I do not own Roosterteeth, RWBY, or any of the characters that preside in it. I only write the story arranging them differently.
Chapter 6: Troubles and Thoughts.
Beacon Academy
Qrow found himself sitting on an armchair with many emotions bouncing around his head. Ozpin had stated that the girl Blake had indeed been the one who set off the bomb, but was not the one who planned event. He had told Qrow about her sob story, saying something along the lines of: "She felt remorse for her actions and made no attempt to deny them," which wasn't quite enough for Qrow, who had been worrying about losing his niece 72 hours ago. However, in the corner of his mind, lingered a thought. He saw himself inside of Blake, how he had been just as worried 20 years ago when Ozpin found out that Raven and he were from the Branwen Tribe, a notorious clan famous for clearing villages in mere seconds. He vividly remembers how shocked he was when Ozpin had offered him a new life, one as a huntsman. But even so, he would have never stayed here if it wasn't for his team and other companions along the way. He felt like it was his responsibility to train Blake to be better than he when he was at her age, maybe help her through some of the troubles he faced when betraying his cause. He sighed again, hoping Tai was faring better than he was.
Xiao Long/Rose Household, Patch
It turns out that Tai wasn't faring too well either.
He had returned to Patch with the two girls behind him, hoping for a peaceful walk home and a nap in bed. He had finally made it to his bed when he heard the whirring, and it all spiraled from that point. Turns out that being cooped up for 3-4 days in enclosed spaces with minimal movement was too much for Ruby, and now that he had enhanced limbs and newfound strength, she did the one thing he feared the most: frenzy.
He looked outside the window into the open space in the backyard and thanked the stars that he had the forethought to build this house here in the woods, it would have been too hard to explain the scene happening before his eyes. Yang had completely given up on trying to catch her and had chosen to simply watch instead.
Ruby ran, and then jumped, her gravity core allowing her to fly around with ease, all while shooting off all types of ammunition as she tried more and more of the weaponry in her new body. She tried tried to regain control of her bearings, but she lost control and ran smack dab into one of the young ash trees Tai had planted a decade ago. There was a large thud, and then an "IM OKAY" in the distance.
Tai breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered a specific conversation he had with Qrow ten years ago, regarding those trees he had planted:
"These trees were pretty hard to plant" Tai breathed out, finally planting the last one in: "hopefully they stay up."
As soon as he said that, one of the ash trees caught fire and turned into ash, he turned around and saw Qrow drinking from his flask.
"Dammit Qrow! That was my favourite one too!"
"Not anymore, but hey relax, the other trees are fine, and I'll leave em be, same thing can't be said for your future children though."
"My children will surely have the same touch for gardening as I do, and they certainly won't knock one of them over. You only knock them over because your superpower is literally bad luck."
"Heh, wanna bet?" Qrow said, smirking as one of the other ash trees fell over.
"5000 lien?"
"1000 lien for each tree knocked over, gotta make it fair for you" Qrow grinned as yet another tree fell over.
"You're on, now please leave before they all fall."
Tai groaned, now he owes Qrow 1000 lien, which was not a lot of money, but Qrow would certainly tell Yang and Ruby about this, who in turn would tease him about this. He looked and squinted through the sun, and saw that ruby was trying to put the ash tree back up to a standing position, only to crush the tree with her arms, which could apply force equal to 10,000 psi when pushed to the limit. Tai quickly rushed over and took over the replanting process before Ruby, or Yang for that matter, shredded what was left of that poor ash tree.
Beacon Academy
"Swing with your left, and then parry with your right," Blake did as she was told, and swung her training foil at Qrow, then parried Qrow's with her right foil. This went on for several more minutes, until Qrow called for the training to end, and Blake collapsed with a grunt. They went for a drink of water and a quick snack for lunch. Blake took this moment to test the waters that lay beyond her with a simple question:
"Is she okay?"
Qrow tensed, and Blake instinctively flinched. She a felt safer when Qrow's posture relaxed and answered her question:
"Well, to answer your question, she needed prosthetics, nearly died and put us on edge." Qrow listed, leaving out information on Ruby being a robot, sensitive information after all. Seeing Blake shrink more than he thought humanly, or Faunusly possible, he put a hand on her shoulder, clearing his throat to get her attention: "but she's fine, Tai just messaged me moments ago about the physical state of the backyard." Qrow then decided it was his turn to ask Blake a question: "Do you want to talk to your parents?"
