"No way. You're serious? Nothing? You're gonna do nothing while the White Fang skulks around?"

Blake let out a tired sigh. Asking the same question over and over again wouldn't change her answer, but Sun seemed to think otherwise. "That's right. I came to Menagerie to rest and reconnect with my parents, not chase down the White Fang."

"But they're right here on this island!" Sun spread his arms out, but quickly pulled them back in to avoid hitting someone in the crowded street. "Seriously, you can't ignore those guys coming up to your doorway to talk about the White Fang."

"They said that Adam and the Vale branch acted on their own, against the orders of the leader of the White Fang."

"And you seriously believe that?"

The way he said it, as if speaking to a child, did he think she was stupid? Blake spun around to face him with a snarl, she'd had enough of him following her around. "It doesn't matter whether I believe it or not! I'm not going after them, I can't afford to."

"Hey, I know it's hard-

"No you don't!"

Sun narrowed his eyes, as if he had a right to be offended. "Yeah, I do. I was at Beacon during the attack too, remember?"

"Yes, you were, but it wasn't you who had a former friend and mentor responsible for releasing Grimm into the city. You didn't have that person attack you personally or make you watch while your friend risked her life to save you."

That at least shut him up for a second. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "I . . . I didn't know. Is that really what happened with that Adam guy?"

"Yes, it is. Now stop following me around and trying to tell me what I need to do."

"Sorry, but no."

"Really?" Blake crossed her arms. "Then are you going to keep stalking me? Menagerie might be an island in the middle of nowhere, but there are still police here."

"B-but I'm not stalking you! Come on, I explained this already, I'm not some creep."

That was true at least. Sun was infuriating, but at least he'd come here with good, albeit misguided, intentions.

"Okay. Just, please, drop the White Fang."

"But-

"Sun . . ."

"But they're right on this island," he said, this time in a smaller voice.

Even so, that was enough. Blake narrowed her eyes and walked out of the street at a brisk pace towards the trees. Another good thing about this tropical island, there were plenty of trees around.

Unsurprisingly, Sun followed her. "Um, Blake, where are you going?"

Her only answer was leaping up into a tree, then hopping to another. Easily increasing the distance between her and Sun.

"H-hey, wait!" He jumped up as well, not an amateur at navigating this way, but he couldn't keep pace. Being a monkey faunus wouldn't have necessarily made him good at navigating treetops, but Blake still found some pride in her training proving her superior at it.

"Come on, Blake!" he cried out.

She ignored him. If he was going to keep hounding her about the White Fang, she wasn't going to spend another second with him.

"Wait! Please!" Panic had crept into his voice. "Come on! I don't know the way back to your house, I'll get lost!"

She lived in one of the biggest houses on the island, the house of the chieftain of the island. He could ask for directions.

But . . . maybe she shouldn't just abandon him here. Annoying as he was, he was still a friend.

Blake came to a stop on the next branch and waited for Sun to catch up. When he did, she dropped to the ground and gave her terms. "If you keep talking about the White Fang, I'm going back up and leaving. And next time I won't stop."

He walked up to her. "We can't ignore them, Blake. Even if it's just the Vale branch that's gone bad, I don't trust the Fang. And they're here, where your parents are. If you left Vale to keep your friends safe, then what are you going to do about your family?"

Blake bit her lip. "I realize that, but . . ." Her shoulders slumped, it was just too much. Why did the White Fang have to rear its head just as she'd arrived home? She'd tried to go somewhere to feel safe, to rest. "Can we just put them on hold? Until tomorrow at least, please."

"But-

"Sun, please."

He met her eyes, and her pleading look seemed to work at placating him. After a few seconds, he nodded.

"Thank you."

"So, um, what else should we talk about then?"

"This is my home. I wouldn't mind showing you around as long as you don't bring up the Fang."

"Yeah, sounds cool."

"Come on." She led him back to the streets. The shade was nice, but Sun wouldn't be able to really see Menagerie unless they left it.

A couple minutes in, he asked a question. "Hey, wait a second, I just realized something. Your dad's been the chieftain of this island for years, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"But you enrolled into Beacon with your real name and everything. Weren't you trying to hide that you were a faunus and part of the White Fang?"

"Most students probably wouldn't have known the name of a chieftain of an island of faunus. Menagerie's population doesn't even compare to a small city."

