Hello good readers of FanFiction net, my name is James. Some of you may know me as the guy who wrote RWBY: Red Rover, sporadically from 2016 into 2017 and then abandoned the project until 2018, with a failed attempt to revive that brainchild into some kind of half-life. Some of you may not recognize me at all, but the previous sentence should serve as a satisfactory introduction. It is worth noting that I did also write three chapters of another story, RWBY: Bystanders, which I've similarly abandoned, but in the case of Bystanders, it really is only temporary. Regardless, with both of my stories abandoned due to rampant issues, which only I saw, apparently, as most people that talked to me seemed to like all of my work, I've been working on this story. Mostly brainstorming and such, turning things over in my head again and again since the last time I sat down to seriously write a piece of fiction, fan or not. I've only started writing this as of 1/28/19, because that was the first time I felt comfortable putting pen to paper, or fingers to keys, as it were, since the last actual upload of a chapter of Red Rover. Funnily enough, I'm excited, scared, and nervous about posting a new story, but I plan to dive in, once more unto the breach and all that. That being said, I don't want to hold up the story bit of the story any longer than I have to, as I had a habit of talking to long before getting to the meat of each chapter in Red Rover, and I don't want that to follow me any farther than the first chapter of this story. As is, I've nearly got a full page of author's note written here so...lets crack on, shall we?
Island of Patch, Xiao Long-Rose Residence, 4:38 PM
Fifteen years ago.
It was a lovely day in Vale, if a bit cold, and the sun was getting steadily closer to the horizon as the clock counted away the minutes of everyone's lives. It also counted well over the amount of time that Taiyang Xiao Long had said Qrow Branwen would have to spend looking after his niece, Yang Xiao Long. This fact was perfectly alright with Qrow Branwen for a number of reasons.
1 – He could hold it over Tai's head for a while that the blonde had lied to him and forced him to stay longer than he initially said.
2 – He could eat as much of the exorbitant amount of Xiao Long-Rose family leftovers as he wanted while he was here, shamelessly enjoying Summer Rose's famous cooking.
3 – Any time he got to spend with his niece was time he cherished, so the supposed "chore" of watching the little girl wasn't anything of the sort for him.
Speaking of the little rascal, or rather thinking of her, Qrow supposed it was time he checked on her again, the girl having settled down for a nap around thirty minutes ago. While Yang was full of energy, a remarkable amount of it, for a two year old, she had immediately taken a liking to the thing known as sleep, and had probably spent more of the last year asleep than awake, and that was by choice. Pushing himself off the couch, where he had been watching some of the latest news, Qrow whistled quietly to himself as he made his way up the stairs and towards Yang's room, slowing to a stop before he reached it, so he could peek into the newest room in the house. A smile stretched across his lips as he saw the baby's new room, and he thought about how happy he was to have another niece.
Qrow mused on that line of thinking for a moment, recalling that once he had told Taiyang that he would never have kids, and would never, ever like kids because of the numerous things wrong with them. He had even gone as far as constructing a list of every issue he personally had with children. Nowadays, you wouldn't be able to tell that Qrow didn't like kids, from the way he acted around Yang, and even her little playmates, who all adored Qrow to no end. Everything Yang did seemed fascinating to him, and brought a smile to his face. Every word and sound she made drew nothing but affection from the grizzled Huntsman, rapidly destroying barriers that he had thrown up to defend himself from the horrors of prepubescent citizens of the world. Knowing this, he could only assume that the bundle Summer and Taiyang brought home would become an object of undying love for him.
Remembering that he still had a certain object to check up on, Qrow reached over and closed the door to the baby's new room, and then continued his walk down the hall, peeking into Yang's room to check on her. Lying on the bed, eyes closed, her chest gently rising and falling, was the golden haired, beautiful child that had melted the Huntsman's heart the first time he saw her. Qrow scanned the room, then quietly stepped in, picking up an empty, crumb coated plate, and swept up the few remnants of the Xiao Long child's most recent meal, pushing them off of the girl's nightstand and onto the plate, making sure to grab her empty bottle as well, before turning to leave, making the trek back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Dumping the crumbs and scraps into the trash after setting Yang's bottle on the counter, Qrow then set the plate in the sink, running some water over it, and then leaving to soak with a few other dishes, turning his attention back to the television in the other room as he started to get out something for himself to eat, something he hadn't done today, leaving him feeling quite starved.
