Log 005: Omen

A crow's caw signals the irrupting of a giant Grimm in a peaceful forest close to Higanbana, Mistral. A young blond man with a white shield and sword runs through the forest as what seems to be a bear-like tree Grimm chases him. Arriving in an open area, Grimm launches an attack towards the young man, who's in his last breaths. The slash of its claws barely touched him, with a second on its way. The second claw explodes against his shield. The young man is barely standing, holding the attack with strong tenacity.

"C'mon!" He screams "Teddy is in position!"

A red head girl with a hammer leaps onto the air, landing directly on Grimm's head. As the beast is dizzy, a man with long black hair with two green gun-blades appears from the bushes, doing a surprise attack on its legs, making the grimm kneel.

"Now Jaune!" A shadowy girl with a red cloak and a scythe as she appears out of nowhere in the air surrounded by a trail of rose petals. Both Jaune and the girl with scythe slash with their blades the grimm's neck, the clash of iron making all the birds fly away in fear. The forest is silent again as the decapitated Grimm turns to dust, leaving only the cheers of Jaune, Nora, Ren and Ruby, as a crow looks proudly from afar.

A fire crisps within the galley of a tavern in Higabana, as a tropical rain surprisingly arrives, pouring its drops on the rooftops of the townsfolk's houses. As dark and dreary as it always looked, isolated by the rough ocean of forests, the people were cheerful, celebrating in their houses and taverns as the biggest Grimm in the area had fallen. They offered their young group of heroes a lot of goods, which they only kindly declined the alcohol because only Ruby is under the drinking age (18) and don't want to leave her apart. Ruby looks at them happy but mildly annoyed at the somewhat well founded excuse because none of them have actually tried alcohol since leaving Vale. One of the town's Faunus grabs a guitar, sitting in the middle of the bar. Rumbling her feathers, she began to sing. To the tone of the guitar, the lady began.

"A tale as old as time,

does one mime for a rime,

heroes of old stumble ashore.

No monster is big enough

As the banquet and legends

That will come.

Alone or together

The hunters will stand.

Even if turning fate will tell.

Not even the gods will halt

What our heroes embrace

In the darkest night.

The Grimm will murder,

The humans will stutter,

The faunus will suffer,

But at fairest of sleeps

The kindest will shine.

Celebrate Heroes,

Rest Heroes!"

Everybody cheers, the music follows, Nora giving in and grabbing a cup of alcohol, Ren trying to stop her only for Nora forcing him to dance. Ruby cheerfully claps at the rhythm of the band, incentivizing the tavern dance. As the townspeople rise in euphoric rave, Ruby notices in the corner of her silver eyes Jaune, with a melancholic smile that seems to deafen his surroundings, as he holds a golden detail in his armor added a couple of towns ago to remember that fateful day in Beacon Academy.

"Hey Jaune-" Ruby's muttering only hits a statue. "…Jaune?" The statue shakes.

"Eh? Sorry, I was looking at Ren and Nora…" Jaune excuses.

"Something in your mind?"

Jaune looks around trying to avoid the silver eyes directly in front of him.

"Nothing really, don't worry." Jaune responds.

Ruby ponders, the happiness surrounding them somehow not reaching them. The pain of losing the place of security that was Beacon, no, Pyrrha Nikos, leaves lasting scars that time barely heals. At least that is what Ruby thinks, as he eats some of the cookies that the townsfolk. Cookies with friends do taste better, she thinks trying to make the best of the gift that the town gave her. The song made her believe for a second that she was one of the heroes of her books, with songs and legends making them last eternity. It was nice, but it wasn't real.

Jaune stands saying he needed some air. Ruby stares at the cookies alone. She smells a cup of alcohol that one of the townsfolk left on her table. The smell is disgusting, immediately making her a bit tipsy. Why would anyone drink that? Ruby decides to follow Jaune even after hearing the cries of help from Ren as he's forced to continue to dance with Nora. A drunk man with a scarlet cape looks from the second floor, hidden from a clear view, as Ruby follows Jaune outside.

The humble sound of the party barely passed through the rain that hit the village. Ruby remembers the hot food that Tai used to serve to Yang and her during these kinds of days, especially a lovely soup that was Tai's specialty. But Yang did hate it. She misses Yang, but the guilt of not being able to save someone right in front of her eyes was too much, she needs to get stronger. And as Ruby finds Jaune looking thoughtful at the rain, she knows that he shares the same thought.

