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Miracles of Ancient Wonder [RWBY/Exalted]

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Spectrum said:
Poor Weiss, in every depiction ever she's always the one with stamina problems.
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She's not as bad as Ren in that regard and has more stamina than... anyone outside of team RWBY or [REDACTED] for what it's worth.

Spectrum said:
I thought it was nailed down pretty hard that she was a Lunar at this point (and Blake is her Solar mate fight me)
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Impstar said:
It's basically confirmed that she's a Lunar.
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Yeah, which caste will be far out still, but there shouldn't be any doubt.
 
I forgot to hit reply on this... oops.

Monotov said:
....More than Nora or Pyrrha? Nora at least seems like a high stamina character. Pyrrha is just bullshit.
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So, there's stamina and Stamina.

In terms of how long one's Aura can last in a fight without glowing, Weiss multiplied her potential and was already at the top of her class before that.

In terms of the game ability Stamina,which determines such nice things as how long you can run, she's still not great. Nora and Pyrrha are certainly better.
 
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Book 1 Chapter 9.2
  • Threadmarks
    • Miracles of Ancient Wonder

    ~

    Chapter 9.2

    ~~~​

    "While your compassion may be admirable, it is also foolish."

    Blake tried to shut her voice out while she finished the stitches. It wasn't that she wanted to shoot down the ship coming after them, she just didn't have a choice.

    The still burning remains of the ship were right next to then, Yang's body rooting through the storage compartments. It had happened again, Yang was taken over by some mad woman who thought they should be everything the Anathema were accused of.

    At least she seemed to know enough about medicine to make the last of this easy.

    "Your actions will only lead to further problems in the future." Not-Yang tore the sleeves off of a flowery robe that had been in the ship. It was a completely clean cut which somehow left it looking nicer than before. "If you fail to kill your enemies, then they will only bring intelligence back and return with greater forces."

    Blake grit her teeth and glanced at the Hunters she'd pinned to the landscape with phantom swords. The waves of hatred coming from them were almost visible. She'd never seen anything like that before, even from the most aggressive racists. And yet, because of her own abilities, she knew that the woman was actually trying to help, which only made it more infuriating.

    "You're damn right." One of the men tried to spit at them, but he was way too far away. He was big, almost half a foot taller than Yang, and had been the second hardest to take down. Three swords were needed before he stopped fighting back. "If you think we'll let you destroy our Kingdom, you have another thing coming."

    "Hai, you're not helping," The more dangerous, smaller man near him half whispered. He was on the ground next to his broken Dust staff-thing. It, unfortunately, had to be shattered in the fight because he could control it without his hands and kept attacking them after he was pinned. Unlike the others, he had some amount of pity for Blake and Yang.

    She could have told him that they weren't heading for Mistral, but that would reveal exactly where they were going.


    "Don't let the demons deceive you, Seok!" The large man shouted, making the smaller one flinch at the word 'demon'. "They're only pretending to be merciful. Just you wait, one of them will ensnare us before they leave."

    Blake rolled her eyes. She might be able to do something if she wrote them a book, but that would be easy to just ignore.

    "If I wished to," Tialeth huffed, "Ensnare you', it would be even easier than throwing you to the ground."

    Blake glanced at the man she was fixing up. Everything looked good.

    "What I'd like to know is,"- Blake stood up, catching the eyes Seok. -"why did you bring someone who didn't have their Aura unlocked to a fight?"

    The man closed his eyes. "He was a merchant who offered his ship to us so that we could keep our people safe. You cost him thousands of Lien, along with nearly taking his life."

    His real meaning was as clear as day. 'You damage everything with your presence. If you are truly a good person, then you should kill yourself before you harm anyone else.'

    "If you were not so impudent, then your merchant would have never been harmed." Tialeth began moving toward him, but Blake intercepted her. "You should be bowing to the Chosen, the true rulers of Creation."

    "Please stop," Blake said between her teeth.

    The woman sneered at her. "Are you that cowardly? Do you have no dignity, no pride? Has your corruption decayed not only your Exaltation, but your spirit as well? You flinch away from insults hurled in your direction like a frightened kitten."

    Blake clenched her fists and felt her ears fold down, there was no point in wearing her bow now. No one even cared she was a Faunus now that she was Anathema, but somehow, Tialeth managed to zero in on all of the ways to make Blake's blood boil. How had Weiss dealt with her? "There's no point in arguing with them. They won't change their minds."

    "Of course they won't, they're mortals." She waved an arm wide. "They live for no more than a century and die to the slightest threat. Without our leadership and protection, they would be lost, weak, little more than chattel to both the divinities and Yozi. They lack the physical, mental, and spiritual strength to be anything else. That they have survived for this long with their heretical and suicidal beliefs is nothing less than a miracle."

    'You are their rightful ruler and it's your responsibility to take control of them, for their own good.' Blake heard the real words. It was one of the most toxic ideas she'd ever heard of.

    Several of the Hunters started shouting at her, but Blake tuned them out. It would only be a few hours; she just had to put up with this ghost in Yang's body talking about everyone just like the worst humans spoke about the Faunus. It was wrong then and it was wrong now. Just because she could overpower them didn't make her better.

    "Your Lunar wouldn't stand for this." Tialeth stripped Yang's old tank top and shorts off, then wrapped the robe around herself, completely unconcerned about what the Hunters saw.

    'Stop talking about her!' Blake shouted at her telepathically, forcing her way past any barriers.

    "While she was also cowardly, she had a degree of ambition that you sorely lack." The woman flicked her hair back, letting it fall between the wings that Yang had chosen to keep around. "Even your Sidereal, the traitorous type that they are, has managed more. In my time, you would be a ruler of millions, molding your society as you see fit. Instead, you're a sniveling cur running from your inferiors."

    She looked at Blake, voice wavering with sorrow that never reached her eyes, "Alas, if only they were still with you, then these fools would be incapable of resisting your dominion."

    'You are far too careful, but I will not recklessly endanger her as well.' The haughty voice called into Blake's mind as the other Hunters relaxed. It was a transparent misdirection, to Blake, but as far as she could tell the others bought it. 'Though, there are many other reasons why your Lunar would be nice to have, assuming she has gotten over her hangups. The Sidereal would be useful, until she inevitably betrayed you, just as she did your teachers. '

    Blake's hand twitched to her sword as another image hit her mind. A vision of blood and death. Tialeth smiled, eyes brightening.

