Hello!

See? It didn't take too long this time n_n ... And it's very surprising since I have a lot of work these days ... Anyway, I see you guys didn't forget about the weapon Raven had for Yang, I was wondering if it wasn't too early for that, but then I saw my planning for the story and I thought "let's just get this over with". Yeah, that's the real reason n_n'

Aaaaaanyway, I don't keep you here, see you at the end of the page !

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-Here's your helmet.

-Mother's helmet.

Yang almost tore the helmet from Qrow's hands, and observed it. As she expected, it had withstood the flames, but it wasn't intact, the thin layer of fabric inside was no longer there, the white had turned almost black, creating a pattern of stains ranging from black to gray, decorated with dirty red lines. There were also a lot of scuffs, especially on the left side. It was still recognizable by its form though.

-Eh Yang, you might not like it but … you can't use it for your missions.

Yang's fist clenched. Why couldn't she have something rightfully her own?

-Why ?

-Because in case you forgot, you can't be related to Raven or the tribe, and if I remember correctly, she wore it at every raid. Even a civilian could recognize it.

Yang looked down. It was true, unfortunately, but in panic she hadn't thought about it at all …

Behind her, she heard Qrow take a deep breath.

-And it's the same for your sword.

-What ?!

Yang's gaze immediately turned red, as she stood up abruptly, her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw. It was Raven's sword, her mother's sword, she was the only one allowed to use it now, it was hers, no one was allowed to take it from her!

-Yang, calm down.

-Stop telling me to calm down!

-Ok. Ok …

Qrow quickly raised his hands in peace, as he did when she was starting to get too aggressive.

-It's my weapon now! You can't take it from me!

-I never said I was going to take it from you.

After a little moment of thought, Yang relaxed and removed her hand from her sword. She leaned down to pick up the helmet from the ground and looked at it. She had seen her mother wear it so often, it was like having her face in her hands. … Hand.

A tear fell on the helmet and slowly slid to the side, creating a white furrow in the dirt, before falling and getting lost in the grass.

-Yang …

She felt hesitant hands rest on her shoulders. Almost reflexively she raised her head, but instead of seeing her mother's face, she found herself facing Qrow, who was looking at her with concern.

-Hey… It's going to be fine, okay?

Yang lowered her head again, and Qrow hugged her tightly.

-Look kiddo …

-Yang.

-Yang. You take a lot from your mother, physically and morally, no one can say otherwise. But you are not her. You are not Raven. You are you. I know you miss your mother, I miss her too … But you shouldn't try so hard to bring her back. You just hurt yourself for nothing.

-So what …? Should I just forget about her?

-I'm not telling you to forget her, I'm telling you not to let the past prevent you from moving forward.

-Just like when you turned your back on the tribe …

Yang felt Qrow tense up. She pulled away from his arms effortlessly and gave him a hard look.

-I'm not like you. I'm not just going to forget important things. And I will certainly not forget Mother and the tribe.

-I didn't tell you to-…

-Then shut the fuck up if you have nothing to say.

Yang jostled him as she walked over to her mother's trunk. She didn't need advice from someone who had abandoned his family.

Qrow didn't move as Yang walked away behind him without a glance. He had just screwed up once again. She was right, he knew it. He knew he had turned his back too quickly on his tribe, then on his sister. And even now that she was dead, he had moved on relatively quickly, after having drowned himself in alcohol for a few months. But there was one extreme and the other, he forgot too quickly, but Yang was simply unable to turn the page. Of course, that wasn't surprising, she was still just a child, too young to take things in a mature way, and too old not to remember it in a traumatic way. Being used to killing to the point of keeping doing it even when she had a choice probably didn't help her either.

His gaze fell on the stone, on Raven's name. How would she have handled this? He didn't even know what kind of mother she was, all he had for clue was this picture of them, smiling. He didn't remember ever seeing Yang smile. Why would she smile with him? He had been unable to save her mother after all.

-What would you do in my place, eh…?

There was a slight gust of wind, which sent a leaf sticking to his face. Qrow sighed.

