Blood Red

It has been three years since Silva stayed with Ruby and Yang, and now he is ten years old. Currently, he is sparring with Raven in a gray tank top and black pants with his weapons of choice right now. Still, they are not his final choice as the forge of the Branwen tribe can not make anything sophisticated or complex because even Raven needs to go to lower Mistral or Kuchinashi to perform maintenance on her weapon Omen. Silva is dual-wielding a pair of glaves against Raven. One was shorter than the other and resembled a short spear in size.

Silva gripped the end of the longer glave and swung down at Raven, but she easily parried his strike. Silva then quickly moved closer then used the shorter glave with a thrust, and Raven dodged to the side with a small step and promptly batted away the glave with her odachi. She then moved into Silva's guard and gave him a swift kick to his midsection, and the snow leopard Faunus leaped back along with the kick to minimize the damage to his Aura. He then poles vaulted at Raven with the longer glave to slash her with the shorter polearm.

As Raven parried Silva's strike, he swung his longer glave at her furiously and landed his first blow. As she staggered, Silva thrusts his shorter glave at her, but Raven crossed blades with him as she quickly regained her balance and overpowered him as she pushed Silva's shorter glave, forcing him to his knee. Before he prepared to swing his longer polearm at Raven, she backed off suddenly, then slashed at his shorter glave, disarming him, then performed two quick slashes at him. Silva is knocked onto his back, and Raven cuts at the downed Faunus, forcing him to block with his longer polearm.

Silva knocked away Raven's sword by quickly giving in to the pressure behind her blade then clashing against it rapidly. He rolled away and got back on his feet, but Raven did not give Silva a single moment and sent a slash of flying Aura at him, forcing him to his back again. Raven quickly stood over him, pointing her blade at his neck, and said a matter-of-fact way.

" You lose again."

***

I, Silva, sighed in equal parts, frustration and defeated at Raven's declaration, then nodded at her, and she pulled her blade away from me. Raven may be a good combat teacher, but she does not hold back after I land my first strike on her like always in our spars. I also felt slightly frustrated that I had yet to unlock my Semblance despite my training and being tossed at Grimm to get experience. I got up and gathered my glaves, and Raven then told me.

" Meet me in my tent; we need to talk."

" Yes, chief."

I looked at my crudely made glaves and sighed at their quality; they are made of poor quality steel, and the blades are not uniformly curved, but these are the best I can make for now as the forge in the camp is under-equipped to make anything decent. Good materials are usually sold to the black market after raids to get other stuff the tribe needs. I thought about making clawed gauntlets that could be endowed with Dust, but as I said, the tribe's forge is under-equipped for anything complex or decent in quality. Plus, if I consider the fact my natural claws are usually protected by Aura, the idea seemed redundant.

I also tried to apply Dust to my claws directly, but after an incident where I set my fur on fire then got mild Dust poisoning, I gave up on the idea. Dust poisoning is pure agony because as the Dust flows through the bloodstream, it causes intense pain until I get it out of my system. Hazel's pain-numbing Semblance really is suited for directly applying Dust to himself because I don't think anyone otherwise could but Dust in their system and still fight effectively.

Fun facts aside, I definitely need to head to Atlas to try and learn how to engineer high-tech weapons and learn how to implement a few ideas I have in mind for my future armament and other things. Especially since I might be able to get one of Atlas' brightest minds to get me, Pietro Polendina, father and creator of Penny Polendina, but that's for the future; I need to focus on the here and now. I went to Raven's tent, though nowadays it's more like our tent since I sleep here as well, and after I entered, she gestured to me and said.

" Have a seat."

I compiled and sat across from her. After a few moments, she told me in a serious tone.

" I think it is time for you to be blooded. Soon the tribe will raid a mining settlement that is operated by the Schnee Dust Company. Ordinarily, we would avoid attacking because the Atlas military and Mistral militia would jointly be guarding it. Still, something has happened in both Mistral and Atlas, which has drawn a good portion of the forces stationed away, so this is an opportunity to strike and acquire a large amount of Dust for the tribe. With this in mind, you will be participating in this raid."

I took a few moments to absorb this information, and as I processed it, Raven told me my part in the raid.

" You will be on Grimm duty, so you will be fighting Grimm to buy time for the tribe to transport cargo through my Semblance back to the camp as the Grimm inevitably come during our attack."

" Okay, when does this raid happen?"

I asked her, and she promptly told me.

" It will happen in a week after I double-check my information, so be ready by then."

I nodded and felt slightly thankful that I did not have to kill anyone yet in this life. I never took the life of another person in my previous life, so I am not sure how I would react, especially since my body is still that of a kid.

***

I gathered with the rest of the tribe on the night of the raid and saw that I was not the only kid in the group. I noticed that all of the other kids were equipped with rifles and pistols. I recognized Gol as he walked over, looking smug, and ant agonized me.

" So, how's life as being the chief's pet?"