    She must've been able to see Yang's memories of that video of Ruby. They'd been checking the news every time they reached somewhere with reception. It explained a lot about why they hadn't been seriously attacked until they got near the eastern coast.

    "I'm not going to give you the pleasure of responding to that." Blake forced her hand down and went back to the ship. "We're grabbing supplies and then leaving."

    "You'll never progress without rising to a challenge, in either love or war." She glanced at the Hunters. "What if I were to take the actions that you so dislike?"

    Blake's heart pounded harder. She could take a swing, wipe that smug grin off of her face.

    No. She needed to stay calm. She reached for the cool, tranquility of the night. Just like she and Weiss practiced, though these barbs were worse than any Weiss had thrown.

    Blake envisioned what she would need to do if any of them went bad. Actually bad rather than Yang's idea that she was evil despite only doing good things.

    "Then I would stop you from hurting good people." The air around Blake's mouth misted as she spoke. One of the Hunters' scrolls exploded in a shower of sparks. She'd need to kill some Grimm after this, but those were easy to come by.

    Tialeth's smile remained in place, but now it was approving.

    Bile rose in the back of Blake's throat. That was what she wanted?

    What sort of horror was the past if this was one of its rulers? Someone so full of pride that she expected to be attacked when she insulted someone and with such little care for the lives of others that she would threaten them to teach Blake a lesson?

    If Blake ever did wind up in charge of something, she'd never treat her people that way.

    ~~~​

    Yang woke up with a groan. Her left wing was crying out in pain, she must've rolled over in her sleep and… She reached over her shoulder, brushing against bare skin.

    She paused, looking at her lack of tank top with a sigh. At least she was wearing some sort of robe this time. It even had a slit back so her wings were free.

    "God dammit," She swore under her breath and stood up, arms and wings stretching wide.

    "I'm sorry," Yang said loudly toward Blake's Aura. She was lying far underneath her partner, who was keeping watch from a tree.

    "It wasn't as bad, this time." Blake jumped down, landing in a silent crouch. "But, I'm going to… acquire… a medical textbook that you're studying until this stops happening."

    "Wha'd she do?"

    "She ranted at me about how we should be taking charge, not running away; should be commended for resisting our corrupt natures…. And…"

    "And?"

    "And also that I'm far too…" Blake looked down, cheeks burning up. "Prudish…"

    Yang chortled, barely resisting laughing. That face was too adorable.

    "It's not funny."

    Yang threw an arm over Blake's shoulder. "Come on, it's a little funny. If she knew what you read, she wouldn't think that..."

    One of the many memories of hedonism so bad it'd make her Uncle Qrow blush threatened to reveal itself to Yang. She pushed it down in favor of one that was less bad.

    Sheets of Moonsilver so finely woven that they molded to the body of whoever laid on them, a mattress of supple red and blue Jade strips to maintain an ideal temperature, and a pillow stuffed with the dreams of men and woman who knew nothing, but joy. She fell upon the new bed and did not leave it for a week. Her concubines watched from the side, eyes full of want that would go unfulfilled, not used to their Mistress leaving them alone for so long.

    Her circle begged to join her, as did the Chosen of Serenity that oversaw its construction, but she refused them all.

    This would be her own treasure, for her and her alone.

    "Actually, I take that back, she still would."

    Blake rolled her eyes, but leaned into Yang's side. "They're not that bad."

    "They're pretty bad." Their scrolls didn't have any service, so Yang tried to get through 'one of the bad ones'. Everything was so unrealistic that she couldn't read past the third chapter. "But hey, now I know what you like."

    Yang folded her wing over Blake, prompting the girl to retreat under the feathers. She was really cold. Yang flared her Aura slightly, flames flicking at the ends of her hair.

    "Thanks." Blake wrapped an arm around Yang.

    They sat like that until Yang's stomach growled. She chuckled and pulled away. "So, do we still have my berries?"

    Blake shuddered and pointed at the pack Yang had been using as a pillow. "Urgh, yes."

    "Hey, these taste great." She pulled a small baggy out of the side and shook four bright red berries free from it. Blake grimaced when Yang popped one into her mouth. A burst of incredible sweetness erupted over her tongue.

    "Mmph, so good." Yang moaned in a very exaggerated manner as she crunched the seed and unleashed a wave of tartness. Her lips puckered from it, ending in a hiss. "Ahhh, you don't know what you're missing."

    "Every time you do that I want to slap those out of your hands and force you to throw up." Blake grabbed a bar of something for herself. "Besides, we have real food now. Those Hunters had way more than they ever would've needed."

    She tossed one to Yang. It was a 'Super Aura Builder High Protein Dust Infused Chocolate Bar'.

    Yang tossed it back. She'd never understood Mistral's obsession with marketing their weirdly named food. At least this one didn't have an awkwardly smiling Pyrrha on the wrapper. "I bet that tastes worse than the pebbles."

    Blake shrugged. "I'll take it over salivating at the sight of pine cones."

    "I don't get that. They were kinda like trail mix combined with mint ice cream to me."

    "They were the second best thing I've ever tasted," Blake sighed wistfully.

    Yang shrugged, eating another berry. It was the weirdest thing that she'd done so far, topping turning into a demon chick. If she focused her fire on her stomach, then she could eat anything, literally anything. And even better; she could do it to other people too!

    "So…" Yang drew the word out with a silly grin creeping onto her face. "What's the best thing?"

    Blake mumbled something, cheeks blazing red.

    "Ohhh…" Yang leaned closer. "Come on."

    "It…" Blake took a deep breath and seemed to force most of the blush away. "It was you."

    "Woo." Yang cheer, pumping her fist in the air. Then the memories from the previous night came back to her and she froze. "Wait a minute. You don't mean?"

    "Yeah." Blake looked away. "Last night… I, umm, I was wondering if…"

    "Blake, I-" Yang gulped. How exactly could she phrase this without it sounding really bad?

    "What's wrong?" Blake flinched back.

    Yang clenched her fists. Right, she couldn't hide anything from Blake. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, but…"

    She turned away and ran her fingers through her hair. "It kind of… ruined the idea of sexy vampires for me. If it was just biting, that would be one thing, but you sucked out part of my soul and… that was worse than anything I've ever felt before."

    "I'm sorry." Blake shrank down, cat ears flattening. "I didn't know it would be that bad, but…"

    Her nose scrunched up in thought. "But, you asked me to do it again after the first time."

