The wind blew through the autumn trees, Ruby walked calmly through the orange sea of dying grass and trees followed closely by Esdeath

"I figured the location would be closer." Esdeath commented as she looked around at the tall trees surrounding them

"Shes at her favorite spot on the island. Its away from just about everything else, the closest piece of civilization would be dads' house." Ruby explained as she hopped over a bush in a practiced motion

"I can understand the want to get away from the noise and light pollution of the cities." Esdeath agreed as she followed Rubys' path

"We're here." Ruby said as the trees began to thin out until they were standing on the edge of a cliff, looking out off into the distance Esdeath could see the island end and the oceans beginning she could follow it all the way to the horizon, it was a beautiful sight but Ruby wasn't focusing on that she was focusing on the stone slab at their feet, looking down at it Esdeath read the engraving out loud

"Summer Rose, Thus Kindly I Scatter... Summer Rose... Summer Rose..." Esdeath repeated over and over again, that name sounded extremely familiar, but she couldn't put a face to the name

"Hey, mom. Sorry I haven't come by in a while. Things have been... well, things have been, pretty busy. I'm back to visit Dad! He's, uh, you know... Dad. He's still teaching at Signal. But he told me that he's going to be on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you. I miss you too... Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet!.. So that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. Keep her in line... That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter! You can tell she's learned a lot from Dad! Oh, so are Weiss and Blake... Oh! They're my teammates! Together, we form Team RWBY! And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion. Anyways, I made a bunch of new friends, and then I met some... let's just say, odd teachers. Oh! We've also stopped some bad guys, too! I guess it's like they say: "like mother, like daughter"! I still wonder why Ozpin let me into the school early. But uh, I guess he'll tell me one day. You know how he is. It's funny, the more I get to know him, the more he's starting to sound like Uncle Qrow." Ruby continued to talk to the grave, Esdeath listened to every word, it was quite painful to experience for her, Ruby wanted a mother so badly she was willing to accept this... this situation as it is so she can have something akin to a mother

"I even met Esdeath! Shes great, she came here too. I don't know where in the universe you are or if you even are out there helping people but I want you to know... we miss you." Ruby finished the then turned to the forest behind them "We should get going, it was good talking to you Mom." Ruby said and began back into the forest

"Summer Rose, your name is familiar to me, I don't remember from where or why but I will figure it out sooner or later. Rest well, warrior." Esdeath said then turned and followed after Ruby

(o)

Akame followed as Qrow guided her through groups of people the faint sound of cheering could be heard from all around, this had been the first time she had ever seen a tournament, given her time in night Raid and in the Elite Seven she didn't have much time for leisure, as they made their way past people she sensed someone approach her, freezing in place Akame looked over her shoulder and saw a woman wearing a suit, she had white hair that faded into a light purple and had narrow amber eyes, she was followed by a man with a large camera which obscured his features

"I'm Lisa Lavender, broadcasting live from Amity Colosseum; The Vytal Festival Tournament has called all manner of people from all over the world to see what the Huntsman and Huntresses of the future got, but here we have a self made prodigy; Akame Branwen, better known as 'The Record Breaker', made famous from her show of defeating Pyrrha Nikos in their combat class, the event of which was posted to social media soon after and the video had caught fire ever sense and has gotten over 5 million clicks in the last two weeks alone." the woman hastily explained, Akame raised an eyebrow at her clearly confused by what she was saying, and to who "Tell us Akame, how does it feel coming from a life of savagery to see the rest of the world." She wasn't actually asking, Akame could tell the difference and she didn't care, ignoring the woman she turned to continue to follow Qrow, but was again cut off by another person with a camera, turning again she found another, and another, and another, they were popping up like daisies. Akame finally got fed up with them, she sighed and let her killing intent burn off all around her, a visible purple mist began to flow off of her, that caused all of the questions to stop and the people to back away, the sound of hurried footsteps earned her attention, looking up from the ground she saw Qrow

"Kid, what the hell happened?" Qrow asked as he looked around at the people and let out a sigh "Really... why are all of you here? There are plenty of other kids for you to harass."

