face-palmed. "Qrow, did you get drunk again?"

"Maaaaybe."

"You...have silver eyes." the boy said as he took a step into the house.

"Who...are you?" Ruby asked.

"Un...well...my name is Oscar Pine." the boy replied.

"Wait for it." Qrow said.

"But you probably know me as...Professor Ozpin?"

Ruby and the others gasped as I stared at the kid.

"Heh-heheh, I did it!" Qrow shouted as he fell off the couch.

End of chapter 26