I ignored the dirty blonde preteen, and he started running his mouth.

" Can you guess where I am going to be? I'm with the vanguard!"

As I showed no reaction or interest in him, he started to get annoyed.

" Do you understand, you dumb animal, the vanguard! I am part of the main attacking force and get first dibs on loot after it gets sorted!"

I kept on ignoring him, and he demanded.

" Say something, you dumb animal!"

" Something..."

My joke got a few giggles from the other kids, which made Gol mad and shouted at the giggling kids.

" SHUT IT, YOU BRATS!"

The kids complied but kept their smiles, and Gol then commented on my weapons after seeing them holstered on my back.

" Hmph, those are some nice weapons you have there; why not give those to a real warrior instead? After all, you have your claws like the animal you are."

As he reached for my polearms, I grabbed his outstretched arm and dug my claws into his unprotected flesh. He cried out in pain, and I used my Aura-enhanced strength to bring him to his knees. Not all bandits have Aura; only Raven and a few of her lieutenants have theirs unlocked. It sets a hierarchy that is not easy to oppose for ordinary bandits to make them more compliant to orders as bandits, in general, do not have much discipline. I spoke to Gol for the first time and threatened him to make a point.

" I don't care what you think or say, but if you act against me, I will not tolerate it. If we did not have a raid coming up, I would break your arms and legs and leave you broken. I will make myself perfectly clear to you. Start anything with me again, and I will show just how sharp my claws are. Do I make myself clear?"

" Yes!"

I dug my claws deeper and asked him as a show of dominance.

" Yes, what?"

I took Gol a few moments longer than I liked, so I readied my other set of claws to grapple him. He paled and got the message, then panicky said.

" Yes, sir! Sir yes, sir!"

" Good, now get back to the vanguard!"

I let him go, and he scrambled back to the vanguard in a hurry. I ignored the stares I got, and soon, a portal opened in front of me. Everyone made their way through it as I went last; we stood atop a hill overlooking the mining settlement. Raven then gathered her lieutenant and me.

" Shay, Cain, and Silva get over here!"

I complied and saw the bandit named Cain for the first time. He was a tall, dark-skinned guy with wine red hair with an eye patch, and one visible red iris. Raven gave her orders as she showed us a rough map of the settlement.

" Shay, you will lead the vanguard will make use of the explosives I acquired to open the main entrance in the south and make an entry point in the western wall to force the guards and people into the mine entrance in the northwest corner of the settlement. Cain, you will guard the main entrance from Grimm with your forces, and Silva, you will take the western entry point. I will lead the transport team to gather Dust in the warehouse opposite the mining entrance. After gathering as much as we can, I will signal the retreat with a signal flare, and all of you will gather at the warehouse."

After a few moments of letting everyone understand the plan, Raven asked.

" Any questions?"

" No chief!"

Cain and Shay replied, and I nodded. Then Raven announced.

" We strike within the hour! Get in position!"

***

Explosions rang for the whole settlement to hear, and panic ensued. What was left of the Atlas military and Mistral militia went to the source of the explosions as they sent the people to the mining entrance for their safety. The forces of Atlas and Mistral met with the Branwen tribe vanguard and were pushed back by their numbers and ferocity. As the conflict continued, Grimm from around the area sensed the negative emotions and ran towards the mining settlement. Beowolves, Ursai, Nevermores, and the odd Beringel surged towards the source of misery, death, despair, and anger.

Cain and Silva's groups started their jobs in delaying the Grimm. The whelps of the tribe got their first taste of combat as they shot at the Grimm as the adults engaged the monsters in close quarters. Nevermores flew overhead and rained down their feathers like missiles hitting both the Branwen tribe, Atlas, and Mistral forces. As more Grimm poured in, Raven decided to signal the retreat and shot a red flare into the sky. The Branwen tribe saw it and went to the warehouse and through the portal back to their camp, leaving nothing but the Grimm behind for the settlement.

After the tribe returned and stored their loot away, they started celebrating their successful raid.

***

I, Silva, saw the festivities of the Branwen tribe but did not feel like joining them, so I kept to myself and headed to my and Raven's tent. I won't lie and say it did not bother me to participate in the raid, but strangely enough, it did not bother me as much as I thought it would. I chalk it up to either the fact I have always been apathetic to the plight of complete strangers or that it has not sunken in yet. I did not feel like sleeping, not that I could with the racket tribe is making, and I took out a book on novice weapon design to help pass the time.

Hours went by until the tribe finally settled down and passed out from partying. Raven came into the tent and laid down on her bed, then asked me as she analyzed my reactions.

" Does it bother you?"

I put aside my book and answered truthfully.

" Not as much as I thought it would..."

" I see..."

Raven dismissively then said after she yawned.

" Good night."

" Night."

As she slept, I felt sleep call for me as well and I turned in, wondering when I would kill my first person because it is inevitable one way or another.