Blake stood with a little bit of distance between herself and her teammates. The entire student body at Beacon had more or less been herded into the great hall for that evening, and nobody was quite sure what they needed to do there. Something was wrong, and Blake didn't know what it was.

The general consensus seemed to be that they were all brought in for mission assignments.

It was a theory that Blake wasn't comfortable with. If they were being called on for mission assignments, then surely someone would have told them about that first. It wouldn't have been announced as an impromptu manner. It would have felt so much more… organized.

"I hate assemblies." Yang commented, stretching and wandering over towards Blake. "And I'm guessing you do too."

Blake sighed and nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. "Yes," She murmured. "More or less."

"It'll be nothing, I'm sure of it." Yang said with a too nonchalant shrug. "This is Beacon, we have assemblies for stuff all the time. Usually it's nothing big."

Wrong, Blake thought. There was no way that they would call on the entire student body if there was no reason for it. It didn't make any sense.

It left her wondering how many people were there in the great hall that were all but oblivious to the threats outside. Did they think about the giant grimm outside of the city? Did they think about the fact that there were monsters that weren't monsters out there? These were people that didn't think about things like the White Fang.

How could they be expected to protect people if they didn't even know what they were going to be protecting?

Blake didn't know, and she was so afraid of what could come from it.

"I'm not so sure." She sighed, looking past Yang to see that Ruby and Weiss were talking about something quietly. More accurately, it looked like Ruby was trying to chatter along about something and Weiss was doing her best to quiet the girl down. "You don't think that it's weird?"

"It might be." Yang shrugged. "But I don't know if we're getting sent out for something big or important."

Blake hesitated, because she could only think back on that mission that she'd gone with her team on with Doctor Oobleck. It had been patrol, looking after a grimm that only managed to get closer and closer to a city that wasn't ready for it.

There was no way that it wasn't somehow related.

It had been weeks. For weeks, everyone had fallen into a pattern of getting up, going to classes, and training, and still Blake wasn't sure. It wasn't comfortable for her, there was that constant sureness that something was wrong and that it would all fall apart sooner than later.

"There just has to be something more to it." Blake whispered. She stood up on her toes, hoping that the slight addition of height would get her a better view. What she saw made her even more nervous.

There at the front of the great hall and standing against the wall, was Qrow, Professor Goodwitch, Professor Ozpin, and General Ironwood.

Not exactly a low-powered group of leaders, from what Blake had seen. She didn't know much about all of them, but reputation was very much a thing. Generals became generals for a reason. The same was true for headmasters and teachers.

If it wasn't important, then they would have no reason for the general to be there. Qrow might show up for fun, but the general was a busy person. That was a known fact.

Something had to be wrong.

"What makes you say that?" Yang asked, rolling her eyes. "The fact that everyone is here?"

"Yes." Blake said, dropping back to her feet. "Everyone is here."

Yang raised an eyebrow, and she didn't look convinced by what Blake had said at all. Blake sighed heavily and raised a hand so that she could subtly gesture towards the front of the room and point out everything that was wrong. "See?"

Yang blinked and looked over at Blake. 'I don't see what the problem is."

Blake pressed her lips together into a flat line, and she wasn't sure what she was really supposed to say without drawing too much attention. "There's no reason that the general would be here for a normal assembly." Blake stated calmly. "Why would he-"

"Wait." Yang cut her off, and Blake blinked before looking back to the front of the room to see what was going on. There, walking up to the podium at the front of the room was Professor Ozpin. They somehow managed to look as though they were completely disconnected from everything in that room.

Ozpin reached out for the microphone on the podium, only adjusting the slightest bit before speaking. "Hello." They greeted the entire room, and with that word alone the entire grand hall went completely silent. There was something about that quiet that managed to be beyond discomforting for Blake, but she didn't know what it was specifically.

Once they were sure that they had the undivided attention of every person in that room, Ozpin allowed themself to continue with their speech. "I am sure that you are all wondering why you have been called here today."

There wasn't a chance given for a response.

Ozpin just nodded. "As all of you are aware, there is a grimm that has taken its residence not far from the city." That was all that was needed, because it kicked off a tittering chatter among the room. Yang looked over at Blake and opened her mouth like she had something that she wanted to say before just shrugging.

