And now, for the moment we've all been waiting for, the introduction to my other teams!!

IF THERE WAS ANY TIME TO READ "HELP FROM AN UNLIKELY SOURCE" IN MY TEAM SHDW INFORMATION BOOK, NOW IS THE TIME.
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Yang and Dante were riding Bumblebee with the bandit, named Shay D. Mann (yes, seriously), through a forest in Anima. It was a very... awkward ride, especially for the bandit, as he got the back of the bike, having to lean back and try desperately not to fall off.

"How much further, pal?" Dante asked/yelled.

"This should just about do it," Shay replied.

Yang stopped her bike in a clearing and the bandit jumped off, "You wait here. I'll go up ahead and make sure the coast is clear."

Shay then ran into the bushes. Yang shook her head in annoyance and discarded her sunglasses, sleeve, and coat tails before stretching a little. Dante dismounted and begun whistling.

"So, we know this is an obvious trap, right?" Dante asked.

"Oh yeah."

Suddenly, someone pulled the trigger of a gun and Yang blocked the shot with her arm. Shay reappeared with several bandits in tow, all holding various weapons.

"I can't believe you were dumb enough to let me lead you here," he grinned.

Yang looked around, "Is this everyone?"

Shay chuckled, "Yes, little lady. This is it. Well, unless you count the whole rest of the camp back that way."

He gestured behind him with his thumb, Dante then pointing a finger in the same direction, "That way?"

Shay grunted in confusion and looked at his tribe mates first, "Yes. That way."

"Good to know," Yang replied, "Thanks."

"Now to pay me back for this tooth," Shay punched his fists, "We're going to take your bike. And you're going to take your lumps."

"Lumps?" Dante muttered quietly, confused, before turning to his friend, "You got this? Or do you want me to help?"

Yang engaged Ember Celica on her left arm, causing the bandits to get cautious and keep their weapons trained on her. She looked back at Dante and gave a quick grin.

"I think I'm fine."

Shay aimed his gun, "You got the jump on me last time, sweetheart. But you really ought to think twice about fighting all-"

He was cut off when Yang engaged the gun on her robotic arm, resulting in the rest of the bandits gasping and Shay commanding, "Alright... Get her!!"

The bandits attacked, and this is where Dante just kinda stopped paying attention. He simply just began whistling again, pulling out his Scroll and starting to play Bejeweled. All he really heard of the fight was a few gunshots and cries of pain coming from everybody but Yang. When he looked up, he saw that Yang had defeated them, and so he put away his Scroll. Her left hand was shaking once again, but she was able to calm herself down before walking back to her motocycle.

Shay coughed and struggled to get up, "Who are you? It doesn't even matter. When Raven finds out what you did, you're dead!"

"Possibly," Yang answered, "But I doubt it. I am her daughter, after all."

Shay went wide-eyed as she hopped back on Bumblebee and Dante gave him a crooked grin. He then completely collapsed to the ground.

"I'm dead..."
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"So, Rose," Skyler asked, "Why have you brought us down near the lowest section of the city?"

"Yeah," Hazel concurred, "Every attempt to answer that question is either avoided or just raises more questions. All you said when we left was 'I know some guys', and that's all we've gotten."

"What, I can't be like Ozpin and act needlessly vague?" Rose turned to them with a grin, but was only met by incredulous expressions, so she pouted and groaned, "Fine. There was this team I saved not too long before I met you, Skyler. I gave them a place to stay until I needed it again. At least until whatever was happening with their fellow Hunters was over with. I figured I might as well include them in this mess. They owe me a favor for that after all."

"Are they good?" Hazel questioned.

"Are they good?!" Rose exclaimed, "One of the best. Their team name is STAR, and from what I've heard, they're one of the best teams in the world, in terms of schools at least. They're good enough to rival Team ABIS. Or at least, supposedly, since the two teams have never actually met."

Skyler and Hazel looked at each other, wide-eyed, and the former said, "Wow... Yeah, these sound like people we need. Point taken."

Rose smirked at them as they kept walking. The three of them then approached a rather large house, and Rose walked up to the door and knocked a few times.

"Just a second!" came a female voice from inside.

The door opened, revealing a girl who appeared to be at least three years older than Skyler and Hazel, had darker skin with scales in various places, indicating that she was a Faunus, had slanted green eyes and short brown hair. She also had quite the shocked look on her face when she looked down and saw Rose.

