December 1st
City of Atlas
Atlas
Downtown
9:37 PM
"And, and, and then, in comes Qrow, wearing a skirt!" Port exclaimed. "I was just a TA...I...I didn't know what to do, so I just...I just left the room to laugh!"
"We told him it was a kilt!" Tai told everyone and Elizabeth stared at him in shock. "He'd never worn a uniform before, so he didn't know!"
"That is terrible!" Oobleck said despite his own laughter. "What is wrong with you?"
"Hey!" Tai said, pretending to be affronted. "The girls all said he had nice legs!"
"Wrong," Glynda reminded him. "I told him that I was not at all interested in seeing his legs, or frankly any part of him, when he got in my face and began to flirt with me."
"Okay, so you were the only one," Tai rolled his eyes though Emmett began to laugh. "What?"
Emmett smirked. "If I recall correctly, Raven dragged him off saying things like 'Qrow, stay the hell away from the Atlesians as if being from Atlas is some sort of crime. Not to mention that she also refused to acknowledge that -"
"I'm from Vale," Glynda finished for him while James smiled and kissed her forehead. "And then she thought that it would be amusing to attempt to pick a fight with us -"
"And Qrow was like, 'I have a feeling I'll have to deal with them again later'," Emmett chuckled, squeezing Emmeline's hand when she rolled her eyes. "We were all different then."
"It was over twenty years ago, of course we were," James said, trying not to think about what had become of their team. "But I don't think any of us are ever going to be able to forget how ridiculous Qrow was...or maybe how ridiculous he always has been is more accurate."
"No kidding," Tai responded a laugh. "But hey, I did that jerk a favour! Besides, him just wearing the skirt isn't even the best part! See, then we -"
Port put his leg up on the table and cut off Tai while the others laughed and he began to lose his balance. "'Like what you see?'"
Sam, Lysithea, and Yang climbed had up onto the low wall that separated the living room from the kitchen, laughing, while the blonde huntress giggled, covering her mouth in an attempt to not be noticed that failed. Noticing them, however, everyone turned to look at them while Oobleck stood up before reaching down to help his husband off of the floor, who was still laughing before looking at them in slight embarrassment. Emmett shared a look with his daughters before tapping his wife's shoulder, pointing briefly at Sam and a picture of the eldest Ironwood-Goodwitch from her senior year of high school that was hanging in the kitchen with the rest of the family photographs. Emmeline raised an eyebrow and then had to stop herself from laughing when he mimed putting another ring on, catching on to what he was implying. As it happened, she was relieved that Sam hadn't noticed.
"Oh, uh, Miss Xiao Long!" Port said as he tried to regain himself. "Uh, please, join us."
"Oh, yes, yes, pull up a chair!" Oobleck said nervously, glancing at the others. "Please, pull up a chair."
Yang shook her head as she shifted over towards where Tai and Elizabeth were. "I'm good," She said awkwardly. "So, what are you doing here?"
Oobleck laughed. "Despite popular belief, teachers do have a life outside the classroom."
"Glynda's been working around the clock to restore Beacon to its former glory!" Port said, glancing to the woman who sighed and leaned into James more heavily while he rubbed her back. "Glynda, you have people dealing with the damage since you're not there yourself and there's nothing wrong with having come back to Atlas, you can't spend all of your time trying to fix everything. After all, Mistral wasn't built in a day and we all need rest from time to time."
"I know," Glynda said quietly, tears forming in her eyes. "But I...I...I don't know. I just…"
"Glyns," James said, kissing her softly. "It's okay. I know this is difficult for you, but...Glyns, I'm sorry, it's all my fault -"
"No, it's not!" Glynda snapped while he brushed her tears away. "Quit blaming yourself, because you didn't cause this!"
"Now look," Tai said, looking at all of them before sighing. "Let's not worry about that right now. So, there we were, standing in the auditorium, looking at Qrow, wearing a skirt. Then Oz tells everyone, 'It's time to work on our landing strategy!'"
Ozpin scowled. "That had been more than legitimate."
