PFK 34 - Eyes of Silver (Patreon)

Qrow didn’t answer any of Ruby and Yang’s questions as he led the way back toward Ozpin’s tower. His eyes were downcast again, and he was still toying with his flask without opening it.

“C’mon, Uncle Qrow, the training halls are the other way,” Yang punched his shoulder. “I know you’re old and everything, but you can’t have totally forgotten Beacon’s layout.”

“I’m not old!” Qrow snapped, reaching back and flicking her nose without turning around. “We can train in a bit; I need to talk to your sister about something.”

“Something that Ladykiller and I need to hear too?” Yang prompted.

“And something that should be discussed in private,” Qrow said quellingly, glancing over his shoulder. The grave look on his face seemed to take Yang aback, and she fell silent.

Ruby was biting her lip nervously, so I patted her shoulder. When she looked up at me, I said, “It’s not a bad thing, just something that shouldn’t be spread around to anyone who doesn’t already know.”

“Then how do you know?” Yang accused.

Qrow glanced back again, eyes narrowed, but I shrugged. “I had some hints already because of my Semblance, and Ozpin let it slip last week when he was debriefing me after we killed Amphivena. Although, I’m not sure he realized it at the time.”

“What did that have to do with Ruby?” Yang demanded, Ruby nodding along curiously.

I shook my head. “Nothing, but Qrow was on that call and asked why Ruby was already at Beacon. He sounded pissed.”

“I am pissed,” Qrow agreed, jabbing the elevator call button. “You’re too young to have to deal with this.”

“Uncle Qrowww, I’m not a little kid,” Ruby whined. “Dad agreed I could come, and I’m doing good here! Pyrrha’s really smart, and we’ve been training a ton and I’ve gotten a lot stronger.” She raised an arm and polished her bicep, which was a bit more defined than it had been last weekend — adding Auraless resistance training to her regimen had already given her another point in STR. “And I drink milk every day,” she added, crossing her arms pointedly.

“Gross,” Qrow snorted. “And I’m still gonna kick your dad’s ass for agreeing to this. C’mon.” He herded his nieces into the elevator, and once I stepped in behind them he swiped his Scroll over the panel. The elevator dropped swiftly, before opening into the cavernous vault beneath the school.

“What is this place?” Ruby wondered, craning her neck to look at the ceiling, barely visible in the pale green torchlight.

“Secret,” Qrow grunted. “Don’t tell anyone about it.” Rather than head toward the empty machine where Amber had once lain, he pushed open a recessed door on the left side of the hall, revealing a small conference room.

“I’m getting flashbacks to the police station,” I quipped, and he snorted in amusement.

Yang and I sat down on either side of Ruby, while Qrow sat across from her. He was still fiddling with his flask, but after a moment he left it closed on the table and sat back, looking at her seriously. “What I’m about to tell you, Ruby… it’s not to be boasted about. You need to keep it quiet. Jaune’s right, it’s not a bad thing in itself, but if word about it reaches the wrong people… you would be in extreme danger. I’m talking ‘hired killers coming after you for the rest of your life’ levels of danger.”

Ruby swallowed, and Yang instinctively put an arm around her. “You’re scaring us, Uncle Qrow. Are you drunk?”

Qrow reached out and tipped the flask over with one finger. It clanged loudly as it hit the table, the liquid inside barely sloshing. “It’s full. I haven’t had anything to drink today because I knew this conversation was coming. I’m dead serious about this, Yang.”

Ruby swallowed. “W– What’s this about, Uncle Qrow?” she asked nervously.

“I need you two to listen to me very carefully,” he said. “I’m going to tell you some things that not many people know — things that are going to sound impossible — and I need you to trust that I’m telling you the truth.” He waited for them both to nod before ripping off the bandage. “Magic is real.”

The sisters both stared at him, and after a moment Yang deadpanned, “What.”

Qrow sighed. “I just said that you’d have to trust me, didn’t I?” He rubbed his face. “Magic is something that used to be widespread in the world, a long, long time ago– I mean like thousands of years ago. Everybody could do it; channel their personal power to do things that modern people can’t. But over time magic mostly died out, and people learned to use Aura instead.”

He shot me a look here, urging me not to elaborate. The truth about the etymology of Semblance wasn’t important to the conversation, so I gave him a slight nod.

“Today there’s only tiny scraps of magic still in the world,” Qrow went on. “Only maybe a double-handful of people in the world who are capable of using it at all. You’re one of them, Ruby…” She gasped, and he finished, “…and so was Summer.”

“Mom… Mom could do magic?” Ruby whispered.

