Here we are again if you've read Detective Grimm you'd know that I pulled a muscle in my shoulder. It is much better now though, so it won't be a detriment to me writing this particular chapter. I can barely feel the pain now as it is, though before it did hurt a lot at one point. Eh, its whatever now. I can bear through it as there is not much for me to do besides write and go to work. Enjoy!

Beta: CrowSkull

Coverart: Nova

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 77

Volume 2, Episode 18

Getting through the rest of yesterday was something that proved difficult while living with the knowledge of the practical challenge that Roman Torchwick had issued him the moment he left the flagship. Even now as he sat in his seat the next day his leg kept bouncing up and down, as well as his fingers gripping his wrists and forearms. Just aching to find something that could potentially distract him from the unending thoughts of what was going to happen next. The braille words were burned into his mind just as the paper Neo gave him was burning through his pocket making him uneasy. So much for letting himself get some time to recover. The last time he ignored a message from Roman was before the breach. What would happen if he ignored this one too?

He couldn't. He didn't want to risk another tragedy like the breach which couldn't have come at a worse time. Right when all of the students and faculty of Beacon were occupied with preparing and getting ready for the dance, and then enjoying it as it got closer and closer to its end as the moon shined high in the sky. None of them were in the right minds for it, and so many people died because of it. He was afraid of letting himself hear the official death count.

With his decision made, as soon as Ooblecks class was over he made his excuses and left on his own. Walking so fast he was practically running. The Upper-Class district and a place called The Metal Box… He hasn't even been to the Upper-Class district before! He would be going in practically blind in more senses than one on his own. Which meant that he was going to need help. Ozpin wasn't the answer, for he wasn't sure he could keep his trust if he told him the truth about what he has been doing in the night. General Ironwood and Winter he barely knew, and he wasn't about to drag his team into this either. So there were only one of two options. Try calling for Raven again - who has been ignoring his previous calls or the brother of that woman. Qrow.

Thankfully he knew where to find him. Since Qrow was now staying in Beacon primarily and going out on fewer missions, he took residence on the very floor where his mother and sister were staying. After some kind of argument, he hasn't cared enough to find out the details of recently, he knew that he would be in there.

When he made it to the door his knuckles rattled against it several times. More than loud enough for the occupant of the room to not only hear but perhaps get startled by it.

Qrow opened the door for him quickly enough, and Kai stepped in without so much of a word and didn't even acknowledge the fact that his name was called. Kai gently shoved Qrow out of the way and locked the door behind him. Once that was done, he sent out a long pulse to check and see if there were any surprise visitors like Neo who he'd mistaken as some random girl once already. He didn't want to take any risks and when he was done he let out a sigh of relief. Finally turning to Qrow when he felt comfortable enough to let his guard down.

"So, you going to tell me what this is all about?" Qrow asked him with a raised eyebrow. Only to then scoff as he realized something. "Are you skipping class? C'mon kid, surely there are better people for you to play hooky with than me."

"Funny, coming from you that doesn't mean much." Kai snapped back. "I mean, you did take me away from such important classes a few times already. Surely, if I needed them as much as you imply then I don't think I have much hope passing the year."

"Sarcastic ass," Qrow snorted.

"I'm here for a reason Qrow," Kai said in a much more serious manner. "I wouldn't be here just to say hi. At least not now. Here," He gave Qrow the paper that Neo gave him yesterday. At seeing the braille Qrow didn't know how to respond. "It says…" When he went over what the braille entailed Qrow quickly realized the true meaning of his sudden arrival. With a barely concealed curse, Qrow tossed the note in the trash and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Damnit, they were able to sneak into Beacon so easily?" He thought out loud.

"Not they, it was just one person." Kai pointed out. "Neo. I don't know if you've heard of her or not, but her semblance is practically designed for her to get in and out of places really easily. And she is also the right age to look like she'd belong anyway."

"You'd know, wouldn't you?" Qrow subtly fired. Kai shrugged his shoulders. They both knew what he had been doing and Kai has had a few run-ins with Neo anyway. Once three years ago, another when Ruby and Brick went to the dust store, and another when he was Stone Face and that was only the ones that he cared to think of. Naturally, he'd start to know what she looked like and how her body looked young and small but hid a lot of power and malice behind it. He never got the chance to actually feel her face to tell what she looked like, but he could make the good guess that she appeared young. Maybe a few years older than him, maybe less. He wouldn't know unless he asked and he wasn't about to ask a question like that to her anytime soon.

