The tension was thick enough that even the air between them seemed to hum with the taste of restrained violence.
Jaune stood slightly off to the side, near Ruby and Weiss. His pulse was steady but his stomach felt tight. He could feel it — the invisible, raw and emotional charge crackling between Yang and the woman who had just emerged from Qrow's raven familiar. The entire group was frozen in place, unsure of what to do. Even Qrow looked a little weary, his usual half-lidded smirk replaced by something harder to read.
Yang was the first to speak, her voice low and trembling with rage barely held in check.
"Daughter? You are not my mother."
Raven's crimson eyes flicked toward her daughter, her expression unreadable for a heartbeat. Then, with the kind of dismissive calm that could only come from someone who'd already decided how little they cared, Raven smiled faintly.
"Still angry, I see."
Yang's fists tightened, metal joints of her gauntlet-like rune armor creaking in protest. "Don't you dare call me that. You lost that right a long time ago."
If her words struck anything in Raven, it didn't show. The older woman tilted her head slightly, the long black strands of her hair shifting with the movement. Her red eyes gleamed with faint amusement, the corner of her lips twitching upward.
The look wasn't warm, rather, it was indulgent. Patronizing. Like a lion humoring a cub that thought itself fierce.
Raven took a few slow, deliberate steps forward, shoes echoing lightly against the fractured asphalt. Her movements were fluid and predatory, a gait born from a supreme awakener's prowess.
Yang however, didn't back away, though her stance widened instinctively, her posture tense, ready to strike.
Ruby, standing beside Jaune, shifted slightly — her hand brushing the hilt of her weapon. Jaune noticed the faint twitch of her jaw. She was angry too, but she wasn't moving in. Maybe because she knew this wasn't her fight. Maybe because she knew how much this moment mattered to Yang.
"Why are you here on this mission?" Yang spat. Her voice cracked slightly, but the venom in it was unmistakable. "Why now? A fucking raven of all things! I should have known."
Raven didn't answer immediately. Her gaze swept across the others — Weiss, Ren, Jaune, Nora— lingering just long enough to remind them that she saw everything, everyone. Then her eyes returned to Yang.
"You've grown," Raven said softly, as if the words were a compliment. "Stronger, wiser. A bit more like him, perhaps. How's Tai doing? I haven't seen him in ages."
Yang's jaw clenched. "Don't. Don't talk about my father."
Raven smirked — not cruelly, not kindly, just… knowingly. "Still that same temper," she murmured. "He never knew how to control it well either."
That was the spark.
Yang took a step forward, fire lighting behind her eyes, the glow of her rune lit up along her arms, faintly igniting in the all the colors of gold. "You don't get to talk about control when you walked out on us!"
The words tore through the still night.
Jaune frowned hard. He remembered the conversation clearly — just a few nights ago in the LUCID cafeteria, Yang had sat across from him, leaning on her elbows, eyes distant as she told him about the woman she barely remembered. A mother who left when she was too young to understand why. All she had left were photos, fragments and a name.
And now that name was standing in front of her, flesh and blood and shadows.
Raven's smirk didn't falter. If anything, it deepened. She took another step forward, and Jaune felt the faint shift in air pressure. It was the invisible presence of her aura stat. It was so dense it was like the gravity itself was bending toward her.
"Careful, dear daughter," she said. "That anger you hold so tightly—it's not strength. It's a leash. And you don't even know who's holding it."
Yang's gauntlets flared. "You think you know me?"
Raven stopped, standing only a few feet away now. Her voice dropped to something that was almost gentle — almost. "I know you better than anyone else ever will."
Yang's voice broke. "Bullshit!"
She stepped forward, but before she could do anything rash, Qrow finally intervened.
"Enough," he said sharply. "Both of you. Raven, shame on you for rage-baiting her."
Yang turned on him immediately, betrayal and fury mixing in her eyes. "You—! You knew she was here, didn't you? How long were you hiding this from me, uncle Qrow!?"
Qrow's mouth pressed into a thin line. His voice was calm, but his tone carried a note of a sigh. "It wasn't exactly by choice. She wasn't supposed to be here at all."
Raven's tone was light. "Oh, don't make it sound so dramatic. You know as well as I do that secrets never stay buried forever."
"Would've been nice if some of them had," Qrow muttered.
Jaune looked between the two of them. Qrow's eyes — though hard to read — looked pained. Like there was a weight he'd been carrying for a long time and was finally being forced to drop.
Raven, by contrast, looked completely unbothered. If anything, she was enjoying the tension, seemingly feeding off it.
Yang took another breath — deep, shaky, but loud enough to echo in the stillness. "Why are you here, Raven? Why now?"
Raven tilted her head again, her black hair rippling like smoke. "Why not? My brother's little squad of dreamers has been making quite the noise lately. I wanted to see what kind of warriors Vale was producing these days." Her gaze slid over Jaune briefly, sharp and assessing. "Interesting recruits. Especially you."
Jaune's frown grew deeper. Raven was there in avian form when he explained the situation to Qrow and Ozpin. She knew everything.
"You're lying! Don't change the subject!" Yang snapped, taking another step forward.
Raven's smirk returned, faintly amused. "You always were impatient."
