Qrow wakes up next to you, who was still asleep. Qrow smiles to himself; everything was perfect; it was fairly early in the morning. Qrow sits up careful not to wake you, his hand caresses your cheek, "I love you." You nuzzle into his hand. Qrow chuckles, seeing that how adorable you were. He gets up from the bed, "I should get ready for the day." After changing into his usual attire, he heard the bed shift.

"Qrow?" You murmured, it was clear that you were still not fully awake. "Hey, babe." Qrow sits on the edge of the bed; he pulls the blanket and wraps it around your shoulders. "Why are you up?"
"Couldn't go back to sleep, why did you wake up?"
"You weren't sleeping next to me." Qrow hugs you, "Using cute lines like that is cheating (Y/n). It makes me want to hold you all day." He then places his lips on your neck, "It's wonderful to see you like this, you're mine, and I'm yours."
"And it should stay that way." Qrow kisses your cheek, "Come on, sleepyhead, let's he the day started."

After a while, both you and Qrow began preparing the day; you had made breakfast and started waking up the teens, except Nora, since she smelled the pancakes in her sleep. You had placed the now empty dishes in the sink as Qrow walked in.
"I'm heading off (Y/n), are you sure you'll be fine at the house?"
"I'll be with them; they wanted to help me with the cooking." Qrow kisses you and leaves the house.
As Qrow walked down the street, you remembered and ran outside, "Be careful!" You shouted. Qrow turns around and waves at you. "I will." You smile returning back into the house.

Rain is pouring outside. Qrow opens up a sliding door leading into a small restaurant. A man can be seen sleeping at a table in the corner, while the Ramen Shop Owner stands behind the counter, sharpening his kitchen knife on a woodblock. Qrow walks up to the owner, who is still paying attention to sharpening his knife, "Regular? Or the Special?"
"I'm actually looking for someone, goes by the name Shiro Wan. Ever heard of him? I heard he's a regular around here."
"Who's asking?"
"Hey, I'm not some cop if that's what you mean. I need Shiro for a gig. We go way back."

"Way back, huh?" The shop owner looks up at Qrow, "So, he's a friend of yours."

Qrow rubs his chin, "Hm, yeah, I'd say so. He's a pretty alright guy."
"Well, in that case..." Suddenly, his tone turns hostile, pointing his knife threateningly at Qrow, "You tell that jerk that he better not show his ugly face in here until he pays me the Lien he owes me!!"

Qrow was taken aback, "Uh, did I say friend? I, uh- I meant acquaintance." The owner angrily slams his knife into the counter. Qrow slowly backs away, "Really, we're just colleagues! Anyways, thanks for your time, buddy. I'll just be taking off now." Qrow exits the restaurant, quickly closing the sliding door. He quickly turns around, leaning against the door. He takes a drink from his flask before pulling out his scroll, which has a list of "CONTACTS" with the following names:

Wan, Shiro
Griffin, Blanka
Raine, Boyd
Kreiss, Amethyst
Altham, Ivy
Rivas, Aoi
Vaccaro, Farrow
Lunsford, Harkin

Qrow crosses off Shiro's name and sighs, "Great start." Suddenly, the owner's knife is stabbed through the door cloth, barely missing Qrow's head. Qrow then walks up to several people asking if they know any of the Huntsmen on his list; first, a pair of two men standing on the rainy street. Next, to a one-eyed, blonde blacksmith selling her wares. Then, he seeks the help of a beat-up man filled with bruises, resting while two other men are currently fighting in a match. After every person he asks, Qrow's expression grows more aggravated, and each time, the number of Huntsmen he crosses off the list increases. Finally, he walks up to a small house with boarded-up windows. He looks at his Scroll for his two remaining contacts, the first of which had been crossed out.

Fiorenza, Shani
Shields, Heather

"Heather Shields." He knocks on the door. A group of small children is seen near the house. After Qrow turns around from looking at them, since there's been no response, he bangs it loudly with the side of his fist. As he's about to bang on the door again, a man opens up the door, "Oh, uh, hey there. I'm looking for Heather?" The man just stares back at him, "Look, pal, I've had a rough day. Do you know where she is or not?"
"Daddy? Does he know where Mommy is?" Having realized that Heather was missing in action, or worse, Qrow immediately regrets his mistake, "I um... I'm sorry to bother you."

