Interlude 1 Chapter 9: Taking a Break
AN: Well, that was fun. Looks like I barely got things done. And when I say barely, I mean I got the last 800 or so words of this chapter written roughly an hour before the chapter goes up. Writer's block sucks, eh? It appears that I get another late dinner as I proofread and write Reader's Responses.
Also, this is yet another set-up chapter. I know, you guys are probably tired of reading them, hell I'm tired of writing them. But believe me when I say that the payoff starts coming in on Friday. Oh-ho boy, the plans I have for this Interlude. Kassidy and Yang aren't going to know what hit them. These next few chapters are going to be so much fun to write, and hopefully to read.
Anyways, back to the part of the chapter you actually care about, Kassidy's more or less recovered from her illness, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have issues to sort out. Why are Taiyang and Ruby giving her funny looks all the time? How come Yang is sporting a semi-permanent blush these days? And what's up with Qrow's constant amusement? It's time to start exploring these, as well as the strange reactions her body is having and the fact that she still isn't on summer break, technically speaking.
(Perspective: Kassidy)
"Hah! I got you this time, Uncle Qrow!"
"You're nothing but talk, kiddo!"
The most recent outburst finally got Kassidy to look up from Bob's screen and bear witness to the uncle-niece battle to the death currently occurring on their holographic television display monitor… thing. Both the parties in question were seated in front of the couch she herself was laying prone on, hunched forward and determined to best their opponent in the art of video game ninja slaying. Sighing, she focused on the game being played – it's not like there was anything to look at with Bob while his couple hundred thousand lines of code was compiling. Yang looked like she had the upper hand, but suddenly Qrow came in for a surprise combo and stole the game away. The declaration of a soaring ninja winning only made the conclusion official.
"Well, not too bad, you've certainly gotten faster." Qrow leaned back against the couch and folded his arms behind his head. "But speed isn't the only thing you need to worry about, Firecracker."
"Firecracker, eh?" Kassidy rubbed her chin in thought. "Nice nickname. Mind if I borrow that, Qrow?"
"No you may not." Yang sat up and flashed a minor glare at her partner. "Only Uncle Qrow gets to call me that."
"Whatever you say, Firecracker." Yang squawked and lightly smacked her arm, but Kassidy took it with a small grin. Suddenly, Zwei yipped at her, curious as to why she had stopped scratching his ears. She was all too eager to continue her ministrations on the absolutely adorable ball of fluff on her lap.
Ruby took Yang's place at the controls and started up her own round with her uncle, allowing Yang to fully lean back and rest her head against Kassidy's arm. She peered up, lilac eyes boring into her partner's, and asked, "Well, geez, never mind the rest of us. The way you've been acting the past couple days, the rest of us could've gone jump off a cliff and you wouldn't have cared as long as you had Bob and Zwei."
"What, jealous? Worried I'm not giving you enough attention?" Kassidy shook her head with a smile, but her expression quickly devolved to display a frown and furrowed brows as Yang blushed heavily and looked away. Finding the mental fortitude to set Zwei aside for a moment, she leaned to the side and tapped her partner on the shoulder. "Hey, seriously now, you sure you're alright? You've been blushing a ton recently, had a cold sweat once or twice… and you're not coming down with something?"
Yang fixed her sight on the screen to distract herself from Kassidy's observations. "Uh, um, uh… yeah. Pretty sure."
Kassidy's lips pursed to a line as she let a breath out, switching her vision to the ceiling so she wasn't distracted from her thoughts. These past couple days have been real screwy. Yang's been more or less glued to my side ever since I got sick, Ruby won't say more than five words to me, and Taiyang and Qrow keep shooting me weird looks. It's almost like everyone's been trying to give me and Yang space… whatever that means. Actually, that's a real good question. Yang keeps acting like she wants my attention or something, then blushes and looks away when she gets it.
"Hey, you okay?" Yang's voice startled Kassidy out of her thoughts. Looking over to the sound that suddenly came from above her head, she looked up to see that Yang had seated herself next to her on the couch and was gently squeezing her hand. "Looked like you were spacing out on us."
For some reason, Kassidy decided to act on the urge to squeeze back. "Just thinking is all. Seriously, I'm fine now, stop worrying about me. I haven't even thrown up for, like… sixteen hours."
Yang gave a soft chuckle, one of those laughs that more recently made Kassidy's chest clench up. "If you say so, K. Want me to see if breakfast is ready yet?"
