Had my first Drill this past Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, my body has never been sorer.

Welcome to the beaten and battered exercise group my friend! Energy drinks not included. -CrowSkull.

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 110

Volume 4, Episode 10

Servitude

The mayor eventually relented and let Kai and his companion - Neo, who was still disguising as someone else - into the one incarceration center that they had in the village. It was a medium-sized building with only one floor, and it had strong foundations and sturdy bars. However, Kai could sense that the building was clearly designed to hold in people without aura or semblances. Even a lower-tier huntsman or huntress with an aura has the enhanced strength to break out of one of those cells, especially if they had a destructive semblance. It wouldn't hold someone strong for long, but for a weak bandit from Raven's tribe, it would probably be enough assuming that he didn't have good control over his aura. With special permission, the prison guards took him, and him only. The disguised Neo appeared as an innocent girl, so that meant that Kai was on his own for this one. Neo signed into his back that she'd be fine and to do what he had to do. Figuring that she could take care of herself, he went along with it. The guard brought him to the west end of the cellblock to where they kept all the more dangerous people and outsiders who sought to do harm to their village. The cells were slightly stronger in this part of the building, and evidently, it was enough to hold in the bandit that Kai sought.

It was a young man - older than him still, but still young compared to societal standards. He wore a black and red outfit, the trademark colors of the Branwen tribe, and had a red bandanna wrapped around his bald head. With dark blue eyes and a scowl to boot, Kai could already sense that the bandit was stubborn and wouldn't peep. Kai made it seem as though he was looking at the bandit, then turned to speak to the guard.

"What were you doing to interrogate him initially?" Kai asked out of curiosity.

"Normal procedure." The guard shrugged. "We cuff him and then chain him to an interrogation room table and ask him questions. We aren't allowed to be very physical, but even if we were I doubt we could do anything that could break through his aura and actually cause him pain." The guard explained. "It took seven of our village guards to take him down, and three of them died. The rest were injured and only one lightly so. We got lucky, he was the only one in his party that had an aura, to begin with."

"Woulda killed all seven of ya if I wasn't the only one who wasn't useless!" The bandit spat out to the side, his saliva striking the brick wall and leaving a thick discolored mess of slimy liquid. It was clear just by the smell of his breath that he'd never brushed his teeth in his life. The Branwen tribe was not known for their hygiene, save for the exception of Raven and Qrow… to an extent.

"Yeah well, you didn't, so stop your yapping." The older guard said with a sigh. "We haven't been able to get anything out of him. Too stubborn. If you want to try though, feel free. His trial isn't for another week or so anyway."

"You've been too gentle with him," Kai said. "Bandits from a tribe like the Branwen's only bow down to strength. Strapping him to a chair and just asking questions isn't going to do the trick. He probably just laughed at you, didn't he?"

"Well… um…"

"Their interrogation techniques were hilarious!" The bandit howled with laughter. "You shoulda heard them yourself. Kinda weird that you know about our culture over there, but at least someone's got the right idea. Heh heh."

"You'll get more acquainted with me soon enough." Kai snapped, slamming an aura encased fist into one of the bars. That got the bandit to shut up for a moment, startled by the sudden show of force. The guard as well.

"What are you… You're not going to hurt him, are you?" The guard asked nervously. "That's against our laws here."

"I'm not a villager here." Kai reminded the guard. "I'm just another outsider who was attacked by these bandits earlier. I'm going to do what I need to do in order to get my answers, and you are going to back off and let me."

"H-Hey now, are you threatening me?" The guard asked, taking a tentative step back away from him.

Kai's expression softened. Too long. He's spent too long in the outskirts and he forgot how to be polite and proper. He shook his head and sighed. "No," he said, relieving the guard. "Look… the Branwen tribe… might have my sister." Kai hesitantly revealed to the guard, to which he immediately understood his prior hostility toward him. "I need to find her. No matter what it takes. If that means I need to give this guy a few bruises, then so be it."

