An Avians Annoying Adventure

He stalked out the bar in the town of Hoover, a dead end.

Then it was Carlos, but the bar there had a fire start in it with no discernible cause.

Three days later he left Franc a very annoyed, and wet, man after a water tower mysteriously burst when he was underneath it. The person he was speaking to was also rather annoyed and wet as well.

Lure had no accidents happen there; but when he left the CCTS malfunctioned. Something that was decidedly not his fault. For once...

Now it was a week later, and yet another damn dead end.

A week. And nothing.

A whole week he'd been going from town to town trying to find any evidence of the woman being near Vale and all he got was nothing. He was starting to think she just wasn't anywhere near Vale to begin with. Why did he believe the racist again?

Oh right, Oz really wanted Celestine found and fast. Not the Qrow blamed him, she was a Maiden, one with a Semblance that could stop Grimm from Dissolving, but a Maiden nonetheless. But speed bred mistakes. Exhibit A being right now.

The seasoned, yet gruff, Hunter stood on the outskirts of Ansel, a town consisting of primarily retired Hunters. They hadn't seen anything resembling a golden, winged woman near the damn place and thought him insane for thinking such a thing exists. You get a bird Faunus with wings, give them golden armour. Boom! Golden, winged Hunter! Not that hard to create.

But the town admitted that nothing like that had been sighted at all.

That listed all the inner towns off the list; Ansel, Arcadia, Hoover, Carlos, Franc and Lure. None, bar Arcadia for obvious reasons, hadn't seen her the entire week.

If the woman was, truly was a Maiden; how long had she had the powers? Did she know what they were? Having called herself a 'Saint' implied she was religious, did that mean that when she gained the Maiden powers she thought her god granted them to her?

That in of itself raised another problem; depending how religious she was, would she accept it as it really was, a form of magic? Or would she dismiss it and his claims?

He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

Having the CCTS malfunctioning the entire time was not helping either, only government facilities had a stable connection to both inner and inter-kingdom communications. Unless you were a government official, or getting a call from one, the connection would be as stable as Vacuo's relationship with Atlas, I.e. there isn't one other than a thrown punch.

Bad metaphor but he didn't care at this point; his flask was empty and he was tired. At least his Scroll still had battery left…

And the thing was bound to break irreparably now- the Scroll began to ring- or during the call.

He pulled it out and answered without looking, "Yeah, Oz?"

"I have news for you Qrow," Ozpin was straight to the point and Qrow rolled his eyes, the man was always like this when something potentially involving Her was the current topic.

"I hope so, 'cause there's fuck all to do with her near Vale's walls!" to say he was annoyed would be an understatement. And boredom was starting to grate on his nerves. And the lack of alcohol.

Ozpin sighed, "I just got a call from a Guild office, for a week there's been an armoured woman who had been taking all the bounties and succeeding in them,"

Qrow didn't really see the point, many women wore armour and took bounties, "So?"

"She proves their deaths by bringing the severed heads of the Grimm. At first the worker thought it to be a strange Semblance but she also glows gold and wields a flaming sword…"

The gruff hunter sighed, "And her name is Celestine, right?"

"Yes, it is; she registered as a Hunter a week ago, however the paperwork has only just come though," Ozpin even sounded a little annoyed at that, what's with the CCTS lately? Jimmy better have a damn good reason for it...

"Get to her, with the Vyt-"

"The festival isn't for another eight months! But if you really think it's Her," If it really was Her on the move...The CCTS troubles won't be helping…

"Oz, talk to James and figure out what the hell's going on up there, I'll go to the town and find Celestine," Qrow paused, "Uh, what's the town?"

"Cambridge, its-"

-"the opposite damn direction!" and at least a three day flight from Ansel. The man threw his head back and groaned, "Ugh, I'll get there as soon as possible…is there anything else I gotta know?"

"She's adopted a child," Ozpin sounded both amused and concerned at the concept of potential enemy being the guardian of a child, the problem is, we don't know if she is!