-Thanks for the advice …

He shuffled around and walked over to Yang, who was rummaging through Raven's trunk. It was hard to tell if she was looking for something in particular or just something to distract her mind. Sometimes she took out an object, looked at it and then put it back. Qrow got behind her but she didn't even give him a look. She took out a long black cloth, a glove? She put it on her lap and searched a bit more, then pulled out what Qrow recognized as the armor Raven always wore on her arms, even before Beacon. She didn't have it on the night of the attack, her scarf wasn't in her hair either, she must have been getting ready to sleep when it happened, so some of her daily things were still there.

And suddenly he understood what she was trying to do.

-Yang.

-What is it now?

-You shouldn't-…

Yang cut him off, turning to him with a dark look. Qrow sighed, and walked over to the case he had found a few minutes before. It was the only thing that could cheer her up right now, but it would be bad for her to have too many strong emotions in one day, so he was forced to delegate some of the work to Rook, as he doubted the kid would stay later than tomorrow morning.

The thought twitched his eyebrow. He already didn't like the idea of his niece living with an assassin, but this one particularly pissed him out. Seriously, she was behaving as if she knew better how to take care of a child than him, his niece! He might have been far from a model parent, but at least he had experience as an uncle and a bandit child! And that smile, that fucking fake smile…! It was worse than Raven's cocky, arrogant smiles! Really!

But that was not the point.

Qrow put the case down next to Yang, who looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

-It was in the rubble. You should wait until you're with the blonde bitch to open it.

-Why?

-You had enough strong emotions for today.

-I'm not a baby …

-But you still need help untangling your hair, don't you?

Yang looked away, blushing, and Qrow chuckled. She was adorable when she wasn't trying to gut you, and at least she looked a little less angry.

-Come on, if we get started now maybe we'll be done before it gets dark.

Yang hesitated, her gaze moving back and forth between Raven's trunk and the case. Finally she nodded and stood up, taking the glove and armor with her anyway.

-I'll be needing this.

-Hmm… Wrong assortment of colors.

Yang sighed. She didn't care at all about the harmony of her colors, she was already very happy to have found a solution to her burning sleeve problem. Although it hadn't happened very often, she had seen her mother use fire before, and her gloves had never burned, neither had the armor, so it was a good idea. Well, Rook wasn't wrong, the red armor didn't really look good with the rest of her outfit, more brown and beige tones, let alone her orange plaid shirt … Why did she take that thing again?

-And you're sure it will resist your flames?

-Sure, I checked.

-Allright then.

Rook took two skewers that were cooking over their campfire, and handed one to Yang. They didn't meet at the airport this time, Rook's ship had had a fuel problem and had stopped at Argus. She could have taken the train to Mistral, but since Yang was still in the forest and almost halfway, Rook had come to find her directly. How did she get from Argus to Yang in just one day, no one knew. Still, now they were sitting together around a campfire, grilling skewers.

-And what about that?

Yang's eyes fell on the case Qrow had given her, which was set a little out of the way.

-I don't know, I haven't opened it yet. Qrow told me to wait until I am with you.

Rook frowned, more annoyed than suspicious. While she and Qrow seemed to hate each other on principle, neither of them seemed to expect any betrayal from the other. Yang had no idea why, but it was still one less problem to deal with.

-Why?

-He said I had enough strong emotions in one day…

The frown on Rook's face deepened, this time more out of concern. They both still remembered Yang's little anger crisis a little over a year ago. Rook must broke her wrist to calm her down, and after that she had spent several minutes crying pathetically because she wanted her mom. It was not a very pleasant memory, neither for one nor the other.

-Do you want to open it now?

Yang hesitated. Qrow had found it in the rubble of her tent, yet she had never seen this case. But come to think of it, Raven had been away that day, and she'd been home very late, maybe she was just going to get this. Maybe it had something to do with the big raid that was brewing. Or maybe … maybe, like almost everything that could get her mother to move away from the camp … it was for her… Qrow gave it to her after all…

-No, later …

-Okay. Go at your own pace.

At her own pace. For now, Yang felt like it was awfully slow …

The rest of the meal was quiet, the girls finished their skewers in silence by the only light of their campfire, as usual. A sound of flapping wings and moving leaves was heard above them. Rook vaguely lifted her head, but Yang remained focused on her last piece of meat.

-It's just an owl.

Rook looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

-You can say that only to the noise it makes?

-Most of the time, yes. I know a lot about birds.

