A/N: Hello! Welcome back. I started a second job and was working when my friend was asking when this was going to continue. I thought I updated it recently, turned out that was over a month ago… I did not realize.
I have gained more confidence in the direction of this due to one stage play and a song I have listened to.
Lets just say some things have changed...
Still leaving this here
Trigger Warning
-0-
Forgotten Past and a Secured Future
Qrow looked over at Tai. Tai was not doing well. Qrow had seen this man work through one spouse leaving, another dying, and now Ruby was gone too.
Ozpin had called him back. In the process he discovered what happened to his niece. He found his way of coping with loose a long time ago. The flask under his shirt told its own tale. He had raised a glass to his niece. He had celebrated her life, and mourned her passing.
Tai though. Well… His girls were the only thing keeping him together. Now half of his life-line was severed. It hurt him. Qrow knew that look in Tai's eyes. The look of despair. Tai had worn it before, back when Raven left him, and again when Summer had died, though Qrow wore it back then as well.
"What am I going to do Qrow? Do I make another grave next to Summers? I-I don't know if I could go through that again" Tai sat hunched over a table, his face in his hands. Qrow had handed him a drink before pulling out his own, but Tai hadn't touched it.
Qrow's scroll vibrated. Qrow checked it but didn't recognize the number. He ignored it. He needed to be here for Tai. "Look" Qrow said, "I'm not the best at this stuff. Actually I'm probably the worst at this" He grabbed Tai's shoulder. "It will be rough. Things will be different, but we are hunters. We may not like getting through it, heck we might not even want to get through it, but we have to."
Tai was silent, not even looking up from his hands.
Qrow continued, "I want to celebrate her for who she was, and morn for the opportunities she had that are lost now, but there is still something important you have to do."
Qrow's scroll started to vibrate again. He had the urge to chunk it across the room, but he was focused. He grabbed Tai's face. "Look at me!"
Tai had never seen Qrow look so out of it before. Qrow must have felt the loss hard for him to this enthused. Qrow was always laid back. The only time he had seen Qrow like this was when Raven announced her pregnancy. It was the only other time he had seen Qrow drink this much as well. He suspected that following Summer's death he might have drank more, but Qrow had also disappeared, so he couldn't be sure. Tai felt the weight on his mind grow, darkness consuming his thoughts as he fell back into an all to familiar trance.
Qrow glared at Tai, "I can't say I know what its like to loose a daughter, but I do know that even when you loose you have to protect what you still have! You have to be here for Yang!"
Tai stared back. Yang? Yes his daughter. She was tough, she could handle it. She had done it before. She would survive even when he did not.
"Don't give me that shit!" Qrow screamed. Tai in his trance had spoken his thoughts, his face still blank. "Yang practically raised Ruby because you stopped fighting! She practically lost a daughter and all you can do is wallow in your own pity!?"
Qrow headbutted Tai hard. Tai fell to the ground while Qrow stood up. "Think about your priorities. You ran out on your family before. Do it again and you won't have anyone left." Qrow heard a scuffle on the other side of the door from the private room they occupied in Beacon. The hallway was empty when he opened the door, but he could hear rushed footfalls going towards the outer doors.
Whatever. So someone figured out Tai wasn't in a good state, not like everyone couldn't figure that out since he just lost a kid. Something twinged inside his chest. A pain too sharp.
He transformed once he got outside, flying to his favorite bar in town. Qrow still stewed over Tai's reaction. Yes, it was tragic, but he needed to keep himself together. He pushed back the door to the Crowbar, quickly ordering a drink.
Then two more. The more he drank the angrier he got. He looked around, wanting to hit something. Someone...anyone. He was the only one in the bar besides the bartender, and if Qrow knew one thing it was you don't fight the one giving you booze, or they would stop.
Qrow's scroll rang. In his anger he pulled it open, yelling into it. "I don't know who you are or what you want but I don't care! Stop calling me!" A familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. He went pale white.
-0-
Yang found herself back in the forest, knocking down more trees. She knew she was a mess. Ever since the talk with that green bitch in the hallway she had fought nonstop. It did not matter whether it was grimm or trees, she tore through both. Now she had more fuel.