"Upper-Class district," Kai said, moving on to the more important topic at hand. "How far is it from Beacon?"

"Wait, you're not seriously considering going there, are you?" Qrow asked, already against the idea from the get-go. "This has trap written all over it. You go there and you are going to face some trouble, and if you get caught? Ha, you better hope Ozpin can pull something out of his ass quickly enough for us to save you from getting toasted by Cinder. Not to mention, by the way, but Stone Face's identity isn't as secure as you thought!"

"Once you found out, it hasn't been secure since." Kai murmured. "But I don't think Cinder knows this."

Qrow crossed his arms and didn't look impressed. Nor did his body give off any reactions that he was even beginning to approve the idea of actually going through with it.

"Listen, if Cinder really did know who Stone Face really was, she wouldn't have bothered telling me that she knew. She's smarter than that, much smarter. Especially since her former plans were found out, she probably has enough on her plate as it is." Qrow began to listen more intently as Kai continued. It was a rare moment where Kai actually complimented an enemy, and since this was Cinder of all people, that spoke volumes. "I think this is something that Torchwick and Neo planned all on their own. Roman is caniving enough to think of it and Neo just goes along with whatever he says. They don't want to work with Cinder anyway, they're afraid of her."

"And how do you know that?" Qrow challenged. While it did sound like something that would be possible, or even plausible. There were a few holes in the hypothesis.

"If you were Torchwick, the head of the entire criminal underground of Vale, how would you feel about Cinder?"

"I'd… yeah, I guess I can see your point there." Qrow said. He knew what he was about to say before his brain picked up on it. He used to live in a tribe of bandits and he knew what it was like to be weak at one point. For someone like Cinder, who was the worse of the bottom of the barrel, to suddenly take control of your life? The thought of it wasn't enticing, and he could definitely make a good estimate of how Roman felt about it.

"Exactly. But therein lies another problem." Kai sighed. "What the hell do Roman and Neo want with me?"

"No clue," Qrow unhelpfully added.

"Qrow, I don't think I can ignore this one," Kai said, more tiredly this time. Qrow perked up when he said 'this one', implying that there was a previous message sent to him before the one that he just told him about, but he refrained from pointing it out. From the way Kai looked all of a sudden, he was having another one of those moments where he actually looked his age. Young, and scared of the responsibilities that he feels he has to uphold. He pitied him for it. "The last time I did, the breach happened. If I continue to do nothing about them now, what will happen next?"

"First off, don't think about that right now," Qrow said, stepping forward and placing a hand on Kai's shoulder suddenly. He flinched at the sudden contact but didn't make any effort to get away from him. "Cinder's plans were figured out, and the Vytal Festival is safe. And you don't know this yet, but James had just been given authority as head of security. I may not like the guy a whole lot and he definitely doesn't like me, but if there is anything I admire about him its that he knows how to make places safe and secure. And knowing what we know now, there isn't anything Cinder can do to us that we wouldn't have already expected and prepared for."

Kai was surprised at the sudden news that probably wasn't meant for him to know. He didn't know Ironwood well but he knew that he admired him. He was a man he could get along with. But the words that Qrow said resonated with him. It calmed him down enough for him to take a nice long sigh of relief and rub a hand down his face. Wiping away the pathetic features that he felt grow upon his face.

"Will you help me?" He asked next. "As you said, I'd have trouble doing this alone. With your bird form, you can stay close to me without being seen. And if worst comes to worst, you can better call for reinforcements."

"Heh," Qrow chuckled. Before Kai was reluctant to accept his help and preferred to do things on his own. To see him here asking him for help now was a very welcome change of scenery. "How can I say no when you're actually acting your age for once. Though I gotta ask, I must have been your second choice, no? What about my sister?"

Kai suddenly scowled as his mood soured. "She hasn't been answering my calls recently. And she doesn't have a scroll, so it just makes it all that more difficult to get in touch with her. Last I heard she was taking care of Vernal. That was a week ago."

"Sounds like her," Qrow sighed and shook his head. Disappointed in his sister once again. She was the one who wanted to train up Kai for some reason, the least she could do was actually answer the kids calls after she practically helped raise him for the past couple of years. "Alright kid, yeah, I'll help you. When were you planning on going out?"

Kai was unflinching in his reply, "Tonight." He declared.

