Disclaimer: RWBY and all characters associated belong to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. Not GrimGrave.

Bonus chapter continuation.

The Anthologies of a Sun Dragon

Matches III

When Tai arrived at the City of Vale it was as bustling as always; a stark contrast to the quiet, humble life in Patch. It was safer living here, granted, but for someone like Tai the tranquillity was well worth if the occasional lone Grimm was the price.

Not that he hated the big city; literally everything was close by and it had a lot to offer. Not having to travel for closer to an hour would have been nice, but he didn't mind that to meet an old friend. Tai scoured the plaza, hand in pocket ready to fish up his Scroll—

"Hello there, Taiyang. Long-time no see."

He spun around and his breath caught in his throat.

Glynda Goodwitch walked up to him, clad in a black leather skirt that ended just above her knees, a white blouse, a cardigan in muted purple, and her usual boots. A handbag was slung over her shoulder and her flaxen hair was in its usual style, but she wasn't wearing her glasses.

"Wow." The words wouldn't come to him at first as he tried to start up a conversation, to his mild embarrassment. "I…Uhm. Yes, long-time no see indeed." He mentally scolded himself for the weak response. "It's good to see you again, Glynda. You look great! I feel kind of underdressed by comparison…"

Glynda chuckled and tucked loose locks of hair behind her ear. "Nonsense, you look as dapper as always, Taiyang," she told him, her emerald eyes straying from his gaze for a quick moment. "I'm glad you could make it, but I'm sorry for the short notice."

He laughed heartily. "I can always make time for old friends, Glynda! I needed to get out of the house anyway."

"How lucky I am then that I contacted you when I did." She smiled at him. "Shall we?"

"Ah, yes." Tai gestured. "Please, lead the way."

He found it difficult to look away for too long as Glynda led him away from the station. Tai was right next to her as he snuck glances at her every so often. She had always been a beautiful woman – there was no denying that – but the years had only been kind to her and without glasses…Let's just say that it was a complimenting look for her.

"Is something the matter, Taiyang?" Her question caught him off-guard as he realized he had been staring for a moment longer than meant to when Glynda noticed.

Blushing, Tai rubbed his neck. "You're not wearing glasses."

"Oh. Yes, I decided to try contacts for a change."

"It suits you, Glynda. Not that you looked bad in glasses or anything, uh…Sorry, I'm just not used to seeing you without them. It's a good look for you."

She cleared her throat. "Thank you…I'm happy to hear that."

The café she brought them to was one Tai had walked past countless times, but never visited. The interior was homely and cozy with largely dark wooden furniture to invoke the old-timey atmosphere that seemed to go home with both older and younger patrons from the look of it.

"This will be the first time I'm visiting this place," Tai admitted as he pulled out the chair for Glynda. "Here you go."

"Such a gentleman. Thank you." She flashed him a smile and allowed herself to be seated before he sat down opposite her. "You'll like it. It has great food for affordable prices and it's close to the station."

"I wouldn't mind if it was in the middle of the city as long as I have good company," Tai said with a hearty chuckle and missed Glynda's blushing smile. "So. Before we order anything; how have you been since last time we met, Glynda?"

She snapped back to attention. "Oh! W-Well, same old, really; buried in paperwork when I'm not whipping Huntsmen and Huntresses-to-be into shape. Most of the first years aren't showing much promise I'm afraid…They're not on team STRQ's level."

"Oh wow. That's flattering yet kind of cruel towards them, Glynda."

She waved dismissingly. "It's the truth. Aside from team CFVY, who are about to graduate soon enough, and team RWBY and JNPR, there aren't too many students who show much promise. It's unfortunate." Clearing her throat, Glynda continued. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to immediately talk about work. I've been doing well, thank you. It's refreshing to finally socialize a bit more."

Tai softly laughed. "I know, right? It's been a while since I just hung out and talked to someone aside from my daughters or Qrow."

Emerald orbs narrowed. "Qrow...Yes, I see. How is she by the way? Is she still freeloading at your house?"

Tai let out a tired laughter. "Not as much as she used to, but she comes and goes. I mean it's still more often ever since Raven left and Summer passed, but…" He shrugged and sheepishly rubbed his neck. "She shows up when she pleases. Yang and Ruby doesn't mind and I guess I often don't either."