    Yang shrugged. "I needed to be sure that it was as painful as I thought."

    Blake raised an eyebrow.

    "You know how when you first try spicy food it's probably gonna taste awful because you aren't used to it, but eventually it becomes delicious?"

    Blake nodded.

    "It was kinda like that. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't you chomping down on something that would burn my blood and… Then I'd get a tolerance for it?" Yang paused, grinning as Blake chuckled. "I sort of lost control of the metaphor at some point."

    "That's okay, though…" Blake looked up at the moon. "I do think I could do more with it and that might solve one of our problems."

    "What'd you mean?"

    "Something… tasted right last night and I think if I can do it again, I can figure out how to make use of…" She hissed and glanced back toward Yang. "The bit of your soul that I ate."

    "Huh." Yang ran a hand over the side of her neck where Blake had sunk her teeth in. She knew nothing was there now, but her skin still felt super sensitive. "Does it have to be from the neck?"
    NOOOOOOOOO!​
    "It just has to be your blood, just a little bit."

    "Well…." Yang drew the word out, trying to shut out the voice in her head.
    This is wrong, unclean!​
    She grit her teeth as the headache got worse. "You know what, do it."

    "What?" Blake stared at her, eyes briefly going wide. "Yang's what's happening?"

    "I said do it, okay! If it'll help us figure this stuff out… Then it's fine." Also, if the demon didn't want it to happen, then it at least wasn't evil… probably.

    Yang held her wrist out for Blake and held her breath. Moments later, there was a little pinch to go with the big pain. Her aura was being torn from her, fragments peeling away. Every hair on her body stood up as her muscles tensed, but soon enough it was done.

    Yang opened her eyes, but didn't see the familiar yellow ones looking back. Instead, they were lilac, just like hers. They were also framed by wavy blonde hair, just like hers. And the girl was wearing a weird robe thing that showed a ton of cleavage, just like…

    "Woah." Yang laughed nervously. "Uhh…"

    "Yang, it's me." Blake even sounded just like her.

    "There are so many questions that I never thought I'd need to answer."

    "What're you…" Her doppelganger squinted at her, before recoiling. "Why?"

    "Like you haven't thought about it." Yang crossed her arms and turned away, but still smiled even though she knew Blake would get her meaning.

    "I… No, no I haven't."

    Yang narrowed her eyes, watching the expression that she'd certainly never be caught wearing. "Well, I call dibs then."

    "Dibs on what?"

    "Figuring out the next person whose face you steal."

    "It's just an illusion!"

    Yang poked not-herself in the boob. "Feels pretty real to me."

    The other Yang shimmered and shattered, revealing a very sour Blake. Yang gave her a bright smile in response.

    "Yang," Blake said very forcefully. "What's wrong?"

    "Nothing's wrong. I just think-"

    "You only get like this when the demon's yelling at you. What's wrong?"

    Yang dropped the smile and sighed. "It's getting to me again and I missed the opportunity to give another evil speech to those Hunters. I don't have Weiss as a rival anymore, not directly anyway, so… If that was supposed to work, we'd need to go further and… And I know you're not ready for that right now so…"


    "Yang, what's causing this?"

    "You already know."

    "I want you to say it." Blake grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Please."

    Yang took a deep breath. "It's Ruby."

    Blake nodded.

    "She… she threw her life away for us and…" She held her eyes shut. "And we're already dead."

    "Yang, we're both still here."

    "No we aren't. Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long are dead. We're stuck in limbo until we learn how to disguise ourselves and become other people."

    "We'll still be the same people."

    Yang grabbed her own hair and made a fist. It just put pressure against her head, when it would've torn free normally. Now, she'd need to pull hard enough to bend steel to do it. "No we won't. We'll have new names, new faces, new everything. Our friends, our families, everyone we knew and loved, they'll all be gone!"

    Blake squeezed her hand again while she panted.

    "And, Ruby just did the same thing to herself, all to try and help us." Yang could feel the edges of her eyes watering up, but she refused to cry, she didn't deserve to cry when Ruby didn't in that video. "And.. and…"

    Blake moved closed, patting her on the shoulder.

    "And if I'd just talked to her, maybe none of this would've happened. We could still be at Beacon with her. She'd be on her way to becoming a huntress, and…"

    Yang pulled her hand from her hair and forced her rage into it. A fire so bright she could see it through closed eyes ignited as she smashed the ground beneath them. The dirt rolled up into a wave, tossing both of them into the air.

    Blake landed on her lap, facing towards her. Yang didn't know which of them hugged the other first.

    "I'm a terrible sister. I treated her like a rabid dog and she threw everything she ever dreamed of away to help me."

    "It's not your fault. None of us knew how she would react."

    "I should've."

    "None of us even knew she could stop them like that."

    "It doesn't matter." Yang shook her head. "I-"

    Blake cut her off with a kiss. She grabbed the back of Yang's head and held their mouths together until she started to feel her lungs burning.

    Eventually, Blake pulled back. "Yang, please, stop beating yourself up. It's not good for you and… and... it won't be good for Ruby if she sees you like this."

    Yang winced. Blake was… probably right. Yang'd always been the cool big sister. She made sure Ruby was happy and safe, even when she was tearing herself up inside. She'd been the rock in the storm, the person in their house who was there to catch both Ruby and dad whenever they needed her.

    Dad… He'd be even worse than when mom died. She could- no, letting him know that she was still herself would make this even more painful for him.

    "If you won't forgive yourself for your own sake. Do it for hers." Blake laid a hand on her cheek and rubbed it. "Besides, even if we have to change, we'll still have both Weiss and Ruby and… and remaking your life isn't that bad. The first time was rough, I'm sure the second'll be easier."

    "Blake, I- I'm so sorry, I didn't think about..." She hadn't even considered what running away from the White Fang and then fighting them felt like.

    "It's fine… I made peace with what would happen a while ago."

    "No, if you're hurting, you should tell me, I-"

    "Yang, please. I'm fine for now. You don't need more burdens."

    Yang grit her teeth. She'd killed Blake's ex-boyfriend, someone who her partner used to love. She'd probably killed a bunch of Blake's old friends too.

    "Okay." Yang nodded. "But, when we get to Menagerie, we're gonna talk about that."

    Blake stared at the ground for several seconds. "We'll need to… Especially if we do go to my parents."

    "Are you sure they'll be okay with…" Yang flapped a wing for emphasis.

    "You look like a… very unusual Faunus right now. No one else has wings that actually let them fly."