"Yes, but how many of them beat Pyrrha Nikos?" they were all shouting questions but that was the only question that was heard before they started shouting

"OKAY!" Qrow shouted earning all their attention "Leeches, listen! Leave. Her. Alone. No one wants you lot here, no one needs your lot here. All you're doing is being a nuisance to one of the only people in this place worth their weight." Qrow called to them all, a lot left after that grumbling about coming back when he's gone, but Lisa persisted "And who might you be?"

"Her father." Qrow answered staring her dead in the eyes, she was clearly scared of him but she pressed on

"Oh, so are you one of the other Branwen's that came to and I quote 'slaughter the competition?'." Lisa questioned and Qrow sighed

"That was Ravens' thing, I didn't care either way." Qrow waved off and turned to leave

"It must have been disappointing to be sent to the finals only to get eliminated when you were so close to winning." Lisa antagonized, remembering the last time he was on camera, her 'question' caused Qrow to stop

"Do you even know what happened to Uther after the tournament?" Qrow asked before she could answer he spoke "We kept in touch for years after the tournament, he was killed by a stamped of Goliath. I learned that it doesn't matter who wins the tournament it matters what you learn, so ask yourself what did you learn from this?" Qrow finished they he and Akame continued to walk towards the stands, leaving Lisa behind to deal with that knowledge.

(o)

It had been almost two hours and Akame still couldn't quite get used to the sounds of shouting, the number of people gathered to watch people fight was staggering, thousands of people were filling the stands and more were watching from their homes, as Qrow explained, looking behind her so many people were cheering on for the current fight, which was team CFVY verses team MWBS(Mutabilis) from Haven, in Akames' opinion it was a wash, she knew CFVY would have no trouble taking MWBS down, they were uncoordinated and inexperienced so CFVY pulled them apart with ease, the past four fights had no excitement to them due to Akame easily predicting the outcome

"I think you get why most huntsmen don't watch this thing." Qrow commented, turning to her he wasn't watching the fight at all he was on his scroll reading something off of it

"Yatsu then hits Mark, sending him here." Qrow said pointing in front of them just as the leader of MWBS hit the hard-light barrier, Qrow didn't even flinch like everyone around them "And that's a knock out due to ring out." Qrow continued, Port announced his same statement "Then the rest of MWBS is sent into panic mode, making them easy to defeat for CFVY to take the easy win." Qrow finished as he turned back to the fight and watched what he predicted happen

"I guess when you get right down to it, experienced fighters don't enjoy watching tournaments because the fighters are predictable." Akame deduced earning a nod from Qrow

"Yeah, but it has its novelties." Qrow commented as he held out a bag of popcorn to her, taking it she grabbed a piece, sniffed it, then tossed it in her mouth, Qrow held out the second bag of popcorn he brought just in case this happened, Akame scarfed down the first bag quickly grabbed the second bag and did the same

"That was so good! Where'd you get it?!" Akame questioned quickly her appetite not conquered in the slightest

"The convenient stand near the entrance, but be careful cause this stuff is really bad for you, and it'll make you real sick real fast." Qrow answered as Akame slowly began to stand

"Now before you go eating out the entire stadium of food, remember the flight here, and what the flight back will be like." Qrow said and Akame slowly sat back down

"After RWBYs' match this became very bland, do you know when the next airship will be leaving here?" Akame asked as she watched as CFVY walked off the stage

"We got a good hour, so hows 'bout we pass the time by talking with the Beacon teams?" Qrow asked as he stood, Akame followed and they walked to the Beacon waiting room was

"Personally I don't know many of the other combatants from our school apart from RWBY and JNPR." Akame said as they made their way towards the door

"Well we can get the general consensus when we walk in there." Qrow waved off as he reached the door and quickly pulled it open and walked in, they were both hit with a wave of distrust and fear

"What did you do to them kid?" Qrow ask sarcastically as he backed into the room quickly followed by Akame

"I've only interacted with most of them in combat class." Akame answered ignoring their whispers, Qrow on the other hand was listening closely, the words 'wanted', 'criminal', and 'murderer' kept popping up

"Figured it out." Qrow said earning Akames attention "Their still hung up on Esdeath putting you down as wanted, personally I think their scared for no reason. You wouldn't hurt a fly." Qrow snarked as he and Akame walked past groups of Beacon students nursing their wounds or talking about their next matches

