The last 25 hours had been agonizing.
The white walls of the hospital room and the constant exchange of words between the doctors did nothing to help her, her head hurt too much, she felt like her body was about to explode and the environment was not helping, she was too uncomfortable, she needed her father, her friends.
Her husband.
Raven Branwen screamed in pain as she felt her baby push even further, she grabbed the sheet tightly as she closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, she had had the vague and somewhat timid idea of giving birth in the tribe's territory, however, Summer and Tai convinced her without much difficulty to go to a normal hospital.
The stress was consuming her.
"Here's the second one" the nurse murmured excitedly, Raven moaned softly, tears running down her cheeks as she tried to open her eyelids multiple times, the sound of footsteps approaching her forced her to finally take a shy look, finding herself staring at the same young girl from before who had been helping throughout the entire birthing process.
"Congratulations Mrs. Branwen, it's a boy and a girl" the young nurse said, murmuring a few words to the doctor that Raven couldn't even understand, the girl gently took both newborns and placed them in Raven's arms, walking away shortly after.
Raven smiled and cried in equal measure, looking at the delicate bodies of her children, she and Tai had been spared the need to see what sex they both were, knowing that they were twins was already a huge surprise, she never liked babies, she found them ugly, whiny and annoying, whenever there was a baby in the tribe, she was the first to complain and walk away.
Now that she had her own babies in her hands, they were the most beautiful thing in the world.
They both cried and squealed loudly, while their mother gently caressed their soft, small bodies, Raven paid more attention to both of their hair, the boy had a soft trail of dark, black hair, identical to hers, while the girl had a very beautiful golden color adorning her head, it was very similar to Tai's.
They cried and cried some more, Raven only dedicated herself to rocking them and protecting them with all her strength, maternal instincts took over her and the doctors didn't seem to want to bother her, after a few long minutes, both babies opened their eyes.
The boy had red eyes, just like hers, while the girl's were lilac, her eyes were clearly curious as she began to look around the room and stopped crying when she recognized her mother, the twin did exactly the same shortly after, causing the bandit's heart to simply break with love.
Raven gently pressed them both against her, kissing their heads affectionately, this was the result of the love she and Tai had, they were her greatest creation and pride, even if they were barely minutes old, she already felt that they were vital to her, she had to protect them, take care of them, teach them to fight, maybe she could help them build their weapons.
Raven swallowed with difficulty as her mind was lost in erratic and imprecise thoughts, she needed to return to the tribe soon, her father Scav was killed by Qrow not too long ago, even if things calmed down, she had to take her place in the tribe again.
This wasn't supposed to be this way, Qrow had to take control of the tribe and she could live in some harmony with Tai, right?
She didn't feel well.
Raven sighed, hugging her children even tighter, she couldn't be the loving wife Tai wanted, she was a monster, a murderer capable of taking the lives of children, the elderly, men and women without even protesting, she killed babies before, babies identical to her own that she now carries in her arms.
On top of that, when a new Branwen takes control of the tribe, she must have her heir and next head by her side before even taking control in the first place, now she had a choice, even if her head was screaming a thousand insults at her for even considering it, which one should she take? The girl or the boy?
Raven observed them both a little more, the girl was very curious and had already begun to move erratically, but she dedicated herself more to looking around, curious and new to this experience of being alive, that curiosity, that Raven saw in Tai.
She looked at the other expecting to see something similar, however, this one was calmer and was more focused on staying close to his mother, he even seemed shy, Raven bit her lip, lowering her head as tears came out of her eyes.
"I'm sorry" she murmured, kissing the girl's head hard "I'm so sorry, Yang"
...
Taiyang Xiao Long was as stressed as a father could be, he had spent the last few hours going around his house as if that would calm him down, the same house that he built with his own hands so he could live happily with his wife and two children, that house now felt like a reminder of what had happened just a few hours ago.
Raven had vanished.
It happened too fast and too suddenly to even have a reaction, he had gone out to get some things for the babies who were barely three weeks old, diapers, bottles, adorable and beautiful clothes for both of them, his surprise was too uncomfortable when he found that only Yang was in her baby crib, Yin was nowhere to be found.
All he found was a note, a note that did nothing to help with the panic.
Yin is with me, Tai, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but this is his destiny, he has to be with me and I must teach him everything so that he can take his place when he grows up, this is what I want, I just wish you could understand it.
The clear and concise message stated a kidnapping in all its letters, Tai continued to pace around while waiting, before hearing a hoarse and somewhat lazy voice coming directly from the dining table.
"Walking in circles makes you look like a dog, stop doing that" Qrow Branwen muttered with no real emotion in his voice, his frown was the only thing that could reveal how disgusted he was with the current situation "I'm a little drunk, Tai, but I understand the situation"
"Do you understand?" Tai asked quietly, anger coursing through his body before he walked over to his best friend, slamming his fists hard on the table "Don't you get it Qrow?! She took my son! Your nephew! She took him to that damn tribe of murderers and psychopaths!"
"I understand better than anyone, that's my... well, it was my house" Qrow said disgusted, uncorking his canteen and drinking some more, not for any real pleasure, but to avoid feeling bad about what he was going to say now "There's not much we can do"
"Yes we can! We can go there and just take him by force" Another voice joined in, almost as annoyed but more nervous than Tai, Summer Rose entered the room a mess, dressed in her combat outfit and with her weapon "Qrow, show us where it is, we need to find it!"
"Do I need to repeat myself again? Petal?" Qrow laughed humorlessly, standing up and holding his head "My sister took Yin as…part of a tribal tradition, whenever a leader takes control of the tribe, they must at least have one child on the way or have one outright in the territory, to raise that child and make them the perfect assassin…it's been done this way for centuries"
"But does that matter?" Summer asked, looking at Qrow pleadingly. "Yin is your nephew, and, he's just a baby! He must choose his destiny, Raven can't just take him away without talking to Tai, he, he's his father!"
"I'm not jumping up and down with excitement either, Summer" Qrow growled, just as annoyed as they were, though the alcohol kept him from being able to show it "Unfortunately...that's how it works...the tribe was acting like a broken toy the past few months but, they've recovered pretty well, now that Raven takes control...I don't know if we'll be able to go in and just take Yin by force"
Tai sighed in defeat, letting himself fall on the couch and covering his face with his hands, tears began to flow from his eyes once he understood the situation, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do anything, absolutely nothing.
