Chapter 47

The weather was fair, granting Robin a great aerial view from the skies of Mistral's forests and if she wasn't focused on trying to locate Raven's bandit camp, then she was sure she would've enjoyed the sights a little more. With a mental sigh she circled back around to the path the rest of her team were walking and hopped onto a branch, still in bird form. She jumped to another branch, whistled, and jumped until they spotted her. "You're so cute," Tawney cooed and Robin glared at her.

They'd been at the air docks first, telling her that if she was going then they were too. No matter what she'd said to them they refused to budge on the matter until she gave in and accepted that they were doing this, as a team. "You're stuck with us," Yahto had slapped her shoulder and shoved her towards the airship. "Whether you like it or not."

For the past three hours they'd been walking and Robin hopped to the next branch, stretched her wings and took off straight ahead. She rose higher than before, wanting to get any kind of sign whatsoever. Walking blindly through a forest was not going to do them any favours, and she was sure they'd taken care of a few stray Grimm here and there. She flapped her wings, turned to the right and stopped, hovering in the air with soft bats of her wings. There was some smoke in the distance and she dove down to get some speed before she straightened out and made her way towards the smoke. Once she was close enough she fell out of the sky and hopped onto the floor, still in bird form, eyes surveying the terribly constructed wooden walls that had been erected. She jumped up enough to flap her wings again and put herself on top of one of the large stakes. She counted at least five people just on this side of the walls, patrolling the perimeter and there was bound to be more around the other walls.

Found it.

With a moment of hesitation Robin dropped back off the wall and took flight back in the general direction of her team. It took her a few minutes to find them and she turned, remembered where the camp was and dropped onto the floor behind her team back in human form. "Found them," she said and she couldn't help the small shake of her head and the roll of her left shoulder.

Robin pointed to the right and Malcolm eyed the thicket of trees before he shrugged a shoulder, "Alright, lead the way."

It was a long twenty minutes before they spotted the wooden walls through a series of trunks. Yahto held an arm up and whispered, "So what do we do? Just walk up to the front door and knock?"

"Does it even have a door?" Tawney asked, brows creased as she inched her head forward, tilted it from one side to the other and eyed their surroundings.

Malcolm sighed and shook his head, "Clearly they get in some how."

Robin rolled her eyes and stalked forward, "Just follow me." She didn't quieten her voice or hesitate in her steps and she made sure she was clearly visible in the clearing. No doubt in her stance as she looked from one brush to another. Robin paused, one brow raised and turned her head to the left with a frown before she stepped back and a bullet struck the ground where she'd just been standing. "We're not here to cause any trouble! We just want to talk to Raven!" She glanced over her shoulder at her friends and narrowed her eyes, "Weapons away." From around them eight men and women stepped out, blades raised and guns trained on them. Robin glanced at each of them and flicked her attention back to her team with a pointed look.

"They're murderers," Tawney hissed.

Robin rolled her eyes and looked back to the bandits that were closing in on them. "We're not here to pick a fight."

"Give us one good reason why we should even consider letting you walk away from here," one of them said.

"We're not leaving until we've spoken to her."

"Tch," one of the women said and she paused as Robin turned to give the woman her full attention, one brow raised. "Hold up, you-"

"Who are you?" another asked.

"Robin Branwen," she rattled off without hesitation and she watched all eight of them question their actions. "Now, are we done threatening each other?"

One of the men waved their gun with a step, "You're lying."

Robin rolled her head about her shoulder to give him a stare, "Do I look like I'm lying?" After several minutes of staring each other down, itchy trigger fingers and questionable decisions, the bandits finally waved them on, keeping their own weapons raised in a silent threat to not step out of line. Robin held a small smirk on her lips as they were marched into the camp, her eyes flicking across the tents and small gatherings of people that slowly merged into a crowd that surrounded them, every person holding a weapon of some kind.

"I don't like this," Malcolm whispered.

"They look ready to murder us," Yahto said.

"Who cares?" Tawney hissed back, "We'll kick their asses, right?"

"They are murderers," Robin reminded them, "and thieves, and general ass holes."

"You're not helping," Tawney muttered.

They came to a stop and Robin tipped her head up with a lazy grin she'd learnt from her Father, one hand on her hip and stared at the entrance to the largest tent. One of the guys who'd escorted them stepped forward, hushed into the tent and stepped back. "Dramatic much," Yahto mumbled.

