AN: Hey guys and welcome to another chapter! I'll keep this short since I want to get to the cliffhanger I left so let us thank the reviewers from last chapter!
HaFschu: Thank you for the compliment, and about the chunking thing, I think I can understand where you are coming from, though I can't really explain it. I'll try something different this chapter and see how that works.
Kuro tora: I'll add your vote to the poll, and thank you for the compliment bro.
Cobalt zane: Thank you for liking the story! I'll add your vote to the poll.
Astra: Oh dear here we go again with your whole family and Neo scratching at my window even though I am on the second floor. Thanks for the "no pressure" for Vernals character development. I'll try my damndest to make her a character that you will tell me that you like. Keep trying, you might get her name right one of these days. Don't worry, Cardin is still alive, his poor ego is just destroyed at the moment. Also yes I can see that I am very wrong and that I did not do enough research about Team CFVY, damn. Alright! So CFVY is older this time around, I can work with that, I'll make sure to point that out at the end of the chapter. Ah, now I understand, and yeah writing is like a mental vacation, only that I have to remember all of the characters, their personalities and their names. So y'know, that's my Orchid fix until I get to Orchid scenes. Qrow doesn't know their names because he has never asked for them and he was never told them. Emerald constantly uses her semblance on him so he doesn't even know that they are there. Also it is Qrow. I refuse to confirm nor deny that Two Shae thing… I Spy is completely fair when you have a blind person playing it… Also I like the Orchid holmes thing, I might make that a short one day. I laughed very hard at the thought of Orchid saying that to Goodwitch… thanks for the idea. He still has a nose, mouth, and cheeks… and he can still furrowed his brow… just accept it for the plot. Kai and Orchid are just adorable, I agree. I wonder how they would be as 17 year olds?... Moving on, I am glad you enjoyed that Two Three joke, I have a feeling that you like it more because it came from Orchid. True, you are right about the raven thing. Also walking non stop and taking rides without much food or drink can be pretty exhausting, even when it is cold your body can still overheat. It can be both of what you just said, I'll explain some of it in the chapter about what the carvings are. Kai's sensing is hard to explain, lets just say he knew someone was behind him in the trees as he was zooming over to Yangs house. He was by no means as fast as Ruby, he was like half as fast maybe, but remember that he can't keep up the speed as long as she can so he needed to touch the ground every now and again. That might be Qrows secret name, who knows?... The Branwens are very creative with names. The running joke of people forgetting that Kai is blind will never stop. I mean when you write literally almost every hour of the day and finish early it can go by pretty fast. I'll add that word to my vocabulary. I'll see ya in the next one!
Thank you all for the reviews!
Poll results as of now:
Ruby Rose- 23
Yang Xiao-Long- 19
Weiss Schnee- 16
Orchid Rosa- 7
Blake Belladonna- 6
Pyrrha Nikos- 5
Neo- 4
Pretty much the same as before, but Yang is getting up there quickly. Thank you all for voting.
Now let's get right to the story!
RWBY: The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 14- Volume 0, episode 12
Explanations
"Hey Kai... it's your Dad, I have something to tell you… something that I should have told you a long time ago." Malikai's voice is heard as soon as Marron pushed the button, and the two of them wait and listen intently to what he has to say.
"I made this recording on your twelfth birthday Kai, and as you can see however old you are now that I never really got around to telling you this. If you are listening to this message via your mother who I know is probably listening with you-"
Marron snorted at that.
"- I am sorry to say that one of three things is happening right now. The first one and most likely is that I am dead."
Kai sniffled upon hearing that, and already tears begin to well up from his revealed eyes. Marron hugs her son even tighter as she steels herself for his sake, even as exhausted as she is at the moment.
"Or, I've been captured, which for me is a fate worse than death, I'll explain why that is later in thismessage. Or lastly and hopefully is the case here, it is simply not safe for me to return to you at the moment, I don't expect you to understand, but I hope you do."
"What is there to understand?" Kai asked in a whisper full of emotion.
"If it is the latter two, then know that I am doing everything within my power to return to you, but if I am dead then please… stay strong for me, because you are among the last of the silver eyed warriors."
"Silver eyed warriors…?" Marron whispered to herself, then widens her eyes in realization. All those times he kept a wrap over his eyes, they were silver! Her husband was some kind of warrior race and she never knew? And now her son is one of them. Just what the hell is going on here now? Why is this coming out now of all times? With just a few sentences, Malikai has managed to make his wife want to ask dozens of questions that she may or may not get the answer to.
Kai rose his left hand to trace the area around his eyes. He doesn't know what to think right now, his father is missing, and now he is apparently a part of some warrior race. His heart is beating out of his chest. And he needs to hear more, he needs to understand exactly what he is.
"I am sure you have a lot of questions, but first I need you to promise me this." Malikai emphasized the word need. "You have to keep this a secret, only to yourself and your most trusted allies. If news got out that you have silver eyes, then you will be hunted your entire life. Keep that headband on at all times, and if it gets ripped off, keep your eyes closed." it was a good thing his father said this after he just got it cut off and revealed to some stranger from the Branwen tribe, but he just showed his partner, and he was planning to show Yang and Ruby… is it already too late?
Malikai is then heard sighing loudly then took a deep breath, no doubt preparing even himself for what comes next. "When you were born with silver eyes… I was distraught Kai, having a child was never part of my lifetime plan, I am sorry to say that, but I tried my best anyway, which was why I trained you as hard as I did. Make no mistake Kai, I love you, and that will never change."
