Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

The full weight of just what the situation was crashed on top of Yang like so many bricks, and her hands gripped at her hair on either side as a sense of horror far more insidious than the grief she'd thought she was supposed to be feeling supplanted everything else.

"...We... we have to do something then! We can't just leave her like that, we...you said you have a connection with her!" She finally whirled towards Raven, an almost manic frown on her face as she jumped off the bed and gripped her shoulders, seemingly unaware of the winds picking up around her. "well, do that! Portal to her! We have to... Well I dunno, but doing nothing isn't it!"

She hardly even flinched as Yang grabbed hold of her shoulders in a burst of concerned energy, just kept her gaze steady. "Yang..." Raven slowly shook her head. "It's not that simple. She's in the middle of his forces right now. Legions of his grimm, many of his lieutenants...your counterpart, Belladonna, several of the shadow fang, et cetera...that's not...it isn't a situation we can just recklessly charge into. Us rushing into that without a plan, while a lot of us are still tired, hurt, battle weary...I don't think that's a good idea. We can absolutely get there, sure...but getting out? That's far from a guarantee. So far. Too far! Even if it wasn't, she's alive, yeah...but it's not just her anymore, Yang. Her consciousness, her spirit is now stuck fighting against an ancient evil that has jumped into her body. Two souls in one body, battling constantly for control...a fight that this Oz has won countless times with many, many people over the centuries to hear my counterpart say it. Even if, and I really can't stress that if hard enough, even if we manage to somehow get Weiss's body out of there against his will...how do you help her then?" Raven questioned.

"I'm sorry. I know that you want to save her, I get that, but this isn't some simple journey of fighting through all the monsters and rescuing the princess here, Yang. You said it yourself, you don't know what we have to do. What would the plan even be, huh? Try to somehow punch his malevolent soul out of her body? Do you really think it works like that?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"The so-called adventure didn't go so great, but you could probably guess that much. Your team-" Her gaze shot over to Tyrian. "-Dunno where your leader ended up but well, your small friend in red and the big guy in green eventually reunited with us and shared what happened to them. She traveled with Vernal for a time until they both got attacked in Argus, complete ambush. Cinder had a knee dislocated, nearly broken entirely, and came within an inch to having her story end in some random alleyway, her throat slit open by a blade. It didn't happen and she got saved by the big guy and others and managed to make her way to Atlas. Vernal was assumed lost in that ambush, taken by--oh yeah, forgot to mention. The Cinder I know more about, the bitch from my world, she's here too. Grimm arm and all. Stole the spring maiden's power from V like she tried with me. So, that's not great. A lot more shit happened, not much of it better, and don't get me started on Weiss stealing the maiden power from me either-" Raven continued on for a while longer, describing what she could up until she left Atlas.

"-and so here I am, looking to get a few people for my reasons and then I got roped into trying to help you with your mess."

"Vernal's here. Wandering around alleyways sleeping rough like she's washed up and all this was a lifetime ago and not like, a month," Emerald replied musingly, a momentary flicker of a glance at Neo to assess how she took her suspicion that Vernal had been in their bar before being confirmed so nonchalantly. Her eyes had their own reactions to some of the stuff Raven said, but other than that she was quiet, rounding out the faraway triptych of Callie and Lupin, a minor curl to her lip as Raven ran down the rest of their options and a thinly veiled sigh given at her suggestion of locale.



"...I know Vacuo. Been a while, but I know... people..." The way she forced the word out through her teeth spoke to no small amount of badwill she bore towards said people, and a staunch desire to not have made whoever's acquaintance she was referring to in specific. "...in Vacuo. People who could maybe help us set up there. Here's the thing though: those people suck. And if we run into the wrong people in Vacuo with me around, we're probably definitely all gonna end up in jail. So yeah."

Raven's additions had Neo slowly slouching farther and farther into the beanbag, her expression drifting into a sullen growl at more than a few of the names she'd mentioned and at the idea they were just supposed to.... run away. She levelled her eyes back on Mercury, quietly daring him to agree with Raven.

One of the things that made Mercury's wilfully ignorant habit of brushing Neo off now and then so much more annoying than it had any right to be was just how good he actually was at reading body language. How whatever training in his dad's vocation he'd been subjected to before Beacon had made him capable of distilling her exact meaning from the most barebones of cues, how he could break down the way people moved and derive intent from it to a degree way beyond anything a huntsman could ever possibly need to do their work. It wasn't just her; he could read a lot of people that way. His fight with the jackrabbit lady back at the warehouse had started off even enough, but the longer it went on and the more he felt out her wild, relentless style the less effective her offence was; it had just been a matter of time before the end, every kick she threw his way parried and redirected by one of his own that seemed just a bit smoother, a bit cleaner, carried just slightly less wasted energy than the last as the smirk on his face gradually grew more and more assured of victory.

He wasn't smirking now, but the look in his eye as he returned Neo's stare neutrally was the sort of hard, conclusive stonewall that was every bit as set on getting his way, every bit as sure he was going to. He appeared to wanna nip this particular potential mutiny in the bud rather than just tiptoe around Neo's drama and let her resentment stew, so his boots dinged faintly against the polished wood floor as he hopped off the table he'd been sitting on, stretched, calmly sauntered over to the beanbag, and hunkered down to maintain that eye contact at a closer level, speaking nice and slow just so everybody was all kinds of nice and crystal clear on this.

Spoiler

"I agree with Raven. Got something to say about it, or you gonna just keep eyebanging me the whole trip long?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Vernal's here. Wandering around alleyways sleeping rough like she's washed up and all this was a lifetime ago and not like, a month," Emerald replied musingly, a momentary flicker of a glance at Neo to assess how she took her suspicion that Vernal had been in their bar before being confirmed so nonchalantly. Her eyes had their own reactions to some of the stuff Raven said, but other than that she was quiet, rounding out the faraway triptych of Callie and Lupin, a minor curl to her lip as Raven ran down the rest of their options and a thinly veiled sigh given at her suggestion of locale.

"...Must come with this world. She picked up the ways of being a mopey drunk from the master himself." That was not what she expected but at least she had a better idea of where exactly to be looking now.​

"...I know Vacuo. Been a while, but I know... people..." The way she forced the word out through her teeth spoke to no small amount of badwill she bore towards said people, and a staunch desire to not have made whoever's acquaintance she was referring to in specific. "...in Vacuo. People who could maybe help us set up there. Here's the thing though: those people suck. And if we run into the wrong people in Vacuo with me around, we're probably definitely all gonna end up in jail. So yeah."

"...Yeah? I mean you're all criminals right now, dummy. You just fled from the cops right now. Corrupt cops they may be but that don't make them any less capable of throwing you in jail. You'd have that same risk here or there, so." She might have had more to say but her attention swiveled to Mercury and Neo, just silently and a little awkwardly observing the pair.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...Yeah? I mean you're all criminals right now, dummy. You just fled from the cops right now. Corrupt cops they may be but that don't make them any less capable of throwing you in jail. You'd have that same risk here or there, so." She might have had more to say but her attention swiveled to Mercury and Neo, just silently and a little awkwardly observing the pair.

"'yOu'Re aLL cRiMiNaLs' shut the F up, did anyone ask? Am I not allowed point stuff out about my own home turf? Who even are you? Besides, Vacuo may not be in the best shape of all the kingdoms but it's still a damn sight better than this place right now. Being on bad terms with the kingdom authorities there actually means something. And I'm not talking some minor rap sheet either, I'm talking beef. Bad blood. Bad beef blood. Serious bizness with one of the city's most powerful families, all of whom hate my face. Get it now, tweety bird?"

God.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

View attachment 836463

"'yOu'Re aLL cRiMiNaLs' shut the F up, did anyone ask? Am I not allowed point stuff out about my own home turf? Who even are you? Besides, Vacuo may not be in the best shape of all the kingdoms but it's still a damn sight better than this place right now. Being on bad terms with the kingdom authorities there actually means something. And I'm not talking some minor rap sheet either, I'm talking beef. Bad blood. Bad beef blood. Serious bizness with one of the city's most powerful families, all of whom hate my face. Get it now, tweety bird?"