Kassidy shook her head. "Not hungry." Yang shrugged, and Kassidy closed her eyes as her head leaned back against Yang's leg. That was a lie, of course. Kassidy was starving; she hadn't had anything to eat other that toast or soup for the past three days. But listening to Ruby and Qrow duke it out was certainly entertaining, Zwei was continuing to be an irresistible bundle of cute on her lap, Yang's hand was doing a marvelous job of warming up her own, and her thigh was so warm and soft she could just drift off to sleep and…
Wait, what? What in the everliving hell? Kassidy not wanting food? Kassidy wanting more sleep? Kassidy wanting to take things easy? These things were so much not her that it was incomprehensible that those thoughts occurred to her to begin with. She forced herself up and swung her legs over the edge of the couch, ignoring the look she got from Yang. Clearly, she wasn't doing well yet, and the obvious remedy was getting back to work and getting busy again. Her body certainly felt up to task, beyond ailing energy levels.
"Breakfast is ready!" Taiyang called out. Poking his head around the corner, he added, "You feel well enough to go for something more substantial, Kassidy? I made pancakes."
Yang was about to speak for her, but Kassidy interrupted her. "That sounds wonderful. I'll be right there." Standing up, she was about to head to the dining room when Yang caught her wrist again, obviously wanting an explanation. "I changed my mind," was the only one offered.
The five humans (plus one dog) wasted no time in making their way to the dining room and digging into their respective meals. They were all on their second pancake before Taiyang spoke up. "So, did you come up with anything you wanted to do while we were in Vale?" Oh yeah, right. There were plans for everyone to head to the main city for the day.
"Well, Rubes and I wanted to go shopping. Beyond that…" Yang trailed off as she stuffed more food in her mouth. "I dunno. Never really thought past that."
Ruby groaned, "This is why we never let you make the plans back at school." This prompted a chorus of chuckles from the men at the table, and a glare from her sister.
Kassidy, meanwhile, had her own thoughts on the subject. "Wait, you let Yang plan the day out?"
"Yeah, she did. Guess I'm not really good at the whole 'planning things out' deal."
With a shake of her head, Kassidy replied, "Just stick with what you're good at, Yang."
"Oh really?" Looking up, she saw that Yang had cocked her head with a challenging grin on her face. "And what is it that I'm good at?"
The response was automatic. "Terrible puns, punching bad guys, and balancing out this ugly mug of mine."
Yang snorted, "Oh puh-lease, your mug is not ugly. Neither is your face, for that matter."
Everyone snickered at the play on words, then Kassidy met her partner's gaze. "Yang? Look at me. Ever since I got that weird scar from fighting Torchwick, you could play tic-tac-toe on my face. In fact, I think Ruby and I did play tic-tac-toe on my face at one point. This is not what good-lookin' looks like."
"Well, you know what they say," Qrow drawled as he leaned back in his chair. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Isn't that right, Firecracker?"
Yang shot a fierce glare at her uncle even as her face lit up so red that Ruby's cloak was jealous. It took her a few sputtering tries, but soon she got her breathing under control and was able to speak coherently again. "I'm just saying that it's not as bad as she says it is. Got a rugged charm to it is all. I know plenty of people who'd go for that."
"Yang," Kassidy demanded as she leaned forward with narrowed eyes. "Are you sure that you're sure you're not sick? You've been blushing so much these past few days I'm convinced you're running a fever."
"Oh, trust me, she's not coming down with a fever," Qrow explained with a chuckle and a wave of the hand. Yang and Taiyang both gawked at him, much to Kassidy's confusion.
Fortunately, Ruby came in to defuse the situation. "Anyways… yeah, we're gonna be doing shopping, mostly. I also kinda need a haircut, so there's that."
Yang instantly jumped on the change in conversation. "Yeah, didn't you say you needed a haircut too, K? Perfect timing! You can just come with us!"
"Hey now, Yang. You sure your friend's feeling well enough to join us on a day trip to town?" Taiyang downed his third breakfast item, then decided to call it quits there.
Kassidy mulled it over aloud as she contemplated her options. "Well, I'm definitely good enough to be out and about. But I've been sitting on my rear the past couple days, time to get back to work. Might be best if I just stay around here and focus on my workouts."
"K, it's summer break, this is the time of year we're supposed to be on our rears and taking a break from work."
Yang's words were unconvincing, however. With a heavy sigh and a shake of her head, Kassidy muttered, "Some of us don't get breaks."
Taiyang scoffed, "Now what kind of silly talk is that? I mean, you're sounding like Qrow now!"
