And we are back! I am so sorry it took so long for me to return with another chapter. I needed the break, please forgive me. I notice that we have some newcomers in those reviews, I am happy to have you! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as I continue to enjoy writing it. Now, let's get right back into it, and then I can sleep again!

Beta: CrowSkull

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 84

Volume 3, Episode 3

Yang and Vernal sat across from each other looking much smugger than they had any right to considering how they looked. Yang's clothes were but smoldering remains of her school uniform, to which it showed more skin than not. Not that any of the passing boys complained, but it caused Glynda Goodwitch to feel the need to throw a towel over her body to hide what she thought was modesty. That was without even accounting for her many little cuts and bruises that littered all over her arms, legs, body, and some parts of her face. Vernal, on the other hand, was not nearly as battle damaged. The only sign of their improper spar in the middle of Beacon grounds was a fading bruise around her right eye where Yang caught her majorly off guard.

Their battle hadn't even lasted that long. The moment that Glynda heard of a battle between Yang Xiao Long and the mysterious young woman that helped protect Vale in its time of need with her immensely powerful 'semblance' she dropped everything and went straight to the scene of action. Now not only had she been forced to cut a class short by twenty minutes and would need to catch up on those lessons tomorrow or sometime soon, but now she had to find a way to punish one of Beacon's most prized first-year students and a woman who was old enough to be a huntress already.

"Please explain to me why you two thought there was any semblance of a good idea in sparring in an undesignated sector?" Glynda asked as she dragged her hands down her face.

"Well, to be fair it wasn't really a spar." Yang corrected. Glynda felt her eyebrow twitch as she adjusted her glasses as a tick to calm herself down. "It was a fight, as you can see Miss Goodwitch if it was a spar half my uniform wouldn't be destroyed."

"Heh," Vernal snorted. "You're lucky it was only that much burned off."

"And you're lucky that teach here got there before I could give you another black eye!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I'd like to see you try that you little-"

"Enough!" Glynda exclaimed before swears could start being thrown back and forth. "I believed that it would be my nephews that would bring me this kind of trouble. How could both of you be so immature!? You should know better, Miss Xiao Long."

"I notice that you didn't say anything about Vernal," Yang pointed out, feeling braver than usual as she was still coming down from an adrenaline high. "Does that mean that she is even more helpless?"

"Nothing of the sort," Glynda has been a teacher for over a decade already. She knew when a rebellious student was trying to rile her up and hadn't fallen for it since she first started. "Miss Vernal here is next. You are a grown woman and one who possesses amazing strength. I know that you are not a huntress and have no obligation being here or in any of the other academies, but as long as you are staying here in Beacon you must follow by our laws." Glynda declared, whipping her riding crop into her hand as she continued. "This is no longer the lawless outskirts of Mistral. We will not allow you to do as you wish."

"Yeah? Thanks for letting me know," Vernal said unenthusiastically as she picked her nose. Once she was done, she flicked the booger into the far corner of the room and smirked as Glynda glared at her for the rudeness of her action. "I'm only here for as long as I want to be, and right now I have some business around these parts."

"Pft, liar," Yang said with a sniffle.

"What was that?" Vernal scowled at the girl sat next to her.

"You're only still here because my mom isn't bothering to come to pick you up with her portals," Yang pointed out, her smirk growing more shit-eating by the second. "What 'business' do you have to attend? There's not an ass to kiss here unless you wanna kiss mine? I won't say no to someone to do my bidding whenever I'm bored, it should be fun."

"Miss Xiao Long!" Glynda exclaimed as she held out a hand and willed her semblance to pull back Vernal from lunging at the blonde girl. "Please stop antagonizing our guest here. Whatever her reasons, she is still the one who helped us in our time of need during the events of the Breach. For that much, she deserves some iota of respect."

"Hmph," Vernal seemed calmed by her words. Yang deflated ever so slightly as she realized that she was right, if it weren't for Vernal and her magical abilities, a lot more people would have died and maybe the Breach wouldn't have been able to get sealed at all.

"Fine…" She said as she leaned on one hand, propping up her head and pointedly looking away from both Vernal and Miss Goodwitch. "I'll take that bit back, I guess."

