Brilliant Red

It has been six months since the battle with the Hati and Lindwurm bandit tribes, and I, Silva Branwen, am now 11. During that time, I took part in another raid for the tribe, and now the tribe is on a short break to lay low for the time being. My new relationship with Raven has changed a few things; I can't say Raven has gotten nicer but rather more tolerant towards me and some of my actions. I have had an easier time convincing her to let me hunt the parts needed for the outdated Atlesian Manta I salvage from the Hati tribe.

It's still a work in progress, but if things go well, I should be able to get the Manta airborne in another year, give or take a few months. Acquiring the blueprints for it was not hard as it was a discontinued model. Just look through the black market and send out the message that I am willing to pay a decent bit of Lein for the parts and blueprints for the old Manta. There is only one headache getting the necessary cash for it all, I need to run errands for Raven, and they are not simple.

Harvesting rare and exotic plants for Raven's tea addiction, scouting out settlements for future raids, information gathering on possible targets like convoys of spices and other goods. This brings me to my current situation; I am traveling through Anima to pick something up for Raven on foot. I need to head to a town in the southern swamps of Anima, and I don't know how Ruby and the rest of team RNJR handled camping while trying to reach the city of Mistral and Haven Academy. If it's not Grimm attacking you at night, it's the local wildlife instead.

I sighed and kept my mind preoccupied as I traveled. I pondered my relationship with Vernal and where it will go. Vernal and I have gotten... close to one another since we fought together in the recent raid and battle with the two bandit tribes. On the one hand, she is nice but a little too pacifistic despite Raven's best efforts which worries me as she has a target on her back by being the Spring Maiden. On the other hand, she does show she cares about me by checking my mental state after taking lives, but I am only a preteen at most, and puberty has not hit me yet.

I sigh, thinking that in the canon, she should die, and Raven would become the next Spring Maiden. I am not sure what will happen in that regard, but if it plays out like in the canon, I worry that something like plot and fate is very real. But if it does not happen due to my influence, then how will the future change? Whatever, I don't care about the plot a great deal, and I will do what I want and handle the consequences as best as I can. Making my decision, I decided to practice an idea for Aura manipulation that I based on some anime from my past life.

Flash Step from Bleach, if I could get it to work, not only will it useful in combat but in my current situation with traveling long distances. I stopped and focused on my Aura while physical enhancement and creating a protective layer are the most basic uses of Aura and the easiest. Other applications of Aura take time and practice to perfect; using flying Aura slashes took me several months to get the hang of for my training on increasing my Aura amount. I flowed and compressed my Aura to my feet and calves.

As I compressed my Aura as much as I could manage and I readied myself to make it burst. I looked in front of me and saw the open road with no obstacles in my way and tried my first attempt at Flash Step. The next moment I found myself soaring then crashing violently against the ground. As I stopped from my attempted Flash Step, I saw that my pants and boots did not survive from my attempt as they were in tatters.

Well, crud, I like those boots, but this failure will not deter me.

***

After crashing into the ground, trees, and even a Grimm from trying to get Flash Step to work for a few weeks, I finally got Raven's package and headed back to the Branwen tribe. While I managed to get a few successful Flash Steps but those were far from each other in frequency. Still, the fact I managed to succeed a few times makes me hopeful. I just need more practice. As I headed back to the camp, I heard gunfire not far from me. I decided to check it out to see if I could benefit from whatever conflict was going on.

I made my way to the increasingly loud gunfire and saw some humans shooting at a convoy of faunus. From what I am seeing, the faunus was not transporting anything valuable as they were driving trucks that did not have any cargo in them aside from the essentials. The humans were not bandits from what I could see from their gear, so I guess everything happening is from racist idiocy. As I debated whether or not to get involved, I heard one of the faunus calls out.

" Please, we're just trying to pass through."

As I took a closer look at the faunus group, they were mostly in a uniform with Grimm-like masks. Except two, a dark skin woman with tiger ears and stripes on her arms and a giant of a man with black hair and yellow eyes with a purple shirt and a fair complexion. One of the humans replied.

" Oh, you animals passed through the wrong town."