"I'm sorry, Tai" Qrow murmured, slowly extending his arm to his friend's shoulder, before simply pulling it back "At least I can say that he will live, no Branwen has ever died under the tutelage of another, perhaps he can come see you in the future"
"You're not helping at all, Qrow" Summer hissed, giving her friend a disapproving look, she sat down next to Tai and hugged him tightly, taking the taller man's head and placing it in her lap, the blond finally let out a whimper of pain and continued to cry in misery,
It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair to him, it wasn't fair to anyone.
Why did she have to take him away? Why does she have to turn him into a monster?
Why did she take their son?
Taiyang cried for hours and hours, before simply collapsing into his friend Summer Rose's arms.
...
Tai woke up suddenly, the atmosphere of the couch and Summer caressing his hair had vanished in seconds, now, he was on that same couch, however, the love of his life was no longer there, there was no one anymore.
The man looked around in confusion, his right hand holding a half-empty bottle of whiskey, Tai ran a trembling hand through his age-whitened hair, sitting down on the couch with difficulty.
His daughter and son-in-law had left a few weeks ago to return to the kingdom, leaving the house alone once again, Tai had stopped living there years ago, ever since his daughters apparently died in the fall of Atlas and he moved to Beacon, where he helped with everything he could in the reconstruction and became a professor shortly after.
Tai looked at his left hand slowly, finding a photo of his late wife, Summer Rose, apparently he had been drinking thinking about her and fainted shortly after, it was something he did once every few years, even if she died more than 30 years ago, it was still just as painful.
"I didn't expect to find you here tonight," A male voice interrupted Tai's thoughts, the man already knew who it was, but he still turned his head to face the intruder "You look better, father"
Yin Branwen, his son.
Yin looked the same as Tai remembered, the same kimono, the same dark hair and eyes so identical to Raven's, that same serene gaze and expression that bordered on the shy or embraced the perverse, there was no middle ground.
Seeing his son was nothing new for Tai, it had been perhaps 20 years since Yin sent a letter to Beacon asking to see Tai, Tai agreed, heading to his abandoned house in Patch, where for the first time, he was able to see his son again.
Since then, Yin and Tai had maintained a sort of custom of randomly seeing each other in this same house, which, as far as Tai knew, Yin was in charge of keeping in perfect condition on an annual basis, according to the bandit's own words, as a way of venerating the memory that he does not have, when his family was reunited.
The first meetings were pleasant and very emotional for both of them, Yin was curious since he was a kid to know the whereabouts of his father, and Raven could not stop him from going to look for him, over time, Yin began to show his real personality and gave his trust to his father.
Just as Tai feared, Yin was a monster.
He murdered, stole and abused all kinds of harm that could be caused to whoever got in his way, when the truth was revealed, their relationship became a little strained, even if they both felt the desire to see each other from time to time, they still felt strange for not being able to reveal their real emotions.
Tai still fondly remembers the last moment without that tension, when Yin revealed that he was going to be a father, and that Tai was going to be a grandfather for the second time.
"I tried to come a couple of weeks ago, but my half-sister and her husband…and my nephew, were here" Yin spoke in response to Tai's lack of answer, approaching the multiple photos and paintings hanging throughout the house, family moments between Tai, Ruby and Yang "They looked happy"
"They are" Tai muttered, standing up and standing next to his son, they were both almost as tall, Yin being just a few inches taller "…Are we going to talk about your tribe? Felicia Torchwick?"
"You should know that she and my mother were intercepted in an operation and that Ruby stopped them, along with Waylon's team" Yin said calmly in his voice, his calm and non-hostile tone made any new bandit of the tribe tense, for Tai, it was just his way of speaking "They intend to get in the way of my plans"
"I couldn't expect something else" Tai said calmly, noticing Yin's gaze fixed on a photo of Summer Rose, whom the bandit had always hated for some reason "Ruby looks a lot like Summer"
"Maybe that's why blood isn't an obstacle for me" Yin turned around, paying more attention to the details of the house "I'm going to start acting, I'll help Felicia and the tribe get to the top, Ruby won't stop me...not even Yang"
"They will stop you" Tai turned to look at his son, his expression softening a little "Yin…I know you asked me to keep our meetings a secret, but you are threatening my family"
"My twin sister would go after me if she knew of my existence, I'm just trying to keep the family as it is, separated" Yin closed her eyes for a second, opening them shortly after and staring at his father "You don't want me to get involved in their lives either, and I don't want to hurt them, but I definitely will, father"
Tai sighed in defeat, clutching his head "I'll be in trouble once they find out about this"
"I'm sorry to cause you trouble" Yin said with genuine regret, leaning forward slightly "See you later, father, your grandson sends his regards, he wishes to meet you"
"See you later, Yin" Tai said, Yin was surrounded by sparks and traces of electricity and shot towards the door, disappearing from the house in a matter of seconds, Tai was left alone once again with his thoughts, tense about the situation.
He had not mentioned anything about the meetings to his daughters since Yin asked him not to, stating that the meeting of the three would not be the most pleasant, and that Yang might simply lose control, Tai could not continue with the promise, aware that the future of his grandchildren and his nephew were in danger.
Even Yin knew this, and that was why he wouldn't resist either.
Tai sighed one last time before throwing himself back onto the couch, ready to drink himself to sleep.
...
The atmosphere at Beacon had been revitalized and was more alive than ever, students chatting on their last days of rest, others kissing, others fighting in the training arenas, and some finding themselves forced to receive private lessons due to a bad grade, everyone was doing different things at the Huntsmen and Huntresses academy.
Including the WBRN team.
"I spent my short breaks at Schnee Corp collecting information about our opponents, their semblances, their weapons, their combat techniques, including philosophies of thinking and problem solving" Waylon Branwen said with a very professional enthusiasm, dropping a huge stack of papers completely stapled and organized "And, as the last day of our break before classes start, we will study all of this…together with the STRM team, so that they learn our weaknesses"
"Can't we just do normal student stuff?" Neithan groaned in defeat, slumping his body against the dining table and closing his eyes "You know…things that are actually fun?"