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me that much. Sounds like she's a bit of a bleeding heart," Qrow doubted she was a threat, but that might be the bias speaking; she did save his nieces after all. And she was really polite that night at Tai's, so much so it hurt to even say no around her.

Ozpin hummed, "yes it appears so," Qrow could feel the cogs turning in the old man's head in an attempt to plan out how to sway her to his side. The man always has a plan…as convoluted as they could be...

"The child's name is Emerald Sustrai, a nine year old girl. The records that I could access show she's an orphan originally from Mistral, but went missing from the kingdom two years ago..." Ozpin trailed off, then gave a hum,

"Uh, Oz?"

"Two years ago the Red Banner tribe was in Mistral-"

Qrow cringed at the implication- "and we now know how she got here," he really wished he didn't, "and if the state Celestine left their bodies in is any indication, if she finds out what they're known for there won't be a tribe left."

Not that he would be complaining, but it made finding her a little more urgent than before. The risk of losing a Maiden in battle was too great.

"Right, well if that's all, I've gotta flight to catch," at Ozpin's final 'good luck,' Qrow placed his scroll back into its pocket and took to the skies in the form of his namesake and prayed to the gods she was actually there. If not, he was going to scream.

He did anyway in bird form as a gust of wind threw him off course.

After a couple of days of taking bounties, guard duty and saving Marie from a pack of Beowolves, the Saint finally had the time to get to the towns archives, which in reality was just a small library next to the even smaller education centre; but judging by the scaffolding around it, it wasn't going to be small for much longer.

The library was the size of a small, wooden house but still had a warm homey atmosphere blanketing it. She was glad her armour was left back in the hotel room, it would have undoubtedly made more noise then what was acceptable and, most likely, been too bulky to fit comfortably in between the tightly packed shelves. It had its uses in combat and in commanding a firm presence, but outside that, it was not practical. Though she did feel naked without it on.

Instead she wore a pair of cheap shoes, grey sweatpants and a black singlet. Simple, cheap and effective as it doubled as workout clothes, bed wear and casual wear, her wings stayed in their now omnipresent form. Three birds with one stone was not bad in her books.

Emerald stood off to her side, carefully browsing the history section they stood in, she was careful to the touch but never pulled a book out to read through it. It was odd, she looked as if she wanted to, but feared reprimand if she did so. It was something that made her despair for the girl.

"If you wish to read, you may do so, Emerald," she spoke softly as to not frighten her or face a dressing-down of her own for being too loud. It was one of the few things that carried over from the Imperium and Convents to this world, Sisters Dialogous were very finicky about their quiet while studying. That and something they and a Chapter of Astartes passed onto her, Knowledge is power...

Emerald nodded silently and pulled a random book off the shelf and went to sit down somewhere to read. She didn't believe she would read...Could she read?

That was another thing to keep track of next to her mathematical skills, her fitness, language capabilities and overall wellbeing. The Sisters who raised entire Orders gained a newfound respect. It was astounding how much they had to do.

'History of Remnant's Civilisation and Society' by Argos Steiner and Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, it was probably a good start on what she would need. She pulled it off the shelf. Next was something on the Hunters, she had a feeling they would be of value to learn about. She picked out a few more books. And a few more. And more.

Societal structures, Religion, Science of Dust, The Great War, the Faunus Wars, The History of Mantle and Atlas: The Rise of a Kingdom, Jacques Schnee: The Art of the Deal and at least five more she randomly picked off the shelf.

She was glad reading was a skill she was apt in.

When Emerald got bored, she left her isolated corner and wandered around the Library. The book about the history of the socio economic state of Atlas was not a book she could find interest in, or any book really. But the realm fiction was something she enjoyed the idea of; a world away from this place, full of evils and people who wanted nothing more than to hurt others. Like they hurt her. Used her. Her body shuddered and she pulled her arms close as she slowly navigated the tall shelving.