Qrow glared at his snickering nieces and brother-in-law, before turning his attention to Kassidy. "Hey, you finished picking at that? Been meaning to talk to you about something, and now's as good a time as any to get away from these boneheads."
Kassidy prodded at the unfinished half of her second pancake, then decided she was done for the meal. Following into the hallway he already went into, she rounded the corner to find him leaning across the wall with his arms folded in front of his chest. Before she managed to ask what this was about, he inquired, "How long've you been doing this?"
She blinked. "How long have I been doing what?"
Qrow waved his hand as though he were motioning towards the world at large. "All of this. I know you've only been training to be a Huntress for the past… four months, was it? But I know enough about how people work to tell that you've been fighting for a hell of a lot longer than that. So how long?"
"Not long enough." When Qrow cocked an eyebrow at her, she folded her arms in front of her chest herself, and explained, "The fight's still being fought, is it not?"
"Look, contrary to what you might've seen in your jaunt to Vale last month, the four Kingdoms are in a time of peace. Now-"
Kassidy cut him off. "On the outside, maybe." She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Look, this isn't the first time I've seen this kind of stuff. The White Fang aren't a bunch of misunderstood punks, and they're not content to sticking with petty crimes. I've had Bob running numbers on their activities. Last month, I broke up a robbery of enough Dust to outfit an entire platoon of professional soldiers for months. That was one robbery, just one."
"It was," Qrow nodded. He took a sip from his flask, then asked, "And what do you think that means?"
"Including everything else? The White Fang are building up for something big. I've been in this kind of situation before, and this has 'gang militarization' written all over it."
"It does." Suddenly, he stepped from the wall and closed the difference between him and Kassidy. "And what, pray tell, do you plan to do about it?"
She squared up and glared right back at him. "What I don't plan to do is nothing. Tried that before. Didn't exactly work out."
Qrow nodded, then his hands made their way into his pockets. "Look, you're not going to like what I have to say here, but take my advice: stay out of this."
Kassidy's eyes narrowed. "You're right, I don't like-"
"Let me finish," he snapped. "I know you think you're hot shit and stuff, but take it from me that you're not as good as you think you are." He raised a finger to cut off her stammering. "Don't get me wrong, you've got some skills, but not enough to go all one-woman army on Torchwick and his cronies."
"So, what, you're telling me that I'm just supposed to sit back and let them burn the city to ash?" Kassidy could feel her body tensing up. She might not have as visible a temper as Yang (after all, Kassidy didn't get into the habit of lighting herself on fire whenever she was upset with a situation), but that didn't make it any less dangerous. And with what she thought Qrow was telling her to do, her temper was definitely picking up.
"What I'm telling you is that you're not ready." Qrow took another swig from his flask. "Contrary to popular belief, we're not ignoring the situation. Actually, that's kinda why I'm here right now, waiting on a lead."
Kassidy bit her lip as she frowned, gears turning. Almost immediately, a thought struck her. "Bob can get you a lead easily enough, long as you tell him what you're looking for. I'll be sure to put him on the case whenever he's done compiling."
Qrow shook his head. "Appreciate the offer, but the fewer people that know about this, the better. That means you, and your computer too." Stabbing a finger into her breastbone, he added, "And I'm not telling you to do nothing. You want to help? Keep on your studies, work on being a Huntress. Beacon isn't Remnant's premier academy for nothin'. Get the skills you're gonna need if you want to make a real difference."
"Great idea," Kassidy drawled, "except for the part where Beacon's next semester doesn't open for another eighteen days. That's a long time a lot of bad things can happen in."
"Which you still wouldn't be able to do anything about while you're in Patch." Suddenly, Qrow sighed heavily as he slumped against the wall. "Now, seriously, when's the last time you took a break from the fighting?"
Kassidy mirrored his actions. "Well, like I said… some of us don't get breaks. Not all of us have that luxury."
"Taking a break isn't a luxury, kiddo." He got up from the wall and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't even need to ask how long you've been fighting to tell that it's been too long. We all need some time off. Hell, I put more time into the front lines than all my coworkers put together, and I'm still here spending time with my nieces." Kassidy made to say something, but Qrow cut her off. "You said you've got eighteen days before the semester opens up again? Take that break. Remember why you're fighting in the first place."
Kassidy ran her hands down her face. "I don't think there even is a reason any more. I haven't been able to remember for years."
"Then now's a better time than any to find a new one." The humor in Qrow's voice made her head shoot up. He smirked and nodded towards the dining room, and was about to say something when his Scroll beeped at him. Reading the message instantly wiped the smirk from his face. "And I think that's my lead. Crap, was hoping I'd get more time. Wanted to actually make it to Firecracker's birthday this time."
