[The image that flickers onto Ford's Omni is that of a large, nearly building -- but not one Ford is likely to have ever seen before. A nervous-looking man stands on a sort of dais as Qrow walks in alongside several teenagers.
The man--Leo--starts to act more and more squirrelly as the conversation continues, apparently uncomfortable with both the number of teens present and the fact that they are armed. Qrow, the one adult in the group, looks increasingly impatient with the pleasantries and cuts them off with a crabby demand to know whether or not they would be receiving support from "the council", but Leo doesn't get the opportunity to answer before one of the teens notices a little black bird perched on a railing, and calls it to it as her mom.
Qrow fires a shot to see if he provokes a reaction; indeed, the bird touches down on the ground and becomes a woman -- one that looks practically a mirror image of him.
"If you're going to shoot me, shoot me. That was insulting."
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. You've been scheming, little brother," she responds, that particular cadence to "little" that might be recognizable to one familiar with having a twin, "Planning to attack your own sister."
He doesn't deny the accusation, yet all the same, he looks shocked, turning to face the man on the dais as though betrayed.
"Leo, what have you done?!"
The woman answers for him; he remains silent, as though ashamed. Qrow makes one last ditch attempt to get her to reconsider, to work together--we can beat Salem, he entreats--but she won't have it.
"All that time spent spying for Ozpin, and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem."
It's Ruby that interrupts, then, with her own impassioned speech about the impossible things they've all accomplished because they weren't alone.
"Work with us. At least I know we'll have a better chance if we try together. ...Please."
All the woman has to offer in response is contempt. "You sound just like your mother."
And then she opens a portal behind her, a fireball launched at Ruby before four figures emerge from it. Three of Salem's minions and a fourth unknown. A fifth steps in from behind to close the door behind everyone, lock them in.
(This was all a trap. Leo is a traitor...and so is your sister.)
"Sorry, brother. Sometimes family disappoints you like that," drawls her voice, dripping ice and poison.
(There's the familiar burn of exertion in your muscles as your blades clang and clash in deadlock, refusing to lose ground but failing to gain any -- but the more painful burn is in your chest. You were a fool for hoping she might ever come around. Did you ever really know her at all?)
"We're not family anymore."
"Were we ever?"
Maybe not. Maybe it was stupid to have thought they could've built something better than what the bandits had to give them.
[ Ford had managed to avoid any unexpected hijinks with the Winter Mourning ritual last year, so this time it takes him by surprise. The simple act of viewing another person's memory isn't that strange to him, at least, but the contents of this one are...
Hm.
While Ford has never thought of Qrow as being particularly private before this point, he can't help but remember how cagey he'd been about certain things, how reluctant he was to let Ford know about his (mathematically fascinating) Semblance. Which means he's pretty sure Qrow wouldn't be completely thrilled about Ford seeing this, especially not given the nature of the memory, which means he doesn't want to hide the fact that he's seen this, which means Qrow gets a voice message later that day. ]
[...Huh. Qrow sees the voicemail notification from Ford, and he can't help but wonder what it's about. He and Ford are casually friendly, sure, but it's not as though they have particular reason to contact each other directly, especially now that the twins have gone back to the sea. Surely it couldn't be about Ozpin, right? (He has failed to consider exactly what month it is, alas)
A stumbled across a memory earlier, and I believe it was one of yours. It involved a woman named Raven.
[ His somewhat awkward tone hopefully conveys that Ford knows exactly who they are to each other - though perhaps the circumstances would do that anyway. Even if she hadn't called Qrow 'brother' in the memory, and even if they didn't both have black hair, red eyes, similar features, and a mall goth aesthetic, her name is Raven. There's only so many people she could be related to. ]
[This being an audio call spares them both from Ford seeing Qrow cringe at the answer, but the silence that hangs after he says her name probably speaks volumes in its place. After a moment, he sighs, and with all the enthusiasm of a man on his way to the gallows, he finally asks:]
[ Ford would be taking this moment to try to decide whether to sugarcoat it or not, except that he never remembers to sugarcoat anything. Really, he's just trying to decide where to start. ]
You tried to shoot her. And then you disowned one another, I think.
