Big Issues
AN: Just a little fun with the teams before the Vytal Tournament. Thanks to those who continue to read this story and I'm glad that more are reading the latest chapters with every update. To me, that means I have returning readers and as an author that is something that makes me happy. As for most of those who never get past the first chapter... I understand that this story isn't for everyone and that chapter isn't the best kind of introduction. For those who are following and post the helpful reviews, thanks again for your support. More chapters will continue to be rolled out and I hope you don't mind my 'little' twists on the story of RWBY. I'll also have a new art piece for the next chapter, it's not even finished yet and it's looking good!
Return to Patch
The rest of the week passed surprisingly quickly for those who finished their missions early, others looked forward to the weekend before classes resumed for the two days before the break for the final setup for the tournament.
"Hmm… looks like the classes this week will be reviewing previous material in nearly all of our classes." Weiss tells her friends as they gathered in the common room.
"Really Weiss? You brought your schedule to movie night?" Yang complains as she fills a large bowl with popcorn.
"I needed something to do while I was waiting. Ruby won't let me near the kitchen." The heiress crosses her arms across her chest with a huff.
"That's because you set the oven on fire! I was only gone for a few minutes while you were supposed to watch the cake!" Ruby yells, pointing the knife that she was using to cut fruit at the girl in question.
"I told you I never did anything in a kitchen before!"
"At least you stopped calling it 'The Food Room'." Blake comments as she set down a bowl of pretzels and popcorn on the table.
"C'mon, I didn't teach Ruby to cook anything until she was eight!" Yang tells her teammate.
"Why would you need to teach her at that age?" Weiss asks as she put her books away, missing the small flinch from the sisters and even Blake.
"Small family." Yang answers, though most of her usual joy was lacking. "Not everyone is around to help so we had to learn."
Blake recalled what Yang had told her about her parents before the dance and things she had said over the time she'd known the blonde about her family. How her father and uncle had worked at Signal Academy, teaching the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses there, her own mother abandoning her and her new mother disappearing during a mission. How her uncle stopped teaching and regularly took missions that could take weeks around the world. How their father had taken the loss of Ruby's mother extremely hard.
Weiss didn't know much about the sisters' family life beyond knowing that their father taught at Signal and their uncle went on a lot of missions. But if there was one thing she did understand, it was family not being around. Her father always busy with the SDC, her brother would be trying his best to emulate his father, her mother spending her time drinking in the garden, her sister… her closest family member, joining the Atlas military as a Specialist. How the family butler, Klein, was her closest companion in the mansion she called a home.
Yang gave Ruby a hug, something that the younger girl returned without hesitation. They knew the pain of losing their mother, both of them considering Summer as their true mother. The only woman that they knew, the one who gave them their greatest aspirations, the prime example of what a woman and Huntress should be. Their role model and goal. The one that they looked at in pictures and saw an older version of her daughter, something that the younger sister took some pride in while the elder had the pride of raising that girl in her stead. Not that any of that was easy for the girls, but to them, it was worth the pain and sacrifices.
"We got the movies!" Itazura burst into the room and drawing all attention to herself as she held her scroll in the air.
"And food!" Talon looked proud as she carried a large covered tray that wafted steam. "Plenty of it!" She was followed in by Denko and Anya holding similar trays which were set down on the student kitchen's island counter.
"Anyone else coming?" Denko asks as he looks around. There was a lot of food for just eight people with more being prepared by the sisters, even if they were going to have a long night.
"Just waiting for Team JNPR to come back from the showers. They only got back from their mission just before lunch, so they're gonna be hungry." Ruby answers as she was the one Jaune had notified upon their return.
"And Sun said he's game for a movie night." Yang adds in. "Team CFVY said they had something to do when we asked."
"So just fourteen of us?" Anya did the math.
"It's not like we were gonna ask Cardin." Blake comments as she sets a bowl of salsa on the table next to some chips.
"Can't imagine why." Itazura scoffs as her tail swishes angrily behind her.
A few minutes later, Sun and Neptune walked into the room and whistled at the spread that was laid out for the little party. "This is gonna be fun." Sun comments as he walks over to the kitchen where he saw the array of fruit and popped a piece of apple in his mouth.
