This is it! It's time for some teammates to be reunited with their leaders! Yeah, that's basically the gist of today's chapter. Let's get to it.
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*3rd Person POV*
At the Branwen Tribe camp, Vernal pours cups of tea for Raven, Yang and Weiss. They are all inside Raven's tent with the latter three seated around a table.
Raven: "You can wait outside. Thank you." She said to Vernal.
Vernal does so.
Yang: "So, what's the "truth"?"
Raven: "You know, it's better when it's hot." She said, taking a sip from her cup.
Weiss: "You know, you're really obnoxious."
Raven: "The truth is that "truth" is hard to come by. 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."
Yang: "Well, he's never given me a reason to doubt him before."
Raven: "That doesn't mean those reasons don't exist." Yang glares at her. "You know, you, your teammates, and your friends 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."
Yang: "It's what Huntsmen and Huntresses do."
Raven: "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 Huntsmen. We did it to learn how to kill Huntsmen."
Yang and Weiss gasp at this, exchanging a brief look with each other.
Raven: "Daddy and Uncle left that part out, hm?" She pours more tea for herself. "Aside from the Grimm, Huntsmen were the only ones capable of ruining our raids and hunting us down. Our tribe needed a counterforce." She takes another sip. "And Qrow and I were the perfect age." She stands 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."
Yang: "What do you mean by that?"
Raven: "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. Sound familiar?"
Yang and Weiss share another glance at each other. Weiss gestures Yang to keep going.
Yang: "What's your point?"
Raven: "How much do you know about Professor Ozpin? About his past?"
Weiss: "He was... a prodigy. One of the youngest headmasters to be appointed to a school."
Raven: "Because that's how he planned it. Because the man you know as Ozpin designed those schools and has followers inside every academy on Remnant that are loyal to him and no one else."
Yang: "That doesn't make any sense! How could he have...? No. Why would someone even do that?"
Raven: "Because old man Oz has a great and terrible secret. One that could spread fear across the world. One that he eventually entrusted to our team and to that kid Azure's parents, and once I knew, there was no going back. I needed to know more, but with every new discovery I made, the more horrifying the world became."
Yang: "Okay, then tell us. What's the big secret? What's so crazy that the rest of us don't know?"
Raven: "The creatures of Grimm... have a master named Salem. She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest until humanity crumbles at her feet."
As she speaks, Weiss and Yang's eyes widen more and more. They sit in silence.
Weiss: "What?"
Raven: "You know, you two haven't even touched your tea." She yet again takes another sip from her teacup, while Yang stands up.
Yang: "Why should we believe any of this?"
Raven: "Now you're catching on. So far you've done nothing but accept what others tell you, but you need to question everything." She puts her cup down.
The two stare at each other face to face, before Raven turns around.
Raven: "Otherwise you'll end up just as blind as Qrow..." Yang grits her teeth, and her eyes narrow, seething. "...and your fool of a father."
A shot from Ember Celica is heard, destroying the table. Raven's empty teacup clatters across the floor, stopping when it hits the heel of her boot. Raven looks toward Yang, faintly smiling. Yang's eyes have turned red.
Yang: "Don't you dare talk about my family like that!"
While Yang speaks, Weiss stares up at her wide-eyed and flinches when she raises her voice for emphasis. A weapon is heard being drawn at Yang.
Vernal: "You need to calm down."
Weiss: "Yang, please." She holds Yang's hand.
Raven: "Listen to your friend, Yang. Your teammates never let you down before."
Yang: "You don't know the first thing about my teammates! About me! You were never there! You LEFT US!!" Her eyes then turn back to normal. "Why?!" She hangs her head in sadness.
Raven: "I know more than you realize. Not just about you, and not just what I've been told, but things I've seen with my own eyes. I know the Grimm have a leader, I know people who can come back from the dead, I know that magic is real, and I can prove it."
Weiss stands up, while Raven continues addressing her daughter.
Raven: "You said Tai told you all about my Semblance."
Vernal lowers her weapon while Raven heads toward the back exit of her tent.
Raven: "Well, I doubt he ever told you what Oz did to my brother and me." She exits her tent into the back.
Yang and Weiss exchange confused looks.
Vernal: "Go see for yourself." She leaves to the front.
Yang and Weiss take her advice and exit the tent. They see no one there.
Yang: "Mom?"
