When we last left off in the previous chapter the group heard about salem and her servants. Along with figuring out where the next attack will be...havan belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. I own the OC's, AU. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 9 Orange:Gathering Tool
It was a sunny and bright day over the patch as the morning came. The birds were awake as they tweeted their songs in the trees. But everyone in the xioalong household were wide awake. They were eating breakfast as qrow was coming up with what they mgiht need.
He had a small notebook in hand as he was jotting down things they might need.
Ruby was digging into her breakfast while Zwei sat next to her panting. They had sausage links and scrambled eggs. Their table wasn't big enough for everyone but they managed.
"So since we need to head into town today for supplies…why don't you show a few of us around today"jaune asked as he ate his breakfast.
"Thats a great idea though whos going with?"yang asked
They didn't need everyone to go but they could have some of them stay back to watch and help out around the house. Rogue was already finished eating as she went to the workshop they had. She was busy doing some maintenance on her gear it seems.
"Well I'll probably go haven't been in the patch before might as well check it out"Emerald said opting to check out the town.
Mercury was working on his legs on the couch"i'll probably stay behind to keep an eye on rogue"mercury replied
"Really why would you need to do that?"ruby asked worried a little.
The three didn't answer at first until a familiar fire spirit on the kitchen counter spoke up.
"He's talking about how she almost got herself killed"Ember said making Tai and Qrow freak out a little at the sight of this.
"What the heck?! Is that fire talking?!"tai questioned.
"Okay I may be able to turn into a bird but that freaky"qrow said which caught some attention.
"Wait you can turn into a bird?"jaune asked surprised.
"Don't ask him and mom never told us"yang replieonxyiad which confused the others even more.
"And we never will…but maybe for a small loan of a billion lien"qrow stated as he moved his fingers together.
The group looked at him because do they look like they had that type of money. Well one of them could but shes in Atlas right now. Though this did make them curious how he could do that.
"Any who meet Ember Hayley, great great great great grandmother or whatever of the twins."yang answered their question.
Tai studied the guanlent as he picked it up while qrow looked a little confused.
"Hey blondie hands off the merchandise"ember said pointing her figner at tai.
"Hmm you i feel like i've seen these marking before"tai said as he looked at the strange marking on the gauntlet. But he couldn't quite place it he knows he seen them in a book somewhere. But soon he placed the gauntlet down.
"Well maybe you saw it in a book or something"Emerald suggested
"Maybe but from what I recall shes an artifact isn't she"qrow asked as Ruby nodded
"Yeah Weiss and Onxyia found her in some cave in Vale. Apparently she's been alive for a very long time. Which seems pretty useful right now"ruby said as Ember looked at them.
"At least someone appreciates my reputation…though how is she?"ember asked but someone decided to ask about what happened before.
"How about the question from before, what do you mean she almost died?"yang questioned which made the other curious.
"You see Rogue went out to a forest to go kill some grimm to releive some stress. But we went to check on her and found her almost eaten by a manticore. She aint doing great with their death"mercury replied as he looked worried about her.
She seems to hide it sometimes but right now he's worried about her. That she may do something she'll regret later on. And that would be killing someone, and she seems to be on that path right now.
"Seriously jeez, its understandable she did lose her uncle about five years ago"yang replied as Qrow looked at her before he continued to drink his cup of coffee.
"Despite that it worries me….she still hasn't gotten over their deaths"mercury replied as he looked out a window toward the workshop rogue was in.
"It takes time for these type of things to heal….but she'll just to accept it at some point"tai said wisly.
Soon enough they finished their breakfast for today and decided to split off into groups. The group heading into town was Jaune, Ruby,Emerald an Qrow. While Tai,Mercury and Yang stayed at the house along side rogue.
The group began to walk into town to look for the supplies needed for their trip to Haven. Qrow had a small list in hand along with some keys it seems. Once in town ruby started to point out some land marks in the town.
"Over their is Mildred weapon shop she always has new weapons in stock every weekend. "Ruby pointed at a small building that was made of stone and wood it seems. It had a small chimmy with smoke pouring out of it and it had a window to view the inside of the shop. Their was a sigh on it that read"Mildreds MetalWorks"
"Really let me guess you visit that place every day"emerald said knwoingly as Ruby smiled.
"Yeah at this point it's apart of her daily routine on the weekends."qrow said as he looked at their list.