"Where's the rest of your team?" Weiss asks Neptune as he sits on a chair nearby.
The blue-haired boy gives her a shrug. "Apparently they had tickets to see a movie down in Vale so they're gonna be busy tonight."
"They said don't bother waiting up for them." Sun adds as he watches the sisters cutting more fruit.
"Would you if they didn't say anything?" Yang asks with a smirk.
The faunus looked at her with a grin. "Nah! They're big boys, I don't need to hold their hands." He waves off her question.
"More for us then!" Talon was happy for the extra food as she felt there was no reason to have leftovers.
"What movies do you have?" Blake was curious of the choices that the little fox had picked. There was also a bit of dread as the girl was unpredictable and likely could have done something for a prank.
BAM! The door slammed open as Nora rushed in wearing her pajama's, her shorts were definitely getting on the smaller side. "We didn't miss anything, did we?" The rest of her team filed in behind her at a much more sedate pace.
"Nora… please slow down." Jaune was practically begging the short girl.
"What happened to you guys?" Sun asks as they flop onto a couch together, three of them dropped, one of which simply let his body fall while Nora jumped onto the seat.
"Well… the short version of it is that we went to help out a village a few hours away." Pyrrha decided to be the voice of the team as Ren was as quiet as always, Jaune was in no mood to talk, and most had low expectations of Nora not exaggerating. "We assisted in repairing some roofs."
"I said I'm sorry!" Nora throws her hands up in the air as everyone looked to her with skepticism.
"Then we escorted some miners to a possible Dust vein."
Weiss perked up at that, though she promised not to tell her father about the potential new mine. Maybe she could give an anonymous tip to a smaller Dust company to assist them if things panned out.
"While we were guarding them, we had a pack of Beowolves attack us."
"We beat them all no problem!"
"The potential Dust vein proved serious enough that they began setting up defenses around the excavation site with our assistance."
"So… what happened to Jaune?" Denko points to the young man in his onesie pajamas.
"What didn't happen to me? Got my thumbs whacked by a hammer… lots of times." He scowled at the local hammer girl who scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile on her face. "Got knocked off the roof."
"I'm sorry." Truthfully, the champion had misjudged how wide her hips were as they were on a roof and accidently pushed against the blonde enough to go over the edge. Luckily, he wasn't too high but it still hurt his pride and his back from the fall.
"Then we had to cut down a lot of trees and dig holes for the wall. It was… tiring."
"He knew his way around an axe and saw very well." Ren complimented his leader, who gave him a weary thumbs up.
"Then I hope you're ready for some good movies and games!" Itazura opens her scroll and connects it to the tv. A few moments later "Vocal" began to play.
"Really? You want to watch this again?" Denko asks his sister with a tired expression.
"Why not? It's funny and we get to listen to some music while we're eating." Talon responds for the fox.
"If we're lucky, she'll have something more serious lined up for later." Anya says while giving her teammate a pointed look.
"Don't worry about it, I got something for everyone." Itazura waves her off as Talon carries a tray over to the table near JNPR.
"This should help you get your strength back so you don't pass out too soon into our marathon." The chubby Vacuoan lifts the lid to reveal a selection of skewers loaded with grilled chicken, fruits, and veggies along with small bowls of sauces to add some flavor. "We have plenty of other fruits and veggies, even a few other treats coming up later. So, help yourselves."
The aspiring chef smiled warmly as the team and others dove into the revealed food, glad that they had more and other food to hold them all over. Walking back to the counter, she flicked her thumb at a banana and the small jet of air made the fruit flip up into the air where she caught it deftly. Her sister stood nearby watching from a corner having grabbed her food from one of the back-up trays.
Four hours later, most of the chips and dip were gone, pretzels hit hard, skewers emptied and used as darts on a makeshift cardboard target. Drinks were had, the gallons of tea were drained and the drinkers drained. Galactic Civil War and Back the Clock were enjoyable to watch and provided enough action and comedy to satisfy the partiers. Then Nora pulled a box out from under her couch to hold it up after the last movies credits began to roll.
"So… who wants to get Twisted?" The excitable girl gave a grin that was rather unsettling, much like when she was threatening to break someone's legs.
