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Breathe Chapter 39: Birds of a Feather
🕑 Added 2024-12-16 05:18:34 +0000 UTC“So, this is where you’ve been hiding out,” Qrow muttered, walking into the dark cabin. Feeling something crunch under his foot, he flicked a light switch on. A faint buzz sounded through the room, but the lights remained off. Sighing, he took a quick swig from his flask. He was way too sober to deal with this. “Did you really have to break the lights?”
“What do you want, Qrow?” Raven asked. “Come to gloat?”
Qrow cautiously made his way further into the cabin, ignoring the glass that crunched under his feet. “Maybe a little,” He chuckled. “You did always have the whole ‘The strong survive, the weak die,’ mentality going on, so it is kind of cathartic to see how badly it’s failed you.”
“I see… Is that all?” She muttered. “If so, then you can leave the same way that you came in.”
Opening one of the shutters, daylight poured in, revealing Raven’s form sitting cross legged in the corner of the room with sword resting on her lap. Her back pressed up against the wall.
“Can’t a brother check in on his sister?” Qrow asked, opening another window. “You’ve still got the same habits I see… Sulking in the dark after losing a fight. Heh… It’s almost like old times, except Summer isn’t around to pull you out of your funk.”
“So you’ve come to reminisce about the ‘good old days’ then,” Raven scoffed at the notion. “Things will never be as they once were. Let it go already.”
“I’m not that dumb. Give me a little credit,” Qrow hummed into his flask. “The day that you turned your back on your family was the day that I knew things would never be the same again.”
Raven stared down at her sword.
“You were the one who abandoned our family first,” She sniped, specks of flame glinting dangerously around her eyes as she glared up at him. “We had a duty to the tribe, or did you forget that. If you’d chosen to have my back instead of playing as Ozpin’s errand boy, the tribe would have thrived.”
“The tribe wasn’t our family, they only wanted to use us for our skills. The best decision I ever made was not going back to that group of murderers… That and sticking around to raise the girls,” Qrow answered. “If you had stuck around, things would have been different… Hell, Summer might still be alive.”
“Why are you here, Qrow?” Raven asked tiredly.
Grabbing a discarded chair from the one side of the room, Qrow dragged it over and sat down. “I figured that since you’ve literally got nowhere else to go, you’d answer my questions without running off… Or at least be forced to hear what I have to say.”
“Whatever gets you out of my hair faster.”
“For seventeen years now, I’ve been wondering why you left, but I couldn’t quite figure it out,” Qrow admitted. “Don’t give me some crap about how we had a duty to the tribe. You used to shit talk them all the time back in Beacon, bragging about how, now that you were strong, you didn’t need those weaklings anymore. You had it all, Raven… A team that cared for you, a loving husband and even a daughter… What possessed you to throw it all away?”
Staring at Qrow, a few moments passed before Raven finally relented. “Still so sentimental,” She muttered under her breath. “I left because I wanted to be free from Ozpin’s war. To do that, I had to leave some things behind.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a whole lot of bullshit,” Qrow noted. “If you really wanted to stay neutral, you wouldn’t have murdered the last Spring Maiden and stolen her powers. What’s the real reason, Raven?”
“If you’re not going to believe me, then what even is the point of you asking me these questions?” Raven asked, crossing her arms. “I chose to leave and I chose to take the Spring Maiden’s powers because she was a weak minded fool, that’s all that matters. The strong don’t need to give reasons for why they do things.”
Sighing, Qrow massaged his temples as he felt a headache coming on. If there was one thing that hadn’t changed since their time in Beacon, it was Raven’s ability to talk around a question without giving an actual answer.
This conversation could go on for hours with no change if he continued to press the subject of why she left. Unfortunately, the only member of team STRQ that had ever been able to get Raven to talk honestly was Summer.
The only way he would get any answers from Raven would be by him piecing together the story from whatever she let slip.
“When did you meet the Spring Maiden?”
“I came across her a few years after becoming the leader of the Branwen tribe. At first, I thought she would be an asset, but she proved herself to be too weak to handle her powers,” Raven explained, looking a little saddened by the memory. “She was a naive girl that would have ended up being captured by Salem if I didn’t do what was necessary. Killing her was an act of mercy more than anything.”