The library held a mass of subjects and books, many of which were ones she most likely couldn't read or simply wasn't interested in. Spoken words bored her. They were easy to misunderstand and ignored. Actions however, they meant more.

She knew how old she was and that she was just a child, but she understood the importance of actions. So many people said they would do things, but never did. Or did the opposite.

For her, it was always the opposite.

Always ignored mere moments after words were spoken.

But this woman, she was different. She didn't speak much, or when she did it was to tell her food was on its way or that she was taking them somewhere or to do a small task. And it always came with a calm voice. A voice as soft as velvet. It was one she couldn't ignore even if she wanted to.

And that's what scared her; she couldn't ignore her no matter how hard she wished to. A small voice would tell her it would be mean to. It would get her to answer in some way. And the few times she did, a tight gnawing would eat away at her, make the colours around her dull even though they looked the same, and make the day feel less. Made her feel less.

All because the woman got clothes.

Strange, she knew. But the woman figured out she didn't like it when she was naked and got clothes and made sure to avoid it as much as possible. She knew she didn't like it and went out of her way for her. Without saying anything. Emerald understood that the woman was strange, the aforementioned casual nudity being one of the giveaways, but she was also strangely nice.

And that was what frightened her.

The nice ones would always try something. Without fail.

But the woman hadn't and it had been days. And she still gave her food and a place to sleep. She even tried to get her friends on the first night! But kindness always had a cost. No one was genuinely nice on the streets of Mistral. No one was nice in the camp. Or the boat that brought her here.

But the woman, Celestine, attacked two Beowulf packs and stood in front of her at the Hunter office to protect her when she saw she was scared. She gave her food without asking for anything and gave her a place to sleep without asking for sleep. She was kind. She was safe.

And she was terrified of losing that. A small whimper left her mouth and she huddled into herself more as she made her way down another aisle.

She couldn't remember her family or anything past a few years ago for that matter. But Celestine was someone who made her feel safe, and if she could, she would keep it that way. She wanted to be safe. To have someone who was kind.

She wanted to know what this 'love' was that so many of the bad people said her mother didn't have for her.

And maybe Celestine could be that.

Maybe she could be her escape from this world.

Emerald came around the corner of another aisle and found Celestine standing roughly halfway up it with a large book open in her hands, strangely enough it was a book of fairy tales, not the boring history books she was looking through earlier. A glance at Celestine's feet showed a large stack of them, though. How she planned to read them, she had no idea.

Or what she planned to do with them after was also a mystery.

As if she sensed someone was staring, Celestine's head faced the opposite direction, finding no one there she faced the other way, where Emerald was standing. She closed the book she was holding and gave her a smile.

Emerald wasn't religious by any standard, she despised it. So many people used the excuse of being an acolyte of the Brother of Darkness to do such terrible things to people.

But here she prayed to anyone that this wasn't a nightmare. That this- Celestine- was real.

As Celestine discovered, the world- or at least the area the town of Cambridge was in- could go from "decently cool with some rain" to "hot and humid." No distinct phasing in or subtle changes. Just one day it was an average day; blue skies with some clouds, a nice temperature that was not too cold or hot, to heat and humidity literally overnight.

While she could deal with it in stride, Tallarn, the Warp and many jungle worlds were much, much hotter and humid than this. Emerald, on the other hand, hated it. Her clothes stuck to her skin, her armpits stuck together and overall hated it. But being able to use the Scroll given to use as she wished made her somewhat happier. Pity she can't sit and read,

That had been most of Celestine's down time; reading. Something that Emerald avoided doing alongside her- people in general, really. She would sit and read a page or two of something and then abandon it.

Celestine could say that Emerald grew slightly more comfortable with her over the past week and a half. The girl still jumped if she appeared quietly or moved her hands in her direction too quickly, shied away from anyone who ventured close and used her as a shield from... anything really. It was as sweet as it was saddening that the girl felt the need- was forced to follow such actions to protect herself. Only if it was trust that made her hide using her; the type of trust that wasn't created through a rule of elimination, but earned.

