Reunion of the Raven, Dragon, and Snowflake
Outside Bandit Camp
'Please let me not be too late,' thought Wayne as he pushed through the trees. He'd been following the tracks of Raven and Weiss for some time now. At a couple points he'd been afraid he was losing the trail. But as he moved further he began hearing sounds of activity, like multiple conversations, the sounds of tools carving wood as well as the smell of numerous campfires.
Leaping up onto a nearby tree branch, Wayne looked out towards a large wall constructed of logs and massive ropes. 'Found you,' he thought with a mix of triumph and relief, 'Now to find Weiss.' Looking around for any tall tree he could find, Wayne began his recon of the camp.
For several minutes he circled the camp by leaping from tree to tree, trying to get a view of what was on the other side of the wall without attracting attention. 'There certainly are a lot of them,' he thought to himself as he continued circling, 'But where's Weiss?' Thanks to his night vision he'd been able see numerous things in the camp, such as what type of weapons the bandits had, their supplies, how many tents there were. But he hadn't seen Weiss.
Hopping another few trees, Wayne finally got a look over at the opposite side of the camp, and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing correctly. There she was, bound and in a large cage, but alive. Wayne let out a massive sigh of relief at seeing the former heiress. Sure she was captured and not in a good position to be sure, but she was alive nonetheless.
'Alright,' he thought as he readjusted his position on the tree, 'I know I came here with a nasty plan, but it's a last resort, so let's see if there's a less bloody way I can get her out first.' Scanning the area, Wayne found that the best approach was probably to drop down from the back of the camp behind the cage. At least that was the theory.
As Wayne made his way over, he caught a glimpse of a much larger tent. It was supported by what looked like a small stage underneath it. Likely to allow the bandit's leader to make speeches to the whole tribe. And speaking of which, right next to the tent's entrance was the bandit leader herself, Grimm mask and all.
'Well there's my main problem right there,' thought Wayne as he continued moving through the trees, 'But if I can stay out of her sight I should be alright.' Fortunately, Raven Branwen was looking down while making adjustments to her weapon. Even so, Wayne kept low so that her view was pretty much blocked by the wooden wall.
'Here we are,' he thought to himself as he arrived at the spot behind where Weiss's cage was, 'And here goes.' Moving slowly so as not to attract attention, Wayne climbed up the tree, his form still concealed by the darkness of the slowly receding night. 'The guards are pretty much asleep by the looks of it, so I just gotta wait for the right moment.'
"You imbeciles better not be sleeping out there!" Said a female voice as a woman with incredibly short hair came walking out of a nearby tent. ' # $ I forgot about her,' thought Wayne in surprise as he quickly regained his balance.
"Uh, no Vernal," Said one of the bandits as they both snapped to attention, "We were just taking turns resting our eyes." 'So that's your real name,' thought Wayne as he moved to take a closer look. Sia, or rather Vernal as she was being called, was no longer wearing her green cloak. Now she was wearing a rugged outfit consisting of cargo pants, a grey vest, boots and gloves. Her demeanor was also completely different now too.
"I'm sure," Said Vernal with a sigh, "Lucky for you I'm here to take over watch for you two."
"Oh that's great," said the other bandit as he tripped over his words, "I-I mean, yes mam." The two bandits wasted no time in getting out of sight as Vernal sat down on the crate that one of the bandits had been using. She exchanged a few words with Weiss, mostly about how she shouldn't make things difficult. She also mentioned the fact, probably not for the first time, that they'd be ransoming Weiss back to her father. As she spoke she pulled out a familiar, rapier weapon.
'So she's the one with Myrtenaster,' thought Wayne as he shifted to make himself comfortable, 'Well that saves me the trouble of hunting it down, but getting it is another story entirely.' He continued to watch as Vernal began fiddling with the weapon, her conversation with Weiss clearly over. 'Well let's see how long it takes for someone like her to fall asleep,' he thought as he leaned back and sat down on a branch, 'They don't seem to be moving her anywhere tonight, so if I can find an opening I can get her out of there.'
A Couple of Hours Later
'This is $ $ing unbelievable,' thought Wayne as he rubbed his eyes, 'did this woman spend most of the day sleeping before she took watch?' The sun caught his attention then as he looked up for a moment. 'Ah nuts,' he thought to himself, 'without the cover of darkness I'm way more likely to be noticed, and I really want to avoid a fight if I can.'
