Chapter 5
Glynda Goodwitch sighed as she pulled the door to her new office shut. The past couple weeks had been rather stressful. She knew that she should have expected the increase in paperwork that would come from accepting the position, but she had no idea what she was supposed to do about the mountainous amount that arrived at her desk during the few hours she had been away teaching.
'I should have known that the most renowned Huntsmen academy would have so many extra responsibilities. At least it's over for today.'
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind that a familiar voice echoed her way.
"Glynda. How wonderful it is to see you again."
She paused for only the briefest of moments before turning to face … her aunt. Her lips pulled into a tight line as she acknowledged her aunt. "It… has been a while, Auntie."
The older woman stalked towards her, a light chuckle on her lips. "Indeed it has. I suppose that is to be expected when you finally became a full-fledged Huntress."
She raised a hand and lightly stroked Glynda's face, the action causing her to ever so slightly flinched. "If I had known that you would be accepting a teaching position, I would have gladly helped set you up with Madam Hemlock. Oh well, Beacon's reputation isn't too terrible and, from what I've seen, they produce passable results."
Glynda thickly swallowed. "I'll be sure to pass the compliment along to the Headmaster. I'm sure he would be delighted to know that you think so highly of his academy."
She subtly bit her lip. "How did you find my office? You didn't order anyone to do so, did you?"
Her aunt pulled her hand back and placed it on her chest, her face aghast. "Oh dear heavens, Glynda. I have no need to do such a thing to any of these young ones. I merely asked a student where I might find your office and she pointed me in the direction. You should know that I have no want to waste my abilities on something so mundane."
The younger woman put her head down. "Forgive me. These past few days have been more stressful than I thought they would be. I must be rather tired."
The older Goodwitch simply stared at her, oppressively. Glynda felt the pressure die down as her aunt took her arm. "Of course, of course. That must be it. I would love to know how your days are now, so why don't we chat of dinner. I happen to know this nice Mistralian restaurant. Also I happened to have started a new project, and I'm sure you'd take an interest in it as well. Let's get going, Glynda dear."
Glynda Goodwitch kept her head down as she let herself be pulled along. "Of course, Auntie."
Setting aside her utensils, Glynda kept a sigh from escaping her. The Mistralian delicacy was enjoyable, but the atmosphere was as stuffy and suffocating as these rich restaurants typically were. Her aunt lightly eating the same dish, some fish covered in spices she couldn't identify, and occasionally dapping at her lips with her napkin.
Just as she was about to break the silence that had come over them during dinner, her aunt beat her to it. "I know it probably isn't any of my business, but I do have to ask, why the change in career? You've only been an active Huntress for two, maybe three years. Did you not like what you saw?"
Glynda frowned. She hadn't been wanting to broach the subject, but she knew her aunt would bring it up. "There wasn't anything egregious that happened. I simply concluded that my skills would be better spent training future Huntsmen."
Her aunt fixed her with a disbelieving look. "So you found your fellow Huntsmen to be lacking and thought to bring the next generation up to a better standard."
"That's not-"
"Please, Glynda. We both know that the average Huntsman or Huntress is so laughably inept compared to their betters. Honestly it feels more like the academies are throwing hopeful idiots out to stem the flow so that the Grimm don't overrun us all."
Crane slowly took a sip from her tea, watching her niece. "Am I wrong?"
The younger Goodwitch bowed her head. She wasn't wrong. Even though her time actively hunting had been short, she had seen more than she would have liked in regard to the capabilities of her peers. It was as though they hadn't progressed at all from the time they had enrolled in the academies.
She felt a hand on hers and looked up at her aunt. "I understand that frustration. Despite the mortality rate of new graduates, the academies don't change the way they teach, and more are shuffled to their doom. It is disappointing that the headmasters don't attempt to change anything, but I am also aware that such change will likely take far longer than I'll ever have. Like Headmaster Ozpin, I truly did mean what I said earlier, some of the students, while still rough around the edges, had the inklings of greatness in them. While it may not have been your initial decision, I am happy that you've found something that you truly want."
Glynda couldn't help the warmth she felt as her aunt smiled at her. She was happy with her, not deriding her for wasting all that time she had spent training her. The older Goodwitch, the only mother she had ever known, was happy that she had found something she wanted.
"Then why not join the academies, why not help ensure that more aren't sent off to die. Why help the criminals that threaten the livelihood of the Kingdoms?"
Her aunt sighed as she pulled her hand back. "Things are hardly so simple. I'm sure you'll learn more as you grow older, but just know that even the criminal underworld has its use."
