And now Volume 3 begins! I don't remember if I said that the last chapter was the last chapter of Volume 2, but hey, at least now you know that we are in Volume 3. So let's go right back into the action!

Beta: CrowSkull

Coverart: Nova

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 82

Volume 3, Episode 1

Ozpin typed away at his keyboard with one hand as the other held a mug full of his favorite kind of coffee. Perfectly creamy and with the just-right amount of sweetness. He needed it as he hadn't gotten a full night's rest in about a week or two, give or take. Usually for any normal person that would spell a minor case of severe sleep deprivation that would lead to a wide variety of negative symptoms that would make life just a little harder, but Ozpin was no normal person. Also, this coffee he was drinking was very rich in caffeine, which may have helped him stay awake for so long, certainly.

The work wasn't hard, per se. He has been a headmaster for almost a century ever since the end of the Great War so naturally, he would have gotten more than used to all of the paperwork and was able to go through it quite quickly, actually. It was just that there was about ten times more of that work when the Vytal Festival came around. Every time it overwhelms even him and if he didn't have Glynda and some of the other professors helping him it would be even worse. Thankfully, they were almost done now. In fact, they could probably finish the rest of it without his help.

Usually, he wouldn't be so lazy, but there were more pressing matters for him to tend to now that the school has entered a free period. All the students and most professors would be taking this time to rest and eat after half a day of hard work and practice. He wished he had the same time, but duty calls as they say.

General Ironwood stepped out through the elevator as it dinged to indicate his arrival. Behind him, Albedo followed suit as he drank from his own mug of coffee. One which comedically had the words 'Number One Headmaster' on it. Ozpin sniffled mentally. Albedo never had to deal with this kind of work over at Signal!

"James, Albedo," Ozpin greeted them with a nod as he gestured to the two leather chairs before his desk. "Sit, we have much to discuss."

"Oh, where did you get that idea?" Albedo asked as he made himself comfortable and downed the rest of his coffee. He finished with a burp and set the ceramic mug on his desk to be taken away later. "Was it the part where Amity arrived in the Kingdom or when for the third week in a row there have been no reports of any kind of crime throughout the entire city? Please, take your pick."

"We must be prepared for any kind of attack," Ozpin completely ignored the other headmaster. "I will not have another Mistral-like tragedy on my hands and I refuse to let our enemies celebrate another victory. James, are the servers on your ship secured?"

"I've had my best coders and I.T technicians adding firewall after firewall and plugged every single hole they could find in such a way that even they cannot find even more exploits, they even have trouble navigating it as we added even more restricted access. We have found an unidentified bug within the servers some time ago, but it has already been isolated and thoroughly and frankly deleted."

"That's good to hear. Now Cinder won't be able to use your Atlesian Knights and Paladins against us as she planned too," Albedo said. Having used his semblance on Cinder the night of the Breach naturally gave him a thorough look at everything she had planned up to that point. He still remembered it now, as did he the dozens of other people that he has used his semblance on over the years. "Since we're on that tangent, what of Beacon Airspace? Have the stationary defenses been reconstructed and manned?"

"I have spoken to James about that," Ozpin confirmed with a nod. "How is the progress on that front?"

"We have anti-aircraft weapons that double as a machine gun to attack any ground forces. Either human or no. Right now they only work when manned, but I have men working on figuring out a way to make them completely automated and in such a way that will only target Grimm, terrorists, and other specific individuals."

Ozpin nodded along, accepting Ironwood's words as law. "Continue with that goal in mind. Automated turrets that won't attack students, innocents, or huntsmen would make for a great asset against what is potentially to come."

"And the walls?" Albedo asked next. "You know that this isn't Mistral. We are always surrounded by Grimm, and if there is a great influx of negativity on a massive scale then we will be bombarded by an army of Grimm of the likes as the one that attacked Mountain Glenn over two decades ago. Vale cannot withstand an attack like that, it was why the council authorized the detonation of the subway tunnels despite it costing thousands upon thousands of innocent lives."

"An event like that won't be necessary again," Ironwood promised. "I was caught off guard once, not this time. Amity especially has received further improvements to its defensive shields in the case of a massive aerial attack. That, and I have brought in more soldiers and Atlesian Knights from Atlas to further bolster our forces here."

