Ok, first things first; I have not given up on Never Forget, I'm just having some writer's block and this idea came to mind. This world is very different from the Canon Remnant, even if most of it seems mostly similar right now...I actually call this world "Fragment" instead, hence the title of the story. Hope you all enjoy ^^
"Daddy?" Ruby was perhaps six or seven at the time, eyes wide in fear as roots of the tree she was standing near snaked slowly up her legs.
"It's okay Baby Girl." Taiyang spoke softly, giving a reassuring smile. "The tree is trying to protect you."
"P-protect me?" She looked up at the large, branched plant. The howl of a Beowolf caused the child to tremble, the roots picking up their speed. The adult's smile became a wistful one.
"Just like your mother." He murmured, watching the large plant wrap his youngest daughter in a protective embrace with it's roots. "You got scared of the Beowolf, so the tree is trying to keep you safe." The explanation was far too simple for the actual situation, but he couldn't really explain without his ex-brother-in-law...unfortunately, he had no idea when the other man would-
"Caw!" The familiar screeching cry of a crow echoed from the direction of the Grimm howl from earlier, the dirty blond seeing the roots loosen their grip on the little girl.
"Is that Uncle Qrow?" The redhead asked.
"It sounds like it." He responded, the tree releasing her in her excitement...they were still out of the ground, not at all where they should be, but it would be fixed soon enough. Growls and howls of pain from the creatures of darkness could be heard, the small girl almost bouncing on her feet as she waited impatiently.
"That pack was getting real close Tai. Couldn't you have taken them out yourself?" The black haired man questioned as he walked out of the line of trees.
"Uncle Qrooooooooooooow!" The child dashed as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, jumping to cling to the new man's arm with a wide grin. "Hi!" But he didn't even look at her, frowning at her dad instead.
"Normally." The blue eyed man stated, his daughter pouting when she still got no attention while his friend gave an off sort of frown.
"Did you miss me?" She tried, he felt bad when she got no answer.
"Normally?" Red eyes bore into him, the concern for him and his family almost pulled the brawler's lips into a soft smile...almost.
"Something...came up." A gesture to the roots drew the other man's attention to them, eyes widening slightly.
"Hey Kiddo...was that you?" The silver eyed girl had begun silently sobbing at being ignored, the free hand of the man she still clung to placed comfortingly on her head. When she looked up at him with teary eyes he pointed to the roots, her head turning to follow.
"Daddy said it...it was protecting me..." She sniffled in the middle, only tugging on her father's heartstrings more.
"Protecting you..." The caped man repeated, giving a soft sigh. "Yeah, I missed you." Those familiar eyes widened at the change in their greeting routine, looking at her dad in confusion.
"Why don't you go get cleaned up Ruby?" Her dad suggested, the child looking down at herself...when she noticed she was covered in dirt from the tree she nodded, pausing in front of the door.
"How long...are you staying?"
"You'll be seeing plenty of me Kiddo." She grinned at the answer and ran inside, closing the door behind her. The silence between the adults stretched on for seconds that felt like hours, neither sure what to say.
"...Mind fixing that?" Tai requested without needing to clarify what he meant, getting a nod. The other held his right palm towards the roots, a momentary red glow covering his hand...the roots shot back into the ground, covered by the earth as though nothing had happened before the hand fell back to it's owner's side. A heavy sigh came from the magic-user before he took a long drink from his flask.
"So...this the first time that happened?" Qrow asked, attention on the house.
"Yeah." The blond confirmed, that wistful smile falling into place again. "She really is just like Summer."
"She is." The black haired man agreed. "Pretty sure she was hoping Ruby would be magicless though." It was the other's turn to sigh.
"I think we all were." There was another long pause. "...This is it then?"
"You know what happened to Summer before she learned to control her magic." The red eyed man scoffed, flinching slightly when he realized how harshly that had come out. "Uh..."
"It's fine." The blue eyed man smiled sadly. "I know you didn't mean it like that."
