The obnoxious chirping of a scroll roused her from her slumber. Flipping over onto her stomach, Raven Branwen buried her face into the pillow to seek refuge from the sound, her still half-asleep brain concluding that this was a logical form of escape.

The ringing continued, however, and after long, harsh seconds of noise she finally realized that she had to act in order to silence the intrusion on her sleep.

Even back in her Beacon days Raven had been a stubborn sleeper. Never one to set an alarm, and always one to have to be roused from her slumber by others, every morning had been a battle where it'd taken her partner all he had to wake her and drag her from bed in order to attend class. Not before sometimes spending some time together in it, however…

Reluctantly Raven removed the arm she'd coiled around her husband who lay next to her, and rolled back over onto her back. Crimson eyes opened to greet the morning, and she reached over to the small table beside the bed in order to grab the scroll. It took all she had not to simply crush the device in her hand in order to silence it.

Her bleary vision didn't matter, and even in her dazed state she could read the name on the caller ID with crystal clarity. For a brief moment she pondered setting a special ring tone for the man so that she wouldn't have to waste the energy to pick up her scroll whenever he called.

Raven declined the call with a single push of the thumb. Setting the scroll back on the table, she curled up closer to Taiyang, draping an arm back over his midsection and snuggling close to his back. Eager to fall back asleep, she formed the big spoon to his little one, molding her body against his and pressing her forehead to his back to block out the light streaming in through the curtains of their bedroom.

The soothing smell of her husband and gentle rising and falling of his back were enough to lull the woman back to the brink of dreamland. Thoughts of her twin brother evaporated as sleep tugged at the edges of her mind. She could get away with a couple more hours on this lazy Saturday morning.

Until the gentle squeak of the bedroom door sounded. A part of her hoped it was merely her imagination, but a greater part was filled with joy when a light weight pressed down on the foot of the bed.

"Mom!" the young voice sounded, snapping Raven awake in an instant.

Raven rolled away from Tai once more, and this time not an ounce of annoyance littered her mind from the disturbance. A smiling child knelt below his parents legs, his eager and happy smile warmer than the morning sun that filtered through the window. Short but messy black hair had been a gift from his mother's side of the family, but his bright robin-blue eyes were the spitting image of his father. Her sweet eight year old Robin was her pride and joy in this world, the best parts of both his parents. The boy who'd been able to drag his father back from the jaws of death and give him purpose and meaning in life once more.

"Robin," she said wearily, a strained expression on her face as she sat up in bed. A hand came up to rub the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes, and a wide, involuntary yawn gave her all the appearance of the fierce lioness that she was. "Are we out of cereal, dear?"

Domestic life was never what Raven thought she would have wanted. She was a free bird. A bandit leader. Strong. But all that strength meant nothing when her daughter was turned into the abomination she was. When Taiyang was on the verge of ending it all. She used that strength in a new way. Compassion. Since then she had given birth to another child, someone for Tai to live for. He had managed to salvage his life. It was better he didn't know what happened to his little girls. All that mattered now was his last human child.

Her little boy shook his head. "No. I was eating some and watching The New Adventures of Pumpkin Pete and Friends and then someone came to the front door."

Who would have the audacity to solicit them so early on a Saturday morning? Harsh thoughts on how to deal with such a nuisance threatened to stomp on the warm and gentle demeanor she held for her sweet baby boy.

Swinging her legs out of bed, Raven found her slippers on the floor before standing up. Grabbing a black robe to cover her rather immodest sleepwear, she moved toward the bedroom door. "You did the right thing to wake me up," she told him. She'd always taught Robin never to answer the door for strangers. At least not until he was old enough to have his Aura unlocked and begin training. "Mommy will take care of him."

"It's Uncle Qrow!" Robin said with unrestrained joy. "He's here to see you!"

In an instant Raven's mind was clouded with a whirlwind of emotions. She didn't know which was worse. Some random stranger trying to sell her something, or her brother. At least with the salesman she could threaten and if need be, beat them into submission to her heart's content. There wasn't a mortal being on the face of Remnant who could stand toe to toe with the fully realized power of a Maiden. Her brother on the other hand…

"Did you let him in?" she asked as the pair made their way down the hallway and to the stairs. Before she could receive her son's answer, however, she saw her brother sitting on the couch in her living room.

Robin bounded down the stairs two at a time ahead of his mother and reached the couch where he jumped up next to his uncle, sharing a warm embrace with the man. Not even the heartwarming display could remove the frown from Raven's lips. She had never gotten along well with Qrow. While she would tolerate his presence for Robin's sake, it didn't mean she was happy to see him.

"Hello, brother," she greeted with as much warmth as an Atlas snowstorm. "What brings you over unannounced?"

The tone and additional word at the end were lost on her son, but Qrow read her scorn loud and clear. As per usual, he smiled that annoying, smug smirk of his. "I tried calling, but there was no answer."

Tried calling all of two minutes ago. He was probably standing outside the cabin when he called. It was just like her brother to show up unannounced and unwanted. At least he hadn't slipped in through the window in his bird form before surprising her. Had it not been for Robin's presence in the home, he probably would have resorted to such a thing.

"So, Muscles," Qrow said to Robin, using the boy's favorite nickname. "Why don't you show me how strong you've gotten since I last saw you?"

Robin brought his arms up, flexing biceps which simply weren't there yet, but was none the wiser to this fact as Qrow acted as though he were some sort of bodybuilder.

"Whoa, slow down there, kiddo. Pretty soon you're gonna be able to beat me and your old man together in a wrestling match." He looked up at his sister. "What are you feeding this kid, Raven? He's gonna be huge!"

