Hello everybody !

Today we get down to business with Yang and her new life as an assassin! Yes it is a little extreme, but hey, after all she has been through…

Anyway, I'm not holding you here, enjoy reading!

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It was almost the night, and the wind was blowing gently on Patch. Through the forest, a dark mass moved slowly, swaying limply from one leg to the other, its red eyes glowing in the dark. The form finally stopped in front of a pretty little house, nestled deep in the woods, where the most innocent family lived.

Knock Knock

"Mom, someone's knocking at the door!" Ruby called from the living room, doing her homework.

"Coming!" Summer shouted from the kitchen. She already heard the knocking, Ruby was on the couch doing her homework, and Tai was still at Signal, so the house was very quiet.

She finished draining the pasta and wiped her hands on a cloth before going to the door, her iconic cheerful smile on her lips.

"Good evening, what can I do for-… Oh." But her smile disappeared as soon as she realized who she was in front of her, and especially in what state.

"Hey Sum…"

Recognizing the voice, Ruby jumped off the couch, dropping her notebook on the floor, and jumped on the newcomer, hanging from his arm, not paying attention to his precarious balance. "Uncle Qrow!" she yelled in joy.

"Hey kiddo…" he said with a very tired and shaky voice.

"Ruby, let go of him please." her mom asked her.

The little girl frowned, puffing up her cheeks, then looked up at her adored uncle, making her famous puppy eyes. Qrow sighed, normally he would have already thrown her over his shoulder like a potato bag, but right now…

"Sorry kid, but I'm really exhausted…" he said trying to sound like he was okay.

Ruby finally let go of him, and returned to her homework with a pout. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her mother taking her uncle to the kitchen, supporting him to help him walk.

"He must be really tired… Wait, what happened to his cape?" she wondered noticing that the bottom of the cape had been torn.

Summer pulled out a chair with her foot so that Qrow could sit, even though he almost collapsed while doing so. In addition to the smell, he spilled alcohol on his top, the dark circles under his eyes made him compete with a panda, his eyes were reddened and swollen, and he obviously collided to a few trees before arriving here. He looked terrible.

"Don't move, I'll make you a coffee." she said heading to the coffeemaker, but Qrow stopped her.

"Don't have something stronger…?"

"Qrow…" she sighed.

"I know, I know… 'Childproof house'…"

The mother pulled a second chair next to her partner. He couldn't resist when she took him in her arms, and after a few seconds he began to sob. Summer hugged him tighter. It may have been more than a month, but alone with his guilt, with no one to comfort him, with nothing to push him to move forward…

"I'm sorry…" he said between two sobs.

"It's not your fault." she tried to reassure him, in vain.

If Ruby hadn't been in the next room, Qrow would have burst into tears in Summer's arms. For more than a month he had pushed his guilt to the back of his mind so that he could take care of his niece, respect the last promise he made to his sister. And it worked pretty well, his mind was too busy thinking of all the possible ways to cheer up the little girl, making efforts not to collapse in front of her. She was already alone, because of him, she didn't have to be the one who comforted him. And she looked so much like her mother, as much in her look as in her character, that when he looked at her, he had the impression that Raven was still here, that she didn't die in his arms, that he could always be there for her if she needed him, that he didn't abandon her… With her blond hair in addition, this little girl had been like a ray of sunshine allowing him not to get lost right away in the darkness. But not anymore…

He still couldn't believe that he left her alone to roam Mistral. Of course she could fend for herself, she was Raven's daughter after all… But he had promised to take care of her, and he was already abandoning her. And that damn Scroll was far from mitigating his guilt.

But he also didn't want to force her to come with him, especially since he knew that Ozpin was hiding something from them, something that pushed Raven to leave to protect her child from him. And with his Semblance, the further she was from him, the better it was for her, right?

Assailed by fatigue, drunkenness, guilt, doubt, and the weight of the secret he now had to keep, Qrow eventually fell asleep on Summer's shoulder, hoping that Yang was in a better state than him.

"And here is your jasmine tea. Your pastries arrive in a few minutes." the waitress put the cup on the table with a polite smile. Yang nodded without looking up from her Scroll, and the waitress returned to work.

