Another day, another incident. As usual, Weiss was at the center of it.
Jaune was happy that he'd been able to make her bite her tongue until now. The last thing he needed was for yet more public attention to be drawn their way. The way Weiss was pacing back and forth in their room while he and Ruby looked on was sure to have gained the attention of half the school had she done so out in the middle of Beacon.
"I can't believe she said that to you!" Weiss snarled. "If Cinder isn't spat on and kicked out of Beacon Academy shortly before being returned to and tortured by Salem the next day, I think I have to raise a complaint with Headmaster Ozpin!"
It happened on their way back from detention to their room in the exchange student dorms. Running into Cinder again outside, the dark-haired woman had glared vindictively at Jaune before calling him an idiot. It hadn't bothered Jaune, but Weiss took great personal offense to the insult. After nearly losing control of herself out in the courtyard, Cinder had offered a half-hearted apology for her words before going off with Emerald and Mercury.
Weiss wasn't so quick to forgive the insult. Now back in the privacy of their room, she was ranting and raving to her heart's content.
Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Come on, Weiss. It wasn't that bad. She's said worse to me."
It did little to stave off the hybrid's rage. "Cinder's very presence in this school brings down my enjoyment, and her pathetic apology after insulting you is sickening! Everything about her is sickening! The only way for her existence to be satisfying at all anymore is if Salem learns what an irredeemable, unlovable, worthless piece of trash she is, and she is rightfully abandoned to die alone and hated by everyone she's ever met!"
Someone had to be the mature one here, and he knew it wasn't going to be Weiss. "You're being irrational. It's not that big of a deal."
"Cinder hasn't and really can't earn redemption at this point! Forcing it feels gross and unsatisfying, especially when past conversations make it clear she hasn't meaningfully changed a single iota! Not having her comeuppance is a big fat unsatisfying loose end that poisons the rest of my day!"
"I think you're confusing redemption with forgiveness. And who said I forgave her?"
"Stop rambling and dismissing all my criticism of the Cinder situation! Hand-waving the unsatisfying apology by deploying the 'shades of gray' or 'not everyone gets what they deserve' argument, and doubling down on accepting her apology is sure to drive away future members of our pack!"
Jaune rolled his eyes. Talk about an overreaction. Weiss was on a tangent and she wasn't going to stop until she was finished. Like a petulant child, or perhaps the very immature teenager that she was, she continued spouting her unprovoked madness to anyone who would listen to her ramblings. It was strange, but it was one of the reasons why she was so endearing. It was what made Weiss so uniquely herself. It was what made her the know-nothing know-it-all he loved.
Weiss threw her hands up in the air in disgust. "I can't believe you're dismissing all of Cinder's insults and going full speed ahead with accepting her apology! That's a corner you've talked yourself into, unfortunately! I would be surprised and delighted if my criticisms were actually addressed, but no! You were an amazing Alpha while it lasted, but cue the quote from the documentary about the man-bat faunus about living long and becoming the Beta!"
With that final, supposedly insulting word, Jaune held her unflinching gaze. Weiss was breathing heavily after ranting for a whole two minutes straight without stopping for air. After long moments she collected herself, brushing out any wrinkles in her school uniform after such an animated display of insanity.
"Are you finished?" he asked.
One more intake of air and a haughty harrumph later, Weiss closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes. I am finished."
"Insulting me wasn't really necessary, you know. After all this time I thought I might have earned the benefit of the doubt when it came to trusting me."
"Well I was angry! You have no idea how much Cinder upsets me!"
"I think I can tell. Let's just move on now, okay?"
Weiss smoothed out the wrinkles in her blouse and skirt which her angry rant had caused. "Fine."
With the Vytal Tournament about to start, Jaune figured that most students would be training and getting their final preparations made for their teams. Working out kinks in strategies, creating new ones, making sure everyone was on the same page when it came to their roles, all of that good stuff. Jaune on the other hand didn't care about any of it. He wasn't here to win the tournament. He wasn't even a real student from a huntsman academy. No, his only concern was the girls. Making sure that somehow, someway, all of them managed to get out of here alive and well.
Weiss' jaw clenched, and her glare averted from Jaune to the floor as she spoke bitterly about the past. "I can't believe I once admired and looked up to that woman. As it turns out that seduction class was nothing but a bunch of salami. I've not seen her seduce one person in our time in Vale."
"I think you mean baloney," Jaune corrected.
"False!" she insisted, holding out a finger pointing accusingly toward him. "Salami is the far superior lunch meat."
"Right but the phrase is…" Jaune started, but ultimately stopped when he realized that Weiss wouldn't care about such a thing. He shook his head softly. "Never mind."
"Speaking of which, I'm hungry," Ruby commented. "We should go get something to eat."
Leave it to his little Cookie Monster to completely disarm the situation by bringing up food. The mere mention of it seemed to pep Weiss up as well, and as quickly as she'd blown up over Cinder's insult she forgot it and put her entire focus on finding something to snack on before dinner.
"That sounds like a marvelous idea," she agreed. "Shall we go to the cafeteria? Or perhaps venture down to Vale in search of more exotic cuisine? Winter and I have explored several restaurants in our sisterly bonding sessions, and I believe I could make quite a few recommendations."
As much as he wanted to enjoy spending time with the girls, the more logical part of his brain knew he couldn't spend his precious free time going out to eat. That would likely turn into a whole trip to the city, taking away hours of time that he could spend trying to plot… something. That was in fact one of the problems. He didn't know what his next step would or should be now. With the virus situation in the CCT under control now, he would need to find out what Cinder's next step was. Perhaps he would need to enlist a certain feline faunus to gather information in ways that only a creepy stalker like her could.
"Cafeteria sounds best," Jaune said to Weiss' question. "But maybe we should wait for…"
Before he could even finish his sentence the very girl he was about to mention came in. Or more accurately, practically battered down the door like a siege engine, cracking wood and shaking the very walls of their dorm room.
