RWBYond Hope
AN: Please review, follow and favorite for chapters every day. This chapter is going to have a pretty simple setup used as an excuse to subtly hint at things to come (or that came because this is a prequel). I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 2: Happy birthday
Summer stood in the kitchen with Ruby wrapped in her arms. Ruby was going to town drinking up that formula in the bottle. Summer had exclusively breastfed Ruby for the first six months but now Summer was slowly phasing it out. Which was fine because she was too embarrassed to breastfeed with all the people that were around. And she definitely didn't want to keep the birthday girl away from the party. And seeing as she didn't breastfeed Yang at all, it would limit the blonde girl's confusion. Speaking of which.
"Mama, mama." Yang tugged on her cape. "Looky what I drew for Ruby!" She held up a piece of paper with indiscernible swirls and lines that if you squint, looks like a sun.
"It's beautiful darling." Summer gave a big smile which earned a big toothy grin in return. Tai leaned down and examined the picture.
"Well, I think that's one for the fridge for a while." He said. "Can you write Ruby's name?" Tai looked at his daughter. Yang looked a little puzzled. "Here I'll help you." He hoisted her up onto a stool and helped her grab her crayon. "R." He helped her write it. "U. B. Y." They set the crayon down.
"Look Mama!" She cheered. "I did it! I did it!" Yang could barely manage writing her own name, let alone someone else's. She was also clearly still in the naming phase of scribbling. Still, for a three-year-old, she was progressing nicely.
"Good job Yang." Daisy said. Daisy had been Summer's childhood friend and playmate growing up. Now she and her husband worked a farm along with their eleven-year-old daughter Olive. There were a few other people from around town. Summer had her doubts that any of them actually cared much for Ruby. I mean, sure the Rose family legacy still carried a lot of weight, just like how anyone connected to the Glens family were given special treatment. No, most of the people were here because they knew Summer…more importantly they knew that Summer would be baking.
Ding
"That's the cookies." Summer said. She passed the baby onto Tai so she could get the cookies out. Olive ran up to her with two of her friends.
"Olive, get back and let auntie Summer get them out." Daisy said.
"I know." Olive said stepping back as Summer pulled out the tray of cookies.
"Me first, me first." Yang reached from the counter. Summer passed her one.
"Careful sweetie, it's hot." Summer warned. She put the cookies onto a plate. "Olive, can you put these on the table?"
"Yes ma'am." Olive said. She looked so much like her mother, emerald eyes and corncob colored hair that was thick with curls.
"Well don't mind if I…" Octavius, Summer's old mentor from Signal reached for the plate. Summer smacked his hand.
"Children get them first." Summer scorned. Octavius gave a nervous smile to his former star pupil.
"Rubrum, honey." Ginger called out into the living room. Her six-year-old son was sitting on the floor reading a book by himself. "Come get a cookie." Rubrum shot up and made a B-line for the table. Ginger Snappes worked at a local dust shop and her husband, Rhubarb was the chief mechanic on the island.
"Let's go outside." Olive suggested to her friends, cookies in hand. "Mom, can you use your semblance to make piles of leaves?"
"Fine." Daisy huffed. "Just don't be horse playing." She walked outside to abuse her family's semblance for the amusement of her daughter.
Summer slipped another batch of cookies in the oven. She shot a glance at Yang who had just rushed outside to play. At least Tai remembered to have her put on her jacket this time. As soon as her hands were free, Tai slipped Ruby back into her arms. He cupped her cheek and kissed her dumb, smiling face. He parted their lips and leaned down to kiss Ruby on the forehead.
About an hour later, after everyone had their fill of Tai's BBQ and Summer's cookies, it was time for cake. They all sang Ruby happy birthday and Yang blew out her candles. Ruby didn't so much eat her piece, as she painted with it. After the cake was finished, Summer tried cleaning Ruby off. Ruby responded by using her caked hands to pull on her hair.
"Ow, Ruby, baby, stop pulling mommy's hair." Summer yelped as he pried the fingers off.
Everyone left shortly after that. Just as Summer thought, as soon as there were no more sweets, most of the people left. Yang went outside to run around with a stick she had found. Summer took the opportunity to wash her hair in the sink. That's when someone else walked in.
"Hey." The new arrival said. Summer's face lit up as she saw his beady red eyes.
"Howdy stranger." Summer said, slipping Tai the birthday girl. She walked over to Qrow and gave him a nice warm hug. Qrow wrapped his arms around her back, just like old times. Summer broke the hug. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."
"It's been too damn long since I've seen you guys." He said.
"UNCLE QUO!" Yang wrapped herself around his leg. It had been over a month since she had seen her uncle.
"Hey firecracker." Qrow patted her on the head. Tai passed Summer the baby so he could give Qrow a brief bro-hug.
"Where have you been?" He said.
"About that…" He picked Yang up and started casually tossing her in the air. Summer hated when he did that. It made her heart skip multiple beats every time Yang started to descend. It was even worse when he purposely let her get close to the ground before catching her. She swore he did it just to make her and Tai mad. "I've been doing special missions for Ozpin lately, real top secret stuff."
"Are you going to tell us?" Tai asked.
"Sorry Tai." He held Yang up in the air. "Catch." He tossed her to her father making her laugh like crazy. "Can I have a minute with Summer?" He asked.
