Families of Past and Present
In a farm somewhere in Anima, a young boy was bringing a pitchfork into the shed. The boy in question was short, tanned and had short black hair and hazel eyes. Although the main part of his iris is forest green with accents of burnt orange and yellow around the pupil. The boy was wearing a dirty and scuffed white shirt that laced across the chest. The sleeves of the shirt are rolled up to his elbows. On his hands were orange gloves. He was also wearing olive pants which were being held up by orange suspenders and tucked into worn brown boots.
Then the boy's eyes fell on a mirror on the wall. For some reason, the boy had been feeling…strange recently. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but he felt…odd looking at his own reflection. Like it wasn't what it was supposed to be. But that doesn't make sense to him.
"…Hello?" The boy said into the mirror, not even understanding why he expected an answer.
"Hello. I'm professor Ozpin." A voice answered inside the boy's head, causing him to scream in surprise and fall over into a small haystack in fright.
"Oscar! You be careful with those tools!" the boy's, now named Oscar's, aunt called out, having heard the boy stumble. All the while the said boy was wondering what just happened. "And make sure our guests aren't trying to help." Was followed up, because one of their guests clearly had no idea what they were doing. At least that Blade thing of his was helping in keeping him in line.
Yang was staring down Adam, glaring at the bastard with Dragunov's talons equipped. "Let's do this Drag," Yang said confidently as the bull faunus approached with a look of pure rage on his face.
"Worthless." Dragunov suddenly said.
"What!?" Yang cried out, turning right next to her, only to see that her Blade wasn't there anymore. Yang then faced forward again, only to see Perceval staring down at her with those glowing yellow eyes of his. Yang tried to throw a punch on instinct, but Dragunov's talons had disappeared along with Ember Celica, and then she was stabbed before her fist could even connect.
That was when Yang woke up with a start, clutching where she was stabbed by that Blade. Yang carefully looked around her room to see that Dragunov wasn't here. The blonde felt relieved at him not being here, even though she wanted to believe that her nightmare was nothing more than that, a nightmare.
It was late at night, and Yang had gone to take a nap but apparently took longer than she wanted to. Dragunov didn't stop her and he went outside back then, but he should be back by now. Which made the blonde Driver wonder where the said fire Blade was right now. Then she heard faint laughter in the house. At least one of them was Dragunov.
Getting out of the bed Yang moved to go down the stairs in the mostly dark house, until she got to the stairs and was able to make out the voices more clearly. "And, and then comes Qrow, wearing a skirt!" Yang was able to tell that the voice belonged to Professor Port, before the man laughed again. "I was just a TA. I didn't know what to do, so I ran out of the room and laughed!" Then the portly old huntsman laughed along with Izuna, Oobleck, Taiyang and Dragunov.
As Yang reached the kitchen, she saw the two professors sitting around the dining table with Izuna laughing his head off and Dragunov was leaning against the wall next to the counter also laughing.
"We told him it was a kilt," Taiyang then said, reigning in his own laughter to tell that, "He'd never worn a uniform before, so he didn't know."
"What a moron," Dragunov said, laughing at the image of the annoying drunkard in that situation.
"That was terrible of you," Oobleck said through chuckles.
"Hey! The girls said he had nice legs, I did the jerk a favor," Taiyang defended his actions, earning more laughter. "But that's not even the best part, you see-" Taiyang was interrupted by Port having gotten up and placing his leg on the table.
"Like what you see," The old man said in faux seductive tone, making everyone laugh some more, until Dragunov caught sight of Yang standing on the doorway, just as Port was about to fall over. Unfortunately, Izuna was too busy laughing to realize what was about to happen so his Driver fell on the floor flat on his back, earning more laughs out of everyone. Including Yang, who everyone that wasn't Dragunov now noticed had arrived.
"Oh! Miss Xiao Long," Port exclaimed in embarrassment, quickly getting up alongside Oobleck, "Please, join us."
"Oh, yes, yes. Pull up a chair," Oobleck said, still amused at the very recent conversation.
"I'm good," Yang said as she moved to the counter and sat on it, right between her father and her Blade.
"How much did you hear?" Dragunov asked with a grin.
"Something about Uncle Qrow wearing a skirt," Yang replied easily, before the blonde looked at the two teachers, "So what are you two doing here?"
"Despite popular belief, us teachers do have lives outside of classroom," Oobleck replied as he and Port sat back down.
