"Haha, as I leave and breathe...Qrow Branwen" The scorpion faunus said "A true huntsmen has entered the fray"
Qrow lowered his sword, but not his guard. He looked at the man infront of him with anger and disgust. He was one of her minions no doubt. No problem. He'd dealt with many in the past, this one would be no different.
He turned to look at his niece, who with a shrug said "Idk, this guy is weird"
"Look pal, I don't know who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone" Qrow stated
"Well friend my name is Tyrian, and I'm afraid that's not possible" The man introduced himself "My assignment from her grace was to retrieve this young girl. So... that is what I must do, one does not upset the queen"
"Queen?" Ruby asked
"Salem..." Qrow uttered
"Who?" Ruby asked yet again
This whole thing was incredibly bizarre for the crew. No matter how much they tried to make sense of the situation, they just couldn't. A random village appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the path, then they get attacked by a hobo, Ruby's uncle shows up, and now they're both blabbering about some sort of queen. Paul was getting tired of it. When he finally got on his feet, he aimed his rifle at Tyrian, who was still talking with Qrow. He fired, and the bullet was deflected by his stinger. Tyrian and Qrow both turned to Paul who still had his weapon aimed.
"Hmm, I think we've had enough talk, don't you?"
Qrow was gonna reply, but didn't get the chance. Tyrian rushed at Paul, who barely had time to react. Everyone was taken aback by this. They had expected Tyrian to attack Qrow or Ruby.
Paul was barely able to dodge the stinger before being kicked in the stomach. He was pushed a few meters away, but was still on his feet. Tyrian continued attacking him. Paul was blocking most attacks with his rifle. Instinctively, he pushed it foward as if it still had a bayonet in it. This did little to the Scorpion faunus. Tyrian grabbed the barrel of the gun, and pushed it forward, hitting Paul in the face with the stock of his own gun. Tyrian threw the rifle to the side, and tried to slash Paul. Luckily, Paul dodged it, and managed to take out his knife. They clashed again and again, and with each one, Paul was getting more tired, whilst Tyrian seemed more aggressive. Going on the offensive would accomplish nothing, so Paul defended himself as best he could, but he was getting overwhelmed. The 2 blades in his arms, combined with his stinger put too much pressure on him, and he didn't last long.
He was knocked to the ground, and before he could get up, Tyrian delivered a kick to his face. Paul tried getting up again, but found himself unable too, as Tyrian got on top of him, and pinned his arms to the ground. Paul watched as a malicious grin formed on the scorpion faunus' face. Tyrian raised his stinger, ready to kill the blonde boy, but before he could bring the stinger down, Ruby shot him.
The shot knocked Tyrian off Paul, and sent him flying until he hit a wall. The grin that was present on his face was replaced with a scowl, which sent a shiver down Ruby's spine. He charged at her, but was intercepted by Qrow before he reached her.
"Ruby, Paul, stay back" He warned
The 2 began to exchange blows. Tyrian attempted to slash him, but Qrow blocked all of his attempts. It was the same whenever Qrow tried slashing back. A kick to the gut sent Tyrian flying a few meters back. He landed on his feet. With a maniacal laugh, he jumped into the air, with his 2 blades ready to continue the fight. Qrow rushed foward, and the shockwave generated by the clashing of their blades, sent both men backwards. Qrow didn't skip a beat, and rushed at Tyrian. The faunus dodged every slash, and delivered some of his own which were also blocked. This pattern continued for a little bit, until Qrow jumped in the air, just like Tyrian had moments ago. This time, the shockwave was so powerful, it knocked off a roof off a building. Both men were stuck in a blade lock. Qrow glared at Tyrian, who looked at him with his usual grin. Tyrian laughed as he turned his weapons into gun mode, and began firing away at Qrow, breaking the lock they had.
