Spoilers for V3E12. Speculation for V4. Kind of.
I'm neck deep in everything STRQ/Yang/Ruby related. Have this quick piece on me destroying Taiyang emotionally because I love him.
She wasn't eating. No matter how many times Taiyang had insisted that his daughter ate, that she got up from his bed, she sat still and stared outside.
It was early winter. Ruby had been gone for a week, and Qrow along with her. Taiyang clenched his fists at the thought of his partner. The man never told him anything. It was all about 'Ozpin' this and 'Ozpin' that. He never trusted Taiyang with the truth.
A rustle from the bed brought Taiyang back to Remnant. His eldest daughter had turned her head to look at him. Blue eyes met iliac.
"Dad, I'm not hungry," Yang said, her voice weak.
Taiyang set the tray of bread at the foot of the bed before sitting down himself. "Sunshine, you have to eat. You've lost too much weight as it is."
"Maybe because my arm's gone!" his daughter snapped, eyes flashing red. Taiyang flinched, his mind flashing back to a young huntress with the same crimson pupils, with the same dark expression and the same tired bags under her eyes. "Maybe because my partner left me! My sister left me! My teammate left me! My friends left me!"
Furious tears leaked from the blonde's eyes. Taiyang moved forward, his hand reaching to comfort her. His daughter slapped them away with her remaining arm.
"I almost died so many times because I'm weak! My own mother thinks so!" she cried out, hair lighting up. Taiyang's jaw dropped while Yang rubbed her eyes.
"What?" he asked. Yang sobbed. "You… you saw Raven?"
He hadn't seen his first wife since the day she left them, just a few weeks after Yang had been born. He had heard nothing from Raven Branwen for seventeen years.
And Yang saw her?
Yang nodded in reply. "S-she saved me. On the train," she croaked. Taiyang's eyes were as wide as saucers. "The girl who was about to kill me-"
"WHAT? What does that mean?"
"- was gone, and I saw her… her sword, before she was gone too," Yang finished. Taiyang was frozen in shock. Yang frowned, confused. "Qrow didn't tell you?"
Fury lit up like a fire inside of the huntsman. Leave it to Qrow to not tell him things he had a right to know. "You told Qrow?"
Yang shook her head, sniffing. "She went to him," she answered.
"WHAT?" he roared, jumping off the bed. Yang flinched and recoiled back from her father. Taiyang paused before slowly sitting back down, breathing heavily. "Sorry – Raven went to Qrow? Why?"
"She wanted to pass on a message."
Taiyang's heart pounded against his chest. He leaned down, placing his large hands on his daughter's shoulders and stared straight into her soul. "What was it?"
Yang bit down on her lip, hard. A trickle of blood fell down her chin, droplets landing on her shirt. "S-she saved me once," she began, fighting back furious tears, "b-but I shouldn't expect that … kindness again."
In one instant, all anger for Qrow washed out of Taiyang. The light dimmed, before it exploded into a wildfire of rage – directed at his first love. At the mother of his eldest child.
All words left him as Yang wailed out, clutching at what was left of her right arm. He didn't know what to do. His own daughter was crumbling before him, spiralling down a dark depression he knew all too well. He couldn't comfort her with words or with embraces, that much he knew from his own experience. Taiyang had a new bubbling anger, and he couldn't be around his daughter when he released it.
He stood up, slowly, brows narrowed and mouth twisted into a snarl. He stormed out the door and marched down to the basement, fuming. Raven had hurt his – their daughter. Raven couldn't be bothered to talk to her family herself. Raven. Yang. Raven. Gone. Crippled. Raven. Summer. Dead. Raven. Raven. Raven.
Raven.
He roared, throwing a chair at the wall, breaking it instantly. He screamed until his throat went dry and kicked at the wall. The house trembled for an instant, before standing eerily still. Then, a soft thud – something had fallen behind him. He turned around. Behind him was his cupboard of reports for Signal, along with – his breath hitched – the old Team STRQ box.
It had been a collection from all of the team. Summer had insisted on keeping an album of all of their memories ("You're such a mum," Taiyang had joked), and eventually all of them had invested in their own memory box.
He fell to his knees and crawled over to the box, blinking back tears. The last time he had opened it was shortly after Summer's death. It was in his carelessness and depression that led to Yang finding out about Raven – he had accidently smashed a frame photograph of STRQ, and, as luck would have it, Yang was the one who picked it up. He kept the photograph in his wallet, folded so that Raven was not visible.
Large hands trembled over the opened box. He swallowed, hard. A cloud of dust rose from inside as soon as he opened it.
All that was inside was a thick photo album, a few black feathers, his old jacket and Summer's old scroll. Before Summer's death, there had been much more inside – but most of it was buried along with her coffin.
Taiyang didn't know how long he sat, staring at the photographs. For what must have been hours he slowly flipped through the pages, heart aching for the happier times. For the times when all of them would smile. For the times when STRQ wasn't torn apart.
When he finally picked up the courage to drag his feet up the stairs, the sun had set and the cold winter night chilled his bones. He rubbed his shoulders, shivering. His vulnerability to the cold was a cruel joke, considering his name. He felt alone in winter, in the snow. He yearned for the sun.