The shorter female gave a two fingered salute, "'Sup?"

The door was immediately slammed in her face. The two younger Hunters flinched at the sudden action while Rose simply groaned in exasperation.

"Oh, come on!" Bloodmane cried, "Can't we just talk?"

"Go away, Bloodmane!!" came the girl's answer.

"Geez, did I leave that bad of an impression?" Rose shot back, "Am I gonna have to bust in there?"

"Please don't!" a male voice responded.

"Oh hey, Taven!" Bloodmane replied, "I assume you're all still hanging around together?"

"Please go away," another, different female voice said, just as frustrated as the previous female, and the male, whose name was apparently Taven.

"Of course you'd agree, Sapphire! He's your boyfriend after all!"

This went on for a couple more minutes, Rose arguing with Taven, Sapphire, and the other girl, who Rose had named Rin (a name Hazel was taken aback by, but shook it off), with another voice chiming in from time to time, Rose calling them Axel, who seemed to actually be in favor of letting her in, but was being shot down. Finally, Rose grew tired, groaned, turned into a shadow, and slipped through the crack under the door. There was a lot of yelling after that, but it all eventually quieted down.

Hazel leaned over to Skyler and whispered, "I'm... not sure how to feel about this situation."

"Oh good," Skyler replied, "It's not just me."

And then the door opened, Rose poking her head out, a smirk on her face, saying cheerfully, "You two can come in now!"

"If this is how your so called friends treat you, I'd hate to see what your enemies do," Hazel grimaced, taking the first step inside.

"Trust me," Rose replied while Skyler entered as well, "If I had any, they're long dead."

"What a ringing endorsement," Skyler muttered.

The two stepped inside the house and looked at its occupants. The first person, Sapphire Drey, was wearing a black shirt and pants, had blue eyes, and had blonde hair with blue highlights. The second person, Taven Elysian, was wearing a green shirt and blue pants, and had dark blue hair, as well as red eyes. He was also a Faunus, sporting a wolf tail. The third, Axel Coving, was wearing a red shirt and blue jeans, and had gray hair and light blue eyes. The fourth and final person, Rin (no last name, causing Hazel's suspicions to spark), was wearing a black shirt with white and red highlights.

The house's interior wasn't nearly as bad as its exterior. There was lighting, running water, as well as quite a lot of furniture for just a single living room, including multiple recliners and three couches.

"Alright," Sapphire said, glaring at Bloodmane, "What do you want? And who are these two?"

"Geez, calm down," Rose scoffed, plopping down on one of the recliners, "We're just here to talk."

"Guys, who's that?"

Rose jumped at the new voice, surprised that someone besides Team STAR was here. They turned to the staircase where the voice came from to see a girl a bit closer to Skyler and Hazel's age looking over the whole group. She was wearing a green and red shirt, wearing purple pants, had long red hair, had blue eyes, and, judging by the claws on her hands, was also a Faunus. A Mongoose Faunus, to be exact.

"Pamela," Sapphire addressed the girl, "It's fine, go ba-"

"Wait, Pamela?!" Hazel exclaimed suddenly, making Skyler jump in surprise, "Pamela Nicholson?!"

Pamela Nicholson regarded Hazel for a moment before her own eyes widened, "Hazel?! Is that you?!"

"Oh my gosh!!" the two of them exclaimed at the same time, Pamela rushing down to embrace Skyler's partner.

The two girls were laughing, kind of alleviating the tension in the room, but making the mood a tad awkward at the same time. The two separated, them both still grinning uncontrollably.

"We have so much to catch up on!" Pamela told her, "I became the leader of my own team!"

"No!" Hazel gasped, "And here I am, stuck as the partner to my leader."

"Hey!" Skyler butt in, trying to act offended, but was more confused than anything else.

"Yup!" Pamela continued, Skyler being ignored, "Team PHTM (Phantom)! And I wouldn't sell yourself short like that, girl! I saw you and your team during the Vytal Festival Tournament! Shame my team couldn't be there in person, due to a... eh, school issue."

"Yeah, quite the issue," Rin muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, speaking of my team," Hazel then directed Pamela over to her partner, "Allow me to introduce my partner and team leader!"

"The name's Skyler Yin," Skyler greeted PHTM's leader with a pleasant smile and an outstretched hand, "Nice to meet you!"

Pamela could only stare at him, her face starting to burn bright red, before eventually shaking his hand and stuttering out, "N-N-Nice to you meet too-I MEAN, meet y-y-you too!!"