God.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She hardly even flinched as Yang grabbed hold of her shoulders in a burst of concerned energy, just kept her gaze steady. "Yang..." Raven slowly shook her head. "It's not that simple. She's in the middle of his forces right now. Legions of his grimm, many of his lieutenants...your counterpart, Belladonna, several of the shadow fang, et cetera...that's not...it isn't a situation we can just recklessly charge into. Us rushing into that without a plan, while a lot of us are still tired, hurt, battle weary...I don't think that's a good idea. We can absolutely get there, sure...but getting out? That's far from a guarantee. So far. Too far! Even if it wasn't, she's alive, yeah...but it's not just her anymore, Yang. Her consciousness, her spirit is now stuck fighting against an ancient evil that has jumped into her body. Two souls in one body, battling constantly for control...a fight that this Oz has won countless times with many, many people over the centuries to hear my counterpart say it. Even if, and I really can't stress that if hard enough, even if we manage to somehow get Weiss's body out of there against his will...how do you help her then?" Raven questioned.

"I'm sorry. I know that you want to save her, I get that, but this isn't some simple journey of fighting through all the monsters and rescuing the princess here, Yang. You said it yourself, you don't know what we have to do. What would the plan even be, huh? Try to somehow punch his malevolent soul out of her body? Do you really think it works like that?"​

"So what, we just do nothing?!" She growled, shoving Raven back slightly as she let go as she gestured out the window "You think he's gonna get easier to defeat once Weiss is gone for real? After he's had time to get his strength back? What if this is our only chance to do anything about him and to help her, and you think we should EVEN TRY?!"

The last words came out in a spurt of actual fire bursting from Yang's lips, as red as the color her eyes had slowly started to shift towards as she talked. She whirled away from Raven and threw up her hands, her hair starting to shimmer golden as if her semblence was charged up. "That's what you do though isn't? You run away."

This was seriously not the time for this.

She whirled back around, her fists clenched and maidenfire pouring from her eyes. "Do you want to know how long I wanted to hear you say things like that? How long I waited to even know what your stupid voice sounded like? Don't answer, because now I know you knew"

Grief stricken wasn't anywhere close to the state she wanted to be when she had this conversation. She still hadn't even been sure she wanted this conversation yet, but it wasn't supposed to be like this; she wanted to talk to Raven, not snarl and yell at her, but everything was so tangled up-

"But now you wanna play nice, because, what, because I'm the strongest person you know? That's what it fucking took? The little girl who almost died to some beowolf looking for you wasn't worth your time, but the one who's willing to do the things you aren't is?"

This wasn't fair. She knew it wasn't; Raven had fought alongside the rest of them more than once, and almost paid more than any of them. Yang wasn't thinking about fair though. She was tired, she was hurting, and she was angrier than she'd ever been in her life. At her mom, at Weiss, at this stupid, miserable, god awful Remnant that seemed like it was built form the ground up to piss her off and try and break her down. Her breaths came heavier, and she took a step back closer.

"Or is that all it is; You just want someone around to do the hard stuff. The stuff that hurts. Well that's fine, mom. I know better than to ask you to risk your life; I'll go by myself, or with whoever else wants to come with me, and you can stay here. So tell me you're gonna open the portal-"

She jammed a finger towards the door

"Or you can get out."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"She's got night terrors that did what-"

The window to the common room of the inn suddenly exploded

Penny landed in a controlled skid across the hardwood floor, one hand against said floor for balance with her swords already fanning out from across her back, a look of determined concern on her face as she analyzed the situation and determined that the most dangerous thing in the room with the rest of them was the slightly too hot bowl of soup that someone had dropped after her dynamic entrance.

She sloooooowly stood up from her crouch and clasped her hands behind her back with a look that was halfway between deeply confused and embarrassed as she glanced across whoever was down here.

"....Salutations everyone, I was out and about as I do not require sleep, and Ruby's aura suddenly drained all the way to the red, and I was very concerned, and I still am, except I am also confused? There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger, what could have possibly-"

"-to my window???"

"I am so sorry sir"

----------------------------------

Watts had some absolutely baller noise cancelling headphones and missed literally all of this, pretty much the only person other than maybe Neo who was actually sleeping still

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Tyrian got nudged again as Trifa giggled at Neo's little display.

"Your friend has a pretty cool sermblance."

"Yeah, I guess so...She's actually the one who fought the guy who kidnapped you."

"No way, she fought the dude responsible for all those murders?"

"Yeah-"

"That's so badass!" Trifa exclaimed as she looked towards Neo. "Hey, thanks from the bottom of my heart! That guy..." Trifa paused. "He was a uh, a case and a half..."

Neo preened under the praise, enough to break her glaring towards Merc as she instead wore a smug smile on her face and gave another lazy shrug, like she totally had that guy on the ropes from the word go all the way to the end and that her broken shoulder was a self inflicted victory wound.

"Vernal's here. Wandering around alleyways sleeping rough like she's washed up and all this was a lifetime ago and not like, a month," Emerald replied musingly, a momentary flicker of a glance at Neo to assess how she took her suspicion that Vernal had been in their bar before being confirmed so nonchalantly. Her eyes had their own reactions to some of the stuff Raven said, but other than that she was quiet, rounding out the faraway triptych of Callie and Lupin, a minor curl to her lip as Raven ran down the rest of their options and a thinly veiled sigh given at her suggestion of locale.

The smile died an earlier death than Roman's, Neo pushing herself up to sitting with her good arm as Emerald's flickering glance met Neo's own wounded , shocked gaze as she tried to process that, how angry she'd been in the moment, and how mortified she'd been about seemingly losing her mind. She slowly sunk back into the bean bag with a blank frown, and that was the expression Mercury was initially met with when he knelt down next to her.

One of the things that made Mercury's wilfully ignorant habit of brushing Neo off now and then so much more annoying than it had any right to be was just how good he actually was at reading body language. How whatever training in his dad's vocation he'd been subjected to before Beacon had made him capable of distilling her exact meaning from the most barebones of cues, how he could break down the way people moved and derive intent from it to a degree way beyond anything a huntsman could ever possibly need to do their work. It wasn't just her; he could read a lot of people that way. His fight with the jackrabbit lady back at the warehouse had started off even enough, but the longer it went on and the more he felt out her wild, relentless style the less effective her offence was; it had just been a matter of time before the end, every kick she threw his way parried and redirected by one of his own that seemed just a bit smoother, a bit cleaner, carried just slightly less wasted energy than the last as the smirk on his face gradually grew more and more assured of victory.

He wasn't smirking now, but the look in his eye as he returned Neo's stare neutrally was the sort of hard, conclusive stonewall that was every bit as set on getting his way, every bit as sure he was going to. He appeared to wanna nip this particular potential mutiny in the bud rather than just tiptoe around Neo's drama and let her resentment stew, so his boots dinged faintly against the polished wood floor as he hopped off the table he'd been sitting on, stretched, calmly sauntered over to the beanbag, and hunkered down to maintain that eye contact at a closer level, speaking nice and slow just so everybody was all kinds of nice and crystal clear on this.

"I agree with Raven. Got something to say about it, or you gonna just keep eyebanging me the whole trip long?"

The frown slowly morphed into a snarl as she met his calm gaze head on. Her eyes narrowed.

....To Vacuo, huh?

Merc could see the gears starting to turn in Neo's head, though in what direction and to what end was far less apparent, but in the end she broke the gaze first as her expression levelled off and she let her head fall backwards to look at the ceiling as she waved him away, not so much a direct agreement as it was an unconcerned surrender to the idea.


Callie watched all of this play out with a sort of muted interest before she cleared her throat. "This'all well n' good for you folk, but I ain't bout to leave Mistral; Bar might be shot, but the Spiders got more than one nest; I ain't boutta scoot outta town just cuz some animals suddenly think they own the place. There's money to be made with stuff like this. Plus its, y'know, where I live. So I s'ppose, missus and sir, that this means we'll be partin ways."

"Did somebody say part ways?" Lupin interjected, revealing his ear covering to be a completely useless endeavor

 

[MidwayLives]

Watts had some absolutely baller noise cancelling headphones and missed literally all of this, pretty much the only person other than maybe Neo who was actually sleeping still

Neo was actually wide awake.

She just couldn't be bothered to go inspect what had caused all of that noise.

But if she had to wager a guess it likely had to do with those dumbasses.

Except Penny.

Penny was alright in her book.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"So what, we just do nothing?!" She growled, shoving Raven back slightly as she let go as she gestured out the window "You think he's gonna get easier to defeat once Weiss is gone for real? After he's had time to get his strength back? What if this is our only chance to do anything about him and to help her, and you don't think we should EVEN TRY?!"

Raven didn't even resist as she got shoved back. "That's not--" She tried to start to reply, but it got talked over by Yang angrily continuing to give voice to her frustration. So much so that fire actually spewed from her daughter's mouth, thanks just as much to that overwhelming feeling as the newfound power Yang possessed.​

She whirled away from Raven and threw up her hands, her hair starting to shimmer golden as if her semblence was charged up. "That's what you do though isn't? You run away."