    Yang nodded. She'd never heard about it before, but they were too useful to give up.

    "Also, about everything else, my dad was part of the cult of Luna way back when. They drew a lot of the more… bestial Faunus. They've also became much more open about talking to the silver Anathema ever since the White Fang became violent." Blake sighed. "I… I don't know what mom or dad'll do, but they'd be better than anywhere else."

    "If it'd be an issue, I could pull them back in… Maybe replace them with a tail or horns or something."

    "Maybe?"

    "Pulling them back should be as easy as when I became a blonde again." That took her a couple of hours to figure out, but was important because Yang did not want to spend the rest of her life looking like an evil version of her mother. "But, I'd need to go bright again to make new ones."

    "Oh…"

    "Yeah. They'd probably be, well, kinda demonic too. More like the Grimm than any normal animal."

    "I don't think anyone would ask about that. We're compared to the Grimm so often that doing it to ourselves." Blake shuddered. "Just… no."

    Yang chuckled. "Yeah, I-"

    A low sound started echoing over the mountains. It blared so loudly that all of the birds nearby immediately took off.

    "A Grimm siren," Yang said softly.

    "We just took out a group of Hunters and their airship… That they borrowed from a nearby town..." Blake looked to the sky. "That's a lot of Nevermore."

    "We need to help them." Yang stood up and stretched her wings. "They'll be defenseless."

    "Yeah." Blake stood up, scooping their bag up in a smooth motion.

    "Looks like I'll get the chance to give myself horns sooner than I thought."

    "You think you'll need that much?"

    "If the town attacks us while we're trying to save it… Yeah." Yang cracked her knuckles. "I might do it anyway just to make them run for safety."

    "Let's do it."

    Yang scooped Blake up in a bridal carry, which made a certain part of her extra giddy, and took off. They had a fight to handle, a fight that she could really cut loose in. The only way it'd be better was if she was carrying Weiss too, with her little sister leading the charge.
     
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    • Well, at least they know Ruby stood up for them, that's important

    That's gonna be a hell of a reunion
     
    NemoMarx said:
    So wait, is Blake a lunar too? I know they get Drink the Hearts Blood or something.
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    She is an Abyssal.

    Blake almost certainly used Face-Drinking Bite.

    This Charm enhances an Abyssal's innate bite attack, allowing her to absorb a victim's visage with the stolen Essence. The Abyssal gains no motes from the attack but must have been able to do so for this Charm to function.

    As Face-Drinking Bite activates, the Abyssal's outward appearance shimmers and warps into an exact likeness of the victim. Current clothing may be copied as part of the ruse, though an actual disguise is more versatile since it may be removed without disappearing. For as long as the mask remains intact, the Abyssal replaces her Appearance rating with the victim's at the time of the bite. This perfect unnatural Illusion fools all senses, even those with superhuman acuity, though anyone with reason to suspect a ruse may spend four Willpower points to see past it and perceive the Abyssal as she truly is for one day. (This stricter scrutiny costs only one Willpower point if the skeptic has seen through the specific illusion before). Onlookers with any form of Essence-based perception (such as Measure the Wind or All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight) also see through this Charm automatically without effort on their part.

    Keep in mind that most people do not immediately leap to the conclusion that a person who acts strangely is actually a doppelganger unless they have experience with such tricks.

    I wonder if that applies to target shapeshifting. Once Yang learns LSD, will this charm copy LSDs false image, or still use Yangs real face. Theres also an addon where a basic kiss will suffice and drinking blood is not required.
     
    Also: what in the name of all the gods are those berries? Just Yang being a tease? Lack of real food? Or is there actually something to them?
     
    kinigget said:
    Also: what in the name of all the gods are those berries? Just Yang being a tease? Lack of real food? Or is there actually something to them?
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    Yang appears to have picked up By Hunger Nourished (alternatively Nonsensical Nutrition Numen), which lets you eat anything that fits in your mouth. Safely.
    When used on others, making the food immediately palatable is optional, but if you do it's "the best-tasting food the target can remember eating". It has an alternative mode that limits the target's diet to a single item; the example given is forcing a prisoner to eat their own poop.
     
    Graveless said:
    Yang could feel the edges of her eyes watering up, but she refused to cry, she didn't deserve to cry when Ruby didn't in that video.
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    Oh hell I just noticed this

    "Monsters don't cry" indeed

    It's...

    Yang will use any excuse to beat herself up, and while having both a literal demon And Tialeth in the back of her head isn't doing her any favors, the worst is how she measures herself using Ruby as a standard

    She was devastated when Ruby reacted exactly as she feared when she found out Yang was Anathema, but now that she's gotten over the initial shock and worked out exactly how she feels about the matter, Yang is right back to being devestated because she didn't give Ruby a chance to come around

    I understand that self-loathing and self-recrimination are big parts of her character here (and again, Tialeth is not helping), but I'd really like to see her stop treating herself like this at some point, and I honestly think the only thing that is going to help that is Ruby
     
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    kinigget said:
    Also: what in the name of all the gods are those berries? Just Yang being a tease? Lack of real food? Or is there actually something to them?
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    Its this charm, as already mentioned. Note the part about the infernal gaining "all manner of alien cravings". The berries may be toxic or taste horrible or such, but Yang can now eat anything, and so has cravings for such things. This charm is also just one of many ways in which an infernal can begin to become nonhuman/transhuman. Yang can now potentially go all "Ooh, rocks covered in moss and dead decomposing rats! Delicious! My favourite food. Omnomnom.".

    Though unlike some, this charm is not permanent. Though there is probably a psychological component that encourages use. Why bother wasting lots of time cooking or spend money on food, when you can just eat rocks, while also having the rocks likely taste better than anything not made by a master chef.

    And as stated, she can give the benefits of the charm to others (for a day). The two of them ran away to wilderness without too much planning, and so could not have carried much food or water with them. This charm fixes the issue of lack of food or clean water for both of them.

    BY HUNGER NOURISHED
    Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
    Keywords: Touch
    Duration: One day
    Prerequisite Charms: By Pain Reforged

    The Infernal stokes the furnace of his stomach, igniting a corrosive Essence flame within his guts. He may consume any matter he can fit in his mouth and it nourishes him as if it were the finest repast. He can perfectly digest the most toxic or disease-riddled substances without any ill effects, though indestructible objects like most artifacts simply pass through his digestion unharmed (and without harming him). Use of this Charm tends to skew the Infernal's palate, giving him all manner of alien cravings. Matter consumed while using this Charm is digested immediately and doesn't become dangerous again within the body. This Charm is equally effective at addressing hunger and thirst.

