Author's Notes

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Oh, what's that sound, you ask? That's just the sound of the 'my new favorite character alarm' going off. We have a new arrival, and they're gonna be a blast.

Sorry about the troll yesterday. It was too good to resist, and I did need one more chapter to make the even hundred. Still, it's funny that I can post one word, repeated a few times, and get over 400 views, the record for July.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

Chapter 70: Creepy and Angry

In which Bronzewing wakes up the captive of a nightmare made real, Ruby wakes up the captive of a pair of real numbskulls, and Weiss wakes up the captive of a familiar-looking face.

Bronzewing awoke to agonizing pain, the likes of which he had never experienced before.

Perspective. He needed to maintain his perspective.

The world was moving, but he was stationary. The dirt road bounced up and down, but the…horse?...the horse he was riding did not. That meant it was stationary in tandem with him while the world moved around them.

There was another rider on top of the horse. Bronzewing attempted to place a hand on this unknown cavalryman's shoulder to stir them but found that he was bound by a bulky rope of some sort. Tracing the rope away from his body, he followed it…to the arms of the other rider?

Bronzewing's breath hitched as he realized exactly where he was.

The Nuckelavee did not seem bothered by his struggling, and he attempted to liberate himself from its elongated extremities. Bronzewing tried to reach from Hallshott in its scabbard, but the stretchy arms lashed around him were too tight. Besides, even if he was armed, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to emerge victorious against another Grimm with aura. He'd lost miserably even with the might of his full team back in initiation, and now he only had Rose, who was still getting accustomed to her blindn–

Rose! Bronzewing extended his semblance to the furthest reaches that he could, but his travelling partner was nowhere to be felt. Where was she? Where was he?

The last memory he could pull out of his addled mind was discussing the Nuckelavee with her. Then, he recalled pain, dizziness, a bright light and loud shout, and nothingness. Now, he was in the hands of the Grimm beast that was outside the tavern. His mouth tasted bitter and acidic, but his stomach felt empty, as though he'd recently vomited. Perhaps he had.

Try as he may, he could not put the pieces together and come to what seemed like the obvious conclusion – that the Nuckelavee was responsible for his bout of delirium. There was simply too much evidence against it. Even if he'd been knocked unconscious instantly by an attack from behind, he had felt unwell well before blacking out. Something or someone in the tavern had unbalanced his humors, and that left him vulnerable to being kidnapped.

But Rose would've protected him if he'd fallen ill or been intoxicated…which meant that she had also been rendered insensate. Bronzewing needed to find her. Team Road did not leave behind their own.

Of course, he'd have to rescue himself before he could rescue her. Combat was out of the question, but perhaps flight was not. The Nuckelavee, if comparable to a genuine horse, likely galloped faster than a human, but they were surrounded by forests. Perhaps he might be able to lose it amongst the cover of a thicket. After all, he had the advantage in terms of visionary range. Now, all that was left was to disenthrall himself.

The Grimm ceased its trot and unraveled its arms of its own volition.

Bronzewing faltered for a brief moment before dismounted and breaking into a run.

"nnnnnnnno"

Bronzewing pivoted on one foot and drew Hallshott in a single fluid motion. Perhaps he could cut a ligament and prevent it from chasing him. He need not kill it, but crippling it would significantly bolster his odds of escape.

"ssssstay hhhhhelp fffffriends"

True to its equine appearance, the Nuckelavee spoke in a high pitched whine. Oddly enough, the voice came from the horse's mouth, not the rider. Bronzwing paused. Team Castle had somehow managed to parlay with the mutant Grimm back at Beacon. Maybe, just maybe…

Nonetheless, he kept Hallshott at the ready.

"What do you want from me? Why did you take me from Rose?"

"nnnnnno ttttttake"

"ssssssave yyyyyyou dddddying"

"What are you saying?"

"pppppoisoned"

"iiiiiiii ffffffforce ggggggggag"

"ssssssave nnnnnno hhhhhhhurt"

Bronzewing considered the situation for a moment. Verily, if this monster wished to do him harm, it easily could have. True, he was in great pain, but something had happened to him inside the tavern before the Nuckelavee ever got its weird stretchy hand things on him. Perhaps it really had saved him.

"Where are you taking me?"

"ffffffriends"

The horseman raised an arm in the direction that they'd been travelling, and Bronzewing for the first time noticed a city ahead of them. Rather, the ruins of a city.

"What is this place?"