"Good," Vernal replied as she picked at the grime underneath her nails. It was closest to a thank you that she was ever going to get.

"I can see some unspoken agreement has been made here," Glynda said as she cleared her throat and sat down. "Yang, for destroying the eastern wall of Professor Ports classroom, you will have detention for the rest of the week. You will also have to write an apologetic statement to Professor Port, who has generously refused to apply for any financial compensations on your behalf."

That's probably because Port thought that it was awesome that she came flying through the wall like that with Vernal. He couldn't care less about that wall. If anything it just made it easier for him to haul his Grimm captives in. She didn't feel cocky enough to point that out to Goodwitch, however.

"Fair enough," Yang sighed.

"As for you, Miss Vernal," Vernal perked up and eyed Goodwitch up and down as if daring her to try to punish her in any way. "I do not have the authorization to bring down any punishments on you… However, that does not mean that you can do as you will whenever you want. This is a school, and your power is meant to stay a secret. The public is already asking questions on how your semblance could have so many applications, we don't need them bringing up otherwise unwanted theories…"

"Hmph, fine." Vernal shrugged her shoulders. "I'll remember that Valean's are little snowflakes that can't handle a light show or two from now on, I guess."

Glynda counted to ten in her mind and took in a deep breath. "Thank you," She said instead of what she wanted to say. "Now, if you two ever feel the need to spar again, please do so in the designated training sectors. They are designed to handle explosive battles to prevent any collateral damage. Remember that the next time you get that… itch."

"Oh?" Vernal smirked at her suddenly. "Are you implying that you know what that 'itch' feels like, four-eyes?"

"Hmph," For the briefest of moments, Glynda had a smirk on her face. "I was once as young as you are once upon a time. Now, I hope that we don't need to be having a second conversation anytime soon?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Vernal waved her off with a laugh before turning to Yang. "Brat, if you ever want to blow off some steam again come find me. I could use the warm-up for my daily workouts."

"Heh, if I give you another black eye I think Raven is going to need to find another student to train. The one she has now is getting a little shitty."

"Hah!" Unlike before, Vernal barked out a laugh. "You would have done well in the tribe, brat. You've got the attitude to back up that growing strength of yours. Give it another ten years and you might be strong enough to earn my respect."

"If you can live that long, sure," Yang barked back.

They passed insults to each other back and forth even as they bumped fists against each other. Moments later and they both left the room, leaving Glynda alone to take yet another deep breath in to calm her nerves. The Spring Maiden was certainly an… interesting character. If Yang and Kai's closest friends didn't already know about the secrets of the maiden, she'd have been much more concerned with the fact that Yang knew about Vernal. She wasn't surprised, however. Kai has known for a few years already, and many of those were spent with his friends outside of Beacon.

If Vernal became a huntress she could do much good in the world. It was a shame that she was picked up by the likes of Raven Branwen and her tribe so long ago. She may be rough around the edges - to put it as politely as possible. But she had the potential to become one of the greats.

Her scroll vibrated on her desk, signaling to her that the time for being a professor had ended once again once she saw that Qrow was on the caller-ID.

"Is it time?" She asked the moment she accepted the call. "Alright, I will be there shortly."

Qrow put his scroll away back in his pocket and reached for his flask - and for once, it wasn't filled with alcohol. A fruit juice rich with vitamins and minerals slid down his gullet and he felt it crash into his stomach, already feeling a jolt of energy returning to him as he looked toward Kai, who was still sitting down on the floor just a couple of feet away from him. They'd just gotten through another vicious training session, and Qrow still felt the soreness from the last one coming back to bother him. He was getting old, he realized as he figured that Kai didn't feel nearly as sore as he did. Stupid young people and their stamina advantage. If he were ten years younger he'd be putting Kai in the dirt at every pass.

Still, though, he was always impressed by Kai's perseverance. He was still tired, but he knew that if he said that they should keep going, he wouldn't complain. Their auras were low, sure, but they knew when to stop and what was too much.

This training session had another purpose, as well. He went extra hard on this one. Each of their blade clashes was backed by full strength and they fought at a faster pace than either of them were used to. This meant that now that they were done, Kai was more tired than usual, which meant he wasn't going to be as reckless in what he does when Glynda gets down there to help him break the news about Ozpin's most recent decision.