Robin giggled with delight at the praise, wanting nothing more than to be big and strong like his father and uncle. There was a time when Raven would have groomed such a mindset in her child. A time when her only concern in life had been strength. However, that had been before her mistake. Before events were set into motion which had nearly destroyed her entire family.

All she wanted now was for her darling boy to grow up healthy and happy. Strong, yes. But a huntsman? No. Never.

She would never surrender her surviving child to Ozpin's war. Not after what the wizard's immortal foe had done to her daughter…

Raven pushed the thought away as she watched her son and brother play fight on the couch together. Qrow, to his credit, was great with the boy, and allowed himself to be defeated by his nephew. The sight was almost enough to make her forget the disdain she held for Ozpin's loyal lapdog. She would be wary in the future, however. There might come a time when Qrow would try and convince his young and naïve nephew to follow in his footsteps and attend Beacon Academy. To become a huntsman just like his mother and father. Should that day ever come, she would not hesitate to use her true power in order to put her brother in his place.

Speaking of Beacon, Raven had a feeling that Qrow wasn't here so early in the morning just to play with Robin. "So what can I do for you, Qrow?"

The man sat back upright on the couch, and the warm gaze he'd held for Robin died when it focused on Raven. "What, a guy can't just stop by and say hi to his family?"

My family, Raven thought possessively. My son. My husband. We don't need your luck in our lives. Such bitter words never passed her lips, however. "At eight in the morning on a Saturday," she replied with barely-contained annoyance.

"Well, it's important," he said. With those three words the humor on his voice slipped away as well, and Raven was left staring at the harbinger of misfortune she knew all too well. A shudder passed over her body when she realized that this crow brought only bad news. Truly a creature such as himself was only a bringer of ill omens. "Maybe the two of us could speak in private somewhere."

Too serious to discuss in front of Robin. Probably Tai as well. She didn't know what, but she knew that she wanted them to have nothing to do with whatever calamity Qrow was about to bring to them. She would hear him out, and then send him on his way. It would be easier to do alone and outside.

Putting on the best motherly smile she had, Raven turned her attention to her son. "Robin, sweetie. Go wake your father up and tell him that I said to make pancakes."

Robin's face erupted with unbridled happiness, and the boy leapt off the couch. Bare feet thudded gently across the room as he leapt up the stairs on the way to his parent's bedroom.

Raven watched with a smile as he went, but it quickly dropped from her face as soon as she was alone with her brother. All pretenses of friendliness and courtesy were dropped as her venomous gaze fell upon him. "What do you want, Qrow?"

The man stood, and somehow the expression on his face matched, or even surpassed her own. She had no idea what she'd done to earn his ire. She doubted that years of giving him the cold shoulder had finally made him snap. "Like I said, it's important." He spared a look up the stairs that Robin had just gone up. "We need to talk in private."

Though she wore only a robe over her sleeping attire, she didn't much feel like getting dressed. It wasn't like there were people walking around outside her and Tai's cabin. She motioned for him to follow, and the two made their way through the kitchen before exiting through the backdoor.

Early autumn was upon them, though the temperature was still warm. Twigs and dirt crunched underneath the woman's slippers as she and Qrow walked away from the house in silence. The man had his hands annoyingly in his pockets as he moved, and she often wished that his Semblance would kick in and he'd fall flat on his face.

"So what's so important that I deserve a house call from you?" she asked with thinly veiled irritation.

She'd expected some sort of comeback from her brother now that they were in private. Snark was on the table for the man now that Robin couldn't hear him. However, Qrow said nothing. Instead he reached down into his pocket and fished out his scroll.

The lack of a response was almost more annoying than being insulted. Raven's already paper-thin patience was growing ever thinner. "Look, you can come spend time with your nephew whenever you want. But don't assume that you can use it as an excuse to annoy me."

Again, Qrow said nothing. Instead, after a few swipes and presses on the screen of his scroll, he held it up to Raven for her to see.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Her feet stopped in their tracks.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

There, in the picture on Qrow's scroll, was the spitting image of a teenage Summer Rose. With her was a girl who if Raven didn't know any better, looked like a younger, blonde-haired version of herself. What her daughter might have once looked like had she not been taken by Salem.

This time it was Raven who was lost for words. This time it was Qrow who pushed for answers. "I had a very similar reaction the first time I saw them," he told her. The venom in his own voice was the likes of which Raven hadn't heard from him since she'd abandoned her husband and daughter seventeen years ago. "Sober, at least," he amended. "Imagine my surprise when I saw two people who were supposed to be dead alive and well. At Beacon Academy no less."

Raven couldn't take her eyes off the blonde girl of the quartet. She didn't know who the boy and the white-haired girl were, but there was no doubt in her mind that she was staring at her own flesh and blood in that picture. If Yang was there, then that had to be Ruby.

"Raven," Qrow said, trying to break her from the daze which held her thoughts. "They're alive."

She nodded absentmindedly. Of course she already knew they were alive. Their true nature, however, was what gave her concern. "So it would seem…" she agreed, feigning ignorance and playing along with the situation.

Qrow sighed and lowered his arm. The image of her lost daughter vanished in the blink of an eye. Much like how she had once done to the girl herself. "I wish you wouldn't lie like that, Raven," he said with more disappointment than anger in his tone.

Red eyes narrowed on their twin counterparts. "What?"

"Way back then, you told us they were dead," he explained. She remembered the conversation all too well. Being forced to lie to her brother as well as her at the time estranged husband about the fate of the children they loved so much. "But they're not. Considering you can make a portal to Yang using your connection to her, you had to know. Why did you lie, Raven?"

She'd had good reason to lie back then. Better to tell them that Yang and Ruby were dead than the truth. Better to believe their suffering had ended than know that they were abominations who'd been twisted into grotesque monsters by Salem herself. They were beyond saving. Beyond the reach of mortal men and women. The armies of Atlas and the powers of the Maidens held no sway in the realm of the Dark Queen.