Ah, right, I avoided the town near this area because it wasn't faunus friendly; I need to thank Raven for the detailed map she gave me for running her errand. I soon saw someone iconic, Adam Taurus, with short spiky red hair and black bull horns on the side of his head and his Grimm mask hiding his scar. He was in a black suit with white decals on it. The big guy then said back to the human.

" There's no need for violence."

The human shot at him and landed a hit on his arm, and his purple Aura flickered in response, meaning he was low on Aura. I made my decision and took out my double-ended glave, then went after the nearest human. I used the back of my blade and knocked them out, then went for the next one. This caused the humans and faunus to notice me.

" Hey, boss! We got a little dumb animal attacking us!"

" What?!"

I knocked out another one, and the faunus group commented on my sudden appearance.

" A kid?!"

" What's a child doing here?!"

I shrugged off the gunshots at me with my Aura and kept on knocking out the human aggressors. The big guy in purple called out to me.

" Young man! You need to find cover!"

I told him what I thought about his suggestion.

" Like I listen to an idiot that did not check in advance whether the town their passing through is faunus friendly."

The big guy sputtered a reply as I knocked out another three of the human attackers. One of them decided to come out and charge at the group, desperately. I sent an Aura slash at him, making the human crash against a tree behind him and knocking him out. I walked over to the Faunus group, and the big guy thanked me.

" Young man, while I do not condone violence, I appreciate your efforts in helping us out in our situation. On behalf of the White Fang, I thank you."

"You're still an idiot for not double-checking your route to avoid this conflict with these racist idiots."

I tried to place a name for the giant in front of me, but my memory of the show RWBY is gotten a little fuzzy. I remember the main cast and villains, plus pretty girls that caught my attention, but some supporting characters evade me, but I feel sure he's in the show. The tiger ear woman commented at me, calling the big guy an idiot.

" He does have a point, Ghira; you chose the route and stopped us from retaliating against these human scum."

Ghira... it suddenly clicked in my head; this guy is Blake's father! Well, not a first impression I would like to make at the guy who is the father of my favorite catgirl in this world. Oh, well, no use crying over spilled milk. Ghira then defended himself.

" Sienna, I did gather information beforehand on the towns near our route, and the town these humans are from is the least racist one compared to the others heading towards Mistral."

Sienna, if I remember correctly she, is or is going to be the future leader of the White Fang and lead it down the path of terrorism and get killed by Adam. I then noticed a girl that was going to be crushing on Blake, Ilia Amitola, a chameleon faunus with a tan complexion and brown hair with gray eyes that change colors. I couldn't help but wonder if Blake was here but seeing how she is nowhere to be seen after the fight is over, I doubt it. As Sienna and Ghira talked, Adam approached me.

" What is your name?"

I looked at him and decided to mess with him, he may not be a monster now, but I have little doubt he will, in Blake's words, personify spite.

" Joe Mama."

This earned a few giggles from the other White Fang members and started down Adam with a poker face. Adam kept silent with a cramped expression for a few moments; I then told him.

" You know it's rude to ask for another's name before giving your own."

Adam cleared his throat and introduced himself.

" Very well, my name is Adam, and you are?"

" Your father."

If Adam wasn't wearing a mask, I could probably see his eyes twitch thoroughly at my retorts. Adam took a deep breath, and I decided to introduce myself to Ilia and ignore Adam.

" Hello, my name is Silva. May I know yours?"

" Ah, Ilia... nice to meet you."

" Same here."

As I wondered what to talk to her about, Ghira refocused on me.

" Young man, may I know what you are doing out here by yourself?"

" I am running an errand for my adoptive mother, and speaking of which, I need to head back."

I turned and walked away, but Ghira stopped me.

" Wait, at least let us escort you home!"

I ignored him and found a clear path ahead, and attempted to use Flash Step and used it successfully. Yes! Now let's try again. I used it a second time but found myself crashing into a tree, good thing I am using Aura to protect myself. Still, not how I expected my day to go meeting with, Ghira, Sienna, Ilia, and Adam. Only six years are left until I attend Beacon Academy.