"Well…" Oobleck shrugged and Emmett burst out in laughter while the green haired doctor spoke. "The Branwen twins have always been...interesting, to say the least."
Port rolled his eyes and laughed with Emmett. "That sure didn't seem to stop young Tai."
Elizabeth tensed and he rubbed her arm while looking at his daughter in embarrassment. "Hey, come on! She's right here!"
"Oh, please!" Port said with a smile. "She's a mature young woman! If she can handle combat, she can handle a few jabs at her old man!"
Tai shook his head. "That's not the issue, Pete! And besides, she's still a teenager!"
"'She' is also in the room, and can be directly spoken to," Yang said irritably, scowling at Tai. "And I think that I've been through enough to be considered an adult at this point."
Tai sighed. "Adult or not, you've still got a long way to go before you're ready for the real world."
"Oh my gosh!" Yang exclaimed in complete exasperation. "Does every father figure have the same three condescending phrases?"
"Yeah!" Tai fired back though James, Glynda, Emmeline, Emmett, Cristal, and Ozpin were glaring at him. "But we only use them when we mean it!"
"Is that so?" Yang demanded while Oobleck took a sip from his mug and Port pulled at his collar.
"As a matter of fact, it is so!" Tai responded. "If you honestly think that you're ready to go out there on your own, ha, well I guess you lost some brain cells along with that arm."
"Tai!" Elizabeth snapped in Yang's defense. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I can't...I doubt anyone can believe that you said that! That's not -"
Tai sighed heavily before meeting her gaze. "Eliza -"
Not thinking, Elizabeth slapped him but took in a sharp breath when she realized how hurt he looked when she was staring at him.
"Tai..." She breathed, horrified with herself. "I...I'm sorry -"
"Eliza," Tai began, bringing her into him tightly. "I -"
"No, don't say it," Elizabeth told him, her voice weak. "I shouldn't take my stress out on you no matter what you say."
Yang smirked, playfully punching Tai before they laughed together and Elizabeth clutched his arm tightly.
"You...jerk!" She teased.
Oobleck leaned towards Port and whispered. "Are we finally talking about the goliath in the room?"
Tai and Yang looked at each other before laughing again, something that Port and Oobleck joined in on out of relief though Port looked at her curiously. "Oh, Miss Xiao Long...Yang, if you don't mind me asking, why haven't you tried on the arm yet?"
"Oh, yes, yes!" Oobleck added. "A piece of Atlas Technology given out like that is rare indeed!"
"He's not wrong," Cristal put in, and Yang glanced to her in surprise. "Even if your step-mother is the chair of the security council."
Oobleck nodded, glancing towards Emmeline and James. "It seems a great many people want to see you returned to normal."
"I'm...scared," Yang said quietly while everyone looked at her. "Everyone keeps talking about me getting back to normal...and I appreciate it, but...this," Yang said, glancing sadly to her missing arm. "Is normal now. It's just...taking me awhile to get used to it."
"I understand," James told her and she looked at him surprise. "I lost my right arm and leg twenty-two years ago in a grimm attack on the outskirts of the city. I was honestly afraid of hurting my wife, and…" Sighing, James glanced to one of the childhood photographs of Cate, Ivy, and Jake before looking back to Glynda. "And I was also afraid of hurting my kids. To be honest, it still haunts me and I can imagine that you have the same fight. The important thing is that you're still living, which you are."
"This is all my fault…" Caitlin said, having reappeared in the corner of the room a few minutes before. Everyone looked at her in shock. "If I hadn't been reckless…maybe I wouldn't have been threatened, or, if I hadn't gotten in the way then Emmett could have killed him and -"
"No, it's not your fault," Glynda said, looking at her sharply before her expression softened. "Caity, it's Cinder's fault, and it's Adam Taurus'. You're not to blame and you never were."
"Normal is what you make of it," Tai added as he looked to his daughter who had tears in her eyes before she responded.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Yang demanded, the tears stinging. "Do you want me to just pretend like nothing happened? I lost a part of me. A piece of me is gone, and it's never coming back."
