Hazy Orange

Qrow Branwen woke up with a painful hangover. He looked around and tried to get up but found he couldn't move and saw that he was tied to a tree, naked, and he muttered.

" Not again!"

The reaper desperately tried to recall how he winded up here.

" Okay, I was drinking with Raven, and she told me everything that Oz lied about or at least withheld. I had a few bottles of wine and..."

Things got fuzzy for Qrow after that, but he felt that he had left his sister and got more drunk then. He hadn't a clue how he got to where he is now. The reaper examined his surroundings and saw that there was a camp nearby. Qrow since recognized the flora around him as some part of Anima, which made him more confused about how in the heck he got from Patch Island to Anima. As the bad luck charm tried to break out of his restraints, a woman walked up to him and said.

" Good morning, my love."

" What did I get myself into this?"

Qrow mumbled at how he was referred and tried to worm his way out of this situation.

" Listen, you seem nice, but I have no clue what I did last night, and I probably did and said a lot of things, but I was drunk."

The woman smiled at him and said.

" I understand that you are confused and, most importantly, lonely, but your sister helped us become one and explained your situation."

" My sister, huh, and what pray tell did she say?"

The woman smirked at Qrow, then answered.

" That you're her dopey little brother in need of a patient, strong, and firm woman to straighten out your life. Plus, I paid for my pound of flesh."

The woman smiled sadistically as she gripped the reaper's balls in a vice grip just strong enough to cause a bit of pain. Qrow stiffened and started to break out in a cold sweat while cursing his sister.

" That conniving witch sold me?!"

" Yes, you were a bargain of 1000 Lein."

The bad luck charm wanted to throttle his twin, and unfortunately, this wasn't the first time Raven took advantage of Qrow's drunk escapades and probably not the last, either. Qrow tried to get out of this situation as best he could.

" Listen, my lying, good for nothing sister does not speak for me; heck, if anyone needs some love'n, it's her rather than me."

The woman gently told the reaper as she took out a strap-on and put it on.

" Don't worry; you will be singing a different tune soon."

Qrow clamped his butt cheeks tight at the sight of the strap-on; it's not the first time he's about to get pegged in the ass, as he did have the misfortune of meeting a few kinky ladies in his travels and got drunk enough to follow them home. He did not like being on the receiving end at all! The woman lifted Qrow's legs up and teased his anus with the tip of the strap-on, and the reaper tried to talk his way out of this.

" Listen, aren't we going a bit too fast here?! Let me at least treat you to dinner and maybe catch whatever's playing in the theaters."

" Nah, I rather skip to the good part, don't worry, it will only hurt at first, then you will start feeling good and begging me to go harder."

Before Qrow could beg for not to have a sore anus first thing in the morning, he heard the sound of someone taking a picture, and a familiar voice called out.

" Okay, April, I have had my fun."

The reaper lowered at his sister and growled.

" Raven!"

" Consider this for payback for last night, little brother."

Raven arranged this whole event with April to mess with her brother, and Qrow asked in confusion.

" Last night?"

The Hidden Spring Maiden was deadpan as she answered his query.

" You punched me and left me to pay the bill for the bill, then went on a drunken rampage."

That did sound like something the reaper would do if he were drunk enough, and he did not refute, considering most of last night was a blur to him but asked for confirmation, regardless.

" Did I really?"

Raven curtly nodded with a scowl, and Qrow looked more than a bit embarrassed at hearing what he did and sheepishly asked.

" Mind, untieing me?"

Raven scoffed, then answered.

" Sure, but after breakfast."

The reaper's stomach growled at the sound of food, and he begged.

" Come on, Raven, I'm sorry, okay, but you did drop several bombs on with Oz and Salem."

" You punched me, had me pay for our meal, and I had to deal with your drunken rampage!"

Raven condemned him and ordered April.

" Come on, April, let's leave my brother to stew for a while and have something to eat."

The two former bandits left the reaper tied to a tree naked, and unfortunately for Qrow, his sister is a lot of things which includes being vengeful.

***

" We are coming up mission point C."

