Ch. 92 Tea at the Bonsai
"Alright kids! You've all seen it, you've all probably realised the same as I did. All those hordes were coming from the same general direction. Technically we could return to Vale and have Goodwitch send another team to survey the exact source…"
"I sense a but." Sky broke the silence.
Qrow sighed, it would be so simple if he was alone, just a fly by really. But with the kids on his tail he had them to consider. "...but, considering I already have a pretty good idea and the fact that we're already here it's probably better to just check it out now. These things have a nasty habit of getting worse if you ignore them."
Sky met eyes with Cardin before picking up his weapon and standing up from his resting spot. Seeing that Sky had made a decision Cardin stood and hefted Executioner over one shoulder.
"Well then let's get it over with. It's obvious they're coming from the mountain itself."
Qrow sighed. He almost hoped the kids would decide to retreat, giving him an opportunity to scout the crater himself.
That was where they were going after all. The massive hole in the mountain that gave the failed settlement its name. The hole left by the Wyvern that nearly killed nearly everyone Qrow considered family.
"Let's get a move on then. I've seen the surveys done right after the fall of Beacon." What Qrow wasn't saying was that he was also the one sent to do those surveys in the first place. "It looked like you'd expect just a hole in the rock, sheer jagged rocks and such but nothing unusual…"
"Do you think it's still like that?" Sky asked.
"Well I sure fucking hope so, but more than likely it's become something of a Grimm nest. Fuckers must have been gathering there for a while if the numbers are anything to go by."
=O=O=O=
The young man was just a new recruit, the spider tattoo on his shoulder still tender to the touch. Still this was his opportunity to gain recognition. The loan shark associate of the Spiders he borrowed money from even promised to erase a significant portion of his debt if he joined the gang and managed to return with anything useful.
Of course he heard from the others as well as the news that larger groups fared poorly when attacking even lone huntsmen in training. Not that first years ever went outside of Haven except in large groups. It was pretty much only those that had real experience that went around in smaller groups of two or three.
Of course the ones that dared venture alone turned out to be the most problematic ones as they had reason to be so confident.
Still he shook his head lightly and focused on his task. He had already scaled several buildings to get to the vantage point he now sat on, a small fairly hidden alcove on the roof of the academy. It was almost impossible to spot him from the bottom.
He smirked under the long cloth that served as his mask. Now came the easy part, sit still and listen. Extraction wouldn't be easy of course, but there was no point in thinking about that before he got what he came here for.
Information about Haven was a treasured commodity for Lil' Miss Malachite. While Verdant was believed to have sought to remove only those who sided with Lionheart or sat by and did nothing when he closed down the academy, the end result was that the informants she had in place in Haven were ousted from their convenient posts.
While it was only a matter of time before they could reestablish that network, ever since the bots were discovered Haven took a proactive approach to opposing the Spiders. And information about the enemy was quite a bit more time sensitive than just the regular going ons of the academy.
"Mister Xiao-Long. I understand you're feeling better now but please understand that the medical personnel are still monitoring you for a reason."
The inexperienced Spider immediately recognised the voice of Haven's headmaster, having heard a few public interviews with him following his takeover of the school. Luckily it was coming from below.
"Right you are, unfortunately for me, my… ex-wife has decided that taking care of problems on her own is too much of a hassle. Or maybe she decided that I should prove I'm still strong enough to solve them myself. Either way a familiar birdie dropped a note in my lap a few minutes ago and just looked at me expectantly until I got up and went to deal with it."
While he couldn't place the new voice, he was familiar with the name Verdant called him. Xiao-Long… wasn't it a girl though? The brawler that wrecked several of their hideouts in the past few weeks…? Right! The Invincible Girl's partner.
Whatever, his role here was to listen and he was pretty sure this counted as valuable information.
"I suppose I have an idea of which birdie you may be talking about… Still you should have told someone."
"...no thanks, that nurse if yours is scary when patients don't do as told. Seriously, where did you find him? If I was a student here I'd do everything in my power not to end up under his watchful eye."
"I believe that's the idea behind his actions."
"Right, either way. Think you could give me a boost?"
While he was hard to see from the bottom, that also meant that he didn't have a clear view of those on the ground below. Unfortunately for him that meant he completely missed the implication of Taiyang's words as he simply did his best to commit them to memory.
It was only seconds later that a blonde figure suddenly flew up and knocked him unconscious before he could bring up his Aura.
=O=O=O=
"I would like to thank you all for coming here." Verdant spoke up, breaking the silence that had settled over the room as he poured tea. "Miss Branwen especially so. I am aware this isn't exactly your style." his amused expression betrayed his amusement with the former bandit's displeasure.