"Oh, well in that case." Whatever sympathy and respect he felt for the bandit and the laws of his village faded after the guard heard that. "I don't hear anything that comes from this room. In fact, I'm not even here." The guard said, walking away. "You have ten minutes, Kai, make it count."

"Huh, that's about the most balls I've seen around here so far." The bandit said when the guard left the two of them alone. "Have I met you before? I swear, I think I've seen those- Woah, what are you doing!?"

Kai grabbed two of the metal bars keeping him away from the bandit and pried them outward with his semblance, creating a gap large enough for him to walk through. The bandit looked at him with a sudden jolt of shock and fear. With the loss of the only protection from someone so strong outside his cell, he grew anxious as well. That was good, it meant that he'd be able to get him to talk faster.

"Where is the Branwen tribe currently camped at?" Kai asked, bending down so that he could reach his level.

"W-What do you need to know that for?" The bandit bravely, or stupidly replied.

"Are you deaf or are you just pretending to be dumb?" Kai snapped, reaching forward and grabbing the bandit by the scalp and pulling his head down at an uncomfortable angle. "The tribe has my sister. Malienna, silver eyes, young girl, probably training under Raven. Do any of these rings any bells?"

"I-I don't know what you're-"

"Stop lying!" Kai exclaimed, pulling down on the man's head even harder than before. The bandit let out a shout of pain, kicking his legs out and trying to push Kai's hand off of his head. He was folded over himself now, the vertebrae of his spine in his neck starting to crack and stretch too far under Kai's strength. "Lie to me one more time and I'll push down harder again. You'll be permanently paralyzed from the neck down if you don't die or get surgery immediately after, and I highly doubt that the village here will help you after you killed some of their guards." Raising his head again, Kai glared into the bandits eyes. "I am not screwing around here. Tell me where the camp is."

"W-Who the fuck-" The bandit yelped when he felt Kai start to push down again. "Wait! Wait! I know her, yeah! Raven's training the bit- I-I mean girl!"

That confirmed his suspicions. Kai trusted Raven, but he didn't know what she'd ever want from his sister, much less keep her from him and not return her to her brother. He would find out soon. But first, he needed some more answers.

"So… she is there. Good. That's good." Kai said, feeling relieved that at the very least, his sister was with someone who would die to protect her. Feeling merciful in his better mood, Kai took his hand off of the bandit's neck. Who then immediately sat straight up and rubbed it, relieved that the potential fatal strain was now gone.

"What's your name?" Kai asked after the bandit threw himself away from him, all of his prior prideful stubbornness was gone. Making him just another scared man desperate to stay alive.

"J-Jay," he reluctantly replied. "If you're that girl's brother… then you're… Oh shit."

"That's right," Kai said. Blinking his blind silver eyes. "I am Kai Matsuoka. I trained under Raven for years and I've been at her camp several times before. Before me, she was close to my father Malikai as well. And now my sister is being trained by her." he frowned, reminding himself of that fact made him uneasy and started to make him angry. Part of the entire reason he was fighting was so that she didn't have to. Now it felt like so much of his efforts was starting to be taken from him. "I'm sure I remember that Raven declared that us Matsuokas are friends of the tribe, and they are to be treated as such."

"Y-Yes, that's right!" Jay exclaimed, bowing his head at him submissively. "I'll take you to the camp, as long as they haven't moved while I've been gone, I could take you right to your sister even!"

Check, and mate. Kai knew this would be easy, he just had to get a little rough at first. He scared the guy, sure, but he never really intended to kill him. Not that Jay needed to know that. All he needed to know was that he was not only obligated to take him to the tribe, but also that he had to if he wanted to live.

Neo appeared out of a flash of white behind him after Kai tied up Jay's hands behind his back and nodded at her. The first part of their plan was now done and over with. Neo clapped in her excitement, and ran up to him and hugged his arm as her way of congratulating him on his first successful interrogation. Cute, but now it was time for the second part of their plan.

"Thank you, Neo. Now, Make us invisible and we'll walk right out of this place." Kai said, taking the bandit strongly under his arm and hooking his head through his right arm. Considering that they even still had their weapons, there was no need to stay any longer after getting some supplies and water along the way. "We don't need to be here anymore. We have what we need."

