Known By Its Song
It was a bit of a rainy morning and Qrow had finally managed to make a list of Huntsmen he believed to be capable of beating Raven and her tribe. So he went to the lower levels to a nearby bar where he heard the first recruit being a regular.
"Qrow," Kasandra said sternly as they were in front of the bar.
"I'm not here for a drink," Qrow said with a sigh. After his stunt on their first day in Mistral, the lucky Blade didn't trust her Driver to move on his own without getting plastered.
"I don't believe you," Kasandra said with, quite frankly, an adorable scowl.
Qrow rolled his eyes before opening the paper slide door and entering. Judging by the pots and pans this was more of a small restaurant.
"Regular, or the special?" the balding man behind the counter asked. The guy was carving what looked like a small bowl with a knife out of wood. He also had a few scars on him. The guy looked up from his work with a small frown. "No Faunus in here," the man said with a frown.
Qrow quirked an eyebrow before following his gaze to see he was talking to Kasandra who looked confused. "She's not a Faunus, she's a Blade," Qrow said hoping that this would be the only thing he would say. He did see a small sign saying "No Faunus" but he didn't think much of it.
"I don't care," the man said deepening his frown a little.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Kasandra asked politely.
The shopkeep opened his mouth to say something. Only to freeze a little as Kasandra gave her brightest smile to him. "…No…never mind me," the man said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
Qrow looked between the two in bewilderment, trying to figure out what made this guy do a 180. "She did it again." Qrow thought, trying to keep his smile off his face at another poor fool succumbing to Kasandra's smile. Then the veteran huntsman decided to get down to business. "I'm actually looking for someone," Qrow spoke up, "Shiro Wan. Heard he's a regular here."
"Who's asking?" the shopkeep asked with tiniest of frowns.
"Hey, I'm not some cop if that's what you're worried about," Qrow said pacifyingly, "I'm looking for Shiro for a gig."
"You a friend of his or something?" the shopkeep asked.
Qrow brought a hand to his chin in a thinking pose. "Yeah…I'd say so. He's pretty okay guy. We go way back," Qrow said with a small smile.
"I see. In that case," the shopkeep said before brandishing his knife at Qrow with a downright murderous look on his face, "You tell that jerk he better not show his ugly face here, until he pays me the lien he owes me!"
This startled Qrow a bit. "Uhh. Did I say friend? I meant acquaintance," Qrow said quickly as he began to back off to the exit. The shopkeep growled at the veteran. "Really, we're just colleagues," Qrow said nervously before opening the door carefully behind him, "I'll just take my leave now." With those words, Qrow quickly exited the shop and leaned against the opposite door. Then he took out his scroll and crossed Shiro's name out. "Urgh…great start," Qrow groaned as the door opened, allowing Kasandra to exit. The lucky Blade hadn't come out when the guy started yelling for some reason.
"He said that he hadn't seen Shiro in weeks," Kasandra informed her Driver, earning a dumbfounded look from the said man.
"…How did you get that out of him?" Qrow couldn't help asking as he stopped leaning against the wall. The shopkeep looked like he was out for blood, so he wondered how Kasandra got him to even talk.
"I asked nicely," Kasandra said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. This caused Qrow to sigh at how his Blade is able to do things like this so easily. Then the man was startled when the knife the shopkeep had threatened him with pierced through the door where his head used to be at. "Oh? Lucky you weren't leaning against the door at the time," Kasandra said happily.
"Yeah…lucky indeed," Qrow muttered dryly.
After that, Qrow wandered around the town to ask about the people on his list. But no matter where he went, no one had seen or heard of them for a long time. About halfway through the list, Qrow almost cried out his frustration to the heavens. Only Kasandra giving him a comforting hug stopped him from doing that and helped him keep going more than he cared to admit.
Which finally brings Qrow to the residence of the last name on the list. "Heather Shields," Qrow mutters as he checked his Scroll.
"Maybe we'll get lucky here," Kasandra said, still hopeful despite all their ups and downs.