She was one herself after all. She had often had fun spending the night in nests with other species of birds, and Raven had even taken her to see eggs hatch a few times, baby birds just hatched from the egg were the most adorable thing she had ever seen. And she still remembered her mother's mortified face when she asked her if she had ever laid an egg, it was hilarious. She should try asking Qrow the next time, just to annoy him. They didn't leave on good terms like the other times, but by the next time things should have calmed down. She didn't like the idea of being angry with the only family she had. Of course, she wouldn't say any of that to Rook.

-By the way, why "Rook"?

-Hmm?

- "Rook". When we met you told me it wasn't your real name. How did you choose it?

-Oh. In fact it comes from a silly story with friends, we had just arrived at Beacon for the Vytal tournament …

Yang almost choked on her piece of meat upon hearing the word "Beacon", and she was pretty sure Rook had noticed and intentionally ignored it. Good.

-We were in the dorm and we were bored, but we were all too tired and lazy to unpack our things before dinner. So our team leader pulled out a packet of post-it notes and a pen. You know, you have a post-it sticked on your forehead with something written on it and you have to ask questions to guess what it is.

Yang nodded. She had never played it personally, but she had seen others do it sometimes. She was never the type to play games, she preferred to train, fly, or just hang out with people. Nothing about games. In fact, the only times she remembered playing games was when she was with Ren and Nora. Four years ago. It was starting to date …

-And the post-it on my head said "rook", and I kept it since.

-I see. It's … quite simple.

-The goal is just that no one can guess my real name, it doesn't need to have a deep and complicated story.

-I suppose …

-How about you? Why "Falcon"?

-I …

She couldn't really tell her she could turn into a falcon. Yet that was the real reason, Raven could turn into a raven, Qrow could turn into a crow, it would have been logical that she too had her bird's name. Of course, her mother couldn't have known it from birth, she only found out about it a few years later. Still, Yang was unable to remember the time when she couldn't transform yet, she felt like she always could. In fact, she had wondered sometimes why her mother didn't give her a bird name, just like her and her brother. So she had more or less fixed that. And then …

-My mother called me little bird …

Yang frowned at hearing Rook stifle a laugh.

-Sorry. It's just… surprisingly cute…

-Oh shut up …

Rook laughed, and Yang felt her cheeks turn red. Her mother had never called her that in front of someone else, and luckily because it was fucking embarrassing …!

-Well, "Qrow", "Falcon", "little bird", and you can recognize a bird by the noise it makes. Do you come from a family of ornithologists or something?

-No, my uncle and my mother just both have names of birds.

-What was your mother's name?

-Raven.

Rook frowned and Yang froze. Did she really just give Rook her mother's name? Like that, in the middle of a conversation? When had she let her guard down so much? Hell, it was to avoid letting out information like that that she avoided discussions! It was bad. Bad! Very bad! How could she have made such a mistake?!

-Raven … Like Raven Branwen …?

Yang lowered her head and nodded very slowly. She had just made a huge mistake …

Raven Branwen. The leader of Anima's greatest bandit tribe. Just that. It was … more than unexpected. She had no idea Raven Branwen had a child, she would have remembered hearing something like that somewhere, and she would never have guessed it on her own. Yet that explained a lot of things, like why Falcon had been trained to kill or … how her mother died.

Even Rook had heard of the Grimm attack on their tribe, and Raven Branwen's death … on the same day the girl went away every year and saw her uncle. She was going to her mother's grave, how the hell had she not made the connection earlier?! Okay, she hadn't paid much attention to this story, but still!

On the other hand, Falcon always portrayed her mother like a sweet and kind person, who gave her a doll, untangled her hair so often that the kid never learned how to do it herself, and sang a lullaby to her whit words dripping with love, she couldn't guess she was talking about a person who was known to attack innocent villages and ruthlessly kill the Huntsmen there in order to make things easier for a group of thieves and killers!

Then again, Rook was in a rather bad position for the judge, being herself an assassin who offered candy to children for Halloween …

She was the mentor of Raven Branwen's daughter … God damn it …

Wait. What about Qrow in all of this? It was her brother, right? So he was a former bandit? And he dared to look at her askance because she was an assassin?! His niece was both at the fucking same time!