It fueled the tug of war inside her. She knew that she needed to raise Emerald, the Emperor knew that the near daily bounties she took alongside guard duty and town repairs- especially the roof repairs- were to finance it, but it was more of a question of what to do and how to do it.

"Hey?" Celestine heard a voice ask from her left and she faced the voice,

"Yes, Marie?"

The Lynx Faunus gave a tired smirk; she'd been up for three days straight from chronic insomnia, but she still carried out her duties, though when in this state, never alone. And if she was here, Cobalt wasn't far behind,

"Whaddya thinking about?" Marie asked, the look of curiosity went further than that, but the woman controlled it,

Celestine turned back to the road that led up to the gate, "How does one raise a child?"

Marie stopped on a dime at the question in a stunted silence and shook her head out of it and let a tired yawn out, "R-right, that was not apart of what I expected, Cel,"

The woman seemed to abbreviate everyone's name, no matter how much one asked her not to, not that she minded, it was a nice difference to her long life to be called something that differed yet wasn't rude, like the names that spewed from the wretched Daemon's mouths.

"Yes, but asked and I answered with what was on my mind,"

"True," Marie yawned once again, "you actually want me to answer that?"

Celestine faced her again and nodded, "Any information on the practical would help greatly,"

The Lynx nodded tiredly, "What does she want?"

Such a simple question stumped her. It was amazing what simple words could do.

Marie chuckled at the obvious lack of answer, "Most parents, biological or not, have no clue what to do with their first child and usually overlook that question," she lent up on the wall behind her that granted shade, "choice is an invaluable thing, let her use it; simply ask her but protect her from the obviously bad choices,"

Confusion clouded Celestine's brain, but she supposed she was technically her parent now, "what would be the 'bad choices,' Marie?"

Marie just shrugged, "Drugs, murder, unnecessary violence, I don't know, and that's the catch; neither will you. You're a protector of them from their bad decisions and in some cases, a saviour from the ones you couldn't stop them making, among many other things. But you also can't force anything unless you want a lifetime of rebellion," Marir chuckled at her last comment fondly.

She could protect her. That was the Saint's life purpose other than to serve Him; a protector of the faith and light. It was all she knew anymore. But that was the problem, she supposed; It was all she knew how to do after thousands of years of service as a Living Saint. I will teach her to protect herself, that much is clear… anything more…

Anything more was out of her range. Maybe a book on parenting would be in order...if one exists.

Would Emerald take to following her faith? That was another question.

Everytime she brought up the Emperor, Emerald would give her a strange look. I suppose that is something I can not force either. Time may change that yet.

It was at that moment, Celestine realised raising a child was hard.

The duo were left in silence for a few more moments until the Lynx Faunus opened her mouth, which was something she did all too often, "How are you even wearing that armour? It's fucking humid…"

Celestine gave a miniscule, mocking smirk, "I have suffered through far worse than this in my life," she let her eyes scan the path, finding only a white bird in the distance, she faced Marie again, "and will undoubtedly go through worse to come,"

"Damn, you make yourself sound old,"

"That would be because I am old, Mar," abbreviating names was a strange thing for her to do she discovered,

Marie gave her an odd look, "No, stop. Go no further, shortening names is my thing! When you do it it feels...weird…"

Celestine gave a snort, "It felt weird to do… I believe I will leave that to you,"

A sight of release, "Oh, Gods please do so,"

With silence between the two restored, her guard shift ended rather quickly after another half an hour. At the sight of Cobalt no more than a few metres away, she said her goodbyes and made her way to find Emerald.

Celestine passed by Cobalt and gave him a nod as she made her way through the town, and the ocean of stares she attracted, towards the hotel Emerald and herself have been staying at over the past week. The town's people had learned that she was of a different breed of Hunter, and Celestine had a feeling they knew she was more than that; like an open secret amongst the town's people.