"I'm with Neithan, it's not that I don't want to learn from your findings, of course I do, but I don't want to study right now" Riana responded with the same enthusiasm as Neithan, Waylon frowned, looking once again at the stack of papers.
"Well, we can leave it for another day" Waylon picked up the huge brochure and put it aside, sitting at the table with his team, both WBRN and STRM had met after the holidays to talk and exchange experiences, whether they were interesting or not, since they could now be considered something similar to partner teams, if there was something that needed 8 students, they would do it together.
"I returned to Mistral with Telsius, I showed him the whole of Haven and we did a few things, climbing mountains is more fun than it seems" Samuel commented with a smile, while Telsius nodded, confirming his companion's words.
"I wish you had taken me with you" Myrian muttered, closing her eyes and putting on a dejected expression "I had to spend some time with my parents, I think I got too distracted smelling perfumes and…things like that"
"Menagerie would have been nice" Bryan replied, remembering the couple of weeks he spent in his mother's homeland "There are a lot of new things to do there, I went to the desert island, the faunus are starting to put up houses and businesses there, It's really nice"
"I suffered a little" Roy muttered, looking furtively at Riana, who whistled at nothing, avoiding the blue-eyed boy's gaze "I warn you that Nora has prepared training tortures disguised as classes, it's horrible"
"I trained too, with my mother, I learned a bit about using my eyes to kill Grimm" Neithan said in a theatrical voice, standing up straight and looking at both teams "Don't you want to go play in our room? We have a new console!"
Myrian was the only one who didn't nod enthusiastically, suddenly, the bustle in the dining room simply stopped, surprising both teams, who finally understood the sudden silence, caused by the entrance of Nora Valkyrie herself.
"Team WBRN, the Headmaster needs you in his office" Nora said calmly, waiting patiently for the boys, Team WBRN looked at each other, confused and without a clue as to what was going on, without taking any more of Nora's time, they said goodbye to Team STRM, following closely behind the orange-haired woman.
"You know something?" Waylon murmured to Roy as quietly as he could.
"I don't know" Roy shrugged, even though he had spent a lot of time with Nora and gotten to know her better, he had no idea why Oscar would need them.
The tour was normal and calm, the students passed their curious glances over the first year team that had attracted attention in recent months, Waylon recognized the glances with mixed emotions, some looked at him with doubt, others with admiration, and a large part with some disgust, he simply shrugged his shoulders, at this moment, the opinion of the rest was the least of his interests.
Nora opened the doors that led to Oscar's office, the boys were surprised to recognize the figure of Ruby Rose next to her husband, apparently waiting for the boys, Oscar stood up calmly, Roy noticed four small boxes placed on the table that the man was using.
"I'm sorry to have interrupted your last day, but it's important" Oscar waved his hand, causing Nora to close the door "The events of the last few days have…opened the door to possibilities we hadn't considered"
Oscar fell silent, it took Ruby a couple of seconds to understand the message, and she spoke with a complicated tone of voice "Felicia is still out there and the tribe is still a threat to the city of Vale and practically the entire kingdom…she is the one who will find a way to penetrate Beacon and allow the invasion to happen, and…you are already part of this"
Ruby turned around and took each of the boxes, handing them to the boys, the boxes were lined in black and had a symbol drawn on the top, each symbol was that of each member of the team, they opened the box confused, finding a silver ring with a red gem embedded in it.
"Pyrrha, show us all the information we have about the dagger" Oscar asked seriously, the artificial intelligence obeyed and a whole line of holographic windows appeared around everyone present, the WBRN team watched the whole act even more confused, while the adults waited to be able to explain in detail.
"The dagger of the afterlife is an ancient artifact, perhaps older than the realms themselves. We do not know its origin or what it is, we only know what the stories say" Nora pointed to the windows filled with information, images of old papers and even drawings carved in stone "According to the stories, if you take someone's life with the dagger, their soul will be stored in it and you can make an exchange, bring back to life the person you want…"
"Information is scarce and confusing, these papers may exist…but no one knows about this, It's not like the stories of the maidens and the seasons, or about the girl who fell through the world…no, there's no way they know about the dagger" Ruby muttered, her eyes narrowing as she thought of some possible explanations for the general lack of knowledge about the artifact "But we know…and Raven Branwen knows too"
"The tribe wants the dagger so they can bring an army back to life, perhaps their former chief or whoever they want, we must obtain it first and put it under our care" Oscar ordered Pyrrha to make all the holograms disappear, causing them to vanish "We want you to be a part of this, to help Ruby stop Felicia and find the dagger, those rings will give you unlimited access to the information we have"
"We know that it is a bit complicated and that this is very new" Nora said with a reassuring smile, getting a little worried when she saw the boys' perplexed expressions "But we are aware of your ability, strength and skill, it would be amazing to have you on our side"
"If you refuse, we won't have any problems" Ruby rushed over, approaching them and taking her son by the shoulders "This is very serious and dangerous, we told you the truth so you can see that we trust you, so, no strings attached"
Waylon looked at his teammates, searching for an answer in their facial expressions, Neithan's wide smile, Bryan's bewildered expression, and Roy's calm one were enough proof to understand what they were thinking on the surface, however, this was not an easy decision to make.
Waylon knew a few things thanks to his father, Ozpin used STRQ to do hundreds of secret missions to defeat Salem and find the maidens, the result was not the best, and the team ended up separating due to personal disputes, if Oscar wanted to use WBRN in the same way, they would end up like them.
Waylon patted Ruby on the shoulder, indicating that she should move away a little, once she moved away, the red-eyed dragged his teammates to a corner of the room, beginning to speak in a very low voice.
"This is something very interesting" Waylon murmured, receiving a nod from his team "If we are to be part of the secret group it must be by unanimous decision, what do you think?"
"If the tribe wants the dagger, then it is not open for discussion, we have to stop them" Bryan stated, his sense of responsibility coming to the fore "Well, at least, that is what I think"
"There have already been secret groups led by the Headmaster, uncle Qrow, Neithan and Bryan's grandfather, their grandmother too" Roy explained, thinking the same thing his cousin had contemplated a couple of minutes ago "They didn't turn out well, but…we should just help Ruby, right? If so, I'm in"
"It's like a superhero movie, it's just so cool!" Neithan muttered in excitement, jumping slightly in place "Obviously I'm in! We'll learn directly from my mom in combat! No one will stop us in the tournament"
The team nodded to each other and returned to the adults, who waited patiently for their response.
