Disclaimer: All character's belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-Authored with ToxicExotic

Update regarding break in notes

A Growing Frustration

Ruby had always loved her uncle, even as unreliable as he could be. It wasn't too unusual for the man to just appear out of nowhere and brighten her life for a while, whether that was by taking her and Yang on trips or just hanging around and telling them stories of his own adventures, it was always a rather fun time. It was also educational more often than not. While Yang had chosen to learn from their dad, Ruby had always loved Qrow's weapon. She remembered sitting on the grass as a child watching him practise moves. The way he moved had always looked so graceful, like she was watching someone dance with a Grimm that was lashing out at everything around it. Needless to say that the second she'd turned eleven, the age he had told her to wait until, she'd asked him to train her.

It had been almost an entire year of nothing but practise. Of course she had made sure to exercise plenty in the time leading up to that, but it had been so much more intense than she'd ever expected. With only a year to get her skill up to the level needed to enter Signal academy, most days had consisted of twelve hour practise sessions that left her body feeling like it was on fire. The same moves had been practised over and over again, studying every single position and movement she could. For every slip up she would receive a heavy blow to the head from the wooden scythe she'd been given to practise with; and each served as a painful reminder of just how dangerous such a weapon was. Not only to opponents, but to its wielder.

Thankfully though, after a full year of painful training, the day of the Signal test had arrived. She remembered standing there, only twelve years old, in front of three snarling Beowolves. She remembered feeling nothing for them. No fear, no worry, no hesitation. In that moment, she'd released all the pent up anger she had and held nothing back. Each slash she made was purposeful and precise, their limbs and shredded bodies falling to the floor one after another. And when everything had quietened, she'd passed with top marks and was given entry to the school.

It was a little awkward after that. The other students had seen her test and were always nervous to fight her, but it was rare for Ruby to walk away the victor from those sparring matches. It wasn't that she couldn't muster the will to fight as she did in the test, but that she didn't want to. She hated the creatures of Grimm, they were the only thing she truly despised, but her fellow students had done nothing to her. In fact, they were all really nice; but she could never get past the worry they had first shown at the start of the year, the hint of fear that had been in the eyes of the first girl she had been pitted against in sparring class. She didn't want people to look at her with fear, she wanted them to smile.

It had always been a feeling that her uncle Qrow tried to tell her to ignore, but she'd never gotten past it. As a result, her score had slowly fallen as she progressed through the years. While she still topped out her class in terms of combat ability against Grimm, she was constantly near the bottom of her sparring classes. However, with Qrow in town again, he'd been less than subtle about continuing their training. In fact, at dinner the night before, he had ordered her food for her, a large bowl of plain pasta, and told her that she was to show him everything she had learned. It was very unlike him, since he usually just tried to get into a random fight to test her.

So, the next morning, Ruby found herself on one of the many fields surrounding Beacon sparring against her uncle. It had been almost an hour and the sounds of clashing metal filled her ear as she bobbed and weaved her way through her uncle's masterful slashes, vaguely aware that there were a few students who were interested enough to stop by and watch the display.

"Are you ever gonna attack, Kiddo?" Qrow smiled as she dodged his attempt at another slash.

"Don't need to if you can't hit me." She laughed gleefully in response. "But if you insist."

As his blade can down again, she bounced out of the way and immediately used her semblance to rocket towards his chest. However, before she could make contact, his scythe spun around to protect himself. Knowing she would be caught before ever making contact, she split off some petals and let them continue as she altered her course. Just as they exploded and turned the area red, she zipped between his legs and spun around to strike him. Unfortunately, her foot caught a patch of grass that was still kind of wet and she lost her balance a little, causing her strike to miss. Thankfully she was able to get her balance just in time to raise her scythe to deflect the retaliation attempt, sparks flying around her as his sword scratched across Crescent Rose's handle.

"Really shouldn't announce when you're about to attack." He said in his usual scratchy voice.

"Normally I… DON'T!"

She spun her scythe and fired a shot at the older man's leg. As predicted, he moved out of the way just in time. With him off balance, she allowed the momentum to carry the weapon in a smooth arc. Having gathered the motion she wanted, she pressed the advantage and stepped forward. Guiding it in smooth arcs around herself, she clashed with her uncle for a few seconds. Sparks and dirt flew around them as their weapons slammed into each other, but Ruby couldn't find an opening. No matter how much she tried, Qrow's weapon, Harbinger, always came around just in time to block her.