"True. I had no idea, and nobody else seemed to either. But Beacon's employees should have at least done a background check, and Belladonna isn't a common last name."

Blake coughed. "Admittedly, it wasn't very well thought out, but it worked. You and my team figured out the truth through other ways, and I'm sure the headmaster already knew."

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Yes."

Sun kept his promise to keep the White Fang out of their conversation, but his previous persistence had succeeded in keeping them in the forefront of her mind. Adam, she still had trouble believing that he'd gone so far. Not just attacking Vale, but releasing Grimm inside? First with the train and Mt. Glenn, then during the Vytal Festival. How could he have changed so much?

She could still recall how he'd cornered her. How she'd barely escaped with her Semblance, cutting it so close that he'd still wounded her. Yang, if she'd been killed-

Blake took a deep breath and exhaled. It was okay. It was okay. After she'd come to Menagerie, her partner shouldn't be Adam's target anymore. Nobody in the team would be in danger because of her. Ruby, Weiss, they'd be safe.

Blake's family on the other hand? The Fennec twins' claims sounded too convenient, artificial, as if designed to put them at ease. If the White Fang tried anything, her parents had guards, and her dad had some combat ability, but that wasn't enough. Blake and Sun's help wouldn't be enough either. They were only students, and the White Fang still had skilled members that could match or outmatch them.

She brought up a hand to shield the direct sunlight from her eyes. The heat felt worse after leaving the cool shade, especially with the amount of black in her outfit.

Sun didn't seem at all bothered, and excitedly went up to a necklace stand. It brought a smile to her face, if he didn't mention the White Fang, he was actually good company.

Still, the thought couldn't leave her mind. Who could defend them?

\\\\\

"I'm not your pet, not another thing you own.

I was not born guilty of your crimes."

As Weiss sang the lyrics, her voice echoed off the immaculate white walls of her bedroom. A decent amount of time had passed since she'd sung professionally, and after hours of practice, she was now satisfied with the quality of sound. It was unfortunate that she'd neglected to practice at Beacon, singing was more than just a hobby for her.

It was important, a skill that had taken years of lessons to hone. It hadn't been an easy choice to leave it and public performances behind, but now she'd go back on that decision after a few words from her father. The lyrics almost burned in her throat when she considered that. Not another thing he owned? How could she claim that when he had so easily forced her into singing again?

At the very least, it would be for a good cause. Her performance would help attract more people to the charity event. The more money the people of Atlas offered to aid Vale and Beacon, the sooner Weiss could return and complete her education.

It would take a monumental effort to convince Father to let her attend Beacon again, but she'd do it. Before she'd attended, she'd never thought that she'd make friends like the ones on team RWBY. Her expectations had been a team of valuable subordinates with her as its peerless leader.

How differently it had turned out in reality. A silly, but surprisingly dedicated and kind young girl for a leader. Her seemingly reckless, but in truth caring and strong, older sister. Even a former White Fang member!

Strange as it sounded, she needed to return, to be with them again. That might require her to obey Father, to take careful steps not to antagonize him, but it would be worth it.

"I will not surrender- Weiss' voice cut off at a knock on the door. "It's unlocked. Come in."

Rather than the dreaded face of her father, the bald head of a man with a round, friendly face entered. Weiss immediately relaxed at the sight of her butler, perhaps the only person here she could trust not to inform her father on everything she did.

Klein held up a tray with a teapot and a few cups. "Greetings, Ms. Schnee. I recalled that you used to drink chamomile tea quite often when you practiced your singing. Would you like some now?"

She accepted it with a smile. "Yes, I would. Thank you."

He nodded and set down the tray on the table. The steam wafted up as he poured, and once he filled the cup and offered it to her, she took a long sip. It was wonderful, the smell and taste reminding her of when Klein and Winter had encouraged her during practice years ago.

"I must say, it's a delight to hear you sing again after all this time," he said. "I've missed it."

"So have I," Weiss said as sat down. "Klein, do you have any other tasks you need to attend to at the moment? I think it's time for a break, and I'd enjoy your company."

"Well ma'am, you're in luck. It pains me to admit it, but the other employees should carry on fine for now without their head butler to guide them." Klein grinned and sat down beside her. Nobody else could have gotten such casual treatment from him, except maybe Winter.