It had been almost three months now since Qrow left her, and four months since that famous night, and Yang's situation had changed since then. Even though she had saved a lot of the money Qrow left her, she would inevitably end up running out of it, so she had to find a way to earn more. Having been trained all her life to survive, loot, and massacre Grimm, she knew how to do many things that would have helped her to find odd jobs, even without papers, but it wasn't only about earning money, it was about starting from scratch, and deciding what to do with her life.

Until then, her future had always been mapped out, she was destined to succeed Raven as the leader of the Branwen tribe when she was old enough and her mother was too old, and she never expected to do whatever else.

But that future had been wiped out by the war between Ozpin and Salem, and now all she had left was a weapon, a comb, a doll, and a scarf… And a lifelong reminder of that night by the absence of her right arm.

She had wandered the streets for a long time, not knowing what to do, either immediately or on the long term. She was trained to combat, strategy, leadership, but to protect the tribe. Now what were these skills useful for? And these powers? She tried to use magic several times, and except for the fire, the elements were out of her control, and that's without even talking about things like making objects fly or changing the weather. Raven had explained to her once that power and precision came with time and experience, but that all Maidens had a favorite element with which they were more comfortable. And of course, Yang was the opposite of her mother… As for her transformation into a falcon, she was too afraid of ending up with a single wing if she tried, she didn't want to have confirmation that she also lost that.

Yang took a sip of tea without taking her eyes off her Scroll on the table. She was a trained fighter, she had a pro Huntress weapon, a Semblance ideal for combat, and she could make fire and explosions over a short distance. But in the Kingdoms, no matter how talented and equipped, no one would ever let a ten-year-old do jobs that required talents like hers. Unless through illegality.

Lady Red, her first client, had talked to a certain 'Lil' Miss Malachite' about Falcon, and since then, the news of a very promising young assassin who had surpassed the Green Rook were spreading in the depths of Mistral. The description included red eyes, so when her Semblance was turned off, she could go unnoticed, at least for the time being, but if she wanted to get other assassination contracts, she had to find a way for people to contact her. This was what she had been thinking about since she woke up this morning.

Giving her Scroll number to Lil 'Miss seemed like the simplest but also the most reckless option. Qrow told her there was a GPS option on some devices, and if the police could reach her, it was over. From what she had read, Lil 'Miss Malachite was not officially a criminal, but she was the head of the largest information network in the Kingdom, and probably more. If people were looking for Falcon, chances were they would go through her for that.

"Maybe I should talk to this Lil' Miss myself. If I want to do this in the long term, it would be better." she thought.

Footsteps coming in her direction made her look up. It was too heavy to be the waitress.

"Hi." Yang frowned. It was indeed not the waitress, it was a young woman in her mid-twenties, with tan skin, light blonde hair cut in the boyish style, and purple eyes, darker than hers. She was wearing a rather drab set of clothes with a green scarf, and had an indescribable smile on her lips. "Can I sit?"

"Um… yes." Yang said.

"Thanks." the young woman calmly sat down across from Yang, before calling a waitress to order a cup of green tea. "So… I'm Rook."

"Falcon."

"I know, I recognized you." she said.

Yang froze with her cup halfway through her mouth. The only person she gave that name to yet was Lady Red, and her goons were all men. Rook saw the questioning and distrust in her eyes and let out a little laugh.

"I was in the inn last month. You killed a guy I was supposed to protect and who hadn't paid me yet." Yang's hand instantly prepared to grab her dagger hidden in her sleeve. Despite her discretion, Rook realized it and raised her hands to calm her. "Eh, calm down, I'm not here to fight, okay? I'm not going to avenge him or anything. To be honest, I think he deserved to die."

"The weak die, the strong live." a familiar voice spoke in her head.

There was something reassuring in Rook's aura, she was calm, soothing, but Yang had spent enough time with Raven to be able to feel her dangerousness anyway. At the inn, she had already noticed that the person behind the man she was supposed to kill, a person whom she thought was a boy, was much more dangerous than the big guy behind her client, and would surely give her problems. This time she had the chance to pass for a helpless little girl. It wouldn't work twice.

"What do you want from me then?" Yang asked suspiciously.

Rook looked around, they were in a cafe in the middle of the afternoon. A little too crowded for what she wanted to talk to her about.

"How about we talk about it somewhere else? It's about our job, I have something to offer you."

Mistral might be a double-edged city, but it was undeniable that the view was simply magnificent from the observation points.

