Halo, it's time for the newest chapter. Enjoy the reading.
For Mike, the return to home was a huge disappointment. He expected to be happy in his old, comfortable room, to be able to read his old comics again, to play his video games, to have his mom cook for him again and to no longer have to do hard exercises.
Unfortunately, when he entered his room, he found everything so boring and outdated. All the violent and exciting parts in his comics were satirized with error corrector and the lyrics were rewritten, the video games were old and for 5-year-olds, which he had played a hundred times, the food his mother cooked for him was mushy and greasy, that just had to be swallowed.
"Is this the sweet home I've been dreaming of?" Mike thought in frustration as he woke up and couldn't believe how much he missed life in Beacon. Especially his friends, he thought it childish and silly how much he used to talk to his stuffed animals, they don't talk back and don't react like his real friends.
He got dressed, put on short, light gray pants, a beige T-shirt and white socks and went to the bathroom but he forgot to put on his glasses, which he had left on his desk. He put it on in front of the bathroom mirror and his vision only got hazier. He shook his head, took off his glasses and his vision cleared. He saw his surroundings clearly and saw far away.
He decided to take it off and not wear it anymore, behind the mirror there were enough tablets and pills for a pharmacy, each in a separate jar, which her mother had put in unlabeled plastic boxes, so neither the names of the drugs nor their effects could be known but they were in order when and how many to take. Today he had to take the green and gray capsule and the white, tiny pill.
He had a strange feeling as he looked at the medicines, since in Beacon he often forgot to take the correct ones and felt much better without them. He decided not to take any today and instead put them in his pocket but unfortunately, he couldn't because the pockets of his pants were sewn shut.
"Yeah, mom won't let me have anything in my pockets.", he remembered that in Beacon he was able to get new clothes from Blanc Arc, one of Jaune's sisters, that didn't have pockets sewn in and he was quite used to carrying things in his pockets.
He went into the living room to watch TV and turned on the news.
- ...the Hunters and Huntresses do everything they can to recapture the Beacon academy but hundreds and thousands of Grimm came out of the frozen Wyvern's body, the Vale army and Hunters are powerless against their inexorable superiority. The only thing they could do was to seal off Beacon and not let anyone in or out. It was extremely lucky that the horde didn't head for Vale.
He changed the channel.
- The loss of the CCT-tower in Beacon has caused severe communication problems throughout Remnant but most of all for Vale, as we are unable to communicate with the other kingdoms. The horde in the Beacon will disable any attempt to repair the CCT-tower.
- The Vale Council voted to restrict all non-evacuation air travel from the kingdom. The council feels this is an attempt to prevent potential offenders from escaping the Vale and until they are apprehended or we are sure they aren't within Vale the restriction will remain in place.
- Many people are just guessing who can be responsible for what happened at the Vytal festival. No one knows for sure but it has been confirmed that a high-ranking officer of the White Fang, Adam Taurus, participated in the attack and brutally slaughtered scores of people, including civilians. Every attempt to capture him was met with bloody resistance and many law enforcement and military personnel fell victim. He's extremely dangerous, anyone who has any information about his whereabouts should notify the authorities immediately.
- The next perpetrator who may also be responsible for what happened at the Vytal festival is Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan. Two notorious criminals from who have been in trouble with the authorities before. During the Vytal festival, it was confirmed that they hijacked an Atlas flagship, destroyed two others and killed a large number of people while bombarding the soldiers and robots trying to defend Beacon. They are extremely dangerous, anyone who has any information about their whereabouts should notify the authorities immediately.
- Mike, - A rough and stern female voice addressed him. – I told you that you can only watch cartoons on TV! The news forbidden for you! - It was his mother. She didn't differ much from Mike, she looked almost the same as him, only in women's clothes and with little make-up. There was no telling if Mike was like his mother as a boy or if his mother was like him as a woman.
