Chaos ensued as the fighting started. Bandits ran, tents lit on fire, and swords clashed. Cinder and Watts were not supposed to be here this early, yet they were. Now I was facing off against Vernal while trying to protect Emerald from the wrath of Cinder. Raven and Qrow were locked in a stalemate, the siblings being an even match near the main tent.
It was a cacophony of fear, anger, and confusion, even as the Grimm showed up. It wasn't too many, just a handful of Beowolves and Ursai that the bandits could deal with, no issue. Luckily, that meant no bandits could help out Raven in this current situation.
"M-ma'am, I never betrayed you!" Emerald cried as she desperately deflected burning blade after blade. Cinder was furious, no doubt having assumed that Emerald turned on her after everything she did. I doubt she believed that abandoning her at Beacon counted as a betrayal first. Given how egotistical she is, she probably didn't even care about that. She'd betrayed Neo and Watts at Atlas, after all. It shouldn't have surprised me that Emerald believed she was any different.
"You defied me by associating yourself with these...ingrates! After everything I've done for you, you ungrateful cockroach!" Cinder raged as she unleashed barrages of swords at her former disciple. "You abandoned me!"
Hypocrite.
Emerald was fast, but she was slowly being overwhelmed. She could have an easier time if she focused somewhat on countering instead of just defense, but Emerald couldn't do that. She couldn't bring herself to fight against the woman who took her in. It was evident by the tears streaming down her face.
"You backstabbed her first!" I yelled. I'd been fending off Vernal's relentless attacks with those crescent gun boomerang blades of hers. She was fast, very fast. The Spring Maiden decoy had no trouble dodging every swing and blow I dealt, countering with throwing her chakram like weapons. I'd just been able to slam Cinder aside with an ice Dust slash, which carved at her aura, too distracted with trying to kill Emerald.
Emerald didn't take the opportunity to strike at Cinder or run. Like one plagued by guilt and denial, she dropped her weapons and attempted to help Cinder up, only for her to go flying back when Cinder threw out a wave of fire that burned through much of the green haired girl's aura in an instant. Her clothes were singed, and she was crying from pain and clear guilt. Guilt that she had no reason to feel.
"Em!" I yelled as I kicked Vernal back to rush by her side. As Emerald gasped for breath from her broken sobs, I slid in front of her, bringing up as much of my Dust as I could. "You aren't gonna hurt her anymore," I threatened as Cinder and Vernal approached from the front, no doubt ready to go very hard on us if need be.
"Hmmph," Cinder said. "I suppose one would find themselves attached to a dog such as her. She always seemed so quick to please...so eager to do well. However, she has failed me, and so she must be punished for her sins."
"You abandoned her at Beacon. If you'd taken her with you, Emerald and I would still be enemies," I said as I spread my feet a little, keeping my stance low. "But you didn't. She has a family now, a real one."
"Family. A broken notion. It weakens you," Cinder spat before her anger gave way to a dismissive attitude. "You're simply using her. She knows that. Which is why she will come here and accept her punishment." And with that, Cinder summoned a superheated glass bow and formed two arrows in place, aiming right for me and the girl behind me. "You deserve this..." she hissed.
Emerald whimpered, completely paralyzed with fear as the woman who took her in threatened to kill her, or worse. I turned behind me and saw a pool of liquid slowly forming under the former thief's shaking legs. When I turned back to Cinder, she immediately released her arrows. Angered, I formed a pair of tendrils with my neural Dust, clearly not willing to entertain Cinder's ideals any longer, especially with Emerald at risk. The arrows impaled in one of my tendrils, which exploded before they reformed back into the tendril in a split second.
"You'd know all about using people and tossing them aside when they're useless to you now," I growled once the smoke cleared. Cinder was really ticking me off, much more than Adam had both times I've seen him. "Unlike you, I won't abandon her. She isn't a tool, she's a person-"
I was cut off when Vernal fired at me, and I blocked the shot with my Dust. "Ugh, talking in a fight is so fucking annoying," she said before she rushed in.
"Yes, I quite agree." Watts leaned on a nearby crate, checking his scroll while the fighting went on. "I find it rather wasteful for an engagement to be broken off just for the sake of talking. Wouldn't you agree, Cinder?" he said.
"Shut up!" Cinder snarled, before I slammed a wave of Dust into her once again. Before I could turn to Vernal, Raven and Qrow smashed through a nearby crate, swinging wildly as they parried and violently attacked each other. Bits of tents and boxes crashed everywhere, forcing me and Vernal further away from each other.