Qrow sighed, somehow unsurprised by his decision.

"'Course it's tonight… Fine, let me at least take a nap and mentally prepare myself for this." He said. "Seriously kid, you're making me age faster by the day."

Kai shrugged his shoulders with disinterest. "I'll come by to wake you up if you're not already awake. I'll come around midnight and tell my team that I'm going to go see Raven again. That always works."

"Since when have you gotten good at lying?"

Kai winced, suddenly feeling a pit in his stomach. It faded as he swallowed his guilt. He was doing this for them, he had to remind himself. "Ever since I had to grow up." He said simply.

Qrow watched him leave. Wondering just how far Kai was willing to go. As the kid left, he couldn't help but draw comparisons to him and Malikai. They were similar, very similar. Before Team STRQ was recruited the leader of Team MAVR was chosen first. They really were father and son. Take away the tail, and it was like he was looking at the younger version of Malikai.

Drawing upon a sigh Qrow flicked open his flask and swallowed a big gulp down his gullet. He lied down on his bed and waited, watching the clock until his body grew sleepy enough to fall asleep.

There was no hope of sneaking back into his dorm when Blake, Ruby, and Orchid were all still awake and active in it. Not to mention that it was hardly noon and in-between classes. Students and teams always spent this interlude hanging out with friends or training. Usually, he'd be doing the latter but he still had to let his body recover somewhat. The plans he had tonight sort of rendered that notion pointless, but he'd at least let his body have as much time as it needed to get used to the strain of combat again. Because he was sure that something was going to happen that night and he'd need to fight. Whenever Roman and Neo were involved, a fight was bound to occur.

"Hey, Matsu!" Ruby greeted him the moment he entered the room as she did some maintenance on the bionic fingers on her hand. He offered her a friendly greeting in return and went to work on taking off his blindfold. Ironically, after the attack at the breach, the soft skin around his eyes was slightly scarred because of the heat from his eyes and the flames he let burn around his body. Orchid pointed it out earlier to him around the time he woke up. To think about it now, he used to be so self-conscious of scars he couldn't even see he had, only for it to be so insignificant that even his eyebrows and hair grew back over it. Now, there was a thin layer of scars that went up and down the orbitals of his face. According to his team, it was barely noticeable until you actually stared at his face looking for it for a good few seconds, but this time around he didn't much care for it.

"Where did you go earlier?" Orchid asked innocently as she played some racing game on her scroll. "You just up and left right after class was over. Did you enjoy it as much as everyone else did or something?"

"No, it wasn't anything like that," Kai said with a forced laugh. "I just had something that I needed to hash over with Qrow. Nothing too important I realized. It was something that we easily hashed out with just a conversation."

"That being?" Blake asked.

"He and my mother had an argument recently," Kai said, using a different truth rather than the real one. "I wanted to go see what it was all about… I haven't heard my mother talk like that in a very long time."

"Uh oh, is Uncle Qrow getting in trouble with the one lady that was willing to humor him?" Ruby asked, laughing at the idea. "I'll have to talk to him about that too and see what the commotion is all about. He's been all alone for way too long, I'm not going to let him mess this chance up too!"

Blake winced and hoped no one noticed. Qrow messed up, but it was nothing like what Ruby thought it was about. The reason why she was so mad was that an experimental drug with a wide variety of potentially unhealthy side-effects was injected into her nearly unconscious and injured son without her consent. And that Qrow was the one who gave the okay to do it and didn't think to tell her about it. Whatever Ruby was going to talk to Qrow about she hoped that it would be innocent enough and Qrow would just go along with it. If she knew the truth, she feared how it would affect her innocent and naive mind.

"Right," Kai said as he sat down in his bed, stretching his arms up above his head. Little cracks and creaks could be heard as his bones popped and his muscles stretched and released pressure.

Always so tense… Blake thought as her ears picked it up. She sensed that something else was wrong. Kai was never easy to anger, at least not by his friends and Qrow was always on his good side as far as she knew. It wasn't as if Qrow broke Marron's heart or anything, he just made a stupid decision and was now paying the price for it. This meant that while Kai did have something to talk to him about, Blake hated to admit that she just couldn't trust him to tell the truth anymore. After that first obvious lie he tried to pass on to her she had to go digging and practically blackmail Qrow into telling her about the drug. What else could he be hiding from them? What does he do when he thinks he's sneaking out at night and comes back all sweaty, bruised up, and exhausted at nearly four or five in the morning? The training was the easiest answer, especially since that Raven woman was his mentor and now he had Ozpin as a teacher as well. But every single day? No, he was bound to injure himself even with aura sooner or later, and yet it has been months. No, years if she considered the time before Beacon. Without any sort of injury. It wasn't like she was hoping for one, but the amount of time he spent training he did compare to the amount of time he spent sleeping had a great margin for error.

