Getting to Mistral after saving those kids from that giant Grimm hadn't been a fun ordeal for Qrow, but it was worth it knowing they were safe. He'd taken the time to get them some food since they had to have been starving by this point, and truth be told he could use a bite himself.

"So Ren, Nora are you two alright?" Qrow asked the two kids as he'd finished taking a bite from his own food. He felt the need to break the silence...well as much silence as they'd had with how much Nora seemed to loudly eat the food that she kept ordering.

"Yes, thank you mister Branwen." Ren said as he looked up at Qrow from his bowl of noodles. The boy had definitely been doing better from what Qrow had seen, then again he'd known that Ren, in his mind, had avenged his family.

Qrow just shook his head before correcting Ren "Hey I told you just call me Qrow."

"Thanks for the food Qrow." Nora said after finishing what must have been her third bowl of food. Qrow just thanked the gods that Oz, and the Council of Vale, reimbursed him for this kinda stuff so he definitely would be keeping his receipts for later.

"Hey no need to thank me since you two have probably been starving for something other than whatever you could forage for in the forest." Qrow really didn't need praise for acting like a decent human being, especially from kids. He'd have done the same regardless of them currently being his responsibility until he worked something out with Leo.

"Leo you can't be serious?" Qrow was surprised he had to even ask his friend this. He'd been hoping to find somewhere he could take these kids to help them, but what Leo had suggested had brought back memories for him.

"I'm sorry Qrow, but it's out of my hands. Unless they have a guardian who can take them in they'll have to go to an orphanage." The headmaster of Haven academy tried his best to explain to Qrow why'd had to be this way.

Qrow clenched his fist as he remembered his own days in one of Mistral's orphanages. He, and Raven had the misfortune of being placed in one of Mistral's lower level orphanages before they ran away to the tribe back during its more nomadic days.

He clenched his fists as he remembered having to fight for what little food they'd been allowed, or the adults in charge barely treating them like they were worth more than an afterthought. He didn't know how these kids could cope with that, and he certainly wouldn't wish that on them.

The next words that came out of Qrow's mouth would have stunned anyone that knew him; hell they'd stunned Qrow as well as he'd said them. "What if I said I was willing to be their guardian Leo?" Qrow said much to the surprise of the Lion Faunus.

If it wasn't for the serious look on Qrow's face Leo would have thought that the other man had been joking. True Qrow was an uncle to his former teammate's daughters, but this was a shock since he was essentially saying that he would take in two orphans of a Grimm attack.

"Well Qrow then I'll have the paperwork drawn up and submitted to Mistral's child welfare office so you can be legally recognized as their guardian. Even then that's going to take a few days, so I can put you up in a house since you probably expected to be back in Vale by now." Lionhearted said as he began pulling up the proper paperwork on his computer terminal.

Qrow sighed as that wasn't even the half of it, he'd honestly expected to have reported to Oz about what he'd observed by now; yet here he was still in Mistral. "Yeah I know that Leo, which is why I'm gonna have to call Oz when I get to that house. Just make sure those two kids are there too."

Lionheart looked thoughtful for a moment with his hand on his chin before he nodded. "Normally I wouldn't Qrow, but since I know you well I can do just that. I'll even have some good prepared for you all as well."

"Thanks Leo." Qrow smiled before getting up to leave. "I'm gonna at least get those kids some new clothes while the place is prepared."

"Very well Qrow." Lionheart said before going back to focusing on the paperwork on display on his terminal. Part of him still couldn't believe that Qrow was taking two random kids in, but that man was always full of the most random surprises.

Outside the room Qrow looked to where he'd left Ren, and Nora; the two had kept themselves entertained with something that Leo had given the two. "Hey you two, come on."

Nora was the first to look up and tilted her head at Qrow. "We going somewhere?" She asked Qrow.

Qrow snorted before walking over to the two of them. "Yeah to get you two some clothes. Can't have you two wearing the same thing everyday."

Ren looked down at his clothes which had been far more dirty than his mother had ever allowed him to be. "That's a fair point miste...Qrow, but what did the headmaster say?" The little boy asked the older man.

"He said that you're staying with me at a house near Haven while some paperwork gets sorted out, after that you two are coming with me to Vale." Qrow shrugged trying to play it nonchalant as it slowly dawned on him that he'd essentially adopted these two kids.

'Oh god, if Summer knew about this she'd just say I'm the biggest softie ever.' Qrow groaned internally as he could feel the shortstack's trademark grin on his back.

He'd been snapped out of his thoughts by Nora grabbing his hand, and he'd looked down at her. "What's up?"

"You're really getting us new clothes?" She asked Qrow, and if he didn't know better he'd have guessed she sounded hopeful.

If he'd had to guess, Qrow would have assumed that the little girl wasn't used to getting new clothes, gifts, or probably both. Damnit Summer would be calling him so soft right now if she could.

"Yeah Nora I figure you two could use about ten new outfits, and I'm good for it." Qrow really would need to save these receipts since he had a feeling Oz would owe him a lot by the time he got back to Vale.

