Hello !

Another bonus this week, I'm really sorry, but the arc on which I'm working takes me a lot of time and I want to favor quality over quantity for this fic. But it's fine, I almost finished it! And I have more time to write now so it should be easier.

And anyway, this bonus has been lying around in my head for a while, and it's a little longer than last week, so I hope that it compensates for the waiting time n_n

Good reading!

.

It had always been rare for children to join the tribe.

They were wild, unruly, they needed attention, they didn't help a lot, and they generally didn't know how to defend themselves. But sometimes, on rare occasions during raids, you could come across some hidden gems, a little one with a powerful or very useful Semblance, or a natural talent for combat, a potential to great to waste. But it was rare.

So the day two dirty, ragged toddlers arrived holding hands, Ramy knew right away that he had to take care of them. It always took a while before being fully accepted by the tribe, and these kids would not last long without a little boost.

Like all new members, they had to start with the infamous cooking chore, so when they walked over to the old Faunus, he greeted them with a smile.

"Hello you two. Let's make the presentations right away, I'm Ramy, I'm the one in charge of everything edible here."

They nodded silently and sat down on the wooden log in front of him, so close to each other that it was to wonder if they were not Siamese. Same age, same colors, probably twins, they were too thin for their age, and they had bruises and small cuts everywhere, half hidden by the dirt on their faces and the sleeves of the oversized and tattered clothes they wore. They obviously didn't have the best life. So young. The world was cruel. They would certainly be better off here.

"There." Ramy gave them a potato and a knife each, "Cut it into pieces and then put it in the pot."

The children still said nothing and did what they were told without complaining, their hands trembling. They must be afraid of being rejected if they didn't behave, they weren't the first. And as always, it was up to Grandpa Ramy to comfort them. The tribe was a family, they had nothing to be afraid of.

"So how did you get here?" he casually asked.

There was a silence, then the girl answered with a small, weak and insecure voice, Ramy had to strain his ear to hear her.

"… T-They attacked Qrow, so I defended him… a-and they said I have… 'potential'… I think… I don't know what that means…"

"And they took both of you?" he raised an eyebrow.

That seemed to make the girl a little mad, "I'm not going anywhere without my bro-…! Ouch!"

The little girl dropped the knife and the half-cut potato, revealing a short, slightly bleeding cut below her thumb. Her brother, Qrow, seemed to panic for a moment, then put his own equipment on his lap, and grabbed his sister's hand to bring it to his mouth and suck the blood to avoid an infection. The girl seemed neither surprised nor disturbed by his action, they must have been used to fend for themselves in case of injury. Which meant no adults to take care of them.

Ramy sighed and took out a small box from one of his pockets. "Show me your hand kiddo." They hesitated a bit, then Qrow slowly released his sister's hand. She slowly extended her hand, and watched in amazement as Ramy applied a bandage on her wound. "There, should be easier like that."

The two children barely listened to him, too busy looking at what was probably the first real medical care they had ever received. And bandits were the bad guys…

"So, your name is Qrow." he said to the boy, then turn to the girl, "And yours is …?"

"Raven…"

"I see." he refrain a chuckle, "Qrow and Raven. Did you choose your names yourselves?"

The boy spoke for the first time, "It's the people from our village who called me Qrow, because I… uh …" he stuttered.

"Because he often caused them troubles." his sister finished for him.

"Yes, exactly, that's exactly it."

"And because they called him Qrow, I decided to call myself Raven." she said like it was an evidence.

Ramy nodded slowly with a smile. It suited them, two baby birds just out of the nest. They were cute together.

"Well, Qrow, Raven, welcome in the Branwen family."

"Ramy!"

The old man looked up from his meal, and saw a certain little girl with long black hair run towards him with a big smile on her face. It was the first time he saw someone smile like that after their first raid, especially a child. And it was the first time he saw her smile so much.

"Someone's happy, I see." he smiled, her happiness was rare but contagious, "Did you find a treasure during the raid?"

"Better!" she sat hurriedly next to him on the log, and rummaged in her bag, mostly filled with clothes and hair accessories. "Qrow found a treasure!"

And she triumphantly took out a magnificent brand new porcelain doll, with curly blond hair and eyes of a soft lilac, wearing a pretty pink dress with black ribbons and pearls, and a big black bow on its head.

Ramy chuckled. Raven was always so serious and relentless, spending all her time training or helping in the camp, as if she still needed to prove she deserved her place here. But apparently, somewhere in her heart, she was the child she was supposed to be.

