A/N: RWBY belongs to Monty Oum. I only take credit for my own added character's and storylines.
I post on both A03 and FanFiction, take your pick in whichever you prefer to read.~.
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6 ~ Of Family and Drama II
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"Tai. Tai, let go."
"You are not running from this, Eva." Tai hisses, holding the tail of her coat as if his life depended on it. "If I'm falling, you're dam well falling with me."
"How sweet." She hisses, sending the traitor a mutinous glare. "Now, either let go or, so help me, I'll throw you into the girl's bathroom."
"That threat only works when I don't know you wouldn't breach anyone's privacy. Halfwit."
"Do not tempt me." She grips around his wrist, fingers tightening as they both ignored the third member of their family. "My ethics are already fragile as is. If you think one more will add a difference to the pile you're in for one hell of a surprise.
"All the more reason to suck it up and deal with the mess you've started." Tai grip doesn't waver, expression firm and just a little intimidating. "What happened to face one's fear?"
"Id died in a deep, dark ditch." She snarks, eye twitching as she wears a smirk. "And what nonsense is that? As the saying goes; once you start down the dark path, forever does it-"
"Yes," Tai drawls, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "And that might even have been inspiring. I didn't know it was plagiarised, that is."
"Jokes on you, there your one that can back that claim!"
"Half of our family and friends are magical experts. Your claim will hold very little on that front."
"Why you stuck-up half-witted scruffy-looking nerf herder!" She snarls. "Did our comradeship mean nothing?"
"That was far more impressive the first time you said it."
"Do you know how difficult it was to memorise? Much less accurately fit it in a fluid conversation?"
Tai smirks, expression turning victorious as he points towards her.
"No," Raven warns, glare turned glacial, hand twitching as Tai finally let's go. As if to taunt her, he crosses his arms with a smug smirk.
"Say it once, say it twice."
"Tai, don't you dare."
"If you accuracy was any-"
Yang never hears the end of the sentence, watching as a flash of red swallows her father before it disappears entirely.
Rave stands, watching as the portal closes on the floor with a very smug expression on her face.
"My accuracy," She remarks to herself, "is still very much in its prime, thank you." And then she blinks, remembering what the argument was to start with as she winces. "Right. Okay. I'll be... not here, so I'll see you-"
"Yeah, no." Yang hisses, fealing her aura flare as she glares at the woman. "You owe me an explanation. At least an explanation."
Raven stares for a moment, studying her carefully before her shoulder's slumps, falling back into her chair as her father falls through a portal into his own.
Body soaked through, he sends a frustrated glare at the woman. "Where the hell was that?" He huffs, grimacing as he wipes his eyes.
"Near Vacuo." She retorts with a half-smirk, eyes flickering between the two of them. "Okay." She sighs, rubbing her templates before she turns towards Yang. "Yeah. Summer and I started dating before graduating. We never broke up, so that's where you and Ruby came from. Well... not you, technically that's Tai and me. But technically we were supposed to co-parent before things... got complicated."
Yang rubs her forehead, leaning into her chair before slowly nodding. "Okay. Sure, okay. That makes sense." Her expression is just borderline disbelief, but with her father grimacing at her side, it's a little difficult to deny what she's hearing. "So why did things get complicated?"
Raven, being the veteran that she is, throws her hands up. "Hell if I know! Probably Ozpin. He's like a catalyst for these things."
Yang sighed before she sent a pleading glance towards her father.
"Ozpin is a man of... many secrets," Tai explains, a sigh escaping his lips as he sends an apologetic glance to his daughter. "And Qrow... has a reputation of being Ozpin's man. And had a falling out with Raven, which they fixed, but also really did not. Ergo, where everything got complicated."
"...Right." She grit's as her glare finally swaps from her Raven to her father. "Yeah, that. I thought that she was the one that tore the team apart." Scowl forming on her features, she point's accusingly at her mother as if daring him to remain silent.
Her father winces. "Can we not talk about that now?" He asks. Pleads, if she's honest."
"No, no." Raven interrupts, leaning into one of her palms with a raised eyebrow. "I agree. I want to hear this as well."
"...Right." Tai grimaces, rubbing his neck awkwardly as he meets her gaze. "I... might have mentioned you were the reason our family fall apart. And also how you had a bad habit of stampeding through your problems... or something."
For a moment, Raven simply stares at the man in bewilderment. And then she throws her head back and laughs. It's a laugh of delight, grinning as she punches Tai's arm. "You still holding that against me?" She snorts, shaking her head with a genuine smile. "It was decades ago. And it wasn't even against you!"
"It still involved me." He pouts, lips betraying him as they desperately suppress a smile. "And it was traumatising. I genuinely thought it was you! And thinking that was better."
"And you call me stubborn." She shakes her head, leaning back into her chair looking so much younger.
