Once upon a time, there was joy and laughter here. Once upon a time, there was love here. Once upon a time, there were four of them in here. Now, just one. It was almost as if someone had come in and sucked all the life and color out of the room. The stormy grey clouds colluded any semblance of what this place once was.
(y/n) breathed in deeply as he stepped into his empty dorm room here at Haven. He walked to the middle of the room before rubbing the bridge of his nose.
When was the last time he had gotten a good night of sleep?
He walked over to the closet that the four of them used to share to pull out a small handheld duster and began to walk around the room. Dusting down Violet's small bookcase. Re-lighting one of the candles that Olivia loved to collect. Straightening Nellie's trophies from combat tournaments. Putting the room back into a perfect shape, as if his teammates would come back into the room at any moment and find it exactly as they had left it.
Silently, and without a single sound, (y/n) put the duster back where it belonged. Violet always was particular about returning things to where they were and Olivia was just as particular about keeping the room clean.
Finally walking over to his section of the room, he stood in front of what he came here for:
A mask.
A mask made of what seemed like smooth, pale bone that resembled a bird with a wide beak and four holes. Two to see through, one right in between his eyebrows, and one on the left cheek. Birdman, Eleanor called him when he wore it.
(y/n) shook his head as he picked it up off his bed and slipped it over his head, completely covering his face. He pulled the hood of his worn-down hoodie over his head to hide his hair. It was unceremonious, for sure, and other huntsmen certainly had more flair and personality in the outfits that they wore, but those times were long gone for (y/n). There was no joy in playing huntsman anymore.
Before (y/n) left the room, he looked over his shoulder to take one last look and his old dorm room. His old life.
Once upon a time, all was right with the world.
As he walked down the dormitory halls of Haven, he would occasionally pass by a student or two. Most of them would give a strange look at the masked man walking down the hall, but one actually recognized him from (y/n)'s schooling days. He called (y/n) out by name and gave a small wave, but (y/n) walked right past him. To him, they were just colors shooting by, he couldn't even hear them.
Eventually, (y/n) arrived at his school locker and, after punching in the code assigned to him, it flew open to reveal his weapon:
A long black staff with a intersecting piece of metal near the top of it to give it an almost crucifix-like look. It stood almost an entire half-foot above (y/n), it was massive. An absolute feat as to how he was able to stuff it in that locker in the first place. He slammed the locker shut and pulled out his scroll to look at the coordinates that Qrow had sent him.
"Not that far off..." thought (y/n) as he stuffed the scroll back into his pocket and headed out to meet him "halfway" like he said.
As (y/n) left Haven and began to make the trek to Qrow's location, he checked his scroll to see how far out it was. He sighed when he saw a couple dozen miles appear on his screen. Hardly fair on his end, considering Qrow could cover aerial distance with relative ease.
He only made it about seven or eight miles out before he got a call from Qrow.
"Probably just him telling me to hurry it up..." thought (y/n), "I'll get there when I get there..."
He picked up the call and held it to his ear.
"(y/n)?! You there?!" yelled Qrow through the scroll, sounding frantic.
"Yeah, I'm here. You good?" (y/n) replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't know! Complications! We've been followed! I need you here now!"
"I'm sure you and those kids can hold it down," he replied, rolling his eyes a bit, "I'm still-"
"It's one of hers!"
(y/n) stopped in his tracks, giving Qrow his full attention now.
"You're sure?"
"Absolutely. She sent someone in her inner circle to intercept us!"
(y/n) sighed before replying.
"I'm on my way."
He hung up the call and prepared to activate his semblance to cross the remaining distance.
As (y/n) sprinted to provide aid, Qrow was locked in combat with the scorpion faunus, Tyrian Callows. Ruby and the others watched in anxious readiness as Qrow's blade met Tyrian's wrist blades. Their delicate dance across a rooftop in the village that Tyrian had ambushed him left Qrow on his feet as he hopped from plank to plank, trying his best not to fall.
"C'mon, kid... I could really use a hand here!" Qrow thought as he spun his sword to block the bullets that Tyrian fired.
Using his tail for extra maneuverability, Tyrian dive-bombed Qrow as he swung his sword up in response to protect himself. As quickly as Qrow could push Tyrian off of him, he was able to recover and attack just as fast. Tyrian's speed and ferocity made it hard to keep up with him and forced Qrow on a constant defensive.
Tyrian pushed Qrow back to the edge of the roof where he tried to push him off, but Qrow was able to hold his ground. He looked around for any advantage he could take, and spotted one. Skillfully slipping off to the right, Qrow ran across the roof with Tyrian in a manically giggly tow.
Tyrian leaped up for another attack from above, but when he landed, the rotting wood beneath him gave way and he fell into the shattered house. Qrow smirked for a moment before trying to jump away, Tyrian's tail shot up and wrapped around his foot, pulling him down with him.
Ruby gasped a bit and tried to rush over to help, but Jaune stopped her.
"You heard Qrow! Don't interfere! He's too strong!"
"You can't expect me to just sit here and watch!" cried Ruby.