This was seriously not the time for this.

Raven couldn't help but wince at that. "I..." She didn't get any further than that, partly because Yang just pressed on and partly because...well, what was there to say? There was too much truth in there. That was who she had been for so long, what she had done for so long...someone who abandoned everything and everyone. It was like she'd said moments earlier, everyone who had ever given her their trust, she either let them down or...used them. It had done a number on her daughter, brother, Tai...even cost Vernal everything. Those mismatched eyes briefly slid shut.​

She whirled back around, her fists clenched and maidenfire pouring from her eyes. "Do you want to know how long I wanted to hear you say things like that? How long I waited to even know what your stupid voice sounded like? Don't answer, because now I know you knew"

Grief stricken wasn't anywhere close to the state she wanted to be when she had this conversation. She still hadn't even been sure she wanted this conversation yet, but it wasn't supposed to be like this; she wanted to talk to Raven, not snarl and yell at her, but everything was so tangled up-

They were open again by the time Yang had turned sharply back around, but she didn't attempt to speak this time. Whether that was because Yang demanded such or because she truly didn't know how to even respond to that, only she knew.​

"But now you wanna play nice, because, what, because I'm the strongest person you know? That's what it fucking took? The little girl who almost died to some beowolf looking for you wasn't worth your time, but the one who's willing to do the things you aren't is?"

This wasn't fair. She knew it wasn't; Raven had fought alongside the rest of them more than once, and almost paid more than any of them. Yang wasn't thinking about fair though. She was tired, she was hurting, and she was angrier than she'd ever been in her life. At her mom, at Weiss, at this stupid, miserable, god awful Remnant that seemed like it was built form the ground up to piss her off and try and break her down. Her breaths came heavier, and she took a step back closer.

"No, I...I..."​

"Or is that all it is; You just want someone around to do the hard stuff. The stuff that hurts. Well that's fine, mom. I know better than to ask you to risk your life; I'll go by myself, or with whoever else wants to come with me, and you can stay here. So tell me you're gonna open the portal-"

She jammed a finger towards the door

"Or you can get out."

Whatever else Raven was trying to say, whatever else would have been stuttered out...it went unspoken. Guilt and shame and a dozen other feelings swelled up inside Raven then, but the thing most evident in her eyes was pain. For a moment there, Yang's gaze was met by one practically drowning in it. It was fair to say that she had never looked so hurt in all her life, her daughter's words striking her down to her core. But that look was only glimpsed for a short second, those eyes flickering down to the ground and her face falling afterwards. She was quiet then, hands shaking and thoughts racing through her head...

She rose from the chair she sat in, a weak nod and even weaker sounding voice replying now. "Okay." Raven left the chair where it was and just strode for the doorway. She hesitated just beside it, struggling to reach for something more to do, to say...but nothing came. She shook her head slightly and stepped through, disappearing from Yang's sight.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"She's got night terrors that did what-"

The window to the common room of the inn suddenly exploded

Penny landed in a controlled skid across the hardwood floor, one hand against said floor for balance with her swords already fanning out from across her back, a look of determined concern on her face as she analyzed the situation and determined that the most dangerous thing in the room with the rest of them was the slightly too hot bowl of soup that someone had dropped after her dynamic entrance.

She sloooooowly stood up from her crouch and clasped her hands behind her back with a look that was halfway between deeply confused and embarrassed as she glanced across whoever was down here.

"....Salutations everyone, I was out and about as I do not require sleep, and Ruby's aura suddenly drained all the way to the red, and I was very concerned, and I still am, except I am also confused? There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger, what could have possibly-"

"-to my window???"

"I am so sorry sir"

"Uh, it's..." Ruby herself spoke up. Well, it wasn't alright but... "It was just something really unexpected, Penny. Nothing exactly life threatening, no immediate danger here. Appreciate the concern though..." What the cool robot girl had just done to the window, on the other hand, not so much, she'd heard that people from Vacuo tended to be...rowdy, to put it mildly. Her eyes rested on the man, yet so far he seemed to be taking it okay.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Merc could see the gears starting to turn in Neo's head, though in what direction and to what end was far less apparent, but in the end she broke the gaze first as her expression levelled off and she let her head fall backwards to look at the ceiling as she waved him away, not so much a direct agreement as it was an unconcerned surrender to the idea.

The snort she got in reply skewed closer to the sorts of terse, derisive noises Neo had come to expect from Mercury during their very first days at Beacon, when he and Emerald's dauntless aura had pulled in a flock of vacuous hangers-on to cling to their orbit and she and Roman had just been a couple of oddballs not worth their time. More than a few things had changed since then.

Apparently, some hadn't.

He gave her one of those condescending hair tousles she hated so much, not unfriendly in intent but frankly a bit rougher than was necessary as he stood up and propped his hands on his hips.

"Yea, that's about what I thought. And whatever wacky revenge porn scenario you're playing out in your head right now, I'm gonna go ahead and suggest you put some ice on it ahead of time. Hate to see you disappointed, squirt."

Callie watched all of this play out with a sort of muted interest before she cleared her throat. "This'all well n' good for you folk, but I ain't bout to leave Mistral; Bar might be shot, but the Spiders got more than one nest; I ain't boutta scoot outta town just cuz some animals suddenly think they own the place. There's money to be made with stuff like this. Plus its, y'know, where I live. So I s'ppose, missus and sir, that this means we'll be partin ways."

"We'll be back."

"Or not."

"When you need us most."

"Or least. Or we just won't be back."

"Yeah, probably the second one. Sorry to break your heart like this, babe," he mused with a solemn stare and an air of remorseful wistfulness directed at the barkeep, sharply holding up a hand to cut off whatever anguished reply wasn't coming. "Nah, nah. This'll hurt less if you just let me talk. Look, we had some fun times together. The highs, the lows; I mean, it's been a crazy two days, right? But an era's only an era when it ends. My era's just beginning, doll, but you? Well, you're old. And I'm sorry about that. That sucks for you."

The breakup ended abruptly and not nearly as heartfelt as his tone implied, but rather than let her snigger be a snigger Emerald instead loudly coughed it into her fist before offering Callie a semi-awkward wave and an attempt at a more normal goodbye.

"If we're all being honest and not morons, there's nothing our little posse can do about the Shadow Fang by ourselves. But Tyrian apparently has a bone to pick with these dudes for some reason that probably makes sense to him, and like I said, we know people who might still be interested in stopping... whatever it is they mean to do here. So don't hold your breath or anything, but like, say we were to show back up with reinforcements one day; how exactly would we find you?"

"Did somebody say part ways?" Lupin interjected, revealing his ear covering to be a completely useless endeavor

Mercury grinned, chummily slinging an arm around the crook's shoulder. "No way, man. You think you're gonna weasel out of showing us that rad semblance you talked up so easy? Quick question though. What factor sunblock you use?"
​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Raven didn't even resist as she got shoved back. "That's not--" She tried to start to reply, but it got talked over by Yang angrily continuing to give voice to her frustration. So much so that fire actually spewed from her daughter's mouth, thanks just as much to that overwhelming feeling as the newfound power Yang possessed.



Raven couldn't help but wince at that. "I..." She didn't get any further than that, partly because Yang just pressed on and partly because...well, what was there to say? There was too much truth in there. That was who she had been for so long, what she had done for so long...someone who abandoned everything and everyone. It was like she'd said moments earlier, everyone who had ever given her their trust, she either let them down or...used them. It had done a number on her daughter, brother, Tai...even cost Vernal everything. Those mismatched eyes briefly slid shut.



They were open again by the time Yang had turned sharply back around, but she didn't attempt to speak this time. Whether that was because Yang demanded such or because she truly didn't know how to even respond to that, only she knew.



"No, I...I..."



Whatever else Raven was trying to say, whatever else would have been stuttered out...it went unspoken. Guilt and shame and a dozen other feelings swelled up inside Raven then, but the thing most evident in her eyes was pain. For a moment there, Yang's gaze was met by one practically drowning in it. It was fair to say that she had never looked so hurt in all her life, her daughter's words striking her down to her core. But that look was only glimpsed for a short second, those eyes flickering down to the ground and her face falling afterwards. She was quiet then, hands shaking and thoughts racing through her head...