Klein made being cooped up in the manor bearable. Weiss could leave if she wanted to, but only with an escort of guards that watched her every move. Escaping them wasn't too difficult, but dealing with the consequences was.

"Now, you say that you've missed singing, but I didn't hear much joy in your voice," Klein said. "Resentment and defiance, certainly. Although with those lyrics, I'd be hard-pressed not to find them."

"Klein." Weiss flushed at his teasing. He was right that the lyrics weren't subtle in the least, but she didn't want them to be. Father would have likely brushed off anything less. "I am happy to be singing again. I just wish that a public performance would have been on my terms rather than father's."

"Ah, that sounds like something he'd do." Suddenly, Klein's understanding expression flickered to one of extreme annoyance. "That man. He was somewhat decent when I first met him, but over the years he's gotten a stick rammed up his-

"Klein!" Weiss shouted, but with a pleased grin. Could she be blamed for that? Who else in the estate would dare badmouth her father?

"Heh," he looked aside with a newfound timidity that would have been a shocking contrast to his earlier behavior. At least to those who didn't know him. "W-well I stand by what I said, but I suppose that sort of language is inappropriate."

She took a sip of her tea and hummed in agreement. Although she'd lost her sensitivity to swearing some time ago, that attitude hadn't lasted long around Yang.

They chatted for some time. Weiss gave him a general summary of what had occurred at Beacon. Her failed attempt to team up with Pyrrha Nikos, her partner becoming leader rather than herself. Even how Blake had hidden her faunus identity and some of the drama that had ensued. Weiss kept Blake's White Fang past to herself, however. She trusted Klein, but the secret wasn't hers to share.

Vale had been a wild, chaotic place. Stocked with terrorists, thieves, international criminals, but it had still been fun. Her mission to Mt. Glenn had been a valuable experience, even if it had ended unfortunately. The same went for the Vytal Festival. Before its untimely end, team RWBY's victory had been a very real possibility.

Here though, according to Klein, little had changed. Whitley had continued his education, likely still aiming for a position within the SDC. No great success or disaster had befallen the company or the family. Business had gone on as usual.

The attack on Vale had been the great upheaval. Weiss' father going to another Kingdom to pick up Weiss, her return to the manor, and now the dust embargo raising tensions. Klein had admitted that the excitement was a nice change of pace, although maybe too much to handle all at once.

"Weiss, it was a pleasure talking with you again." He rose from his seat and his eyes widened. "Oh my, I almost forgot. I have the device you requested."

"You do?!" Weiss rose from her seat and her eyes roamed over him. Where was it?

"Yes, voilà." He took out from behind him and handed her a scroll, although much bulkier than a conventional one.

She took it from him and looked it over. The wide smile probably made her look like a lunatic, but she didn't care.

"As promised, this scroll connects directly to the CCT so you can make international calls," he explained. "Since even if your father changed his mind and allowed you to go, you'd probably be watched during your entire call. This will circumvent that. It cost quite a bit to acquire, although your allowance took care of that after your father reinstated it."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Weiss listened and turned it on. It seemed that she could use it just like a normal scroll, the only difference being that she could reach numbers that previously required the CCT.

"Be careful though," Klein warned. "It wouldn't surprise me if your father has transmissions on the estate monitored."

"I will, Klein. Thank you."

"Not at all, it was a pleasure." He lifted the tray as he prepared to leave, then met her eyes with a proud smile. "You've grown a great deal in your time in Vale, I'd very much like to meet this team of yours."

Klein? Meeting Ruby, Blake, and Yang?

Weiss chuckled. "Maybe someday."

\\\\\

Clark strapped the adjusted gauntlets to his forearms and twisted his arm to look over the changes. New compartments had been added further down near his elbow, with some metal taken away and placed over other regions to make room. The armor had already been thick, so nothing looked out of place. The color of the compartments was just slightly different, since they weren't made of the same expensive material as the rest of his armor, but it was hardly noticeable.

After giving the gauntlets a decent once-over, he faced the trees in the secluded Mistralian wilderness and opened the first of the three new slots on his left gauntlet. They were mirrored on the right one, but he needed his right hand to reach under and catch what the left one deposited.