The man and his daughter go back into their house. Qrow walks back out into the rain. He removes his flask from his shirt and considers taking another drink from it, but decides not to. At the park, he looks up at the Mistral Bounty mission boards, then checks for more names on the mission board.

UMBRA, AYRESS - MISSION TYPE: SEARCH AND RESCUE
MISSION STATUS: TERMINATED 1 WEEK AGO
GRIFFIN, CARMINA - MISSION TYPE: SEARCH AND RESCUE
MISSION STATUS: IN PROGRESS 8 WEEKS AGO
WAN, SHIRO - MISSION TYPE: SEARCH AND DESTROY
MISSION STATUS: IN PROGRESS 5 WEEKS AGO

Qrow sighs and takes a seat on a nearby bench, realizing that all of his contacts, let alone many others on the mission board, were nowhere to be found.

After a while, Qrow goes back into the restaurant from earlier. The owner has more wood carvings on his counter now. He notices Qrow walk in, "You've got a lot of nerve showing up back here, unless you've brought that idiot with you."
"How much did Shiro owe you?"

Ramen Shop Owner took notice of Qrow's somber expression, "Well, I'd say about... 16,000 Lien." Qrow then tosses a Lien note, which clatters softly on the surface of the bar, "Wait, what? Man, you must be in some serious trouble with him if you're paying me off."
"His name is clear."

"Yeah." Qrow starts to leave again, and the owner returns to his carving, "That idiot..." Qrow opens the door, "Yeah..." Qrow exits the Ramen Shop, he takes out his scroll and pulls up a picture of you and him, "(Y/n) is expecting me to come back, a little more of searching."

At the Branwen Tribe camp, Vernal pours cups of tea for Raven, Yang, and Weiss. They are all inside Raven's tent, with the latter three seated around a table.

Raven, to Vernal, "You can wait outside. Thank you." Vernal does so.
"So, what's the "truth"?" Raven takes a sip from her cup, "You know, it's better when it's hot."
"You know, you're really obnoxious."

"The truth is that "truth" is hard to come by. A story of victory for one person is a story of defeat for someone else. By now, (Y/n) has surely told Ruby and her friends plenty of stories. Similar to the stories, she would say to you when you were still a child."
"Well, she's never given me a reason to doubt her before, she stayed at my side even if everyone turns away from me."

"That doesn't mean those reasons don't exist." Yang glares at her, "You know, you and your teammates might as well be the poster children for the Huntsman academies. Your motives vary, but you all enrolled to try and make the world a better place. It's adorable."
"It's what Huntsmen and Huntresses do."

"Not all of them. Some people are just in it for the money and the fame, but there's even more that are just looking to grow stronger. Your Uncle Qrow and I didn't attend Beacon to become Huntsmen; we did it to learn how to kill Huntsmen."

Yang and Weiss gasp at this, exchanging a brief look with each other, "Daddy and Uncle left that part out, hm?" Raven begins to pour more tea for herself, "Aside from the Grimm, Huntsmen were the only ones capable of ruining our raids and hunting us down. Our tribe needed a counterforce." She takes another sip, "And Qrow and I were the perfect age. The entrance exams were child's play compared to what we'd already been through. We were good. So good, that we caught the attention of Beacon's very own headmaster, Professor Ozpin. Even after we were put on a team, I could tell he was keeping his eye on us. Back then, I thought it was because he knew, but it was Team STRQ he was interested in. And it was easier for (Y/n) to get along with us back then, with her power Qrow and I, couldn't go against her even if we wanted to."

"What do you mean by that?"
"Constant attention, extra training missions, turning a blind eye whenever we happened to break the rules and get into more trouble than we should've. (Y/n) using her name to get us into places that only officials can get into? Sound familiar?"

Yang and Weiss share another glance at each other. Weiss gestures Yang to keep going, "What's your point?"
"How much do you know about Professor Ozpin? About his past? How Ozpin calls (Y/n) by the name Saint? Or about (Y/n), her regeneration? Her summons? How the Grimm protect her from danger? That isn't a semblance; she doesn't have one."