Tyrian ran around in circles firing at Qrow, who blocked all of his shots. Seeing how Tyrian was distracted, Ren and Nora decided to go in for an attack. They rushed at him, weapons drawn, but Tyrian already knew of their plan. He blocked Nora's hammer, and kicked Ren across the face sending him back. He did the same with Nora, and then began focusing his attacks on them. They jumped back, and Tyrian rushed at them, but once against, Qrow intercepted him.
"Don't come closer damn it!"
"Fine!" Exclaimed Ruby.
She looked over towards Paul, and they both nodded. She grabbed his hand, and using her semblance, took him to the top of one of the buildings. Ruby found a spot to set up her gun almost immediately, but Paul had to wait a little bit. Ruby's semblance tended to make him dizzy. Ruby watched her uncle and Tyrian fight. They were moving so sporadically that Ruby wasn't able to get a clear shot. Their fight continued as usual. Both trying to land a hit and failing, Tyrian firing at Qrow, both of them dodging the others attacks Etc. The cycle was broken when Tyrian wrapped his stinger around Qrow's arm. He proceeded to disarm the huntsman, leaving his sword impaled on a nearby wall. Confident as ever, Tyrian stared at Qrow while preparing his stinger. Suddenly, a bullet hit him in his shoulder. His aura had protected him, but he should still feel pain. Tyrian looked at the top of the building, where Ruby and Paul were firing at him. He blocked the bullets with his stinger, and turned to look at Qrow, expecting him to run off for his weapon. Instead, he was met with a fist to the face.
Not seeing another option, Qrow had begun striking Tyrian with his own fists. After 2 left hooks and an uppercut, Tyrian was left pretty hurt, this was amplified when Qrow kicked him, knocking him to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Ruby and Paul began firing once again, he blocked a couple of shots before being forced to take cover behind a nearby pillar. While this was happening, Qrow calmly walked to where his sword was and retrieved it.
An angry Tyrian saw this as his chance, and rushed once again. Qrow blocked his attacks, and changed his weapon into gunmode, firing a couple of shots, making some distance between them. He jumped onto the roof of the building, and Tyrian followed. Their usual clashes continued until Qrow managed to outsmart Tyrian. He placed himself at the very edge of the building, and when Tyrian tried to get him with a jump attack, he landed on some broken planks and fell right through. Qrow was about to jump off, but Tyrians stinger wrapped around his leg, pulling him down. Both Paul and Ruby lost sight of them. Ruby, worried for her uncle, decided to get into the fight. She descended the building using her weapon before Paul could even get a word in.
At that exact moment, Qrow burst through the wall. He launched his sword at the ground, making sure it got impaled. Once it did, he balanced himself on top of it, waiting for Tyrian, who soon came out of the building. Both of their auras flickered, but neither of them were finished. Tyrian tried slashing Qrows throat, but the attack was Blocked by Ruby.
"RUBY!" Jaune called out
"Do you wish to be taken!?" A flabbergasted Tyrian asked
"No, but I won't stand by watching someone get hurt" She said as she charged at Tyrian, with Qrow following after her.
They both got into clashes with Tyrian. He was taking on the both of them pretty well. At one point, Qrow and Tyrian ended up in yet another lock.
"Ruby, what did I say!?" He said to his niece standing behind him
In a fit of rage, she yelled that this was her fight too, before rushing at Tyrian, who promptly kicked her to the side of a building . She wasn't injured, but she didn't notice the huge plank that was about to fall on her head. Luckily for Ruby, Qrow did, and he cut it in half before it fell on her. He looked at his niece relieved, but that didn't last long. He suddenly felt a serious burning sensations spread over his abdomen. When he looked down, he saw Tyrian's stinger had managed to slash him. He also noticed little purple drops dripping from the tip of the stinger. Tyrian laughed, knowing he had gotten the huntsman. Now that the main threat was eliminated, he could focus on the kids again. The thought of capturing Ruby for his queen caused Tyrian to laugh maniacally, again. This didn't last long however. Soon after, he felt a giant blade touching his neck. Instinctively, he used his stinger to block it, which ended up costing him, because it was cut off when Ruby fired her gun.