Yang entered the room bruised and bloodied, her clothes torn and dirty. It looked as though she'd just come back from more than just an innocent trip with her uncle. It appeared to be more than even some kind of training exercise between the two. Her eyes, normally brimming with mischief and confidence, were red and puffy from tears which had dried not too long ago.
"Yang?" Ruby questioned, hopping off her bed and approaching her older sister. "What happened?"
The redhead reached out with a hand to place on Yang's shoulder, but the other girl stopped it in its tracks, swatting it away with a hand of her own.
"Don't," she growled, a hint of threat in the air as she prevented her own flesh and blood from laying a comforting hand on her.
Ruby stopped in her tracks and even took a step back. Jaune saw worry in her bright silver eyes, and for a moment her teeth toyed with her lips as she continued to stare at her sister. "Yang?" she asked again, more worry evident in her tone. The sight and sound of it made Jaune's heart ache for his oldest and closest friend.
The blonde hybrid shook her head softly, her gaze unwilling or unable to meet that of her sister's. "I just… want to be left alone."
Something had gone terribly wrong. Qrow wasn't with her. Jaune didn't think the man's absence meant that he was dead. No, he was a skilled and experienced huntsman who should have been able to take on a Grimm hybrid in a one versus one fight. More than likely he was doing exactly what Yang wanted her sister to do right now – leave her alone.
In an unusual twist, perhaps one born of her own brand new experiences with an older sister and all the troubles that had preceded them, Weiss was the one to read the room flawlessly. She moved to stand next to Ruby, grabbing a wrist in her own hand before tugging her after. "Come along, Ruby," she ordered, not waiting for the other girl to reply before forcing her along behind her. "You said you were hungry, did you not?"
Jaune watched them depart, Weiss looking after the younger girl like an older sister in her own right, leaving him alone with the battered and beaten blonde. For a moment Jaune thought he should follow, but quickly abandoned the idea. He'd never abandoned the other girls before in their most solemn hours. He wasn't about to start now.
When the newly-abused door shut behind them Jaune sprang into action. Moving closer toward Yang, he approached her from behind as she stared out their dorm's lone window. Her hair was a disheveled mess, completely unfitting for a girl who took pride in her human appearance even as a hybrid. Her golden blonde locks which normally radiated with color seemed almost muted here and now.
Perhaps it was because the other hybrids recognized Jaune as their Alpha that Yang didn't protest his presence here with her. She respected his strength for certain even if she had never expressed interest in formally joining their pack. Her regard for him allowed him to speak to her in a way that she didn't even allow her sister to at this moment.
"Yang," he spoke quietly behind her. She didn't so much as flinch at the sound. "What happened?"
Long moments of silence ticked by as he stared at the back of her head. He couldn't quite make out the reflection of her face in the window, and so he had no idea what kind of expression was on her face right now. All he could do was wait for her to answer. If she even felt like doing so.
"I had her," the young woman spoke softly. Bitterly.
Jaune stepped closer to hear her better. "Who?"
"Her," she answered cryptically. "Her. That bitch. That lying, worthless, cowardly bitch!"
The final word was punctuated with frightening power as Yang drove her fist into the nearest wall. Drywall broke as if it was little more than a sheet of paper. The hole left in the wall didn't concern either of the two teenagers who placed no value whatsoever in the academy.
There weren't many people Jaune knew of who could prompt that kind of reaction from Yang of all hybrids. She didn't share the hatred for Cinder which Weiss had developed. She didn't despise any of their classmates either. Not even Miss Goodwitch had earned the ire of Yang like she had from some of her regular Beacon Academy students. No, there was one very specific woman on Jaune's mind who he had a feeling Yang had finally gotten to meet face to face.
Yang herself had told him about her biological mother before. He knew that she held nothing but scorn for the woman who'd abandoned her all those years ago. All of those feelings were bubbling to the surface here and now.
"I finally had a chance to do something," Yang continued, as Jaune stood behind her stoically letting her speak. Or more accurately, vent. "After all these years I finally found her. Everything I'd ever wanted in life was right in front of me, but I wasn't strong enough to take it."
That answered the question of how Yang's appearance became such a mess. She'd picked a fight with her mother and lost. Jaune could only imagine the power that such a woman possessed if she could manhandle a hybrid as strong as Yang.
Yang's fists flexed and squeezed together angrily, the visual of that matching up with the bitter and frustrated tone of her voice. "Everything I've been living for up to this point has been for nothing!" she snarled. "Nothing!" She punched the wall again. And again. And again. "Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!"
For a moment Jaune feared as though she was going to bring down the entire wall in her fit of rage, and yet he could do nothing but watch as Yang unleashed the fury she felt for her mother onto the innocent wall. It was better than another student. Especially him. It wasn't like he cared about the consequences of what would happen should a faculty member find out that they'd trashed their temporary exchange student dorm room.
With multiple holes in the wall and pieces of drywall littering the floor below them, Jaune watched as Yang breathed heavily near her handiwork. Maybe now that she'd gotten the initial frustration out of her system she would be easier to talk to. He doubted he could console her, but maybe he could say something to calm her down. The last thing he needed was an unhinged hybrid running around threatening to blow all of their covers.
What did he even say in a situation like this though? How could he downplay the importance and the trauma of someone's own mother abandoning them? He couldn't tell her that it was going to be okay. Or that she'd get her next time. No, for the first time in a long time Jaune was at a loss for words here.
Did he dare go the other route? Actions spoke louder than words, after all. Should he give her a hug and tell her that it wasn't her fault? Knowing Yang she would reject his touch the moment he laid his hands on her. Or should he go the absolute extreme route and offer to fight her? Yang did love to express her emotions through her fists rather than her lips. Though seeing how she'd just gotten absolutely thrashed earlier, he doubted that she would take kindly to another beating courtesy of him this time. That was, if he could even defeat the most physically powerful of the four hybrids.