"I sure hope so," Qrow said with a groan. Then he moved to the house he had been pointed at earlier and knocked on the door. No one answered. Qrow then banged on the door in frustration. Still no answer.
"Qrow, maybe you should try some patience," Kasandra said in a pacifying manner.
"Look, Kasandra, I've had rough enough-" Qrow's complaint was interrupted when the door opened revealing a man who looked at the two with a frown. This caused Qrow to straighten up. "Oh. Sorry about that, is Heather here?" Qrow asked the man whose face fell at hearing that. Something that irritated the veteran huntsman, "Look pal, I've had a rough day, is she here or not?"
"Daddy." Said a small girl who appeared from behind the man. "Does he know where mommy is?" the girl asked.
At this, Qrow realized what he had stumbled into. A husband who was most likely worried sick about his wife and a kid who didn't yet realize how bad it could be. "Oh…I'm sorry to bother you," Qrow apologized. With that, the man closed the door with a disappointed look.
Sometime later, Qrow found himself at the bulletin board for missions in Mistral. Taking a look at his Scroll with crossed out names, Qrow noticed that every single name he had on the list was on a mission. Some of which have taken many weeks, while some were on hold or…terminated.
"How can all of them be gone for so long?" Kasandra asked, taking note of the names on the accepted missions and Qrow's list.
"That's a damn good question," Qrow muttered with a depressed sigh, before taking out his flask. Only to feel something burning into his very soul. Turning to the source of the feeling, it was Kasandra giving him a warning look. "Oh, fine," Qrow grumbled before putting the flask away and sitting down on a nearby bench with a weary sigh.
"Qrow?" Kasandra sounded out unsurely as she sat next to her Driver.
"I get one or two, but all of them?" Qrow muttered with a sigh.
"It's all right," Kasandra said as she hugged Qrow, "We still got lots of strong Drivers. speaking of which, why haven't you taken part in their training?"
"Look, I'm not interested in being a Driver," Qrow said, not wanting to talk about this.
"Why not? You got me now," Kasandra said with a confused look.
"Against my will," Qrow thought, if only because he didn't want to hurt Kasandra's feelings by saying it aloud, "Look I just…I don't understand what's so great about being a Driver. I get you get to use cool looking abilities, but…I just don't feel comfortable about the idea." It was more about this affinity link thing attuning emotions that scared him a little.
"Why not?" Kasandra asked innocently.
"Look, can we not talk about this," Qrow almost pleaded.
This made Kasandra look a little hurt, "Okay." But she accepted it while looking down at the floor, kicking her dark-blue, clawed feet idly.
Later on, Qrow returned to the restaurant Shiro was a regular at.
"You got a lot of nerve showing up back here," the shopkeep said with a frown, "Unless you've brought that idiot with you." The man then looked up and paused as he saw the somber look on Qrow.
"How much did Shiro owe you?" Qrow asked, earning a surprised look from the man.
"Well…I'd say about…16,000 lien," the shopkeep said after a moment of thought. Qrow then threw a huge lien card on the counter. "Wait what?" the shopkeep was surprised to say the least. "Man, you must be in some trouble with him if you're paying me off," the shopkeep said almost jokingly.
"His name is clear," Qrow said simply. This made the shopkeep slump a little, completely understanding the meaning.
"Yeah…of course." the shopkeep then said. Then Qrow left the building. "That idiot," the shopkeep said with a sad sigh.
At the Branwen camp, Yang, Weiss, Tora and all the Blades were in Raven's tent. Sitting around a low table with Vernal pouring a cup of tea for Raven, Yang, Weiss and even Tora. Dragunov was sitting on Yang's right while Weiss was sitting on the left of Yang and between them was Dahlia. On Weiss' left was Aizen who was keeping an eye on Vernal and Raven. Then on the left side of the table were Tora and Poppi, with Wulfric sitting behind them. Finally, opposite of Yang and Weiss was Raven.
"Thank you Vernal," Raven thanked her second in command, "You can wait outside."
Vernal gave Raven a concerned look, "But Raven-" "Vernal. Leave." Raven interrupted firmly. Causing the bandit woman to go outside.