"Qrow," she whispered. Crimson orbs stared down at the ground, unable to meet her brother's gaze for the first time in her life. "Tell me everything you know about them."

"You don't get to make that demand!" he snapped. The sudden rise of his voice snapped her head up, and for the first time in a very long time there was fury on his face. "Not after what you've done! I know a lot, Raven, but first you're going to tell me what happened the day you found out that Yang and Ruby had gone missing. You tell me what happened when you tried to make a portal to your daughter in order to find and rescue her."

Images flooded back to Raven's mind. Though it'd been a decade ago, the memories were still fresh. A sickly sky of purple and red. Jet black puddles of ooze all around, spawning newly-birthed Grimm from their depths. A twisted palace of black stone. But most horrifyingly of all…

Pale flesh. Pale straw-colored hair. Red eyes so much like her own, yet so different. A pair of horns sprouting from her forehead.

Raven opened her eyes lest they be haunted by the memory of her daughter-turned-monster. Her lips were parted as anxious breaths poured out of them. The fate of her daughter, even one she'd once abandoned, was the worst memory of her life. One she'd tried so desperately to forget, and to her shame, replace with memories of a happy, loving family.

An anxious hand rubbed nervously on her face as she sought some sort of answer that would placate her brother. He claimed to know a lot, but did he know the truth? The whole truth? If she told him everything she knew, would he be able to handle it?

A large and calloused hand took her wrist, but Raven was in no condition to protest. Qrow's other hand came to her shoulder, and some semblance of comfort and care emanated from the man as he stared into her eyes. "Raven," he said softly. The previous anger had lessened. "Please. Tell me what happened. Tell me why you lied about them being dead."

She didn't want to say it. How could she? How could she tell the man who cared so deeply about his nieces what had happened that day?

"Raven… please."

She couldn't meet stand his gaze any longer. Raven broke off eye contact with the man, and her focus fell down onto his shirt. "If you know the truth, then you know what they are."

"And that is?"

Teeth sank into her lower lip briefly before she was able to utter the word. "Monsters," she whispered spitefully. Hateful crimson eyes finally regained their nerve, and Raven stared into her brother's own. "They're not our girls anymore, Qrow. They're monsters."

Truth be told, it would have been better had Yang actually been dead. Better to be dead than be the twisted abomination which Salem had turned her into along with Ruby.

Qrow growled a hum. "Monsters," he echoed. "That's what Winter said too."

She shot him a glare. Who else was in on this secret? "Winter? Who's Winter, Qrow?"

"Winter Schnee," he answered. "A colleague, and more importantly." He pointed to the picture on his scroll, his finger on the white-haired girl. "Weiss Schnee's sister."

Raven recalled stories from years ago detailing the loss of such a high profile individual. An air ship attacked by Grimm. Some of the bodies were never recovered. The young daughter of Jacques and Willow Schnee had been among them. It would seem, however, that she was very much alive. And if her gut instinct was correct, very much in the same boat as Yang and Ruby.

There was a whole collection of them. A team of lost children who had become the grotesque pawns of Salem. "And which long lost kid is the boy?" she asked about the fourth and final team member.

"Jaune Arc. A regular all human boy, believe it or not." Qrow shifted his attention from the screen back to his sister. "And an unwilling pawn in Salem's plan, whatever it is."

It was becoming clear to Raven that there was more to this story than even she could have imagined. Back ten years ago she couldn't have guessed what Salem would do with the children she's stolen. The ones she'd warped in those pools of darkness spawned Grimm. Apparently, however, she had found a way to disguise them as normal looking humans. She'd even recruited an actual human, probably as some sort of handler for them. How and why he had agreed to such a task, she couldn't say.

But could Qrow?

"Does he know?" she wondered. "Who they are? What they are?"

"Oh he knows all right. More than that, he loves those girls. He loves them with all his heart."

Inconceivable. They were little more than beasts in human skin. "And how exactly is a human able to do that? How are they not tearing him limb from limb?"

A long, throaty breath rumbled behind Qrow's closed lips. He didn't sound or appear pleased. "As it turns out, he's Ruby and Weiss' boyfriend. Somehow he's found a way to get through to them and appeal to their humanity."

Raven blinked. "Ruby and Weiss? At the same time?"

Qrow sighed. "Yeah. At the same time…"

Staring at that picture, she couldn't help but compare his shaggy blond hair and deep blue eyes to another man she knew. One who had a reputation as being quite the lady's man back at Beacon. One whom she herself had fallen for all those years ago despite her best efforts.

"It's like Tai all over again…" she whispered.

"Except you and Summer were never with him at the same time," Qrow pointed out.

Raven was about to respond, but in the end declined to speak.

"Raven. This is the part where you agree with me."

The woman remained silent.

"Oh brothers…"

"We're not here to talk about Tai," Raven snapped, eager to change the subject from him and her experimental days back at Beacon Academy.

"No, we're not," Qrow agreed. "However, let's move on to the next lie you told."

Hateful red eyes bored into Qrow's. It was one thing to call her out on something she actually did, but to accuse her of something she hadn't done? That was a line even the former bandit leader deemed too far. "What are you talking about?"

"Summer," he stated flatly, as if she should know what he meant by the name alone.

"Is dead," she finished for him.

"Not according to Jaune."

Raven hated surprises. She'd already dealt with more than her fair share on this early morning. This one, however, was perhaps the biggest one of all. While she'd known about Yang and Ruby's fates all along, she could honestly say she believed Summer to be dead.

"How?" she asked genuinely.

