The Huntsman of Red V2

Chapter 39 Prelude: 'Sword of Remnant'

Raven was never a good mother, and she didn't particularly score very well as a person either, but Shirou could say with certainty that she wasn't the worst he'd encountered. Hell, her ethics were of a considerably higher tier than most common magi who wouldn't hesitate to go to whatever lengths if it meant furthering their craft.

When Shirou silently walked out of the tent to see two birds squabbling up in the trees, trying to peck each other to death, the image of a confident and unwavering woman that Raven was trying to build helplessly shattered.

"Caw! Claws! Caw! Cheater!"

"Caw! Fucka! Caw! You!"

Ruffled feathers pried loose from sharpened talons, left patches of pink skin visible on the butt-end of one bird. The other stood menacingly overtop until the pinned bird squawked and roughly turned, toppling both from the precarious height of the tree and onto the dirt.

Once grounded, a glint appeared off of one bird's eyes before both birds flashed with a burst of faint white light. Raven and Qrow appeared with Raven straddling Qrow, and trying to choke the life out of him.

"Y-You lying bastard!" Raven seethed, wringing Qrow by the neck, his features turning blue. "Right to my face- for years!"

"Ack! Uncle! Uncle!"

"We don't have an uncle!"

Qrow narrowed his eyes and nodded right at his sister. "You're right," he wheezed out in a moment of clarity, snorting with a blue face. "Ack! Bitch! Bitch!" He hollered, tapping the ground.

Veins popped over Raven's features, grip tightening and nails digging into Qrow's skin.

"It's. Respected. Sister. You dumb shit!" Each heated word was followed by a thud until the final blow.

Raven butted heads with her scruffy drunkard of a brother, the two wincing in sync from the unexpected pain.

"Where's my Aura?" Raven groaned, rolling off of Qrow and cradling her forehead.

"Where's mine?" Qrow mimicked his sister's action, but they hardly dwelled on the matter despite the noticeable sound of someone clearing his throat for attention.

They were too heated, too caught up in early childhood routine from all the stress.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up, you liar!"

"What did you expect from us? We grew up bandits, you should have known better! It was for your own good!"

Raven sulked, realizing Qrow made a pretty good point. Wincing while nursing the bump she could feel forming on her forehead, she snorted and turned away if only to stifle a whimper. "Owwee." Damn, she hits hard.

Well, of course. It was her after all.

'Well, of course, it was me after all.'

Opposite from Raven, Qrow's thoughts and actions were practically mirrored on parallel sides from Shirou's perspective, the two now giving each other the cold shoulder.

Ignored, Shirou could only sigh lightly and dismiss the Mystic Code in his hands. It was nothing too complex or powerful as magic items go, but it was a tool with a basic single-use nullification rune inscribed in the steel. It was a customary practice between tense meetings with the heads of magus families to set several of these up to serve as anchor points in an agreed location where talks were to be carried out. This was to dismiss suspicions of the other pulling a fast one. It was a double-edged sword though since it nullified the magic of the caster as well, which made it less than useful in a traditional fight between magi.