A single tear slid down Kai's cheek at those words. It wasn't often his father said them to him, and he needed it now of all times.
"Let me explain what the Silver eyed warriors are. As it says in our name, we are all born with eyes of silver, and we are bane of the Grimm, with a single stare we can burn a Grimm to nothing but ash, as well as increasing or strength and speed by many times, among an abundant amount of abilities that I can't even begin to describe to you." Kai laughed bitterly at that. Of course, he is one of these silver eyed warriors and the only way to use those powers was to stare down the Grimm, how ironic.
"In a way, that part of history is true, but we are not just born to fight Grimm. Like I said before, we are among the last of the silver eyed warriors. We are nearly extinct, how we got this close to being wiped off the map, I don't know. I don't think anyone knows- well, I know someone does, but he would never tell me or anyone else. I am sure you are wondering how exactly you unlock such a powerful ability."
"Among a lot of other things, yeah." Kai said with a scoff.
"Your father always sucked with explaining things, just give him time he'll get around to it." Marron said with an amused smile, she could always find a way to lighten the mood.
"Unfortunately, it can be only be unlocked one of two ways. The easy way is losing someone you care about and not being able to do anything about it, a traumatic event to stimulate the harshest of emotions will unleash your power."
Kai swallowed nervously, he would rather do it the hard way. Whatever that may be.
"The hard way is to unlock it naturally, though I even wasn't able to achieve it this way. I got mine after losing my father… that is a story for another time whenever I get around to it. But for you? I think you can do it this way, but it is going to take a LOT of training, so much training in fact that you may need to take time out of school in order to do it, but if you do it this way, then a theory of mine says that you would be even stronger then someone who got it by a traumatic experience, which would make you even stronger than me, probably even at a young age to if you managed it."
"Just get to the damn point already!" Marron whisper screamed.
"In order to unlock it naturally, you need to push your body beyond its limitations to the point where you nearly kill yourself with training every day, and I mean every. Single. Day. Make sure you always pump some aura in your eyes while training, however long it takes you will know when you unlock them, you are going to get a splitting headache and probably be knocked out for a few days. Since I was training you hard, you shouldn't have a huge problem with this."
"Shouldn't be a huge problem he says… okay, I can do that." Kai said with a chuckle.
"Balance this out with meditation, and of course make sure you can sustain yourself with food and drink, I would recommend to you mostly organic food. Training and using Silver Ebony should help speed up the process. How? Because Silver Ebony is a weapon specifically built for silver eyed warriors, you may feel a bond with it and an urge to reclaim it in the coming years, you'll learn why I made you use it so much instead of those silly flimsy stone weapons you've been summoning out of the ground."
As he said this, Kai couldn't help but think on all the times he wished he had the weapon with him, and all the times he regretted now bringing the unique sword with him, he did feel a bond to the weapons. Now he just wants to know how that is possible, which was answered as soon as he thought about the question.
"Silver Ebony is made out of a no longer attainable material named, and you guessed it, Silver Ebony."
"Of course it is…" Marron sighed.
"The metal was made a very long time ago, and the sword itself is centuries of years old, and it has many special and unique abilities that no other weapon has. If you feed it aura, it will become stronger, and longer, and you can honestly do whatever the hell you want with it, the possibilities are only limited to its user." Malikai explained.
"On the blade are engraved runes, and the runes are in a dead language that change with each user, in your case, there are five runes. I'll translate it for you since you probably will never learn the language."
As his father speaks, Kai grips the sword by it's hilt, and lifts it to himself. He uses his other hand to trace the middle of the blade all the way up until he finds the very unrecognizable and impossible to decipher runes that father has just spoke of. He waits for the translation.
"The first rune near the tip of the blade literally translates to 'Torch' which could also mean fire, the one beneath that is simply 'Water', you get where I am going with this I bet, you're a smart kid. The next two are 'Stone' and then 'Wind', those are all the elements you can control with your semblance, but the last one was what got my attention."
Kai traced his fingers over the last one, which to him was just a oddly shaped lower cased N, but the meaning of it speaks volumes is what he assumes.
"That rune means 'Power', it's the same rune that I had when I wielded the sword, but you managed to earn it at a much younger age then I did. Over time you will gain more runes, you won't know what they mean, but they will come. I had ten runes on the blade before I handed it down to you. The blade will be yours until you pass it on to your future child, when that happens, the blade is no longer yours, and the abilities of the weapon will no longer be available to you."
"Wow…" Kai said bewildered. The blade almost felt like it was humming to him, and the weapon was light in his arms.
"Silver Ebony doesn't need to be maintained, it will never lose it's edge and will remain a deadly weapon for many more centuries to come. Another thing is the bracer that you have become pretty fond of, it is made of the same material."
That explains a lot. Kai thought to himself, remembering the times where he blocked or parried an attack with the bracer and it took no damage despite the power behind the attack, he has never felt a single dent in the defensive tool, never.
"Now that all the boring stuff is out of the way, I am sure you are wondering how you're blindness is going to play a part in this… if it is going to prevent you from using your powers… Honestly? I have no idea how it is going to work, I have done all the research I could and never in history has there ever been a blind silver eyed warrior, but I do know one thing for sure. As long as you have eyes of silver, you will be able to use them, if I am still around you can tell me how that goes."
"When I find you I am going to kick your ass." Marron threatened the man from the past through the scroll.
"Lastly…" Malikai sighs exasperatedly again. "What I am about to tell you needs to be kept a secret no matter what, this is for your ears, and your ears only, which means if your mother is listening in then please get her out of there."