"Since Vale doesn't have a standing military that is a good thing, but aren't you worried about Atlas being left undermanned?" Ozpin inquired.

"What we lack in soldiers over there we make up for in huntsman-trained Specialists. I thought of calling in the Ace Ops, but I have decided to leave them there to help lead while I am busy here preparing for the festival. I trust that they know what they are doing. Honestly, the biggest problem over there is Jacques Schnee," The mere mentioning of the man had Ozpin and Albedo cringing and sighing with disappointment. "He is complaining that Atlas is understaffed and that they are vulnerable to attack when in reality they couldn't be more defended. Manpower by armed men is made up for by my armed Knights. He is only creating a problem to help further his campaign into becoming a member of the council. Honestly, I say give him the seat if only to shut him up. But either way, he shouldn't be anything but a nuisance on the other side of the world."

"I'd love to see his face if he heard you say that out loud," Albedo remarked with a chuckle.

"If only for my own sanity, I wouldn't dare when he is near." Ironwood snickered. "While he is insufferable, I cannot deny that his company provides about half of the entire world's supply of dust. And with Dust running short all over the place, he is a very valuable ally."

"Are you in support of him becoming a member of the council, then?"

"Heaven's no." Ironwood barked out a laugh at the very idea. "If I had it my way then he'd never be able to step into the same room as the council. But the way it is, he is gaining a wide amount of support. The only thing I can do without performing political suicide is remain passive in either direction of where the next election goes."

"Isn't there a huntress that's running for a seat as well?" Ozpin inquired. "What was her name again…?"

"Robyn Hill," Ironwood confirmed with a shrug. "She is running but… I doubt that she will be able to win it. Not all soldiers make good leaders, and while she has managed to round up a small following, she is still young and inexperienced. She has a long way to go before she can take one of those seats, but even then I wish her all the luck in the world."

"More than you do for the other options, anyway." Albedo laughed.

"Fair enough."

Ozpin sniggered in silence as the two in front of him bantered a little longer. It was an unlikely pair, the two of them. Ironwood was a strictly professional man who made very little effort in enjoying the wonders of life. Albedo much preferred those wonders as to actually performing his duty. He was a huntsman before he was a headmaster, of that he could respect since he initially started out as a powerful warrior in his first life. Although Albedo seemed to act like he was twenty years younger. The fool didn't realize that his hair was graying a little more every month. The fact that the two of them can still mesh quite well together proved to be an interesting dilemma.

How he wished he could have let the amusing moment linger.

"How is the Winter Maiden?" Ozpin asked in a more serious tone. Following his lead, Albedo and Ironwood both leaned forward in their chairs and indicated that he had their attention.

"Fria is still bed-ridden." Ironwood explained. "That woman is nearly a hundred years old… I heard that she fought in the Great War, is that true?"

"She may have," Ozpin shrugged. He didn't know as he was much too focused on trying to find ways to end the war so that Salem couldn't take advantage of the conflict any longer to be worried about the maidens at the time. "I don't know, if you want to find out anything else about her, then Albedo here and his semblance would be the best way to do that. However, that is beside the point. The Winter Maiden needs her power to be transferred, James."

Ironwood looked away and growled ever so lightly. "I will not murder a still-living woman, Ozpin." He replied. "Winter is already willing and even if I gave her a direct order to kill her she wouldn't do it."

Ozpin sighed, again with this… "I understand that all too well, James. I've gone through similar circumstances many times throughout the years. Many times before you were even born. It is a difficult decision to make but it is one that must be done. How long until she passes away? What if she forgets about Winter, and the power is randomly passed down to any young girl at random anywhere on the planet? It will be nigh impossible to find her unless she makes herself known, and by that point, we may not want her to be known."

"I know that, Ozpin." Ironwood snapped. "I've already denied any kind of treatment for her and frankly I am just waiting for her to pass away. But I am above murder! I understand that desperate times call for desperate measures and you had to make plenty of difficult choices in the past, but nobody else besides our inner circle even knows that Fria is in Atlas, and only the ones in this room know where she is truly hidden. I will only resort to killing her only if she is under immediate threat."

"I suppose that is all I can ask of you…" Ozpin sighed, unwilling to begin an argument with a very stubborn man. "Let's move on then, we can continue that conversation later. The Spring Maiden is under the protection and tutelage of Raven Branwen, and she is quite powerful and capable of defending herself quite well."

