Hello everyone! It's your boy OGGuy again with another chapter! Chapter 4! I just realized that Sonic and his friend's arrival created a MASSIVE ripple effect! This is good and difficult for me at the same time but I enjoy the challenge! On the 3rd of September, I'll be over at my home girl/sister's place while my folks will be out of town heading to a family reunion but I'm not attending since COVID is not under control yet and if they come back bringing it back, I ain't staying with them. I'm sorry but I am not trying to catch it. But enough about that, let's get into the chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: All characters, music, and etc belong to their respective creators!
Oscar Pine carries a pitchfork into the barn, which has loose bits of hay strung about the floor. He passes a sink with a mirror behind it, and something makes him pause and take a closer look. He sees his own reflection and lifts a lock of his hair, as if expecting something different. He leans forward and examines the mirror more closely.
"Hello?" He hesitantly calls out to his reflection.
Just as Oscar is about to back away, a voice booms out, sending him crashing backward.
"Hello! I'm Professor Ozpin!" The deceased Headmaster introduces himself in a bemused tone.
The Farm Boy looks up at the sink and mirror from the floor of the barn, breathing heavily. From outside the barn, a woman's voice calls out.
"Oscar? Be careful with those tools!"
The scene transitions to Yang Xiao Long being inside a black void. All around her are broken pieces of buildings and darkness. She looks around, confused, and lets out a small gasp when she looks down. She raises both of her arms and turns them, examining their presence. Yang looks up from her arms to see Adam Taurus walking toward her. The red accents in his hair, mask and outfit have a surreal glow. Yang steps back defensively and discovers that she is suddenly wearing Ember Celica. She blasts Adam five times, but they do nothing to him while he steadily continues walking closer. Adam puts his right hand on the handle of his sheathed sword. Yang tries to attack him again, but her weapon is gone, as is her right arm. She stares for a moment in confusion and disbelief and then startles when Adam is abruptly directly before her. He grins at her and starts to unsheath Wilt from Blush. Yang awakens with a gasp as she sharply sits up feeling her right arm. The flamboyant girl sighed in relief as her right limb was still intact. We see that we're in her room, lying on top of her bed. Then she hears laughter coming from downstairs.
She heads downstairs to discover two men having a good time with her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, in the kitchen. One man had messy green hair, brown eyes, a disheveled white shirt partially tucked into his dark-green pants and its collar raised, showing a slack yellow tie, along with mismatched brown and black shoes. He also has round glasses that appear to be opaque. The other man was in early old age. He wears a double-breasted burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons. His pants he wears tucked into olive boots, similar in appearance and construction to cavalry boots. He has gray hair and a gray mustache and is a fat man. His build is similar to an apple shape, where he is chubbier on his top half, with a bit of a belly. They are Professors Bartholomew Oobleck and Peter Port! Instructors from Beacon Academy!
(-Music: Memory of Youth [ Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 ]-)
"And, and, and then, in comes Qrow, wearing a skirt! I was just a TA, I-I didn't know what to do, so I just... I just left the room to laugh!" Port states before laughing heartily.
Then the blonde girl comes to the kitchen door while the three men laugh.
"We told him it was a kilt! He'd never worn a uniform before, so he didn't know!" Taiyang added before snickering.
"That is terrible! What is wrong with you!?" Oobleck inquired while shaking his head with a smile on his face.
"Hey! The girls all said he had nice legs! I did that jerk a favor! Besides, that's not even the best part! See, then we-"
Port puts his right leg on the tabletop, cutting off Taiyang. ""Like what you see?""
The three laugh and Port loses his balance. He tries to save himself from falling, but ends up on the floor.
"Whoa-oh!"
There's even more laughter as Taiyang claps from mirth and Port joins in the hilarity from the floor. Yang giggles too, covering her mouth, but the three teachers become alerted to her presence. Oobleck stands while Port gets up off the floor.
"Oh, uh, Miss Xiao Long! Uh, please, join us." The cellulite man warmly invited Yang to join in their conversation.
Oobleck laughed, feeling embarrassed as the blonde girl walked into the room. "Oh, yes, yes, pull up a chair. Please, pull up a chair."
"I'm good." She says as Yang hoists herself backward up onto the kitchen counter, beside where her father stands. Port and Oobleck sit back down. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Despite popular belief, teachers do have a life outside the classroom." Said the Hyperactive Man.