"In other news, the Beacon Academy for Huntsman and Huntresses has just finished construction on their new and improved CCT tower, with the grand opening being filmed now. As you can see, the tower is quite the site. Atlas officials that were on site for the duration of the project have told us that with recent updates to the CCT technology, the range, and effectiveness, of the kingdom's CCT towers has been increased practically tenfold. For those of you at home, this means that there is less need for repeater towers in the wilderness between kingdoms, which cuts costs of maintenance for all four kingdoms, and frees up some funds in the national budget. The Council of Vale..."
Qrow turned away from the screen, humming quietly, allowing the woman on the screen to drone on about whatever the Council of Vale planned to do with their new funds, and made his way to the couch once more, sitting down and snagging the remote, changing the channel to some superhero movie that he recalled had looked good when he first saw the trailer, but he'd never gotten the chance to see it, as a mission had called him out of Vale for a week or so, and by the time he got back, he had forgotten about the movie. He was just getting comfortable, when he heard the front door open, and he immediately forgot both the movie, and the meal he had brought with him, the latter of which he carefully set down on the coffee table, before charging, almost giddily to the door, taking it right out of Taiyang's hand with a grin, the blonde's keys, which were in the lock, slipping right out of his fingertips. Taiyang looked surprised for a moment, before remembering that he had asked Qrow to babysit, and then began to smile.
"Mind holding the door for Summer, Qrow? She's uh, got her hands full." Tai smiled at his teammate and friend, then turned, taking a few steps back, off of the porch, to wrap his arms around a woman wearing a white cloak, a woman named Summer Rose, who was cradling a bundle of blankets with a pudgy little face sticking out of it. Together, the two of them made their way through the doors to their home, Qrow Branwen graciously holding the door and stepping out of the way for them. Gratefully, the belated couple thanked Qrow, and made their way to the couch, Qrow following close behind after shutting the front door of the house.
"Well?"
Summer looked up from her bundle of joy, smiling. "Well?"
"Well can I see her?" Qrow spoke, exasperatedly, though the smile on his face betrayed how happy he was. Taiyang couldn't help but musing to himself that it was almost unsettling to see the normally grim Huntsman this happy, but he would be lying if he said that Qrow's excitement was absolutely infectious.
"Of course, Qrow, you can see your niece." With a smile, Summer stood, and gently, she transferred her bundle to Qrow's arms. For his part, the Branwen treated the baby like it was the most valuable thing in the entirety of the world, because to him, it was. He stared down at the face of the baby, its eyes slowly opening to take in its surroundings. Everything was adorable about this little creature, from its puffy little cheeks, to the gleaming silver eyes that stared up at Qrow, to the small, fuzzy canine ears that poked out of the wispy strands of black hair atop its skill. Qrow found himself once more staring into those eyes as the baby began to look around, her little hands reaching out for something, anything, and managing to find Qrow's beloved cross necklace, the little rascal beginning to giggle as she tugged on it, and the sound threatened to make Qrow's heart explode.
"What's her name?"
Island of Patch, Xiao Long Rose Residence, 12:01 PM
Ten years ago.
"Ruby Rose!"
"Yes papa!?" The sound of feet pattering down the hall, then down the stairs could be heard following the young Ruby Rose's response to Taiyang shouting her name. The girl's face was alight with a massive smile..until she got into the kitchen and saw the look on her father's face. Instantly, her mind was sent to searching for what, if anything, she had done. For a moment, there was a very, very, tense silence in the kitchen, before Taiyang took a step forwards, brandishing something he had been hiding behind his back.
"Guess who's going to be going to school with Yang this year?" The stern expression melted off of Tai's face as he brought out a certificate. It had a lot of words and legal jargon on it that was hopelessly lost to Ruby, but she did recognize a few key things from what her father had taught her. Firstly, the name 'Ruby Rose' was printed in ginormous letters on a line that was labeled student name. Secondly, the name at the top of the paper, was the same as the name on the side of the school bus that took Yang away every day during the school year. Patch R-3 School District. Ruby didn't understand what district or R-3 meant quite yet, but she understood Patch, and school, and that made her infinitely excited. She practically squealed with excitement and ran up to hug her father, bouncing up and down with her arms wrapped around him.
"I get to go to school!? Really?"
"Yes, really, now let go or you're gonna crush me!" Ruby loosed another rapid fire giggle and reluctantly let go of her father, who tousled her hair, much to her chagrin. "Now, I was gonna take you out shopping for school supplies but Daddy has to go to work today, there was a problem at the school I teach at. Luckily enough-"
"Luckily enough your great old Uncle Qrow happened to be in town!" Ruby and Tai spun, Ruby with an amazed and happy look, and Tai with a slightly annoyed look.