She rose from the chair she sat in, a weak nod and even weaker sounding voice replying now. "Okay." Raven left the chair where it was and just strode for the doorway. She hesitated just beside it, struggling to reach for something more to do, to say...but nothing came. She shook her head slightly and stepped through, disappearing from Yang's sight.​

"..."

Yang's eyes went wide as Raven took the second option, her arms stuck halfway towards reaching out as she clenched her fist. "I, wait, you weren't..."

What? Supposed to listen to her? Just take it? Not yell and shout in return and just give Yang somewhere to just point all this miserable anger that would hit back?

"I... I..."

She let out a wordless growl of a shout and whirled to slam her fist on the wall, aura down, her flesh and blood hand reverberating with the impact that let out a satisfying crack of wood that did absolutely nothing to sate the storm inside her.

"....god dammit."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The snort she got in reply skewed closer to the sorts of terse, derisive noises Neo had come to expect from Mercury during their very first days at Beacon, when he and Emerald's dauntless aura had pulled in a flock of vacuous hangers-on to cling to their orbit and she and Roman had just been a couple of oddballs not worth their time. More than a few things had changed since then.

Apparently, some hadn't.

He gave her one of those condescending hair tousles she hated so much, not unfriendly in intent but frankly a bit rougher than was necessary as he stood up and propped his hands on his hips.

"Yea, that's about what I thought. And whatever wacky revenge porn scenario you're playing out in your head right now, I'm gonna go ahead and suggest you put some ice on it ahead of time. Hate to see you disappointed, squirt."




View attachment 837799View attachment 837801

"We'll be back."

"Or not."

"When you need us most."

"Or least. Or we just won't be back."

"Yeah, probably the second one. Sorry to break your heart like this, babe," he mused with a solemn stare and an air of remorseful wistfulness directed at the barkeep, sharply holding up a hand to cut off whatever anguished reply wasn't coming. "Nah, nah. This'll hurt less if you just let me talk. Look, we had some fun times together. The highs, the lows; I mean, it's been a crazy two days, right? But an era's only an era when it ends. My era's just beginning, doll, but you? Well, you're old. And I'm sorry about that. That sucks for you."

The breakup ended abruptly and not nearly as heartfelt as his tone implied, but rather than let her snigger be a snigger Emerald instead loudly coughed it into her fist before offering Callie a semi-awkward wave and an attempt at a more normal goodbye.

"If we're all being honest and not morons, there's nothing our little posse can do about the Shadow Fang by ourselves. But Tyrian apparently has a bone to pick with these dudes for some reason that probably makes sense to him, and like I said, we know people who might still be interested in stopping... whatever it is they mean to do here. So don't hold your breath or anything, but like, say we were to show back up with reinforcements one day; how exactly would we find you?"




Mercury grinned, chummily slinging an arm around the crook's shoulder. "No way, man. You think you're gonna weasel out of showing us that rad semblance you talked up so easy? Quick question though. What factor sunblock you use?"
​

"Too old for you for sures." Was Callie's dry return fire with a dull squint as she crossed her arms. She glanced over to Emerald with a raised eyebrow, and eventually let out a quiet snort.

"Hope you weren't takin my words the wrong way there, miss Sustrai. We ain't boutta set out and build a resistance or the sort; just survive n' thrive, regardless of whoever's 'officially' in charge of this mess. If everything you said is true, an' these animals are really workin' with some grimm satan guy who's behind all the bad shit that's happened since forever, then I sure as hope the uh, teenager with magic and a bunch of out of place clones do whatever they can to save us, but frankly we ain't in any position to do nothin 'bout all that. But don't worry, if y'all are ever in town again, we'll find you."

Lupin leered at Merc from their close proximity, the turn of his head poking the side of his mustache into Mercury's cheek.

"I told you I can't show you! it's way too powerful and dangerous and miserably dark and evil and terrifying and so, so many other.... adjectives. Every second you spend in my presence is another you tick closer to your doom! Really! And anyways, why would I even go? Don't you wanna get paid for my bounty???"

The implication that he somehow would prefer to get handed off to whoever was willing to pay money for his capture due to crimes against their person rather than stick with MEN was unstated, but deeply, imploringly implied by his mournful face orbs

 

[MyrtenRose]

"..."

Yang's eyes went wide as Raven took the second option, her arms stuck halfway towards reaching out as she clenched her fist. "I, wait, you weren't..."

What? Supposed to listen to her? Just take it? Not yell and shout in return and just give Yang somewhere to just point all this miserable anger that would hit back?

"I... I..."

She let out a wordless growl of a shout and whirled to slam her fist on the wall, aura down, her flesh and blood hand reverberating with the impact that let out a satisfying crack of wood that did absolutely nothing to sate the storm inside her.

"....god dammit."

She hadn't gotten very far. In truth, she had stopped just a few steps away from the door, out of sight from Yang but still close enough. Close enough to hear Yang stammering out for her to wait, that shout, the thud of a fist and the crack of wood from Yang's frustrated punch. Raven stood there, paralyzed by hesitation, a glance thrown over her shoulder and wondering what the right call was here. To give her daughter some space to work it out on her own, to step back in and do...something? She didn't really know, and that was as maddening as anything else. But several seconds later, she just let out a soft sigh and continued to walk away as quietly as possible.

It was a walk that took her to the place's bar. No glances were spared for any of the others she might have passed by, her thoughts clearly elsewhere as she slid into a chair. She didn't exactly have Qrow's fortitude for drinking, and they did have important things to get done come the morning, but she could handle at least one drink. Something from the top shelf, something to wash down and just...let her think.

Those thoughts turned to someone in particular. Somebody who'd been gone for so long now. Too long. Raven knew that she would have known what the right thing to do back there was, and she would have known it almost immediately. That was just the kind of person she had been. It was why she had been the leader of their own team. How she had gotten two dirty bandit kids who didn't know shit about being civilized or polite and one plucky dumbass who didn't know shit about how tough things could really be, and made them into the one of the greatest teams of their generation. If not the greatest. That was just her way. Summer...you always were the best of us.

She raised her glass in silence as she sat there, an unspoken toast to a teammate long gone.

And the simple truth was that she wasn't Summer. She did really want to try and change, to be somebody that could at least look in a mirror and not feel shame, but just having that desire, that wish, it didn't mean she had any idea how to go about it. Not like Summer would have. Being a mom was something she had spent almost half her life running away from. Just because she wanted to be there for Yang now, that didn't change that she had no clue how to do it. There was another low sigh, and another sip of her drink.

And another flash of memory in her mind, of her brother's words.​

"You never cared. After all that, I finally decide I want a little time to myself and you suddenly just can't find it in you to leave me the hell be? Maybe you haven't changed. That's not progress. You said it yourself: that's being stubborn, and that's all you were ever good at."

"..." She couldn't exactly disagree.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The snort she got in reply skewed closer to the sorts of terse, derisive noises Neo had come to expect from Mercury during their very first days at Beacon, when he and Emerald's dauntless aura had pulled in a flock of vacuous hangers-on to cling to their orbit and she and Roman had just been a couple of oddballs not worth their time. More than a few things had changed since then.

Apparently, some hadn't.

He gave her one of those condescending hair tousles she hated so much, not unfriendly in intent but frankly a bit rougher than was necessary as he stood up and propped his hands on his hips.

"Yea, that's about what I thought. And whatever wacky revenge porn scenario you're playing out in your head right now, I'm gonna go ahead and suggest you put some ice on it ahead of time. Hate to see you disappointed, squirt."




View attachment 837799View attachment 837801

"We'll be back."

"Or not."

"When you need us most."

"Or least. Or we just won't be back."

"Yeah, probably the second one. Sorry to break your heart like this, babe," he mused with a solemn stare and an air of remorseful wistfulness directed at the barkeep, sharply holding up a hand to cut off whatever anguished reply wasn't coming. "Nah, nah. This'll hurt less if you just let me talk. Look, we had some fun times together. The highs, the lows; I mean, it's been a crazy two days, right? But an era's only an era when it ends. My era's just beginning, doll, but you? Well, you're old. And I'm sorry about that. That sucks for you."

The breakup ended abruptly and not nearly as heartfelt as his tone implied, but rather than let her snigger be a snigger Emerald instead loudly coughed it into her fist before offering Callie a semi-awkward wave and an attempt at a more normal goodbye.

"If we're all being honest and not morons, there's nothing our little posse can do about the Shadow Fang by ourselves. But Tyrian apparently has a bone to pick with these dudes for some reason that probably makes sense to him, and like I said, we know people who might still be interested in stopping... whatever it is they mean to do here. So don't hold your breath or anything, but like, say we were to show back up with reinforcements one day; how exactly would we find you?"