“I once saw Summer wipe out a pack of Beowolves by glaring at them,” Qrow said, his eyes unfocused as he reminisced. “Didn’t even draw her weapon; just a bright flash and they were gone.” He looked at the girls. “You know what her Semblance was. Does that sound like something she could have done with it?”

Ruby shook her head, but Yang protested, “Couldn’t it have been Dust or something?”

“Summer never cared for Dustcasting; said it was too expensive,” Qrow disagreed. “Tai should have told you about this before now, but he never had the patience to learn how magic works. No, this was a power she had, and she passed it down to you, Ruby.”“What power?”

I patted Ruby’s shoulder again, drawing her attention. “Do you remember the first thing Ozpin said to you?” It’s a bit of a shot in the dark, since the conversation might have gone down differently than in canon…

Fortunately, my guess was vindicated when Ruby recited, “He said… ‘You have silver eyes’.” The eyes in question widened. “I didn’t think about it at the time because I was afraid I was going to get in trouble, but…”

“It’s an odd thing to say to someone, apropos of nothing,” I nodded. “But have you ever seen anyone else with silver eyes, besides your mom?”

“Are you guys saying Ruby has magic eyes?” Yang’s own eyes were flickering between lilac and red as her frustration mounted.

“Yes,” Qrow and I said bluntly.

“Like… like in the fairy tales Mom would read us,” Ruby said quietly, and Yang paused.

“The Warrior in the Woods was always your favorite,” she recalled, looking at Ruby.

“Dad would always joke that he understood how the boy in the story felt, falling in love with the warrior’s silver eyes,” Ruby sniffled. I handed her a handkerchief from my [Inventory] — via my pocket as usual — and she dabbed at her eyes. “And then he would say I’d have to go to school wearing sunglasses or else he would have to beat up any boy who saw my eyes.”

“And mom would say, ‘Well, what if it’s a girl?’ and he would start stammering,” Yang’s own laugh was a bit wet.

Qrow’s hand twitched toward his flask, but he closed it into a fist. “Fairy tales can often reflect truths in a distorted way,” he said, drawing their attention back to him. “Silver eyes are extremely rare, and it’s said that those born with them are destined to lead the life of a warrior, for they are the only thing Grimm fear.”

“But… I’ve fought lots of Grimm, and they’ve never been afraid of me,” Ruby pointed out.

“You don’t know how to do it yet. Look, you know how to use your Semblance and you can still fight Grimm without that,” Qrow countered. “This is the same thing, except even harder in a way. Magic isn’t easy to use. It takes a strong emotion, focus, and willpower. That story I told you about Summer wipingprestige out a pack of Beowolves? She was disarmed and protecting some kids who’d gotten separated from their village — she explained later that it was her desire to protect them, and her determination to see them safely home, that let her get such a powerful result. She also nearly collapsed afterward, and she might have been in trouble if I hadn’t gotten there at the same time. Usually she just used it to stun them for a second and give herself an edge; it’s why she always seemed untouchable when Hunting.”

“And you think I can do that too?” Ruby asked, and Qrow’s eyes softened.

“I know you can, Little Rose.”

Ruby vanished from her chair in a flurry of rose petals and tackled Qrow again, knocking his chair over and squeezing him tightly. Qrow’s Aura flared as he fell, but he made no effort to stop himself, just hugging his niece back.

As Yang hurried around the table as well, I pulled out my Scroll and turned away to give them some privacy.

Aegislash -> 'Seven Deadly Sisters (And One Badass Baby Brother)' | Saturday, 09:44

     ‹Aegislash› this isn’t official so keep it on the dl, but can y’all help me find someone?

     ‹Gardevoir› We can try. Do you have any information about them?

     ‹Aegislash› a retired huntress named Maria Calavera

     ‹Gardevoir› Anything else?

     ‹Aegislash› she’s elderly now, might walk with a cane

     ‹Aegislash› white hair, olive skin, prosthetic eyes

     ‹Zapdos› never heard of her. if she’s that old though, grandma might know. have you asked her?

     ‹Aegislash› I haven’t asked anybody yet

     ‹Aegislash› will grandma keep it quiet? I don’t want a big production and I really don’t want her to rabbit

     ‹Zapdos› i’d say it’s probably your best chance at finding her if she’s anywhere in this hemisphere. sienna can check atlas. if this person’s in vacuo… well you might find that out by process of elimination at least.

     ‹Ampharos› That name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.

     ‹Aegislash› bianca go the fuck to sleep

     ‹Aegislash› but since I know you won’t, maybe rumpole would know? again, if you think she’d keep it quiet

     ‹Ampharos› What’s this All Points about, Jaune? Is this woman wanted? Is she in danger?