Or maybe he should simply do nothing. Maybe simply being present, being here to listen to her, was enough. To show her that he wouldn't abandon her like her mother had. To be the strong and silent type who would stand by her side while she worked things out herself. In Jaune's mind that seemed like the most Yangy thing to do. She wasn't the type who required nor wanted sympathy from others. Sympathy would only make her feel even worse about herself.
After long seconds of breathing Yang shook her head and turned, slowly pacing back and forth in the tiny room. "Who does she think she is… putting her arms around me?" she asked bitterly. "She has no right!" she suddenly shouted as she turned to face Jaune. "None! She lost that right when she abandoned me!"
Jaune could only nod wordlessly in agreement. Internally he agreed with her wholeheartedly. Raven had lost the right to act motherly toward her daughter the moment she'd decided to abandon her.
"I don't care what she said! I hate her! I'll never forgive her!"
There was more than just anger in those words now. There was very real and much deserved hurt in Yang's tone. This wasn't mere hatred. These were the words of a daughter who felt inconceivable grief in being betrayed by the one person in the world who should have never betrayed her. Again, Jaune could find no fault in Yang here in feeling those emotions. They were well deserved for the person who had been wronged here.
Still, Jaune was only human. For someone who had grown up with loving parents he couldn't even begin to imagine feeling that kind of hatred toward them. A part of him, the human and optimistic part, wanted to try to at least unlock the road to forgiveness in Yang's heart. Judging by the context of her words, Raven had at least attempted to reach out to her in some meaningful way.
"She's only human," he finally said. It was a deliberate choice in words, referring not only to the fact that humans were imperfect, but also to the perspective that they were inferior to Grimm hybrids such as Yang herself. And, as far as she was concerned, what Jaune was as well.
"Yeah, you don't need to remind me," she spat. The disgust in her tone for humans was evident, but it was especially so for her mother.
Jaune shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest. "Maybe she'd changed?" he suggested. "Seventeen years is a long time for someone to change." After all, Jaune himself had changed drastically in only a few months at Salem's school.
Yang shook her head firmly. "No, not her. She's just a weak, pathetic human. She's everything that's wrong with them. A liar. A coward."
He drew a long breath in through his nose before releasing it. Those words which Yang spoke with such scorn were more appropriate for him than she could ever realize. What had he initially been back at Salem's school if not a weak and untrained coward who had feared every encounter with the Grimm hybrids he'd had? What had he been if not a liar by concealing his true human nature to his friends? It had taken time and experience, but he had changed for the better. He had been able to conquer his fears and grow as both a person and a warrior to eventually become the man he was today.
Then again, there was still one more very important person in his life that he was lying to, and she was standing right before him.
"You don't know until you give her a chance," he pressed. Even though he knew that Yang was completely justified in her loathing for her mother, he did want them to at least have a chance at reconciling. That couldn't happen so long as Yang was unwilling to even give the woman a chance. "If not, what else do you expect her to do?"
Yang snorted dismissively, and a hateful lilac gaze settled on him. "To die in a ditch like she deserves," she snarled. "Like the rest of these pathetic humans."
She turned away from him once more, perhaps angry that what she thought was her fellow hybrid was telling her to try to get along with a human. With that human in particular. Again, Jaune couldn't blame her. But again, he couldn't just not try. He cared for Yang. He wanted what was best for her. He needed to at least take a shot in trying to get her to feel something other than hatred for humanity.
Starting with himself.
Yang, in her own way, cared for him. At the very least she respected him. She respected his strength. His cunning. She believed that he was a Grimm hybrid who had become so adept at posing as a human that it was like second nature to him. The reality of the situation was the exact opposite. He was a human who had become so adept at posing as a Grimm hybrid that he'd managed to fool them all except for Blake.
He'd earned their trust. Their respect. Their love. He led their pack now as their Alpha. Perhaps, if Yang finally learned the truth, she would learn that not all humans were weak and cowardly. Maybe she would even learn that they could coexist with hybrids like her. If Yang realized that she'd been living with a human for months now, that her sister had fallen for one, maybe that could change her tune when it came to her opinion of the entire species.
If nothing else it would be a starting point in repairing her relationship with her mother.
"If I could change, maybe she can too," he told her.
The words caused her to pause and turn back to him. Eyes narrowed on him suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Jaune took a deep breath. Here we go. "It means," he said as he took a single defiant step toward her. "That humans can change. They can grow. We can grow."
Her gaze upon him was laser-focused, the gears in her brain spinning as she processed what he was saying. It was almost like she didn't want to fully recognize the implications of what he was saying to her. After all, she'd lived for months believing that he was not just a Grimm hybrid, but an incredibly powerful hybrid. To suddenly have that belief shattered would take more than just a moment to process and believe.
Perhaps he should be clearer then. Perhaps he should just come out and say it bluntly.
"Yeah, I'm a human," he told her plainly. "One hundred percent. You think I'm weak then? You think I'm a coward? Yeah, maybe I once was. Maybe I still am. Point is that you still respect me despite being a human. I've beaten you in fights before. I survived Salem's school. I'm even the leader of you and Ruby and Weiss."
Her eyes were wide with shock. Despite being close to having her back literally against the wall, she took a fearful step back, shaking her head softly. "You're lying," she breathed.
"I'm not lying. You know what else?" he asked as he shoved his face closer to hers. So close that he could feel her warm shaky breath as he stared into her stunned lilac eyes. He wanted to show her just how fearless this human had become after surviving the horrors of Salem's school. After going to sleep night after night being afraid that he might not wake up the following morning. "You've offered to sleep with me more than once. You've been wanting to have sex with a human all this time, Yang. You, the big bad hybrid, wanted to sleep with a weak, cowardly human. So what does that say about you then, huh? Or maybe what it says is that not all humans are weak if I could get the better of all you hybrids. Not all humans are worthless. Maybe some of us are worth the time. Maybe I'm worth your time. So what is it, Yang?"
