Chapter 3: Meeting the Family
CRACK!
The right hook knocked Nathan sideways, hard enough to send him tumbling off of the bench and onto the floor. Black spots danced in and around his field of vision as he shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs and regain his equilibrium.
"Nathan!" Blake's voice rang out.
Clearing the cobwebs, Nathan looked up at his attacker: "What the fuck, bitch?" He demanded, before a boot to his jaw knocked him over once again.
"I would advise you to watch your language, young man!" His attacker snarled.
She was a tall and admittedly extremely beautiful young woman in roughly her early-to-mid-twenties, with pale white skin, and long, white hair tied up in a bun, high on the left side of the back of her head, while her bangs are shaped around the right side of her face, a small curled lock of hair reaching almost to her left shoulder, and almost hanging over a pair of light blue eyes.
She was wearing a white long-sleeved coat that reached down to her ankles with a single dark blue clasp around the centre waist holding it shut alongside a red jewelled brooch on the collar with the sleeves split open from shoulder to elbow. Additionally, she was wearing a white pleated sleeveless blouse with a dark blue waistcoat, alongside a pair of white trousers with dark blue garters alongside a pair of grey thigh boots with black detailing around the knees. Completing her look was a pair of black forearm length gloves with grey trimmed cuffs.
It occurred to Nathan that this might be a relative of Weiss; given the similar complexion, hair and eyes. "You know I've made up with Weiss, right, lady?" He asked snarkily, only to find black spots dancing around his vision again as Weiss' relative smashed him in the face with a vicious left hook.
"That's Specialist Schnee for you, young man!" the woman replied. "And while I realise you and my sister have made up, that does not excuse the reprehensible remarks you have made about her in the past! Consider this my pound of flesh!"
"Ma'am, stop!" Blake said, wrestling Specialist Schnee off of Nathan. "There's no need to get violent with him! He and Weiss have made up, let that be the end of it!""
"Stay out of this, you dull-witted harlot!" the Specialist said to Blake, shoving her away.
That did it. Recovering, Nathan stood up, stared straight at the Specialist, and roared: "HEY!"
Specialist Schnee turned to face Nathan, at which she was startled when he shouted:
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" Nathan demanded. "I realise some of what I've said to your sister in the past was far from friendly, but that doesn't justify you waltzing into this academy like you own the damn place; and insult my girlfriend! If you feel the need; by all means beat me black, blue, red and purple for what I've said to Weiss. But insulting my girlfriend is crossing the line. And I will be damned if I let your bitch ass walk away without apologising."
The Specialist's jaw dropped, as she said: "How… how dare you! Have you any idea who you are addressing young ma-"
"No, and I don't give a fuck who you are; whether you're Weiss' sister, some military bigwig if only cause you fucked the right men, or hell; even if you're General Ironwood's personal fuck-toy!" Nathan replied acidly. "What I do give a fuck about is that you just disrespected my girlfriend; your sister's own teammate! Bet Weiss won't be pleased to hear that, will she?"
Specialist Schnee's eyes widened, and she looked at Blake, clearly realising her mistake.
"Now, we can do this one of two ways." Nathan said firmly. "You can apologise to Blake right here and now; walk away, and we can forget all this ever happened. Or... I kick your head in; and you have to explain to General Iron-Bastard why you're in the hospital with missing teeth and a concussion." Placing his hands on his hips and meeting the Specialist's gaze intensely, Nathan asked: "So... Specialist Schnee... what's it going to be?"
Specialist Schnee averted Nathan's gaze and quickly turned to Blake, saying: "I… I… I'm sorry."
Nathan looked to Blake, asking: "Blake; do you accept the Specialist's apology?"
Blake wordlessly nodded, folding her arms and giving the specialist what Nathan had named 'The Glare of Impending Doom'.
"Good. Then let's go." Nathan said, gesturing to Blake.
Blake nodded, and together, they walked off.
Looking behind him, Nathan saw the Specialist still stood there, clearly having been thrown for a loop.
Eyeing Blake, Nathan jerked a thumb behind him, shouting for all to hear: "HEY! MIGHT WANNA FIND A FREEZER; JUST MELTED THE ICE HARLOT BACK THERE!"
Blake rolled her eyes with a giggle as they walked. "You just had to make that last insult, didn't you?"
"What can I say?" Nathan replied. "I'm fine with getting a verbal lashing every once in a while, but when someone insults you… that's when the gloves come off."
Blake smiled and laid her head on Nathan's shoulder. "I can live with that." She responded, pecking Nathan on the cheek.
"What can I say? A real man stands up for the woman he loves." Nathan stated.