Qrow shrugged. "I don't know. But he said she was being kept prisoner by Salem."

So was Salem just collecting specimens now? It made no sense to Raven. Why keep the woman alive for all these years? When the woman had first gone missing, Raven hadn't cared. Her falling out with the rest of her team had left her isolated with her tribe in Mistral. Whatever Ozpin and his little cabal did was none of her concern. If they'd decided to dig their own graves fighting his war, they could lie in them. She wouldn't risk her life trying to save them from themselves or their manipulative wizard.

"I didn't know," Raven said truthfully. However in the end it didn't matter. If Summer wanted to sacrifice herself for a war she couldn't win, that was her choice. Raven was a proponent of free will. More so, she did not clean up other people's messes. "That's unfortunate."

"That's it?" Qrow asked. He sounded more insulted than angry when he spoke. "That's all you have to say about someone who used to be your friend? Someone who needs our help?"

"Then help her," she snapped. "Go to Ozpin and form a rescue party. Just don't come crying to me when more of you die or fall into Salem's clutches."

"Ozpin doesn't know," he said softly. Darkly. Qrow's eyes were focused on the ground. Like he was too ashamed to even look at her face as he admitted his guilt. "He doesn't know about the girls either."

On one hand Raven was pleased that Qrow was finally starting to learn that Ozpin couldn't be trusted. On the other, it would feel oh so good to gloat about Qrow's own hypocrisy and deceit.

"So this whole conversation has been the pot calling the kettle black I see," she said, her confidence and arrogance recovering their strength quickly. "You're all too quick to judge me for my actions, and yet here you are keeping your master in the dark about the dangers that are right under his nose. Should Beacon fall to those monsters tomorrow it would be on your head and you know it."

He nodded softly, admitting defeat. It was satisfying to see her brother so torn up by her words. Qrow, for all his righteousness, was just like her. A liar.

"The difference between us is that I'm doing something about it." Eyes snapped back up to meet her own, and a she saw new resolve on his face as he spoke. "That's why I'm here, Raven. I want you on board with this. Not just to help our girls, but to help Summer. If she's alive, there's a way to her. A way that only you can make."

A shiver ran down Raven's spine. She knew exactly what he wanted from her. He wasn't going to get it. "No."

Clearly he hadn't been expecting that answer. The fool. How could he not know her after forty years? "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no, Qrow. I'm not doing it. I'm not making a portal to Summer if she's in Salem's realm." Images once more flashed in her mind. Horrors that mortal minds could barely comprehend. "If you knew what we were going up against…"

"Jaune lived there for months," Qrow said, taking a step toward her. "He survived."

"Probably by Salem's will alone," she countered. "We, on the other hand, would be unwanted intruders. We wouldn't last five minutes."

"You're really serious," he stated rather than asked. "You're going to abandon Summer to her fate? Leave her as Salem's prisoner forever?"

"She knew the risks of fighting Ozpin's war. And so do you and I." Raven's thoughts turned to her darling boy. To her husband who she'd managed to save from the brink of his own self-destruction. "I'm finally happy now, Qrow. You won't take this away from me."

"Happy at what cost?" he asked. "How many lives have been sacrificed for your perfect little family life? Yang? Ruby? Summer? Who else, Raven? Who else has died for you and your happiness?"

Crimson eyes narrowed. "I've sacrificed nothing and nobody but my own people," she stated, referring to the Branwen tribe she'd abandoned nearly ten years ago. Without her presence there they were probably all dead. Slain by the hordes of Grimm without a strong and capable huntress there to protect them. "This isn't my war to fight. It wasn't Summer's either, and if you were smart you'd stay as far away from Ozpin as you can."

Qrow took another step closer to her. "You sacrificed your own daughter through your own inaction. You found her and abandoned her to her fate!"

"She's not my daughter anymore!" Raven snarled back. "She's one of Salem's beasts. She'd be better off dead than the monster she's become!"

"What if I told you that she wasn't? What if I told you there could be a way to save her?"

Raven scoffed dismissively. More pretty words from a hopeless optimist. Ironic coming from someone as pessimistic as her brother. "I'd call you a damn fool and a liar."

"A fool? Maybe," he agreed. "But not a liar. I've seen those girls with my own eyes. I've talked to them. Our girls are still in there somewhere. We just have to work to find them. To bring them back. We can do this, Raven. But we have to do it together."

She shook her head. Raven wanted nothing more than to go back inside, get a cup of coffee, and eat a nice pancake breakfast with her family. She wanted to forget this entire conversation. She never wanted to see her nuisance of a brother again.

"Go and do what you want," she told him. Raven turned on a heel and started back toward the door. "This conversation's over."

She was stopped after a step when Qrow reached out and grabbed her by the arm. "Maybe we should see if Tai thinks it's hopeless," he told her softly. Darkly. Threateningly.

Alarms went off in Raven's head. Eyes went wide, and time seemed to slow down as she whirled back around to face her brother.

"Don't. You. Dare," she whispered.

"What's wrong? Afraid of the truth coming out?"

What had been a beautiful late summer morning was quickly turning overcast. Dark storm clouds began to congregate above the Xiao Long cabin. The fire in Raven's eyes was more than just figurative.

"No. I'm afraid of you giving Tai a shred of false hope and then ripping it away." The thought of her husband believing his two daughters were alive and well only to find out that they were irredeemable monsters was mortifying. He wouldn't be able to recover a second time. "I've saved him from the brink once before. I don't think I could do it again, Qrow."

Her brother reached out a hand to her, palm up and fingers extended. "Then help me, Raven. Help Tai get his girls back."