"We accept" the four of them said in unison, finally getting down to the business of protecting Vale.
...
Doubt, helplessness, suspicion, all these emotions had always seemed unpleasant and not typical of her, however, lately everything was more possible than she thought.
Being a heroine had deprived her of many things, of spending a simple Sunday with her family watching a movie marathon without a robbery or a giant Grimm interrupting the moment, of being able to celebrate each of her son's birthdays or even consider expanding the family with her husband, she would never regret choosing this life, but it was not perfect.
She always wanted to be like the heroes in stories, those who are able to give happiness and hope to others, she had achieved it, of course, but sometimes she felt that the confidence that his work gave her suddenly vanished.
The last days, to set an example.
Ruby sat on the edge of the bed in silence, her naked body was only covered by a robe that had been given to her many years ago, this night was particularly cold, she had to put it to good use.
The woman's fingers held a color photo, it was herself with her husband, holding a still very young Neithan.
She had lost count of how many minutes she had been watching it, in total silence.
"Do you want more? You have a lot of energy," Oscar Pine spoke from behind his wife, just as naked as she was, although he had had the decency to cover himself with a silk blanket, the man expected some naughty or racy response, but he only got silence, so he peeked a little to see what his wife was seeing "Oh, that was on his third birthday"
"I've noticed that I've missed most of his birthdays…no, I always knew that, but now I feel horrible" Ruby said, putting the photo aside and leaning her neck back, falling into her husband's chest "…I don't think putting him in the secret group was the best idea"
"We agreed that we would give them the decision, they agreed" Oscar replied, gently stroking Ruby's hair "They will be under your care, and I know you well enough to know that you will not let them die"
"We can't avoid everything, no matter how good we are at our jobs, uncle Qrow was perhaps the best of his generation, and yet, Pyrrha died" Ruby muttered, turning her head slightly to look into Oscar's eyes "I don't trust them"
"Let's give it a chance" Oscar smiled softly, trying to calm his wife's nerves "There's still time, let's go to sleep"
Ruby nodded without putting up any more difficulties or problems, finally giving in to sleep.
...
Drowning her sorrows was too complicated.
Felicia Torchwick had spent the last few days lamenting her failure and humiliation, she still remembers little about her father, Roman, perhaps too little, occasionally he read her a story before leaving for months, perhaps he made dinner and showed her how he was terrible at cooking, or perhaps he told her how he would give her the world when she grew up.
Clearly he did not keep his promise.
Felicia cursed herself internally, hitting the wooden surface on which she had been placing her last drinks, the Branwen tribe bar was large and had all kinds of alcohol, something good for de-stressing, especially for her.
She was stupid, was she really going to mentally punish herself for not being like a man who was devoured by a Griffon? Who was also defeated by a group of Beacon first years?
Of course, he didn't have a semblance, she does have one, perhaps one of the most powerful and dangerous that exist or will exist in Remnant, and yet she was defeated, if she had to ask Sint, she would answer something simple.
He still has his humanity, that is weakness.
Felicia turned her head slightly to see the rest of the bar, there were many people, men, women, some big, some small, too many guys and too many people who were not worth remembering.
"You look bad" Felicia raised her head slightly, the voice coming from Skinny, a man of perhaps middle age who was quite thin with an average height, perhaps not the most robust of the tribe, but he had a list of kills too long to not have a huge reputation "You've been like this for days, the others don't like you being so long doing nothing, it makes you look weak"
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, none of that matters anymore" Felicia took a shot of whiskey, looking at it for a second before pouring the entire contents into her mouth, swallowing with impressive ease "I'm not even that old, you know? I'm still in good shape and I lost to a bunch of kids, again"
"It's not just any group of kids, Waylon Branwen was trained by his father…it's practically fighting Hawk, who is a heavyweight" Skinny placed the bottles on the shelves with great care, glancing at Felicia from time to time "What are you planning to do now?"
"Lamenting, sleeping on the couch, watching a movie marathon and eating until I have fat rolls" Felicia joked, laughing lightly more at how pathetic she sounded than at the humor in her words "You know what? I'm leaving now, this place smells like cheap alcohol"
The bar fell silent when the doors swung open, Felicia lowered her head, knowing who it was simply by the way he walked, slow but imposing, the most dangerous bandits of the entire tribe looked at the intruder with boundless respect, leaning their heads forward to acknowledge his greatness.
"I'd love to say I can join you for the movie marathon, but I need you doing something else" Yin Branwen sat down next to Felicia, gesturing for Skinny to pass her a bottle, one of the most valuable ones "We've been putting up with your whining for weeks, it's time to get to work"
"Easy for you to say, beast" Felicia practically growled, glaring at Yin with a latent anger in her expression "It's not easy for me, I'm the one who has to face Ruby Rose, as well as your dear cousin's team, who is a bloody genetically blessed prodigy, it's like being a racer and having lost your damn legs in an accident"
"You can kill the rest, only Waylon matters" Yin said without remorse, Skinny handed him the bottle, giving him the chance to drink a little, not even grimacing at the strong taste "Bryan Xiao Long, Roy Schnee, Neithan Rose, rip their heads off, I don't care"
"Your mother cares, you should have seen the smile she put on when she saw the blond with cat ears, she would love to be the grandmother who gives her grandchildren money to buy soda" Felicia stumbled away from Yin, those present watched her annoyed, she was one of the few who was allowed to disrespect the leaders "Tear their heads off yourself, you're faster, stronger, and you have no feelings, the complete package! I'm leaving"
Felicia stopped when Yin simply appeared in front of her, leaving a trail of sparks behind him, his tall and imposing figure did not seem to affect the mage, who simply yawned tiredly.
"You want control of the city, control of the world, big, but respectable aspirations" Yin spoke in a low voice, his red eyes piercing Felicia's soul "But you fail too much for the level of your desires…I can help you get the other thing you want"
"And what would that be?" Felicia asked, looking at Yin with boredom.
"The death of the Malachite twins" Yin smiled as Felicia's expression turned serious, and her posture firmer "Go back to the city and we can get to work, world domination isn't your only wish, right?"
