Though he would never admit it, Sage didn't exactly hate the sudden and unexpected sight of Raven Branwen standing around in the living room of the beach house in her underwear. The huntress stood still, facing away from the group as they studied the brand upon her back… though Sage was very aware that two of their numbers were staring instead at the woman's ass. In truth, it took an active effort for him not to join them in doing so. The only reason he didn't was due to how obvious it was that Raven was entangled with Taiyang, and Sage wasn't one to rock the boat when things were working.
In fact, everyone around him insisting upon doing so was one of the things Sage hated about Vacuo. No one could just leave things alone and be happy with their lot. Everyone wanted more, and often more than they deserved. It was something he hated about one of his associates in particular, though he knew well that his opinion was unpopular. For the sake of maintaining order, he resolved to keep his mouth shut and his eyes forward… no matter how difficult it was to do so.
"So this… order? Cult?" Sage tried.
"Can't be a cult. They don't worship anything," Raven said as she looked over her shoulder at the man. "Order is probably closest."
"Order, then," Sage agreed as he folded his arms across his chest. He looked downward as he tried to find his words, only to realize exactly where his eyes had snapped to. Sage made a conscious effort to divert them to the spread of food that Willow had laid out upon the coffee table for the party- a charcuterie board stacked with meats, cheeses, crackers, and the like. Though he wasn't particularly hungry, the myriad of colors and shapes at least gave him something else to look at. "They branded you and Qrow with this symbol? For what purpose?"
"Obedience," Qrow answered as he stood up and began to roll off his shirt.
"Woo yeah, take it off!"
"Kali!" Roman cried. "Now is not the time!"
Qrow merely rolled his eyes as he tossed his shirt onto the armrest of the couch and flexed his shoulder to show off the badly aligned brand with jagged edges around it.
"It's an initiation rite to formally induct a member into the order of warriors. Being born on the mountaintop isn't enough… and I only got mine because Raven defended me. They still put mine on backwards, just to be assholes. Anyone they don't like gets a wing on the wrong shoulder. I'm not even sure if I am considered a member of Those Above All, really. I was told that I was supposed to be my own sister's 'help'. Nothing more."
"I don't care what Arowana said," Raven spat. "Your brand is just as legitimate as mine… though I wish neither of us had them, now."
"Some good may yet come of it," Bartholomew pointed out. "Without these reference points, we wouldn't be able to decipher the meaning of that symbol down in the cave. Adam likely would've walked right past it, or simply left it for Porella to interpret later."
Sage let out a grunt, drawing the group's attention to him.
"But without the brands, that Sienna Khan woman likely wouldn't be here… or at least, not targeting us. What do you know about the symbol being down in the caves?"
"Not a thing," Raven admitted as she turned back around to face the crowd. "Neither of you have seen it elsewhere in Vacuo, I take it? Oh, damn it…"
"I've seen it all over the place," Fox said with a grin as Raven brought a hand up to her face with the realization of how easy she had made it for him. "What are we talking about again?"
"Sorry," Raven offered with a sigh. "I keep forgetting you can't see, because you're just so… normal, most of the time."
"That is… deeply insulting," Fox said as he upturned his nose. "Not the implication that blind people aren't 'normal'- the implication that I am 'normal.' I work so hard to be a lovable scamp, and this is what I get…"
"Ignore him," Sage instructed. "I've not seen that symbol before, no. It might be worth bringing to Professor Gumo, especially given how intimately familiar you all will be on account of Summer."
"Not a bad idea," Taiyang agreed. He, too, was standing around in his underwear after he and Raven had been interrupted upstairs, and he seemed completely unbothered by the fact. Sage was significantly less amused by the sight and refused to look at him. "We'll probably all be making a trip back to the Academy tomorrow morning anyway. Can't hurt to ask."
"And if it goes badly, we're heading back in a few weeks," Qrow reminded as he sat back down upon the couch. The boy leaned forward and took some food from the spread laid out upon the coffee table for himself. "Though I'd hate to see Team BASS stuck with all of this after we leave. If Those Above All has ties in Vacuo, I kinda doubt Sienna's gonna leave with us. She might not even be here for us to begin with- we might've been a happy little accident on her way to doing something else. I don't trust her words."
"Sienna has always been blunt and straightforward, though," Raven pointed out as she sat down next to her brother. "Why would she lie to us?"
"Because we killed her master?" Qrow guessed. The sound of scrabbling at the front door brought both Branwens' attention to it, and then Willow. "Summer doesn't have a key, does she?"
"She doesn't, but the door on the deck is unlocked," Willow pointed out as she grabbed Myrtenaser from its place leaning against the nearby wall. "Why would she and Ghira come all the way back around the front of the h-"
In the middle of Willow's words, the latch on the door turned seemingly on its own and then the door flew open, revealing a woman who was very much not Summer Rose. Instead, Cerise stood in the space with a hairpin in her hand, framed against the Vacuan night sky as she glared at the assembled hunters in the room. Without a word, she stomped her way inside and moved toward the food, picking up a paper plate from beside the spread as the others simply watched.
"…that perfume," Fox said, sounding worried. "Shit."
"Sorry I'm late," Cerise said with a sneer directed toward Roman as she picked up a bit of cheese and some crackers. "I just got off work and then had to find the party on my own, since I didn't get an invite. You know, after you foreigners and Fox just up and fucking left through a portal, and then the rest of you went off to meet with the headmaster of Shade, leaving me alone in your dorm… after I stepped in to try to fight off some assassin from who knows where and got told that I'm not allowed to know anything about what's going on. Really feeling the love right now from all of you."