"Professor Goodwitch is working around the clock to restore Beacon to its former glory," Port added in with a small smile, "But because of the Titan, the Tower's repairs can't be even started."
"Let's not worry about that right now," Tai said, still mildly laughing at the unfinished story, which Yang noted Dragunov was very interested to hear. "So, there we were. Standing in the auditorium looking at Qrow, wearing a skirt, and Oz tells us, 'It's time to work on our landing strategy'." That earned a full-blown bellow from Dragunov who no doubt liked to tease the dusty old crow whenever he saw him again.
"The Branwen twins have always been…interesting to say the least," Oobleck said in amusement.
"But that sure didn't stop young Tai," Port then said with a knowing look.
"Oh?" Dragunov sounded out with an interested look, "Do tell us." the draconic Blade had a shark-like grin.
"Come on, guys, she's right here," Taiyang said, motioning to his daughter with a frown.
"Oh, please. She's a mature young woman," Port said dismissively.
With Izuna deciding to follow up, "If she can handle combat, she can handle a few jabs at her old man."
"Besides, I'm sure Yang would be interested too. Right, Yangie?" Dragunov said, the last part being directed to his Driver.
"That's not the issue here, Dragunov," Taiyang said with venom in his voice at the Blade, before addressing Port, "And besides, she's still a teenager."
Yang frowned at her father's words, "She is also in the room and can be directly spoken to. Something that only Drag seems to get right now." With those words, Yang dropped down from the counter to stand. "And I think I've gone through enough to be considered an adult," Yang then said to her father with her hands on her hips.
The said father sighed audibly, "Adult or not, you still got a long way to go before you can face the real world."
"Oh, my gosh. Does every father figure have the same three condescending phrases," Yang asked with an exasperated tone.
"Yeah, but we only use them when we mean them!" Taiyang argued back with a heated look, earning a frown from Dragunov and awkward looks from the two teachers.
"Is that so?" Yang asked with a challenging glare.
"As a matter of fact, yes!" At this point Dragunov had the urge to punch Taiyang, Yang's father or not. "If you seriously think you're ready to go out there on your own, I guess that stab wound took some braincells along with your blood." Especially at the joking tone the man used at Yang being stabbed. Port and Oobleck also looked in shock at Yang's own father saying something that insensitive.
"You, jerk!" Yang shouted playfully, punching her father's arm with equally playful strength.
"Also, she won't be alone," Dragunov said, getting off the wall he was leaning towards, "When she goes out, I will follow. And I will NOT take no for an answer." That last one was added with a grin to his Driver who turned to grin at her Blade in return.
"…Are we still talking about the goliath in the room?" Oobleck asked carefully.
Yang and Dragunov shared a look before the two laughed.
And then Yang decided to address something that she thought was a little odd, "So, doc. Where's Adenine?"
At the mention of the book lady, Port's eyes widened and Izuna stiffened, earning odd looks from Yang, Taiyang and Dragunov. Then their eyes turned on Oobleck who was looking at the mug in front of him with a frown. "…Adenine and I have not been on speaking terms for weeks," Oobleck said, sounding angry.
"…Why," Yang asked in worry.
"…It's a personal matter," Oobleck said with a sigh as he grasped his mug with a tight grip.
"He won't tell anyone," Port said, wondering himself what it was that made his colleague have a falling out with the Blade that seemed like the archeologist's dream woman.
Before anyone else could say anything, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Dragunov said, leaving the room faster than anyone could react.
"…Doc…what did she do?" Yang tried again, even though she felt that she won't get an answer.
"...Nothing I can talk about," Oobleck replied cryptically, grasping the mug in his hands harder.
Everyone in the room realized that this was an issue that shouldn't be addressed anymore. And then… "Look who found her way here," Dragunov called into the house before entering the kitchen again. With Adenine right behind him.
"…Hello, Bartholomew," Adenine said awkwardly, ringing warning bells in Yang's head. Adenine had never called Oobleck by his full first name. Not to mention she sounded a little sad.
"I told you I don't want to speak to you," Oobleck said, glaring at the Blade behind his glasses.
"I burned them all," Adenine said, earning confused looks from anyone that wasn't Oobleck.
"You what?" Oobleck asked, thinking he misheard her.
Adenine glanced at everyone else before returning her attention to her Driver. "Can we talk about this somewhere else," the book lady then asked, earning a sigh from Oobleck.
"You know why I don't trust you anymore," Oobleck said back as he stood up.