Yin turned around and walked to the exit, leaving the place, Felicia followed closely behind him, the spark of determination that she thought had been extinguished, ignited with a totally new vigor.
...
"Years have passed since the kingdoms of Phimisal and Ishaiba were created, during the fall of Beacon some residents decided to leave the kingdom due to the difficulties that were presented to live peacefully every day, the territory of Phimisal filled with refugees at an impressive speed, and in the year 4100 Nexorum was finally created, its academy of Huntsmen and Huntresses, becoming an official kingdom under the eye of the rest of Remnant" Lie Ren pointed to the current map of all of Remnant, specifically looking at the kingdom neighboring Vale, Phimisal, represented by a strange white shield, with chains coming from its center.
"Ishaiba was created in the year 4102 as a result of the adverse living conditions that Vacuo presents by nature, people moved further and further south, to the mountainous areas of the continent, the comfort and the ability to take advantage of the Dust from the unexplored mines caused more people to soon join these communities, as expected, they joined together and created an entire kingdom by building the Huntsmen and Huntresses academy, Rovemid, specialized in stealth and the elegance of combat" Ren stopped when he heard the bell ring down the hall and in the classroom itself, finally closing his class "You may go, remember to do your homework and study for next week's presentations"
The students present in the room did not give their teacher a response, instead starting to talk amongst themselves and dispersing as they left the room, the WBRN and STRM teams stayed together as they usually did and chatted casually with each other as they walked down the hall, something quite normal.
The new semester started a few days ago and the differences were not so many, classes were heavier and sleeping hours were shorter for the laziest, for the WBRN team the indiscreet glances full of divided opinions became worryingly normal, apparently, their absence during the attack on the city border was a kind of boom among the students, where was Beacon's best team in a situation like that?
That was a doubt that even STRM had.
Even if they were close, Waylon decided that for the moment revealing the reason for their absence was not so necessary, with what they knew was enough, they were at Waylon's house spending time with family, the whole part about saving Ruby Rose from an attack on a laboratory was not necessary, at all.
"So, I was thinking" Riana began, standing next to Waylon and gently taking his hand, interlacing their fingers "When could we have our second date? You know, we can go to a lot of cheap and basic places, time together is what matters"
"Sounds good, although you don't have to worry, I can ask my dad for money" he replied, appreciating the warmth that the black-haired girl's hand transmitted to his.
"This afternoon?" She asked, looking at him expectantly, Waylon was about to open his mouth to confirm, only to be interrupted by a knock from Neithan.
Waylon turned to the front to see what it was about, Nora Valkyrie was there, looking at his hand with his daughter's, Riana blushed furiously and joined their hands even closer, causing the moment to become somewhat strange and uncomfortable.
"That's very nice" Nora said with a smile, patting her daughter on the head, then looking at Waylon more seriously, leaning towards him and whispering in his ear "Oscar needs us, it seems that Ruby found something about Felicia"
"Oh" Waylon muttered in response. Nora quickly walked away, followed closely by the rest of her team, the boy turned to his friend and love interest, meeting a confused expression "I'm sorry, something came up and we need to help your mother with some office matters, we could go out another day"
Waylon walked away quickly, leaving a confused and somewhat disappointed Riana.
...
Waylon arrived in record time at the Headmaster's office, forced to use his new ring to enter, the scene was just as he expected, multiple holograms surrounding Ruby Rose as she spoke, the woman stopped when she saw Waylon enter, rolling her eyes as she was forced to repeat herself once more.
"Felicia is in town right now robbing an old warehouse that is in the name of the Malachite twins, if we get there in time, we might be able to catch her" Ruby explained briefly, taking her trusty scythe and transforming it into its portable form, Waylon blinked in confusion, staring at the images taken by the security camera in the area.
"Is she alone?" He asked, confused.
"Apparently she is" Roy answered for him, leaving the room with Bryan and Neithan so they could change clothes, Waylon hesitated for a second before following them.
...
She had been here quite a few times.
Felicia remembered with some nostalgia the times she had worked in this old warehouse alongside the Malachite twins to carry out all kinds of activities, murder, death threats, blackmail, robbery, every form of violence she had learned to do here, when she was barely a teenager.
The warehouse was just as she remembered, quiet and spacious, there were some steel platforms placed in the air next to a somewhat thin but functional bridge, multiple boxes full of Dust and weapons were stacked together in the corners, giving a rather curious effect to the already strange environment.
The reason why it hadn't been stolen was more than obvious, both Miltiades and Melanie had learned a lot about their father when it came to dealing with the Dust trafficking business and a bit of weapons, Felicia's neighborhood was poor and there weren't many people capable of stealing without being discovered to be killed shortly after, they had explained it to them on their first day, this was a food chain, and they were at the top.
Felicia laughed lightly, soon, she would be the one on that summit.
She slowly approached a somewhat worn white wall, patting the surface a few times as she moved to the side so she could cover more ground, suddenly, a piece of the wall simply caved in, causing a concrete gate to open in the ground, Felicia laughed lightly, carefully making her way down the stairs.
The underground corridor was much darker and dustier than she remembered, she hadn't been in here many times, she wasn't that trustworthy according to the twins, but they had shown her this place a few times so she could learn a little about the business and the way they worked, in a very brief way, down here there was very important information in an underground warehouse, vital information in case someone outside of them was needed to do more risky jobs.
The best of them would gather down here from time to time, the location of multiple partners and those involved with Vale's criminal world was the most important thing, although there was a lot more information, of course, especially about the people involved who were actually already dead, like the Vanille family.
Felicia crossed the gigantic warehouse carefully, without getting desperate or anything like that, she suddenly turned to an old computer, perhaps too old, and inserted a pendrive courtesy of Ivan Cox, the machine turned on and the screen blinked a couple of times, beginning to show a bar that slowly filled up.
"Now we wait" Felicia murmured, stretching wearily and resting her arms on the machine.
Things were slightly different upstairs.
Ruby had crossed the entire city with her semblance, being forced to take the WBRN team with her due to time constraints, Oscar had not been able to be present at the meeting they had, however, the instructions he gave to his wife were clear and concise: you must take the children.
Look at it as a bring your son to work, he said with a smile.