"So, what's the 'truth'," Yang then asked while glaring at her biological mother.
Raven didn't answer immediately, but took a sip from her tea first. "You know, it's better when it's hot," the bandit leader said.
"May I, Miss Schnee," Aizen asked as he motioned towards the cup.
"Be my guest," Weiss said while glaring at Raven. Which was all Aizen needed to take the cup, take a whiff of the fragrance, and then take a careful sip.
"I must admit," Aizen said to Raven, "You have a good taste in tea…for a mindless savage." the last part Aizen added with a small smug smile. Something that Weiss approved of.
Raven frowned at this before deciding to address the issue, "The truth is that 'truth' is hard to come by. The story of victory for one person is a story of defeat to someone else. I'm sure your uncle has told Ruby and her friends plenty of stories by now."
"Well he hasn't given me a reason to doubt him," Yang replied.
"That doesn't mean those reasons don't exist," Raven said back.
During this conversation, Tora and Poppi looked back and forth between Weiss, Yang and Raven. "Does Masterpon understand anything?" Poppi whispered to Tora.
"Tora not understand. Does Poppi?" Tora whispered back.
"You know, you and your team mates might as well be the poster children of the huntsman academies," Raven said almost condescendingly, "Your motives vary, but you all enrolled to make a world a better place. It's adorable."
"It's what huntsmen and huntresses do," Yang argued back.
"Not all of them," Raven said before pouring herself another cup, "Some people are just in it for the money and fame. Others simply look to become stronger."
"That may be," Dragunov commented, "But despite that, they still do the job, which makes the world a better place, intentionally or not."
Aizen chuckled at Dragunov's words, "Very true. I see you have a functioning brain under those horns."
Raven frowned at these two weapons talking as if they knew anything about human nature. "Qrow and I didn't attend Beacon to become huntsmen. We did it to learn how to kill Huntsmen."
This revelation earned a shocked look from Weiss, Yang and Dahlia. Poppi and Tora still looked confused. Dragunov clenched his fists while Aizen looked disappointed.
"Daddy and uncle left that part out," Raven said almost condescendingly, "Aside from the Grimm, Huntsmen were the only ones capable of disrupting our raids and hunting us down."
"As is their job." Aizen almost interrupted with a condescending look.
"We needed a counterforce," Raven explained while ignoring the nobleman Blade. "And Qrow and I were the perfect age. The entrance exams were child's play compared to what we've already been through." At this point, Raven stood up, "We were good. So good that we caught the attention of Beacon's own headmaster, Professor Ozpin. Even after we were put on a team, I knew he had his eyes on us. At first, I thought it was because he knew, but it was team STRQ he was interested in."
"What do you mean by that?" Yang asked skeptically.
"Constant attention, extra training missions, turning a blind eye to whenever we got into more trouble than we should have," Raven listed as she gave the two girls a look, "Sound familiar?"
"What of it?" Dragunov asked only having been around for the more recent examples.
"How much do any of you know about Professor Ozpin?" Raven then asked, "About his past."
"Uhh…Tora not know who that is." Tora said, totally lost.
"I wasn't asking you, you little meatball," Raven said angrily, causing Tora to whimper.
"Poppi will protect Masterpon," Poppi suddenly said, standing up and getting between Tora and Raven. Wulfric was also growling at Raven.
The bandit leader sighed before turning back towards the two Drivers. "Just answer my question."
"…He was a prodigy," Weiss said unsurely, "One of the youngest headmasters ever appointed."
"That's because he planned it that way," Raven said, earning confused looks, "The man you know as professor Ozpin built those schools and has followers inside every Academy only loyal to him."
"You're insane," Dragunov outright said, "The Schools were built shortly after the Great War. Ozpin can't be that old."
"And why would anyone even do that?" Yang asked with a glare.
"Because the great man Ozpin has a terrible secret," Raven explained, "One that could spread fear across Remnant. A secret he eventually entrusted me and my team. And there was no going back after that. With every new discovery I made after that, the world became more horrifying."
"Okay, so what's the big secret?" Yang asked, wondering what BS her mother would try to feed her.