"Yeah, that's… what, two weeks from now?" Qrow nodded, and Kassidy's lips thinned to a line. "Anything I need to know?"
"Yeah – stay out of this. I'm serious." Walking back over to the dining room, he stopped and called over his shoulder. "You'll go far, I'm sure of it. But right now, your job is just to be a student, to learn. My job's to make sure this whole business doesn't become your job."
The two reentered the dining room, and the three seated at the table looked up from laughing at what could only be assumed to be one of Taiyang's stories. His laugh disappeared instantly, however, when he saw the look on Qrow's face. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
Qrow shook his head. "Mutual friend called. They'll be here in an hour, and they need to talk. You know the kind."
Ruby's head drooped. "Does that mean-"
"Yes, it does," Taiyang sighed. He pushed his plate away and stood up slowly, wearily. "Yang, Ruby… why don't you head to the city without us today? Sounds like we have Huntsmen business to take care of."
"But what about-"
"I'll make it up to you, Yang." He planted his hands on his hips and shook his head, but his eyes suddenly brightened considerably. "How about we go to the lake again this weekend?"
Both of his daughters all but leapt at the opportunity, with Ruby actually hopping in place. "Ooh, can we? Can we?!"
Taiyang laughed and ruffled her hair. "Sure thing, Rubes. Now go get ready, you've still got your day in Vale, after all."
"How about going with them, Kassidy?" Qrow's question got her attention. She opened her mouth to debate, but he cut her off. "That wasn't a request, by the way. Don't make me pull rank on you. Because I can totally do that, now that you're in the system."
"C'mon, K. Let's go get ready for our trip." Yang draped her arm over Kassidy's shoulders and started hauling her off.
"Actually, before you do, let me say something else to your partner real fast, before I forget." Yang shrugged and sauntered up the stairs. Qrow nodded at Taiyang, then turned to Kassidy. "Gotta admit, I still don't trust ya… but at this point, that's just because I hardly trust anyone. Don't take it personally. But you're a good person, if what Glynda and Ozpin have to say are any indication, and I'm glad you're on my nieces' team. Do me a favor and keep lookin' out for them – I've no doubt you're the responsible one among the three of ya."
Both Taiyang and Kassidy snickered, and she held out a hand for him. "I take it this is goodbye, then?"
Qrow gave it a firm shake. "For now. I'm sure we'll be in touch sooner or later. And while we're on the whole 'words of wisdom' deal… you're gonna go far, but only if you keep learning. If you never stop moving forward. You might've been the big fish where you came from, but you're in deeper waters now, and there's some damn big fish out there."
Ruby turned around and waved at the hair stylist that just finished her work. "Thanks again!"
Yang stretched her arms out behind her. "Ah, nothing like a good session at the stylist's to really let your hair down, eh girls?"
"I have to admit, they do good work." Another ponytail bobbed behind Kassidy, courtesy of Ruby and Yang's insistence. Well, I needed a haircut anyway. Plus, it'll be easy enough to put the bun back up when Yang isn't looking.
"So, next up on the list… clothes!" Ruby announced, and Yang immediately took off down the sidewalk. Kassidy could only roll her eyes at her partner's antics and smile as she jogged to catch up. When it came to fashion, Yang was almost as bad as Weiss. Even if she wasn't as snobby, Yang had her tastes and made sure to stay up to date.
"Besides, if I remember correctly, someone doesn't have a swimsuit for our lake trip!" Yang suddenly stopped and tapped a teasing finger on Kassidy's nose, even going so far as to make a 'boop' sound.
Kassidy blushed and coughed a couple times. Refusing to meet Yang's smug grin, she commented, "That would be an accurate analysis."
"Ooh, big fancy words. Someone's flustered right now." Yang giggled, and Kassidy had to ignore her chest tightening yet again. Sure, let's just go with that.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's get going before I find a way to get back at ya." Kassidy waved Yang off, who laughed and started making her way down the sidewalk.
It took a few minutes, but eventually the three girls made it to the front of a higher-end looking store. Kassidy took a look at the sign, which read 'Cornelius' Conspicuous Clothing'. Oh, hey, this place again. Should've known Yang would've picked here for clothes shopping. They stepped into the store, were again assaulted by an overeager air conditioner, then again made their way to the rear half of the store.
"Yang? Is that you? Well, how've you been, sister?" Naturally, it was Alex who was working today. She and Yang hugged it out quickly, and after brief greetings on the part of everyone she flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned forward onto her desk. "So how can I help my favorite Huntresses in training this time?"