"Ozpin was... a prodigy. One of the youngest headmasters to be appointed to a school. (Y/n) was..."
"She worked for the Atlis military year's ago, she was recognized as a lieutenant by General Ironwood's side." Weiss spoke up.
"Because that's how he planned it. Because the man you know as Ozpin designed those schools and has followers inside every academy on Remnant that are loyal to him and (Y/n) and no one else. (Y/n) went to Atlas after meeting us, she has reasons to only stand by Ironwood, she doesn't have a background. To a certain extent, you could say she doesn't exist."

"That doesn't make any sense! How could he have...? No. Why would someone even do that?"

"Because old man Oz and (Y/n) have a great and terrible secret. One that could spread fear across the world. One that they eventually entrusted to our team, and once I knew, there was no going back. I needed to know more, but with every new discovery I made, the more horrifying the world became. Then trying to learn more about (Y/n), I would say pay attention to her storytelling, the amount of detail she has in them, its almost like she was there to tell them."
"Okay, then tell us. What's the big secret? What's so crazy that the rest of us don't know?"
"The Creatures of Grimm... have a master named Salem. Just no one can stop her, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest until humanity crumbles at her feet. (Y/n) is her demise, that's if (Y/n) goes back to her throne."

As she speaks, Weiss and Yang's eyes widen more and more. They sit in silence, "What?"
"You know, you two haven't even touched your tea." Raven began humming a song, Wiess flinches, "Where did you learn that?"
"Hm? Oh, the tune? (Y/n) used to sing it to me a long time ago. I'm guessing she sang it to you?" Weiss relaxes, "Yes, she did."
"Pay attention to the lyrics and ask her about it, I'm sure you will find out something."

Raven takes another sip from her teacup, while Yang stands up, "Why should we believe any of this?"

"Now you're catching on. So far, you've done nothing but accept what others tell you, but you need to question everything."

The two stare at each other face to face, before Raven turns around. "Otherwise, you'll end up just as blind as Qrow since he loves dear (Y/n) so much..." Yang grits her teeth, and her eyes narrow, seething, "... and your fool of a father."

A shot from Ember Celica is heard, destroying the table. Raven's empty teacup clatters across the floor, stopping when it hits the heel of her boot. Raven looks toward Yang, faintly smiling. Yang's eyes have turned red, "Don't you dare talk about my family like that! At least she was more of a mother than you were!"

While Yang speaks, Weiss stares up at her wide-eyed and flinches when she raises her voice for emphasis. A weapon is heard being drawn at Yang, Vernal glares at her, "You need to calm down."

Weiss holds Yang's hand, "Yang, please."

"Listen to your friend, Yang. Your teammates never let you down before."
"You don't know the first thing about my teammates! About me! You were never there! You LEFT US!! Why?" Yang's eyes returned to normal as she hangs her head in sadness.

"I know more than you realize. Not just about you, and not just what I've been told, but things I've seen with my own eyes. I know the Grimm have a leader, I know people who can come back from the dead, I know that magic is real, and I can prove it."

Weiss stands up, while Raven continues addressing her daughter. "You said Tai told you all about my Semblance." Vernal lowers her weapon while Raven heads toward the back exit of her tent, "Well, I doubt he ever told you what Oz did to my brother and me." Raven exits her tent. Yang and Weiss exchange confused looks.
"Go see for yourself." Vernal leaves. Yang and Weiss take her advice and exit the tent. They see no one there, "Mom?"
"Yang, are you okay?"
"I'll be fine once we can get her to take us to Ruby."

Weiss relents while Yang continues to look around, "It's okay if... you're not okay."
"You didn't believe what she said, right?"
"I... of course not. Well, not all of it. It was crazy. We have Dust, Semblances... But, I mean, there's no such thing as magic." Just then, the two hear a bird caw. They watch it fly in front of them, "A raven?"
"I've... seen that bird before."
"Maybe it belongs to your mom?"

The two continue to watch the raven fly in the dusk-colored sky. It descends, flying and weaving between the trees, before shapeshifting into Raven herself. Raven lands back on the ground on her feet, while Yang and Weiss have shocked expressions as she stands back up, "How... did you do that?"
"Well, I could explain it to you..."

Raven then draws Omen, slashing behind her, creating a portal with her Semblance, "... or you could ask your uncle."
"You're letting us go?"