Too bad that Yang has already flown higher than that, it lost some of its effect.

"Do you like the view?" Rook asked with an amused smile.

"I've seen better." Yang turned to her and frowned "So, this proposition?"

Rook smiled and leaned against the railing, looking up at the sky.

"To be honest, you intrigue me. I can imagine that if I ask you questions about yourself, you won't answer. Buuuut I can try to guess."

Yang frowned even more. Rook smiled even more. It wasn't a mocking, sly, or confident smile, nor was it an emotionless smile, forced for politeness, it was not even a happy smile. It was a smile, just a smile, a smile that said absolutely nothing, like a default expression. It was… disturbing.

"So… I would start slowly by saying that you are… ten years old?" she looked at Yang waiting for an answer, and the little girl nodded. Rook then put a hand on her chin, looking up, then again towards the little blonde. "Then … I would say that Falcon is not your real name." Yang tensed when she heard this but Rook just waved her hand. "Don't worry, it's normal in our profession. Rook is not my real name either." she said, then narrowed her eyes at Yang still smiling, "But considering your reaction… I would say that not only are you just starting out, but you're not trained in assassination, only in combat. Am I wrong?"

"Am I really that easy to read?" Yang thought with a bit of shame.

"Yep. A real open book." Rook said with a proud expression on her face.

"What the-…!"

This time, Rook laughed, as Yang was starting to feel angry. If this woman could read thoughts…

"Don't worry kid, I don't read your mind. You're just an open book. And reading your opponents is the best way to exploit their weaknesses, just keep in mind that they can do the same with you. It's a contest of the one who has the most information about the other, and is able to make the most of it." she said calmly.

It made sense. In fact, it reminded Yang a bit of Raven's decision to pretend Vernal was the Spring Maiden, even if she had total trust in the tribe. No one knew about the decoy, except her daughter. Even though it was mainly due to her paranoia about Ozpin. But she also could have never told them about the magic or Salem, and if she did, it was only so that the tribe could stay strong knowing that they had one of the greatest forces of nature with them, feel more secure, being able to trust their leader. An assassin had nobody counting on them, they just wanted to kill more effectively, that was what some former assassins in the tribe had told her, that and other things. It was a little less noble, but Yang wasn't picky.

"Consider this a senior's advice. If you want, I can give you others and even teach you everything I know. It will be more fun than doing it all on your own." Rook's strange smile widened as she held out her right hand to Yang. "So, how does it sound?"

So that was the proposition, to take her as an apprentice. Yang thought about it. She was trained to combat, had good stealth, had no problem killing… but Rook just showed her that she had big gaps for the career she just started. She was a bandit, not an assassin, and if she wanted to become one, she would need help.

She looked at Rook's outstretched hand, patiently waiting for an answer. Yang sighed and raised the rest of her right arm. The coat she was wearing was a little big for her and she hadn't rolled up her sleeves, so it looked like she was just keeping her arm close to her body. But for someone who talked about the importance of reading people, not even noticing her missing arm was quite laughable.

Seeing Falcon's sleeve hanging limply before even her elbow, Rook gave an embarrassed chuckle, and then held out her other hand, no questions asked.

Yang took it. It was warm.

"I see… And you really have no idea why the attack happened?" Ozpin asked calmly.

"For the thousandth time Oz, she couldn't say a word before dying and the camp seemed to have been hit by a fucking meteorite! No matter what this bitch sent her monsters for, it's not there anymore!" Qrow shouted angrily, almost falling from his chair.

Ozpin sighed and sadly watched Qrow take a long sip from his bottle of alcohol. When Summer said he was at the bottom of the abyss, she unfortunately wasn't exaggerating… Raven's death had shocked everyone, even if she had been gone for a long time. But if he was honest, Ozpin, although saddened, was reassured. As long as Raven lived, she was a risk of losing the trust of the rest of team STRQ, and in particular of Qrow, which would be a considerable loss. She wasn't the first to realize that he sometimes manipulated their privacy, but the stakes were too high, and the Silver Eyes too rare. He didn't enjoy having to threaten her tribe to keep her silent, but resisting Salem was a top priority. If she couldn't be killed, then he could at least prevent her from bringing about the end of the world. But sacrifices had to be made for that. Why couldn't people understand he had no choice?