Ruby dropped down in front of the warehouse cautiously, hiding with the teenagers on the side of the building, there were multiple bodies on the ground, dressed in elegant suits and red glasses, they were from the Black Bear Syndicate, that much was more than obvious.
The only problem was that there were too many of them, perhaps several dozen around the entire structure.
"Felicia couldn't have done this alone" Ruby muttered, cautiously looking around more carefully, she was trying to find some accomplice or someone who could have helped the magician, but there was no one, maybe some homeless person lying on the ground from an overdose, but there was no one.
Ruby sighed, having a very bad feeling about the situation, over the years she had learned that when things couldn't be explained, the reason would appear sooner rather than later and she would end up with some scratches and maybe some broken ribs, of course, when that happened she was alone and could afford to take risks, but now? She was protecting a group of teenagers where her son was involved.
"This is what's going to happen" Ruby turned around, facing the teenagers, who moved back a little at the serious and harsh tone of the sweet woman they always knew "You kids are going to stay back while I investigate what's going on in there, you're going to stay still, understood? It doesn't matter if you hear something or if someone shows up, you're not going to put yourself at risk against assassins, statues, you know what those things are right?"
"Of course we know" Waylon replied slightly offended, receiving Ruby's piercing gaze as a threat, causing him to shrink even further.
"Then move" Ruby stood up and crouched over to the half-open door, pushing it open as gently as possible and successfully avoiding alerting anyone inside, the woman glanced around the place a few times, noticing multiple boxes in the corners, she gestured for Bryan and Roy to check them out, which they did somewhat nervously.
It took the woman a couple of seconds to recognize the perfect hole in the ground, Ruby knelt down and tried to see if it was a trap, patting the edges with Crescent Rose, nothing happened, so she gathered some courage and let herself fall inside, going down the stairs very carefully, Waylon and Neithan looked at each other for several seconds, following the woman's orders and staying in place.
Ruby walked down the hallway cautiously and concentrating hard on the sound she was making, the hallway was narrow and seemed to lead to a rather large place, and so it did, Ruby couldn't help but part her lips slightly as she saw the gigantic room beneath the warehouse, in fact, it was another warehouse, Felicia's figure was there, as she expected, staring at a sort of old command table.
"You were taking a little while" Felicia spoke to Ruby from her position, taking the pendrive she had installed earlier and calmly removing it "Did you come with the kids?"
"You were dumb to come here alone" Ruby muttered, deforming into a cloud of petals to appear a few meters away from Felicia, raising her scythe and pointing it directly at the mage "You're under arrest"
"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you a little sneak peek" Felicia said with a playful smile, Ruby blinked a few times and her gaze moved to a strange figure appearing behind Felicia, right on top of some rather narrow and large boxes "There's someone who wants to meet you… you could say, it's a family reunion"
"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked confused, Felicia didn't bother to give her an answer and leaned against the table, the strange figure suddenly disappeared and an impressive force grabbed Ruby by the neck and threw her forward, making her crash against one of the steel bridges.
Ruby didn't have time to recover from the blow, the figure grabbed her again, this time by her cape, and dragged her at an impressive speed to the stairs, where she was thrown upwards with enough force so that her body shattered the ceiling and flew into the air, the woman used her semblance and quickly recovered, finally facing her opponent.
"I've been waiting to meet you, sister" Yin Branwen said with a wicked smile, unsheathing his sword and pointing the blade straight at his half-sister "Show me your strength, daughter of Summer Rose"
...
The WBRN team had been on alert from the moment someone, presumably a man, threw Ruby out of the warehouse and chased her with his semblance, which was definitely one of speed, the orders they had been given could be followed undisturbed, they had heard a bit of the conversation their new mentor had with Felicia, so one option was to stay here and guard the underground entrance until she deigned to come out.
Needless to say, it didn't seem like a viable option in Waylon's mind.
"We have to go down right now" Waylon said firmly, his tone of voice implying that he was asking his team instead of stating an affirmation, he remained silent for a few seconds, waiting for some kind of complaint, however, his surprise was noticeable when his team simply nodded "What? Wait, do you agree with me?"
"Ruby's busy right now…we already defeated Felicia once, this should be easy?" Roy said cautiously, tightening his grip on his rapier and pointing towards the stairs.
Waylon nodded and his team finally entered the lower warehouse, reaching Felicia was pretty quick with the situation already starting to get hectic, the boys stopped when the mage was in front of them, to their surprise, she seemed to be waiting for them.
"It's been a while since you guys mopped the floor with me" Felicia spoke with some exaggerated nostalgia, she twirled her cane, as she looked at the four teenagers with a more than obvious disgust in her gaze "Now, this is what I think, I don't like any of you, okay? But you"
Felicia pointed at Waylon "The tribe gives you the chance to join them and avoid being a victim in the end, and you will be the victimizer, the benefits will be multiple, for example, I will turn a blind eye to your age and date you, sounds good?" She laughed humorlessly, clenching her left hand on nothing to release some of the anger she was feeling so suddenly.
"Find another minor to harass, I'm not interested in being part of your little group of assassins" Waylon responded with a half-sneer, his confidence from his previous victory coming to the fore.
"Then I don't have to be soft on you" Felicia said, creating a smoke bomb in her hand and throwing it forward, the cylindrical-shaped object released dense smoke in seconds, blocking the entire team's vision, none of them lost their calm and stood on guard, waiting for Felicia's first real move.
You could say they were taken by surprise.
Felicia angrily grabbed her cane and firmly hit each teenager in different parts of the body, she wasn't fast enough to knock them out in seconds, but she was fast enough to annoy them.
Felicia lifted Melodic Cudgel and fired a bullet directly into Bryan's head, moving to the side to dodge Neithan's scythe, the mage kicked the younger boy's stomach hard, stunning him enough to push him away.
"Our relationship is very special to me, kids, but romantic insinuations are out of place, I'm a magician" Felicia took off her hat, taking out a deck of playing cards "You deserve my new trick"
Felicia took each card in her fingers and threw them at the boys as fast as she could, the cards turned a different color and exploded depending on the color, they were loaded with Dust, the smoke caused by the explosion added to that of the grenade, further impeding vision for the WBRN team.