Marron heard this and paused the recording, and then felt her son's shoulders stiffen. She looks to his face and sees the conflicted expression, she sighs and takes the earbud out of her ear, and sticks it into her sons other ear. He makes to ask her what she is doing but is cut off by a finger pressed against his lips.
"I've probably listened in on more than I should have anyway… I'll honor his wishes." Marron quickly explained as she pressed play on the device.
"There is a war going on, one that no one knows of beside two small circles of people, if they could be called as such. The Grimm aren't as mindless as people say, there is something controlling them, she calls herself the Queen of the Grimm, and her name is Salem."
Kai sucked in breath and his face paled, a Queen of the Grimm, and no one knows besides some small group of people. His young mind almost can't comprehend this revelation enough for him to not panic right away.
"As far as I know, she aims to rid the world of every life form, leaving it a barren world only for the Grimm. And that she maybe had- no did a massive part in the demise of our race. Listen to me Kai, by no means do you EVER even think about going after her, she is beyond anyone alive, and it would only lead to your death. Not only that but she has people working for her, people that will do anything for her for some godforsaken reason. I said it before, and I will say it again, do not let ANYONE know that you have silver eyes, the ones that already know can be trusted, but there is one person that I need you to be careful with. The Headmaster of Beacon Academy."
Kai shook, the world was crashing down on him. The world he knew was so very small and idealistic.
"Ozpin is not what the world thinks he is, and he is almost as bad as Salem when it comes to sacrificing pawns. He knows of your eyes, and will try to get you to work for him once you are old and strong enough. I made that mistake once, and it costed me by best friend, don't make the same mistake. I know you are going to go to Beacon, I would much rather have you be trained out of school by myself or another huntsman until you are old and good enough to take the license test and get it that way, but I know that is not how you are. I don't have much time left, so I'll leave you with one last piece of advice, or more as a will."
"If I am still alive, do not come after me, please. If you got hurt or worse… I wouldn't be able to forgive myself… I will come back when the time is right, and I can take you on that mission I promised you I would take you on as my shadow. But… if I am dead… then you are one of the two remaining silver eyed warriors in existence that I know of. The other one is Summer's daughter Ruby, you met her when you two were babies, but I doubt you two would actually remember that."
Kai's heart skips a beat, and his breathing gets more jagged. Ruby, his best friend and the girl he has been living with for a long time now has also been 'gifted' the power of the silver eyed warriors, that both makes him feel happy and sad, because he knows what comes next after that.
"If I fall… it will be up to you two to save the world. There won't be time for another generation to be born if you fail, so no pressure." Both father and son chuckled at that, even as Kai rolled his blind eyes after hearing that poorly timed joke. "Oh and before I forget, that fairy tale about the Seasonal Maidens aiding that old man is true."
"Wait what-"
"If you ever run into one, make sure you become friends with them. That is about all I have to tell you at the moment, I am sorry it was so much to listen to, and so much to remember and process, but please soak it all in, this message will automatically delete itself once it finishes. Kai… my son… I am sorry I am putting this all on you… if I had it my way I would have rather not cursed you with my eyes, but remember this son…
"I love you, I always will. Take care of your mother while I am gone."
The message ended after that, and true to his word the message deleted itself. Kai was left to process everything he has just been told. He sags back in the couch he has spent a lot of nights sleeping on and takes out the earbuds from his ears and tosses them to the side. Silver eyed warriors… This Salem creature… Maidens… Silver Ebony…
"Mom." He called to his mother, who is still a little weak, but is still eager to help her son with anything.
"What is it?" She asked as she ran a hand through his hair.
"I need a new blindfold… and I have to start training again." Kai said as he rested Silver Ebony on his lap. "Starting now."
Marron didn't expect anything less from her son, and she won't make the same mistake she did before.
"Of course." She smiled.
Malikai hops in place and rolls his neck, he is ready to get started on training Vernal again, who has been making slow progress for the duration of his mentorship. The girl is feisty, and certainly knows how to speak her mind in a very colorful way, if only she could back up her words with actions. He hasn't even started using his weapon yet, and even further away from using his eyes on her.
"Only eleven more months of this shit…" The silver eyed warrior said as he tied his belt. His clothes has been repaired, so that is a plus. It honestly isn't as bad as he thought it would be, but it still pales in comparison to getting back to his family. "Well, lets go wake the girl up."
As he made his way to the exit flap of his generously provided tent as Raven said, a familiar portal formed just outside his tent, and out through it came a pretty satisfied looking Raven with a grin on her face.
"You look like you just killed someone you didn't like." Malikai pointed out. "Where the hell have you been for the passed two days?"
"Business." Raven answered simply with a shrug, and it technically wasn't a lie. Even if it was, Malikai couldn't tell.
"What kind of business?" Malikai asked as he narrowed his eyes at the tribe leader.
"The kind that I am not going to share with you." Raven said with a glare of her own. "Go find Vernal, I have some more business to attend to." With that she left him there, and went off to do her own stuff.
"As charming as ever I see." Malikai said with a roll of his eyes as he headed off in the opposite direction toward Vernals tent, which has armed guards protecting it at all times. They see the warrior step up to them, and both nod their heads, the tribe knows of his presence and what he is capable of, they may not like him but they have respect and fear for his strength. They move out of the way and Malikai steps into his very reluctant apprentices tent.