"That's a lot of pink." Qrow said as he saw all the clothes Nora picked out for herself. He knew some girls loved pink, but that was a lot.

"Well Renny has a lot of green." Nora stuck her tongue out at Qrow.

Qrow sighed as the quiet girl he'd met earlier seemed to have a lot more spirit than he'd given her credit for. 'Yup she's definitely gonna get along great with Yang.'

"Green is my favorite color though." Ren said, looking at Nora.

"And pink is mine." Nora stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world of Remnant. "So I'm going to wear as much of it as I possibly want."

Qrow couldn't help but chuckle at this, she definitely would get along great with Yang. "Alright kid you made your point. Just be sure to get some socks and underwear too."

"Alright alright." She said while rolling her eyes to Qrow before running off to find some of the said items that Qrow recommended she get.

"Same goes for you too Ren." Qrow said to the boy who was currently looking at a green Mistralian outfit for himself.

"Alright ." Ren told the older man before wandering off to find his own undergarments.

Qrow sighed before calling out to Ren. "I said just call me Qrow." If he was honest with himself the two couldn't be any more opposite than possible, one was a rude ball of energy that seemed to not trust anyone she saw, and the other was so formal to a t.

Qrow sighed having to resist the urge to take a swig from his flask. This was it, he was officially becoming a guardian to some kids he'd met a day or so ago. If Raven or Summer were here right now they'd probably never let him live it down, and Tai would be saying something about him losing his edge, or that he was going soft.

The sound of a body hitting the floor had snapped Qrow out of his thoughts as he looked to Nora, and sighed. "Get yourself two new pairs of shoes too."

'Geez kid, I know living in the woods is tough, but your shoes look like they're held together by a prayer.' In all his years of life Qrow had never seen shoes worn so ragged before. He couldn't help but wonder just what all Nora had to have gone through to have such frayed sneakers that looked ready to fall apart.

Nora was about to open her mouth again, and Qrow quickly intervened. "Yes they can both be pink." Honestly, this girl was starting to remind him of Ruby with her obsession with the color red, specifically the red cape that she loved so much.

"You too Ren." Qrow said to the boy, motioning him to follow Nora along as he paid for their clothes. "You're going to need more than one pair of shoes too."

Ren looked down at the shows that he had on, and could see why Qrow would suggest he get a new pair. In the span of the time he and Nora had spent in the woods, his shoes looked like they'd seen a war zone. "Ok Qrow." Ren responded to the adult before catching up to Nora to get two pairs of shoes.

Qrow has to keep himself from smiling as he fished his card from his wallet, and paid for the clothes that both kids picked out. 'Damnit, Yang and Ruby are definitely making me soft.' He mentally tries to justify his actions as his nieces influence him.

Just as Qrow was about to take the bags of clothes, the clerk stopped him. He was confused why she was looking at him with such a pleased expression. "I just want to say sir it's really nice of you to help those poor kids out."

Qrow couldn't help but scan her face right now, usually when women said that to he always thought that was reserved for guys who were some kinda sleezes in hiding, but this seemed….genuine.

"Uh thanks, really it's nothing I was in their shoes not too long ago. At least until I met some people who helped me see I was an idiot." Qrow spoke fondly as thought of Summer, Tai, and Ozpin crept into his mind. Especially Ozpin, he still felt some phantom pains from the older man using his cane on him.

"Well either way, I think you're doing a wonderful job with those children. The world could use more men like you in it." The woman smiled brightly to Qrow before handing him his bags.

Qrow was surprised by that, and even had an amused look on his face. "Heh I wanna doubt that, but thanks." He accepted the bags from the woman before he'd gone off in search of Ren, and Nora. The rest of his time spent shopping made him question if this was right; he was a functioning alcoholic, not to mention his semblance tends to ruin things for him and everyone around him.

Qrow couldn't help but reach for his flask until the sound of Nora squealing caught his attention. He'd seen that she was currently stomping around in pink light up shoes that had little lightning bolts on them. She's broken out into the widest grin he'd seen on her face thus far.

"So it looks like you can smile." Qrow said to the now giggling Nora as she watched her new shoes light up in the mirror.

"These...are...AWESOME!" Nora's voice reverberated across the store, drawing the attention of several on looks. Many were amused that a little girl found such amusement in her new shoes, while some couldn't help but roll their eyes and mutter 'kids'.

Qrow turned his attention to Ren after he'd seen Nora grab her another pair of shoes to go with her new light up sneakers like Qrow instructed. "I take it you found some shoes too Ren?"

"Yes Mr. Branwen." Ren held up two pairs of simple shoes, one was a set of sneakers the other were similar to the ones he was currently wearing.

Qrow wasn't gonna chastise him over his preferences, but he hung his head. "That's great Ren." He didn't even bother correcting the boy to call him Qrow again either...

