AN: Hello again everyone. This work has been commissioned by a member of my discord server who was interested in seeing an AU interaction with HIH-Ruby and a special guest. I posted this to the spacebattles version of this story a while ago (which also has some extra snippets and WoGs, as well as some funny TTS-like omakes.). I decided to post this to to even out some of the differences between the two versions.

I hope you all enjoy.

And just to be very clear, this is a side-story. Not a main-line chapter.
_

Taiyang had not adequately appreciated the rigors of childcare until Ruby had come along. Yang was extremely easy to raise, even taking into account her quirks. She played outside easily, knew not to touch anything that could be dangerous or destructive – which was pretty much nothing outside of an artillery barrage or stampede of Grimm – and generally was a bit…wild, but easy going.

Ruby was none of those things. Oh sure, she liked to play outside too, but that's where her similarities with Yang ended. Ruby would constantly poke her nose into trouble, turning things on and making an absolute mess of the house, and especially the kitchen. He was still finding bits of dried up cookie dough from Summer's first disastrous attempt to help her bake.

Then there was the fact that she was clingy. Now, there wasn't anything wrong with that in a kid, but Ruby took it to a whole new extreme. The little limpet having super strength made it easy for her to clamber up on an adult and hold herself there indefinitely, like a little koala.

Summer had once gone on a mission halfway across the island, only to discover Ruby sleeping on her shoulder, her cloak caught in a death grip when she had tried to cross a river. The look on her face when she had dumped Ruby off into Taiyang's arms had been priceless. The havoc that an upset Ruby had wrought upon their house, not so much.

Still, most of the time, Taiyang supervised the kids in a way that allowed them a relative amount of freedom. Yang was five, although thanks to her unique biology, she was about as tall as a ten year old, had the strength of ten men, and an intellect well beyond her years. Ruby was coming up on her second birthday, and already was capable of holding fairly intelligible conversation, along with inheriting Yang's superhuman strength.

Some might claim that he was being irresponsible, letting young children no matter their abilities wander around freely. Indeed, initially he and Summer had been very protective of Yang and Ruby, until Yang had wondered off for five minutes, and came back riding a Beowulf that was whimpering for mercy. Taiyang had picked her up and scolded her for worrying him so much. Summer had given her a high-five taken her out for ice cream after he was done yelling at her.

Either way, Taiyang had learned to simply let the girls do what they wished when they had free time. As long as they didn't wander too far from the yard, who was he to stop them? They did school work well ahead of their age, on time and with nearly perfect marks every time. Yang had left permanent indents in the ground near the trees thanks to her numerous falls, as testament to her durability. They lived surrounded by woods, and the odd Grimm that dared to trek out here could have been dispatched with ease by any of them, and even if they weren't, the girls were certainly fast enough to get help from either he or Summer. So…why worry?

He should have known better than to tempt fate.

It was fall, that time of year when the trees began to turn, and Huntsman work picked up before the Color Celebrations at the end of the year. Every two-bit town mayor wanted to hire extra support to clear the Grimm out before the parades began, as a 'show of force'. It was good extra money, so he and Summer alternated on jobs, taking turns watching the kids. This time, Summer had ventured forth to take care of business, leaving Taiyang to the all-too familiar task of herding his two wayward space children.

Beads of sweat were dripping off his brow as he continued to hammer away at a piece of metal, laboring over his latest project. Dr. Polendina had predicted that, as the girls grew older, their strength would quickly become equal to that of veteran huntsman…even without aura. There was a good possibility that casual sparring with them might cause him injury without some form of extra protection. Some might have scoffed at the idea, but when Dr. Polendina gave medical advice, Taiyang took him seriously.

He gingerly picked up the rough vambrace, eyeing the piece of metal with a bit of distaste. He had never bothered to wear armor before. For his up close and personal fighting style, it would normally just get in his way. But sometimes, sacrifices had to be made. That was a lesson he had learned the hard way.

The sound of rustling behind him as the door to his workshop open broke him out of his thoughts. He placed down the unfinished armor piece and turned around to see Yang kicking the dirt floor, clearly looking put out.

"What's the matter?" Taiyang asked with a knowing look, reaching out to draw his daughter into an embrace. Yang returned the gesture, mumbling into his shirt something.

