To say it was a rough week for Yang would be an understatement. Another week of fruitless searches and a lot of familgie stuff that was no fun, like politics with the other Columbian familigies. Giovanna scolded her after she almost fell asleep listening to the big shots of the familigie bicker with each other like a bunch of kids. I get it, the call of Signorina to return to Siracusa is a major deal, but can't they just chill out for once?

Well it's not my problem anymore since it's my day-off is what Yang thought as she rode her motorcycle across the Columbian highway. Towering skyscrapers jutted out into the mobile city's skyline as sleek and minimalistic electric street lamps illuminated the roads of the economic center of the city. Yang doesn't really mind the look of this section of the mobile city's plate, but she prefers the livelier city center, with tons of bars, hotels, restos, and stalls to visit when she goes out with her friends or colleagues. The eerily silent streets at night are among the few things Yang dislikes.

When Yang was younger, her mom, Summer, used to take her on rides like this across the city in her bike, with a much younger Ruby clinging to Mom's waist. Now, she can only reminisce of happier times, as her mom died 3 years ago alongside the rest of the Texas famiglie. Driving these same roads her mom used to drive only brought bittersweet memories to Yang, one she tries to forget by distracting herself about her birth mother.

There's one last place she has yet to ask about her quarry before she heads off to the place that Signore Conti recommended. That 'Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical' seems to be her best shot at finding people who might have met the woman she's looking for.

The woman in question is her "real" mom, Raven Branwen. She's about as real as dad's stories of Yanese gods are to Yang, but Yang wants answers from her. Plenty of them.

That being said, there is scarcely anything about her. All she's dug up so far just tells her of a barbaric woman from Sami wearing pelts, and strange trinkets who looked similar to her but with Uncle Qrow's hair and eyes, who is spoken about in hushed tones, like a bygone urban legend of some sorts in mercenary circles.

Like what kind of a woman has rumors of her bursting out of someone's chest!? Hell, they say she can kill 20 men by shooting lasers from her eyes, like some bad B-movie villain or something! That's fucked up and weird as hell! Ugh… thinking about it just makes my stomach churn. Surely, they're exaggerating! like rumours of me being capable of downing 10 men in bed, even though I haven't taken anyone to bed, yet…

Yang could only ponder the strange and terrifying rumors that may or may not be about her mother as she rode closer and closer to her destination, the skyscrapers and taller buildings vanished from her sight, only to be replaced by more modern-looking buildings and a few antique Victorian-styled ones made with bricks.

It wasn't long before Yang finally exited the highway. Quickly, Yang maneuvered her bike to follow a series of turns in quick succession as she got closer to her destination until she put her foot down, slowing down the speed of her motorcycle, making it drift off the asphalt for a bit before coming to a halt in front of a two-story-building.

"The Three Bear's Club. Junior's bound to be here." she said to no one in particular as she smoothly kicked the stand down and dismounted. Strangely enough, there seems to be a black featherbeast, probably a raven, that flew past her just now. Weird. Taking out a suitcase from the storage area of her motorcycle, Yang walked towards the building deep in thought.

Junior is a well-known information broker in the underworld. If there was anyone who might have a clue about anyone with close association with Raven, it would be good 'ol Hei Xiong Junior. Something at the back of her head told her there was a reason she hadn't returned here but she couldn't quite put a finger to it…

"Eh, whatever it was it was probably not important." Yang told herself as she approached the door casually.

Pushing the door open with two hands, she was greeted by the dazzling, ever-changing disco lights. Catchy pop music blared from the speakers as the DJ at the center kept mixing the song. Yang strutted in as she pushed her way through the people partying around her as she made her way to the bar's tableside, where she spotted Junior a bit further from it, talking to someone on the phone before he glanced at her.

Flashing him a smile and a wave from a distance, she picked up her pace as she weaved around people dancing drunk or sober as she made her way to him. He clearly saw her as he kept scowling and glaring at her as she got closer and even crossed his arms as he ended the phone call.

Opening with a pun to ease the tension, Yang wriggled her eyebrows and said "Hei there, Junior!"

"Mafia business or personal matters?" sighed the Yanese Ursus as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Heh, that got him good.

"Personal stuff, Junior." Smoothy came Yang's reply.

"Good. Last time you were here for mafia matters, you wrecked the stereo" remarked the now slightly less annoyed Junior as he motioned her to follow him to the bar.