"So? It's beautiful, right! I always wanted one exactly like that!"

"I see."

"And it's a present from Qrow to me! He's the best brother ever!"

Raven kicked her feet in the air, hugging her doll, unable to contain her joy, while Ramy smiled tenderly at her. She and Qrow were very close, they were twins and orphans, so before they joined the tribe, they could only rely on each other to survive. This kind of bond was precious, and even death could not break it.

"So, you two are leaving tomorrow?" Ramy asked before taking a sip of vodka.

"Yes. The journey to Vale is long so we must leave as soon as possible." Raven explained, drinking her own bottle.

Ramy nodded. It was the chef's latest genius idea, send the twins to Beacon to get them up to Huntsmen level and learn how to kill them better. The old Faunus had offered to teach them from his own experience, but apparently he was "too old" for his teachings to be valid. Honestly, he was offended.

"So? How do you feel about it? Are you scared?"

Raven waved her hand disdainfully. The shy and clumsy little girl had disappeared a long time ago, to make way for a beautiful young woman proud and confident, as sharp as the blades of her sword, but still very protective of her brother. Poor guy, his Semblance had given him a hard time all his life, he was one of the few who never fully integrated into the tribe, he was always apart, and often came to take refuge with Ramy to find a little comfort without bothering his sister, who was a real star for her fighting skills. He never learned to cook though, Remnant had rarely seen such a terrible cook. But the old Faunus didn't care, he loved these kids, he knew them since they were practically toddlers, he had seen them grow up, they were like his own children.

"It's been a hell of a long time since I set foot in a Kingdom, but I remember it was really different from here. I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

"Perhaps, but our place is here."

"Sure. But the future is full of surprises, who knows what awaits you?"

"I don't see what could possibly go wrong in just four years in a school." Raven crossed her arms with confidence.

"Wow wow wow! Have you ever been at school before?" he asked with an amused smile.

"No…" the young girl looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Then believe me when I say you never know what to expect, especially in Huntsmen Academies. It can be very hard for some, just as it can be a real blessing for others. A chance for a fresh start." Ramy nodded to Qrow, who was chatting with someone a little further.

Raven frowned. "Qrow would never abandon me to become a Huntsman. We stay together no matter what." she said with a very serious ton.

"I'm not saying you won't."

"I just wonder which one of you will follow the other."

The twins should have been back almost two years ago, rumors were running around the tribe, some said they had betrayed them, others that they had been caught and were in prison, others still thought they had given up and didn't dare come back. Ramy simply assumed they had just chosen their path, and that no one had the right to judge them on this.

Then one day, in the middle of winter, a patrol returned with one more person, a young woman with long black hair and bright red eyes.

She walked straight to the chief's tent regardless of the looks she received, and was immediately invited to enter. For almost half an hour, the entire tribe held their breath. Everyone was asking the same questions, 'Why did it take her so long to come back?', 'Where's Qrow?', 'Did she really get strong enough to kill Huntsmen?'.

Finally, she left the tent, followed by the chief, and the latter called the five strongest members of the tribe, three big, very muscular fellows, a man a little older than her who was pretty good with a sword, and a woman in her thirties who used to crush everyone on the arm wrestling. Ramy moved closer, and everyone stepped aside to let him pass. He may not have been a fighter for a long time, but he was almost as respected as the chief himself for his seniority.

"Well, come on young girl, show us what you learned, show me that your proposition is worth it." the chief said with a mocking voice, clearly not believing that Raven could actually take down the five guys at once.

There were murmurs. 'A proposition?', 'What proposition?', 'What he is talking about?'

Raven nodded and drew her sword. Ramy had never seen such determination in her eyes, even when it came to protecting her brother.

The fight didn't even last two minutes, the young woman had crushed her opponents without any mercy, and had even made the show last a little to show how easily she overpowered them. For the old Faunus, it wasn't a surprise, there was a very huge difference in strength between a bandit and a Huntress, even five against one. However, as funny as it was to watch, there was something strange in the way she fought, she almost seemed afraid of taking hits…

"So? Satisfied?" she asked the chief, with the same mocking ton he had earlier.

The chief gritted his teeth, visibly dissatisfied, and walked down from the platform to come and stand in front of her, overhanging her with at least two heads. Raven didn't seem intimidated at all and held his gaze defiantly. Nobody in the audience understood what was going on, and a heavy silence reigned for ten long seconds, until the chief broke it in a cold and hard tone.

