GOMU GOMU NO!~
Alright, here we are, the first sub-story of the Patch arc. This one won't be too long, probably 3-4 chapters at most as there's still plenty of chapters left for Patch.
That's pretty much all I wanted to say, so with that, have a good one guys, and enjoy the chapter.
Cheers, Searoar.
*Qrow's Secret Mission Sub Arc. Begins.*
Fingers clenched and eyes narrowed, Jaune prepared for the worst and positioned himself into a classic boxer pose. He would've gone for a sword stance, but seeing there weren't any sticks around, he made do with what he had.
Feeling the beady red eyes glaring into his soul, he realized that they refused to leave the safety of the bush and were too close to each other to belong to the big head of a Grimm. Seconds passed, and the leaves suddenly rustled to life as a blurry black image burst through the foliage.
Jaune raised his arms and flinched back, but was pleasantly surprised to find all his limbs still intact. A soft object landed on his scalp, the blonde curled a brow as he plucked off a black plushy feather.
"Tell me, has your father ever mentioned anything about the original creation of his first-team?" The voice returned with the same interrogating tone.
His hammering heart easing to steady beats, Jaune cupped his chin in a classic thinker pose. His dad was more of an independent, and he didn't have any friends until Ms. Rose and the others entered the picture. Unless you counted Sam, Carla, and Trifa.
"My dad had a first team?" Jaune asked the empty air.
"Did he never tell you about the exploits of team STRQ? The members of that group were considered by many to be only rivaled by the students of GPPO. Though it disgusts me to admit that snooty witch could actually handle herself when it came to Grimm."
"STRQ?" Jaune repeated. How did that name make any sense? His dad's surname started with an H so where did the R come from?
"It's pronounced as Stark, though I assume this is because Beacon's headmaster refuses to give up his tacky ritual of giving out ridiculous names."
"Huh..." The boy stroked his non-existent beard. "So my dad had friends before he decided to go solo?"
"Solo?" The voice sounded intrigued. "Does he not participate in the missions of his current team?"
"Well..." Jaune fumbled. "My dad doesn't usually leave the house and he keeps to himself. The last time he went out on a mission was with my Uncle Qrow, but it was only to get rid of the Beowolves that were getting too close to the farms."
"What about Summer? Does he not kneel to her every whim and call like an obedient dog?"
The blonde's brows furrowed. While his auntie Rose could get his dad to leave the house, the magician often tried to deter her advances and only succumbed when she resorted to the effective ploy of constant pleading and puppy dog eyes.
"My dad doesn't usually obey his team leader, he actually tries to avoid her whenever he can."
"Um..." The voice went silent again, leaving Jaune to his lonesome.
"Tell me..." The mysterious voice seemed hesitant to ask this next question. "Has he ever mentioned past relationships? The ones before he got remarr-"
"Jaune!" An abrupt voice shook the leaves and rattled the boy's nerves.
Whipping around, Jaune jumped for joy at the familiar sight of his uncle Tai.
"Phew!" The hunter patted his chest and let out a long sigh of relief. "Gosh, when you disappeared you nearly gave me a heart attack."
Tai kneeled to pat the tyke's head. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, but my head really hurts," Jaune replied.
The adult grinned, "Come on, your uncle Qrow and Granpa Sam are worried sick about you."
"Wait," Jaune glanced to the tops of the surrounding trees. He didn't know if he was talking to a person or not, but it was rude to leave a conversation abruptly as his grandparents stated many times.
"Hm? What's the matter, Jaune?" Tai curled a brow but found his eyes widening when the boy pointed to the branches above with a black feather. A feather that belonged to a corvid.
"I was talking to somebody, but I should say goodbye before I leave right?"
The brawler peered in the direction of Jaune's extended limb. A frown marring his features at the sight of a bird, he narrowed his eyes and shook his head, but refused to entertain his fellow blonde's curiosity.
"You're probably just hearing things," he sighed, "let's get going before a nasty Grimm decides to rear its ugly head... or worse. So pick up the pace and head down this trail. Your uncle Qrow and grandpa Sam are only a few minutes away and they're sure to be glad that you've been found."
