AN: I already have so many active stories I really should not be starting another one. However this plot bunny just refused to go away. I'm not a hundred percent sure if this story will continue yet. Let me know what you think.

Summary: On a whim, Raven Branwen took her daughter with her when she left Taiyang. Raised as a ruthless outlaw in her mother's Tribe, Yang Branwen knows that only the strong survive and that weakness is the greatest sin of all. Her view of the world will start to be challenged, however, when her Uncle Qrow shows up one day with an invitation to Beacon Academy and stories of a half-sister she's never met. AU. Bandit!Yang.

()()()

He finally found her a few miles away from the main camp, sitting cross-legged high up by the edge of a sheer cliff. She was looking out towards the seemingly endless span of Sanus forest that stretched out from the skirts of the mountain range that the Tribe was currently hiding out in. It occurred to Qrow that his niece looked lost in thought and maybe even a little melancholy… a bit weird considering her usual personality as he remembered it. Still, everyone needed to brood from time to time. Qrow knew that better than just about anyone.

He also knew that he should probably give her plenty of warning, but Qrow had always had something of a mischievous streak that would likely stick until the day he finally kicked the bucket for good. Silent and light footed, Qrow slowly sneaked his way forward until he was only a couple of meters behind her. With a smirk Qrow cupped his hands in front of his mouth and yelled.

"HOW YOU DOING, KID?"

He's honestly hoped that she would jump two feet in the air and let out a cute little startled yelp like Ruby did whenever he snuck up on her. Instead the young woman leaped up into an aggressive crouch in an instant, her body simultaneously turning and drawing the sword at her hip in one lightning-quick, violent movement. The heavy blade lashed out almost instinctively towards his torso with enough power behind it to easily chop a Beowolf clean in half.

He'd hoped, but he'd known that this reaction was about what he could expect. Drawing his own weapon in one smooth motion Qrow blocked her strike, grunting a little at the strength he'd felt in her blow. Well what do you know? You've gotten pretty strong there kid.

Briefly out of professional curiosity his eyes flickered to her sword. She'd still been in the process of building her own weapon the last time he'd seen her and this was his first time seeing the finished result. Its length was similar to that of his own sword but that was where the similarities ended. It was a red, black and gold slab of metal with serrated shark-like teeth on one side set on a sturdy chain. Qrow almost sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of it. A giant chainsword. What on Remnant would have made you settle for such a brutal weapon?

His eyes snapped back to his niece and he could see it in her red eyes when recognition flickered to light. The ferocious scowl on her face eased as she blinked and her expression changed to one of surprise and bewilderment. She took a step back, disentangling their weapons and looking at him like she couldn't quite believe he was there.

"… Uncle Qrow?" she asked. The nearly gobsmacked expression on her face made him grin.

"Hey Yang. It's good to see you again, little firecracker," he said, putting away his sword and opening his arms just a tad dramatically. "Now why don't you come over here and give your favorite uncle a great big hug?"

Yang blinked again before slowly putting away her sword. She smiled at him, sardonic and mischievous, before stepping up to him like she was going to give him a hug. In hindsight he felt like a total idiot that he didn't see it coming when, instead of giving him a hug, she suckered punched him right in the gut hard enough to knock the wind out of him and drop him to his knees.

"Three years!" she yelled at him, face now flushed and furious, the red of her eyes and the yellow of her hair seeming to glow brighter as her temper flared. "Three years. You couldn't be bothered to stop by for three years, your frikking asshole!"

Even though he was on his knees holding his smarting stomach, Qrow couldn't help but look up at Yang and give her something that could have been mistaken for a proud little smile. You really havegotten pretty strong. Guess you're not half bad at punching things, just like your old man.

Instead of saying any of that he gave her a mocking, reproving smile that had driven more than one person into a rage. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?" he needled "Because even though my dear sister likes it when you chop up innocent villagers so you can take their stuff, I know for a fact that she still gets on your case about bad language."

A look of almost apoplectic rage settled on Yang's face and the glow of her eyes and hair increased, the latter looking like it could be just moments away from catching fire. Without even really being aware of what she was doing Yang's hand drifted and settled on the pommel of her sword in a way that made Qrow just a twinge uneasy. Using a trick with his Aura he washed away the rest of the lingering discomfort from her blow and rose smoothly to his feet.

"Bad joke, okay?" he said in a conciliatory tone. "Let's not get bogged down in old family disagreements just yet. I'm sorry I haven't been around. Though I did miss you, kid."

At his words the hardness in Yang's face and posture eased and began to melt away, her glow receding until there was only regular looking hair and red eyes left. She crossed her arms across her chest, turning her body away from him and giving him an unhappy look. For the first time since he had found her she looked more like a regular pouting teenager and less like one of those wild, trigger happy nutjobs that made up the raiders of the Tribe. Even though she wasn't happy with him it made something ease in Qrow's chest.

"Why didn't you find us in so long?" she asked, and though she tried to hide it Qrow could hear the hurt in her voice.

It made something squirm guiltily inside him, but in the end Qrow couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth.

The truth was that he'd been scared.

Three years ago when he had last visited, Raven had told him that she was going to start taking Yang on raids in a few weeks. They'd gotten into a screaming match that only by some miracle and by the interruption of a startled fourteen year old Yang hadn't descended into blows. Qrow didn't think he could stand watching the bright and happy firecracker that had been Yang get twisted and changed by the murderous, parasitic life of a raider and a bandit.

