Put that on my brother my brother my brother, but then he got switched for a bitch
And she call me dumb so she give me brain, and now I feel smart as shit
— Bankrol Hayden, Go Dumb
Less than an hour later Percy walked back to the village Raven's tribe had attacked with her in tow. She had her sword back, not that Percy was concerned. She'd sooner run than try to kill him, and now that he knew exactly what she looked like they both knew that was a stupid idea.
Percy walked through the town and helped wherever he could, taking small detours that seemed to irk Raven to no end, if her impatient tapping was any indication. Percy ignored her, helping to lift rubble to look for survivors or quickly apply first aid to a wounded civilian. He was just glad none of them recognized Raven. She now wore different clothes, went bereft of a mask, and had a sack of clothes slung over her shoulder. With the exception of her rather distinctive sword and hair, most would be hard pressed to recognize her under any circumstances, much less when she'd been towards the back of the lines pretty much the entire time.
Eventually though when everything life threatening had been taken care of they finally made it to the inn Percy was staying at. Raven had been wise enough to not say a word for the hour or so it had taken to make their way through the village, remaining silent all the way up to Percy's room on the second floor. He hadn't even had time to close his door this morning he noted with amusement, slipping through the still open door. Luckily the inn was some distance away from the gate Raven's tribe had barged through, and so his room was left entirely intact.
The moment they were in the room Percy wasted no time shucking off his shoes and jeans and heading towards the shower, returning the favor for the show earlier. If he expected Raven to be as embarrassed as he had been however he was left disappointed, Raven not taking her eyes off of him for a moment.
Percy rolled his eyes as he stepped into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. "This is our room, make yourself comfortable. You can have the second shower. We leave in the morning." he called over the light roar of the water.
Raven huffed and sat on the bed. "Aren't you supposed to offer the lady the first shower? Besides, I'm a bit dirtier than you, if you recall."
Her answer was the bathroom door shutting in her face. Raven huffed and rolled her eyes. Her newest companion, if you could call him that, wasn't without some attitude it seemed.
Raven waited patiently until he exited the shower and then headed in herself, unabashedly getting an eyeful as he stepped back into the room.
Percy once again rolled his eyes and splayed himself onto his bed, adjusting himself under the covers. Not hearing the door shut, he didn't even bother opening his eyes to look at the bathroom, knowing exactly what sight would await him there and the laughter that would follow. Instead he closed his eyes and attempted to sleep. If she tried to kill him his aura would awaken him anyway, and then she'd have hell to pay. But she knew that, and so Percy was confident there wouldn't be any incidents tonight.
He succeeded in his quest a few minutes later, drifting off to the realm of Morpheus with the sound of the shower running in the background through the still open bathroom door.
Percy yawned, stretching and sitting up in his bed. Rubbing the crust out of his eyes, it only took him a few moments to remember that there was another person in the room with him.
Looking down to his right Raven had managed to make herself comfortable on his floor and inside of his sleeping bag. Percy mentally shrugged, he didn't mind. Not like he had a use for it anymore anyway. His impromptu camping trip had been cut short by the prospect of something far more valuable.
Popping his back, Percy climbed out of his bed and quickly got dressed in his usual jeans and black t-shirt, pulling out his scroll and making a quick call before he headed down to the 'breakfast' part of the bed and breakfast.
Smiling tiredly at the lady behind the counter who looked like she hadn't slept in a week, he placed an order for two large breakfasts, waiting patiently until they were ready and then placing a week's worth of lien down on the counter in a few small chips.
Of course the innkeeper put up a protest, but she wasn't stupid and took his money at his insistence. Feeling just a bit better about himself, he climbed the stairs two at a time until he reached his own room. He clumsily turned the handle and nudged his way into the room before placing both of their — rather large — plates on the single desk in the corner. Percy walked up and kicked Raven in the foot to wake her. It got the desired reaction at least, causing her to sit up quickly and then relax the moment she realized where she was.
"Food." Percy explained, taking a bite of one of the bacon strips on his plate.
Without words she stumbled to her feet, still in her pajamas consisting of her tank top and short shorts and made her way to the desk, pulling out its chair and sitting. Still in silence she began digging into her food. Percy took his plate to sit on the foot of the bed a few feet away and did the same. He had to admit he'd worked up quite the appetite fighting to the death last night, and it seemed like Raven was hardly different. Raven was the one to break the silence mid meal. After swallowing a sausage whole (in a show Percy convinced himself wasn't suggestive) Raven glanced over at him on the bed.