Even though she wasn't giving it her all, it was frustrating that she wasn't able to punch through his defence. Especially since he was still in sword form. The sword wasn't even Qrow's primary weapon, yet she still couldn't accomplish so much as a scratch. She had speed on her side, she had dexterity and reach; it should have been effortless. Yet it wasn't, and her frustration began to steadily grow with each deflection.

However, as his sword came up once again, she felt the head of her scythe glance of the smooth metal and pulled the trigger. With the barrel pressed against the side of the weapon and the amount of force her bullets output, Qrow was flung backwards a few feet. However, before she could try to take advantage, he twisted mid and landed with a downward slash of his weapon as the barrel either side of the blade lit up white. With the previous shot having broken her momentum and the scythe still dragging her arm backwards, there was no way for her to dodge the beam of energy that tore towards her.

The most she could do was twist Crescent Rose so that the head took the brunt on the attack. Unfortunately, the force of it was enough to shove the weapon backwards even more, the blade crashing into her chest and hooking her. After being dragged backwards a couple of feet, she took a gasp of air. It had hurt like hell, but it was still better than taking a hit from something that would have surely ripped through the trees behind her. He'd never used that much force before.

"Is this really all you've learned at Beacon?" He sighed, his voice having switched from uncle to teacher as he stood up and brushed off his grey coat. "How to hold back more?"

His words struck a chord with her. She knew that she could have broken through if she'd gone all out. But there were students watching. Friends. And he was her uncle. She didn't want to have any of them look at her like her old classmates had. Like she was vicious and dangerous.

"N-No." She stuttered in return. "I've learned a lot."

"Really?" His pale red eyes darkened and he flipped the switch on the handle of his sword, the weapon quickly unfolding into its scythe form. "'Cause all I see is that Oz made another mistake that will get someone killed."

Those words hurt her deep. She knew her uncle supported her in everything she did, and that he was likely trying to spur her into action, but that specific thing had caused her issue for some time. Even with Ozpin's speech about how she inspired people to be better, she still questioned if she was ready from time to time. After all, the Hellk had been a strong reminder that she still had a ways to go.

But she was getting better. Her grades were improving, her leadership seemed to be getting better, and the team seemed stronger than ever. The only issue she was aware of was Yang constantly trying to get her to attack people. But maybe her sister was right. Maybe she needed to be a little more aggressive. If she couldn't even get past Qrow's more inexperienced form, how would she ever get past anything else?

No… She thought to herself with a shake of her head. I don't need to risk hurting people to stop them.

"He didn't make a mistake." She muttered, more to herself than to him.

"Then show me!"

It was his turn to go on the offensive. He rushed forward with incredible speed, his scythe trailing behind him. Determined to show him that she didn't need to be vicious in fights to win, she spun hers to deflect his leaping attack and brought it around in a clean arc, aiming low to take out his legs. He hopped over it though, his scythe already beginning to pick up momentum. Not wanting to fall behind, rolled backward and used the motion of getting to her feet to kickstart her own.

Flashes of red, black, and silver filled her vision as their weapons clashed around them. Blades of grass were torn up as deep grooves were carving into the field. Shot after shot rang out loud and clear, each one deflected and filling the air with powdered Dust which were occasionally ignited again by the sparks that flew from their weapons. With Qrow on the offensive, she opted for a more defensive stance, rotating her weapon the opposite direction so that she could have the advantage. Though Qrow had longer reach and more power, Harbinger's curved handle delayed his attacks by half a fraction of a second that her straight handle could easily take advantage of with its stronger emphasis on speed.

After what felt like a full minute of clashing though and building up her advantage, she finally created enough of a gap between her attacks and Qrow's that she was able to easily predict his next. Bringing her weapon down as he struck his upwards, she managed to hook his blade with her own, linking the two heads together. Activating her semblance and firing off a shot, she dragged him backwards to throw him off balance. Unfortunately, he wasn't as affected as she hoped and stayed on his feet. Wanting to keep her advantage though, she kept their weapons linked and began a second exchange.

It was much more dance-like than the first. Neither of them seemed to want to break the link, so guided each other around. When he pulled her close and struck out with his fist, she ducked below it and slipped between his legs, dragging their weapons with her and flipping him. When she tried to stab the tip of Crescent Rose into the ground and spin in place to slam her feet into his face, he would catch her ankle and throw her. Each time they tried to throw each other, they would manage to recover and continue the dance.

Again she felt the frustration begin to creep up. Why couldn't she just break through? Just once would be enough to prove she was right.