He finds her sleeping like a log snoring loudly on her bed roll, still in the same clothing she was in the day before, and drooling from the corner of her mouth. She almost looked peaceful in her own little bandit way.
"Wake up." Malikai said as he nudged her face with his foot. Making her groan in protest and bat his foot away with a lazy swipe.
"Fuck off." Vernal cursed in her sleep as she rolled to her other side facing away from Malikai.
"You would curse in your sleep." He shook his head. "Alrighty then, time for the hard way." Malikai then proceeded to kick her off of her low bed, and onto the dirt below, startling her awake as she reached for her weapons and aimed them at her current mentor, who chuckles at the sight. "Come on, I dare you to shoot those things at me, see what happens."
"Tch, you're earlier than usual." Vernal says as she holsters her weapons and crosses her arms.
"I woke up earlier than usual." Malikai countered. "Get ready." He sniffs the air and scrunches his nose. "And make sure you take a shower after we're done today, you smell like shit."
"That's not any way to talk to a lady now is it?" Vernal attempts to tease the older man.
"If you were an actual lady I might have apologized." She quickly learns that she was barking up the wrong tree. "Now get out and get ready." He added as he exited the tent, leaving her growling at him with seething anger.
She didn't even bother doing anything else beside follow him out, her weapons jingling behind her back as she steels her mind for what she expects to be another ass kicking. "What's going on today? Same as always?"
"Same as always, try to force me to use my weapon this time." Malikai said as he tied his new swords sheath to his hip and buckled it up. Once he finishes he gets into a lazy looking stance, with just his legs spread out to his sides and his arms ready to defend or attack at any given moment. The first time he took a stance like this Vernal made the mistake of rushing right in with her blades heading toward his neck, only to find herself on her belly with her arm pinned to her back and nearly screaming in pain if it wasn't for the face full of dirt, in just a matter of seconds to. A few days of training later and she started using her Maiden powers, with the same results only with the only difference being that it takes a little longer. Here she was, the second strongest of the tribe, being manhandled so easily by this random guy that Raven saved for whatever reason. She dares to think that Malikai was actually better than her tribe leader, but would only ever admit to it if she saw him beat her in a fight.
Vernal's eyes flame blue as they always had before, instead of using her weapons she uses her magic, and without warning shoots a hailstorm of ice in Malikai's direction, who easily dodges each and every one with sidesteps and fluid movements that shouldn't be possible for a man as tall as he is. When the hailstorm stops, Vernal closes in attempting to catch him off guard, but pulls back as soon as she saw him preparing to counter her.
"Huh, getting smarter." Malikai noted as he returned his arm to his side, and attains the same stance as before.
Vernal aims her weapons at him, and fires off her lasers which is once again dodged by the speedy silver eyed warrior. She cursed in her head when she feels the wind blow against her side and a hand wrapping around both of her wrists. The next thing she knew she flipped backward two times and then got kicked in the mouth and ate the dirt once again. She pushed herself up with a hiss and glared at him.
"Better, but every time you use those laser things you leave yourself open with the kickback on those things. Why did you shoot at me when you knew it wouldn't hit me anyway?" Malikai asked as he leaned one one hip waiting for her to stand up all the way.
She answered him by trying to gut his stomach open with her blades, only for her to whiff and get chopped in the back twice and then a third time on the back of her neck.
"Your movements are too linear." He scolded as she stood right back up with a daze, he hit one of her pressure points that even aura can't full protect.
"You're talkative today." Vernal replied as she took this time to catch her breath and let the pain fade away.
"Eh, this is me being nicer to you. I could retract that kindness if you'd like, but then again I don't think you would prefer that." Vernal gritted her teeth after he said that, he seemed to be in a better mood today then before. At the beginning of her training he would just be quiet and kick her ass every time she made a mistake. To his defense he wasn't in the best of moods after being strong armed into a deal he would much rather not be a part of, and he had to take it out on someone lest he bottle it up and blow up another time, and possibly on the wrong person. Soon though he seemed to realize that Vernal didn't have much of a say in this either, and that he was probably being unfair to her, he feels bad for her when he thinks about it. She is probably just some random girl picked up by Raven and her tribe one day, and was unfortunate enough to inherit Maiden powers somehow, and now she is not only being raised by outlaws, but is now being forced to learn how to live with a target on her back constantly.
He can relate to that, after hiding for so long and being paranoid about coming back to his house from a hunt only to find his dead wife and son. It was a huge reason why he didn't let any schools enroll his son in Vacuo and why he pushed for him to go to a training school in Vale. Because if not people would not only know that he had a son, but also ran the risk of people finding out his son had silver eyes, and if that information got to the wrong people… there would be hell to pay.
So yeah, Malikai has decided to take it easy on her. For now at least, he can't deny that he finds it amusing to put her in her place every now and again because of that mouth of hers. But if he is going to be stuck in a place he didn't want to be for so long then he might as well make some friends, and like he told his son in a message. You should always try to be friends with someone who can control the power of nature. Now that he thinks about the message he made two years ago he probably should have explained that bit about the Maidens better… Eh, Kai's a smart kid, he'll get it.
"Just shut up and fight me seriously." Vernal demands as she cocks her weapons to her sides.
"You sure you actually want that?" Malikai retorted, actually resting a hand on the hilt of his sword for the first time since beginning to train her.
Vernal noticed this, and a bead of sweat ran down her face. If he was good enough to effortlessly beat her while he was unarmed, she can only imagine what it would be like to go up against him when he is serious. How the hell did this guy get hurt anyway?