"So am I just supposed to call you 'boy' for the rest of the trip, or…?"
Percy paused, letting his fork rest on the plate. Was there really a point in using his 'Perseus' identity with her? Not particularly. She didn't really seem to interact with the outside world much, so there didn't seem to be a point in keeping up his PR.
"My name's Percy." he decided, going back to picking at his breakfast. Raven just shrugged and went back to her own, seemingly content.
"So," Percy said, once he'd finished his meal and it looked like Raven was nearing finishing hers. "These relics. Did you say you know where all of them are?"
Raven grunted, gesturing for him to come closer. "Show me your scroll."
Obliging, Percy walked up to her and leaned against the desk, handing her his scroll. Quickly she opened up the navigation app and zoomed out, showing a map of all of Remnant. It was a map Percy had tried his best to become familiar with over the months.
Shoving the last fork-full of scrambled eggs into her mouth, Raven shoved away her plate and directed her attention to the scroll. "The four vaults are located at the four huntsman academies. Atlas, Beacon, Haven, and Shade. The only one, as far as I'm aware, that isn't located in a vault is the relic of choice, at Beacon. Ozpin prefers to keep that one close to his chest. You know what you need to get em'?" she glanced at Percy, and he nodded.
"Then you know I can only get you one."
Percy once again nodded, wondering if it was so easy that the vaults were located at the four huntsman academies. Of course he would need access to all four maidens, but just yesterday he'd had no idea where any of the maidens or relics were. Now, he knew (roughly) where all four of them were, and he was about to get one for himself.
Speaking of which…
"Which vault can you access?" Percy asked, curious which relic he'd gain access to. If it was something as powerful as creation this early on…
"The vault at Haven," she answered, "the relic of knowledge."
Percy hummed. Well, the relic of knowledge was certainly better than nothing, at least. And maybe some knowledge would help him here. The identities or locations of the other maidens, for instance. Or even the location of the relic of choice. He'd have to ask Monty first, to see if he'd indulge him before using the relic.
Percy straightened. "Well, get dressed. We're heading to Haven."
Raven snorted, leaning back in the desk chair. "You can't just waltz into Haven without an invitation, you know."
"Let me worry about that." Percy waved her off. "Just get ready to go." he said, walking past her to pack his own things.
Luckily they were both light packers — especially Raven — and five minutes later they stepped out into the morning air. Just in time, too, it seemed. Three bullheads were coming in for a landing right in the middle of the town square (the only place open enough for bullheads to land, and right in front of their inn) and Raven gripped her sword, as if preparing for a fight.
Getting the impression that was exactly what she was doing Percy reached over and gently gripped her wrist, squeezing it lightly. Getting the message, Raven's hold on her sword relaxed. Percy strode forward even before the aircraft were done landing, noting the machine guns outfitted on the front of the bullhead. Good, they were equipped to handle some grimm at least.
The police that stepped off the bullhead nearest to them noticed him and immediately saluted him, three of them stepping towards him and Raven.
"We're here as you requested sir. What is our directive?"
Percy glanced around the town, waving a hand at the shattered windows and battered buildings towards the western end. "These people were recently attacked by a bandit camp almost immediately after accepting my protection. You're to hold here with your bullheads until you're relieved, and to provide assistance to the local population."
The front guard nodded, his gas mask bobbing up and down sharply. "Understood, sir."
Percy clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man, now go see if you can help with anything, I'll be taking one of these bullheads back to Haven."
"As you say sir." the officer agreed, moving past Percy with one more respectful nod, both of his colleagues following him.
Raven looked at the Windpath police dressed in gas masks with assault rifles moving past them and let out a low whistle. "That's some nice gear. Mistrali police?"
"Windpath, actually." Percy corrected, swinging himself into the bullhead. "It's where I'm from. Or at least, the place I associate with. I've been… managing things there for a while now."
A look of understanding crossed Raven's face. "Perseus, right?"
Percy sighed. It seemed his reputation preceded him as much as he wished it didn't every now and then. "I prefer to be called Percy when not dealing with work." he said in answer, leaning forward and tapping the pilot. "Take me to Haven." he ordered, leaning back into his seat.
The pilot's affirmation was drowned out by the sound of spooling engines and the doors sliding closed.