Tyrian screamed in pain, and looked at his tail, the cut off stinger on the ground, and then at Ruby
"YOU BITCH!" He said with venom and rage
The others were beginning to close in on him, so he had no other option but to escape.
Qrow fell to the ground, and was quickly assisted by Ruby.
"Are you alright Uncle Qrow?" She asked worriedly
"I'll be fine" He said
"What are you doing here?"
"Long story kiddo" He replied with a grunt
"Who was that man?" Ruby asked
Qrow sighed and looked each member of team JNPRR in the eye before popping the big question "What's your favorite fairytale?"
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
To say they were confused would be an understatement. What Qrow had just told them seemed impossible. That's what most of team JNPRR was thinking when they heard Qrows explanation about the maidens. Paul was the only one who wasn't surprised, and actually somewhat believed it. He was already thrown out of his own world and put into one where people have superpowers. The fact that magic exists in this world didn't really shock him after all he'd seen over the last year. In fact, he was more surprised to learn that semblances and aura aren't considered as magic.
Qrow took a long gulp from his flask, before turning to the group
"Any questions?"
The teens stared at the bonfire for a little while before one of them dared to speak up
"So these...maidens, there are 4 of them, they have magic powers, and control different elements?" Questioned Nora
"Not really. Yes, there are 4 maidens, but they all have blanket magic powers. They're named after the seasons, but it's really just a title, nothing that reflects on their actual abilities." Qrow corrected.
"So if they're so powerful, why haven't they been used to fight off the Grimm?" Asked Ren
"While powerful, they're still mortal, and we can't risk the maiden power getting lost. It's important to know who becomes a maiden, because it's entirely possible for a thug or bandit to jump a maiden, kill her while looking into her eyes, and then boom, the thug becomes the new maiden." Qrow explained
"In situations like zhat, what do you do?" Asked Paul
"Well I can't say for sure. Ozpin always made sure that the maiden power went to someone he trusted, some one on our side. But my guess would be to kill the maiden...if possible."
"What would happen if someone from "the other side" got it?"
"Well, God forbid that happens, because if it did, the consequences could be disastrous. Last time that happened, the Great War started."
A chill ran down everyone's spine after that last sentence. The magnitude of what they were dealing with had finally started to set in.
"After that, we started training the maidens, making sure they kept an intended target in the back of their minds just in case. It was all going perfectly, until that woman appeared" Qrow said
"Cinder" Jaune uttered angrily
"Right. She managed to find a loophole in the system without killing the maiden. She caught us off guard, and managed to steal half of the maiden power, leaving Amber comatose. We couldn't risk losing the power to her, so we began looking for a new candidate, and-"
"And you used Pyrrha" Jaune said turning his hand into a fist
"You forced it on her!" He accused
"Woah there kid, slow down. We didn't force her to do anything. All the facts were laid out, and then she was given the options: accept the offer and become the new fall maiden, or walk away as if nothing happened and continue her studies as a huntress. She made a choice"
"She wasn't in her right mind! She made that choice in the heat of the moment!"
"She made the right choice!" Said Qrow, now raising his voice. "She made a sacrifice that would've saved thousands of lives if it all worked out, if SHE didn't intervene!"
Jaune was going to continue the discussion, but Ruby put a hand on his shoulder before he could say anything else. He growled and stood up, walking away from the fireplace, and into the woods.
"But vait, none of this explains who zhat guy was, back at the village" Said Paul
Qrow sighed before answering
"You see, there's a reason why having silver eyes is such a rare trait. It's a very powerful weapon against the Grimm. Many of Remnants great legends were silver eyed warriors. For this reason, the enemy made sure to reduce the number of individuals with this trait to almost nonexistent. The fact that Ruby managed to used her silver eyes at the top of Beacon set an alarm that placed a target squarely on her back" He said before taking another gulp of his flask
"Sooo, if I'm so important, why haven't you been traveling with us?" Asked Ruby
"He was using us as bait." Said Jaune with his arms crossed.
