Chapter Text
"Got anything yet?" Qrow asks James.
"Not yet" he replies. "We're trying to comb the rubble as effectively as possible. Though that takes time."
"Sir!" Running up to them is a soldier, seemingly on cue. "We've found something!"
"Show me," the words leave James' mouth almost faster than he can think.
Turning on his heel the soldier is followed by the two older men out of the tent and into the bitter winter cold. Snow has already covered southern Vale and brought with it a polar chill.
The three men step down into the massive crater, tentatively watching their step all the way to the dead center. "What... is that?" Qrow asks.
"A person," The eyes of the general turn into suspicious, narrow slits. "Or at least, where they landed." The two look down at the clear imprint of a human person, directly in the middle of the crater. Yet, that person remains has long since fled.
The imprint of the body sears itself into James' mind as he turns to his friend. “Qrow, go search the nearby forest for… whoever this was. They can’t have gone far, whatever caused this almost certainly injured them severely. If you find them, apprehend them, and let me know immediately. I’ll send my men and a ship to your location.”
“On it,” Qrow winks and changes shape. He vanishes behind a boulder and a crow flies away from where he once stood. He flies as fast as his wings can take him and carefully combs the forest for their mysterious subject.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There you are," Qrow thinks to himself, seeing the strangely dressed person stumble through the forest. Their feet loudly crunch in the thick snow, not even trying to hide their footsteps as they limp.
Qrow lands behind a nearby tree and changes back to a person, rounding the tree silently. He jumps out and tackles the person to the ground, "Gotcha!" He shouts as the two hit the forest floor.
"Who-?! What are you doing?!" The person stammers, fear flooding their features.
"I'm going to need to ask you a few things," Qrow says, pinning the person down. Their eyes widen and their mouth remains agape, having seen the weapon on the huntsman’s back.
Looking down at this human, Qrow realizes that they have a strange, otherworldly beauty to them, but snaps himself out of it before he gets caught staring. "Come on," Qrow hauls the person up. He pulls out his scroll and opens it, "James, I got them." He speaks into it. “I think they’re injured, bring medics.”
"Perfect, I'm on my way with a ship," James answers. “Stay where you are, and we’ll come with an escort.”
Qrow places the person against a tree and sighs. He watches as the person slides down to the ground and winces when their hand touches the cold snow. They grab their arm reflexively and seethe.
“Did you injure your arm?” Qrow asks, crouching down to the ground. “Let me take a look.”
The person hesitantly removes their hand from their arm and lets their eyes flick to Qrow’s face for a moment.
Qrow rolls up the fabric of the person’s jacket and looks at the nasty gash on their arm. “Damn… That’s a brutal cut. Did a Grimm do that to you?” The person makes no reply, leaving Qrow to only guess. “Still probably in shock from… whatever happened to you. Stay here, help is on the way, and you’ll be treated as soon as possible, ok?”
The person nods their head, eyes sinking down to the ground beneath them. Qrow sighs, happy that this person understands him at least. Qrow moves over and sits next to the stranger, his back also against the tree. “Hell of a landing, huh? I’m surprised that gash is all you walked away with. You’re pretty frail, I’m surprised you managed to survive something like that.”
Qrow looks at the quiet person. Their hair is long and H/C, its wavy but almost curly at some points. Though it’s messy from their trek in the forest. Their skin is pale, though not scarily so. And from what Qrow saw when he had them pinned, their eyes were a brilliant E/C. Their clothing was mostly F/C (favorite color) and was quite feminine.
“So, I guess I’ll ask,” Qrow looks at them as they turn to look at him in return. “What’s your name?”
“Y/N,” the person replies softly. “Y/N L/N. What’s your name?”
Qrow nods, “That’s a good name. Me? I’m Qrow Branwen, I’m a huntsman who was tasked with finding you for General Ironwood. How did you find yourself in a crater?”
“I don’t know,” the person shakes their head and looks back down at the ground. “One moment I was at home, and the next I was out here. In the middle of nowhere. I just…” small sobs rack their body. “I just want to go home… I don’t know where I am or why I’m here.”
Qrow pushes Y/N’s hair out of their face and dries the tears falling down their face. “Hey, its okay, kid. We’ll get you home safe and sound, and all in one piece. I can promise you that.”