"And I understand why you don't, but please hear me out…one last time," Adenine said with a pleading look.
"…Very well," Oobleck said as he put his mug down and moved out of the room outside with Adenine in tow.
"…What was all that about?" Taiyang asked not understanding what was going on.
"I wish I knew," Port said with a sigh, "Few weeks ago Adenine said she needed to tell Barty something. Since then he had declared that he was through with her."
"What could be so horrible that made him hate her?" Dragunov wondered aloud.
"What did she burn?" Yang then asked, remembering that that was what got Oobleck's attention.
"Who knows," Izuna replied for his Driver with a shrug.
Outside, Oobleck and Adenine had their talk, although the doctor looked…tense for some reason.
"The knowledge is here now," Adenine said while tapping her head for emphasis, "But I decided not to write it down on anything. That way, once you die of old age, the knowledge will be lost forever."
"…I see," Oobleck said, still giving the woman a hard look, "What about him?"
"I doubt he would reveal it to anyone," Adenine said with a small sigh, "He only went with it, because of her pleas."
"I still don't approve of it," Oobleck said with his hands behind his back which were clenched tightly.
"…I once considered it myself…but…I realized that I don't want a life without you," Adenine said with moisture gathering in her eyes as she tried to make eye contact with her Driver.
"What?" Oobleck asked in surprise.
"This life I have with you…I have no real evidence, but I like to think that out of all my previous lives, this must be my happiest one," Adenine spoke, "I…I want to uncover the mysteries of this new world so much and I even have a teacher and a historian as my Driver. That alone is a dream come true, but then I started enjoying uncovering new knowledge with you."
"Adenine," Oobleck sounded out, trying to sound angry but found it increasingly harder.
"I'm sorry that I made you believe otherwise, and I realize that I never should have tested that theory," Adenine then said as she placed a hand on her Driver's chest, "I…I know you may never forgive me for what I did, but…please just never take your life believing that my actions are tied to yours."
"…Adenine," Oobleck then said, unable to keep up his anger anymore, "…You do know this doesn't change the fact that her friends will probably hate you for having a hand in it."
"And I'm ready to accept that when the time comes," Adenine said resolutely, "But the most important thing to me is that you don't hate yourself for actions that you had nothing to do with or regretting ever awakening me."
"I wish I could regret that," Oobleck said before pulling his Blade into an embrace, "But I just…can't bring myself to hate you, no matter how much I try to rationalize it."
Adenine returned the embrace, leaning her head against Oobleck's. Small tears leaking out of her eyes. "Emotions are one thing that I doubt anyone can truly map," Adenine said with a small voice as she tightened her embrace ever so slightly.
Unbeknownst to the two, Port, Izuna, Taiyang, Yang and Dragunov were watching through the window.
Yang was mildly disappointed that the two didn't kiss. Taiyang wasn't sure how to think, part of him fearing that this might be his girls with their Blades one day. Dragunov shook his head with an amused look, while Port and Izuna were relieved that whatever fight the two had seemed to have been resolved.
Sometime later, Yang was back in her room. The teachers and their Blades had left while the blonde girl had her mind on Dragunov. Specifically, how much of his words were true, his life may be bound to hers but that didn't matter on his first day with her.
Then the door to her room opened, allowing the said Blade entry with a familiar book in hand. That book and the diamond which Yang had learned was called Fire Dragunite were spared the destruction that came with the Grimm dragon vs the Titan. "Hey Yang, I thought we could read this before bed," Dragunov said holding the book that had the Blade's interest.
"Drag, if that's a story book I'm not interested right now," Yang said managing a smile.
"Not exactly, it's the journal of a man named Thauron," Dragunov corrected as he walked next to Yang's bed before sitting on the floor.
"So? Why would you be interested in someone's life story," Yang asked while looking away.
"I wouldn't have been, but then this fell out of it," Dragunov replied as he shook the book a little to make a piece of paper fall out of it before offering it to Yang.