Before she could answer however, a commotion was made in the center of camp, tribesman ran around and passed the two of them to go see what is going on. Malikai caught one of guys running by at the arm and asked him what was going on.
"What's happening?"
"Q-Qrow Branwen has returned to the tribe." The guy said, and used Malikai's moment of shock to escape from his grasp.
"Qrow is here?" Malikai repeated to himself. This could be his way out, Qrow is at least as good as Raven, and the only other one here who is even close to the level of a huntsman is Vernal, and she is tired and beaten already. If he worked with Qrow… he could escape and get back to his family on Patch.
"You can't let him see you, you know that right?" Vernal said as she grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. The first time she has been able to touch him in any of their training sessions. "If he sees you, he is going to want to take you back, and you know what happens from there."
"Shit…" That's right, if Qrow found him, the two of them would escape, that much is for certain. But that would also put a target on his family, and for him and Qrow to get back to Patch would take weeks up to a month, and even if Qrow was using his bird form, it would still take at least a week. While Raven could get there in seconds, gain a hostage, or worse… Although, he could always team up with Qrow and force Raven to make a portal to Taiyang or his blonde daughter, but even then it would put a target on his family's back. At any moment if he left his family alone could be the opening Raven needed in order to do something- anything to get back at him. He knew her well enough to know that she would do something like that to get him back. Which left him with one or two realistic options.
Listen to Vernals funny sounding advice to just stay put and not let Qrow find him, and waste that chance that he has. Or, kill Raven and leave. Both options are not exactly ones that neither he or Qrow would like. As much of a manipulative bitch that Raven is, she was still one of his closest friends and comrades.
Reluctantly, Malikai sees that the only safe option was to wait out the year that he has. "I'll hide somewhere." He says without looking at Vernal, who was actually quite surprised with his choice. She doesn't say anything back to him, and goes where she is expected to be, by her leaders side.
"Welcome back little brother, have you finally come back to your senses and are here to rejoin your family?" Raven asked Qrow with a cocky smirk.
"The only member of my family here is you Ray." Qrow answered with a scoff. "I'm not here to stay, I just have a few things that I need to ask you."
"Oh? And what might that be?" Raven narrowed her eyes and rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Malikai was attacked, y'know, your ex-boy toy." Qrow chuckled when his fellow tribesman widened their eyes in shock at the revelation. Raven's reasoning for him being here all of a sudden makes a lot more sense. All of them looked surprised besides Raven of course.
"What of it?" She asked instead.
"You knew? Ah, shouldn't surprise me, you always did admire his strength enough to actually keep him around." Qrow remarked, making it known that he still isn't very happy with his sister abandoning her family.
"Is this going anywhere? If it isn't then I am afraid I no longer find your presence here needed." Raven threatened, her patience running thin.
"Of course, of course. I wouldn't come here just to piss you off, as fun as that is." Qrow said in a less than amused voice despite the words he had just said. "You see, Headmaster Rivers of Shade Academy himself went to the scene of the crime where our buddy was attacked, and while he found his house pretty much destroyed and most of the forest destroyed, as well as some blood splatters here and there, there was something that really caught my eye." Qrow leaned in and stared his sister down, and even rose a hand behind his back to grip his own sword just in case things have to get violent. "Why exactly were there black feathers there? Specifically black raven feathers, unless I was really drunk at the time and had a hell of a blackout, what exactly were you doing over there?"
Raven shrugged, and crossed her arms, this is when Vernal steps out from behind her, her icy blue eyes staring down the male Branwen twin.
"Cute kid, who'd you steal her from?" Qrow quipped.
"I was there." Raven suddenly said after a tense moment of silence.
Malikai tenses up in his hiding spot, why the hell did she choose now of all times to be completely honest? He really hopes she knows what she is doing, because he still has a deal to keep and something tells him that she isn't about to throw that deal away.
Qrow narrowed his eyes, and even grit his teeth a little. "Did you kill him?" He asked in a rough voice.
"Now now, don't go drawing your own conclusions already little brother." Raven said with a smirk, enjoying playing her word games. "I didn't kill him, as easy as it would have been. It would have been a waste of strength."
Despite her shitty reasons, Qrow can't help but feel relieved. If Malikai was still alive it makes things ten times easier. "So he's alive?"
"Yes."
"Do you know where he is?"
"No, I'll give you one more question since we have history together."
"History she says." Qrow chuckled and shook his head. "Fine, I'll ask it again, where is he?"
Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "And I will give you the same answer, I do not know. I suggest that you select a different topic to talk to me about."
"Hm…" Qrow reached to his face and scratched his stubble. Funnily enough, he thinks about Kai. The kid always tried to get him to talk about his sister, and finally one day he did. He told him about the tribe and what happened with her, how she abandoned her family and that the two of them weren't exactly on the greatest of terms. First Kai got him to get back on speaking terms with his partner Taiyang, and now he has managed to get him to consider having a similar talk with his sister… That kid is going to get him killed some day he swears.
"How about we catch up a bit?" Qrow suggested with a friendly grin, taking his hand off of his sword and holding his both of his hands off to the side as if he is offering his sister a hug.
Raven actually laughed.
"Haha, you can't be serious are you?" She scoffed.
"Eh, a little. I might be a little drunk still who knows." He admitted as he put both of his hands behind his head.
He did think about asking about the Spring Maiden like he originally planned, but he knew his sister. Even if she knew where she was, and if she was in the tribe or not. She wouldn't tell him, and he knows that as good as he is, if he antagonized her it would not have ended well. He would have to ask about her another time. Besides, Spring would actually be pretty safe here despite all the outlaws and everything of the sort.