"Oh, is this not business then?" Raven asked, resuming their conversation.
Percy snorted. "I was on vacation when you interrupted me. This is purely recreation." he assured her.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, it's good to meet you. I've been looking to for some time now, to see if you were a pushover at the least."
Percy snorted, pulling out his scroll. "I guess you got your answer to that one." he halfheartedly shot back.
They spent most of the rest of the ride in comfortable silence, the half hour or so until they reached Mistral passing slowly. But eventually they reached Mistrali airspace, hovering over one of the landing pads.
"They're requesting a reason for landing, sir." the intercom buzzed into the back of the bullhead.
"Tell them it's Perseus, and I need to speak to headmaster Lionheart." he called to the front, which was not entirely untrue. He was going to wait for the headmaster to attempt to contact him before dealing with the man, but he needed an excuse to be at Haven and getting this out of the way worked well enough.
Across from him, Raven tensed.
"Something wrong?" Percy asked, genuinely worried. He hadn't seen her so much as concerned about anything other than Percy himself. As much as he could still beat her she packed a mean punch, anything that had her on edge was not something he wanted to run in with.
"Just… don't trust Lionheart." she said finally. "His cowardice precedes him."
Percy nodded. "I understand. I'm hardly here to have tea with him. This is mostly just an excuse to get us both on campus, after all. I'm gonna go speak to him about some business, and then sneak into the vault."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "And what am I supposed to do? Unless I go to the meeting with you, there's no reason for me to be here. And I'm not going to that meeting, he'd recognize me."
Percy shrugged. "You can just stay in the bullhead and then open a portal to the vault, right? Meet me there."
Raven shifted uncomfortably.
"Something wrong?" Percy asked, concerned. "If you can't open a portal to the vault I can meet you just outside it. Speaking of which." Percy scratched the back of his head nervously. "Where exactly is the vault?" he asked.
Rolling her eyes Raven leaned over to his side of the bullhead completely over him and pointed at the headmaster's building. "It's his building, the main lobby. There's a hidden entrance." she said. Percy wasn't sure why she needed to lean over him to tell him it was just the main building, but he was too anxious to care.
Percy nodded, turning back to look at her. "Got it. Can you telepo—" Percy was cut off for the second time in the same amount of weeks by an unexpected kiss. But where Winter's just took him by surprise, this one was actually unexpected.
Percy grunted, and his instincts led him to reciprocate the best he could while moving a hand to push her off of him. In the end he didn't need to, as after a few seconds she withdrew on her own, resting on her seat opposite his.
"What—" Percy coughed, wiping his mouth. "What was that about?" he asked, confused as all hell and genuinely wondering why she'd kissed him. As much as she teased him, he got the feeling that if she was going to make a move they wouldn't just be making out for a few seconds in the back of a bullhead.
But Percy was left without a response as that very moment they landed and the doors slid open, revealing a teacher there waiting to escort him to Lionheart's office.
Raven gave him a mischievous smirk. "I'll open a portal to you near the vault. Enjoy." she nudged him towards the door.
Percy sighed. He'd find out sooner or later, hopefully. Sliding out of the bullhead with his mostly empty duffel bag strapped to his back he heard the 'thunk' of the door closing behind him, and resigned himself to following the kind lady to Lionheart's office.
She was polite enough to make small talk, but Percy paid her half a mind. He was sure he was being rude, but he was distracted by the fact that he was minutes away from having his hands on a relic. The sheer progress he'd made just by having the luck to run into Raven was more than he'd made in the rest of the time he'd been on Remnant.
He was fulfilled, to finally be making progress. But first he had a meeting with a headmaster to get over with.
Percy thanked the lady as she dropped him off at Lionheart's waiting room, telling him to head into his office as soon as he was ready.
Percy did so, not breaking stride as he walked through the doors to one of the more influential men in Mistral. The level of influence he wielded was rather controversial, here in Mistral. Some believed he was another front for the great families, while others thought he had all of them in his pocket, and was the true puppet master behind Mistral. Having met all parties involved Percy had gathered it was something between the two. Lionheart could, for the most part, get away with doing as he wished. But the moment a great family actually took interest, the party was over. That was why Percy was here, after all. To make sure that Lionheart's attempt to stop his expansion was over before it began.