"And that's why I love you, Nathan." Blake answered, turning to face Nathan and pulling him into a kiss.
Pulling Blake closer, Nathan returned the kiss, reaching up with his left hand to softly stroke his girlfriend's hair, hearing her sigh into the kiss.
Breaking the kiss, Nathan jerked his head towards the dorms. "Come on. Let's go call your parents."
"No, not yet." Blake replied. "I want a bit of time to let the excitement of what just happened wear off. Let the adrenaline disappear."
"Sounds good to me, Blake." Nathan replied. "Care to let me walk you to your dorm?"
Blake smiled. "I would love for you to walk me to the dorms." She declared, leaning in and pecking Nathan on the lips before taking his hand.
Lacing his fingers through Blake's, Nathan headed to the dorms with her, smiling when she laid her head on his shoulder.
Letting go of her hand, Nathan wrapped his arm around Blake's shoulder, pulling her close and gently kissing his girlfriend on the temple.
Blake sighed happily, trying to snuggle up to Nathan even more.
Nathan's smile widened, knowing that with Blake, he had never been happier.
Outside Team RWBY's dorm, 16:30 pm…
"Thanks for what was an exciting date, Nathan." Blake said with a smile. "Even if the excitement with Weiss' sister was a little unexpected."
Nathan shrugged, saying: "Like I said; a man defends the woman he loves."
Blake's smile deepened at that, before she stepped closer and hugged Nathan. "And I feel blessed to have that kind of man in my life, Nathan." She replied. "Even after nearly a week of dating, I still wonder how I was fortunate enough to be able to find myself with you."
Nathan chuckled. "I'm sure my smouldering good looks had something to do with it."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Come here, you!" She said, leaning in and kissing Nathan.
Returning the kiss, Nathan ran his hands up and down Blake's back, reaching up to softly stroke her hair.
Breaking the kiss, Blake said: "I'll call you when I'm ready to call my parents, yeah?"
"Sure." Nathan replied, leaning in and kissing Blake again. "See you soon, Blake."
"See you." Blake said, before turning and entering her dorm.
Nathan took a deep breath as he turned to enter his dorm.
"So you're the kid Oz was telling me about."
Nathan froze at the voice. It was gravelly and deep, like whoever was speaking was gargling pebbles or something. Regardless, Nathan turned to face the speaker:
It was a middle-aged man roughly the same height as Nathan was, with spiky, greying black hair and pink eyes with slight visible stubble along his jawline. Along with a red, tattered cloak, he was wearing a grey dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and black dress shoes. Completing his look were a ring on his right index finger, two other rings on his right ring finger and a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant.
Nathan immediately relaxed upon seeing the man, recognising the man from the many descriptions he'd heard from Ruby and Yang of the man. "And you're the dusty old crow Ruby and Yang keep talking about." Nathan replied, holding out his hand. "Name's Nathan Phoenix. It's an honour to meet you, sir."
"Qrow Branwen." The man replied, shaking Nathan's hand. "And don't call me 'sir'. I ain't some bigwig like Ironwood."
"I don't call Ironwood 'sir' anyway." Nathan said. "Unlike you; he hasn't done anything to warrant my respect."
"And I have?" Qrow asked. "Despite us only just meeting?"
"I've heard stories from Yang and Ruby." Nathan replied.
Nodding, Qrow said: "Fair enough. I don't really have much love for Ironwood either. It's why I decided to pick a fight with his best fighter; Winter Schnee."
"You mean Specialist Schnee?" Nathan inquired.
"You know her?" Qrow asked.
"We've met." Nathan replied. "Because of certain remarks towards her sister, she decided to beat the shit out of me. It backfired massively."
Qrow chuckled. "Now this I gotta hear. Come on, let's find a place to talk."
Somewhere on Beacon grounds…
"And so I walked off with Blake, and shouted: 'might wanna find a freezer! Just melted the Ice Harlot back there'!" Nathan said.
Qrow cracked up laughing. "Damn… Remind me never to get on your bad side." He muttered.
"What can I say? Don't disrespect my girl, I won't disrespect you." Nathan replied. "Best way to avoid getting verbally disembowelled by the acid tongue of yours truly."
Qrow chuckled. "I'll take that advice gladly." He replied, before his face grew grim. "There's… there's another reason why I wanted to find and talk to you."
"That's fine by me." Nathan replied. "What's up?"
"What's your plan for… for if the Empire manages to find Remnant, and find you?" Qrow asked.