And it shouldn't, Yang thinks with a frown, feeling so off footed at their interaction. Raven could easily pass as her own sister, laughing shouldn't make her seem, like it. She looked younger. Could easily pass as a third sister.
But since their first meeting, Yang hadn't even considered it. She seemed older than her own father, somehow. And Yang only now realised how strange her personality and appearance seemed to clash.
She also realised that they'd - rather frustratingly at that - managed to derail the conversation. Again.
"Look," Her father runs his fingers through his hair. Looking older than she can ever remember seeing as he meets her gaze. "There are very few people we can trust with either of you. And yes, I could have just said Qrow's being a greater man child than what he usually is. But you don't understand how thin the ice we walking on is. Most of our generation... they..."
His shoulder's slump, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he loses his composer.
"Hunter's are the hero's of justice," Raven whispers, placing a hand onto Tai's as she rubs it gently. "Defender's of humanity, slayers of evil." Her smile turns bitter as she also turns to meet her gaze. "But it was us that had to create that symbol. Our generation was what made those legends. But the thing about legends, Yang, is that they start becoming when one dies. And our generation has given birth to far too many legends."
Tai snort's, raising his head as his lips twitch. "What we trying to say," He offers with a mirthless smile, "is that we didn't keep secrets because we didn't trust you. We kept them because when our generation waged war against Salem, we lost. Badly."
"And with badly," Raven adds, "we mean that Grim won't betray Grim. Humans, on the other hand..." She trails off, standing from her chair as she walks towards the darkened window. "Well. Free will, one's got to love it."
"Not so much when it's against us."
Raven hums, drumming her fingertips on the windowsill before she turns towards her. Poster shift with hands twitching, she meets her gaze. "You won't get it until you see it. And that's fine. We won't force you to stay, and you happen to have access to a worldwide teleporter, so give it a chance, please?"
Give me a chance, is what Yang hears.
Or maybe she's reading too much into it. Maybe there's still a twelve-year-old girl wandering the forest. Lost and so desperate to be accepted.
Fine. That's fine. "Fine." She repeats, eyes narrow as they both blink towards her. "I'll start packing. And then I want that story. The whole story. You owe me that much." She nods, standing sharply as she walks out of the room. Mind spiralling with far too many thoughts to even begin noticing her father's frown.
There's a moment of silence; of gentle wind whispers and drumming pattering of rain as Raven shifts her poster. Mind just as occupied, she reaches for her coat, removing its creases with nervous twitches.
"Calm down," Tai huffs as he carries cups towards the dishwasher. "She barely cracked her chair. Believe me, that's a very good start."
"You think so?" Raven asks hesitantly, tone softer and slightly more fragile now that they're alone. "I'm not exactly good at explaining this sort of thing. It's why I only teach through kinesthetic, neurotypicals don't do well following my thoughts."
"Been there," Tai smiles, washing the dishes as he hears the ceiling crick with erratic footsteps. "Done that. You tried. You've been trying for years. And she's our daughter. Not to sound condescending, but she's a smart cookie. You did what you thought would best protect our family. Even if I did think half of your choices were stupid."
"Is that the same half that you claimed were ridiculous?"
"No. The other half. How you build a country is beyond me. The less how you make it work, the better."
Silence returns. Tai smiles, making a note to check his daughter's baggage before she fetches the trolly.
"Yeah." She smiles as her finger's comb through her hair. "I'm not sure how it works either. A lot of crying and screaming, I suppose.
"I'd be inclined to believe that if I hadn't seen you do it. Sure, half the time it doesn't make sense, but it always works. You remember the seven pillars, right? Maybe Vacuo's rebellion? How about Sol's blood war?"
"Your one to talk." She mutters, a slight blush gracing her cheeks. "We could talk about Atla's sky? Or maybe the dark lands?"
"This isn't who can compliment the most, Eva." Tai hums, even if he does preen slightly at its mention. "The point is I might not like some of the choices you make. I don't agree with most of them, truthfully. But you family, and you had reasons, valid one's that you carefully thought out before you even begin to act."
And then he turns, aura flaring as his knuckles click.
"So," He growls, hand slamming into both her own as she slams into the wall. "I think I've been patient. More than patient. So how about you explain what the hell you've been doing." Raven flinches, both arms stuck as she hesitantly meets his gaze. "Old friend."
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It only took me a few months, but I can finally start the plot! Woo! Go me!
The next chapter will hopefully be more interesting since I'll stop hinting why the past events so much and start explaining how things are different from canon.
On a final note, if you thought I should have written something differently, be it personality and/or displays of different states of mentality, a different conversation, or a different story idea, please leave a comment! I always love hearing what people have to say, especially when I get to brainstorm for ways to improve this fic! Any advice is welcome and appreciated! Always.
Anyways, Ill See you next time! Chao!
~ Sapphire and Emeralds