They were sitting in an upstairs lounge area of the Dragon's Bonsai, a place most of them no longer frequented after reclaiming Haven and some, that is to say Tai and Raven, have never visited before.
"With all due respect professor, while I do enjoy you ribbing Raven, why are we here?" Yang piped up from a seat in between Taiyang and Pyrrha.
"That, miss Xiao-Long is a somewhat more complex question than may appear. But I supposed the main reason is your father's recovery… and my staff's inability to keep him under supervision any longer."
"I am right here and can hear you, you know…" Tai mumbled under his breath as he took a sip of the tea.
Ren sat by Pyrrha's side, sipping his own tea quietly while Nora leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. They had a solid idea of what they'd end up doing now that Taiyang recovered.
Verdant smiled and took a moment to drink from his own cup before continuing his explanation.
"Well then, let me get to the point. I expect now that you've recovered enough to move around, and indeed fight, despite the protests of my staff, might I add, you'll be returning to Vale."
"That is the plan." Raven answered matter of factly, as if it wasn't her semblance they'd be using to do so.
"Then there are a few things I wish to set in order before you do." He motioned to the four teenagers "When the four of you first came here, you were looking to continue your education. Unfortunately as I see it, academic success is not what the world needs of you in these trying times. Both mister Ren and miss Valkyrie have already made arrangements for themselves in this regard. I've decided to offer the same to both miss Xiao-Long and miss Nikos as well. Your journey started with a tragic and deadly event and, I daresay, hasn't eased up.
I find that after going through what you did, achieving what you did, there is little doubt you're capable enough to reach out and help others. And that is precisely what Remnant needs right now."
"So you're just going to give us licences?"
"Not quite, I'm afraid. Conditional licences only I'm afraid. Not that it'll constrict you much. You'll simply remain students of both Beacon and Haven for the remainder of the time it would normally take you to finish your education. You'll however be free to take missions in any kingdom you find yourself in and be allowed to attend classes in any of the four academies."
Yang, eyes wide, glanced at her dad, for a second expecting him to be against the prospect of abandoning academics in favour of huntsman work. When he just nodded thoughtfully Yang's shoulder's sagged with relief.
"We'll gladly accept it, professor." she finally said, the idea that Pyrrha wouldn't want the same not even crossing her mind.
While Verdant noted the sour look on Pyrrha's face, seeing as the tournament champion did end up nodding in agreement, he decided to let it go. This was also something the two would need to figure out on their own.
The Green Dragon stood up and reached for the kettle kept hot above a fire with his wooden hand, the precisely carved script glowing lightly with his Aura.
"Now then. To the second part of my offer. Mister Ren, you've done me a great service, one I'll not soon forget."
"Your hospitality and help you've offered my friends and their family has more than sufficiently repaid that." Ren spoke up, calmly, yet firmly. "It wasn't my knowledge that allowed me to help you, I was simply the one to do so."
"...perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, I consider the value of returning my ability to teach and instruct huntsmen of Haven to be far more valuable than you give yourself credit for."
Reaching into the sleeve of his traditional garb, Ichinojo pulled out a scroll and handed it to Ren who hesitated for a moment before taking it.
"I'm afraid it is not simply a reward."
Unfurling the scroll slowly Ren stared at the words.
"We cannot accept this." Ren started but Verdant gestured for him to stop as he began to speak instead.
"As of right now, that deed is in effect even without any action on your part. The Dragon's Bonsai is at your disposal. A home should you need one, and a source of income even if you leave and never return back here. You have no obligation to worry about for now. I'm sure the city would attempt to claim ownership of the place if it passed into your ownership before you settled here and as such I've devised a workaround."
Ichinojo looked at the two orphans, his steeled expression making it clear that his decision was final.
"At this moment I retain the ownership of the land the Bonsai is built upon with the stipulation that it'll come into your ownership the moment you take residence on it or the moment of my death."
Nora stared at the headmaster with mouth wide open while Ren sat frozen, eyes fixed on the copy of the deed in his hands, its text conveying much the same as Verdant's words did.
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
No Jaune this week I'm afraid. Not to worry though he'll be back in focus next week.
I am once again going to keep this quick. I have taken to writing these way too late at night considering when I have to wake up. But when you only have three or so hours of time outside of sleep and work, you make do with less sleep than healthy. I'm no stranger to sleep deprivation after all. Still, not exactly healthy behaviour...
But hey if you want to support me you can do so on P a treon . com (slash) OlympianScribe
Anyway I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch. 93 The spread