"The Creatures of Grimm have a master named Salem," Raven revealed, earning raised eyebrows. "She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with and she won't stop until she has seen humanity crumbling under her heel."
Aizen chuckled a little at this news.
"Do you find something funny about that?" Raven asked while glaring at the insolent weapon.
"Can't be stopped," Aizen said in a condecending tone, "Boasting of an arrogant being. Anything can be defeated."
"That's assuming if this Salem even exists," Dragunov added in.
"You speak of trust, but you haven't given us a reason to trust you," Dahlia also added in with an icy look.
"…What are the Creatures of Grimm?" Wulfric then asked.
"I'm getting tired of Atlas' faulty Dust constructs," Raven said with a glare before looking at the two girls. "How can you trust a weapon with so faulty programming that it doesn't even know about the Grimm? How did Atlas even manage to create something like them?"
"Blades come from Core Crystals," Poppi piped up, "And Core Crystals come from Titans."
"Quiet!" Raven finally snapped.
"Wait!" Yang then asked, "Titans? You mean the creatures that make up the land in Alrest?"
"What Goldie mean by 'in Alrest'?" Tora asked with a headtilt.
Weiss let out a sigh, "Tora, I don't know if there is a nice way of putting it, but…you're not in Alrest, you're in a world called Remnant."
"…Meh-meh-MEH!" Tora sounded out frantically, "That not possible! That a scientific impossibility!"
"Masterpon," Poppi piped up, "The Ether concentration in the air is much smaller from normal. And Poppi not recognized any constellations at night."
"…That hole may have very well sucked us into a different world," Wulfric added in.
"Mehmehmeh-MEH?!" Tora sounded out, "But…what about friends? What about Rex-Rex? What about, Nia? What about-" "Rex is alive, and that way," Wulfric said before pointing to a seemingly random direction.
The trio didn't notice this, but Yang was surprised at this information, until a light bulb went off in her head. "Tora, you're a Nopon, aren't you?" Yang asked, earning a surprised look from Weiss.
Tora perked up at this, "Yes, Tora a Nopon."
"Yang, how do you know that?" Weiss asked, not understanding how the blonde could have figured it out.
"I'll tell you later," Yang said when she received a nudge and a headshake from Dragunov.
During this exchange, Raven was looking between everyone. "What in the world are they talking about?!" the bandit leader thought inside her head. They couldn't be serious about that glitch in their system being an actual place? Unless…Qrow seemed oddly smug when she asked how Atlas made these Blades, like he knew something she didn't. "What do you know about these Blades?" Raven then asked, "Aren't they Atlas creations?"
"What is Atlas?" Poppi asked with a headtilt.
"If Qrow hasn't told you, then neither will we," Yang said almost smugly, "Besides, why should we believe anything you're saying?"
Raven sighed before letting out a small sigh, "At least you're not entirely stupid. You need to question everything. Otherwise you will end up as blind as your uncle. And your fool of a father."
At that moment Yang had gotten up with red eyes and smashed the table. "Don't you dare talk about my family."
Then Vernal appeared back into the tent and pointed one of her weapons at Yang. "You need to calm down."
"And you need to put that thing away," Dragunov threatened as he stepped between Vernal and Yang. Then the mighty fire Blade stepped forward getting in front of increasingly intimidated Vernal's face. "Go ahead. It won't kill me," Dragunov said challengingly, "And when you realize that, I will crush your puny skull, like a tiny hollow little glass ball."
The threat actually scared Vernal, who was ready to prove this thing wrong by shooting it in the area a heart would be at.
"Vernal!" Raven shouted, causing the bandit in question to freeze. "Stand down," Raven said firmly. Vernal looked at Dragunov's smug smile before reluctantly lowering her weapon.
"Yang, please," Weiss also pleaded Yang as she grabbed the blonde's hand.
"Dragunov, don't," Dahlia said firmly.
"Listen to your team mate Yang," Raven said smugly, "They haven't let you down before."
"You don't know the first thing about my teammates! About me!" Yang snapped, "You abandoned us! You were never there! You just left us!"