Glynda clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth ever so subtle and slowly nodded. "I'm glad to hear she's there for your daughters and not causing trouble. I want to remember she had a habit of being…`under the influence´ shall we say on more than one occasion in past. And we both know what she's like then."

"There have definitely been a few occasions of that, yes," Tai said and chuckled. "Happened just last night, actually."

The waitress, a young lynx Faunus, brought them their menus right then just as there was a jarring quick, sudden sound akin to a nail being dragged across a wooden surface.

"Oh. I see."

Tai skimmed through the menu, pleasantly surprised about the small, but interesting array of items. "Wow. I feel really old now looking at this stuff. Am I boring for just wanting a simple coffee?"

Glynda softly laughed. "Not at all. There's nothing wrong with an old-time classic," she said as she subtly eyed him up and down.

"`Old-time classic´ huh?" He chuckled. The waitress returned and they both placed their orders. "So what's new in your life, Glynda?"

"I'm afraid that there hasn't been enough…variety in my life," she replied with a plaintive sigh. "I'm married to my job, would you believe it. And the years have run past me in a hurry."

"I know what you mean; I've been so preoccupied with my job too and lost track of everything else. I still have mini heart-attacks when I'm reminded how much my daughters have grown up and then spend the evening wondering where all the time went."

"Yes, exactly!" Glynda exclaimed. "I still can't get over how some of my favourite students are just about to graduate."

Tai chuckled and Glynda soon joined in, sharing in the absurdity of the notion and earning a look from the waitress who returned with their coffees.

He shook his head, stifling himself. "Oh man…The years really have gone by, haven't they?"

"They have indeed. I don't know about you, but I've found it to be rather tiresome going through them alone..." She took a careful sip of her coffee. "Always coming home to be greeted by no-one."

Tai shot her an incredulous look. "No-one at all? I find that difficult to believe, Glynda; you're beautiful, firm but fair, and you're smart."

"I told you, I'm married to my job," she said and looked away. "Besides, I haven't exactly been looking although that can be attributed as to why I'm single in the first place."

"Well, if you do decide to give it a shot out there in the dating world then whoever you'll end up with will be extremely lucky!" He gently drank from his cup. "I only just now was pushed into the dating world myself and, uh…Well, I've gotten the impression that it might not be too late for someone like me, so it's definitely not too late."

Glynda softly laughed. "What a coincidence. So did I." She raised her own cup to her lips, gently blew, and sipped. "Is there anyone special if you don't mind me asking?"

Heat rushed to Tai's cheeks and he immediately reached for another, longer sip of his coffee. His mind reeled as the conversation with Coco – a friend of his daughters and one of Glynda's students! – come rushing back along with all the messages and friend requests he had gotten on `Lonely Huntsman´ in a short span of time.

"Oh, uh, n-no! No, none at all!"

Glynda blinked and canted her head curiously. "Is that right? Well, I could tell you the same thing you told me, but like me I'm sure you've dedicated your life to your job and your daughters." Her lips curved into a smile. "How about we change this?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"We could make this a weekly thing. We used to be fairly close back in the day after all and I would hate to see another couple of years pass before we meet again." Her smile sweetened. "Don't you agree?"

His heart skipped a single beat. There was something about the way Glynda was looking at him right now…

Tai chuckled. "You're right, Glynda. It would do us both good to take a step back from our usual routines and socialize again. It's a date then!"

He blushed at the choice of words, but Glynda giggled. "It's a date. I can't wait." She playfully clink her cup against Tai's before they both imbibed their coffees.

x.x.x

Once the social outing was over (due to Glynda being needed elsewhere and Tai needed to return home) the pair had promised to meet up at the same place next week and properly start to spend time together again. Tai had made a mental note to update his wardrobe until then.

He remained giddy the whole way to the station. It had been fun to see Glynda again after so long, but he still couldn't wrap his head around how stunning she looked in casual getup! Time had certainly been generously kind to her like with wine.

Not to mention the way she had behaved; Tai swore that she had been more…flirty than how she usually behaved. Perhaps he was overthinking it and his sudden popularity on the website has just gotten to his head a bit.