"Are you not worried that she is being watched by a woman who would abandon her own child and husband?" Albedo asked.

"Of course I am," Ozpin replied. "But there is little we can do about it now, especially if it means earning their scorn. I am willing to let things be as long as Raven doesn't abuse Vernal's powers. At the very least, we can have Qrow keep track of them if he can. Also, they both seem to have a connection to Mister Matsuoka, so we needn't worry about them being used against us if it means hurting him as well."

"Understandable." Albedo nodded. "A little bullshit but it's bullshit I can get behind. They are still bandits, so if you don't mind, I will be keeping an eye on them…" The implication was not lost on him. In all honesty, Ozpin couldn't be bothered with going against Albedo, he was right after all.

"Hopefully things will not lead to that, after all, they did help during the battle of the Breach."

"They did," Albedo allowed. "So they are on my good side for now at least."

That was good to hear. "The Summer Maiden is still in Vacuo and staying within the city itself according to what Headmaster Rivers tells me. It is difficult keeping track of them, however. The last time I met the man in person was over half a decade ago and it isn't like Vacuo is the most social of places…"

"Can you blame them? They literally live in the desert and their most popular trade is sand. They are bound to be a little cranky from time to time. Give them that." Albedo said.

"I shall." Ozpin nodded. "And obviously, the Fall Maiden is accounted for in… both places. Amber is still being protected and kept alive and the defenses down there have been replaced and further reinforced. They proved to be useful against Cinder, so it makes no sense to remove them. As for the next maiden, however…"

"Whatever you decide to do, you need to do it quickly," Ironwood said. "I don't like the idea and you know that but if it is the only option then so be it. Just do it before the Vytal Tournament begins. We need to have every powerful weapon at our disposal if we can."

Ozpin smiled. "I couldn't agree more. I shall have it down within the week, I swear it. I can trust both of you to be present at any time it happens, correct?"

"I wouldn't let you do it if I wasn't there," Ironwood confirmed.

"I may as well," Albedo replied. "My semblance alone would give me an edge over her. I can read her movements and practically see whatever she plans to do and act accordingly."

"Among others, she won't be able to do anything against us," Ozpin said with an assuring nod of his head. "I will begin preparations and one final talk to be planned very soon. Now, for another matter. Kai Matsuoka, I believe that he is ready to start going on assignments."

"Already?" Ironwood raised an eyebrow in question. "It hasn't been that long since we've had that talk with him and he's only had so much time to recover."

"I have it in a good word that he is quite healthy, in fact," Ozpin remarked. "And eager to prove himself after his recent failures. Trust me on this, I wouldn't send him out if he wasn't ready. That drug that we gave him after the Breach seems to still be working as well, so we can expect further improvements in his physical capabilities. It would be a mistake to let it all go to waste down there in the basement with Amber."

"Why is he being kept down there again?" Albedo asked. "Being in the same room with a dying woman is bound to make him feel uncomfortable even at the best of times."

"He is the best guardian I can ask for at the moment," Ozpin replied. "Also, nobody but us knows that he is down there or that there is even a basement below Beacon. Do not worry, he has plenty to keep him busy while we figure out what to do with him, among other things."

"If you believe that the time is right, then so be it," Ironwood said with a nod. He knew that Matsuoka was strong and with his silver eyes he was a very formidable foe. He just needed to be smarter, and he'd be a very valuable asset to their cause. "He must miss his family, however."

"They are allowed to visit him when he is not down there," Ozpin assured them. "Preferably in my office where they cannot be seen. Though, Malienna has started to show some concerning signs…"

"Her eyes are activating quite early," Albedo remarked. "I spoke with Marron earlier on the matter, and she confirmed with me that she is having episodes where her eyes keep glowing white. I don't know if that should be concerning or not. Is it?" He asked Ozpin.

"It is younger than usual," Ozpin admitted. "But she has been exposed to two other S.E.W's her whole life. Whereas Kai has trained with it after he was already a teenager and Miss Rose at a similar age. There… aren't many bloodlines with the silver eye genome still among them, and I am ashamed to admit that I've never been able to study them as I was too focused on Salem. I was more concerned with making them my allies than anything else."