He sighed and ruffled her hair affectionately, Yang giggling and diving out of the way. "You know better than to mumble like this." He said, making exaggerated noises that made his daughter laugh some more.

"Sorry." Yang said, sighing before her smile fell a bit more. "It's stupid Ruby, sh-"

"Hey now. We don't talk about family like that." He chided, kneeling down to look her in the eye. "We talk it out. Okay?"

Yang rolled her eyes, but stopped when Taiyang gave her a stern look. She sighed, looking away, but finally started to talk. "Ruby just keeps talking about stuff that I don't care. She's being really annoying!"

Taiyang chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. For all that his girls were different, and for how much he worried about them, it was these moments where he realized he wouldn't trade either of them for the world.

"C'mon Yang, I'm sure it's not that bad. She's your sister, you should pay attention to what she has to say." He said, silently amused. Yang was always so easy to get a reaction out of. It was something that he'd have to work on when she started training how to fight.

"But dad, she keeps going on and on about some Crow guy. It's all she talks about!" She complained.

"Qrow?" Taiyang asked, a bit caught off guard. Ruby had always enjoyed it when her uncle had come over. Maybe she was simply excited to see him again? He had promised to visit again soon.

Yang shook her head vehemently. "No no. Big Brother Crow, or something. I dunno. She keeps talking about how he's coming to visit today n' stuff."

Taiyang froze, as a cold chill crawled down his spine. He had long learned to take an odd statement from either of his children as though they were completely, and utterly literal.

"Yang." He began, trying to keep his composure as he slowly began to reach for his gauntlets, Shock and Awe. The dust-enabled boxing gloves were his primary weapons, and he had a feeling that he'd need them. "What exactly did Ruby tell you about 'Big Brother Crow'?"

As much as Taiyang tried to treat them like normal children, it was hard to keep things from them. Yang was sharp and could pick up on his rising anxiety. With clear enunciation, she began to speak. "She was talking about how she was 'looking at the river in her head' one day and she actually saw some else there. She managed to call out to him and he told her that he was her brother or something. She tried to show me but all that weird stuff she does makes my brain hurt, and then I start tasting…plasma?" Yang shook her head. "All that magic stuff that I don't like but kinda have some sorta connection with. Yuck."

There was a lot Taiyang should have been asking about their abilities in hindsight, but he assumed Ozpin's monthly lessons with them had everything under control. Apparently, that was naïve thinking on his part.

"Did she say where they were going to meet?" At once, he began walking out of the workshop in a hurry, frantically reaching for his scroll as he sent out a very brief emergency signal to everyone in the know regarding Ruby and Yang's unique traits. If someone with Ruby and Yang's projected full potential had come to claim them, Taiyang was going to need all the help he could get.

"In the woods, down by the big crater." Yang said, pointing in the direction where her own pod had first crashed.

"Yang. I want you to do me a big favor, okay sweetheart?" He said, clenching his fists and enabling the dust-weave inside them. "Go back inside the house. Don't answer the door for anyone besides me, mom, Uncle Qrow, Ozpin, or Ironwood. Okay? And if you hear anyone coming who's not one of us, you run, understand me? You run into town, get help"

"…okay." Yang said in such a small but determined voice that it made his heart swell with pride, even as it simultaneously was washed over with a wave of fear.

He watched her go inside, made damn sure she locked the door – no matter how little good it would probably do – and immediately began to walk towards the tree line near the back of his house. His fists were up, the high-caliber solid-slug pistols mounted to the sides of his gloves at the ready.

Time was of the essence, but Taiyang also didn't want to walk into an ambush when his daughter's life might be on the line. He set a brisk pace, making sure to keep behind as many trees as possible, checking his corners. For all he knew, there could be more than this 'Crow' on the way. Hell, for all he knew, this could just be the prelude to an invasion of some kind.

It only took him a few minutes to reach the crater at the pace he kept, even taking into account the fact he stuck deep in the trees. What he saw gave him pause, as he selected a tree at the very edge and poked his head out.

The man standing near the closest edge of the depression in the ground was massive. About what Dr. Polendina had projected for the girls in their prime, which only confirmed his suspicions.

Not to mention the armor. It had to weight a ton, a literal ton, but that wasn't even the strangest thing about it. It was festooned with all sorts of stylized decorations, including a two-headed bird of some kind outlined in black on the gunmetal gray pauldron. It was dented and pitted, scorched and blasted. It looked like the man had gone a few rounds with an Atleasian battleship and walked away.