"...I'm sorry Tai." The sincerity in his friend's voice only pushed home that this was real.
"...I know."
~FrM~
"Why are you packing up Ruby's stuff?" Yang asked her father, standing in the doorway and shaking...she must have heard him opening the drawers.
"Ruby's...going with Qrow for a while." Tai stated softly, he'd still been preparing himself for telling her.
"Why?!" The bright blonde immediately demanded, he didn't need to look to know the purple had been replaced by red.
"Safety." The duller blond murmured.
"That stupid tree thing?!" She must have been looking out a window. "That's not going to hurt anyone!" Why was she making this even harder on him?
"It's for her own good Yang." The tanned man's voice is barely steady, most of his will going into keeping it from breaking.
"Never getting to see us is for her own good?!"
"Yes!" His older daughter took a step back with fearful eyes that flickered back to purple, half-full backpack forgotten. He clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath, hating that he had allowed his temper to get the better of him...he was supposed to be passed this. "I...I'm sorry." The blue eyed man walked over to the child, meaning to kneel but falling to his knees instead. "I didn't...Yang, please..." He vaguely knew he wasn't make much sense now.
"...Dad?" When had he begun crying?
"I don't want Ruby to leave...but she needs to learn to control her magic." The brawler explained, wiping away the little girl's tears despite his own still falling.
"Why can't Qrow just stay here?" Her lip quivered as he took a shaky breath.
"Magic is..." He paused. "It...lashes out a lot, especially if the one using it just started using it."
"Lash out?" The long haired girl asked.
"...It attacks people." She got a look of horror. "Ruby would never mean to hurt someone." He cut off before she could point it out, seeing the expression starting to change to disbelief. "But until she gets a handle on it the magic isn't really Ruby...it'll protect her when she's scared, even if it means attacking people who won't even hurt her, and it'll destroy things when she gets mad."
"But she...can't hurt Qrow?"
"He can use his own magic to stop it from doing anything to him, but that's about it." The man's hands slowly reached for his long glove, pulling it off to reveal an ugly scar on the front like his arm had been stabbed...a strangled gasp came from the other person in the room. "I got this as a kid, about your age, back when...when Summer and I were friends. Something scared her, and when I reached to calm her down a root stabbed into my arm. She...she left the next day, didn't see her again until we were sixteen." He rubbed the marking sadly, what felt like hundreds of apologies filling his mind...all of them had happened, she was always apologizing.
"...Can I give her something? To remember us?" His oldest daughter's voice snapped him back to the present.
"Of course." A sad smile was exchanged and the girl left for her room.
~FrM~
"A bag?" Ruby blinked at her dad when he handed it to her, having dressed her in a coat and boots already. "And doesn't Yang need shoes?"
"Yang is staying here." Tai stated simply.
"But you said she isn't old enough to be home alone!" The silver eyed girl pouted.
"She's not." He agreed, getting a confused look.
"Come on Kiddo." Qrow sighed, opening the door...she looked between him and her family, beginning to shake.
"Daddy?" Her voice did too, the plants in front of the house shifting their roots in the garden.
"You're going with your uncle for a while." The blue eyed man explained.
"What about you?"
"I'm staying here, with Yang." He said softly, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"Come on Ruby, it won't be for long!" Yang forced a smile at her sister, holding out a piece of orange cloth.
"B-but...this is your favourite..." The smaller girl pointed out.
"And I want it back when you come back." The bigger one told her. "So you can't stay away for long." The other stared for a few moments before nodding, tying it around her neck like her sister did. They shared a hug, her father getting the same with a kiss of the cheek before she finally pulled away.
"Come on Kiddo." The black haired man repeated, his little niece following him out the door.
Well, this is a highly emotional first chapter, isn't it? I tried to give Tai a little scene with each person here, being the most emotionally effected by Ruby's magic awakening. For those wondering; during his scene with Yang we have Qrow in the living room silently cursing his life and the pain he now has to cause the family he cares about, and Ruby is playing with toys with him. Hope you all enjoyed, see you soon.