"Bitch!" I spat before I dodged another one of Vernal's spinning weapons, followed by a thrown flaming javelin from Cinder, which grazed my ear. My aura flickered for a split second from the sheer heat, before Vernal fired on me, forcing me to dodge yet again. We were out of our league in this camp. The bandits were regrouping and arming themselves, and I couldn't protect myself against Cinder and Vernal forever. So far, Watts deciding to sit back and chill was a pretty decent help, but with Qrow and Raven tearing up the camp, we were getting overwhelmed.
Running out of the camp wasn't an option, not when we could be followed, and not when Emerald was in no position to escape. Not while they had the Spring Maiden. So I quickly came up with a new plan. A very risky plan.
"We need to go!" I yelled to Qrow, swinging a tendril of my Dust at the fighting duo. Qrow turned into a bird, narrowly missing the large amount of Dust that slammed into Raven. However, she landed perfectly against the wooden wall posts, and she dashed back towards us.
I jumped back before swinging my arm. "This better work!" I gritted as I felt my head explode on the inside. A portal opened up, much like Raven's portals tended to work, but being gray. Grabbing Emerald's weapons, I shoved them into Emerald's lax form and pushed her into the portal, where she vanished without a trace.
Qrow flew into the portal afterwards, and I felt my aura straining to maintain my semblance. I turned to run, before Vernal jumped towards me. "Oh no, you don't!" she yelled.
My gambit worked. Vernal couldn't resist striking someone with their back turned, and I pivoted on one foot, just in time to spin out her attempted attack and grab her and tumble into the portal, just as it closed on us.
I had Raven's decoy in custody. Without Vernal, Cinder more or less had no use for Raven and would either leave her or kill her. Raven could try and get Vernal back with a portal, but she probably wouldn't risk coming after us. After all, who knows how many students Qrow had with him, or the Gods forbid, Ozpin.
Raven's only choice was to expose herself as the Spring maiden and succeeding in only painting a permanent target on her back, or get Vernal back to continue her deception.
I forgot how quick portal transportation was when I realized I landed on the floor, arms still wrapped around Vernal's waist. She elbowed me in the nose, and the last of my aura was shattered as I crashed back. Her angered screams and struggles were all I could hear as I slowly stumbled to my feet. We were in the hotel room, where Liya, Jaune, Roman, and Oscar were.
Qrow and Jaune had tackled Vernal the moment I was off her, Liya holding her weapons after having pried them from the bandit's hands. "Fuck you!" Vernal roared as she tried to wriggle free from the two much heavier men on her back. "Sheesh. She's like a dumb feral animal," Roman muttered before Qrow reached up and yanked off Roman's gray scarf. "Seriously?" He winced as Qrow tied it around Vernal's mouth, the screaming reduced to muffled growls and incoherent words.
Looking over at Emerald, I saw that she was still sitting limply on her knees, Thief's Respite on the wooden floors. Her pants were soaked, and she was crying profusely, judging by the tears streaming down her face. "She...she was really going to kill me," she whispered.
I hauled Emerald to her feet, careful as I did so. She was an emotional mess, and I knew she needed the utmost care, especially after everything that had happened. How did Cinder and Watts even get to the bandit tribe so quickly? They had waited until it was two days before the attack to recruit Raven, so what changed?
A sob broke out.
No. That wasn't important right now. Emerald needed help after discovering the truth. I probably didn't know what she was going through, to be perfectly honest. She had so much false hope that Cinder would accept her back. Not only was that not the case, she attempted to hypocritically murder her for trying to come back to her after she abandoned her first.
"Why?" Emerald asked feebly as I closed the bathroom door.
"I don't know. But you don't need her," I whispered soothingly. I leaned against the shower wall and slid down until I was sitting, Emerald sitting against me. All I could do was hug her as she broke down, months of denial finally giving out with the cold and cruel realization of the truth.
Emerald cried against me for minutes. Those minutes felt like hours. Then those hours felt like days. I don't remember when I turned on the freezing water, but I felt that it was appropriate right now. Despite sitting in the shower and sobbing being a meme and a recurring scene in some movies, it felt pretty damn appropriate right now. The two of us were soaked, in and out of clothing. I don't know how long Emerald had cried until she fell asleep.
Oscar and Reese opened the door to see us, and he came over to help Emerald at once. I remember slowly falling drowsy soon after Emerald was gently pulled off my lap. I remembered my soaking wet head pressed against a warm towel before I fell asleep.
I woke up several hours later. I was feeling woozy, and I felt warm and dry rather than cold and soaked. Opening my eyes, I sat up , seeing that I was still in the hotel room. I was under the covers, and I was no longer wearing my outfit. Not that I could.