She reached out a hand — slow, almost languid — toward Yang's shoulder. A deceptively gentle gesture, like a mother's touch.
But Yang's reflexes were faster.
Her armored hand shot up, fingers clamping down around Raven's wrist with enough force to dent metal. The air vibrated with the clash of each of their respective auras.
For a moment, Yang believed she had stopped her.
Then she realized she hadn't.
Her muscles strained, but Raven's arm didn't so much as twitch backwards. Her expression didn't change — if anything, her eyes grew even more amused.
Jaune could see Yang's jaw tighten as she put more strength into her grip, her rune causing a shimmer gold energy to emit outwards. The pavement beneath her feet cracked from the pressure.
Raven merely looked at her hand as though it were an insect resting on her sleeve.
Then, with the same slow patience, she continued to lower her hand.
Yang tried to resist. She really did. Her whole body trembled with the effort, her form screaming with strain. But Raven's strength was absolute, like giant stomping an ant. Like the world itself was simply obeying her command.
When her palm finally touched Yang's shoulder, the contact was soft. Almost tender. Raven smiled faintly, looking at Yang. Her tone wasn't mocking. It was… almost sad.
"You've grown," she said again. Then, softly, she added, "Too bad you're still quite weak."
The street suddenly cratered beneath them, producing a small shockwave of air outwards.
With a single press, Raven pushed downward — and Yang's knees buckled instantly. The blonde awakened was forced onto her knees.
The sound was deafening.
Ruby's eyes widened. "Yang!"
Jaune took an involuntary step forward before freezing. The presence radiating off Raven was suffocating, heavier than Qrow's, and cold. Colder than anything Jaune had ever felt. Even his own father's.
She was strong. So incredibly strong that Jaune felt it was hard to even fathom her power.
Yang's teeth ground audibly. She was shaking — not just from strain, but fury. Humiliation.
Raven finally lifted her hand, brushing the dust off her coat as though nothing had happened. The silence that followed was total. Not even the distant hum of the LUCID base reached them.
Jaune swallowed hard, eyes flicking between the two. This wasn't just family tension. This was a war that had nothing to do with ranks or runes.
And as Raven turned slightly, her crimson eyes briefly met his.
For just an instant, Jaune thought he saw something behind the cold amusement. Calculation. He didn't know what Raven was trying to do here.
But he knew one thing for certain — this was far from over.
Qrow finally exhaled, a low, steady sigh that cut through the tension. "That's enough," he said, voice rough but edged with authority.
Raven glanced at him, her hand already withdrawn, her expression shifting back to that same detached, half-mocking composure. The faint curve of her lips was neither cruel nor kind — it was indulgent. The smile of someone who'd already proven their point.
With a quiet chuckle, she took a few steps back, folding her arms behind her cloak. "Oh, relax, brother. I barely touched her."
Yang still knelt, trembling with fury and humiliation. Qrow stepped forward, crouching beside her before pulling her back to her feet. His touch was steady, the small pat he gave her shoulder both grounding and apologetic.
"This wasn't how I was hoping this would go," he muttered, half to himself. "But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Things tend to fall apart around me anyway."
He gave a dry, humorless chuckle. "Guess that's what a Misfortune Rune does to a guy."
Yang didn't answer, jaw still clenched tight. Her eyes never left Raven, burning with a mix of anger and disbelief.
Qrow glanced at her, then at the others — Ruby, Weiss, Ren, Nora, and Jaune. "Alright. We're close enough to the LUCID base — less than a klick away. Head on back and report to Glynda. I'll catch up in a bit."
He turned slightly, motioning for Jaune to stay put. "Arc. You stay. We need to talk."
That made everyone pause.
Ruby's brows furrowed, concern flickering in her silver eyes. Weiss said nothing but gave a wary glance toward Raven. Ren stayed quiet, though his stance was subtly defensive, as if ready to move if things went south again.
It was Nora who spoke up. "Wait, why?" she asked, her tone hesitant but protective.
Raven arched a brow, eyes sliding toward Nora. The faintest twitch of amusement crossed her lips. She didn't say anything, however. Her silence carried weight enough.
Qrow rolled his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Relax, kid. We're not gonna vaporize the kid. We just need to clear something up."
Nora looked unconvinced, but Ren gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "Come on," he said softly. "Let's go."
Jaune met their eyes — Ruby's worried glance, Weiss's cautious frown, Nora's reluctant hesitation — and gave them a small nod. "It's fine. I'll catch up."
Reluctantly, they turned and began to move, the crunch of gravel and the hum of their footsteps fading into the quiet. Yang lingered the longest, staring at Raven as though willing her to say something. Anything. But Raven didn't.
When she finally turned to follow the others, Qrow exhaled again. The night air felt colder now, emptier without the rest of the squad.
Only three remained — Jaune, Qrow, and Raven.
Jaune adjusted his footing slightly, glancing between them. He didn't need to ask what this was about. He could already feel it, heavy and inevitable.
Qrow leaned against a broken streetlight, before he opened his mouth to deliver some information that Jaune was hoping for. "Alright kid. We have some news about your family."
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AN: Advanced chapters are available on patreon