Weiss: "Yang, are you okay?"
Yang: "I'll be fine once we can get her to take us to Ruby."
Weiss relents while Yang continues to look around.
Weiss: "It's okay if... you're not okay."
Yang: "You didn't believe what she said, right?"
Weiss: "I... of course not. Well, not all of it. It was crazy. We have Dust, Semblances... But, I mean, there's no such thing as magic."
Just then, the two hear a bird caw. They watch it fly in front of them.
Weiss: "A raven?"
Yang: "I've... seen that bird before."
Weiss: "Maybe it belongs to your mom?"
The two continue to watch the raven fly in the dusk-colored sky. It descends, flying and weaving between the trees, before shapeshifting into Raven herself. Raven lands back on the ground on her feet, while Yang and Weiss have shocked expressions as she stands back up.
Yang: "How... did you do that?"
Raven: "Well, I could explain it to you..." She then draws her sword, slashing behind her, creating a portal with her Semblance.
Raven: "...or you could ask your uncle."
Yang: "You're letting us go?"
Raven: "I'm giving you a choice." She sheathes her sword. "Stay here, with me, and I'll answer all your questions and more. We can have a fresh start." Yang glares at her. "Or..." She steps to the side of her portal. "...you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's impossible war against Salem, and meet the same fate as so many others. But can you really go back to trusting someone that's kept so much from you?" Weiss reacts timidly, while Yang just glares at her mother.
Yang: "All I care about is making sure my sister is safe."
Raven: "Ugh..." She wasn't satisfied by Yang's response.
Yang and Weiss are then shown riding on Bumblebee. However, before they can enter the portal, Raven addresses her daughter one more time.
Raven: "Yang. If you side with your uncle, I may not be as kind the next time we meet..."
Weiss rolls her eyes and looks ahead.
Yang: "You weren't kind this time either."
Yang and Weiss proceed through the portal on Bumblebee. The portal then disappears.
Raven: "I know..."
*Meanwhile...*
Back in Mistral, Qrow is seen leaning against a stone railing.
Qrow: "This isn't right. I get one or two of them, but... all of them?"
Qrow sighs and hangs his head in disappointment. Suddenly, he hears the sound of Raven's portal behind him.
Qrow: "Raven?"
The sound of a motorcycle is heard coming from the portal.
Qrow: (surprised) "Oh."
*1st Person POV*
Back at the house Team RANJR, us five, are staying at, each of us are helping prepare dinner: Ruby and Ren are cooking at the stove, Jaune is setting up the table, I am preparing two trays of tea, and Nora is cutting carrots, occasionally eating some slices.
Ren: "Alright, the first batch is just about done."
Ruby: "Awesome! Now we just need Qrow and we'll be all set."
Nora: "Do you really think he's gonna bring that many people? This is a lot of food." She grabs and eats another carrot slice.
Ruby: "Uh, I don't know, but it sounds like we could use all the help we can get."
Azure: "All right, two trays are done." I said to myself.
Qrow: "I'm back!" We heard Qrow shout from outside.
Ruby: "Be right there!"
Ren: "You're going to overcook that." He said to Ruby.
Ruby: "No I'm not, shut up!"
Qrow: "Hey, uh, Ruby?" He said from outside.
Ruby: "I'm coming!"
Some smoke comes from the pan Ruby is cooking with.
Ruby: "Fine! You take over." She says to Ren, who takes over cooking.
Azure: "Hey Rubes, I got the trays ready." I hold out a tray of 6 cups of tea towards her.
Ruby: "Thanks, Azure!" She grabs the tea tray and I follow her as we head to the living room. Ruby looks at the tea tray as I was shocked to see Yang and Weiss next to Qrow.
Ruby: "So, we didn't know how many people were coming, so we just cooked all of it." She looks up, and gasps as she drops the tea tray and its contents, but thankfully I snapped out of my shock and was fast enough to catch it before it hit the floor.
'Good reflexes, me!'
Ruby stares in disbelief at the sight of not only Qrow, but of her older sister Yang and teammate Weiss. Yang approached her little sister.
Ruby: (voice cracking) "Yang, I... I'm so sorry! I- I should've stayed, and I should've talked to you more! I'd-- I just..." Tears started pouring from her eyes. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me around and-" Suddenly, Yang gives her a strong hug. Ruby's lips quiver, and she looks toward her sister.