"It's more complicat-"
"What is all of this? Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, and all for what!? What is the point for all of this, will you just tell us what's going on!?
"Cool it kid" Qrow said
"NO! this is all-"
"COOL IT" He said more aggressively this time, making a shiver run down Jaune's spine.
Jaune reluctantly sat down again while mumbling to himself. Qrow pinched the top of his nose, and drank the rest of whatever was in his flask before turning to the kids once more.
"Are any of y'all religious?"
"What?"
"Just answer the question"
Everyone but Ren and Paul shrugged, with the German weakly raising his hand.
"Hmm ok, you, what do you believe in?" He pointed at Ren
"Well, I follow the three pillars of Tanfuism pretty closely"
"Does it have a creation myth to it?"
"Most people treat it more like a philosophy than a religion, so the myths have mostly died out over time" Explained Ren
Qrow nodded and the turned to Paul. "What about you blondie?"
"Vell, I'm a Catholic" He said
"Huh, never heard of that one. Does it come from your world?"
"It does. We believe in zhe trinity of The Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It's a bit complicated to explain really"
"Hmm, and is there a creation myth to it?"
"Yes"
"Well I don't know how things work on your world, but in Remnant, there's only 1 creation narrative that's right"
Qrow went on to explain the story of the 2 Gods. How they were brothers, one created life, the other destroyed it, but life always came back, no matter how much the dark brother tried. After eons of back and forth, the 2 brothers came together to create something they could both be proud of, humans. Humans could either create life, or destroy it. Most importantly tho, they were given free will, so they had the option to choose. Qrow also explained that the 4 gifts given to mankind, knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice were more than just metaphorical, they had physical forms. Four relics spread throughout Remnant, each of them kept safe in the different huntsmen academies. They were each extremely powerful, and if someone collected all 4, they could change the whole world. Qrow also mentioned the real reason huntsmen academies existed. While yes, they trained warriors to fight against the Grimm and defend people, their real purpose was to guard the relics, and make sure SHE didn't get to them. He dropped the name Salem earlier, causing many to raise an eyebrow. He explained to them who she was and what was known about her. An evil witch who controlled Grimm. For the teens, this was just the cherry on top.
"When you say her, you're talking about Salem, right?" Ruby asked
"Yes. Although little is known about her, we know she is after the relics, and terrible things will happen if she gets her hands on them.
"Vait, I don't get it. If things like gods, maidens, and evil witch who controls Grimm, magic and all of that stuff is real, why don't people know about it?" Asked the German "Vhy are there 2 secret societies fighting a war under everyone's noses?"
"Let's say you're a normal person living a peaceful life like everyone else. Suddenly you see on the news that the Grimm have a master, an evil witch who probably lives in a remote island. And then, turns out your favorite fairy tale from when you were a kid, turns out to be real. It wouldn't make sense. Most people would just not believe it. With people relying on CCTV for their daily lives, stuff like that would probably be categorized as fake news, and people would say it's edited or something. Even if we had the maidens parading around the streets and doing a fireworks show, that is still a very hard pill to swallow" Explained Qrow
"In fact, before the attack on Amber, we were thinking about creating a terrorist threat under Salem's name to get the public accustomed to her. But then the attack on amber happened and we had other things to focus on"
"That's messed up" Remarked Nora.
"I know, I really don't know what Ironwood was thinking when he proposed that"
"If Salem's trying to get the relics, start a war, and take over the world or something, shouldn't we be rushing to Mistral?" Asked Jaune
"We have time" Said Qrow "Lionheart is probably on the lookout after what happened at Beacon. But there's one thing that's bugging me"
"Vhat is it?"
"That team, the one who caused the Vytal Festival disaster, they came from Mistral. The Leo I know wouldn't have missed something like that"
"Maybe Lionheart's age is getting to him?" Ruby suggested
"Doubt it"
After that, Qrow stood up and announced that they were done for the night. He told them to get a good rest, because they were still far from Mistral, before walking off. Paul agreed, and began working on setting his tent for the night. Soon the rest of the team followed.
Early next morning, Paul woke up to the sound of coughing. He wasn't the only one. The rest of the team was up too, trying to find whatever was making those noises. Ruby spotted her uncle still sitting by the tree he slept under. He looked extremely pale, and where his wound was, a purple stain had appeared.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Kropp took a deep breath, and stepped off the cab, and onto the the street. From where he stood, he could see the pathway that led up to Yang's house up ahead. He had to admit, this place was beautiful. The trees and flowers that lined up the path made Kropp feel calm on the inside. He was disappointed when he finally saw Yang's house. It wasn't because of the house, it was because he'd wish he could appreciate the path, with its beautiful flowers and trees a bit longer.
Yang, who at this time was bored out of her mind cleaning the front porch noticed him approaching. She dropped the broom she had, and ran up to him, embracing him in a hug which he gladly returned. They stayed like this for a good minute, mostly because of Yang. When they finally separated, Yang grabbed his hand, and led him inside the house. This was by far, one of the comfiest looking houses he'd ever seen. Taiyang was in the kitchen when they both walked in. He greeted Kropp, and told them that dinner would be ready in about 15 minutes, so they had time to chill.
Yang took him to her room. She laid on her bed, while Albert sat on the edge of it. Yang was talking to him about whatever. Their prosthetics, Beacon, old relationships, ETC. Kropp engaged as much as he could, but Yang noticed something was troubling him. He would constantly zone out, causing her to worry about him.
"Albert?" She said trying to get his attention but to no avail
"Albert" She repeated, more sternly this time, but he still didn't respond
"Albert!" She yelled while snapping her fingers in front of his face.
This finally managed to get his attention, as Kropp snapped out of whatever trance he was in, and finally acknowledged Yang. He tried continuing the conversation, but Yang wasn't having any of it.
"Albert, what's wrong with you? You've been acting strange recently" She said in a concerned tone
"I have?"
"Yes!"
"How?" He tilted his head
"Let's see, you talk to yourself, you zone out a lot, you're always tense, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Seriously dude, are you ok?"
Honestly, Kropp hadn't realize how obvious he was being whenever he spoke to himself, or zoned out. He had to come up with an excuse for all this weird behavior, fast.
"Oh, Vell that's just....um..."
"Yang!" Tai called out from downstairs "Can you come down here for a moment?"
Yang groaned before answering "What is it dad! We're in the middle of something here!"
The realization of what she said hit her almost immediately after those words left her mouth. She covered her mouth and mumbled an "Oh fuck" realizing how her dad could easily misinterpret what she said.
"What!?" He yelled from downstairs
"NOTHING!" She screamed as she got on her feet, and sprinted towards the stairs, leaving Kropp alone in her room. This gave him some breathing room to think for an answer when Yang comes back. Hopefully she'll forget about the conversation when she returns.
Five minutes passed, and Yang climbed up the stairs to tell Kropp that dinner was served. While approaching her room, she heard her friend speaking to himself, again. She put her ear to the door, to see if she could hear what he was talking about. Unfortunately for her, Kropp was speaking to himself in German, so she couldn't understand a word, not even the ones he had taught her back at Beacon. But, to be fair, those consisted mostly of insults.
Dinner went way better than expected. The food was delicious and the talk was great. The only issue was that Kropp was really nervous. He was shaking quite a bit, and a bit of sweat run down his forehead. Tai didn't notice it, but Yang sure did. She couldn't understand what could possibly make him nervous. She wasn't his girlfriend, and he'd already met her dad from his volunteer work at the charity.
Despite his nervousness, Kropp got along pretty well with Taiyang. They had shared interests in stuff like gardening, reading, and so much more. Yang was just quietly eating her food, not really interested in the conversation her dad and friend were having. Tai remarked how the Germans all seemed pretty nice. He had yet to have a bad experience with them. Kropp chuckled at this, but told him that he would change his mind if he met some of the guys of the second company. Tai was tempted to ask more about the second company, but he learned from Paul that soldiers struggle with speaking of such stuff, and it might be a trigger to some.
Once everyone was done Kropp and Tai said their goodbyes, and he prepared to leave. Yang offered to walk him to the road, and he accepted.
The walk back was pretty uneventful. Kropp admired the scenery under the moonlight, and Yang had her head down. When the road came into view, Kropp started to pull out his scroll to call a cab, but was stopped by Yang before he could.
"Albert" She said as while grabbing his hand with the scroll
"Something wrong?" He asked
Yang sighed before speaking again
"Just tell me"
"Vhat?"
"Don't "vhat" me! I told you before, you've been acting really strange recently, so just tell me what's going on...please!" Yang demanded, with her eyes beginning to water
Kropp hesitated for a moment. Yang was right, there was something going on that had him on edge for some time. He'd grown pretty close to Yang throughout his time at Beacon, and the charity, so it pained him to see her like this. But no under no circumstance could he tell her the truth, or what he was planning. If he did, it's possible it can all go to waste.
"You're right" he sighed "Look Yang, zhere has been something on my mind that's been bothering me for zhe last couple of weeks"
"What is it?" She asked "Please, just tell me. I can help!"
Kropp put his hands on her shoulders, calming her down a bit, before speaking again
"It's about Paul"
"What about him?"
"I'm vorried for him. I feel Paul, and the rest of the team, are getting into something that's way to dangerous, and I fear they'll get hurt." He explained
Yang was sympathetic to him. This was due to the fact that her own sister was in that group with Paul. She also felt like Ruby was getting into something she shouldn't be. Honestly, she viewed the whole thing as dumb and a waste of time. Yang wasn't the type of person to give up easily, but she was being realistic. What would a couple of freshmen with little experience in dealing with this sort of stuff possibly accomplish? In her note, Ruby described her objectives as "Finding out what happened at Beacon, and bringing the perpetrators to justice." This made Yang wonder just how the hell was she gonna accomplish that? Was she just gonna barge into Haven demanding an explanation? And even if she somehow managed to find the ones who caused The Fall, how were they going to deal with them. Ruby saw that woman kill Pyrrha with her own eyes, and Pyrrha was stronger than Ruby by a long shot. If she were to face her in battle, Ruby and her team would face certain death. Initially, Yang had seriously considered going after her sister, but considering the state she was in, with her recovery still in progress and her mental health not being in the best place, she dropped the idea for now.
Yang expressed her feelings about the whole thing to Kropp, and offered to talk to him about it the next day at the charity. Kropp was relieved that Yang had bought the excuse he'd just made up. He was of course worried for his friend, but that was nowhere near being the real reason for his behavior.
She said her goodbyes to Albert, and he went ahead and called a cab, or so she thought. In reality, when Yang began to walk back, Kropp put the scroll back in his pocket and waited. When 10 minutes passed, he turned around and walked back to the house. He saw the lights beginning to turn off in the first floor, so he went ahead with his plan. Out of his pocket, he pulled out a crumbled letter he was keeping. He took a look at it, and figured that despite the state it was in, they'd still be able to read it. He placed the letter in the mailbox, and then walked back to the road, and ordered a ride back to the charity.