"I doubt many here would agree with you." Akame commented looking at the groups some of which were glaring at her

"I wouldn't even agree with me, I know how hard you can hit." Qrow agreed with her as they reached the area designated for team RWBY which was occupied by Weiss, Blake, and Yang

"Hey you three." Qrow greeted earning a happy cheer from Weiss and Yang and a smile from Blake

"Akame what did you think of our first match?" Weiss asked excitedly, Akame looked at her then Qrow then back to her again

"You did fine, you've gotten very good at canceling out your emotions and fighting without restraint or 'honor' but you still had a few holes as you fought, luckily for you though Ruby was able to cover your failings." Akame said neutrally

"Yeah, I saw that too. Shes' gotten far more aggressive on the battlefield, and is starting to out class you three, work harder." Qrow added as he crossed his arms

"It should be expected she has spent most of her time with Esdeath, she has plenty of experience training people." Akame explained as they sat down with the rest of WBY

"HEY! GUYS!" Noras' voice came as she dashed over to them

"Hello Nora." Akame greeted as the girl quickly moved around each member of WBY praising their victory

"Hey guys." Jaune greeted as they walked up to join Nora "You guys were amazing out there, especially you Weiss." Jaune added, Weiss ignored him Pyrrha deflated a bit

"Trust me kid, if her sister is anything to go by shes into guys like me." Qrow commented causing Weiss to blush and turn to him

"How dare yo-" Weiss began but was stopped by Qrow speaking much louder then her

"Look if you wanna yell at someone yell at your sister. Shes the one who came begging to me." Weiss quickly looked around at the other groups around them, Qrow grinned at her then spoke again his voice dripping with sarcasm "Oh no, it looks like your stuck by societal convention, how bad for you."

"Fine. You win." Weiss surrendered, Qrow stared at her for a few moments then spoke again

"She has some nice tits though." Qrow added earning a growl from Weiss causing Qrow to chuckle and a raised eyebrow from Akame

"What about Leone?" Akame asked neutrally Qrows laughter stopped almost immediately at that

"I didn't say Winters' were perfect, Leone is on a level all of her own." Qrow clarified clearly he was very distraught, Akame nodded in agreement then the two stood in awkward silently for the first time in a while

"So... who wants to go... get... lunch?" Yang awkwardly offered earning their attention, and a sigh of relief from both

"Yeah, lets do that." Qrow agreed neutrally then shook his head and gestured for them to follow him as he drew his flask and drank rather heavily from it

"Who's Leone?" Pyrrha asked Yang as they all started to follow Qrow and Akame, at the mention of her name Qrow seemed to slouch more

"Leone is Qrows'... former? girlfriend, and Akames' former best friend. We never met her though." Yang answered quietly, watching Qrow as she did he didn't seem to notice her talking

"What happened?" Pyrrha asked, Yang shrugged and shook her head

"If you want to know you should ask Akame when shes away from Qrow. He's still hurting from what happened, I didn't even ask for his take." Yang explained earning a nod from Pyrrha

(o)

Ruby and Esdeath were currently sitting in Tais' living room, Esdeath and Tai had finally met for the first time and it had started off as arguing quite heatedly at that, but slowly their conversation found common ground and they stopped yelling at each other and started agreeing, finally choosing to listen to the conversation Ruby was surprised by it

"That's precisely why I hated dealing with Ozpin!" Tai agreed, maybe she should have been paying more attention, apparently they held the same belief when it comes to talking with Ozpin

"Um... so we should be getting back..." Ruby finally said earning both of their attention

"Yes, while I've been enjoying this conversation we should be leaving, Ruby has had quite the day today." Esdeath agreed nodding to Ruby who stood

"I saw, you guys wiped the floor with those guys, Qrow could tell you all about how exhausting our tournament." Tai said with a shiver

"Was it really that hard?" Ruby asked earning a scoff from Tai

"No, but it was because of our team, Qrow and Raven had no restraint." Tai said a distant look in his eyes as he spoke, Ruby watched at Esdeath perked up when Qrow and Raven were mentioned and more so when he said they had no restraint

"That's rather fascinating now that I think on it. You wouldn't happen to know where I might find any recordings of your matches?" Esdeath questioned eagerly

"I don't know, the only people who could tell you that would be; Ozpin, Ironwood, Qrow, or Glynda. I say her because shes far more organized then Ozpin, and I say Ironwood because our first Vytal festival was in Atlas." Tai answered calmly "But I wouldn't look into it if I were you."