Now it's only a matter of time until we see each other again. Kai thought to himself as he felt Neo's semblance wash over him like rain. Just wait for me a little longer, Malienna. Just a little longer…

Ruby, Taiyang, and Blake readied their weapons as they ran toward the shoreline where they heard people screaming and panicking about Grimm. It had to have been a sudden attack, and the reason why Ghira and Kali had asked them to go help protect the island while they were here with the skills they had acquired throughout their lives. There were three large class Grimm, amphibious by nature, that were able to both swim in the ocean and also move on land in order to destroy their prey. Thankfully upon arrival, it didn't look as though anyone was hurt yet. That was likely due to the lifeguards spotting something dark and black in waters that were so clear that it would be easy to spot anything abnormal in it if it came by. Almost all of the civilians had already been evacuated by the White Fang of all people, and it was those very terrorists that they fought at Beacon that was now holding back the Grimm so that they wouldn't hurt anybody. It was a sight to behold, but not a sight to ponder on about. Ruby took action, using her semblance to quickly close the distance and put herself in between the Grimm and the White Fang grunts holding them off with handheld weapons. Guns with low caliber might as well be toys against Grimm so large, but they did well enough in distracting it up until now.

"Get out of here!" Ruby exclaimed as Crescent Rose sang into action. "We'll handle it from here!"

The White Fang grunts didn't argue and let her take point. Ruby used her speed to bait the three Grimm into chasing her farther away from where the innocents were, and Blake and Taiyang caught up quickly. Ruby pondered the idea of using her eyes to kill the Grimm instantly, but right now, there was no immediate danger to any innocent people. It was just her, her huntsman father, and her huntress teammate. This would be a good chance to show off to the people of Menagerie who were watching and taking note of what two humans and their faunus comrade - who also turned out to be Blake Belladonna - defend them with all they had. Once the three of them grouped up together, Ruby glanced left and right at each of them.

"Ready?"

"You're asking your father if he's ready?" Taiyang scoffed. "Who's the one that trained you first before you ran off to learn Qrow's style instead?"

"Hey, I didn't like using my fists as Yang did," Ruby said with an apologetic shrug.

"Kill Grimm first, the comedic father-daughter duo later." Blake interrupted. "Let's make quick work of them."

Blake dashed off to the side after leaving behind a stone clone of herself, acting as a distraction for one of the Grimm to strike and spill dust all over its own eyes. Blinded, Taiyang moved in and delivered a devastating haymaker into its snout. Breaking teeth and fracturing bone as the scaly Grimm toppled over on its side roaring and screaming in rage and pain. Ruby wasted little time in using her speed and immediately slicing off the Grimm's head, leaving behind a trail of rose petals as she flipped into the air, flourished Crescent Rose, and landed on the Grimm's decaying corpse. The final two Grimm cared not for its fallen brother and attacked Ruby all the same. Ruby jumped into the air with the help of one of her blasts from Crescent Rose, and easily dodged their reckless charge. The Grimm bashed into each other, giving Blake the opportunity to throw her ribbon and temporarily trapping the two together after it wrapped around both of their necks. Taiyang then shoulder charged the creatures in the side, knocking them both down to the ground and displacing sand everywhere in creating a small sand cloud. Not so thick that Ruby lost track of the Grimm, however. Still in the air, Ruby remembered her lessons with Qrow and angled Crescent Rose behind her back. As she let gravity begin pulling her back down to Remnant, she fired off another shot from Crescent Rose, tripling her speed and causing her to spin like the blades of a blender. Her form became a blur of red, and once she struck the Grimm, she instantly killed them both after cutting them both in half. Skidding to a stop, Ruby landed on the beach between Taiyang and Blake with a satisfied grin on her face.

"That was easy." She said as she stood back up straight. Crescent Rose went holstered behind her back, and she crossed her arms in thought.

"Too easy," Blake said, thinking out loud for her. "I was under the impression that there would be much more Grimm than this."