The blonde looked at the thing, noting it to be a photo before taking it in hand. The picture was of a group of people. At the front were two children, one a blonde human with an apathetic look on his face, the other being a cheerful looking cat faunus. In a row behind those children were four individuals. Starting from the left, there was a very young-looking boy in a regal looking armor Behind the boy was what Yang recognized as a Blade with blue tubes on his body with coat-like attire. Next to that Blade was a beautiful woman with blue hair with two buns that seemed to be burning with blue flames. She was also wearing a blue dress and her arms seemed to be covered in what looked like solid-flame looking gloves. Oddly enough her eyes seemed to be closed. Next to the armored boy was a red-haired young woman in combat attire with her arms crossed lazily and a small smile. Next to the red-haired woman was a woman with brown hair. This woman was wearing a regal robe that reminded Yang of the ones worn by priestesses in Mistral once upon a time. Next to the brown-haired woman was a blonde woman who was looking away from the camera with a pout. Though oddly enough the blonde had a green crystal on her chest, making Yang wonder if she was a Blade of some kind. Then behind the blonde is a tall man with a brown hair in a pony tail and what looked like a magenta colored crystal on his chest. Next to that man was a slightly shorter man with silver hair and golden eyes. Next to that man was another man with a silver mane, but this man's hair was shoulder length. From what Yang could tell, this man was wearing some kind of full-body armor. Finally, there was a brown-haired young man, slightly shorter than the silver haired one. The hair was unkempt and the young man looked away from the red-haired woman with a small blush his azure eyes finding the ground interesting. He seemed to wear a leathery outfit with some plates attached on his shoulders sides and there was a light chest plate covering his front. He also had a red sash around his waist and at least on one dark brown pant leg he had plates around outer thighs. and black greaves with golden engravings. But it was what was behind this young man that made Yang's eyes go wide. Dragunov himself, smirking at the young man in front of him.
"Drag, who are these people?" Yang asked simply.
"I'm glad you asked," Dragunov said with a grin, before starting with the kids, "The blonde kid is Mikhail who's apparently an orphan. The Gormotti boy is Milton who refers himself Addam's retainer." Yang flinched a little at the name, that sounded close to the crazy faunus. Then Dragunov started from the short boy and what were presumably his Blades, "This is Hugo Ardanach, emperor of Mor Ardain."
"An emperor!" Yang called out with a laugh, "He looks like a 14-year old."
"According to his journal he's at least in his twenties," Dragunov shot back, earning a blanched look from his Driver. "I'm not joking," Dragunov said knowing what his Driver must be thinking, before continuing, "These are his Blades, Brighid and Aegaeon, the Jewels of Mor Ardain as they're called." Then Dragunov moved on to the three women at the front, "The red haired one is Lora, a mercenary who Addam chose to recruit for his cause. The brown-haired girl is Haze, Lora's Blade. Next the blonde one is Mythra, she's an Aegis…the most powerful Blade in Alrest." Dragunov clearly didn't like saying that aloud, which made Yang look at him in disbelief. "But more on that later, behind her is Minoth, a type of Blade known as a Flesh Eater." Yang made a face at the ominous sounding type. "Then there's Addam Origo, a prince of Torna, and the fourth in line for the throne. As well as Mythra's Driver. Next there's Jin, Lora's first Blade and he carries the title of 'Paragon of Torna'. Finally, there's Thauron, my previous Driver."
At this point, Yang's eyes had gone wide at this new information provided not only from Alrest, but about the history of Dragunov. "Wow…what was he like?" Yang asked out of curiosity.
"Apparently not too different from yourself considering what made me accept you," Dragunov replied with a smile, "Although he never really had a sense of humor." the draconic Blade let out a chuckle.
"Was that a compliment?" Yang asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah, that's a compliment," Dragunov said with a grin, "But here's the fun part, apparently I enjoyed getting under Mythra's skin."
"What do you mean?" Yang asked, not sure how to take that.
"Same way you liked to get under Weiss' skin," Dragunov clarified, earning a small laugh from his Driver.
"What did you do, tell blonde jokes all day long," Yang guessed, wondering how sulky this Mythra could be.
"That, and I may have made some remarks about the horrible abominations that she dared to call cooking," Dragunov admitted.
"Oh, she can't be that bad," Yang dismissed, remembering how Weiss burned water once. As in, set it on fire. None knew how that was even possible.
"One of her dishes had moving tentacles and eyes that blinked, according to the journal anyway," Dragunov said, as he opened the appropriate page, "Ahh there!" And then he showed the entry to Yang who read a couple paragraphs at a very graphic description of what she thought was some kind of monster that pretended to be food.
"I guess being the most powerful Blade in Alrest doesn't make you the best cook," Yang said with an awkward look. But then she remembered something Dragunov said about Mythra, "Wait, you said she's an Aegis, are there more?"
At this point Dragunov looked down with a grim look, "There is another, called Malos. According to the journal, Malos' goal is to destroy all life."