"That's a shame," Albedo said. "Let us return to that other matter, the one of the fall maiden. Something tells me that Mister Matsuoka will be involved in some way or another."

"He will be," Ozpin admitted easily. "In fact, I want him to train the next fall maiden."

"What!?" Ironwood and Albedo exclaimed at the same time.

Ozpin made to explain before they could question him any further. "Kai Matsuoka's semblance is very unique in the way it calls upon the elements of nature to attack and defend. Combined with the magical power of his eyes, I believe that he is the natural choice as a teacher of maidens. Don't you know that Malikai trained Vernal? Look at how powerful she is now, and that was only with incomplete training. She is stronger than Cinder, all things considered."

"I can see where you are coming from, but Kai is still a child. He may be eighteen or whatever, and impossibly strong for that age, but strength does not equal the ability to train someone how to use magical abilities that evolve over time." Ironwood explained. "Why can't Glynda do it? I can provide a stand-in for her combat class if necessary, or even you? I think you'd be the best person to do it considering that you are a wielder of magic yourself."

"If I had the time, I would," Ozpin said. "But preparations need to be made and we are running out of time. I need to focus on other matters, and besides, Mister Matsuoka wants to prove himself, doesn't he?"

"I don't think it will be entirely effective," Albedo pointed out. "But I am willing to at least give it a chance, even if the very prospect of it gave me a heart attack just hearing about it."

"I-" Ironwood looked like he might argue, but he gave up once he realized that Ozpin and Albedo had already approved the idea. It would happen with or without his support. "You give me chest pains with these ideas of yours, Ozpin."

Ozpin smirked as he leaned back and drank from his mug.

He knew that very well.

Ruby poked at her food with a fork as she leaned on her propped up hand and sighed out her nose audible. Beside her, Orchid was in a very similar position. Blake's face was practically buried in her book and all three of them refused to look at anyone else. Instead, their eyes kept glancing toward the empty seat that no one dared to take. The one that usually belonged to Kai beside Blake. On the other side where he usually sat, Yang looked at them with concern clearly written all over their face. Everyone else in Team's RWBY and JNPR doing the same as they pitied their sister team.

"Is he going to be gone for that long?" Nora had the guts to ask. "He's on a special training mission, right? He's going to be back before the tournament starts, surely."

"I dunno," Ruby replied flatly. She didn't continue.

"Where did he even go?" Jaune asked in an effort to get something else out of them. All they heard was that Kai was sent on a Special Training Mission by the headmaster himself. They didn't know everything that they did, if anything Yang would figure out what happened before anyone else does. But as far as they knew for right now, Kai was sent on a mission a whole two years earlier than what was considered normal. They knew that he was strong and grew fast, but his grades were mostly average. Usually, it was those who were strong and smart that were able to skip a few years and go on training missions early.

If only it were that simple.

Orchid and Ruby continued to stare into nothing as they played with their food and ate scare little of it. Blake kept her face smothered into her book and made it clear that no one was to talk to her at that time. Their moods brought down everyone else as they were all worried about them. In truth, they were also worried about Kai. Ruby would have missed him, sure, but she wouldn't let herself get this depressed over it. Orchid and Blake especially. It made them think that something else was going on and this clearly went deeper. But it did make some sense that Kai was sent on a training mission. It was a well-known fact about how hard Kai trained and how often. People saw him training alone and he absolutely destroyed the training droids that Beacon provided so often that he wasn't allowed to train there anymore as they couldn't repair them fast enough. The only other one that was able to do that was Pyrrha, but she usually would hold herself back before it ever got to that point.

It spoke volumes how Pyrrha was among the strongest of their year and yet she wasn't sent on any special training mission. They wanted to ask questions and pry but they knew that would be rude considering the sour moods that they were in already and starting an argument while they were like this could just lead to them snapping. They didn't want that, so they let them be.

"Well… Pyrrha and I came up with a new partner duo attack," Rick brought up in an effort to change the subject, it somewhat worked. His brother was quick to add on.

"You finally made a duo attack that wasn't with me!? I'm so proud and jealous of you at the same time!"

"You dolt, we have a whole team attack!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure, but we don't have a duo partner attack," Brick sneered.

"Is it really that important to you?" Weiss indignantly squawked. The rest of them at the table snickered at their banter. At least everyone that wasn't a part of Team KRBR, anyway.