"Really? I thought we'd be playing cards or something like that?" Weiss didn't like that look the ginger was giving them.
"What's wrong Weiss? Scared that you can't handle a little game?" The Valkyrie challenges, whether she counted on the girls' pride making her accept or not was up for debate.
"Fine… how do you play." The Heiress relents. There weren't many rules but there was one little detail that she took issue with. "I'll be back." She walked off to her team's room to find a pair of shorts to wear under her sleeping gown.
"You really think she's gonna do this?" Denko asks Yang as he sips at his tea.
"She's stubborn enough that she'll go a round just to say she did it." She finishes her own cup. "You ready for the weekend?"
Denko shrugs. "Kinda, it's been a while since I've been back."
"Still consider it home?"
He was silent for a few moments. "Yeah, I do." He responds with a soft smile.
"Good to hear." Her own smile was brighter than his own in anticipation for the weekend.
Weiss returned quickly enough and it was Anya who became the designated spinner. "So, who's going first? There's not enough room for everyone." The red-eyed girl asks blandly. After a little discussion, it was decided that Ruby, Weiss, Talon, Nora, and Ren would get the first round.
"Alright Ice Queen." Anya gives the spinner a flick. "Left foot yellow." Flick "Ruby, right foot blue." Flick "Nora, right hand red." Flick "Ren, Right hand green." Flick "Talon, left foot green."
It didn't take long for the five of them to become a tangle of limbs, leaning on and over each other to reach the spots needed for their turns. It didn't come without some cheering either.
"You can do it Ruby!" Yang only had one she wanted to see win, the fact that Weiss was even doing this in the first place was simply funny. Especially since her back was arched over Ruby's right leg to reach the spot under her left leg.
"Hang in there Weiss." Neptune was the heiress's lone vocal supporter as Blake was content to watch from the couch as Sun sat on top of the backrest for a better view.
"Come on Nora, Ren!" Jaune and Pyrrha rooted for both of their teammates, finding it somewhat amusing that Ren was nearly flat on the mat as he had stretched himself out due to others having occupied the colored circles until the recent round. Nora wasn't much better as she was holding herself over him and Talon as the two girls had to stretch as far as their short and stout bodies would allow.
Anya had an evil grin on her face as she flicked the spinner again. "Talon, left hand blue." Her grin became sadistic as she watched as her sister look at the blue circles on the other side of the mat and that she had to flip herself entirely just to have a chance of reaching… without hitting Ren reaching under her or Nora on her head- her gut was in her hair- or kicking Ruby and Weiss.
Talon began to rock herself, preparing to flip herself and building momentum… unknowingly tickling Nora with her dark locks. The ginger started giggling, then openly laughing, to the other players confusion as they couldn't see what was going on. Then the tickling and laughing too much for the easily amused girl and she collapsed, leading to Nora's stomach squashing Talon's head into the mat, they landed on Ren's legs and brough him down. Weiss and Ruby weren't spared as the flailing limbs hit their own and upsetting their precarious balance to bring the two girls down on top of the pile.
The rest of the partiers broke out into laughter at the human pile and that the lightest pair were on the bottom of it all. Even Yang made no move to help her sister untangle herself, likely because she was laughing too hard. Anya was the same with her own sister and neither Jaune or Pyrrha were in a rush to help their teammates. Eventually the players were able to free themselves and immediately dropped themselves onto the nearest open seat.
"Who's next?" Anya finally asks as she flicks the spinner around for basic amusement.
"Let's go Blake! "Yang calls out as she grabs Denko by the wrist and drags him with her. But the cat had no intentions of playing and simply crosses her arms under her bust and looks away. "Blaaaake! Come on!"
"I'm not playing a game like this." Blake shook her head, not bothering to give her friends a look as she closed her eyes.
"You need to have some fun sometime." Yang was almost whining at this point and Ruby's puppy eyes were useless without her target looking.
But things weren't going to be so easy for the cat as Yang reached out and grabbed her elbows and began pulling her up, the 'victim' fighting her every step of the way with a heatless glare. The blondes' grip wasn't loosening but Blake had dug her heels into the carpeting and barely left the cushion with her own cushioning… until she got a push from behind and she fell into the arms of her teammate. Looking behind her, she found Sun with a grin stepping off the couch to join them.