    In lieu of enchanting themselves, Infernals may use By Hunger Nourished to enchant another being with a touch. If the target is not a native of Malfeas, she does not automatically acclimate to the taste of anything normally inedible to her, requiring a Stamina + Resistance roll to avoid vomiting immediately (difficulty 1-5 based on how vile the substance is). It is possible to provide such acclimation as part of activating the Charm, however, in which case the substance becomes the best-tasting food the target can remember eating. The Infernal may alternately impose a more limited "gift" that allows the target to eat one specific substance, but the target must roll to resist vomiting at difficulty 6 whenever she eats anything else for the duration of the Charm.

    Repeated use of this Charm to make a victim unable to eat anything at hand will eventually lead to fatal starvation. It is possible to select matter that is utterly inaccessible, like the tears of Saturn, though most Infernals stick with the old comic standby of making prisoners eat their own excrement. Though they might wish otherwise, targets with modified diets intuitively understand what they need to eat to survive.
     
    No blurb by blurb responses but there were tons of great lines and PROGRESS. :D (Tialeth secret best girl)

    Just some corrections/brief comments:
    Graveless said:
    "Even your Sidereal, the traitorous type that they are, has managed more. In my time, you would be a ruler of millions, molding your society as you see fit. Instead, you're a sniveling curr running from you inferiors."
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    cur
    your

    Graveless said:
    Blake's hand twitched to her sword as another image hit her mind. aAvision of blood and death. Tialeth smiled, eyes brightening.
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    A vision

    Graveless said:
    "You'll never progress without rising to a challenge, in either love or war" She glanced at the Hunters. "What if I were to take the actions that you so dislike?"
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    missing period

    Graveless said:
    Sheets of Moonsilver so finely woven that they molded to the body of whoever laid on them, a mattress of supple red and blue Jade strips to maintain an ideal temperature, and a pillow stuffed with the dreams of men and woman who knew nothing, but joy. She fell upon the new bed and did not leave it for a week. Her concubines watched from the side, eyes full of want that would go unfulfilled, not used to their Mistress leaving them alone for so long.

    Her circle begged to join her, as did the Chosen of Serenity that oversaw its construction, but she refused them all.

    This would be her own treasure, for her and her alone.
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    ...where can I get a bed like this? I mean, yeah I'd probably never be able to leave it but still.
     
    kinigget said:
    Also: what in the name of all the gods are those berries? Just Yang being a tease? Lack of real food? Or is there actually something to them?
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    Datakim said:
    Its this charm, as already mentioned. Note the part about the infernal gaining "all manner of alien cravings". The berries may be toxic or taste horrible or such, but Yang can now eat anything, and so has cravings for such things. This charm is also just one of many ways in which an infernal can begin to become nonhuman/transhuman. Yang can now potentially go all "Ooh, rocks covered in moss and dead decomposing rats! Delicious! My favourite food. Omnomnom.".
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    This is the charm and the berries were supposed to be similar to Yew berries.

    Spectrum said:
    cur
    your

    A vision

    missing period
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    Thank you!
     
    So I went back and read through the whole thing again to see what new insights popped up and found a few things

    First, the signs of Blake being an Abyssal showed up around the same time as the signs of Yang being an infernal. To the point that if you know what to look for it's a dead giveaway and only like one person caught it and was being argued against, amusingly enough.

    Second is that Weiss never actually explicitry admits to anything at any point, relying instead on implication and letting people draw their own conclusions. Even when she goes to Ironwood for the express purpose of revealing herself as an Exalt she only ever mentions "blessings", and never actually states who her "patron" is

    Also: I am now convinced that it's only a matter of time before Pyrrha exalts as a Solar, probably during a fight with Cinder, which is also likely to expose Weiss somehow, either by Qrow getting nosy or her having to do something drastic that finally has her show Anima.

    Well...

    That's where I would go from here at least, but I'm not Graveless
     
    I think jaune is gonna exalt ad a Zenith and is Weiss mate.

    He alredy worship TUS and it wolud be pretty funny to see Weiss having strong love for jaune!
     
    How did I let this story slip for so long? I really shouldn't have, it's still brilliant. All the foreshadowing @kinigget mentioned is pretty impressive.

    And it's really great that Ruby - the one Exalt Ospyn actually trusted to not be "Anathema" and whom he actively was protecting - is the one which took actions which everyone fears of the "Anathema".
     
    kinigget said:
    She was devastated when Ruby reacted exactly as she feared when she found out Yang was Anathema, but now that she's gotten over the initial shock and worked out exactly how she feels about the matter, Yang is right back to being devestated because she didn't give Ruby a chance to come around
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    Yang has a lot of problems, many of which getting to have an honest talk with Ruby will help with. Though, it's not only that which'll help.

    In part of my planning, I figured out how the girls would interact with each other and serve as foils for each other in different ways. Ruby and Yang's thoughts about Anathema were an important part of theirs as the two main characters who grew up in Hunter culture.

    One of the many omake ideas I had, which won't get written thanks to time being a thing, was showing this in the other direction with Journeys Yang and Dawn Ruby.

    kinigget said:
    First, the signs of Blake being an Abyssal showed up around the same time as the signs of Yang being an infernal. To the point that if you know what to look for it's a dead giveaway and only like one person caught it and was being argued against, amusingly enough.
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    Serafina said:
    All the foreshadowing @kinigget mentioned is pretty impressive.
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    Thanks!

    Figuring out when and how much to foreshadow was one of the tough things, especially with Weiss. I didn't have many good options thanks to how the unique Lunar traits all revolve around animals or shapeshifting. Stupid Silver-Solar charm design.
     
    Graveless said:
    Figuring out when and how much to foreshadow was one of the tough things, especially with Weiss. I didn't have many good options thanks to how the unique Lunar traits all revolve around animals or shapeshifting. Stupid Silver-Solar charm design.
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    There's a reason TAW is so popular. A little tricky to use, but at least sets them off distinctly.
     
    I think you did brilliantly with showing Weiss as an Exalt. Her social actions were always so well-done that it was easy to see how they were charm-backed (even if they weren't at any given moment, having the option lets you act quite differently) and that's just such a good contrast to what a Huntress could do.