Ah. So that's why she hadn't come here in a while. With her memory jugged up a little, she now recalls it. Some smart-ass thought he would be safe with the Xiongs. Unfortunately for him, they were allies with the Rossatis behind closed doors.

"Whooops. Sorry 'bout that, Junior. He was kinda being stubborn, so I had to play a 'little' rough with that hunk." Yang half-joked and half-apologized as she followed behind him closely.

"Hah, you don't say." gruffed the Ursus as he walked behind the bar counter.

"Well your boss already paid for the expenses, so it's all good, sweetheart. Now, what will you have?"

That must be why Giovanna made her buy a stereo from her paycheck and have her lug it to a transport truck sometime after that…

"The usual, please." said Yang as she sat on a bar stool by the counter, adjusting her neck scarf.

"One Strawberry Sunrise with no ice and a little umbrella, coming right up" Junior announced as he grabbed the bottles and started pouring.

"So, I'm looking for someone." Started Yang as she leaned on the counter.

"Well that's rare, don't you usually have your own guys for that in the mafia?" opined Junior as he started mixing and shaking her order.

"Oh c'mon Junior, you know those chumps got nothing on you!" Yang said, buttering Junior up.

"Besides, I'm sure the person I'm looking for isn't here anymore" Yang continued, spreading a couple of old pictures across the counter.

"But I want to look for people who knew her or she had close connections."

A tense silence settled as Junior raised an eyebrow before leaning in slightly towards the pictures as he shook her drink, Junior's expression soured as if he'd tasted raw vinegar as he muttered ominously "The Blood-soaked Crow…."

Yang's eyes widens as she recognizes the name from another source. It's her mother's name as a merc.

"Ain't she your pa's friend?" he asked with a confuzzled look as if he was expecting her to be already knowledgeable about it.

Well, he does know something at least… is what Yang thought as her jaws tightened.

"She's my birth mother. Neither Mom nor Dad ever really talks about her." stated Yang cooly as she crossed her arms.

"For good reason…In hindsight, it's a good thing you take from your father, not the damn boogeywoman." grimaced Junior.

She wasn't really that bad, now is she? It was the third time Yang had heard about her mom being called that and it was really starting to get old.

Ignoring her equally sour expression as he poured her drink into a glass, Junior continued "I know her with some familiarity, but not really that intimate, the only people she was ever really close to was your dad's mercenary group, the Stark Raiders."

Yang sighed as she thought she hit another dead end but before she could get up.

"Luckily for you, I recently got something on the beast herself."

Yang's eyes widen for a second time as she stops herself from pulling up the suitcase she was carrying.

"Here, your Strawberry Sunrise." said Junior as he served her drink. Excitedly, Yang took it and downed it in one gulp.

"Woooooo, now we're talking! Hit me up, Junior. I got some cash with me." Yang said as she lightly slammed the suitcase over the counter.

"Unless you're telling me you wanna talk this over in a hotel." She said while wriggling her eyebrows once more.

"You really gotta stop that, sweetheart. I'll take the cash. Even if you weren't The Fiery Dragon's daughter, I wouldn't take you to a hotel anytime. I'll hit on any girl your age but you." Was the expected, yet dismayed response of Junior as he shook his head slowly.

"Oh c'mon now Junior, I'm not that bad." Yang waved offhandedly before pointing to herself with a thumb.

"Said the girl who threw her date at some disgruntled mafioso." Retorted Junior as he raised his eyebrows.

"Oh come on now, y'know I was drunk when that happened! I am sober as hell right now!" Yang lightly slammed her closed fist on the counter in response to the allegation.

"Ain't no way I'm gonna punch you out of the mobile city, right?"

The resounding silence as the club's music and idle chatter continued was the loudest answer she could have gotten out of Junior, making her sigh in response.

"Okay, maybe you do have a point." Conceded Yang as she crossed her arms.

Which finally got a small chuckle from Junior much to her chagrin.

Once he was done, he cleared his throat before speaking again.

"Alright. Where were we? Ah yes, the Crow."

"An informant told me that several months ago, two 'Weird Sami people' arrived in Trimount City and entered Rhine Labs at Trimount City. Another informant, part of the Defense section, told me that they were Snowpriests, and one of them was the Blood-soaked Crow herself. Same mask, more elaborate, tribal clothes, and same Higashinese sword."