Skyler only blinked in confusion when he pulled his hand back, while Hazel witnessed it all and just said, "Oh no..."

Rose cleared her throat, getting the teens' attention, and said, "Well... um, not sure how to segue out of this, so..."

She turned to STAR, "I don't remember her being with you when I gave you permission to use this house."

"What the heck is going on down there?" yet another voice called out from upstairs as three more people descended down them.

Rose clicked her tongue in a bit of annoyance while STAR just had awkward looks on their faces, "Or them."

Pamela chuckled nervously, "Uh... allow me to introduce Team PHTM! This is Hannibal Tombstone, Tara Gordon, and Michelle Parker."

Hannibal was biggest of the group, even taller than the members of STAR. He wore a black and white shirt, wore gray pants, had messy black hair, and had purple eyes. Tara (why did Skyler feel fear when looking at her?) wore a black and yellow shirt, wore purple pants, had red hair, and had green eyes. Michelle, a Spider Faunus (though you couldn't tell just by looking at her), wore a red and blue shirt, wore black and orange pants, had long brown hair, and had blue eyes.

"So..." Rose turned to look at STAR with annoyance, "Care to explain why you invited more people in this house? Should I expect more people hiding upstairs?"

"Well, no to the second question," Axel awkwardly answered, tapping his index fingers together, "As for the first, we figured we'd invite them to stay with us as well. After all, you said that it wouldn't be safe back in Haven, and these guys are pretty powerful too. They are our friends, so we figured there wouldn't be any harm in bringing them here too."

Rose inhaled, but let out a sigh in acceptance, "Fine. But can we get back to business, please?"

"I'd be happy to know what's going on, yes," Taven agreed.

Rose and the two SHDW members explained the situation as best as they could to STAR and PHTM. Well, not everything. They just left out Oscar's role in all of it. They had to make it believable after all. After they were done, Sapphire let out a breath.

"Well..." she said, "That's a lot to take in..."

"Not to try to pressure you or anything," Hazel spoke, "We still have a few more weeks left after all."

"A few more weeks..." Taven repeated, "And you're sure about that?"

"The guy who told us hasn't been wrong before," Skyler replied, "And even still, it's just an approximation. Stuff might go down before or after classes start back up. There's no clear answer."

"So you have no good news for us," Michelle retorted, "Good to know."

Sapphire sighed, "Look... this is a lot to take in. As much as we would love to help you, if you had told us this when you gave us permission to use this place, we wouldn't be so hesitant."

"Oh come on!" Skyler exclaimed, "How is that even fair?! We just learned this information not even two days ago!!"

"Skyler, calm down," Hazel looked at him, concerned.

~No, keep getting angry! Let me at them!! Let me see how strong they really are!!~

The voice speaking again caused him to grasp his head in pain for a second. He managed to calm himself, shaking his head to snap out of his anger.

"Um... y-you okay?" Pamela asked timidly, getting weird looks from her teammates.

"Sorry..." he said, his expression softening, "It's been a rough year..."

"As much as we'd love to help," Taven put in, "We need time to think about it. And from what you've said, time just isn't on our side. We'll give our life to protect our kingdom, but not without time to prepare."

Then Hannibal, who had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, stepped forward to say in deep, yet quiet voice, "We, however, aren't as hesitant."

STAR turned to Hannibal, and to extension PHTM, Axel saying, "What?"

Tara then spoke up, "We had our own little agreement while you guys were talking. While we aren't quite as willing to die, know that we've got your back. Like you said, something big is going down. And if we're to stop it, joining you seems like the best option."

Rose smirked, "Good to see a younger generation has common sense."

"Aren't we older than you?" Michelle said to her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm almost twenty two, thank you very much," Bloodmane retorted.

"Well, sure doesn't look like it," Michelle retorted with a grin.

"It doesn't, does it?" Rose nodded, getting Michelle confused on why the older girl wasn't offended, "So are you guys coming with?"

"No," Hannibal replied, "All respect given, but we'd rather stay with friends than people we just met."

"Just call us if you need anything," Pamela said, avoiding Skyler's line of sight, "I assume you know the number for this place."

"Of course," Rose then got up, "Well, I can't say this visit has been too pleasant, but at least we got some good news."

"Sorry," Sapphire apologized, "We just need more time to decide."