    And while none of that involved shapeshifting, that's not the only theme Lunars can have.
    Weiss acted subtly - the only point where she forced anything was during her cafeteria-speech, and even that was mostly "let them come to their own conclusions". In many ways, she was a manipulative advisor - and that's actually a good theme for Lunars. Letting your social influence rest on peoples own opinions and conclusions (instead of the Solar way, where it's centered around your charisma or your manipulation of words, or the Sidereal way which is based around saying the exact right thing at the exact right time, a false whisper in the right ear) - that's it's own kind of manipulation and it fits Lunars well IMO.

    And Weiss does that, constantly. In retrospect, it just fits her being a Lunar really well - at the same time, it wasn't too obvious, partially because a lot of other exalt-types can be manipulative, partially because there's no strongly established Lunar niche, but also because you just wrote it really well.
     
    Book 1 Chapter 9.3
  • Threadmarks
    • Miracles of Ancient Wonder

    ~

    Chapter 9.3

    ~~~​

    Qrow stepped into the workshop as quietly as he could. Oz had been waiting for him, but the old man didn't notice him enter. He was staring at a bunch of paintings. Or, more accurately, a particular painting of an old man.

    After standing around for almost a minute, Qrow coughed loudly. Oz shifted and turned around.

    "Ahh, Qrow. I'm sorry, I was simply-"

    "It's fine." Qrow cut him off. "It hasn't been easy for any of us."

    Oz nodded. "Indeed. How was Taiyang?"

    "Alive." Qrow looked away. He knew what was coming next.

    "You didn't speak with him?"

    "What am I supposed to say? Sorry your daughters are traitors and Anathema?" Qrow threw his arms into the air. The man's entire life is ruined."

    "Don't you think he would need his friends around considering what has happened?"

    "Low blow, Oz," Qrow grumbled under his breath, still loud enough for Oz to hear. "I'm no good with that stuff. I'd make it worse, just like what happened with Ruby."

    "Mmh." Oz made a noncommittal hum. "Family bonds are very important and not just those of blood. There are many instances when the ones you care about the most are not related to you, and those who are cause the most pain of all."

    Ozpin turned to look Qrow in the eyes. "You're one of the only brothers he has left and he your's."

    "Spare me the lecture." Qrow stepped up next to him and looked at the painting. There was something about the old man's eyes. They were clear, but held what seemed like a bottomless well of knowledge, even though it was only a painting. "Who is this one?"

    "My father."


    "Uhh…" Qrow looked over at the far end. That one was a man whose clothing looked a little dated, but not all that unusual. "Do you mean?"

    "Yes, that one." Oz kept his eyes locked on it. "I can't help but wonder, what is it that he thought would happen? Did he foresee what Salem would do, what she would turn the Grimm into? Did he know that the gods would leave us behind?"

    "Well, at least one of them seem to be paying attention now that Ruby's here," Qrow grumbled. He still wasn't sure what to think about that. Ruby'd managed what no one had in… centuries if Oz was right, when Mars responded to her.

    When the old man first told them that while the gods existed they didn't seem to care about us, he and Summer didn't take it well. She'd torn her sunburst pendant off so quickly it took a good chunk of her shirt with it. Qrow's joined it in short order. Poor Tai still couldn't know why they had such a drastic change.

    "Yes. Though, I would have preferred a different conflict be brought to our doorstep."

    "You and me both."

    Oz checked his watch, giving the mechanism a quick wind and keeping to his theme even when it wasn't practical. "We shouldn't keep James waiting any longer."

    "You know what he called us in for?"

    "An announcement, he didn't say anything else." Oz called the elevator down and they waited without talking.

    Qrow prepared himself with a long swig, just enough to make his face feel slightly hot.

    The doors opened to a smug James and sour Glynda.

    While Oz and James greeted each other, Qrow pointed at the cane leaning next to her. "You stealing Oz's shtick?"

    "Only, for the next two weeks," Glynda snapped. "Peter's proctoring the combat finals in my stead."

    Qrow hissed and nodded. Glynda was one of the very few people who could take Qrow and she'd still lost as soon as Ruby started fighting seriously. Even knowing what they were up against, that must've stung, especially for someone who was as married to her job as the perpetually single combat professor. Who couldn't even teach her own class.

    He'd lay off the jabs for… probably the next year to be safe.

    Oz sat down, coffee in hand, and dimmed the windows. When Qrow checked his scroll, it didn't have a signal.

    "Now then," James cleared his throat. "I'm sure you all want to know why I called you here."

    Qrow rolled his eyes.

    "I wanted to let you know that I brought on a new analyst last week and she had a number of questions that only you could answer."

    "What does she already know?" Glynda asked.

    "She's been informed about the Maidens and what we've found about the Anathema. I haven't-"

    "You told her about the Anathema secrets?" Qrow shouted.

    "Actually, no. She figured everything we currently know out herself, that's why I asked her to investigate other mysteries."

    Qrow and Glynda looked at Professor Ozpin, who hadn't reacted to any of the announcement.

    "Hmm." Glynda crossed her arms, eyes briefly flickering into a daze when the curse hit her. "I still don't see why you called all of us in if that's the case, you have our reports."

    "She wanted to ask you about them herself."

    "She's in Vale?"

    "Yes."

    Glynda glared at him, but just got a half-smile in return.

    "James, that's enough teasing." Oz sighed. "There's no point in keeping it a secret."

    "Very well." He tapped Oz's desk and Weiss Schnee's records from Beacon appeared. "Introducing my new analyst."

    "No." Qrow almost fell on his face. "You didn't. I just told you that-"

    He'd told them to look into her more right before he failed at helping Ruby.

    "I know what you recommended." James dropped his voice, eyes deadly serious. "And she isn't going to be investigated, not by any of us."

    Glynda tried to say something, but lost the energy halfway through opening her mouth.

    Qrow's own body tried to betray him, but he pushed through it. "Son of a bitch! I was right! She's-"

    And that was when his mouth betrayed him. An oppressive weight strangled his soul while he tried to form the words. Qrow sputtered, trying to make them come out, but it was no good.

    "Yes, Qrow, you were right, but we have no more choice in the matter."

    "There are always other options." Oz calmly sipped his coffee. "You're asking us to stand by and allow Atlas to fall to-"

    Even Oz couldn't escape it.

    "No." James shook his head. "I'm asking you to give me the same benefit of the doubt that you gave Ruby Rose."