     ‹Aegislash› she might be able to train my teammate, if I can find her and convince her, but I also know she retired for a reason and might not want anything to do with us

“Jaune, what are you doing?” Ruby’s voice brought my attention back to the room, and I looked up.

“Chasing a rumor,” I said vaguely, putting my Scroll away. “If it turns into anything I’ll let you know. Is there anything else we should know about Ruby’s eyes?” I added to Qrow.

“Tons, probably,” he sighed. “The problem is I don’t know any of it, and Summer always said it wasn’t something she could describe to anyone who didn’t have them. Like explaining color to the blind.”

I nodded. “Well, as my sister Azure would say, we’ll have to do Science to it.”

“If magic can help me save people, I’ll definitely figure it out.” Ruby bit her lip. “…What are we going to tell Pyrrha and Blake when you and I have to go do this training, though?”

“The truth; they need to know,” I said immediately.

“The hell they do!” Qrow snapped.

I ignored him, keeping my eyes fixed on Ruby. “Normally I would say that it’s your power, so you’re the only one with a right to decide who knows about it… But just like with Blake, this has the potential to turn turn dangerous for the rest of the team. They deserve to know what they’re in for.”

“What about Blake?” Yang asked, and I shook my head.

“That’s private, even if it’s not much of a secret if you’re paying attention. Suffice to say, there were some things about her past she didn’t want to share, and I pretty much forced her to tell the rest of the team. I did apologize, because springing it on her like that was a total Richard Relocation, but I still think it was justified.”

“A… Richard Relocation?” Ruby echoed, baffled.

“A Dick Move,” I clarified.

Yang let out a snort of laughter, and even Qrow’s lips twitched.

I looked back at Ruby. “You have a little time to think about how you want to bring it up, but if you don’t say something by the time the other schools start arriving for the Vytal Festival, I will. I trust them.”

A determined look came over Ruby’s face, and as she nodded I could see shades of the anime protagonist she more or less was. “You’re right. They deserve to know if they could be in danger because of me.”

Qrow, who looked to have been mustering another counterargument, faltered when he saw Ruby’s expression. His eyes flicked to his flask, and he sighed. “Maybe the Punk has a point. Infosec is all very well, but secrets… secrets can tear a team apart.”

Yang and Ruby both looked concerned, but I had a feeling he was thinking about the fallout between Ozpin and Raven that led to the latter abandoning her family and going back to the tribe.

Was I being hypocritical, insisting that my teammates share their secrets when I was concealing the truth about my Semblance? Yes, I could admit as much to myself. But the exact nature of my Semblance was bizarre even compared to magic eyes and Maidens — The Gamer simply did too many different things, most of them with no or very little cost, and that wasn’t to mention the foreknowledge I had from Earth, inaccurate as that was becoming the more things I changed.

My oath may not require honesty, but I definitely felt a twinge when it came to the tenet of doing Good. I’ll tell them someday, I vowed. Ideally that revelation would come when it was safer for them to know than to not, but if for some reason push came to shove… I’d tell them.

Qrow’s voice brought me out of my introspection, something in his tone tripping my instincts. “Now then, I believe I promised you girls some training. And while you lot don’t have weapons down here, seeing as the whole lesson today has been that you need to be on alert at all times…”

That was as far as he got before kicking the table over, but Ruby and I were both already diving out of the way, leaving Yang to get the wind knocked out of her with a loud “OOF!” as the heavy conference table landed on top of her.

I see Ruby got as much out of training with Indigo as I have, I thought, grinning as I kipped up.

“You surprised me, Little Rose,” Qrow drawled, stalking casually toward his niece. “I didn’t expect you to react quite that fast. Maybe you really are ready for Beacon.”

“I told you!” Ruby shot back, trying to dart around Qrow without giving him an opening.

She didn’t quite manage as his hand shot out to grab her hood, but Ruby turned out to have been feinting. She jumped back into a tight flip, planted her feet on the wall, and then blurred into rose petals, landing behind me.

Qrow turned to follow her, eyebrows rising, and casually caught the punch I had thrown at the back of his head. His Aura flared, but barely flexed, and his grip tightened before I could pull back.

“Huh, you’re pretty strong for your age,” he muttered.

“Thanks, I try.” I activated [Reinforcement] and threw an elbow at his nose; when he blocked that too I yanked my hand free and tried to sweep his legs.

Qrow hopped back easily, and exactly in time to avoid the table that Yang hurled back at him as she exploded off the floor, eyes and hair blazing. She lunged toward her uncle, who twisted to face her side-on and leaned around each punch she threw.

“Too slow, Firecracker,” he tsked. “I know getting mad makes you stronger, but it also makes you wayyy too predictable.”

On her next punch, another heavy straight, he pivoted on his near foot, turning his body past her. Laying a hand on her outstretched wrist almost gently, he tugged her into a hip throw and tossed her at Ruby, who once again barely dodged.