"Well, I won't keep you here any longer, go back to rest." he advised.

"I had months to rest, Oz. Now it's okay, I'm fine." To back up his claims, Qrow suddenly got up from his chair, but staggered for a good fifteen seconds before stabilizing. Ozpin sighed again. Qrow was completely drunk, and it was not likely to improve. Sending him on a mission in this state was anything but a good idea… "See? Perfectly fine!"

"I see, Qrow, I see… I don't have specific mission for now, I'll let you know if I get something." It wasn't really a lie, at least not the first part. Qrow nodded and headed for the elevator. "And Qrow?"

"Hmm?"

"My sincere condolences." Ozpin said lowering his head.

Qrow's fist clenched on his gourd. He didn't even turn around to answer.

"Yeah…"

The elevator arrived, and he went in without another word. The moment the doors closed, he pulled out his gourd and drank all that was left.

"Frustrating isn't it?" a way too familiar voice said.

Qrow didn't answer, he didn't even turn his head towards her, he didn't need to look at her to see her snarky little smile.

"Isn't it frustrating to know that he's lying to your face and hiding things from you? Even though you would trust him with your life?"

"Shut up…" he muttered under his breath.

He heard her steps coming closer, crossing the small distance that separated them in this confined space.

"Didn't I warn you against him? Didn't I tell you he shouldn't be trusted?"

"Shut up." he started raising his voice.

He could almost feel her breath against his skin as she whispered in his ear.

"How long did I have to suffer because you believed more in his lies than in your own sister?"

"Shut up!" he finally snapped.

Qrow's fist obviously encountered nothing but emptiness. Raven wasn't here, she was no longer here, she would never be here again, as if she never existed. There was nothing left but the doubts and regrets she left in his mind.

The elevator doors opened on the ground floor, and Qrow walked out of Beacon walking like a zombie, regardless of the looks he received. His feet led him to the nearest bar. He knew taking refuge in alcohol was the worst idea, but if he could clear his head and stop thinking and worrying for a few minutes, he wouldn't say no. Despite being in the street in the middle of the day, Qrow felt like there was total silence around him, a deafening, empty silence.

When he finally entered the bar, the ambient noise almost made him feel better. He sat down and ordered a drink. The first of a long serie.

Yang quickly shoved her last things into her bag and hurried to join Rook outside the inn. They had an appointment with the famous Lil' Miss, a regular client apparently had a contract for them.

As they were walking, Yang felt her stomach twist. It was going to be her first real mission as an assassin, under Rook's guidance. She felt like she was back to the time of her first raid, when she was eight. The same apprehension, the same excitement, the same expectations. But this time she wasn't doing it to make her mother proud, she wasn't doing it to be useful to the tribe, she wasn't even doing it for herself. She didn't know why she was doing it. Money? Fame? Fun? Blood-thirst? No, none of that. She had no reason to go so far as to kill for money, but unlike many, she had no reason not to either. After all, cold-blooded killing didn't bother her, nor did being considered a criminal.

An assassin was just the lonely and "civilized" version of a bandit.

Not that Rook knew she was from a tribe of bandits.

"There we are." Rook said as they reach a tavern.

The two girls got in, it wasn't much different from the ground floor of the inn, except that the ceiling was higher, and that people came exclusively for two things: drink and negotiate. Yang followed Rook to a table in a corner, where a chubby woman was eating a strawberry dessert surrounded by two bodyguards.

Lil' Miss looked up briefly from her snack and a smile appeared on her face. "Rook, darling! I didn't expect you to come in person for a standard contract." she exclaimed.

Rook chuckled, "You know me, I like to hear from my friends from time to time."

"Oh I am flatter. And who is this young girl with you?" she asked pointing at Yang.

"She's part of the reason I'm here. May we?"

"Of course."

The girls sat down opposite Lil' Miss, who ordered some drinks for them. Rook and she seemed to know each other pretty well, they probably often had to work together because of their respective professions. Anyone else would surely feel very uncomfortable in this situation, the only child, knowing no one, surrounded by gangsters of all kinds, seating next to an assassin inquiring about a contract. Instead, Yang quietly sipped her tea as she listened to the details of their mission. A typical Huntsman in a small village in the East, they just had to make sure he didn't make it home. And as cruel as it may seem, the little blonde felt no pity upon learning that he was engaged.