Yang: "I love you." Tears stream from her eyes.
Ruby sobs as she leans into her sister's hug.
Ruby: "I love you too."
Jaune, Ren and Nora enter the room, smiling at the sight of the two sisters embracing each other. Qrow and I smile as well. Oscar enters the room.
Oscar: "Uh..." He looks up, seeing Ruby and Yang hugging, and smiles.
Weiss smiles as she wipes a tear from her eye, before frowning while looking down.
Ruby: "Weiss."
Weiss looks up, and sees the two sisters open their arms up for her. She smiles and eagerly joins them in their hug. The rest of us smile as we watch three of the four Team RWBY members embrace each other, but suddenly I start to feel sad in the next moment. I just wished that Vert and Rosa were here right now.
Suddenly, we hear a knock at the front door. I snap out of my state and walked over to the door, opening it. When I saw who it was, I was shocked and happy at the same time.
It was both Vert and Rosa.
Vert: "Hey, Azure. Are we too late for dinner?" He said softly. He was wearing a jade green vest with a black sleeveless shirt underneath, long dark green gloves, black pants, and dark green boots. I also noticed his dark green hair was longer, reaching his shoulders.
Rosa: "Azure! We missed you so, so much!" She jumped at me, squeezing me in a hug. She was wearing a long sleeved pink shirt with an unzipped light pink sweater above, red fingerless gloves, a dark gray combat skirt, dark red leggings, and white shoes. Her pink hair looked the same.
I hugged Rosa back as Vert joined in as well. I started crying tears of joy that I got to see them again. All we're missing now is Nero and team AVRN will be whole again.
Azure: "I missed you guys so much!"
Both: "We know... but now we're here."
We continued our hug as behind us, the others were looking with smiles at our reunion with our teammates.
*Timeskip*
After the reunions, the dinner table was abuzz as the currently present nine members of Team RWBY, Team AVRN, and Team JNPR talked over each other indistinctly. The mood is quite cheery, with us all smiling and laughing.
Yang: "How do you lose your map at a time like that?" She laughs at Jaune.
Jaune: "Believe me, I've asked myself the same thing ever since."
Yang, Weiss, and Ruby laugh, while Jaune smiles and giggles sheepishly.
Nora: "Hey, but you made up for it, Mister Muscles! You shoulda seen this guy take a giant Grimm head on!"
Jaune: "I couldn't have done it without Ruby wearing it down."
Ruby: "Uh, me? Did you see Ren during that fight? He was out of control!"
Ren: "I'm sorry, I may have lost my temper momentarily."
Azure: "No, no, no! She meant as in "awesome"!"
Ren: "Oooohhh." He smiles. "Thank you, Ruby."
Everyone bursts into laughter.
As dinner continued, Weiss tells her story about how she accidentally summoned a Boarbatusk during the Schnee charity ball.
Ruby: (gasps) "You did not!"
Weiss has her face in her hands.
Weiss: "Yeah, right in the middle of the party."
Yang: "Please tell me you let that lady have it."
Weiss: "Of course not! Even if I did really want to."
Rosa: "Aw, that sucks!"
Vert: "Now's not the time for that."
Nora: "No way, I don't believe it." She was skeptical of that claim.
Weiss summons her Boarbatusk right next to Nora. The Grimm summon growls, causing Nora to yelp and fall to her side. Weiss, Yang, Jaune and Ren all laugh. I looked at Rosa and Vert, curious on what they've been doing for the past two weeks.
Azure: "Vert, Rosa, can you tell me what you've been doing all this time?"
Rosa: "Oh, we were training!" I leaned my head to the right, with a "are you serious" expression on my face.
Vert: "And also taking up Grimm clearing missions that led us to the east side of Anima. Sorry we didn't tell you about it. Reception was not the greatest over there."
Rosa: "Besides that, the many Grimm we had to face were no joke! Thankfully, Vert had my back and we made it out safely." He nods.
Vert: "We finished up the missions and arrived back at my village. We rested up and said our farewells to my parents. Soon enough, we got here an hour ago and the rest is history."
Azure: "I see... Well, good job out there, you two." They nod back at me.
As dinner nearly finishes, Yang shows off her robotic prosthetic arm to the rest of us. We reacted in awe.