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I plan on winning the entire tournament," Yang cockily boasted as she pointed to herself with her thumb. "I'll allow my teammates to help me out in the meantime until I get to the solos, and then I am going to kick someone's butt on live television!"

"Yeah? And what if we just throw Pyrrha at you in the first round?" Nora challenged, placing a hand on the top of Pyrrha's head and making them wonder if she was going to literally throw Pyrrha at her at that moment for a few seconds.

"If you do that not only are you a monster but you would make me very upset," Yang said as she wiped away a fake tear. "Throw Jaune at me instead, I'll promise to throw him right back if you do."

"Hey! How about I- uh… throw you!? Huh!?"

Everyone laughed at the mere idea. Causing Jaune to sulk forward and cross his arms indignantly.

"The day you manage to do that to me is the day Kai starts to see-" She clicked her mouth shut and cursed mentally as soon as she realized what she just said. Everyone spared a glance back to Ruby, Orchid, and Blake as they all tensed up for a moment and shut their eyes.

Blake was the first to leave, setting down her book and making a quick excuse that she left something back in the dorm room, with Orchid quickly following as she had to supposedly feed her flamingo. Ruby was the only one left and her mood dropped even lower as her two teammates left her behind without a second thought. She thought about leaving as well, but her stomach growled and she started to eat her cooling food before it got too cold to eat comfortably.

The vibe in the air was much tenser and Ren bopped Yang on the back of the head lightly. Yang snarled back that it was a slip, but it didn't matter at that point. The damage was already done.

"I don't know if we are going to be able to fight in the tournament," Ruby said randomly.

"We didn't ask… sis." Yang said politely.

"I know but you were all thinking it," Ruby pointed out. No one made a move to correct her even if she was wrong. "I can tell, you guys can't talk and laugh like you usually do because we all feel like this. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't apologize!" Pyrrha exclaimed, reaching over and touching Ruby's hand to show her support. "We are all friends here and as such we are all there for each other, even if the mood darkens down a bit, we'll all be here for you, Orchid, and Blake."

Ruby allowed the smallest of smiles to grow on her face. It died quickly as she thought of Kai, who wasn't and isn't there for them now because of what happened. It's been… she hasn't even been keeping track of how long it's been since they last spoke to him. They wanted to talk to him again after the first one, but apparently Kai was sent somewhere else as part of this fake training mission of his day after. That left them with a heap of regret. They all left him on such bad terms. He must have thought they hated him for what he did when that was so far away from the truth it would slap him down if it were a lie. They still loved him just as much as they did before they found out about him. They just wished they could tell him that. It was so painful to learn about everything, but Kai was still Kai, he was still her friend, best friend, brother, and all! Ruby felt bitter tears form in the corner of her eyes but she wiped them away before they could roll down her cheeks. She couldn't speak for Orchid and Blake, but she was more than willing to forgive him and start again.

She didn't know when she'd get that chance. Ozpin said that he'd contact them when he thought it was the right time. It was so unfair! Now they have to sit and wait for something to come up again. Which worked out so freaking well the last time, right!?

"I'm going to eat outside," Ruby said as she picked up her tray and stood. No one made to stop her, though Yang did pick up her tray to follow her a second later. "Don't come," She hated how pathetic she sounded as she said that. "Please, I just wanna be alone right now."

"O-okay," Yang looked like her heart was broken as she sat back down slowly. "If you need anything, call me or Dad. 'Kay?"

"'Kay…"

As soon as she was gone Yang dropped her face into her hands, groaning to herself about her own hesitation. "Damn it… why'd I let her go and do that?"

"It's what she wanted," Ren said. "Don't overthink it. Everyone has their own way of coping, hers must be similar to mine in the way that she prefers to be alone in a time of emotional distress."

"Still though… I'm her sister."

"Rick is my brother and if he tries crying on my shoulder I just cheer him up with a spar." Brick pointed out.

"Which is why now I don't cry in front of him anymore," Rick added without missing a beat. Brick didn't even seem offended by it, if anything he just looked thankful.

It made Yang chuckle at least. Brick and Rick had their dynamic that made everyone laugh at them from time to time. It worked even at that time, though it took a bit more effort for it to actually work, it didn't change the fact that it did.

They spent the rest of the lunch period eating and conversing loosely until the bell rang. Hopefully, the day would get a little happier from then on.