- Don't be angry, mom, - Mike just got lost in his thoughts. – in Beacon we saw many things and…
- Beacon just had a bad influence on you! - His mother has been yelling at him a lot since he came back. - I knew it was a mistake to let you go!
- But mom, I made friends there, exercised regularly and...
- Friends?! Who left you?! I told you it would be! You won't see them again! – His mother was especially angry with his team, as she felt that they steered her son in the wrong way. She even took the team picture and forbid to watch it.
- Well… Mandy really did betray us but Lynda just wants to see her little brother while Lance helps Ruby and team JNPR.
- I don't care what they do, the point is that you can't talk to them anymore! You stay here in the house and you can only leave if I say so! Also, there is no News or Scroll! Now go to your room!
Angry and disappointed, Mike stormed off to his room, his mother took his Scroll, the team photo and What the Heck and locked them away. He had been alone all his life, without friends but he had never felt as lonely as he did now.
The RRNJL team continued their journey towards Mistral, following a forest road following a map.
- Come on guys, - Ruby excitedly tried to motivate the others. – if we hurry, we will reach the next village before sunset.
- If it's still standing. - Jaune wasn't that optimistic.
- Of course, it'll be there! - Ruby tried to be optimistic. - That's a pretty big one.
- And what's its name? - Lance asked but Ruby was having a hard time reading it.
- Hi... Hi... gabna.
- Higanbana. - Ren corrected her. - A well-protected village with a popular inn.
- Which means, - Nora was happy to hear from the inn. – we don't have to camp in the rain!
- Mistral names are so weird. - Lance also had difficulty with the names of the villages.
- Everything will be fine. - Ruby was confident.
- Well, we've had quite heavy times lately, - Jaune began to brighten. - but things could be worse. For example, we haven't seen a lot of Grimms lately.
- Finally, luck smiled on us. - Nora was also happy that they had some peace from the Grimms. - To Higanbana!
- TO HIGANBANA! – The girl's excitement rubbed off on everyone.
Unfortunately, it got dark and started to rain before the RRNJL team reached Higanbana but they were still happy to finally stay in a proper inn.
- Welcome you, - The receptionist greeted them. – passing Hunters? - He was interested.
- Um, yes. - Ruby stepped forward nervously. - There would be five of us and we would like to rent rooms.
- I think, - Lance joined in. - two will be enough. You and Nora can sleep in one, Ren, Jaune and I in another.
- Yes, that will be good. - Jaune and Ren both agreed.
If she had received a Lien for every time she foretold what was going to happen, Raven Branwen would already be the richest person in Remnant. Although she spoke fools, no one but Chad Monroe would listen to her but the Black Pawn couldn't help anymore, he wasn't the same anymore, so she set out on a different path, leaving her family and friends to figure out how to secure the survival of her tribe.
She hasn't seen her daughter, her husband or her brother in years. Unbelievably, after all these years, now that she was criss-crossing the sky in bird form, looking for one particular person, she was flooded with memories of when team STRQ was still together.
She pushed away the memories of the past, she had no time for nostalgia, she knew where she had to fly and after a few minutes of flying, she found him. Qrow Branwen, her younger brother, in a Mistral forest, just as he finished off a falcon Grimm. She noticed that Qrow was avoiding the path the five young students were taking.
It was clear, he cleared the way for them to keep them safe, especially the girl in the red cape who was a looking like Summer Rose, the captain of team STRQ. Qrow didn't stick with the team and Raven knew why. In the form of a bird, she sat down on a tree branch and croaked to get her younger brother's attention, which he noticed and recognized his sister in the form of a bird but didn't say anything to her.
At night, Qrow followed the kids but not to the inn, to the pub across the street. Raven climbed in through the upper, open window and resumed her human form. She had long raven black hair and red eyes. She wore a pair of high-heeled black boots, long black knee socks, a black battle skirt, a black and dark red blouse, black mittens, and dark red armor wrist guards. She covered her face with a terrifying helmet resembling a Grimm skull, which she thought was smarter to take off.