Mercury grinned, chummily slinging an arm around the crook's shoulder. "No way, man. You think you're gonna weasel out of showing us that rad semblance you talked up so easy? Quick question though. What factor sunblock you use?"
​

"Too old for you for sures." Was Callie's dry return fire with a dull squint as she crossed her arms. She glanced over to Emerald with a raised eyebrow, and eventually let out a quiet snort.

"Hope you weren't takin my words the wrong way there, miss Sustrai. We ain't boutta set out and build a resistance or the sort; just survive n' thrive, regardless of whoever's 'officially' in charge of this mess. If everything you said is true, an' these animals are really workin' with some grimm satan guy who's behind all the bad shit that's happened since forever, then I sure as hope the uh, teenager with magic and a bunch of out of place clones do whatever they can to save us, but frankly we ain't in any position to do nothin 'bout all that. But don't worry, if y'all are ever in town again, we'll find you."

Lupin leered at Merc from their close proximity, the turn of his head poking the side of his mustache into Mercury's cheek.

"I told you I can't show you! it's way too powerful and dangerous and miserably dark and evil and terrifying and so, so many other.... adjectives. Every second you spend in my presence is another you tick closer to your doom! Really! And anyways, why would I even go? Don't you wanna get paid for my bounty???"

The implication that he somehow would prefer to get handed off to whoever was willing to pay money for his capture due to crimes against their person rather than stick with MEN was unstated, but deeply, imploringly implied by his mournful face orbs

This was all very weird. Why am I here again? She couldn't help but think, standing there in silence with crossed arms.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Hope you weren't takin my words the wrong way there, miss Sustrai. We ain't boutta set out and build a resistance or the sort; just survive n' thrive, regardless of whoever's 'officially' in charge of this mess. If everything you said is true, an' these animals are really workin' with some grimm satan guy who's behind all the bad shit that's happened since forever, then I sure as hope the uh, teenager with magic and a bunch of out of place clones do whatever they can to save us, but frankly we ain't in any position to do nothin 'bout all that. But don't worry, if y'all are ever in town again, we'll find you."

"-OH MY GOSH I LOVE IT WHEN OLD PEOPLE KEEP CORRECTING ME FOR NO REASON." She said loudly in a flat tone that suggested the exact opposite, reasonably certain that she had suggested nothing of the sort. It all sounded very not her vibe. "Kay. Stellar. Dunno why I even offered, guess that stupid school must not've entirely left my system yet. Seeya never probably."

She stalked off towards Neo's beanbag with an air of only slightly agitated poise, crossing her arms when she was there and lingering with just the slightest hint of hesitancy before speaking to suggest she felt guilty about the look earlier but not in the wrong enough to give any ground. It was a tightrope.

"...Heeeeeyyyy... Wanna swing by the grave before we bounce?"

Lupin leered at Merc from their close proximity, the turn of his head poking the side of his mustache into Mercury's cheek.

"I told you I can't show you! it's way too powerful and dangerous and miserably dark and evil and terrifying and so, so many other.... adjectives. Every second you spend in my presence is another you tick closer to your doom! Really! And anyways, why would I even go? Don't you wanna get paid for my bounty???"

The implication that he somehow would prefer to get handed off to whoever was willing to pay money for his capture due to crimes against their person rather than stick with MEN was unstated, but deeply, imploringly implied by his mournful face orbs

Mercury stared at him with faux sympathy, idly rolling the tip of the stache between two fingers just to see if it was almost pure gel like he assumed. "Bro, you do know the more you say stuff like that the more it solidifies that you have to stick around until we see it, right? And nah, consider yourself entered into an off the books work-release type deal. This city's got bigger problems than bounties on thieves."

​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"She's got night terrors that did what-"

The window to the common room of the inn suddenly exploded

Penny landed in a controlled skid across the hardwood floor, one hand against said floor for balance with her swords already fanning out from across her back, a look of determined concern on her face as she analyzed the situation and determined that the most dangerous thing in the room with the rest of them was the slightly too hot bowl of soup that someone had dropped after her dynamic entrance.

She sloooooowly stood up from her crouch and clasped her hands behind her back with a look that was halfway between deeply confused and embarrassed as she glanced across whoever was down here.

"....Salutations everyone, I was out and about as I do not require sleep, and Ruby's aura suddenly drained all the way to the red, and I was very concerned, and I still am, except I am also confused? There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger, what could have possibly-"

"-to my window???"

"I am so sorry sir"

"Y'know I don't always get why everyone seems to be so enchanted by her all the time. I really don't." Qrow said to his niece coarsely, suddenly pining for the days when he could fly under in the radar in a kingdom and not have to deal with the Little Rascals on crack doing wacky shit. Ah well. He forced a jet of indulgent air out through his nose, gave the proprietor an apologetic wave and stooped down to start cleaning up the soup he'd just spilled all over himself. :' |
​

"..."

Yang's eyes went wide as Raven took the second option, her arms stuck halfway towards reaching out as she clenched her fist. "I, wait, you weren't..."

What? Supposed to listen to her? Just take it? Not yell and shout in return and just give Yang somewhere to just point all this miserable anger that would hit back?

"I... I..."

She let out a wordless growl of a shout and whirled to slam her fist on the wall, aura down, her flesh and blood hand reverberating with the impact that let out a satisfying crack of wood that did absolutely nothing to sate the storm inside her.

"....god dammit."

"Take it that went about as well as it was always gonna go."

The huntsman's dry, gravelly appraisal wasn't long in drifting over from the open door, or more accurately the entrance to Yang's room that no longer had a door. Raven had been given a solemn nod and obligatory thump on the arm for trying when they passed in the hall, but all things considered Qrow found it hard to reserve much sympathy when it came to his sister's daughter cashing in a few of the chips she'd built up over all those years of nothingness for the occasional reaming.

He stepped in, lanky legs working in tandem to carry him over to set a tray with a reborn bowl of soup, a flagon of water and a smaller cup of something Tai probably would've killed him for giving either one of his daughters down on her bed. Under normal circumstances he would've agreed with that sentiment, but under these specific ones he felt the option to at least try to settle her nerves was warranted.

"Still getting used to seeing my sister wander around the place like a kicked puppy half the time as opposed to her standard flavor of moodiness. Guess all it took for her conscience to finally catch up with her was getting stuck in one of these no-hope type situations with no way of bailing, huh? So much about her finally makes sense now."

His sardonic opinion of that didn't entirely make it out of his snort, though it wasn't without its note of pity as he ambled over and sat astride the window, one leg in, one out.

"Wanna hear the good news? We're not kicked out. The bad news, and I do mean really, really bad for everyone involved on just about every level, is that you and Penny are on breakfast duty in the morning. And the next three mornings. For the whole inn."

Brothers have mercy on them all.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

[Personal timeskip of indeterminate length]

Initially, Gwen was less than pleased when her two old teammates returned with the news. Rather disappointed, honestly. Salem had refused the invitation to come north. Instead, she had issued her own invitation back to the former special operative, to come down to Vale. She found that irritating at first, thinking of the time spent traveling that could have been better served trying to continue her work here while awaiting the immortal's arrival. But this possibility, however slim, would not work without Salem's assistance. Dawn and Selene made clear that she had staunchly refused to come up to Atlas. So it was that Gwen was forced to bite down on that annoyance, pack what she could and get going sooner rather than later. The lengthy trip went as could be expected. Several scattered grimm attacks along the voyage, one that even warranted use of her railgun.

It was her arrival in the city of Vale that brought the unexpected. The place looked and seemed different from the last time she'd been there, and not just because they had needed to repair significant parts of it after the assault on Beacon. There was a different energy in the air. But more than that, after a quick car ride through the city center, Gwen was most surprised to be meeting Salem in a secluded private room of one of Vale's libraries instead of the headmistress's grand office. When she stepped into the room, she was met only by the blonde immortal being, with not a single other soul in sight. "Miss Helios." She greeted with a polite smile.

"Headmistress Salem." Gwen nodded. "I'm pleased to meet you in person."

"No, Miss Helios, the pleasure is all mine. Though if you please, Salem is just fine."

"Pardon?"

"Salem works fine." She repeated, never losing that easygoing look. "It's, well, a bit of a story. I'm told you've learned a great deal about what most people here do not."

"That is correct, yes."

"Good. So we may skip many of the background details and distant pasts. Now I'm sure you're thinking to yourself why we are meeting here, and why I asked you to refer to me solely by my name and not alongside that title."

"It has crossed my mind." Gwen admitted.