Yang: "It's not a replacement for the real thing, but I'll make sure to make good use of it."
Azure: "It looks good in black and yellow."
Jaune: "That's amazing."
Ren: "Incredible."
Vert: "It's good-" He got pushed out of the way by an excited Rosa.
Rosa: "It's so badass!"
Ruby gets all starry-eyed and quickly zooms over to her sister's side to admire her arm while holding it up.
Ruby: "And it's just as strong?"
Yang: "Hm, sure is."
Suddenly, we hear a bang on the table. Nora has her arm out ready to arm wrestle.
Nora: "Wanna bet?"
Weiss: "Nora, please, now's not the time..." Despite her protest, Yang and Nora arm wrestle.
Jaune and Ren cheer on Nora while Ruby, Rosa, and I cheers on for Yang. Weiss looks on disdainfully. Vert just looks on in silence.
Jaune: "Don't let her beat you! You can do it! Come on!"
Ren: "You can do this! Show 'em what Team JNPR's made of!"
Azure: "You got this, Yang!"
Ruby: "C'mon, sis! Aw, you can't lose to a girl in a skirt!"
Rosa: "You said it, sister!" They high-fived each other.
Weiss: "You're both wearing a skirt."
Ruby: "Weiss, you're not cheering loud enough!!" She shakes Weiss, who is still frowning.
Nora: "It definitely feels like the original, I'll give you that!"
Yang: "Yep. But, it does have some new features!"
Nora: "Heh, oh yeah?"
A robotic sound is heard coming from Yang's arm, and suddenly Nora's is knocked back to the wall holding Yang's detached arm in her hand. Nora groans in pain while the rest of us look on in concern, except for Yang, who has a smug grin on her face.
Jaune: "Did she... win?"
As Nora comes to, she realizes she's holding Yang's robotic arm, causing her to scream and throw it away from her. Yang laughs while she catches her arm.
Later on, Jaune and Vert help clean up the dishes.
Jaune: "Gyah... We ate it all...: He picks up the pot holding all the bowls. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick..."
Yang: "Easy there, Vomit Boy, I believe in you."
Jaune: (sarcastic) "Oh, we're doing nickname throwbacks now. Wonderful." He walks away with the dishware in his hands as Vert gets straight to washing them. Weiss giggled at this.
Nora: "I mean, the Ice Queen seems to like it."
Weiss stops giggling, and Ruby and Rosa burst into laughter at Nora's remark. Weiss smiles nonetheless and rolls her eyes.
Weiss: "I so did not miss you people."
Nora: (gasp) "Oh my gosh, she really does like it! What went and warmed your heart while you were gone?"
Weiss: "Hey! You make it sound like I used to be terrible."
Yang: "Nah. Just a lot to deal with it once."
Weiss: "Hmph!" Yang playfully sticks her tongue out at her.
Ren: "It's been a long time. We've all grown in our own ways."
Azure: "Huh, I guess we all have..."
Ruby: "You really think so?"
Ren: "Well, think back to when we were all at Beacon, would you say you ever did anything foolish or embarrassing? Or do you think you were perfect?"
Weiss: "Oh gosh." She buries her face in her hands again.
Yang: "I may have been a little too gung-ho from time to time."
Ruby: "Heh, you? I tried to 1v1 a Nevermore on the second day of school."
Azure: "I kind of get carried away when I fight."
Rosa: "I might've been a bit of a daredevil during our fights."
Jaune and Vert walked back into the room.
Jaune: "Yeah, well... don't even get me started."
Ren: "Well that embarrassment - that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid - that just proves you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter, you're kinder, you're stronger, and you're not done growing yet. None of us are."
There is silence for a brief moment.
Ruby: "Yeah, turns out Ren gets real deep when he feels like talking." We giggled.
Nora: "Well, hold on, I thought I was pretty great in school!"
Yang: "Even at the dance? When you spilled punch all over yourself in front of--"
Nora: "Yes, especially the dance! Thank you, Yang!"
Yang covers her ears from Nora's yelling while she played "Shine" on her scroll. Ruby laughs.
Qrow: "How can nine kids possibly make so much noise eating dinner?!"
I see Qrow and Oscar walk up next to Jaune and Vert. Nora presses her scroll to stop the song. Oscar gives a small laugh.
Everyone relocates to the second-floor living room, with Weiss and Yang having finished being filled in on what everyone else knows so far.