"We have enough to play now to make it fun." The monkey shrugs as he stands by the mat, ignoring the cats glare.
"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Blake relents looking around at the blondes she was to be competing against to see them all shaking their heads with grins.
"Sun, left hand red." Anya calls out, eager to get the game going. "Denko, left foot blue. Blake, left hand green. Yang, right hand yellow."
It didn't take long for the four of them to be all over the place, Sun stretched across one side of the mat while having a leg reaching for the other side. Denko found himself in the odd position of having all four extremities in a close square, essentially stuck reaching for his toes. Yang wasn't in a better situation as she was arching her back to reach the circles needed while Blake 'happened' to position herself so she was sitting on the blonde's soft stomach.
"Sun, right hand yellow." He had to twist himself awkwardly to reach correctly, nearly putting himself under Yang.
"Denko, right hand green" Now he found himself having to reach over Yang's left leg.
"Blake, left hand yellow." The faunus reached for the spot but doing so shifted her weight and that was too much for the struggling blonde under her, causing her to collapse and bringing her teammate down with her. With Yang falling, her legs kicked out and knocking Denko off balance and fall over. The heaviest blonde hit the floor, Blake rolling over her stomach to land on the monkey to drive him into the mat as the final blonde fell over Yang's legs.
Once again, the room broke out into laughter, including the tangled teens as they got off each other and brushed off their clothes. Yang throwing an arm over Blake's shoulders. "See, it's been too long since you've laughed like that."
"She was pretty happy at the dance last week." Sun cuts in, proud that he was the one with her the most when she was laughing and smiling.
"Sun!" The girl in question blushes from embarrassment.
Denko shakes his head as the couch was cleared by Pyrrha and Jaune getting up for their own round of Twisted, and gave the three younger friends a push to drop them on the seat before dropping down next to Yang to watch.
"Really man?" Sun was more amused than annoyed at how he was seated as he and the girls shifted to make themselves comfortable.
Talon had taken the spinner insisting that her sister have some fun and pushing her towards the mat. Blake leans over to Yang. "Was that what I looked like?" She asks quietly.
The blonde chuckles as she watches the reluctant recluse stands next to her faunus teammate across the mat from Jaune, Pyrrha, and Neptune. "Nope. You were more stubborn than that."
"Kill me." The cat groans as she leans back into the seat.
"You've done enough things that could have done that already since I've known you. Don't count on us to finish the job." Sun jokes, earning a groan from the dark-haired girl as the memories assaulted her.
"Itazura, right hand red." Talon instructs from her sisters' previous seat. "Pyrrha, left foot yellow. Jaune, left hand green. Neptune, right foot blue. Anya, right hand red."
In a few short minutes, the five were a glorified pile of limbs and bodies barely being held up. Itazura was stretched over Anya, the shortest player was at the limit of her reach. Anya wasn't much better as she was nearly pulled across the width of the mat. Pyrrha found herself arched over backwards trying to reach what she could. Jaune had his shoulder pressed into her side as he had to reach under her back while he was nearly in a split. Neptune was in the uncomfortable position of reaching over Jaune's legs for his spots.
Talon grinned sadistically as she spun the selector again, watching as it slowed. "Itazura, right hand blue." The fox's eyes went wide as her hands were in no position to reach that side of the mat. It didn't stop her from trying… only to fall and bring Anya down with her. The shock of seeing the girls fall made Jaune falter and collapse, the lack of support combined with her own surprise had Pyrrha following him down while rolling sideways. Which left Neptune to somehow be the nights only true winner as he managed to hold his position as everyone fell.
"I am so glad you're a lightweight." Anya grumbles as she pushes herself up off the floor, dumping Itazura off her back in the process.
"Better me than your sister on your back, right?"
"Hey!" Talon smacks the fox on the head with the spinner board.
"Hmmm!"
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha lifts her body off of Jaune where his head had been buried under her stomach. The blondes' flailing legs hit Neptune and made him fall onto those legs that hit him.
