RWBY (c) RoosterTeeth
Rose Above The Clouds
Discourse
Only with the greatest reluctance did the three huntresses finally peel apart from each other's embrace, using the silence that followed to take each other in. To drink in the fact that this was truly the reality before them. After so many years apart, the mother and daughters had finally reunited.
Ruby's tears flowed freely down her cheeks and she scrubbed them off with the back of her hands while Yang sniffled, her own eyes glistening with tears. Summer took a shuddering breath and a moment to really look up the children she had missed for so long. Her lips trembled and her hand went to her mouth.
"You've both grown so much."
It was all Summer could do not to let her voice break with the emotion.
"Y-Yeah," Ruby agreed, still wiping away the seemingly endless stream of tears marking tracks down her cheeks. Despite them, she smiled for her mother. "Yang and I, we're both Huntresses now! We went to Beacon together and became Team RWBY - i-it causes some confusion, I know. But we managed to stop some bad guys! We went on so many adventures and we're -"
Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder as the young Huntress forgot herself, gushing an absolutely incoherent mess of words that quickly devolved into sobbing. There were just so many things to say, so many questions that had to be asked, that they came out as nothing more than jumbled word salad. As her younger sister bawled, still intent on trying to get everything out, Yang finally allowed herself to shed tears. Summer closed the gap again, quietly shushing her younger daughter with a hand on her crown, smiling a bittersweet smile.
"Slow down, Petal. Take a breath and tell me everything. Everything that's happened to both of you up until now. We have the time, and I want to hear it all." Summer told them both, her silver eyes filled with the same maternal warmth as she looked towards Yang. "I want you both to tell me everything."
Ruby looked up at her mother, and despite the seemingly momentarily lull, her crying renewed in earnest. She threw her arms around Summer's neck, face buried in her shoulder as she sobbed.
"Such a crybaby," Her mother only-half teased, returned the embrace as best she could despite her injury. "You've always been that way. Even when you were little."
Summer glanced towards Yang with an expectant smile, "Are you going to let your little sister hog all of the attention?"
The blonde glanced between the two, indecision eating at her core before closing the gap and joining in the group hug. And Yang was the first to pull away a moment later, the tears gone and replaced with a stern inquisitive mask.
"Where were you?" Her words were blunt, not twinged by any emotions of anger like her step-mother had expected.
Summer's expression faltered and a haunted look flashed across her features before she coaxed it down, but not before her daughters caught sight of it. Ruby had parted from her mother, but still kept Summer's hand clasped in both of her own. The tears slowed to a halt while Summer bit her lip, feeling the atmosphere of their reunion shift.
"Mum, where have you been this entire time?" Yang asked, "Were you in Atlas?"
"That's..." Summer began, but she was lost for words as she glanced between her daughters. She swallowed hard, "Its... a, uh, a long and painful story I'm afraid to say."
"We have the time, a-and you can tell us everything." Ruby told her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze and offering a smile that reminded Summer far too much of her father.
Giving a slow nod, Summer gestured to the medical cot for the teenagers to sit while she pulled up the visitor's chair to sit herself down across from them. "I, um... this is still very hard for me to speak about, so I might not be able to tell the full story. The truth is, I actually don't remember a good portion of it - but I can tell you what I know. Or try to at least, assuming my own blighted mind won't turn against me."
Summer glanced down at her palm, curling and flexing her fingers. "I suppose the best place to start is; what is your favourite fairy tale?"
"We know about Salem," Ruby informed her and instantly regretted her choice in words when they saw Summer visibly flinch away at the name. "Uh, sorry. We know about.. her, and the Maidens and about Ozpin. But, we know maybe a few more things-"
"You mean the about the Gods? Light and Dark?" Summer supplied,
"Yeah, how did you -" Yang said but her mother simply shook her head,
"Qrow visited me yesterday. He told me the whole story that you witnessed from the Relic. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page before I began my tale." She explained, glancing between the two teenagers who shared a look at their Uncle's name.
"About Qrow..." Yang began but Ruby placed a hand on her wrist to stop her,
"Its okay. We can talk about him later. Right now, I want to hear about mum."
Summer exhaled quietly, her shoulders slumping. "Qrow told me he used the Fail safe, and that you didn't know about us. While I'm so furious I could throw him off Atlas' plateau, I understand his reasons. And he or Tai never would've agreed to it if I hadn't put the idea in their head in the first place."
"What do you mean by 'Fail Safe'?" Ruby blinked, shocked by the admission with her head quizzically tilted to the side. "And why would he have gotten the idea from you?"
"I don't really think throwing him off the Plateau would work. He can turn into a bird after all. He'll quite literally sprout wings and fly." Yang joked halfhearted, but still perturbed by the news that their whole messed-up family situation could have come from Summer's own machination.
Summer blinked in surprise, "Oh, you know about that? Its not something he really advertised outside of STRQ."