Rather than take his hand, Raven's own clenched into fists. "I'm not leaving them," she whispered bitterly. "You can't make me leave my baby boy. I left Yang once, and it was the biggest mistake of my life." Eyes snapped back up to meet Qrow's. "I won't leave him. I won't risk abandoning Robin too. I won't meet the same fate as Summer."

"It's the only way, Raven. We can't get to Summer without you."

"I barely got out of there alive the last time. Find another way."

"Maybe Tai knows one."

The man went to take a step forward, but was stopped in his tracks when a lightning bolt shot down from the sky. It struck the tree mere inches away from Qrow, and the man jumped in surprise, leaping back several feet in terror.

Raven's eyes were ablaze now, and the magically conjured thunderstorm which swirled above them had darkened the morning sky. Qrow was breathing quickly and heavily, and his fearful eyes tore themselves away from what remained of the tree's trunk in order to stare at his sister.

"Raven…" he gasped in very real shock and awe. "What did you do?"

What did she do? Ten years ago she'd claimed a power which had fallen into unsafe and unfit hands. The power of the Spring Maiden was too dangerous and valuable to be left up to chance. Too at risk of falling into Salem's hands. So Raven had claimed it for herself. A sacrifice, Qrow might say, but a necessary one to keep her loved ones safe. Beyond Salem herself, there was no power in Remnant that could threaten the power of a fully trained Maiden.

"You leave my family out of this," she spoke with a calmness which betrayed the maelstrom of emotions churning inside her. A storm in her heart reflected by the swirling storm above them. "This is between you and me."

Qrow tilted his head back to watch the dark clouds moving unnaturally above him. "This power… where? How, Raven? How long have you had it?"

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you listen to what I've told you. You know what this is," she said, bringing down another bolt of lightning to the ground. The loud crack it produced was almost deafening, and Qrow was once more forced to jump in shock at the strike. "If you even think about speaking to my husband or my son about any of this, I'll kill you. I won't hesitate to do so. And now that you know what I am, you know that I'm fully capable of doing it too."

"Raven. Please…"

"I said this conversation is over. Goodbye, Qrow."

Raven turned once more, not waiting for the man to respond. She knew he likely had none either. He'd given her his ultimatum, but upon seeing that hers was stronger, he had no choice but to submit to her superior power.

The storm began to clear as her rage subsided. Qrow would not tell Taiyang about the girls. About Summer. To do so would be to sign his own death warrant, and that would mean that none of them would be saved. He couldn't allow that. Not when he was one of the few who knew of their existence. Not when he was the only one out there who could save them.

As Raven stepped inside to the sight of her smiling husband and the smell of cooking pancakes, she attempted to resume wearing the mask of the happy wife and mother. She would spend a wonderful morning eating as a family with the two most important men in her life.

Yet, for all of the happiness that they brought to her, the new information Qrow had revealed meant that she couldn't enjoy her happy family life as she once had. As she ate and talked and laughed with her boys, all she could think about was Summer sitting down in that fourth and empty chair at the kitchen table with them.

A seat she may have once occupied before she'd left this place and never returned.

Jaune never thought he'd see the day when a hybrid was putting on makeup. Like a regular girl. Like a human girl.

Then again, deep down inside, that's what they were. The girls seemed to be getting more human by the day. For that fact Jaune felt immense pride in both himself and them. They were making the most of a terrible situation and trying their best to recover what was taken from them. Even if only one of them consciously desired to be more human.

In their dorm room the boy watched as Weiss sat at the team's desk staring into the mirror set upon its surface. A small bag was placed before her, and the girl eagerly dug into it in order to try out all of the new and wonderful items inside. Jaune had a working knowledge of makeup thanks to his seven sisters, and on more than one occasion he had been used as a guinea pig for their ideas. Watching Weiss experimenting was like watching one of his younger sisters trying out the stuff for the first time.

As she produced a tube of lipstick, she sniffed it once the tip had been twisted out the front end. Jaune couldn't help but smile at her inquisitive nature.

She must have seen him in the reflection of the mirror, and she craned her neck to glance back at him. "Is something amusing?"

Very much so. However, Jaune had learned long ago not to get on Weiss' bad side by making fun of her. She may not have had a horn right now, but he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her furious head butts. "Nothing. I've just never seen you wear makeup before, that's all."

Weiss hummed, and a satisfied smile of her own crossed her lips before she puckered them to apply the lipstick. "Yes, it would seem that my all natural beauty is drawing all kinds of eyes lately."

"Lately?" he wondered.

After she'd finished running the colored stick along her lips, Weiss smacked them, leaning in further to examine her work in the mirror. "Yes. An upperclassman of ours, Coco I believe was her name, approached me the other day and said that I looked hot, and was impressed that I didn't even wear any makeup."

Jaune's eyes shifted up as he tried to recall if he'd ever heard that name before. After a few moments it clicked. Team CFVY, the ones who'd gone off with Professor Port for some assigned mission. The team had recently returned, and Jaune wondered if that meant that Port would reclaim his job from Qrow Branwen as the Grimm Studies professor. If so, where did that leave his strange new ally in this secret fight against Salem?

However, the most immediate thought Jaune had was how Weiss seemed unfazed by the fact that another student had hit on her. Usually she was fiercely protective of her relationship with him, and would not tolerate outside interference from anyone. "That's nice of her," he commented.

Weiss nodded. "Indeed. She was mistaken, however, because when I took my temperature I learned that my body temperature is actually a little more than one degree colder than the average human's."

Jaune blinked. So that was why Weiss hadn't been offended that someone was hitting on her.

It also explained why Weiss loved to shove her unusually cold feet in between his legs when they were sleeping. Deadly as she was, Weiss' body was thin as a twig, and maybe it had trouble retaining body heat. Well, if she needed him to be her heater, he wouldn't complain. Too much…

"I did manage to secure a working knowledge of makeup from her," she continued. "Human females apparently love to apply colored paint to their faces in order to enhance their beauty. So tell me, Jaune," she said as she turned around to stand. "Do I look even more beautiful than normal?"

