So it is done: Promises and Decisions (Patreon)

“We’ve arrived, sir." The voice coming from the speaker made Ghira nod involuntarily, an unnecessary act considering the fact that the speaker couldn't see him.

He had barely gotten comfortable in his room, before it had ended, not that he could get too comfortable, though. His own quarters were more luxurious than Ghira himself would have preferred – Ghira didn't understand the point of allocating him a full quarters on the airship at all…

However, politics required him to maintain a certain degree of gravitas. It wouldn’t do, after all, to have the leader of Menagerie look poor.

Menagerie's first and so far only airship, built with Glenn's support – and in no small part thanks to renegade scientists, technicians, and engineers from Mantle and Atlas – it was quite the vehicle. It had to represent a figure of power for Menagerie, the White Fang, the Faunus Kingdom – it had to be a powerful message that the Faunus were not to be underestimated.

Something that it accomplished with aplomb.

An air fleet, strictly speaking, was not a unique Atlas invention – all the Kingdoms, even Menagerie in their poorest days, possessed some semblance of an air force. Mostly transport ships, with a smattering of privately owned small craft designed to perform a multitude of functions. They were used from transporting cargo to evacuations – and maybe even for basic reconnaissance and covering cities from the Grimm, who remained a threat to any living thing, regardless of species or political affiliation.

However, a full-fledged mighty military fleet remained the prerogative of Atlas – insane costs, difficulty in building and maintaining, high demands on more than specific personnel with high levels of knowledge and skill kept it so. The other nations simply did not have the resources to maintain even a semblance of Atlas’ air fleet.

Not to say that no one had tried to do so in the past.

However, the cost/benefit ratio of such a solution eventually forced the other states to abandon their original grand plans, and the air fleet has remained a unique ‘calling card’ of Atlas. A kind of confirmation of the truth of the already well-known fact – Atlas' army is second to none.

Still, it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.

It took years, but the first airships rose into the air, bearing not the white snowflake branding or the Atlas Kingdom crest, but a white tower framed with nine circles, the symbol of the Glenn Kingdom. Or a white skull on a blue background framed with a white circle – the emblem of the White Fang… Or, one could say, the crest of the Menagerie Kingdom.

The only reason Menagerie – or even, to put it frankly, Glenn managed to get their first airships up in the air was the brain drain of professionals from the rapidly deteriorating state of Atlas and Mantle. And what better place for fleeing dissidents than the two states – Atlas' main ideological and political enemy, Menagerie, and the main patron of unfortunate people of Mantle, Glenn?

Oh yes, the fact that Glenn was supporting the protesters – even the rebels, perhaps – in Mantle was practically an open secret for anyone who had access to information. It wouldn't be another few months before that information became known to anyone. The refugees were definitely not silent in what they had done. Oh yes, the people who escaped were grateful – and having an airship, proudly bearing the White Fang crest – the ‘Wise Ka, was just one form of this gratitude.

After decades of undivided Atlas rule in the air, their greatest political and ideological adversary, appearing in an airship in the Atlas capital itself, arriving at the request of the Atlas government itself, was a statement.

A very crude and flamboyant statement.

And while Ghira himself absolutely did not want to escalate the situation – one that is already quite complicated even now, no doubt – that had been created between Atlas and Menagerie, he couldn't help but admit… Some boyish part of him was glad that he could flaunt his expensive new toy in front of Atlas.

But, if such an action was a statement – there was no way that Ghira himself could allow an oversight and let Atlas know that it was all just dust in their eyes, all smokes and mirrors.

No, his arrival today was meant to be a statement – which meant everything had to look perfect on the outside and inside.

Even if, to do so, Ghira had to set up a mahogany desk in the mindlessly huge room set aside as his personal office.

Contemplating the wastefulness when Menagerie still needed more development, Ghira exhaled once more, then took a seat on the sofa that’s also set up in his office. After a moment, he felt the soft but strong grip of his wife's hands on his shoulders.

“Don't worry, everything will go well,” Ghira smiled haggardly at these words, turning to Kali, his greatest source of comfort, something that he found that he needed now more than ever. Even more than when he was just a leader of a ragtag group of social activists fighting for Faunus rights.

Day after day, it seems that another problem would rear its ugly head, and he has to deal with it. Menagerie was developing as a state in rapid strides, so fast that the people that rule Menagerie itself as a state could barely keep up with how quickly its status was changing. A faunus community council yesterday, a young kingdom today – what would happen tomorrow?