"Is this another silly attempt at trying to convince me to go see that weakling Tai?" Raven asked with an arched eyebrow, she lost count on the amount of times Qrow actually tried to convince her, he nearly got her once, and only once. "Or is it my daughter this time?"
"Nope." Another surprise, Qrow just shrugged it off. "Gave up on that a while ago, is it so hard to believe that I just want to talk? Brother to sister, sister to brother? Twinny love as Summer used to say."
Raven ignored his quip about her late partner, while she never hated her and strongly disliked her at times, she was still her partner, and no one will ever know just how much she meant to her. But what her twin is suggesting is something that she didn't expect… she is considering it.
"Vernal, go continue your training." Raven said to the Spring Maiden, who followed her orders without hesitation.
Vernal sees the hidden message, and goes back to where she once came to see if Malikai is still doing his part.
"I'll… accept your proposal little brother." Raven gestured to her tent with one hand. "I'll give you an hour, being the sole leader of the Branwen tribe is time consuming."
Qrow smiled and nodded, and without another word and ignoring the muttering from the tribe, he steps up and passed Raven, and disappeared into her tent. Soon after, Raven followed him in.
"Hey, after we're done do you think you can make a portal for me? I had to eat a worm to get all the way over here in one flight."
"That's disgusting, and I am already regretting my decision."
"Hehe, yeah… so how about that portal?"
"We'll see."
Transition
"I'm surprised you didn't jump at the chance to get out of here." Vernal said as she leaned against the pole holding up the tent.
Malikai chose to hide in her tent, with her guards gone it didn't look like they were hiding anything, and he doubted Qrow would walk around the camp looking for him without Raven going after him. He had to make a choice within seconds lest he get spotted by Qrow's wandering eyes.
"I'm surprised you would give a shit if I did." He spat back as he lied down on her bed with one leg curled above the other.
"I wouldn't, just speaking my mind." Vernal denied with a roll of her eyes.
"Awe, here I was hoping I would be able to adopt you as my own." Malikai jokes with a chuckle.
"Eugh, you would hope for something like that."
"Funny, why weren't you this amusing for the passed couple of weeks?"
"It was a bit hard when all you did was stick my face in the dirt."
"Oh… yeah, sorry about that, I wasn't in the best of moods." Malikai said with a swallow, suddenly feeling bad for her as he remembers their harsh training sessions.
"I found that out on my own thank you very much." Vernal sat down on her personal chest with a huff, letting her sore muscles have a well needed break. "This is how you trained that kid of yours?"
"Yee-up, Kai Matsuoka. Apparently he's made quite the name for himself, overheard some of your buds talking about 'The Blind Huntsman', I leave the kid alone for like half a semester and this shit happens. Heard that he entered in some tournament to, damn kid is doing the opposite of what I told him to do." Malikai explained with a sigh.
"Does he know about his true nature?" Vernal asked, actually interested more than she thought she would have in learning about the kid. With everything she has heard about him, he sounds like he is a pretty strong kid. She wouldn't mind going a few rounds with him just to see how strong he really is.
"... I hope he does, I was never able to tell him myself but his mother should have made it to Patch by now. I left a message for him explaining about what he is and what he should do. Doubt he is actually going to listen to half of it, but I did what I could." Malikai explained.
"Why would you tell me that much? I just asked if he knew about his own power." Vernal asked with a confused expression on her face.
"Because, I'm bored. And I'd rather have friends then enemies, despite you being an outlaw and all that." Malikai said as he rolled his head to one side to look at Vernal.
"Not because I'm a Maiden?" She asked with an arch of her eyebrow.
"Oh it has a lot to do with the fact that you're a Maiden." Malikai admits shamelessly. "But besides that, I guess I might as well be on good terms with you rather then bad, I just can't help it. I am a nice guy like that."
Vernal nodded her head at his reasoning and honesty. Though she never expected this kind of treatment from someone that has been kicking her ass for a while now, and knew that she probably isn't going to see him again after he leaves. She didn't see this new side of him as unpleasant. "Whatever, I guess you're okay to." She eventually said with a scoff. "You're still an asshole though, that is never going to change."
Malikai didn't bother to hide his own scoff.
"I guess training is going to be postponed for today?" The tattooed woman asked next.
"Yup, lucky you. Whenever Qrow leaves we'll get back at it, so make sure you rest up a bit."
"Great… hey let me ask you something."
"What is it?"
"If you are so strong, like Raven says and how you obviously are, how exactly did you get hurt so bad you were half dead?"
Malikai's eyes squeezed shut at the memory. Tyrians crazed cackles, Hazles grunts and groans, the sound of skin being cut and the feeling of his bones and muscles nearly breaking after every exchange. It is not a pleasant memory, if he were at his strongest he would have been able to kill them both instead of losing like he did because of that hostile Maiden that Raven told him about.
But then again, if Vernal didn't know how he got hurt, then that means Raven didn't tell him. And with that came the chance that she didn't know about Salem and the secret war that has been around for so long.
If that was the case, then no one else needed to be dragged into his war, as long as no one knew about her, the safer she would be.
"Got ambushed by some surprisingly strong assholes, I killed them off but I got wounded because I didn't put my aura up in time to save myself from being hurt. Raven came just in time to save me and here I am, now I am stuck owing her a year long favour." He lied.
"Heh, so even the all powerful Malikai can be bested if he is caught off guard." Vernal teased with a grin.