    "Yeah, well, we all know how that turned out," Qrow said more at the window than any of them. After a moment of stunned silence, he looked back. "What? She might be my niece, but someone needs to say it. That bit us in the ass worse than… Actually, I'm not sure we've made a worse call."

    "It may have been better to reveal more to her sooner," Oz took a deep breath. "Regardless, we had a good reason to believe that Miss Rose would be different than the others."

    "I'm not so sure." James crossed his arms. "From what you've told me, she's done nothing but attack every defense against the Anathema that she finds immoral and bucked all authority. Which is exactly what her predecessors in that vision did."

    "I've taught her for months," Glynda said. "And the attitude of the girl I fought resembles the one I remember from the classroom, but it was… more extreme than I ever would have imagined.."

    "And, thanks to Miss Schnee, we may have a reason for that." James threw several charts up. "She found the pattern we hadn't noticed until the experiments on the new type Anathema. All of them are prone to drastic behavioral changes. She believes that it's triggered when they act against the wishes of the god who gave them their power."

    Qrow tried to speak again, but the fog was overwhelming this time. He stumbled, catching himself on the wall. James was talking again, but it sounded like Qrow was underwater. Nothing could be made out. Oz said something as well, then it was back to James, just as the water was clearing.

    "-caused a huge conflict." James slammed his real hand on Oz's desk. "It fits the theory perfectly."

    Oz sighed. "Very well. Considering we can't fight against her curse, any other actions we might wish to take are irrelevant. If she is to remain at Beacon, we'll need to interact with her on a weekly basis no matter what."

    "You're buying this, Oz?" Qrow couldn't believe it. "She's a-"

    He couldn't say it. He couldn't say the damn word.

    "She's a Schnee!"

    James groaned. "'Yes, again, you were right in all of you assumptions about how much the Schnee family was taking advantage of their position. Do you have any other objections to speaking with her? You're all already under the thrall of one potential Anathema, all of the Hunters in Vale seem to be. If a different one was able to break that, wouldn't it be worth the risk?"

    There were so many things Qrow wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't form the words.

    "I don't like this, but do not have any objections I can voice," Glynda said as she stared at the screen.

    "Will you speak honestly with her?" James stepped over to the elevator.

    All three of them nodded.

    "I'll be right back."

    As soon as he left, Qrow was at Oz's desk. "Why?"

    "We have no choice." Oz folded his hands in front of him and leaned his head on them. "We can't fight back, against anything."

    Qrow voice caught in his throat again. There was no point in trying to plan for fighting against a Schnee controlled Atlas when they couldn't do anything about it.

    Qrow waited for the elevator to return, tracking time by the rotation of the gears in the floor. The largest got through almost fifteen rotations before James and Weiss stepped out. She was a perfect example of a Schnee. Prim, proper, and dressed in white and blue, sword on her belt.

    "Thank you for seeing me." She curtsied, ice cold eyes settling on Oz.

    Qrow snorted and walked back to the side of the room, taking up a position on the wall.

    "I understand that you may have reservations that are unlikely to be assuaged, but I still wish to tell you that I only want the best for both Atlas and Vale."

    "You have some questions for us?" Glynda crossed her arms, eyes flickering between Weiss' face and her hands.

    "Yes." She needed. "But first, is the room secure?"

    Oz dimmed the windows and the elevator's locked with a loud clang. "It is."

    "Thank you." She bowed her head to him. "I've spent the past week looking over the documents regarding the powers of the Maidens and any reports of public sightings. As far as I understand the situation: the Winter Maiden has been missing ever since the old one died over a decade ago; Summer is not very cooperative, but is still willing to help when you contact her; Fall is comatose; and Spring is currently active in an undisclosed location. Is this correct?"

    Qrow nodded.

    "I've been asked to focus on finding the new Winter Maiden, but there's one problem." Weiss looked right at him. "I don't think she can be found."

    "Tell us something we didn't know. We've been trying to track her down for years."

    "Have you considered that she might have been found by someone else?" Weiss pulled her own scroll out and threw several charts up. "Unlike previous instances, there have be very few potential sightings. And, it seems like you've already investigated each of the incidents."

    Glynda pushed her glasses up. "If the power went to someone who was sufficiently careful, it would be nigh impossible to find them."

    "No one's sufficiently careful to avoid drawing attention while everyone carries a camera around at all times."

    "She could easily be outside of the kingdoms."

    "It's possible, but I doubt it. She would be much more likely to reveal herself if that were the case due to being less exposed to potential warnings than someone who grew up within the kingdoms." She paused for a moment. "Just like how the Anathema are easier to find when they think they're free from observation."

    Qrow clenched his fists.

    "Right now, I have three theories as to why she hasn't been found. The first is enemy action."

    Oz said, "There are others who are aware of the existence of the Maidens and actively attempt to subvert them. During the Great War, one perished and the next bearer of her power decided she would rather help her family win the war than protect her kingdom."

    "Muirgen Delaney?"

    "The very same." Oz nodded. "Her 'impossible sorcery' was really the magic of the Maidens allowing her to draw on more power than any other Huntress. But, even with their great power, their Auras are no stronger than normal."

    "Unlike the Anathema who killed her."

    "Quite."

    "I've compiled a list of potential organizations that could easily hide someone with that type of power. The most likely candidates are the Ahlberg family in Atlas or the Twilight Breeze monastery in Mistral."

    The biggest potential in Qrow's mind was Salem, but if James hadn't hold her about that, he certainly wasn't about to.

    "My second theory is what I needed to ask you about." She turned to Qrow again. "One possibility for why you haven't been able to find the new Maiden, is that the old one is still alive."

    "No." He pushed himself away from the wall.

    "Have you ever considered-"

    "Summer wouldn't do that to her family. If she was still alive, she'd be here."

    Weiss narrowed her eyes. "It is entirely possible that she might've chosen to-"

    "She's dead. I spent almost a year searching for her and found nothing." He slammed his fist into the window, shaking the glass. "Whoever killed her left a twenty foot crater the behind. All that was left of her was the Orichalcum that went into her swords."

    "She might've survived and-"

    Qrow growled and opened the glass door.

    "Qrow!" Oz shouted, standing up.

    "I'm not going to stand here and listen to this... " He tried to say it again, but the word still wouldn't come out. "To this!"

    "What are you doing?" James stepped toward him.

    "I'm going back to Patch." He rolled his shoulder and got ready to shift. "If she's going to be here, then I'm going to do something I should've done years ago and get someone else in my corner."