The truth of the matter was that he didn't get the better of her and the others by being more physically powerful than them. Rather it was his humanity which gave him strength. Compassion, camaraderie, forgiveness, these were the tools he'd used to turn Ruby and Weiss and Blake to his side. Despite their feral and savage nature, there was still humanity inside all of them too. Appealing to it, rather than suppressing it, was the key to winning their hearts and minds. It would be true for Yang as well.
He was so close to her that she could lunge forward and tear his nose off with her teeth should she desire it. Or she could turn her head and kiss him in the heat of the moment. Yet as he held her gaze with his own unflinching one, he didn't think that either was going to happen. He didn't need to be a Grimm hybrid to be able to sense negative emotions, and one look into Yang's shocked, almost fearful eyes showed that she was far too shaken to even attempt any kind of hostile or lustful aggression against him.
She moved. Far too fast for him to stop, though he wouldn't have stopped her to hold her hostage here even if he could have. She pushed past him toward the door, yanking it open before rushing outside in a frightened panic.
Like mother like daughter it seemed, and at the first sign of real emotion Yang had chosen to run away rather than stand and confront her fears. Jaune didn't know if he should go after her immediately. If she wanted to be alone for a while to process what he'd just told her then maybe he should, but he should also be wary at the same time. Should she completely lose control and run amok, he and the others would need to be there to reel her in just as they had done before with Weiss during the school dance.
Jaune left, determined to recruit Ruby and Weiss in order to be ready to confront Yang at a moment's notice should they need to.
To say that Raven was pissed would have been an understatement. Still, it was nothing compared to the hatred and wrath which Yang had shown once she'd recovered.
It had been a gut-wrenching scene to watch unfold, and Qrow had been ready to utilize Harbinger at a moment's notice had things gotten too intense. His gamble had paid off, and Raven hadn't wound up trying to kill her estranged daughter despite what appearances might have shown. At the end of it all, after the Grimm hybrid had been bruised and bloodied, Raven had embraced her as a daughter for the first time since her birth.
Once Yang's tears had dried and she'd gotten the plethora of emotions off of her chest, she'd quickly recovered and pushed her mother away. Yang had stormed off from them into the forest where she'd made her way back to Beacon. Qrow had taken flight in his avian form to shadow her the entire way, making sure that she was not attacked by a stray Grimm as well as to ensure she would not attract an unlucky stray student down in Forever Fall. All in all it had been a productive affair, despite the outcome. It was a stepping stone on the way to success. It was a painful step, but one that needed to be taken in order to get to where they all wanted to be. Like ripping a bandage off it would hurt for a moment, but it needed to be done.
The twins were seated side by side now at a quaint little tavern called the Crow Bar. Getting drinks had been Raven's idea, and the reversal of the normal trend was a phenomenon that Qrow himself was beginning to notice. Where Qrow was rejecting drinks when offered, such as the last time he had eaten dinner at Raven and Tai's place, Raven was indulging in them. The truth of what had happened with Yang and Ruby had affected them in dramatically different ways, and it seemed like it was better for only one of them.
He just needed to give it time. More importantly, he needed to get her to give it time. However, Raven's current foul mood would do him no favors there.
The woman slammed her small empty glass atop the counter after she'd downed its contents in one gulp. An angry breath hissed from her throat, and she didn't so much as glance at her brother when she spoke. "It didn't work."
The plan had been reconciliation, and from that point of view he had to agree with her. "It didn't."
Raven stewed beside him, angry at not just him, but the entire situation. Perhaps even a little bit at herself. "I opened myself up to her."
Qrow nodded, staring down at his glass of water rather than sparing her a look. "You did."
Out of his periphery he caught a glance at Raven turning her head to regard him. He didn't meet her gaze. Yet.
"She rejected me."
With a small sigh Qrow finally turned to look at her, and the same crimson eyes on his face stared back at him. Eyes which he'd seen in Yang when she'd transformed into her hybrid form.
"It was an important first step," he told her. "These things take time. Did you really expect everything to just be forgiven after one meeting?"
Raven scoffed and broke eye contact once more, staring back down at her empty glass. "Will you stop being so damn optimistic?" she spat. "It's creepy. I liked you better when you were just some drunk, brooding bastard."
That made one of them. Qrow may have had a reputation for being exactly what Raven had just said, but learning that both of his nieces were alive had done wonders to help him shed such a mindset. Bad luck or not, he couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky to find both Ruby and Yang in good health and surrounded by people who cared for them. Even with their unique circumstances, things could have been far, far worse.
"She hates me," Raven continued, raising a hand to the bartender and motioning for another drink. "This was a complete failure. I never should have let you talk me into this."
His newfound role of being the optimistic one was certainly going to be tested here today. He had to rise to the challenge, however. For Yang's sake.
"Can you blame her?" he asked. "After what you did can you really blame her for hating your guts?"
It was a harsh reality that needed to be said. Sugarcoating wouldn't do anyone any good here. Optimism didn't mean rejecting realism. Qrow would have to balance both on a knife's edge.
She threw her arms up with exasperation. "Then what was the point!" she exclaimed, earning a glance here and there from the sparsely populated bar. "If you knew how much she hated me and would reject me then why did you make me do this? To prove a point? To show how bad of a mother I am?"
None of those things. No, Qrow had a very deliberate reason for doing what he did.
"To show that you care," he explained. "And to start a dialogue. This sort of thing won't happen in one day. It'll take a long, long time, Raven, and you have to show her that you'll be in this for the long haul. She's a deeply broken girl, and I'm not talking about any of the injuries you gave her."
The memory of Raven snapping off one of Yang's horns was one that still made him shiver. The same with her Grimm arm being sliced off, at least part of it. The fact that Yang was able to regrow the appendage was frightening, but useful after the damage Raven had inflicted on her.