Looking down under the blankets, I saw I was wearing underwear and a bathrobe. A pair of black pants and a white shirt sat draped over the edge of the bed. Turning, I saw Emerald in the bed next to mine - also wearing a bathrobe. She looked like she was sleeping deeply, breathing softly as she lay in bed, her chest rising and falling slowly. She looked peaceful, and the last thing I wanted was to ruin that.
I looked around the suite to see Roman sitting asleep against a chair, hat tipped over his eyes. Melodic Cudgel leaned against his leg, and my belt and bandolier sat looped around a coat hook near the door. Thief's Respite sat against the door.
I sighed as I got up, disrobing and getting dressed. Once I'd buttoned my pants and got started on my shirt, I heard the door lock click. I turned to see the door open and Qrow entering the room with Jaune and Liya in tow. "Hey, the brat's awake," he said. "Guess who we brought."
Jaune and Liya walked in, followed by Pyrrha. Then Ruby, Nora, and Ren entered the room. The three of them froze immediately upon seeing me. Ruby was wearing her Volume 4 outfit, alongside her cloak/cape with Crescent Rose on her back. Her thigh had a bandage wrapped around it, most likely where Tyrian had stabbed her with his tail. Her eyes were wide, mouth open as she slowly walked forward.
I backed up. "Uhh, Ruby? What are you-" I tried to say.
"MARKUS!" Ruby wailed as she jumped forward, slamming into me with the velocity of an anti-tank round. We crashed into Emerald's bed with a thud, Emerald waking up with a drowsy yet panicked "Bwuh?" Roman jolted and crashed out of his chair violently, smacking the side of his head against the side of the dresser.
"I'M SORRY!" Ruby sobbed as Nora and Ren came forward. Nora looked awkward, and Ren smiled knowingly. Did Ozpin and Jaune explain everything involving me? Probably considering Nora didn't seem mad. "What...what are you sorry for?"
"We left you to die, we didn't believe you, we let you get beaten half to death-" Ruby started rambling before I cut her off.
"Shut up, red," I said before hugging Ruby. "I'm just glad you're alright..."
Ruby hugged me back even tighter, before Nora came up and hugged Ruby and me silently as well, squeezing us tightly. We hugged for a few minutes, before we finally separated with the need for oxygen in mind.
"Well, ain't this sweet?" Roman asked. Ruby blinked and finally saw the gentleman thief by the wall.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Qrow said as he got between Roman and Ruby before she could draw out Crescent Rose. "He's on our side for now."
"He's on Cinder's side!" Ruby screeched, before turning to Emerald. "And so is she! What's going on?!"
After a long explanation of the situation, about how Roman has been helping, and the extent of Emerald's situation. Ruby relented. "I don't trust them," she said.
"You don't have to," I said, resting my hand on her shoulder to reassure you. "Roman's gone once we get his partner back. And Emerald is really on our side."
"Several minutes crying your heart out in the shower will prove that," Qrow said. Emerald blushed nervously, and I laughed lightly. I stopped laughing when I felt Ruby's hand on my arm, where my stump was and my prosthetic began. I'd forgotten I was wearing a short sleeved shirt for a moment. "Ruby..." I said.
"So...Yang did this?" Ruby said, her gaze falling to my completely metallic limb. It was sleek, smooth, durable, and almost seamlessly fit. But as far as I knew, Ruby only saw it was a fake part of me, to replace what was unfairly taken from me.
"Yeah," I admitted shamefully. "Been like this for a few months now. Been trying to get used to it, but...it's been rough."
Ruby held my hand gently. If I could feel with it as well as I could feel with a normal hand, I had no doubt that I'd feel smooth and soft skin against my fingers, rubbing them awkwardly. Sadly, all I could feel was basic contact against my cold, metal, lifeless fingers. "I'm...I'm so sorry," Ruby whimpered, on the verge of tears. I pulled my hand from Ruby's grip and gently bapped it against her head, a small clunk being heard. Ruby yelped and clutched her head in slight pain.
"Please, stop?" I asked gently, before sighing. "I'm sick of all the apologies. And...I'd really not dwell on it right now. We have more important things to take care of. Like getting a message to Raven that we have her Spring Maiden." I looked at Qrow, tuning out the storm of emotions I was feeling as I began setting up my new plan. "Qrow, can you mail your sister a letter or something? Do you have her scroll number?" I asked.
"She's had me blocked ever since she left years ago. I'm not even sure if she still uses the damn scroll," Qrow said. "And do you really think she uses the mail?"