"The weak die, the strong live."

"Well, I'll take care of notifying the client that you accept, he will send the money to your account as usual." Lil' Miss said as she put away her Scroll, "And what about the kid?"

Yang's eyebrow flickered at the nickname. After all she had been through, why did people still insist on considering her as a child?

Rook, still smiling, put a hand on her shoulder. "You must have heard of the new assassin who even managed to pass under me nose during my last mission, didn't you?"

Lil' Miss stopped eating and inspected Yang from top to bottom. She knew she wasn't very intimidating, with her doll face and her missing arm. However, the woman didn't laugh at her face like she expected, and smiled with a satisfied look while taking another bite of her dessert.

"Lady Red assured me you had blood red eyes."

It wasn't a question, she didn't seem very surprised, neither did Rook, she hadn't even made any remark to her about that. They weren't stupid, they understood that it was her Semblance, no need to waste time on it. It felt good to be with people who didn't need long explanations to understand.

"Falcon, is that it?" Yang nodded. "Not very talkative huh?"

"She's my apprentice from now on. I thought you'd like to know first hand." Rook said.

"I see. You are a lucky girl, Rook is one of the best in her field, although she often has eyes bigger than her stomach, and does not always look in what she puts her feet, and she is also a little too impulsive if you want my opinion." the woman said in a mocking tone.

"I'm right here you know…" Rook reminded her.

"But she knows her job, you can be sure. And don't worry, your eyes are well kept with me."

That was not guaranteed, Lil' Miss Malachite was the head of an information network, any secret could be bought with her. Yang nodded with some suspicion, and she and Rook got up to leave, when the chubby woman's voice held them back.

"By the way girl, wouldn't you come from the North by any chance?"

Yang froze. Yes, the last location of the tribe was in the North. Even without looking back, she knew Lil' Miss was smiling.

"That's what I thought…" she took a bit of her dessert "Two young people bought me false papers about fifteen years ago. You look exactly like her." Yang was the perfect copy of her mother, and someone like Lil' Miss knew of course a lot about the Branwen tribe, especially now that the news of their disappearance was starting to spread, the death of Raven Branwen would obviously not go unnoticed.

"Don't worry. I just told you, I know how to keep secrets."

Rook gave her a questioning look, but received no response. The two girls left the tavern in silence and headed for the exit from the city, already on their way to their next destination.

Falcon was strange. Better, she was a real mystery. And Rook liked mysteries, she liked discovering hidden truths, and she hated not knowing something. This was surely where her Semblance came from, although she didn't have much opportunity to use it.

With Falcon, the more she learned about her, the more the mystery thickened. First she thought she was a little orphan alone and lost like so many others, then she discovered a killer, then a child still a bit naive who liked to drink tea, and now Lil' Miss seemed to know who she was, or at the very least have some info on her. It was fascinating, and also a little frustrating.

Rook liked Falcon, even if she had only recently met her, she seemed to be a good kid who just didn't have luck, like so many others, but who still had the strength to go forward. She had character and determination, she could see it in her eyes. But she was lost and broken. One doesn't become a murderer for no reason, Rook herself had become one because of her desperate need for money, life on the street had already taught her how to fight and kill, and she didn't care of the questions of moral when there were people waiting for her return to eat.

As far as she knew, Falcon was alone, she had no one depending on her, and she didn't have to go that far to survive, she even had her own camping gear. She knew how to fight and was already familiar with death, enough to choose this path, but had not been trained in assassination. What kind of person would teach a young child to kill if it wasn't to make her a killer?

Rook couldn't resist taking her with her. It wasn't pity, but she couldn't bring herself to leave a little girl like her alone, especially if she tried to enter a world like that of assassination. She was alone, lost and needed someone to guide her, or she risked going straight on the wrong path. And after all, Rook liked children, she often took care of them in her hometown and brought Halloween candy to the orphanage every year. When she could, she also spent Christmas, but transportation became far too expensive at this time of year, and she had to spend as few money as possible on herself.

They had been in the airship for an hour in the direction of Shion, the Huntsman they had to kill was a man in his mid-twenties, his Semblance allowed him to grow and control plants which he generally used to immobilize his opponents, before knocking them out, or killing them in the case of the Grimm, with a Lightning Dust cartridge rifle. He was therefore dangerous in mid-distance combat. Luckily, Rook's weapon was more effective at long distance, it was a stealthy and precise weapon, perfect for her job, if she took him by surprise she could finish it quickly. But…

"Falcon." she called to get her attention.