On the list their were normal things they needed to grab. Some of which were medical suppiles, dust shards, dust caritages, dust vials, food and dust bullets. Along with some traversal equipment incase they need to climb a mountain. And some camping supplies for their little adventure.
"I'm not surprised you nerded out on every weapon back at Beacon"jaune replied as he rembred when ruby literally was amazed with this old sword of his.
Ruby smiled while rubbing her neck"what can I say I know a good weapon when I see one"Ruby said as she eyed jaune sword and sheild.
"Speaking of which did you mod your sword and shield?"ruby asked looking at jaune sword and shield.
Jaune smiled"yeah back at Argus Miss Nikos gave me pyrrha old weapons. Then I asked Rogue to upgrade my gear for me"jaune replied
Ruby seemed exited because she kinda wanted to see what she did to them. Jaune already knew she wanted to see them as he first brought out his shield. Then he presented it as he pressed a button on it.
Soon enough the shield side extended into a blue like hue that made the shield appear bigger. The emblem in the middle of it glowed brightly in a white hue. Jaune looked at ruby who was flabbergasted at what she was seeing.
"Oh my remnant did she add the ability to use hard light dust on your shield. You'd need some very advance component to do that"ruby said as she zipped around examining the shield.
"Well when your father is a famous weaponsmith, she'll have access to that stuff"jaune said as he pressed a button to turn the dust shield off.
Though Ruby looked at Jaune sword trying to figure out what rogue did with his sword. She assumed maybe something to do with the blade because it might be what she did for her teammates.
"Hmm what about your sword"ruby asked as they all continued to walk through the was with Qrow as they were going over the list of stuff they needed.
"Alright we brought most of that stuff with us…but we could use some extra ammo and stuff"emerald replied
"Yeah wouldn't hurt incase we ran out in the middle of a fight"qrow said as he looked around.
For anything that might have what they need and he noticed a familiar named store in the town. The store in question was a two store building with wooden walls that were dark green. Along with that some items decorated the front that being camping gear and stuff. With a sigh above it reading"Benkei Bivouac" which meant an old friend of his niece might be here.
"Hey what about over their"qrow said gesturing toward the store as emerald looked over.
"Hmm maybe looks to be a camping store we do need that stuff"emerald replied
"Yep plus I know the owner so–"qrow begun before a loud clanking sound could be heard behind them. They turned to see jaune and ruby standing their with jaune holding his blade was different because it was wider now and it looked to be a greatsword
Jaune was holding it with both hands as ruby had a finger out suggesting she pressed a button.
"Seriously you couldn't wait another second before seeing what upgrades rogue made to his sword"emerald teased
"Heh well I just wanted to see what new tricks it has"ruby replied as she put her hands behind her back smiling.
"Yeah…but jeez this thing is a little heavy"jaune said as he pressed a button to turn the sword back to normal.
"Despite that lets see if a friend of yours is working today kiddio"qrow said as he gesutred toward the store in question as ruby looked up and went starred eyed. Then she nodded to her uncle as they went to the store.
Meanwhile at the cabin in the workshop Rogue had a pair of goggles on as she was working on making more of those dust grenades of hers. She made at least four of them right now but they take about twenty minutes to just make one of them. But they're also very delicate, one slip up and they might explode in her face.
As she worked it helped keep her minds off the current events right now. Though she still couldn't help but think about those nightmares shes been having. They've been getting worse lately and they've started to affect her sometimes.
She been seeing small illusions sometimes of pyrrha,tanner, zane and her uncle at times. But it hasn't happen in a few days which reassured her.
Nearby in the front of the workshop was Yang and Mercury they were stretching as they wanted to spar a little. Along with having a little rematch since the vytal tournament. They agreed not to use their weapons so they didn't attract any of the patrols wondering who was firing off gun at this time of day.
"You sure you can handle this blondie?"mercury asked as he stretched his legs.
Yang smiled cracking her knuckles"from what I recalled I won our little match"yang retorted
"Yeah well sorry about getting you disqualified still. "Mercury replied
Their scrolls were nearby to monitor their auras but they needed someone to do it for them. Tai was inside cleaning up the house along with Zwei outside watching the two it seems. But he wouldn't be that much a great reafere for their little match.
"But if were doing this we need someone to make sure no one cheating"yang said gesturing toward rogue in the workshop
Mercury nodded to her as he walked over to his girlfriend to maybe convince her to help them out with their little match.