She had been informed that her father had arrived in Vale. She was provided information on where to find him by Glynda via scroll E-mail. Glynda had even added a note at the bottom that he might 'feel better after talking to you'. But no, she showed up just in time to hear Tai abandoning her again, just like everyone else in her life.
What had she done wrong? Was the world that against her? Her mother abandoned her, her sister died, her partner betrayed her, and now her even her father had decided that it was better that he leave her alone when she needed people around her the most.
She felt angry, betrayed, yet all she wanted to do was cry. She wanted to lay down at the base of one of these trees and let loose until there was nothing left to come out, but she couldn't. It was not the way she was. She was the strong one that kept things together when everything was supposed to be lost. So she would keep fighting.
"So you have decided to fight? You have spirit at least"
Yang recognized that voice. It stopped her in her tracks, made her heart do a flip, and caused emotions long supressed to come back to the forefront of her mind. "What are you doing here?"
Raven Branwen stepped out from behind a tree. "I heard the news and have been watching you. There are certain things you don't know about. You are too weak to do, to understand."
She kept her frown "So you've been stalking me? That is creepy. Looking to steal something from me since you are a bandit and all?"
"Can't a mother be concerned for her child?"
"Pa-lease! You lost the ability to call yourself mother when you ran out on us!"
Yang balled her fist stood her ground. Red eyes bored into red eyes, both unmoving from there positions. Raven was the one to fold first.
"I just came to give you a message. I saved you on the train. In the rules of the tribe every person gets one save from the leader. You have used yours, don't expect it again. Raven turned around intent on leaving when one word stopped her.
"Why?"
Raven shifted. "It is a tradition in the tribe that-"
"No! I don't believe that. You said every person gets one. Then why have you been watching me?" Yang stated. "You could have just left and not said anything. I already know that you don't care about me". Her voice got low, "so why..."
"Originally you were weak. Helpless and bound to fly headlong into death for someone that thinks of you as nothing but a pawn to throw away" Yang didn't know what Raven was talking about, but she immediately thought of the counsel and the mission that caused her nothing but pain. "But recently you have been...different. When I saved you, you were weak, but now you are starting to hone your strength, seek power"
Raven smirked a little bit, "You may have reminded me of myself when I was your age. I wasn't as weak as you, but what you lack in strength you use anger and determination to fight through"
Yang was speechless. Go figure that all it took for her mother to recognise her was the worst two weeks of her life. Two weeks since Ruby had gone and Yang had spent most of her time here since. Part of her wanted to tell Raven off. Why should it matter to her whether her mother approves of her? Raven never did anything for her and she barely knew who she was, only the occasional snippets from a drunk Qrow giving her any information.
But a small piece inside her that still spoke of childhood issues and ran in fields of imagination was beaming with joy, a goofy smile on a childhood Yang happy that her mother had spoken to her. Like a child that had gotten a pat on the head and a 'good job'.
"-you yet"
Yang snapped back to reality from her mind, her eyes that were a flaming crimson still red, but now more of simmering coals than fire. "What did you say?"
Raven frowned,"I don't like to repeat myself… I said the tribe may have a use for you yet" Raven walked a bit into the forest, disappearing between the trees. "As long as you get stronger"
Yang smirked and laughed a little, adding a snort at the end for good measure. "I will get stronger! You hear me! I will beat you!" That way no one will take what I care about from me.
Yang went back to punching trees. She would level the forest if that's what it took. Fight the biggest, strongest grimm imaginable. She would get strong. If any people saw her they would say she had a devilish grin on her face, but she couldn't help but smile. She wasn't lost anymore. Not only had she been recognized, but she now had a goal: Get strong enough to surpass all others.
That way no one could tell her what to do
that way she would be the one giving the orders
-0-
It was a happy day for Pyrrha. Nora had been awake for a long time now, but the doctors insisted she stayed in the hospital until they were sure her aura was stable by itself and wouldn't relapse, but it was over! Nora was getting released today.
Pyrrha walked into the room holding Nora to see several doctors in the room. They were doing last minute checks on Nora. For a few seconds Pyrrha was worried, seeing four doctors in a room with one patient doesn't usually mean good things.
Upon seeing Nora though, her spirits were lifted again. Nora was still in a hospital gown, but she was obviously ready to go, he legs swinging back and forth on the side of the bed, litening haphazardly to the doctors telling her to take it easy and to keep a steady diet. Pyrrha knew that was not going to happen. The day Nora stopped eating pancakes like it was her last meal, the world ended...at least for Nora.