She felt bad for not fully trusting in her partner. But it wasn't like she didn't care about him. She knew that he cared about them, and would do anything to keep them safe. But that ideal could be stretched out to very extreme levels, and she couldn't put it past Kai to go to such extreme levels.

"Is something wrong, Blake?" Kai asked her suddenly. With a mental curse and a barely restrained flinch, Blake turned her head away from her partner and looked back down to her book.

"No, everything is fine." She said, hoping that he didn't push any harder. From the corner of her eye, she saw him shrug, and a small sigh of relief blew out of her nose.

"By the way, guys," Kai caught all of their attention instantly. "I am going to be going out again tonight. Just some training. I should be back in a few hours. I just wanted to let you all know so you guys don't freak out if I am not back until morning." Because he might be spending the night with Raven in her tribe, he implied. Blake looked around and watched as Orchid easily went along with it with a smile and a nod, while Ruby looked a little uncomfortable by the mention of the mother of her half-sister. After Yang's latest encounter with the woman, she couldn't blame her.

Blake stopped herself before she took the excuse as well. It was almost instantaneous. She wanted to believe her partner and leader, and very nearly did. Then she remembered what she just thought about. "Okay," She said out loud while her mind told a very different story. "As long as you get back before we wake up it shouldn't be an issue." She said without looking at him.

From the corner of her eye again, she could see how Kai inclined his head toward her. Almost as if he sensed what she was really thinking. However, she dumped such exaggerated thoughts in the metaphorical trash can right away. Kai's senses were purely physical, not mental or by any other means.

"Just wanted to let you know…" He said as he closed his eyes, letting out a long breath as he relaxed into his bed. Blake glanced over again and looked at his body, now it was scarred and still bruised after the breach. He even still had some bandages tied around his body that were barely hidden by his clothes. Just under his sleeves, Blake paid extra attention. From the outside, someone may have mistaken for her being interested in her leader in more ways than just concern. But after finding out what she knew, she couldn't berate herself for being more cautious.

What the worst thing about it was that there was very little that she could do here. As far as everyone else knew, he was telling the truth. She almost believed in it fully herself. No one was going to question where Kai went tonight and when he came back all bruised and scratched up everyone was just going to assume that he was out training. Blake, however, didn't want to fall in line with the rest of them. She ignored someone once, someone who needed her and when he needed her most she abandoned him. Now, look at him. He became a ruthless misguided man fighting for a goal that was now all but impossible to reach.

Not this time. Blake decided. She had a knack for being able to see stuff that others didn't. The internal machinations of a person's mind. Whether they were sad, hiding something, lying, or acting something out. Kai filled each one of those categories easily as she went back into her mind to remind herself of the things that she had missed when she wasn't paying enough attention.

I'll help you… She thought as she looked back down to her books. The words on the pages were the last thing on her mind.

Even if you don't ask for it, I'll be there for you. I won't make the same mistake twice.

Night came faster than he thought it would. He'd hope to get a few hours of sleep before the slightly colder sensation of the world around him settled in as the sun went down. If he had to guess, it was just about to become midnight. He slithered out of bed and crept his way toward the little chest that the others have been respectful enough to leave alone for him. In it was the clothes he wore when he went out as Stone Face. The newly edited ones by Raven were still there. It's been a while since he put all of this on, but slipping into the outfit was surprisingly comforting. Sadly though, he had to take off some of the accessories. The outfit in itself looked like something any guy on the street would be wearing. If he only put the hood up and put on his mask he would become the vigilante that was making headlines. Stone Face.

He still despised that name, but he had to admit that it was growing on him. It was bad, surely, but it was better than being called 'Rock Man' or something stupid like that. Once he was fully dressed he made sure that everyone else was still sleeping. Ruby and Orchid were, but Blake was on that level where she was falling asleep but not quite there yet. In other words, half asleep. He nodded their way and took a deep breath before leaving the room and gently shutting the door behind him. Hopefully, Qrow would be awake by now. If not, then he had spent more than enough time sleeping and he was going to wake him up.