Then there were the wings, the goddamned metal wings that must have been articulated because Taiyang could not imagine for the life of him how that kind of thing was practical. Perhaps some kind of weapon system? It couldn't have been just for show.

What made Taiyang tense up more than anything however, was the fact that right across from this…walking, edgy tank, was his daughter.

She didn't look harmed, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. As smart as she was, she was still a child. Who knew what agenda this strange being had when it came to his child?

Slowly, as quietly as he could, Taiyang crept around the edge of the clearing, doing his upmost to avoid being detected. It appeared that Ruby was chattering animatedly to the man, who was simply…standing there. Listen? Thinking? Who knew. He could stand there as much as he liked. Taiyang had him right where he wanted him.

It wasn't far to the man now, and Taiyang was almost directly behind him. Perfect.

But the instant Taiyang dipped a toe out of the tree line, the bastard had the nerve to turn around so fast it was like he fucking teleported. Damnit.

Now, Taiyang could get a good look at his face. Weathered was one way to put it. Formerly handsome features had long been eroded with lines, making it impossible to tell how old this man was. Hair the darkest shade of ink, long and bound with a simple leather tie cascaded down one shoulder in a ponytail.

Ruby popped out from behind the man, beaming and waved. "Hey Dad! This is my Big Brother! His name is Cuh…c-hor…"

"Corvus." The man finally spoke. Rusty didn't do the man's choked voice justice. It was though he had forgotten how to speak and was only now just remembering how to form sounds.

"Listen." Taiyang finally spoke, weapons held up and pointed at the man, making Ruby's eyes go wide in shock as she took a step back.

"Ruby…I want you to come to me, right now. And as for you, I don't know who you are or where it is you come from, but you better have an explanation right now or I will beat you to within an inch of your life for coming near my daughter."

Ruby quickly scampered towards him, and Taiyang was thankful that this Corvus made no effort to stop her. No…instead, he seemed hopelessly confused. Befuddled, really, judging by the expression on his face.

"…unexpected." Corvus finally spoke, still seemingly confused. "I would have thought that you, the caretaker of Rub-"

"Her father, asshole." Taiyang snarled, taking a step forward and chambering two rounds, heart pounding in his ears.

"Dad, he-" Ruby tried to speak up.

"Not now, Ruby. This man is dangerous." He said sternly, almost a bit too harshly. But damnit, he was scared too, and she had to listen to him. Magic be damned, he was still an adult and he knew trouble when he saw it.

"…you're certainly protective." Corvus said, sighing deeply, in a long-suffering manner. "Very well then. As her father you should know better than anyone that there are forces in play here that you do not, could not possibly hope to understand. Ruby has a destiny beyond this planet. I ask that you step aside, before you get hurt. Even though I can sense some sort of peculiar Warp energy on you, I don't think mere tricks will do you much good here."

In response, Taiyang merely assumed a fighting stance, standing on the balls of his feet, trying to assess weak points in his opponent's stance, while focusing his Aura inward.

Corvus relaxed his posture. "If you insist on this course of action, I cannot be held responsible for what happens next." Then, incredibly, he held his arms open. "Heh…my brothers were always more fond of personal combat, but I think the expression is…'give me your best shot'" He croaked at the end of that sentence, a sound that Taiyang was startled to recognize was an attempt at laughter. But the invitation itself, well…

That was all Taiyang needed.

With a burst of aura-enhanced speed, he had crossed the distance, using two shots from his gauntlets to help propel him forward in a split second.

In the next instance, he was up in striking range of the bastard, who looked absolutely and utterly slack-jawed.

"Wha-"

With all his might, drawing upon his semblance to shunt the momentum from his own charge into his fist, he sucker punched the bastard in the face, while also unloading a .45 fire-dust round point blank practically down his opponent's throat. The resulting explosion pushed Taiyang back, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured his vision for a moment.

The giant staggered back, clutching his cheek. Taiyang prepared to charge in to finish him off, but felt a cold chill crawl down his spine at what he saw.

The man pulled his hand back to reveal a faint bruise, while a small trickle of crimson leaked from the corner of his mouth, which was quickly wiped away, the bloody finger brought up by Corvus to inspect it.