"mmmmmmmen lllllllllleave oooooold lllllllllland cccccccome hhhhhhhhere"

"gggggggrimm ffffffffind"

"iiiiiiiii ffffffffollow gggggggrimm iiiiiiii kkkkkkkkill gggggggrimm"

"tttttttttoo lllllllllate ssssssssave mmmmmmen"

"mmmmmmmen dddddddie"

"bbbbbbbbut fffffffriends llllllive"

Bronzewing hesitated to ask the next question. "Who are your friends?"

Ruby's eyes opened. She looked around and saw nothing. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was…sipping tea and kicking butt. Why were the lights out?

Oh, right.

Well, she wasn't going to find out where she was by sitting around. Ruby tried to push off the ground to stand up, but she found herself unable to move her hands. Darn, this was going to be tough. If, she couldn't feel her way around, she was pretty much completely unaware of her surroundings. She tried to feel what was restraining her wrists, but her fingers couldn't reach that far. If she had to guess, it was probably handcuffs or something.

Handcuffs meant the bad guys wanted to keep her alive, so that was a plus. Ruby tried to click her tongue and do Bronzewing's echolocation thingy, but it didn't help. Right now, the best she could get from that was telling if there was a tree right in front of her. It wasn't nearly refined enough to 'see' her surroundings like Bronzewing's semblance let him.

"Ah, I see you're awake, human." The voice sounded familiar…it was the guy! The one from the tavern. Not the beetle Faunus, but the other guy with the deep, angry sounding voice.

"Let me guess," said Ruby testily. "You're with the White Fang?"

"Hmph. Typical human, assuming that all Faunus are one and the same. However, you are right in this one instance. My name is Adam Taurus, and I am the man that is going to end your life."

"Oh, I doubt that."

"Oh, little rose, I wouldn't transform if I were you." This time, it was the other Faunus who spoke, the cackly one who creeped Ruby out. "You see, Brother Adam rigged those handcuffs using his, hmhmhmh, unique skillset. Should you try to fly away, you'll make your poor shackles lonely. And without any friends, they may become…violent. Ahahahahaha!"

Ruby turned her head towards the other, angrier guy, silently demanding a translation.

"They'll explode if the pressure sensor inside the cuffs detects that you've escaped," he explained slowly. It sounded like he was fed up with the other guy's creepiness as well. His voice hardened. "It doesn't matter. You're going to die anyways."

"Then why not just kill me?" Ruby shouted angrily. "Why poison Bronzewing and kidnap me?"

"Because you're the key," said Creepy.

"To what? Your plans?"

"No," said Creepy. "To a door. You're a literal key, and we need you to unlock something precious."

"And then you're going to kill me?"

"And then you'll be given a chance to witness the beauty that is Salem, Queen of Remnant. No, Queen of the Universe! HAHAHAHA!"

"And then we'll kill you," said Angry impatiently.

"Yes, yes, then we kill her," said Creepy. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Our destination is Haven, and we must make haste. Now that we're all up to speed, let's get up to our top speeds! Come, little rose. That's it, stand up." Creepy helped her to her feet.

Ruby considered running, but without Bronzewing to guide her, she'd probably end up tripping on a tree root and dying from poison ivy or something. Besides, these guys were apparently taking her to Haven, so she might as well head over there. Bronzewing knew that was their final destination, so he'd probably have the sense to rendezvous with her there.

If he was still alive, that was. Ruby had gambled that he'd be safer with the Nuckelavee, who protected villages from the Grimm, than with Creepy and Angry, who definitely wanted to do them harm. It may have been the wrong choice, but she'd only had seconds to choose, and Uncle Qrow always said a true hunter shouldn't hesitate. I hope he's not eaten…

Angry chose to lead in the front and brood by himself, but Creepy stood next to her the whole time. Ruby couldn't see, but she could practically feel him staring at her. When she felt his breath on her neck, it was too much. She tried to slap him with her cuffed hands, but he must've pulled away because her palms waved through empty space.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I simply know what our goddess has in store for you. Worry not, my darling. You will not die at the hands of…hehehe, Brother Adam. OHOHOHO!"

"You're crazy."

"And you're blessed. Soon you shall depart from the mundane mortal world and enter that of the mythically…mystically…diviiiiine!"

Ruby tried to glare at him, but based on his voice, he was walking in circles around her, so she probably just ended up glaring at a tree. At least Creepy shut up after that.

The three continued walking for hours. When they eventually stopped for a meal and a short rest, Angry shared with Ruby some sort of ration bars, whereas Creepy ran off into the woods. Ruby heard a loud squawk, the crunch of bones, and then Creepy's footsteps as he returned.

"Must you, Tyrian?"

"Hwahhevah hoo hyu hbean?"