"You're right," Tai agreed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's not coming back, but that doesn't have to stop you from becoming who you want to be. You're Yang Xiao Long, my sunny little dragon. You can do whatever you put your mind to. So, whenever you're ready to stop moping and get back out there, I'll be there for you."
Yang stared at him. "I...I…"
"Fear is like any other emotion," Port said, nodding to Tai. "It comes and goes. It's all in how you handle it. Why, even I find myself wrestling with that emotion from time to time."
Yang looked at him in surprise. "Really? You?"
Oobleck nodded, whispering. "He's afraid of mice."
Pounding the table, Port replied while everyone began to laugh. "They only bring disease and famine! And don't even get me started on their tails! So hairless, and simply unnatural!"
"You're in good company on that," Emmett assured him with a smirk. "When Sam was seven and Lily was six –"
"Oh, yeah!" Sam put in, bouncing excitedly and startling Cate, who she had wrapped an arm around. "You just about lost your mind!"
"Daddy always just about loses his mind," Lysithea rolled her eyes. "Although, I have to say, that story is always funny."
"Hey!" Emmett protested. "That was the first time I had ever seen a mouse!"
"And you still shrieked and jumped onto the couch with your sword," Emmeline shook her head with an amused smile. "I thought something horrible had happened, not that you had seen a mouse."
"Port, I assure you," Oobleck told his husband, patting his shoulder. "You are safe. There's no mice here right now."
"There won't be," Caitlin told him, picking up her purring cat. "My cat would eat them."
The cat meowed, almost as if it understood what they were saying.
"That sounds about right," Lysithea said with a grin. "Now…let's find something for your cat to eat and my dad to be terrified of."
December 9th
Anima
7:13 PM
"Ruby!" Nora screamed, jumping onto her back while she let out a yelp of surprise. "Are we almost there?"
Ren started laughing as Ruby pulled Nora off of her. "Nora, you've been asking her that for hours."
"Actually, I think it's been every time she hasn't been drinking coffee, coffee that she stole," Jaune remarked. "Which we should have taken away a long time ago."
"Come on guys!" Ruby told them. "If we pick up the pace, we can hit the next town before sunset!"
"Assuming it's still there," Jaune muttered darkly.
"Of course it'll be there!" Ruby protested. "This one's supposed to be pretty big! Hee...gan...bayn..a?"
"Higanbana," Ren corrected. "It's a well-protected village with a popular inn."
"Which means no camping in the rain!" Nora shouted happily.
Ruby nodded. "See? Everything's going to be fine!"
Jaune agreed as the village started to come into view. "You know, we've had a lot of ups and downs, but things could be worse. I really thought we'd see more grimm."
Ren sighed. "As did I."
Nora smiled and jumped onto Ren as her secondary target. "I guess our luck is finally turning around!"
"I would agree with that," He said, pushing her off of him indulgently. "So let's keep moving, I can see it ahead."
Jaune and Ren shared a look before announcing their destination in chorus. "To Higanbana!"
"To…" Ruby started, still struggling with the name. "Higanban...bana!"
A steady rain began to fall upon the village as the sun continued to steadily set. As soon as they got within the village of Higanbana itself, they quietly found the proprietor of the inn before they began to discuss living quarters for the next few days while they gathered supplies and freshened up. What they didn't know, from the other side of the street, was that through a window within the town's meager tavern, Qrow Branwen was watching them. Though he had been nervous about his daughter's well-being enough to have followed her and her friends through their journey so far to Mistral and was ready to continue defending them, he was not particularly sure that if he had gone with them directly that they would have been fine before a waitress set a glass of hard liquor and ice in front of him.
Qrow looked at her in surprise. "Oh, I didn't order -"
"From the woman upstairs," She told him with a wink. "Red eyes. Said you wouldn't mind bottom shelf. But I went ahead and gave you the top. Lucky you."