Tawney chuckled, Malcolm shoved his side with his elbow and Robin smirked. There was a moment before the flap was pushed to the side and Raven, donned with her Grimm mask, weapon sheathed by her side, stepped out with purpose and grandiose. It was another moment before Raven straightened up and removed her mask, settling it down onto a nearby crate with her own tight smile. "Robin," her red eyes danced to her friends and they darkened a fraction, "and her little friends." She hummed and took another step, voice rising as she spoke, "I must congratulate you on being able to find me, we certainly don't make it easy."

Robin rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, "Cut the pep speech, Raven."

"Hey! Don't you dare talk to our leader like that!" She snorted at that.

Raven went on, "You're strong Robin, and no doubt your friends are too. But if you stick with Qrow you're going to end up just like him; naive, pathetic and the world's biggest fool."

Robin cocked her hip with one hand, arched one brow and painted a bored expression on her face, "And that's why I'm here."

Raven smiled, arms extending out, "Finally found the common sense your Father lost?"

Robin took a step forward, lips twisting into a frown and she ignored the point of guns towards her, "You really wanna start an argument? We both know who'd win that one."

"You're in my camp, Robin. I'd watch your tongue."

Robin held her breath. If they started a fight they were sure to draw attention from any Grimm in the area. Not to mention she still didn't know exactly how Spring and Raven tied in together. Was Spring amongst the people that glared them down, or was she hiding out in Raven's tent? Maybe she'd left a long time ago but if what she'd been told about the Maiden's was anything to go by then she was definitely wary of that silent threat.

"Can we talk?" She watched Raven's eyes flick to her team and she rolled her eyes, "Just us, you and me. Like family," she smiled sweetly up at Raven and enjoyed the grimace the woman wore.

Raven gave her a cold hard stare before she tipped her chin up, "If they so much as touch their weapons-"

"They won't." She glanced back at her team, "Right?"

Yahto's hands jumped from his side and Tawney straightened up, avoiding her eyes. Malcolm was the only one who stood without much of an outwards disposition and he nodded his head, "We won't, as long as your guys keep their distance."

Raven passed one look over her people before she turned on her heels and marched back inside the tent. Robin pulled a face before she followed after her, throwing one last glance back to her team before she ducked inside, ignoring the glare of the woman who stood just outside with short brown hair and blue eyes. She did take note of the interesting tattoo on her arm before she stared at the inside of Raven's tent. It was bathed in a warm dark, cushions surrounded a small coffee table in the centre and there were chests, decorations and even a grandfather clock. "Nice place," she muttered.

"You know it takes a lot of guts to march in here and make demands like you did, guts and stupidity."

Robin arched a brow at Raven as the woman sat herself down onto one of the cushions. "And it's stupid to make yourselves known to the local authorities. They know you're in the south, so I'd think about moving."

Raven narrowed her eyes and Robin glared right on back as she started to slowly walk around the tent, touching everything that she could. There were large feathers that hung in an array of colours on wooden frames, draperies and tapestries. "You wanted to talk, so talk. Before I change my mind and have you thrown out of here."

The woman with the tattoo came in, a teapot and two cups in hand and Robin waved her off, "Pass." She locked her eyes on a series of alcohol bottles on top of a crate, rolled her eyes and turned back to give Raven her full attention. She tilted her head to give their guest a look and blinked as she remembered a brief conversation she'd seen. "Vernal?"

Vernal paused, eyes widening and Robin returned it with a smirk. "Thank you, Vernal. You can wait outside."

Vernal passed Raven a look, glanced back at Robin and at her smirk and huffed as she set the teapot down and stormed out. "Nice protege," she mocked. "What did she do to get your trust?"

Raven scooped her cup up with the smallest of frowns, "You have a very interesting semblance. There's no other way for you to have known her name."

"Or maybe I'm just that good?" Raven didn't give her an answer and Robin rolled her eyes before she sunk into one of the cushions, legs crossed and elbows on her knees. "Salem. Ozpin. Maidens. Spring. Yada, yada. You tell me what you know, and I'll tell you what I know."

"So that you can report back to Ozpin and my brother."

"They had no say in my decision to come here and neither of them know. I didn't even tell Yang or Ruby that we were leaving campus, so, this is all for me, not them. Now, can we talk?"

Raven took a sip of her tea and set her cup into her hand, "Ask away, but I can't guarantee you'll like the answers."