"Why?" Yang asked.
"That's not clear in the journal," Dragunov said with a small sigh, "But if you want to find out more about what I was like from my previous Driver's perspective, then I suggest you read the journal with me."
That was all the encouragement Yang needed, although there was a question at the back of her mind which was very small as of now. If Dragunov was here now, what happened to Thauron?
In Shion village, the villagers had been moved to their homes and Rex, Pyra and Roc were now in a room at the very inn they were staying at before. With team JNPRR and their Blades gathered around them. For some reason, JNR were staring at Pyra, making the red-haired Aegis uncomfortable.
"Umm…Is there…something on my face," Pyra asked at the stares that everyone was giving her.
"Your name was…Pyra right," Jaune asked unsurely finding it hard to look at Rex's Blade.
"Yes…why?" Pyra asked, still unsurely.
"You remind us of Lady Nikos," Joana decided to address the goliath in the room.
"Joana," Jaune growled.
"My apologies, milord," Joana apologized with a deep bow, "But this needs to be addressed."
"Who's this 'Lady Nikos'?" Rex decided to ask.
Ren let out a sigh, before deciding to get this over with, "Pyrrha Nikos was our friend. She had long red hair and green eyes. Your name and the greens of your outfit are so similar to her that it's actually scary."
"Oh…Umm…sorry?" Pyra said unsurely. She wasn't sure if she should feel sorry or not.
"Don't be," Jaune quickly said, "It's not your fault you were born as you were."
"You said she was," Azurda piped up from Rex's helmet, eyeing Nora warily. The carrot top had snatched him and nearly squished him into Titan paste earlier. "Does this mean that she's…gone," Azurda then said carefully.
The looks on everyone's faces was all the answer everyone needed. "We're sorry for your loss," Rex said, knowing the feeling all too well himself.
"You have our gratitude for that," Otohime spoke for everyone, rightly so if the small smiles were any indication.
"Soooo…you guys are from this Alrest place right?" Nora then asked with a sly grin.
"Uhh…yes," Rex said, as he and Pyra gave the dangerous looking orangette a nervous look.
"What's it like? Are there any Grimm? What kind of people are there? Do you guys have pancakes there?" Nora fired off questions at the overwhelmed Aegis and her Driver.
"Nora, calm down," Ren said with a sigh, making the girl sit down on one of the beds, but she was still bouncing in it.
Since Rex and Pyra seemed out of commission, Azurda decided to save them. "Well, to begin with, in Alrest, us Titans are the only masses of land people can live on. Some of them big enough to house large kingdoms. As for the Grimm, we never had anything like those. For the people, there are many kinds of people out in Alrest, some good some bad. And…yes to your last question, though I don't understand what that has to do with anything," Azurda explained calmly.
"Nora Valkyrie has an unhealthy obsession with the said food product," Kos-Mos explained, earning a look of horror from the girl and her Blade.
"INFIDEL!" the electric duo cried out in unison while pointing at the android Blade.
"I rest my case," Kos-Mos said in monotone.
Then Penny raised her hand, earning the Alrest crew's attention, "Umm…do you have any androids there?"
"And-what?" Rex asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Android." Kos-Mos piped up, "A robot or synthetic person with human-like appearance."
"A robot," Rex muttered while crossing his arms, "Do artificial Blades count?"
That earned surprised looks.
"You have artificial Blades?" Ren asked with a baffled look.
"Well, we know one," Rex clarified, "Her name is Poppi."
Penny was fascinated by this information, but she had another question, "Do you treat Poppi like a person or a weapon?"
This earned a confused look, "What are you talking about, of course Poppi is a person."
That response made Penny happy. "Sensational!"
Rex and Pyra were mildly confused while Roc shook his head at the girl's antics. "Is she always like that?" Roc asked, mostly out of curiosity.
"Yes," Ruby said quickly, not wanting to blow Penny's cover.
"So…you sure there isn't anything you can tell us about these breaches that we don't know already," Roze decided to ask one more time.
"Yeah, those things have been opening for the past 500 years from what I've heard" Rex said with a small sigh.
"Wait, what?" Ruby and Jaune asked in unison.
"The breaches have only been opening since last year on Remnant," Kos-Mos informed the Alrestians.
"But…that doesn't make sense," Pyra spoke up, while shaking her head in disbelief, "How can breaches start centuries ago on Alrest and only begin on Remnant last year?"