Clover Ebi notified his team and me as we checked the most likely spots where the bandits would strike the convoy heading to Atlas. He had the convoy delay its departure until the bandits were dealt with, and the Ace-Ops checked the route the convoy was originally going to take. The leader of the Ace-Ops asked me.

" Silva, seeing the region for yourself, where do you think they would lie in ambush?"

I answered as I scoped out the area and answered.

" Those hills there are the highest points of the path for the convoy, and they also provided some cover for any artillery that the bandits have to take down the escorts and ship of goods."

" You heard him, team, move out!"

Clover ordered Vine and Elm as we made our way to the outcropping of hills after we landed a distance away with the airship from the hills. We moved closer to see if there was anyone waiting there, and the Ace-Ops leader stopped us and took out some binoculars to help scout out what was ahead. After a few minutes, Clover handed me his binoculars and told me.

" Looks like you were right."

I looked through the binoculars and saw bandits setting up some Dust launchers that would've taken down the escorts and convoy if they were caught unaware. I passed the binoculars back to Clover and asked.

" So, how do you want to play this?"

The Ace-Ops leader looked at how the bandits were set up and analyzed.

" They have an open setup with little to no defenses, but that means if their leader calls for a retreat, they will scatter to the winds, and most of them will get away if they run. For now, we scout them out and make a plan when we have more information."

I stopped myself from groaning as I was feeling impatient to go ahead and deal with them, but unfortunately, Clover was right, so recon was on the menu. He split the rest of the Ace-Ops and me up to look at the bandit encampment at different angles to get the full picture. From what I could see from my end was that the bandits were clearly divided into two groups, but I wasn't sure why yet. A set of them had separate tents away from the majority of the tribe, but my guess is that both the Hati and Skoll tribes were here for the raid.

As I watched the tribes interact, I noticed that there was some friction; one had a rather loose order while the other was very organized and professional. Considering my previous experience with the Hati tribe, I am guessing that they are the ones acting with more restraint while the rest were the Skoll tribe. The more wild bandits started to horse around by having a few fights amongst themselves while the rest watched and cheered. They were sloppy, and I now knew how to handle these b*stards. I just needed to wait for tonight.

After a while, it was time to meet up with the Ace-Ops and tell them what I saw. I linked up with them, and Clover started with his report.

" They are keeping their Dust in a large tent in the center of their camp with the launchers nearby to make reloading easier. Elm, what did you see?"

The muscle woman answered.

" I think I saw where their leader is at, and he is at the northern end of the camp."

The Ace-Ops leader looked toward Vine, expecting his report.

" Nothing new to report."

The tall, scrawny guy answered neutrally, and it was my turn next.

" The tribes were divided amongst themselves, and while the Hati tribe was vigilant, the Skoll tribe was sloppy and lazy for the most part."

Clover then looked like he was processing the information, and I made a suggestion.

" Ebi, if the Ace-Ops can handle the Hati tribe, I can deal with the Skoll tribe on my own."

" How?"

The Ace-Ops leader asked me as he looked curious, and I answered with a casual tone.

" If the Skoll tribe is as sloppy as I think they are, then it will be easy for me to sneak in and slit their throats while they sleep, especially since I have night vision."

The Ace-Ops looked at me funny and asked in confusion.

" What?"

" You are surprisingly bloodthirsty for your age."

Vine answered as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and Elm said while looking a bit disturbed.

" I heard you were formerly a part of a bandit tribe, but hearing you talk about taking lifes so easily really establishes what your life was like."

I rolled my eyes at them and shot back, feeling a bit indignant at how they acted like they had the moral high ground.

" And the lot of you are soldiers that kill on command."

They had nothing to say in their defense, and I asked Clover.

" So, is my plan acceptable, Ebi?"

He paused as he considered my plan and said.

" Very well, we hit them tonight, but we needed more than a bare-bones minimum of a plan before making a full commitment."

I shrugged as the Ace-Ops worked out the finer details, and after tonight, there will be fewer bandits in the world. I may have been born to a bandit tribe, but I moved on and gained the ability to decide my life.