Weiss: "So, the Maidens. Magic. Salem. It's all true?"
Qrow: "Uh-huh."
Ozpin: "Miss Xiao Long, is this more or less what your mother told you?"
Yang doesn't respond, still having her arms crossed. Weiss answers for her.
Weiss: "For the most part."
Yang: "You forgot something. You forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother."
Ruby gasps.
Jaune: "What is she talking about?"
Qrow: "Oh, great."
Ozpin: "Hm, that's not a secret I thought she would give up so easily. Your mother must trust you a great deal." Yang scowls at him.
Ozpin: "My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn't without a few key benefits. Much like the Maidens, I too possess a certain... "magical" power." He stands up and walks next to Qrow. "Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to "see" more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I... well... gave them the ability to turn into birds." He chuckles. "Rather ridiculous sounding out loud, isn't it?"
Ruby: "Uncle?"
Azure: "Wait..." I said to myself as I remember how my uncle sometimes left to talk with someone with a crow by his side during our training sessions in Vale. That crow was Qrow all along. I just didn't know it was him.
Ren: "You turned them... into birds."
Rosa: "Now that's strange."
Nora: "Alright, now you're just messing with us."
Vert: "Doesn't seem like they are."
Jaune: (angry) "What else is new?"
Weiss: "He's telling the truth. We saw it. Yang's mom... changed, right in front of us."
Yang: "Why would you do something like that? I mean, what is wrong with you?" She said to Ozpin, sounding upset and maybe angry.
Qrow: "Yang, that's enough! We made a choice. We wanted this." Yang relents.
Ozpin: "May I?" Qrow nods at him. "Granting this power to them was no trivial task, and I can assure you it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem's plans, as well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear."
Ruby: "Okay, so, have you done this with others? Like General Ironwood? Or Professor Goodwitch?"
Ozpin: "As helpful as that might be, unfortunately, it is not that simple. My power is finite, and if I'm being honest, dwindling. The amount that I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather miniscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens." We were silent for a moment. "Miss Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to... "play close to the chest"." He looks to Qrow. "I believe that's how you phrased it?"
Qrow: (chuckles) "Yeah."
Ozpin: "Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest. Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave, now is the time. There's no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat."
All of us were silent as we pondered his words.
Ozpin: "Very well, then."
Yang suddenly stands up.
Ruby: "Yang?"
Yang: "If Ruby sticks around, then I will too. If there's one thing I know about her, it's that she somehow always knows the right thing to do." She smiles at Ruby after saying that. "But, if we're going to help, if we're going to keep risking our lives, no more lies. No more half-truths."
Vert stood up as well.
Vert: "The same can be said for us in Team AVRN. We know that Azure will do this, and so, as his teammates, we will follow him to the end. He's our hope and resolve, which is why he's our leader." He and Rosa smile at me.
Everyone else remained silent. Ozpin and Qrow exchange a brief look with each other. Ozpin ponders Vert and Yang's words for one last moment, before responding.
Ozpin: (smiling) "Understood."
Yang and Vert sit back down.
Jaune: "So... what now? I mean, what can we do?"
Ozpin: "Mm, that is a difficult question. One that I believe is best answered tomorrow."
Jaune: "What do you mean?"
Ozpin: "The road ahead is undoubtedly filled with hardships and peril. However, it's been far too long since you have all been together." He puts his hand on Yang's shoulder. "Please, take tonight, enjoy this moment." Yang smiles.
Suddenly Oscar's eyes glow, with Ozpin giving him control back to his body. Oscar realizes he has his hand on Yang's shoulder
Oscar: "Geh!" He quickly takes it off and nervously holds his cane in his hand.
Yang, Weiss, and Rosa laugh at him, before hearing a noise from Nora.
Nora: "Oooohhh. Raven? Qrow? They're birds!! Cracked it!" She finally realized it after all this time.
Ren shakes his head at Nora being slow on the uptake. After that, the rest of us went to our rooms with two beds each to sleep the night away. I was sharing a room with Vert while Rosa and Nora share a room. We turned the lights off and went to bed.
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And with that, this chapter shall end here. Weiss and Yang reunite with Ruby and Azure reunites with Rosa and Vert, who finally got here after being away for quite a while. Next time, it is the last day of peace before the big fight that will come soon.