Blake wished that she had a better response than doing the same and facing forward to stare at the podium at the front of the room. At the very least, she was glad that she was having one of her questions answered.

This was about the grimm. This was about monsters.

And if they had called for every student at Beacon Academy to come to this to assembly, then that meant that there had to be a reason for it. Blake had a feeling that this wasn't going to be about telling people to stay alert either.

She tried not to focus on that thought too much, because Ozpin still had something that they wanted to say to everyone in that room and Blake didn't want to be one of the ones completely ignoring them. Not when the stakes were potentially very high for everything that was going on.

If it involved that grimm, then it was potentially a matter of life and death, for a lot of people.

"In the past weeks, students have been advised to do their best to keep a distance from the city limits for the sake of their own safety. Grimm are no laughing matter, as you all know." Ozpin explained in an almost-deadpan bored tone. They hesitated. "However, the grimm is approaching the city of Vale, albeit slowly. It will soon be necessary that you are all prepared to fight it. Myself and Professor Goodwitch will be doing our best to ensure that we send the most experienced and ready team into the field to handle this grimm possible." They paused again, looking out amongst the room.

Scanning for the best possible candidates, Blake realized.

"If you are selected for this, you should expect to be contacted by myself or Professor Goodwitch with regards to the matter. For the time being, student teams will be being sent out more often to evaluate the current threat to the city. Students will only be sent out with members of Beacon's faculty or with licensed hunters on sanctioned missions."

There was a long pause, and then Ozpin spoke up, their voice as hard as Blake had ever heard it.

"If we learn that any of you are placing yourselves at serious risk for the sake of glory, the parties involved should be prepared for punishment. This is a high-risk situation, and we cannot afford for someone to anger the grimm and make it want to attack the city."

There was a pause before they looked offstage. Blake followed Ozpin's gaze and saw that they had made direct eye contact with the general, who said nothing and did even less. For a moment, Blake couldn't help but think that it managed to seem like a challenge.

Not good, not at all.

They nodded like something had been said, understanding something that nobody else in that room would have been able to ever identify before speaking once more. "Tomorrow you are all to report to this room at 10 o'clock sharp for mission assignments. Afterward, student teams will be sent into the field on reconnaissance. Be prepared to work closely with a senior hunter, who will have a hand in your fate at this academy should your work fail to be satisfactory. That will be all."

And just like that, the assembly ended and Blake watched Ozpin step away from the podium, making their way out of view while everyone watched. Blake could have sworn that she'd felt her stomach flip just watching all of this, but she didn't want to say anything. Not when there was the chance to make things worse.

She wasn't going to have to say anything, though. Ruby and Weiss were almost immediately crowding in on her and Yang, and Ruby was the first to speak up, though her voice came in a barely-hushed whisper. "Uh, so that was weird."

"Yeah," Yang said, her voice much more solemn than it had been ever before. "It was... like they weren't even here."

Weiss nodded and looked up to the front of the room, and the way that she seemed to pale just slightly told Blake that Weiss had just noticed the General's presence and that probably meant something for her. "I don't like any of this."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone does." Yang said, grimacing and looking over at Blake. "Giant grimm, huh?"

"I doubt we're going to be chosen." Blake sighed. "We're a new team, but if we're going to go on recon again..."

"Then we might not have a choice." Ruby filled in the blank, blinking her silver eyes wide. "Right?"

Blake was sure that she'd felt her blood go cold in her veins. Ruby was right, if they were going to be forced to go out and see what was happening with the grimm, there was always going to be the chance that they found themselves in a fight with it. Based on what Blake knew about the grimm, she didn't think that they would be able to handle it.

They hadn't even done all that well when it came to the simulation grimm that Qrow had selected for them. How were they going to be able to fight something ten times that size and probably a hundred times more powerful?

Blake didn't know, and she was so, so afraid to find out.

"Right." Blake said, keeping her voice down as she took the chance to look around the room. Ozpin and the general were talking to each other, and Qrow and Professor Goodwitch were both fairly close to them. "I just don't like it."

"Well," Weiss spoke up, looking between all four of them. "If that is how things are going to be, then we are going to have to do our best to stay out of trouble when we are in the field."

"And we can still get lots of practice in when we can." Ruby said, shrugging. "I mean, this can't all be bad, right?"

Blake looked among her teammates, and just found herself wishing that she had a genuine answer for Ruby.

And really, she didn't. She was sure that she never would, and that terrified Blake.

Qrow hated assemblies, even now as an adult when he had nothing to do with them. As soon as he'd finished listening to Ozpin's speech, he'd been off and out of Vale.

That was what had him standing in a clearing just outside of Vale, far past the three-mile marking and at a dangerous proximity to the grimm.

He had things to do, he reminded himself as he closed his eyes and did his absolute best to find his calm and reach his center again. He needed to be ready to shift forms, head out over the forest, and try to find some of the people out there that would be able to help them out.

Qrow really didn't want to have to do this, but it was coming anyways.

It took him a little bit of time before it happened, but Qrow finally set to the skies, the same way that he had countless times over the course of his life. He didn't know how far he was going to have to go to find help, but Qrow was ready for it either way.

He shifted forms, feeling a tug at his arms that was all too uncomfortable at first before he was up in the air, flapping and doing his best to gain as much altitude over the land below as he could.

The bad thing about this sort of job was that Qrow wasn't exactly in a place where he could just shut his mind off during his flight. There wasn't a good way for him to search out them, to find his sister.

It wasn't exactly like she answered calls. She'd find him if she needed him, but if he needed her…

Well, it was kind of a lost cause.

Qrow flew for close to an hour, his body aching as he came to stop, landing in a tree and watching the landscape for any sign of movement. That was when he saw it, the slow rise of smoke into the sky, and a small tent city built up around it. Protecting it, there were the large wooden pikes that served as a fence.

Ready to leave at the drop of a hat, as always. The second they were ready to leave the fences would go up in flame, and the tents would be taken as everyone left together.

A black and red banner told him everything else that he needed to know about what he was looking at.

He'd found his way home, as bad of a thing and as unstable as that sort of thing could be.

Qrow sat there in the treetops for a little bit longer than he should have. He knew that he was going to have to go out there soon, and when that happened, he was going to have something to deal with that was very far from what he wanted to confront.

There was a reason that he'd left this place, and now, sitting up in the treetops and watching, Qrow was reminded why.

He couldn't dwell on it too much longer, though. Vale needed him, and he had a job to do.

Qrow reached his wings out and flew, heading towards the camp city and watching for any sign of movement. Sure enough, when he got close Qrow dipped down to the treeline so that he would be a little bit less obvious about the fact that he was coming.

The people here knew well enough to watch the skies, and so Qrow knew that there was absolutely no way that he was going to be able to get in undetected.

Qrow turned back to a man on the footpath outside of the camp city and stretched his legs, hoping that it would make him feel a bit better. It didn't help, but Qrow was able to reach back and find his sword.

That alone was a great comfort to him, and Qrow was so glad for it.

He took in a deep breath, and then he made his way towards the outskirts of the city.

Someone was standing by the front, and as soon as they realized who he was, they were hurrying off to find help. Qrow tried not to pay it the most attention, but he followed after and headed in.

He knew exactly what he was looking for, and sure enough, Qrow found her.

She was there under a lean-to, bent over a map and talking to someone that was watching her carefully as she passed down orders from behind the mask.

Raven Branwen.

Qrow loved her, he hated her, she was his sister.

He approached calmly though, stretching and only speaking up once he was near the edge of his sister's tent.

"Raven." Qrow called.

She noticed his presence, picked her head up, and turned slowly to stare at him from behind that mask of her. The mask that had once belonged to the woman that had taken the two of them in, back when they were children.

Now Raven carried the mantle of tribe leader.

Qrow was just an outcast, and that was a good thing. He didn't want to be a part of this world.

Raven made him feel like he was under a microscope, and Qrow completely and utterly hated it. She was going to make him feel this way as much as she could, Qrow was sure of it. That was a major part of how the two of them worked.

Of course, he had his own things that he could do if he needed to be over her. Hanging Yang and Taiyang over her head was something that Qrow had never been afraid to do before, and that wasn't something that he thought was going to change now.

Raven seemed to hesitate for a moment before she looked over at one of the other people in the tent. She raised a hand to dismiss them, and just like that Qrow and Raven were alone, for the most part. It wasn't as though there weren't still people there looking after what was happening.

"Hello, Brother." Raven greeted him, resting one hand on her sword, expecting a fight. "Come home to see the family?"

"No." Qrow replied, taking a few steps forward until he was under the tent with Raven. He reached up for a rope on the way in, the same way that he had many times before in his life. He found the catch and tugged, bringing the front flap of the tent down behind him and buying the two of them a little bit of privacy. "You aren't my family, for one." He said, getting close to his sister and dropping into a chair. "And two, I'm here on business."

Raven turned her head, watching him still in that deeply predatory way that she had. "You better have a good reason to be here. If this is about-"

"I do have good reason to be here, but it's not about that." Qrow said, wishing that he had a drink in his hand and reaching for his flask at the thought. "Ozpin sent me."

Raven understood, and she seated herself across the table from Qrow, leaning back in her seat in a way that managed to make her look very relaxed, but still threatening. That was Raven, though. All of her currency was in intimidation and she was well aware of that fact.

"Ozpin."

"Yeah." Qrow replied, narrowing his eyes as he brought his flask back down. He could feel the back of his throat beginning to burn in this pleasant way that it always did. "You know that I'm not going to talk to you as long as you-"

She was silent for a long moment, but Raven reached up for her mask, pulling it off from the back. Her hair fell into her face as soon as it was out of the way, and Raven placed it on the table between the two of them. It was like he was being stared down by a monster.

Not just a monster, Qrow reminded himself. The leader's mask was something that was passed from generation to generation, always intending to intimidate those below them. Qrow hated the damn thing and Raven knew that perfectly well.

Qrow looked from the mask then back at his twin with an unamused expression. She rolled her eyes, reached out, and pushed it out of the way so that it wasn't between the two of them.

"Happy now?"

"More or less." Qrow said with a shrug. It was time for them to get to talking about what he'd been sent to ask for. "Ozpin sent me."

"And what do they want?" Raven replied, staring him down and managing to look completely furious with the fact that Qrow hadn't come for personal reasons. She knew just as well as he did that he wasn't going to come to a bandit cam for that sort of thing anymore. Raven had burned her chance to get that sort of attention from Qrow the second that she'd walked out on their family.

Qrow sipped from his flask. "You've seen the grimm, yeah?"

"The King Minos." Raven stated, holding her head high and staring Qrow down. "Is that the one that you're referring to?"

"Yeah." Qrow leaned back into his seat, almost mirroring his sister but knowing that he didn't manage to hold anywhere near the same effect as she did. "It's been getting close to Vale, and Ozpin's worried. Everyone's worried."

"So take care of it."

"You know that's not done as easily as you think." Qrow replied, meeting his twin's eyes and frowning. "The point is that Ozpin's getting desperate. You know how things went last time."

"Last time." Raven repeated, managing to sound so far away. "You mean when Ozpin-"

"Raven-"

"You know what they did, Qrow." She snapped, leaning in and slamming a palm down on the table next to her. "They didn't even care."

"That's not true and you know it!" Qrow snapped back. "They aren't trying to pull something like that before."

"Oh, but of course." Raven said, rolling her eyes. "Only because they don't have the same resources that they did last time."

"Yeah, they don't." Qrow growled. "But this isn't exactly about that sort of thing. They need to know that if things start to go to hell with that grimm, there will be backup." He sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Ozpin's looking for support from every corner of Remnant that they possibly can get it from. Atlesian Military, you, whoever else will help."

She didn't say anything to that at first. Qrow figured that mentioning the military had been a mistake on his part, but if Raven and the tribe were going to help them at all with the grimm, then he needed to be clear on that.

"I know it isn't great, Rae." Qrow sighed.

She shook her head, closing her eyes as she did so. "I don't think that I can do this after what happened." Raven said, her voice much quieter than it strictly needed to be. "You know what they did."

"They did it to save us all." Qrow sighed, looking away from his sister and feeling a pang of guilt that worked its way through his chest. Wanting desperately to ignore it, he drank. "I wasn't happy about it either but... it was necessary."

"No," Raven replied. "It wasn't. There wasn't anything about it that was necessary."

"They saved-"

"They got Summer killed!"

