Chapter 8 – Fear-monger

A few days had passed since their arrival at Komo-Rui, and things had been going rather well. Corvus had been having lots of fun in the village, he had mainly been spending his time training with Pyrrha and despite Qrow's attempts to find him another hobby to enjoy it seems nothing has really caught his eye. "He's a born fighter" Raven had told him, which he reluctantly accepted. At least the kid got away from the tribe for a short while. While Qrow had accepted that Raven would likely raise him in the tribe until he was old enough to decide for himself, it didn't mean he had to like it.

The two of them had been up for most of the night each night with Chrysies and rest of the town guard keeping an eye out for the Grimm. The 'Fear-monger' as the locals were calling it, was seemingly absent as nobody on watch had seen it and it didn't appear to have entered the village at any point. There were still some worried whispers from a few of the guards however, and the more time that Qrow and Raven spent in the town the more they noticed that most of the people there seem to be rather on edge. It's subtle, not noticeable to most. Hell, they didn't even notice until recently, but they did manage pick up on it. It seemed that this Grimm had certainly been living up to the name the townsfolk had given it.

The main problem that they were facing currently was the fact that Grimm activity near Komo-Rui had seen a steep incline recently. It had been slowly but steadily rising over the past month or so, likely due to the presence of the Fear-monger, but they hadn't expected such a sharp increase. The problem is that the Grimm bring worry and fear, which in turn brings more Grimm. Such a cruel snowball effect, which has the three veteran hunters and the Komo-Rui guards on their toes.

Raven had tried to keep this out of her mind, however she was failing miserably. She's usually good at keeping her emotions under control, for the most part, but she couldn't help but worry about the situation, especially considering Corvus and the rest of the tribe. If this Grimm couldn't be dealt with then they may need to relocate, but where to? Their current camp was ideal due to its proximity to Komo-Rui. It was also near several primary trade routes which made it prime real estate for bandits, though not just themselves. Other bandits have fought over this land in the past, and while the Branwen tribe hadn't been challenged in a while, Raven knew better than to test their luck, especially with the other tribes growing bolder with every raid and skirmish they have. Thankfully, that's a problem she'd be rid of if they moved camp. But was it worth giving up their advantageous position? She was still very unsure…

"Hello? Remnant to Raven?"

She was shook from her pondering by her brother, who was looking at her with a half amused half concerned expression.

"Yes? What?"

"You've been glaring at your food for a while now. What's up?"

"I wasn't glaring." She says, now glaring at him instead. "I was just thinking."

"What about?" Corvus asked

"Nothing important, don't worry about it little bird." She replied with a reassuring smile. "Now finish your food. We don't want to be late for your training, do you?"

The three of them finished up and left for the training center, where they had been spending most of their time since arriving in Komo-Rui. Upon entering, they took a spot at one of the training areas where Corvus began to practice the usual training methods he was taught, while Qrow pulled his sister off to the side to speak with her.

"What's up Raven? It's not like you to be acting like this." Qrow asked with the faintest hint of worry in his voice.

"Acting like what?" She said, brows furrowed.

"Like…" Qrow started before giving a sigh. "Look, I can tell something's up, just talk to me sis."

"I'm just concerned Qrow." She said after a moment of hesitation. "With this Grimm roaming around and regular Grimm activity as high as It is, I fear for Corvus' safety."

"It's not like you to be so worried. I mean, I get it. I'm a little worried myself, but the kid'll be fine. You don't need to be so worked up about it considering everything the Grimm will have to go through to get him. The walls, the guards, the two of us..." He said, gesturing between the two of them. "Relax Rae, he'll be fine."

His words didn't quell her concern, but they helped her to ease up just a little.

"Thanks Qrow, I just… something's off. I feel like something bad's about to happen, it's inevitable with all the negativity around. The fact that nothing has happened yet only makes it worse."

"I know sis, brothers know I do, but worrying about it will only make it worse. Stay focused and stay positive, that way when something bad does happen you'll be in the right state of mind to deal with it."

Raven chuckled. "When did you get so wise, little brother?"

"Well, you know how much experience I have with this kinda stuff. And I'll have you know that I've always been quite sage. Well, most of the time anyways…" he says with a slight look of sorrow deep in his eyes. Summer's disappearance was still fresh in their minds, and while the remaining members of team STRQ had their coping mechanisms, truly it was only the children that were keeping them going. Their coping mechanisms were more to ensure that they didn't fall apart in front of the little ones than anything else. Raven had her training, and her dedication to making herself and the tribe stronger. Qrow became an alcoholic and was on his way to becoming a workaholic too, not the best way to deal with things, but they worked for him, and Tai? Well, Raven didn't know exactly what he would be doing, she just had to hope he could find a way to keep himself together, though she found herself worrying about him too.