Jaune stared at what he could only describe as clown makeup. Bright red lips were caked with lipstick, while black circles around her eyes gave her the appearance of a raccoon. The heavy blush on her cheeks make her appear sick with a fever. By the gods did she need some sort of tutorial. Or at the very least, an experienced woman who knew the proper amounts of makeup to apply.

Still, Jaune did what any good boyfriend would, and forced a smile on his lips. "You're… beautiful, Weiss," he said half-truthfully.

Despite the fact that her face looked anything but right now, her inner beauty was shining. Her innocence. Earnestness. It was all part of Weiss' charm to try so hard and fail so miserably. To have such overwhelming confidence despite being so wrong.

He loved those things about her. He loved them so much.

"I'm pleased you think so," she smiled, chin held high and eyes closed as she took in the praise. "I will be meeting with Winter for another sister's date in a few minutes, and I can't wait to see her reaction to my new appearance."

Jaune bit down on his lip. Winter. Oh Winter would certainly have a reaction to this. Hopefully the older sibling would drag Weiss back to her room and teach her to properly apply makeup before going out to Vale together.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with Winter lately," Ruby commented from her spot on one of the beds.

She was right about that. Lately Weiss had been spending most of her free time with her sister, but he supposed that made complete sense. They were family, after all. Separated for years, it was only right that the two would want to reconnect. It was a big help to him as well, as Weiss had another person to help teach her how to be a proper human girl. It was good that the girls had friends and loved ones beyond himself. Ruby had Penny. Yang had Sun. They both had their uncle Qrow, though that reunion hadn't borne for either of them yet, for each of their own unique circumstances.

"She is an ideal role model for a young woman such as myself," Weiss stated. "Strong, beautiful, and successful. It's no wonder that she's related to me, the strongest, most beautiful, and most successful of all the hybrids."

Yang snorted a laugh. Jaune didn't know which of those descriptions she'd found the most funny, but he knew that the blonde girl saw humor in Weiss' misplaced confidence.

Ruby stood from the bed and walked over to be seated next to Yang on hers. She reached out and grabbed the other girl's arm, clutching it possessively close to her body. "You're not the only one with a sister, you know," she said jealously. "And, um, at least I never impaled Yang with my horns!"

"Actually, Ruby," Yang said. "Remember that time when you were ten and we were fighting over who would get the last of the cow flank?"

The redhead winced as if she'd just eaten something sour. "Oh. Yeah." A guilty expression crossed her face. "Sorry, Yang."

Yang smiled warmly, and her free hand came up to ruffle Ruby's hair. It sent the other hybrid scurrying away, but just as quickly as she released her hold on Yang's arm, Yang grabbed one of hers and pulled her back.

"How could I possibly stay mad at my little sister?" she cooed as if speaking to a baby. "You were so strong even at such a young age. You have no idea how proud I was that you fought me for more food."

"Gah! Yang! Stop it!"

There was some sort of back story there, and Jaune watched with amusement as Ruby continued to struggle to escape Yang's clutches. Looking at them right now, they really were like sisters. Remove the part about cow flank and replace it with something like ice cream, and it could have been a scene directly out of the Arc household.

"While it is amusing to recount your past antics," Weiss said as she slipped her boots on. "I must be leaving now. Winter is expecting me, and I shall not keep her waiting."

Ruby, fresh from escaping her own sister's clutches, pouted as she watched Weiss finish her preparations. "Oh yeah? Well you're not the only one with a sister! Me and Yang can do sister things too!"

In a stunning reversal of what had just occurred, Ruby grabbed Yang by the hand and pulled her harshly off her bed. The blonde girl stumbled forward, all but being dragged as Ruby struggled to bring them both to the door.

"Hey! Ruby!" Yang grunted as she fought her losing battle against the surprisingly strong younger sibling. "What gives?"

"Me and you are sisters and we're gonna act like it!" the redhead squawked indignantly. "We're going on a double date with Weiss and Winter!"

Jaune didn't have the heart to tell the girl that double dates were romantic affairs. Perhaps Yang knew and would correct the girl later. If not her, than certainly Winter.

Gods, he hoped that Winter would be able to keep that amount of crazy in check.

"Excuse me?" Weiss protested. "I did not invite you on my date with Winter."

"Fine! Then we'll go on separate dates, but we're going to the same place as you!"

Yang was still thrashing and sputtering protests even as Ruby dragged her from the room behind her. Weiss left as well, still objecting to the fact that her sisterly bonding time with Winter was being intruded on by her fellow hybrids.

As the sounds of arguing faded down the hall, it occurred to Jaune that he was alone. He was actually alone. For the first time since… he couldn't even recall, he had free time to himself. No hybrids to look after. No misunderstandings or shenanigans to deal with. He could do whatever he wanted. He could relax.

He didn't know what to do with himself, honestly.

"I'm alone," he said quietly to himself. Falling back on the bed, he sat there for a moment before speaking again. "I can't believe it. I actually have some alone time."

He could read a comic book. He could do some training. He could even take a nap. The evening was his alone.

Until he saw the single barb-tipped tentacle slither out from beneath his bed, coming up to almost lazily wave at him.

"Fear not, Jaune," the unseen voice spoke. "You're never alone."

Jaune released a breath. Of course. In all the chaos he'd forgotten about a certain someone who was, in her own words, always in his shadow. Blake had made a number of new lairs here at Beacon Academy, but the most certain one was always under his bed. Like some unseen monster from his childhood, the Bogey-Blake would always haunt the underside of his bed.