"Sorry man!" The Mistralian teen was quick to get off as Pyrrha helped the blonde to his feet.
"Jaune, are you alright?" The redhead asks as she steadies the red-faced boy, her own face wasn't any better as she was the one smothering him.
"I'll be fine." He dismisses as he finds a new seat.
"I'm guessing were done with this game for the night?" Denko asks as everyone seemed to be through with it all. With no objections, he began to fold up the mat and drop it back in the box.
They started a new movie as they played some cards, but the weeks events caught up to Team JNPR first where the movie never finished before they called it a night. But it was during the next movie that everyone began to crash, Weiss leaving for bed first was the first domino to fall that brought the others down soon after. The remains of the food and supplies were cleaned up before the teams left for their dorms.
Six hours of sleep. Something he was used to but rarely could get more than that for any reason, even if he tried. Most of the time, like today, it was the alarm on his scroll rather than the sun through a window or his sister shaking him. Denko dragged himself out of bed, looking at the time and remembering what was to happen today. He was going home for the first time in three years. The first place that he could actually consider home, not just some place to stay for the night or a few before he and his sister had to move to keep ahead of gangs or the weather.
Looking across the room, he watched at the girl he saw as family despite being of different species rose and rub her eyes. Slowly, she felt around the table for her ears, finally finding them and clipping them in place on her head, the ears on top twitching and swiveling as they always did.
"Ready for this?" He asks quietly as to not disturb the sisters any more than needed. He received a nod as she grabbed her clothes and changed in the bathroom. He took his turn after her, stuffing their sleepwear into their bags before hoisting them over their shoulders and leaving the dorm quietly.
The sun had yet to rise when they met Ruby and Yang outside their dorm building, the cool early morning air waking the girls up rather effectively as they wished to be back in bed where it was warm. The sisters had their own bags slung over their shoulders and all four had their weapons on them as they left for the student garage.
"You're not taking Bumblebee?" Ruby asks, surprised as Yang simply climbed into the Scarab after checking that nothing had been done to her baby.
"I'm not driving tired if I can help it and its too cold right now." The blonde buckles herself in and closes the door as if to keep herself from changing her decision. Ruby and Itazura hopped into the backseat as Denko started the engine and the heater to the girls' relief.
"It's not that cold today." He teases as he pulls out of the garage.
"Cold enough." Yang grumbles with Ruby nodding in the back.
"I thought you liked winter?"
"That's when you expect it to be cold and dress for it. This… isn't. I thought it was supposed to be warm today." Ruby complains.
"After the sun rises, yeah. Until then, get used to cooler mornings until the days are all cold." Itazura confirms from her scroll with the local weather reports.
The morning traffic was fairly clear at this time of day, almost nonexistent, which made for a pleasant ride for the students as they made their way towards the docks. It was only once they were there did the sun start to rise and reveal the port that was active as the ferry dropped its passengers from Patch along with a small load of goods that were likely loaded the night before as the ship rarely ran in the dead of night.
They waited for their turn to board the ferry, Ruby and Itazura drifting in and out of sleep, Yang had found herself being entertained with the schematics of the Scarab, looking at the engine, systems, weapons, and other features. Denko played on his scroll while the radio played quietly.
Finally, they were able to board and after locking the vehicle down in the hold, the four of them took the time to stretch their legs walking around the deck. "So… how much has changed at home?" Itazura asks Ruby as the ferry began to lurch forward, beginning its path back to the island.
"Not too much, Miss Fen is still in charge of Signal." She giggles, joined by her companion. It was well known and a running joke that Miss Olivia Fen was the true Headmaster of Signal despite the position being held by Mr. Benjamin Buttons. The man was fair to everyone, when he was around but often disappeared at random times.
"Is our house still there?" The fox asks out of curiosity, ears twitching at the sounds of the waves and people on board.
"Last I checked, yeah. They built some more since you left too." Ruby answers with a smile, though it didn't quite seem to reach as far as normal.
"What are you planning to do there?" Denko asks Yang as they walked on the sunny side and enjoying the ocean wind and occasionally looking at the island growing slowly on the horizon.
"I guess we're gonna relax a bit, maybe get a little last-minute training with Dad, get a few homecooked meals." She shrugs as she brushes some hair out of her eyes.