"Not literal mail. Turn into a bird and drop a letter on her doorstep," I said. "Or in front of her tent. Give her a month to meet at Haven Academy and we can wait for her. And Cinder."
"What about the White Fang?" Pyrrha asked.
"We'll have to split our forces. But Sienna is definitely against Adam. Might not be on our side, but we can still use them," I said as I continued to work things out in my head. "As much as Haven is an unwanted target, it'll have to be our battlefield. We need a map of the academy, to set up possible ambush points and advantages."
"However...we do need to check on Blake. If it's possible that she and Yang can come here to assist against the White Fang," Jaune said. "Ruby, can you call Blake?"
"Blake, Sun, and Yang's been busy at Menagerie. She mentioned stuff about the White Fang there causing problems," Ruby explained. "I called Yang when I got better, and Yang said they were busy with preparing to get to Haven, after they learned the White Fang will try to bomb the school in a few months-"
"We're moving up the timetable," I said. "Tell Yang they only have a month to get ready. No, three weeks."
"What?" Ruby said. She sounded a bit quieter than I expected for that tone of hers.
"Hold on, I could portal Qrow to Yang. Maybe we can get them to understand," I said. "Think Yang will mind me barging in?"
"Markus!" Pyrrha's voice said. For some reason, she sounded...muffled.
I blinked. "Huh? What is it-" I said before seeing Pyrrha's concerned expression. I turned to see Jaune, Liya, Nora, Ren, and Ruby with equally worried expressions aimed right at me. "What?"
"You...sounded different. What happened to you?" Pyrrha asked.
"What are you talking about?" I asked. "I'm part robot now, but I think I'm the same."
"Your eyes. They kind of went dim," Jaune said. "Like you weren't looking at anyone"
Dim eyes? Since when? How can I-
...
Oh.
"Damn Mettle," I mumbled. "I don't even remember copying that."
"Jimmy's semblance? Guess your semblance works on automatic at times," Qrow said, laughing. "Give it a few months and you'll end up with my semblance on auto-pilot."
"Old Ironwood has a semblance?" Roman asked. "Heh, always thought he was like me."
"Yeah, maybe I should tone down my aura," I muttered, a little embarrassed. I already knew what Ironwood's semblance was capable of, and I never wanted to be the one who had it on. I didn't even know I had it on.
"Your semblance...went on automatic?" Oscar asked. "That's a weird way to evolve."
"How do you figure?" I asked.
"Your semblance might be evolving," Oscar said. "Ozpin told me they could. Have you seen semblances evolve?"
"Yeah. Ren's semblance did after emotional exile or something. Emerald's got stronger after a ton of training. She could mask entire airships and people inside from Grimm and other people. All of that is much later," I said. "But can semblances go from needing activation to passive? I doubt it's like Good Fortune or Bad Luck over here."
"Maybe..." Oscar muttered. "We should probably focus on our next move. What do we do with Vernal?"
I looked around, confused. "Where is she, actually?" I asked. "Is she still here?"
The sound of a muffled thudding was heard, and Roman walked over to the wardrobe on the other side of the dresser, opening it and revealing Vernal lying down inside, her ankles and hands tied together behind her in a very awkward position, her mouth still blocked by Roman's scarf as a gag. The spare blankets and pillows were against the wall, preventing her from making too much noise by slamming her head.
"Have you fed her anything?" I asked.
"Nope. She can go a few days without food, it's fine," Roman said. Vernal grumbled and wriggled in place, unable to do much. "Bah, you'll live. Quit whining."
"We aren't terrorists or torturers," I sighed. "We should probably bring her something to eat-"
"I'll do that," Qrow said, cutting me off. "You catch up with my niece and her friends."
"Qrow, Telling Raven-"
"Can wait," Qrow interrupted swiftly. "The battle's coming soon. You haven't even had a real conversation with Ruby since she got better. You all have to properly catch up."
Roman let out an "eugh" and shoved Vernal back in the closet. "Bah, if you wanna get all touchy feely, do it away from me," he said. "Find some field or a restaurant or something." And with that, he tossed a dozen Lien cards at us.
"Wow, thanks, dad," I said sarcastically as I picked up the money. "We'll be back before midnight."
"Considering it's half past eleven, I'd hope not. I wanna have a lot of time to myself to smoke, without you annoying kids barfing it up," Roman said. Looking out the window, I saw that it was indeed dark. I'd forgotten that we went to Raven's camp after lunch, which meant my nap lasted throughout dinnertime.
"Damn. I'm hungry," I mumbled. "Emerald?"