"Qrow, what did I tell you about suddenly appearing and finishing my sentences?"
"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby darted at Qrow before he could answer Taiyang, and practically leapt up into his arms, the man catching her and spinning her around. Seeing the expression on Ruby's face, Taiyang smiled and decided he'd grill his teammate about his annoying habits later. "Oh my gosh I can't believe you're here! I thought I'd never see you again!"
"You say that every time I come back, kiddo." Qrow smiled, and tousled Ruby's hair, much like Tai did, and was met with the same chagrin, Ruby swatting at his hand a little, even though the smile on her face didn't diminish in the slightest. Qrow set Ruby down, and patted her on the shoulders, grinning. "Go get your sister, then we can say bye bye to your dad, and head to the store, mmkay? If you and Yang act good, I'll get you ice cream, alright?"
Ruby practically began to drool at the mention of ice cream, and she nodded so quick Qrow and Tai worried she'd give herself whiplash. Nevertheless, the black haired girl sprinted up the stairs without a second thought, screaming her sister's name giddily, at the top of her lungs. Qrow and Tai exchanged a smile between themselves before Tai piped up. "I'm serious by the way. I had enough of that crap at Beacon. I don't think I'll be able to keep my sanity if you do this to me for the rest of my life."
"Personally, I think it's a sign of how important you are to me, that I know exactly how-"
"To finish your sentences." Qrow blinked for a moment, looking at Tai, who had a grin that could only be described as smug on his face.
"Right. At any rate, I-"
"Think you should be flattered by it." The grin grew wider across Tai's face, and the corners of Qrow's mouth turned down into a frown.
"Hang on, let me-"
"Finish my sentence?" Realization hit Qrow like a truck, and he shot Tai an expression of mixed emotions, understanding, and anger.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop. Besides, you took the fun out of it right there."
"So it's only fun when you get to do it to me?"
"Exactly." Tai, still smirking, was about to say something in response when the thunder, or rather, the patter, of two sets of young feet made their way down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Naturally, Ruby was the first one back into the kitchen. Qrow was pretty sure she had set a land speed record for five year olds, and she was followed by her bigger sister, the two years older blonde, Yang, whom Tai was pretty certain could set a record for world's strongest seven year old. "Hey there, Firecracker! Wanna go shopping?"
Island of Patch, Patch Outlet Mall, 12:33 PM
Ten years ago.
Qrow hummed merrily as he walked out of the mall, Ruby perched with her legs over his shoulders, Yang clutching to his right hand, and his left hand full of groceries. The shopping trip had gone pretty smoothly, Qrow having managed to somehow talk the girls out of the expensive toys they wanted, that Qrow already knew they were going to get for their birthdays anyhow, without having either one of them cause a scene. Personally, he thought that was grounds for some ice cream. "Alright, girls, how about we put away these groceries, and walk to the ice cream shop down the street? Sound fun?"
Both girls cheered aloud, chanting some song about ice cream that they'd probably made up on the spot. How they both knew exactly what word was coming next, Qrow decided to chalk up to the limited musical talent and rhyming ability of the siblings. Nevertheless, he let Ruby off of his shoulders, and gave the girl's the groceries, pointing to his car. "There we go girls, first one to put their groceries up gets to order first!" With that, the girls were off, with Yang surprisingly winning, outpacing Ruby through sheer force of will. The two girls cheered again once they put their respective bags away, and Qrow let loose another smile. Those things always seemed to find their way onto his face when he was around the girls.
Picking up his pace a little, he caught up with the girls, and took one of their hands in each of his. "Uncle Qrow, Uncle Qrow, I won!"
"Yeah, I saw that, Firecracker. Gave little ol' Ruby over here a run for her money with that kinda speed, eh Rubes?" Ruby made a pouty face for a few seconds, before beginning to giggle uncontrollably as Yang made a face at her. Together, the trio made their way down the sidewalk, the girls chattering about some cartoon they both liked to watch, and Qrow quietly thinking to himself about whether or not he remembered to give his key to his neighbor so the man could water the plants like he'd offered to. He dismissed the thought as he remembered that his next door neighbor, a fellow Huntsman, both knew where Qrow kept the spare key, and was pretty good a picking locks.
Before long, the happy uncle and his two nieces were standing in line, and in even shorter time still, the two girls had their cones of ice cream clutched tightly in their hands. "Girls, why don't you go sit over where all those other kids are, Uncle Qrow wants to talk to somebody real quick." Qrow pointed over to the bench as he spotted someone he did actually want to talk to, a Huntsman from Beacon that had gone to Beacon at the same time as him. The girls nodded giddily, sprinting off with hastily thrown thank yous to their uncle, while Qrow, and the man, who had now spotted Qrow, walked towards each other, sharing a handshake, and a hug, and beginning to talk.