Trailing his uncle's footsteps, Jaune shrugged then stuffed the black feather in his pant pocket. It was a nice souvenir after all was said and done, but he didn't see the disappointed glance his uncle shot him when he did so.
Watching the boy's exit, Tai's expression morphed to a disappointed scowl as he turned to glare at corvid still perched upon its high branch.
"You know, for all the years I've known you, you've always held this persona of someone who took all their burdens and challenges head-on. Yet here you are flapping your wings for bits and pieces of information that aren't even a part of the same puzzle. I'm warning you for your own good, Raven... You don't want to bite off more than you can chew, and the real father of that wonderful boy is a man who I'd never want to piss off unless I had an absolutely one-hundred percent reason to."
Tai's jaw clenched, but he swallowed his tears and forced his mouth to speak.
"Then again, if it's the stoic magician you want to challenge, by all means, go ahead. But don't think for a second that he's going to ease up if you threaten his child, and believe me if Summer wasn't the team leader he'd probably be way more brutal while completing his missions."
Taking a deep breath, Tai felt his blood run cold and a vein bulge atop his forehead as the corvid gave a loud cry.
"Is that supposed to be a threat?" The bird hopped off its branch and nosedived to the soil below. Black feathers dispersing wildly, a pair of black heeled boots thumped against the grass but kept a safe distance from Tai.
"It wasn't supposed to sound like one," the blonde brawler declared clearly despite his wobbly legs, "but I guess I let my temper play too big a role in my words."
He couldn't see his ex-wife's visage, but the blood-colored pupils behind the Grimm mask that she wore could not be mistaken for anyone else's.
"I expected more from you, Tai, your muscles have shrunk and the way you carry yourself is far too lax. Is this the kind of example you want to bestow upon our child? One that will lead her to die a useless death?"
Her strong voice waning to an unnerving whisper, the woman casually placed a hand on her hip and stepped forward.
Despite his instincts screaming at him to raise his hands, the blonde stood firm and stared his former lover square in the face. Tai would not back down from this, not anymore, if Raven wanted to cause trouble then it was up to him to accept responsibility and deal with his own problems.
"Tell me, do you intend to send Yang and your son to Beacon?"
"You already know the answer to that, and Jaune isn't my son," Tai growled.
Raven's fingers tapped against the hilt of her blade.
"Why is it that whenever I decide to be benevolent and warn everyone," she said, "that you all decide that I'm a liar and Ozpin is wholly honest? It's infuriating, to say the least."
"Then give me a proper reason to distrust him!" Tai snapped. "During the last year of STRQ, you kept trying to convince us that Ozpin was hiding some big secret from us, but you never told us what it was!"
"Because you wouldn't believe me if I told you!" Raven screamed back. The sudden rise in her voice stunning her former husband, he took a step back and slightly raised his hands.
For a moment, the eyes behind the Grimm mask softened but retrieved their fiery passion after a blink.
"I met Qrow not too long ago before I decided to swoop by," she said in an even tone, "he was snooping around in the lower parts of Mistral and we both know the grim rumors that plague those dismal streets."
/-/
A few weeks prior to Qrow's vacation on Patch...
"Well, isn't this a surprise? To think that a famous hunter would lower yourself to scrounging information on the backstreets, what's that old headmaster of yours up to this time?" Spoke a woman in a thick southern accent.
Her attire consisting of a thick white blouse without the sleeves, a purple corset hugged her curvaceous frame that ended in yellow coattails lined along the hem. Her bright lavender pupils showing both intrigue and caution, the woman tapped the beauty mark below her left eye and flicked a stray strand of her bobbed-cut blonde hair behind her right ear.
"This isn't how I usually go about my business," Qrow shrugged, "but times are getting pretty stressful and I'm running out of straws to pull, Ms. Malachite."
The hunter's sights flicking from the crime boss to the others who occupied the restaurant, it was obvious that everyone except for the unfortunate employees were members of the rising faction of Spider, a crime syndicate Leo had warned him about before venturing to the lower depths of Mistral.
All bearing the tattoo of a spider's web on either their forearms or shoulders, the thugs waited patiently on the sidelines, but there was never a moment that Qrow didn't feel a pair of eyes on him.