Sienna Khan. The former supreme leader of the White Fang, an international terrorist and one of the many people that were forced to work under the tyrannical rule of Cinder Fall and her allies. Was going to become the next fall maiden. Qrow can't say that he was entirely surprised by Ozpin's decision, but he was taken off guard that he was going through with it. He knew what was going on through Albedo and Ironwood, but hearing about it and witnessing it were two different things. Kai wasn't going to take it well, but, it had to be done. He'd rather have Sienna have the power than one of the girls, and would much rather have it be her than Cinder gaining her full strength. The chance of Kai understanding that was… slim, to say the least. He didn't know how he was going to take it. After what happened before when he was arrested by Atlesian soldiers, he seemed to become much more understanding and easy to deal with. Sure, there were still moments where he was a little bratty and difficult to deal with, but who wasn't when they were teenagers?

At this point, he was just looking for an excuse to ignore this and save it for later. But it couldn't be done. He could already see the elevator beginning to ascend to pick up Glynda so that she could come down there and help him break the news. He asked for her not only for Kai to know that this was entirely serious - as if he wouldn't have figured that already - but for him as well. He didn't know if he could do this all by himself, not when he and Kai were on rocky grounds already. They were just starting to get better, too. Them constantly training pretty much every time Qrow went down there and spending time together were starting to bring down the walls that Kai put up around him. If only slowly…

The elevator came back down more quickly then Qrow thought it would. He swore that it was only slow when he was in the damn thing. But when he was waiting for others it shot down like a damn bullet. Qrow sighed as he pushed off of the wall and looked down at the unsuspecting son of a passed away friend. "Hey kid, there's something I gotta tell you. Right now." He started as he heard the elevator doors open behind him.

Kai turned toward him ever so slightly. "I'm listening," He said with a low grunt that quickly followed. He was still tired. Maybe a little cranky because of that, but he was paying attention at least.

"It's a matter of Ozpin's choice of the next maiden," Glynda continued for him as she closed the distance between them all. "Mister Matsuoka, it has been some time." She greeted.

"It has," Kai said as he stood up, offering them both his full attention. "So, Ozpin found someone to become the next maiden? That's good, I've been wondering how long he was going to put that off. Who is it?"

"Not anyone you are closely acquainted with," Glynda assured. "Ozpin was sure to be careful with who he selected. None of your friends or loved ones will become a maiden. He wants to make that clear to you, as the maiden will gain her power as soon as this conversation is over."

"That's good to know," Kai said with a short sigh of relief. Qrow looked over to Glynda and nodded softly. He knew what she was doing. In just a few sentences Kai had gone from tense and unsure to relieved and understanding. She must have had a lot of experience with students like him. Perhaps in the past… "Better sooner than later too, we wouldn't want the power of the maiden to default over to Cinder. That wouldn't be good."

"Agreed. Now, for who the woman that Ozpin chose… I would think it wise to warn you now, Mister Matsuoka. It is not a woman that you would like to have that kind of power, you will not like this at first, and we expect a backlash from you whether or not you agree or not." Glynda explained quickly.

Kai sucked in a breath and nodded his head. He grew tense, and he crossed his arms. Closing himself off somewhat. Qrow looked over to Glynda a second time, wondering what she was thinking being so blunt with him. Was that what he was doing wrong? He was always dancing around stuff and trying to be careful with Kai but… he wasn't Yang or Ruby, he was a far different entity.

"We just wanted to make that clear before we tell you who it is," Qrow went along with Glynda's plan. It seemed to be working so far. "She is someone who has caused a lot of pain but has just as much drive and motivation to make sure Cinder never gets what she wants. She's like you, in a way. Cinder caused her pain just as she had you, and took away everything that she held dear. She's desperate, I feel as though that is one of the major reasons that she was willing to accept his proposal in the first place."

"No…" Kai shook his head and grit his teeth, beginning to pace back and forth in front of Amber's tank. He started piecing it all together. It didn't take an academy graduate to figure out who they were hinting at here. "You can't be serious, her? Tell me Ozpin is going crazy because that has to be one of the last people to consider making the maiden!"