"Wait - You knew about it?" It was Ruby's turn to be surprised,
"That pain in the butt used to change all the time when we were at school. Used it to sneak out to the city at night. After we started dating? I lost count of all the times I'd find him taking naps in my hood... Jerk." Summer chuckled fondly, smiling as the distant memory played in her mind. Her smile vanished the instance she realized just how long ago that was. "That was a lifetime ago."
Yang threw her hands up, "Okay, I have so many questions right now; but honestly, all I want to know is where were you? Why didn't you contact us? Let us know you were okay?"
Summer's hand clenched into a fist, screwing up the fabric of her pants. The minor lull in the tense atmosphere now completely gone as she refocused on the question at hand.
"Mum, your last mission. Was that for Ozpin?" Ruby inquired innocently, "Was that why you couldn't tell us where you were?"
"Yes, and no." Summer said after a long pause to gather her nerve. Swallowing hard, she looked up at that girls. "My mission, my original mission, was never intended to be anything significantly dangerous. As far as Ozpin's shadow war was concerned. The previous Summer Maiden - Guinevere Borealis - was killed in the line of duty. A fierce Huntress who regrettably lose her life to a days long Grimm siege that leveled her home village on the border between Vacuo and Vale. Unfortunately, her charge and the successor of the Summer Maiden's power was killed in the same attack only a week prior."
Yang's lips pressed in a thin line while Ruby's expression was a mask of sympathy.
"I'm sorry to hear that." The younger daughter said.
"We live in a dangerous world, in an even more dangerous profession. Death is something we accept as part of our role in life." Summer explained evenly, "My assignment was to devise the location of the next Summer Maiden, to get a measure of her character and report my findings back to Ozpin. To let him know if she was willing to assist our cause."
"That sounds simple enough. What went wrong?" Yang crossed her arms,
"Its not a matter of what went wrong. Not there at least." Summer drew in another deep breath.
"So... did you find her? The new Summer Maiden?" Ruby asked and her mother nodded,
"I did."
"Then what happened?" Yang prompted,
"She was... she was a young girl, dying of a wasting disease in Vacuo's capital hospital. Naomi Lotus. Poor child was probably only twelve at most." Summer shook her head with great sadness, "Her poor mother... I - couldn't even begin to imagine how she felt. I had two daughters sleeping at home in their beds, and she had hers at death's door. It was heartbreaking. I managed to confirm her power, spoke to her, offered her what little comfort I could, told her the story of the Maidens, tried to bond with her as much as I could before... well, before things took a turn."
Ruby frowned but then she and Yang simultaneously gasped together, exchanging a knowing look. "You were... you were going to-"
Summer simply shook her head, "I just wanted to do what I could to set her mind at ease before her passing. I spoke to her mother, offering my condolences and then reported my findings to Ozpin."
"Did... I mean, are you now-?" Yang carefully prodded, "The Maiden powers - they go to the person who was in the Maiden's final thoughts. Did you...?"
"I wasn't there when she had passed. After my report to Ozpin, I took my leave. And..." Summer continued and sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair as if the weight of her next words were crushing her. "And that's when things took a turn for the worst. I heard whispers that some nefarious dealings were going on in Vacuo, so I made my way to the City Centre. The best way to know a place is through its underbelly. Sa-Her forces were gathering for something, and they weren't subtle about it either. Vacuo is a hive of thieves and scoundrels, one more group of thieves and scoundrels would go unnoticed."
"I went to stop their assault myself, with the aid of several other Huntsmen I managed to rally." Summer's fingers started to tremble and her eyes slid closed as the intrusive memories pushed to the forefront of her mind. "She was at its head. The Grimm Queen rode to Vacuo herself atop some kind of... griffon monstrosity with a horde of Xerocole Grimm; Deathstalkers, Creeps, Armadillos and more Grimm beyond counting. It was a Level nine incursion."
"Wait... wait, I remember that event from Professor Oobleck's classes," Ruby said with a hint of triumph, "He said that the Grimm occupied the City for two weeks, but the desert environment, guerrilla style tactics of Huntsmen and the local militia managed to used the terrain to turn back the Grimm tide and restore the City. The Academy's vice principal was hailed as a hero for his battle tactics."
"But that's not the truth, is it?" Yang questioned skeptically.
Summer shook her head, feeling the crest of adrenaline rise in conjunction with her own anxious feelings but she pushed those aside for the sake of her retelling. "No. The Huntsmen I rallied... they were butchered. It was horrific. And the... queen? I was left alone to face her. I-I fought with everything I had. Everything at my-"
Summer liked her lips, and brought her closed fist to her mouth. Her heart pounding in her chest and tears forming in her eyes. Ruby and Yang immediately rose from their spots and crossed to kneel before her or stand at her side, their hands on her lap or shoulder offering silent support and sympathy. "I was captured. For... months, she... she wanted to know where the Summer Maiden was. And I told her. I told her where Naomi was."