"If this is about the Argentware thing then…"
"Tai, it's more than that. Better off not knowing, and definitely better for Yang not to hear."
Summer had been slowly getting back into hunting since having Ruby. It was slow, especially since she wanted to breastfeed and be there full time to help Tai. Daisy was a great babysitter, but with the autumn season came harvest and the end of school and Summer was just, the only one who could afford to take time off. But when she did go on missions, especially the ones for Ozpin, they were always high risk.
Tai knew this much; he would oftentimes accompany her on these missions. Especially if they were just short weekend getaways or summer break missions. He knew that Summer was an Argentware, a now nearly extinct race of warriors who were the first to successfully fight the Grimm. She was the only one alive, well her and Ruby now. They had an effect on Grimm and could scare them off or even paralyze them with fear.
"So what's so important?" Summer asked dreading the answer.
"It actually doesn't have to do with the Argentware." Qrow swiped Ruby from Summer's arms and held her up. Summer took this chance to get him and her some drinks, she poured herself a glass of milk and got a cup of tea for Qrow, sense he hated milk.
"So then what is it?" Summer asked setting his glass down on the counter. Qrow held Ruby with one arm and used his other hand to pull out his flask and mix it into his tea.
"I saw Raven." Qrow said flatly.
"What?" Summer whispered. "Where? When? How is she?"
"She's fine. Turns out she hasn't changed as much as we feared. She's working for a different group. I don't know much about them except that they're called the Arbiters of Truth. Also apparently Octavia joined them around the same time."
"Arbiters? I've heard that name before."
"Ambrose Thurston was working for them when we met him at Nightingale." Qrow said darkly.
"I see." The memories were rushing back. The fire, the screams, so much destruction for the sake of destruction. Thurston had helped them stop it. But the death toll was still in the hundreds. It was the worse day of Summer's life and one she'd love to forget. "So she's still doing some good."
"Summer, remember what I told you, about the maidens?"
"Yes."
"Octavia is one of them."
"That explains a lot."
"During my last mission I went to West End. I was supposed to meet up with an informant named Nevermore, who had information about Octavia. Octavia had went missing a few weeks ago and Ozpin was desperate to find her. The Arbiters let us know they had a lead. Turns out, not only was that lead information that Octavia had officially left the Brotherhood to work for the Arbiters, but when I got there the person that delivered the news was definitely Raven."
"What did she say?"
"After telling me about Octavia she asked about you guys, made sure you were all still fighting the good fight. Then she just…disappeared. She opened up some kind of portal and vanished.
"So there's still hope for her." Summer said.
"What makes you say that?"
"If you didn't know you were meeting her, then she probably didn't know she was meeting you." Summer smiled. "Which means the first thing on her mind was the mission, to deliver that information. Meaning the second thing on her mind was her family…all of it."
"I don't know. I thought I did."
"You were her brother. But I was her best friend. I was our leader back then. I knew her on a level no one has." Summer remembered how she was the last person Raven spoke to before leaving on this mission. "Anyway, why are you telling me this?" Summer dreaded his answer. When Qrow told her about the maiden powers she had put two and two together. She was the maiden, the Spring Maiden, a maiden that hadn't been confirmed since the death of Acacia Glens. Summer wanted desperately to tell Qrow. But her parents had kept her mother's maidenhood a secret from everybody for a reason. She would continue that. If for no other reason than the fact she knew from Qrow's stories, that if Ozpin found out, she'd be uprooted. She'd be forced into a nomadic lifestyle. She'd be taken away from her family and her ancestral home.
"Because I have to tell someone." Qrow said. "You're my best friend. I trust you. I know you won't follow after her like Tai would."
Summer sighed in relief. She finished her milk and put it in the sink. So Ozpin still didn't know who the Spring Maiden was. He probably suspected. Luckily, all the legends surrounding the Argentware would muddle any maiden powers Summer displayed. If she did something crazy, no one would be able to tell where silver eyes end and maiden powers begin. It was the perfect alibi. And it was the only way to keep her family here and together.
"Well, you know me. If you ever need anything, someone to talk to, a place to crash, anything, the door is always open for you."
"It's not your door I want." Qrow said as he cradled Ruby. He looked at Summer with longing. Ruby made cute gargling noises as Qrow set her down. Ruby crawled around on the floor around his feet. Summer's heart went out for him but she loved Tai so much more. There was no place for him in that corner of her heart. He would just be her friend. She had hoped he would find someone else. The look on his face as his eyes trailed Ruby's crawling path betrayed him. He was still holding a torch for her. Ruby's mere existence was proof that it wasn't meant to be. Still, she could tell what Qrow wanted, he wanted Ruby to be his daughter, so that he and Summer could be together. It was a strange thought, and one Summer had been forming ever since she first told him she was pregnant.
But Ruby was a year old now. Summer had been with Tai for over a year. Whatever ship Qrow had planned had sunk and the one Summer was on with Tai set sail. To Yang and Ruby, he'd just be Uncle Qrow.
An: So much character stuff in this. This is slice of life at my finest. I've BSed my way through some subject matter, but childhood development is not one of them. So many returning characters, some were mere mentions from STRQ: Tales of the Old Huntsmen. Rubrum cameoing in this. All that explanation on the Argentware and maidens setting up what would be one of the main thrusts for RWBYond Vale. I love this chapter so much.