"You know them?" Blake had thought of connecting with them, but had been too afraid thinking of what they would say.
"Of course, now do you want to contact them?"
"Yes, but…what if they hate me, for causing the mess that I did?" Qrow frowned at that, and decided to give her some advice regarding that:
"Kid, I'm not forcing you do contact your parents now, but listen to what I have to say. I was in a position like you years ago, and unfortunately, I made the mistake of never contacting some other old pals of mine ever again after a conflict split us apart. I found myself at one of my friend's gravestone apologizing for my actions, for not keeping in contact, and coming to help them when they needed it." He paused, looking at Blake again before continuing:
"Blake, you love your mom and dad right?" he gets a nod. "Then you gotta protect them, even if your certain they won't love you back, keep your loved ones close Blake. Don't make the mistake I did and assume, always make sure, even if you find they hate you. It's better to be safe than sorry." They both sat in silence for a few moments, until Qrow broke the silence with a low chuckle: "Wow, only a few hours into training, and I'm already sharing important parts of my life, I must be getting soft."
It was silent again, and Blake made her choice: "May I use the scroll Mr. Branwen?"
"Don't call me Mr. Branwen, it reminds me of teaching people at Signal, call me Qrow."
"Okay Qrow." Blake dialed her home number, and waited.
White Fang Main HQ, Mistral
"Just what in the world were you imbeciles thinking?"
The White fang members who coordinated the bombing were facing the wrath of several senior White Fang members through a video call, and they had reason to be mad. The White Fang changed leadership, and their tactics changed from protesting for peace to directly freeing Faunus from mines with force, so when Adam and several others coordinated a bomb attack on a civilian area, backlash to the incident was understandably severe. Other organizations who hadn't decided to pull away when they first went to arms, like the Faunus Labour Union, were pulling their support away from the White Fang. The attack on Schnee Manor had become this week's hottest topic with 130 thousand shares.
"The White Fang's methods may have become one with more force but that does not give you reason to attack civilian areas, we only use force to liberate Faunus from the mines that hold them against their will. Now papers across the world have condemned us, calling us an extreme terrorist group bent on destruction, and that is not our goal. This is short sighted, reckless and foolish decision making that has ruined our image in front of other Faunus."
The video call was ended before Adam could respond, and Sienna Khan slouched down on her throne, drained after ranting for that long. When Ghira and Kali left the White Fang due to their decreasing popularity and a protest that had turned into a riot, Sienna was happy to take over and move the White Fang into a more aggressive stance, one that directly freed Faunus and sometimes Human miners from extremely decrepit and dangerous mines. Now, she understood just what Ghira and Kali said to her shortly before leaving the Fang:
"Sienna, our methods are no longer supported by many of the White Fang, and you are our one of our most trusted advisors. We trust you to lead the White fang in our absence but please: Remember that if you fight, you fight for peace and equality, if the White Fang fight to satisfy their vengeance, then many other people who don't seek vengeance will far for your own actions. It only takes one action, one step for the organization to fall off the deep end. You don't just lead people who have peace as their top priorities, but bitter men and women who would like nothing more than humanity's downfall. We fear that freeing people from mines will only be the first step forward into downright bloodshed, before other members of the Fang find more brutal ways to sate their desires. Goodbye Sienna, and good luck with keeping the organization together, it is harder than trying to find equal ground with the most stubborn of humans."
Keep the organization together huh? Sienna mused as she looked at the empty hall of the High Leader's room. The doors to the hall suddenly exploded, and gunshots filled the room, a coup d'etat was in progress, with Sienna as their target.
Xiao Long Household, Patch
"I hope you've realized the true extent of your actions young lady."
Ruby was sitting down on the couch, ears drooping in shame as Tai lectured her about property damage once more. She knew he was right about how tearing up the backyard and furniture was bad, but she couldn't help it. She had been stuck in a place that smelled like metal and medicine, for like half a week. She didn't mind if there was always a way for her to get out, but in those rooms everything was closed, not even a window could be used to escape. "I'm sorry dad…" She mumbled, looking down ears drooping and shoulders slouching. She then remembered a special technique Dr. Polendina had put in for her eyes:
"I added a modification to your eyes, making them more powerful than ever."