The side of the building that Tyrian and Qrow fell into burst open as Qrow went tumbling out. Thankfully, he was able to throw his weapon into the ground and stylishly break most of the impact by standing on the hilt of the blade. A red aura surrounded his body as the purple one of his opponent returned as well.
Tyrian bolted forwards towards Qrow as he backflipped off his sword's hilt, grabbing it as he landed. He rushed forwards as well, ready to meet his attacker, but before they could meet, they were interrupted.
Holding his cross-like staff in a reverse-grip, (y/n) rushed in and quickly repelled Tyrian. He looked back to Qrow, mask still on, and gave him a reassuring nod.
"I recognize that weapon... Is that you, One-Eye?!" Tyrian cackled as he fidgeted with his fingers, "I almost couldn't recognize you behind that fancy mask of yours! Love the design, by the way. Maybe I oughta get one of my own! I see Hazel couldn't put you down for good! I'll be sure to do the job again..."
"Who's this clown?" asked (y/n), completely disregarding Tyrian.
"An assassin," replied Qrow as he readied his weapon, "And what took you so long!"
"Gimme a break," sighed (y/n), "My semblance isn't designed for just speed. I needed a breather after all that running.
(y/n) looked over to see Ruby Rose's two silver eyes and prepared to fight as well.
"Well, if we're doing labels, then in this instance, I'd prefer kidnapper!" screamed Tyrian as he rushed towards them.
With both of them blocking one of Tyrian's wrist blades, they were easily able to push him back and press the attack. Still holding the weapon in a reverse-grip, (y/n) dashed around, trying to find an opening in Tyrian's defenses. It was no use, however, as Tyrian spun around blocking and countering with his own weapons and kicks. His fighting style was suiting to fend off multiple attackers at once, so even (y/n) and Qrow together had difficulty pinning him down.
Tyrian fired at (y/n), who easily deflected the bullets as Qrow tried his luck with a powerful overhead swing. As Tyrian blocked Qrow's attack, (y/n) tried to rush in from the side to deal a heavy blow, but his weapon was blocked by Tyrian's tail, keeping both of them at bay.
Pushing Qrow away and delivering a speedy kick to (y/n)'s side, Tyrian pushed the two away. The kick, strong and powerful, sent (y/n) flying into the dirt as Qrow continued his attack.
Qrow clashed with Tyrian again before Ruby darted in from the side to help, causing him to jump away from Qrow.
"Do you wish to be taken?!" Tyrian mocked as Ruby joined the fray.
"No!" Ruby said with a determined glare, "But I won't stand by and watch someone get hurt!"
The niece and uncle combo engaged Tyrian, locking blades with him and trying to push him back. Tyrian quickly broke away and kicked Qrow away, leaving Ruby to fight alone. He laughed as he swung wildly at her while Ruby did her best to keep up. Tyrian managed to find an opening for an attack and quickly brought his venomous tail down on Ruby, which Qrow managed to block as he stepped in.
"Ruby!" he chastised, "What did I say?! Get back!"
"This is my fight too!" Ruby yelled out.
She went around Qrow and tried to hit Tyrian's legs, but he just jumped up and avoided the attack.
"No, it's not that!" growled Qrow as Tyrian changed his target.
He rushed down Ruby, flipping forwards and kicking her with both feet, sending her back towards the crumbling building that they had come out of. A piece of rotting wood on the roof finally gave way and fell right towards Ruby, which Qrow sped forward and sliced before it could hit her. They shared a small smile before Qrow yelped out in pain.
Tyrian had managed to graze Qrow with his toxic stinger, leaving everyone almost frozen in place. With eyes glowing purple, Tyrian chuckled to himself at his successful attack. Qrow grunted in pain as (y/n) got up and rushed towards Tyrian.
Holding his weapon traditionally now, he raised it above his head as a purple, jagged, lightning-bolt like blade appeared from the top where the bisecting metal was at. (y/n) brought the newly formed scythe down onto Tyrian's tail, cutting it clean off and earning a howl of pain from the faunus as purple poison protruded from the wound.
"You son of a bitch!" cried Tyrian as he tried to limp his way towards them.
Ren, Nora, and Jaune quickly placed themselves before Qrow and the others, protecting them.
Seeing them all now, Tyrian cowered away a bit.
"She'll forgive you..." he muttered before running away.
As he ran, Qrow dropped his weapon and kneeled to the ground, holding his fresh wound.
"Uncle Qrow!" called out Ruby as she rushed to his side.
"I'll be fine," he reassured, "He just grazed me..."
Without a word, (y/n) helped Qrow up, wrapping an arm around him as he hoisted him back on two feet.
The others rushed over to check on Qrow.
"Who was that guy?!" asked Nora.
"How did you get here?" questioned Ren.
"Why are people after Ruby?!" pushed Jaune.
Qrow breathed heavily, looking down and putting his weight on (y/n).
"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked softly, "What's going on?"
Qrow and (y/n) looked at each other before turning back to the rest of the group.
His response was only another question:
"What's your favorite fairy tale?"
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Author's Note:
Here's what (y/n)'s mask looks like:
Here is what his weapon looks like in its Passive Configuration:
(When in Passive Configuration, he also holds it the same way.)
Here is what the weapon looks like it Active Configuration: