An obnoxious rush of wind came from out of nowhere and swept Yang's long blonde locks into her face. She sputtered, wiping away her hair and searching the space around her for Blake, who was stalking forward a few paces ahead, seemingly oblivious to her teammate's plight. Shockingly, Blake seemed to know where they were supposed to go, but there was no way she possibly could. Perhaps she just had that sort of an air about her - always calm and collected. Still, Yang noted, the girl had hardly said a word their entire trip. They must have trekked through the Emerald Forest for at least fifteen minutes by now, with no sign of any of the relics Ozpin challenged them to retrieve. In all of that time, Blake spoke only to call out the occasional Grimm trying to rip their throats out. These obstacles, while significant, weren't enough of a threat on their own to overpower the two warriors' combined strength. The frightening possibility occurred to Yang that maybe there truly weren't any relics hidden around this forest. What if it was all a wild goose chase set up to cull those who couldn't hack surviving in Grimm-infested territory from the incoming class?
That'd be pretty screwed up.
It was a screwed up idea, sure, but that kind of reckless experimentation was exactly the kind of thing she was all but convinced the Professor was capable of, given his actions so far. Hell, even the whole ploy of inviting Ruby to attend Beacon was just a roundabout way of roping in another silver eyed sheep he could bring to the slaughter. Yang snarled up at where she believed the cliffside overlooked their location. She stomped angrily along, leaving a series of flattened leaves in her wake as she traced the path of Blake's much lighter footsteps. She wasn't going to let anything like what happened to Summer Rose happen to Ruby, no matter what.
"Blake," she finally called out.
The raven-haired girl spun around, her catlike eyes stopping on her new teammate.
"How much further?" Yang probed. "I would've thought this forest temple place wouldn't be that hard to find."
Blake shrugged. "I'm not sure."
Yang could hardly believe her ears, and her mouth involuntarily dropped open in surprise. "What?! Seriously?"
Blake nodded. "I was just looking for places that seemed unusual. I know as much about this forest as you."
She spoke with such indifference, as if their lives hadn't been on the line this whole time. Unbelievable!
"Really? I thought you were taking us somewhere specific!"
"I never said that."
Fair, but still. Ugh!
Yang sighed. This was going to be a long day, that much was for sure. Well, no better time than to put her wilderness survival skills to the test and track down this stupid temple. She knelt low to the ground and examined the dirt closely, focusing on her singular task. Blake became little more than background noise to the primary goal of finding their destination. With any luck, she could possibly run into Ruby, as well. Wherever she was out there, Yang hoped she was okay.
* * *
A biting cold had set in so deeply, it almost felt one with the landscape, bringing the vibrance and motion life usually graced the lands with to a standstill. Trees stiffened and cracked with every ragged breath spewed by the chilly breeze. Long, sweeping plains saw little movement, as the local fauna elected to stay out of the harsh weather as best they could. Clouds rolled across the sky slowly, bringing with them an all-consuming shade that was so overpowering, Taiyang Xiao Long nearly forgot it was still daytime. He stood by the mailbox outside of his cozy, homely cabin, rifling through the deliveries quickly despite the dangers of freezing himself out here. His snug, baby blue robe may have been old, but it did the job of insulating him from the weather. Tai kicked one of his slippers into the dirt, making sure his foot stayed tucked safely inside, and flipped aside an envelope addressed to "R. Branwen" with a grunt of disinterest. The moment he laid eyes on the next piece of mail, however, he could only smile with a warmth that put the crackling fireplace inside to shame. His chest swelled with tension.
The name scrawled in the top left corner of the envelope was to blame: "Ruby Rose."
Taiyang eagerly tore into the neatly packaged message from his daughter, taking special care not to damage the letter inside. Finally, he yanked the prized sheet of folded paper free, caressing it with an adoring grin before unfolding it to its full size. He didn't even mind the cold anymore. His sole interest had been the paycheck due back to him from Signal Academy, but that was merely an afterthought to Taiyang now. To say he'd been worried sick about Ruby going to Beacon Academy this year and being so far away from him would be a tremendous understatement, but this letter was good news for two reasons. First of all, it meant she was alive! Not that he believed otherwise. Nonetheless, the proud father was relieved to no longer feel perpetually stuck in parental overdrive concocting worst-case scenarios, which had been the case from the moment Ruby stepped onto the airship to Beacon. Secondly, the smooth-textured envelope bore the raised-print Beacon Academy sigil, which meant she had arrived there.
All that was left now was to find out what his little girl was up to at his team's old stomping grounds. He pored over every detail of the letter with what started as enthusiasm, but soon turned to stunned silence. In fact, he was so taken aback, Taiyang scarcely registered the faint whisper of something moving against the harsh winds. He forcibly pulled his attention away from Ruby's letter long enough to spot a tiny black speck floating along, growing bigger as it closed in on the clearing where he stood. The speck enlarged to about the size of a fist, wings flapping as it arced downward, and finally landed gracefully beside him. Tai observed the crimson-eyed black bird with a narrowed gaze.
"Qrow," he spat, half-annoyed, half-apathetic, "you're back?"
The bird writhed and expanded unnaturally, warping into the familiar form of a dark-haired man with a bit of stubble. Tai's former teammate winked, waving wordlessly, and dusted off his pants.
"Hey Tai," Qrow said. His disheveled cape rippled lazily in the breeze.
"I thought you were supposed to be away on that mission for Oz."
"Yeah, technically I am. This next assignment's gonna be a long one, so I came to check in one last time. Told Ruby I'd swing by to look after Zwei when I could. She knows how busy you get."
Taiyang's face flushed red and he turned on Qrow with a huff. "I do feed him!" he insisted, puffing out his chest as if Qrow and Ruby's secret agreement had the most offensive implications ever.
"Not often enough." Qrow rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'll only be a few minutes. Where is he?"
Tai snapped his fingers, cutting through the intermittent howls of the wind and grabbing his teammate's attention. "Hang on."
Midway through a heel-turning motion, Qrow paused and looked back. "What's up?"
"Just got a letter," Tai explained, leading Qrow inside when a cold breeze hit again and made both men shiver.
The unexpected visitor's alcohol-laced breath entered before he did, earning an inward groan from Taiyang. Qrow quickly shut the door behind them. It creaked jarringly, and then they were left with only the sound of wood burning in the heated cabin. The soft glow of the fireplace bathed them in rejuvenating warmth as the weary father slipped out of his shoes and sank into the couch. Qrow leaned against a wall and crossed his arms.
"A letter? Who's it from?"
Taiyang sighed heavily, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. "Ruby. She wrote something to you in it too. But that's not all." He started to explain, then thought better of it and held out the envelope instead. Qrow took it from his outstretched hand with visible confusion. "It's better if you see for yourself."
The next couple of minutes were spent in silence as Taiyang watched Qrow's face contort into a whirlwind of different expressions, before finally settling on one that was somewhere between masked pain and complete cluelessness. He could relate. The letter slipped out of Qrow's slackening grip and dropped to the floor with a gentle flap. Rather than discuss the letter, Qrow resolved to go care for Zwei first. Clearly, he needed time to wrap his head around the letter's contents. When he returned, Taiyang lit the fuse of the next information bomb.
"Qrow, there's something I haven't had the chance to tell you," he began tentatively, relaxing his posture in hopes of lessening the emotional weight of his news. A futile gesture, of course.
Qrow scratched his stubble and stared back with stunned curiosity. He still needed to process the information in Ruby's letter, and Taiyang was about to give him even more food for thought. Per usual, Qrow resolved to drink himself numb as Tai continued the explanation.
"The other day...Yang visited me."
The pseudo-choking sound that came afterward startled Tai out of his casual position on the couch.
"She what?" Qrow exclaimed after almost spitting up some of whatever he had just taken a swig of and taking a moment to breathe.
"Yeah. She came by to meet us. Looks like Raven wasn't bluffing about telling her about us. Also, get this. Apparently she's no longer with the Branwen Tribe."
"As in, for good?"
A subtle nod.
"And how did Raven feel about that?"
Tai shrugged. "Yang didn't say. I tried to get her to stick around, did my best to be a good host..." He sighed, dropping his head in defeat. "But she took off before I could say much more to her. Then according to this letter, turns out she's at the school with Ruby."
Qrow paused briefly, then asked, "Do you think Ruby knows?"
"Doesn't seem so. All I know is what you just read. There's no telling why Yang hasn't said anything yet." Taiyang stood up, tying a knot to tighten his robe's waistline. "I've gotta go down there tomorrow! I could get someone to cover my classes at Signal."
"Go down where?"
"To Beacon, Qrow. I'm worried about them. What if-"
"Tai, come on. Just go to work. What's gonna happen to them? I mean, I get how big of a deal this is, but something tells me Yang knows how to handle herself, growing up with the tribe and all. If anything, I'm more worried about Ruby."
Tai raised an eyebrow. "Worried about Ruby? Why?"
"Kid's got a good heart. She's strong, but she's still a kid. A little on the naive side."
Nodding at Qrow's words, Tai looked at the orange glow of the fire against the floorboards with a sad smile. "Yeah, well...we all have to learn in our own time, I guess. But Oz..."
"If I know anything about Oz, it's that he'll be fair to Ruby and Yang."
"Fairness isn't what concerns me." Tai threw a hard stare his guest's way. "You know that."
Rubbing the back of his head and averting his eyes was all Qrow seemed capable of, faced with Tai's intense expression. The look said more than either of them dared to put into words. Qrow hopped up from his seat, stowed his flask, and made his way toward the front door.
"Either way, I think they'll be fine. Don't hover. I hear kids hate that these days."
"So did we," Tai replied, chuckling at a stray thought, and finding Qrow was doing the same.
They awkwardly locked gazes. Their eyes lit up with mutual recognition of a happy memory, but both huntsmen quickly adopted plain expressions. Tai had no time to say anything else before Qrow delivered a raspy, "Be seein' ya, Tai," and disappeared through the door, his tattered cape trailing behind him. One last gasp of cold air wafted into the room before he shut the door behind him.
* * *
Once she shut out all distractions, it actually wasn't all that hard to find the forest temple. Yang and Blake trudged up a hill and stood atop its peak, looking out over the ruins of the temple with silent curiosity.
"Looks like this is it," Yang announced. Blake nodded and led the way down the slope.
The temple ruins were as expected - a collection of old, cracked stone blocks. Dust, debris, and plantlife gathered anywhere they could find purchase. Every structure looked like it might fall to pieces at the slightest touch, but somehow the ring of waist-high pillars and circular platform that supported them still stood after so long.
The girls split up to investigate. Yang strode along the left side of the temple, eyeing several chess pieces positioned at the center of the pillars. These must have been the so-called 'relics' they were to collect. Not every pillar held a relic.
"Chess pieces?" Blake asked from the opposite end of the platform.
"Some of them are missing," Yang pointed out, hands on her hips. "We weren't the first ones here."
"Well, I guess we should pick one."
Good idea.
The ex-tribal princess wanted to get this silly task over with so that she could get back to tracking down Ruby. Blake didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry, but there was no way anything was going to slow Yang down. She snatched up the nearest relic, an exquisitely crafted golden pony's head, and walked over to Blake. Once her teammate had given the item a thorough examination and her nod of approval, Yang marched off in the direction of Beacon Cliff.
* * *
Rays of light struck the encampment as the morning sun finished rising over the treeline, and with the dawn came a flapping of wings. Qrow flew in a serpentine motion to avoid the densely packed trees, finally emerging above a tall, wooden palisade. He leaned left to put himself on a path toward the empty patch of dirt that separated the Branwen Camp from the forest, then alighted a few yards away near the guards.
Only two?
Raven had certainly gotten lax.
He saw a lanky guy with dirty blond shoulder-length hair. The man looked a little familiar, but his stubble was throwing the recognition off. Qrow looked from him to the second person, Flora. He remembered her as a teenager, and now she was a woman in her own right. Her bronze armor left little to the imagination, and she seemed just as carefree as he remembered. She sat atop a lookout post, scanning the area with a spyglass while making jabs at her fellow guard, then laughing at her own humor. Qrow finally realized the blond man was Shay, a boy who used to enjoy stealing petty items from villagers during the tribe's raids. He didn't seem to have grown out of that mentality, if his perpetual scowl was any indication.
Flora passed right over Qrow, who stared back at her from his perch on a wide tree stump. A moment later, she took advantage of Shay turning to check his blind spot for activity and tossed a pebble at him. It bounced off the side of his head and landed in the dirt. When he cried out, jumped, and fired an accidental gunshot at his feet, a few birds scattered, providing perfect cover. Qrow lifted himself high into the air, just close enough to the other 'real' birds that he wouldn't stand out, and then flew past a hysterically laughing Flora and a flustered, grumbling Shay.
Fate must have smiled upon the disguised Huntsman, because the very person he was here to see came rushing out of the largest tent, hand on her blade sheath, and shouted at the other tribe members peeking out of their tents to go back to bed. Raven investigated the noise outside, and Qrow idled by the steps of her tent and watched in silence as she ranted at the two guards. Her furious shouting ended with a curt order directed at Flora, whose pale-faced fright gave way to another stifled giggle the moment her boss was out of earshot. Qrow craned his neck up at his sister while she strode back toward her tent. He wondered how long it would take her to recogni-
"How long are you going to sit there pretending to be concealed?" Raven spat. She scoffed and ascended the steps. "Go ahead and get whatever this is over with," she added, lifting a flap of the tent to make room for his entry.
Qrow flew into the tent and morphed back into his human form, turning to meet her gaze. She looked highly unamused, and was busy detaching her gear and setting it aside on a table.
"Well?" she prompted. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm busy. Honestly! Waking me up early? Making us think we're under attack over a cheap prank? Ugh. How far has our tribe fallen?"
Splaying his arms, Qrow tutted. "I mean, you can't really blame her. There isn't all that much to do sitting there for hours. I used to do the job too, you know." He ignored Raven's simmering glower. "Anyway, I came with some news."
She regarded him quietly, visibly holding back a million questions. "Go on."
"Did you get my message?"
"Yes." She fished around in a pocket and revealed a scroll. It was caked with dust and far from in mint condition. "Damn you Qrow, making me use this old thing."
Qrow smiled, pleased by the fact that she still kept the small piece of their past days as a team.
"I admit," she continued as she put the scroll away, "I didn't expect you to arrive this early in the morning. I assumed you'd be drunk."
He chuckled. "I am. Well, a little buzzed, but this was too important."
Raven smirked. "Oh? Important enough that you chanced drunkenly flying into a tree on your way here?"
"Oh, ha-ha." Qrow sighed and stretched his arms, then cracked his neck. Being a bird truly left him feeling like he'd been trapped in a box for hours, and to this day, he wasn't quite used to the stiffness that always set in. "I saw Tai a little while ago. He told me Yang left the tribe."
She looked away, but didn't reply. She didn't need to.
"Here's the kicker, Raven. She's at Beacon."
Raven's wide-eyed stare zeroed in on Qrow.
"With Ruby. Taking the entrance exam. Ruby doesn't seem to know they're family."
"What?!" Raven exclaimed, slapping a hand on the table. "How could she...after everything I told her, she still...? Wow."
"Crazy, right?" Qrow rubbed the back of his head. "It's almost as if history's repeating itself, don't you think? The allure of Huntsman life must be in our blood."
His sister exhaled heavily and waited a beat before responding. "You know this is different. That's not why we went."
"Whatever. Look, I just thought you might want to know."
Raven shrugged. "And why would I need to know that?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe I thought a loving mother might want to know where her runaway daughter's gotten off to? That she's safe?"
She put the last of her gear aside and stood across from him. "Of course Yang's okay. She was trained by me, after all."
Qrow rolled his eyes. "Ever the gloater."
"Ever the drunk-off-his-ass lapdog for Ozpin."
"At least I didn't abandon-" Qrow raised his fist, then caught himself before being baited into another argument, and quickly withdrew. "Well, that's all I came to tell you."
"What did you expect me to say? After I told her the truth about Tai, Ruby, and Summer, she left. Apparently she wants nothing to do with me or the tribe anymore."
"Doesn't that bother you at least a little?
"Why should it?" Raven growled. Qrow noted that she was deflecting, but allowed his sister her venting session. "Yang made her choice. Clearly none of the lessons I taught her, or any of my warnings, sank in. I told her about Oz, about Salem and the Maidens, and even that I have the-" She broke off, earning a confused stare from her brother, then continued. "Anyway, if she wants to die fighting for a useless cause, it's her funeral. With any luck, she'll come to her senses and leave that school for mindless sheep behind."
Qrow huffed. "If you ask me, she's finally seeing this place for what it is."
"Spoken like a true traitor."
He stepped past her, rather than giving in to the name calling.
"I've got to head out. Got another mission. See ya when I see ya."
"Have a nice flight, brother."
The way she said that last word sounded much less warm and caring than it should have. Qrow's heart sank. The old Raven he used to know and admire, if she was still in there somewhere, was buried so deeply, he feared she might never return. He shifted into bird form and took off through the opening in the tent, doing his best to refocus onto the mission.
* * *
It was one thing after another with this life, Raven opined inwardly, angrily tossing her bandana across the room. Damn, she really needed to work on her temper. News or no news, getting so worked up that she almost let it slip to Qrow that she was a Maiden? That was beyond unacceptable.
She paused when she sensed movement beyond the tent entrance. If it was an enemy, they'd sure picked a horrible time to engage her. A head peeked through, eyes closed, and asked permission to come in.
"Enter."
In walked the reconnaissance team's top performer, already fully suited up for another run.
"Going out early?" Raven asked, turning her attention to Vernal.
"Not just yet. I'm waiting on the others. I thought I heard noise in here."
"A little birdy brought me some news," the tribe leader quipped, stepping back to make room for her next visitor.
"Your brother?"
"That's correct. It seems our little dragon has gone off to meet her family. What's more, she's enrolled at none other than Beacon Academy."
Vernal nearly stumbled in surprise. "What? But you already told her all about the-"
"Yeah, I know. Somehow, even knowing what she knows, she's decided to enroll as a student there. She's taking the entrance exam as we speak." Raven stalked to the other end of the tent, arms folded and lips tightened into a thin line. "Maybe Tai put the idea in her head," she muttered. "I wouldn't put it past him."
Glancing back toward her comrade, Raven was surprised to see a softened, almost sad expression staring back at her.
"What?" the irritable leader demanded.
"You know, if you need some time to process this, or just to rest, I can run point on the-"
"I'm fine. We'll all be fine. Yang attending Beacon changes nothing. This tribe is a family, and we still need to look out for each other, with or without her or my brother. Maybe she'll come to her senses, but if not, so be it."
"Okay..." Vernal trailed off, sounding uncertain. Her face hardened and she bowed herself out, pausing just before she reached the exit. She turned back. Raven waited, eyebrows raised in expectation.
"About Yang," the girl ventured, matching her mentor's intense gaze. "Does she know that you were the one who killed April?"
Raven looked away, grudgingly admitting to herself that the involuntarily reaction probably said all Vernal needed to know.
* * *
Jaune had just fallen flat onto his ass, compliments of his teammate, Pyrrha Nikos, after being named leader of Team Juniper. Yang felt for him, but knew it was best not to get onstage and help him up. That would only compound the embarrassment he was no doubt feeling right now. A cascade of laughs echoed from the rafters down to the stage in the auditorium. Notably, Pyrrha hadn't meant to knock Jaune down. Only to give him an encouraging shoulder tap. Intentions aside, she could do nothing more than stand by with an anxious smile amidst the situation she had created.
Yang wanted to shout at the girl to help him up. Anger roiled in her, but she bit it back and simply waited. What seemed like decades later, Jaune's teammates finally came down off of their victory high long enough to help him get to his feet, and moved offstage. Looking down from the wide dais, Professor Ozpin turned to Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Blake, nodding toward them to silently indicate they were next up.
Ruby danced and squealed. "We're up!"
Yang shook her head and smiled, following behind Weiss and Blake as her younger sister took the lead at the front of the procession. Ruby threaded her way through the masses of people onto the stage, followed by Weiss, then Blake, and finally Yang. The four of them turned to face Ozpin and awaited his ruling. Sweeping the room out of habit, Yang found just about every face in the crowd was glowing with excitement and wonder. The previous students onstage either looked much the same as the audience did now, appeared to take silent pride in their accomplishment, or were flat-out paralyzed by stage fright. She wondered whether she was the only one in the room right now who didn't feel honored to attend Beacon Academy.
Ozpin cleared his throat to address the four girls. A slick film of sweat moistened Yang's face, but not because of Oz. A realization had just hit her like a punch to the face. In all of this time, she still hadn't found a moment to pull Ruby aside and tell her the truth. Fighting a giant Nevermore and Deathstalker, reasonably, were foremost on her mind in the Emerald Forest. Ever since making it out of there, she'd been so relieved not to be in constant danger of dying anymore that she hadn't stopped to think about following up with Ruby. And now...
"Ruby Rose," Ozpin began. Time slowed almost to a stop for Yang, and she begged for anything other than what she knew was about to happen. The clamoring crowd quieted a bit, intensifying the gravity of the moment.
Please, don't let this happen. Not like this.
"Weiss Schnee."
The buzz of the crowd became a touch louder at the mention of Weiss's name before dying down again.
"Blake Belladonna."
Yang winced. This was it.
Please don't, please don't, please-
"Yang Branwen."
Across from Yang, Ruby blinked, looking at Professor Ozpin with widened eyes. For a moment, Yang thought the news might not have registered. Ruby seemed to be stuck in place, her mind no longer keeping pace with her body. "Yang...Branwen?" she whispered, slowly switching her focus from the headmaster to Yang as he calmly continued the girls' team announcement. "But that's just like..."
She was obviously thinking about her uncle, connecting the dots. The cornered blonde dreaded what came next as she and her sister's eyes met. Unable to hold Ruby's gaze, she looked at the floor instead, all of the blood rushing to her face.
For the first time in her life, Yang prayed for a miracle.