Ruby tried not to imagine whatever poor birdie was filling his mouth, hoping especially that it wasn't one of her rook kin. As she ate, she took some time to piece together everything she knew about their destination, Mistral City.

Pyrrha had come from there, as Bronzewing said she was pressured by the headmaster to come to Beacon. Then, she mysteriously died 'at the hands of Uncle Qrow', but Ruby knew that wasn't true.

Team Adventure had been investigating Lionheart on the suspicion that he was in league with the White Fang, but it turned out that the primary link between them – Cinder Fall and Team Caiman – turned out to be nothing. It was Blake that had been the real enemy.

Lionheart also apparently ushered in a new era of prosperity for Mistral and reduced Grimm attacks to the point that huntsmen and huntresses didn't even need to visit the outlying villages, but it kind of looked like that had only been achieved through a deal with the Grimm themselves. Maybe. Don't wanna jump to conclusions jut yet…

In the end, there was no damning evidence to guarantee that he was a bad guy, but there was a boatload of suspicious stuff surrounding the dude. Also, Creepy and Angry were taking her to Haven intentionally, which didn't exactly fill her heart with hope that the academy was a bastion of hope and compassion.

That raised another question. When she got to Haven, what was she going to do? How far would she go?

She'd come to find answers about the White Fang, the tragic events that befell Bronzewing's team and maybe what weird powers she'd used to fight Blake, but there was no guarantee that the answers would be at Haven. Where would she go if it was a dead end? How long would she be able to put her life on hold to pursue the truth? Yang was still waiting for her back in Patch, and Atlas was supposed to have advanced medicine that could fix her eyeballs, or maybe pop 'em out and slip in a new robot pair. Plus, there were still the bitches in the puppy shop to pick up.

Haven first, then life-changing decisions. Actually, escaping first, then Haven, then life-changing decisions. Actually, lunch first.

"PENNY! No, no, please don't be dead. Oh, Brothers, please save her!" Weiss shook her comrade, but she remained motionless. "NOOOOO!"

"Cool your tits, Princess Moneybags. We just deactivated her. It wasn't tough – just unscrew her batteries and pop 'em out."

The bandit leader held up the power cell for effect, standing safely away from Weiss. It would be easy to charge her and reclaim it, as there were no barriers between them or shackles restraining Weiss, but the woman was armed with a katana that was as long as Weiss was tall.

Weiss scowled. "You know, I first thought you reminded me of someone, but now I know you're nothing like her. She's kind, sweet, and trustworthy."

"Hurtful. I risked my hide to drag her out of an active shipwreck, and that's the thanks I get?"

"You killed my Penny!"

"She's fine, ice queen. We'll turn her back on when you 'n' I finish talking. I just can't risk her running around and tryna escape and causing chaos in the camp before we set some ground rules."

"As if I'd ever discuss terms with the likes of you. I'm Weiss Schnee, proud heiress to the–"

"I'm sure you're very cultured and well bred, Little Miss Atlas. But I also know from the weapon on your hip that you're a huntress, and I have need of your skills."

"I refuse to work with bandits. Categorically, unequivocally, and indubitably."

"Oooooh, look at me. I'm so smart. I know words."

There was no doubt about it. She even talked like her, too.

"And I also know you, Summer Rose," Weiss confidently declared.

The bandit leader stiffened. "Where did you hear that name?"

Weiss decided to play it safe. Knowledge was power. "I saw a picture of you in the Beacon Hall of Fallen Hunters."

"Hmmmmm." Summer raised an eyebrow. "You must have downright impeccable memory, then, to remember a single name and face out of the thousands they have up there."

Weiss curtsied. "Why thank you."

"I was being…ugh, never mind. Look, I'm willing to make you an offer. I'll set you up with transport, lien, and an escort to whatever destination that airship was headed, and all you need to do in return is help me catch a criminal."

"I could catch a criminal right now if I turned you in."

"The worst that my tribe and I do is scavenge the remains of villages that are already destroyed by the Grimm, and occasionally mug some dumbasses or scam them into handing us their dough freely when we're bored. That, and I did try a pyramid scheme once…" She winced. "…but just once."

Summer cleared her throat.

"We aren't murderers, but the person we're hunting is. Our people, good people, have been disappearing. I sent Vernal out alone to take care of it, and she's been missing for days. Now, between her and I, we're just about out of–"

"Between her and me."

"–between shove it up your ass and go fuck yourself with a tree trunk, we're just about out of hunter-level fighters. I'm going to go settle this myself, but I need someone to watch my back. I'm hoping you and Miss Electrons here can help me bring them in."

It was Weiss' turn to raise an eyebrow. "Bring them in?"