About a dozen small metal pellets, the same size as buck shot bullets that Clark had seen on hunting trips back home. They were tiny black spheres about a quarter of an inch across. Although these were much heavier than the lead pellets in a normal buckshot, made of some kind tungsten alloy.

This had been Ruby's suggestion, weapons that didn't require him to go through years of training to match the expertise of most huntsmen. It was a simple concept, throw stuff at an enemy. Although in his hands, they could be deadlier than any conventional bullet, and that was before even putting his aim into the mix.

Clark shook the pellets in his hand. With his strength, there was no real effort involved, but feeling them rest against his skin gave him a good sense for their weight. With a closed fist, he stepped forward with his left foot and hurled the pellets with a flicker of his arm.

There was a burst of small cracks. A sound he was very familiar with by now, although the smaller size of the pellets added a different quality to it that was difficult to describe.

The pellets burst through the line of trees with ease. In fact, most of them still possessed enough speed to blast through the trunks behind them, and a split-second later, the staccato burst of noise when the pellets split wood or lodged inside the boulders further out filled the air.

Then, as if waiting for the sound to end, the trees fell over. Leaves rustled as the sturdier branches tore into the ground.

Clark frowned. Had his speed training given him the habit of putting too much force in his throws? That kind of throw would be great against Grimm, perfect for dealing with swarms without using heat vision, but that amount of strength should have put the pellets on the same level as bullets. They should have gotten imbedded in the first trunk, or maybe a bit further, not powered through multiple trees.

He shook his head and filled his hand with more pellets. That was why he was here after all, this was the place to make any dangerous mistakes. Rather than when he tried to actually use them.

It took him a couple more tries, but he got the hang of chucking them just hard enough to get the effect he wanted. There were what he considered baseball speeds, which could range anywhere from a few dozen to hundreds of miles per hour. Bullet speeds, roughly supersonic or even more. And for fun, he hurled a few hard enough that even he wouldn't have been able to catch up to them. Which resulted in them flaring up, even more easily than the spears because of a much larger surface area to mass ratio.

It also meant that the last throw was too deadly for spars, since even back at Beacon, Ozpin and the others had taught him aura's limits when they'd understood just how strong he was. Although again, very suited for Grimm, and maybe even enough to distract the phantom for a few moments.

After he was satisfied with his ability to throw the pellets properly, the ones in the other compartments were next. There were about a dozen in each arm the size of a marble, and the final, largest ones were spheres about a full inch across. Using his experience with the first set cut down the time for learning how to handle the others by a lot.

So three sizes. Pellets, marbles, and gumballs. Which had diameters of roughly a quarter, a half, and a full inch respectively.

Clark rested one of the marbles on his thumb and flicked with his index finger. It shot forward and shattered against a boulder with a good crack!

As was usually the case when testing his powers, the landscape around him was devastated. Fallen trees by the side, with streaks of dirt across the grass from when the branches had scraped the ground. Some had survived the assault of tiny projectiles and bared splintered wood like scars. The rockface of a nearby cliff, which Clark had used for target practice, had similar marks.

Clark picked up any of the pellets that might still be usable. He was throwing them after all, perfect spheres weren't necessary, but few had survived the process. Clark picked up a nearby box with plenty of extra shots for each size and refilled his gauntlets with some those along with the used ones.

With all that in tow, he flashed back to Haven. He already knew the best spots to avoid people or cameras seeing a man suddenly appear right in front of them; this time he chose the area where the forest met a shed on the outer edge of the school. It was conveniently close to the building where he and the others stayed too.

He entered the dorm and super-hearing confirmed that it was empty. Usually though, he'd hardly need to concentrate to tell whether someone was in. Everyone tended to get pretty lively, except maybe Ren.

After Clark stored the gauntlets in his room, he headed back out immediately. It was still early in the afternoon. Picking up his gauntlets and testing them out had eaten up the morning, but he still had plenty of time for other plans.

His next stop was Haven's library. Searching online had gotten him a good general idea of the situation in Mistral, but he wanted the specifics of the nation's current circumstances.

He sighed, it would probably take a good while. Reading about the kingdom's history had been fun, but this was another matter. That had been easy, basic stuff, but research and finding sources had been Chloe's field of expertise. While he remembered a lot of her methods, thanks to years of being forced to help her with the school newspaper or track the kryptonite infected, that wasn't where his talents lay.