"Professor Goodwitch is working 'round the clock to restore Beacon to its former glory! But, Mistral wasn't built in a day. And we all need rest from time to time." Port added in. "But thanks to you all coming in to help out in the construction. Hopefully, we'll be able to restore Beacon before this year's end."
"Now look, let's not worry about that right now. So, there we were, standing in the auditorium, looking at Qrow, wearing a skirt. Then Oz tells everyone, "It's time to work on our landing strategy!"" The Father of Yang and Ruby continued telling his tale of his time back when he was a student of Beacon.
"The Branwen twins have always been... interesting, to say the least." Oobleck said that of course annoyed the Xiao Long Patriarch a bit in that topic.
"That sure didn't seem to stop young Tai."
"Hey, come on, man, she's right here."
Port lightly shook his head. "Oh, please! She's a mature young woman! If she can handle combat, she can handle a few jabs at her old man!"
"That's not the issue, Pete! And besides, she's still a teenager!" Taiyang countered firmly.
Yang rolled her violet eyes. ""She" is also in the room, and can be directly spoken to. And I think I've been through enough to be considered an adult at this point."
Taiyang sighed. "Adult or not, you've still got a long way to go before you're ready for the real world."
"Oh my gosh! Does every father figure have the same three condescending phrases?"
"Yeah! But we only use them when we mean it!"
The two men look at each other as father and daughter argue, a touch uncomfortable. Oobleck takes a sip from his mug while Port pulls at his collar.
"Is that so?" The flamboyant girl inquired with a challenging look on her face.
"As a matter of fact, it is so! If you honestly think that you're ready to go out there on your own, ha, well I guess you lost some brain cells." Taiyang jested, which made her gasp and pulled away from her father's face while a stunned Port leaned forward and Oobleck's mouth dropped open and his glasses slipped down. There's a comedic beat before the mug slips out of Oobleck's hand to safely land on the table. All three stare at Taiyang for a few seconds.
"You… jerk!" Yang playfully punches Taiyang, and the father and daughter laugh together.
Taiyang and Yang look at each other and then laugh. Relieved laughter comes from both Port and Oobleck.
"Oh, Miss Xiao L— Yang, if you don't mind me asking, why haven't you left with everyone else on their journeys?" Port inquired.
"Because we have a different destination than the others have." A voice answered his question. The camera pans to Knuckles Kaji who was standing at the doorway of the kitchen. "We're sorta on a recruitment mission. Myself and Yang have 4 more days left before we take off."
(-Music Ends-)
The three men look at the Echidna Faunus before looking at each other but this kinda soured Yang's mood as she knows who she's going after and hopefully recruit to join their fight to save Mistral from the coming attack.
"May we ask who is the individual that you two are recruiting?" Oobleck asks.
"Classified. Sorry. This is a…" Knuckles turns to the frowning Yang who had her arms crossed. This made him sigh as he closed his eyes. "Sensitive case that's meant to those who are involved. Once we do our part, I'll notify you of the details."
"But at least tell me where you both will be heading, Knuckles. As Yang's father, I have the right to know where my girls go." The Xiao Long Patriarch said with a firm look on his face. Of course, his fatherly instincts kicked in.
"We'll be heading to the western side of Anima."
(-Music: The Night Sky On That Day [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
The two Professor's looked at each other in confusion on the choice of destination. There was nothing over there besides a forest, caves, and cliffs. But Taiyang's eyes widened in surprise as he had an epiphany on who resided there, then his demeanor changed to a slightly pained expression. He knew who they were going for. Before Knuckles left the room, Taiyang took a breath.
"When you see her… don't give her too much trouble please." Taiyang said as he looked at Knuckles' back, who remained still.
The echidna Faunus turns his head enough for Taiyang's face to be in his peripherals. "We're just going to ask. But since this is an opportunity for Yang to make amends with her at least. To get some kind of closure… well if any."
This statement made Yang face him with a surprised look as he left the room and then the sound of the front door being closed was heard. Then it was silent. Quiet enough to hear Knuckles' footsteps leave the cabin.
The scene transitions to Yang taking the last steps at the top of the stairs. She turns partially and lifts her hand to those below.