Raven didn't react to Yang's outburst. "I know more than you realize. I know the Grimm have a master. I know people who can come back from the dead. And I know magic is real," Raven said before turning to the back of the tent, "And I can prove it."
"Interesting," Aizen said as he stood up, "If you can show us proof then I might be more inclined to believe you." Although judging by his tone, Aizen sounded like he was talking to a child that was trying to claim that white was black.
Raven glared at the Blade that just screamed "backstabber" before returning her attention to Yang. "You said your father told you all about my semblance, but I doubt he told you what Ozpin did to my brother and me," Raven said as she moved through the back entrance.
"Go see for yourself," Vernal said before moving outside. Or anywhere that didn't have Dragunov in the immediate field of vision. With that, Yang, Weiss, Dragunov, Dahlia, Aizen and even Tora, Poppi and Wulfric moved outside through the back.
"Mom!" Yang called out as she realized Raven was nowhere in sight.
"Yang, are you okay," Weiss asked carefully.
"I'll be fine, once I get her to send us to Ruby," Yang said angrily.
"Yang it's alright if you're not okay," Dahlia said kindly.
"You guys don't believe her, right," Yang then said.
"What do you think?" Dragunov said as he crossed his arms.
"Well…I don't know," Weiss said, "It sounded so…crazy."
"I'm not sure if we should trust her," Dahlia added her opinion, "Right, Aizen?" After few seconds, Dahlia glanced at the Blade who just looked at them all and didn't answer. "Aizen?"
"I'm thinking," the nobleman Blade said simply.
Then they heard a caw, not too far away. They saw a red eyed raven flying around.
"A raven," Weiss muttered.
"I've seen that bird before," Yang said, remembering something like that moving around the house at Patch a few times.
"Maybe it's your mom's," Weiss then suggested, but Dragunov was glaring at the bird.
"…No…this scent," Dragunov growled as he glared at the bird that chose to swoop down. Then in a burst of black feathers, the bird was replaced by Raven who fell on her feet, earning surprised looks out of everyone.
"How mean lady do that?!" Tora exclaimed.
"Poppi unable to compute," Poppi said with her head twitching.
Weiss and Yang had dropped their jaws.
"Interesting," Aizen commented with an intrigued look.
"So, I wasn't imagining your scent back in Patch," Dragunov growled, remembering how he thought he smelled Raven around Xiao Long household a few times.
"How did you do that?" Yang all but demanded.
"I could explain it to you," Raven said before swinging her sword, creating a red portal, "Or you can ask your uncle and join in Ozpin's impossible war against Salem. And die like so many others."
Aizen scoffed at that, "All I hear is a loser who is scared to death of her own shadow." Raven glared at the nobleman Blade.
"Besides, why do you care if Yang dies?" Dragunov asked, earning an offended look from Raven.
"What did you say?" Raven asked.
"You heard me, woman. The last time I looked you had ears," Dragunov said with a scowl, "You call 'saving' Yang once a freebie. And you say it was used no matter the outcome. And now you're asking us to act like it never happened."
"Drag, that's enough," Yang said with an angry look, before looking at her mother, "I'm going to where Ruby is."
Raven had a disappointed look, "So be it."
"Is that safe," Tora asked nervously at the portal that reminded him too much of the breach that sucked him and everyone else in.
"…Rex is through there," Wulfric suddenly said before pointing at the portal.
"Is Wulfric sure?" Poppi asked.
"Yes, my Resonance is telling me that going through brings us closer," the beastly Blade replied.
"Then you three could come with us," Dahlia offered easily.
"Tora not sure," Tora replied with an unsure look.
"Masterpon, if Rex closer through here, then it logical we go through," Poppi stated.
Tora looked thoughtful for a moment, "Okay. Tora trust Poppi." This comment seemed to make Poppi happy, if her small smile was any indication.
"We should get Bumblebee," Dragunov then said, reminding Yang about her bike.
It didn't take long until Yang and Dragunov gathered Bumblebee with Yang, Weiss and Dragunov on it, while the rest of the Blades and Tora and Poppi were on the ground.