Raven clicked her tongue, taking a sip of her newly-arrived drink. Feelings had never been her strong point, and it was only once Robin was born that she'd finally started acting like not just a mother, but a human being as well. One with all of the vulnerabilities and emotions that a normal person possessed. Still, there were many times such as this one where she struggled to express them, and actively tried to hide them from the world.
"And… to let her work some of the anger out of her system," he said.
Raven narrowed her eyes as she set her glass back down. "You planned on using me as a punching bag?"
He shrugged. "It wound up being kind of the opposite." He instinctively took a drink of his water, almost wishing that it was whiskey after making such an admission.
"What if I had killed her?" she wondered. "Your plan wasn't just reckless, it was stupid. You may as well have put me up against a wild beast with how angry she was."
"I was ready for that if you had tried."
Raven snorted a dismissive breath through her nose. "You really are stupid if you think you could have stopped me. You have no idea how powerful I've become, Qrow."
He had some idea. She was a Maiden, after all. While he may not have been able to defeat her, he believed he could have at the very least prevented her from killing Yang. After all, being a Maiden didn't make you invincible. Amber alone was proof of that.
"I liked my chances," he said dismissively.
She scoffed again, shaking her head at his confidence. "So you wanted us to talk, yet you knew she needed to get her anger out of her system? Again, what was the point in trying to talk to her if you knew it would end up like that?"
Having an answer prepared for each of her questions made Qrow wonder if this was what it felt like to be Ozpin. To be some kind of master strategist with schemes inside schemes. In the back of his mind he wondered if Ozpin somehow knew the truth of everything which was occurring. The real nature of Team AWRY. He wondered if the old chess master was even now controlling himself and Winter like puppets on strings.
He shook off such thoughts and kept his mind focused on the task at hand. "Because the Yang I've come to know only knows how to communicate in one way. Her fists." He turned to meet his sister's gaze once more. "Sound familiar?"
Raven's tongue clicked in annoyance once more. "You make it sound like we're so alike."
In addition to their looks, Qrow knew that Yang was far more like Raven than either of them realized. Over the last several weeks he'd gotten to know a lot about his estranged niece, and the similarities he saw between Yang and the Raven he'd attended Beacon with were remarkable.
"She takes after the woman who gave birth to her more than you think," he said. "She's arrogant, she only values strength, and someone needed to knock her down a peg. And as it turns out, she's pretty adept at running away from her problems when things get too emotional."
Intense red eyes narrowed on him again. As it turned out, however, it wasn't for the very deliberate jab about Raven's cowardly nature. "The woman who gave birth to her," she echoed disdainfully. "Is it really that hard to call me her mother?"
He met that gaze without hesitation. She asked a question he was more than ready to answer. "Yes. You weren't. Summer was."
Two pairs of crimson eyes locked onto each other for long seconds, neither twin saying a word. Finally though Raven shook her head and glowered. She knew he was right and that she couldn't protest that fact.
"Summer, who's alive," he pressed. As important as Yang's reconciliation with Raven was, this was just as important. "Raven, we need to get to her. Only you can do this. Only you can bring us to her."
His sister's shoulders stiffened at the mere suggestion of going to rescue Summer. Her gaze settled back down on the counter once more before she spoke. "If you think I'm stepping foot into that accursed realm again…"
"You don't have to. I'll go. Alone."
Those words snapped her attention back to him again. "Do you have a death wish? Do you have any idea what that place is?"
"If it means rescuing Summer I'm willing to find out," he told her. Resolve as hard as steel filled his voice. Up to this point in his life he'd never been more willing to take a risk as he was now.
"You've always been a stubborn fool, but you've never been insane. This is madness, Qrow."
In those words were emotions which Raven rarely ever put on display. Fear. Concern. And for his sake? If not for the dire stakes at hand Qrow would have been touched by such a gesture. However, right now he didn't care how much of a risk there was. He was going to go get Summer whether she came with or not. All he needed from her was safe passage.
"And the girls survived that madness," he argued. "Jaune survived it and he's just a normal human being like me. A kid. I'll survive it too. All I need from you is to open up a portal to Summer and I'll do the rest myself. I don't need you to come with me, Raven."
It would be nice to have backup, but unnecessary. If everything went according to plan it would be a simple and quick in and out mission.
"And if something happens to you while you're distracted?" she asked almost mockingly. "While you're having your heartfelt reunion with Summer, while you stand there in shock at the sight of her and some Grimm sneaks up behind you, then what? Then it'll be you and her captured, and I won't have a clue any of it's going on. I can't keep a portal open indefinitely, and at some point I'll have to close it. Especially if I think things have gone south on the other side."
It wouldn't be an optimal situation for the one in control of the portal to have no clue what was going on. Plus being at her mercy, to have her be completely in control of his escape, was less than ideal. Although Raven's reformation and experiences in having a family with Taiyang and Robin had done much to change her, the old Raven was still inside of her. Qrow knew that he could never one hundred percent trust her the way he did his other teammates. Plus with her nature to run when things got too intense, the thought of her closing the portal out of fear of things going wrong was a very real possibility.
There was only one solution to all of it, but it clashed with everything he'd just told her. With a sigh he came out and said it. "Then come with me," he asked. "If we're both there then you can watch my back. You can see if things are getting too hairy, and if they are, make another portal back and escape. You have my word that if we're in danger I'll buy you time to get out of there. You have my permission to ditch me if things go south."
Raven had a lot to unload from what he'd just said, but she chose to focus on the last part only. "As if I need your permission to do that. Besides, unlike you I have a family to care about."
True enough, Qrow didn't have a family. At least not in the traditional sense. He'd never married. He'd never had children. To his knowledge, at least. There had been more than a few waitresses and barmaids in his time, and who knows? Maybe his protection did fail one time or another. With his luck he could never be sure, but he'd also never stuck around in one place long enough to find out.
