Servants in Remnant

Rivalries

Within the kingdom of Mistral, a horde formed.

Ursa, Boarbatusks, Beowolves, a pair of Deathstalkers, and even a towering Goliath. All gathered together in one large group, their white armor contrasting against their black fur and skin, the sound of their restlessness echoing, giving warning of the danger gathered.

To say this sort of event was unusual was an understatement. The only time that the Grimm gathered in groups such as this was when there was a large source of negativity to draw them in. Typically, when this happened, a massacre would soon follow.

It's for these reasons that the Kingdoms of Revenant put great pains into tracking congregations such as these. With enough advanced preparation, even a group such as this could be neutralized through Hunters, copious use of artillery strikes, and Bullheads.

But that sort of thing required time to put together.

A fair distance away from the horde within a copse of trees a small commotion took place.

In the copse of trees

Raven Branwen, estranged wife of Taiyang Xiao Long, former leader of one of the strongest teams to come out of Beacon, and currently leader and strongest warrior of the group of bandits known as the Branwen Tribe.

Currently, she was glaring at the corpses of several birds, their feathers still drifting to the ground.

The ability to turn into a corvid, She griped in her head as she resisted the urge to burn the bodies. Oh, it's great for stealth, convenient for traveling, and you can FLY. Nobody ever mentioned all the birds that would see me as prime 'mate' material!

Not that she could blame them, as she was obviously the best choice. But this sort of thing happened EVERY. YEAR!

Pulling in her frustration, she turned to the horde and observed them carefully. They were too close to where the tribe was currently located for comfort's sake, and as such the tribe was in the process of making preparations to relocate. The horde wasn't large enough to threaten them, but she was wary of any unusual Grimm activity. Unlike the Kingdoms, she was aware of Salem. Knowing that there was somebody behind the Grimm that could direct and lead them made them infinitely more dangerous, and she would not be caught in such a trap.

While some might find it unusual for the leader of the tribe to perform the task of observing the enemy, she was rather uniquely suited for this task. Her Semblance would allow her to instantly teleport back to the tribe should the Grimm make their move, and she was skilled enough in stealth to avoid detection.

That, and she hoped that this would distract her from the frustrations that plagued her as of late, and she found herself cursing an annoyingly observant blonde archer staying with Taiyang and the girls.

She had been surprised when she found out that a Faunus was staying with her former family, and had initially been suspicious. After an extended amount of time spying on her, she was quick to see that Atalanta absolutely adored the girls. But more than that, from what she saw as she trained with the girls, she was strong. Extremely so.

So when the Faunus woman had somehow realized that Raven had been spying on them and had forced a confrontation between them without the girls present, she had made the offer of joining her and her tribe.

She thought she was getting somewhere at first as well, as the other seemed to have similar ideas regarding strength as she did. Having no idea of who Ozpin was was an additional mark in her favor.

The discussion had turned to Ruby and Yang however, and when the invitation was extended she had vehemently refused. During the following discussion Atalanta discovered Raven's current status with her ex-husband and Yang.