She truly did care for Tai and leaving him was difficult to do, but she felt she needed to do so in order to keep any heat off of him and Yang. She and the tribe could look after Corvus, no one would dare to attack the Branwen tribe all out, but even if they did Raven could easily travel across Remnant to escape via her semblance. Qrow had brought up previously that leaving Corvus with him and Tai would mean he would be safer too, but she couldn't bring herself to leave both of her children. She knows that she's terrible at 'family life', and being a mother wasn't something she ever trained for or imagined herself being, but what kind of bandit queen/huntress would she be if she backed down from a challenge? Regardless of it's nature.

The two of them returned their attention to Corvus who was still training, but had been sneaking glances at the two and trying to eavesdrop without being noticed. Luckily for him he wasn't noticed, so he just continued training with what he heard still lingering on his mind.


He continued training for a while, practicing movements by himself, or training his defense against his mother or Qrow.

They continued this for a while, before they heard a voice calling out to them from the entrance. They looked to see Pyrrha and her father arriving, with the former giving a small wave as Corvus turned laid eyes on the two.

He was always happy to see Pyrrha again. The two of them had been getting along very well over the past few days, likely because neither of them had many friends their age. With Pyrrha being too full of nerves to make many any and Corvus being the only kid in his tribe, it was natural they'd become friends, especially considering their shared interest in fighting.

As the two of them faced off in the sparring area to begin their joint training, the adults congregated to the side to talk about the current goings-on in the village while keeping an eye on the kids' aura levels.

"The Grimm levels as of late have been rather troubling… while I have faith in the men and women under my command to defend this village, I am still worried things can get worse. They always seem to…" Chrysies worriedly said.

"Don't dwell on it, you'll only add to the problem." Raven retorted. "Just focus on the fact that your people can keep the regular Grimm at bay. We can handle the Fear-monger perfectly fine, we've faced worse."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Qrow said, happy that his words from earlier seem to have stuck. "We've got this Chry', your people will be fine."

The man let out a weary sigh. "I know, I know, my guard can handle it. I just worry because of the children." He said, looking towards Pyrrha and Corvus. "Maybe it's just me being an overly worried father, but the thought of the young ones being endangered makes me anxious."

Qrow puts a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder.

"Chrysies, they'll be fine. That thing has only been seen at night, right? That's when Grimm activity should be highest and the kiddos will be safe and sound by then. There's nothing to worry about." Qrow said, hoping his realistic reasoning will put his friend at ease.

Qrow's words seemed to work as the old man visibly relaxed.

"Yes, you're right. I apologize, maybe the father in me has made me overly wary."

"It's only natural to be concerned." Raven said in a surprisingly soft tone. She very clearly understood his worry as a fellow parent. Though despite Qrow's admittedly soothing words earlier, she still couldn't stop worrying about it herself. Bruno had called it a bad habit, saying that her worrying about something so much will only make it more likely to happen, and while she did believe that somewhat she still couldn't help it. 'Worry leads to better preparation' her mentor used to say, so prepare she did.

"Let us hope that we can kill the beast tonight. The sooner we are rid of it, the better." Chrysies said.

"Yeah, Grimm like these are better dealt with immediately. How come you haven't dealt with it yet anyways? You've still got a few veterans here right?" Qrow asked.

"We do, but most of them are retired. I'm supposed to be too, soon. Most of us old-timers are sticking to the perimeter. We would have gone out to try to deal with the creature ourselves but myself and the town's leaders agreed that it's better that we stay close to home and train up the young hunters. It's better this way, as if the best of us ventured out and got ambushed and killed, then Komo-Rui will be left vulnerable." Chrysies shook his head at the thought. "As much as we'd like to deal with the problem directly, we cannot leave the innocents defenseless."

"Why not call for help from Haven academy? That new headmaster, Lionheart seems to be a decent guy. Maybe he'd lend some hunters to help you guys out?" Qrow asked

Chrysies sighed. "I suggested as much, however the others in charge do not like the idea. The reason this town was formed to begin with was because the academy wouldn't help those this far away from Mistral proper, so you can imagine my fellow leaders not being too keen on the idea of pleading to them for help.". He said with a mix of tiredness and disdain in his voice.

"Well screw them." Raven growled. "Just call the academy, get reinforcements. Keeping these people safe is more important than some old grudge."

"Yeah, she's right." Qrow added. "Besides, Leo is a decent guy, I can vouch for him. He'll send backup in no time. Hell, I'll call him myself if I have to."

The trio suddenly heard a noise from Qrow's scroll indicating that Corvus' aura was low, they looked at the kids to see Corvus on the floor, aura shimmering a dangerously weak red. Pyrrha must've gotten a heavy hit at a bad time on the poor kid. Qrow immediately calls an end to the fight after seeing how low Corvus' aura was running on the his scroll.

"S-sorry!" Pyrrha said, looking upset at almost breaking her friend's aura.

