Black Bird In The Sky

Gray stood on the rooftop of the dorm building after dinner, the cool evening breeze ruffling his hair as he leaned against a ventilation unit. The sky had deepened into twilight, stars beginning to prick through the darkening blue while scattered clouds drifted lazily overhead. Below, the campus lights flickered on one by one, casting soft pools of gold across the lawns and paths.

He pulled out his scroll and checked his messages.

There was one from Junior.

Junior: Found another strong candidate. 8 passenger seats + pilot. Not the sleekest design, but solid frame, good range, and easy to mod for performance and appearance. Sending pics and specs now.

Gray opened the attached images. The airship was utilitarian. Matte dark grey, angular lines, functional rather than flashy, but it looked tough and reliable. Plenty of room for both teams if he wanted to take everyone somewhere. He typed back quickly.

Cypher: Prioritize this one. Get me full details and a timeline.

Junior: Will do.

Another message was from Torchwick.

Roman: Talks with the weapons dealers are progressing nicely. They’re intrigued by the mysterious “big job” and the payout I hinted at. A few are already sniffing around for more info.

That was good. It wasn’t anything concrete just yet though. He praised Torchwick all the same and moved on.

There were no messages from Cinder yet, but that was expected. She was staying radio silent while hunting for Salem’s agents. The Schnees hadn’t replied either, but that was likely just CCT lag. Messages could take hours, sometimes a full day, depending on relay traffic.

Gray slipped the scroll back into his pocket and sat down fully on the vent, leaning back on his hands as he stared up at the sky.

There were still so many loose ends.

Adam was preparing for Sienna Khan’s arrival, along with Ilia and Kali Belladonna. He needed to talk to Blake soon, ease her into the loop so she didn’t lose it when her mother suddenly showed up. Same with Weiss once Willow arrived to oversee the Mountain Glenn project.

He wasn’t sure how to go about it. Should he tell Blake that he was in control of the White Fang? Use his Semblance to command trust in him? And how would he spin it for Weiss? He told Adam and Cinder that he was “working” with Weiss for her eventual inheritance of the company. He could try and command her to take up that role with him. But did he bring up the Cypher stuff?

Should he tell all his girls?

This burden of his was only getting heavier and he wasn’t sure he could hold it all together forever. If he was being smart, he would bring some confidants in to share the load. But if he brought in Blake and Weiss, would that mean he should bring in Ruby and Yang, and JNPR too?

For Blake and Weiss, it made some sense, with how connected they were in various ways. But Ruby and Yang were trickier. He could let them into this whole thing, but they didn’t really have much to do with this whole conspiracy. They were pretty normal girls with no reason to be involved. Except for Ruby, though her connection was loose. Her Silver-eyed heritage and whatever happened to her mother gave some connection to the whole Salem war. But the girl herself had no clue about any of this existential stuff. Would it be right to drop truth bombs on her that could make others have a panic attack?

Then there was Yang. She didn’t have much connection either, besides being somewhat related because of her stepmom. But then there was her real mother, Raven, who was still a complete unknown. Gray might be able to help them get into contact and potentially reconcile. Though that had nothing to do with the greater plan involving Salem. It was still something he could do.

He wanted to help Yang, even if it was a side quest to all the rest. So, setting aside the idea of whether he should tell Yang any of these truths, he took a moment to figure out how to contact Raven. He had her number, but he wasn’t sure where she even was. She might not even be in Vale or Sanus. So, sending a message by scroll could take a while for a response to get back to him. His Semblance was the only way.

He activated his Semblance.

“Yang’s mother, Raven, will meet with me discreetly as soon as she is able. She will let me know by scroll if she is in Vale, or when she arrives in Vale.”

He deactivated.

That way he would know if she’s close by.

Gray sighed and looked back up at the sky. The stars were clearer now, the broken moon hanging low and bright.