"Ruby!" Qrow growled angrily, pulling her towards him again only for her to petal burst backwards. "Stop holding back!"

"No!"

She saw it too late. She'd landed in a patch of Dust powder that had drifted to the ground and Qrow wasted no time firing a shot into it. Fire and electricity surged around her, pain rushing through her body as she was blasted off her feet and into a tree. Given no time to recover, she sensed Qrow's approach and raised her scythe just in time to block the strike from his sword. The weight of it pushed her back against the tree hard enough to hear the lumber creak, but he didn't let up.

"You think you can be a Huntress by being passive?" The annoyance in his tone was evident. "That you can save anybody if you never do what needs to be done?"

Qrow had never acted like that, never said those things before, but Yang had. Never so bluntly, but she had been trying to get her to stop holding back lately. Finally it clicked. Yang had gone to meet him yesterday, she'd shown up at the dorm room with him and told her they were all having dinner together. A dinner that Qrow had forced a carb-heavy meal upon her and told her they were training. Her sister had planned it all.

"I want to help people." She groaned in denial of his words, the pressure Qrow was exerting growing and causing her to lose her breath. She needed to act fast. "I don't want to hurt them."

Summoning her strength and knowing Qrow was using enough pressure to keep her upright, she raised her legs and pressed them against the tree. Activating her semblance, she forced her legs backwards and managed to exert enough counter-pressure to push him away slightly. With a small opening available, she pushed herself off properly, hearing the tree shatter to splinters behind her as she flew into the air. Before she could get too far away however, she felt something snag around the bolt of Crescent Rose and was suddenly dragged back down. She barely had time to make out Harbinger's blade slung around the bolt before a fist collided with her face.

If there was one thing wielding an incredibly heavy scythe did, it was build up an incredible amount of strength. The punch felt like a missile colliding with her cheek, the sheer power of it enough to rival Yang's. Forceful enough that she bounced off the hard dirt and skidded a few feet, finally coming to halt facing her uncle and feeling her aura flicker.

"Then you'll fail!" He said half shouted, pulling his sword from what was now just a tree stump. "Innocent blood will be on your hands because you weren't able to do what was needed." He paused, his eyes falling onto her. "Just like it was on Summer's."

Even though she knew he was trying to rile her up, that didn't prepare her for what had just been said. Qrow's words hit her harder than the punch she'd just taken. Her mother had been an expert Huntress, maybe even one of the best. People may have died occasionally, but it would never have been her fault. The blood would never have been on her hands, and for him to even insinuate such a thing, was wrong.

Her mom had been good. Great even. She didn't remember much about her, she was too young when she died after all, but she knew enough to know how good a person she was. And she absolutely would not let anyone ruin that image for her. Not even Qrow. After all the stories he had told her though, how dare he say such a thing? And how he could just stand there so straight-faced like he hadn't just insulted a dead woman? A dead woman who spent every day of her life protecting people. A woman who was his former leader, that he was supposed to have loved and respected. A woman who meant the world to her.

Feeling anger broiling in her stomach, she stabbed her scythe into the ground and pushed herself to her feet while looking him in the eye.

If he wanted her to not hold back, then she wouldn't.

Her arms swung the scythe behind her, prepping to propel herself at the man. She hated going all out, but if that was what it would take to stop him badmouthing her mother, then she would do it. With a squeeze of the trigger, she shot forward so fast that the world around her turned to a blur.

"That's bet…"

"AAAH!"

His sword swung out towards her body, but she slipped to the side easily enough. Hearing Harbinger transform behind her, she jumped just in time to see the scythe slip past her feet. Feet that she slammed into Qrow's stupid face. Using it to launch herself, she twisted mid air swung out in a clean arc, her scythe glancing off of Qrow's. Letting off another shot the moment the barrel landed behind her so that she rocketed towards the ground, she landed at his feet too fast for him to react, the impact shattering the hard dirt. Without a second thought, her thumb found the switch and flipped it.

Crescent Rose whirred to life in her hands, the serrated edge revealing as she fired off another shot to coat the savage blade. The sound of rumbling echoed behind her as the tip of the blade raked through the dirt. She could already see Qrow was in motion, but she knew at least some part of her attack was guaranteed to make contact. So following through, on her attack, she brought it up in a graceful slash, dirt and fire spraying everywhere; a mix of red, orange, and brown. She heard a small grunt just before Qrow leaped out of range though, and knew the fire must have clipped him.