With that, Yang drove Bumblebee towards the portal with all the walkers following behind her.
"Yang," Raven said, earning her daughter's attention one more time.
"If you side with your uncle, I may not be as kind next time," the red eyed woman warned.
"Good, because neither will I," Dragunov replied with a savage grin.
"What are you talking about?" Yang asked her Blade, "She wasn't kind this time." With those words, Yang drove into the portal, with everyone else following on foot. Once the last of them had gone through, Raven closed the portal knowing that they had already gotten through on the other side.
In Mistral, right outside the house, Qrow was still thinking how all the hunstmen he wanted to recruit were most likely dead. How was that even possible? None of them were exactly pushovers.
Then he heard the opening of a familiar portal. "Raven?" Qrow sounded out before hearing a motorcycle engine, "Oh."
Inside the house, the rest of the gang was preparing dinner for whoever Qrow would be bringing. Nora was previously cutting the vegetables, until Pyra took over after seeing the orangette snatch one too many carrot pieces into her own maw. Now…Nora was banned from the kitchen.
Jaune, Joana, and Otohime were setting the table.
"Okay, the first batch is nearly done," Ren informed as he stirred a large pot.
"Awesome," said a happy Ruby who was cooking meat on a frying pan.
"You're going to overcook that," Ren said in mild concern.
"No I'm not! Shut up," Ruby argued back.
"I'm back!" Qrow then shouted from the front door.
"Be right there!" Ruby shouted back.
"Umm, Ruby, Ren is right," Pyra spoke up, having turned to look at Ruby's handiwork.
"No I'm not!" Ruby argued, and then a plume of smoke blew out of the meat.
"That's what you get for not listening to a Blade whose skill is literally Cooking," Roze said almost smugly.
"Like you could do better," Ruby said with a pout at her Blade.
"No, but at least I'm honest about it," Roze shot back, with his arms crossed.
"Ruby!" Qrow called out.
"I'm coming!" Ruby replied with a little more annoyance than was probably necessary. "Urgh, you take over," Ruby then told Ren before abandoning her post.
"If Roze takes over cutting board, I can cook the meat," Pyra told Ren, not trusting Nora to keep her hands to herself.
"Please do," Ren said, having already seen how Pyra is able to cook meat better than even him.
"Alright," Roze said as he moved to cutting board while reaching for his holster.
"With a knife." Pyra said sternly as she took out a new meat to be cooked.
"Knife, scnife," Roze grumbled before taking his hand away from his compact scythe and taking the cutting knife instead and started cutting.
As this happened, Ruby had taken a tray with tea and started bringing it to their possible guests. "Sorry we didn't know how many people were coming, so we just cooked all of it," Ruby said before gasping at the sight of the people in the house. First a small round creature, a little robot girl with a white beret, a red cape with a white flower at the left edge of the cape that moved across her chest. Then a huge horned beast that was staring at her with eyes similar to Roze.
But it was the next people that made Ruby drop the tray in shock, causing the tea set to break. Yang, Weiss, Dahlia and Dragunov. Of course, Aizen was also there, but Ruby wasn't focusing on him.
"Hello, Ruby," Dragunov said with a grin.
But Ruby didn't register that," Yang! I'm so sorry! I…I should've stayed and I should've talked to you more. I didn't even know if you wanted me around and-" Ruby's rambling was interrupted by Yang pulling her sister into hug.
"I love you," Yang said with small tears coming out.
Ruby also got teary eyed at the fact that her sister didn't hate her. "I love you too." And then she hugged back.
As this happened, Ren, Pyra, Otohime, Jaune, Joana and Roze came out of the kitchen and dining room to see what the commotion was about. Only to see Yang hugging Ruby.
"Hello, Roze," Dragunov greeted with a small smile before his eyes fell on Pyra, "Who is this?"
"What's going on in here," asked Mòrag who came into the living room from another part of the house with Brighid, Zeke, Pandoria, Penny and Kos-Mos. Rex, Roc and Oscar also came from another part of the house. Even Nora and Electra came from where ever the orangette was pouting at.