"Getting tired of rations?" He teases.
"Yes! I'm tired of them." She threw her hands in the air, drawing some attention to them that was dropped once the blondes looked at them. "But…" She pauses to grab her large potbelly and shake it with both hands. "I can't imagine how big I'd be if I ate normally before The Issue."
"You fill a door enough now, eating normally probably would get you stuck in the door." He pokes her sides, knowing that she hadn't grown sideways as much as her sister and thus had fairly easy access to her ribs under her padding. Her shrieking laugh pierced the air and brought smiles to the faces of the other passengers. No negative emotions there to draw Grimm to the ship.
Half an hour later, the ferry slowed as it came into port at Patch. The island only had one true town with a few scatterings of those who lived further inland in the forests, a few clusters of fishing villages along the coast, and the farmers who had to live further away to be closer to their fields and livestock. Most of the crops grown stayed on the island to feed the population with some being shipped over to the mainland for processing that simply didn't exist in large scale close by. Even rarer was it that any of the livestock, in any form, to go to the mainland as the residents kept them healthy and bred responsibly. The only true consistent exports from Patch were seafood and trained Huntsmen and Huntresses.
While many considered Signal to be a school for aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses to attend and learn skills until they could transfer to one of the four Kingdoms major Academies; Beacon, Atlas, Haven, and Shade. But few talked about the fact that some students would stick around and graduate as fully trained Huntsmen and Huntresses from the basic combat schools. They may not have the facilities for the larger classes or the resources for that many students to keep all of the students who graduated the basic classes, but that didn't mean they could retain some of them.
For Ruby and Yang, given that their father is a highly skilled Huntsman himself who taught at Signal and their Uncle Qrow is often away on missions as a Huntsman that others could consider too difficult and he had taught at the island-based school for a few years, the sisters could have had everything they needed to continue their training without ever leaving home. But both of them had grown up listening to stories of their full family being Huntsmen and Huntresses and the missions they had been on before, during, and after they had started a family. That their team had met and gotten their advanced training at Beacon and told the girls of the wonders of the school. Combine that with the older sisters' lust for adventure and the youngers desire to follow in her mothers' footsteps as a Huntress, it was little wonder why they didn't continue their education at Signal… Ruby jumping up two years notwithstanding.
Now the girls were coming home with a pair of siblings who had come to call the island home themselves. In style. The four of them had hopped back into the Scarab and drove it off the ferry once they were cleared to do so. There were more than a few dock workers and Patch residents who stopped to stare at the unique vehicle as it rolled by.
"Where did Tai say that he was going to meet us?" Denko asks as he steered around a parked car.
"Dad said he'll be at Signal when we called him yesterday." Yang answers as she points the way at an intersection.
"Thanks, it's been a while and we never drove here." Denko says as he follows her directions. A glance at the mirrors made him smile as the girls in the back seat had their heads out the windows to look around. It's not as though he was driving fast anyway with how busy the town's streets were with people and the few vehicles that were on the island along with the horse drawn wagons that were used as often as the vehicles.
In a few minutes, the Scarab was parked in the small lot just inside the walls of Signal Academy, the four students getting out of the vehicle and stretching their backs and limbs. The lot was fairly empty aside from a small red car in one corner with a few other cars and bicycles in a rack. The elementary school building sat in front of them, the thick stone blocks kept as clean as ever since this school once was a military fort for Vale since before the Great War and simply converted into a school that could withstand the power of Huntsman grade weapons and semblances used in fights.
The middle grade school building sat next to the elementary building with a small brick wall between them, claimed to be used for cover should any Grimm or army attack the school, despite the wall being only waist high on the adults. The high school building was next in the line with a much taller and thicker wall between the buildings. It also happened to be the building where the civilian classes dropped in size as plenty went into the combat classes for their major training. Across the yard with a large brick wall down the middle to separate the civilian and combat sides, sat the true reason why Signal was known to the rest of the world- it's Huntsman Academy building.
