Team SHDW Volume 2

Chapter 16: Known by Its Song

At the Branwen Tribe camp, Vernal poured cups of tea for Raven, Yang, Dante, Walker, and Weiss, who were all inside Raven's tent and seated around a table.

"You can wait outside," Raven told her subordinate, "Thank you."

Vernal obeyed and left.

"So," Yang started, "What's the 'truth'?"

Raven took a sip from her cup, "You know, it's better when it's hot."

"You know," Weiss retorted, "You're really obnoxious."

Dante snorted out a laugh, earning him a quick glare from Raven, but he figured it was worth it. Walker smacked his partner upside the head.

"You are being very rude to the person that's on the fence about killing us!" Walker whispered, but couldn't help but let out a slight grin.

"The truth is that 'truth' is hard to come by," Raven explained, thankfully ignoring Dante's amusement, "A story of victory for one person is a story of defeat for someone else. By now, your uncle has surely told Ruby and her friends plenty of stories."

"Well, he's never given me a reason to doubt him before," Yang replied.

"That doesn't mean those reasons don't exist."

Yang glared at her mother before the woman continued, addressing her, "You know, you and your teammates might as well be the poster children for the Huntsman academies. Your motives vary, but you all enrolled to try and make the world a better place. It's adorable."

"It's what Huntsmen and Huntresses do," Yang replied.

"Not all of them. Some people are just in it for the money and the fame, but there's even more that are just looking to grow stronger. Your Uncle Qrow and I didn't attend Beacon to become Hunters... we did it to learn how to kill Hunters."

The four let out a gasp at this, exchanging a few brief looks with each other, Raven watching in amusement, pouring more tea for herself, "Daddy and Uncle left that part out, hm? Aside from the Grimm, Hunters were the only ones capable of ruining our raids and hunting us down. Our tribe needed a counterforce. And Qrow and I were the perfect age."

Raven stood up, "The entrance exams were child's play compared to what we'd already been through. We were good. So good that we caught the attention of Beacon's very own headmaster, Professor Ozpin. Even after we were put on a team, I could tell he was keeping his eye on us. Back then, I thought it was because he knew, but it was Team STRQ he was interested in."

"What do you mean by that?" Dante asked.

"Constant attention, extra training missions, turning a blind eye whenever we happened to break the rules and get into more trouble than we should've."

Raven looked at the two RWBY teammates, "Sound familiar?"

Yang and Weiss shared another glance at each other before the white-haired girl gestured for Yang to keep going, "What's your point?"

"How much do you know about Professor Ozpin?" her mom answered with another question, "About his past?"

"He was a prodigy," Walker responded, "One of the youngest headmasters to be appointed to a school."