“And what if that girl was Yang?” Qrow pressed, starting to tire of Raven’s excuses. “Would killing her still be an act of mercy? Where do you draw the line?”
Exploding into motion, Raven launched herself forward and unsheathed Omen. Bringing the blade down, she halted once she reached Qrow’s neck and glared down at him, her eyes burning with the Spring Maiden’s powers.
“Watch what you say, Qrow,” She warned, the flames in her eyes gradually growing smaller as her temper calmed. “I’ve killed people for less.”
Smirking, Qrow leaned forward, pushing back against her blade with his neck. “Go ahead,” He challenged her. “Do it!”
If Raven actually attacked him, she would lose any support she could possibly gain from Ozpin, leaving her to be hunted by both Salem and the rest of the world. Through her actions in leading a bandit tribe and becoming the Spring Maiden, she had effectively trapped herself in a prison of her own design and she knew it.
Tsking, Raven sheathed her blade. “I bet you’re really proud of yourself for that,” She muttered angrily.
“A little,” Qrow admitted smugly. “It’s a new feeling, isn’t it? Being forced into a situation that you can’t just fight your way out of.” He let out a loud yawn as he stood and stretched. “You’ve still got a bond with Taiyang, right? Because we’re heading back to Beacon tomorrow and that would make the trip a lot shorter… And safer.”
“Great,” Raven muttered miserably. “I can’t wait to be pulled into Ozpin’s pointless war again.”
“It’s not exactly pointless when we’re literally fighting against the Queen of the Grimm.”
“You’re so blinded by your loyalty to Ozpin that you can’t see that he’s hiding things from you,” Raven said confidently.
She was trying to manipulate him, that was plain to see, but, at the same time, she didn’t appear to be lying. “Care to enlighten me then?”
“This war that Ozpin and Salem have been waging against one another has been going on for longer than written history… Don’t you think it’s strange that throughout all that time, Ozpin has never managed to kill her?” Raven asked. “I got my answer about a year before I became the Spring Maiden when Salem tried to recruit me.”
Qrow’s eyes widened at that. He’d already seen Salem attempt to recruit Coal the other night, but he hadn’t expected to hear that she’d tried to recruit Raven of all people.
“I said no and cut off her head, only, she didn’t die,” Raven continued. “No matter how I cut her, stabbed her, or even blew her up, she kept reforming. Just like how Ozpin can’t fully die, Salem can’t either, except she doesn’t reincarnate into a new body. The only thing that seems to have changed is that there’s a newcomer that’s just as unkillable as those two monsters… Coal Calavera.”
“ You really had me going there for a minute,” Qrow said, letting out a short, relieved laugh. “But you blew it with that last part. If you’re going to lie, try and make it believable.”
“When I first met him, I struck him with lightning, drained his Aura and even stabbed him through the heart and he shrugged it off while simultaneously managing to wound me without even breaking my Aura,” Raven listed. “He even managed to cut through my magic, you saw that yourself! That should be impossible. A human isn’t capable of that, Qrow.”
She didn’t appear to be lying, but that didn’t mean that everything she said was true. “Assuming that you’re telling the truth… How would that change anything?” The kid’s been nothing but helpful, going as far as to fight off an Ancient Grimm and rejecting Salem’s offer.
“Just because he’s against Salem, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have his own agenda,” Raven argued.
“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Qrow waved her off as he headed towards the door. “I’ll be sure to keep my eye out for any evil plots.”
Coal had really left a lasting impression on Raven… And only after meeting her twice. He was going to have to see if he could keep the kid around, it’d certainly make dealing with his sister easier.
Qrow stopped by the door. “Oh, one last thing…” He muttered, turning around. “You made a big splash the other day with your Maiden powers, but we don’t know for sure if Salem knows you’re the Spring Maiden.”
“….And?” Raven asked uncaringly. “Do you have a point?”
“I was getting to it,” Qrow replied, his good-natured demeanor draining away, leaving behind a neutral expression. “Salem probably knows that the Spring Maiden was here and that others saw you. If she decides to come after the girls to find out your identity, I’ll personally make sure that she knows who she’s looking for.”
“You’d sell out your own sister?”