"If you were me than you would know better then to warn me." Esdeath shot coldly as she walked to the door quickly followed by Ruby

"Ouch. I can see where that eis comes from." Tai said, earning a groan from Ruby who pulled open the door and pushed Esdeath out

"Bye dad!" Ruby quickly and happily said then slammed the door behind her, with a sigh Tai stood and walked into the kitchen set on cleaning it again

(o)

Entering the Manta Esdeath and Ruby sat down and waited for the pilot to take off in silence

"So... what'd you think of dad?" Ruby asked looking over to Esdeath who looked deep in thought

"He was... kind. But I'm more preoccupied with your mother. She seems familiar, her name at least." Esdeath answered "I'll talk with Qrow about it when I next see him. But enough talk about that." Esdeath waved off as she grabbed Rubys head and pulled her into her chest which was met with no resistance "Lets just enjoy our time alone together." Ruby attempted to speak but only managed to get a few muffled sounds out and causing Esdeath to giggle a bit which as far as she was concerned was a reward itself

"But I will ask one thing Ruby; do you really feel that you can grow to love me again?" Esdeath asked calmly, but it was clear to Ruby that she was asking this tired question again because she was scared that Rubys' answer would change, pulling her head from Esdeaths' chest Ruby grabbed Esdeath by the collar and in a practiced motion slammed her head into Esdeaths' with a loud crack causing both of them to fall away from each other and hold their heads

"Asking again wont change my answer! Esdeath I cant even get you out of my head anymore! For better or for worse, you're stuck with me. And... and that's a good thing. I have a hard time thinking of how to say it though, this helped... I'll try and find something that helps that isn't cracking our heads." Ruby explained as blood began to roll down her forehead, Esdeath stood and rubbed her own head "That's not what I was expecting." she commented as she grabbed Ruby again and pushed up her bangs and looked at the trail of blood "But it seems you weren't paying as much attention when I told you how to do that. You're suppose to aim for the bridge of the nose." Esdeath lectured

"I know what I was suppose to do." Ruby quickly said "I just- EEP!" Ruby began but was cut off by ice touching her forehead, back when she had Demons' Extract in her she couldn't feel cold at all, looking up at Esdeath she saw the woman blushing profusely... for some reason

"You are so beautiful Ruby." Esdeath said as she retracted the bloody ice from her forehead, Ruby became very flustered at that, she got better at taking complements but whenever Esdeath gave her one she basically melted. That woman hands out so few complements that they were as good as gold

(o)

Qrow spun as he down another beer, it wasn't the favorite way to get drunk but it was a quick one and currently the most plentiful

"'Kame-, A-kame, I ever tell you... tell you... wasn't ganged?" Qrow questioned as he swayed a bit but was quickly supported by Akame who calmly leaned him to a more stable position

"You have to speak clearly." Akame said as she was slightly put off balance by Qrow still swaying

"Am sp'king clearly! You... you're great!" Qrow commented as he leaned back and fell nearly slamming into the ground but was caught by Akame who lowered him to the ground

"I think he's had enough." Pyrrha commented with a concerned look on her face

"How much did he have to drink?" Jaune questioned looking at the bartender

"almost a whole keg." the bartender answered earning shocked looks from everyone but Akame, she just picked up Qrow and sat him on one of the bar stools

"It seems he still doesn't want to think about Leone." Akame said looking over Qrow sadly "I suppose he has a hard time letting go." she commented looking sad herself

"Qrow was never one for teams, due to his semblance he constantly pushed everyone around him away, so when he likes someone he has a very hard time letting go." Yang explained as Akame pat him on the back