"As I thought." There was a slight nod from Salem. "The simple truth is, I am no longer Beacon's headmistress."

"..."

Salem's smile widened. "Caught off guard, hmm?"

"I mean, a little, yes. Why?"

Her face grew more solemn. "An appropriate question. The less than simple truth is that after the assault on Beacon Academy and the city, Vale's council and certain other representatives directed their scrutinizing eyes upon me. I can't say they were wrong to do so. At best, they viewed me as having grown complacent. At worst, I had been negligent, perhaps even criminally so. There was a trial of sorts, a process to determine if I was suited to keep my position as Beacon's headmistress, if I deserved to be the one many turned to in regards to providing safety to this kingdom. I could not blame them for this concern. Students and citizens killed, buildings destroyed...it was a tragedy." She frowned. "Yet, in the end, they decided to let me retain my position."

"...Then how-"

"I stepped down, of course. Professor Goodwitch took my place." She interrupted the obvious question. "Because they were right. Whether it was complacency or negligence or some other word that could be used to describe me, I had failed to keep people safe. I didn't think an attack like that could happen, and I had not prepared adequately. That, and as bad as it was, it could have been so much worse. The only reason it wasn't much worse was because of the unexplained arrival of several individuals who had lived through it, or something similar, before. They knew to some extent what would happen and what to do about it. They, not me, are the reason Beacon remained standing." Salem paused, reaching behind her. "Water?" She held up a bottle.

Gwen nodded, accepting it when it got extended out towards her and taking a long sip.

"I believe I had grown too accustomed to being up there, looking down...I needed to be more among the people of the kingdom, in the streets. So that is why I stepped down, why we're meeting here...and why I've done what I have done since then, as well as why I invited you down here instead of traveling north myself."

"And that is?"

"The attack failed." Salem repeated. "Beacon didn't fall. Vale didn't fall. His followers didn't get what they were after. That was good news, and still is, but it also means that inevitably they, and by extension, he would try again. I don't intend to make it as easy for them." For the first time in the conversation, Salem's face was deathly serious. Not merely solemn, but with a stern anger hidden just underneath the surface.

"So you have..." Gwen made a sweeping gesture, indicating the sights out the window.

Salem nodded. "I took a closer role with the people, our military, law enforcement, the council...and got to work. We've done what we could to strengthen our military, build up our stockpiles of dust, and reinforce our defenses. Our natural barriers are a great deterrent for grimm, but not enough."

"Then those generators I glimpsed on the way in-"

"Indeed. The city of Vale, and Beacon, now have hardlight shields of their own. Large enough to cover the whole thing, as well as other defenses. Not to mention that Goodwitch has gotten the academy running again, with more and more warriors being trained into huntsmen and huntresses, to become worthy defenders of this kingdom."

"Impressive." Gwen had to admit.

Salem gave a small smile. "Atlas may be renowned as the kingdom of innovation, but they don't hold a monopoly on smart minds. Between some of those minds, the personal work of headmistress Goodwitch and the hard labor of the people, we've managed to get a lot done, and at a good time too. From what your two teammates shared..."

"Yes." It was Gwen's turn to interrupt. "Ironwood, Carnelian...they believe the way forward for protecting Atlas is by aiding Ozpin."

"Hrm. Yes, good timing on our parts." As it was now, Vale's military might not be capable of defeating Atlas's own, but they would certainly give a good fight. However, if Atlas brought down its full might upon the kingdom, alongside Ozpin's own forces...the chaos and carnage that would likely follow was not a pleasant thing to imagine. Yet there was still time and room for improvement. Speaking of which...

"Which brings me to you, Miss Helios. I do not know if the things your teammates described to me, the aims of your potential experiments could actually be achieved, but I am open to trying. We have several labs of our own that may lack some of what you're used to up in Atlas but I believe they should be sufficient for what you intend." Salem remarked. "Beyond that, I believe someone with your unique talents will be quite useful for several other endeavors to assist us here."

She couldn't help but smile at the compliment and the chance to flex her mind. "Please, Salem, Gwen will do fine."

"Very well, Gwen." Salem returned the smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have someone else to attend to. The people outside will bring you to your new workstation, I'll join you there shortly." ​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

View attachment 838363

"Y'know I don't always get why everyone seems to be so enchanted by her all the time. I really don't." Qrow said to his niece coarsely, suddenly pining for the days when he could fly under in the radar in a kingdom and not have to deal with the Little Rascals on crack doing wacky shit. Ah well. He forced a jet of indulgent air out through his nose, gave the proprietor an apologetic wave and stooped down to start cleaning up the soup he'd just spilled all over himself. :' |




"Take it that went about as well as it was always gonna go."

The huntsman's dry, gravelly appraisal wasn't long in drifting over from the open door, or more accurately the entrance to Yang's room that no longer had a door. Raven had been given a solemn nod and obligatory thump on the arm for trying when they passed in the hall, but all things considered Qrow found it hard to reserve much sympathy when it came to his sister's daughter cashing in a few of the chips she'd built up over all those years of nothingness for the occasional reaming.

He stepped in, lanky legs working in tandem to carry him over to set a tray with a reborn bowl of soup, a flagon of water and a smaller cup of something Tai probably would've killed him for giving either one of his daughters down on her bed. Under normal circumstances he would've agreed with that sentiment, but under these specific ones he felt the option to at least try to settle her nerves was warranted.

"Still getting used to seeing my sister wander around the place like a kicked puppy half the time as opposed to her standard flavor of moodiness. Guess all it took for her conscience to finally catch up with her was getting stuck in one of these no-hope type situations with no way of bailing, huh? So much about her finally makes sense now."

His sardonic opinion of that didn't entirely make it out of his snort, though it wasn't without its note of pity as he ambled over and sat astride the window, one leg in, one out.

"Wanna hear the good news? We're not kicked out. The bad news, and I do mean really, really bad for everyone involved on just about every level, is that you and Penny are on breakfast duty in the morning. And the next three mornings. For the whole inn."

Brothers have mercy on them all.​

"Swell" Came her thick reply, not looking up from where her head was hung, her fist still grinding slightly against the wood. Some vague feeling at the back of her mind was saying she should've been comically dismayed at that knowledge to cover for how actually dismayed she should've been at that knowledge, but it sounded... so, so small and unimportant right now.

she would rue that later

"...She's alive." She eventually continued, head still bowed.

"She killed Ozpin, she's alive, and apparently whatever crap she and my mom got up to means she's linked to her semblance. Except after she killed Ozpin, he... she's next, somehow, on his list. He's inside her. She needs help, and this is the weakest he's ever gonna be, but she just..." Her head snapped back up as her nostrils flared with a too sharp intake of breath, but she kept her growls and glare directed at the wall in front of her as she gestured with the prosthetic

"Am I stupid??? Does that not make sense??? Like, what, because I care I suddenly can't be trusted to think???"

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Swell" Came her thick reply, not looking up from where her head was hung, her fist still grinding slightly against the wood. Some vague feeling at the back of her mind was saying she should've been comically dismayed at that knowledge to cover for how actually dismayed she should've been at that knowledge, but it sounded... so, so small and unimportant right now.

she would rue that later

"...She's alive." She eventually continued, head still bowed.

"She killed Ozpin, she's alive, and apparently whatever crap she and my mom got up to means she's linked to her semblance. Except after she killed Ozpin, he... she's next, somehow, on his list. He's inside her. She needs help, and this is the weakest he's ever gonna be, but she just..." Her head snapped back up as her nostrils flared with a too sharp intake of breath, but she kept her growls and glare directed at the wall in front of her as she gestured with the prosthetic

"Am I stupid??? Does that not make sense??? Like, what, because I care I suddenly can't be trusted to think???"

Qrow didn't answer at first; at least, not with words. A low, pitched whistle was the most he gave Yang's summarized cliff notes, unscrewing the cap on his hip flask and tipping some of its contents down his throat as his gaze wandered out towards the darkness of the shadiest kingdom, brow scrunching and jaw drawing tight with a hint of contemplation.

"Well that's a lot. Six months ago your mom would've let you keep on thinking she was dead, you know."

He gave a soft, exasperated huff, as if not entirely sure how to feel about the fact that she hadn't. His own gaze fell then, drifting downward to linger on the darkened pool of his drink.

"She's not the only person this place changed. Since the moment we first woke up in this nightmare, I've been... I never wanted you or your sister to get... involved. 'Cause a nightmare... that's what this place is, Yang. After a certain point it's hard to shake the feeling whatever god's up there's getting a twisted kick out of spitting on everything we know."