"In the ten-thousand years that I've lived." The man begin, the number making Taiyang stagger back in shock. "I've fought warriors of legendary caliber." Corvus continued, still staring at the proof of his wound. "Vanquished foul xenos by the multitude and felled even the most depraved servants of the ruinous powers. Yet I can count on my hand the number of times that someone has gotten the better of me like that."

"See? I told you my Dad was awesome!" Ruby yelled from behind him. "Now stop fighting you two dummies!"

"I see now that there is more to this world than Ruby's presence." Corvus mused, the titanic man gracefully moving to sit in a cross-legged position on the ground, clearly unbothered by the threat of Taiyang attacking him again. "I apologize. I am…not used to talking. At all."

The olive branch was unexpected, but Taiyang was relieved. He had put quite a bit into that punch, hoping to do some damage, but it was clear that he would have been destroyed in a serious fight, unless he managed to leverage his semblance to perfection.

"Apology accepted." He finally settled on, moving to sit on the ground as well, Ruby bounding along to sit so they were all in a sort of triangle arrangement. "Now, can you finally explain who you are?"

"It is as Ruby said. I am Corvus Corax. Primarch of the Raven Guard, Son of the Emperor of Mankind, and, as said before, her brother."

"That's impossible." Taiyang said bluntly. "Either you're lying about your age, or you're her 'brother' in the sense that you're both genetically engineered." In his own mind, also he wondered what the heck gave someone the right to declare themselves the emperor of all mankind. Or, if not the right, what kind of power.

"I see that science has not decayed completely on this world." Corvus mused, making Taiyang wonder what he meant by that ominous statement. "But I speak the truth. It's a very long story. But put simply, our gestation chambers were separated and scattered across the galaxy, through both space and, apparently, time."

"You really expect me to believe that?" Taiyang said, his head aching already from the sheer impossibility of what this…Primarch…was suggesting.

Corvus shrugged. "I cannot make you believe. The Warp is a realm that makes little and less sense the more it is dwelt upon. For her pod to drift here would have taken quite some time, although it is still a mystery to me as to why and how. But regardless, I've risked the journey to find her, and it is clear that there is something else going on here. Your abilities are something I've never encountered before. And your planet is the farthest world from Terra I've ever known to exist populated by humans."

"How did you find us, if it's so far away from where you come from?" His mind continued to process the fantastic information, trying to dig to the core 'how'.

"Ruby contacted me through the Warp. She was scrying, and I just happened to be doing the same. Our paths, in a roundabout way…crossed. It was a one in a million chance. If it had been at any other time, I would not have seen it. I managed to discover where she was from there, and I made the journey here through that wretched realm."

"Yeah! I was looking at the river to see what Mom was up to, and then I saw Corvus here, and…here he is! I can't wait for Yang to meet him!"

"Your sister, correct?" Corvus said, Ruby nodding happily. The man turned his gaze back to Taiyang. "It must have been hard to have your own child, only to take on another who is so different." He rumbled, in the most round-about compliment Taiyang had ever heard. But there was something about the way he said that…

"Er…you do realize that Yang is like Ruby, right?"

The Primarch at first looked confused, but then went stock still, his dark eyes wide as he took that in. "Both of the lost? On the same planet?" He continued to mumble things under his breath for a moment, frantically arguing with himself, before standing tall, Taiyang and Ruby scrambling up as well.

"This changes everything." Corvus said, a look of animation overcoming him, the already giant man seeming to tower even higher now. Years were erased off his features, a fire lighting behind his eyes. Even his armor, cracked and worn, seem to glint with a newfound luster in the light of day. "This is either a dire omen, or dare I say it, something even more unbelievable."

"And what would that be?" Taiyang asked equal parts wariness, and curiosity.

"A sign that not all is yet lost." Coruvs said, with a look of grim determination that was at odds with the infinitesimally small smile on his face.

I hope you all enjoyed this. Just to repeat for everyone's benefit, this is a side-story, an AU of what's been going on so far.

Thank you very much to those of you who pointed out the editing in this chapter was borked. Much appreciated. As it turns out fanfiction dot net sucks at formatting and handling links, who knew?

If you'd like to support me, please, by all means, check out my discord. Every little contribution will help immensely. You can find a link to the discord on my profile. Thank you!