The Wilted Rose Book 2: Outlaws

Chapter 9: You Only Live Twice

Ruby Pov

Western Onym

4:15 PM

Qrow finished bandaging up the gash in his side. He wasn't too happy about pouring some of the alcohol in his flask onto the bandage for sterilization but given that the wound was compounded by scorpion venom, he needed it to be as clean as possible. He leaned back before taking a swig from his flask. he shook it before grunting and looking generally annoyed at being out of alcohol. 

The entire time he was bandaging himself up, he explained what was going on. It was a lot to take in but given what we've seen and this answering what the green smoke Y/n had was, we had already seen proof enough. Still though, it didn't answer why that man, Tyrian, was after me. I had no clear answer, only speculation. Whatever the reason, it was safe to assume that it wasn't for good reason. 

Qrow looked around the group, waiting for questions. We had plenty of them, we just didn't know where to start. This was confusing at best and world altering at worst. Qrow continued to look around, looking almost surprised that we hadn't bombarded him yet. I personally was more interested in making sure that I was getting the facts straight first before asking anything. 

Qrow: What? No questions? 

Jaune: Of course we have questions.... It's just a lot to take in....

Qrow: Yeah.... It is.

Ruby: So these Maidens? Their powerful fighters that don't need Dust to use magic. 

Qrow: Yeah. 

Nora: And there are four of them?

Qrow: Yup. Always.

Ren: Which means when one of them dies, the power transfers to someone, a female, that they care about?

Qrow: Whoever was in their thoughts in their final moments. Important distinction there. Best option is that it's someone we can trust. Regardless, their souls.... Combined, in a way. 

There was a silence as we took that all in. I looked to Qrow before looking at Jaune. Jaune looked like he was barely containing anger. I watched as he stared a hole through Qrow. I wasn't the only one to notice and the silence that surrounded us now felt hostile. 

Jaune: ....And that's what you were trying to do with Pyrrha.... The night Beacon fell, you were trying to turn her into one of them....

Qrow: The previous Fall Maiden, Autumn, had been attacked. She was young and inexperienced. Her assailant, who we now know was Cinder, somehow managed to steal some of her power, but not all of it. We were afraid that if we didn't do something, the rest would go to her as well. 

Jaune: So you forced it on Pyrrha. 

Qrow: We didn't force anything. We explained the situation and gave her a choice. She chose to go through with it, even when Y/n was practically begging her not to. 

Jaune: ....So he WAS involved in that too....

Jaune glared at Qrow before standing up and storming away from the group. The night I had caught him in the forest with one of Pyrrhas training videos came to mind as well as how he reacted to seeing Y/n just before we left. We were trying to help him but maybe there was no fixing that. He's hurt because he didn't just lose Pyrrha. In his eyes, he was also betrayed by Y/n because he chose to bring her to the tower that night. 

I shook my head and focused. As worried for Jaune as I was, there were still things that needed to be cleared up before Qrow started suffering from the affects of the venom. He was already looking pale so that was a good indicator that we were running out of time. It was now, or potentially never.