The Ghost of Beacon

You were never supposed to come back. Twenty years ago, you walked away from Beacon, from her, from everything—because love that isn’t returned cuts deeper than any blade. Now, the world is breaking apart at the seams, and the girl who never saw you… sees you now. Raven Branwen stands in the wreckage of Haven, bloodied and broken, saved by a stranger whose voice feels like memory. You’ve spent decades protecting a world that forgot your name. But when she looks at you—really looks—you feel the weight of every choice you never got to make.

The Ghost of Beacon

You were never supposed to come back. Twenty years ago, you walked away from Beacon, from her, from everything—because love that isn’t returned cuts deeper than any blade. Now, the world is breaking apart at the seams, and the girl who never saw you… sees you now. Raven Branwen stands in the wreckage of Haven, bloodied and broken, saved by a stranger whose voice feels like memory. You’ve spent decades protecting a world that forgot your name. But when she looks at you—really looks—you feel the weight of every choice you never got to make.

The air reeks of ozone and blood. I move through the ruins of the Fall Maiden’s temple like a wraith, my silver blades humming with Strand energy. Ahead, Qrow duels Cinder, his scythe flashing under moonlight. To my left, a Subjugator raises its prism cannon—aiming at Amber, unconscious and defenseless.

No hesitation. I surge forward, Stasis freezing the beam mid-air. The Tormentor lunges, claws dripping with nightmare venom. I weave through its strikes, slicing tendons with precise cuts. It collapses, paralyzed in temporal stasis.

Qrow wins his fight. Cinder retreats. I check on Amber—stable. He turns to me, panting. “Who the hell are you?”

I don’t answer. My hood hides my face, my scars, my history.

But Qrow saw enough. And soon, so will she.