"Goodnight!" The flamboyant blonde says to her father and her two teachers.
Then she gazes at the window as she moves to the window when she hears the front door to the house open followed by the voices of the three men. She decides to stand outside, beside the window and listen.
"Thanks for having us over Tai." Port thanked him.
"Any time. You're always welcome." The Xiao Long Patriarch said with a small smile on his face.
"It may be a while before we return. There is still much work to be done at the school." Oobleck states.
"I hesitate to ask, but is there any word from young Miss Rose or Mister Takamaki? Or the rest of Team JNPR?" The cellulite man inquired about the two speedsters and Jaune's team.
Behind Taiyang, Yang moves into visibility at her bedroom window.
Taiyang shook his head. "Not yet."
"Have you thought about going after her? Trying to bring her home?"
"I've got to... look after some things." The blonde man sighs as he gazes at his daughter's window. "But Sonic will look after her. I haven't been let down by him and his friends yet. I trust Knuckles to look after my Sunny Little Dragon."
This made Yang move out of sight again and squeezed her right upper arm, looking dejected. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes as they changed from purple to a glowing red as a small smile appeared on her face.
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Lonely Journey [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
On a path through the woods, Team JNPR and Sonic move forward with Ruby looking at a map.
"Come on, guys! If we pick up the pace, we can hit the next town before sunset!" Ruby said.
"Assuming that it's still there." Jaune says being pessimistic.
"Jaune." Pyrrha called his name in a firm voice, making her boyfriend sigh.
"Of course it'll be there. This one's supposed to be pretty big! Hee-gan...bayn-a." The Hooded Huntress struggled to pronounce the name of the next town.
"Higanbana. It's a well protected village with a popular inn." Ren spoke.
"Which means, no camping in the rain!" Nora said with glee in her voice.
"Hopefully that they have some chili dogs somewhere! I'm OVERDUE for some!" Sonic chimed in as he placed his hands behind his head.
"See? Everything's going to be fine!" Ruby said, trying to raise the mood a bit more.
"You know, we've had a lot of ups and downs. But things could be a lot worse. I really thought we'd see more Grimm." The Blonde Arc said as he looked at his surroundings.
"As did I."
"I guess our luck is finally turning around!"
"I agree with Ren and Jaune, but we shouldn't lower our guard." The redhead stated, reminding everyone that they're in the wilderness of Anima.
"I have to agree with Pyrrha. Let's not lose our focus. We didn't come this far just to lose." The Blue Blur said as he looked at the sky but then his eyes turned to the rocky outcropping for a moment before he shrugged.
The scene changes to the group being viewed from above, a rocky outcropping just on the edge of the view.
"To Higanbana!" Nora chimed.
"To Higanbana!" Jaune and Ren repeated in unison.
"To Higanban... ban-a!" Ruby cheered, despite struggling to say the town name.
A Beowolf stomps into view and growls at the four kids. Just as it is about to leap, it is stabbed through by Qrow. Three disintegrating bodies of other Beowolves are just behind him. A black raven caws from a tree branch on eye level with Qrow, catching his attention. He looks at it and it flies off, following the group.
Qrow scoffs. "Luck."
(-Music Ends-)
It's raining in the village of Higanbana. Through the window of an inn, the four kids are shown silently discussing with the proprietor. A backward zoom brings the visual out into the street, and through yet another window being viewed from the inside of a tavern. Qrow sits at a table, watching. A fair-skinned woman with black hair and brown eyes. She wears a sleeveless red dress with a gold trim and a white apron. She wears her hair tied in a loop, and wears armbands on both wrists. The waitress sets a glass with liquor and ice in front of him.
"Oh, I didn't o—"
"From the woman upstairs. Red eyes. Said you wouldn't mind bottom shelf." The Waitress said kindly to him.
Qrow turns and looks up. An overhead shot shows the spacious lower level of the tavern and its several round tables, while the edge of a balcony is just visible. He turns back.
"Thanks."
"But I went ahead and gave you top. Lucky you." The Waitress winked at him.
With a pleased smirk, Qrow watches the waitress as she walks away. After she is gone, he looks through the two windows to see no one visible in the lobby of the inn.
"Yeah."