He made it halfway down the hallway before freezing. He sensed someone behind him staring at his back, it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It wasn't anyone bad, though he almost wished that it was.

"Kai?" Marron called out to him, yawning softly as she ruffled her hair. "Where are you going, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Mom," Kai turned to face her and got closer. "I was just going to go do some late-night training. I already slept earlier and you know how Ozpin is," He forced a laugh and rubbed the back of his head. His heart was beating hard. Lying to his mother was a terrible thing that he hated doing. His friends were one thing, but his mother? He just wasn't built for that kind of thing.

"A-ah, I see." Marron's hand was shaking and suddenly she reached out to him. Kai didn't resist as she pulled him into a warm hug.

Kai hugged her back without hesitation, pressing his cheek into the crook of her neck and sighing deeply into her scent. She was still barely taller than him, but she was his mother.

"Are you okay?" The way she asked that question made him want to tell her everything. He's killed people, he's become a vigilante and wanted to protect his friends and family no matter what, and he was worried about whether or not she would still love him. He couldn't worry her though. While he knew that she would most likely keep it a secret for his own sake, it would be like forcing her to because if the news got out than Malienna and she would be at risk as well. They already were, but if the knowledge went out that he was the vigilante that has been going out slaughtering members of the White Fang? Not even Beacon would be able to do a whole lot of damage control on that.

Swallowing down his sudden burst of emotions. Kai nodded his head against her. "Y-yeah, everything's okay. I just need to get stronger is. You know me."

Even his chuckle sounded weak and desperate. He hated this.

"You're already my strong boy," Marron said as her tail gently wrapped around his waist, drawing him in deeper. "So strong and so brave. I couldn't be a prouder mother."

Despite everything. Kai felt his face burning up with embarrassment. Marron noticed and laughed, happy to see that she still had the ability to make his face red as she praised him.

"Come back to see me and your sister, okay?" She told him as she slowly leaned away, but still had her arms wrapped around his shoulders. "She's been missing you terribly and… I think she is going to need someone to teach her how to use those eyes of hers."

Kai's heart skipped a beat at that. "H-her eyes? Why? Are they acting up?"

"Well… yes." Marron painfully admitted. "But in a very different way than yours were. There's no Grimm around here so I have no idea what's going on. But every once in awhile her eyes glow. I might be overreacting, but I'd rather have the most experienced silver-eyed warrior around show her the ropes at least, y' know?"

"Yeah," Kai nodded his head, determined to come back to his sister as soon as this mission was done. "I'll see what I can do with her. It may not be much, but I can at least show her how to use it. She's young though, very young. Much younger than the time I first started using them."

"It must be the genes," Marron laughed. "My children must have gotten the best of them from their father. Always so strong and eager to learn. Hmph, if only I were ten years younger I might have been able to keep up."

"You're still strong," Kai pointed out. "I can feel your muscles, you're a lot more solid than a few years ago. Qrow has been teaching you well."

Marron's laughter quickly died off with a hiss at the mention of Qrow, but she didn't let it last long. It wasn't as the two of them had broken up, but still… he let something happen to her son that she didn't approve whatsoever. He would have to work hard to get her favor back, but for right now it seemed that her son was okay. She looked him up and down and front and back. No side effects from that drug seemed visible just yet Hopefully within the next few days the drug will fully filter itself out of his system. And only after that would Marron be fully confident that her son has recovered.

"Of course," She said, moving on from that topic. Before she knew it she was hugging her son again. She didn't want to lose his warmth. He was growing up right before her eyes. But she knew that very soon, he wouldn't be a boy anymore. He was hardly one now. The boy that she had raised was changing and changing quickly. She was afraid of what might happen, but no matter what, "I love you, son." She whispered into his ear. "No matter what happens. Your mother will always love you."

Kai didn't say anything in response, at least not right away. But Marron knew he heard her when his grasp around her body got just a little tighter. "I love you too… mom." He said in a voice barely about that of a whisper. "I need to go now, Ozpin's waiting for me and it won't be fair of me to make him wait long."

"Go," Marron finally let him go and missed his warmth the moment he stepped away. "Your sister and I will be waiting for you. Good luck, and have fun."

"Yeah," Before Kai could change his mind, he turned around and started walking. "I will. See you later."

And there we have it. Chapter 77, done and added to history. The next little arc begins soon, let's see what happens!

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