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Chapter 3

Yang Xiao Long considered herself a master escape artist.

Departing from the two bedroom apartment she currently occupied undetected was looking to be a piece of cake. The residence's occupants were still asleep and wouldn't be awake until she was long gone. Before Yang could celebrate another successful getaway, however, she had to make sure she wasn't missing anything.

Yang quickly ran through a checklist in her head. She wasn't missing a single article of clothing, she had been able to easily locate both of her boots and slip her feet into them, and her scroll and motorcycle keys were on her person. In other words, everything was accounted for.

And who said I can't do stealth? Yang thought as made her way to the door. Pleased with herself, she attempted to reach for the door nob, only to realize she had celebrated too soon.

"Crap!" Yang hissed immediately after it registered that she was missing her right arm. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to locate the metal prosthetic. She knew she needed to find it fast to salvage her graceful exit.

She retraced her steps as quickly and quietly as she could but came up empty. Before she could muster the courage to sneak back into the bedroom to find the missing part of herself, the door to said room creaked open and her arm emerged from it.

"Need a hand?" the person holding the object asked. He was about her age, had black hair and dark eyes, wolf ears on the top of his head, and no shirt on.

And for the life in her she couldn't remember his name.

"I guess so," Yang replied, giving the most genuine laugh she could given the circumstances. She accepted the prosthetic and reattached it to herself, flexing metallic fingers as she did to make sure it was still calibrated correctly.

"You headin' out?" the faunus asked.

"Yeah..." Yang began as she looked around, almost hoping that an easy excuse would appear in front of her. "You were still asleep and I didn't want to be a bother-"

"Oh, it's no bother." He turned back into the bedroom. "Hey, Yang's leaving!"

Yang's cursed under her breath as a half-naked young woman appeared in the doorway. She was human, with dark hair and yellowish eyes.

"Aw, that's a shame," the girl said, pretending to pout. Yang found herself remembering why she had continued to flirt with the girl the previous night. "Well, last night was fun. I've never driven with two other people on the back of a motorcycle before."

"Yeah, it was an adventure alright," Yang pretended to agree as she inched her way backwards. "But you know what they say. All good things..."

"Wait!" the faunus said suddenly as he presented his scroll to her. "We didn't get your number."

"Right..." Yang considered putting in a number other than her own, but she couldn't remember Weiss' number off the top of her head so settled on giving the real thing. If anything, she could pretend to be away on mission whenever they decided to call.

She eventually did make it outside, realizing that the day was already well into the afternoon. Apparently the previous nights "activities" had kept them up later than she had thought. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise, as it saved Yang the trouble of having to find some other way to occupy her time before meeting with Ruby and her father. Whatever the case, though, Yellow Jacket was right where she'd left her.

Sliding the key into the ignition with zero effort, the motorcycle came to life and Yang headed directly for her childhood home. It wasn't a long trip in any sense of the word. Patch was not a very large place to begin with, and its roads were relatively empty on most days. Peaceful had always been an apt word when describing the island, even during the war. It was one of the few places on Remnant that saw none of the conflict.

The shortness of the journey was also down to how Yang typically liked to travel. When she was on her bike, she liked to clear her thoughts of any baggage she might currently be carrying. It was a lot like meditating in that way.

Her moment of zen eventually came to an end as she reached her destination. The small, one story cabin never seemed to change much over the years. Same bumps in the dirt road leading to the house, as well as the same boxes of sunflowers by the front. The door was unlocked, but this had never been a cause for concern. Her father was a trained huntsmen, and Yang pitied the common criminal who tried to break into the cabin while he was home.

And of course, there was also the guard dog. Zwei looked in Yang's direction as she entered the house. He wagged his tail, but made no effort to get up from his spot on the living room couch to greet her. Instead, the corgi rolled over as Yang approached, allowing her to scratch her metal fingers against his belly.

"Still enjoying peacetime, buddy?" Yang commented. Zwei was definitely a bit rounder than the last time she had seen him.

She didn't spend more than a few seconds there, deciding to instead follow the voices she heard into the kitchen.