"Stay on guard," Taiyang said. "Something's not right, I can sense it…"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. The faunus of Menagerie cheered for them, but after what her father just said, she was beginning to feel the same.

"Grimm before wouldn't hesitate to attack groups of people alone, even if they were a fully kitted out squad of huntsmen. Now though, the Grimm have been made smarter. More cunning, they'd have to be if they wanted any chance at taking down a school where huntsmen were trained." Taiyang explained. His arms stayed raised and tensed, he turned toward the ocean, watching out for any more shadowy figures of Grimm. "And I doubt Salem or Cinder can control every single Grimm out there at the same time…"

After hearing his explanation, Ruby and Blake thought the same thing. Their weapons were taken back out and they remained on guard, looking out toward the ocean and other parts of the beach they hadn't been to yet. They spent the next several minutes looking for any more signs of Grimm to appear, and although none had come yet, they wanted to make doubly sure before they turned to leave the beach and the faunus back to what they were doing originally. The White Fang grunts from before however, didn't have the same mindset that they did. They thought that they were done, that they had saved the day and that everything was fine now. They didn't see any issue with running onto the beach without their weapons, taking off their masks, and openly questioning them while out in the open and defenseless why they looked as though the fight was not over yet.

Ruby turned to see them and her eyes widened in sudden shock. She opened her mouth to yell at them to get back as she dashed towards them, but it was already too late.

The grunt in the middle would say his final words just before getting swallowed up by a Grimm whole from beneath the sand. The other two grunts were knocked to the ground, one unconscious and the other screaming about a broken leg. The creature that swallowed up the young man from before was a wormlike creature with phalanges, legs, and arms, several rows of glaring red eyes, scales like concrete with black fur in every seam. It roared loudly, so loud that Ruby stopped in her tracks because of the force of the noise. Taiyang and Blake rushed forward and helped her up. It was a type of Grimm that they had never seen before. Like a nightmare out of a child's horror fantasy story. Ruby, Taiyang, and Blake couldn't even figure out what its weaknesses and strengths are, only that they had fallen for its trap, and it had already taken the life of someone under their watch.

"Get back!" Taiyang shouted, being the first to recover and pushing the girls back as the Grimm looked at them. "It's going to charge!"

The Grimm certainly looked as though it would for a time, and it took several steps toward them. However, it stopped and turned back to the screaming and panicking faunus running away from the beach. The negative difference between an experienced huntsman and two huntresses that have killed hundreds of Grimm already and civilians who were terrified and haven't seen a Grimm in their life before was astoundingly tragic. The nightmare Grimm turned away from them, pondered its choices for some seconds, and then redirected its charge right at the fleeing civilians.

"No!" Ruby exclaimed, already seeing what would happen if a Grimm like that was able to get into a village. "We have to stop it!"

Her mind played out what was happening in slow motion. Crescent Rose felt light in her small yet calloused hands, her hair whipped out behind her head as her speed quintupled, her vision saw nothing but her target, a world of black and white and red as rose petals invaded her peripherals. Ruby knew that she still wasn't fast enough to save the life of the first young girl that was closest to the Grimm. Not fast enough to even become a distraction. In her slowed world of perspective, Ruby felt the heartbreak of not being able to save a life before it even came.

Then a wave of red answered her prayers. Red and black fire cleaved into the side of the charging Grimm, cutting off its front two legs and creating a large gash underneath its body. The Grimm came to a screeching halt, splattering black blood everywhere as its attacker made himself known.

Adam Taurus himself, along with Emerald, Mercury, and Ilia also answered the call of Grimm landing on the beaches of Menagerie. Ruby saw them and the Grimm and relief flooded her heart. Grateful for her once enemies arriving to stop the Grimm from killing people she wasn't fast enough to save. Adam however, looked at her and snarled through his mask.

"Why isn't this thing dead yet!?" He screamed at her. Not Blake, or Taiyang, or all three of them at once, but at her. Ruby understood why. She was the silver-eyed warrior. She was the one who could look at Grimm and kill them, and Adam knew that. And he was right.