Qrow snapped his jaw shut at that because there really wasn't any good way to respond to Summer. It was an argument that the two of them had shared over and over again, and every time they failed to get anywhere with it. Ultimately, Qrow knew what the problem was, what was keeping the two of them from being able to move on.

He and Raven were both mourning, and this was going to be a long conversation before one of them was going to be able to relax or breathe, or move forward on the topic. They were both in pain.

"Yeah." Qrow sighed, slumping back in his seat and running his finger on the engraved part of his flask. "They did. But it wasn't going to do anyone any good if it didn't happen."

"Do you realize what you're saying?" Raven snapped at Qrow, leaning in as close to him as she possibly could and pressing herself into his space so that there was no way that he could avoid her. "Do you know how cold you sound?"

Qrow paused, because that was a question that Qrow wouldn't have normally asked of himself. The things that had been leading up to Summer's death had been complicated, with so many layers that Qrow was sure that there was a great number of details that either he, or Raven, or everyone else had managed to miss over the years.

He needed to be able to get past where they were. This was a conversation, that was the important thing.

"Raven-" Qrow sighed, peeling his eyes away from Raven's. "It was a battle. You and I both know that. Nobody could have predicted what would happen to Summer and you know that."

"I do." Raven replied. "But that doesn't stop me from thinking that she was a sacrifice for Ozpin's cause."

"Yeah." Qrow sighed. "I don't know if she was a sacrifice, but she's gone. So is the enemy."

"Say her name, Qrow." Raven hissed. "She doesn't have power anymore."

"Salem." Qrow snapped, leaning in towards his sister so close that the two of them were almost touching. "Summer died killing Salem."

Raven stared him down, her eyes narrowing and her expression getting a little bit more intense before she leaned back. "Yes." She finally said, her face stony as she stood back up properly. "She did."

Qrow nodded. He needed to find a way to get Raven back to the original conversation that they'd been trying to have. No matter what, Qrow needed to be able to be sure that Raven was going to be on his side- Vale's side.

That was the most important thing. Even if past experiences and old grudges was going to make that difficult. Qrow just hoped that he wouldn't have to sell his soul to get it all done. He swallowed hard and leaned back away from his sister, needing some space.

"Look-" Qrow started, hoping that he would be able to get Raven's concentration back. "I'm not happy about how all of that ended either, but this isn't about all of that." He clenched his fists at his sides and hoped desperately that Raven wouldn't notice it. "This is about Vale. You remember Vale, right? It was our home for years."

"It's your home." Raven answered, pulling away from him and walking over to the table. She held her head high, and the way that Raven walked reminded Qrow of a military woman in some way. It wasn't a look that was right on Raven. "Because you forgot where your home is."

With those words, Raven gestured to the rest of the tent, and Qrow knew what she was doing. She was once again doing her best to guilt Qrow over the fact that he'd left.

"It's not about that." Qrow sighed. "There are people at risk, and all that we want is your support if something goes wrong." He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying his best to force himself to relax. "You don't have to have anything to do with Ozpin. All you have to do is agree to help."

Raven sighed, looking at the map and reaching out, picking up a small token that was resting on it and weighing it between her fingers. "I'll consider it."

"Will you?"

"Yes." Raven replied, her voice too hard. "I'll let you know if it'll work out."

That was probably going to be as much as Qrow got out of her, he realized. It hadn't been a long meeting, but Qrow had been expecting that. "Right." Qrow sighed, pushing himself up to his feet. There were so many things that he could have gone ahead and said, but it wasn't a good idea for her to go there.

Qrow was so afraid of making things worse by bringing up family- their real family.

"Good." Qrow replied, stretching his legs. "I'll hear from you soon."

Raven reached for the hilt of her sword, and Qrow watched as she began to draw the weapon. He raised a hand, just enough so that he could signal to Raven that seh should stop.

She cocked her head slightly and stared him down. "No?"

"I'd rather fly." Qrow answered. "I can get back to Vale just fine."

"Surprising." Raven deadpanned. "Goodbye, brother."

"Later, Raven." Qrow answered as he made his way out of the tent and began the walk back out of the village. He had a flight back to make, and he was sure that certain things were going to be bothering him on the way out.

Mostly, the fact that she wasn't really family anymore, if only because she had left their family.

He and Ozpin were going to have to have a talk, regardless.