Maybe he could make a quick trip back to Vale and ask Dr. Oobleck for help. The man was dedicated to learning, and he gave off the feeling that he'd be able to answer any question Clark had for him.

Rather than race across to another continent, Clark continued to the library. Pausing at times to greet the few people present at the school between terms. Most of their faces were recognizable, he'd likely glimpsed them over the past week or so.

When he made his way to the library, it was easy to see that it was one of the largest buildings in the school. Located on the east side, the exterior had the same Asian-like architecture as the others. The inside walls were painted a cool blue, and the front desk actually had spots depicting aquatic life and scenery. A fitting example of the importance of the sea in Mistral.

He gave the librarian a brief hello and made his way to the computers. The history of crime in Mistral wasn't a secret, it had the largest black market on Remnant. Also, despite what Clark had seen the other day, the capital city actually had the lowest incidence of crime. Or maybe just the lowest rates of reported crime, depending on how widespread corruption was in the city. Although even if it was, the fact that the capital had the lowest crime rate might be true. The authorities didn't seem to have a good handle on things further out into the kingdom.

That was all useful information, but what Clark needed now were specifics. What kind of situation the capital was in if one of its police officers could brazenly accept a bribe from a drug dealer? Clark needed to know his options for a place where the authorities were unreliable. He wasn't about to start a social revolution and try to fix every problem, but he couldn't ignore what he'd seen.

That man, the addict Clark had found the other day. Clark had been able to find his apartment, a small place with wooden sliding doors that had been almost completely empty. No food in the pantry or fridge, barely any furniture, and small plastic bags with traces of drugs strewn around on the dirty floor. There had been a few letters still in their envelopes on the lone table, which was how Clark had found out his name, Calum Demos,.

Calum had been unconscious by the time Clark had brought him there. Instead of leaving him in that condition, Clark had managed to track down Calum's brother thanks to a few pictures and notes lying around. After explaining the Calum's situation, Clark had learned that their family wouldn't be able to pay for treatment at a rehabilitation center.

So instead, Clark had helped tie Calum down for a complete withdrawal. The symptoms would be awful, but the brother had seemed prepared to help his brother through this. He'd thanked Clark profusely for bringing Calum to him, but accepting his gratitude had been painful when the dealer was still out on the streets.

Stopping that dealer would have been simple for Clark. He could have arranged a situation where the police couldn't ignore him, but that wouldn't affect the deeper problem. The plenty of other dealers just like him. It had been shockingly easy to find them when Clark had focused on looking.

Bringing them all to the police had seemed especially pointless after Clark had overheard Calum's brother call his family. They'd discussed how to get the money to have the police overlook Calum's drug use, or anything he'd done under the influence.

What was Clark even supposed to do? Go on a spree of tracking down every dirty cop or criminal in the city and putting them behind bars? Even if they all stayed, what could he do about any new criminals? Stay forever and fight them?

No, Clark couldn't do that. He couldn't be responsible for that, so why weren't the people who should be responsible for enforcing their laws doing so?

Vale's Council hadn't been the most honest, and while it would be nice if Mistral's turned out to be different, Clark didn't have high expectations.

With super-speed, he sped through old news stories. He gave off the appearance of glancing at the titles or rapidly scrolling and skimming through any articles he opened, but he actually read through most of them completely. Although he could go faster, that might draw too much attention.

Obviously, he doubted that there'd be a story about any current Councilor or city official with Corrupt Politician Here! in big bold letters. They'd have likely covered up any scandals, but what they couldn't cover up were the clues. The dots he'd have to collect to connect into a recognizable picture.

One of those turned out to be a story written just a few years ago about the current police chief. The man had conducted a successful raid on an active and troublesome gang in the western part of the city. The story alluded to previous articles detailing this gang's drug activities and mentioned that the police had strangely been unable to recover any.

It didn't outright state that the police had sold the drugs themselves, but the implication was clear. Clark also checked what had happened to the area afterwards, and it seemed like it had fallen under the control of a previously established crime organization pretty quickly. Further articles detailing crime in the region primarily mentioned them, with no description of any gang violence or chaos that would have likely resulted from fighting for new territory.