So he had stayed away. Like a coward. He hadn't even known what the hell to tell Tai. So in the end he hadn't said anything.

But… now he was back. And hopefully… maybe… he could start to set some things right.

"I'm sorry firecracker," he said, voice laced with genuine regret. "I've been traveling all over the kingdoms for a few years. Had to spend a lot of time away from Sanus, more than I would have liked. But that's the job." All of it true. And not the real reason why he had stayed away.

Yang frowned at that, seeming to chew it over. "You still working for that Ozpin guy?"

Qrow huffed a bit in laughter at that. Only someone who had never lived in the kingdoms would refer to him as that Ozpin guy. "Yup. That hasn't changed, and it probably won't anytime soon."

"Mom says he's an idealistic idiot who will sooner or later get everyone who looks to him for protection killed," Yang said to him in a tone that he interpreted as,Why are you still working for a guy my mom detests and that kept my most wonderful, incredibly handsome uncle away from me for so long?

Qrow shrugged his shoulders. "Your mom thinks a lot of things that a lot of other people disagree with. Even though it's hard sometimes, I'm doing what I believe in. Can't really blame a guy for that, right?"

Yang didn't look particularly happy, but at least she looked to be more relaxed and comfortable as their conversation wore on. "I'm not sure I buy that. People can believe some really stupid things."

"Well, that we can agree on," he said to her with a wink. Yang narrowed her eyes, looking a bit exasperated at his antics, but in the end couldn't stop an amused smirk from blossoming across her face. Good. It was nice to see that at least she hadn't been turned ice cold like Raven, who could make an Atlesian Knight look warm and fuzzy by comparison when she set her mind to it. Yang had gotten too much of her father's personality for that.

That was when he noticed something. Qrow narrowed his eyes in suspicion. His instincts began telling him that something wasn't quite right here.

"Hey Yang," he began, sounding a touch more serious. "As I remember it your Semblance only ever turned your eyes red in the middle of a fight. How come they're not going back to normal?"

Yang shrugged one shoulder, seemingly unconcerned. "They're always like that now."

Qrow sensed there was a story behind that. And it didn't feel like it would be a good one at all. "What do you mean?"

Yang's expression hardened a bit, her back straightened and she lifted her chin in a proud and defiant manner. "We figured out that not only am I stronger when my eyes turn red, but my senses and my reflexes also get a boost. Mom trained me to the point where my Semblance is always active, so that I'm always ready for battle at an instant's notice. Anything else is completely unacceptable."

Qrow had to resist the urge to scowl at hearing Yang sound so much like Raven. In fact he wouldn't be surprised if she was repeating what his dear sister had almost certainly drilled into her head word for word. Though it had always felt like a losing battle, and maybe even perhaps the war had already been lost, he didn't want Yang to turn out like Raven had.

"I thought you had to be angry in order for your eyes to change," Qrow said, the question clear in his tone.

Yang made a little scoffing sound. "Yeah, that's true."

"Then how did you train yourself so that your eyes are always red?" he asked, feeling he knew the answer already and dreading that he was right.

She smirked at him, her eyes filling with something he didn't like. "That's simple Uncle Qrow," she said. "I'm always angry."

Grimm shit. You really did that to your own daughter? If you weren't my sister… sometimes I don't even know what the hellyou're thinking, Raven. He wasn't any kind of shrink. But even he knew this couldn't be good for Yang's state of mind.

The blonde must have seen something on his face because she sent a searing, scorching glare of warning in his direction. "You haven't been around so you don't get to lecture me. I'm stronger now than I've ever been before. Strength is all that matters. Strength is life. Weakness is death. You know this, so I don't want to hear any lecturing crap from you."

Qrow sighed, and tried not to be too obvious about looking at her sadly since he was half-sure that would just set her off. Yes, being strong was important but it wasn't something you could really build a life around. Raven never got that. His sister had always been so concerned with being a survivor that she never left herself any room to actually live. Now it seemed that that same toxic philosophy had been passed on to Yang.

Qrow shook his head. Now that he knew what was behind it the permanent red color of Yang's eyes, that same Branwen red that he and his sister had, it unnerved him. Still he knew that Yang was too defensive and riled up to listen to any advice to calm down. An idea struck him that caused his lips to quick upwards. Okay, it might not be the best idea in the world, but from what he could tell from just a few minutes the girl really needed to relax. And in his mind there was only one real way to let your hair down that didn't involve taking off all your clothes or beating the hell out of somebody else.

"Lecture? Who said anything about a lecture?" he said with a smile that seemed to make Yang wary. He reached into his traveling pack and with a flourish produced his prize.

"What is it?" Yang asked, her voice a mixture of apprehension and interest.

"A whole bottle of genuine Mistral scotch, aged ten years. Just a little something I picked up on my last trip," he said with a grin. "It's real good stuff, trust me. I figured me and you could share a few drinks, catch up on old times. There's no better way to reconnect with family than with some good alcohol. What do you say?"

Yang bit her lip, hesitating. "Mom doesn't really like it when I drink."

"Are you really going to let that stop you?"

Yang looked up at the challenge in his eyes for a few seconds before returning his conspiratory grin with one of her own.

"Hell no. Open her up, Uncle Qrow," she said cheerfully, her previous animosity towards him forgotten.

Qrow gleefully complied… before belatedly realizing that he had no idea if Yang was an angry drunk.

Oh well.