Rogue was busy screwing together another grenades as she used a small soldering rod to seal it up. As she did this she had to be careful not to mess up or it could exploded. But soon a pair of a hands were put on her shoulders.
"Heyya sunshine"mercury said as rogue yipped a little as she tossed the grenade into the air.
Time slowed as she stared at the grenade following to the ground slowly. She quickly reached out for it but wasn't close enough the grab it. But soon a blur grabbed it as she looked confused.
"Whoa sorry dind't know you were working with explosives"mercury said as he held the grenade in hand.
Rogue looked at him sighing"ughh be careful one slip up and we could have been blown into small itty bitty pieces"rogue warned as she looked at the grenade. It was okay it seemed from the looks of it. But she had to finish sealing it which would take another five minutes.
"My bad i'll be careful next time"mercury said as he stood next to her for a bit.
Though she noticed this because he wasn't just checking on her. Their might be another reason for him being here and she turned to face him.
"Okay what do you want?"rogue asked knowingly.
"Me I don't know…me and Yang were wondering and well…."mercury began as rogue waited for him to finished.
Then she moved her hand to tell him to please continue"and what?"rogue asked
"Oh me and her are doing a rematch, since I did get her disqualified. We thought might as well do a due over"mercury replied
"Yeah maybe see who might be the winner of our little tournament"yang added as she didn't relzie at first what she said.
Though Rogue went a little wide eyed at that remembering her Team won the tournament. But her leader was being used and ended up killing someone in the process. In the stands she recalled Ruby being devastated by that girl being and that penny girl must have been close friends.
"Oh yeah…maybe if you didn't get disqualified maybe you might have faced penny instead"rogue replied as she rubbed the piece of cloth around her hand.
Yang relized what she said as she smacked her face"oh right you guys won but…it slandered him as a bad for bringing up bad memories"yang quickly apolgized.
Rogue looked at the cloth around her right palm"its alright….I just wish the news would stop calling my partner a monster"rogue replied
"Hey well good old ironwood had to spin their little tale on someone. Also they keep calling him a murderer but he killed a robot"mercury replied
Yang sighed heavily at that"look penny…wasn't just some normal robot I think"yang said which got the twos attention.
"What do you mean by that?"Mercury questioned which made rogue curious as well. That last name of hers sounded a little familiar it seems to her. Like she heard polendina somewhere but couldn't place it.
Yang crossed her arms as she leaned against a wall"when we first met penny she was a little weird at first. But she seemed to act like a normal human even"yang started
"Along with that she and Ruby seemed to have become pretty good friends. Honestly I was shocked to see her as an android. Though that A.I of hers seemed rather advance. Like she was an actual person not just some machine"yang added
"So in truth she was in a way a human being?"rogue replied as yang nodded
"Yeah after he killed her ruby seemed devastated a little but she thought that maybe Atlas retrieved her"yang said
"Why would that matter right now?"mercury questioned.
Rogue then had a light bulb go off in her head at what yang meant"That maybe Penny could still be alive"rogue said which made mercury go a little wide eye.
"Hey your right…though why does the news call him a murderer still?"mercury added
"Beats me beside that you wanna see which one of us wins. It'll be fun"yang suggested motioing for rogue to join them. Rogue looked at the workbench then back outside to their make shift sparring area. It was just some sand in the ground.
She tapped her chin before shrugging her shoulder"oh what the heck, sure why not. "Rogue said as she turned off the torch and walked over to join the two. Along with watching their match to see who wins.
The door was swung open gently as a bell rung telling the person upfront they had customers. Although the person behind the counter a familiar girl who wore a bright pink long jacket. Bashira was ringing up another customer good.
"Their you go ma'am have a wonderful day"bashira said as she packed the stuff the women bought.
"Thank you Bashira have a nice day dear"the women said as she walked toward the front door. Jaune was coming in last but held the door open for the women who nodded thanking him.
Then he closed it as he walked inside. The store seemed to have a wide variety of supplies you'd find in a camping store. Their were bug out bags, canoes, tents, medical suppiles. Along with a few weapons on a rack behind the counter.
Bashira was opening the register as she talked.
"Hi welcome to Benkei Bivouac where you can find all your camping needs. What can I help you with today"bashira said as she was busy counting the money.
"Don't know maybe say hi to a old friend"Ruby said which made bashira stop as she looked up.
She looked at ruby and smiled before going over the counter slightly as she hug the small teen.