Menagerie relied on Glenn as its main patron, but White Fang still had to stand on its own two feet. Yes, Menagerie still cannot stand on its own; but if one day Ghira was to be faced with an agreement for the Kingdom of Menagerie to become part of the Glenn Kingdom, Ghira had to show its might as a separate political entity.

This summit was the first really major geopolitical recognition of White Fang, and of Menagerie, officially participating as an equal party to the dialogue in an international summit… Nothing can go wrong.

The White Fang, Ghira, had to show himself in all his beauty and power, and not to allow a single indulgence, or the already shaky position Menagerie's dizzying rise is in would see his image crumble. Ghira was not just going to Atlas as the 'official head' of the White Fang – he was also going there as the head of an entire delegation.

So, the fact that his entire family was with him might not be the best choice.

Taking Blake with him, of course, was nowhere in his plans, but his wife was here. And Ghira did not wish to condemn Jonathan's choice to take with him a team of Hunters-in-training, future Hunters from his own Academy, of which his two daughters were members. Especially since Ghira himself did have some understanding that they were more than capable of protecting themselves, but that still didn’t mean that he couldn’t worry about his daughters.

Still, he guessed that being next to Jonathan might be the safest place to be.

His wife, though? Kali was not only his most trusted advisor and wife – she was still the head of his personal security… Discounting her pregnancies, of course – but if her fighting skills had suffered, Ghira himself didn’t dare to hint at it.

“I know," Ghira sighed, relenting to relax somewhat, glancing at Kali. "If not me, then there’s Jonathan – well, or at least Ozpin to settle the matter peacefully. But that doesn't mean I can just stop worrying so easily.”

Kali smiled slightly at these words, but unlike his more… Practically oriented wife Ghira saw absolutely no reason to smile at the moment.

While the Kingdom of Menagerie was growing – the Kingdom of Atlas was dying, and Brothers knew what it would do in its death throes. It was dying from its own actions, mostly, but there was no denying that the actions of Ghira and Jonathan – the unofficial 'Rookie Union' – also had a hand in it. Maybe not as much – but the stolen Dust, and the murdered men of Atlas and Mantle still counts…

There was blood on his hands as well.

With a sigh, Ghira closed his eyes, then reached out and slightly embraced his wife, to which she responded with a small smile and snuggled against his prominently sized body, quietly and calmly inhaling the warmth rising from his body.

Menagerie was going through a period of transformation – no longer just a mark in the margins of the history books, but still not yet a major political player – for today, that is. Tomorrow, rather, with the start of the summit, Menagerie would have the opportunity to take its place in the forefront of the world.

Oh no, Ghira was more than happy for the opportunity to show the might of his Kingdom and finally assert the influence of his young state – in the full sense of the word.

But why should it be associated with such an abundance of blood!?

Atlas and Mantle were not on the brink of a civil war, they were already in one.

Mantle was already divided into control zones by Atlas, its officers standing around in their white and gray suits watching the movement of residents along with dozens, and hundreds of robots watching every passerby without a second thought. And in some places, improvised or captured bloodlessly, were checkpoints proudly displaying Mantle’s flags – old flags of the Kingdom of Mantle mixed with newer ones. A white flag with a simple red five-pointed star encircled in a circle – the Mantle Liberation Front.

Both sides carrying weapons always at hand, the people scrutinizing nearby police cars or Atlas Military Units, and Atlas in turn watching everyone suspiciously.

It would only take one shot, one outbreak of violence, before everyone, from both sides, would grab a weapon – and Mantle would run with blood.

Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions would die – not from the teeth and claws of the Grimm, the great enemy of Remnant, but from the hands, swords, bullets of men and faunus alike.

The sides facing each other were not preparing for war – they were waiting for the truce to end, each ready to claw at the other's throat.

So now, a great responsibility fell on the shoulders of the multitude in power – on his, Ghira's, shoulders as well. They had to prevent the white snows of Mantle, the subject of numerous paintings and poems, from turning crimson.

But each wished for something different.

Really, only Atlas and Mantle themselves cared about this situation – but what about the others?