At the head of the bed was Dr. Bronze, looking over a medical chart. Nora seemed fine, but when Pyrrha looked at the doctor she got a little concerned. The other three doctors were looking at Nora satisfied, grinning and laughing that such a worrying case was past them, but Doctor Bronze, the doctor that specifically treated Nora was frowning.
"Pyrrha you're here!" Nora said seeing her coming through the door. "Did you bring my clothes?"
Pyrrha smiled and held up a bag that held the bezerkers clothes. "I wouldn't forget something so important"
"Finally! Real clothes!"Nora hopped off the bed ad grabbed the bag from Pyrrha's hand. She was wobbly and Pyrrha caught her when she almost fell. "Woops, guess when you spend this long in bed you sorta weaken. Nora grabbed the wall, but made it back over to the bed, setting the bag down on it before looking at the door leading to the small private bathroom.
"Do you need help?" Pyrrha asked trying to be helpful to a friend in need.
"Nah, I have to get back into shape at some point right? Might as well start with this." Nora grabbed the bag and started slowly making her way to the bathroom, occasionally wobbling, but doing better than her first attempt.
"Miss Nikos?" Pyrrha had been so preoccupied with making sure Nora didn't fall that she was startled when Doctor Bronze suddenly tapped her head with the clipboard.
"Wha?….I'm sorry" Pyrrha said, her face going pink and her hair whipping around.
"Kids these days, can't multitask" He looked at Pyrrha. "I've got something to tell you" The other three doctors looked at each other then left in a hurry, knowing something Pyrrha obviously didn't.
"Nora is fine right. I mean did you see her? She is fine, isn't she?"
Seeing the panic in Pyrrha's eyes the doctor gently grabbed her shoulders and showed her to the seat beside the bed. "Your friend is...complicated. Physically, she should be back to normal, but I am more worried about her mental state. She is emotionally frail, and to be perfectly honest, we can't help her any more with that here."
The idea that rowdy Nora would be any kind of frail was an odd thought process. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what I say! She seems fine but up here" he tapped his head with his knuckles "It might not be the same as it used to be...or it is and that's the problem"
"I-I still don't understand, please doctor I want to understand!" Pyrrha stared.
"I don't know either. I am a medical doctor, and though I've dabbled in other things, I couldn't give you any professional help." He sighed, "The best thing I can do and have done is set her up with counseling sessions. Call them mandatory post-trauma sessions. Just make sure she goes to them.
Pyrrha nodded.
"And promise me one other thing" Pyrrha looked into his eyes, seeing a determination. "She could be perfectly fine, or she could still be messed up, but if she is messed up, stay by her side. She'll need it"
Pyrrha tightened her grip on the chair and furrowed her brow before putting as much of a serious face on as she could. "I will, you can count on that"
"Pyrrha!" A Nora shouted falling through the now open bathroom door. Pyrrha quickly went over and got her up, Nora rubbing her head. "Maybe I should have asked for help".
Doctor Bronze chuckled. "I'll get her a cane-"
"Oh that is so cool! Nora shouted, "Then I can get a bowler hat and be like 'what are you doing here Red?" She tried to do an impression of Torchwick, not having the same affect since she was still leaning on Pyrrha for support. Either way it made Pyrrha giggle and smile.
-0-
After a bit of paperwork Pyrrha was able to help Nora out of the hospital. Nora was now walking down the hall like she never left, the only notice that she was ever in the hospital being the cane that she used for support, though less as her body adjusted to walking again.
They were walking back to the dorm when they passed the cafeteria. Nora stopped and her eyes lit up. "Hey Pyrrha, before we go back do you think we can get something to eat?"
"I thought they had you eat before they released you?"
"Psss, that is hospital food. Do we even consider that food? Come on there wasn't even pancakes!"
Considering that it was Beacon and apparently injuries were common (made sense), the hospital food was actually top of the line food. While Pyrrha couldn't understand how anyone could dispute how good the hospital food actually was, somehow it fit Nora. "Fine, but it is dinner time, I don't think they will have pancakes either"
Stepping inside the hall Nora took a big breath through her nose. "They do, I can smell it from here!" She used her cane to hobble over to the line, staking her claim to her desired meal.
