Chapter 1: Descendant

A/N: I will not apologize for this story. If you really liked the original When the Dust Settles, I want you to know not all stories end happily. I also want you to know that my life is a little uh "off" which is causing my already fragile emotional and mental state to slightly drop. I'm recovering from a serious depression (which started almost 3 years ago) and the idea for this story has been eating at me for a few days now. Please don't be angry or hate the story. Give it a chance and well hopefully you like it.

"Hey Blair long time no see." I sprinted to catch up with my 'Cousin'. I stopped just short of her when the guy she was with looked over at me and spat at the ground before leaving.

"Hey Ikki it's been a long time, it's good to see you again, sorry about that James is an asshole." She flipped her hair and sighed. "He was trying to get me to go out on a date with him."

"And if I didn't run over would you have gone?" I kicked at the ground and tucked my hands into my pockets.

"Are you jealous because you have a crush on me or something?" Blair knew just how to make me laugh.

"No it's just that I've heard stories about that guy and I don't want you to get hurt." I turned to walk away. "Anyways I'm going to the Forest Cafe to see Yin, Hei and Ariel for lunch. You wanna go? My treat."

I knew Blair too well and she couldn't resist free food.

"Ok I'm down." Her cat ears perked up and her very feline tail swayed back and forth. She ran ahead of me and laughed. "Hurry Ikki I'm starving."

I struggled to catch up with her and when I thought I did she made a doppelganger and as soon as I touched it the clone exploded in a small flash of yellow.

"Hey no semblance that's cheating." I growled and ran harder.

"Use your semblance then idiot." She made four more and I slid underneath them.

"That's it." I popped open two small vials of mixed dust and formed them into wings on my back. I jumped and quickly over took her before turning around to gloat.

{Thud, Plop}

I lifted myself from the ground and looked up at the dented sign and small cracks in the sidewalk.

"Hahaha. Watch where you're going Ikki." Blair stood above me holding her side and almost died of laughter.

"Ha ha ha so funny, anyways we're here so hopefully no one else saw that." I dusted off my pants and made the dust flow back into the small vials. I walked over to the door and as soon as I opened it I was met with harsh stares from the entire restaurant minus the three people sitting the farthest corner.

I tried my best to ignore the stares as I made my way to the table. I slid in next to one of my other 'Cousins' Hei. He smiled and shook my hand.

"The prodigal son returns!" He shouted and the whole restaurant went silent again. He looked around and glared at everyone causing them to go back to what they were doing. Blair slid into the seat opposite of me next to her sister and real cousin.

"It's good to see my little brother and sister after almost 3 months and my precious cousin Ariel." She hugged both girls tightly and when she released them she reached across the table to hug Hei. "And how is my favorite little pain in the ass doing these days?"

"Good enough actually I just got some time off from the army and General Ironwood told me to go back home and enjoy some time off." Hei scratched his short spiky golden hair and rubbed his thick gold beard.

"Really now that's great. Hey how's the whole twin semblance thing working out now that you two are separated by hundreds of miles?" Blair seemed to light up and she rested her chin on her hands.

"It's difficult to adjust to I'll tell you that." Hei rolled his eyes and sighed. "I can never tell when I have strength or explosions when I attack something so it's a roll of the dice when I'm fighting Grimm or rebels." He laughed and threw his hands up. "Being able to swap our semblance helped us out tremendously during school and training but now it's a hassle. Like last month I tried to throw an Ursa Major into a group of Beowolves just to knock them back but nope, big ass explosion. I got an earful from the colonel." Hei quickly downed his drink.

"Same bro, in class I was trying to show my students how to control their power and throttle it down to suit what they needed to do and I thought I still had explosions so I threw a ball and I had hoped it would make a small explosion but it ended up a mile outside of school grounds." Yin rubbed her temples.

"I should have become a teacher." Hei groaned.

"I should have stayed a soldier." Yin sighed.

"Sucks to suck." Ariel ran a hand through her purple hair and pushed her chair back.

"So what have you been up too Ariel? Still causing trouble at the school?" I poked at her knowing I would get a rise out of her.

"NO! I mean nah I don't really care what those idiots say about me or my family anymore." She huffed and turned away.

"What she really means is she got a harsh scolding from her mom after ditching school to beat up a few bullies." Yin leaned in and looked at me. "Also she broke some kids jaw after he said something rather offensive. I believe it was about your father."

I tensed up and clenched my leg under the table. I took a deep breath and looked around the cafe. I saw a few halfway glances and the mumbles grew.

"Coming back home was a mistake everyone in this town hates me." I pushed away from the table and stood. Blair grabbed my arm and looked like she was about to say something. "No it's true they all hate me because I'm the one to blame for my father's death! They say I killed The Icarrus Sebastian!"

I roared and the whole cafe ducked. I stormed out the door and walked down the street for a while until I came to the large building that I grew up around.

"The Schnee Dust Co. I wonder if mom is in. I probably should have called and told her I was coming home." I grabbed my face and screamed. "Fuck it's been almost 2 years now since I left and I've only called her a few times."

"Young man you're in a lot of trouble." I heard a very familiar voice behind me and jumped. I turned slowly and looked at my mother. Weiss Schnee.

"Hey mom long time no see?" I walked over and scooped her up in a big hug. "What are you doing outside of the office? I thought you usually worked around this time of day."

"I took the day off. The anniversary of your father's death is only a few days away so I was visiting his grave." Her face turned into one of grief. "I know it's been three years but I feel like it was only yesterday."

I looked to the ground and felt tears swell up in my eyes.

"You need to stop blaming yourself Icarrus. Your father's death wasn't your fault." She tried to pull me into a hug and I stepped back.

"Yes it is. If only I had listened to him during the mission then he would still be here. If I wouldn't have run off to find Cinder then he would still be alive. I may not have killed him I am the reason he died." I let the tears fall but they were tears of fury. "I have no right to be called the son of the great Icarrus Sebastian and I don't deserve to have his name either."

Suddenly I felt a sharp sting on my face as my mother slapped me.

"Junior listen to me. Your father gave his life to save yours. He wanted you to live on and continue making him proud. He chose you to join the group because he knew what I know. That you have so much potential and that you are meant for something great." My mother dried the tears from her eyes and hugged me tightly.

"This whole town blames me, everyone here hates me!" I cried into her shoulder and she rubbed my back.

"You have quite a few people in this town that don't hate you. Everyone else holds onto this false perception of your dad. It is true that he was a great hunter and he was even considered to be a hero of this town but they see only that. They never saw him as a regular human with a family." She pulled away. "They think his greatest accomplishment was something he did but I know his greatest achievement was you. You are your father's legacy son. The world may not know it yet but you are the biggest source of pride for this family."

"Thanks mom." I hugged her and wiped my eyes. "Well since you have the day off would you like to come see the rest of the family now?"