The only family he had, that he could count on, were those from Team STRQ. The children of Team STRQ. Raven. Summer. Yang. Ruby. Three of the four were within arm's reach. All he needed to do was pull the last one out of peril.
"Summer's your family too," he argued. He meant every word of it too. As far as he was concerned, Summer may as well have been Raven's sister just as she was his.
"Team STRQ is ancient history," she shot back. "You need to let it go."
"You say that as you're married to a member of it." Qrow shook his head softly. "It doesn't have to be ancient history, Rae. We're all still alive. We can all be together again. She's no threat to you. You're Tai's wife, not her."
He saw how Raven's hands clenched on the table. As much as he believed what he was saying, he could tell that his sister harbored doubts about the truth of his words. What would Tai do if he found out that Summer was alive? After all, she'd once been with him too after Raven's disappearance and before her return. What would such a thing do to the man? What would it do to the family he'd built ever since the disappearance of her and their girls?
Raven's face tensed as her teeth clenched. She was fighting a battle inside of herself right now, and this was all she showed of it. Qrow was certain that deep within her raged a fiery inferno of anger, hate, and doubt. At least that was emotion. It was better than the cold and empty response of someone who truly didn't care would give.
"I can't take that risk..." she whispered. "I've worked so hard to build what I have..."
"And you can't be that selfish," he told her as calmly as his voice would allow. As much as he wanted to scream at her and berate her for being a greedy coward, he needed to handle her gently if he had any hope of making progress. For as strong as Raven Branwen claimed to be, she was a weak and fragile woman. "You want to make amends with Yang, right? You want to try and do right by her and be her mother. Doesn't Ruby deserve that too? Doesn't she deserve her mother?"
Tugging at the heartstrings of a woman who'd found joys of motherhood the second time around might have seemed like a dirty trick to some, but Qrow was desperate. Yes, he would go there. Yes, he would play that card. He would force Raven to consider what it would be like if the roles were reversed and if Yang were the one left without a mother while Ruby got hers back. Ruby had done nothing wrong to Raven. She didn't deserve to suffer for whatever perceived crimes that Summer had committed. Not that she had, after all. Raven had been long gone by the time Summer and Tai had her, and that was nobody's fault but Raven's.
Raven's hand rubbed up her forehead and through her long black hair. She sighed, shaking her head once more. "You're a bastard. You know that?"
"I've been told that once or twice. Or a thousand times. Mostly by you."
"Yeah, well, you are," she snapped. "You have no idea what I'll be risking if I go through with this. Not just my life. My... my everything, Qrow. Everything."
Qrow leaned in across the table a few inches. "Can you really live with yourself if you don't? Now that you know the truth? Now that you know Summer is still alive?"
"What if Tai wants her instead? Could you blame him after what I did?"
"Tai's as kind and gentle of a man as I've ever known. And as much as I believe he's too good for someone like you, I doubt that he would feel the same way. He can see the best in anyone, Raven. Yourself included. If it all comes out and you explain it all to him like how you did me, I'm sure he'll forgive you."
"You don't know that," she whispered bitterly.
"I don't. But what I do know is that you won't be able to look at him or Robin in the eyes anymore without knowing that you can go out there and save Summer. Your perfect little family life will all be built on a lie. A selfish lie. Maybe the old Raven could have done that and gone to sleep at night without thinking about it, but I don't think you can do it now. You're not that person anymore. You're not the tribal girl who came to Beacon to learn how to kill huntsmen. You're not a bandit leader anymore. You're a mom now. You have a family who you care about. And while you might not be a good person by most people's standards, you're a better person than you were before. So why not take the next step toward becoming a good person?"
The fact that she was worried and not simply brushing off his pleas was a good sign for Qrow. The old Raven, the cold-hearted bitch who cared for no one but herself, would have shrugged off his appeals to her emotions with a shrug and a snarky comment. The new Raven, however, was genuinely conflicted. Helping Summer wasn't out of the question. She just needed a little push, or a mighty shove, in the right direction.
Her fists clenched. Fists which contained the mighty powers of the Spring Maiden. She could wipe out an entire horde of Grimm in a single burst of energy. If she came with him to Salem's realm then their monstrous foes would stand no chance. Only Salem would stand in their way, and somehow Qrow didn't think that the witch of a woman kept Summer in chains at the side of her throne.
"If we go," Raven hissed quietly. "And if things go wrong, I'm leaving immediately."
"Of course," he agreed. "I would expect nothing less. I promised nothing less."
"I don't care if we have her or not," she continued. Crimson eyes bored into his, and Qrow saw the very real fear in them as she stared at him. "I don't care if you're only two steps behind me. I'm leaving and I'm leaving you both behind."
"I know. And that's fine."
"You..." she started, but cut herself off. With another shake of her head, she looked down at the table. "Are insane. Completely and utterly insane."
"What can I say? Love will do that to a person." Not love in any romantic sense, but the love for his friends. His teammates. His family.
"Idiot," she breathed. "I'm going to need time to prepare for this if I do it," she said. Her hands were still fidgeting atop the counter. To prepare for what, exactly, Qrow couldn't say.
"That's fine," he said again. "You do everything you need to do to get ready for this." At the same time he could get with Jaune and ask what to expect. After all, the boy had not only survived that place, but had seen Summer in person. He could get a bit of a scouting report before they went.
Raven stood up, reaching into her pocket before dropping a few lien notes on the table. "Then I'll be in touch. For now though I have to go."
Qrow didn't want to press his luck, which was already shaky on a good day, and push too quickly. Raven was open to it. Raven was actually going to do it. Probably. It would be best to leave her alone until she got back to him. While she prepared, he would too.
He stood as well, pushing his water glass away. The best part about not drinking was that it saved him a lot of money. Money that he would use to spoil his nieces someday soon.