Not letting the motion die, her arms kept the blade in motion as she advanced. Everything turned to fire as she whirled her scythe around, the air around her heating to the point where she could feel it on her skin. She smelled smoke from the piles of wood that were lit aflame, smelled the vegetation burning up around her; but she didn't stop. Qrow was already responding in kind too, his blade flashing silver and sending gold sparks into the air as they clashed, only for them to be lost in the fire.

"Just like your dad." Qrow's voice was barely audible through the crackling of the fire and the clanging of steel. "So much anger."

"Shut up!" She yelled back.

She was done with him insulting her parents. Just as she had before, she felt her rotations begin to outpace his. Slipping her blade back around his, she fired off another shot that he pirouetted to dodge. While he managed to dodge the bullet, the Dustal activated and coated her blade in electricity. Crescent Rose was designed to handle such a thing of course, but Harbinger wasn't. Blue sparks ran up the handle and she saw her uncle's body seize up a little. That was her chance.

Though she hadn't been able to do it earlier due to having the wrong blade out, she could now. With the edge of Qrow's scythe trapped between the serrated teeth of the new blade, she twisted her body away from him and used her shoulder as the pivot point. With the handle resting across it, she pulled down. Just like Qrow, she too had more strength than people would assume, and the man was lifted into the air. She dragged him overhead until he finally slammed into the ground in front of her, at which point she slipped her weapon free. He was already in the process of getting up though, so gave it a spin, the butt of the blade crashing into the bottom of his chin.

As he tumbled backwards, she felt Harbinger slip around her waist and drag her forward. Using the momentum of his roll, he rose to his feet and slammed his fist into her gut. Her breath left her for a moment, but she wasn't given any time to recover as the scythe collapsed back into sword form and struck her across the chest with enough force for her to fall backwards. She knew her aura wouldn't withstand another hit.

"One hit left, Kid." He called, the humor back in his voice. It didn't stop her being angry at him though. It didn't stop her wanting an apology.

Devising a quick plan, she spun in place and shot off a few balls of petals. It didn't matter where they landed, they just needed to cover her. As they exploded, she heard a gunshot ring out and dodged to the side just in time as a shattershot of pellets flew past her ear. A few more shots rang out afterwards, and she used her semblance and darted between clouds to stay obscured.

Unfortunately for Qrow, she knew how many shots Harbinger held at once. Counting them out as she bounced between clouds, she waited for the seventh. Finally, she heard it. That was her chance, and she seized it. All she needed to do was pin him, then she would get her apology.

Sending one last surge of petals out over the field to distract him, she sprinted out and raced at her uncle. Her distraction had worked and Qrow was looking away from her. Putting on a final burst of speed and feeling her aura threaten to give out, she twisted her scythe in her hands. Unfortunately, mere feet from her target, he chose that moment to turn and his sword came around with him in a vicious strike. It slid along her stomach and across her side and she felt her aura break at the last moment.

Real pain shot through her as the very tip of the blade slashed through her skin, but she didn't care. It wasn't deep, she knew a deep cut when she felt it. He was mid motion and wouldn't break out of it before she caught him, so continuing with her plan she ran past him and brought the head of her scythe up to allow the space between the back teeth and handle, where her feet would normally go, to slam into his throat. Before he could do anything to back away, she flipped the switch to transform Crescent Rose back into its sniper form.

She'd prepared for such an occasion. With so many gears and small parts, she was always ready for things getting stuck and jamming it up, and just as they should have, her failsafes kicked it. The gears grinded to a halt as the teeth closed around the back of his neck, trapping her uncle like a poled collar one would use on wild animals. Angling the handle downwards, she pulled the trigger again. Her arms threatened to buckle without aura to protect her from the force her gun produced, but she held on as Qrow was dragged backwards and the blade on the end of the handle drove itself deep into the ground, leashing him there like a dog chained to the yard.

Turning around, she looked at her uncle, his fist pulling at the teeth trying to get them to release him and failing. She knew the failsafe would hold, it was designed to withstand strong impacts after all, so quickly walked around to his front and looked down at him.

"See, you can go all out without hur..."

"Apologise!" She demanded.

"For what?" He groaned and pulled at the teeth some more.

"For what you said about Mom."

Qrow chuckled and a wave of annoyance rushed through her. How could he laugh at her after saying such a thing?

"For the truth?"

