Third Person POVQrow is currently reminiscing yesterday"s events in a bullhead heading for Patch.
Boy, did he enjoy Glynda"s reaction. She did get a heads up for Qrow"s new "treel estate". Seeing is believing, after all, so she was overwhelmed once she entered a house that defied the laws of physics.
Qrow shook his thoughts away once the bullheaded landed on the commercial airport. Taking a quick sip from his flask, he wiped off his mouth using his sleeve before alighting the vehicle and making his way inside the town.
The crowd avoided the stumbling drunk, clearly irritated that someone was wasted early in the morning. But of course, the elite huntsman shrugged off the crowd"s distaste for his actions as he just doesn"t care.
The man himself was busy thinking of the past agreement, the actions he needed to do for his new duty, and the emotional turmoil he has received.
*A few days ago, back at the Headmaster"s Office*
Ozpin: "Now that Aurum"s wellbeing has been discussed, now let"s move on to Qrow."
Qrow seems to realize what his next objective is, resulting in him sighing sadly and unconsciously drinking from his canteen. A glimmer pa.s.sed Glynda"s and Cyrus" eyes as they caught on, leaving only the young fox clueless.
Ozpin: "I"ll write you a letter of recommendation for Signal Academy"s headmaster. I"m sure they"ll be dying to accept an elite huntsman such as yourself."
Ariene finally caught on, as Cyrus commented calmly.
Cyrus: "I see. Observation from up close and personal. That should be apt. Knowing his behavior is imperative to serve as grounds for my hunch or debunk it."
Glynda appreciated Cyrus" calm behavior with a slight nod, before asking about his hunch.
Cyrus: "This might be a problem of the spiritual kind. But I can"t be certain with the true cause of the hostile nature directed to Aurum. Maybe it"s true that he was envious of the attention, maybe he"s always been that violent, or maybe he"s been manipulated by a semblance, or-"
Ozpin: "Or he"s been affected by magic, specifically, a curse."
The revelation of magic earned the attentive ears of the pro huntsmen. Ozpin spoke about magic only in bits but with proof, evident with the Corvine morphing abilities of the Branwens. But he did not talk about the other branches of dark magic except for being used in destruction spells.
Cyrus nodded at Ozpin"s interjection, before continuing,
Cyrus: "This could be the work of an Imp. Pesky mischievous demons that sometimes slip between the barriers of both worlds through a random gate using their abilities. They would have been scary bunches of teleporters, but all they can do is cause misery using curses that amplify bad emotions."
Ozpin: "If that were the case, I"m a.s.suming you have something that can dispel such curses? As you can see, both men and faunus cannot use mana as a result of the Brother G.o.ds" machinations. My mana is limited and dwindling, as much as I want to help one of my best huntsmen, I need to conserve it."
The spirits were curious and decided to check his mana reserves using their senses. To their shock, they were not able to see through the body of Beacon"s headmaster, much less his soul.
Ozpin noticed the duo"s prodding and only flashed a knowing smile at them. Cyrus was scared but decided to focus on their current situation. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d might have harmed Aurum, but that doesn"t mean that he should neglect his duty as a Blast, one of the kingdom"s trusted military family, even if it is known for its rather unnerving "dog-eat-dog" inner compet.i.tion. A citizen in need leads to popularity for a good deed
Cyrus beckoned the drunk, who responded by getting close and crouching on his knees, only to get spit on his eyes.
Qrow: "Hey, dumb kid! Why"d you do that?!"
Cyrus: "Weren"t you listening to the story? I spat on you to let you use spirit vision. Now, focus Aura on your eyes and think on the thought of you activating your sixth sense."
When he followed the instructions, Qrow felt a stinging sensation around his eyes as he felt the energy that he couldn"t before. Various shades of light seem to flock around each individual in the room. Glynda and Ariene had grey Aurlike energy flowing around their bodies with streaks of purple that can be spotted mixing in. The former also had wisps of colorless energy stationary within her body, a contrast to Ariene"s earthly brown energy that constantly circulates her body. Meanwhile, Cyrus mainly has purple shining with a lesser sheen, while yellow energy mixed in, while ocean blue and spotless white energy was contained in his body. As for Ozpin… he had yellow as the prominent color with shades of grey, while on the inside the colors matched the rainbow with how many were mixed in.
Now, Qrow didn"t know that he only had to put a minuscule amount of Aura into the eyes, and so…
Qrow: " Urrgghh, what the h.e.l.l… it feels like I have a bad case of hangover…"
He was busy complaining that he didn"t notice the very small streak of black energy mixing with what Ozpin currently has. Even if he did not overload his spirit sense, he still can"t see it since it is like a needle within a haystack, much less Cyrus who doesn"t have the trained eyes of a huntsman like Qrow.
*Back to the Present*
Qrow grimaced when he remembered that feeling once again. He sighed, as his legs stopped moving, for he arrived at his destination.
He could feel a refreshing salty breeze that brushes upon his figure, bringing along a sense of lethargy, sorrow, and conflicted emotions that filled his heart as he took in the location. A seaside cliff containing the grave of his beloved leader, and the location where he first met his poor adopted son.
Looking at the bouquet of roses in his hand, he neared the grave and read the epitaph, "Thus, I kindly scatter". After all the pain he felt while grieving, he couldn"t help but feel angry not only towards Summer but to the Imp that caused all this drama.