His feelings on that were made far more readily transparent, one hand lazily flicking the night sky the bird. His grave tone didn't waver, however.

"And I thought... hey, much as this place might suck, they got their own problems and their own solutions. We got a whole boatload of our own all still lined up and sittin' pretty for us somewhere over the rainbow, so my stance from the word go has pretty much been 'get the relics and get gone.' Maybe that means the years made me cynical; maybe it just means I was never meant for this line of work the way you 'n your sister were. Can't exactly pretend we were cut from the same cloth. Either way, just try to understand I was... I made promises to certain people. That's all. If anything happened to you or Ruby here 'cause I made the wrong choice, and you just disappeared into this... this hellhole without ever getting the chance to hug your dad or see your friends or live your freakin' lives again... I know it's selfish, but from where I'm standing that feels a whole lot worse than anything that could happen to this world. Or to me, for that matter. But you, firecracker... you...."

He drew in a deep, weary breath, the precursor to a sigh far heavier than the one that came before it. It did not, however, precede the same pensively grim tone of voice, and instead the words that poked Yang next were vaguely teasing as he doubled down on mining the flustered embarrassment his words had drawn from her before. Anything was better than abject grief and misery.

"-You just haaaad to seduce Weiss. I mean, what the hell, Yang? Frikkin' seriously??? That is so weird. I'm telling the one back home soon as we see her again." He snickered, honestly at least partially because he was unable to help himself. It was pretty funny. He quickly held up his hands, ready to try and soothe any righteous Yanger. "Hey, kudos for actually managing to find her weak point I guess, but yeesh. The art of seduction shouldn't be something you add to your huntress playbook til you're at least 21. If Tai ever finds out he's gonna kill me. Then again, remind me to tell you sometime how he and I dealt with those twins from the Crimson Blossom assassin clan when we were around your age. Heh."

He shook his head, one final exhale seeing playful amusement giving way to a more somber countenance once again.

"So what's the plan here, exactly? Caring too much doesn't mean you can't think, but it does mean you probably should a little harder than normal. Just to balance stuff out, make sure this is a real play, and not..." He flapped a loose hand in her direction. "Yang punching a wall 'cause it feels like the right thing at the time."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Qrow didn't answer at first; at least, not with words. A low, pitched whistle was the most he gave Yang's summarized cliff notes, unscrewing the cap on his hip flask and tipping some of its contents down his throat as his gaze wandered out towards the darkness of the shadiest kingdom, brow scrunching and jaw drawing tight with a hint of contemplation.

"Well that's a lot. Six months ago your mom would've let you keep on thinking she was dead, you know."

He gave a soft, exasperated huff, as if not entirely sure how to feel about the fact that she hadn't. His own gaze fell then, drifting downward to linger on the darkened pool of his drink.

"She's not the only person this place changed. Since the moment we first woke up in this nightmare, I've been... I never wanted you or your sister to get... involved. 'Cause a nightmare... that's what this place is, Yang. After a certain point it's hard to shake the feeling whatever god's up there's getting a twisted kick out of spitting on everything we know."

His feelings on that were made far more readily transparent, one hand lazily flicking the night sky the bird. His grave tone didn't waver, however.

"And I thought... hey, much as this place might suck, they got their own problems and their own solutions. We got a whole boatload of our own all still lined up and sittin' pretty for us somewhere over the rainbow, so my stance from the word go has pretty much been 'get the relics and get gone.' Maybe that means the years made me cynical; maybe it just means I was never meant for this line of work the way you 'n your sister were. Can't exactly pretend we were cut from the same cloth. Either way, just try to understand I was... I made promises to certain people. That's all. If anything happened to you or Ruby here 'cause I made the wrong choice, and you just disappeared into this... this hellhole without ever getting the chance to hug your dad or see your friends or live your freakin' lives again... I know it's selfish, but from where I'm standing that feels a whole lot worse than anything that could happen to this world. Or to me, for that matter. But you, firecracker... you...."

Yang's only response to that initially was the contiuation of her stormy frown as she finally let her fist drop from the wall, her knuckles scraped and bleeding, and turned to look the other way with her arms held around her stomach.

"...honestly? If getting home meant not getting in anyone's way, I'd be fine with that. But we're a part of this whether we want to be or not, uncle. Needing the relics to get home kinda screwed us on that front. We know what else happens when we bring them together, right? Are we even really sure we should still be doing that?"

"-You just haaaad to seduce Weiss. I mean, what the hell, Yang? Frikkin' seriously??? That is so weird. I'm telling the one back home soon as we see her again." He snickered, honestly at least partially because he was unable to help himself. It was pretty funny. He quickly held up his hands, ready to try and soothe any righteous Yanger. "Hey, kudos for actually managing to find her weak point I guess, but yeesh. The art of seduction shouldn't be something you add to your huntress playbook til you're at least 21. If Tai ever finds out he's gonna kill me. Then again, remind me to tell you sometime how he and I dealt with those twins from the Crimson Blossom assassin clan when we were around your age. Heh."

He shook his head, one final exhale seeing playful amusement giving way to a more somber countenance once again.

"So what's the plan here, exactly? Caring too much doesn't mean you can't think, but it does mean you probably should a little harder than normal. Just to make sure this is a real play, and not..." He flapped a loose hand in her direction. "Yang punching a wall 'cause it feels like the right thing at the time."

The response to that wasn't so much righteous anger as it was downright sulky as Yang turned around enough to glower at Qrow, cheeks burning in a far more metaphorical sense than they had minutes earlier.

"Oh my god It wasn't like that. Seriously. I'm just the only person who was willing to, just, like... give her a shot at not being terrible. Because she's a weiss, even if she's not our Weiss, and deep down everything she was doing was her trying to do good."

...

"...And I may have flirted with her. On accident. Well on purpose but not- ugh!" She couldn't keep her steady glare up long enough to complete that sentence as she threw up her hands and slumped against the wall. "You absolutely cannot tell our Weiss about that when we get back. if we get back"

"So what's the plan here, exactly? Caring too much doesn't mean you can't think, but it does mean you probably should a little harder than normal. Just to make sure this is a real play, and not..." He flapped a loose hand in her direction. "Yang punching a wall 'cause it feels like the right thing at the time."

She let herself slide down the wall and took a deep, calming breath that did pretty much nothing for her nerves, but she let it sit at that anyways as she kept her hands in her hair as she stared ahead, trying to focus on anything other than how angry, frustrated, and miserable she was with the last six months to try and think passed portaling to that monster and kicking the ever loving shit out of him for what he'd done.

"...I don't know. Big shock that I don't know how to boot out a ghost that's not even playing by the same rules as Ozpin back home, but I got nothing. But... if there's anyone who would know... well. The other Raven's got a portal leading right to her." She eventually suggested.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Oh my god It wasn't like that. Seriously. I'm just the only person who was willing to, just, like... give her a shot at not being terrible. Because she's a weiss, even if she's not our Weiss, and deep down everything she was doing was her trying to do good."

Crocodile faunus and victim of cybernetic brainwashing is hardcore judging you from a thousand miles away

 

[Gus Gungus]

Yang's only response to that initially was the contiuation of her stormy frown as she finally let her fist drop from the wall, her knuckles scraped and bleeding, and turned to look the other way with her arms held around her stomach.

"...honestly? If getting home meant not getting in anyone's way, I'd be fine with that. But we're a part of this whether we want to be or not, uncle. Needing the relics to get home kinda screwed us on that front. We know what else happens when we bring them together, right? Are we even really sure we should still be doing that?"

"We know what happens when we bring our relics together." He returned gruffly, lips drawing taut in a level frown of his own as his gaze wandered back out the window. The answer was so immediate and measured it begged the question of just how thoroughly Qrow had pondered the matter himself. "We don't know what's what around here. Doubt I have to remind you, but we don't even know what the hell this place is, or why now that I mention it. What're the chances we're being jerked around by a whole new set of Brothers, and how do they rate next to the odds this is the same pair of smug douchebags from the story we heard? We just don't know, Yang. And since Weiss blew the lamp's last question on who-even-knows-what, we ain't likely to find out any time soon."

If he'd known 'who knows what' was a fit of clinical motivation to eradicate any threat the Shadow Fang posed, all at once, as a disproportionate and possibly irrational response to Yang herself almost getting blown up, he might've had more to add. But he didn't, so he didn't. Either way, there was one thing he did know. Ruby and Yang needed to be home.

He wasn't about to start letting what-ifs cloud his judgment on that.