It wasn't like it was something she wanted to keep a secret, it would be impossible in the end. Someone would have been at the right place at the right time to piece it together so why bother?

She entered the hotel, not finding anyone at the front desk and made her way up to room twelve and avoided knocking over a patron leaving room seven. A quick apology to the person and she was giving a knock on the hotel room's door. A moment of waiting and she entered, to find the bathroom door closed and hear the shower running.

The bed however had the fairy tale book open to the story of the Maidens, huh, she does like reading but only when I am not around…

That seemed to be par for the course for Emerald, it was like she was only there for the roof over her head and Celestine was only the middleman ...then again, she has been without shelter and family for a long time…

With a sigh, Celestine placed the Ardent Blade and its Scabbard on the desk, stripped her armour and Fibro-layer off and pulled on a black singlet and sweatpants, if only to make Emerald comfortable.

She took a seat at the desk and used the Scroll, still amazed at its handyness and its overall uses. Calling and messaging, a camera and video recorder, the Cross Continental Transmit System Network and the varying new networks that all inhabited the digital realm. Or at least they did for an hour after she got it till the system went down. A slight disappointment, but of no consequence.

Though not having to pray to a Machine Spirit was an oddity...

The ability to input items in the form of notes was another handy tool, though Celestine only wrote out hymns, litanies and prayers if anyone was interested in them. It appeared that this world's forms of religion were of a dying breed; an accessory that few followed or held faith within. The only remaining active religion being those who worship Brother Gods, but even then it was a rarity for someone to actually pray or hold faith in them. And while a few of the townspeople would listen to her, they never found reason in their mind to pray to the Emperor. It was disheartening to say the least, but at least they never tried to change her views or prosecute her; individuality was a core make-up of societies across Remnant.

It was especially obvious with Hunters and their Academies that were held to such high standards.

It was as if the populaces' faith was in the Huntsmen and Huntresses that acted as freelancers; held down by no Kingdom or government and acted as hireable town guards or bodyguards. For every one hundred civilians there were ten Hunters on call. Or so the statistics in one of the books said in a passage about the Hunter Academies. The Academies themselves sounded as if they were a Schola Progenium type of institution or Convnet.

Everything was so different to what she knew and held dear to her heart. Celestine gazed out to the blue skies through the hotel room window, "why am I truly here? In such a place so foreign, so vastly different…"

Combat, slaughter, the dead and dying were all things she could handle, dare she even say thrive in, "Am I not of use to you?"

A singular white dove came to a soft landing on the small outcropping at the edge of the window with near silent flaps of its wings, and despite it's jerky and rapid movements, held its gaze upon her as she stared back. It stayed at the sound of the bathroom door opening.

Celestine faced the Emerald, who was timidly staring at the armour on the floor, "Was the shower good?"

Emerald nervously glanced at the Saint, and to her surprise, found the woman in a plain black singlet and grey sweatpants. Her nerves eased considerably, "yes, it was…"

And the girl said no more as usual.

"I have had a conversation with Marie," Emerald glanced nervously at her, it wasn't like Celestine spoke for an unimportant reason, "and I have a question for you, Emerald,"

Emerald's nerves spiked and she eyes Celestine wearily. Celestine continued, "you know how to use that revolver, yes?" Emerald, now more confused than nervous, nodded once, "very well, and you are quick on your feet yet you do not know how to use them efficiently to defend yourself, and that brings me to my point..."

The confusion wore on Emerald's face, "do you wish to learn how to efficiently and effectively defend yourself? Like I was?"

Emerald stood stock still and stared dumbfounded at her. Celestine on the other hand waited patiently for the girl to sort out her mind.

"Why?"

