NOVEL WEB Chapter 16
“He’s alive Raven.”
Raven's brows furrowed in confusion at her brother's words “Who?”
“It’s Matt, he’s here at Tai’s home.”
Raven’s entire body froze as she heard that, before her eyes narrowed dangerously, “This better not be one of your jokes brother” she growled into the scroll, her demeanor switching to aggression.
“You think I would joke about this?! He is just as important to me as to you, it took everything I had to not run up and hug him.”
Gritting her teeth Raven fought to maintain her composure, “You said he died Qrow! HOW CAN HE BE THERE!” Her frustration was evident, but beneath it lay a hint of desperation.
“I… I don't know.” hearing the heartbroken tone of her brother made her calm down slightly. Qrow may be irresponsible but he was not a bad person, she knew he was even more shaken by Matt’s death than she was. He was there when it happened after all, and he never stopped blaming himself. “I le-left him out there Raven! I-I thought h-he was de-dead! I just left him! He was alive and I-I abandoned him!”
Hearing her brother start to break down caused her to realize yelling at him was useless, she needed to actually act like a big sister for once and stay calm. “Calm down brother, focus. This is not the time to grieve. What is he doing at Tai’s?”
“Yeah… yeah, your r-right, sorry. I’m not quite sure, Ruby invited him over without telling me or Tai. I think they are dating?”
‘Oh, Vernal is going to be pissed when she hears that’ Raven thought with slight amusement. ‘How the hell did Summers' socially inept brat manage to seduce someone like Matt though?’ shaking the thoughts from her head she focused back on the conversation. As hard as she tried she couldn't stop the hope that was creeping in, she knew her brother would not mistake anyone else for Matt. If he says Matt’s alive then she believed him. “Is he… ok?” she tried to stop the joy from creeping into her voice but it was difficult.
“...physically yes, but he definitely used his semblance on himself. There was no recognition in his eyes when he saw me.”
That swept the joy straight out of Raven, replacing it with an icy rage. “Get to a safe spot, i’ll be there in a couple minutes” She gruffly stated.
“Wait Raven what-”
Hanging up on Qrow Raven stood up. She was currently in her tent where she had been going over the protection fees “generously given” by the local settlements this month, making sure none of them skimped on the pay. Walking out of her large tent she strode with confidence straight to the training yard, her intimidating figure gaining attention from her tribeswomen as she walked. Standing at 6’6 with a muscular body, everyone could tell she wasn’t the leader for nothing. Her dark spikey hair fell down her back in a messy tangle and her bright red eyes stared ahead unflinchingly. She had to show constant dominance otherwise some upstart might try something, after all in this tribe weakness was preyed upon.
Arriving at the training yard she stopped by the edge, watching the young woman that was currently fighting five members of the tribe at the same time. Vernal was definitely a worthwhile recruit, already stronger than everyone except Raven herself while only eighteen years old. She was a bit short, standing at around 5’6, however she was well built for speed with a swimmers figure. Deciding to interrupt the session her voice boomed across the yard “Vernal!”
Immediately everyone stopped, standing straight and turning their full attention to her. Vernal put her weapons away and looked at Raven, “Yes chief?”
Walking over Raven looked at the weaklings standing around dismissively before focusing on Vernal, “I will be gone for a couple days, you are in charge until I get back. Don’t do anything stupid.” Seeing the woman nod Raven turned around and swiped her sword through the air, causing a dark red portal to open. Looking back at Vernal one more time Raven gave her a nod before walking through.
Landing on the other side of the portal Raven was met with the annoyed face of her brother. Looking around she saw that they were by the back of the house in the woods. Turning to her brother she stared down at him, “Where is he?”
Qrows face scrunched up in annoyance, “Hi, nice to see you too Raven” he drawled out, “He’s in the house. You better not just barge in there you fucking brute.”
Raven grunted in acknowledgment, getting an eye roll from her brother. Turning around Raven turned into a bird and flew into the air. Soaring through the sky was always a relaxing experience for her, feeling the wind soaring past and the G-forces when flying was always great. Raven knew she would never get sick of it.
Landing on a tree branch close to the house, Raven focused through the glass, the branch she was on giving her a perfect view through the living room window… And there he was, sitting on the couch next to Ruby talking with Tai. It felt like a massive weight fell off Raven's shoulders, relief rushing through her.