Falcon … Shit …

Rook snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her apprentice sitting across from her. She might not be crying but it wasn't much better, her gaze was fixed on the ground, she was shaking as much as if she had just fallen into ice water, and her hand had already pulverized the stick of her skewer. A handicapped 12-year-old orphan.

-Okay, uh … Falcon?

She jumped but didn't look up. At least she could hear her, it was already that.

-Falcon, why are you panicking like that?

-I …

Her breathing quickened. Rook got up and came and crouched in front of her.

-Listen firecracker, I am an assassin, I'm not gonna judge you for being a bandit if that's what scares you. So-…

Falcon shook her head. Okay, that wasn't the problem, but what could it be then? What was wrong with Rook knowing who her mother was? Okay, it wasn't just anyone but …

-… she had… enemies, if I can call them that. They don't know I exist, and it has to stay like that.

Oh shit … She was afraid it would be revealed? Well, until then probably only her uncle knew about it, and he too kept it a secret, he had been careful not to give her his last name.

But if Falcon was afraid of her mother's enemies, while her mother was an outlaw … then his enemies were simply law enforcement, as was already the case with her assassin situation. But she particularly wanted to avoid the headmaster of the Academies, and Vale in general. There was something really fishy going on … She was starting to understand why Qrow had insisted so much on her keeping a low profile, he didn't want his niece to be involved. He was rising a little in her esteem.

-My doll …

Her doll? Oh right.

Rook grabbed Falcon's bag and pulled out the doll. It was so old and worn out, but now that she knew where the girl had grown up, it seemed a lot less strange to her. But she didn't want to know how her mother got this toy.

-There.

As always, Falcon hugged her doll close to her as if her life depended on it. Rook sat down quietly next to her. She was reluctant to take her in her arms to calm her down, on the one hand because it meant touching her hair and therefore potentially dying for that, and on the other hand because she never knew if it was better for her to have a hug or some space.

-Look … Nothing's going to happen, okay? It will stay between us, I won't tell anyone, you have my word.

Falcon relaxed slightly. She was on the right way. Good.

-You know … I may be very curious, but I know how to keep secrets. If you need to talk I'm here, okay?

Falcon nodded without raising her head, but the tension in her shoulders seemed to be gone. Rook sighed in relief and turned her gaze to the campfire. And one disaster avoided.

She had really become too attached to this kid, but what else could she do? She liked her despite her grumpy side and she looked after her all year round, she was like a little sister to her … And being so strong and explosive in combat but also incredibly fragile and vulnerable sometimes just made her wanting to protect her from all the misfortunes that could come to her.

Rook felt something against her arm, and was quite surprised to see Falcon lean on her, still holding her doll. Rook smiled. It was the first real sign of trust she received from the little girl, missions didn't count, they had to trust each other so as not to be killed. Slowly, she put her arm behind her back and hugged her a little more.

-I want my mom …

Obviously.

-What if you started by taking a look at what she left you then?

Their eyes turned to the mysterious case. Rook knew how to recognize a trunk for weapons, she had seen a lot of them when she was at the Academy. Considering how attached Falcon was to her sword because it belonged to her mother, having a weapon her mother had planned for her should cheer her up, and sort out the stealth issue at the same time.

-Yeah …

Falcon stood up and pulled the case to her. There was a moment of silence as she unlocked the two clips that held it closed. She was scared and that was understandable. It was like a last present from her mother. Like what, you can't judge a book by its cover, despite everything people could say about Raven Branwen, she shouldn't have been as cruel and monstrous as people thought, for her daughter to mourn her so much …

-You can do it.

Falcon hesitated, her doll resting beside her. Rook put a hand on her shoulder to encourage her. Now that she knew the problem a little better, it was easier to help her.

Finally, after several deep breaths and much hesitation, the little girl opened the case, and Rook couldn't help but smirk as she confirmed her thoughts on the contents.

Back to missions.

Yeah! Missions!

Yes, we are done with this arc. Phew ... So, Yang has new weapons, and Rook now (partly) knows who she is. How will it affect their relation? You'll see it in the next chapter! Which should be longer than usual, isn't that nice?

Anyway, I don't have much to say today so ... see you next time n_n

PS: For those who remember, I said once I was working on a cosplay of Raven. Well, I just finished the clothes! Skirt, top, belt, it's done! Now time for the accessories!