"She was the last person," Glynda pointed out. "Before her, there was Pyrrha Nikos, she has the drive to protect the innocent and do good in the world as well as having friends to back her up whenever she needs it. After her there was Ruby Rose, who was only considered for the same reasons and because the combination of silver eyes with the maiden would prove a very powerful yet hypothetical synchronization. After her, countless other young women who attend Beacon Academy here today. Even I was considered, though, for obvious reasons, my age prevents me from being safe to acquire the fall maiden power."

"We wanted to choose someone who wouldn't piss you off," Qrow added. "Anyone close to you or me would have been a big no-no. Anyone not strong enough was a liable risk of being unable to control the power. Sienna Khan, for all of her past terrorism and irredeemable actions, is a better alternative than just waiting for Amber to do or risk losing a Silver Eyed warrior as an ally, especially one with your specific talents."

Kai scoffed. "So you're telling me Ozpin is so paranoid that I'd get pissed off and what, leave?"

Glynda stared flatly at him and nodded. "Yes. He has his concerns, but when it comes to Silver Eyed Warriors on his side, he'd bend over backward to keep them on his side."

"Honestly, I don't blame him either," Qrow said with a shrug and Kai recoiled back as if slapped physically by a solid slab of truth. "You're one of the strongest we've got, Kai. Once you get out of this school, Ozpin is going to need you. Ever since Malikai and Summer and the fact that S.E.W's are so rare nowadays… Man, I can count on one hand how many I've met over the course of my life, and three of them are here in Beacon."

"I…" Kai sucked in a deep breath and didn't know how to feel - was he really relied on that much? He couldn't be, he was just one kid. Hell, he wasn't even in his twenties yet! Was it that rare to see a silver-eyed warrior like him, Ruby, and his sister these days? If they were so powerful how were they wiped out to near extinction? It didn't make any sense, it confused him. He hated being confused about anything because that meant he didn't understand something. He'd need to have a conversation with Ozpin about this soon because this was going to drive him crazy if he didn't start understanding the deeper meanings behind everything that was going on. He didn't want to start considering what Tyrian told him that night during the mission, not even close to it. That madman had to be bullshitting.

Ugh, and now they managed to distract him from the fact that Sienna was going to become the next maiden. Kai paced back and forth in front of Qrow and Glynda as he wondered what to say or do about it. Could he anyway? If that was what Ozpin chose to do, no matter how risky it was, his word was law among most of his inner circle. Qrow was in on it, Glynda was in on it, and he was sure that it was safe to assume that Ironwood and Albedo were alright with it as well. That just left him and Winter, though, he was sure that Winter would just do anything that Ironwood told her anyways.

That meant that he was the only one left that needed convincing… damn it, for some reason that just annoyed him more than it did anger. Glynda and Qrow must have planned this.

"Fine," Kai said after a full minute of thinking about his decision. "If this is what you all want then I assume that you are all ready for what I'd do if she steps a foot out of line."

"We are all ready to do the same, Mister Matsuoka," Glynda said with a visible sign of relief across her tired features. "Make no mistake, just because she is being entrusted with this power does not mean that she is trusted as a character by any of us. We are all prepared to do what needs to be done if the situation calls for it. Ozpin wants you to be the one to keep an eye on Sienna at all times. For one purpose and another, you shall act as her executioner and her teacher to help her get up to speed."

"Of course Ozpin would want that…" Kai sighed, he wasn't even upset about learning that. He was more annoyed that it had to be him. He understood, anyway. His semblance was strange in itself with how many applications it had and how it relied almost solely on the elements of nature. He felt tired, suddenly, why is it that he is the one that has to do this. "What is he thinking, why is he making me the one to have to do this? I understand the maiden part, whatever, I can get behind that, but why make me spend so much time with the woman who helped kill my father?"

That wasn't a question that Qrow or Glynda had the answer to. That felt about right, Kai wouldn't have liked it if they tried to spit bullshit at him. He sighed at their continued silence. "I guess I'll have to ask him that… Listen, I am willing but only willing for now. Know that there is a fuze that is starting the moment Sienna steps into that machine. It will keep going down without fail and one day I will snap if she even says one thing wrong to me. I can't promise that I'll be compliant forever if he wants to go through with this."