Robin snorted. "I haven't liked what I've been hearing for a while." She paused and tapped a thumb against her thigh. What did she want to ask first? There were so many questions swirling in her mind and she let out a breath, tipped her head back to stare at the roof of the tent and pursed her lips. She kind of knew the gist of Salem and where the Grimm came from, she kind of knew about the Fall maiden and Cinder, she kind of knew about Ozpin…. "Spring." She brought her head back down to stare at Raven and tilted her head towards the tent entrance, "And what does Vernal have to do with her?"

Raven took a steady breath and didn't budge her gaze, "Vernal is Spring."

Robin's eye twitched. If she recalled rightly Vernal was thanking Raven for her trust about this information. If she'd ran away from Ozpin after getting the powers, then she'd know about Salem and the maidens already. She narrowed her eyes, "Try again."

Raven narrowed her eyes and stood, turning her back on Robin as she took her teacup with her, "You asked what she had to do with it and that is what I'm telling you."

"Which is a lie."

"Your semblance allows you to see the world a few seconds ahead of itself," she spun and started to walk back to the table, "making you a dangerous enemy, literally one step ahead at all times." Robin blinked, trying not to let her stomach churn at the idea that Raven, who had ran away from her family and who avoided them, knew about her semblance. Raven settled the cup down and smiled, "Don't worry it's not that easy to notice. Your regular Huntsman wouldn't have a clue, but that begs the question of how you seem to think you know that Vernal is not Spring."

"And I'd tell you more about it because?"

"Trust is a two way street."

"And I've not had one reason to trust you, so I don't trust you."

"You're learning." Her smirk really shouldn't have pissed Robin off as much as it did. She could see the family resemblance in that smirk between Raven and her Dad. "Good. You shouldn't trust anybody, even your friends." Robin narrowed her eyes at that comment. "Vernal is the Spring maiden, that is my final answer on that and you should count yourself lucky I even told you that."

"Oh I'm blessed," Robin quipped. "Well if she is Spring, she's the new Spring right? So what happened to the previous one?"

Raven's shoulders sagged a fraction and she held Robin's stare as she simply said, "Mercy."

"You killed her," she corrected. Raven's silence was enough of an answer and Robin scoffed. "You even remember her name?"

"Of course I do!"

"So you killed her and had Vernal inherit the powers." Robin shook her head. "Why'd you leave?"

"Because our mission was never to help people." Robin frowned at that and Raven's lips twitched into a smile. "I bet Qrow never told you the real reason we enrolled in Beacon. For our tribe the Grimm are not a problem and villages aren't even worth the worry. We storm them, take what we want and leave, letting the Grimm pick through what's left."

"Yeah," she scoffed, "I know that."

Raven pursed her lips and after a moment took a sip of her tea. "The only real threat that stood in the way of the tribe, that still stands in the way, is Huntsmen. We were the right age so the tribe had us enrol and infiltrate the school so that we could learn the best way to kill Hunstmen."

That definitely gave Robin pause. Kill Huntsmen? That was why they'd enrolled, not for the sake of helping people but to kill them? Raven ran away, back to the tribe where she began, but her Dad had stayed. "He changed his mind."

"After he listened to Ozpin's stories and fantasies and believed every word that came out of his mouth without asking questions. The more we heard the bigger it all became. It started with special treatment for our team, followed by letting us in on a secret that there was a source to the Grimm-"

"There is, I've seen it. Almost fell into it, fun place. Two out of ten would not recommend."

"You've seen it?"

Robin smirked. Something that Raven didn't know. "You were saying about Oz?"

Raven sneered, "A source to the Grimm and somebody that controlled them."

"Salem."

"Then relics, maidens and how he's lived through centuries to protect humanity. But there so much more to it, so much that he isn't telling us, so much that he's hiding. How do we defeat Salem? Where is her lair? What is the real purpose of the relics? Why split up his magic into the maidens powers? Why give-" she scoffed, "Has Qrow told you about the magic Ozpin gifted us."

Robin raised a brow, stood up, stretched and focused her attention into her transformation. She hopped across the table, did one lap of the tent and stumbled back into her human form with a fixed stare. "I know about it."

Raven scoffed, "You're just like him. I'm sure Ozpin span this curse as a way that you'd be doing him and humanity a favour."

"Actually it's inherited. Left over magic or something. The question's still out on whether or not Yang can do the same thing."

Raven blinked, schooled her features and let out a breath. "Any more questions?"

"What do you know about the relics? Why are they important? What do they do?"