Ozpin was playing his game, swapping pieces, one for another, against Salem. Heh, that conversation with Jonathan had made Ghira look at many things from a different angle…

Vacuo was trying to return to the world stage, cautiously testing the strength of the links now established between the wounded Kingdom and the alliance of two. Glenn and Menagerie. Perhaps they’re trying for an alliance of three?

Mistral was trying to get any advantage it could get from the rest of the participants, and doing its best to cut off everyone else’s hands.

Glenn, Jonathan, was trying to pull the biting teeth of the northern beast of Remnant, replacing the intransigent general with an obedient, literally self-grown and hand-bred, revolutionaries.

And even he, Ghira, has his own plans – to establish his own state, at the expense of having to appear at this summit, being part of the upcoming bloodshed, if indirectly…

When did the world become so cynical?

Asking this question to himself, Ghira shook his head. ‘No, it's always been this way…  I just didn't want to notice it.’

A knock on the door of his quarters distracted Ghira, causing him to move away from his wife, then pull his clothes back and try to take on a serious look. "Come in!

A moment later, the door to his quarters moved to the side, revealing a young girl in a brand new, matching white and blue uniform – the colors of the White Fang.

Her austere uniform hides her rather feminine features and curves on her body – while the stripes on her neck and arm, marks her as a part of a particular Faunus tribe. Her amber-colored eyes and with her short, military-style black hair at the very top of her head one could detect two small large feline ears – tiger ears, in keeping with her body pattern.

Yes, tradition was strong in the Faunus community – tribal identity was a thing that all Faunus-kind treasured, repressed in the past to remove yet one more thing that the Humans would alienate them over. Yet one more reason why forcing them all into one island was beyond idiotic, and perhaps another veiled attempt to kill them all. But there’s a better time to gripe about that, to humans, all fauna looked alike – he guessed that he could at least just be glad of the fact that the Faunus have Menagerie.

“Sienna," Ghira nodded in greetings.

“Mr. Belladonna," Ghira's weaning off of Sienna's use of ‘Your Majesty’ took quite a while, but it finally stuck after the umpteenth time it seems.

“Mrs. Belladonna” Sienna then greeted her predecessor, in a way – in the sense of her official position, and not some more debauched way.

It would be foolish for Ghira to travel to Atlas by himself, to the deepest lair of his main enemy, without the new head of his personal guard. Sienna had proven not only her excellent organizational, leadership and fighting qualities at her young age – but her zealous loyalty to White Fang and the Faunus as well. The latter something that Ghira privately worried about.

“At the moment the ship's captain is starting the docking procedure," The woman commented dryly and matter-of-factly, before adopting a slightly worried expression. This cannot be good.

"There's an official welcoming procession in the dock… with General Ironwood at the head.”

Ghira winced slightly at the news, meeting the general at this time… Sadly, there was no alternative but to meet the General. Refusing would be an unnecessary gesture that would unnecessarily heighten the already high tensions between the two unfriendly processions.

“Okay, get the guards ready – we'll be out in a few minutes." Sienna nodded briefly to him and then to Kali, then immediately disappearing into the dark, yawning corridors. Now alone again, Ghira raised his hands and ran them across his face.

"I hope, Jonathan, that this time too, you'll find a suitable miracle to resolve this crisis.” Ghira sighed, looking somewhere into the darkness ahead.

***

Raven Branwen, for obvious reasons, had not been invited to Atlas, and Jonathan himself, or Ghira, at the very least had agreed. The satisfaction in pushing Atlas’ buttons, are massively outweighed by the disadvantage of pushing those same buttons.

Unnecessary tension and hostility was something the negotiating delegations hoped to move as far away from as possible. No one present wanted to disrupt the negotiations, even before they started…

At least, that was the official position of all the delegations.

Even so, though, that doesn’t mean that Raven was removed from the delegations. Oh yes, she wasn't officially in the delegation – in fact, she was lounging in her office back in Glenn. As much as her newfound fame in Vacuo had somewhat wiped her past actions, Atlas still regarded her as a criminal with an active arrest warrant, so she had to remain out of sight.

When wielding portals, however, distance was only an imaginary value.

Unlike so many other delegations whose problems were a multitude – either their personal security, or more like lack of one, their arrival, Atlas' reaction to their arrival, and their logistics. For Jonathan and his allies, their travel was not such a major hurdle.

At any moment, with one snap of his fingers, Jonathan could leave the summit – and with another, send the Rapid Response Unit – of which Raven was a part in her new semi-official assignment, anywhere.