"Yeah yeah, we heard you the first dozen times," Bloodmane waved off, everybody getting out of their seats and going to the door.

Rose has already walked out of the house, but Skyler and Hazel stopped at the exit and turned to the rest of the Hunters, the former saying, "Despite how things went, I suppose it's only polite to thank you for your time and patience. Sorry for snapping earlier."

Sapphire smiled, "It's alright. You seem a bit upset. It was nice meeting you, Skyler."

She offered her hand and Skyler shook it, "You as well, Sapphire."

As he walked out, Hazel hugged Pamela one last time in goodbye. Then as she reached the door, she stopped by Rin, who spoke to her.

"Well..." Rin sighed, offering her hand to Hazel, "I suppose it was a pleasure meeting you, Hazel..."

"Tikal," SHDW's second in command nodded, sticking out her hand to the older girl, "Hazel Tikal."

Rin flinched, regarding Hazel for a few seconds before shaking the younger girl's hand, "...Very well, Ms. Tikal..."

'Tikal...?' Rin thought, befuddled as Hazel let go and begun to walk away, 'That name... why is it so... familiar?'

The door closed, Taven sighed, and he turned to PHTM, "You guys better know what you're doing."

"Don't worry," Pamela assured him, "I think we'll be fine."

Everyone then went back to their own business, except for Michelle, who pulled Pamela over to the side, "What the heck was that?!"

"What was what?" the Mongoose Faunus asked asked, though she had an idea what the other girl was taking about.

"Oh, don't play dumb! You've got a thing for that Skyler guy, right?! I've never seen you that nervous in the entire time I've known you!"

"W-Well, uh... n-no..."

Michelle then grinned darkly, turning away from her teammate, and muttered, "Oh, this'll really get on Sora's nerves..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"
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Yang and Dante finally entered the bandit camp, escorted by a few bruised bandits who Yang had roughed up earlier. They noticed more bandits lining up along the path, giving them angry glares. Vernal stepped out of her tent to see what the commotion was about.

The two bandits guarding Weiss and Walker, the latter of whom was now fully healed thanks to his Aura, were playing cards with each other, but ended up joining the rest of their tribe to see Yang walk in. Weiss took the opportunity to once again summon a small Arma Gigas, who began to get to work on freeing the two Hunters from their confinement, neither of the two prisoners seeing who was being escorted into the camp.

Yang, Dante, and their escorts arrived at the camp's main tent, where a woman with long black hair emerges from it, wearing a somewhat Grimm-like mask.

"Mom," Yang greeted.

Raven Branwen removed her mask, "Yang. So, after all this time, you finally decided to visit me. And with a friend, I see."

Yang felt her left hand shaking once again, but she uses her robotic hand to calm it down, "You know that I searched for you. I spent years looking for you."

"And you've found me. You were patient, determined, and strong enough to make your dream a reality. Well done, Yang. But did you have to be so rough with my men?"

"I didn't want a fight. They started it."

"Well, you certainly finished it."

There was a small silence, and Dante shifted around awkwardly, feeling a bit out of place.

"Right," Raven continued, breaking the silence, "I'm sure this is all very overwhelming. But I must admit that you've proven yourself. So any questions you have I'll be happy to answer. You and your plus one can stay with us tonight. I'll even have the cooks whip up something for you."

"That's not why I am here."

Shock filled the air, Raven raising an eyebrow, "What was that?"

"We're not here for you. Ruby and Skyler are somewhere in Mistral. They're with Qrow, and they're going to need our help. I just need you to take us to them."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because we're family."

Raven scowled and muttered, "Family. Only coming around when they need something."

She then projected, "I have to say, I'm disappointed. After all, you found me, didn't you? Why not take that drive and use it to find your little sister and precious boyfriend if they mean that much to you?"

"Because you're going to save me time. Ruby and Skyler were heading to Mistral, but there's no guarantee they've made it there. Looking for her in Anima could take ages. But... Dad told me how your Semblance works."

Raven growled under her breath, "Tai..."

"You can bond to certain people. And when you do, you could create a portal that takes you straight to them. You've got one for Dad. One for me. And you've got one for Qrow. He promised me he'd watch out for Ruby before he left. And I trust him. So, make a portal to my uncle and sister, and I'll be on my way."

"You know, it takes real strength to march in here and demand such a favor of me. I've got to say, I'm impressed. It's very noble to want to help out your sister and boyfriend. But if they're with Qrow, then they're already a lost cause."