[Yeah, he can't help it, there's an audible sort of cringe at that.]
...Well, it could be worse, I guess.
[But not by much, frankly, at least as far as Raven goes. The only thing that really qualifies is October.]
Figures talking about her would come up due eventually. [He sighs, tiredly.] You wanna grab some lunch or something? It's not exactly an Omni sort of talk.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cryptograms) wrote2021-09-04 07:34 pm
memshare broadcast
The man--Leo--starts to act more and more squirrelly as the conversation continues, apparently uncomfortable with both the number of teens present and the fact that they are armed. Qrow, the one adult in the group, looks increasingly impatient with the pleasantries and cuts them off with a crabby demand to know whether or not they would be receiving support from "the council", but Leo doesn't get the opportunity to answer before one of the teens notices a little black bird perched on a railing, and calls it to it as her mom.
Qrow fires a shot to see if he provokes a reaction; indeed, the bird touches down on the ground and becomes a woman -- one that looks practically a mirror image of him.
"If you're going to shoot me, shoot me. That was insulting."
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. You've been scheming, little brother," she responds, that particular cadence to "little" that might be recognizable to one familiar with having a twin, "Planning to attack your own sister."
He doesn't deny the accusation, yet all the same, he looks shocked, turning to face the man on the dais as though betrayed.
"Leo, what have you done?!"
The woman answers for him; he remains silent, as though ashamed. Qrow makes one last ditch attempt to get her to reconsider, to work together--we can beat Salem, he entreats--but she won't have it.
"All that time spent spying for Ozpin, and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem."
It's Ruby that interrupts, then, with her own impassioned speech about the impossible things they've all accomplished because they weren't alone.
"Work with us. At least I know we'll have a better chance if we try together. ...Please."
All the woman has to offer in response is contempt. "You sound just like your mother."
And then she opens a portal behind her, a fireball launched at Ruby before four figures emerge from it. Three of Salem's minions and a fourth unknown. A fifth steps in from behind to close the door behind everyone, lock them in.
(This was all a trap. Leo is a traitor...and so is your sister.)
"Sorry, brother. Sometimes family disappoints you like that," drawls her voice, dripping ice and poison.
(There's the familiar burn of exertion in your muscles as your blades clang and clash in deadlock, refusing to lose ground but failing to gain any -- but the more painful burn is in your chest. You were a fool for hoping she might ever come around. Did you ever really know her at all?)
"We're not family anymore."
"Were we ever?"
Maybe not. Maybe it was stupid to have thought they could've built something better than what the bandits had to give them.
"I thought so, but I guess I was wrong."]
no subject
Hm.
While Ford has never thought of Qrow as being particularly private before this point, he can't help but remember how cagey he'd been about certain things, how reluctant he was to let Ford know about his (mathematically fascinating) Semblance. Which means he's pretty sure Qrow wouldn't be completely thrilled about Ford seeing this, especially not given the nature of the memory, which means he doesn't want to hide the fact that he's seen this, which means Qrow gets a voice message later that day. ]
Qrow, do you have a moment?
no subject
Ford gets a call back shortly later.]
Hey. What's up?
no subject
A stumbled across a memory earlier, and I believe it was one of yours. It involved a woman named Raven.
[ His somewhat awkward tone hopefully conveys that Ford knows exactly who they are to each other - though perhaps the circumstances would do that anyway. Even if she hadn't called Qrow 'brother' in the memory, and even if they didn't both have black hair, red eyes, similar features, and a mall goth aesthetic, her name is Raven. There's only so many people she could be related to. ]
no subject
How bad was it?
no subject
[ Ford would be taking this moment to try to decide whether to sugarcoat it or not, except that he never remembers to sugarcoat anything. Really, he's just trying to decide where to start. ]
You tried to shoot her. And then you disowned one another, I think.
no subject
...Well, it could be worse, I guess.
[But not by much, frankly, at least as far as Raven goes. The only thing that really qualifies is October.]
Figures talking about her would come up due eventually. [He sighs, tiredly.] You wanna grab some lunch or something? It's not exactly an Omni sort of talk.