Go figure that the day Nora was released happened to be breakfast for dinner at Beacon cafeteria. Pyrrha didn't know how she did it, but knowing Nora it was unlikely to be a coincidence. Like her body forced her to get better so she could enjoy it.
Pyrrha got in line herself. Spending the entire day in the Beacon hospital filling out file after file of paperwork to release Nora, as well as explaining for the umteenth time that Nora has no guardian to release her took its tole. The only one that actually listened to her was Doctor Bronze, who kept chastising the other doctors and nurses for not going fast enough.
She sat down next to Nora who had a fairly large stack of pancakes smothered and covered with syrup. Nora took a bite and stopped, looking at her. "Hey Pyrrha, does this taste different to you? I think they changed their recipe! And they didn't even tell me!"
"Really?" Pyrrha didn't know there was a specific recipe for making pancakes, but if there was ever a judge, Nora would be it.
"Try it I swear! Its not as sweat as it used to be! Its more bland now." Nora said shoving a good sized piece close to Pyrrha's face. Pyrrha was only able to bit off the end, and even in doing so she knew she got some of the butter and syrup on her. The mixture was practically melting off of the piece. "See what I mean?"
Pyrrha had no idea what she meant. It was too sweet for her. She felt like gagging, not understanding how Nora puts up with so much sugar and still kept her figure. And she ate like this every day? The world was not fair. "It still tastes sweet to me"
Nora slumped back. "Huh, maybe my body just got used to the hospital food" She grabbed her stomach. "Don't worry body, I'll save you!" She scarfed down more of the pure sugar on an oversized plate.
Pyrrha turned back to her own healthy portion of scrambled eggs, one sausage link, and toast. Seriously the world was unfair.
Halfway through packing the pancakes God-knows-where inside her body, Nora smiled at Pyrrha. "You know Pyrrha I'm glad we did this, we need more girl time. Jaune and Renny will be sad they missed out". Nora smiled again and started eating again.
That made Pyrrha stop dead in her tracks. What was that? She heard right, right?
"Of course thats why we are gonna brag all about it when we get back to the room, right Pyrrha? Keep them on their toes!"
Staring at the smiling Nora, Pyrrha felt more like she was dangling off a cliff…
-0-
Jaune stepped out of the sparing room with Mercury. "Thank you for helping me improve. It feels good to rely on people. To feel like I am getting stronger again.
"You are a part of our group now. It only makes sense that if you wanna make a difference we would have to whip you into shape." Mercury leaned against one of the pillars on the wall and shruged. "Plus you've got spunk, and Cinder seems to have taken a liking towards you"
"It is odd. I didn't expect her to be so...open about everything. To know that we have all been lied to, that Ozpin is just using us as pawns in his game? It sucks! That is why I am helping you guys, you don't need to do backflips to understand the 'political ramifications' of doing something that should be done, you just do them.
"Ehh, to complicated. Better to just keep it simple and flexible so you can modify as you go, am I right?"
"Yea you are right!" Jaune turned towards the door, sheathing his sword."Either way, thanks. Ozpin will get whats coming to him" Jaune left with a smile that dripped mischief.
"So how is he" Emerald said seeming to step out of nowhere.
Mercury shrugged, "To be honest he still could get taken down by anyone in Beacon, maybe even some academy students, but he is getting better."
"Did you just complement someone?"
Mercury shuddered, "He's like a fungus, his confidence and positivism grow on you until you can't shake it off" He looked over at Emerald, "Spend some time with him and you might actually become human"
"I'll leave you to get any infections you want from him thank you very much, leave me out of it" Mercury was about to offer a retort about how Emerald 'couldn't get any action even if she begged for it on her knees, when she cut him off. "And what about the plan?"
Mercury scowled, "He has been filled in"
"And did he question anything?"
Mercury smiled, "Fell hook line and sinker. Has no idea what we are actually doing"
Cinder stepped out from the shadows behind Emerald. "Good"
-0-
A/N: Well these are things. I always see Raven as someone who does care, but cares about power more. Also NORA! Yay!
I have changed where this story is going slightly, but the change only makes it darker I think so eh?
Either way a more light chapter with dark undertones. I do like writing Nora. I just imagine putting a child in a teenage body.
Please read and review! Comments help!