"Tora, Poppi!" Pyra exclaimed happily.
"Wulfric!" Rex added in at the sight of his missing Blade.
"Rex-Rex!" Tora bounced in spot happily.
"Pyra!" Poppi also sounded out while pointing at the Blade in question.
And then Mòrag and Brighid also saw the newcomers. Especially Brighid. "Dragunov," Brighid said in mild disbelief.
"Brighid," Dragunov replied in equal surprise.
"You know her?" Weiss asked the draconic Blade.
"I know of her," Dragunov said before his eyes fell on Mòrag. "Who is your current Driver?"
"I am," Mòrag responded, "Mòrag Ladair, Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain."
"I see…when did Hugo kick the bucket," Dragunov then asked.
"Hugo?" Mòrag asked with a quirk of an eyebrow. Not knowing anyone by that name.
While Dragunov was having this conversation, Weiss turned to look at the two sisters hugging. The white-haired girl didn't want to say it, but she felt left out.
"Weiss," Ruby said as she and Yang had separated and both had their arms wide open.
The white-haired girl understood the meaning and practically jumped into the group hug. A sight that made Dahlia look happy for her Driver, while Aizen had a calculative look at all the new individuals in the room.
Then Dragunov's eyes fell on Rex who had moved next to Pyra. The draconic Blade was staring at the salvager with an intense look.
"Umm... hello," Rex said unsurely.
"…Are you Addam's kid?" Dragunov asked.
"What?!" Rex and Zeke exclaimed in unison.
"You resemble him a lot," Dragunov commented while eyeing the boy.
"That's not possible!" Zeke protested loudly, "The people of Tantal are descendants of Addam!"
"What's Tantal?" Dragunov asked.
But then Brighid decided to butt in," Wait! Dragunov, I know about you through my diary, but how do you know about me?"
"I got my hands on Thauron's journal," Dragunov replied easily.
"What was the last entry on it?" Brighid then asked.
Dragunov thought back on it. He had already read the whole thing, but he might have forgotten some details due to him focusing on what he thought was especially interesting. "It was the last night we spent in Spefan Inn before going to face Malos."
Brighid nodded uncertainly, before deciding to just say it, "That was 500 years ago."
"What?" Dragunov asked.
"Your Driver Thauron died back then and your Core Crystal disappeared, " Brighid explained, "Or…that's what both my diary and history books say."
"…I see, and Torna," Dragunov asked.
"Gone," Brighid said, "I'm sorry."
"Hold up, right there!" Zeke then interjected, "What's this about Rex resembling Addam?!" It sounded like this was the most important thing for Zeke.
"Who is that guy?" Dragunov asked with an annoyed look.
"Zeke Von Genbu! Bringer of Chaos! And prince of the Kingdom of Tantal who are decendants of Addam himself!" Zeke said with a proud look.
"…You look nothing like Addam," Dragunov said bluntly, earning a reaction akin to Zeke being shot through the heart.
"How would you know?" Pandoria asked even as she was trying to console her prince.
"The journal came with a group picture of all of us, and our Drivers at the time," Dragunov then said before looking around, "Speaking of which, is Jin still around?"
At this point, all the Alrestians looked sour.
"What?" Dragunov asked, noticing the dip in the mood.
"Dragunov," Rex piped up for the first time since Dragunov mistaking him for the great Hero's kid, "You might not want to hear this."
"What do you mean?" Dragunov asked.
"Jin…is working with Malos," Pyra then said with a downcast look.
"Say, what?!" Dragunov practically roared, "That can't be! Why would someone like Jin ever work with Malos?"
"…We don't know," Pyra admitted, "We…don't know what happened after the battle with Malos."
"You don't?" Dragunov asked before looking to Brighid, "You didn't record this in your diary?"
"The last entry was from the last camp we made before going after Malos," Brighid admitted, "And there are no further records from the time until decades later."
"That sounds suspicious," Dragunov muttered before his eyes fell on Pyra. More specifically, her chest. "What's with that form?" Dragunov then asked directly.