"Headmaster," Percy greeted, stepping into the inner office where Leonardo Lionheart was busy at work. He shuffled his stack of papers aside and placed his hands on the desk, giving Percy his undivided attention.
"Perseus, it's a pleasure to have you here at Haven again. How can I help you, my boy?"
Percy invited himself to take a seat, but wasn't so rude as to put his feet up on the man's desk. Making an enemy out of him would hardly be a good thing, after all.
Though, after what Raven said about Lionheart being a coward… maybe he could be cowed into inaction.
"I'm here to make sure there's no conflict between us. I'm making a few expansions, and I just wanted to avoid any… ruffled feathers."
Lionheart sighed, his face falling. Percy got the distinct impression he had mentioned the one thing Lionheart really didn't want to talk about.
"I wish I could assure you of a peaceful response Perseus, but I unfortunately cannot. Your recent expansions are a direct offense to the government of Mistral, and must be dealt with quickly."
"You haven't collected taxes, or so much as protected one of those villages from a bandit attack in decades. Why do you care if I control them instead of some local mayor."
Lionheart's gaze grew steely, and he steepled his fingers. "Perseus, what you are doing is taking a significant portion of Mistral's owned land out from under us. As the defender of the peace of this great kingdom, I cannot allow you to continue."
Percy opened his mouth to respond before shaking his head. He had more important things to deal with at the moment. "I'm sorry we couldn't reach an agreement then headmaster. I'll try and keep your men alive at least." he promised, pushing back from the desk and walking away without so much as a glance back. If Lionheart was offended Percy couldn't tell, and to be quite honest he didn't much care either.
He was about to get his hands on a relic.
Percy fought to keep his hands still as he left the office and headed to the main lobby of the headmaster's building. It was empty, which he found only slightly odd. He did have an entire building to himself, after all. There couldn't be too much traffic. But Percy was still concerned they'd be caught — they were hardly in the most secure of locations. He was just thankful it was still technically the morning. On a sunday.
Moments later a red vortex opened next to him and Percy watched Raven awkwardly step out of it, coming from the inside of the bullhead Percy himself had just left not too long ago.
"So," Percy shrugged, glancing around the room. "Where's the vault?"
Raven took one glance at a statue towards the foot of the stairs in front of them and ran a hand down her face. "They changed the way to access the vault since I was last here. I can tell how to open it, but I can't open it anymore. At least not this part."
Percy frowned, crossing his arms. "So what will open this part?" he asked, upset at the prospect of getting so close to the relic only to not be able to take it.
Raven walked up to the statue. It looked to be a genie of some sort, a fairly scantily clad woman who, if she wasn't made out of metal, may have looked Indian. Raven ran her hands along the metal chain the statue held, and a small imprint at the bottom of it, where it looked like something small and circular might be placed.
"Well, the good news is I don't think Ozpin has it. I think it's Leo's. The bad news is that I also think the key to opening the vault is his stopwatch. Which he never goes without."
Percy cursed. "Is there no other way to get into the vault?" he hissed, still mindful that they were in the open.
Raven looked back to him and placed a hand on her hip. "We could always blow it open. That'd do the trick, and I could open the actual vault itself. But if you wanna do this without anyone knowing… I don't think there's another way."
Percy scowled. "So we have to steal the watch he always has on him, without him noticing, use it, and then return it."
Raven shrugged. "Pretty much. I mean, I'm sure he sets it down on his desk or something every now and then. In fact…" Raven glanced up the stairs, towards the headmaster's office. "I'll be right back."
Turning she walked up the stairs at a rather casual pace, not seeming bothered in the least, the beginning hints of a smug grin making its way onto her lips. Percy halfheartedly tried calling after her, but didn't raise his voice too much for risk of alerting someone else in the building.
Percy crossed his arms and leaned against the staircase, letting out a long sigh. He had no idea what she was planning, but he hoped it would work.
"Raven! Where were you?!" Percy hissed as soon as she was back, casually walking down the steps with the same cocky grin on her face.
"Sorry." she shrugged, raising both hands in the air. "It took a while before he left the watch in a convenient location. I was as bored as you." she said, stepping off of the last few stairs and tossing him a small object through the air. Once he caught it, he realized it was a small pocket watch. It would fit almost perfectly into the statue.
"How did you get this?" he looked at her incredulously. "He's still in his office, and if it's the key to unlocking a relic there's no way he would've left it out of his sight for long, much less left the room it was in."