"We are aware," Glynda replied, albeit more nervously than before. That made sense, it was rare when she saw him as he was now. "Thank you for understanding, Mister Matsuoka."

"Hmph," Kai sensed something from across the room and gestured toward it. He knew what it was before the elevator doors even slid open for a third time in the past twenty minutes. "It looks like I did right on time…"

"I apologize for listening in on your conversation," Ozpin said as he stepped out of the shaft. "I just needed to hear it for myself, is all. Mister Matsuoka, I suppose that this calls for a conversation between the two of us in the future, I can see that you have questions that only I can answer. But before that… this needs to happen now."

He turned and gestured for the maiden candidate to step out behind him. Sienna Khan's yellow eyes shined in the darkness before she stepped out of the shadows, she had cuffs on her hands and Ironwood ushering her forward with a hand on her shoulder. Albedo was present as well, following as well. Though he has chosen to remain silent.

"Final warning, Sienna," Ironwood said as he tightened his grip on her shoulder. "I am already regretting letting Ozpin convince me of this. One wrong move, and we'll find a new candidate to transfer the power too."

"I get it, I get it," Sienna scowled at the General. "You've only given my five other final warnings before that one. Fuck up and I'm dead, I understand. Crystal clear."

"Ozpin…" Kai was the only one who stood in the headmaster's way as he began to escort Sienna closer to the second machine beside Amber's. Ozpin kept walking until he was a mere two feet away from the blind silver-eyed warrior. His milky white pupils stared into his chest, though Ozpin was more concerned with his clenched fists more than anything. He waited and allowed Kai to speak his thoughts. "Sometimes I wonder if you know what you're doing most of the time. This can and will backfire someday, I hope you know that."

"I do," Ozpin nodded in his reply. "I can say that I am prepared to deal with the consequences but you already know that. All I can say is that we are desperate, Cinder is winning, and she will not expect Amber's power to have been transferred through other unnatural means into someone that she'd never expect. The public news is that Sienna Khan has been brought to a secret maximum security prison underground somewhere in the distant mountains of Atlas. Somewhere where people of influence or wield dangerous semblances are kept."

"And you think Cinder believes that?" Sienna asked with a scoff.

"I believe she thinks you are out of the playing field." Ozpin ascertained. "Now, Mister Matsuoka, if you are looking for any promises of guaranteed action, you will not be getting any. Because if I did, I would be unsure, and potentially lying to you."

"Tch," Kai turned his back and stepped off to the side. It was confirmation if anything for Ozpin to go on and do what he believes he has to. He stepped forward and pulled Sienna along with him and when they got close to the machines Ozpin put himself between her and Amber as he went to free her from her cuffs. Sienna rubbed her wrists and eased blood flow back into her hands as she cracked her knuckles.

"Step into the pod," Ozpin instructed as he took a step back. "I will do the rest."

Sienna looked Ozpin in the eyes and then turned to the others. She took a spare glance at each and everyone present. Though she namely spent the most time glaring at Ironwood and staring into Kai's back. She tilted her chin up before she turned and entered the machine. She fit into it almost too well, though she had to keep her knees bent just slightly because of her height. The pod was clearly meant for someone a few inches shorter than she was. Ozpin hit a button on the computer set in the center of the two machines and the door shut in on Sienna, locking her in as the mechanisms set in place. Sienna visibly swallowed nervously as she looked around in the claustrophobic container that she was being confined too. Her instincts had her looking around for some way out, but she couldn't see any other than potentially trying to brute force her way out or breaking through the glass - though even then, the window to her pod didn't seem big enough for her to fit in. She barely had enough room to move as it was either. She was trapped, completely at their mercy. She felt helpless and she hated it.

"The machine is nearly ready," Ozpin's voice was echoed by a hidden radio within the pod. "Are you ready, Miss Khan? The transfer process will be starting very shortly."

Sienna nodded her head despite how she truly felt. "I-I'm ready. Just get this over with…"

"Hm," Ozpin pushed a few more buttons and started a program that would initiate the entire process. "It should take from a few seconds up to a few minutes depending on how compatible you are with the fall maiden's power. I will warn you, we have never been able to test this before. It may cause you some pain, but under any circumstances, you cannot will your aura to defend your body. You must endure for as long as the process takes."

