November 23, 2015

"This sucks," Raven said to herself as she wrote down in her journal about the day's activities with the tribe in her tent at the camp. Unbeknownst to anyone else, she had snuck in codes in her journals that would detail classified information about the tribe so that when a journal book was full, she could pass it off to another RVISS field agent, who would bring it to Vale. The black-haired woman sighed as she continued to write. Then, just as she finished her entry, she heard a commotion outside. As she stood up, she heard shouting.

"What the fuck are they doing here?!" This sentence was soon followed by several gunshots, catching Raven's attention as she sped up her pace and ran out of the tent.

Raven ran out with Vernal, the Spring Maiden, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE?!" She then looked around and noticed a gang of 4 huntresses and 1 huntsman standing in the middle of the camp as several of Raven's men lay injured on the ground.

Another guard said to her, "These 5 idiots just walked into here, and we recognized Qrow from the bunch, so we attacked him, but then those 4 girls he brought with him kicked our asses!"

Raven then noticed that among the 5 was Yang and Ruby. She immediately said to the guards, "It was foolish to attack them, especially when unprovoked. Even if Qrow is from the traitorous branch of the Branwen tribe, he is still my brother. You are to harm none of them any further, or else!" She then glared at the guard.

"Yes, ma'am," the guard replied as he brushed himself off and walked away. "I'll tend to the injured."

Raven then called over to Team RWBY, "Come. Meet me in my tent." She then turned to Yang. "Yang, we have a lot to talk about."

In the tent, as RWBY and Qrow walked in, Qrow said to her, "It's been a while." The tent was dark, but spacious, and was lit up with a flameless electric lantern powered by a battery.

Yang, whom had a full cast on her right arm and was deeply confused as to how to feel, said to her, "What do we need to-?"

Immediately, Raven walked up to her and cut her off with a hug. Yang was startled, but did not push her off. Raven told her, "Yang... It's been so long... Ah, my daughter, my flesh and blood..." Vernal just looked on, confused.

Yang told her, "Uhhh... Yeah..."

Raven then split and turned to Ruby. She smiled and told her, "I'm glad I can finally meet you in person, Ruby." She then extended her hand for a handshake, which Ruby returned. "I've seen you before in pictures, but never in person." She then turned to Weiss. "Woah, no way. No fucking way. You got Weiss Schnee on your team?" She then laughed.

Weiss replied, surprised, "Is that funny to you?"

"No," Raven replied. "It's just that I knew your dad when I was a volunteer over at Signal Fire and Patch First Aid. He's a damn good fireman and a damn good medic. Are you and Winter in the fire service, too?"

"Yep," Weiss replied confidently. "We joined when we turned 12."

"Nice," Raven replied before she turned to Blake. "We've met before."

Qrow turned to Blake and asked her, "Where did you two meet?"

"When Cinder and Adam killed each other," Blake replied. She then sighed. "She apparently fought Adam after me and Yang left and before he left Beacon."

"That reminds me," Raven replied as she turned to Yang. "Yang, I was horrified when I heard about your arm. How is it since the doctors put it back on?"

"It's getting better," Yang replied. "Still got work to do, though." She then sighed as she changed subject matters. "Mom, we're here to take the Spring Maiden or whatever to Beacon to see Ozpin. The Winter and Summer ones are already there." Vernal's eyes widened with shock.

Raven then paused. "I was afraid of that. You see, there... There was a reason I left Vale shortly after me and your dad divorced, and..." She then turned to Qrow. "Please, brother, promise me you will not get mad."

"You'll need to explain your reasoning sooner or later," Qrow told her. "Tell them. I won't get angry."

"I see," the black-haired woman replied. "Alright. Yang, Ruby, you guys should know by now that Qrow can transform into, well, a crow, right?"

"Wait, what?" Ruby was shocked.

Yang, equally shocked, replied, "Uhhh..."

Raven gave a dirty look towards her twin brother as she asked him, "You didn't tell them about that?!"

"I didn't tell them for their own good," Qrow replied.

"Fine," Raven replied back. "Ugh... Yes, your uncle can turn into a bird. Try and guess what I can turn into?"

Ruby thought to herself. "Uhhh... A pigeon?"

Yang laughed and said, "No, silly, I think she means a raven! It's in her name!"

Raven said to herself, "Oh my God..." She then continued. "Yes, I can turn into a raven. Thing is, neither of those things are our semblances. In fact, we didn't even have that ability until we came to Beacon and met with good old Mike..."

Blake said to Raven, "Ozpin helped you discover it?"

"No," Raven sternly replied. "Ozpin gave us that ability, and he created it himself as an experiment. He used us as guinea pigs." She then sighed and took a deep breath. "It... It was traumatic. To this day, I have nightmares about the "surgery," he called it, that he did to us to give us that ability. He..." She began to break down. "He tore us up and broke us physically and mentally, damn it!" She then smashed a glass cup on a table with her fist by slamming it, drawing blood from her right hand. "His fucking little surgery was botched from the start! We had to tell everyone else we got into a bad fight with a grimm to cover it up! I was in a motherfucking wheelchair for half of a God damn year because of his malpractice! Yang, if you don't believe me, your own mother, just ask your uncle Qrow!" She then began to sob as Vernal patted her on the shoulder.

Vernal spoke to the gang for the first time, saying, "She doesn't like to talk about this. Until now, I was the only she ever told."

Yang turned to Qrow and asked him, "Is... Is it true?"