"Is she still there?"

"Don't count on it, she left after a few days." Dismissed Junior, leaving Yang confused

After a moment of silence, Yang voiced her own thoughts "… The hell was that all about?"

"Probably part of that supposed new expedition team Rhine Labs was gonna send to that frozen hellhole, I hear. Ain't no science nutcase, so I'm not in the know." Shrugged Junior.

Damn, no shot then. How the hell do I even get in contact with the people in that damn expedition? Doubt Uncle Qrow would know any of those crazy academics and neither does any Catastrophe messenger, mafioso, or anyone I know for that matter.

Dragging her head out of the proverbial quagmire, Yang opened the suitcase "Here's the payment."

"LMDs huh? Quite the deep pocket you got there." Nodded the impressed and obviously happy Junior as he counted one stack of LMD before closing the suitcase again.

"Just got my paycheck last week you know." Chimed in Yang as she stood up.

Just before Yang could put her hand in her pocket to pay for her drink, she felt a spike of Arts heading for Junior.

Grabbing Junior by the collar, she pulled him close as she turned her back towards the barrage of what she could feel were darts of wind Arts.

"Fuck, that hurt." Yang cussed out as she let go of Junior, who was immediately helped up by some of his men who were close by the counter.

She turned around to see a gray-haired Liberi from where the shot came from, about to be trounced by the Malachite Twins.

To her surprise, she wasn't sliced to ribbons immediately. Instead, she saw the twins get sent flying by her Arts.

Not wasting a single moment, Yang had already channeled her Arts into the Arts units her sister had embedded inside her gauntlets. Launching a barrage of fire Arts by jabbing in the assassin's direction, Yang forced her to move as Melanie and Miltia jumped back into the fray, chasing after her.

The crowd had escalated into a full-on panic as they tried to get away as quickly as possible from the fight. Thankfully, the Liberi with a Pythian tail(Weird) was on the second floor, meaning Yang could keep firing at her as Junior's men began to coalesce around them in a protective circle with their weapons and shields drawn, while the rest were busy dealing with other assassins that had revealed themselves among the crowd, trying to get a shot off Junior.

Junior, who was scanning the surroundings, grabbed his club from one of his men who was offering it to him.

"Forget the drink, that one's on the house. Go sock that bitch, sweetheart." Spat Junior as he held his club with two hands.

Smirking at his words, Yang replied

"You owe me one for this." To which Junior affirmed with a nod she barely saw from the corner of her eye.

Taking that as her cue, Yang leaped at the other Liberi with all her might as she closed in for a cross punch.

The other Liberi made the mistake of staring straight at her eye as she leaped, freezing her in place as if she had been struck by lightning.

It was an uncanny ability Yang had known for a long time, yet understood very little. People who stared straight into her eyes when she was pissed often found themselves paralyzed or unnerved.

But credit is given to where it's due. Had she not been quick to recover, Yang's fiery fist would have cracked her skull open like a chestnut.

"Tch!" A miss.

Unfortunately for her, that still meant a fire Arts-infused Yang was now at her face. Letting the fist connect to the ground, she unleashed her Arts then and there, making the floor shatter into a crater as Yang released a massive shockwave of fire and raw energy she had accumulated from the Arts barrage earlier. The Liberi had anticipated it though and kept her self-suspended mid-air using a constant updraft of wind. As she was suspended mid-air, the Malachite Twins rushed straight at her intent on cutting her up from two opposite sides. But the pythia-tailed Liberi sent a very strong gust of wind that blew them both back to the wall with an audible crack. Yang just simply bullied her way through the wind as she kept firing more jabs at her.

Landing gracefully as she projected a barrier of wind to block the incoming projectiles, the Liberi spoke with great amusement in her voice, which grated at Yang.

"Oh my, what do we have here? A little raven far from their frozen home? And I thought the only one of you fiends out here was that useless, exiled drunkard."

The perceived insult was enough to set off Yang, whose hair was now coated in fire, her lilac eyes, now glowing red.

"The fuck you called my uncle, you feathered bitch!" yelled Yang as she came charging at her.

"My, what an explicit, colourful yet brutish reaction, how befitting!" smirked the woman.

"I would love to enlist you in contacting the Branwen tribe, but-" was all she said before being cut off by a near-miss swing from Yang

"Shut up and die!"