Mulling over his options, Wayne finally decided to slowly make his way down from the tree. 'Since they need to contact Jacque Schnee, it'll be at least a day before the message gets to him if they haven't already sent out a messenger. And even if they had, it would still take another day or so for an Atlesian ship to get here.'
Reaching the forest floor, Wayne looked around for a hiding spot to rest in. 'I still have a bit of time, so if I play this right I may still be able to get her out of there without a fight. But I don't have enough food with me to last too long, so if I can't get her out after tomorrow I'll have to use the last resort.'
With that thought in mind Wayne moved back around the wall until he found a spot where he could see the front gate. 'Hopefully that gate makes a good bit of noise, I may sleep light but not that light,' he thought to himself as he settled a spot to rest in. 'Just hang on a little longer Weiss, I'll find a way to get you out of here.'
The sound of groaning wood woke Wayne from his sleep as he sat up quickly. 'Did they get a message out already,' he thought, trying to keep himself calm. Looking out from his hiding spot, Wayne saw a single bandit approaching the rest of the camp. 'Wonder what he wants,' thought Wayne as he strained his ears to listen.
"Hey guys I need a little back up here," said the bandit as a few more of his brethren came walking out. "I got a blonde bimbo on a bike that needs a lesson taught to her." That last part caught Wayne's attention. 'It can't be,' he thought as the bandits headed back to where the first one came.
Wayne weighed his options. If this was just a random stranger he was back to his original options. But if this was who he thought it was, then he had a much greater chance of helping Weiss. After thinking it over for another few moments, he decided it was worth checking out. Moving from his hiding spot, Wayne made sure that no one spotted him as he followed the other bandits back into forest.
He didn't have too far to walk as it turned out. When he arrived at the area where the other bandits were, they were already in a semicircle around their target. Taking a quick look out, Wayne had to hit his head a couple times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. In the center of the bandits sat an all too familiar yellow motorcycle, bumblebee.
And even though the rider of the bike had changed her outfit a bit, with a brown leather collar and long coat tails, her long yellow hair was unmistakable. 'You came to Mistral after all,' thought Wayne, 'Glad you could make it, Yang.'
"Get her!" Yelled the bandit which had led the other bandits to her. 'Oh right,' thought Wayne as he snapped out of his nostalgic thoughts, 'There are still bandits here.' Moving out from behind the tree, Wayne moved to give Yang a hand. Though it didn't seem like she needed it.
Yang bobbed and weaved around the bandits, easily blocking and counterattacking against their blades and guns. To be honest, he almost felt sorry for the bandits. As Yang continued fighting, the main bandit tried to shoot her with his revolver but instead got a smashed foot and a hurt jaw for his trouble. 'Maybe I should just let her take care of this,' thought Wayne as he walked towards the one-sided match up.
Yang had just about finished taking out all of the bandits when Wayne noticed the main bandit was getting back up and aiming his gun at her unprotected back. Or at least he would have if Wayne hadn't grabbed his weapon hand and kept it pointing down. "Now that's just rude," Said Wayne as the bandit freaked out, before getting knocked over by a punch to the face.
"Wayne!" He heard Yang exclaim with more than a little surprise. "Hey Yang," Said Wayne as he raised the revolver he'd taken and fired, knocking down the last bandit, who just happened to be behind Yang, "How's Mistral treating you so far."
"Oh you know," Said Yang as she indicated the rest of the fallen bandits, "Just a little local trouble."
"Yeah bandits," said Wayne as he emptied the rest of the bullets from the revolver and dropped it on its owner's head. "What are you gonna d-UFFF!"
Wayne's sentence was cut off as Yang had suddenly lunged forward and wrapped him up in a very firm bear hug. "It's great to see you Wayne," Said Yang as she continued to squeeze him affectionately, "I know I wasn't showing it at the time but I really was missing you guys while I was at home."
"I missed you too," Said Wayne as he struggled to breath, "Though I'm also missing being able to breathe right now too."
"Whoops, sorry about that," Said Yang as she released Wayne, allowing him some much needed oxygen. "I'm still getting used to the grip with this new arm."
"No problem," Said Wayne as he caught his breath, "I just think it's a little ironic to be giving a guy with bear Faunus genes a bear hug."
"Speaking of bears," Said Yang, "where's Aegis at come to think of it where's everyone else?"