Ruby nodded and looked at the Grimm as it recovered, its limbs slowly regrowing. Killing it conventionally would take a lot of strategy and manpower, and the destruction it would cause might be too much. That possibility was unacceptable. Thinking about her almost failure, Ruby's eyes lit up in a bright white light, a light that swallowed up the Grimm, instantly turning it to ash and killing it before it could take any more lives. Ruby dropped down to one knee, the strain of using her eyes again draining her suddenly. Taiyang caught her before she could fall over, and she thanked him for the support. She stood back up on her own, making sure that the Grimm was really dead before looking over to Adam and the others as they made their way toward them. Somehow despite the man being the leader of the White Fang, Ruby looked at him and felt as though she was the one who was supposed to apologize. She stopped herself from thinking about everything he has done; However, Mercury told her that he was planning something against Cinder, so for now, he could be a temporary ally and a powerful one at that.

"Good work," Adam said upon getting in range of them, pointedly not looking at Blake and crossing his arms in front of them. "But you almost messed up at the end. You should be more decisive."

"I…" Ruby swallowed. Nodding her head instead and agreeing with him. "It won't happen again. No Grimm will ever get past me again."

Adam looked like he believed her. "I presume it was Ghira, Kali, or both that put you two up to this." He said. "Am I right?"

"We heard about a Grimm attack," Taiyang replied. "We answered."

"Hm," Adam nodded. "Very well. It's good to know that there are things that we can agree upon."

"Yeah, like killing Grimm and saving innocent lives is something these three trained huntsmen wouldn't want to do." Mercury snarked, elbowing Adam in the side as a joke. "You're really good at being Captain Obvious, have I told you that before?"

"Only several times over the past several years," Adam growled lightly.

"Don't get used to us working together like that," Emerald said, ruining the moment before anyone could enjoy it. "This is just a cease-fire between us. But only because of our orders. Don't think-"

"What Emmy here is trying to say," Mercury interrupted, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and then hooking it around her neck to get her to stop talking. "Thank you for making our job easier. Y' see, Adam here has a lot of work to do, so knowing that you three idiots would make his life a little easier makes our lives a little easier as well."

"Um… you're welcome?" Ruby said.

"Hm." Adam hummed. "I'll be returning to my office. Emerald, Ilia, follow. We'll send people to clean up this mess on the way."

"What about me?" Mercury asked as he was quickly abandoned by his female comrades.

"You enjoy your snarks, so you can snark outside of hearing distance from me for the rest of the day," Adam replied, leaving him alone with Blake, Ruby, and Taiyang. Mercury looked at the three of them, sighed, then looked back at them. He got the message.

"That was the signal for me to release some more of our secret plans to you three," Mercury whispered to them once Adam, Emerald, and Ilia were gone. "Let's go find a nice dark inconspicuous alley to converse in, yeah?"

"That's not suspicious at all," Taiyang commented.

"You're on an island full of enemies. If we wanted to do something to you, we would have done it a long time ago," Mercury pointed out with a laugh. "Now c'mon, I'm hungry and I want to get this over with. Did you tell Kit-Cat here about our little arrangement?"

"I'm aware," Blake replied quietly. "You are betraying your masters it seems."

"Masters? The hell kinda shit are you reading to get that idea?" Mercury asked, slightly disgusted at the prospect.

"After you helped kill people I knew from Beacon."

"Hey, in fact, I never killed anyone that you personally knew. Just so that's clear with all of you." They were not amused by that clarification. Mercury shrugged and looked around, making sure that no one was near or listening in on them. "Whatever, that's a general idea anyway. So, do you guys want the long version or the short version of our next plans?"

"Abridge it, but don't leave out any details."

"Alright, the Albain brothers plan to kill your parents."

"They're what!?" Taiyang had to hold back Blake from punching Mercury in the face. "We have to stop them! Where are they!?"