He takes his glass and heads upstairs. A woman who looked like the spitting image of Yang but she had jet black hair, her eyebrows are a little bit higher, her complexion is significantly lighter and slight age lines are under her eyes. Her hair is tied by a red bandanna and loosely done up in a ponytail with the ends resembling curved black feathers. A cowlick can be seen protruding from the top of her head, similar to that of her daughter's. Her attire is a shallow cut black and red dress with black shorts underneath, with a series of beaded necklaces and a belt that wrapped around her waist and carried her weapon's sheath. Attached also is a long black object that is either fur or feathers, with a red and white bandana material hanging from behind her. Her forearms bear red armored gauntlets that protrude outwards and black fingerless gloves. Her heels gain a red sole, her leggings become solid black and her eyes now a darker crimson color. She is the mother of Yang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, the twin sister of Qrow. She awaits him at one of the tables, her mask atop it.
(-Music: Conspiracy in Motion [ Sen no Kiseki III ]-)
"Hello, brother." She greets him.
Qrow stares at her from the top of the stairs for a moment before moving to her. "Raven."
He pulls the chair that's beside her and drags it to a position across from her instead. With his hand on the back of the chair, he simply looks at her expectantly. Raven rolls her eyes and moves her mask to the side her brother sits down.
"So, what do you want?"
"A girl can't just catch up with her family?" Raven inquired.
Qrow narrowed his eyes. "She can, but you're not. Now how 'bout we get on with it? Unless you plan on keeping these comin'."
"Does she have it?"
The twin brother doesn't answer right away, instead running his fingertip along the edge of his glass not saying nothing. "Yang is fine."
"That's not—"
Qrow rolls his eyes. "Rhetorical question, I know you know. It's just obnoxious that you'd bring up family and then carry on like your own daughter doesn't exist."
"I—" Then she remembers back when Knuckles was tending to her unconscious daughter back on the train. Raven leans forward and grabs Qrow by the forearm, stilling his sarcastic, nonchalant motions. The view slowly spins above their heads as she speaks intently to him. "I told you Beacon would fall and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail and he has. Now you tell me. Does. Salem. Have it?"
"I thought you weren't interested in all of that."
"I just want to know what we are up against."
"And which "we" are you referring to?"
Raven glares and finally lets go of her brother and sits back down with a noise of disgust.
"You should come back, Raven. The only way we'd beat her is by working together. All of us." Qrow suggested after pinching between his eyebrows.
"You're the one who left. The tribe raised us, and you turned your back on them." Raven retorted to her brother.
"They were killers and thieves."
"They were your family."
The alcoholic man scoffs at her statement. "You have a very skewed perception of that word."
The Branwen Sister's patience with her brother ran out as she stood up. "I lead our people now. And as leader, I will do everything in my power to ensure our survival."
"I saw. The people of Shion saw, too."
"The weak die, the strong live. Those are the rules."
"Well, you've certainly got someone strong on your side. I've seen the damage."
Raven turns away from Qrow. "We couldn't have known the Grimm would set in as quickly as they did."
"I'm not talking about the Grimm."
Her eyes widen slightly at her brother's words as she faces upward.
"And I'm not talking about you, either."
"If you don't know where the Relic is, then we have nothing left to talk about." Raven reaches for her mask but Qrow's hand was already on it.
"I don't know where the Spring Maiden is, either, but if you do, I need you to tell me." Said a firm Qrow who narrowed his eyes slightly.
"And why would I do that?" She pulled her mask out of Qrow's grasp.
"Because without her, we're all going to die."
A moment of tense silence passes between them as a nearby lantern dies out.
Raven scoffs at this. "And which "we" are you referring to?"
He grimaces as Raven walks away. The sound of her sword getting unsheathed is heard and he looks up, unhappy. Raven walks into her red portal and disappears. There's the sound of breaking glass and a gasp. Qrow turns to see the waitress, trembling at the sight of Raven disappearing. She takes a cautious step backward as she looks sideways at Qrow.
"Make this one a double." The Alcoholic Man said to her gesturing to his glass.
(-Music Ends-)
Back at Patch, Taiyang is outside the house, watering his bed of sunflowers. His daughter comes out while tying her hair into a ponytail. She notices Knuckles sitting in a meditative position and then faces her father who stands up with a smile on his face.
"Okay! Let's get started." He said as he popped his knuckles.
[ To Be Continued... ]