"Hmm?" the girl turned her head toward her, and Rook showed her her Scroll with the target's file on it.

"Okay, This is what we're going to do. We'll ambush the guy, we'll see where precisely according to the topography of the place. But I will stay on standby while you try to kill him."

You want to test me." she easily guessed.

"Of course, I have to know how you fight." Rook said with a smile.

Falcon just shrugged. She could have been outraged to do all the work by herself, she could have asked for additional information about the target, she could have asked for advice. But she didn't say anything, she agreed without question, killing someone she knew almost nothing about didn't bother her any more than that. What could have made her so insensitive?

The sun was setting, it would be dark soon. In the woods, a man was walking quietly, riffle in hand. He was doing his first anti-Grimm round of the evening, his mission was to protect the village, there had been an influx of Beowolves in the region for some time now, so the village had decided to invest in constant protection until things calm down. His mission would not last very long, he had to leave the next morning to join his fiancee at Argus. They were planning to settle in Atlas, it was ambitious, yes, but what young couple didn't have big plans for the future?

Suddenly, a noise in a bush caught his attention. In an instant, his rifle was in position, and his Semblance ready to be activated. Another leaf noise was heard, and the Huntsman approached slowly. One of his hands dropped his gun to grab one of the branches, and look across the bush. He let out a long sigh when he saw that it was just a little girl.

"Well kid, what are you doing here at that time? It's dangerous in the forest, there are Grimm around." he asked in a reassuring voice.

"I hurt my ankle…" she said shyly.

"Let me see."

The little girl stretched out her left leg, and the man crouched down to look at her ankle. It was indeed a little red but not swollen, it shouldn't be very serious.

"Okay, I'm not a doctor, but I think everything will be fine if you just re-…"

He was cut in his sentence by a violent kick in the jaw that sent him several meters behind. Although a little disoriented, he quickly regained his senses and returned to position, weapon in hand. His Aura had mitigated the most of the shock and avoided the damage, but if he had to take several more hits like that, it wouldn't last long. He looked slowly around him, it was getting darker but the little g-… his opponent's blond hair should be easy to spot. Yet he couldn't see her anywhere, and no bush was moving. She was good at hiding. And now that he thought about it, he would have remembered seeing such red eyes in the village. But why was a kid attacking him?

A noise to his left broke the silence, and the Huntsman immediately put a hand on the ground to activate his Semblance. Robust ivy sprang up in a flash, but caught only the void. A shiver in his back made him turn around and block the sword that was about to decapitate him just in time. The girl seemed surprised, she probably didn't expect to be spotted, and it was true that she had been remarkably discreet in approaching him. But taking a Huntsman by surprise required more than just discretion.

The surprised expression quickly became serious again as she jumped back and sheathed her sword in a large scabbard, and after a light click of the device, she brought out her weapon covered with a blade of Fire Dust. A Dust blades scabbard? Where had he heard that before…?

The girl rushed forward, and he aimed his gun at her. She was too fast for him to catch her with his Semblance, and he needed both hands to use his weapon anyway. He shot when she was halfway there, and she dodged it with frightening agility, continuing to run toward her target without an ounce of hesitation. The Huntsman swallowed. Who trained this kid?!

When she was close enough, she started to attack him with powerful and precise blows, which he could only block with his rifle so as not to be cut in half, preventing him from shooting or using his Semblance. Growing ivy had taken a lot of Aura from him, he had to quickly find a way out. A detail he hadn't noticed until then struck him, and he wasted no time in exploiting it. The instant he saw an opening, he kicked the girl's right shoulder as hard as possible. The absence of arm on this side prevented her from defending herself, and although she surprisingly managed to remain standing, she was destabilized enough for him to be able to move. Without losing a second, the Huntsman took a step back and got into position. The bullet of Lightning Dust touched her right on her wrist, making her let go of her sword.

She looked like a crippled and helpless little girl, but he wouldn't be fooled twice. He immediately shot another bullet which hit her in the chest and this time sent her against a tree. Before she could even get her marks, very thick ivy came out of the trunk and immobilized her.