No, Raven's assignment itself was entirely official – with the official rank of captain, her proper uniform, and even signed paperwork… in secret of course. RATS weren't particularly known for their extensive press coverage before.

And after Jonathan's, and Aisa's, actions, certainly not now or in the future.

Officially, Raven Branwen was still on duty at the moment as she was on the payroll, and like so many other dangerous professions, her seniority continued to pay dividends for her.

She remained the head of the Rapid Response Unit, a unit that at any moment could receive an order requiring her immediate action.

However, the likelihood of that being the case was negligible at the moment.

The reason for this lay, in a sense, in her second official position…

Hermes Academy's Deputy Headmaster for Procurement.

Jonathan definitely got a chuckle out of that little joke. A bandit in charge of procurement, the jokes literally write themselves, though Mantle and Atlas probably wouldn’t get the joke.

Raven could hardly have imagined how one day she, one of Remnant's most powerful Huntresses and most formidable criminals, would find herself chained to another’s orders. But at least she was aware that the world was too big for her to blindly dismiss the possibility that one day she might not have the luck to run into someone even more powerful and influential than herself… And was open to negotiations at that.

But that she would be a teacher at a Hunters' academy?! Oh yes, fate had a very strange sense of humor.

When Jonathan first appeared in her tent – Raven quickly realized that her old life was, in fact, over.

When Jonathan had offered – ordered – her to sign a formal employment contract with Menagerie, for the sake of doing some extra work – Raven wasn't surprised by such a thing. Rather, she was surprised that the official declaration of her submission, her binding, had taken so long…

But the fact that she would turn out to be a teacher?! Never!

Raven would never choose such an occupation – if she had a choice, of course.

Of course, Jonathan hadn't threatened her with all sorts of terrible punishments – no, her appointment to both her new positions came with an official appointment, a good salary and a full package of official guarantees. Raven, in other circumstances, wouldn't have accepted…

Probably not.

Jonathan really was a man capable of doing incredible things – and there were many feats to prove it. Teleportation, destroying hordes of Grimm, healing, creating incredibly powerful artifacts for the most valuable and loyal employees…

And the fact that he was able to build bridges to Raven Branwen's past.

That, perhaps, was the most astounding thing of all.

After all, Raven believed that she had done everything in her power to ensure that those bridges could never again be used by anyone else.

But, turning her back on her family was really too hard.

Raven had left the only connection to her past world, Qrow… And it was through that connection that Ozpin got to her, then Jonathan, who then led Summer straight to her. And as if that wasn't enough, then Jonathan pressed on, and Raven met with Taiyang, with…  Yang.

Her daughter.

And Ruby, Summer and Taiyang's daughter.

Huh, it was funny to see her Husband with another woman’s child, as Raven wasn't officially divorced from Taiyang…

What happened was spontaneous – at one point, Raven, unable to bear the pressure of a family, simply ran away. Of course, she didn't leave behind formal divorce papers.

But, after some hesitation from Taiyang’s part, and she suspects Ozpin’s handiwork, their marriage was annulled and Raven simply disappeared from the lives of her team, her brother, her friend, her husband, and her daughter.

Only to reappear – already as a military leader in the service of Jonathan, well, Ghira’s – there was no difference between them.

What a strange series of events…

And then Jonathan dragged her former team, her entire past family, to Glenn.

Something about defending the state, the war against Salem, protection, and…

And Ozpin agreed with him.

Raven suspected that Ozpin wouldn't have agreed to let his most effective agents, Qrow and Summer, especially the last two silver-eyed warriors he knew of, Summer and… Ruby – off of his hands so easily. At least for free.

But the situation came as it did, and Raven Branwen, Jonathan's deputy as academy headmaster, took her position along with Summer Rose, the deputy for combat training. Qrow Branwen, deputy in charge of missions, and Taiyang Xiao-Long, deputy for educational work.

A couple of the most capable people from Raven's squad, and tribe, took their places at the Academy in various positions, including as teachers. What lessons past criminals could impart remains to be seen, but Raven had a suspicion that Jonathan would be keeping a close eye on them.

And so, Remnant's most notorious criminal, through careful manipulation of public opinion, became a deputy headmistress in Remnant’s newest hunter Academy.

Oh yes, Raven especially liked the way someone casually released a film about herself, tweaking her fate quite a bit, turning her from a criminal to a tragic character!