"I'm going back to sleep," Emerald said, and she shuffled back under the covers, still wearing her bathrobe.
"Well, I know that. Just...about earlier. At the camp-" I began.
"I don't wanna talk about it," she said, shuffling the blankets over her shoulders, leaving most of her neck and head to be left uncovered. "Not yet at least."
It was a start.
Jaune, Nora, Ren, Liya, Ruby, and I left the room a minute later, most of us in casual clothing. Jaune removed his armor and cape parts, leaving jeans and his Pumpkin Pete hoodie. Nora and Red looked the most casual around Mistral, so they didn't change much. Ruby kept her combat attire on, as well as Crescent Rose on her.
Pyrrha elected to stay and get some sleep as well, mainly because she didn't wish to deal with all of the fame and autographs. Oscar said that he wanted to go to bed as well, as he wasn't feeling too well. Ozpin assured us that it was a minor headache, nothing too bad. I asked where Reese was this whole time, and Ozpin told us that she was spending the night at Arslan's to catch up. She promised not to say anything about any secret meta stuff too.
The five of us made our way to a decently large and busy ramen shop a kilometer's walk away from the hotel. We all agreed that things were too hectic for us to sleep normally, so we'd eat and spend the night training - whatever hell that would unleash on us by tomorrow morning.
Mistralian Ramen was on a whole different level of tasty, especially since much of the food in Mistral was cheap compared to food in Vale, or my old home, while offering more portions. It was always such a cool experience to eat at a bar, especially with friends. We talked about everything that had been going on, mostly about what I was doing while Ruby and the others were trekking across Anima.
"You met Sienna Khan?" Ren asked, clearly incredulous, heard even through his normal soft spoken voice. "Not only that, you saved her from Adam?"
"Yeah. Reese was about to be executed as a reason to convince Sienna to attack Haven. However...I'm pretty sure that was more or less just to convince the entire White Fang army to join him," I mumbled. "Emerald got her out while Sienna and I fought Adam." I decided to leave out the fact that Sienna was fighting me for a while before Adam admitted his plan to assassinate her.
"And now Sienna is on your side?" Jaune asked, putting down his chopsticks momentarily.
"No, like I said she's only against Adam. It'll be a White Fang civil war, one that'll help us in the process. Both are violent, but Sienna is definitely the lesser of both evils," I said.
"Umm, I know this may be a sore subject," Nora chimed in, uncharacteristically nervous. "But you seem to know a lot. That guy said you knew a lot, and you said something that Blake never told us about. What do you know?"
"I was wondering about that myself. How do you know so much?" Ren asked. I sighed, knowing I couldn't hide from this forever.
I slowly explained my situation, how I wasn't originally from Remnant, how all of this had happened before, and the reasons why I was changing things around in order to avoid as many negative impacts as I could. I explained how if things hadn't changed, Pyrrha would be dead. The CCT would've been destroyed alongside Beacon, all of Remnant would be worse off now thanks to the loss of communication throughout the world.
I explained how Ruby would've fought Roman on Ironwood's flagship, resulting in Roman's death, and Neo becoming a dangerous asset to Cinder against us. I told them about Emerald's backstory, the reason why she used to be so loyal to Cinder, and that originally, she would never have broken out of that manipulative relationship Cinder had locked her in. There were many things I explained throughout our eating, and I finished about twenty minutes after we'd all emptied our bowls and dishes.
Ruby was the first to speak. "I'd say you were lying. That you'd gone crazy or meta or something like in video games! But..." she sighed for a moment. "You're really trying to help us, aren't you?"
"Yeah. I know I lied to you, I hid stuff from you, I manipulated events and did all sorts of messed up shit-" I said before Ruby cut me off with a light tap on my head with a chopstick.
"We were in the wrong," Ruby said. "You were our friend. No, you are still our friend. We should've listened, and-"
"You didn't need to do anything," I said, cutting her off in turn, my tone turning kind of dark as I looked away. "I never got the chance to explain thanks to Yang."
"Yang...she feels bad over what she did. If you would just talk to her-" Ruby said.
"She didn't hesitate. Beat me to the ground and blasted my arm off at the elbow!" I said, slamming my fist on the counter. I was very lucky that I was too distracted to really put force into it because it didn't crack. The restaurant was fairly busy, so my slam didn't garner too much attention. "It hurt a lot. I don't know how long I was screaming...all I know is that Yang walked away. And so did you."
Nora, Ren, and Ruby looked away guiltily, and I sighed. "I...I'm not mad at you. Not anymore, anyway. There's no time to dwell on it, so I had to get to work. There's lots of planning to be done for Haven, and-" I said.