"It's not the tr…"

As she raised her foot to stomp on the ground, she was cut off by the sound of whirring greeted her ears. To her shock, the failsafe failed and the head of her weapon expanded back into scythe form. In an instant, Qrow was on his feet and a hand landed on her hip, securing her in place as Harbinger was whistled through the air. At the very last second, it stopped, the edge of the blade pressed against her neck.

"Yes it was. Summer would have told you the same if she saw this." Qrow said, no anger in his voice. "That's what made her better than anyone I knew. She embraced her failures and learned from them."

Ruby felt the hand release her and stepped back, looking up into her uncle's eyes. She'd never been so angry at him before. She'd never been that angry at anyone before. She didn't understand how he could ever think her mom would have said such things. Her mother had been kind and considerate, she would never have said such horrible things just to try and hurt someone. And for him to think she would showed just how little he knew her.

Feeling tears well up in her eyes, Ruby shouldered past the man and stormed off into the woods, grabbing her scythe as she did. She had no idea where she was going, but so long as it was away from Qrow, it would do.

Watching her sister disappear into the treeline, Yang let out a groan and pushed herself off the bench. She'd watched the fight from afar just like everyone else, making sure she wasn't seen. She'd seen Ruby go from restrained to released, and heard the words that Qrow had used to encourage her. And she wasn't impressed. It seemed she was alone though, since as she pushed her way through the crowd, she heard the people around her talking about what they'd just seen.

"... beat a Signal teacher."

"Nah, he totally won. Put up a helluva good fight though."

"Never thought she was that good honestly. Always seemed weak."

"Definitely asking her to spar some time."

She had no idea who was talking, but she knew they had to be in a different part of the crowd because everyone near her was too busy moving out of her way with worried looks. She knew why of course. Even with her eyes on Qrow, she could still feel the telltale prickle of heat around her body, see the shining strands of hair that hung down in front of her face. When she was finally free of the throng, she strode quickly over to her uncle. It didn't take her long to reach him.

"HEY!"

He turned around and she didn't hesitate. Her body twisted at the hip and her fist flew freely, finding its mark on Qrow's cheek. It held enough power that it knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling across the ruined ground until he landed a few feet away.

"I SAID BE GENTLE WITH IT!"

With a groan, he slowly stood to his feet and massaged his jaw.

"I ask you for one thing! One thing, and you find a way to fuck it up; just like always."

"I told her what she needed to hear." He brushed off one of his pant legs, but gave up halfway.

"How on Remnant did she need to hear that our mom failed as a Huntress?"

"Because she did. Multiple times." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair to straighten it. "She wasn't perfect, Yang."

"You think I don't know what you were talking about?" She fumed in return, taking a step forward. "That's what Ruby believes, not me."

"Exactly. And that's the problem. We've all let her think Summer was an angel, a world renowned Huntress and told her nothing but the good. Let her believe that Summer always tried to find a way to help people and would never have hurt someone. That is the image Ruby has, that is what she looks up to, and that is what's holding her back."

Yang glared at her uncle. She knew his words were true, but she didn't want them to be. That image was all Ruby had of Summer, the only thing left of a woman she'd never really known. She didn't want that tarnished. But, much to her annoyance, Qrow was right. So long as Ruby was seeing Summer that way, she wouldn't be able to fight without hesitation. However, none of that mattered if they didn't find her.

Thankfully though, the woods she'd walked off into rarely had any Grimm, so her lack of aura wasn't really a concern; but she was still not willing to let her sister wallow alone. So with a deep breath, she shook her head and walked towards where her sister had disappeared.

"Whatever. Let's just go find her." She growled, slamming her shoulder into his as she passed. "Asshole."

Sat with her back against the hard stone of an ancient monument, one of many that littered Beacon's grounds, Ruby used the sleeve of her top to wipe away the moisture from her eyes. It had been half an hour since the fight, since Qrow had said those things, and they still hurt.

Qrow had never been like that before. Sure he could occasionally be a little moody and quiet, but he'd never been so cruel. He'd never badmouthed her mom. In fact, he'd always done the opposite. Her entire childhood had been filled with stories of how good of a woman her mom was, of how innocent people came before everything else in life, even taking precedence over being a mother. Qrow had talked on how Summer had never been able to give up being a Huntress, that giving it up would have destroyed her because she was just as much a Huntress as she was a mother.

She remembered the countless tales of her missions that Qrow and her dad would tell her regularly. She remembered always asking for another and being eager for the next visit from her uncle because it always meant that another story of her mom would come with it. And that seemed to be true this time too. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it.