"Hey, it's not like that…" Roman began.
"Isn't it?" Cerise asked as she straightened up and narrowed her eyes. "Then tell me what it's like, Roman. Tell me why I was just abandoned multiple times with no explanation after pity-fucking you and getting involved in whatever the hell you people are up against despite there being nothing in it for me."
"Hey," Kali growled as her ears flattened. "This isn't Roman's fault, and none of us planned for any of this. We're all stressed out, and yeah, you got a raw deal, but you need to understand that some things aren't as simple as filling you in and hoping for the best."
"It's my fault," Fox tried as he moved to put a hand on Cerise's shoulder. "I made a mess of things. I wasn't supposed to go through that portal, and I ended up hearing things I shouldn't have and now need to keep quiet about. Everything going on right now with you is a direct result of me being a moron."
Cerise bristled beneath Fox's touch, and even without being able to see her, he could tell that she had turned her disdain in his direction. Fox lifted his hand and took a step back, aware that he had somehow made a grave mistake without understanding how.
"…are you telling me," Cerise began in a venomous tone, "that BASS knows about everything going on, too, and you were just planning on keeping me in the dark? That if I hadn't come here tonight, you would've just acted like you were called for something else and you're just as in the dark as I am? I'm the only one involved in all this who has no idea what's happening?"
"You don't need to know what's going on," Sage declared, taking a step forward and drawing Cerise's attention. "We didn't need to know, either, and finding out was a mistake that's going to affect us for the rest of our lives. If anything, you're lucky to be left in the dark… and you're not trustworthy enough to know this sort of information, regardless."
Without looking, Cerise tossed the paper plate sideways to land on the coffee table as she stared the much larger man down, unblinking.
"…you know what, Sage? Fuck. You. I'm tired of your disapproving glares any time I come around and your holier-than-thou attitude. I'm fucking sick of you coming along to the tavern with the rest of BASS, looking at me like I'm beneath you while still happily letting me wait on you hand and foot. You've had an issue with me for years, and I'm tired of pretending it doesn't exist. We're having this out right here, right now. I'm not trustworthy? How many secrets of your team do I know? How many late-night conversations have we had th-"
"Whoa, whoa!" Fox called, moving in between the two and putting his arms out to keep them apart. "Guys, don't do this, especially not here!"
"Enough!"
All eyes turned to Willow Schnee, who stood near the door looking furious. The heiress strode forward, rapier still in hand as she took in a deep breath and used her free hand to sweep her fingers through her hair.
"Cerise- I understand what it's like to be the outcast and feel as though you don't fit in, and it's horrible, especially in a situation like this. That being said, you need to give us a chance to decide what we can and cannot tell you without breaking the trust of Professor Gumo and our contacts at Beacon. Sage- I understand that you don't particularly like her, and you barely even know us, but while you're here in my home, you're going to need to tolerate her. The two of you need to stop acting like children immediately."
"Well, I for one am glad that the Atlesian princess is here to tell us Vacuans how to behave," Cerise said with as much venom as she could muster. "And of course you get to make the call on what I'm allowed to know. I'm honestly about to just leave and let you all deal with whatever's going on without me."
"Then why don't you?" Sage asked.
"Because I do what I want, when I want, and…" Cerise trailed off, looking almost hurt as she mirrored Sage's stance, folding her arms across her chest. "…I don't have to answer to you. Go fuck yourself, that's why."
"Charming," Willow deadpanned with a sigh as she used a glyph to shut the front door. "Regardless, this Atlesian Princess is offering to let you stay with us while we figure this out, if you so choose. Our withholding of information isn't out of malice, I promise you… and I don't think negatively of you. Please, just… relax. Eat. Try to calm down. There's beer in the fridge, if that would help?"
"…whatever," Cerise said petulantly as she turned her back on Sage and walked into the kitchen, moving past Taiyang and eyeing up his boxers as she went. "And why are half of you half-naked, anyway? Planning on having an orgy without me?"
Raven exchanged a look with her brother as Cerise rummaged through the refrigerator. After getting a nod from Qrow, she took out her scroll and offered it over the back of the couch.
"…not quite. We can explain this much, at least. Take a look at this. One of our friends found this symbol in an underground cave. It matches the brand I have on my back, and we're trying to figure out why."
Cerise turned back to the assembled teens and took the scroll, looking the photo over before turning her attention to Raven's shoulder.
"No, it doesn't."
The room fell silent as the group watched Cerise pop open her beer can and take a swig, offering Raven her scroll back with the other hand.
"…excuse me?" Raven asked, confused.
"It matches his brand," Cerise explained, tilting the can in Qrow's direction as she lowered it. "It's backwards, compared to yours."
Qrow could only stare as realization hit him- not only was Cerise right, but the potential implications stemming from the fact that whoever had made the mark underground was like him were both numerous and incredibly unclear.
"…leave it to the fresh set of eyes to catch the detail we all missed," Raven said as she stared at the photo. "Then what does that mean? Given that… well, you know why yours is like that, Qrow…"
"Not a clue," Cerise said with a shrug before taking another sip. "But I see that symbol almost every day, down at the tavern."
Author's Note:
Tensions continue to mount…
-RD