"You... told Salem where a Maiden was? Does that mean she has the Vacuo relic?!" Yang sputtered and Summer shook her head, flinching at the Grimm Queen's name.
"N-no. By the time she found Naomi, the poor girl was already passed - and the Summer Maiden's powers were long gone." Summer chuckled, a bittersweet sound. "I knew Naomi wasn't going to survive long enough for her to get her filthy claws on her, but she didn't know that. I made a gamble, and it paid."
Summer took in another deep breath through her nose, tears trickling down her cheeks. "She... expressed her displeasure at my little act of spite. A-and I spent void knows how long locked in and pried out of some sort of stasis device. They did... unspeakable things-"
"That's enough." Ruby declared, throwing her arms around her mother as the woman broke down into tears. Guilt eating away at her insides for making Summer relive such a painful experience. Yang joined in, their mother embraced between them as she wept freely.
"I'm sorry, Mum." Yang cooed quietly,
"We should've..."
"No," Summer cut them off sharply, her voice laden with emotion, "No. You needed to know what happened. A-and now you do... the cliff-notes."
They remained locked in that embraced, the two young teenagers sharing the burden of trying to ease their mother's pain. Minutes stretched on as the weeping slowly faded into silence. It was a mutual silent decision to pull out from their hug when the teenagers realised their Summer had calmed down enough, but they still kept close. A hand on her shoulder or her lap.
"So... what are you going to do now?" Ruby asked innocently, trying to veer the topic onto something more palatable.
Summer closed her eyes and then reopened them, affirming her resolve. "I'm going to do my best to recover from my captivity. And then, I'm going to re-enter this war."
"What?" Yang could only gape. "You've already lost so much to this - No one would blame you if you just walked away!"
"None of us want to lose you again, Mum." Ruby grabbed her hand in both of hers again, "We don't want to see you suffer, not like this! Not after what Salem's already done to you!"
"That's kind of you both to say, but where I like it or not, I still have a role to play in this war - in stopping her-" Her eyes screwed closed and she took a deep breath as if steeling herself to say the name, even when she did her voice trembled. "In stopping Salem. I have a duty that I can't just abandon."
"But you also have a duty to us!" Yang protested vehemently, "You're our mother, by birth or not - and we need you!"
"And the world needs us." Summer answered firmly, "It needs every Huntress it can spare, and I'm not the kind to sit idle while abominations are circling our borders."
Once more, Ruby and Yang looked at each other with undisguised concern. "But enough about this macabre train of thought," Summer ordered. "Tell me about the adventures of Team RWBY. If its you two, I'm certain there's all sorts of shenanigans you two got up to when your fathers weren't looking."
And so they did. Summer sat herself down on the cot, cross legged while Ruby and Yang sat on either side of her. Together they recounted their experiences at Signal Academy, Ruby's first encounter with Roman Torchwick that caught the attention of the then-Headmaster Ozpin who allowed her to enroll two years ahead at Beacon. Their teammates Weiss and Blake. But all too soon it seemed, the topic turned morose when the subject of the Vytal festival and accompanying events around the tourney were next in their recounting.
Despite the recounting of Vale's fall from their own perspectives, the schism of Team RWBY and the encounters along the way, Summer found herself smiling happily at the retelling of her children's stories. It was nice to know that despite the many upsets and trials they suffered, their team, their friendship and their sisterhood not only survived, but grew all the stronger for it.
"And when the train derailed thanks to the Manticores, we didn't realise this old lady was still on the train. She came waddling out with a cane and we were just... speechless." Ruby described the entire battle, Yang filling in the blanks that she had forgotten in her rush, Ruby jumped in her spot. " Oh, her name's Maria Calavera! I think you'd like her, Mum. And get this! She was a Silver Eyed Huntress just like you and me!"
"Is that right?" Summer managed a soft smile. "We're a rare breed. I'm surprised."
"Yeah. She's a pretty boss old lady if I do say so myself. Takes no crap or nothing. I think you'd like her too. She said that she used to be the Grimm Reaper."
In an instant, Summer's face went completely blank.
"What."
Ruby blinked, surprised at the sudden lack of expression. "She was the Grimm Reaper... or so she said."
"What."
Yang and Ruby exchanged quizzical concerned looks, wondering if she had lost her mind. "You oka-?"
"WHAT?!" Summer incredulously squealed her demand, her hand slamming down on lap with a loud slap.
Ruby flinched and Yang nodded slowly. "Yeah?"
"Wait wait wait. Okay - let me get this straight," Summer inhaled sharply, her almost comical incredulity rising in parallel to her irritation. "Qrow was with you, yes? And he knew she was the Grimm Reaper. But when he visited yesterday he didn't think to bring me her autograph!? Oh, I am going to KILL him!"
Author's note:
Casually retconning the shapeshifting into being a bloodline trait like the Silver eyes. Cause screw that whole 'magic came from Oz' thing, and I want Qrow to have something that he can own and take pride in.
I welcome feedback and criticism,
Aurora313