She certainly didn't think Qrow would make something up to hurt her, nor that he would tell her Summer would have said the same if it wasn't true, but the alternative meant that there were things she didn't know. Stories they had purposely kept from her. Stories that could ruin the only idea she had of who her mom was and turn her into someone she didn't know. Maybe someone that she couldn't even like.

No.

Nothing could stop her from loving her mom. Whatever Qrow had been talking about, nothing could change that one simple fact. Ruby loved her mom, and she always would. But that image people had given her was important, it had help form who she was; so if that changed, would she?

"Ruby?"

The sound of her sister's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Looking up from her knees, she saw the blonde walking through the trees a short distance away from her. Her head was swinging back and forth, glancing out through the forest until the lilac eyes finally landed on her. Relief filled them as she walked calmly over.

"Finally." The blonde walked over and motioned towards a nearby stone. Giving a nod, Ruby watched her sister sit down and give her a soft smile. "You okay?"

She gave another nod. She was happy Yang had come to find her, but Yang had also probably been the one who asked Qrow to help her. It seemed the brawler was thinking along the same lines too since she let out a slow breath and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Rubes." She said quietly. "I shouldn't have pushed this on you."

She remained quiet.

"You have your own way of fighting, and I have mine. Maybe I should just acc…"

"You were right."

Her words came out as more of a mumble than anything, but she knew they were the truth. During the entire fight, she'd slowly been getting more and more frustrated. Not from just how Qrow talked about her mom, but also from how little she'd been accomplishing. Fighting against her friends was fun, letting her feel like there was no pressure; but Qrow wasn't a friend. He was family, he was the man who taught her how to fight, and he was a Huntsman that she also looked up to. The only real one she'd ever actually known since her dad had stopped for a while after her mom died. Being unable to do nothing to the man who trained her, who's fighting style she knew like the back of her hand, had been more than a little annoying.

And there was the fact that when she stopped holding back, she had finally broken through his defence and even pinned him. As angry as she'd been at him, she'd still been in full control. Her movements had been just as precise as the day she'd taken her test to enter Signal Academy, even more so in fact. There'd been no accidents, as tended to happen around Qrow specifically, no mistakes. And more importantly, it had felt good. It felt good to be fighting without the constant worrying and extra thought about how she would have to pull her attacks, instead she'd been able to focus on creating her own openings and overpowering her opponent.

"Oh…" Yang reached down to pull up a few blades of grass. "You want to talk about it?"

Ruby stayed silent for a second, thinking of her answer. She wasn't quite sure how to put what she felt into words, so chose what she felt was the easiest.

"Coco was right." She grumbled into her knees. "I've been holding the team back."

It was Yang's turn to not reply. Turning to look at her, Ruby saw conflict in her sister's eyes. It only lasted a few seconds though, as it cleared the second lilac met silver.

"Maybe a little. But we were never annoyed about it, Rubes. We knew you didn't like fighting people."

"It's not just that." She shook her head. "I keep trying to be a good leader and show that you can all trust me to make the calls, but I've never trusted myself. I've always been worried I would hurt someone, that I wasn't skilled enough or that I don't belong here. How can you, Weiss or Blake trust me if I don't trust myself?"

"That's kinda why we do." Ruby looked up in time to see her shrug. "Well, that's why they do. I trust you 'cause you're my sister. But Weiss and Blake don't expect you to be the best, Ruby. They know you're still learning, but they can see how much effort you put into everything. Even if you don't fight people properly, you still make sure we train like we should."

"So why were you pushing me?"

"Because you're going to get yourself hurt." The reply didn't come from Yang, but from a male voice behind them. "Or someone else."

"Qrow!" Yang growled.

Ruby turned her head slowly to see her uncle leaning against a nearby tree with a depressed look on his face. Though she was still annoyed at him, she had no desire to yell at him or insist he apologise like she had earlier.

"But that's not your fault, kiddo." He breathed and walked over to the ruins. He shooed a raven away that had been sitting on a stone slab and sat down. "It's mine."

Ruby's head turned away from the bird as it landed on a nearby branch and looked at her uncle. There was a sadness in his eyes, a sadness she'd seen only when he was drunk. Like he was remembering something he would rather not.

"Summer always used to say that the first lesson a Hunter should be taught is what happens when they fail. I failed to teach you that." He let out a sad sigh. "I failed her."

"That doesn't sound like Mom." Ruby said with no small amount of confusion. "Why would she think that?"