"Oh, right," he signed. "How could I ever forget you, Blake?"

The creature of his nightmares slid out from underneath the bed, and even as she did Jaune saw how she transformed from her Grimm form to a normal and beautiful faunus girl. Blake stood tall and proud, a pair of golden eyes gazing down upon his seated form with hurt and disappointment.

"How could you forget me?" she wondered sorrowfully. "Me, your first kiss. You wound me, my love. For a human you're far more cruel than even Salem could ever dream of being…"

Melodrama or not, the idea of being compared to that immortal witch rubbed Jaune the wrong way. "How can I make it up to you?"

Blake closed the last few inches between them and placed her palms on his shoulder. "If you do wish to… enjoy your alone time," she offered suggestively. "Please don't hold back on my account. I do so enjoy the sound of your mattress creaking above me…"

Yeah, like that was ever going to happen with her in the room with him. Frankly, Jaune was surprised she wasn't offering to do the job herself, considering all the evocative and amorous words she always spoke to him.

He swallowed hard. The last thing he wanted right now was to think about what a night with Blake might entail. All those teeth. All those tentacles. That long, serpentine tongue…

"L-let's maybe think of something else?" he suggested.

Blake's lips curled into a grin, and Jaune couldn't help but feel as if he'd fallen into some sort of trap. "Something else," she agreed. "A date then."

And there it was. After rejecting her suggestion for doing something utterly intimate and private in her presence, could he really turn her down for something so simple and innocent?

"A date…" he echoed.

"Yes. A date." Her fingertips came to rest lightly on his chest, and began walking them up with every deliberate word she spoke. "Just. The. Two. Of." The last word was punctuated with her index finger poking him gentle on the nose. "Us."

A date with Blake. Here in Vale, a public human setting. Surely it couldn't be that bad. Right?

"A real date," he simply had to confirm. "No hunting down humans. No killing. Nothing weird. Right?"

"Oh there will be death," she grinned. Jaune felt his blood go cold as he stared into the maniacal eyes of the hybrid. "After all, what kind of horror movie would Cannibal Faunus Freaks 2 be without a little blood and gore?"

A date. At a movie. Even if it was horror, it was a surprisingly mundane suggestion from the girl who was anything but mundane. Jaune had heard that you should never look a gift horse in the mouth. He definitely didn't want to look a gift Blake in her maw of jagged fangs.

"You know what, Blake?" he asked. "That sounds great."

Blake stepped back, wrapping her arms around her own torso as she gently swayed back and forth. "He's so eager, eager for our third date," she whispered, eyes locked to the floor beneath her. "Because he hopes that I'll finally give myself to him, and experience rapture the likes of which Ruby and Weiss could never show him…"

And just like that the innocence of the evening had been lost. However, the part about their third date had him confused. "Blake? We've never gone on a date before."

Golden eyes flicked up to regard him. "How cruel, Jaune. Have you forgotten all of the good times we've had?"

Good times. He was sure that in her mind, terrorizing him was indeed a good time. To him, however… "We've still never been on a date."

"What an awful boy you are. Forgetting how I held your body so close to me all night long. How I tended to your injuries like the naughty nurse from every boy's fantasy…"

It took Jaune a moment to recall what she meant. The aftermath of his final battle against Cardin. The one which had left him broken, bloodied, and on the verge of death. Only Blake's timely intervention had saved him from Cardin coming and finishing what he'd started.

"Blake, that wasn't a date. I nearly died."

"Mmmm," she moaned delightedly. "It was blissful, was it not? The fear and vulnerability you radiated that night was intoxicating. It took all I had not to take you then and there…"

That was… frightening to think about in this new light. Still, that only counted as one encounter. "What was our second date?"

"Why, the night of the dance, of course. Swaying with you to the music, followed by a romantic stroll through the courtyard. I couldn't have imagined a more human experience than that…"

Again, Jaune recalled the night in question. "Blake. Most of that was searching for Weiss after her Aura had been unlocked. Wasn't exactly what I'd call a romantic evening."

"It was to me," she grinned. "Time spent alone with my favorite human. Anxiety gnawing in the pit of your stomach. Though how you wound up in the arms of another woman that night… I feel cheated from the experience."

He was about to sarcastically apologize for having his thoughts and concern focused on Weiss that evening, but thought better of it. He didn't want to antagonize Blake, who, for all he knew, truly did consider these incidents as dates between the two of them. The best he could do now was give her a true and genuine date that normal humans would go on together.

Here and now he could show her the good way. The right way. The human way. Despite Blake being only the most recently turned of the hybrids, it wouldn't hurt to remind her of what she once was.

Jaune reached out and took one of her hands, and Blake showed genuine surprise in him being the one to make the move on her. "Then, Blake. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a date tonight?"

A smile, one far less terrifying than the ones she usually wore, grew on her lips. "I'd be delighted to, my darling."

Leading her from the room, Jaune set out on what was sure to be a fun, if not interesting night.

The movie, as it turned out, hadn't actually been scary. At least not to him. Maybe it was due to Jaune having lived a real life horror movie for the past several months that made him immune to a fictional one.

In reality, the true horror had been sitting next to him the entire time. Blake had quietly cackled with delight throughout the most graphic and frightening parts of the whole movie. Maybe it was because of the blatantly racist undertones in making the movie about faunus cannibals which appealed to her morbid sense of humor. Or maybe the hybrid who had slaughtered her share of living creatures found the fake horror and death scenes amusing. With Blake one could never be entirely certain what she found appealing and why.