“You mean the one that bailed on her family to go play bandit and orphan a bunch of kids?” Qrow asked rhetorically. “Ruby and Yang mean the world to me and I’d do anything to protect them… Even if that meant pointing Salem in your direction. You didn’t make any friends when you decided to join the tribe again… Only enemies. Given time, that might change, but I doubt you’ll ever be able to gain my trust back.”
Leaving his stunned sister behind, Qrow exited the cabin heading back to his own. He was in desperate need of a drink. What he said had been harsh, but it had also been the truth.
If Summer was in Raven’s position, she’d go out of her way to make sure Salem only targeted her instead of the girls. Raven on the other hand… Yeah, not so much. He just hoped that it would never come to that.
In his distracted state, Qrow never saw the tuft of blonde hair that hid just outside of the cabin.
The blonde Huntress in training, having noticed her uncle heading towards Raven’s self proclaimed cabin earlier had followed him and eavesdropped on their conversation, hearing everything that had just transpired between the two siblings.
…Breathe…
Staring down at my Scroll resting on the table in my cabin, I waited to hear back from Ozpin. Explaining everything to him hadn’t exactly been difficult, but it had taken quite a while. He already knew that Raven was the Spring Maiden, so he understood the importance of transporting her somewhere safer… Namely, Beacon.
The method of transportation was a little difficult. Taiyang had to be brought to Beacon and informed on what was going on before Raven opened her portal, or else he would likely freak out when Raven suddenly appeared alongside Qrow and his daughters.
The cabin was currently packed with everyone except Winter who had opted to stay with Weiss in her cabin while we got this out of the way.
“We’re ready,” Ozpin announced.
“Got it,” I nodded on habit before turning toward Raven. “Raven, you’re up.”
“Not like I’ve got much of a choice,” Raven muttered under her breath in an oddly subdued manner, sending a single glance towards Qrow.
Swiping her blade down an empty doorway, her red portal formed, briefly connecting Vale and Mistral. Only a handful of seconds passed, before Ozpin walked out, minding his step around the luggage that had been piled around the room.
“I must admit, I’d never considered using your Semblance for instantaneous long distance travel,” Ozpin hummed, his gaze locking onto Raven.
“Um, Oz… We were supposed to go through to Vale, not the other way around,” Qrow noted.
“I’m very much aware of that, but when such a unique opportunity presented itself, I couldn’t help but jump at it,” Ozpin admitted, tapping his cane on the floor. “Raven, I can’t say that I ever expected to see you again, much less have you come to me.”
“It’s not like I had much of a choice,” Raven muttered bitterly.
“No… I suppose you didn’t,” Ozpin mused loudly. “Your only other choice would have been Salem and she would have no use for you beyond harvesting the Spring Maiden’s powers.”
Raven shivered at the reminder.
The room settled into an uncomfortable silence.
“Ruby, Yang, why don’t you start moving your bags across,” Qrow suggested. “I’m sure Taiyang will be happy to see you two again.”
“Yeah,” Ruby responded a little more cheerfully, eager to leave the tense room behind. “Let’s go see dad, Yang.”
“Right behind you, Rubes,” Yang replied, following after her sister with a bag in each hand.
Watching as the two sisters stepped through the portal, Ozpin walked up to a nearby window and marveled as he stared outside. “It really is an incredibly useful Semblance. You could have made quite the Huntress… Possibly saving entire settlements from disaster by sending the people somewhere safe.”
“Can we cut the lecture?” Raven asked. “I’ve heard it more times that I care to count.”
“Very well,” Ozpin nodded, turning away from the window. “You’ve come seeking aid after making one too many mistakes and drawing Salem’s attention. Seeing as you’ve betrayed my trust before, I have a set of conditions that you will follow.”
“And if I don’t play along?” Raven challenged him.
“Then there will be consequences,” Ozpin said evenly, not backing down. “I won’t make the same mistake with you again. If you give me any reason to doubt you, that will be the end. Should you escape, you will be marked as an international criminal and hunted down.”
A few quiet moments passed before Raven nodded stiffly.
“Excellent,” Ozpin hummed. “I’ll explain what will be expected of you once we’re back in Beacon, but for now, I have other matters to attend to.”
“I think he’s talking about us,” Maria muttered at my side while Yang stepped through the portal, half listening in while she collected more of her baggage.