"That's a bit of a long story," Explained Wayne, "Ruby and the rest of Jaune's team are probably at Haven by now, probably. As for Aegis, he's in Menagerie helping out Blake."
"How'd he wind up there?" Asked Yang, "and more specifically, why are you here by yourself?"
"I was traveling with Weiss," Said Wayne, "But we got separated. However, I do have a lead to some bandits who might know where she is if you got time for a detour."
"I was actually looking for these bandits anyway," Said Yang as the main bandit raised his head groggily, "And their camp's right around here, so we're in luck."
"I don't know who you two are," said the main bandit, who Wayne now noticed was missing a tooth, "But when Raven gets word of what you did you're both dead."
"You'd like to think so," Said Wayne. "He'd like too," Repeated Yang, "But I think we'll be fine, I am her daughter after all."
"Oh I'm so dead," said the bandit as he fainted again. Wayne and Yang took this as the signal to head off towards the bandit camp, both adopting a more serious look as they went. 'I know I should tell Yang the whole story,' Thought Wayne, 'But the last thing we need right now is a fight with Raven and her powerful friend.'
Branwen Tribe Main Camp
'Well they are definitely not happy to see us,' thought Wayne as they walked into the main camp. They were being escorted by the bandits Yang had beaten up earlier. Needless to say, they weren't in a terribly good mood either. What had Wayne the most worried, though, was how many of them recognized him.
Looking around, Wayne noticed that most of the camp was like he'd seen when scouting it. Red or brown tents were set up everywhere around them, with a few paths to allow people to come and go. And in the center stood the main tent, and hopefully its occupant was in a good mood.
Wayne took a covert glance behind them, noticing that every bandit in the camp had gathered around behind them. 'Gosh I hope this works,' he thought as he looked over at Yang to see how she was doing. A serious look had crossed her face the moment they'd set foot in the camp. Wayne was pretty sure he knew why as he followed her gaze to the wooden platform in front of the main tent.
As if on cue, the flap to the main tent was pushed aside as Raven Branwen stepped out onto the platform, her signature Grimm mask covering her features. 'Here we go,' thought Wayne as a tense silence passed between the three of them. "Mom," Yang finally said as she put a hand on her hip.
As if to acknowledge them, Raven removed her mask, revealing a surprisingly soft expression underneath. "Yang," Raven said as she set her mask down and walked forward on the platform before raising her voice. "So it seems after all this time you've finally come for a visit, and you've brought friends, or is it the other way around?"
"We bumped into each other on the way," Wayne commented as he crossed his arms.
"You know I looked for you," Said Yang as she grabbed her left hand to stop it from shaking. An action which didn't go unnoticed by Wayne. "I spent years trying to find you."
"And through patience and determination, you've made your dream a reality," Said Raven, "A job well done, but did you really have to rough up my men so badly?"
"And why did your friend shoot me in the shoulder?" Asked the bandit Wayne had shot, "This thing stings man."
"Oh quit whining, I just grazed your shoulder ya big baby," Replied Wayne without even looking back.
"I wasn't the one looking for a fight," Said Yang, "They started it."
"And you most certainly finished it," Said Raven with a smirk crossing her face. Yang didn't answer back as a tense silence filled the air between Mother and daughter.
"Right," Said Raven, breaking the silence, "I imagine this might be a little overwhelming at the moment. But you've more than proven yourself, so I'll answer any questions you have." Raven stepped forward as she held her arms out in a gesture of hospitality. "You can spend the night here, I'll even have the cooks arrange something special."
"That's not what I came for," Said Yang without a trace of humor in her voice. A murmur went through the bandit camp at her statement.
"What did you say?" Asked Raven, her semi-friendly demeanor gone.
"I didn't come to see you," Explained Yang, "Ruby's in Mistral right now, probably with Uncle Qrow. But she's still gonna need help, so I need you to send us to them."
"And why exactly should I do that," Asked Raven as she crossed her arms defiantly.
"Because you and I are family, and Wayne's a friend of the family," Said Yang, trying and failing to sound innocent.
"Ah family," said Raven, somewhat quietly, "Only ever stopping by when they need something."
"To be fair, you don't really seem to do social visits," Commented Wayne. Both Raven and Yang shot him a look. "Just saying, you ever try a family barbecue?"