Now, what about bringing JNPR into all this? If he was thinking about telling team RWBY, then it would be fair to tell JNPR, right? Bringing the girls of JNPR deeper into things felt right and fair, but they were even less directly tied to the larger plot than RWBY. It felt odd leaving them out while pulling the others in, but he didn’t feel like he had the justification for it.

Jeanne, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren felt even more like normal girls, despite their quirks. What right did he have to dump all this on them?

It took a long moment of irony before he snorted.

He kind of did already involve them after adding them to his harem. Or planned on adding the rest after Jeanne. They were already sort of adjacent now.

He heaved small sigh, the weight of everything pressing down on him. Handling all of this alone was starting to feel heavier than he’d expected. Even now, he was a little in over his head. He admitted that it would be nice if he had their support in some way.

The breeze picked up, cool against his face. A bird circled overhead. It’s dark wings cutting slow, lazy figure-eights against the deepening sky. Gray watched it as he let his mind wander a bit. The setting sun created a nice painting in the sky as some clouds burned red and orange, even as the opposite was a darkening purple and black.

He was reminded that he also needed to talk with the city council too. If this Mountain Glenn project was going to get a go ahead, he might need to influence the leaders of the city. He did tell Jacques that he would. Maybe he should do something to that end tomorrow.

Gray watched that bird drift lower, closer, as if curious about something on the ground. Maybe a leftover scrap from dinner.

He watched it descend and swoop closer to the rooftop. Was it a crow or a raven, he idly wondered. He couldn’t remember the differences between the two types of bird. Maybe one was bigger?

His mind grew quiet when the black bird alighted gracefully on the edge of the rooftop, only a few feet away, and stared directly at him.

Sleek black feathers, sharp beak, red eyes glinting in the low light.

Gray felt a strange, instinctive prickle run down his spine. Something about those red eyes felt… off. Too intelligent. Too focused.

Did... did crows or ravens have red eyes?

He stared back, brows furrowing slightly.

The bird didn’t move. It simply watched him.

---

It stared at him. He stared at it. The staring went on for an uncomfortable length of time. In which time an animal would usually do something else. Move in some way. Like animals do.

But instead it just watched him.

He was feeling more uncomfortable by the second. He sat up and watched the bird more closely. It still hadn't moved even when he shifted his weight.

For a moment, Gray laughably wondered if it were a creature of Grimm, like an intelligent but young Nevermore...

Then he remembered Cinder's story about Salem sending a Grimm to meet with her and talked to her through the creature.

Gray activated his Semblance immediately and jumped to his feet and sharpened the Aura around himself and his hands, creating a sharp edge at the tips of his fingers.

"Who are you?!" He shouted at the bird, who still hadn't moved much.

It then tilted its head before hopping once off the edge of the roof and... It changed.

Before his eyes. It blurred and... shifted from a bird to a red and black mass, before then shifting to the shape of a person as they landed on the roof floor before him.

A woman, if the skirt was to be believed. A woman wearing red and black and had a bone white mask with red lines. A mask that looked like plating from a creature of Grimm, like Adam’s mask. Her hair was long as it escaped out the back of that mask. Black and messy... messy like...

The picture of Yang's mom's face came to mind.

"My name is Raven Branwen." The woman said.

Gray was stunned and stood there staring.

---

Gray stood frozen on the rooftop, the cool night wind whipping at his coat as he stared at the woman who had just transformed before his eyes.

Raven Branwen.

Yang’s mother... just... appeared before him. Transformed in front of him.

He was speechless and could only stand there with his adrenaline making his heart hammer in his head. He didn’t have his weapons with him. He didn’t have any Dust or one of his smokescreens.

He just had sharpened Aura at his fingertips.

She stood with the easy confidence of someone who had survived far worse than a surprised teenager with sharpened Aura. Her red-and-black outfit hugged a strong, athletic frame, the bone-white mask with its red accents giving her an almost predatory silhouette.

Gray’s heart thumped away in his chest. He kept his Semblance active, fingers still edged with lethal Aura, but he didn’t attack. Not yet.