"Oh, that sounds like a whole load of fun," Sienna said as she already started to grit her teeth, expecting the pain to start hitting her any second now. "Glad I agreed to this all of a sudden."

"Yes," Ozpin said as he started the process. His brown eyes showed no mercy as he looked at Sienna through the glass. "As am I."

It was a slow process at first, but as Sienna looked down at her body she could see it glow a color that wasn't the color of her aura. The pain ramped up exponentially quickly as she felt the foreign aura inject itself into her body. Memories that weren't hers flooded through her vision, a childhood, a journey from a young girl to a grown woman who then proceeded to become the fall maiden after a random selection once the one before her past away from old age. It ate away at her, and Sienna felt forced tears sting down her face as she arched her back and screamed. It just didn't stop. She learned what it was like from taking on a person's aura. It was part of one's soul, and she learned everything about Amber, from what she liked to what she didn't like, her past partners, her preferences, her combat style, and everything she knew. It hurt so much, being forced to accept it all. She wanted to bring her aura back to defend her so badly but she learned that she couldn't do it in the first place, it was being blocked somehow.

Ozpin kept a hand on the pod even as the amber light covering Sienna Khan burst through the window, shattering glass and spilling out to light up the entire tunnel. Suppressing ones aura had been a spell that he had learned long ago during one of his very early reincarnations. It was risky considering that Sienna's aura wasn't the only one present in that pod, but it seemed to have been working well enough. The screams of that woman fell upon uncaring ears as Amber's magic and aura forced itself into her body. It was not a gentle process, and even as the process began to end, Sienna's voice only became so strained that her screams slowly began to lose its pitch and got more scratchy and rasped. As if she was destroying her vocal cords. Eventually, she passed out entirely. Her voice died off and was replaced by a soft glow as the light began to dissipate. Ozpin took the arm he had over his eyes and lowered it down to see what was now happening. Sienna's body was still glowing the amber color of the fall maiden's aura, and she was slowly coming to, only having been unconscious for a scarce few moments.

Ozpin looked over to Amber's body in the other machine and noted that her vitals were completely dead. He let out a sorrowful sigh, Amber had been such a kind woman, much more kind than the world deserved. That kindness betrayed her and got her killed, or so he assumes. He never actually saw for himself how exactly Amber was defeated by Cinder.

Either way, he couldn't dwell on what was and had to focus on what is now. He flipped a switch and the door to Sienna's pod opened up. Her eyes blinked violently and she reached both hands to wipe off the tears that had streamed down her cheeks. She was delirious and confused, her eyes were dilated, though one of them shined with yellow fire.

It worked! Ozpin didn't know whether or not he should be excited or somewhat disappointed, but it had worked! He reached forward and gently pulled Sienna out of the pod, allowing her to lean on him for support as she tried to regain her balance.

"Urgh… ah…" Sienna groaned as she heaved in deep breaths. "What… what's happening? I thought…"

"Sienna, it's me," Ozpin said, moving Sienna so that she could look up into his face. "The process worked, you are now the fall maiden. Congratulations."

"W-what?" Sienna blinked at him strangely. "Ozpin? I've always been the fall maiden… wait… my body… what happened to my body!?"

Ozpin felt the blood drain from his face. His heart skipped a beat for the first time in a long time.

"Who's Sienna? Wait… that's my name… ugh, no it's not. I don't understand, Ozpin, tell me, what's happening!?"

"Holy shit…" Qrow uttered as he stepped forward to the maiden he couldn't protect. Everyone else was too stunned and shocked to do or say anything.

"Amber, is that you?"

Yup, that happened. I'm not normally one to spoil, but I feel as though a very small explanation should be made here. Sienna is still in there, somewhere. She isn't dead so to speak. Though, you can say here that Amber is certainly alive once again. Sienna's body is now harboring two souls, after all. Similar to Oscar in the show, she just has two personalities now, somewhat. Amber and Sienna. More details on that next chapter, but did you guys really think that Sienna was just going to become the Fall Maiden and that's it? Come on, you should know me better.

…

Okay, to be fair I sorta came up with that on the fly. I'll admit that. But hey, it actually doesn't impact my plans that much. So there's that!

T w itter . com (slash) genatools

P a treon . com (slash) Genatools