It was quiet and full of anxiousness, like she was waiting to be scolded or worse for questioning her, and flinched at the sound of the chair creak as Celestine lent forward, "I may not know your past, and I may not be the most knowledgeable in such a task like raising a child, as I belong on a battlefield, but Marie raised a point I had not has the foresight to think of; I am your protector and as someone who knows how to fight, I can teach you how to fight, Emerald, to teach you to protect yourself,"

Green hair covered Emerald's eyes as her head tilted forward, masking any visible emotion the girl was having, though turmoil was evident in her shaking.

A sniff. Apparently not turmoil. Emerald raised her head and looked at Celestine. Looked at her, observing every aspect of her from her hair to her eyes and to her wings that sat silently from her back and overall physique. Her eyes flicked to the gold and silver scabbard that now housed the Ardent Blade and back to meet Celestine's eyes briefly, "okay…"

Celestine beamed a toothy smile at her, "Alright, we will start tomorrow. Do you have any questions?"

Emerald shuffled on her feet, her head facing the floor again, "w- I-uh, can-"

Celestine wasn't surprised at Emerald struggling to form a sentence, it was either short answers or it took a few moments for her to give said short answers. What she was surprised by was blinking and finding Emerald in front of her, huddling her head into her chest and the girl snaking her arms under Celestine's own in a tight hug.

Celestine placed a hand on top of Emerald's head distractedly, she was on the other side of the room and silently appeared in front of me… teleportation?

It wouldn't be the strangest Semblance recorded that she's read about, not with one that allowed the user to ice. What uses that would have, she hadn't a clue. Like how with Emerald's head buried in Celestine's chest and the Saint herself distracted, neither were clued into the dove dissipating into golden sparks.

A/N:

God, having ideas and actually writing them is hard. The process of this chapter was as follows; draft, write, delete, draft, re-draft, delete, watch YT, write, plan out the entire story multiple times, delete, listen to music, watch YT again, draft, write, heavily debate re-writing, publish. I actually dislike this chapter a lot and I think it shows.

On another note: I just discovered that the default cover art for this is my PFP, and the idea of the story being about Benry from "Half Life VR: But the AI is Self Aware" is hilarious to me.

I also started listening to "Our Martyred Lady" and my version of Celestine is so OOC compared to her canon counterpart but just enough that it works-ish. That's what I get for making something half cocked I suppose…

But enough of you follow this so I must be getting something right… damn character driven story and my not knowing how to do it properly lol.

Anyway:

Brother Bov: "Cant wait,i kinda expect for Celestine to try and raise Emerald the only way she would know, as a sister of battle. Though where and how Celestine would even begin will be difficult enough, let alone where she'd find a suitable replacement for the iconic powered armour of the nuns with guns.

Though atlas already has a titan equivalent apparently, so maybe it wouldnt be so much of a stretch.."

I mean, sorta, yeah. but maybe with how much Emerald dislikes religion I doubt she'll take up that aspect of a Sister. But, I have plans that may or may not have something to do with something that you mentioned in there that may or may not be close to a thing that I really can't say more about or I'll end up rambling and spoiling everything.

Fuck it, I will say this, there is an Atlas arc with the Vytal Festival. And I do have a plan for things to happen.…

Carre: "A question you dont need to answer: Will Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax show up? They used to work toghter, at least two times."

I honestly don't believe she will be, maybe in the form of a cameo like the flashback I did with Guilliman, she might.

Gilgmesh King of Mongrels: "Celestine probably needed a Nerf anyway, since if she was to be her original self then Salem wouldn't even register in the threat level."

Yeah, even now with the nerf, Celestine is OP as fuck and I'm glad that so far no one is knocking on my door with a shotgun over it. I was originally debating nerfing her a little more but it would've made more than a few people pickup a shotty.

Anyway, I'm gonna take the next few days off before I get back to finishing the next few chapters. And hopefully I won't dislike them as much as I do with this one. It may take a while. But be warned, when Lockdown ends in Sydney, updates will not be this frequent as I will have a job again.

Please, if you have any tips and advice let me know! And reviews are always welcome!