The trip back to Vale was uneventful, and Qrow had left the two kids to wait outside of Ozpin's office, he'd been surprised Oz offered them some of his precious hot chocolate though.

"So that's your entire official report for the council Qrow?" Ozpin asked Qrow.

"Yeah Oz, on record I was in Anima helping out with the spike in Grimm activity because I know the area since I grew up there, and helped Leo with the incident of that mountain village. Off the record I was checking to see if she was spreading her influence." Qrow answered his mentor.

Ozpin nodded as he scanned over Qrow's official report. "There is the matter of the children though, why did you exactly adopt them Qrow?"

Qrow had been caught off guard by the why, or that Ozpin could seem to not cast any judgement with his words. It truly was one of those times that he wished he could lie to the old man because he hated sounding sappy.

"There's Not much reason to it Oz, you know my past." Qrow answered as if it were obvious.

Ozpin couldn't help but sigh, he knew Qrow's past all too well because he'd seen it happen to many individuals in his multiple lifetimes. "Yes I'm aware Qrow, it's a shame that in this day in age so many children are failed by the system in place."

"Yeah...it's hard to imagine how many kids ended up like me, and Raven did. Especially when they don't have people like you, Tai, or Summer to help them out." Qrow ran his hand through his hair as he recalled how much of a shithead he'd been his first year and a half at Beacon.

Ozpin couldn't help but smile, and give that little chuckle that always promised something Qrow could never specifically place other than maybe a promise for something good to come. "Well lucky for those two that they have you Qrow." Ozpin told his friend with the utmost sincerity.

It was Qrow's turn to chuckle, only his was a bit more sardonic in tone. "Well then that's depressing Oz."

"Not it isn't Qrow, just trust me." Ozpin told his friend before dismissing him so he could submit his report to the council.

Watching Nora, and Ren play with Yang, and Ruby felt so odd to watch. The kids barely knew one another an hour, and already they seemed to be getting along like a house on fire.

"So that's their story?" Tai asked Qrow as he watched the kids from the deck in the back of his cabin.

"Yeah Tai, it is." Qrow hasn't really expected Tai to just listen in silence as he recounted the tale of how came into the guardianship of Ren, and Nora.

Tai didn't say a word as he continued to watch the kids, and Qrow couldn't help but worry now...yeah he lived with Tai without paying rent, but he still contributed to the family's income, it's just now there were extra mounts to feed.

"Look Tai, I know your place doesn't have that much room in it as is. I can start apartment hunting once I get situated, and—" Qrow was interrupted by Tai putting a hand on his shoulder.

Tai was giving Qrow that same bright grin he'd given him back in Beacon, specifically when he'd gone out into Vale their first month in as Team STRQ, and picked a fight that tai had supported him in. That grin that always read 'I got this.'

"Qrow it's alright, you've been there for me for a long time, hell you're my oldest friend. After everything helped me through these last two years do you honestly think I'm going to kick you out because you took in some kids, you're dead wrong." Tai's words certainly lived up to his grin.

Qrow couldn't help his shock, yeah two years since Summer….Qrow didn't really think Tai would take it as a debt or anything like that; he just didn't want to see what was left of his family fall apart.

"Thank Tai." Qrow said to his friend.

Tai patted Qrow on his shoulder, and smiled. "No problem buddy, but you're going to be helping me convert my den into a bedroom for those two. I'm thinking they'll love bunk beds."

That was certainly a shocker, he'd figured Tai would have them room with Ruby, and Yang. "Heh giving up the Tai cave?" Qrow asked

"Eh, I was getting tired of it anyway; it was making me skip out on training more, and we can't have this six pack turn into a keg. It's a disservice to all the men, and women who see me shirtless when I go for a run." Tai patted his stomach for emphasis on his statement.

"Heh, yeah can't have them suffering Tai." Qrow chuckled, maybe things were going to be alright after all.

A continent away back in Anima a young girl was glaring harshly at Raven Branwen. She's just been a random orphaned member of the tribe, but Raven hand picked her, and unlocked her aura for whatever reason she deemed necessary. The last eight months had been nothing but constant training for her under Raven, and that other girl with the weird powers who hadn't returned with Raven the other day.

Talk was that she'd run off, but many knew what truly happened. They knew what happened to the other girl, she met her end by Raven's blade. Many agreed it was for the best since the girl's heart was so soft, and she'd been among the many that agreed.

Raven stared back at the girl, she'd looked so class in age to Yang; maybe a little older. "So Vernal, are you done?" Raven chastised the girl who was standing over a downed man.

"What more can I do Raven?" Vernal asked, as she turned her gaze to the injured man before her.

"Simple, he's weak...and what do I always tell you?" Raven asked the girl as if the answer was simple.

"The weak die, the strong live. Those are the rules." Vernal answered Raven as she raised her blades while the man begged for his life, only to be swiftly silenced as his blood stained the ground.

"Very good Vernal." Raven said to her protégée, she'd make a fine second in command as well as a decoy to hide who the true Spring Maiden was.