"I was just saying that keeping stuff on the top shelf didn't stop me when I was little so it's not gonna work now," Ruby's voice echoed, her voice about halfway between playful banter and actual annoyance.

"And I'm saying that if I had actually been trying to keep it from you, you'd never have gotten to it," Taiyang Xiao Long replied as Yang entered the room. She immediately saw what her father was referring to, noting the whiskey the bottle in Ruby's hand.

Ruby snorted. "Whatever you say, old man. Takes more than that to pull the cloak over my- eh!"

Yang had taken advantage of Ruby's distracted state to pull the bottle right out her hand. "You were saying?" she teased.

"Yang!" Ruby whined. She grabbed onto the bottle to pull it away, but Yang held on too tightly for her to succeed. "That's cheating! Give it back!"

"You know this stuff isn't good for you, right?"

The silver-eyed warrior was undeterred. "Then why's it okay when you drink it?"

"I know moderation." Yang released her grip and let Ruby have her way. "You've been a glutton since you exited the womb."

"You sound like Weiss." Ruby frowned as she began opening the bottle, struggling for half a second before succeeding and taking her first sip.

"You really can't wait til we start eating?" Taiyang asked, yet without any surprise in his voice. He had moved back to the stove to start preparing dinner. Not that Yang needed him to clarify why he was not surprised. Instead, she decided to focus on a different detail.

Yang smirked and raised an eyebrow. "So you saw Weiss recently?"

"Yeah, last night," Ruby answered absentmindedly, either missing or not caring that Yang's observation was also an innuendo. "She picked me up from the police station last night."

A crash rang out from over by the stove, cutting Yang off before she could make a more lewd statement. Both girls turned to see Taiyang picking an empty pot off the floor.

"Why were you at the police station?" Taiyang demanded.

"You get arrested again?" Yang suggested casually.

"Again?" Taiyang was doing his best to not raise his voice, but that obviously wasn't easy at the moment.

"More like they tried to arrest me," Ruby muttered as she returned to her bottle.

"Ruby!"

"It's fine! Oz sorted the whole thing out." Ruby then shook her head, all of a sudden becoming more serious. She turned directly to Yang. "He said that Dad's missing."

Yang considered making a joke about how their father was right standing just a few feet away from her, but decided it was in poor taste. Even though Ruby's real parentage wasn't really a sore spot in their house, Yang felt like her uncle possibly being in danger was something to take seriously.

"What was his mission?" she asked instead.

"He was following a lead on Hazel Rainart," Ruby stated, which was all Yang needed to hear to understand the gravity of the situation.

"Do you know anything else?"

"Not really. Weiss and I were going to look into a missing airship, but that's the only lead we have." Ruby nervously spun the whiskey bottle in her hands, a tell that she was worried about something else. "We were kinda hoping you would come with."

"Of course," Yang replied instantly, though it was obvious Ruby was still holding something back. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, uh..." Ruby looked away for a split second and scratched the back of her head. "Blake's going to fly up and meet us there too."

"Oh..." Yang felt her chest clench up. Not that this should have surprised her. With a mission as potentially dangerous as this one, it was only natural that all of Team RWBY would would be asked to participate.

Ruby waited a few seconds before speaking again. "If that's a problem-"

"It's not."

"Are you sure? I know you two breaking up wasn't exactly easy on-"

"I said it's fine, Ruby!" Yang knew her eyes had turned red and instantly regretted it. Not that there was anything she could do to make Ruby afraid of her, but that didn't give her a pass to snap like that.

Yang would have been lying to herself if she said she was over how things had ended between her and Blake, but her former partner had made her choice. Holding onto old grudges wouldn't change her mind. Besides, the world was a lot bigger than just the two of them, and Yang was sure she could control herself for the couple days it would take to find Qrow.

Luckily, she wouldn't have to say any of this out loud. Ruby didn't seem to need any further reassurance that she would keep her mind on the mission.

"Okay," Ruby said before walking over to Taiyang. "Is anyone else as hungry as I am?"

"No one's ever as hungry as you are," Taiyang quipped, signaling the start of a more normal meal.