“You would be correct,” Ozpin replied in an amused fashion. “It seems that you’ve had quite the busy time since you’ve left Atlas.”
“It has gotten a little busy around here,” I nodded, not that it was my fault that Salem decided to make herself known or Raven showing up. “Trouble just seems to follow me around.”
“Indeed it does,” Ozpin noted. “I would like to offer for you to come and stay in Vale for a while. There’s something of a more… Private nature that I need to discuss with you,” He said, glancing towards Pyrrha. “Specifically concerning the thing you told James and myself back in Atlas.”
Ah, he wanted to talk about Total Concentration Breathing.
“I am planning on visiting Vale, but I can’t leave just yet,” I replied. “I’ve still got a few things I need to do first.”
That wasn’t entirely true. I didn’t actually have anything to do in Mistral, but both Pyrrha and Winter did. Winter had planned on escorting her sister to Argus and seeing her off while Pyrrha had to go back to Sanctum for a bit before she could continue traveling with me… Plus there was apparently a whole thing going on with her sponsors that she had to address in person. Apparently she’d been absent for too long and needed to make an appearance.
I wasn’t going to just leave them here while I go off to Vale.
“That is a pity,” Ozpin sighed. “Do you know how long it will be before you’ll be able to make your way to Vale?”
“About a week… Two at the latest,” I said.
“Then at your earliest convenience…”
“Why don’t I just stay?” Yang suddenly asked. “That way we’ll only be one call away from Vale.”
Humming, Ozpin rubbed his chin. “Your idea does have some merit.”
“And it’s also not happening,” Qrow butted in. “You’re crazy if you think I’m just going to leave you in an entirely different Kingdom.”
“Why, it’s not like I’ll be in any actual danger,” Yang argued. “I’ll have Pyrrha and Coal to show me around Mistral, it’ll be fun.”
“Yang…”
Placing her bags down, Yang’s pleading eyes stared directly into Qrow’s. “Please… I need a little time on my own to process everything. I promise I’ll be safe.”
Putting up a valiant fight, Qrow finally relented. “Your dad’s going to kick my ass for this.” Taking his flask, he proceeded to drain the entire thing, before taking a satisfied breath. “I guess drunk me is going to have the pleasure of explaining why you decided to stay behind.”
“Thank you,” Yang cheered, pulling her uncle into a tight hug.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m the greatest,” Qrow muttered. “Just be sure that you don’t get into any trouble, alright… We’re also going to have to fetch your bags.”
“I’ve only been moving yours and Ruby’s bags,” Yang replied, pulling back.
“Heh, that’s lucky,” Qrow mumbled, before he realized what she just said. “Wait a minute, did you plan this?”
“It certainly seems that way,” Maria stepped in. “Now do you think we can move this along? I’d prefer to not die of old age before heading to Vale.”
Heading to Vale?
“You’re going with them?” I asked.
“Sure am… Didn’t we talk about this the other day?”
“No… No, we didn’t,” I deadpanned.
“I must have just thought we did,” Maria chuckled. “I was planning on keeping an eye on Ruby’s training while you handled things here. It’s only going to be a few weeks at most, so it shouldn’t be too big of a deal.”
It really wasn’t… It just came as a bit of a surprise. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Ruby had been progressing fairly well with her Silver Eyes, but she wasn’t exactly able to do anything groundbreaking, like petrifying the Wyvern… Not that there was a Grimm of that caliber around here.
The most she seemed to be capable of was partially petrifying a Beowolf… She definitely needs more practice and having Maria stay on to help her would go a long way.
…Breathe…
A full two continents away from Mistral, Watts sat in the office Salem had given him. Numerous books ranging from topics such as cybernetics and how to properly process Dust to Salem’s old dusty tomes detailing Grimm anatomy and how they formed laid around the room. While they had all been interesting, his attention had been drawn to something else. Namely, his Scroll.
He’d finally gotten news on the SDC’s drill failure at their new mine in Mistral. His plan had been a resounding success and best yet, he didn’t have to lift a finger to make it happen.
The SDC had amassed many enemies and even more rivals. All it took was the slightest of nudges and one of their rivals in Mistral jumped at the opportunity to get one up against the SDC, doing all the work for him… Albeit, they did use one of his viruses in order to disable all of the safety protocols on the drilling mechanism.