"I'm giving you a choice." Raven sheathes her sword, "Stay here, with me, and I'll answer all your questions and more. We can have a fresh start." Yang glares at her, "Or... you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's and (Y/n)'s impossible war against Salem, and meet the same fate as so many others. But can you really go back to trusting someone that's kept so much from you?"

Weiss reacts timidly, while Yang just glares at her mother. "All I care about is making sure my sister is safe."

"Ugh..." Yang and Weiss are then shown riding on Bumblebee. However, before they can enter the portal, Raven addresses her daughter one more time. "Yang. If you side with your uncle, I may not be as kind the next time we meet..." Weiss rolls her eyes and looks ahead, "You weren't kind this time either."

Yang and Weiss proceed through the portal on Bumblebee. The portal then disappears, "I know..."

Raven glares at the ground, she then remembered the last time she had spoke to you a few years back, "Yang is asleep, you should watch over her, she is your daughter." Raven looks away from you, "I'm sorry." Raven turns back to you with wide eyes, "Why are you apologizing?" You gave her a sad smile, "You were dragged into something that was terrifying. Sad to say, I was the one to do it. I guess I'm still terrible like back then too." Raven sighs, "But why take care of what's mine?"
"I'm scared of what would happen if I left everyone alone. Everyone has their limits; I want to help them relieve their stress and sadness, even if I become full of it." You patted Yang's sleeping head.
"What are you going to gain from this all I have ever done for you was bring you down."
"Nothing, I want everyone to live this time. Now go on, Qrow and Tai will return soon, but promise me that when Yang needs you the most, save her, because she needs a mom, not just any mom, her mother." That was the last time both of you had exchanged words; after that, you two would see each other from a distance yet wouldn't speak for each other.

Back in Mistral, Qrow is leaning against a stone railing, "This isn't right. I get one or two of them, but... all of them? Maybe Leo could get a hold of them." Qrow sighs and hangs his head in disappointment. Suddenly, he hears the sound of Raven's portal behind him, "Raven?" The sound of a motorcycle is heard coming from the portal. "Oh."

Back at the house Team RNJR is staying at, each of the members are helping prepare dinner: Both you and Ruby are cooking at the stove, Jaune is setting up the table, and Ren and Nora is cutting carrots, occasionally Nora eating slices, "Alright, the first batch is just about done."
"Awesome! Now we need Qrow, and we'll be all set."

Nora still eating carrots, "Do you really think he's gonna bring that many people? This is a lot of food." She continues to eat another carrot slice.
"Uh, I don't know, but it sounds like we could use all the help we can get."

"I'm back!" Qrow yells as he enters the house, "Be right there!" You shout back. "Ruby, I'll take over go help your uncle." Ruby shakes her head, "It's almost done."

Ren to Ruby, "You're going to overcook that."
"No, I'm not, shut up!'
"Hey, uh, Ruby?"

"I'm coming!"

Some smoke comes from the pan Ruby is cooking with, to Ren, "Fine! You take over." Ruby grabs the tea tray and heads to the living room while Ren helps prepare the pan. "Thanks, Ren."

Ruby enters the living room, only having her eyes on the tea tray, "So, we didn't know how many people were coming, so we just cooked all of it."

She looks up and gasps as she drops the tea tray and its contents, which shatter on the floor. She stares in disbelief at the sight of not only Qrow but of her older sister Yang and teammate Weiss. Yang approaches her little sister. "Yang, I... I'm so sorry! I- I should've stayed, and I should've talked to you more! I'd- I just... I wasn't sure if you wanted me around and-" Ruby began to tear up. Suddenly, her big sister gives her a firm hug. Ruby's lips quiver and she looks toward her sister.
"I love you." Ruby sobs as she leans into her sister's hug, "I love you too."

Jaune, Ren, and Nora enter the room, smiling at the sight of the two sisters embracing each other. Qrow smiles as well. Weiss smiles as she wipes a tear from her eye before frowning while looking down, "Weiss."

Weiss looks up and sees the two sisters open their arms up for her. She smiles and eagerly joins them in their hug. Everyone smiles as they watch three of the four Team RWBY members embrace each other.

End of Vol. 5 Chapter 6