A thick blade swished through the air only to be deflected by a much smaller but much more dense one. It flew away and struck the ground, but the man wielding the blade was not one who relied solely on his weapon for attack and defense. A silver ebony blade grated against his forearm as he blocked the counter strike, surprising his sparring partner as he parried it with his bare skin reinforced by aura. He attempted to reel his huge weapon back in for a counter of his own, but the boy he was fighting blasted a pocket of air into his chest, sending him flying away and creating space between the two.

A roar later and Kai was on him again. Qrow felt the sweat drip down his brow and sting his eyes as he blocked the blast of white flame that came right as soon as he raised his blade. He twisted out of the way as he felt his sword become a dark red color as the heat ignited his weapon and he shifted it into its scythe form to be further away from that red hot metal. He twisted through the air and twirled the scythe around his waste before throwing it at Kai as if it were a boomerang. The scythe sliced through the air to Kai's left, but before it could land Kai raised a stone pillar out of the wall to deflect it out of mid-air.

Qrow jumped up to catch his weapon and shifted it into its shotgun form. The buckshot blasted through Kai's stone wall and the one that followed hit the floor where Kai was once standing his ground on. Qrow spotted him flipping away and skidding off on his feet near the wall. He thought about attacking, but stopped and widened his eyes as he saw Kai's sword begin to glow a bright white color. Qrow jumped and twisted through the air as an arc of light waved right under him, and landed gracefully when he fell back down.

Kai blasted air behind himself and his blade was grating against metal, grinding against it as he pushed further into Qrow's guard and actually began to overpower him for a second. Qrow grit his teeth and headbutted Kai in the nose to get him off, and used the opening that provided to kick the younger man away.

He was pissed off today. And Qrow couldn't blame him. He's been stuck down there in that basement for days with only him coming down to bring him food and water every once in a while. It was a cruel punishment after Qrow told him about Raven. Man, did he wish he was able to tell a white lie there when Kai asked him if he knew anything about Raven and why she wasn't showing up at the hours she usually does. When he told him that he forbade her from ever seeing him again, he was understandably angry. He looked up to Raven more than any person ought to. In some strange way, Raven cared for the boy as well. Whether it was out of misplaced feelings of obligation toward him or just because he made for a good sparring partner for Vernal. It was only made worse when Vernal hasn't shown up in a while either. But he actually had news about her that she was coming for the Vytal Festival as she did last time. Not that Kai was willing to hear him running his mouth at the moment. He needed to blow off some steam, and honestly, so did he.

It didn't stop him from realizing just how far Kai had come. When he was fifteen the kid was already strong for his age. Three years later and now he was on par with a huntsman like himself. Probably even stronger than a decent amount of them if him being able to fight against him equally had anything to say about it. Then again, as much as Qrow hated to admit it, he was getting up there in the years. His body wasn't what it used to be twenty or even ten years ago. Kai had the advantage in being in the prime of his life at the age where all the body did was grow and grow. He was a quick learner as well, which just added to his lethality.

Qrow and Kai fought at great speeds, flashing across the dimly lit corridors of Beacon's basement dozens of times, their blades sparking against each other as they weren't able to land any clean or defining strikes. It came down to a battle of stamina, and Qrow knew that he was going to be the one to go first if they kept up like this. As he was getting slower Kai seemed to just get faster. Or maybe that was the getting slower part making him think that Kai was moving faster, he couldn't really tell.

"RARGH!" Qrow roared as he threw his sword up above his head, jumped, and flipped through the air for a powerful downwards strike that was made stronger by gravity and momentum. Kai reached up and blocked the powerful strike with the flat of his blade. He fell down to one knee as he held Qrow back, and the force of the strike caused his knee and feet to crack the ground and for a shockwave to explode out from the point of impact. Qrow smirked at his work and pushed down even harder.

Kai had the ground to brace on, however, and as wild as Qrow's imagination seemed at times he was not strong enough to push down the entire planet. Kai tensed his legs and in one explosive motion, pulled back for a brief second and slammed his blade back up into Qrow's sword.