That building sat across the lot from the elementary building and was where most of the administrative duties took place along with the in-class training for the potential Huntsmen and Huntresses such as studying the anatomy of Grimm, humans, and faunus, combat tactics, war history, and such. Next to that and across from the middle school sat the building for actual combat classes when they were held indoors. Open spars, a gym, practice weapons, a small track and obstacle course lay within the large building. Next to that was the range where students could practice their use of firearms and Dust in a contained and supervised environment. Secluded near the back wall where the dividing wall ended was the forge where students could design, fabricate, and maintain their own unique weapons and armor. The prevailing winds blew the smoke from the forge itself away from the rest of the school most of the time.
Field experience was self-explanatory for the students, it helped to keep the Grimm population low on the island and the teachers made sure to never keep a pattern so the Grimm could never learn when to avoid them. Of course, most of the students would have to team up for their first kills as even a single Beowolf could overwhelm the average freshman of the combat school more often than not. Thus, why there were more teachers present along the hunts, if the school couldn't snag a passing Huntsman or Huntress for the day for the easy job and get unbiased opinions on student performance reports.
But four the four students returning to the place that brought back so many memories of the years they spent here… it was almost refreshing, a place that they could relax in as they had graduated from the school… most of them. The friends they had made, memories made, antics they had gotten into, the fights, the training that could be grueling some days… they found it all worth it.
Yet things here were surprisingly quiet, no sounds of fighting from the combat building, no sounds of gunshots from the range, even the forge barely had any smoke rising from the stacks indicating that the forge wasn't in use. The modes of transportation told of people being here but things were too quiet… classes weren't in session as it was the weekend. Until the doors of the main building burst open and a tall blonde man came running out to the quartet.
"There's my girls!" Taiyang Xiao Long practically shouts as he pulls his daughters into a hug, one which they had no problem giving back. A sigh of relief left the man as the bonding relaxed and they released each other. "I'm glad to see you home again."
"Glad to be home Dad." Yang smiles softly.
"Yeah!" Ruby was all smiles as she gave her father another hug.
The man looked over at the small audience to the family reunion. "Denko? Itazura? Wow, you sure have grown since you left here." Tai was surprised at how much they had filled out as their training and nature had taken hold of their bodies to make them into fine warriors. He did note that neither of them had gotten much taller, more than likely their height was stunted from their poor (being generous) treatment when they were children before they came to Patch. It didn't stop the older man from pulling the two into a hug with pats on the back, pleasantly surprised that they returned the back pats.
"It's been a while." Denko scratches the back of his head after being released. Tai was one of those on a very short list that could give the young man that sort of affection without risking a punch or kick.
"Things look pretty good around here." Itazura's tail swished happily as her attention was drawn in different directions.
"And it looks like you've been growing into a fine young woman rather than the scraggily little stick that came to my house all those years ago." Tai's comment caused the fox to blush something fierce as she wasn't used to those kinds of compliments being sincere and without strings attached.
"Thanks Tai."
The man turned back to his children. "Speaking of growing… I know I said about going to Beacon would help you two grow up, I never thought you'd grow sideways." He laughs, even when Yang punched him in the shoulder and Ruby covered her head with her hood.
"I know you know why we grew like this." Yang growls as she crosses her arms.
"Yeah, I know." His laughter died off as he takes his girls by the shoulders. "And I'm proud that you're not letting this drag you down." Even with the extra padding, it didn't take much of a squeeze for him to feel the strong muscles in their shoulders moving.
"So… did you kids have breakfast yet? It's still kinda early." The man asks as he looks the four over.
"We grabbed something quick on the way to the docks but a sandwich doesn't hold us over for long." Denko shrugs as he pat's his stomach.
"Ha! For any active person, a sandwich won't mean much, let alone a couple of teenagers." Tai laughs as he remembers his younger days.
"I'm twenty." The other blonde male corrects him.
"Well, congrats for that. You're not gonna start drinking like Qrow now that its legal for you, are you?" Father mode was activated.
"He tried to get me started, haven't found much that I even liked to be near." The younger man shrugs and Yang wasn't about to bring up the small drink they had at Junior's. It was bad enough for her first-time drinking, thanks to Qrow, that she rarely wanted to have alcohol again except for special conditions and with limitations. Her Uncle was many things, but his habit of getting drunk did grate on his families' nerves.