"Hey! Unless you want to eat dirt again I suggest you keep that mouth shut."
No one else needed to be dragged into his war…
Well then look at that, an interesting chapter to say the least. It was mainly focused on Malikais message to Kai and what has been going on with Raven and Malikai. As well as some Vernal screen time and a better look at the personality I gave her in this fic. Since she didn't really get a lot of time in the show, I don't have much to work off of to get a good grasp of her personality. She is going to be different in this fic, since she is going to be around different people and has the Maiden powers.
Something I need to say. A certain guest reviewer by the name of Astra has pointed out that Team CFVY are all older than they should be in this story, and after realizing that I was like Oh shit, but then I decided that fuck it, we are going to work with this. So yes, Team CFVY are going to be fourth years once Kai and his buds get into Beacon. Just letting you all know that now. Shouldn't change much I hope, but it will make them much more skilled because of how close they will be to graduating.
-SPOILER WARNING-
Before anyone asks, yes I saw the new episodes of RWBY Volume 6, and holy shit guys, if you read Unlikely Hero then you know that basically two episodes just fucked that entire story up, like geez, who knew that Knolly (The nickname I gave the Relic of Knowledge in that story) had a Waifu form? Heh, RT is good at surprises. The only thing I don't like about the new volume so far is Cinder still being alive… she literally was frozen stiff, out of aura, and severely weakened and tossed off a cliff, the only reason she is alive is because- Deep breath... yeah it annoys me, but it won't stop me from watching the show and making long term plans for this story and my other ones. I love it so far.
-SAFE ZONE-
If you are wondering what language the runes are in, I decided to go with Nordic, or Norse. Look that up and you'll see what I meant.
I got a great idea for a short this time fellas! Hope you enjoy!
Kai meets Team STRQ
"Ugh where is he!?" Summer asked as she paced the room, decorated with an assortment of birthday decorations and the like. It is Kai's first birthday, and all of Team STRQ as well as Malikai's partner have prepared the freshly built log cabin in Patch. Malikai promised that he would come and bring Kai, as well as his wife that none of them met yet, and Summer has been eagerly awaiting her best friend that she hasn't seen in two years, as well as his wife.
Raven was even convinced to bring Yang along, who is about ten months old right now, and already has long beautiful blonde hair and pretty lilac eyes that stare into her mother's red orbs as she awkwardly tries to find a way to carry her properly on her own. Tai refuses to help her and Raven always resisted the urge to throw their baby at him.
"I don't think you're supposed to hold a baby like that sis." Qrow laughed as he watched his helpless twin try and figure this out.
"Shut up, I don't see you trying." Raven spat back at him, ignoring Tai's pleas for her to calm down.
"That's because I don't have a kid, and you made the dumbass mistake of having one yourself. How many times did I tell you to fuck with protection?"
"Qrow! Language!" Summer pouted and pointed to baby Yang, who has no idea what they're saying and is playing with her mothers raven black hair.
"She doesn't even knew we're here Summer…"
"Don't give me that, go give your sister some Twinny love and help her with your niece." Summer ordered sternly.
"S-Summer-"
"Now!"
"Okay geez fine." Qrow stood up and walked over to his sister, who more then happily almost tosses her own daughter at him, to everyone's surprise, he carries her expertly, and even makes her laugh by tickling her belly.
"When the hell did you get good with kids?" Tai asked his partner as he watches his daughter get happier around her uncle then she is with her father. He gets jealous, but doesn't want to earn Summers ire with his choice of words.
"I dunno, it's just not as hard as it looks." Qrow shrugged, and held her in the air, earning some more giggles out of baby Yang.
"Awe Qrow~" Summer cooed, her silver eyes sparkling as she watched her teammate earn the babies love in just a few seconds.
"S-shut up Short Stack." The caped huntsman said as he turned his back on her, hiding the mild blush on his face after witnessing such an adorable look.
"Wanna be a babysitter?" Raven teased, catching her younger twins red face. "You might get to see her like that more if you do."
"I-I don't think that's-"
"That's a great idea!" Summer exclaimed and dashed up to them in a flurry of white rose petals. "I always knew you would be an awesome uncle Qrow!"
"Yeah sure." Qrow huffed and looked away, handing baby Yang back to her mother who almost avoids her like she is the plague.
"I almost forgot how funny it was just being around you all." Richie laughed from the corner of the room. "You all make a fuss about every little thing."
"Oh shush you!" Summer sped up to him and pointed a finger at him with a point. "Where is your partner? He should have been here by now."
"Hell if I know, last time I saw him was like a month ago and I barely got your many messages just last week, I barely got here as it is. He lives in Vacuo, so it may take a while for him to get here, that's not even considering that time zone difference."
"Weren't you always the dumb one?" Tai laughed. "You were not this smart at Beacon."
Richie shrugged. "Eh, I grew up a decent bit. Just wait until you see Malikai."
"Is that a good or bad thing?" Raven asked.
"For you, probably bad. But for everyone else it depends."
"Why is it bad for specifically me?" Raven asked before anyone else could speak up, her temper flaring for just a bit.
"Because you lusted for him back at Beacon. He is at least twenty times stronger than that now, so I think you're going to wet your pants when you see him."
It takes everyone a bit of time to process what he just said… to Ravens blushing face no less.
"Not in front of the baby!" Summer shouted with a red face as she finally understands what exactly he just said.