"Ruby its great to see you again"bashira exclaimed as ruby tried to breath a little.
"Arghh nice seeing you too bashira"ruby said as she tried to break free of the girls grasp.
"Same here"bashira then opened her eyes looking at the others. Then she let ruby go who caught her breath from that.
"Hey its you two…weren't you from that party back at beacon?"bashira asked
Jaune nodded"yeah if I recalled your the team leader of Team BBNT right?"jauen replied
"Yep thats me though…not really a great team leader right now"bashira replied as qrow wandered off to grab some things with emerald.
"Why that?"ruby aksed her friend.
Bashira sighed"I was planning on heading back to Haven to regroup with the others. But big bro said no along with my sister in law. "Bashira replied
"Along with that i'm worried about the others. I'm assuming Naca went back already along with thisitie. But Bombay I don't really know where she is"bashira added
"Thats tough well if I recalled they weren't on the list of people killed in the Fall"jaune said
"Yeah your right…doesn't make me stop worrying over them"bashira replied as she looked a little sadden by this.
Ruby looked at her long term friend worried and thought about maybe she could help with her Qrow and Emerald were looking over the supplies they needed. Qrow had a cart it seems as their was a few things in their already.
Some of which is was medical suppiles, food such as trail mix and bars. But their were also some extra flashlight incase along with some bed rolls.
"So besides all this stuff we need dust and ammo. Where are we gonna get that?"emerald questioned.
"Eh don't worry The benkeis got that stuff locked up tight in the back"qrow replied as he grabbed a lantern before tossing it into the cart.
"Really you know the family here or something?"emerald questioned.
"Well everyone here knows everyone here practically. Its a community where everyone knows everyone."qrow replied
"Hmm that sound nice…though you didn't answer my question"emerald replied
Qrow scratched his chin"Ruby and Yang are friends with their daughter for a long time."qrow simply answered.
Though emerald was trying to rember something more importantly who this benkei was because she tried to recall their name.
"Thats nice you think shes here?"emerald asked as they got the other stuff they needed. All they needed to do was head upfront to pay for their stuff and grab the dust supplies.
"Eh maybe heard she been here for the last week"qrow replied as they got to the front to see the girl talking to ruby and jaune.
"Wait you guys are going to Haven?"bashira asked as qrow frowned at this because his niece was letting it slip.
"Yeah where going to check on some friends their…you wanna come with?"ruby said which made qrow forget that previous thought. Maybe she was being smart.
Though before bashira answered qrow walked over and from the back emerged her older brother ebon.
"Bashira your not going to Haven that final"ebon said as he got to the front.
Bashira seemed a little annoyed by her older brother"seriously your not incharge of me, plus its not your decision"bashira retorted.
Ebon rolled his eyes"look Bashira I don't want you getting hurt who knows if they'll attack Haven soon just like Beacon"ebon replied
Bashira rolled her eyes looking at qrow who was waiting to be rung up. She started to grab the stuff from the cart as she rung him up.
"Sorry about that Qrow…big bro being a little too overprotective"bashira said as she scanned his items.
Ebon scoffed at this"sorry if i'm looking out for my little sister."ebon added
Ruby laughed a little because it remind her of how yang and her would try to protect each other at times. Because she may be a goof sometimes but knows when to get serious. As Bashira rung them up qrow walked over to the counter.
"Though beside that how you doing Ebon?"qrow asked
"Eh pretty good right now, though whats with you needing all this gear?"ebon questioned.
"Oh were going on a little trip to Haven to see some friends. Might as well check on them"jaune answered.
"You could just take a bullhead or ship their seems easier"ebon pointed out.
Emerald shook her head"no thank we rather take in the sights and enjoy nature"emerald added as bashira looked at her raising an eyebrow. She narrowed her gaze as she continued to scan their items.
Ebon laughed"well that sounds nice though i'm guessing you'll need some ammo and dust then just incase"he rpelied knowingly.
"Read my mind man"qrow replied as ebon nodded before he went to the back but not before turing around.
"How many caritges, ammo and dust do you need?"ebon asked
Qrow thought for a moment to speak but Ruby beat him to it"we need some dust bullets for a sniper, submachine guns, shotgun gaunlents, pistol. For how many I think….ten case no twelve. Along with about ten dust caritages, five dust crystals and some grenade shell"Ruby said as ebon chuckled.