"Obviously we've never introduced you to Nora," Yang countered as she moved to join her family.

"Accelerated metabolism, my ass."

Yang looked down at Ruby, who had passed out on the living room couch. Knowing Ruby would be asleep for the rest of the night, Yang pulled a half-empty bottle from her hand and began to walk away. She only turned around again at the sound of Zwei jumping on top of Ruby and laying down on her chest.

Unfortunately, it was moments like these that made Ruby's resemblance to Qrow all the more apparent. Growing up, Yang had picked up on how the two of them dressed alike and shared similar mannerisms, but had always chalked it up to Ruby wanting to emulate her favorite teacher. Now, though, Yang questioned how she had let the truth go over her head for so long.

"Did you know?" Yang asked Zwei, who tilted his head at her before nodding off as well.

Following the big reveal, Yang had never really pushed for specific details from Qrow or even her own father. Ruby hadn't been all that phased, a part of her likely having known the entire time, so Yang didn't lose much sleep over the situation either. In the end, Ruby would always be her baby sister, and genetics would never change that.

Still, maybe she had put off learning the specific details long enough. Yang wasn't sure if it was just due to the mission she had just learned about or just because she had trouble seeing Ruby act like this, but she found her curiosity finally getting the better of her. Yang reentered the kitchen, finding her father looking at the empty bottle that Ruby had started with.

"Did you have any of this?" Taiyang asked, sounding more than a little concerned.

"Only a little," Yang replied, not bothering to ask him the same question. The only person she had ever known her father to drink with was Qrow. "I think it was mostly her."

"Wonderful..." Taiyang sat down at the table and shook his head. "Pretty sure these were right out of your uncle's stash too."

Yang sat down next to him, relatively certain that his assertion didn't make things better. "Are we just treating alcoholism like it's her birthright now?"

Taiyang sighed and shrugged. "Well, they say addiction is genetic."

"I just don't get what's wrong with Uncle Qrow." Yang fiddled with the bottle she'd taken from Ruby, still having not put it down. "Why has he been avoiding her?"

"It's complicated."

"Well, then I'd appreciate it if someone would uncomplicate it." Yang tried not to raise her voice, but she hadn't expected her father to give her vague answers like that. "Because I just can't figure out how we got here."

Taiyang waited a few seconds, likely taking his time to figure out how to respond. Eventually, he turned and looked directly at her. "How much do remember about your childhood? Before Summer died, I mean."

"Some, I guess." Yang wasn't sure what the point of the question was, but chose to indulge her father anyway. The memories she could recall were positive ones, as it was the only time in her life when she had both her parents. Granted, Summer Rose had only been Ruby's biological mother and not her own, but again that felt more like genetics than the way Yang actually remembered the woman.

"Anything specific?" Taiyang followed up.

"I..." Yang hesitated, now taking her turn to figure out how to respond. "I remember us being a family. I remember us being happy."

"We were both those things."

"But you and Summer never-"

"No," Taiyang stated calmly. "I loved Summer, but was never in love with her. The fact that you were so young that you couldn't tell the difference is probably why everything stayed a secret for so long." He paused again as if to consider his last statement. "Well, that and Summer and Qrow being on mission so often."

Yang shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not liking being reminded of how much she didn't know about her family. "None of that answers my original question."

"I'm getting to that part," Taiyang assured her with a brief chuckle. "First step to understanding your uncle is understanding his relationship with Summer."

"Was it love at first sight?" Yang asked snidely.

Taiyang smiled, letting his gaze drift away from Yang for a moment. "Years after the fact Summer would joke about that being the case, and Qrow was... well, Qrow about the whole thing. It was Initiation Day at Beacon, by the way. That's how they met and became partners, and they took to each other way quicker than I think either of them realized.

"It was kinda... poetic in its own weird way. A silver-eyed warrior and a walking bad luck charm... They were both convinced they were destined to be alone, but neither of them ever accounted for the other."

"It didn't last though," Yang concluded. Even if she hadn't known exactly how the story ended, she knew the signs from all the trashy romance novels Blake had convinced her to read.