"Which baby?" a new voice asked, and everyone looked to the door to see an almost unrecognizable man with silver eyes and a woman with brown hair and a monkey tail wrapped around her waist. "Hey Team STRQ, been a while."
"Matsu!" Summer squealed as she barreled into him with a hug. "It's been so long!"
"You called me literally yesterday Summer." Malikai said as he made sure baby Kai was safe as he hugged his best friend back with one arm.
Once they parted, he introduced his wife.
"This is my wife Marron, the woman who I got pregnant on accident and now i'm stuck with her." He joked.
"Don't you mean the woman you hopelessly fell in love with?" Marron asked with a roll of her eyes.
Qrow walked up to them and leaned down at the small baby in Malikai's arms, utterly ignoring the faunus woman. "This is the little guy? Why is he wearing that thing around his eyes?" He asked as he poked the baby's cheek, earning a somewhat surprised and annoyed look on the child's face.
"This is Kai! Lemme hold him pleeeeease!?" Summer asked as she held her hands out, eager to hold the child in her arms.
"Am I being ignored here?" Marron asked her husband.
"They're like that, you'll get noticed soon enough." Malikai whispered back as he nudged her toward his lifelong friends.
"Didn't know you'd shack up with a faunus." Qrow remarked as he eyed the monkey faunus up and down.
"What can I say? It's the tail that got me." Malikai spoke before his wife could retort with something and gripped her tail, earning a yelp from his wife as she slapped his hand away with a pouting red face. "But yeah, this is the one."
"Oh my god! Hi Marron I'm Summer Rose, the third most important person in his life." Summer instantly forgot about what she wanted to do before and gripped the woman's hands in her own, her silver eyes gleaming as they bored into Marron's brown eyes.
"Hey, this is the one you warned me about?" Marron asked as she laughed and shared words with the leader of Team STRQ.
"Oh no, the one with the red eyes staring at us is the one you should stay away from." Malikai said as he walked toward Raven, with his son still in his arms, his small short monkey tail flailing about with each step. "Speaking of whom, that's Yang right? Looks like the wild girl has finally been tamed." Malikai teased as Yang reached toward the other baby, already wanting to socialize with someone her own age.
"Tch, didn't know you of all people would settle down and have a child." Raven spat.
"I could throw those words right back at you y'know." Malikai said as he held out his son. "Wanna hold him?"
"What?"
"WHAT!? She gets to hold him but I can't!?" Summer asked as everyone else laughed.
"I… don't know if I should."
"I think you should, I didn't even get a hi yet." Richie chuckled from his side of the room as he walked toward his partner. "Hi by the way."
"Hey." Malikai greeted with a nod. "So how about it?"
"Wait, before anyone holds anyone else's baby, why is he wearing that blindfold?" Tai asked.
Malikai and Marron got visibly saddened, and they could all see it.
"He's uh… blind in both eyes." Everyone gasped out of shock, and Tai wished he never asked. "It's permanent, but he is still my son, and he will grow to be strong I'm sure." He said as baby Kai slumped his head against his chest and yawned adorably.
"Wah!" Baby Yang whined when she couldn't reach her fellow baby, instantly lightening the mood as everyone chuckled at her antics.
"Looks like Kai is already getting on with the girls." Richie quipped, earning a playful elbow to his ribs as a result.
"C'mon Raven, didn't come all the way from Vacuo just for you to say no to me." Malikai said as he held Kai out by his armpits, and now that he was within reach of Yang, was giggling when her small soft fingers tickled his belly.
Raven sighed exasperatedly and with one free arm accepted the baby, letting her own child play with his tail even as Kai slapped away at her hands wildly. Everyone watched in awe as baby Kai leaned his head back and rested it on her arm, and his face was pointed straight into her own. Raven didn't know what to do, but Malikai came to her aid by gently speaking to his son.
"This is Raven Kai, she'll be around some more, so be nice to her alright?" He whispered to his son as he ran a finger through his head.
Kai seemed to understand him perfectly, and spoke some of his first words.
"Raw-vin!" Kai spluttered out with a giggle. Silencing the room with a single word.
"AWE HE'S ADORABLE!" Summer yelled as she bounced up and down and looked at the sight before her at several different angles.
Raven was taken aback at the baby's first words, and had no idea how to react or handle this situation.
"Hehe, figures his first words would be your name." Malikai laughed when his own shock died down enough for him to speak.
Raven didn't say anything, and instead used her hand that he behind Kai's head to brush down his blindfold, revealing white pupiled silver eyes that are rapidly looking about the room. As soon as it was removed he started crying, and Raven really didn't know what to do there, so she handed him back to his father, ignoring her daughters whining and the glare he got from both Malikai and Marron.
But she saw all she wanted to see. She couldn't help but be curious on the color of his eyes.
She smiled even as the baby was calmed down by his mother.
She could do a lot with that information.
That was fun, I enjoyed making this one. It revealed how the relationship between Malikai and Team STRQ was after they graduated. Also shows how Raven knew Kai had silver eyes and Tai and Qrow didn't. Also a lot of cute moments with the babies. Baby Yang and Kai were very early friends it seems, and his tail being grabbed and him being embarrassed by it has been passed down by his mother.
What did you guys think of this one? I liked it, it was a short and yet I made it more than 1.7k words. I realized it and I was like oh shit I gotta end this. But yeah, more of baby Kai and Yang will come back, as well as STRQ and MAVR moments. Just bear with me for now.
Thank you for reading the story! Please review and tell me what you think! I enjoy reading every single one.
Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY in any way, shape, or form.