"Yes," Qrow simply replied. "I still have nightmares about that experience myself, though not as bad as Raven. You see, though I was injured, too, your mother took the worst of it. Her PTSD and her sworn secrecy is what led to the breakdown of her marriage with your dad, in fact. She didn't even know if she was able to become pregnant, since he did a lot of work in the lower area of her body. Her pregnancy with you only aggravated her PTSD, in fact, especially when you kicked." He then took a swig of whiskey from his flask.

Yang, in pure disbelief, stared at her mother for several seconds in silence. Then, she said, "Raven... I mean... Mom..."

Raven then turned around, tears still falling from her eyes, as she said, "Yang?"

"I... I had no idea," Yang replied as she hugged her. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

"No," Raven replied. "It's not your fault, Yang. I wanted to have you, even if I did aggravate my problems." She then looked Yang straight in the eyes. "I'd still have you if I could do it all over again, my problems be damned. I wanted to be a mother, yet that opportunity was taken from me with the whole divorce thing and then all of this. To be honest, Summer did a better job than I ever could have."

Qrow then told the rest of the gang, "I still remember when Raven called me the day she decided to divorce Tai. It was... It was a difficult call for her to make. She asked that I watch a then-infant Yang for the night while she and Tai talked and argued. She didn't want her to see and hear what was being said. I ended up watching her for a while. Meanwhile, a few days after Raven began that process, Tai began staying at Summer's apartment, and, well, let's just say that Ruby wouldn't exist if it weren't for that."

Raven then split from Yang and continued her story. "So, yeah," she told. "We gained the ability to turn into birds. Seems fitting, given our names. We were to work clandestinely under RVHC cover to gather intelligence on Salem and the other maidens. I assume Glynda finally forced Mike to spill the secret about the Maidens and reincarnation to you guys?"

"Yes," Ruby replied. "Ozpin told us about that."

"Hah," Raven replied. "So, he's finally telling the truth. He was the one who created the Maidens. Well, he himself didn't, but a past life did. You know, by coincidence, Ozpin himself is a direct descendant of the wizard that gave the Maidens their powers. They both shared the last name Ozpin, though the wizard's full name was Alexander William Ozpin, whereas the Ozpin you all known and love is Michael James Ozpin. Also, Salem is not just some powerful woman-beast who can control Grimm. No, she creates Grimm."

Immediately, all of Team RWBY gasped. Blake said to Raven, "She's the one who creates Grimm?!"

"Yes," Raven simply replied. "Her safehouse is located in the one place where new Grimm are born. It is impassable both due to geography and due to Salem having followers who guard the place. While Grimm can spawn elsewhere in limited numbers, it is at Salem's safehouse where brand new species of Grimm are created, and where mass amounts can be produced."

Weiss then asked her, "Wait, so what happens if Salem is taken out and her safehouse is destroyed?"

"We do not know for sure," Raven replied. "Me, the rest of Team STRQ, and Ozpin all theorize that existing Grimm will still be around, and the smaller spawns and nests outside will still exist until they're destroyed by huntsmen and huntresses, but no longer will we see massive hordes of Grimm suddenly appear all at once. In short, it will become a hell of a lot easier to hunt Grimm, and they will pose a much smaller threat."

Suddenly, Qrow felt his Scroll vibrate. "Huh?" When he saw who it was, he said to himself, "Oz?"

Raven sneered, "What does he want?"

Qrow answered the call. "Oz, what's wrong?"

"Slight change of plans," Ozpin told him. "You need to go to Haven Academy. I just got some intelligence concerning a possible plot against that school. If you can, take the Spring Maiden with you. I've told the Summer and Winter Maidens to reroute to Haven Academy when they get the chance."

Horrified, Qrow paused. "What? They want to do what?" He then put his Scroll on speaker mode so the entire tent could hear it.

"The White Fang is plotting an attack on Haven Academy just like how they attacked Beacon," Ozpin said to Qrow on the Scroll. "I need you, Team RWBY, and the Spring Maiden to go to Haven. I have Team JNPR going there now along with the Summer and Winter Maidens. Also, I have a feeling the uncivilized half of your family might be on Salem's watch because of your sister." The last sentence shocked Raven and Vernal. "If anything happens, just know that Raven is authorized to blow her cover, since she will be served a burn notice soon for blowing her cover during the Battle of Beacon."

Raven then suddenly grabbed the phone and screamed at Ozpin, "They're going to do WHAT to me?!"

Ozpin, surprised by Raven jumping into the conversation out of nowhere, replied to her, "Miss Branwen, I'm surprised you heard that."

"I heard all of it, asshole," Raven yelled at Ozpin. "I blew my cover to protect my daughter, twice! All this time, I have done nothing but serve my Kingdom gracefully! I've saved it from the mob, from terrorists, and from my very own family, and for RVISS to disregard EVERYTHING I've ever done is bullshit!" She then took several deep breaths and calmed herself down. "Mike, I'll give you what you want this one time only. I still won't forgive you for traumatizing me, ever, but even a broken clock is right twice a day I suppose."

Ozpin then said to her, "I'm glad we can agree on this issue, Miss Branwen." He then hung up.

Raven then turned to Vernal. "I have a final assignment for you, Vernal."

The shocked Spring Maiden simply said, "What... What is it?"

"I order you to go to Haven Academy with my brother," Raven replied. "After that, I'm gonna need to hang up my leadership position."