That was aikido or something like it, I thought, interested. Maybe tai chi?

The sisters regrouped and attacked together, so I hurried to back them up, but even three-on-one we couldn’t land a solid hit. I did my best tanking job, and I could tell Yang was hitting Qrow with everything she had while Ruby circled and tried to harry him from the back.

Unlike us, though, Qrow was carrying his weapon, and while he didn’t use it to fight us, he had no issue tilting it this way and that on his back, blocking Ruby’s hits even as he dodged or deflected mine and Yang’s.

Finally, he threw himself into a heavy punch that broke through Yang’s guard and shattered her Aura, sending her staggering backward to slump against the wall. With the same motion, his foot swung back and hit Ruby, whose Aura barely held until she tripped over a chair, breaking when she hit the floor.

Deciding on a whim to keep focusing on [Reinforcement] instead of my animal buffs, I took a breath and sank into a [Xíngquán] stance as Qrow turned to focus on me completely. He threw another punch my way, which I’d been counting on. The [Pàoquán] stance always opened with a parry, and rather than just use the passive form I actually spent some MP on it. The unexpected force let me direct Qrow’s punch to the outside with my left hand, while my right fist slammed into his chin.

His Aura flared, and I wasted no time switching to [Pīquán], pouring on even more MP to make sure he’d feel it when I chopped a knifehand down on his extended shoulder. A hiss of breath between his teeth told me I’d been successful… but a familiar status effect popping up on my HUD showed that I’d overcommitted to the attack.

[Xíngquán] was different than most of my other skills that had both passive and active components. Usually the active was a flat MP cost, sometimes with per-minute upkeep, and most actives also drained my hidden stamina bar. By contrast, the [Xíngquán] stances let me choose how much MP to pay whenever I used the active, tending to deal more damage with more MP spent… but overspending would result in a backlash. Specifically, Aura Shock preventing me from spending MP or blocking damage with my Aura for a while, if I tried to exceed my limits.

Naturally, a master of [Xíngquán] would know their own limits perfectly… but I was a long way from that level of skill. Hell, I didn’t even know all the forms yet, and the holes in my knowledge were laid thoroughly bare when Qrow’s fist collided with my jaw hard enough to lift me off my feet and send me crashing into the wall. I fell on the dislodged table, breaking it and causing [Reinforcement]’s downside to proc, which took a hefty chunk out of my HP.

“Honestly, you’re at least as good as your mom was when she started Beacon, Little Rose, and she was seventeen. I mean, she couldn’t fight worth a damn without her weapon either, but I was expecting you to be pretty helpless.” Qrow scratched his chin. “Meanwhile, you need to get a hold of yourself more, Firecracker.”

“You sound like Dad,” Yang groaned.

Qrow smirked. “Look at it this way: if Tai and I are both telling you the same thing, instead of him being a stick in the mud and arguing with me, there’s probably something to it, right?”

Yang looked away, sulking, and didn’t answer.

He glanced my way last, and his eyebrows rose when he saw me picking myself up out of the wreckage of the table and starting towards him once more.

“You sure you don’t wanna call it quits, Punk?” Qrow taunted, slicking his hair back, which drew my attention above his head.

‹???›LV ???Qrow Branwen

I spat a tooth onto the floor and raised my hands again. “I didn’t hear no bell.”

That got a laugh out of him, at least. I’d consider it a moral victory, seeing as there was no way I’d be getting a physical one.

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Name: Jaune ArcLevel: 58 (Next: 88.08%)Title: Academy StudentRace: HumanAge: 18Job: Beacon StudentClass: PaladinSemblance: The GamerHP: 4689/7545MP: 2944/4177STR: 213 (100)CON: 261 (101)DEX: 151 (53)INT: 130 (50)WIS: 106 (52)CHA: 144 (52)Points: 97Money: 953,788LStatus: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]

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A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

The gag about Qrow disliking milk is, obviously, a reference to his first voice actor (who shall go unnamed on account of being a piece of shit) also voicing Edward Elric.

Summer’s Semblance was never actually established, but presumably her family would know what it was. As far as the narrative goes, I haven’t decided on it, and it’s not important for this chapter so I skipped it.

The Warrior in the Woods is one of the canonical in-universe fairy tales; I decided it was probably Ruby’s favorite for featuring a silver-eyed woman who protects a village so well they live completely peacefully and don’t even know that Grimm exist.

Was the fight scene necessary? Probably not, but I’m getting back into the swing of writing and I felt like throwing it in. Sorry this is late; turns out moving internationally is both complicated and stressful. Fingers crossed we’re back to normal-ish now.