Their conversation got both men up to speed on how each of them had been doing, and the other Huntsman, a man named Fletcher, was just in the middle of telling Qrow about his last mission, when they heard an uproar of laughter, and a cry of despair, from the group of kids sitting over at the benches. Both men turned, and what they saw surprised one, and angered the other.
Gathered around Ruby were a group of older kids, probably eight or nine year olds, that were shoving her back and forth. Even from where Qrow was standing, he could hear them calling her names. He grit his teeth as he saw one of the bullies suddenly grab his niece by the canine ear sticking out of her hair, and he flicked his eyes around for a second to see why none of the other adults present were intervening. Shockingly, there was only one other adult present, aside from Qrow's friend, which meant these kids had probably come here alone, and the other one was actually encouraging the kids to bully Ruby. Searching for a moment more, Qrow saw Yang trying to shove her way into the circle of boys to rescue her sister.
Both men started off at a decent clip, heading towards the ring of kids, and were about halfway there when Yang did something unexpected. She cocked her hand back, and punched the biggest of the boys, the one who had Ruby by her ears, squarely in the jaw, causing his grip to loosen, and for him to stumble back a step. This caused the other adult that Qrow had spied to intervene, stepping up as Yang threw punches at the other bullies, to slightly less effect than before, and suddenly, savagely, slapping the blonde across the face.
Qrow really poured on the speed and within seconds, he, with Fletcher close on his heels, arrived. His first order of business was to shove the burly man that just slapped Yang, hard, and then grab handfuls of his shirt, while Fletcher waded into the group of kids, snatched Ruby, lifted her up, and then grabbed Yang by the arm, pulling her away from the group of boys as she continued to swing her fists.
"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing, letting those kids bully my niece like that!?"
"What, the mutt? She's related to ya? God do I feel bad for you! Tell me, who fucked the dog in your family?"
THWACK!
The resounding sound of a slap almost echoed off the side of the ice cream shop, and the burly man recoiled from Qrow's backhand, raising a hand to where the Huntsman's rings had dug into his cheek. Qrow shoved the man again, this time against wooden lamppost that was nearby, and leaned in close, so the girls wouldn't hear him. "You tell your piece of shit posse of kids to apologize, and you apologize to my niece for hitting her, or we're going to have a problem, understand?" Qrow was distracted for a moment as he heard Fletcher yell, peeking over his shoulder to see him chasing Yang, who had broken free, and was wholeheartedly launching herself at her sister's tormentors again, managing to stumble a few of them before Fletcher came at her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and hoisting her off her feet, backing up with her.
"NO ONE HURTS MY BABY SISTER! NO ONE! I'M GONNA BEAT YOU ALL UP YOU...YOU...STUPID, UGLY, JERKS!" Try as she might, the blonde couldn't get away from the much stronger Fletcher, and Ruby was safely tucked behind the man, holding onto his pantleg and peeking around it to stare at her bullies, tears tracking down her face.
By the time Qrow turned back to the jerk he was holding hostage, he caught a forehead to the nose, his aura flaring to protect him, diminishing the pain greatly, but the effect was exactly as intended. Qrow's hands instinctively came up to his nose, and he stumbled back a step. He heard the man laughing.
"Looks like you're just about as weak as that stupid mutt in the red hood you're dragging around. All you Faunus sympathizers are the same, glass jawed, weak wi-" The man's voice cut off mid sentence as Qrow lashed out with his foot, catching the man square in the groin, making him double over and collapse. Spitting onto the man, Qrow turned around, and stalked over to the group of boys, glaring down at them. They cowered back from him, staring at the burly man that Qrow just dropped to the pavement.
"Apologize. Quickly." Qrow decided to embellish a little bit. "School starts in a week, and I know all of your teachers by name. We're all good friends. You don't start apologizing in the next ten seconds and all of you get to spend the first MONTH of school in detention, understand?"
Quickly, the boys all nodded and, despite their scrapes and bruises from Yang, edged closer, mumbling a set of apologies, and then quickly scampering off, followed by their limping legal guardian, who shot Qrow more than a fair share of dirty looks. Qrow turned on his heels and walked up to Fletcher, who had set Yang down once the boys started leaving. Yang had immediately taken to hugging and comforting her little sister, who was practically sobbing her little silver eyes out, and Fletcher was busy rubbing the bridge of his nose and sighing.