"Umm…" Pyra said unsurely, "What do you mean?"
Dragunov then smirked for some reason. "Hey. Why are seventeen blondes waiting in front of a bar?"
"Huh?" Came out of everyone.
"Need to be 18 to get inside," Dragunov said before laughing, this earned a scowl from Yang, Jaune and Joana.
"Uhh…okay?" Pyra was still confused.
"How about this," Dragunov then said, "What do you call a blonde with two braincells?"
"Dragunov," Yang said through gritted teeth.
"Well," Pyra was now a little freaked out.
"Pregnant!" And then Dragunov burst in another fit of laughter.
"What is he doing?" Zeke wondered aloud. All the while Pandoria felt like zapping this annoying Blade, despite the jokes not being directed at her.
Brighid's eyebrows jumped beneath her hairline in realization, "If he knows about me, then does that mean he knows about...?"
"Now here's my personal favorite," Dragunov said with a very evil grin, "How many blondes does it take to wipe out an army?"
Everyone was still annoyed that Dragunov started shooting blonde jokes in the presence of three blondes. But they were also intrigued by the last one, because it sounded…different.
"Well…I don't know," Pyra said, now nervous for some reason while a certain someone was seething in anger inside her head.
"One. Very. Lousy…Cook," Dragunov said, making sure to emphasize each and every word.
And then Pyra was replaced by Mythra.
"What the-?!" Yang and Weiss shouted in unison.
"THAT DOES IT! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!" Mythra screamed with a murderous look before summoning her Aegis sword from Rex's back before attacking Dragunov. The draconic Blade brought out his talons and started blocking Mythra's attacks to the best of his ability.
"Hello, Mythra," Dragunov said smugly, but that didn't stop the blonde Aegis from trying to cut the infuriating fire Blade into ribbons.
"Whoa," Jaune muttered as he got to see firsthand the wrath of the Aegis, especially when Dragunov was backing off and out the door.
"Does it make me a horrible being to wish that the beast would suffer?" Joana asked half-heartedly.
"No, as far as I am concerned," Otohime replied with a small smile.
"…What just happened?" Penny asked with a head tilt.
"So that was Mythra," Yang muttered, "The journal never mentioned her being able to take different forms."
"What journal?" Ruby asked, now curious.
"Oh…uhh, well remember that book Dragunov found in Forever Fall?" Yang then decided to tell.
"Yeah, why?" Ruby said with a curious look. The moment of RWY completely passed now.
"It was a journal that belonged to his previous Driver," Yang explained, earning wide eyes out of Ruby and Weiss.
As this conversation happened, Rex had moved to Tora and Poppi, "You know…right now I'm very glad that Siren isn't here." The young salvager was convinced that Mythra would use it to vaporize Dragunov if she could.
"Should we try stop them?" Poppi asked while lightly hugging her trembling Masterpon to comfort him.
Brighid heard this and decided to answer, "Based on what is written in my diary, I would say it's easier to let them get it out of their system."
"The Journal said the same thing," Yang decided to add in, now thinking that her getting under Weiss' skin is tame compared to what Dragunov did to Mythra.
"HOLD STILL YOU OVERSIZED PAPERWEIGHT!" Everyone heard Mythra screaming outside.
"OVERSIZED WHAT?!" Which was followed by a roar from Dragunov.
With Oscar, the poor boy and the subtenant in his body only had one thing in their minds. "What have I gotten myself into?" A question that unbeknownst to Oscar, Ozpin had asked himself more times than he can count.
AN: There we go. Qrow not only was unable to find anyone, but he has reservations about being a Driver. Yang, Weiss and everyone else have made it to Ruby and others. With that, teams RWY, JNPR and the Alrest crew are together. The only ones missing are Blake and Nia.
Also we get a taste of the relationship Dragunov had with Mythra. Zeke got stabbed right into the childhood, Rex gets mistaken as Addam's kid. Who knows what kind of mayhem can come from friends of the distant past meeting up?
Also, sorry if the last part felt weird, I had to juggle a lot of characters.