Taiyang lit a match, throwing it, along with a couple of logs, into the fire place. He gazed at the crackling fire silently, before picking up a kettle full of water from the mantelpiece and hovering it over the flames. He wasn't immune to fire like his eldest was. He had always had an obsession with the dangerous element, though.
The kettle burned against his rough palm. He made his way to the kitchen, boiling water in hand, and poured two cups of peppermint tea. It had been Summer's favourite hot beverage. Sharing it brought back a wave of nostalgia for the hunter.
Carrying the two cups, he walked down the hallway, rehearsing what he would say. He opened the door, smiling sadly. "Firecracker?"
His heart stopped.
His daughter, walking through a red portal. Not sparing a glance behind her. He dropped the tea, an outstretched hand reaching out. The portal closed off, leaving at empty room behind.
Well, almost empty.
The door creaked shut behind Taiyang. He turned around, eyes alit with anger – and then shock.
Leaning against the wall, with one hand grasping the hilt of a long red blade and the other on the dust cartridge. A crimson red and black outfit. Two threatening red eyes, staring out from behind an ominous Grimm mask. Wild, dark feathered hair.
He sucked in sharp breath. "Raven?"
His former teammate stayed silent. He took a step forward.
"Is… is that you?" he swallowed, glancing behind him. His blue pupils darkened. "Where did Yang go?"
No answer.
Clenching his fists and grinding his teeth, Taiyang roared, "TELL ME!"
Her gloved hand moved up, and removed the Grimm mask from her face, placing it on her belt. She smirked. "It's good to see you too," she greeted mockingly. "Are you still moping around? I thought you would have been over that phase years ago, dear Tai."
The sun dragon flinched. "What are –"
A sudden wave of fatigue washed over him, and he fell to his knees. His head spun.
Raven straightened her back, sneering down at Taiyang. He stared back up, struggling not to fall flat. "You're weak," she snapped. "Pathetic. Our child will not realise her full potential under you, or those arrogant fools back at Beacon." She spat out the last words with disgust. "She needs a real teacher, and as her mother –"
"Her mother?" Taiyang interrupted, incredulous. He was surprised, for a moment, that he found the energy to argue. "You think you're her mother?"
Raven raised a brow. "Well Tai, when a man and a woman love each other very much," she began, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. Taiyang shook his head furiously, slowly standing up.
"You don't deserve that title," he growled. "Summer is – was Yang's mother." Crimson eyes narrowed. "You abandoned her, Branwen. You're not even half the woman Summer Rose was."
In happened in an instant. One second, Raven was leaning against the wall and Taiyang was standing in front of the bed. The next, Taiyang's head was smashed against the window, Raven's hands grasping his throat. Taiyang coughed, wincing as he felt a damp warmth on the back of his head.
Raven glowered at him. "Shut up," she hissed.
"What… are you… gonna do… birdie?" Taiyang gasped. Raven flinched at his nickname for her. "Not like… you could kill me… Summer, on the… other hand…"
Raven tightened her grip on his throat, clenching her teeth. "Shut up!" she repeated. "Quit talking about Summer!"
Taiyang tried to get out a snarky retort, but instead his words came as choked breathes for air. His skin began to turn blue. He trashed in Raven's hold, silently begging for release.
To his surprise, her grip loosened and he could breathe once again. He felt the pressure against his neck leave completely, then felt a cold metal against his cheek. Raven had drawn her weapon.
He glared at the red blade. A long time ago, the same blade was used to protect him, to protect their team. Now, it was used as a threat.
"Something is coming," Raven said. "I won't let you interfere."
"What does that mean?" He had to stall. To figure out a plan to stop her – and to force her to bring back his daughter.
To his disappointment, Raven stayed silent. He watched as she placed the mask back on, hiding her face behind a monster. A shiver of fear ran down his spine. She raised her sword, and he flinched, shutting his eyes on instinct.
He felt his head smash against the window once again. He fell to the floor, struggling to stay conscious. Eyes blurring in and out of focus, he gazed at familiar black boots, saliva dripping from his open mouth. His mind flashed back, for an instant, to the smiling black-haired girl he had fallen in love with so long ago. He saw the same girl, but with iliac eyes and his own blond hair, grinning madly. He saw that girl lose the light in her eyes and her arm. He saw both of his girls disappear.
"Y-Yang…" he choked. He felt tears pouring down his cheek.
Raven turned her back on him, sheathing her sword and walking away. The last thing Taiyang saw before he passed out was a pair of wet red eyes, gazing sadly upon him.
The last thing he heard was a soft, "I'm sorry" and the sound of flapping wings.
Liked this? Check out some of my other RWBY work then! I have two more one-shots, one called Dancers in the Dark which is about Qrow/Raven and Summer/Raven (And I also kind of wrote this as a sequel of sorts to it) and Drowning in Bromance which is a silly little SSSN fanfic I wrote. I also have a multichapter STRQ fanfic called 'Look to a Happy Ending', which is basically STRQ, Ozpin and Glynda React (TM Finebros) to the future.
On Taiyang's character: We've only seen, what, five minutes of the guy? Honestly, I'm basing him mostly on Burnie. A sad Burnie. What does that mean?
Review and/or leave a fav if you liked it! Thanks for reading :)