Raven just shot him another cocky grin. "I'm good at going unnoticed. Call it a family talent."
Shaking his head and cursing crazy maidens, Percy slotted the pocket watch into the chain. He stepped back when the entire statue quietly rumbled and sank into the ground, forming a platform for them both to step on. Step on it they did, turning to face the outside and only having to wait a few more moments before the platform sank completely into the ground, going further and further underground.
As soon as they reached the entrance to the vault itself Percy had to admit, it was beautiful. It was so clearly designed, and yet somehow natural all the same. But his gaze was drawn from the natural beauty to something more beautiful.
A door at the end of the room was glowing bright gold, embroidered with evershifting designs of flowers. The door itself was two dozen feet tall and embedded into a wall of rocks, looking for all the world like it was a gate to another dimension entirely.
Percy took a hesitant step forward before shaking himself out of his reverie. He spoke quietly, "Let's get a move on, I don't want anyone discovering the hole in the floor up there."
Raven didn't say anything but she seemed to agree with him, stepping forward towards the door at the end of the vault.
Percy quickly followed her, gaining speed as he gathered his confidence. It was refreshing to think about. He finally had some sort of tangible progress towards his goals after most of a year on Remnant. He would finally have a relic to show for it, and the locations of the rest of them, too.
But, not to get ahead of himself. He didn't have the relic yet, as much as Raven had had ample opportunity to betray him before. Or at least, try to.
But seconds later they reached the door, and Raven reached out to touch it, resting her hand against the tall, golden door that suddenly opened, the decorations coating the door slowly flaking away until there was nothing between them…
And the relic.
Raven was the first to step through the door, and Percy was right behind her. The world they stepped into was one of eternal sand, the terrain being lifeless for as long as the eye could see, and Percy could sense no water, anywhere. It was quite disturbing, to be somewhere so dry not even the ground held water. He didn't think that was actually possible. It was as if whoever had created this place had just… forgotten to create water along with it.
Percy swallowed, redirecting his attention to the one thing he was really here for. The relic of knowledge sat on a pedestal of rock, looking as serene as serene could be. Waves of energy were expended from it, causing the air around the relic to mirage, distorting his view of the distance. It was embroidered with gold and glowed a bright blue, and Percy had no trouble believing it was a magical artifact made by the gods, regardless of its actual utility.
Raven reached out a cautious hand to grab the lamp and Percy tensed, subtly reaching for Riptide. Just in case.
But it turned out his caution was unnecessary. Raven turned and unceremoniously placed the relic in his outstretched hand. Percy let it rest in his hand for a moment before swinging his duffle bag around to the front and carefully placing the relic inside it.
Their eyes locked for a moment, and they shared a single moment of trust.
And then it was over.
Raven brushed past him on her way out of the vault and Percy was quick to follow, not willing to find out what would happen if the door closed while he was on the other side.
Pausing only momentarily for Raven to re-close the vault they continued back to the elevator and up to the main lobby. Percy was eager to leave immediately, but Raven reminded him they had to replace the pocketwatch if they wanted to get away with the heist. So he sat impatiently in the lobby for the few minutes it took for Raven to — somehow — place the watch back where she had found it on Lionheart's desk.
Percy only allowed himself to breathe once they were back on the bullhead and already flying back to the village. But he was still tense until they were out of Mistrali airspace, clutching the duffle bag so hard his fingers turned white.
Raven shot him an amused look. "You can relax now."
Percy rolled his eyes. "As if you wouldn't be just as nerve wracked as I am."
Raven smirked. "First time smuggling out a magical artifact with the potential to change history? That's adorable."
Percy snorted, "No, actually." he said, but decided not to elaborate. He wasn't sure she could really get the concept of the master bolt, even if she for some reason believed him.
Ignoring the look she sent him, Percy sat silently until they were all the way back to the village they'd left from when the pilot broke the silence.
"Sir, I only have enough fuel for one trip back to Windpath. I won't be able to take you anywhere else."
Percy nodded, about to wish Raven goodbye and head back to Windpath when he hesitated, glancing down at the duffle bag in his possession that contained the relic of knowledge.
As much as he was only one man, this was also only one relic. And really the relic would be safer with him than anywhere else, right? So did he even need to return to Windpath?
"I'll be getting off here then. Take yourself back to Windpath and get refuelled." Percy told him, sliding out of the bullhead next to Raven.