"So... now that he's out would this be a good time to ask?" Pyrrha asked Yang who shrugged

after the bartender left to get a new keg Akame spoke "Leone was shot many times in the gut, with no Aura to protect her she began to bleed out quickly but beat the man responsible for the Empire we lived in to death. That was one of her favorite way to get rid of targets third only to breaking their necks which is second to strangulation." everyone looked horrified or disgusted

"What the hell is wrong with Qrow?" Yang asked looking at her uncle

"You're misconstruing bloodlust on the battlefield for bloodlust off of it. She may act brutal on the battlefield, but off it she acts like you... with less angst." Akame commented as she prevented Qrow from leaning back as he chuckle a bit then slammed his head back down on the bar, she looked at him sadly again

"I want him to move on soon, or at the very least let go." Akame said as she leaned over on him "But I suspect that hes still holding out hope that Leone will do what Esdeath did, but I don't think he wants to ask her just in case its impossible." Akame explained as she ran her hand through Qrows hair, as she did that he seemed to stop functioning entirely he was just lying completely still unlike a few seconds ago

"That's sad." Weiss commented carefully "I suppose I might have misjudged him... a lot."

"What did the General do?" Jaune asked earning all their attention

"I completely forgot you guys were here." Yang quickly said turning to the other team next to them "Sorry about that."

"That didn't answer the question." Jaune redirected still confused by her statement

"You should leave." Akame said earning the eyes of JNPR "You were called for a match two minutes ago." Akame explained causing all of them to share looks before bolting off, Akame heard Qrow mutter something along the lines of 'shes gonna use a hammer.', she couldn't figure out what he meant by that but she felt it held some form of relevance to JNPR, after they vanished she looked back to WBY and spoke again "We should get to the airships, they should be loading up now." after finishing her statement she pulled Qrow to his feet and helped him along quickly followed by WBY

(o)

Ruby and Esdeath walked off the Manta and looked around Amity something caught Rubys' eyes and she dashed off, Esdeath quickly turned and watched as she joined her team and Akame who was carrying a very drunk Qrow, Sighing Esdeath walked over and joined them

"Hello Akame, Blake, Weiss, bootlicker." Esdeath greeted causing Yang to growl at her which was ignored

"Esdeath." Akame said neutrally as Qrow leaned back looked at Esdeath and spat in her general direction before drooping forward causing Akame to stumble

"I could help with that if you want." Esdeath offered as she pointed at Qrow

"We were just heading to the airship to get him back to Beacon." Akame explained neutrally as she studied Esdeath suspiciously

"Yes, they don't leave for another thirty minutes. Mine is over there and leaves when I say so." Esdeath explained gesturing to her Manta "All I want in return is being able to carry Qrow."

Akame was torn, yes they could get there quicker but she was happy to carry Qrow when she needed to and she really didn't want to give him over to Esdeath

"Aw come on Akame! Its really fun, and you cant get motion sick if the pilots are as good as they are, we had no turbulence on the way up here." Ruby explained causing Akame to sigh

"Fine, but if you do anything weird to him your life will be the price." Akame threatened earning a nod from Esdeath as she took Qrow off Akame and they began towards the Manta

"I believe this will be your first time in my, new, manta correct?" Esdeath asked as they walked

"Yes." Akame answered calmly

"Try not to kill the pilots this time." Esdeath commented as she shifted Qrow into a more comfortable position

"I did what was asked of me, they wanted the Manta grounded, I grounded it." Akame said unfazed by Esdeaths' statement, as they reached the ship said pilots looked very concerned by Akames' presence, taking their seats they felted the ship shift a bit, and begin to move, Akame placed her hand on Qrows' chest preventing him from falling forward

"I think 'm gonna be sick." Qrow commented Esdeath stood and walked to the front of the ship then came back with a plastic bag and held it out to him, he took it but didn't seem to notice her

"Esdeath, I wanted to ask you something." Akame finally said after a few moments of quiet

"What would you like to know?" Esdeath answered as she turned her full attention to Akame

"How did you get here. I know you died, I made sure to see your body before returning to father. You were... destroyed to say the least."