Seeing him there, memory’s flooded through her ‘he really looks just like her’. When Raven and Qrow were young, there were a couple other kids their age that were part of the clan. One of them was named Sasha, and she was her rival. They were both strong, stronger than anyone else in their generation, and because of that Raven respected the hell out of her. As they grew up together, despite seeing her as a rival, she also saw her as a sister. ‘Qrow had a massive crush on her’ she thought with amusement.
When Raven and Qrow went to Beacon, Sasha stayed behind to keep the tribe safe in her place. As they learned how to kill hunters at the academy, she led the clan when Ravens mother died. After they graduated and Raven had Yang, Sasha got pregnant. For the first year Qrow had often taken care of him, getting really attached. So attached that even after Raven left, he demanded to be allowed to take care of Matt.
After retaking control of the tribe, she had also gotten pretty attached to him. He was too innocent for this world, and she purposefully kept him out of the tribe “business”. If he found out about some of the things Raven and her mom had done, he would be horrified, so they kept it from him.
However when they learned he could heal, an incredibly rare semblance, Sasha decided to bring him into the clan as their healer. A lot of the clan members became endeared to him, his smile as he healed them warming the cold hearts many of the tribe members thought no longer worked.
However, there turned out to be a side effect that no one noticed until it was too late. The more Matt healed someone, the less he remembered them, and eventually he would not only forget everything about them, but he would be unable to create new memories with them as well, forever cursed to meet them for the first time when he looks away.
Since Shasha was his mother, he had followed her around all the time, healing her more than anyone else. By the time they learned about this side effect, Matt was barely able to remember his own mother. Sasha was devastated by this, blaming herself for bringing him into the clan. After that they decided to remove him from the clan and have Qrow take care of him.
Sasha, still extremely depressed, decided to take him to Qrows house. She wanted to spend a bit more time with him before saying goodbye, but on their way through Anima a team of hunters ambushed her and immediately engaged in a fight. She had managed to kill all four of them, but was fatally wounded in the process. Matt, seeing this, panicked and healed Sasha, forgetting her completely.
Sasha broke after that, the fact that every time Matt saw her he introduced himself was too much to take. After giving Matt to Qrow, she committed suicide, leaving behind a note asking them to take care of Matt. Raven had later found out that Ozpin was the one to send the hunters after getting a tip about Sasha traveling on foot. When Raven heard that, she tried to kill him. When that failed, she left his little club house and went back to being a full time bandit. That was the main reason she and Qrow grew distant from each other, she still couldn’t believe he stuck with that manipulative prick.
Shaking her head she cleared her mind, there was no point thinking about all of that now. Looking through the window, she saw Ruby animatedly talking with Matt, Tai smiling happily as he watched them. Looking at Matt, even though he allegedly used his semblance on himself, she could still see many of the same ticks he used to have. His eyebrows would raise every time he smiled, his leg bounced with bundled energy, and he had the same little smirk he used to give Raven when he was younger, all things that left no doubt in her mind he was still the same person.
After a while of watching him, Raven saw him take out his scroll and talk apologetically with Ruby and Tai.
Matt smiled at Ruby as he walked out of the house “Thank you so much for paying for my ride back to Vale, I really appreciate it.”
With red tinted cheeks she waved him off, “It’s no problem really. It's the least I could do.” She said, Tai shot Ruby a proud grin as he heard that.
“See you soon Ruby, and congratulations again on getting into Beacon.” Matt said, giving Ruby a hug and then walking out the door.
With an atomic blush on her face, Ruby waved goodbye “Yeah, and thanks.”
Walking onto the front yard Matt smiled at the fresh air. It really was better than Vale. He felt a bit bad about leaving early, but he wanted to get back to the hotel before Blake went to bed. He wanted to give her the best sex of her life before she heads off to Beacon, he’s going to pull out all the stops and find out what her kinks are.
Seeing some movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned to look at a branch. ‘A raven?’ He thought in confusion. Something about that seemed vaguely familiar to him, but he wasn’t sure why.
Shrugging he decided not to worry about it, ‘probably not that important’
Watching the door close, Ruby stood frozen with a goofy grin on her face. Hearing a giggle behind her, she turned to see her dad giving her a smug grin, “So…. when can I expect grandkids?”
Ruby's face lit up like a Christmas tree “Dad!”