"Calm down, calm down," Mercury said, waving her down. "Also, shut up, we don't have thin walls here but there are too many people with four ears than I am comfortable with. Listen," After waiting for Blake to calm down, he continued. "With your parents gone, Adam would be able to consolidate everyone on the island to join the cause. That's what they want, not him, just to be clear. Obviously, Adam wouldn't approve of that, and he found out on his own, but he can't just kill the Albain's without evidence that they're going to do what they're planning. That's where you three come in."

"You want us to help expose the Albain's, and then take them down ourselves?" Ruby asked.

"Bingo, you're a smart girl Red," Mercury said, mockingly clapping for her as he did so.

"You do know that someone likely told the Albain's to do this," Taiyang said. "Which means that if they suddenly disappear and aren't able to do it anymore, they're going to find out."

"And I see where Red got her brains from," Mercury said. "That's exactly right. Cinder's going to find out through Emerald what happens to them. Which is why there is more to the plan than just taking down the brothers…" Losing his comedic edge and mood, Mercury released a long sigh. "I've never been loyal to Cinder, she found me just hours after I uh… was in a delicate position. I had nowhere else to go nor did I have anything to do with my life. She tried to mold me into what she wanted, but she gave up when she couldn't get me to budge. I can only wonder why she hasn't gotten rid of me yet, but Emerald's different. She's got a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome. She loves Cinder, and is fully loyal to her."

"And why are you telling us this?" Blake asked. "After what you two did, can you really expect us to be sympathetic?"

"That's not what I'm asking, and I'm getting to that." Mercury said. "I… Killing Emerald would be the safest thing to do, but I… I care for her, alright? If there's some way to just knock her out and make sure she gets away from Cinder and everything else so we could just be on our own, that'd be a perfect ending for me."

"Okay," Ruby said, surprising Mercury and Blake both. Taiyang chose to remain silent, he trusted his daughter to do what she believed was right. "We'll help her take her down. We won't kill her. However, I have one condition to this. Once we help you get Emerald out, stop the Albain brothers, and help Adam with whatever it is he needs, I never want to have to see you or Emerald again. You two can go live off on your own and do whatever else you want with your lives. But after this, you two are done, kapeesh?"

Mercury put on a satisfied grin and nodded his head. "As long as we never have to see Cinder, Salem, or any of those crazy fucks again, then after a few weeks, you'll never have to worry about us again."

"How are you so sure you'll never be found?" Blake asked. "Either by Salem or the authorities."

"If there's anything my dad taught me before he died, it's how to hide." Mercury snarkily remarked. "So, we knockout Emerald, take out the brothers, then Adam takes over from there and you three help him take down Cinder and I get to never worry about any of this shit ever again." Happily, he extended out a hand to Ruby. "That is a deal I am more than willing to make."

Ruby, for once, met his grin with one of her own. She shook his hand and solidified the deal.

Malienna and Weiss watched as Raven Branwen geared up and prepared for travel. Over the past few days, Raven had called all of her bandits back to camp, telling them to hold the line for her while she went and did what she had to do in finding Kai and bringing him back to camp. That last part was something only Weiss and Malienna knew. As far as the rest of the tribe knew, Raven was just going on another one of her scouting missions using her bird form to get the best view possible. During her time there, Weiss had spent pretty much all of her free time helping the bandits learn how to unlock their aura and use it, while also teaching them basic fighting tactics. It was something that Weiss hoped would never be used in hurting innocent people, and she only had to do it as part of her deal with Raven. Once Kai showed up, he could reunite with his sister and her, and Raven will send him on his way.

That was the plan at least. Weiss couldn't figure out how it could go wrong, and that was concerning her only slightly. Over time, she suspected that Raven and she may have formed a bond barely on the level of the requirement required in order for her semblance to be able to be used with her. Failing that though, there was always Malienna, whom she knew for an absolute fact had a bond with the bandit tribe leader.