"We'll detain them and let you hand 'em in to the nearest village. If they have a reward, the tribe'll take it. We're bandits, not savages. You probably think you know what the Branwen tribe is about, but you don't."

"Branwen? Like Professor Qrow Branwen?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Summer practically fell backwards. "Qrow became a teacher? Of all the daft, mindless, imbecilic…"

Summer continued to list insults for a little while, so Weiss weighed her options. It would be easy to get out of here – they hadn't even tied her up – but Penny was powerless without that battery cell. Plus, Weiss had no idea where they were. The promise of a free ride to Mistral was too good to pass up. This deal was probably the best one they were going to receive out here in the inhospitable wilderness. Not to mention, she was very curious about who Summer actually was, and how she was alive in the middle of nowhere in Mistral.

Ruby had told Weiss all about how her mother was some kind of super huntress, but she'd also told her that her mom had died. Why was she here, in some tribe named after Weiss' history teacher?

"…halfwitted, braindead….uh…what were we talking about?"

"You were agreeing to release Penny and me."

"Penny and I. Also, nice try."

"Actually, in that case, the correct phrasing really would be Penny and me."

"Look, if you don't want to help, take your state-of-the-art blow up doll and get lost." Summer tossed the power cell to Weiss, who fumbled before grabbing onto it and steadying her hands. "I've got better uses of my time than learning grammar from some pampered schoolgirl shit."

Weiss stared at the battery. "A ride to anywhere, you say?"

Summer grinned.

Summer knelt down next to a tree and placed her hand on a mushroom. Weiss watched intently as she picked it off the ground, sniffed it, and tapped it against her tongue.

"Tastes like shit."

Summer threw the mushroom over her shoulder, and it landed in Weiss' hair, nearly knocking off Blake's bow.

"Wait, that wasn't tracking?" asked Weiss.

Summer squinted at her. "How would licking a mushroom be tracking? I was just curious what it would taste like." She scratched at her tongue. "And the answer was ass."

Weiss sighed. Aside from her foul mouth, she exudes so much Ruby-energy that I feel like I'm back in our old room.

She, Summer, and Penny had left the walled encampment that the Branwens called home. In spite of her initial judgements, the bandits they'd left behind weren't exactly the monster she was expecting. While they were a surly bunch, nobody could doubt that they regarded Summer with deference. As soon as she'd declared Penny and Weiss off limits, all of the malevolent glares and dirty looks ceased.

"So, we're just wandering around in the woods hoping to get axe-murdered?"

"More or less. I'm not seeing any tracks. Whoever did this was good. Unless one of you has heat-vision, our best bet is to walk into their trap and gamble that the three of us can take 'em. I'd be willing to bet I could, especially with you two on my six and…uh, twelve? I forgot how analog clocks work. Actually, Robot-Girl, do you have heat-vision?"

Penny nodded. "I do, but it is difficult to use in this dense thicket."

"If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you dead?" asked Weiss.

"Should I be?"

"Well, you are on the wall of–"

"Yeah, yeah," said Summer, waving her hand. "Honestly, I'm surprised that fuck-knuckle Ozpin even put me up there after what went down."

"Ozpin is dead," said Penny.

Summer stopped in her tracks and turned to face the pair of huntresses. "Is he? Oh, that's like music to my ears. How'd he go? Please tell me it was painful."

"The official reports state that Qrow Branwen cut him in half," said Weiss.

"Little brother did it? I find that one a bit hard to believe. Qrow was so desperate to suck Ozpin's wizard dick that he probably got his nose stuck in his belly button."

"Little brother?"

"Oh, yeah. Long story short, I'm not actually Summer Rose. Well, a lot of what you might think Summer Rose is and did historically was actually me, but…look, I don't think I can summarize this without drawing some kind of flowchart."

Weiss and Penny shared another glance. Neither had any idea what she was talking about.

"Who exactly are you, then?"

"Name's Raven. I used to be much more of a dashing rogue, but this machine sw–"

"Raven Branwen is dead. I've seen the body."

Penny spoke with such certainty in her voice that even Weiss was taken aback. Summer – Raven? – Raven chuckled at the robot's declaration.

"I'm sure you did. Oz liked to keep it on display in his basement. Let me tell ya, it was weird seeing my own half-dead corpse floating in a tube. But we had to keep it because it…" Her head floated up, looked off into space. "…it was the maiden."

Raven placed a hand on her sword.

"Oz wouldn't show that to just anybody. Just what did you say your names were again?"

Weiss opened her mouth to answer, but Penny spoke first. "Ozpin is dead. Neither of us are loyal to him, though I used to be a member of his inner circle."