After some more searching, Clark was certain that the current police chief couldn't be trusted. The man's predecessor had tried to change things in the city, until he'd been sentenced to prison for murder. If it were that alone, Clark might have considered it a surprise considering the reforms he'd tried to put in place. However, suspicious activities surrounded the current chief like accusing fingers. Certain criminals who'd been arrested during his time in the police force had gotten released due to police misconduct, others suddenly committed suicide while under police protection, as had a surprising number of policemen.

It was a grim image, and Clark also kept in mind to look for anyone who'd investigated and written about the more sensitive topics. He'd need to talk to them. After all, if he needed information, why reinvent the wheel by searching for something other people had already found?

He sat at the computer for hours, doing more research than any human could have managed in the same amount of time. It wasn't expertly done, a significant amount of time had been wasted reading with little direction, but the sheer volume of information made up for it. He kept few notes too, just things that had stood out or what he'd needed to look deeper into, since he could remember most of what he'd read and recite the stories almost word for word.

He could and would have kept going until the library closed, but he had an appointment with a Haven teacher for combat lessons.

\\\\\

Someone knocked on the door that night. Someone who'd started knocking right when Qrow had flown in the window.

Qrow hadn't even transformed yet. So after a brief, mildly surprised look at the door, he turned back into a human and opened it expecting Clark. Instead, he got Yang.

She waved a hand and gave him a wide, cheerful smile. Too cheerful. "Hey Uncle Qrow! Greatest uncle ever, can I come in and talk to you about something?"

He sighed. "Okay, out with it. What are you in trouble for now?"

"What?"

"Coming up to me like that just screams 'please don't be mad at me for doing something stupid'. Well I'm not in the mood." Qrow walked back towards the bed, Yang following behind him, and flopped down on it. "Hurry up, out with it."

"Whoa whoa, I didn't do anything wrong. I want to set that straight." She walked forward until she was beside the mattress and almost right above him. "You're right about me being nice so you won't freak out though, but I guess we're skipping past that." Yang took a deep breath. "Ruby and I went into the city like we were supposed to and asked around about Cinder, and I was thinking about asking about Raven. So I did, and-"

Qrow groaned. "Yang, seriously? Let it go, there's nothing more you need to know about her."

"Let me finish!" She raised her voice, although it didn't reach the point of her eyes turning red or her hair going up in flames. "I asked about Raven Branwen, I didn't really expect anything. Back in Vale, Junior seemed to have information on everything, and he'd never heard of her. But you know what? Turns out the Branwen tribe's a bandit group in Mistral, I even got some guys to tell me where they usually raid. It's great to know how much time I wasted in Vale, when I could have gotten some actual information for a few lien in Mistral." She smiled, but her hand tightened into a fist.

"Yeah, and what are you going to do with it?"

She met his eyes without a flinch. "Save it for a few years, maybe. If I still have any questions I need to ask her."

Qrow got up and his jaw went slack. "Wh-what?"

"Yeah, what did you think I was going to do? Go after her?" Yang blew air out of her nose. "I have Ruby to take care of, and all this stuff with Salem and the Relics is way more important."

"That's good! Great! You finally got over her, I'm proud of you."

Yang scowled at him. "Don't think I'm done yet. I still have some questions. I saw my birth mom for the first time ever like two months ago and she saved me and my partner's life. Every time I've tried to ask about it, you dodged the question. You say that she's not worth asking about, that I should leave it alone. But fuck that, now that I know this, I'm gonna keep hassling you." She pointed at him and jabbed her finger forward. "And if you still clam up after all that, then maybe I'll chase her down in a few years when all this is over."

Rather than answer, Qrow stared at his niece and concentrated. Come on . . . come on . . .

"Well? Give me an answer!" Her eyes turned red. "Say something instead of looking at me like that!"

He remained silent.

After a few seconds, her temper began to fade, and she got closer with a puzzled expression. "Uncle Qrow? Hey?" She waved her hand in front of him.

He smacked it away. "Alright alright, enough."

"What the hell was that about?"

"I was just hoping that your sister would barge in and save me or something," he said with a defeated tone. Stupid Semblance. Couldn't it have given Yang some bad luck and interrupted them somehow?

"Yeah? Well there's no chance of that happening. I made sure everyone knows that I'm interrogating you."

Damn it. Really though? Couldn't his Semblance have still whipped up an emergency or something? Like a fire or flooding from a broken pipe.

He leaned back against the headrest. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you more about Raven. Happy now?"