As soon as she was gone, Qrow turned and looked upwards where he knew his sister was waiting. An attempt to quote un-quote catch up, he assumed. Turning back to his drink, Qrow smirked and glanced through the windows of the inn's lobby before taking his glass in hand and heading up stairs. Towards the back, sure enough, Raven was waiting for him at one of the tables with her grimm mask sitting on top of it. Staring at each other for several moments, she smiled at him lightly before she motioned him towards him, speaking quietly while he waited for a moment before moving towards her from his location at the top of the stairs. Pulling up the chair that was beside her, he dragged himself so that he was positioned across from her. A hand on the back of the chair, he looked at her, waiting for her to speak while she rolled her eyes and shifted her mask to the side as he sat down.
"So," Qrow began, taking a sip of his drink. "What do you want?"
Raven glared. "A girl can't just catch up with her family?"
Qrow sighed setting his glass down. "She can, but you're not. Now how about we get on with it? Unless you plan on keeping these coming."
"Does she have it?" Raven asked him, expecting an answer immediately.
Choosing to not answer right away, Qrow ran his fingertip along the edge of his glass. "Did you know Yang lost her arm?"
Raven stared at him in shock. "That's not -"
"Rhetorical question," Qrow told her in irritation. "I know you know. It's just obnoxious that you'd bring up family and then carry on like your own daughter doesn't exist."
"I saved her -" Raven protested though Qrow cut her off.
"Once," He said disdainfully. "Because that was your rule, right? Real mom of the year material, sis."
Leaning forward and grabbing Qrow's forearm, Raven forced him to stop his sarcastic, nonchalant motions. Her twin had always chewed on her nerves, but he was doing a damn good job at the emotion.
"I told Yang the exact same thing you did," She hissed. "I told you Beacon would fall, and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail, and he has. Now you tell me. Does Salem have it?"
"And That's So Raven for tonight," Qrow rolled his eyes. "I thought you weren't interested in all of that."
"I just want to know what we are up against," Raven said though Qrow shook his head.
"And which 'we' are you referring to?" Qrow asked while she finally let go of his arm with a slight noise of disgust. "You should come back, Raven. The only way we'd beat her is by working together. All of us, and, yes, that includes the Schnees."
"You're the one who left," Raven told him bitterly. "The tribe raised us, and you turned your back on them like you have everyone else in your life."
"They were killers and thieves," Qrow replied simply.
"They were your family," Raven informed him, growing tenser with each word.
Qrow watched her while she stood up in upset. "You have a very skewed perception of that word."
"I lead our people now," Raven told him, her voice shaking. "And as leader, I will do everything in my power to ensure our survival."
"I saw," Qrow said and she stared at him in surprise. "The people of Shion saw too."
"The weak die, the strong live," Raven countered, crossing her arms. "Those are the rules."
"Well you've certainly got someone strong on your side," Qrow commented, eluding to what he thought she might know. "I've seen the damage."
Raven turned away. "We couldn't have known the grimm would set in as quickly as they did."
"I'm not talking about the grimm," Qrow said, and she looked up, her eyes widening, though she didn't turn around. "And I'm not talking about you, either."
"If you don't know where the Relic is," Raven replied, forcing her voice to be steady as she reached for her mask though he grabbed onto the top of it.
Qrow scowled. "I don't know where the Spring Maiden is either, but if you do, I need you tell me."
"And why would I do that?" Raven demanded as she pulled the mask out of his grasp.
"Because," Qrow told her, his voice dead serious. "Without her, we're all going to die."
A tense silence passed before she scoffed. "And which 'we' are you referring to?"
"That depends on your point of view," Qrow tersely informed her.
Raven glared. "It seems like someone has spent a lot of time in Atlas."
"Nah," Qrow said, crossing his arms. "If that were the case, I'd have delusions of grandeur to match that of an Atlesian politician…for the record, they don't need to inflate their egos because whatever hormone causes that delusion is atmospherically abundant in their capital."
Raven rolled her eyes. "You think you're clever, don't you?"
"I think I tend to be right," He darkly replied. "When it comes to family, anyway."
"Family…" Raven shook her head and slashed open a portal. "How is it you can talk about family when you only come around when you need something?"
With not another word spoken, she vanished well before he could formulate a response.