The Huntsman allowed himself to breathe, his Aura now almost empty due to the use of his Semblance, and walked closer, still with his weapon in his hand.

"Okay girl, you're a good fighter, I give you that. But you should think twice about tackling a pro Huntsman-…" he said before stopping dead.

From her eyes already red like flames… now emanated real red flames. He didn't even have time to get back into position before the ivy and the tree started to burn, eventually exploding. As he was propelled backward, the Huntsman saw the girl's silhouette emerge from the flames as she rushed toward him, her eyes still burning a color reminiscent of Grimm's eyes.

The blonde's fist plunged into his stomach, propelling him even stronger than the explosion and breaking his remaining Aura. He felt his back cross at least two trees before crashing into a third. His head spun for a few moments, and when his vision returned to near normal, the little girl, no the killer, was standing above him, breathing heavily, her sword back in her hand, and her red eyes were not burning anymore, unlike the forest around them.

He was going to die now, he knew it. He and his fiancee would not be moving to Atlas any time soon. The Huntsman's eyes met the girl's, and he was only half surprised to see no doubt, no regret, no pity. Maybe a little anger, or rather frustration. Whatever.

She put a foot on his chest to prevent him from moving, not that he had the strength anyway, and raised the red blade above his head, without an ounce of hesitation, her red eyes shining like those of a Grimm.

Now he remembered where he had heard of a Dust blades scabbard. The leader of Remnant's most dangerous bandit tribe, Raven Branwen, who has been declared dead for several months now. He had already seen her face on a wanted poster with a description of her abilities. One of Remnant's best swordsmen.

Seems like even the criminals could have a family.

The blade lowered.

Blood spilled abundantly on the ground, and the fire was reflected in it. Yang moved away from the corpse and struck her sword in the air to eject the blood from the blade, before sheathing it. She quickly wiped the sweat from her forehead and stuck to her bangs, and took a deep breath. She practically had no Aura after protecting herself from her own explosion.

"Okay, note to myself: Huntsmen aren't as stupid as Vernal claimed. How did Mother manage to kill several of them by raid and come back without a scratch?!" Yang cried in her mind. For a first time fighting a Huntsman, it wasn't too bad but still…

Footsteps behind her caught her attention. Rook had her hood and scarf on, revealing only her purple eyes, but Yang knew she still had her strange smile on her lips.

"It was awesome…" Rook said slowly.

Yang rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming, "But?"

"… But the basis of assassination is discretion." Rook finished, pointing at the burning forest around them. … It was indeed not very discreet. "Apart from that… This is the coolest Semblance I've ever seen."

Yang gave her a flat look.

"No pun intended." Rook added rolling her eyes.

Yang shrugged. Obviously, after this fight, anyone would think that her Semblance was about fire, her eyes turned red, red flames came out of them, and she produced and controlled flames. If there was one thing she'd remembered from everything she'd been through so far, whether from her mother, Qrow, Ozpin, Salem, or all the magic stories she had heard growing up and that she knew to be true, it was that secrecy was the best way to stay safe, and if Yang agreed to work alongside Rook, that didn't mean she trusted her. The problem was, she couldn't use her real Semblance if someone was looking at her…

Doesn't matter, she would keep it as a secret weapon for emergencies. Yang's Semblance was to increase her strength by taking hits, and Falcon's Semblance was fire manipulation.

"Well, we're done here. Better to leave before the fire attracts too many people." Rook said as she started to walk away.

"Rook." Yang called.

"Yes?"

"What's your Semblance?" she asked.

Rook uncovered her face, and looked at Falcon with a sly smile.

"Professional secret." she said with a finger on her lips.

And she left. Yang followed her, intrigued. She wasn't used to people keeping secrets from her, Raven had always told her everything. It was frustrating. And interesting.

"I take the first watch, you go to sleep, you deserve it." Rook said sitting in the grass.

Yang didn't protest and bundled up in her sleeping bag, thinking back to the recent events, the decisions she had made.

She could have found any job to start her life over. But she chose death, because killing was what she could do best, she naturally went for the blood. She had grown up in it after all, somehow she continued to do what she was doing in the tribe, what she was taught to do, what she would have kept doing if nothing had happened. Kill for your own profit.

"Killing is the solution of ease, a radical and irreversible way to get rid of someone. That is not a good thing. There's no real reason, it's just like that."