Qrow once again sighed, as he poured a bit of his liquor in front of the grave before placing the roses down.
Qrow: "Summer… I want to scold you so bad for what you did to Aurum… But I also want you to know that you will be avenged. That Imp that manipulated you… I"ll find a way to make sure it would suffer for what it did to both of you. Of course, Tai will still suffer for his actions. After all, we"re talking about abusing my sister and son. Who knows what kind of bullsh*t he taught Yang."
Qrow just stood still, immersing himself in the memories of his student days. He didn"t know how long he did it, but deciding that it was enough, he once again sighed before bidding goodbye to the grave.
Qrow decided what to do next, and that is to visit his sister"s old house. It was a quiet walk through an animal trail long unused by man, full of overgrowth that acts as a natural barrier against humans and large animals. It was these kinds of walks that let Qrow mull over his thoughts peacefully without ever worrying about his luck affecting others.
Qrow felt guilty. If only he had noticed sooner, then would Aurum and his sister be free from torture. She might get hung over their relationship, but that"s a small price to pay for her wellbeing. Physical wounds can be healed at a fast rate using technology and Aura, but it cannot do so for the mind and heart. Most gain a trauma over such events, others walk past their burden with strength. But not all can be strong enough to do so.
Qrow: "I really need to step up my game. I"ll get busy with being a teacher and going on missions later down the line, but I need to make a good example of what a responsible father truly is. Making time for Aurum should be my priority. I"ll try to negotiate Oz about this."
The school is for monitoring the other children, while the missions are needed to fight the hidden war between Ozpin and Salem. The balancing act for both is hard enough as it is. He needs to find a way to have another person do the job properly as his temporary subst.i.tute. After all, he couldn"t trust himself to stay with the kids for long periods of time, considering his semblance.
It took a while for him to near the abandoned building, but Qrow had suddenly experienced a bad feeling coming from the barely noticeable "house" at the distance. To Qrow or any other pro huntsmen, it is important within the profession to develop a keen instinct, whether for fights or just strong gut feelings. More often than not, instincts save a huntsman from getting mauled by Grimm more than what strategies do, especially during the night where they get more active.
When Qrow arrived, he saw an exhausted blonde little girl with twin pigtails holding the handle of a red wagon with a small girl asleep within, rooted in her spot in fear of the pack of Beowolves that were about to attack them.
Qrow: "d.a.m.n it!"
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Directing all of his strength into one jump Qrow lunged at the Grimm with Harbinger in hand, already in the form of a scythe. Using the weapon"s built-in shotgun, he fired shots to boost his speed as he spun it around at high speed.
He was almost too late as the Grimm had already sailed in the air for the girls but arrived just in time to slice the ones in the lead diagonally in half. Taking advantage of the momentum, he once again spun and dissected another Beowolf before rushing towards the Alpha and kill it.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he now turned towards the little girl and see if she"s okay, only to feel shocked that it was his niece, Yang, with cuts and bruises, and an especially large one on her cheek that resembled a palm, albeit a bit faded.
Yang: "Uncle Qrow?"
She weakly muttered, before tears well in her eyes. She hurried to him before hugging the drunk, bawling away as she regretted her hasty decision of trying to find her mother for comfort and answers.
Yang: "Uncle Qrow…Uncle Qrow…"
Qrow was about to scold her, but seeing that bruise, he only felt anger towards the cause while comforting Yang. He let her cry in his arms until she pa.s.sed out. He then carried her over to the wagon, with Ruby now awake from the commotion.
Qrow urged her to get out of the wagon and gently laid Yang inside with Ruby"s cape as a blanket. He asked for permission to borrow it of course.
Ruby: "Uncle Qrow…"
She too was in tears. Her mother is missing, maybe even dead, her father and Yang are depressed, and her poor brother was gone. She was perceptive of the house"s cold atmosphere. She knew everyone was sad. But she was the one who took it hard the most. She was confused about the real reason why her mother disappeared, to which Tai "clarified" that she was "missing" and not dead, but she knew well enough the reason for Aurum"s case.
And so, she vented her feelings out, recounting the horrors the boy was put through in all his years in that household. She told him how she was forced to keep him a secret, with threats that the young spirit would experience a rougher life once his existence has come to light.
She also narrated the recent events, on how Aurum escaped the house, how her dad sunk into alcoholism, how Yang found a picture of team STRQ, and pestering Tai about Raven, her mother, too much that Tai slapped her.
Both were shocked because of this, with Tai not turning to apologize and instead drank a whole bottle before laying his head between his arms. Yang was devastated, as she wept in her room. It took a while for her to calm down, before deciding to venture out to Raven"s old home. Along the journey, Ruby fell asleep in the wagon. And after that was the current events Qrow personally experienced.
Qrow kept a calm visage as he ventured to the house carrying the little rose in one hand and pulling the wagon with the other, comforting Ruby and urging her to. But inside, he was boiling in anger once again.
The journey was brought to an abrupt silence, apart from the soft breaths of the children and the occasional chirps of cicadas.
By the time they arrived at the Xiao Long house, the sun was down and the moon was high above the sky, shining upon the huntsman"s livid expression directed towards Tai, who only sat in front of the house with bottles spread out chaotically on the ground.