Watching Raven leave, he couldn't help but feel optimistic about the future. Finally, after so long, all of the pieces were beginning to fall into place. With any luck, and again, it was luck that he would never dare to press too hard, he would have his family back together again. His whole family. Not just those related by blood, but Summer and Ruby as well. Heck, while he was at it, he might as well add Jaune to the mix. Without the boy none of this would be possible.
He trusted Jaune. How could he not at this point? He'd more than proven his loyalty and commitment to every one of the girls. More than that, it was becoming more and more apparent through his relationship with Ruby that he could very well become his nephew-in-law someday. Qrow himself had no say in the matter, and if that's what Ruby wanted then he wasn't about to stand in her way.
With his plans fully in motion now, he felt like celebrating. Outside of alcohol he didn't know how to do that, really. Maybe he could take Ruby and Yang out somewhere. At least once the latter had a chance to calm down. If she even wanted to see him at all...
He frowned. Why did life have to be so complicated? He shook off the thought a moment later. No. He would not get down now. Not when things were starting to go right.
As he left the Crow Bar, he knew his next move should be getting together with Jaune and getting some idea of what the inside of Salem's fortress looked like. The more he knew, the better the operation would go. All he wanted right now was to make sure that Summer got out alive. Even if it cost him his own life.
The cold and sterile walls around her offered a sort of comfort. They were familiar. They were like home. Both growing up and in her military career, Winter had known stark and impersonal corridors like these her entire life. The thought was actually a bit depressing when she thought about it like that. Especially since she'd been introduced to this new and wildly colorful life with her sister here at Beacon Academy.
Aboard General Ironwood's personal battlecruiser, she found herself walking slowly with her hands clasped behind her back. It was just like old times. Moving at a steady and professional pace, she caught glimpses of soldiers and officers alike offering her salutes as she passed. Here, both tradition and order ruled. There was no room for chaos. No immaturity. And certainly no one using the computers for... less than savory reasons.
She was really going to need to have a conversation with Weiss about using Beacon's library for her own lewd purposes.
Right now, however, her mind was focused on the task at hand. General Ironwood had summoned her here for a status report. With the Vytal Festival right around the corner, security was their top priority. Apparently the CCT Network had been hacked, but Winter couldn't say whether it was some sort of terrorist attack, such as by the White Fang, or if it was as a result of her sister's questionable choice of websites which had led to the server becoming infected. Whatever the case, she would reassure her commander that things were under control on her end, and that her ever-watchful eyes would be ready for any signs of trouble.
Coming upon the door which led to the General's personal quarters, she pressed a button on the keypad to announce her arrival and await entry to the room. After a few heartbeats the door slid open and Winter stepped inside.
To her surprise, however, she didn't find General Ironwood sitting at his desk. No, instead it was a new arrival, but an all too familiar face.
The handsome and clean-shaven face of Clover Ebi lit up as he stood from the seat. "Winter, so nice to see you again," he greeted her as he stepped out from the desk. Marching over to her he didn't salute, but instead offered his hand to her. Winter took it absentmindedly, more surprised than anything to see him here today.
"Clover?" she asked, as if the single word could convey the series of questions which were flooding her mind.
"It's been too long. Far too long." The man, as warm and personable as ever, made conversation as if they were best friends. Something which she knew wasn't true among any of the Atlesian military. Especially its most elite.
"It has," she agreed, if for nothing else than to be polite. "What are you doing here? Where's General Ironwood?"
His smile, which seemed so genuine in the beginning, faded. For a moment Winter was worried that something had happened to the man, but then Clover spoke.
"Winter. I'm going to need you to surrender your weapon to me."
The words hit her with as much force as a salvo from the very battlecruiser they both stood in. "I'm sorry. What?"
"Your weapon, Miss Schnee," he said, gesturing to the long blade she wore on her left hip. "I'm going to need you to hand it to me."
Winter took a step back away from him, her eyes narrowing. "I don't understand. What's going on?"
"Why don't you tell me?"
The shock of the voice from behind her made her jump, and whirling around Winter saw the man she'd come to see standing just inside the doorway. He wasn't alone, however. The rest of Atlas' elite Ace Ops stood with him.
The expression on his face was dead serious. The man wasn't the type to prank anyone on any occasion, and that was especially true now. Something very wrong was happening right now, and Winter hadn't a clue what it was about.
"Sir?"
He stepped further inside, the door closing behind him and the other operatives as he approached her. "I chased a lot of shadows over the years. Always expecting betrayal. But never once did I think it would ever come from you, Miss Schnee."
Winter's blood ran cold. Betrayal? No. Impossible. She would never...
Except... she had been keeping secrets from him. Many secrets. Her knowledge of Salem. The true nature of Team AWRY. The fact that one of them was her long lost sister. Could he have found out? Did he know that she was keeping information hidden from him? While she hadn't actively gone against Ironwood in any way, did he see her lack of transparency as a betrayal?
Winter backed away from the suddenly imposing man and the elite huntsmen who flanked him on either side. All until she backed into something softer, yet harder than any wall.
Glancing back at Clover, she saw a neutral expression on his face. Here was not a friend, and not a foe either. Merely a soldier doing his duty. Just as she had always done.
"That's why I've called in the Ace Ops," Ironwood continued. "I need people who I can trust. It saddens me to know that I can no longer trust you, Miss Schnee."
Miss Schnee. He'd said it again. Not Specialist. He was all but telling her that her rank as an Atlesian Specialist had been stripped.
Winter realized that she had no options here. Outnumbered, outgunned, and outclassed, she had no chance of victory here. She could summon a dozen of her most powerful defeated Grimm and the Ace Ops would still make easy work of them. It made no difference if she went down fighting or went willingly. Lashing out would only make her seem more guilty. She was determined to prove that she was innocent.