Raven tilted her head slightly, studying him the same way the bird had.

Gray kept his Semblance active as he stood facing Raven. The night wind tugged at both their clothes, but he refused to let his guard down for even a second.

He began layering commands, voice low and firm.

“You are loyal and obedient to me. You are devoted to me. My goals are your goals. My cause is your cause. What I tell you to do, you do with trust and without question.”

Raven stood perfectly still, listening.

He continued, piling on the same deep commands he’d used on his girls, on Cinder, on Adam, on Sienna, everything he could think of to ensure absolute control and safety.

“You will never betray me. You will never act against my interests. You will protect me and my plans. You will keep everything I tell you in complete confidence unless I say otherwise.”

Raven’s red eyes never wavered. She simply absorbed every word.

Only after all of that did he then allow himself a small breath of relief. He still wouldn’t feel truly safe until he knew more about her, like her history, her loyalties, but this would hold for now.

He would wait on making any sexual commands. He needed to understand her side of things first. If she was single and had a terrible reason for abandoning Yang…

Well, he’d decide then.

Raven simply nodded once, as if everything he’d said was perfectly reasonable.

“You forgot what my face looked like.” He said, before pulling up his hood and making the shadows at his face thicker and deactivating his Semblance.

Nothing happened.

She didn’t attack. Didn’t draw the sword at her hip. Just stood there, watching him with those sharp red eyes and looking his appearance up and down once.

He swallowed.

“Remove the mask.” He said, testing her obedience.

Raven lifted her hands without hesitation. She unfastened the bone-white Grimm mask and pulled it away from her face, holding it at her hip.

Gray relaxed a fraction.

She looked like an older, sharper version of Yang. Same face shape, same wild hair, though black instead of blonde. She did have faint tired lines under her eyes and a harder edge to her expression. But still strikingly beautiful.

“You can call me Cypher.” He greeted her. Giving his mastermind name that she likely wouldn’t have heard yet. Information in the criminal world could probably move quickly but not that quickly.

“Alright.” Raven said, voice low and steady. “So why did you want to meet me?”

Gray thought hard and fast before opening his mouth.

“I wanted to hear your side of things. I wanted to know why you left Yang. Be truthful with me.”

Raven seemed to stand there and ponder her answer for a long moment, red eyes distant as the night wind tugged at her skirt. Then she looked back at Gray.

“Are you aware of my connection to Ozpin?” She asked. Giving him a careful look. “And what he did to me and my brother?”

Gray felt a spike of alarm shoot through him. “No. I’ve learned quite a bit about Salem, but I haven’t heard about your side of things.”

Raven gave a short, bitter laugh.

“Of course you haven’t.” She shifted her weight, mask still held at her hip. “My brother Qrow and I were… recruits. We were born on Anima to a small tribe of bandits living out in the wilds. When we were old enough, they sent us to learn to be huntsmen at Beacon to learn how to fight other huntsmen. It was during our later years at that school that Ozpin approached us. Trained us personally. Made us his agents.”

She was looking off towards the clocktower with a scowl as she talked.

“Then he used some kind of power, some sort of old magic I still don’t fully understand, to change us. Gave us the ability to turn into birds. Said it was a gift. A tool for his endless war.”

She paused, jaw tight.

“We fought for him. Against Salem. Against odds that felt impossible. I grew disillusioned. The man had secrets on top of secrets, and every victory felt like it cost more than it was worth. But I was attached to Taiyang by then. Yang’s father. We married. Had Yang. For a while… I tried to stay. But my old tribe kept calling me back. They needed a new leader. Ozpin’s war was going nowhere...”

Raven’s voice hardened.

“So I left. I took control of the tribe. While Ozpin sends people to die for him, we survive, we grow stronger. I’ve crossed paths with Salem’s forces more than once. I even met a Maiden once. A scared young woman who broke under the pressure. I kept her away from both Salem and Ozpin for as long as I could. When the time came… I took her power. Killed her. It was a mercy. She was terrified, broken. Better it came from me than Salem.”