Raven simply sighed as she turned her attention back to Yang. "Honestly I'm a little disappointed," she said, "You managed to find me, I see no reason you can't use that same drive and determination to find your sister. Seeing how she means so much to you."
"But you can save us a lot of time," Said Yang, "Ruby was going to Mistral but there's no way of knowing if she's made it there. Searching Anima would likely take ages." Yang paused to take a breath before she continued. "Fortunately, Dad let me in on how your semblance works."
"Tai," Wayne heard Raven utter under her breath. "You have the ability to create bonds with certain people," Explained Yang with a knowing smirk, "Using those bonds, you can create portals to take you to them. From what I know, you've got a portal for Dad, for me, and of course one for Qrow."
"That's mostly correct," Said Raven, "If I use enough energy, I can actually use someone else's bond to create a portal, though only a couple at a time, right Wayne." Wayne didn't answer. And Yang didn't seem to notice as she got back on topic.
"Well Qrow promised he'd look after Ruby when he left, and I trust he still is," Said Yang, "So all we need is a portal to my sister and Uncle and we'll be on our way."
"It takes a lot of gall to come into my camp and demand a favor of me," Said Raven after a moment, "I'm honestly impressed. And while it is noble that you want to help out your little sister, she's already a lost cause if she's with your uncle."
"What's that supposed to mean," Asked Yang. 'This is going nowhere fast,' thought Wayne as he gripped his right weapon in his coat.
"Trust me, you don't need to get mixed up in all that," Said Raven, "Ozpin is not who you think he is. As for Qrow, he's a fool for trusting him, believe me I know, I once did the same."
"I don't care what you have to say about it!" Said Yang, causing Vernal, who'd gathered with the rest of the bandits to glare angrily at her. Wayne's grip around his weapon tightened when he noticed she was still holding Myrtenaster.
"The choice is yours to make," Said Raven as she began walking to the other side of the stage, "But consider the alternative. Instead of getting wrapped up in something far bigger than any of us, you could think about where you are, and the fact that maybe you're already in the place you belong."
"Save it," Said Yang, "No matter what nonsense you fill like spouting, I won't let it or anything else keep me from my sister!"
Raven's grip tightened on her sword for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, a look of amusement crossed her face. "You really are stubborn," Raven said with a sad smile.
"I get it from you Mom," Remarked Yang as she crossed her arms.
"Well since that's the way you feel," Said Raven, "I believe we're done here. Take them away."
"We're not going anywhere!" Stated Wayne, causing Raven to stop at the entrance to her tent.
"Not unless it's through a portal!" Exclaimed Yang as a number of bandits began closing in around them, "NOW SEND US TO QROW DAMMIT!"
"Silence!" Yelled one of the bandits, "You'll watch your tongue around our leader!"
'Well this is definitely not going the way I'd hoped,' thought Wayne as he reached his other hand into his coat. "You'll have to make me," Said Yang. That was the last straw as the bandit charged at Yang, swinging a beat up, machete-style blade. Yang easily ducked the strike and punched him hard in the face.
The bandit went flying across the camp and into a nearby tent, knocking it over to reveal a large cage. The same cage that had been holding Weiss the whole time. "Wayne," Weiss said happily, "And Yang?"
"Weiss?" Questioned Yang, more than a little surprised at her friend's presence in the camp.
"Well we can skip one bull # $ conversation," Said Wayne as he pulled out his Crescent Fangs, "Though I think we're past the talking portion."
Weiss seemed to agree as she summoned another one of her white knights which grew up out of the cage. The top of the cage went flying off, allowing Weiss to run out of the cage, followed by her now twenty foot tall summon. "Uh, what's that supposed to be?" Asked Yang as Weiss came to stand next to Yang and Wayne.
"Worry about it later," Said Weiss, "And what are you doing here anyway Yang?"
"Well we were hoping my Mom there could take us to Ruby," Replied Yang as she indicated Raven.
"Obviously it's not going as planned," Said Wayne as he transformed his left weapon into sickle form and handed it to Weiss.
"Wait, I was kidnapped by your Mom?!" Exclaimed Weiss after she took the offered weapon.
"What, you kidnapped Weiss?!" Yang questioned angrily as she glared at Raven.
"More or less yeah," Confirmed Wayne as he began focusing, "And you better not deny it Raven!"
"You didn't know about this did you Wayne?" Questioned Yang, her accusing glare now on Wayne.