"S'ok…" Corvus responded weakly as he extended his hand to her, asking for help up. She took it and helped him to his feet.

"Be careful!" Raven said sternly. "A hit like that when his aura is so low could break it. Having your aura broken is enough to knock out a fully-grown adult hunter, we don't need it to happen to you two." She looked at both kids with furrowed brows, Corvus being careless with his aura levels was bad enough as it was. She didn't need another problematic kid to deal with while she was here.

"Sorry…" Pyrrha said again, downcast.

"Don't be sorry, girl. Just be more careful next time." Raven told her in a still stern yet slightly more gentle tone.

"You did well, Pyrrha." He father praised. "Just remember as Raven said: be careful when your opponents are getting low on aura. You are sparring, not fighting. You do not want to overdo it, you'll end up hurting someone."

"I know father, I just got carried away." She said quietly.

"That's okay. You are still young, but try to remember next time." He said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder to assure her she's not in trouble.

"It was fun though. Like, really fun." Corvus said with a grin, getting a chuckle from Qrow, who then spoke.

"See? He's alright kiddo, don't be too hard on yourself."

"I think that's enough training for today. We will need to make sure you are ready enough for tomorrow's training too."

"Yeah. We'll get some food and get Corvus back to the inn to rest up." Qrow responded.

"Actually, how would you like to join us for dinner tonight? My wife has been rather eager to meet both of you." Chrysies interjected, looking to both Raven and Corvus. "My dear's homemade casserole is to die for." He said with a smile.

Qrow and Raven looked at each other for a moment before Qrow spoke up. "You go Rae. It's getting late, I'm gonna go meet with the guards at the wall. Make sure everything's alright."

Raven reluctantly nodded. She didn't really want to go, but it'd make Corvus happy so she decided to go along.

"Let me know if there's any problems come up…" Raven said, eluding to the Fear-monger. He nodded and went off to the wall.

"Come." Chrysies said, taking Pyrrha's weapon and holstering it on his back. He gestured for them to follow him as he exited the building. They began to make the trek to their home on the other side of the village.


"You two fought well today." Raven praised. "You're both getting better surprisingly quick. Even if you're still making a few big mistakes…"

"Sorry." Pyrrha said quietly.

"Don't apologize. That was the first time you made that mistake, you've got to make them to learn from them. Besides, I wasn't just talking about you." She said, looking to Corvus. "Somebody needs to be more careful with their aura. Just because you're not fighting me or Bruno, doesn't mean you can be careless when it comes to your aura levels. Yours may be larger than average and you can certainly take advantage of that to trade attacks with your opponent, but don't make sure you're not doing it too often. It'll develop into a habit, and that'll be problematic." She chided.

"Sorry mom, I'll work on it."

"I'm sure you will. You're a quick learner, both of you are."

"The ability to learn quickly is a valuable one, children. Make sure you take advantage of it. Learn as much as you can to not only become the best warriors, but the best people you can be." Chrysies said.

The kids nodded at his sage advice. As they continued through the town, stopping occasionally to let the kids look at different shops and stalls. The two parents simply watched as the kids chatted excitedly about different things before they continued to head to the Nikos family's home.

Raven's scroll rang suddenly. She only had it for emergency communications, so this wasn't a social call. She picked up.

"Yeah?" She said, praying it wasn't Qrow reporting an issue. However, it seems her prayers went ignored as Qrow spoke up in a raised voice.

"Raven! There's large horde of Grimm out here. They're attacking the walls, trying to get in. We're gonna need a hand down here!" He said, trying to make himself heard over the shouts of the guards around him.

"How bad is it?" She responds immediately.

"Very bad! Get down here Raven, there's not enough guards here to deal with this!"

Raven hung up and opened a portal to him. She turned to Chrysies to speak but he beat her to it.

"Go, Raven! I'll get the children to safety, go and help Qrow."

As she went through the portal to help repel the Grimm attacking the wall, Chrysies ushered the kids down the street.

"Come children, we need to get home before any Grimm get into the village."


They ran through the town to the Nikos home, seeing the panic of those who know about the siege. Though as they get closer they realize that people are much more frantic. It takes Chrysies a moment before he starts to suspect what's going on, and he doesn't like it. He stops one of the fleeing citizens and asks them.

"G-Grimm! On the south wall!" they said in a very panicked voice as they pointed in the direction of the southern wall, before continuing to flee.

Chrysies furrowed his brow as he it fully sunk in. This wasn't just some attack, it was a siege. He went with the kids to the house, hoping to get to shelter before any Grimm showed up.

Unfortunately, it seemed that they wouldn't be that lucky as he started hearing the roars of Grimm, and they were getting closer, uncomfortably so. He ended up running into some Beowolves and Creeps on the way which he dispatched with efficiency, making sure they don't get anywhere near the children. The house was in sight by now but it seems fate really wasn't on their side as a pair of Ursa major crashed through a nearby building and set their sights on them, or more specifically the now scared kids. Chrysies drew his spear and started moving towards the beasts.

