Rage & Hope: A RWBY Story

Chapter Forty Six - Welcome To Haven

After a long and arduous journey, Aya along with Team RNJR and Qrow finally reached the city of Mistral where Haven Academy resided. After exploring Mistral, the group make their way to the campus grounds of Haven Academy.

Ruby: We made it.

The group looked around to find it devoid of people. Garrus immediately became concerned.

Ruby: Hello!?

Nora: Maybe try louder?

Ren: There doesn't seem to be anyone here.

Jaune: Well, I guess school isn't really in session right now. Maybe that's it.

Aya: At this time of day? Why wouldn't there be students here at this time? It seems out of place. 

Qrow: Kid's is right. Something's not right here.

Qrow then runs ahead much to the confusion of the group. They follow him until they all stop in front of a pair of giant wooden doors.

Qrow: Get ready. There could be trouble.

Everyone prepares for a possible fight as Qrow kicks in the door. On the other side was Leonardo Lionheart who lets out a terrified scream and falls from his chair.

Ruby: Uh, Professor Lionheart?

Lionheart: Qrow! For crying out loud, you nearly scared me half to death!

Qrow: Me? Why weren't you waiting for us at the entrance?

At first, Lionheart was confused by Qrow's words. He then pulls out a pocket watch from his pocket and checks the time.

Lionheart: Oh, right. Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me.

Qrow: You're joking.

As everyone puts their weapons away, Nora was the first to question about the academy's emptiness.

Nora: Where is everybody?

Lionheart: Ah, you must be the students Qrow mentioned.

Ruby: Yes, sir. Ruby Rose.

Jaune: Jaune Arc.

Nora: Nora Valkyrie.

Ren: Lie Ren.

Aya: My name is Aya. 

Lionheart gulps as he begins speaking.

Lionheart: A pleasure to meet you all. Leonardo Lionheart, at your service. I'm afraid most of my staff is currently away until classes resume, but...

Lionheart was soon interrupted by Qrow who quickly became impatient with him.

Qrow: What? Leo, you can't be serious. Who's guarding the Relic?

Lionheart: Qrow, the children.

Qrow: Already know. I filled them in. What do you mean your staff is away?

Lionheart was shocked to hear this. As Lionheart processed this information, he sighs.

Lionheart: I have to say, Qrow, this all seems very reckless, even for you.

Qrow: No, reckless is leaving one of the Relics completely unguarded. It's not checking in with Oz for ages!

Lionheart: There was nothing to check in about before the fall of Beacon, but since that day, Mistral has been in chaos! Vale wasn't the only Kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every Kingdom saw that poor girl ripped to pieces, saw monsters crawling over the city, Atlesian Knights attacking citizens...and then nothing. You could feel the dread in the air. With all that negativity, you can imagine what it was like when the Grimm came for us. Mistral's territory is the widest reaching in the world, you know, and that makes it infinitely harder to protect. We lost so many great Huntsmen, teachers from this very institution. And it's only gotten worse.

The way Lionheart spoke of the current situation reminded Garrus too much of the threat of the Reapers. Ruby soon stepped in.

Ruby: What do you mean?

Lionheart: We may have dealt with the Grimm, but the Mistral council's still at odds with representatives from Atlas. First, it was the Dust embargo, now it's the closing of borders. I'm not sure what happened to James in Vale, but it seems to have only worsened some of his more unfortunate tendencies. And, on top of everything, we still don't know where the Spring Maiden is.

Aya: All the more reason we need the Huntsmen and Huntresses here. Having none here in response to the attack on Beacon seems like illogical.

Ruby: Okay! Okay. Things are bad; they're bad. But we can figure this out. Why is the Spring Maiden so important?

Lionheart: I thought you filled them in, Qrow.

Qrow: Mostly filled in. Look, there's a lot to cover, okay? I quit teaching for a reason.

Lionheart: The four Maidens each have the power to perform feats of magic, and they are the only ones capable of reaching the Relics.

Aya: Can that not be replicated? 

Qrow: It doesn't work like that, kid. The Relics are each locked inside a chamber that can only be opened by a specific Maiden. Winter for the gift of Creation, Summer for Destruction, Fall for Choice and Spring for Knowledge. Spring is the problem.

Ren: What happened to her?

Lionheart: She was determined, at first, when she inherited her powers, but the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child. She... ran. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now.

Qrow: I... know. At least... I have a pretty good idea.

Upon hearing this, everyone became surprised.

Lionheart: Are you serious?

Qrow: It's not exactly good news.

Lionheart: What are you talking about? This is incredible news! After all these years! Where?!

Qrow: I did some digging around. Looks like, after Spring ran away, she was picked up by bandits, specifically the Branwen tribe.

Upon hearing this, Lionheart's smile quickly faded.

Lionheart: Raven.

Jaune: Yang's mom?

Qrow: That's right.

Qrow then pulls up a holographic map of Remnant on his scroll. He then points to a single point on the map.

Qrow: That's about where they've set up their main camp. It's where they fall back to after raids and scouting missions. Raven's managed to gain a lot of followers since she returned to the tribe, and I'm sure when the Spring Maiden showed up, it only made things easier.

With that, the mission was now clear. They needed to find the Spring Maiden who was among the Branwen Tribe. Aya could already tell that the situation could become even more complicated.