Browsing through the SDC report he’d copied from the company’s server, it seemed that Jacques was attempting to keep the recent failure quiet in order to not lose face. “Oh, no. That won’t do at all,” Watts muttered to himself as he began typing on his Scroll. “The people have a right to know what happened.” Glancing at another file on the device, a smirk came to his face. “And who was responsible for it.”
He had no further use for the saboteurs so he may as well bring their actions to light. The only thing that mattered was that he was winning while everyone else was losing.
Pressing only a few buttons, everything had been leaked. It was a pity that he had such a bad connection to the CCT here, he really would have liked to follow the news reports that came from this as the story unfolded. Sadly, the signal wouldn’t improve. If he boosted the signal too much, he would run the risk of revealing his location to Atlas.
The news regarding the drill had been a nice distraction, but now he had to get back to his research. Paging through the old tomes with detailed descriptions and drawings of a Ursa Major, Watts sighed. While it had been fairly interesting, it was still incredibly archaic.
He was a scientist, a man of the future and yet the wording in the tome was unnecessarily flowery, describing the less useful aspects of the Grimm in great detail while glossing over the more interesting parts.
The tomb felt more like a fairytale than an accurate study of Grimm. It did give him a few ideas on how to improve them, but it also left a lot to be desired. He needed something a little more modern.
Modern…
Getting up from his desk, Watts marched down the hallway, heading towards Salem’s own study. He might just have an answer to his dilemma, but he would need to check in with the Queen first.
Knocking on the door, he waited a few moments before Salem invited him in. Upon entry, he spotted Salem standing in front of her table with a large jar containing a bubbling purple liquid in it along with something he couldn’t quite make out.
“Is there something that I can help you with, Arthur?” Salem asked.
“Not quite,” Watts replied. “While reading one of your tomes, I happened to remember that there was a scientist that had been quite successful in studying the Grimm using modern techniques back before Mount Glenn fell…”
“And you want to see if you could retrieve his research,” Salem guessed.
“That is my plan, yes,” Watts nodded. “I’ve made great strides studying your tomes, but I feel that I’ve hit a wall. If I could retrieve what Merlot managed to study, or even find out what equipment he was using to study Grimm, I feel that I could make far greater strides.”
“Then you have my permission,” Salem replied, turning back towards her purple jar. “Take Hazel with you, he should prove to be of some help.”
“Thank you, my Queen,” Watts hummed. Leaning a little closer in order to see what it was that was floating in the purple liquid, he managed to spot a face staring back at him, before something almost ethereal brushed up against his cheek. Jumping back, a bead of sweat dripped from his forehead. “What was that?”
“Just a little side project I’ve been working on for Cinder,” Salem answered. “It seems the range is still a little too far.”
Calming his nerves, Watts made his way out of Salem’s study, leaving her to her own devices.
Watching as Arthur left, Salem turned back towards the jar. It would probably be a little longer, but she was almost ready to move onto the next step.
Comments
SkulduggeryHaven
Yeah, Raven definitely wouldn't have let Qrow's comments slide if she wasn't as screwed as she is, she definitely wouldn't have let that slide. Qrow does still care for Raven, but he'd 100% leak her identity to Salem if Salem starts targeting his nieces... Kind of forcing her to do what he knows Summer would have done at the drop of a hat. Raven's definitely feeling the consequences of her past actions.
The Foreign Traveler
To vaguely quote a review I once read but with different context: “Qrow was REALLY testing his plot armor here.” I doubt Raven wouldn’t actually hesitate, all that much, in killing him if it didn’t inconvenience her so much. But HA! The fact that Qrow said he’d sell her out to Salem to keep Yang and Ruby safe must have genuinely shocked Raven. Cold but deserved. Your choices in life have made your bed for you Raven…now you can sleep or die in it.
SkulduggeryHaven
You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Radiant Tiefling
Thank you for the chapter.
SkulduggeryHaven
Not to spoil too much, but it's not going to effect Coal in the manner that Salem or Cinder expects. Iron Soul was able to resist Tyrian's Semblance that allowed him to cut through Aura after all and Marcus Black's Semblance works in a similar manner.
Alexis Chalifour
I hope coal wont lose his semblance