Qrow was knocked wildly off-balance, he caught himself but let out a yelp as his long legs were swept out from under him. Muscle memory and countless hours of fall-recovery training had him able to twist out and roll away from any disadvantageous positions before Kai could stop his sword into his aura. He jumped back up to his feet and realized that he was disarmed. In his peripheral vision, he spotted Harbinger on the ground a good ten feet away from him, and in his central vision, Kai was charging right at him with Silver Ebony in hand and a cocked back fist on his other.

Qrow did the only thing he could and side-stepped Kai's sword thrust and threw his fist forward just as Taiyang taught him many years ago. His knuckles smashed against another set of knuckles as Kai's punch was converted into a poor attempt at a parry and they ended up smashing their fists into each other. It wasn't nearly as cinematic as it was in the movies or TV shows. Smashing your fists into each other at full strength just hurt like hell, and it had Qrow gripping his wrist in pain as he threw it back and forth to try and dispel it further. Kai was doing the same a few feet across from him. Something told Qrow that neither of them felt like fighting anymore. Kai even holstered his sword.

"We'll call that one a draw, kid," Qrow said as he cracked his wrist back into place.

"I would've won if you didn't throw a punch at an armed huntsman like an idiot," Kai said bitterly as he massaged his hand. "Who does that?"

"Hey, you can't always rely on your weapons," Qrow recited. "Sometimes you gotta do things the old fashioned way. With your bare fists and knuckles."

Kai grunted and shook his head as he continued to massage that hand. They must have been lower on aura than they thought if the pain was this intense. A quick glance down toward his scroll told him that he was sitting around ten to twenty percent aura. Yikes. That was close. About another minute of fighting and he would run out entirely. He didn't know how Kai was fairing, but the fact that his hand wasn't broken told him that he had aura to spare.

"Good fight," Qrow said after taking a long swig from a bottle of water. Emptying it in one go. "Jokes aside, you had me on the ropes for a bit there. It felt like I was fighting Adam again."

"Then it's still not enough…" Kai muttered silently as he trekked toward the spot next to Qrow. Notably to where water was being kept in a fridge plugged into a wall. Say what you will about random mini-fridges in weird places, but that fridge made water ice-cold, which was the best way to drink water if you could endure the ensuing brain freeze after about three gulps.

"Hey, enough about that," Qrow scolded him. "You're already strong enough, and you were still holding back in that last spar. You could stand to use your semblance more, you know. It's powerful, abuse it. Speaking of which, your flames changed color," He pointed out as he flicked his chin toward the patches of flames that were left behind after their battle. "Used to be black, but they're white now. The same as your fathers."

"Is it? Couldn't tell," Kai shrugged. "It doesn't feel any different. Maybe a little hotter, I don't know."

"Hm," Qrow started to run out of ideas to use to keep the conversation going. He felt like he should, but it didn't seem like Kai wanted too. He sat down against the wall and leaned his head against it, relaxing his tired muscles for once in his struggle of life. Qrow wondered if he should sit down as well, and his body damn sure wanted to, but after before he didn't feel like he was welcomed. Sure, Kai was calm now, but that was after they fought a sparring match so violently it damn near destroyed an entire corridor down in Beacon's basement. "Everything alright, kid?" He asked instead as he leaned on one hip.

"Never better," Kai said with an annoyed sigh. "I've only been stuck down here in the dark for days. So you know, I'm just perfect."

"Didn't think you'd care about the dark," Qrow remarked. "Since you're blind and all."

"I can still tell when it's dark," Kai said. "It's colder and more black."

"Sounds like someone I know," Qrow chuckled at his own joke, which only earned a scoff out of Kai. Tough crowd, he figured. But at least the kid wasn't trying to hack his head off anymore. The tense silence reigned supreme for another awkward couple of minutes as Qrow waited for Kai to initiate. Of course, he didn't because that would have just made things too easy.

Just in case, Qrow leaned against the wall near him. Waiting. He didn't have much to do, and he was tasked with keeping an eye on Kai while he was down here anyway. He'd leave if he was asked to, but for right now he didn't have anything better to do. Now, on how to spend that time with Marron's son, he was at a complete loss of words.

It didn't take long for Kai to finally speak up.

"Why are you still here…?" He asked quietly at first.

"Someone's gotta keep you company," Qrow answered simply. "Amber over there used to be quite the talker, but I'm not sure she's a good conversationalist at the moment."

"Not just that," Kai replied, completely ignoring the joke. "You're still here even after I made it very clear that I want to be alone right now."