Scouring the place for a hasty exit, the restaurant consisted of two levels with the bar on the lower floor and the top dining above. Knowing he couldn't let his gaze wander for too long, Qrow focused on an open window then on the intimidating woman who sat comfortably behind a plate of grilled steak and mashed potatoes.
"Is that so?" The blonde woman hummed. "I'm well aware of the tension that's been rising through the ranks recently, especially with the introduction of Reptile Dust Industries. Why I've heard the owner of that business already has a proper foothold in the markets, and that can't be sitting too well with the lien-loving Schnee's."
"You got that right," Qrow smirked, "the quality of their dust refinement isn't anything to brag about but the reasonable prices they're setting is more than worth it."
"Quantity over quality is it?" Ms. Malachite offered a smirk of her own. "I'm well aware of that old saying, but I can't say I favor it too much."
The idle chit-chat interrupted by a stern thug, he leaned down and whispered into his boss' ear, but Qrow was too far to make out his words.
"Really? You think this man is after the same thing we are?"
The thug continued to whisper and after he excused himself his boss slapped on a confident smile.
"Alright then, what's all the ruckus about the runaway student from Haven Academy? That school's students always had a lackluster attendance, so why is one missing girl causing such a commotion?"
"You think I have the answer to that?" Qrow shrugged and pulled out his flask. "That's the whole reason why I came to you, to see if you had any breadcrumbs to spare in regards to the missing girl."
Ms. Malachite poked her steak with her fork. "You hoping these breadcrumbs will lead you to the loaf? Well, in terms of location, I'd say the best chance of catching that sneaky runaway would be in the wildlands of Vacuo. There's been plenty of boats and airships alike venturing into that dusty kingdom, but I can't really say as to why."
"I guessed that too, but apparently there were sightings of our missing student here in Mistral, so how do I know that you aren't leading me down a dead path?"
The crime leader savagely chomped the meat off her fork. "I've no reason to lie to you, in fact, there's quite a pretty penny for the girl's capture and I wouldn't mind getting a few coins for myself. That said, I don't think sending out my boys and gals to unfamiliar territory would be a good decision. So why not have a man who's familiar with the dusty sands do the hard lifting for us?"
"If what you're saying is true," Qrow took a swig of whisky, "then I assume you'll be expecting a fair share of the dough when all is said and done?"
"That's right," Ms. Malachite dabbed her lips with a napkin, "but there's more to this request than meets the eye."
Slipping a photograph from her sleeve, the image it held was that of a black fruit with swirls. A long stem atop it, its base had dark, wavy, leaves that ended in a clustered tuft.
"Does this little fruit look familiar to you?"
The ravenette squinted then widened his eyes. "Don't tell me..."
"The black market's been absolutely crazy about these so-called devil fruits," Ms. Malachite stated, "and judging by the fat stacks of lien that people are spitting out for these palm-sized delectables, it's safe to assume that these fruits are a one in a million profit."
"How the hell do you know anything about devil fruits? Last I heard there were only three on this entire planet." Qrow grunted.
"Information and loyalty is arguably more valuable than all the lien on Remnant, and I assure you that those two topics are where I like to invest."
Ms. Malachite stood and slipped around the table to lean on its front. Waving the photo as if it were a fan, she cracked another smile as her guest's brows furrowed.
"Yeah, you got me," Qrow chuckled sarcastically. "I don't have a clue as to why that fruit is so important, but I do know that the student who ditched Haven Academy managed to get her hands on it before she left."
"So the kid decided to test her luck for an easy profit? I don't buy it, if such an item was available to her, then she's gotta be more special than you're letting on."
"My lack of information is the absolute truth. All Ozpin told me was to find the girl and bring back the fruit that she stole." The hunter sighed. "It's a little annoying that I'm being left in the dark about the grand scheme of things, but I bet the old headmaster is gonna give me a rundown once I complete my mission."
"Complete it?" The blonde chuckled. "Because by the looks of things, that girl's been missing for a whole year and a half and she's still nowhere to be found."
"Which brings us to my presence here." Qrow did a careless twirl with raised arms. "However, it's obvious that we can't add anything new to each other's stories, so with a hearty thank you, I'll be taking my leave."