"All I know is this; there are four relics, Choice, Knowledge, Creation and Destruction. They are located in vaults that only specific maidens can unlock. Ozpin separated them because bringing them together can hold devastating consequences."

"What consequences?"

"He didn't exactly tell us."

"And I'm going to assume he was quiet on how Salem could be defeated."

"You catch on quick."

Robin ignored the sarcasm and turned her back on her Aunt. There was still a lot of questions but she could understand her frustrations and anger at Oz, could understand in a way, her sense of loyalty to a tribe that brought her up and raised her and she could understand Raven Branwen a little bit more. She didn't like what she was learning but it was something. Raven trusted nobody but herself and that made Robin actually pity her.

Her eyes glanced upon the bottles of alcohol on the crate and she felt one question jump straight to her mind, one question she'd had since she was five. One question on why the hell her life had been turned upside down with a physical and mental reminder imprinted in her memories. She turned to face Raven and twisted her eyes into a glare. "What was in Vacuo?"

Raven's eyes fell to the scar on Robin's face and Robin's eyes fell to the weapon Raven had put to one side. "Supplies."

Robin stared, and stared, waiting for any other answers but it was clear Raven was done and her stomach dropped. "Supplies? Supplies?" She ground her teeth together in a tight grimace, swallowed thickly and made a noise in the back of her throat. "Supplies," she said once again. "You really are a sack of shit," she whispered and took a slow step towards the tent entrance. There was anger burning in her veins, a sadness echoing in her head and a hurt that thrummed through her entire being.

"I wasn't aware that it was your village until-"

Robin spun, weapon out and sickle already extended, the tip pointed dangerously at Raven's throat. "Until what?" she spat. "Until you gutted my Mom and sliced my face open?"

"A Death Stalker killed your Mother!"

"That was there because of you!"

Raven glared at her, "I didn't kill your Mother."

Robin's lips twisted into a snarl, "But I bet you watched!" Silence and Robin felt her eyes sting with the threat of tears and she blinked them back. She would not cry, she wouldn't. "I loathe you," she whispered and she'd never meant the venom in her voice before then.

"I apologise for what happened to your face."

"Why?! Because you missed my neck?" Robin scoffed and felt the hand holding her weapon up shake. "Save your apology! It doesn't mean anything." With a shaky breath she brought her arm down, keeping her weapon extended by her side. "The next time I see you," she started, "I will murder you."

Raven had the audacity to let the corners of her lips curl upwards, "Spoken like a true Branwen."

Robin had to force herself to turn and not retaliate. She had to force herself to push the tent flap open and glare darkly at anyone who ever bothered to look at her. At the moment she would take any excuse to lay them on their asses and she snapped her eyes from one set of hesitating pair to the next. "I'll let you explain to your real family what you did," she hissed before she stormed forward. Her friends parted a path for her as she marched and she didn't even have to say anything as the bandits also moved out of her way.

She could hear the racing footsteps behind her and slammed her way through the makeshift gates, weapon shaking in her hand. "Robin-" There really was murder in her veins. "Robin!" And she meant it. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see Raven again or never set eyes on her. "Hey-" She was vaguely aware of somebody grabbing onto her and somehow she stopped herself from swinging wildly, letting a familiar scent of vanilla was over her as warm arms trapped her against somebody's chest. "Hey," she just about recognised Malcolm's soft voice and somebody else was pulling her weapon from her grip. It took some coaxing before she relented and turned her head further into the chest, finally aware that the loud sobs that surrounded them were hers. She was bawling and yelling, body crumpling against Malcolm as she clung to him and howled.

A/N: Alrighty! There were some answers in here which I know many of you have had since chapter 8? 9? Feel free to leave your hate speech in a review *wink wink* Also though, we hit chapter 50! Jeez, I feel like I should've done something special for it. Instead, angst and suffering! Woops.

Diego Silver: I hope you're still sitting on that chair cause *wipes brow* phew-ey

bumblebeeash19: Branwens are awful influences. Also I read your review and I just knew you were British (The mate gave it away) I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

xenocanaan: Well Robin is still deciding on it so there's time...

Sabert00thsa: I shall accept the yelling this time. (If you don't yell at me after this I'll be surprised) And I see your point and you are right, Robin doesn't want to be Raven (especially now). I mean, you also have to think about it that Ozpin wouldn't want everyone to know about the maidens and Robin already does know? I live to make people suffer. All in good time my friend, all in good time.