"Alright be right back"ebon said as he went to get the stuff from the back. As he did Bashira looked at emerald with a narrow gaze and she noticed this.
"Umm something you like?"emerald asked
"No but weren't you on the fall maidens team"bashira asked as the four went wided eyed at this.
"Umm you mean Cinder weird that your calling her that"emerald replied as she rubbed her neck.
"Kids right, though weird for you to call her that"qrow pointed out as he readied himself to grab harbinger.
"Keep your pants on old man or do you want to go back on ozpin orders"bashira replied which made him stop.
"Wait what are you talking about oz for?"qrow questioned.
Bashira looked around for a bit making sure no one was listening before telling them to come closer. They all did and she looked at them.
"Because he gave very specific instructions to my team to look for her and the winter maiden"she replied quietly.
"Wait…why would he do that?"emerald asked
"Look to be brief he wanted people who hes trusted. Though I can't get into that now but I tasked naca to find the winter maiden"bashira quietly replied
Qrow went wide eyed at this"Wait so you got someone protecting her?"qrow qeustioned as bashira nodded.
"Yeah though haven't heard much from her in a while that why I want to head to haven. To check on my team and see what we can do to help"bashira replied
Soon enough ebon came back with a cart full of supplies on it. Their were containers and boxes on it perusmably dust and bullets.
He grunted a little as he dragged it"alright all of this stuff will be around two thousands lien along with what you bought that's six hundred and seventeen more."ebon stated as he walked over to the counter.
As qrow dug into his pocket to pay bashira looked at her brother with a grin.
"Hey Ebon can't we give them a discount on this stuff."bashria asked as ebon looked at her.
"Nope sorry sis we can't play favorite today, sorry"ebon said stubbornly.
Bashira sighed"how about you use some of the money you were going to pay me for my work instead. "Bashira suggested as ebon sighed.
"Fine though don't start complaining about being low on money"ebon said as bashira produced a lien card and swiped it into the register. The amount went down to eighteen hundred and thirty seven lien.
"Alright thanks bashira"ruby thanked as bashira smiled.
"No problem though mind if I come over shift done anyway in ten minutes"bashria replied
"Sure that wouldn't be a problem"qrow replied as he took a lien card out and payed for the rest of their supplies. Ebon narrowed his gaze at his little sister.
"You better not be planning anything"ebon warned as bashira rolled her eyes.
"Maybe i'm planning to help ruby with her weapon maitance. This little weapon geek loves rattling off how a weapon works"bashira replied as she took off a apron that had the store logo on it. Then she hung it up as she walked from behind the counter joining them.
Ebon sighed"Fine but how are you gonna get this stuff to the house?"Ebon asked
Qrow smiled"don't worry I got it covered"he replied as he presented some key in hand jingling them but then he dropped them. He groaned as he picked them up then the group made their way outside.
Once outside bashira sighed in relief"finally now i'm away from him seriously that stare of his"bashira stated.
"I know right I forgot how scary he can be sometimes"ruby added shivering rembering that death stare of Ebons.
"Though how are we gonna get this stuff back?"jauen asked gesturing toward the stockpile of gear. Qrow left real quick as he went to go grab something.
"Don't know maybe a wagoon or something to haul this stuff back."emerald suggested.
But soon enough a small horn went off as they turned to their rights from where it came from. Their in a black jeep wrangler stood their. The doors were off as a net like device replaced wheel were heavy duty built for off road traveling But it had a roof on it although on the right side of the jeep was a symbol. The symbol in question was a white crow on it with a cross in its mouth.
"Whoa is this your uncle?"ruby asked excited
Qrow was behind the wheel with one hand on it"sure is kiddio…though not as nice as sis bike."qrow replied
"This thing is nice are we gonna use this while we travel?"jaune asked with qrow nodding.
"Sure is though lets get loaded up then head back and talk about our little plan with bashira here"qrow replied
"You guys catch up I gotta grab a few things then i'll meet you their"bashria replied as she walked off in a different direction preusumbly her house.
The group then started to load the supplies into the truck bed of the jeep as they soon piled in. Then qrow turned the key as the car didn;t start at first. He turned the key a few more times until the engine hummed to life. He smiled before driving off back to the cabin. Along with telling them about their new addition to the plan.
Seems they ran into bashira in the patch who got stuck their because of her overprotective older brother. Though their almost ready to embark on the journey thanks to qrows jeep that he had in storage. Thanks for reading!