The easy solution. It was a good summary of her situation. She hadn't thought about what she was doing, she needed money, she had been offered some if she killed, so she killed, Rook offered to teach her how to kill better, she had no reason to refuse, so she agreed. She already had blood on her hands, adding more didn't bother her anymore than that. It didn't mean anything to her. She wasn't afraid of killing. The death of others left her completely indiff-…

The image of a graying blue-haired man and a black-haired boy, both lying at her feet with their throats wide open in a pool of blood, suddenly showed up in her mind. Yang shook her head to drive away this insignificant memory, only so that the two bodies were replaced by one, dressed in red and black, with a gaping hole in the stomach, a large gash going from the left shoulder to the right hip straight, blood streaming down her face, long black hair, and red eyes staring at her. She too was dead because of her.

"I am proud of you."

Yang came out of her cocoon to grab the doll from her bag, her hand trembling. It was dark and there was no campfire to avoid signaling their position, so she couldn't see much, but she was starting to know every single crack of the old toy by heart. Ever since Qrow had told her where this doll came from, what it apparently meant for her mother, it seemed even more precious to her. And to think that she had taken the trouble to bring it to her before she died…

She pressed her doll against her, the porcelain was cold and hard, but it was reassuring, and for a moment, she thought she felt her mother's arms wrapped around her. It was soft and warm… And since that famous night, it was the only way for her to fall asleep.

If only she could remember the lyrics of this song…

Far away, in a dark and deep corner of Remnant, the Queen of the Grimm looked with a cold anger at the sphere floating on the table in front of her. Inside, she could see her latest recruit trembling in fear.

"So? I'm waiting." she said calmly, but you could easily hear the threat in her voice.

"W-We didn't find anything… There were only charred bodies, a-and the fire seemed to come from torches… No trace of intervention of a Maiden…" the Faunus said, obviously terrified.

Salem sighed in disappointment, making Leonardo shiver. Yet he had nothing to fear for the moment, he had done his part after all. As soon as he joined them, he started to investigate with more determination than ever to find the Spring Maiden, and unexpectedly found her after only a few months. Seems like if Ozpin could motivate his troops, he might be able to do something.

The Branwen tribe. Pretty ironic when you knew that Raven was known for her neutrality in this war. Ozpin was certainly not aware of it, although even if he was, he might not take the risk of informing Leo, who had already lost the power once in the past. But this brave Professor Lionheart did very well on his own anyway, he only lacked a little motivation.

No, the problem was that Salem had made the mistake of sending Candice. This woman was as faithful to her as Tyrian, worshiping her like the Goddess she was. But unlike her scorpion colleague, she had the annoying tendency to forget orders. And this time had been the last. All she had to do was identify the Spring Maiden by pushing her to use her powers and then stealing them from her. Only a woman could obtain these powers, so Salem had sent the only woman she had in her troops. But this incompetent had screwed everything up from start to finish, not only was she dead, but the location of the Spring Maiden was unknown again. Either she ran away without letting a trace, or she was dead and the new host of the powers could be absolutely any young girl in Remnant. This crazy pink-haired woman had just missed a perfect opportunity to get a hold on one of the keys to victory!

Salem had good reasons to be angry.

"Very well. We still have an advantage over Ozpin if he ignores that a Maiden was involved. Resume the research and keep me in touch." she ordered.

"O-Of course Your Grace."

Communication stopped, and the Queen of Grimm leave to her room. She was going to have to revise her plans. Fortunately, she had plenty of time.

And there you go!

Yes, this chap is a little shorter than usual, I'm sorry, it will be the only one, promised n_n'

I hope you like the start, it's hard not to go into extremes with Yang's behavior, and having no personal experience on the subject I have a lot of trouble writing the development of Qrow's alcoholism, but I'll do my best!

I hope you like Rook, even if we don't know her much yet, I like her character is very hard to write, even worse than Raven…! But I won't tell you more about her, I will even remain very silent so as not to risk spoiling you n_n

Also, I don't know what to do about Yang's puns, 'cause it's something really hard to translate. Rook's pun in this chapter doesn't exist in the french version, I just add it here, it doesn't work in french. So, will Yang make puns? I haven't decided yet.

In short, it was Chapter 1 of Part II.

See you next week !