Once the initial shock and displeasure of living amongst literal bandits past, Weiss came to become fond of the place. The lifestyle and culture were completely unique, although very gritty and bare-bones, it worked. It was simple. If you were strong, you would win, but there were more forms of strength other than the combat variety. Weiss personally believed that these bandits respected talent over anything, only that they referred to it as strength. The cooks who made the food were relied on and were treated as some of the best. Especially the doctors, or the ones who took care of people if they got hurt. They may as well be at the top of the totem pole as the ones who can do the most for the tribe. The combat fighters were always well respected, especially those with aura and actual combat training. Once they realized that she was powerful in her own right, they ceased in their attempts to mock and taunt her. That also may have been because she was given the approval of Raven Branwen herself publicly, but she'd like to think her own achievements were able to carry her through those hardships before they could become too intense.

She could almost say that she was going to miss this place once she left. But her desire to return to her teammates and friends was far stronger than the respect she had gained for the bandit life. Still, she didn't approve of what they did, but she at least understood that almost every single man, woman, and child there all spent their lives fighting and raiding and fu- Well, their lives were far more brutal in living than most would ever get. Being born into wealth and fame made it difficult to see that, but after spending so much time with the friends she made in Mistral and Beacon, she became more able to see from other perspectives.

"When are you going to come back?" She heard Malienna ask Raven as she leaned over bedding upside down, her long brown hair touching the floor as Raven slipped one long leg into one of her boots.

"Whenever I find him, I can come back instantly," Raven replied stoically. "I just need to find him first. He doesn't feel too far away. It might take a week of flying around looking, maybe less."

"And you'll come back with my big brother here?" Malienna asked.

"That is what I just said." Raven said. "Stop asking questions you already know the answer to. Or at least think before you do. Weren't you teaching her that education thing Qrow and I went through lately?" She asked Weiss.

"She's still a little girl." Weiss pointed out. "She's going to be a little girl with or without an education."

"Ugh, if you'd told me that twenty years ago, I'd have socked you in the face." Raven said as she tied her boots to a snappy knot. "Keep low while I'm gone," she continued as she went over to her other boot. "I told the tribe not to mess with either of you while I'm away, but there's always an asshole or two that might want to test me. I know you can take care of yourselves," she added before Weiss could say it herself. "But I'd rather not come back to injured men recovering in the infirmary tent. Understand?"

"Yes, yes, that's fine." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes. "Good luck on your little hunt, Miss Branwen. I shall await your return eagerly."

"What'd I tell you about talking to me all formal like?" Raven asked as she stood up, uniform full applied and long sword at her side. "Oh whatever, also make sure that the Grimm doesn't destroy this place while I'm gone. That was the agreement, make sure that you-"

"Raven!" An older man shouted as he threw himself into their tent. Raven looked down at the man with a glare, demanding to know why he'd dare to interrupt her and barge his way into her tent like that. "I'm sorry I barged in but there is a woman asking for you! She broke her way into camp, she won't stop until she sees you!"

"What!?" Raven snarled, grabbing the hilt of her sword with anger flaring across her face. "Who is she!? Where is she!?"

"She looks like a damned monster!" The man whisper-shouted at her. "Half her hair is white, she's got one red eye and the other one looks like it's on fire! And her semblance… fuck… it's so fucking strong!"

"Wait… are you talking about-" Raven slapped her hand over Weiss' face and then did the same to Malienna with her other hand. Weiss looked over her hand and at Raven, who was suddenly sweating bullets and looked paler than ever before. Seeing that, she started feeling the same way. The description the older man gave them sounded ominously similar to that of Cinder Fall's, and now that she was paying attention to the noises outside, her heart started to beat at a rapid rate.

"Hide," Raven said as she moved her hand away. Weiss didn't dare speak. "Take Malienna and hide underneath my bed. There is a trap door that leads underneath the tent. The foundation will keep you out of sight." She explained, shoving Weiss and Malienna - who was passed over to Weiss, over to Raven's bed. "Do not come out, no matter what, and no matter what you hear. Understand?"

"Raven-" It was Weiss' turn to cover Malienna's mouth before she could speak. Weiss knew what Raven was trying to do. She was protecting her. If Cinder found out that Malienna Matsuoka, the younger sister of her nemesis Kai Matsuoka, she'd do worse than just kill her just to get to him. At the very least, this way whatever happens Malienna would be safe or have the ability to escape before Cinder realized that she was there. Malienna thrashed and tried to escape, but she wasn't strong enough to overpower her. Weiss gave Raven a nod and slowly moved herself and Malienna over to Raven's bed and underneath it. Raven nodded back, and she turned around with wide eyes and picked up her Grimm skull-shaped mask, fitting it over her face so that Cinder didn't see how nervous she looked.