"She wants to talk to you," Ruby said. "She...she needs to talk to you."
"Why should I?" I asked, my anger coming back. "Why should I reach out to her? Every time I think of Yang, my arm hurts. Phantom pains. Yang's arm was cut off cleanly, but my arm was smashed. Do you know how much that hurts? To feel your bones shatter, your muscles ripped and burned apart?"
"No! I don't!" Ruby shouted, promptly interrupting me. "Alright, I'm sorry. You aren't ready to talk to her..."
"I don't know. I love her, I do. But I don't think I can forgive her," I mumbled. "Just...can we drop it?"
"Alright," Ruby said. "It's just...we all used to seem so happy at Beacon. And I miss that. I want team RWBY back together again. I want you and Liya coming by to see us..."
"Beacon changed," Jaune said. "None of us is at fault for that. Cinder destroyed what we had. It's up to all of us to fix this."
The rest of us fell silent, before we paid for our food and left. We spent the entire night training in the fields outside the city, all of us spending hours fighting in hand to hand combat. It was a useful distraction, and we had clear minds throughout the night.
When we returned to the room close to morning, sleepy and thoroughly tuckered out, we saw Roman and Qrow were playing cards against the window sill with a significant stack of Lien on Qrow's side as they played. Emerald was on her bed, typing away furiously at a game on her scroll.
"Hey, kids," Qrow said before pointing at me. "Your clothes are done drying."
"Thanks," I said. Looking to the closet, I saw my clothes hanging neatly, as well as my belt. "What about Emerald's clothes?"
"They're still being washed," Roman said, eyes sweeping left and right as he surveyed the cards in his hand. "You know how hard it is to wash piss out of white pants?"
Emerald blushed madly and turned away. Both men slapped down their cards, and Roman let out a frustrated growl as Qrow let out a short cackle. "Luck just ain't on your side, pretty boy."
"Bah, I have more money than you do, grandpa," Roman scoffed.
"Sure, it just ain't yours," Qrow said. "So, how was your night out?"
"We ate ramen and beat the shit out of each other," Ruby said.
"Dirty language, I'm so proud of you," Roman chuckled, to which Ruby gagged. Puffing his cigar out of the window, he reshuffled the deck of cards he and Qrow were using. "Wanna join in? It's a fifty Lien game."
"I don't do that," Ruby said, before yawning. "I'm gonna sleep until lunchtime tomorrow."
"Same," Jaune mumbled. "Where's Pyrrha and Oscar?"
"Pyrrha's out buying sleeping bags and inflatable mattresses. Oscar's in the bathroom," Qrow said as he drew new cards. "Honestly, we probably should've gotten new rooms or something."
"I dunno, I feel a lot safer with all of us together," I said. "Plus we know for a fact none of Salem's forces will risk being anywhere in populated areas, especially with Ironwood putting a BOLO warning for Cinder and her cohorts."
"BOLO?" Ruby asked.
"Be on the lookout," I explained before turning back to Qrow. "Room's big enough for all of us anyway. Pyrrha and Jaune can share a bed, Ren and Nora can share a bed, you and Roman can-"
Roman and Qrow threw their cane and flask - respectively - at me. "Fine," I grumbled. "Take a joke then."
"I could share the bed with Markus," Ruby said. "I owe you many months worth of head pats and ear scratches."
"I dunno..." I said before seeing Ruby's pleading expression. "Umm...sure."
"Yay!" Ruby squealed.
"We should probably move out of the hotel. There's plenty of vacation condos for rent at the edge of the city," Qrow said as he peered through us at his cards.
"Okie, uncle!" Ruby said as she dragged me to bed. "I'm gonna go clock out."
"Same," I mumbled, yawning. As Pyrrha and Jaune got ready for bed, Nora hopped into the bathroom. Ruby removed her cloak and all non clothing equipment like her belt, boots, and the various leather straps around her upper arms. I only removed my shoes before I got into bed. Ruby climbed next to me and began stroking my ears, rolling the thin articulate tips of them around her fingers.
I felt my aching muscles slowly melt away, and I closed my eyes, drifting off in seconds. As I fell asleep, I could remember thinking about Yang, about what she was probably doing. No doubt she was helping out Blake and Sun against Corsac and Fennec. No, wait. The Blake Arc in Volume 5 took place way earlier than everything else in Mistral did. She must be training the other Faunus for their preparation to protect Haven Academy.
...I wonder how she's doing.