"Fine. You can come back."

He leaned a little closer to her and said a few words low enough that only she could hear him. She nodded, still as confident, and the chief ordered to give her a tent, before returning to his activities. From that moment, everyone jumped on her to assault her with questions, the crowd around her was so dense that you couldn't even see her anymore. On the sides, the people who had joined after her departure looked at the scene with round eyes, probably wondering who was this mysterious person who crushed the best fighters of the tribe and received so much attention.

Seeing that things were likely to escalate, Ramy decided to intervene.

"Okay! That's enough! Give her some air, she's not gonna fly away!" he shouted over the hubbub, the crowd moved aside in his path, and even if she looked impassive, Ramy could see the gratitude in Raven's tired eyes.

After much effort, he managed to disperse the crowd, and took the girl to sit near him in the cooking area of the camp, just like when she arrived for the first time.

"There, it's more quiet here." he patted her back as they sat down.

"Thank you Ramy…"

For the first time since she got home, Raven relaxed, her shoulders fell and she sighed, putting her gloved but cold hand on her forehead.

"Hey, you're okay kid?" he asked worriedly.

"Stop calling me that…" she mumbled, "I don't have anything of a child anymore…"

"You could be married and mother, you'd still be a kid to me." he tried to cheer her up, but instead of laughing or rolling her eyes, Raven groaned loudly and buried her head in her hands, pressing her elbows on her knees.

"For god's sake Ramy please stop, it doesn't help me…!"

She looked exhausted, and not because of her fight. Ramy leaned over and placed a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Need to talk?"

She didn't answer right away and enjoyed the calm for a few more moments, then looked up but kept her eyes lowered on the fire in front of her cooking the midday meal, and warming them while they were talking.

"I… I fucked up everything… Everything was fine, everyone was happy, and I ruined it… I didn't know what to do, I panicked, and… Maybe coming back here was a mistake… but when I needed a safe place to take refuge, the tribe was the first thing that came to my mind and…"

Her voice trembled when she spoke, she could burst into tears at any moment. It was a facet of Raven that Ramy had never seen before. In the hope of consoling her, he took out a bottle of rum which he hid behind the log on which he was sitting and handed it to her. And to his surprise, she refused. It was the first time she refused to have a drink with him, even if she usually preferred tea. Something really bad happened to her. So he put the alcohol away, and asked her the expected question.

"What about Qrow?"

She let out a long sigh and leaned back to look at the sky. It was starting to snow.

"He's alive." she said, the tiredness exasperation flooding her voice, "He lives his life. And he'll hate me when he knows I came back."

Ramy blinked in surprise, "That's the first time I hear something like this from one of you. You and your brother have always placed each other's lives above everything else."

"I know… But now there's someone even more important than him in my eyes."

"Oh, and who get this honor? A cute boy?" he pushed her with his elbow, and for the first time since she came back, Raven smiled, a real tender smile.

"Maybe, it's still too early to know."

Ramy frowned, what did she mean by-… Oooooooooh…!

He couldn't help but laugh, and Raven turned as red as her eyes.

"I don't see what's so funny!"

Ramy laughed harder, even wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye. It was just so unreal for him to think that the seven-year-old girl who had arrived hungry with torn clothes, a small shy and thin voice, who hid behind her brother when she was afraid, had grown up right before his eyes to become a real woman, a talented Huntress, and soon a mother. He had known her and her brother for so long, he had seen them grow up, he had practically raised them, he had not seen the time pass, in his head they were still children… And now Raven was going to become a mother.

A baby in the tribe. It would be unprecedented, and Ramy was glad to live long enough to see it.

"Let's just hope the kid won't be as stubborn as its mom."

Hey!

As I said, it's been a while since I had this in mind, I really got attached to the character of Ramy and I'm sad he's dead, but it's life. I also think of making a bonus like that for Qrow, and maybe one for Yang, even if for her it would be more interesting from Vernal's point of view I think.

And I wondered about what Qrow said in V4, when he says he got his name because of his Semblance, because that means he was already old enough for people to know he was the one who caused bad luck when he got his name, a name he kept all his life, wich mean he didn't have a name before, otherwise he wouldn't have kept a degrading nickname. And even with that, his sister still has a name that match with his, so it can't be a coincidence.

Anyway, next week is the next chapter. Finally! I really hope you'll like this arc cause I worked really hard to write it!

See you later, take care n_n