"..." Qrow shut his eyes and nodded his head very gently. He knew this was coming, and he felt like an idiot for thinking that it might not just because he wished it. "Yeah… I get that, kid. You're still upset with me over Raven, aren't you?"

"She isn't a good person…" Kai explained. "I know that, after she left Tai and Yang, ever since I found out about it, I knew it. But… when I brought it up to her to ask her about it, she just… assumed that we were done right then and there. Like she was used to being cut off just like that. I… couldn't bring myself to be angry or disappointed in her. Of course, she's a total bitch for doing something like that, but she was still my teacher. She is still my teacher. And you told her you don't want her ever seeing me again."

"She's not a good influence on you," Qrow tried. "She's been teaching you her ways. Which frankly just isn't the right way to live your life."

"I don't care," Kai snapped. "She kept coming back, training me, listened to me, helped me. After the Breach, I was even able to get her to talk to Yang for the first time."

"What!?" Qrow spluttered out, his eyes went wide with shock. It was totally unbelievable, but then how would he be able to tell if it were a lie? Kai wouldn't lie to him about something that serious, there was just no way. "When did that happen!?"

"A while ago, before we got caught," Kai replied. "I won't pretend that I know them but… she said that she had her reasons and that she never didn't care about Yang one way or another… The rest you'd have to get from Yang, that's not really my business to get involved in if I don't need too."

"Damnit," Qrow cursed to himself and shook his head. "What a fucking mess, huh? Fuck, and I just told her I don't want her anywhere near you anymore."

"I'm sure she took your words literally," Kai drawled. "Take that as you will. Now can I be left alone or are you still going to try and force a conversation? I believe I made my stance clear."

"You could also just say fuck off and get it over with," Qrow said as he pushed himself off the wall and started making his way toward the exit. However, he stopped himself before he could get too far away. "Your little idolization of my sister isn't going to get you anywhere, Kai, I suggest that you find someone else to look up too."

Kai waved at him to go away and Qrow listened. Ascending up the elevator to do whatever he wanted, Kai didn't really care. But now that he was alone, Kai pushed himself back up to his feet and sent a pulse around the entire room. Sensing every little crevice and nook and cranny within the confines of his very large cell. It was quite the place to keep him. And just at the end of the corridor was her. The fall maiden before Cinder, or was currently the fall maiden now still. She wasn't much of anything anymore.

He had little else to do beside go up to her tube again. It felt weird always coming to it, but over there was the only source of sound throughout the entire basement. Everywhere else was eerily quiet so much so that it made him uncomfortable. He knew that this wasn't permanent, however, and that Ironwood was having a room made for him on a flagship so that he didn't need to be down there all the time like he was now. That or Ozpin was going to get a room built down there. Either was fine as long as he didn't need to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag anymore.

"How were you beaten so easily?" Kai asked as he placed a hand on the glass. "Three people, one of them without a semblance, and you lost… were you holding back? Why? They were trying to kill you, you should have defended yourself." If he was expecting a response, he wasn't going to get one anytime soon.

He sighed as he pressed his hand into the glass just a little harder. Inside the tube, Amber's heart was beating very, very slowly and very, very faintly. She was hardly still alive, and she wasn't improving. Kai grit his teeth angrily, Cinder did this to her over some stupid pursuit of power and greed. Just like she hurt so many others…

Kai forced himself to relax and stepped away from the tube. That angry way of thinking was how he got to where he was now. He couldn't afford to be that aggressive again, not when the stakes were so high as they were now.

Thankfully he didn't have to be alone with those thoughts for long. He felt his scroll vibrate in his pocket and he fished it out so quickly he forgot for a moment that the hand he used to grab it was still sore. After wincing and grabbing it with his other hand, Kai worked the buttons and received the message that was sent to him.

It was a voice message. Kai hit play and listened.

"I will be giving you your first assignment very soon," It was Ozpin, and for once Kai was grateful to hear his voice. "Prepare yourself."

The message was simple, but after everything, it was like music to his ears.

He trusted that the details of this assignment would be sent to him in due time. But now, he finally had something to look forward to while he was down there.

And that is the beginning of Volume 3. This is going to be a crazy volume, so hold onto your horses and stick with me all the way through! See you all next time!

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