I woke up in a cold sweat by morning. It was early, maybe around seven or eight, which meant I'd likely only slept an hour or two. I wasn't aware if I had a bad dream or not, but I seemed out of breath, and I felt all jittery. Taking a few moments to calm down, I wiped my brow and sighed as I sat up properly, working out all the kinks in my stiff back in the process.
I took the time to take a look around. Ruby had rolled over to the other side of the moderately large bed, hogging the blankets. Jaune and Pyrrha were cuddling in their bed, and Ren and Nora were sleeping comfortably in theirs. Oscar and Liya slept in their own sleeping bags on the floor, and Roman was nowhere to be seen, along with Qrow. I knew Reese was likely still with Arslan.
Snorting, I got up and decided to get myself something to eat. After dressing up in my combat attire, I left the room, having left my belt on the coat hook. I was just getting breakfast, after all, I shouldn't be in too much danger.
I slowly made my way over to the hotel lobby, before I went over to the relatively busy breakfast buffet and got myself some cereal and some hot black coffee. Or more accurately, I got a cup of milk and drowned my cereal in hot coffee. I was still drowsy. Plus it tasted good once the coffee cooled down a little in the very sugary cereal.
Once I found a table near the window for me to eat in peace, I sat down, eating and drinking alternatively for a few minutes before I heard some footsteps. Then I heard the chair in front of me across the table scrape back as someone sat themselves down across from me.
"So, this is the one she wanted dead," a female voice said. She sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on who. Still, I wasn't quite awake yet, and the coffee hadn't kicked in, not for a while.
Yawning, I took a sip of my milk before going back to eating coffee and cereal. "Many people want me dead. My ex-girlfriend did at one point," I muttered sleepily, taking another spoonful and chewing before swallowing quickly. "What do you want?"
"Two things. One is my disciple back," the voice said.
"Disciple?" I mumbled, sipping my milk from the cup as I looked up.
Raven Branwen's red eyes looked back.
I didn't know if I had gotten shocked or if the coffee kicked in ahead of time, but I responded by violently spewing my milk out all over her face and necklaces. Beads of milk streamed down her neck and into her red and black wrap style top as she glared at me. "If that was coffee you spit, you wouldn't be alive right now," Raven said, her voice calm but promising an eternity of pain if I had indeed been drinking a scalding beverage.
"Sorry," I coughed, though I made no attempt to wipe her down, no doubt risking my good arm if I tried that. "Did you portal to me or something?"
"No, actually. Qrow is a very easy fool to track down," Raven said, having sighed before she lifted her mask from her lap, setting it down on the table with a harsh thud. "But I'm not here for them. I'm here for you."
"Lemme guess. Cinder wants me so she can torture me for all the knowledge I have and so she may be closer to ultimate power like the evil minion she is," I said, adopting a pretty nasally voice for saying 'evil minion', to which Raven exhaled at. "And because you can turn into a black edgy fluff ball with wings, she thought she could get you to find me for her."
"That was her suggestion, yes," Raven said dismissively. Only she could cockily blow off Cinder's orders and be justifiably more powerful in doing so. She then looked at me, her eyes narrowing a little as she leaned forward on the table. "But that's not why I'm here."
"Figures," I said, looking directly into Raven's eyes. She was beautiful, probably as beautiful as Yang. Age did nothing to take away from that, though her shitty excuse of a personality and mindset did ruin most of that for me. "You'd only do something if there's something in it for you, huh? What do I have that you want me dead?"
"I don't want you dead," Raven said. "I saw you at the camp. As short as that battle was, you have an incredible weapon."
"A belt of Dust," I remarked as I leaned against the wall, looking out the window sill. I was suddenly very glad I left my belt back in the hotel room. "Nothing special. What about it?"
"You're also very strong," Raven continued. "You held off my disciple and that Cinder person, with maiden powers. All while protecting one who was too weak to fight back and do anything other than wet her pants and cry like a child."
I narrowed my eyes at her casual mocking dismissal of Emerald's trauma. "If you wanna say something, say it to my face. No indirect messages, no beating around the bush," I said as I drank the last of my milk.
Raven leaned forward, so close that our nose tips were almost touching, just a few millimeters away from me. "I want you in my tribe," she said.
I nearly did a spit take again, but her fingers pinched my lips at once. I must've looked pretty silly with my cheeks puffed up and looking like I was about to kiss, but silliness didn't seem relevant right now.
"Shower me in your milk again, and it'll be the last thing you ever do," Raven threatened.
...
...
There was a joke in there somewhere, I just know it.