Nathan sighed, and sat back. "I… I actually haven't thought about that." He responded. "The plan used to be that I'd flee and find a new planet to settle down on for however long, until I found a world I could hide on successfully for as long as I could. Thing is… I think I've found that here. I have people here who I've formed lifelong friendships with; and… and even found love. I can't possibly imagine fleeing Remnant to escape the Empire and abandon my friends or Blake. So… I'd have to say I'd stay here. On Remnant. And fight to protect my home and the people I care about."
Qrow nodded. "Just thought I'd ask." He said.
"Nothing wrong with that, Qrow." Nathan replied, before pausing. "On a less serious note; any embarrassing stories you can tell me about Ruby and Yang from when they were younger? I need new material to roast them with."
Qrow chuckled. "Well, there was the time that-"
Nathan's scroll buzzed, catching his attention. Fishing his scroll out, Nathan saw it was Blake calling. Smiling, he answered: "Hey, beautiful."
"Hey, Nathan." Blake replied. "I'm ready to call my parents. Care to join me?"
"Sure thing." Nathan answered. "I'm on my way. See you in a few. Love you."
"Love you too, Nathan." Blake responded. "See you in a few minutes." At that, Blake hung up.
Looking at Qrow; Nathan took a deep breath. "Sorry to cut our conversation short, Qrow, but Blake wants to see me for something important."
"No problem, kid." Qrow replied. "It was good meeting you."
"Likewise." Nathan replied, shaking Qrow's hand before he headed off. He was admittedly nervous, but he kept calm. At least this wasn't an in-person meeting.
Team RWBY's dorm, 17:05 pm…
Nathan approached the front door, and went to knock, but hesitated as his nerves threatened to drag him to the opposite side of the hallway and into his team's dorm. Clenching his left fist, Nathan took a deep breath, calming himself down, before he knocked on the door.
Mere moments later, the door opened to reveal Blake stood there. "Hey, Nathan." Blake said, stepping up to Nathan and pecking him on the lips softly. "Glad you could make it."
"Did you really expect me to miss any of this?" Nathan asked softly, pecking Blake on the lips in response. "Wouldn't miss any of this for the world."
Blake smiled as she ushered Nathan into the dorm.
Nathan soon spotted Ruby, Weiss and Yang in the room as well, chuckling. "Here to meet Blake's parents too?" Nathan asked.
"Yup." Ruby and Yang said in unison.
"I have a bone to pick with you, Nathan." Weiss made to say.
"If it's about your sister, save it." Nathan replied firmly. "She attacked me and insulted Blake. What did you want me to do; sit there and take it?"
Weiss backed off a little at Nathan's stern tone, and nodded. "I understand." She replied.
At that, loud barks drew Nathan's attention, and he smiled as he saw Zwei toddling up to him. "Hey, buddy." He said, kneeling down to stroke the adorable little corgi. "Yeah… get a good scratch." He cooed as he scratched Zwei behind the ears.
Eventually, Nathan stood up and eyed Blake, who was now sat on her bed.
She smiled at him and patted an area next to her, indicating she wanted Nathan to sit with her.
Nathan smiled, nodded, and sat next to Blake, pulling her close and lightly kissing her on the cheek. "Might want to take the bow off." Nathan said. "No need to hide what you are from your parents."
Blake looked at Nathan and smiled, before removing her bow and revealing her cat ears. She then took her scroll, finding the number specified in the letter she and Nathan had read. Her thumb hovered over it, and her hand started to shake.
Seeing this, Nathan placed a hand on Blake's shoulder. "We're here, Blake. It's going to be alright."
Blake smiled warmly and kissed Nathan, before eyeing her scroll. Taking a deep breath, she pressed call on the number.
For a while, all Blake saw was the dialling screen, and her anxiety began to build, her mind awash with all possible scenarios: Had she taken too long to call? Were her parents busy? Or had something happened to them?
She felt Nathan's hand squeeze her shoulder, and she looked at him with a warm smile, just in time to hear a familiar warm, kind voice:
"Blake?"
Blake briefly froze, eyes wide as she then turned to look at her scroll screen:
There, staring back at her, was a middle-aged woman who looked just like her but older, with short black hair and amber coloured eyes. Like Blake, she had cat ears on her head, though these were larger and more furry, and had piercings.
Blake fought to contain her tears at the sight of her, saying: "Hey, Mom."
Blake's mother smiled back, also seemingly fighting back tears. "My baby girl…"
Blake wiped the tears from her eyes, despite more tears coming by the second.
She and her mother stared at each other for a while, until Blake finally said:
"There's… there's so much I want to say."
"Let's start with me saying how good it is finally see you again." Blake's mother replied, blinking back tears. "Look how you've grown. Seems only yesterday you barely reached my knee, and now… now you're a young woman. You're all grown up."
