Going back and watching the episode where Qrow fights Tyrian, I didn't realize how short the fight actually was. I realized this pretty quickly when I figured I could put the entire fight into the last chapter. And somehow, the last chapter ended up being shorter than the one before it. But, I guess in return, there was a lot more action in it. The same can't be said for this chapter, but it's important none the less. Volume 4 is actually proving to be much more fun to write than I thought it would. It's allowing me do dive deeper into the history of some of my characters as well as take massive leaps with some of them that actually seem to work out. It's pretty fun and emotional for me. But enough of all that, enjoy!

-Point of View: Amber-

Night came around and the six of us were able to find a place to camp. There were four logs around a fire pit which we lit up. We all sat around it but didn't say anything to each other. Qrow was taking a drink from a flask he had but when he finished, he looked around to all of us. "Really? No questions?" He asked. "Of course we have questions. This is just... a lot to take in." Jaune said as he put his head down. We were able to bandage up Qrow and temporarily stop the bleeding, but we didn't know how long that would last. "Sure, of course." Qrow said as he took another sip from his flask. Qrow did tell us a bit of the story, about the four season maidens and the power that they hold. "So these... maidens..." Ruby began to say as we all looked at her. "They're powerful fighters that don't need Dust to use magic?" Ruby asked as her Uncle nodded to her. "And i'm assuming there's 4 of them, seeing as there are 4 season?" I asked Qrow as he gave me a nod too. "Yup. Always." He said. "Which means that, whenever one of them dies, the power transfers to someone, a female, that they care about?" Ren asked as Qrow took another sip. "Whoever was in their thoughts last. Important distinction. Best option, it's someone we can trust. Regardless, their souls become combined, in a way." Qrow explained as Jaune stepped in. "And that's what you were trying to do to Pyrrha, wasn't it? The night the tower fell." Jaune asked as we all looked at Qrow. It was true, Ozpin tried to have Pyrrha become the new fall maiden during the battle of Beacon. But the current fall maiden was killed and her powers were taken by someone else. That person... was Cinder. "You were trying to turn Pyrrha into one of them." Jaune said as he stared right at Qrow. "The previous fall maiden, her name was Amber, just like yours, had been attacked. She was young, inexperienced. And her assailant, who we now know as 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." Qrow explained as Jaune gave him a dirty look. "So you forced it on Pyrrha, then." He said. "We didn't force anything. We explained the situation and gave her a choice, and she chose. You were there, you heard her." Qrow said as Jaune stood up and walked away. I wanted to go after him but it was best just to give him some space for now. 

"That guy. Tyrian. Why was he after me?" Ruby asked as Qrow let out a sigh. "Well, you definitely painted a target on your back with what you did at Beacon. I told you having silver eyes is a rare trait. And the fact that you're someone who was able to use them seems to have upset some very powerful people. Not many people know about the silver eyes. But those that do aren't very happy that one has surfaced. And that's why I've been following you, keeping an eye on you. In order to make sure you were safe. All of you." Qrow explained as he looked over to Jaune who was standing far away in the darkness. "Well, then, why not just travel with us? It seems like that would've been way easier." Ruby asked as Jaune came back. "He was using you as bait." Jaune said as I looked back at Qrow. "Look, I wouldn't put it like that; it's... complicated." Qrow said as Jaune walked back into the light. "What is all this? Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, all for what? What is the point of all this? Would you just tell us what's going on!?" Jaune asked as Qrow let out another heavy sigh. "Would you sit down? You're stressing me out, kid." Qrow said as Jaune sat back down and looked at him. We all did the same and waited for Qrow to answer him. "Not many people are super religious these days." Qrow said as he put away his flask. "This world's been around for a long time. long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real. They were brothers. The older sibling, the god of light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the god of darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the god of darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all that he could do to rid Remnant of life. But life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something. Something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything." Qrow explained as we all knew what he meant. "The creatures of Grimm..." I said as Qrow gave me a nod. 

"You guessed it. The older brother had finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation. Together. Something they could both be proud of. Their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow: The path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how humanity came to be." Qrow explained as we were all still left in some confusion. "But... what does that have to do with us?" Ren asked as Qrow let out a small chuckle. "Well, that's the kicker. See, the four gifts to mankind: knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice... aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world. And that's exactly what the enemy wants. The Huntsmen academies were created to train generations of humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose: guarding the relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools, he built them around the relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would be constantly surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was hiding the relics would keep mankind from using them against itself. And, of course, keeping them out of her reach. ...So yeah. There's that." Qrow said as we were all left speechless. "Her. You mean, Salem?" Ruby asked as Qrow looked to her. "That's right. Not much is known about her and quite frankly, that's not what matters. What matters right now is that she wants the relics, and if she gets them, it's not going to end well." Qrow explained as everyone went silent again. 