Yang propped herself onto one arm and leaned onto the desk as well. "Well, it's summer time, so that means summer shopping. And guess which fashionably dead to the world partner of mine doesn't have so much as a swimsuit?" Alex took a quick glance and faked a gasp, which Yang chuckled at. "Yeah. Rubes and I were planning on doing a bit of looking, but do you mind if I ask ya to help her out a bit?" Yang then, surprisingly, leaned in and whispered something Kassidy couldn't quite make out.
Alex's mouth hung open for the briefest of moments, but she quickly recovered and popped off a quick salute. "Anything to serve the proud Huntresses of Beacon! You can count on me!" The girls quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles, and even Kassidy snickered a bit at the byplay. "By the way, over on rack thirteen we just got a new shipment of shorts that are absolutely adorable, you should check them out!"
Kassidy watched as the two sisters quickly made their way over to a different part of the store, then turned around to see Alex eyeing her up and down, an action she raised an eyebrow at. "Something not right with the outfit I have on now? The outfit that you picked out for me, I might add?"
"Mm, not really. I gotta say you did a good job filling it out." Alex took the accusing comment in stride, before standing up from her desk and prompting Kassidy to follow. "I imagine you've gotta work out a lot at Beacon. Now, how about we get you something that'll show it off a bit?"
Kassidy coughed into her hand and blushed. "Firstly… I've never really done any… showing off before. Secondly, there isn't anything to show off."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that, sweetie." Alex turned to a rack with a multitude of swimsuits for sale. "C'mon, let loose! Live a little! If nothing else, wouldn't it be nice to tease Yang in return once or twice?" Kassidy gaped at her back, which apparently Alex caught onto despite the fact that she couldn't see her. "I've known Yang for years, love. I think I know something that'll… set her off just right. And all the guys too, for that matter."
Kassidy was about to argue, to say that she had zero interest in 'setting people off', whatever that meant, but the unbidden words of Qrow came back to her.
"Taking a break isn't a luxury, kid. You said you've got eighteen days before the semester opens back up? Take it."
"Y'know what? Screw it. Let's see what you've got for sale." Shrugging and deciding to 'go with the flow' as Yang would put it, Kassidy added, "Let me delve into famous last words territory and say something along the lines of 'what could possibly go wrong?'."
Alex split into a grin. "That's the spirit! C'mon, you're gonna love this."
AN 2: In case you can't tell, this got written immediately after the first author's note. Hopefully this was still up to snuff for you guys. Time for me to write the Reviewer's Responses and proofread, then get some grub.
Coming up next: I think it's about time we got a second confession, don't you? Oh, and Bob's revenge. Kassidy's computer isn't happy with his lack of screentime.
Tykene: Glad you liked last chapter so much. Spent a lot of time with kaiju on it, and I must say I was rather proud of it. Unfortunately, this chapter doesn't have quite the polish I was hoping it to have, but it still covers a Qrow+Kassidy conversation I want to hit, and after a quick proofread it should be mechanically sound to boot. Don't worry… you're gonna love the next few chapters.
mcd3424: Eh… if you ask me, for the ship to finally leave port, both parties need to be involved. Don't worry, that'll get fixed REAL soon. Like, four days from now soon.
AndJrew76: Glad to hear everything went well on your end. Got into a bit of a crunch myself, but managed to get everything done. And don't you worry, Kassidy's turn is up next.
Matt Cyr: Unfortunately, it's almost entirely the romance for the next few chapters. Sorry it doesn't float your boat. Don't fret too much though, once we're back into the second volume it's full steam ahead with the plot.
AgentDraakis: Y'know, I've never really understood the "stupid blonde that never thinks things through" deal that most people write Yang as. The only times she's ever NOT thought things through is when she's beyond pissed (AKA getting disarmed, ba-dum-tiss). Beyond that, she's always been shown as a highly empathic individual who pretty much does her best to be everyone's big sister. Cue the whole "I know Blake used to be a dangerous member of a terrorist organization, but I still want to hear her side of the story because I might not know everything" deal back in volume 1. As for getting enough time to confess? Well, Qrow's out of the picture now, so the odds of the secret remaining secret for as long as it needs to just went up 90%. And the dance. Dear god the dance. The plans I have for the dance. (insert maniacal laugh here)
Firearm legume: I will most definitely keep those names in mind. As far as Arkos is concerned… no promises.
Baconlord53: Oh, I definitely concur, and there will definitely be plenty of opportunities for bonding time coming up.