Yang's eyes narrowed, "What does that mean?"

"You don't want to get mixed up in all of that, Yang. Ozpin is not the man you think he is. And Qrow is a fool for trusting him. I would know, I trusted him once, too."

"I don't care what you think."

"And this Skyler boy's life is already complicated enough as it is. He should have experienced certain symptoms by now. As well as complicated relations with a certain team from Atlas."

That somewhat caught their attention, Dante finally speaking up, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Vernal, holding Myrtenaster, looked on disdainfully, placing her right hand on her hip as Raven replied, "Irrelevant. Your choice is your own. All I'm suggesting is that instead of getting wrapped up in something too big for you, for any of us, that maybe you take a moment to wonder if you're already where you belong."

"Save your breath," Yang responded, "You can spout off whatever you want, but nothing is going to keep me from Skyler and my sister."

"Well, aren't you stubborn."

"I get it from my mom."

There was another silence before Raven turned to Dante, "And you? What reasons do you have for finding them?"

Dante shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to answer. So he decided to take a page from Skyler's book on how to talk to someone mean: sass them.

"Because I care about them," Dante replied, "A concept that seems nonexistent to someone like you."

Raven glared at him, her teeth slightly gritted before addressing them both, "Well, if that's how you feel, then it sounds like we're done here. Take them away."

The bandits surrounded and begin to move in on the two. Dante instinctively clutched Ebony & Ivory, prepping for a fight. Yang saw this before turning her head back to Raven.

"Did you not hear me?!" she yelled as Raven turned back around to enter her tent, "I said send us to Qrow, damn it!!"

Her eyes turn red as she spouted out her last statement, getting a response from one of the bandits, who said, "That's enough!! You watch your mouth in front of our leader!!"

Some of the bandits tensed up behind him, and Yang replied darkly, "Make me."

The bandit tried to attack Yang (key word: tried), and Yang punched the Bandit so hard, he was sent flying backward into a tent, revealing the cage where Walker and Weiss were being held. The four stared at each other, blinking, unable to believe their eyes.

"...Yang?" Weiss said at last.

"Dante?" Walker muttered.

"Weiss?" Yang replied.

"Walker?!" Dante responded.

Weiss then turned to Walker, "Alright, well, subtlety is out."

Weiss then turns to her miniature Arma Gigas and made it grow, destroying the cage in the process. She and Walker quickly made their way toward Yang and Dante, the latter grabbing Barentain on his way, with the now giant Arma Gigas following close behind.

"What is that?!" Dante exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it," Walker replied, turning his sword into its whip mode, "What are you two doing here?"

Yang gestured to Raven, "Well, that's my mom and she can take us to Ruby and Skyler."

Raven scoffed, rolling her eyes

Weiss was dumbfounded, "Your mom kidnapped us?!"

Yang turned to Raven, "You kidnapped them?!"

Yang, Weiss, Dante, Walker, and Weiss' summon turned and ran to fight the bandits, but a lightning bolt struck in front of them, a voice shouting, "ENOUGH!!!"

They turned to see Vernal with her hand in the air, lowering it.

Raven spoke to her, "Thank you."

Then the leader addressed everyone else, "If you people don't keep it together this place will be crawling with Grimm."

She turned back to Vernal, "Give the girl her weapon back."

Vernal looked surprised at the command, but begrudgingly tossed Myrtenaster to Weiss, Raven then commanding, "You four. In my tent. Now."

"Why?" Yang asked.

"If you're really going after Yin and your sister, then you need to know the truth."

Raven entered her tent as the bandits went back to their own business. Weiss placed her hand on her chest in relief.

Yang turned to her, "Sorry about-"

Weiss dropped Myrtenaster before strongly bringing Yang into a strong hug, "I missed you so much..."

Yang smiled and hugged back, "I've missed you, too."

The Arma Gigas then disappeared as Walker turned to Dante and stuck out his hand, "Uh... hey, partner."

Dante just grinned and spread out his arms, "Come on, bro."

Walker's awkward expression changed to an amused one as the two then hugged. And, if only for a moment, things started to feel right with the world.
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And just like with "Help from an Unlikely Source", this ended up being much longer than I had anticipated... oh well. Also, change of plans for the next chapter. I had planned on having it be completely original, but in the end, the premise just seemed out of place and unneeded. So I'm just not going to do it and just skip onto "Known by Its Song". Till next time guys!