"We have to get out of the smoke!" Waylon shouted somewhat desperately, moving somewhat quickly to the side, he collided without seeing very well with someone taller, he had to assume it was Bryan, a blow to his jaw threw him to the ground, he already knew what was happening, Felicia was taking advantage of his lack of experience in situations without vision.
Roy lifted Myrtenaster up and dropped her hard onto the ground, creating multiple glyphs beneath him, ready to use Wind Dust, before the mere sight of the staff sent his rapier flying away.
Felicia grew tired of games, using all her resources she hit and practically used the entire team as rag dolls, taking advantage of their weaknesses, she created a simple blindfold and with it she covered Neithan's eyes, making him unable to use his semblance, which allowed her to easily knock him unconscious.
Felicia created a pair of earplugs, calmly putting them in while creating a Schnee Corporation cartridge, throwing it at Bryan and creating a sonic boom that incapacitated the Faunus in seconds, Felicia laughed softly, tightly gripping Melodic Cudgel and taking Roy by surprise, hitting him multiple times until leaving him writhing on the ground.
"You're the only one missing, pretty boy" Felicia turned to Waylon, looking in the direction he was supposed to be, her happy smile turned into a thin line of suspicion when she saw that the red-eyed was not there, she looked around a couple of times, trying to locate him.
Waylon appeared behind her and wrapped his arms around her, beginning to wrestle with her so he could wrap his arms around her neck and knock her out, Felicia was strong enough to resist a little, pushing him back enough to make him stumble.
"No one understands the part about see but not touch?" She asked, being grabbed by the teenager again, Waylon summoned his Harbinger replica and hit the woman with the handle, then made multiple cuts with the blue sword.
"This is what we're going to do" Felicia gasped, gasping for air, she raised her staff and pointed the gun directly at Neithan's head, gently placing her finger on the trigger "If you don't let me go, then I kill the kid, how about that?"
"There's no need to rush" Waylon murmured in response, relaxing his stance a little, his gaze shifting between Felicia and Neithan "Don't hurt him"
"I won't" Felicia laughed, slowly moving the cane away from Neithan's skull, with meticulous care and her gaze fixed on Waylon, the mage walked backwards towards the stairs, once she was far enough away, she simply ran up, leaving the WBRN team below.
Waylon rushed to his teammates, waking Neithan with a knock and helping Roy and Bryan up, once he made sure that all his team was in minimum condition, they went to the surface.
...
Ruby didn't have time to process the man's words, the scourge his weapons created was too strange for her, he was strong, quite strong, his elongated sword had an air strangely similar to Omen, the weapon Raven Branwen used.
Not only that, he was too similar to her.
His black hair and somewhat disheveled reminded her a lot of her sister Yang, his red eyes had the same tone as Raven, Qrow, even Waylon, plus he called her sister.
Who was this guy?
Yin took his sword and held it tightly, moving it with a dexterity worthy of a member of the tribe, the clash of Full Moon with Crescent Rose was almost a perfect dance of weapons, both deflecting with ease and their wielders trying to find a gap in the other's defense.
It was simply beautiful, to anyone who was looking at it.
Ruby looked around for some kind of resource she could use, they were in a construction site, at least that's what it seemed like, the multiple concrete structures and bags of cement only confirmed her hypothesis, there was no one around, so she didn't have to worry about having to take care of someone.
Yin didn't let her think anymore, hitting her in the abdomen with his sword and then in the chest, Ruby responded with a growl, forcefully raising her scythe and hitting the man in the jaw, making him step back.
"I always wondered what our father's style was like, how he taught you and Yang to fight" Yin said with genuine admiration in his voice, beginning to circle around his half-sister "It's a shame you're in my way"
Yin transported himself in front of Ruby using his semblance, managing to take her by surprise and dragging his sword up, throwing it into the air, the electricity in his body exploded and he jumped next to her, kicking her hard in the stomach and dropping her to the dusty ground.
Ruby gasped loudly, vanishing in a cloud of petals and appearing in front of Yin, beginning to swing her scythe as fast as she could and subduing him with the same speed, being sent flying backwards by the force that Crescent Rose was able to take.
"I have no idea who you are, but you need to stop playing around" Ruby growled loudly, watching Yin slowly stand up "Who the hell are you?"
"My name is Yin Branwen, son of Raven Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long" Yin said with some pride, a small smile appearing on his face "You can believe me now or later, it doesn't matter"
Yin used his semblance again, and so did Ruby, both moving around the area using their speed abilities, hitting each other from time to time, Ruby raised her scythe and fired a quick bullet towards a crane that was holding a steel structure, the structure fell to the ground firmly, distracting Yin for a second, Ruby took advantage of his distraction and hit him with her scythe on the back with as much force as possible, making him kneel.
"Are you willing to kill your blood?" He asked, Ruby placed the blade of her scythe on Yin's jaw, lifting him slightly "I know you don't kill, you're weak, even my sister is, there are people you can't redeem or put behind bars, people who will fulfill their goal without thinking…I am one of those people"
Ruby frowned, ready to hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious.
"Mom!" A young, somewhat childish voice caught Ruby's attention, and the woman turned around, seeing the WBRN team.
Her heart clenched slightly.
They looked hurt, at least three of them, Bryan's cat-like ears were bleeding, Roy and Neithan looked considerably bruised, the woman breathed heavily, a new and unpleasant panic flooding her body.
"I told you not to fight!" She sighed, frowning and turning to face the WBRN team "My orders were clear, you were to stay still!"
"We didn't have much of a choice" Waylon replied, trying to look behind Ruby, to identify the person she had been fighting "Felicia escaped, but… well, at least we have the guy in the back, right?"
"Do we? No, I don't think so" Ruby let out something similar to a laugh, although it seemed to be more of a strange moan due to nerves and anger "There is no "we" here, I can't allow you to put yourselves in danger and they won't obey my orders"
"It's not that big of a deal" Bryan muttered, feeling awkward about having to argue with his aunt.
"It is, this is not a game" Ruby stood up straighter, losing sight of Yin, who was still on the ground "This is not a normal academy mission, it is the damned work of a few people willing to defend this kingdom, if you do not follow my orders, no matter how small they are, then you do not deserve-"
Ruby suddenly fell silent, the WBRN team stood up straight, concern and fear flooding their gazes, the woman looked down in confusion, it was a sword, a sword was piercing her stomach.