"Regardless, the offer stands, should you change your mind, little raven. Just ask around for someone named Ho'olheyak and you'll find me." Continued Ho'olheyak as she easily evaded the enraged Yang's punches.

Shit, this bitch's good.

"Till then, little raven." She said just as she jumped backward into the glass window behind her.

"Shit" was all Yang was able to think before she felt a strong pulse of Arts gathered in front of Ho'olheyak.

Using the Arts technique she learned and inherited from her father, she absorbed the energy and force of the wind blast, crossing her arms to shield her face and torso.

As the wind died down, so did the sounds of fighting below. All she could hear now were the groans of the now-recovered Malachite Twins and a mechanical beeping sound. Beeping?

Lowering her arms, all she saw was a fancy sofa with a broken glass table. On the sofa rested a black rectangle with a flashing red light.

"Bomb! Bombs on the second floor!"

Screamed Yang as she converted the stored energy into a shield and body-enhancement spell enveloping her, as well as the nearby Malachite Twins. Lunging for the window, Yang barely made it out of the building before she was hit by the explosion behind her. Thankfully, her shield absorbed most of it, with the little force and shrapnel that made it through was nullified by her force absorption Arts.

She wasn't gonna test her luck, withstanding all of that, not when the last time she did lead to her becoming Infected.

Not long after, she also heard the glass beside her breaking, assuring her the Twins made it.

Re-orienting herself to land feet first, Yang landed with only a dull small thud as she landed on the concrete street down below. A quick glance to her side assured her as she saw Melaine collapse unto Miltie's side. She silently nodded at her, probably as thanks as she soon closed her eyes.

The next thing that greeted her was the voice of her own sister asking her "Yang? What are you doing here?"

Raising her head up, she saw it was her sister in her usual attire, dragging a headless corpse bleeding red petals from its neck. She had her experimental cartridged crossbow in one hand aimed at her, which meant she prolly was ready to shoot whoever else came out of the building. Seeing as that bitch who called herself Ho'olheyak isn't on the ground (a shame), she decided to give voice to the first thought that entered her mind.

"Spy?"

Ruby responded with a quick "Yep." As she lowered her crossbow and dropped the man. Ruby began searching the body as she recounted to Yang

"Miss Giovanna told me the man wanted to share the blueprints I made with the military, which is bad for the familgie. So, he had to die."

Internally, she couldn't help but sigh at her sister's simplistic morals. What else options did Dad and Giovanna have to explain to her on why Mom died, why we were now gonna be living with the Rossatis, as well as the start of her training as a hitwoman? Not when Mom specifically made it part of her will and even began training Ruby on how to use her Arts. She really did anticipate the fall of the Texas famigllie so well, it's hard to believe she died…

"Nice call, sweetheart."

Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned around to see Junior, alive and well with some of his guards. Sans the dirt, he seems fine physically but it's his eyes that give away the fact that seems a bit shaken.

Can't blame him. If a hit this complex and well-funded struck the Rossatis, she'd be damn scared as well.

"Heh, anytime Junior. You scratch my back, I scratch yours."

To her surprise, the Twins weren't that far behind him, limping while supporting each other as a medic was healing them. Looking back at the club, it seems they actually had bombs on both floors as the entire thing has collapsed into rubble, with very few of the walls surviving.

"Damn, who the hell would even go this far?" was the question that was burning inside Yang.

"I have several guesses but none of them really match this amount of wealth wasted." Said Junior as he crossed his arms in contemplation and annoyance.

"Could be all of them working together." Was Yang's guess, which was immediately shot down by Junior.

"Unlikely. They hate each other more than my guts."

But before they could discuss it any further, Ruby interrupted them "Uh Yang, Mr. Xiong, you might wanna look at this." As she was looking inside the man's coat.

Surprised, Junior turned to his side as he looked at Ruby "Woah, when were you here, Lil' Rose?"

"Uh, about 5 minutes tops. Busy searching this guy's body for some evidence after I 'gave him flowers'. The usual stuff." Dismissed Ruby as she shrugged.

"Well, whatcha got baby sister?" asked Yang as she stood beside Junior.

"Well, a Maylander Foundation ID." Ruby said with a grin as she fished out an ID from inside the dead man's coat.