She sat down at a table upstairs, a waitress came over to take her possible order.
- Oh, I didn't even notice you were here. What can I get you?
- A whiskey with ice but not for me. To the man at the counter.
- All right, - The waitress excitedly wrote down her order. - maybe you looked him out for yourself?
- In a sense. – She gave the not-so-straightforward but true answer.
It didn't take long for Qrow to come upstairs but as soon as he saw his sister he stopped and gave her a look of disdain.
- Hello, little brother. – Raven greeted him with a sinister smile. The two siblings just glared at each other.
- Raven. - Qrow wasn't happy at all to see her sister but he pulled a chair to the table but refused to sit down. Raven's sword was propped up against the wall, out of her reach if she wanted to attack but close enough that she could reach it quickly if she ran away. Her Grimm skull mask was in the middle of the table and Qrow refused to sit down until Raven made sure there was no weapon under it. She just rolled her eyes, lifted the helmet, revealing its interior and placed it on the ground. - So, - Qrow was willing to sit down. - what do you want?
- Can't a woman just visit her family? - Raven just jokingly held out her hands.
- Yes, but you don't do it. - Qrow nudged him with the drink in hand and drank. - How about you get to the point? - He smiled. - Unless you want to buy my drink tonight. - He put the glass down.
- Did she get it? – Raven didn't argue, she asked the question that was most important for her to know. Qrow didn't answer, just ran his finger along the rim of the glass.
- Did you know that Yang lost one of her arms? - Raven wasn't pleased that he was evading the answer.
- This is not…
- It was a tricky question. I know you know. You're just a bit of a hypocrite for bringing up the family like that but pretending your daughter doesn't exist.
- I saved her life.
- Once, just because you promised. - Qrow just rolled his eyes. - Mother of the year. - He reached for his drink again but Raven caught his hand, standing up and looking into her brother's eyes, Raven's eyes were a bright red, while Qrow's were slightly duller.
- I told you. - Raven angrily clenched her other hand into a fist. - I told you that Beacon will fall and it did. I told you that Ozpin will lose and he did. Now tell me, did Salem get it?
- I thought you weren't interested in this matter.
- I just want to know, - Raven's gaze was no longer angry but worried. – what we are up against.
- And by "we", who are you referring to? - Qrow only smiled contemptuously and Raven, who wanted to punch her brother's face, let him go and sat back down.
- You should come back, Raven. - Qrow was finally able to raise his glass. - The only chance we have of defeating her is if we stick together. We all.
- You left us! The tribe raised us. And you turned your back on us.
- They were murderers and thieves. - Qrow downed his drink.
- They were our family.
- Your interpretation of the family is rather strange. - Raven stood up angrily and pulled herself out.
- I'm already leading the tribe! And as leader, I will do everything I can to ensure his survival.
- Yeah, I know. Shion's village also found out.
- The weak fall, the strong remain. This is the law of nature.
- Well, someone might be very powerful on your side. I saw the damage. - Raven just turned away.
- We didn't expect the Grimms to react so quickly.
- I'm not talking about the Grimms. And not about you either.
- If you don't know where the relic is, - Raven picked up her helmet from the ground and placed it on the table, but didn't let go. - then we have nothing to talk about. - Qrow also put his hand on the helmet, preventing Raven from leaving.
- I don't even know where Spring Maiden is. If you do, you need to tell me.
- And - Raven grabbed her helmet with her other hand and pulled it out from under Qrow's hand. - why should I tell you?
- Because without it we're gonna all die.
- Hm, - Raven just smiled. - and by "we", who exactly are you referring to?
Raven put on her helmet, took her sword and with a single slash opened a red and black portal through which she walked in. Qrow thought it smarter not to follow her. He heard the sound of breaking glass and the waitress who brought the drinks dropped the tray in fear as she saw Raven's portal got closed.
- You can make this double. – Qrow just raised his drink.
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