"Maybe those holes open across time and space," Nora said with a light bulb going off in her head.
"Nora that's…actually reasonable," Ren said after a moment of thought.
"Surprising conclusion from a beast," Otohime admitted while still finding a way to insult Nora.
"What does that mean?" Electra asked, ignoring Otohime dissing the electric girl's Driver.
"If these breaches are erratic then something like that isn't beyond the world of possibility," Kos-Mos agreed with Nora's sentiment, "But the reason for these events still remain a mystery. Further data is required." With that explanation, everyone had a mildly miffed look at not getting more answers sooner.
"So, what were you guys going to do now," Ruby asked Pyra and Rex.
Glad for the change of topic for now, Rex started talking, "Well, we were planning to make our way to Mistral. We think that our friends might be trying to get there, if they're on this continent."
"Are you sure your companions are even alive, given the current state of this world," Joana asked a very valid question.
"Everyone is strong," Pyra spoke up in everyone's defense, "We have faced so much together. I'm sure they're out there somewhere."
"You can't know that," Jaune said with a mildly depressed look.
"Maybe not," Rex shot back, "But I have faith in them."
Ruby smiled at Rex having that much faith, but still, "Just out of curiosity, Rex. How old are you?"
"Huh?" Rex sounded out.
"He is 15 years old," Azurda replied instead, "Why do you ask?"
Ruby stood in front of the salvager before bringing her hand on the top of his head and then bringing it to her face in as straight line as she could, touching her own nose. "I'm 16 now, so that makes you the pipsqueak," Ruby said proudly and with just a little bit of teasing.
"What are you trying to say?" Rex asked in annoyance, which earned small snickers out of everyone else. Even Pyra who was desperately trying not to laugh herself.
"I'm so sorry, Rex," Pyra thought inside her head.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Rex shouted as everyone laughed at the realization that excluding the Blades, he was the shortest person in the room.
Roze looked at the boy with pity, "May the Architect bless your poor soul."
"I told you, you don't eat well Rex," Azurda chastised the boy jokingly.
"HEY!"
Later, far from Shion, Qrow had followed a red eyed Raven into the woods with Kasandra in tow. The happy Blade wouldn't leave him alone outside of when he was watching team JNPRR. Honestly, the scythe wielder had given up on most things regarding his Blade. Though trying to stop her from trying to steal his flask and dump its contents to the ground was not one of them.
"Hello, brother," said a female voice that Qrow was all too familiar with.
"Raven." Qrow acknowledged as he turned to face his sister.
"Oh, so you're Qrow's sister," Kasandra said happily. Qrow had never told Kasandra about himself so this was a new discovery for her. "I'm Kasandra, nice to meet you."
Raven raised an eyebrow at the woman that she was able to identify as a Blade due to the Core Crystal on her chest. "You haven't told it about me, have you?" Raven asked with a small frown.
"What's to tell," Qrow responded as he crossed his arms, "So what do you want Raven?"
"What? Can't a girl check on her family?" Raven asked with faux hurt.
"She can, but you're not," Qrow shot back, "So out with it. Unless you brought something for me."
Raven scowled before looking at Kasandra with a questioning look.
"Just talk, she won't understand anyway," Qrow said, realizing the woman's train of thought.
"…Did Salem get it," Raven asked with a hard look.
Qrow scowled at the woman who he had the displeasure of calling a sister. "Did you know Yang was stabbed?" Qrow asked.
"That's not-" "Rhetorical question, I know you know. You just don't give a damn," Qrow interrupted, earning a shocked look from Kasandra.
"Is that true?" Kasandra asked, giving an accusing look to Raven, "Isn't Yang your daughter?" Despite not being privy to complexity of Qrow's family, the fact that Yang calls Qrow an uncle was pretty telling to her.
"That's not important!" Raven snapped at Kasandra who couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Funny," Qrow snorted, "You speak of family and say that your own daughter isn't important."
Raven schooled herself to avoid snapping anymore, "I told you Beacon would fall and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail and he has. So, I ask you again…does Salem have the relic?" With each word, Raven took a step closer.
Qrow knew the answer. The elevator to the Vault is still busted, and even if it wasn't the Titan's tail was blocking the entrance to it. And with the Fall Maiden now who knows where, the relic is most likely still in its chamber. "Who knows," Qrow said with a serious look, internally smirking at the look on Raven's face.
"I need to know what we're up against," Raven said taking another step towards Qrow before she was intercepted by Kasandra.