To her surprise, Qrow looked towards Yang. Following his gaze, she saw that her sister's eyes were red as she glared back. Knowing that something was being kept from her, and that Yang was likely the reason Qrow wasn't talking, she gave her sister a pleading look and watched the red turn back to lilac. After what felt like a minute, the blonde turned her head away with an almost imperceptible nod.

"Fine." She muttered, snatching a branch from the ground before standing up and walking over to a nearby tree. "Just tell her."

"Only if she wants to…"

"I do." Ruby interrupted before he could finish. She hadn't been sure earlier, but knowing something was being held from her would be more unbearable.

Pale red eyes connected with hers, and he bowed his head a little. After a minute of silence to collect his thoughts, he let out a low hum and started his story.

"You're more like Summer than you might think." He said slowly. "When we first started Beacon, she was more dedicated than any of us. Tai just liked to fight, me and Raven had our own reasons; but your mom, she was all about saving everybody she could. She seemed like the perfect leader for us, someone who gave your dad some direction and made us all look at things differently. But she wasn't perfect."

"She was a bit of a brat and got into her own fair share of mischief, earning a few of her own detentions. But it wasn't until our first mission though that her biggest flaw started to show. She was too kind. We were helping out the Vale police department and every time we were called to action, she would try to talk them down instead of attacking them. Most were lowlife thugs who didn't want to fight us because they knew they would lose, so they came peacefully more often than not. Those who didn't; well me, Raven and Tai took care of them."

"We didn't think anything of it at first. She was just being Summer. After that we mostly took Grimm missions; and when we didn't, we helped the police. Towards the end of our second year though, we went to the relay office to ask about another mission. While we were there, they received a distress call from a nearby village that was being attacked by bandits. Just as our luck would have it, most of the Huntsmen were defending the wall, and the ones that weren't would have taken an hour to get there. So of course Summer offered to help, and after a call to Ozpin, we left to help."

Qrow paused for a breath, shaking his head as he did.

"When we got there, the entire village was on fire. Bandits swarmed every house and we were outnumbered ten to one. With all that panic, we'd already seen Grimm running towards it as we flew over. We needed to act fast, so Summer had us split up. We should have stayed though."

"We had always just assumed Summer never fought because she knew the street thugs would have no chance so considered it unfair, we thought in an actual combat situation she wouldn't show that much restraint. We were wrong. Two of the bandits were a pair of twins whose semblance allowed them to share aura to heal each other. Because of that, they fought without using it, and Summer refused to fight them because she didn't want to hurt them."

"She kept trying to talk them down, trying her best to make them stay down without seriously injuring them, but they would just keep attacking and healing each other. Eventually though, we arrived to help, but she took too long. By the time we dealt with them, the bandit leader they'd been protecting had already killed a man and his child."

Ruby stared at her uncle in horror. She couldn't imagine being in that scenario. Fighting two people who refused to raise their aura meant that it was very likely one would get hurt, but if she didn't then others would get hurt. But even still, even with that knowledge, she failed to see how that was her mom's fault.

"The bandits did that." She tried to say in defiance. "Not her."

All she received was a shake of his head. "No, Ruby. It was Summ…"

"No it wasn't!" Ruby said angrily, not seeing how Qrow could blame her mom for the actions of bandits. "The bandits were the ones who killed them!"

"And Summer could have stopped them!" Qrow's voice was loud and impatience, silencing her instantly. "She was better. Stronger. More experienced. She should have been able to handle that situation without any effort on her part and saved those people, but she held back. They died because of her failure to act, and she acknowledged that."

Ruby looked down at the ground, her denial disappearing. It was hard to deny what had just been said. While some bandits were definitely strong, none of them should have been a match for a second year Beacon student.

"That was her awakening, Ruby." Qrow said, his voice returning to it's usual patient gravel. "She learned what happened when she failed, and afterwards she understood that she couldn't let it happen again. She used it to make herself better."

Clearly finished with his story, Ruby looked down at her knees. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the story. On one hand, she still failed to see how her mom could be blamed for those deaths. Sure she had failed to save them, but she shouldn't have had to save them at all. Bandits should not have been attacking people, and definitely should not have been taking lives.

On the other hand though, she could see how her mom and Qrow had learned to accept that. The horrible fact was that people like those bandits did exist, and they didn't care who they hurt, but it was their job to stop them, and her mom failed. If she hadn't of held back, then those people would have been alive. If that failure had been what made her better, what she considered to be a defining moment, was it really right to deny it?

