33 Chapter 33

Interlude: Raven Branwen

Finding the boy turned Grimm, wasn't very hard at all. All Raven had to do was turn up the night before he had promised to meet up with Qrow and his little friends.

Hidden in the shadow of a tree in her avian form, Raven couldn't help but admire the changes he'd went through since she last saw him. He'd become a Manticore of some kind, possibly a King, though she couldn't be sure since she'd only ever heard of them in stories or history texts. There was something about the evolutionary form that made it probably a once in a life time kind of even as far as Grimm evolution went.

At the very least, his sheer size showed just how much more powerful he'd become. He had to have doubled in size, if not a little more. Even laying down as he was, curled up like an actual cat, Cobalt towered over most houses.

She wondered idly, just how strong he had become in this form? Two weeks ago, he had defeated the Nuckelavee in one attack. And while she wouldn't have much problems defeating it herself had she been so inclined, it was still an incredible feat of strength.

Strength she could admire, that was for sure. It took quite a lot of mental strength to thrive after what had happened to him.

For now though, it was best to meet with the boy before her daughter and the little Schnee girl popped up and showered him with their weak, biased opinions.

She hopped off of the branch was was perched upon and transitioned back into her statuesque human form in one smooth motion as she reached the ground a split few moments later.

Her heels crunched in the grass and she made her way towards the gargantuan ensouled Grimm. One of his eyes slowly rose, glowing a deep luminescent green, the slitted iris locking onto her form in an almost bored fashion.

It said a lot about how confident he was in his strength, that the sight of her, with her mask on and the sword sheathed at her hip barely invoked any response at all. She liked that.

"Don't bother, lady," his mouth opened up as she spoke, showing fangs nearly as tall as she was and his voice, low as he kept it boomed throughout the area, "Sexy as a I am now, you don't want any of this."

She withheld a snort. She supposed there was a certain savage sexuality to his powerful form. It came with how overwhelmingly dominant he seemed to be as a king among a species. "Oh, I'm quite sure I know what I want Cobalt." Raven responded as she stopped in front of his massive head.

He continued to stare at her boredly, not even opening his second eye, "You know my name, woopdeedoo," he commented, "Am I supposed to be impressed or something thighs? Just means you probably spied on me from afar at some point."

Thighs. Her skirt and thigh length boots did leave the meatier, curvier part of her thighs on full view. Accented them nicely, if she did say so herself. It was an intentional view made to distract.

But it did confirm what she was hoping for. He had automatically checked her out, and focused on what he found attractive. She supposed, transformed into a Grimm or not, a teenage boy was still a teenage boy. Not that she didn't already know that, the absolutely blunt way he went about showing his interest in Summer's daughter and that hyperactive ginger one was all the confirmation she needed on that front really.

Reaching up, Raven unfastened her helmet and took it off, showing her face to the boy turned Grimm. This time, his glowing crimson red eye did open and regarded her now with open interest, "Xiao Long?" he blinked slowly. He recognised in her it seemed, "No, she had blonde hair." he shook his head.

"My daughter actually," Raven smiled smugly at him, "My name is Raven, Raven Branwen, and I have an offer for you Cobalt."

"Really?" he drawled, "And what would that be?"

"You can't beat Salem, Qrow and Ozpin are just going to drag you in to a battle you can't win, no matter what," Raven explained, getting right to the heart of the matter, "But, with your ever growing strength and my talents together, it will be well within our abilities to at least stalemate her for a time." admittedly, that would be because Salem wasn't going to risk killing him early on due to his potential, she obviously wanted him for herself. And that would be her undoing..or as close to it as that monster could get. The more time she held off assaulting Cobalt, the stronger and stronger he would become until he surpassed all other forces she could marshal.

..Especially when he got his hands, or rather paws on Cinder Fall.

"The fuck does Ozpin have to do with any of this?" he looked at her weirdly.

"Oh, a lot, why, you could say he's right up there with Salem in a way," Raven replied, "But for now, let's not focus on him. And rather, focus on what I can offer to you."

Before he could reply, she morphed into her raven form in full view of him, before slowly transforming back.

"Neat trick," he commented boredly, "Not exactly that impressive a Semblance though."

Raven smirked, "Magic actually, my semblance is the ability to create portals to people I share a bond with," the raven haired bandit mother corrected, and felt a certain sense of satisfaction as those dual coloured, bored eyes of his widened minutely, "You want to regain your human form at some point, yes? When it comes to transforming, I dare say you'll find little better at it than me."

Admittedly, Qrow had his transformation just as long, but with the years she'd spent mastering her powers as the Spring Maiden, she'd gained a lot more knowledge on how magic worked. And outside of Ozpin and Salem herself, she was probably the most qualified to help him.

And she highly doubted old Oz would be quick to help him gain enough understanding of his magic. He played to much close to the chest to be willing to go out of his way to help him get the form he so desired back she assumed, it was something he could use to control the boy after all, no use giving that up.

And so his only other option would be Salem then. And the boy was smart enough to realise even without her helpful advice, that going to her wasn't a very smart choice if he wanted to remain free to chase his desires as he pleased.

"..I'm listening." Cobalt replied after a moment of silence.

Raven smirked and walked forward the last few feet between them, her hips swaying seductively from side to side. His massive eyes, predictably dipped down ever so slightly to enjoy the show she was putting on. Yang was beautiful, with a voluptuous body many woman would kill for. But Yang was at best, an inferior copy of her. Raven was everything Yang was as far as beauty went, and then her superior in every way. The strength of her looks far surpassed her daughters.

She touched one hand gently to his mask and smiled bewitchingly, "My offer is simple, join me. With my help, hunting powerful Grimm to get stronger will be trivial for you, and I can help you learn to master the magic you gained and help you regain your human form," she whispered hotly, knowing he'd hear her regardless, "And then together, when you regain that form, we can rut for as long as you desire, as many times as you desire. And with our united front, we can draw a line in the sand."

She may not be a Grimm Queen, but she was a Bandit Queen. And every queen did so need a king to solidify their rule did they not? Poor Taiyang could never measure up in that manner.

Cobalt was silent, but the fact that he didn't outright deny anything was good enough for her, for now. She turned away from him and began walking away, making a show of swinging her hips and allowing her skirt to brush up ever so slightly to the point where the cheeks of her full, round and womanly ass peeked into view.

"Take your time thinking things through," Raven called back over her shoulder, "I'll give you a week or so to give my offers some thought, I won't force you into a choice right now without the chance to take everything in, not like Ozpin."

She drew her sword and slashed it through the air, slicing open a glowing red portal and began stepping through it.

There was one other reason she wanted a good in with Cobalt. She did not know what would come after this life, Ozpin was terribly tight lipped about it. One day, she would die. But a possible avenue to avoid that in a way had appeared with Cobalt.

Grimm were ageless, as long as they were not killed in combat, they would live forever and grow stronger all the while. And it seemed, that if he absorbed the aura and power of a Maiden, they would take form within his mind.

Not exactly Salem-tier immortality, or even agelessness outright for herself. But, living within his mind, experiencing the world through him as he claimed the Nikos girl did, was a far more appealing option than a possible void of nothingness and ceasing to exist after she passed on.