"Oh. F-" was all Junior could say before Yang elbowed him in the sides lightly.

"Language, Junior. That's my baby sister you're talking to." Growled Yang as she shot Junior a look.

Glaring at her with annoyance was all Junior could do before he went back to looking at Ruby.

"Let me inspect it. I want to be sure"

After a few minutes of inspection, Junior bore a grim look that everyone of his own henchmen, who have gathered around them, bore.

Cooly, Junior confirmed his suspicions

"It's authentic alright."

"So, you snooped around too much?" asked Yang.

"Perhaps. Best to cut our losses and temporarily go underground." sighed Junior.

Giving Junior some space, Yang recalled her conversation with the assassin who had an interest in the tribe her mother and uncle came from.

"Say, Junior. Does the name Ho'olheyak ring a bell to you? The assassin gave her name to me as if it was a business card or something."
"No clue, sweetheart. I'll dig into it later. Probably a member of Maylander, so I'd tread carefully if I were you." Was Junior's reply as he glanced at her.

"Heh, no way I'd go meet that shady woman. Someone willing to mess with me or my friends is probably out to use me or something. I'd rather serve her some Yanese ass-kicking with a side dish of black eyes than get chummy with her." Shook Yang's head as she dismissed such a ridiculous line of thought.

Just then, sirens could be heard blaring from a distance as Junior's men began hauling away some of the cash they excavated from the building's remains to a truck nearby.
"You two sisters should get going." Motioned Junior as he pointed a thumb to Yang's miraculously unscathed bike.

"The cops here may be in my pockets, but you guys are toast if they see you."

"Alright then, till next time, Junior. Keep me updated on what you find about that Holesomething person. Ciao!" Waved Yang as she walked her way to her bike.

Ruby, ever the hyperactive ball of energy that she was, was already seated by the bike, packing away her crossbow in the storage area of the motorcycle. On her back slung the decapitated head and body of her target in a guitar case.

Taking her seat on her bike, Yang kicked off the stand as she started her engine, and drove off, heading back to the Rossati's main residence.

As Ruby, now clinging to her back as she did with Summer all those years ago, stared at a weapon shop they passed by, asked her.
"So, sis, mind telling me the long story now?"

Finding herself in her Mom's shoes, Yang could only smile as she said "Sure, why not? We have a long road ahead, might as well tell you a bedtime story, right?"

"Yang, I'm no longer a kid! I'm already 14 this year!" complained Ruby as she looked at Yang.

"You'll always be my sweetest, cutest, baby sibling, Ruby." Said Yang with sweetness mixed with a tinge of melancholy as she drove back the same way she came there.

As the two sisters banter, a raven is seen following them from a distance, it's red-glowing eyes, observing with curiosity as they drive home and unto the future that awaits them in Rhodes Island.

….

A/N: Yo, It's been a while. Now we finally have the Yellow trailer. This by far, is the heaviest I've written in terms of a glimpse into my plans for this fic. I won't say anymore what it is but it should be obvious by now that something is up with Yang and Raven in this fic. Raven for me, has always been the most anachronistic character in the show. Why? Because she's a ronin living in the jungle with a clearly Norse-inspired name and motif. It just doesn't mesh well for me, so this time around, she's a former merc who is now a Sami Snowpriest leading her tribe against the eldritch memetic horror that is the Collapsals. There is a reason Ho'olheyak wants to learn the secrets of the Branwen tribe, as it is related to her plight as a K'uk'ulkan. Originally, the end was supposed to close with Ho'olheyak monologuing while reporting to Tin Man, but I thought it would reveal too much of what I had planned.

Regarding Black Trailer, I'm still stumped on how to approach it. On one end, I have written around 5.5K words about it and it's only reached halfway through my planned sequences, with an extensive combat scene similar to the one in White Trailer but shorter, yet to be written. That and I am unsure how to approach the fact that Blake is supposed to be a ninja-like character. I've thought about how to interpret it but I am pretty weak in writing emotional scenes, so I am unsure if I should proceed with my original plan or should I backtrack it a bit, cut out the emotional scene between her and her master or do I stick to it and try figure it out.

Either way, I've actually managed to write a good chunk of another crossover fic that I had thought of involving RWBY once again, but I am yet to finish it, but don't be surprised if I end up posting that first over Black Trailer, because I am still so confused with what to do with Blake.

Till later then, adios!