"It was gonna happen eventually, Mom." Blake responded, wiping her tears away. "It's great to see you, too. I-is Dad with you?"
"Oh, am I not good enough?" Her mother asked sarcastically.
"No, no!" Blake replied with a half-laugh, half sob. "I just want to know."
"He's out on business at the moment." Blake's mother replied. "So it's just me. Is… is anyone with you?"
"Yeah; I'm in my dorm here at Beacon Academy with my friends." Blake responded. "Want to meet them?"
"Certainly." Blake's mother replied.
Looking up, Blake said: "Girls; want to meet my mom?"
The moment those words left Blake's mouth, Ruby shot over, sitting next to Blake and making her jump.
"Yes please!" Ruby said enthusiastically.
"By the gods, Ruby…" Blake muttered as her mother chuckled.
"Seems my baby girl can still be a scaredy-cat." Her mother said teasingly.
"Mom!" Blake chided as Ruby giggled.
"Forgive our team leader, she can be exuberant." Weiss added as she joined them.
"Aw, don't be like that, Weiss! This is the first time any of us are getting to meet Blake's family!" Yang declared as she dropped down from her bunk and sat between Blake and Ruby.
"Is this all of them?" Blake's mother asked.
"Yup!" Ruby answered. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Ruby Rose. Blake's team leader. And friend. I think."
"Of course you're her friend, Ruby. We all are." Weiss said. "Either way, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Belladonna. I am Weiss Schnee."
"And I'm Yang Xiao Long; your daughter's partner!" Yang declared.
Blake's mother smiled and chuckled. "It's wonderful to meet you all too. I'm Kali; Blake's mother."
"Nice to meet you too, Mrs B." Yang said. "You look great! I hope I look that good when I'm your age."
"Yang…" Blake chided. "That's my mother."
"It's fine." Kali replied with a smile. "Thank you for the compliment, regardless."
"It's the least we could do to thank you for raising such an integral member of this team." Weiss stated. "None of us would be the people we are without Blake around."
"Yeah." Ruby said. "Especially you, Weiss."
"Oh ha-ha!" Weiss replied. "That bigoted side of me is long gone, I'll have you know."
"Unless you're rejecting Jaune again." Yang teased.
"Wha-?!" Weiss spluttered. "That is completely different and you know it!"
Blake rolled her eyes as her teammates bickered, and eyed her mother. "Now you know what I deal with on a daily basis nowadays." She remarked.
"They all seem like very good people." Kali responded. "I'll admit, I had my reservations when you told me Weiss Schnee herself was a member of your team. However, it's nice to see that you've helped her in a way."
"We've all helped each other." Blake replied, as her teammates stopped bickering and paid attention to the conversation. "Ruby's a talented leader who always inspires us, despite her being younger than us, Weiss helps us out a lot stylistically and academically, and Yang… Yang helps keep the mood light. Even if the only reason we're laughing is because her jokes are terrible."
"Hey!" Yang protested as the team all laughed along with Kali.
"Either way; I am glad you have such good friends around you." Kali replied. "Now, I recall you saying in your letter that you have a boyfriend now. Is he lurking around here somewhere?"
With Nathan…
Here we go, Nathan thought to himself as he said: "I am where I am, I am where I was, and I am where I will always be." Sitting up as the rest of Team RWBY got up so that Nathan could scoot closer to Blake, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Which is by your daughter's side."
Kali smiled at the sight of Nathan, saying: "Well, aren't you handsome? Blake, you've definitely scored big with this one."
"Mom…" Blake said, blushing.
Nathan chuckled, replying: "Thanks, ma'am. I can see where Blake got her beauty from."
"Oh shush!" Kali replied, giggling. "My, my, you are a charmer, young man."
"I speak my mind, Mrs Belladonna, and that's what I thought the moment I saw you." Nathan said politely.
"Please, call me Kali." Kali requested.
"With all due respect, me and Blake have only been dating a week." Nathan responded. "As a result, I figure I haven't reached a first name basis with you, yet."
Kali smiled. "And he's polite and respectful? Blake, you really need to marry this man ASAP."
"Mom!" Blake protested, now seriously blushing.
"Aw, is my beautiful girlfriend being embarrassed by her mommy?" Nathan asked teasingly, leaning in and pecking her on the cheek.
"Apparently so." Kali added teasingly. "If only there were someone there to hold her close and cuddle her amidst all this embarrassment."
"Good thing I'm here then." Nathan said, pulling Blake into his lap. "I'll protect you from the embarrassing remarks of your mother."