Turning to her sister, who obviously knew the story already, she looked for an answer there. Unfortunately, all she received was a nod.

"Why did no-one tell me?"

Yang folded her arms and looked down at her feet. "All you have of Mom was that image of her being perfect." She shrugged sadly. "I didn't wanna take that away from you."

"You…" Ruby paused and looked from Qrow to Yang. "It didn't."

"It didn't?"

Ruby shook her head. It was the truth. Sure it was horrible that two people had died, that her mom had failed her mission to protect them, but that didn't change who she was as a person. It didn't change that she was an amazing mom, or a badass Huntress, or even that she was someone who always chose to protect people; all it did was help her understand how her mom came to be that way.

"No." She said simply with a shake of her head. She felt a strong pang of sympathy rush through her as Yang let out a long breath of relief.

"Good." She mumbled with a nod. "I'm sorry I kept it from you."

"It's fine." Ruby gave her sister a soft smile and slowly stood to her feet, wincing a little from the cut in her side. Her aura still hadn't returned to heal it. "I'm glad you told me."

Walking over to her sister, Ruby wrapped her arms around her waist. She hated that her sister felt bad for trying to protect the image of their mom, but she also knew she couldn't ever guess at everything the woman had done to protect her. She'd never been blind to it, but she knew at times she'd certainly been ungrateful. She didn't want to be that anymore, so tightening the hug a little, she let out a soft breath.

"You don't have to protect me anymore though." She said quietly. "I'll try to fight properly."

"Just go at your own pace, okay?" Yang's arms wrapped around her shoulder. "And I'm always going to protect you."

"I know."

Pulling away, she looked up at her sister and received a soft smile. She had been honest when she'd said she would fight properly. It would take a little getting used to, but Weiss had said she was insulted that she was holding back, so her partner would be a great way to get more comfortable with it. Returning the smile, she turned around to her uncle.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Uncle Qrow."

"No you're not." He chuckled and leaned back with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry, Kiddo. I deserved it."

She chuckled nervously. He was right, she wasn't sorry. But she did understand why he'd done what he did, so walked up and gave him a hug too. It wasn't as long as the one she gave Yang, but it was long enough for a hand to pat her back. Pulling away, she saw her uncle lean to the side and check her cut.

"Caught you pretty bad there, huh?" He said, reaching out to peel the split flesh apart, dropping it the second she let out a hiss. "You should go see the nurse. Infection can still set in before your aura comes up."

"Ahh yeah. You coming?"

"Sure." He lifted from the rock and glanced towards the tree where the raven was still sitting. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute."

"Alright."

Taking a step back towards her sister, she gave him a nod and turned to leave the ruins. They day had certainly not been as she expected, having simply hoped it would be a friendly sparring session followed by some video games with her uncle, but she wouldn't exactly say it had been bad. It certainly sucked to have her uncle press points she knew she was sensitive about, but she knew he had good intentions so was willing to forgive him.

Though, maybe there would be a little pay back at dinner.

Raalm's Note

Hello everyone :)

So a big action chapter today. So I still don't think fight scenes are my strongest area, but I purposefully tried to write the clashes between Ruby and Qrow the same each time they went in, mainly to show how Ruby approached the same scenario differently each time due to the shifting mindset. Hopefully that worked well and you enjoyed. This is also the start of Ruby working on her holding back issue. By no means does this mean it will be solved going forth, but you will see her working on it over the next few chapters.

As for Qrow, I wanted to do him a little differently. I wanted to really focus on his teaching aspect here and show that he knows what it the cause of Ruby's issues and what it takes to get her to hold back, but I also wanted to use him to shed a little light on Summer. Hopefully you all enjoyed that little bit of backstory too.

There were obviously a few Yang bits too, mostly her trying to protect Ruby while also doing what needed to be done. Tried to keep it balanced.

Anyway, that's it from me. Hopefully you all enjoyed.

Chapter 44 - Faunews - will be uploaded on the 25th of August

Important note

So I said last time that I was thinking of taking a short break from this story so that I can unwind a little and relieve some stress, and you've all been very supportive. As an update on that, I will be taking a one month break from uploading once chapter 45 is uploaded, since that is a good chapter to leave off on for a while.

I promise the story will return after that month, and thank you for being supportive. Warmth should be continuing as normal though btw.

Toxic's Note

Hello. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Just a little reminder that the second chapter of my Neo fic, Hard Choices, releases in four days over on AO3; so if you are interested, please give it a look :)