One thing that was certain, however, was that Blake had wanted the date to be as true and cliché as possible. Under the cover of darkness, Jaune's date had decided to get a little bit frisky, and he still wasn't entirely certain if it had been her arms or tentacles which had slithered around his back to pull him close to her. However, there was no denying the long, slippery tongue which she had jammed down his esophagus when she pressed her lips against his, making out with him as much as choking him as the movie played in the background. To say that she had left him breathless would be an understatement, and even in the darkened theater he'd seen how her eyes glowed with delight after claiming his mouth for herself.

He could only hope Ruby wouldn't get jealous when she smelled Blake's scent on him later. Weiss would be fine with it, considering how often she lobbied to add more women to their pack in order for him to produce more strong offspring. If she was lucky, and perhaps he unlucky, Weiss might get that wish fulfilled by the end of the evening…

Maybe Blake expected something to happen as well, and as they exited from the theater together she had one of her arms linked around his as they walked side by side. Just like a real couple would have. He never would have expected a genuine romantic gesture from the most monstrous of all the hybrids.

She seemed to be having a good enough time. He wondered if that was the case, or if he was merely projecting his own wishes onto her. "Blake?" he asked.

The faunus girl turned her head to look up at him. "Yes?"

"So… how was it?"

She chuckled softly, her trademark grin splitting her mouth open ear to ear. "Delightful, my love. The food was delicious."

Jaune had never heard someone call movie popcorn delicious before, but perhaps she hadn't gone to many movies in her life before her transformation. "Glad to hear. But you barely touched the popcorn."

"I wasn't referring to the popcorn, Jaune," she replied, her tongue darting across her lips.

Jaune sucked in a breath as he stared at her smiling face. Of course. He had been the food. She'd certainly gotten a mouthful of him in the theater…

As the two moved along the sidewalk, Blake turned down into an alleyway, bringing him with her in their linked arms. Maybe she wanted more than just a taste of him, and this was just the most private place she could think to do it. Or maybe being a creature which enjoyed haunting the night, a stroll down a dark alley was her idea of romantic.

In any case, Jaune decided to keep the conversation alive. He was curious about her faunus past as well. "Have you ever been on real dates before?" he wondered. "Back before… you were a hybrid?"

Blake hummed thoughtfully. She leaned her head against his shoulder as they slowly walked. "I have," she said softly. Almost sadly. "Though they were far more violent than our own."

Jaune frowned. He wondered what that meant. Moreover, he wondered if that was a point against his favor. Did Blake prefer violent dates with her men now that she was a hybrid? Was this too boring for her?

"I'm sorry ours has only had fictional violence," he said. He wasn't so much sad that they weren't committing acts of violence themselves, but rather that Blake wasn't having her ideal time with him tonight.

She lifted her head from him and peered into his eyes. "Don't be, my love," she whispered. "Death. Destruction. He never made me feel like I was the object of his desire. Only the mission. Always the mission…"

Jaune didn't know what she meant by that, but considering it sounded like something she regretted, maybe he shouldn't press the issue. Maybe she was having a better time on a boring, normal date with him than one filled with death and destruction.

He felt her hold on his arm tighten. Nails dug down into the skin of his arm. Jaune glanced down to see Blake's ears up and at attention.

"So what do you want to do next?" he asked. "Dinner somewhere? Or if you're not that hungry maybe ice cream?"

She didn't answer immediately. Rather, her head was on a swivel, looking around the dark alley as they continued to walk.

"Bring me home or leave me be," she whispered. "My love in the dark heart of the night…"

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "Blake? What does that mean?"

"Not you," she whispered sharply. Her hold on him was released, and the pair stopped moving. "He's here."

"He?"

Blake didn't answer. Rather, the faunus girl ran, finding an escape ladder hanging from the back of one of the many buildings lining this side of the alley. She leapt up, climbing its rungs and escaping into the darkness which the dim lighting here could not penetrate.

"Blake?" he called, wondering what was going on. "Blake! What's going on!"

She didn't answer. The creature of the night had slipped away into her domain. Finding her in the darkness and shadows was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Just when he thought the situation couldn't any worse, he heard an all too familiar cackling behind him. Jaune's blood ran cold, and he turned to see a man standing a few feet away, his face shrouded in darkness.

"Ah, Mister Arc," the chilling and all too familiar voice greeted. Jaune's eyes widened and his breath hitched. "How wonderful to see you again…"

Stepping forward from the shadows, a man in white pants and a heavy brown overcoat came into the light. A man he hoped he would have never had to see again. Yet here he was, standing before him in the flesh.

"I'm looking for a lost kitty cat," he explained knowingly. "Her owner is quite upset over her disappearance. She's about five-foot-five with black fur, and has the most amazing golden eyes. So tell me, Mister Arc…" His face twisted from amusement to anger in an instant. "Have you seen her?"

Author's Note: Oh cliffhangers. I'll try not to leave you hanging for nearly as long this time.

The truth is, I was burnt out from writing. I tried and failed writing a couple different projects over the past month or so, only to realize that I was getting no joy out of them. I had to just disconnect and take a few weeks where I did nothing. Where I didn't even attempt to write. So hopefully that helped me out, and now I'm recharged and ready for another go at this.

Some of you may look at Raven and think it's out of character for her to settle down. I agree, she has changed. What she and Tai went through would change anybody. If anything could force her to change her ways and reflect on who she was as a person, it would be what happened to Tai and Yang.

With two major happenings in this chapter, you might be able to tell that we're nearing the final phase of the story. This is very late volume 2 territory, maybe even the interlude between 2 and 3. With no Team RWBY in the mix, a lot changes in the volume 2 finale. Certain plans aren't interrupted. Things can change wildly moving forward...

Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed this nice meaty chapter. Sorry for the wait. Considering how I left things off, I'm quite excited to get to what happens next.

As always, thanks for reading.