Grimm-fuck, she even taught a class sometimes, substituting for the teachers!

And even that wasn't enough – she had met her past family!

Oh yes, meeting Taiyang was one of the most… awkward encounters she could recall.

But not as awkward as meeting Yang!

How was she even supposed to start such a meeting?!

Hi, my biological child, I guess you don't remember me because I ran away when you were one year old and haven't spoken to you all this time. How old are you, by the way? Oh no, I thought about you, sometimes, but you see, thinking about you doesn't mean acting on it…

But the first awkward encounters passed, then the second, then the third and… And so, here she is, standing on the doorstep of Taiyang, Summer and their two children’s new house. Raven Branwen, one of the most powerful women in Glenn, if not the whole world, a well-known criminal who is also a well-known heroine, stood frozen. Trying to think of a reason for not pressing the button of a small bell that hung on the wall next to the door…

She could, after all, turn around and leave now! Saying that her presence was urgently needed at… at the academy – heh, Raven never thought she'd even be grateful for her current status.

Or to say that Jonathan had summoned her urgently! They'd swallow that lie, no one would want to verify such a thing, much less possibly distract Jonathan from his urgent business, and he had plenty to do…

The perfect alibi, ha ha…

Raven, you're strong.

Raven concentrated for a second, then exhaled, gathering herself, she reached for the bell.

From behind the door came the light melodic trill of some chirping bird and when Raven's trained hearing didn't pick up the sounds from behind the door – she even managed to exhale and rejoice… they weren’t home!

Then her heart skipped a beat as there was the sound of footsteps behind the door, followed by the sound of a chain being removed. As the door swung open, instantly illuminating Raven with the soft lights of the house, there was the face of Taiyang.

A shadow of an emotion flickered across his face as he saw Raven before he took a step inside. “Raven?”

“Yes," She answered briefly, crushing the impulse to make a joke to lighten the mood, taking a step forward before she shook the sparse snow clinging to her luxuriously voluminous black hair. "Jonathan… gave me the day off before he left…”

“I see," Taiyang nodded, then closed the door behind Raven, "Come in – the children are asleep now, but they'll probably wake up in the next hour… the brats seem to have a sixth sense when there are guests.”

“Yeah," Raven tried not to let a single emotion cross her face.

Just what she needed. Just a few seconds, just an extra ten minutes to prepare…

Taiyang, on the other hand, glanced at the package of chocolate chip biscuits in Raven's hands. By this time, she had roughly figured out which gifts the children liked best.

“If you're hungry – we still have some leftover soup from yesterday – and I've already started making dinner…”

“Thank you," Raven forced the words out of her mouth. " But, I'm not hungry.”

Though perhaps the problem wasn't that Raven wasn't hungry – with her current level of stress, it would be a miracle if she managed to eat anything at all.

Taking a few more steps inside the house, she looked around.

Taiyang’s house was an ordinary one, with the most ordinary furniture that could be found anywhere in Remnant. In the living room, a cozy couch tossed with cushions and two armchairs flanking it, so that she could watch the television hanging on the wall above the fireplace…

And on a small shelf above the fireplace are rows of photographs.

Taiyang and Summer, at their wedding, Qrow, Summer, and Taiyang, apparently at some kind of festival? Ruby and Yang, just kids younger than they are now, covered in flour, and a big grin on Summer's face between them, with flour all over her face… ah.

And a picture of STRQ

The same one they'd taken after just entering Beacon – Summer in her white cape, Taiyang, Qrow… and herself

“Raven," Taiyang's voice made Raven flinch slightly, which she suppressed instantly, and shifted her gaze to Taiyang who was laying out various ingredients on the table. "You know...  We… We’ve talked to Ozpin and Jonathan…”

Raven exhaled, then closed her eyes.

A start like that usually doesn't continue with the phrase ‘…and we've decided to go to the Mistral resorts, your tickets are already paid for!’ Usually, after those kinds of phrases, Raven heard some crappy news…

And this time her instincts were right, “We've decided to accept the offer.”

Raven stood still for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what kind of offer Taiyang was talking about, her thought stumbling into one. The worst one possible.

Really, fate has a damned sense of humor.

"You've been running from this for so long… And Summer and I, can't wait anymore,”

Taiyang set the packet of mincemeat aside, then looked up at Raven, “Yang would become the next Winter Maiden.”