The King of Steel (RWBY/ Ozpin SI): Chapter 5

Raven Branwen was a coward.

It was a fact that she knew but buried deep within her soul, hiding it away under the layers of her brutality and idiotic principles, hoping never to acknowledge that part of her.

The sad thing is that she was not always like this.

There was once a time when she could proudly say she was a fearless warrior who would do anything for her loved ones.

However, as revelations came to light, and one of her beloved fell in front of her own eyes at the hands of a monster that could not be killed, her mind, her very soul, broke, and turned her into a shell of herself.

But Raven Branwen was not without the ability to adapt, so adapt she did.

Turning all of her knowledge and skills towards nurturing her ‘family’. A group of bandits that shared her name for the sake of convenience and riches.

The Branwen tribe of bandits, the bane of Anima, and the terror of the frontier settlements.

A successful life she created for herself, a life that was built on a foundation of blood and suffering of the innocent.

Raven Branwen was a coward, but more than that, she had become a monster.

And yet, even as a monster, she was still a coward and would fold the moment she came across a bigger monster.

Such is the case right now as she stared in abject terror at the scroll left in her tent by her brother.

When Qrow had barged into her tent during the morning, Raven had assumed that it was going to be another one of his attempts to bring her back to Taiyang and Yang, to try and fill the hole left by Summer’s death in her family.

But, what she found was not the drunk and pleading brother that she was used to who tried to show the value of her real family to the Bandit leader.

No, what she found was the Qrow Branwen she had not seen in years. The man who was once trained by her tribe to be a peerless killer of Huntsmen and the greatest of assassins, even more so than her who was trained to be a frontline fighter.

The heartless assassin that was killed and replaced by the Huntsmen Qrow Branwen thanks to the efforts of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao-Long who showed them the true meaning of a family.

And yet, here he was, back in his personal as an Assassin. The little brother that Raven respected as her equal, maybe even her superior, in combat, had come back to life.

And it terrified Raven to no end.

Worse still was his words.

“Ozpin wants to talk. And don’t avoid it. This is not his request but an order. If you don’t, you will face some serious consequences.”

Normally, Raven would have scoffed at such words, but her brother’s strange behavior put her on edge, not to mention her instincts that were blaring danger at her throughout the conversation that she had with him.

So, reluctantly, she took the burner scroll and sat in her tent, procrastinating due to her fears and uncertainty long after Qrow left.

Finally, taking a deep breath, she pressed the call button the only number available on the device. Her heart beating faster and faster as the familiar ring of the CCT call blared through the speakers, waiting for the parasite on the other side of the call to pick up.

But once the call went through, and the recipient appeared on the screen, all her courage and spite went down the drain as only intense fear remained.

Because reflected in the image was not the face of the parasite that always tried to sweet talk and lie his way through everything as she knew him. Instead, what showed was the cold and emotionless face of a warrior, one she was familiar with all too well as she saw a similar expression to that monstrous Queen of Grimm.

“You decided to call. Good for you.”

That tone irked her somewhat as her mouth ran before she could react.

“And what would you have done if I had not called? Parasite?”

The grim smile he gave sent chills down her spine.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know. Suffice to say, I am done playing games with the likes of you and I have little patience for rebellious children.”

Something was different about him.

Putting aside the false dementor he always put on to come across as a kind and caring individual which was entirely absent now, the way he talked and the look in his eyes was entirely unfamiliar to the former huntress.

Gone were the barely hidden exhaustion and the tiny glimmers of hope that she always saw in his eyes. In its place was steel the like of which she only ever saw in the infamous general of Atlas.

Gone was the tiny smile that he always held despite the harshest of words she threw at him. Instead, all that remained was a neutral look that spooked her for some reason.

But most importantly of all, gone of the indulgent and understanding look he always had whenever she did something wrong or even when she spat on his face after secretly attending Summer’s funeral, cursing him to die and to leave them alone.

In its place was an unreadable look that made it nearly impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Raven once again took a deep breath and stabilized her mind before speaking in a neutral tone.

“What do you want?”

“Two things. I want the Branwen Tribe gone. And I want the Spring Maiden.”

Raven felt her stomach drop and temper flare at those demanding words.

Once again her mouth ran before her thoughts.

“You are growing senile in your age, old man. What gives you the right to demand such things of me-“

“Raven Branwen. I am not demanding anything. I am ordering you to hand over the Spring Maiden and disband your little tribe. I know that you have been sheltering her for the past week.”

Ozpin took off his black glasses and showed his glowing emerald eyes on the screen, finally making Raven realize that Ozpin was not joking and neither was he making empty threats.

Once again, terror consumed Raven’s heart as his words came across from the speaker.

“I am giving you one chance, Branwen, for the sake of old times because I once thought of you as one of my dear students. Disband the tribe, bring the Spring Maiden to me, and surrender for your crimes at Vale.”

“If you fail to meet any of my orders, I will personally hunt you down and make you realize just how much of a monster I can be and just how worse of a fate you can meet in my hands when compared to her.”

The horror in her eyes must have shown since the monster on the screen chuckled and put his glasses back on, and yet, they did little to hide the emerald glow in his eyes resulting from his magic.

“This really is your last chance, Raven. I am done playing games, I am done being patient. This is no longer a struggle to defend. No, the time for a battle of attrition is over. This is now a full-on war, and it is time for you to choose a side. I pray you choose wisely because if you choose to go against me, you will find no mercy from now on.”

“For I will scour this world, inch by inch for you. There will be no Maiden, no Grimm, no human, faunus, immortal, or God strong enough to keep you safe from me. I will show you what happens when this Emerald Wizard is no longer held back by morality and kindness.”

“So, choose wisely, little bird, for this hunter is now on the prowl and it is your choice to either lead me to my prey or become my prey.”

With that, the call disconnected, plunging the tent into silence as Raven Branwen, the proud leader of the Branwen Tribe, the fearless woman who fought a Maiden, albeit a new one, to a stand-still just a week ago, shook like a leaf in fear.