    Qrow jumped off of the tower before any of them could say anything else.

    ~~~​

    Qrow stepped up to the door and held his fist up. He took a deep breath, slicked his hair back, and gently knocked. After waiting for nearly a minute, he hit the door a lot harder. "Tai, it's Qrow. Come on, I can hear the TV."

    After another minute of waiting with no response, he walked over to the window and reached for the top of the frame. The spare key was in the same place it always was.

    As the door opened, he was hit by the overwhelming stench of stale beer. The massive pile of cans in the corner explained that one.

    "Tai?" He stepped inside, cringing. The lights were on and he could hear the TV in the background, but the house was a mess. The side tables were covered with half empty food containers and other bottles.

    Zwei, Tai's little dog, padded out from the living room with half of a drumstick in his mouth. He looked at Qrow with those beady little eyes that knew more than they should and turned toward the kitchen.

    "Tai!" Qrow shouted as he dashed over to it. If Tai wasn't responding then… No, that was impossible. He wouldn't do that.

    Tai's scroll was perched above the sink with a bottle on its side nearby. Tai'd always loved the expensive Atlas stuff and now half of it was poured over the counter. Qrow set it back up and picked up the scroll. Tai'd been watching a video of Yang… When she looked like a more evil version of Raven.

    "Shit." A couple of second was all that he needed to see. She was flying around, surrounded by green fire that hurt to look at even through the screen, and getting blasted by what had to be village defense guns. All that while tearing Grimm limb from limb. She was cleaning up faster than Qrow could manage at his best. Every punch ignited the Grimm with the same sick fire she was wrapped in. It also shot them out into the crowd, where they promptly exploded, taking even more with them.

    "Dammit Tai, why were you watching this?" Qrow took a swig from the bottle and shifted into his bird form. If Tai wasn't at home, there were only three other options.

    Luckily he got it on the first try.

    Qrow circled down towards Summer's grave, shifting back just above the ground. Tai was slumped over it with his arms wrapped around the stone. His sobs were almost drowned out by the breeze.

    "Tai." Qrow stepped forward, holding his hand out.

    "What'd you want?" Tai slurred his words as he turned around. His eyes were red and wild, the bags underneath them so dark he looked like he got slugged. He hadn't shaved in weeks and from the looks of it, probably hadn't changed his shirt in that long either.

    "I came to check up on you. See how you were doing."

    "Why do you care?" Tai growled.

    "Because you're my fr-"

    "Bullshit." He tried to push himself up, but his hand slipped on the grave. "You're never just checking up. You weren't there when Yang went missing. You didn't help Ruby and…"

    Tai closed his eyes and nodded for almost a minute before he continued. "And you weren't there when we lost Summer. You're never around when we needed you."

    Qrow clenched his fists. He wasn't there because he was wandering around Vale in a drunken stupor that he still couldn't remember. Tai knew that, he'd known for years, but it wouldn't do any good to throw it in his face now. "I'm sorry. I should've been there for you."

    Tai looked like he just saw a ghost.

    "What?"

    "You're sorry?"

    "Yeah, you're right."Qrow sat down and pulled his flask out. "I screwed up... big time. Should've helped the squirt out, not made her even madder."

    Tai pulled himself up, leaning on his knees to keep from falling over. He watched the flask as Qrow took another drink. He reached for it; Qrow didn't let him, he was more than drunk enough.

    "She always took after Summer that way, never willing to let something bad happen if she could help it."

    "Yeah." Qrow nodded. "How come you can remember her so well?"

    "Every morning, I read her emails and watch the video of her fighting until I remember what it was like to hold her in my arms for the first time." A tear ran down his cheek." Until I remember what it was like when we were a family."

    Qrow didn't know what to say to that. Plenty of things crossed his mind, but maybe he didn't need to do anything. Instead, he grabbed Tai's shoulder and squeezed.

    It was enough to know that someone else was there. Someone else was hurting.

    They just sat on the edge of the cliff, watching the sun slowly sink under the treeline.

    After what must've been hours, Tai spoke again. "I dreamed about her last night. First time in years..."

    "Oh?" Qrow raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Tell me more."

    "It wasn't like that." Tai elbowed him. "She was standing at the side of a small lake in her old Huntress outfit, the one from when we were still at Beacon."

    Qrow nodded.

    "She looked a lot like she did before she died, just like in that picture with Yang riding on her shoulders, but her eyes were different, deeper." Tai raised his hands, grasping at the air. "It was like… You know how sometimes when Professor Ozpin watched us and we were sure he was thinking something? Like he saw something we couldn't and knew us better than we knew ourselves?"

    "Yeah." He knew that look all too well.

    "It was kinda like that," Tai continued after a deep breath. "She said that she wanted me to know that she was proud of me, proud of the girls. She was sure that they'd have incredible futures ahead of them and wanted us to know that she'd always be there for us."

    Qrow patted him on the back as he started sobbing again.

    "What a fucking joke." Tai stammered between breaths. "Yang's Anathema. Ruby's… something, probably also Anathema, and even if she isn't... I'm a giant screw up of a father who-"

    "Tai, you don't need to be that hard on yourself?"

    "Don't I? My girls are gone, Qrow. What sort of father would let this happened?"

    "Look, it's… not as bad as you think it is." They'd have a place in Atlas if nothing else.

    Tai gave him an a look of pure venom. "Is this another one of those 'I can't talk about it' things?"

    "Yes, but not for that reason." Qrow leaned back at looked at the moon. For some reason, it felt like it was smiling at him. "Tai, I need to tell you something about Summer."

    "Qrow, you'd better not tell me she's still alive and you've hidden her all this time."

    "I wish." Qrow took one more swig, finishing off his flask. "Tai, you remember the vacation we took after we graduated? When me, Summer, and Raven took off for a weekend and came back with that cute Vaccuan Huntress?"

    "You mean when you three stuck me with scouting duty so you could, and I quote, 'Hunt down the finest piece of ass you could find with your best wing-girls'?"

    Qrow nodded.

    "Yeah, I remember." Tai leaned back. "I was pissed until I saw her. Thought you two were good for each other, especially since you spent every night together."

    "Well, you see, me and her weren't actually doing anything and she wasn't really a Huntress."

    "Could've fooled me. She pulled us out of the fire more times than I can count…" He paused, eyes going wide. "Wait. If she wasn't a huntress, what was she?"

    "Tai, what do you remember about fairy tales?"
     
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