"Oh, what can they do?"
"Basically if someone is mad at you and you need to get their attention, simply act really sad, and droop your ears, then widen your eyes and look up at them, they will surely be defeated." The Professor grinned and left to get some coffee. Ruby heard him mumbling under his breath: "Tai's not going to stand a chance. Heheheh…"
She looked up, with her ears drooping and widened her eyes, just as Tai looked back.
puppy_eyes-Online
Ruby's eyes became even wider than before, with sparkles appearing over her irises and moisture collecting at the corners as she used her eyes on her father. Tai faltered, looking at Ruby's shining eyes almost to tears, and was immediately struck. Yang would later state that Tai went and had a talk with the professor about something called the "Vytal Conventions," saying the word superweapon every now and then.
Belladonna Household
Ghira and Kali Belladonna were anxiously pacing in their Manor. The news on the White Fang had been worrying, with Sienna condemning the actions of the Atlas branch of the organization, and then learning that said group had a referendum to separate from the White Fang, only staying in the movement by 14 seats, 57 to 43, when they had contacted Sienna, she did not pick up, which was strange, because as High Leader of the White Fang, all you did was sit down at a chair and discuss current problems with other senior members, and that itself didn't happen often. None of these news gave them as much grey hair as the worst news of all: Blake had gone missing. Adam had contacted them, saying that Blake failed to make it back to the rendezvous point after the incident. They contacted Ilia, who was in the Vale Branch, and the answer they got was much worse: Blake had been arrested. Several calls to the station were unanswered due to an apparent power outage at that sector. Ghira was preparing himself to fly to Vale when he heard his phone ring, the caller was Qrow Branwen, an old contact he met with from time to time. He picked up the call, and answered: hello Qrow, do you bring news of Blake? Qrow new a lot of things around the underworld, if anyone knew where and how Blake was, it was him. Instead of hearing the gruff scratchy voice, he heard a soft and smaller voice:
"Dad?"
Ghira nearly dropped his scroll, beckoning Kali with his hand as he funbled with the device.
"Blake, how are you? Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay."
"You're using Qrow's scroll, what happened Blake?" Had Qrow apprehended Blake?
"Well, I got arrested, and some man called Ozpin managed to bail me out with a condition to work for him, Qrow's been training me basic martial arts."
"Blake sweetie? Are you hurt in any way?" it was Kali's turn to ask.
"Nono, I'm fine, I…confessed to the officer, and apparently my story of being deceived by the White Fang matched up with other testimonies, including yours, so I'm not going to be sentenced to live 10 years in jail."
"Thank goodness, we we're so worried!" there was silence on the phone, and the parents were confused on why she apparently hung up until she spoke again:
"Why aren't you mad at me? I planted a bomb at someone's house, w-with your name? I tarnished the reputation of the White Fang! People got hurt!" Blake sounded close to crying on the other end of the phone.
Ghira chose this moment to activate the video call option, and they saw Blake with tears running on her face, with a somewhat awkward Qrow in the background. He and Kali both smiled each other and consoled Blake:
"Blake, we knew that you didn't have the ill will to hurt someone like that, we were told by an old contact of ours in the White Fang that a bunch of lower white fang Members planned a bombing with you as the unsuspecting planter of the bomb. We knew that it wasn't you, and we would never hate you Blake. However, is the person caught in the blast okay? From what we heard it's bad."
Qrow chose this moment to speak up: "My niece is fine, though she did lose some limbs and doesn't sleep much anymore, but I don't blame Blake over here."
"Oh, that is certainly the development, well, There are people at the door and we might not be able to hold this conversation any longer. Goodbye Qrow, please take care of Blake, and Blake, we love you, goodbye."
Beacon academy
Blake let out a sigh of relief, a weight dropping from her shoulders, she looked up in gratitude at Qrow. Qrow smiled down at her, and then shifted into his best staff sergeant imitation: "Alright now, break time is over, get ready Belladonna we're going weight lifting! He shouted, lifting Blake and walking towards her doom.
Needless to say, Blake would not be resting for a long time.