"Very." She pulled up a chair and sat down with a smug grin that made for a very punchable face. Could Qrow pass it off as a combat lesson? Always be on your guard or some shit?

Tempting as it was, he didn't. "Alright, before we start, I'm curious about something. Did you just happen to knock exactly when I came in?"

"Huh? No, I asked Clark to tell me when you got here."

That traitor. It was nice to know that Qrow's Semblance hadn't screwed him over with that, but he was going to get payback.

"Okay, I'll start with Raven saving you. It's like I've told you before. She didn't do that out of love or anything, she's not that kind of person. She did it because it's one of her dumb rules. The people she chooses get one save if they're in life-threatening danger. After that, she won't even lift a damn finger to help." Qrow spat out the last few words. "Summer was one of them."

"You mean, she . . ."

"Yeah, she left Summer to die when she could have used her Semblance to help her. Besides making portals, it also tells her when people are in danger. That's how she came in at just the right moment to protect you."

"But . . . we don't know that she chose to ignore mom. Could she have been asleep or something?"

Qrow shrugged. "I guess. I don't know if her Semblance would wake her up, but don't try to defend her. That's just one thing in the list of all that she did, or didn't do, after she left."

"I get that. I'm not reading into one save after seventeen years of nothing, I'm not stupid. Seriously though, can I hear something less biased? She can't be a completely terrible person. If she was, Dad wouldn't have married her."

"You're putting way too much faith in Tai's taste in women. Especially when he was your age."

"Maybe, but how am I supposed to know unless someone tells me what Raven was like?"

Qrow's head tilted back and he looked up, annoyed. "Yeah yeah, I'll get to it, but don't expect me to be a whole lot of help. I never really understood what went on in her head."

"Really? You're her brother."

"That didn't mean there was some deep sibling connection between us. Maybe I ranked higher than most people in importance to her, but that's not saying much. Her loyalty was always to the tribe, even when she was a kid. She didn't even flinch at her first kill during a raid, and constantly trained with anyone she could find. Which usually meant me, since there weren't a lot of kids in the tribe, and most of the adults had better stuff to do."

"She killed people?"

Qrow nodded. "So did I. Actually, the two of us came to Beacon in the first place to learn how to kill huntsmen."

Yang blinked a few times. "Okay . . . I wasn't expecting that."

"Who would? I'm surprised we were even allowed in with our last names, but we managed it. Raven was her usual self at first, concentrating on learning new skills just so we could use them when we came back. That changed though, little by little."

Qrow gave Yang a recap of their time at Beacon. How Summer's friendliness and Tai's attempts to woo Raven had slowly chipped away at her cold, hard shell to a center that held a bit of warmth for them. He even told her a few stories, stuff he hadn't thought about in years. Tai and Raven's first date. The missions they'd gone on. Even a bit about what they'd done after Beacon, going on secret missions for Ozpin.

"She loved team STRQ, That I'm sure about. After all, if she hadn't, her abandoning us would have been less of a shock."

"Why did she do it?"

When he didn't answer, Yang repeated her question with more force. "Uncle Qrow, come on. Getting you or dad to talk about her is hard enough, I'll probably never get another chance to ask about this again. Can't you give me something?"

Qrow shook his head. "I don't know why, but there's a reason I couldn't tell you until recently. Before she left, she'd gotten paranoid about Ozpin and went on and on about how he was hiding stuff about Salem. She never told us what he was hiding, if it actually existed, only that we couldn't trust him. It was a huge argument, and just after I thought we'd made up, she left. Her husband, her friend, you, the fight against Salem, and more. She abandoned all of that and went back to the tribe to steal and kill."

"Yeah, it doesn't really seem like it can be justified." She looked aside. A thoughtful expression rather than a sad one, that was good.

"It isn't. Especially when she had the option of visiting anytime she wanted and leaving without a trace. And as far as I can tell, she hasn't done much to hide the tribe's activity. If she was concerned with Ozpin finding her, she did a bad job of preventing it." Qrow straightened in his seat and laid a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Raven gave birth to you, but that's it. She doesn't want anything to do with us, and it'll be better if you feel the same way."

Qrow looked Yang in the eyes, making sure she listened and understood. "Summer is your mom. She was the one who stayed and raised you as her daughter. Remember that."