"Y'know, Qrow, I actually seem to remember that you were pretty good at causing scenes back at Beacon too. God, you should take the girls and get outta here before that kook comes back with a shotgun, or a posse, or something..." Qrow turned to speak to Fletcher, when a voice piped up from the ice cream counter.
"Its okay mister, I already called the police on old Bill. They know he does this sorta thing all the time. You can go ahead and clear out, I'll give the fuzz the full story, promise. Tell your girls I'm sorry this happened, and they can have free ice cream the next time they come around, if they ever do again."
Qrow nodded, and Fletcher seemed to visibly relax a little, still shaking his head at Qrow. "Thanks for the help, Fletcher, but I think the girls and I ought to get home before any more trouble happens. Taiyang is gonna kill me when he hears this anyways..."
"I understand, Qrow. I'll stay and talk to the police. Tell Tai I said hello, will you?"
"Yeah, I will...come on girls..."
Island of Patch, Xiao Long-Rose Residence, 7:49 PM
Ten years ago.
Yang could hear her dad and her uncle arguing, even through the closed door of Ruby's room. Their voices were indistinct, and muffled, but she knew just from their volume that the two men were having a shouting match in the kitchen, which seemed to be a popular place for arguments in their house. Good acoustics, supposedly. Sighing, she looked at her younger sister, who had a little bruise on her face from the horrible event of earlier today, and it made her fill with anger. Nevertheless, the blonde was somehow able to calm herself, as she hoisted the book on her lap, turning the pages as she hunted for a story.
"Whaddya say Ruby, want Yang to read you a story before you go to sleep?" Ruby nodded emphatically, pulling the covers up to cover most of her face, sinking into her bed a little. "Well, this one starts with a girl, with a grand red cloak, and a scythe that could slay even the mightiest of dragons. Our fair maiden was passing through a village when a great, big Grimm attacked, and the people of the town cried out and cried out, screaming for someone to come aid them as the huge beast destroyed their homes." Ruby peeked at Yang from under her covers, already enraptured by the few words her sister had spoken. Yang smiled, Ruby was always a sucker for stories of heroes. "Well, the heroine cried out, 'Never fear, I shall slay the beast with my trusty scythe!' and the townsfolk all cried out in joy as they watched the legendary warrior stroll into the middle of town, calling out for the beast to face her. Sure enough, the Grimm was attracted to her voice, and it came to the middle of town. Now, this was the biggest Grimm the hero had ever seen, but she wasn't scared in the slightest, because she had people depending on her."
The black haired girl in the bed was nodding along, but very obviously, some of the nodding was her struggling to keep her head up and listen to the story. Yang reading to her had always made her tired, which is why Taiyang had her do it whenever it was time for Ruby to go to bed. "Keep going, keep going..."
"Well, the knightess charged at the beast, swinging her scythe around her. She fought long and hard, and was about ready to fall over when she finally slayed the beast, making it topple to the ground, smoke rising from its body. The townsfolk cheered and cheered, and later that night, prepared a feast, and a party, in the heroine's honor, which she gladly attended. The next morning, she was about to set out, when the mayor of the town, and the townsfolk, presented her a sack of gold, saying, 'It isn't much, fair knight, but its all we have! We want to repay you for saving us!' the woman in red looked at the money, and refused it, smiling. She handed it back to the mayor, and said, 'I can't accept this money, you all need it more. Besides, I was only doing what's right, and I don't need to be paid for that!' With that, she set off, and the villagers never saw her again, but her name was forever a legend in the town."
"What was her name, Yang?" Ruby's voice was sleepy, and the girl's eyes were closed, the young Faunus snuggling deeper into her.
"Ruby. Her name was Ruby."
"Like...me..." Those were the last words before Ruby fell into a deep sleep, already snoring within seconds. Yang watched her sister sleep for a few moments, and then smiled, setting the book on her chair, and going to the door. Quietly, she opened it, and turned to look at Ruby one more time, before shutting off the lights, and closing the door.
"Goodnight, Ruby!"
XxxxxX
And that's the end of chapter one. I think its a pretty good start, and I liked the pacing of it so far. You might have noticed that this is basically Red Rover again. That's right. My first idea for a story was the last story I made, but better. There won't be any original characters that are really, really important to the plot this time around, and there won't be any promises of upload schedules again. There probably will be a second chapter, hell, maybe a third if I find the time, but this could be the only update this month.
Please, review this story, follow if you're interested. And have a good night.
Sincerely,
James