I swallowed first - bow chicka bow wow - before brushing her hand aside as I sat back. "You want me to join your tribe," I said. "Why is that?"
"You have a powerful weapon. And a very strong semblance. You don't have my semblance, no one semblance is ever truly the same. But yours was. I also did some digging. Cinder may be a power hungry blowhard, but she did provide some useful intel. Your semblance lets you copy any semblance you've seen before. With exact proficiency," Raven said smugly. "And I know you've seen some very useful semblances in your time at Beacon."
"Uh...huh," I said. "So that makes me a viable weapon for you to use however you want?"
"As much as my brother has no doubt told you of the Branwen Tribe-" Raven said, unaware that everything I knew about the tribe was based off of what I'd seen in Volume 5, and that Qrow never told us a specific thing about the Branwen Tribe. "-our warriors are treated fairly. Strength is rewarded with riches and loyalty, and you are easily much stronger than most. You don't have to follow Ozpin's futile crusade against her. You can live like royalty, fighting those weaker than you, and be fulfilled."
Raven leaned forward, a sultry smile on her face. "And I do reward those who are strong," she said. She was seriously trying to seduce me. No doubt she knows how hot she is.
Normally, I would blush nervously, especially since remnants of the milk I'd accidentally expectorated on her face and neck had dried up by now, looking an awful like...I refuse to finish that statement. But now, after Beacon? After remembering what I was up against? What kind of scummy person Raven Branwen was? Who I really loved...still love?
"Yeah, and let everyone else die because I'm too lazy to do shit other than fight defenseless villagers to prove I'm 'stronger'? No thanks, woman," I said, tipping back the bowl and slurping down my bowl.
When I set my bowl down, that inviting bedroom look in her eyes had turned into an annoyed scowl. "I'm gonna pass on that offer. You said you wanted her back. Any reason why?" I said as I leaned on the wall again.
"She's the Spring Maiden. Hasn't Qrow told you?" Raven sneered.
"She isn't the maiden. If she were, she'd break free the moment we captured her. Nope, she's a decoy," I said. Raven's smirk was wiped off her face, replaced with a glare that was, dare I say it, nervous. "You're Raven Branwen. Obsessed with power and strength. You wouldn't be content with the tribe in possession of a maiden. No, you'd want that power all to yourself, because you believe yourself to be strong enough to control it."
Raven glowered at me, and I continued. "But you use Vernal as a shield to hide behind because you know who else wants the power. And you know the moment you expose yourself as the maiden, she will come at you with everything she has," I said. "Is that about right?"
Raven clenched her fist on the table for a few seconds before sighing. "I will not ask you again," she said. "You will either come with me willingly, or you will be a prisoner in our camp, where Cinder will have you."
I grinned snarkily. "Did you know that I dated Yang in Beacon?" I asked, changing the topic. I pulled off the glove on my left hand and flexed my sleek and metallic fingers of my Atlesian prosthetic arm. "She gave me this when Beacon fell. She traumatized and abandoned me, but somehow, I think visiting her for a second will be much more fulfilling than a lifetime of living near a cowardly abandoning murdering pillaging scumbag excuse of a fraction of a human being like you."
Raven growled and reached for her sword, before a hand fell on her shoulder. Whirling around, Raven's glare faltered for a second upon seeing Qrow leaning on the wall, flask of booze in hand as he looked down at his sister. "You're going to leave right now before things get ugly," he warned.
"And why would I do that?" Raven asked.
"Because you admitted you have the maiden power," Qrow said. "A power you murdered a scared little girl to get."
"And what if Cinder finds out you've been tricking them?" I asked. "She'll forget all about us and go after the bigger fish."
Raven gritted her teeth. Cinder wanted me alive, so killing me was out of the option if she still wanted nothing to do with Salem. She slowly relaxed her hand and brought it down to her side. Getting up, she kicked the chair back and shoved aside Qrow before she drew her sword again, in the middle of the room.
As she swiped and activated her semblance, she stormed through the portal and closed it right behind her. Sighing, I nodded my thanks to Qrow, despite the tired look he had, as well as the silent looks of surprise and curiosity from the hundred or so people in the breakfast buffet room.
Qrow flopped in the chair his sister had just vacated, and he guzzled his flask. "The omelets are good," he said once he'd set his flask down. "Especially with the hash."
"Sounds good," I said as I got up with my empty bowl and cup to put away. "Think Ruby would want some?"
"Yeah. And don't forget the chocolate chip muffins," Qrow said. "They don't have cookies this early, so muffins are good enough."
And so we continued on as if things were normal. Because in Remnant, with the threats we face, they might as well be the new norm.