Three hours passed since he left Yang's house. Kropp was now ready to set his plan into motion. Dressed in a black hoodie, and some black sweat pants, he slowly creaked open the door to his room, making sure no one was in the hallway. He made his way around the facility, illuminated only by moonlight. He slowly made his way to the administration block, where he found it to be completely desolated. His only challenge until now had been the cameras. Luckily, he spent some time learning their blind spots, so he had no issue maneuvering around them. This facility wasn't very big, so the whole "escape" took him like 10 minutes. He would've gotten out faster if he didn't have to walk slowly to avoid making sound. His final obstacle presented itself when he reached the exit. The security guard stood near the main entrance, patrolling it with a flashlight. Kropp already had a plan for this. When the guard wasn't looking, he snuck up behind him, and covered his mouth with one hand, whilst using his other arm to suffocate the guard. After some struggle, the guard fell unconscious on the ground, and he was finally able to proceed.
He had to admit, that last part had him terrified. He'd never knocked out a person before, having just learnt it from looking stuff up on the internet. If he failed that, the whole plan could've gone to waste. He also congratulated himself. It was his second time dealing with pesky security guards, and atleast this one didn't end up decapitated, so he felt like he did a good job.
Now, there was only 1 thing left to do before he could leave. He reached into the security guard's pocket, and pulled out a set of keys. He also made sure to take the flashlight with him. After looking around for some time, he spotted whe he was looking for. He ran up to the warehouse door, and used the key he took from the guard to open it. Inside were a large amount of lockers. Luckily for Albert, they were in alphabetical order, so finding his locker was pretty easy. what wasn't so easy, was finding which key was the correct one. It took him a while, but after a couple of failed attempts, he found the correct key, and his locker opened to reveal his shotgun on the inside.
Since this charity was for veterans of the fall of Beacon, it was extremely common for a huntsman or soldier to show up with a deadly weapon at the front door. In cases like that, the weapons, and any other potentially deadly items would be taken away, and safely stored in the warehouse nearby.
With everything now complete, he was ready to move on with his plan. He took off running until he reached the main road. He looked in the distance, and saw a car parked along side the road. Just as he had expected. The car belonged to an acquaintance of his. Kropp met him during his early days at the charity. The fall of Beacon had left him jobless, so he reached an accord with the German to help him with his plan in exchange for a good sum of money.
Neither spoke much during the hour long ride. Kropp looked out the window during most of it. His acquaintance had turned on the radio, and was listening to a broadcast detailing the victory at Beacon. Kropp already knew about it, most people did. But it still filled him with a little pride hearing the news of the victory be broadcasted all over the kingdom.
The hour passed faster than he thought. In the blink of an eye, they had already made it to the landing pads. Kropp sighed, paid the money he owed, and stepped out of the vehicle. Whilst in the car, he didn't notice how bad the weather had become. When he exited the facility, there was a bright full moon that illuminated everything. Now, a huge storm was engulfing the city.
He hadn't accounted for the weather to get this bad. He also hadn't accounted for the dozens of bullheads that filled up the landing pads. Out of all of them, only 1 was for him. He checked the time on his scroll, 3:20AM. he was already 40 minutes late, and he had to hurry up. He ran through the rows of bullheads trying to find his. This task was made harder by the constant wind and rain hitting his face. In the 6th row, at the very back of it, was a bullhead with its lights turned on. Taking a closer look, he saw the cargo door open, and inside was a man sitting on some crates, smoking a cigarette. They made eye contact, and the man stood up. He walked out into the rain and asked something, but due to the powerful winds, Kropp couldn't hear it.
"Vhat?"
"Are you Albert Kropp?"
"Vhat!?"
"ARE YOU ALBERT KROPP!?"
"Oh uhh...Yeah"
"Where the fuck have you been mate, I've been waiting for ya for like an hour!"
"I know I know, but can ve please discuss this inside" Said the German while putting his arm infront of his face to block the winds.
The man nodded, and they both went in.
"You got the money?" Asked the man
Kropp noticed his hand was getting a little to close to his waist when he asked that question.
"Right here" He answered while handing the man his last remaining Lien cards. The man counted them for a second before nodding and closing the cargo door. Before they departed, Kropp made sure to send a message to his group chat explaining his departure from Vale. He was sure Tjaden and the others were sleeping right now, and that they'll see it when they woke up.