"No, it didn't." Taiyang's grin finally faded, his eyes falling to an empty spot on the table in front of him. "Qrow had reservations about being a father before Summer died, and I really shouldn't have been surprised by what came next."

"That's when he left Ruby with us?"

Taiyang clenched his fists together. "Part of me hated him for doing it."

"Then why'd you go along with it?"

His initial reply was taking a deep breath, one of his many methods of dissipating his anger. "Your uncle is a lot of things. He's obnoxious, irresponsible, and has no idea how to deal with his emotions in a healthy way. And don't even get me started on what it's like to live with the guy."

"Getting a little off track here, Dad," Yang pointed out, noticing her father's anger start to flare up again.

He ignored her. "Did you know he has this... delusion that if he licks something it's automatically his? Seriously, no sane person could come up with something like that!"

"Dad!"

"Right, sorry..." Taiyang composed himself before continuing. "Look, my point is that Qrow is all those things, but he's... He's also my best friend, or at least the best one I have left. Why did I take in Ruby? Because he asked me to."

The room went silent, and Yang tried piece together everything her father had just shared with her. Technically, he still hadn't answered her original question, but rather had given her what she needed to draw her own conclusions. In all likelihood, Taiyang didn't actually know the specific reason why Qrow was avoiding Ruby, as Qrow had never been good at sharing what was bothering him.

"He's scared," Yang said, taking a shot in the dark.

"Oh yeah," Taiyang agreed. "If you wanna know what he's scared of, though, you'll have to ask him."

"We have to find him first."

"About that..." Taiyang hesitated, almost nervous about saying his piece. "You know you have a pretty direct way of locating him, right?"

Yang looked her father in the eye, taking a second before realizing exactly what he was suggesting. "Not a chance in hell."

"Yang..."

"I am not going to her for help."

"Her" of course was Raven Branwen, Yang's estranged biological mother and Qrow's twin sister among many other things. One of Beacon's most infamous graduates, she had spent those years as a member of Team STRQ along with Summer, Taiyang, and Qrow. In addition to her proficiency in combat, her semblance allowed her to create portals directly to people she was connected to. The ability would have been ideal for their current mission if not for the person who came with it.

"Yang, this isn't the time to be stubborn," Taiyang argued. He had a point, but that didn't necessarily make him right.

"Why are we even having this conversation?" Yang finally stood up to walk away. "We don't even know where she is."

"I do," Taiyang declared, standing up as well. The room went still again as Yang processed what she had just been told. "Or at least I know how to contact her."

"How do you know that?" Yang asked slowly, knowing she wouldn't like the answer no matter what her father said.

"Because I've been..." Taiyang trailed off, scratching the side of his face. "I've been seeing your mother."

"Oh god..." Yang felt dinner start to crawl its way back up her throat.

"She came to me after your battle at Haven and told me about what happened, and ever since then-"

Yang covered her ears with her hands. "I don't wanna know the details!"

"Yeah, I guess not." Taiyang approached her slowly, seeming way more calm than Yang was right now. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "But you deserve to know the truth."

"The only thing I want to know is the reason you're with her again after everything she put us through," Yang whined.

"You mean besides the fact that she's my wife and the mother of my daughter?"

"She's not your wife!" Yang snapped as she pulled away from her father, who didn't try to stop her.

"We were never officially divorced or separated, so she technically is."

Taiyang must have been waiting for Yang's response, because he remained still and quiet after his last comment. Yang stayed quiet, however, barely able to look at her father at this point. It wasn't even as much that she felt betrayed as it was that she knew this would all blow up in his face, and she wasn't sure that anyone would be able to pick up the pieces this time.

"Look..." Taiyang said finally. "We can talk about your mother and me later. For now, we should focus on what matters, and that's finding your uncle."

"Fine..." Yang said quietly, still not turning to face her father. "But I'm only doing this for Ruby."

"I'm more than alright with that."

Yang sighed while at the same time realizing that she was still holding the whiskey bottle she had taken from her sister. With Blake and Raven both front-and-center in her mind, she was considering pouring herself another glass. She had no idea how she was going to make it through this mission.