Blake glowered at both Nathan and her mother, saying: "I hate both of you."
"No you don't." Nathan replied. "Because why would you be still snuggling with me, then?"
"My future son in law has a point." Kali added teasingly.
Blake groaned as she heard the giggles of her teammates as they watched this exchange.
Eventually, the giggles and everything subsided, and all was calm.
"So, Nathan; why don't you tell me something about yourself?" Kali inquired.
Nathan smiled. He figured he could trust Blake's parents with his secret. "Well; if there's one thing you should know, it's that I'm-"
"FUCKING THRICE DAMNED SPAWN OF A GUTTER SLUT'S CUNT!"
Nathan looked up towards the door, knowing that was Pyrrha's voice, and it had come from his dorm.
"What was that?" Kali inquired.
"That would be one of my teammates." Nathan replied. "And it appears that something has aroused her anger to such an extent that she is uncharacteristically cussing like a drunken sailor high on all manner of drugs."
Kali laughed. "Well; you'd best go see what it is. It was nice meeting you, Nathan. Looking forward to talking with you again, soon."
"Me too, Mrs Belladonna." Nathan replied, saluting her informally, before kissing Blake. "See you at dinner, Blake."
"See you." Blake replied with a warm smile.
At that, Nathan stood up and after saying his goodbyes to the rest of Team RWBY, exited their dorm and crossed the hallway and entered his teammates' dorm:
Just in time for Pyrrha to whirl around and hurl her scroll at his head.
"WHOA!" Nathan exclaimed, quickly shutting the door to avoid getting hit, feeling Pyrrha's scroll striking the door, followed by a gasp from Pyrrha.
"Nathan, was that you? Oh, I'm sorry!"
"It's nothing, Pyrrha." Nathan replied as he entered the dorm, taking Pyrrha's scroll and tossing it back to her. "What's lit the fuse on your tampon, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha sighed frustratedly. "My mother has resurfaced, it seems." She replied. "She's come out in support of another team during this tournament. A team led by a former rival of mine from back in Argus."
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Of fucking course. What's she said this time?"
Pyrrha let out another huff before taking her scroll, opening it, and reading aloud from an article: "My dear daughter Pyrrha appears to have forgotten that without me, she never would have existed in the first place, much less gone on to achieve what she has. Despite my diligent efforts to get her to apologise for besmirching my reputation some months ago, she has ignored my requests. Well now it falls to me to bring my daughter to heel once again, and force her to apologise for her abhorrent and unwarranted disrespect to me, her loving mother." Pausing, Pyrrha went on to continue reading: "Hence why I have decided to place my support behind her most prolific rival, Hector Crassus, and his highly capable team from Atlas Academy, as Hector knows Pyrrha well, and will surely best her when all is said and done. To Pyrrha; I will expect a sincere apology from you the moment you are defeated by Crassus, be that in the doubles round, or the singles round, if you manage to get that far. Good luck, my dearest daughter. You're going to need it."
Nathan scoffed. "How far must your head be up your ass to even believe the shit Juno's spewing?" He asked.
"My mother is a narcissist, remember?" Pyrrha pointed out. "She's the only one allowed to be right in her mind. Everyone else is wrong, and it's either her way or the highway."
"Naturally." Nathan muttered. "But enough about that narcissistic toddler. This Hector Crassus guy she's supporting; should we be worried about him?"
"Well; let's put it this way:" Pyrrha replied. "I am beyond furious that my mother's failure to admit she's in the wrong has driven her to support Hector." Pausing, Pyrrha added: "As for whether I'm worried about him, though…" Pyrrha allowed a coy smile to cross her face. "To quote our mutual friend Ruby Rose… Nope!"
I did intend for Nathan's rebuke of Winter to be far more foul mouthed and aggressive, but I figured I'd show he has matured a little bit and approaches the situation a little more peacefully, with a little hint of his signature acid tongue. Guess that's what happens when you insult Nathan's girlfriend.
With that said; let's answer some reviews, shall we?
april-551: Well; you got one prediction right. Nathan did in fact interact with both Winter and Qrow in this chapter. Just not in the way you predicted he would. Too busy on his date with Blake. As for your question about how local villains react upon seeing Nathan; it depends on who the villain is. We know Nathan defeated Torchwick quite handily in Rising Darkness, but was defeated by Neo earlier on in the story. So Torchwick would probably hide behind Neo and run away. As for other 'local' villains... we'll see.
With all that said; thank you all so much for reading this chapter. If you liked it; you know what to do.
I shall see you next week with Chapter 4; which sees us meet this rival of Pyrrha's.
T-Rock14