"That's close enough," Kasandra said with a cute scowl, shieldhammer at the ready.
"Kasandra, it's fine," Qrow said as he stepped forward and pushed the hammer wielding Blade back a little. Then the druncle turned his attention back to Raven, "Now, which 'we' are you talking about."
"The tribe raised us, they took us in and you turned your back on them," Raven said angrily.
"They were killers and thieves," Qrow argued back.
"They were your family," Raven argued.
"You have a very skewed perception of the word," Qrow sighed, before reaching for his flask. "What the- Kasandra!" Only to notice that Kasandra had snatched it during all of this and was emptying it all to the ground. "NO!" Qrow shouted as he dashed to snatch the flask back and took a quick swig of whatever was inside. Which was just a few drops. "Why?" Qrow asked, reigning in an urge to smack the girl for her transgression.
"Because when you talk about things that depress you, you always go for your flask," Kasandra said with an iron look in her red eyes.
Raven found it in herself to chuckle at her brother's misfortune. "I see you have yourself a real pain in the ass," Raven chuckled, "Why don't you just put that thing in its place?"
"What's that supposed to mean," Qrow asked, forgetting the tragedy of his flask for the moment.
"It's just a weapon, why should you treat it any differently than Harbinger," Raven said, referring to Qrow's weapon.
"Kasandra has thoughts and feelings," Qrow said as he put his empty flask away, "And…she may be a pain in the ass, but she's my pain in the ass." And then Qrow winced as he realized how that might sound.
"Aww, thank you, Qrow," Kasandra said happily, hugging her Driver who was being stared at by Raven.
The said woman having a hard glare for some reason. "…What do you know about a Blade with a green crystal on its chest," Raven then asked, earning a curious look from Qrow.
"Green? All crystals on Blades are blue," Qrow said, wondering where that question came from.
"Not this one," Raven said simply, "It could also change shape. It first appeared as a red-haired girl, but then it turned into a blonde girl."
"Hmm…can't say I've heard of anything like that," Qrow admitted remembering the information that Ozpin was able to tell him. Did someone on Remnant manage to create a Blade? Or is it a new type that hasn't appeared before?
"If you don't know anything, then we have nothing left to talk about," Raven said before turning around to walk away.
"I don't know where the Spring Maiden is either," Qrow called, causing the woman to stop, "So if you knew anything I would appreciate if you told me."
"And why would I tell you that?" Raven asked almost smugly.
"Because if you don't, we might all be dead," Qrow replied, hoping to get through to her.
"And which 'we' are you talking about?" With those words, Raven slashed the air, creating a portal before stepping through it.
Qrow sighed at this, before hearing the rattling of Kasandra's mask. This caused the man to go on guard, ready for anything that could happen. After few seconds of waiting, Qrow allowed himself to relax.
"What's wrong, Qrow?" Kasandra asked with a tilt of her head, wondering what made him so tense.
"…Nothing, I guess," Qrow said before moving to walk towards Shion. He was curious about that kid who he heard was able to fight off Raven. Although he had a hard time believing it. "Come on Kasandra," Qrow then said and the said Blade skipped happily after her Driver.
Meanwhile at Branwen camp, Raven stepped out of the portal. "IIAAARGGGH!" Straight into a boiling pot.
"Raven!" Vernal cried out in distress at the sight of her leader somehow opening a portal that led into the pot with tonight's dinner for the tribe.
The said bandit leader jumped out of the pot, jumping in place as the hot broth was burning her skin. Someone quickly took a bucket of cold water and threw it on the bandit leader. The burning stopped, but the soaked and dirty Raven looked around angrily at all of her subordinates. "The first one to laugh will be fed to the Grimm," Raven threatened before storming into her personal tent. All the while blaming Qrow for what happened to her. Once Raven had left, the bandits all got to different parts of the camp to get the laughter out of their system as discreetly as possible. For they knew that if Raven found out, their lives would be forfeit.
AN: And there we go. Oobleck and Adenine had a falling out, which is now resolved. Dragunov showed Yang a piece of his past before she became his Driver. Rex is being made fun of by JNPRR. And Raven became Kasandra's latest victim.
I'll be honest with you, if I had done full on Q&A session with the Remnantians and Alrestians, then I would have been writing that all day.
Also to those who saw the latest RWBY episode, I have to change a few things that I planned for the future. But aside from that, way to pull my heartstrings CRWBY.