"After that dance, I thought you would party more!" Ruby jokingly comments. The cold rain isn't able to damper Jaune, as Ruby's cheerfulness always finds a way to brighten the darkest days. Jaune just scuffs kindly with a soft smile.

"I just need the right motivation. That's all" Jaune responds. "Also, Ren and Nora sure are having their limelight and I don't want to take that away from them!" Jaune doing finger guns with a simple smile hidden with the rain, but is enough to make Ruby laugh. They're enough.

"When is Nora going to declare to Ren?" Ruby asks the crying sky.

"I could ask the same thing but to Ren. He did mention bits and pieces of his troubled past with Nora complementing it with a sad stare." Jaune exclaims. "It was weird back then seeing her like that, now it is a bit… more common."

"They will surely go back, I wonder how it is!" Ruby leaves the thought there.

"Well, making Ren say anything is hard enough, especially without Nora around. Good for them! I just hope that we don't have to drag them to the inn later!" Jaune jokes, both laughing warmly in the cold rain.

A clear starry night appeared around the high of the night, with rain clouds gone, the shattered moon brighter than the sun. The town of Higanbana is silent in slumber, with the now almost empty tavern serving only the drunkest of drunks and the shadiest of travelers. There sat on the second floor a lonely now sober man with a scarlet cape drinking alone while sending messages to a witch, a tin man and an ice queen on his scroll. A cloaked figure walks in, getting closer and closer until it sits in front of the man, sipping his alcohol.

"Finally decided to catch up with family, Raven?" The man comments unfazed.

"If you can call that a coward, then yes, Qrow." Qrow closes his scroll. "You wanted to chat, so start chirping."

Qrow rolls his eyes, then started to play with his drink. "As you probably know, Oz is dead."

"Finally." Raven cuffs "and now you want to return home?"

"I'm looking for the next one." Qrow sips his drink. "But more importantly, Grimm activity is rising and is only going to get worse."

"And? You I can deal with that alone, no human, or whatever it remains, will hurt the tribe."

"Without Beacon, the environment will change." Qrow pierces with no avail. "Even if you hate Ozpin, he was right in that if we ever lose the academies, the elder Grimm with its infection will return, just like during the Great War!"

Raven stares plainly at her brother. "Good. It was a plan with a weak foundation anyway."

Qrow sips his drink with a stronger grip, cracking the glass, his face unfazed. But Raven does see through his mask through the strength he has and the bond they used to have.

"You have suffered losses, and we will suffer more." Qrow says as he puts the empty cup on the table.

"You know nothing about the tribe, Qro-" Raven looks directly at Qrow's eyes, empty with despair.

"It's not about the tribe, Raven." Qrow gasps to grab an emotion. "It's about Yang." Raven's face blanks for the first time in her life, even more than that fateful day in Ozpin's office. "I know you have a portal connected to her, so you must feel her aura, you know the state she's in. Yang turning."

Raven grits her teeth, but is numbing to the senses, her eyes burning red. She abruptly stands up, making Qrow waste some of his drink as his serving was startled with the trembling table.

"If she even is a Branwen, she'll push through it." Raven leaves furiously through a portal. Qrow sips his drink in this new silence, with a frown cracking his uninterested expression.

A few days pass, the heroes of Higanbana are long gone, followed by a crow. A hooded man with a hooded barely human figure and a terrifying wolf like Grimm forced to follow him by chains attached to his scorpion tail approaches the tavern, the houses quivering as the fearful townsfolk hide inside.

"I'm looking for a group of kids." The hooded man asks the tavern owner as the Grimm wolf makes him paralyzed in fear. "One blond, one green, one orange and most importantly a red one!" The tavern owner just shakes, trying his best to keep his composure in front of the town.

The hooded man jumps over the table, the Grimm follows, liking the fear drops in the tavern owner's face. "Now now, you're supposed to serve your clients, not serve yourself to this cute puppy!" The hooded man smirks maniacally. "You know where they're, all of you do, don't you?"

The town of Higanbana slumbered forever after this night, as the hooded man left the fire charcoal followed by a melancholic hooded humanoid as the wolf Grimm led the way towards Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora.

Log 005 End.