"Get out of my tent," She told the man who had witnessed everything. "And don't say a word."

Raven didn't wait for the man to reply as she stepped out of her tent, hand on her hilt, and walked out into the courtyard in front of her tent in the center of her camp. She witnessed the carnage on the south side of the camp, tents were burned down and some people were injured and some dead. There was also a woman that stood in the center of it all. Cinder Fall. She wore a black dress that was snug to her body, it was slightly revealing, showing off some of her cleavage, thighs, and back. But it didn't look right, parts of her body were horribly discolored, and half her face was covered by a white bone looking mask. It didn't look like it was a part of her body, but there was the one red eye that the man from before described before. After seeing Cinder's one flaming orange eye, there was no more hoping that the man was somehow wrong and this was just someone that looked like Cinder.

"Finally, it looks like I've got your attention at last." Cinder said with a saccharine chuckle as she waltzed toward her. "Raven Branwen, is it? The very one I've been looking for."

"What do you want!?" Raven asked, drawing her sword and preparing to fight.

"Now, now, if I really wanted you and this vile group of people dead, I'd have just sent the Grimm instead." Cinder explained. Raven tensed up. She had her sword out and she could very well attack Cinder, but she was no maiden. She was just a normal human with bird powers and a portal semblance that was useless to use in combat unless she had several people she could use it with at the same time all around her. It was a hard pill to swallow, but she'd swallowed it a long time ago. She'd never stand a chance against Cinder. Maybe if she were younger and in her prime, but not now and most certainly not by herself.

"What," Raven said, feigning bravery and hiding her fear. "Do you want?"

"I have a proposal for you, Raven," Cinder continued. Putting her hands behind her back and pacing back and forth in front of her as she spoke. "I want to use you and your men in my next attack. Call it a… backup plan just in case anything goes wrong. Your role would be simple. All I want you to do is gather your strongest fighters, and create a portal to your daughter in Haven, and attack."

"What makes you think that I'd do that?"

Cinder looked at her through the corner of her red eye and laughed. "Do you really want to hear the answer to that question? Because by the looks of it, it appears as though you already know what would happen if you refused."

Underneath her mask, Raven began to sweat even more profusely.

"With all that power you have, why would you even need us?"

"As I said, you are back up just in case anything goes wrong. I already have the White Fang in my pocket and Lionheart on top of that. Make no mistake, I don't need you, I just want to make sure that if I need some extra flesh to act as padding, then I could rely on you." Cinder explained. "Understand?"

"..." Raven didn't respond.

"Your signal will come, and whether or not you act upon it is up to you." Cinder said, turning around and beginning to walk away. She had total control over the conversation and everyone knew it. "For your sake and the sake of this backwater tribe you care for so much, I hope you answer that call. Keep your scroll on you, you'll know it's me when it rings."

Raven could have attacked Cinder while she was leaving her camp. But her muscles didn't allow her to do so. Her mind screamed at her to just leave her alone, and so she did. Raven kept her sword in hand as she stomped her way back to her tent, demanding that someone clean up the mess that Cinder left behind as the tent flaps closed in behind her. Once she was alone, the mask came off and her sword clambered to the ground.

She's never been more afraid in her life. In fact, she never wanted to experience anything like that again. It was like just being near Cinder made her feel fear. Raven punched the ground lightly, cursing herself for being so human.

Kai would have to find his way here himself. Right now, it was time to prepare for the worst.

My birthday is actually coming up soon. It was kinda a shock to look at the clock this morning and see that its just two days away (May 27th). So that's cool, this guy is about to turn 22 years old. Huh, another whole year has passed already, huh? Time really does fly by fast.

Don't remind me. Soon I'm gonna be 24. -CrowSkull