Qrow turned his back and made four steps before he was blocked by two thugs.
"Not so fast, hunter, nobody seeks an audience with Ms. Malachite and leaves her empty-handed."
Forced back to his initial position, Qrow crossed his arms in the middle of the room as the crime boss' thugs slowly stepped forward. Their hands at the ready, they each possessed a weapon ranging from knives to short swords or both.
"Did I break a rule or something? Last I checked, I gave you my entire paycheck for this meeting, so I don't really see how your hands are empty."
Ms. Malachite pocketed her photo and tapped her chin with a manicured finger. "That tiny sum barely managed to buy me a bottle of cheap alcohol, and I'm feeling awfully parched tonight, so how about leaving that fancy weapon of yours behind? I'm sure that'll cover the costs."
The thugs only a few feet away, Qrow grit his teeth and armed himself. "You were planning this ambush from the very beginning weren't you?"
"It's all business," the crime boss smirked, "I can't waste my efforts for tedious tasks; especially when a licensed hunter is involved. It wouldn't do well for my rising reputation in the underworld you see."
"And here I thought I'd make some new friends, just goes to show that you can expect the worst and still be disappointed."
The numbers against him, Qrow wasted no time and took the initiative. Sword raised, he lunged forward and clashed against the first three to approach him. Qrow assumed the majority of the rude thugs were nothing more than petty thieves and bone-headed bullies, but to his unlucky surprise, the grunts actually knew how to fight.
Diving to the ground then springing back up with a kick, Qrow landed a strong heel against the nose of a cocky thug and used the momentum to leap at his next target in the shape of a slim woman with brown hair. Her sword raised, Qrow parried the swing and sent his opponent off balance which led to her stumbling into one of her fellow thugs.
Three of his aggressors on the floor, Qrow glanced at Ms. Malachite who held a bored expression but kept her eyes on the ensuing chaos in the restaurant. His seventh victim meeting the floorboards face first, Qrow smiled cockily as the once eager thugs gave him a fair amount of space.
"That the best you got?"
"For now," Ms. Malachite yawned, "lucky for you that my top fighter is minding his business somewhere else today. Because if he was here you'd be down on the floor after a single shot of his revolvers."
"Huh, luck, that's a first in a long while..." Qrow grunted as he hefted his blade over his shoulder for an overhead swing.
The impact leaving a noticeable crater in the establishment, a twinge of guilt nicked the ravenette's heart as the frightened employees sought shelter behind the doors of the washroom and kitchens. While the location wasn't the greatest, the restaurant was by no means a poor place to lay back and enjoy a drink.
"Better wrap things up before any innocents get hurt or worse..." The hunter sighed and shifted his weapon to reveal its shotgun feature. Targeting the wide shelves of alcohol behind the beer counter, shrapnel flew like fireworks forcing the surrounding thugs to seek shelter behind the bar counter and flipped tables. A window of opportunity present, Qrow broke into a barrel roll then dashed toward the open window he'd spotted moments prior.
Freedom within arms reach, his hand fell short as a gunshot denied him his easy exit. The rope holding the window's hatch swinging shut, Qrow glanced at the unhappy visage of Ms. Malachite as she prepared to pull her pistol's trigger once more. Too bad for her, the window's hatch was made of cheap lumber and Qrow manage to break past it with a hefty swing of his great blade.
Gone in a cloud of dust and splintered wood, the ravenette ran down the first alley in sight with the threatening screams of thugs close behind.
"Well, that could've gone better..."
Qrow sighed wearily as he sought shelter in the dingy pathways. He'd made a good distance between himself and the hoodlums of Ms. Malachite with the help of his bird transformation, but he couldn't let his guard down in the lower sections of Mistral. If he wanted to stay alive that is.
"Yes, your form was rather sloppy." Came an abrupt voice from the shadows.
The blood rushing from his face, Qrow whirled around, but a swift heel to the gut sent him crashing into a pile of garbage cans. His blurry vision narrowed on an approaching figure, when his pale red pupils registered who stood before him, he wished he'd been born blind.
"...Raven? What the hell are you doing here?"