"All my ribs were broken, Raven cut off my arm, Qrow stabbed me through the heart, Najenda broke my jaw, and I was covered from head to toe in deep cuts." Esdeath clarified then continued to speak "To be honest, Qrow did most of that damage, after Raven joined I knew they would either join me or I would die, so I tried to recruit them, as you can see it didn't work."

"But how are you here? Because I know for a fact Qrow wants to know, just in case Leone does the same thing." Akame explained a strange sound in her voice

"Its rare, I barely passed the trials set before me. So many powers offered me a hand, so many forces of 'good' and 'evil' attempted to win my favor, I was one of two who passed from secondary worlds without giving into one of those powers." Esdeath explained vaguely "So its very much possible that you could see her again, but I doubt she'll make any attempt to return to life, there are many forces pushing someone to stay, the moment you close your eyes to sleep your every wish comes true. Personally I got a bloody battlefield where me and my love killed all our foes and... then we did other things." Esdeath explained slowly growing red as she stared at Ruby who began to blush too

"So... you... had a wet dream every night?" Yang asked after a few moments of awkward silence

"No, I saw many different people as my love, at first it was Tatsumi but after awhile it became a shadow, showing that my love had yet to be decided once more. That and I don't know what a wet dream is." Esdeath waved off as she rapped her arm around Ruby shoulder and smiled at Yang who growled at her

"Well before Yang makes a fool of herself... again, does that mean that anyone can come back to life?" Weiss said earning a glare from Yang

"Yes, it does. So long as someone has both the strength of will and pure strength to free themselves. But there is one rule that can not be broke; you can never return to your home world, should you do that it will end in the contract ending your life, completely, there will be no afterlife should you break that rule." Esdeath explained Akame nodded as she spoke

(o)

after the airship landed Esdeath and Qrow were the first to exit, Qrow stumbled down the ramp as Esdeath struggled to keep him and herself standing, they were followed by Akame who's concern was directed at Qrow more so than Esdeath

"I'm getting really tired of this Qrow." Esdeath growled "You should lay off the alcohol its not good for you."

"'S not, not that bad." Qrow slurred as he and Esdeath sloppily made their way

"I have a feeling you're doing this on purpose." Esdeath growled again

"Your's felt are right." Qrow slurred again before lurching forward and freezing in place "Yep..." Qrow said then vomited all over the ground in front of them before falling limp

"Father?" Akame asked as she walked up to them

"I don't think he's awake anymore." Esdeath commented as she picked him up

"Why did you want to help him?" Akame finally asked

"I was hoping he would touch me so I could punch him, sadly though all he did was vomit on my boots... now that I think about it..." Esdeath spoke as an idea slowly formed in her head

"What?" Akame asked tilting her head, Esdeath let go of Qrow nearly dropping in his own vomit but he was saved by Akame catching him

"Dammit." Esdeath huffed in anger "Someone gonna clean these and if I don't get to drop him in it, someones getting hurt." Akame stood after moving Qrow somewhere safe then drew Murasame

"Umm... guys?" Ruby asked looking between the two as Esdeath drew her blade and crossed it with Murasame, looking around Ruby saw a crowd quickly forming "You're causing a scene..." Ruby tried to dissuade them again

"Step back Ruby, we have roughly three minutes before Ozpin is informed of this situation and intervenes." Esdeath said her eyes locked onto Akame

"I will defeat you, this time without interruption." Akame calmly said her eyes narrowing, Ruby groaned and moved away from them, this has happened almost everyday, Akame and Esdeath cant seem to get along, usually its just glares and angry words, sometimes things get out of hand and... well... this.

Akame stabbed Murasame into the ground and took off her coat, then grabbed it again and dropped into a more aggressive position as Esdeath took a small step back and pointed her blade at Akame after a few seconds of standing like that both lurched towards their opponent...

A/N The first chapter is a cliff hanger, I'm sorry. I felt I didn't have enough of what was going on when I'm not telling the story so that's what this was, it fleshed out a few more things that were desperately needed. I also completely forgot that the JNR existed of JNPR so their gonna be a little more involved, but their not gonna get a whole chapter to themselves, kinda like what I did with the Jaegers.

I should also mention I didn't change Rubys conversation with Summers grave in the beginning because I don't think I could have done it a justice and I think the scene itself was beautiful.