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps in the snow caused Qrow and Y/N to turn their heads to their right. James, followed by several of his men as well as a gurney and medics, enter their vision. “Qrow,” James nods.
“Thanks, James. You need to get this kid patched up. They have a pretty nasty cut on their arm, and I didn’t get the opportunity to check their legs."
“They will receive nothing but the best care,” James promises. “Men!”
The medics rush forwards and help Y/N onto the gurney and wheel them away while administering a sleeping gas to deal with the pain. “Why don’t you head back to Beacon?” James suggests Qrow. “Ozpin will want to know about what happened. I’ll meet you there soon once our new friend has been attended to.”
“Alright,” Qrow hesitates for a moment, worried about Y/N. For some reason, he can’t get the pure sadness that they felt out of his mind. “I’ll see you there, James.” Qrow runs towards Vale, conveniently heading behind a tree, and transforming into a crow before flying away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You found… a person?” Glynda looks at Qrow skeptically.
“I told you there was something strange about that shooting star, Glynda,” Ozpin smirks. “Thank you for informing us, Qrow. Your information is as invaluable as always. Qrow looks forward to when James arrives with this mysterious guest.”
“Go easy on ‘em, okay?” Qrow asks. “They’re just some kid who wants to go home.”
“I plan to, they have found themselves in quite the predicament, I assume you agree, Glynda?” Ozpin turns to his friend.
“Very well,” she sighs with a resigned tone.
“Ah, you must be Y/N,” Ozpin smiles and sits in the chair across from them. “I see James’s crew got you patched up, that’s wonderful. Qrow told me about how you had a terrible injury. Are you alright?”
“Mhmm,” Y/N nods, still in shock and quite discombobulated.
“My name is Professor Ozpin,” he grins. “I am the headmaster of Beacon Academy here in Vale. Do you know of it?”
Y/N nods, having heard the name somewhere before. “You train huntsmen and huntresses.”
“That we do,” Ozpin nods. “Now, I assume you know why I’m here so I’ll get right to it. You said your name is Y/N L/N, that is a very unique name. I can’t quite place what color it represents, but it suits you nonetheless.” Ozpin hints at the fact that Y/N is quite strange compared to a normal person on Remnant. “Do you have any recollection, any at all, about how you ended up in that crater?”
Y/N shakes their head, “No. Everything after I disappeared from my house and woke up in that crater is blank. I have no clue what happened there.”
Ozpin hums in agreement. “That makes sense, you likely suffered some form of trauma and shock from what happened to you. Your brain likely blocked it out. Now, do you have anywhere to stay or go?”
Y/N reluctantly shakes their head, not knowing who to turn to. “I see… Well, Qrow seems rather fond of you already. I’m sure he would be more than happy to help you.”
“You told them that?” Qrow lays his head on the table.
“We couldn’t very well have them out on the street, not while we have so many questions unanswered,” Ozpin explains. “Y/N seems scared, and I’m sure you’re just the person to warm them up.”
“Goddamnit…” Qrow takes a drink from his flask. He stands up and walks into the interrogation room, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. “Well, Y/N, looks like we’ll be partners in crime for a while.”
He dared not show any negative emotions about his new situation, not wanting to upset Y/N further. “Before we get outta here, why don’t we get to know each other better? So, tell me, how old are you?” Qrow asks before taking a sip from his flask.
“I’m 36,” Y/N replies simply.
Qrow immediately spits out his whiskey all over Y/N’s face. “You’re WHAT?!”
“What I said before my impromptu shower, thanks for that by the way, was that I’m 36,” Y/N sighs and wipes their face as their scared demeanor drops.
“Oh, kitty’s got claws!” Qrow realizes and laughs. “I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”
“I’d hope, because you haven’t made a particularly great impression,” Y/N replies with a skeptical look.
“Well, we can start by training you after your arm has healed up. Do you have any combat experience?” Qrow asks. Y/N raises an eyebrow and looks down at themselves before looking back up at Qrow. “Point taken,” he replies. “Well, we’ll start working on your weapon design after you get settled in. We’ll be staying at Beacon for a while since it’s summer break. Hopefully you’ll have healed by the point we have to leave.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Y/N stands up. “Now, shall we go? Might as well start soon as we can.”
“If that’s what you want,” Qrow shrugs and stands.
Neither of them yet had any idea of where the future would take them.