"Stay here, shout to me if you see any Grimm heading to you." He said as he began to attack the creatures, baiting them to swing at him and then dealing heavy blows to their weak spot, taking advantage of his mobility compared to their slow lumbering forms.

It wasn't long until he was joined by a pair of guards who were on their way to the wall, presumably just after hearing up upon hearing of the attack.

"We've got your back, sir." One of them said, drawing a sword and moving to assist Chrysies.

"You, protect the children!" He commanded before returning his attention to the Ursai. The other guard moved to protect Corvus and Pyrrha. He seemed like a rookie from the way he acted. Though he still drew his spear ready to repel any attack, despite how nervous he seemed to be. Chrysies and the sword-wielding guard managed to fell the Grimm with only minor troubles, the guard having broken his aura. They moved back to the other guard, who was unscathed as nothing tried to attack the kids.

"G-good work, sir!" He said, almost in awe of Chrysies' fighting prowess. They all calmed down as the immediate problem was seemingly over, the rookie and the kids moved to regroup with the elder fighters as Chrysies inspected the other guard for injuries. As he approached, the rookie guard halted.

"Behind you!" He shouted after a split-second hesitation. That hesitation proved detrimental however, as a large wolf-like Grimm leapt down from a rooftop and cut the elder guard in two with a massive tail-claw. The Fear-monger had arrived. Chrysies moved back to guard the kids with the rookie guard. The rookie, however, was shaking in his boots at seeing his colleague get cut in two. As were Corvus and Pyrrha. The poor kids were terrified, and almost certainly traumatized after witnessing that event.

"Rookie! Focus!" Chrysies said, seeing the younger guard's state.

The rookie looked at Chrysies for a moment before looking back to the Fear-monger, which was crouched low seemingly waiting for them to make a move. He started backing away slowly.

"Rookie?" Chrysies asked, confused.

The rookie had lost his nerve, the young man was trembling as he began to flee the scene, ignorant to Chrysies shouting after him as he ran, dropping his weapon in the process. Corvus watched him run. He felt angry at the man's cowardice but more than anything he felt terrified, now that the only thing between them and this Grimm was Pyrrha's father.

"Stay back!" He shouted to them as he advanced towards the creature, readying himself to attack. The Fear-monger lashed out with its tail-claw, delivering a lightening fast strike that hit him in the chest. The creature itself looked weak, but that tail was as strong as an Alpha Beowolf and it made him stumble slightly, not expecting the attack to be that quick or strong. His stumble opened him up to another attack which the Grimm took swiftly, this time it struck him across the face dealing significant damage to his aura and sending him to the ground. It slashed at him again and again as he tried and failed to fend it off. Eventuality after a struggle, his aura broke and he was left exhausted, he raised his weapon up to defend himself again to see the Fear-monger bring it's tail back, readying itself for the killing blow.

Pyrrha saw her father's aura break and was beyond terrified, her eyes widened in horror as she realized what was about to happen. As the Grimm flexed it's tail to strike at the Chrysies, who was still on the floor, Pyrrha ran to her father with an outstretched hand, screaming for him. The Fear-monger's tail stabbed down onto the ground, but it missed it's mark. Chrysies had been pushed to the side, out of the danger zone. Pyrrha, shocked, looked at his armour and then her hands, both emitting the same black aura around them. It seems the stress and intensity of the moment made her unlock her semblance.

Though this caused the Fear-monger to switch targets, now focusing on Pyrrha. Corvus saw it was about to swipe at her, though because she was still frozen in both confusion and relief, she wasn't properly paying attention. He moved to her as fast as he could and as pushed her out of the way he saw the Grimm's tail speed towards him.

The last thing he felt was searing pain on his face before he fell into unconsciousness.


A/n

Was so excited to upload this after finishing writing and rereading that I fogot to include the author's note.

Anyways, sorry for taking so long with this, I've been rather busy as of late. Didn't help that I had to redo this chapter several times because I never liked how it turned out, but I'm pretty happy with this, even though it wasn't originally what I had in mind exactly.

This chapter was one of the first I actually though of when I was thinking of Corvus' backstory, specifically the encounter with the Fear-monger and him getting attacked like this.

I can't wait to continue this story, the beginning was the more difficult bit in my opinion but now that we're a decent way through it, it should become easier for me as the majority of the ideas I've been having are towards the middle (and largest) portion of the story. It was difficult to think of how to write these early chapters but ideas for later in the story just come to me, it was kinda annoying to be honest.

But yeah! Really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I'll try to get the next one out in less than three months I promise. Please leave a review if you want, I love reading them whether its criticism, a comment or even just a question.

See you guys next time!