"You don't turn your back on an enemy in a fight, you should know that" Yin pulled out the sword with ease, Ruby fell to the side in pain, clutching her abdomen in an attempt to stop the jet of blood that was now coming out, the red-eyed man looked forward, facing the four teenagers "She's right, this is very dangerous, because it's a lost game, you've already lost and you haven't even started playing"
Neithan gripped her scythe tightly, a few tears escaping from his eyes, his chest was heaving and his ears began to hear a simple dull sound, Yin smiled slightly, feeling that the moment was more special than it seemed.
"You are here" He looked at Waylon, who, unlike Neithan, felt scared "I won't kill you, not yet, I can give you what you want, the glory of being the most powerful person to ever set foot on Remnant, you don't understand your potential yet, you could surpass the abilities of a maiden…if you just help me"
"I will never do that" Waylon summoned a glyph and brought out Harbinger, Bryan and Roy prepared themselves, even if their leader was shaking "Leave my cousin alone"
Yin laughed softly, raising his sword with an almost theatrical slowness and technique, placing it right above Ruby's heart, from one second to the next, his limbs were surrounded by multiple glyphs, immobilizing him in an instant.
"What?" He growled, Waylon clenched his hand until his fingers dug into his palm, the glyphs continued to tighten on Yin's limbs, he couldn't move even a bit, the rest of the WBRN team took advantage, they weren't going to allow Ruby to be killed, not in front of them.
Bryan was the first to move, charging forward and landing a powerful punch to the man's chest, destroying the glyphs and partially knocking the air out of his chest, Roy stabbed his rapier into the ground and created a stampede of ice, knocking the man into the air.
Neithan used his semblance, driven by anger and desperation, Yin's body was surrounded by hot and powerful flames, the man fell to the ground with force, but the fire did not stop, it simply intensified more, Neithan approached slowly, the tears in his eyes were no longer just from anger, it hurt, his head was burning, as if those flames.
Neithan blinked a few times, the flames intensified and Yin writhed a little more, the heat was unbearable, his aura flickered multiple times, if he continued like this, just a little-
"NEITHAN!" Waylon grabbed him firmly by the shoulder, turning him around and forcing him to look at him "You're going to kill him!"
Neithan didn't respond immediately, his silver eyes had been shining and no one noticed, the glow in his eyes slowly faded, just like the flames, the boy blinked a few times, hugging Waylon tightly.
Bryan and Roy tried to get close to Yin, perhaps to give him a coup de grace so they could capture him, but unfortunately for them, the man disappeared from one second to the next, leaving only a trail of burns in the sand on the ground.
"Ruby is hurt" Roy said forcefully, approaching his aunt and kneeling at her side, pressing his palm against the hollow that was now in her flesh "She's going to be okay…just call an ambulance"
"I'll take care of it" Bryan muttered in response, activating his Neo-Scroll and moving away from the group, Waylon hugged Neithan tightly, feeling his chest collapse as he heard the younger boy's sobs.
They were safe, just for now.
...
Ruby looked at the ring on her middle finger, the silver color of the metal, the red gem with the symbol of Summer Rose and herself seemed to be a constant reminder of her current life, a life she couldn't escape from.
Did she regret having chosen this life?
She could have been a normal girl after the fall of Beacon, she could have simply stayed home with her sister and helped rebuild the academy, maybe Jaune, Nora and Ren would have stayed with her, or not, who knows.
Would she have seen her friends again?
Would she have met her husband?
Today's events were important in a big way, Felicia Torchwick had escaped with some information, information that they couldn't get because the computer that the magician hacked was no longer working.
Also, Ruby apparently had a brother, at least a half-brother, who was Yang's twin.
Life couldn't be quiet for too long, could it?
If those children had not been with her, he would have killed her.
"Hey" Waylon entered Oscar's office suddenly, the rest of his team was behind him, they were not dressed in their uniforms, but in much more casual clothes, pajamas, practically "Do you sit in the dark to give yourself a spooky effect?"
"I can't be scary" Ruby laughed lightly, standing up, the woman didn't say anything for several seconds, looking at her ring and the team of teenagers a couple of times "I'm sorry about today"
"It's okay, if we're not ready, there's no reason to stand in your way" Bryan replied for his team, smiling rather lightly "We understand"
Ruby remained silent for a few seconds, playing with the ring on her finger "To be honest, I was scared that you guys would get hurt because of me, for involving you in this…but the one who got hurt today was me, if you guys hadn't been there…I would have died"
Neither of the boys answered, Ruby looked for her son with her eyes, he was behind Bryan, practically hiding, the woman felt her heart completely break, her son had been close to killing someone to protect her, he didn't deserve that, he was too young, he should be with his friends, talking about stupid crushes, not having to watch his mother die in front of him.
And he didn't deserve a dead mother either.
"I was naive to believe that I could do this alone, without anyone's help, and I was also naive to underestimate you, this is the life of the Huntsmen, kids, this is what I have suffered for almost 20 years, but we can end it, we can put an end to this and prevent this secret group from continuing to exist" Ruby paused for a couple of seconds, trying with all her might to keep a sob from escaping her chest "We can end it"
"We just want to help" Roy muttered in response, looking away for a second "We are young and inexperienced, but, we are willing to help, if no one wants to put their life before the rest, then there will be consequences and…we are willing to put ourselves at risk in order to protect the kingdom"
"I know" Ruby nodded quickly, walking over to the WBRN team and surrounding them in a hug, the boys quickly returned the hug, finally easing the woman's heart "I need your help, you guys reminded me that I will never be stronger alone, but also of the risks of what I do, and what you want to do…so…I have to ask you"
"Do you still want to be a part of this?" Ruby asked cautiously, preparing for any kind of response, the boys looked at each other for a few seconds, only to nod at the end "Fine"
It wasn't going to be easy, this was very different from what a group of normal teenagers had to experience in their school days, but Ruby could see in them what she had at her age, the desire to protect others and put her life at risk to prevent others from having to do so, it was the noblest thing she had, and she felt proud that they had that spark.
But she was not alone, and neither were they.
Ruby Rose smiled brightly, feeling happy to have these children accompanying her on the path.