"Good to hear. Less to worry about." Tai's worries about the boy were dropped, he'd ask about Itazura but he'd seen her reaction when the subject was brought up. His daughters… he already knew their thoughts and reactions.
"Would you kids like some snacks? We got something in the teachers lounge if you want to grab something while I finish some work." Tai offers as he leads them into the building.
"You're still working on the weekend?" Itazura asks as they walk through the doors and out of the warm sun and slight breeze.
"Yeah, got some paperwork to take care of so I can enjoy the break for the Vytal Festival without interruptions."
"Didn't think you'd have much with your class." Denko comments as he walked the familiar halls looking at the slight changes of décor, mostly in the form of new pictures.
"Hmph, that's what the kids thought too before I gave them all an exam on close quarters combat with varying situations and differing opponents and goals. Should have seen the looks on their faces when I handed out the papers."
"Now that's just cruel Dad." Yang teases as she spots the graduation class picture of her year, her bright blonde hair easy to pic out from the small crowd. She smiled at the memory from nearly a year ago… 'How time flies when you're having fun.' She thinks before moving on.
Ruby was somewhat saddened at the sight of Yang's class picture, knowing that due to her circumstances, she'd never have that experience until she passed through Beacon. Until she saw a small picture of herself with Crescent Rose in a combat pose under Yang's class photo with a small tag indicating special advancement. Her eyes teared up as she grabbed her sister's wrist, causing the older girl to stop and the others halted to see what was going on.
"Ruby?" Yang asks, only to receive a shaky finger pointing at the picture of the red-cloaked girl under her own graduation class.
"Surprise kiddo." Their father drops his hands on their shoulders once more, this time from behind as he let's the shock sink in to his youngest.
"But I didn't graduate."
"Technicalities." The teacher dismisses as he waved his hand as if to fan away the worries. "You were more advanced in combat and weapons than almost anyone in your classes, even the year above you. You got the special recommendation and invite from Ozpin himself after witnessing your skills. You made it to Beacon, that's good enough for the Headmaster to add you to this wall." He should have expected the girl to wrap him in a hug for that, but given that she had to weigh around as much as himself now, the action made him stagger and would have fallen if Denko didn't raise a hand to his back. Yang giving her sister a hug from behind did help to balance the family out.
"Where are we going for lunch?" Denko asks as he follows Tai outside to their cars. The tiny little cookies did nothing but occupy their mouths for a few minutes and only reminded them at how hungry they were.
"I have reservations at Hestia's for us." The man says proudly and his daughters gave a small cheer.
"Hestia's?" Itazura questions as she didn't remember the name from when she was last on the island.
"Oh right, they came in after you left. A nice place to eat your fill with all kinds of food from all over the place." Tai answers.
"You go there often?" Denko asks Yang as they walk to the Scarab.
"Not really. We went there to celebrate my birthday during the semester break and after I got accepted into Beacon. It wasn't long after that when we came back to celebrate Ruby moving up too." Yang was proud of her sister and couldn't wait for the good food she knew that would be there.
"Do you think your dad remembered about…" He trails off as he pokes her exposed belly.
Her expression mellowed out. "He knows, but he had this set up for months. Besides, what's one meal gonna do to this?" She shakes her gut with a laugh before hopping into the larger car, the younger girls opting to ride with Tai.
"And the fact that the meal won't be rationed?" Denko teases as he starts to follow the red car onto the road.
"We're all tired of that. It'll be nice to actually fill up for once." Yang sighs as she watches her sister and friend look like they were dancing in the backseat of her dad's car, making her wonder what he was playing on the radio that got the girls moving like that.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed my expansion into RWBY lore, its just simply needed as it just feels like a big chunk of the original is missing without much of the stuff being worked into canon. Good thing for fanfics like this to fill in those gaps. Sure, I know they were still on a tight budget but it would have been nice to see if RT would have gone back and done some updates. That and work on some of the writing issues they have now... Not saying that there aren't good parts but they are stuck between whole scenes that just don't make sense given some of the characters involved, the timing, obvious retcons, etc.
But Big Issues will be working to correct some of these while not following canon for much longer.