One verbal affirmation later the pilot was in the air, and Percy was left on the ground with Raven.
"Well," he shot her a crooked grin. "I'll be staying out here anyways. I may as well walk with you to your camp."
With a snort and a roll of her eyes Raven led the way back west towards where her tribe would inevitably be set up.
As she'd told them to move northwest (read: away from the village) it was an extra few miles hike before they made it back to the encampment.
They looked quite a bit better off than when he had last seen them, Percy granted. Instead of being rain and mud soaked, half of them missing limbs or bleeding out as a result of Percy's anger, most were resting at late morning campfires or sparring in loosely defined sparring rings. He tried not to let his eyes wander too much, his inner New Yorker not letting him look too blatantly like a tourist. But he still took in the sites as they strolled through the bandit camp.
And the camp took in the site of them. He was sure some of them thought they would never see their leader again. Even more probably thought they'd never see him again. But they ended up being proven wrong that morning, Percy following Raven into her tent again without a word.
But as he did, he was suddenly reminded of the last time he'd been in the tent. And that reminded him of the confusing events that had happened in the bullhead.
"What was the kiss about? In the bullhead, I mean." Percy blurted. Raven paused her process of unstrapping her sword to look back and raise an eyebrow at him.
"What, never heard of a bit of casual face-sucking?"
Percy rolled his eyes, watching as she resumed the process of disarming and taking off her boots. "It was a bit out of character is all. You seem like you'd be sooner to jump my bones in the back of my bullhead than try and kiss for a few seconds."
"Who said I didn't just run out of time?" she teased, now fully settled in and sitting on her bed. Percy elected to remain standing.
"Then you wouldn't have started in the first place. Whatever," Percy decided to drop it. "You're weird, I already knew that."
Raven laid back on the bed and crossed her arms. "Careful, you might hurt a lady's feelings talking like that."
"You have to have a soul to have feelings." Percy grunted, crossing his own arms.
Swinging around his now very valuable duffle bag to his front he sat it down on her table, "There is something else I wanted to ask you about before I leave, though."
"That is?" Raven asked, leaning up slightly to meet his eyes.
"Why?" he asked lamely. "I mean— you were a lot more cooperative than you could've been. You could have attempted to escape, or tried at least to kill me in my sleep. Or maybe tried escaping with the relic. I expected at least one of those to happen at some point."
Raven let out a bark of laughter, letting herself fall back onto the bed. "Is that all? Seriously, that's your question?"
Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "I think most people in your position would have tried to stab me in the back. Or at least, been less helpful. Pretended you didn't know where the relics were, or how to open the vault. Why didn't you?"
Raven closed her eyes and shook her head. "I thought you were a bit smarter than that. Color me disappointed. It's simple. You'd kill me if I did anything else." her head rolled to the side, still snuggling comfortably into her bed as if they weren't talking about her death. "It's the same reason my tribe follows me, or your men follow you. It's the same reason I can take anything I like from these pathetic villages sprinkled all over the continent. I'm strong, and they're not. If they don't do what I want them to, I'll kill them the same way you'd kill me if I was any less useful to you."
Percy paused, a protest freezing on his lips. He wasn't sure that was quite true, but she had a point. If she didn't know how to get to a vault, what was the point of keeping her around? But, Percy recounted, thinking about Lil' Miss Malachite, some of the gangs in both Windpath and Kuroyuri, and many of the families in Mistral. That wasn't true for everyone. It certainly wasn't for him, at least. He wouldn't just roll over and give up a powerful artifact because his life was in danger, or do more than he had to. And of all of the people he had terrified into doing what he wanted, every one of them had bolted as soon as they were given the chance, or, he knew, would attempt to stab in the back as soon as he presented it. Many of them were just as helpful as they could be to not be killed. But not Raven.
It was Percy's turn to bark out a laugh, drawing Raven's gaze. "You're like a wild dog. You run around as the alpha of your pack, bullying smaller dogs into doing what you want until someone puts you in your place. And then you're just like all the rest. Domesticated."
Raven growled and rose, halfway stood up when Percy's eyes lit up and thunder clapped directly overhead. Almost as if to prove his point Raven sat back onto her bed with the noise, flinching at the reminder of the single bolt that had sent her flying twenty feet through a tree.
"Good girl." Percy mocked, moving so that they were eye to eye. He almost didn't catch the fist that followed.