Kropp put his belongings on the seat next to him, before falling down. He stared at the Island of Patch for some time before dozing off.
"I just hope you know what you're doing"
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
"Just hang in there Uncle Qrow"
Ruby walked alongside her uncle, who was being carried via stretcher by Jaune and Paul. She placed her hand on his forehead and grew even more worried when she felt the immense heat radiating from it.
"G-guys"
"What is it Ruby?" Asked Ren
"I think he's developing a fever"
"Put him down" Ren commanded
The 2 blondes obeyed, and Qrow was put on the ground. Ren checked on him, and confirmed Ruby's words.
"Ruby's right guys. He's getting worse"
"What are we going to do?" Asked Jaune
"We'll stick to the original plan. We'll meet with Lionheart's men at Sakuraso, and they'll treat Qrow and take us to Mistral"
"How far is that?" Asked Ruby growing more worried by each passing second
"Do you think he'll make it?" She asked
Ren looked at Ruby and then at Qrow before turning back to Ruby. He gave her a reassuring smile before telling her that he'll be alright. This calmed Ruby down a bit. Ren was lying. He knew that at this rate, Qrow wouldn't survive another day. He knew the right thing would be to tell Ruby, and have her mentally prepared for it. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it, so instead, he filled her mind with false hopes.
"Don't you guys think it's weird that Lionheart only agreed to have an airship pick us up when he heard we were with Qrow?" Nora questioned
"Vell he doesn't know us" Paul started. "To him we are probably just a bunch of random kids playing detectives. Qrow on zhe other hand, is one of his most trusted acquaintances und he knows something is serious whenever he's involved"
Nora mumbled something to herself and looked at the ground. They walked for a few more minutes, until something caught their eye. A few meters ahead, was a signpost. Ren ran up to it, and began to read what it said. To the right, the signpost was indicating Higanbana, Kuchinashi, Mistral, and Sakuraso. To the left, it only indicated 1 town, Kuroyuri. After reading the signpost, they were presented with 2 options. Either go through the mountains and make a beeline for Sakuraso, or go around them through Kuroyuri.
Ren was extremely adamant about the mountain route, but Ruby, Jaune, and Paul didn't like that idea. The mountain terrain was dangerous and unpredictable. Qrow was in no condition for such a hike.
"That village was destroyed years ago" Stated Ren
"But if it takes us around the mountains it's the best option we've got" Argued Jaune
"It will take too long"
"But maybe there's something left in the village. Medicine, supplies, we can search!" Said Ruby
"There's nothing left in there!" Said Ren, raising his voice "We just have to move on!"
"Ren, what is out with y-"
"We can split up!" Nora interrupted "Ren and I can go through the mountains while you guys take Qrow through Kuroyuri"
"No. Were supposed to stick together, keep each other safe!"
"We don't have time for safe!"
"If we make it to Mistral we'll come back with help. If we don't, we'll atleast have a better view of the land!"
Ren was gonna say something, but was interrupted by Qrows coughing. It was clear he was getting worse and worse.
Seeing this, Jaune reluctantly agreed to separate. They all said their goodbyes, and began their respective hikes
Paul, who had stayed quiet this whole time, went with Ruby and Jaune. They picked up Qrow, and began the walk toward Kuroyuri. He looked at Ren and Nora, who were already walking away. In the ground beneath them, Paul saw a peculiar footprint. It was that of a hoof, a very big hoof. He didnt have time to tell them about it, because they were running out of time, and by the time he noticed, Ren and Nora had already rounded a corner. Reluctantly, he continued foward without telling anyone.
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Hello guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I've been trying to go for monthly releases recently and I think it's going pretty well so far. Next chapter is the end of volume 4 and I really can't believe just how far I've gotten with this story. I have big plans for the next chapter, and volume.
All of this wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for you guys. I truly appreciate all the support
Nothing more to say, see y'all in chapter 20