But what if—

"Hey there, mister."

"Huh?" Tai blinked and snapped back full attention (had he already made it to the station?), bewildered, before he turned to the source of the voice; a young, platinum-blonde woman. There were three other women behind her – a Huntress team most likely, graduates as well.

"Oh, hello! Sorry, I was zoning out! Can I help you?"

The blonde smirked, amused. "Yes, actually, as long as you're familiar with the City of Vale."

"Indeed I am!" He exclaimed. "Let me guess; you want to know the local tourist spots."

"Close. I don't suppose you know any good bars or pubs? Or recommend any clubs? Maybe an arena by any chance?"

"An arena? Welp, I know of a dojo or two, but that's about it. They're near the east and west districts respectively, you can't miss their entrance signs. Pubs and bars however I know well enough via an old teammate," Tai admitted and began to point in the direction of the station entrance. "If you head straight down from here you'll find `Crow Bar´, a pretty good food-&-alcohol establishment. There's another pub down a few blocks called `The Primrose Path´ but it doesn't open until a couple more hours…" He paused for a moment and scratched his chin. "If you're into sports there's the sports-bar near the city square as well. The `House of Red Leaves´ is a nice place to visit too!"

"We could kill some times in Vale's dojos before we hit it up at The Primrose Path," one of the other women – this one a brunette – stated.

"Sounds like a plan," the blonde replied. Her gaze met Tai's again as she smiled a disarming smile. "Would you care to accompany four lovely gals around town? We'd appreciate a guided tour and I'm certain we could form a long friendship."

He balked. "Oh, uh…I don't think I can afford the time, I'm afraid. I'd love to, really, but my daughters are waiting for me back home and—"

"Ooh," another woman – a redhead with black trapezoidal sunglasses – cooed. "You hear that, ladies? He's a daddy." They snickered amongst themselves.

"Won't you reconsider, mister?" The fourth woman with goggles and orange hair asked.

"Trust me I'd love to," Tai half-lied. "But I'm expected elsewhere. I'm sure you'll have no problems with, uhm, befriending someone else."

"Aw. That's a shame," said the blonde and pouted. "Just when we thought we had a catch. Tell you what though, we will be staying in Vale for a while so…" She fished up her Scroll and began typing quickly. When she held it out for him it displayed four rows of numbers. "Why don't you give us a call when you're back in town and we'll catch up, Mr…? Heh, sorry, we didn't even introduce ourselves. What's your name?"

"It's, ah, Taiyang," he replied as he copied the numbers to his Scroll despite himself.

"Taiyang…exotic. I like it." The blonde chuckled and her friends snickered. "I'm Bianca and these are Roane, Ivy, and Ruda. It was a pleasure to meet you, Taiyang." She winked at him and turned to leave. "I hope to hear from you sooner rather than later. We'll have a wild time."

Bianca left with a wave and her friends each waved and winked Tai goodbye, save for Roane who blew him a kiss as she passed by.

He gawked at the four of them as they left and his gaze betrayed him as it strayed appreciatively to their swaying hips and backsides until he turned around completely. His mind attempted to process what just happened as he slowly walked the rest of the way to buy a ticket in an utter loss for words.

There was a bit of pride swelling within him, but most of all he was surprised. Those women were definitely younger than him and the implication that they had set their eyes on him right away was…flattering?

He took a seat on the air-buss and waited, mentally exhausted. Ever since he had joined `Lonely Huntsman´ things had taken a sharp breakneck turn! The flow of messages and matches, chatting with Coco, Glynda's behaviour, and now this; being chatted up by a Huntress team!

His Scroll began to play its custom-made tune for a specific person and Tai answered with a weary sigh. "What do you want, Qrow?"

His old teammate pouted at him. "Hello to you too. I just wanted to thank you again for the help earlier."

"Right, right. Sorry. I'm just a bit mentally drained is all."

"Hmph. I'd drain you alright…"

"You need to speak up, I can't hear you when you're mumbling," he told her.

"It was nothing!" Qrow shot back, looking flustered. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"About what?"

"Have you considered taking up workout V-Logs by any chance?"