Gray’s stomach twisted. Another Maiden. And this one dead. And the power now inside Raven herself.

Raven continued, almost casually.

“If people come sniffing over rumors of a Maiden's powers, I let people believe my second in command, Vernal, has the power. A useful lie. Keeps Salem’s people from targeting me.”

Gray stayed silent, processing.

Raven finally looked at him directly.

“That’s why I left Yang. I couldn’t drag her into that life. The tribe… we’re not heroes. We’re survivors. Thieves. Sometimes murderers. But we’re strong. And strength is all that matters out there. Especially against something like Salem.”

She fell quiet, watching him.

Gray exhaled slowly. He could see it now. The brittle pride beneath her words. The fear she covered with that harsh “strong survive” philosophy. She had run from Ozpin’s war. Run from Salem. Run from her own daughter. And she admitted that her people sometimes ****. She herself admitted to ****.

He asked her to be truthful with him, but he wondered how she might have spun it if she didn’t have that to compel her.

“You mentioned ****. Were there others besides the Maiden?” He asked, not really sure if he wanted to know.

“...villages. Villages and settlements away from Mistral’s authority.” She told him bluntly, but for a small hesitation at the beginning.

He had the truth.

This woman was a Maiden.

And she was dangerous.

He made his decision.

Raven and her tribe needed to be dealt with. Leashed. Controlled.

She was his now.

The tribe would come next.

Gray sighed softly.

Here was another heavy story dropped in his lap.

---

Before he did anything else, Gray activated his Semblance again.

“Raven’s tribe, the Branwen Tribe, will be just as loyal and obedient to me as Raven herself. They will follow my orders without question. My goals are their goals. They will not act against my interests. They will lay low until I give them further instructions.”

Raven stood motionless, absorbing every word with the same calm acceptance as before.

Gray turned his Semblance off as another question occurred to him.

“If you operate in Anima, why are you here in Sanus right now?”

Raven tilted her head slightly, as if the answer should be obvious.

“I was just in Anima before meeting with you.”

Gray stared at her for a long moment, confused.

“What do you mean by that?”

Raven’s lips curved into a small, almost amused smirk.

“It’s my Semblance. I can teleport to anyone I have a strong enough emotional connection with. As long as I know someone close to me in a location, I can reach them almost instantly.”

Gray’s eyes widened.

The implications hit him like a freight train.

She could cross continents in the blink of an eye. Anima to Sanus. Anima to anywhere else she had a tether. That was an insane Semblance to have. It was borderline broken.

Well, not as broken as his, but still...

His mind immediately spun with possibilities. He could use her as a personal chauffeur. Travel to other continents on a whim. Deal with threats personally and return before anyone noticed he was gone.

He could visit Anima. Meet the tribe. Make changes.

But... not tonight.

Gray exhaled slowly. He was tired tonight. He was hoping to spend tonight with Weiss.

“For now, your orders, and your tribe’s, are simple: lay low. No ****. No pillaging. No drawing attention. They are to wait at whatever base camp you have for further instructions.”

Raven nodded once. “Understood.”

Gray did some quick mental math. If it was evening here in Sanus, it would be roughly midday or early afternoon in Anima depending on the exact time zones.

He looked back at her.

“Meet me back here on this rooftop at four in the morning, Vale-time. We’re going to Anima tomorrow. I want to see your tribe for myself.”

Raven’s red eyes gleamed with interest, but she simply nodded again.

“As you wish.”

For tonight, though, he was done.

Tomorrow would be a busy day, it seemed. So, he needed sleep, preferably with Weiss curled against him.

He gave Raven one last look.

“You can go.”

She didn’t argue. With a swirl of red and black, she transformed back into the raven and launched herself off the rooftop, disappearing into the night sky.

Gray stood there for a moment longer, staring after her.

Then he turned and headed back down toward the dorms.

He thought this week would be relatively tame compared to last week. Maybe he should expect his days to be turbulent from now onwards.

---

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