With a deep breath, Winter exhaled through her nose and offered her hands. Stepping around her, Clover cuffed her wrists before reaching down to take her sword from her.
"I'm sorry, Winter," he offered. It warmed her heart just a little bit that his apology seemed genuine. "I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this. Maybe we'll even look back and laugh about it someday."
Somehow Winter didn't think that was true. No. If James suspected her here and now, it was because he knew things that she never wanted him to know. Nothing could ever be the same after this.
She said nothing to him. Her jaw clenched and her eyes stared straight ahead as she held her head high. She may have been a prisoner here, but she would at least be one with dignity.
"For what it's worth, I understand why you're doing what you are," Ironwood offered. His voice too had softened just a bit, and if the circumstances hadn't been so serious, Winter might have been able to appreciate the sliver of compassion he showed her. "As loyal as you are to your kingdom, even I can see that your true loyalty is to your sister."
The words were a punch to the gut, but Winter betrayed no emotions. She'd learned long ago to conceal those in times of vulnerability. Again, both at home and in the military.
"My sister is dead, sir," she replied coldly.
Ironwood nodded, though she knew it wasn't in agreement. "In name, perhaps. However, her person is not. I've known you and your family for most of your life, Winter, and I can recognize a Schnee at a glance. That girl is your sister and we both know it. That's why you're still here and not back in Atlas, after all. To be with her."
He was seeing right through her. How could she deny it when he was right on the nose? The best thing she could do was stay silent. She had rights, and she knew what they were. It was better to say nothing that could be used against her.
"And while I may not be able to do anything to her or the rest of her team, with them being under Ozpin's shield while they attend the tournament, you on the other hand are offered no such protection. Right now you're my only lead to getting to the bottom of why a ghost has suddenly appeared here at Beacon Academy under a false name. I intend to use you in order to find out exactly what she and her teammates are planning."
Those words nearly made Winter lose control. It was one thing to arrest and even threaten her, but no one would ever lay a finger on Weiss. Never again. Not while Winter still drew breath. Still, she had to wait. Now was not the right time. She could do nothing while being held captive, without her weapon, and surrounded by the elite of Atlas' military.
"You can save us a lot of time and tell us who she's working for. The Crown? The Spiders? The White Fang, even?" His face darkened. "Or something worse?"
Something. He could only mean Salem. Winter would never allow Ironwood to learn of Weiss' true nature. For a man like him, that would be deserving of nothing short of a death sentence for her sister.
"Tell us why you had to kill a man and maim students in order to keep her secret safe, and things will be a lot easier for you."
For the first time since getting here, Winter was accused of doing something she had not done. Her icy blue eyes focused on the man, and she spoke with absolute truth and certainty in her voice. "I've not killed anybody," she stated firmly. "Nor have I injured any students."
Ironwood frowned. "We found the body in your ship. While we haven't been able to ID him yet, we're working on it."
He knew about that? But how? She and Qrow had been meticulous in covering their tracks. About covering up evidence. About crafting stories and alibis. In the end, however, it didn't seem to do her a bit of good. Somewhere along the way Ironwood had grown suspicious of her, and had apparently been biding his time and waiting for her to slip up. The body in her ship was, as it turned out, the smoking gun he'd been waiting for.
"The two students from Beacon, the night of the dance," he continued. "There wasn't a Boarbatusk attack. Or perhaps there was, but it was one that you summoned. I have no idea what those two saw that required you to try and silence them, but I intend to find out."
Again, she'd had no part in it. Just like Tyrian Callows, the man who Jaune and Blake had killed, it had been her sister who attacked those students while on a rampage in her Grimm form. Both times it had been Winter who covered for them. Both times it would be her who took the fall for them.
Perhaps that was the moment he had started to suspect something. Perhaps that was when he'd started watching her more closely. Maybe he'd even had her followed when she'd gone down to Vale to retrieve Tyrian's body. She supposed it didn't matter now. What was done was done, and all she could do now was plan for the future.
If it had been anyone but Weiss at risk, if she was anything other than what she was, things would be different. Weiss was her reason for living now. Weiss was the reason why she couldn't try to explain things to the man before her and sort things out. Weiss was the reason she could never tell him the truth.
With her chin up and her eyes betraying nothing, she stared her former commanding officer in the eye. "I believe I'm entitled to a lawyer, sir."
Former officer or not, old habits died hard.
Ironwood laughed humorlessly. "Traitors have no rights, Miss Schnee." He nodded to Clover. "Take her away. Perhaps a few hours in solitary will loosen her tongue."
Winter was led away in cuffs from General Ironwood's office. She couldn't believe how utterly powerless she felt at the moment. However, it would only be for a moment.
While they may have taken her physical weapon, she possessed one within her that they could never take away. That they could never suppress. When the time was right she would use it. She would escape from here and return to her sister, and if need be, run away from this kingdom. From every kingdom. If it meant ensuring Weiss' safety, then she didn't care about anyone or anything else.
All she needed to do was survive until that time came.
Author's Note: Wow, where's this story been, right? Allow me to explain.
For the last half of 2021, and for most of 2022, I just lost interest in writing. You may or may not have noticed in that time, but I barely updated anything at all. Sometimes not for months at a time. It's only very recently that I've gotten back into the mood to start writing again.
Regarding the last chapter, and the blowback that it got, I'll say this. For those who were able to express their concerns maturely and respectfully, I appreciate your criticism. I might not agree with you, but I at least read your critiques. Maybe we just have different perspectives, or as the author I may just know things that are yet to happen that you don't or maybe we just don't agree whatsoever. In any case, thank you for being able to handle it respectfully.
For those who couldn't, well, just know that your screeching about a fictional cartoon character was not in vain. It got a lot of laughs from my friends and me, and I was able to put it to good use as Weiss dialogue.
Anyway, here's an update for you all. Hopefully you'll have enjoyed it more this time, but I suppose we'll just have to see.
As always, thanks for reading.