( closed ) the river knows to reach the sea

[qaw]

Who: Blake, Pyrrha, Qrow, Ruby, and Yang
What: Catching up
When: Early April
Where: Blake's Van
Warnings: Discussions of trauma, war crimes, and risque drawings

It's been a while since Qrow has taken part in one of these group meetings, and even longer since he felt like he was leading one. Hell, maybe he's not leading this meeting. He's the one with the most updated information, but Ruby is the leader of her team and closer to Pyrrha than any of the rest of them. Maybe it's her meeting.

But it doesn't matter. It's a pleasantly cool mid-spring evening. Dinner is over, the Drifters are winding down for the night, and the Convoy has deployed its shield. The five of them are gathered around a cheery little campfire, the flames throwing flickering shadows against the... interesting... mural painted on the side of Blake's van.

Whether or not they're ready for it, it's time to catch up.

Comments

[guidemyway]

Ruby shifts a little as Qrow brings that up, and the response it gets from Blake. It confirms a little more to her that Qrow is from further along than she was, because while she doesn't know exactly what he's referring to. She can put together a enough pieces to make sense of it.

"I can probably fill in some of the blanks there." She admits. She hadn't talked a whole lot about what was going on back at home. If only because they had the here and now to focus on.

"When we get to Atlas. Ironwood doesn't exactly seem to be in the best mindset. He's got Atlas and Mantle on lockdown, but he does have a clear plan to try and take on Salem.

We were kind of testing the water to see if we could actually trust him.

...And if Qrow's right. I'm guessing that means things start to get worse there."

[qaw]

Qrow's not really sure how to start—what counts as something that's okay to say and what he knows they would prefer for him to keep under wraps—so he's grateful when Ruby ends up taking the lead. It gives him a chance to rally his thoughts even as he nods along with her assessment.

"I've known James for a long time. He's always been the overzealous type. Wants to do the right thing, no matter the cost."

His already heavy tone grows even heavier during that final caveat.

"But that overzealous thing gets out of control when he's stressed. He's got a real bug up his butt about seniority and the chain of command and all that crap, and he still freaked out so bad he went right over Oz's head during the Vytal Festival."

Which, you know. Qrow hadn't blamed Ironwood for how things went down, but it's not hard to imagine how things might have gone differently if they hadn't been fighting the White Fang, a horde of Grimm, and several platoons of killer robots all at once.

"And he was real stressed by the time we showed up in Atlas. So..." He sighs, and decides it's time to just... lie a little bit. "All I'm saying is, the situation's already making me feel antsy. So if you start to notice Ironwood getting twitchy, it's past time to start making backup plans and exit strategies."

[fists_of_funny]

Yang's not sure how to feel about this. Ironwood was one of the few people outside her team who didn't immediately assume the worst of her after Mercury and Emerald pulled that stunt at the Vytal Festival. He'd even encouraged her. And she owes him for the arm. Obviously, someone else made it, but Ironwood is the one who got the ball rolling. Accepting it helped Yang get back to herself, and she can't help but look down at it as she listens to the others.

"Okay, so...maybe there's a way we can work with that." She suggests. "Blake and I are from a bit further back than most of you." Pyrrha excluded, for obvious reasons. "If we know that going in, maybe we can stop him from getting twitchy? Help keep him grounded." That's treading on dangerous ground she knows, altering events Ruby and her uncle have already lived through, but whatever happens with Ironwood, it's bad enough to get Qrow to warn them about it. Maybe they can do some good with this information.

"I don't know, maybe that's too dangerous to try, but the General helped me out after Vytal when I was getting into a dark place. Maybe we could all do the same for him."

[qaw]

Ironwood's a lost cause.

That's what Qrow wants to say. Whatever might have happened or could have happened doesn't matter. What matters is that Ironwood was ready to wipe an entire city off the map and leave the rest of Remnant to rot just to buy some time for Atlas. He put a virus in Penny. He tried to have his nieces arrested. He got people killed.

Clover's pin feels so heavy in his pocket.

But... Yang has a point. Qrow makes himself consider it, even as he scowls and tips his head back to stare up at the unfamiliar stars. Blake and Yang are from far enough back they might be able to fix it. Hell, Ruby is from far enough back she might be able to fix it. And maybe that erases him from the timeline, or sticks the four of them in different timelines, or however this multiverse time travel bullshit works. Or maybe it doesn't work at all.

But maybe it fixes it, too. That 'maybe' is enough to settle things for him.

"Robyn Hill."

He looks back down to the rest of them, but his gaze is focused mostly on Blake and Yang. They'd been the ones to make contact with her first.

"She's a Huntress in Mantle, and a damn good one. She's about as tenacious as Ironwood, but she can actually see the big picture. Try to drag her into the fold as fast as you can. Maybe..." He grimaces and pauses. "... Maybe see if Oscar's willing to lean on James for it. Convince him that working with Robyn from the start is better than having to try to catch her up in an emergency."

[guidemyway]

Ruby remembered the guy they were arrested with mentioning Robyn Hill. So she keeps that name in mind for a moment. She glances between both Yang and Qrow as they discuss the matter and she gives a little nod.

"Your arm- And everything that he did for us is one of the reasons I thought we should give him a chance and work with him. So that's why I didn't just want to write him off." Look, she always wanted to see the best in people. But she was a little cautious now than she had been in the past.

"I think keeping some notes on events that happen between when Blake and Yang are from to when you're from is probably a good idea. But I don't think we should count on everything playing out the same way. This place is changing us. We don't know far those changes are going to end up going. And how those changes could effect us getting to Atlas to in the first place if we go back with them." There was still Cordovin, the Leviathan, and ...Adam for them to deal with along the way back.

[andnevermore]

Blake snorts. "Can you imagine if we get back to Remnant and we're still monsters?"

She had put some amount of trust in General Ironwood -- as much trust as it was possible for her to put into a human authority figure of Atlas, which wasn't much to begin with -- but he had proved himself an ally. Still, she's entirely willing to take Qrow's warnings on board. Men like Ironwood, men with that amount of power, all too easily go bad.

Ruby's right: events might play out differently if they get to go back. They might turn up as monsters at Atlas and get deported immediately. Or arrested. Or they might not keep these changes, and go back with no memories. Or maybe they'll remember everything, and be able to turn events toward a different conclusion.

"We'll keep your warnings in mind, and Robyn's name," she tells Qrow, solemn. "Thank you. It must be hard to figure out what to share with us, but I think you're walking that line pretty well."