"Alright. So, let's say we believe all of this. There really is this crazy evil being behind these attacks, not just some thugs trying to become powerful. Why doesn't the world know? Why isn't Atlas going after them, or Mistral?" I asked Qrow as he sighed again. "And why aren't we in more of a hurry to get to Haven? Shouldn't we be getting them a message? What if they're next?" Nora asked as Qrow stopped her. "The headmaster over there saw what happened to Beacon. He's not dumb. He'll be on his guard. Besides, it takes time to mobilize forces like that. Do you really think they planned out that attack on Beacon overnight?" Qrow said as he then looked to Jaune. "And to answer your question, it's the same reason we keep quiet about the maidens. If the whole world knew about the relics, about Salem, there would be chaos. We'd have another Great War on our hands, and this time, you'd all have to fight." Qrow explained as Jaune turned his head way from him. "Look, I had the same questions too. But ol' Ozpin always put his foot down. "We can't cause a panic." Heh, I can't tell you how many times I've heard that." Qrow said as he took his flask back out and drank form it. "Salem's smart. She works from the shadows, using others to get what she wants, so that when it comes time to place the blame, we can only point at each other. She's trying to divide us, humanity. And so far, she's done a pretty damn good job." Qrow said as he looked up at the sky, staring at the moon. "Alright. So what should we do?" Ruby asked him as he brought his head back down. "Heheh, I don't really know. Ozpin has put a lot of trust in the headmasters. Like I said, the schools are an important part of stopping Salem. Atlas is going to be on high alert after the last attack, and Vacuo is... well, Vacuo. It'll be hard to hire thieves and scoundrels to fight against other thieves and scoundrels. Take that, add in the fact that Cinder and her crew claim to be from Haven, and I think it's likely the next target. So, we're on our way to the headmaster. Haven't heard from him in a while, even before the attack. I'm hoping he has the answers." Qrow explained as he stood up. "Alright, I think it's time you kids get some sleep." He said as we all just looked at him. 

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby said as he looked over to her. "This is a lot to take in, and it all sounds crazy, but... i'm willing to do whatever I can to help because I trust you. But why couldn't you trust me? Why couldn't you just travel with us instead of all this secrecy and, and-" Ruby began to ask but Qrow cut her off. "Look, this has nothing to do with trust. I.... It's a long story, okay?" Qrow said. "Seriously? Now you're tired of telling us stories?" Nora said as Qrow looked directly at the burning fire pit. "Did you know that crows are a sign of bad luck? Old superstition, but it's how I got my name." Qrow said as he started moving the wood around in the fire. We all looked to each other, a little confused as to what he was saying. "See, some people can absorb electricity and some people can burst into rose petals and some people are just born unlucky. My semblance isn't like most. It's not exactly something I do. It's always there, whether I like it or not. I bring misfortune. Heheh, I guess you could call me a bad luck charm. Comes in real handy when i'm fighting an enemy, but it makes it a little hard on friends... and family." Qrow explained as everything became much more clear. "Well, you are just a real bundle of help, aren't you?" Jaune said as Qrow put his head down. "Yeah." Qrow said as he walked away. "Where are you going?" Ren asked him. "Taking a walk." Qrow said to us. "There's nothing else you wanna tell us?" Ruby asked as a raven appeared and perched itself on a tree branch. Qrow looked at it with a glare for a quick second. "Not tonight." He said as he walked out of sight. "We should probably get some rest. It's... gonna be busy... in the days to come." I said as everyone nodded without saying any words. 

When the morning came around, we all seemed to not get any sleep during the night. We all woke up at the same time. "We should probably get going." Ren said as he sat up. "Yeah, yeah." Jaune said as he got up too. But as the five of us were beginning to pack up, we could hear someone coughing in the distance. We all looked over and saw Qrow, sitting against a tree and coughing like he was sick. Me and Ruby quickly rushed over to see what was wrong. When we got close, we could see his wound was becoming worse. You could see a stain through the bandages and it was a dark purple colour. The venom from Tyrian's scorpion tail was starting to take effect. Qrow looked at his left hand and saw the venom on it. "Well..... That's unfortunate." Qrow said as me and Ruby helped him to stand. "Guys! We've gotta get to the next village quick! My uncle, Qrow's really hurt! I think it's from that Tyrian guys tail!" Ruby said as Jaune, Nora and Ren quickly finished packing up. Qrow then passed out in our arms and everyone became worried. "Come on! Let's go! Every second might matter now!" Nora said as we all took off. Me and Ruby carried Qrow for now, until we would switch out for someone else to carry him. And frankly, that's all we could do. None of us knew how to treat the venom in Qrow's body. The only thing we could do now is hope that we could make it to the next village in time and find someone who does know how to heal Qrow.