"Then I think I'll be keeping a bit of a closer eye on you."

The leaves nearby rustled. All three women froze. Penny slowly pulled a sword from her back and sent it in the direction of the noise. Weiss steeled herself for an ambush. Raven nodded, and Penny cut away the bush to reveal a badger scurrying away.

"Unless Vernal ended up as badger chow, I'd say that was a false alarm," said Raven. She shuddered. "Damn, that really gave me the heebie-jeebies."

"You're really afraid of whoever this is?"

"Vernal was my prized pupil. Aside from spars with yours truly, she was undefeated in the camp. If our enemy could kill her, they're no joke. Remember, that doesn't mean we're facing someone as strong as Vernal. It means we're facing someone stronger than her. That means that could be anywhere from Vernal to Salem herself. Dust, it might actually be Salem herself. Brother knows my luck won't let me catch a break."

Penny shook her head. "It isn't Salem."

"Excuse me, you two," said Weiss. "You may have forgotten, but I'm standing right here, and I've no clue what either of you are going on about. It was ominous and mysterious at first, but now it's just plain rude. What does the headmaster have to do with this? And Salem…I do believe she may have been the one who gave Blake that power she had. Who exactly is she?"

"Power?" Raven grabbed Weiss by her shoulders. "Maiden power?"

"That's it. My partner Blake had it, but she died. I killed her."

"Impossible. No one can kill a maiden but another maiden."

"Well, I had help. Russel distracted her, and most of the work was done by…my team leader." Weiss barely caught herself before slipping up. Until she had all the details, it probably wasn't a good idea to mention Ruby. If this woman was her mother but had still abandoned her as a baby, she might not have her child's best interests at heart.

Raven sighed and let Weiss go. "Ozpin had been waging a hidden war for centuries against an extremely dangerous opponent. Salem."

"The headmaster is more powerful than he lets on," cut in Penny.

"Don't you mean was?"

Raven shook her head. "He doesn't exactly die. Well, he does, but it never sticks. Wounding his body is actually more debilitating than killing it; otherwise, I would have offed him myself when I had the chance instead of crippling the coffee-sipping fuck. Let's call it a reincarnation semblance. That's an oversimplification, but it's easier to swallow than the actual answer. He's probably out there right now, taking over the mind of a rando farm boy or some shit."

"So, who is Salem?"

"The Queen of all Grimm," said Raven.

"And you dislike Headmaster Ozpin for fighting her?" asked Weiss.

Raven spat on the floor. "No. I dislike him because he gave me the power…the power to turn into a bird!"

"W-What?"

"Nah, I'm bullshitting ya. Why would that even bother me at all? Truth is, I've got a bunch of reasons to hate old Oz, the most important being that he killed both my daughters."

"He killed Ruby and Yang?"

Raven's head snapped towards Weiss with the speed of a bullet, and Weiss realized her mistake. "WHAT?"

Weiss didn't have time to react until Raven's sword was already at her throat, but Penny and her supercomputer mind did. A green laser hit the blade directly at the hilt, and the sword drooped down as its metal melted.

"Please step away from Friend Weiss," Penny calmly requested, as though their weapons weren't drawn and at each other's throats.

"How did she know my daughters' names?" roared Raven.

"Because Friends Ruby and Yang are still alive."

Raven dropped her ruined sword. "They…my babies…alive?"

Penny nodded. "And my sensors indicate Friend Yang is approximately 120 meters to our southwest."

Next Chapter: Walk the Plank – In which the 'villains' plot the 'hero's' downfall.

Omake

Nuckelavee: ssssssave yyyyyyou dddddying

Bronzewing: In that case, thank you for the aid. I'd be a fool to look a *winks* gift horse in the mouth.

Xiao-Long: *bursts forth from the planet's crust to violently make out with Bronzewing*

Omake 1.5

Yang: Hey Dove, why're ya making out with my dad?

Author's Notes

My personal favorite character – Raven, a.k.a. Raven (sometimes called 'Raven').

And no, bird powers are not hereditary. Ruby is a rook for different reasons. The ability to turn into a bird stayed with Raven's original black-haired red-eyed body, so she didn't even have it when she gave birth to Ruby in her Summer body, nor does she have it now. Besides, if it were transferred from parent to child, Yang would have had it.

I apologize for having more impossible to read type of text in yet another one of my fics (see Oobleck in K and Ruby's time bubble here), but that's how I imagine I would write myself imagining how I would have a horse speak in words in writing the way I imagined it being written.

I love that Ruby's like 'White Fang!' and Adam's like 'Racist! ...but yes, spot on.'

Happy rats, and don't do crime!