The response to that wasn't so much righteous anger as it was downright sulky as Yang turned around enough to glower at Qrow, cheeks burning in a far more metaphorical sense than they had minutes earlier.

"Oh my god It wasn't like that. Seriously. I'm just the only person who was willing to, just, like... give her a shot at not being terrible. Because she's a weiss, even if she's not our Weiss, and deep down everything she was doing was her trying to do good."

...

"...And I may have flirted with her. On accident. Well on purpose but not- ugh!" She couldn't keep her steady glare up long enough to complete that sentence as she threw up her hands and slumped against the wall. "You absolutely cannot tell our Weiss about that when we get back. if we get back"

"Ahh. So we're talkin' one of those noble seductions."

The air quotes around the word 'noble' were strategic, as was the most shit-eating of grins he allowed to settle fully over his countenance as he drew one knee to his chest and let the other leg dangle out the window.

"Been on the giving end of a couple of those myself. And the receiving, come to think of it. C'mon, slugger, don't try to kid a kidder. You think that chick gets many people taking an interest in her who aren't just in it for her money? I could tell original flavor Weiss never had the easiest time connecting with people within about five seconds of meeting her, and I don't even know her half as well as you do. Plus she never quite disappeared all the way up her own ass like this one did. Your secret's safe with me, but you're seriously gonna tell me not one part of you knew what you were doing? Not even a little? C'mon. C'monnnn."

With each 'c'mon' the grin somehow seemed to grow slightly wider, slightly more lopsided, working in tandem with the single brow that quirked higher and higher up his forehead. He knew full well he was being the worst right now, but it really was strategic. A Yang who was flustered, mortified, indignant or just plain annoyed at her jerk of an uncle was better than a Yang who'd been feeling whatever it was she'd been feeling over the last fifteen minutes.













"C'mon."

She let herself slide down the wall and took a deep, calming breath that did pretty much nothing for her nerves, but she let it sit at that anyways as she kept her hands in her hair as she stared ahead, trying to focus on anything other than how angry, frustrated, and miserable she was with the last six months to try and think passed portaling to that monster and kicking the ever loving shit out of him for what he'd done.

"...I don't know. Big shock that I don't know how to boot out a ghost that's not even playing by the same rules as Ozpin back home, but I got nothing. But... if there's anyone who would know... well. The other Raven's got a portal leading right to her." She eventually suggested.

He gave a noncommittal grunt in acknowledgment, turning back away again and leaning his head back against the window frame as their conversation's tonal rubberbanding (which he was totally at least 90% responsible for) continued.

"Well that's another thing. 'Cause say there was a way. Or even if there isn't; let's assume this crapsack Oz plays by at least some of the rules the guy we thought we knew did, and after he bites the dust it takes time for all that ancient magic he's packing to reach his new host. With Weiss's maiden power gone, that'd mean right now the biggest threat to this Remnant and us making it home in one piece is sitting on his ass somewhere, with next to no magic, and a semblance he doesn't know how to use. In a body even Ruby outweighs."

He wasn't trying to make it sound easy. Far from it; the tone of the exchange made it perfectly clear they both knew what was being danced around (if not outright proposed) here was kind of insane, actually.

But then, what part of either of their lives for the better part of the last two years hadn't been?

"It'd be risky. Borderline stupid, actually. Anyone dumb enough to consider it would be diving deep into Grimm territory, putting it all on the line for someone who may or may not even deserve to be saved, on the off-chance they may or may not be able to save 'em. So pretty much exactly what our Oz groomed us for."

A bitter snort escaped his lips that he made absolutely zero effort to hide, still far from over that one.

"All that being said, let's say there is a plan in there somewhere. Say there's an actual, bonafide chance we could take it to the big evil while he's still reeling, let him be the one playing defence for a change, be in with a shot of saving however many lives are gonna end up on the chopping block when he gets to Vacuo all rested and ready to take what he came for. I'm not saying I'd know all of what that plan might look like, necessarily; but I think I might know somewhere to start."

He swigged his drink again, swishing it around through his teeth in brief thought before swallowing loudly.

"Since last I checked, we don't have just the one way of getting to where Oz lives now. Like you said, the situation has more than one Raven."

He turned back to give her a pointed stare, the lines wrinkling his brow and pinching his frown a bit deeper and more inscrutable than previously.

"And more than one Yang."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Ahh. So we're talkin' one of those noble seductions."

The air quotes around the word 'noble' were strategic, as was the most shit-eating of grins he allowed to settle fully over his countenance as he drew one knee to his chest and let the other leg dangle out the window.

"Been on the giving end of a couple of those myself. And the receiving, come to think of it. C'mon, slugger, don't try to kid a kidder. You think that chick gets many people taking an interest in her who aren't just in it for her money? I could tell original flavor Weiss never had the easiest time connecting with people within about five seconds of meeting her, and I don't even know her half as well as you do. Plus she never quite disappeared all the way up her own ass like this one did. Your secret's safe with me, but you're seriously gonna tell me not one part of you knew what you were doing? Not even a little? C'mon. C'monnnn."

With each 'c'mon' the grin somehow seemed to grow slightly wider, slightly more lopsided, working in tandem with the single brow that quirked higher and higher up his forehead. He knew full well he was being the worst right now, but it really was strategic. A Yang who was flustered, mortified, indignant or just plain annoyed at her jerk of an uncle was better than a Yang who'd been feeling whatever it was she'd been feeling over the last fifteen minutes.













"C'mon."

By the second c'mon., Yang's face was almost entirely buried into the back of her knees, only her eyes visible to lever Qrow with a withering glower, her words almost enough to make it intimidating despite how very clearly she was trying to cover an absolutely horrified blush.

"Just because you're the twin I actually like doesn't mean I won't push you out that window old man. Can we focus up here?"

He gave a noncommittal grunt in acknowledgment, turning back away again and leaning his head back against the window frame as their conversation's tonal rubberbanding (which he was totally at least 90% responsible for) continued.

"Well that's another thing. 'Cause say there was a way. Or even if there isn't; let's assume this crapsack Oz plays by at least some of the rules the guy we thought we knew did, and after he bites the dust it takes time for all that ancient magic he's packing to reach his new host. With Weiss's maiden power gone, that'd mean right now the biggest threat to this Remnant and us making it home in one piece is sitting on his ass somewhere, with next to no magic, and a semblance he doesn't know how to use. In a body even Ruby outweighs."

He wasn't trying to make it sound easy. Far from it; the tone of the exchange made it perfectly clear they both knew what was being danced around (if not outright proposed) here was kind of insane, actually.

But then, what part of either of their lives for the better part of the last two years hadn't been?

"It'd be risky. Borderline stupid, actually. Anyone dumb enough to consider it would be diving deep into Grimm territory, putting it all on the line for someone who may or may not even deserve to be saved, on the off-chance they may or may not be able to save 'em. So pretty much exactly what our Oz groomed us for."

A bitter snort escaped his lips that he made absolutely zero effort to hide, still far from over that one.

"All that being said, let's say there is a plan in there somewhere. Say there's an actual, bonafide chance we could take it to the big evil while he's still reeling, let him be the one playing defence for a change, be in with a shot of saving however many lives are gonna end up on the chopping block when he gets to Vacuo all rested and ready to take what he came for. I'm not saying I'd know all of what that plan might look like, necessarily; but I think I might know somewhere to start."

He swigged his drink again, swishing it around through his teeth in brief thought before swallowing loudly.

"Since last I checked, we don't have just the one way of getting to where Oz lives now. Like you said, the situation has more than one Raven."

He turned back to give her a pointed stare, the lines wrinkling his brow and pinching his frown a bit deeper and more inscrutable than previously.

"And more than one Yang

Yang let her head tilt back upwards to rest against the wall, her gaze guarded but thoughtful as she listened to Qrow talk.

"...Yea. I know its wouldn't be fair or even right to risk everyone if this was just to save one person. And I won't pretend helping Weiss isn't the reason I wanna go. But its not just that. This is a chance for us to finally do something besides running and hiding and trying to just stay one step ahead of being crushed. Its a chance to hit back for once."

She allowed herself a small smirk, and as tired as it looked their was a bit of the Xiao Long fierceness in her eyes as she continued

"Never been any good at passing those up, y'know? Even when it is risky, stupid, and borderline suicidal. Though hey-" She added, her tone finally lightening the slightest amount "-if you've got a more thorough plan kicking up in that bird brain to make any of those adjectives less accurate, I'd wanna just clarify that I'm just a risk taker and stupid, not suicidal"