"I'll explain later," Said Wayne as black mist began emanating from his body, "Right now, you just need to keep the bandits busy."
"And you?" Asked Weiss as they turned to face the bandits surrounding them.
"I'm getting your weapon back," Replied Wayne as he changed his remaining weapon to sickle form and shot forward towards Raven. Just as he was about to reach her, Vernal sped in between them, blocking Wayne's remaining weapon with Myrtenaster, just as he'd hoped.
"Are you serious right now?" Asked Vernal as she pushed back against Wayne, "You should know even with this technique, you can't win against the two of us."
"We don't have to win," Said Wayne as he aimed a blast from his left hand at Vernal, "heck I don't even really need to fight, just hold out for a bit." The bandit moved in time to avoid the blast as the ground was shattered where she once was.
"That's your plan?!" exclaimed Vernal as she charged forward, her weapon aimed at Wayne's chest. "You want to bring the Grimm here!"
"Pretty much," responded Wayne as he knocked away a few of Vernal's strikes, thankful for her lack of experience with the weapon. "Hope that doesn't ruin your day too badly."
"You imbecile!" Yelled Vernal as she knocked Wayne's weapon aside and blasted him back with a massive gust of wind. Wayne hit the ground and rolled back up as Vernal charged again. "The Grimm could easily kill your friend's too!" She exclaimed.
"They can take 'em," replied Wayne as he blocked another one of her strikes, locking their weapons as he did so. "The question you and Branwen should be asking," He said as he threw a left hook at her midsection, which Vernal caught with her own left hand, "is how much can your tribe take?"
Vernal grit her teeth at that statement as she tried to force Wayne back from her. But it proved difficult thanks to his Aura Shadow being active. "Vernal," Raven called suddenly, "I give you permission, stop this madness at once!"
Vernal glanced back at Raven and nodded her head before turning back to Wayne. But as she turned back, an unnatural glow filled her eyes as energy flowed out of her hands. Wayne was blasted back by a sudden charge of electricity as he was sent into a nearby table, shattering it.
Quickly rising back to his feet, Wayne charged back into the fray, ready to let loose his semblance in full force this time. But just as he was about to reach Vernal, a series of lightning strikes hit the field around them. Stopping just in the nick of time, he heard Vernal's voice echo throughout the whole camp.
"STOP!" Vernal yelled as Wayne backed up, noticing that Weiss and Yang were backing away from the other bandits as well. Also due to lightning strikes.
"Thank you," Said Raven as she turned her gaze to the rest of them. "If we don't keep it together the Grimm will be crawling all over this camp, and Ursario," Raven pointed her finger at Wayne, "You've made your point, now end the technique!"
"Since you asked so nicely," Said Wayne as he ceased generating the mist from his body. Wayne staggered a bit as he shook off some of the aftereffects.
"Vernal," Said Raven, "Return the heiress's weapon to her." Vernal looked taken aback for a moment, but did as instructed and tossed Weiss her weapon. Weiss snatched it out of the air before tossing Wayne his other Crescent Fang.
"You three, meet me in my tent, now," Said Raven as she turned to enter the main tent.
"And why should we do that?" Asked Yang as she clenched her fists.
"Because you need to know the truth before going after your sister," Replied Raven as she turned and headed into her tent. The rest of the bandits followed their leader's example and headed back to their respective tents. As for the three former Beacon students, they all let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry about my-," Yang started to say before Weiss suddenly threw her arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug.
"I missed you Yang," Said Weiss, on the verge of crying tears of joy, "I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too Weiss," Yang finally replied as she got over her surprise and hugged Weiss back. Wayne simply smiled as he returned his weapons to his coat and picked up Weiss's weapon. Which she'd dropped when she went to hug Yang.
"Oh and Wayne," Said Yang, as she suddenly reached out and yanked on his coat's collar, pulling him much closer to her face. "You've got a lot of explaining to do." Wayne could only laugh nervously as Weiss's summon disappeared into the wind.
And so Wayne and Weiss are reunited once again, and Yang is now in the fold too. Hello everyone, sorry if this is out a slight bit late but as they say, life. And thank you all so far for your comments and reviews as we really start to get into the swing of this latest volume. Be sure to stop by next time as Aegis runs into a new obstacle while chasing Ilia. And Qrow's search for huntsman leads him to two unexpected allies. 'Til next time.