A smile creeped back onto her aunt's face. "Enough of all that. Have you found anyone that… peaked your interest?"
A blush bloomed on Glynda's face. "Aunt!"
The older woman merely chuckled. "Come now, Glynda. You're in the youth of your life. I know things didn't end well with that one girl, but who's to say no one else won't be the one to steal your heart."
The young blonde hid her face in her hands, groaning. "Do we really need to have this discussion here?"
Still with that taunting smile on her face, her aunt leaned on her hands. "I don't see why not. Don't tell me you're embarrassed?"
Glynda groaned again. Her aunt lightly chuckled for a few moments before her smile dimmed. "I know this isn't something you might want, but how do you feel about joining me and observing my newest commission?"
She knew what her aunt's job was, who she dealt with regularly. She tried as hard as she could to keep away from those elements, but a part of her was curious as to how her aunt taught others. She had her own experience to draw from, but she might be able to gleam some insight that would help her with her own teaching.
Qrow had grown used to cursing his luck, but things could hardly be going any worse. The job was supposed to be finished weeks ago, but this one group had secret hideouts and traps all over the place. He'd fallen in more pits filled Deathstalkers and Centinels than he cared to count, alongside a near encounter with a Blind Worm. Honestly, he'd be glad to never set foot in this shithole of a Kingdom again, but he knew that wasn't very likely with his luck.
"Mr. Branwen. Have you found them yet?"
Then there was the rest of his "group." While he knew he wouldn't be able to securely rescue all the people he might find, he wasn't sure how well they would do in an actual fight. Sure, they were licensed Huntsmen, but that didn't mean shit when most of them looked like they had barely graduated from Shade.
Qrow growled as he started walking down the dune he stood on heading towards the camp they had set up. "Yeah, I found them. Maybe another mile or so. The place looked decent enough for being this far out."
"Okay, so what's the plan?" one of the youngsters asked.
Qrow barely looked their way as he pulled out his flask and took a long drink. Pulling the flask away, he wiped his mouth with his arm. "Wait until night hits, then we'll sack 'em."
"Seriously?! We're just going to wait? What about all the people they have?" some young punk spoke up from the group.
Qrow fixed him with a hard look. "Anything that's going to happen to them in the meantime won't be something that hadn't already happened. If we wait, then odds are all the civies will be in one place, probably locked up somewhere. We can deal with whatever guard they have and save everyone we can."
"Why wait, when we can go save them now!" that same punk shouted.
"I've done missions like these countless times, and each time the best outcome came from catching these scumbags off-guard. We may be more skilled, but their desperation will push them to lengths that we can't afford. It's best that there be something between them and any potential hostages that way we can make sure everyone makes it out alive."
Qrow stared the young man down. Eventually the younger Huntsman backed down. Qrow looked out over the rest of the group. "Anyone else think they know best."
No one else spoke up. Qrow trudged off towards one of the caravan vehicles. Reclining against it, he pulls out his Scroll. "We'll breach the compound a quarter after midnight. You've got roughly six hours. Rest up or whatever, just be ready to go by midnight."
With his piece said, Qrow closed his eyes, intent on napping. The younger Huntsmen all splintered off amongst themselves, seemingly making their last minute preparations.
"Are we sure we should be doing this? Didn't Mr. Branwen say to wait-"
"I'm not going to let that quack of a Hunter waste time while those people are trapped in that damn building. We already agreed to do this, so why are you getting cold feet now?"
The small group of Huntsmen were huddled together just outside the facility. The five of them weren't too happy with Qrow's seemingly dismissive behavior. Agreeing to head out far earlier than the decided upon time, they hardly had an actual plan, but they couldn't let that stop them from saving any kidnapped people that may be in the building.
The leader of the group, the young punk that spoke out against Qrow, nodded his head. "Then let's get started."
"-en!"
Qrow jolted awake at the sound of screaming. One of the Hunters from his group crouched over him, a desperate look on her face. He immediately switched into work mode. "What's the situation?"
The Huntress quickly got to her feet with Qrow right behind her. "The facility sounded some sort of alarm just a couple minutes ago. We noticed smoke coming from it and we can't find some of the Huntsmen that were here."
Qrow growled as he started running towards the building. "Times up, squirts. We're storming it now."
The rest of the group scrambled to gather their weapons as Qrow sprinted towards the facility. His eyes searching for any potential Grimm that would undoubtably be drawn to the chaos breaking out. Already he can see specks of the darkness sprinkled on the sands in the distance, the early moonlight doing little to help his vision.
"Just my luck. Why does my Semblance always have to screw everything up?"