But he did.
And he blocked the one after. The punch after that was thrown by him, directly into Raven's nose. He knew that with her aura there was no real chance of her being seriously hurt, and so followed it up with a right hook that landed squarely on her jaw.
She launched off of the bed and tackled him into the floor, both of them landing in the grass and struggling for dominance. Percy ended up on top of her, attempting to ignore her scratching at his arms, deflecting it with his aura (though it still hurt like a motherfucker.)
He wasn't sure at what point she had clawed off his shirt, or when her top had suddenly been lost in the tousle, or when them growling inches from each other's face had led to the roughest makeout session of Percy's life. No, the only thing he distinctly remembered was waking up that night in Raven's bed with a very clothesless Raven wrapped in his scratch-covered arms.
He'd find a way to blame Qrow for this, he was sure.
Aight AN time.
So first to explain the whole 'kissing' scene earlier in the chapter cause I got some questions from my Patrons. To those of you who are not familiar with canon RWBY, Raven can only open portals to those she's formed a very ambiguous 'bond' with. Obviously not every one night stand and especially not everyone she's ever kissed is going to have a bond with her, but in my mind Percy had already imprinted on her enough that she just needed one little push to be able to form a bond with him. She tried using a kiss as that push, and it worked, hence allowing them to sneak into the vault.
(Looking back at this almost a month later, I'll admit it is kinda just for the plot. It's a little lazy, but at the end of the day, especially with something like fairytales where I'm not trying to write a work of art here, if I can find a way to do what I want to without it getting too blatant, I'll take it.)
Second, after the last several chapters I'm certain some of you are convinced I've caught a case of the horny. I can confirm this, however I will have to dissuade you of the notion I've caught it since starting to write this story. No, I manage to keep my hormones away from my stories, thank you. The roll in the hay with both Winter and Raven has been planned and storyboarded since the first couple chapters. There's been a bit of back and forth with Raven, and I only really decided about 10-15 chapters in that I definitely wanted them to bone, but Winter's been pretty solid since pretty much the beginning.
Anyway, sorry for ya'll that are using this as 'inspiration' but that's prolly gonna be it for the hornies for a good while. Well, except for the beginning of the next chapter I guess.
Updated AN 9/10 (When I post):
Hey! Sorry for updating this so late at night (or even the next day for literally anyone that doesn't live west of me) but I always want to make a habit of posting the pat-reon chapters before the regular ones. I was a little behind on the next chapter for pat-reon cause school's just started and so I had to work on it for the last few hours in a drug-induced frenzy (Though those drugs were mostly caffeine in the form of coffee and adderall. Which, if you didn't know, is not the best to do at the same time. But hey, fanfic comes first.) but yes, that is why the quote is what it is.
I was going to be able to get this chapter out quite a bit before midnight EDT, but in the middle of writing it I got a nice and long call from an old friend of mine.
A call that offered me a paid internship at NASA, to work on the Artemis project. The Artemis project, if you're as uninformed on the subject as I was about fifteen minutes ago, is our project that daddy Trump started to go back to the moon. So uh, as much as I like keeping my word and I love all of you for supporting me as much as you do (especially the pat-reon bois that are genuinely giving something up to motivate my dumb ass), I do have my priorities. And at the moment a paid internship to put a fucking man on the moon is only slightly above getting my fanfiction chapter out on time.
That being said I still wanna keep my word so here's the chapter, only a bit late (or maybe i'm right on time for est?)
My discord is on my profile. I'm in it with a ton of other authors and pretty much the entire PJO fandom, so hop on in. My channel's been dead as fuck, which is not by choice I can assure you. Come on in and just start some random conversation in my channel so I can actually interact with people more than once a chapter, I'll love ya for it.
Also I have my pat-reon on my profile. All chapters are up on Pat-reon in advance by one, so chapter 25 has just been posted there if you wanna get ahead just a little bit, though the frequency of chapters is the same. Huge thanks to my guys over there, and because of two of em who are shelling out $20 each, (fucking madlads) I'm now contractually obliged to write three chapters a month. So that means that if I'm not completely overwhelmed a chapter will becoming out every tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth. If I find it's a bit too much I'll refund one of em and just do twice a month, which I should be good for. But hopefully it doesn't come to that.
See ya'll in either of those places and I hope you enjoyed.
Next chapter September 20.