When it came to finding partners the next day, Taiyang focused less on a landing strategy, which resulted in him crashing through several trees and landing on the hard ground face first, and more on possible partners. Obviously he had hoped to be paired with Summer since they had hit it off so well. But, as she said, ending up on the same team wasn't likely, let alone ending up as partners. Still, he hoped to see Summer first. In all honesty, the thought of being partners with a complete stranger scared the crap out of him. So he kept an eye out for anything white amongst the green, the brown and the black.
"Summer! Summer!" he yelled out, leaping above a gnarled tree root as he searched. Catching something white out of the corner of his eye, the blue-eyed Hunter-to-be turned sharply and raced off to they source of the color. "Summer!" he cried out, busting out of the bushes to expecting to see his first friend at the new school, only to find himself face to face with a set of big looking Ursi, who looked at the intruder with a mixture hunger and unrestrained, empty rage. "Well, this is a Grimm situation." Taiyang stated, the pitch of his voice raising just slightly from his fear. The Ursa closest to him let out a gigantic roar, slamming it's paw down. Using his honed instincts, Taiyang slid to the side, driving his gauntlet straight into the Ursa's chest, driving it backward.
As it's kin bounced away, the other Ursa roared and launched forward, thrusting it's paw toward it. He raised his arms in defense, blocking the blow with a small grunt. Though the sheer force of the attack forced him back an inch or two, the yellow garbed brawler knocked the Ursa away with a swipe of his fist and socked the big monster in the jaw, charging the blow with a quick burst of lightning Dust. The strike sent a shock through the tough creature's body and a small shuddered came upon it as a result. The Grimm didn't recover fast enough and the fearful brawler followed up the attack up with several quick jabs and hooks to it. The Ursa finally recovered, leaping forward and biting into his arm. Though his Aura prevented the beast sinking it's teeth completely into his arm, Taiyang's body screamed in pain. Gritting his teeth, he began punching the monster in the face, blow after blow, trying to get the Ursa off his arm. About eleven blows later, the monster released his arm from it's toothy vice, the both of them stumbling back. The scared brawler was the first to recover, bounding forward with a nervous smile on his face. The Grimm recovered it's senses just in time to feel a shocking fist slam into it's cheek, sending another, more powerful shock through it's body. Taiyang would have followed that up with another flurry of punches had the Ursa from before not leap at him from the side. He hoped backward, causing the other monster to land on empty ground while the other one shook it's head. The both of them glared over at him, their empty rage growing massively on size. All he had to say on that little fact was, "Well, this is situation went to the Beowolves."
The first Ursa rushed in at him, raising a paw to strike. Taiyang raised his arm to block the blow, his legs steady and sturdy despite the force that bared down on them. He drove his other fist deep into it's soft underbelly, forcing it back yet again. The other Ursa quickly followed up with a headbutt. He caught the attack with his armored hands, though the force of the attack forced him back again. Gripping the face with a tight, powerful grip. With a considerable amount of effort, the blond brawler lifted the beast up into the air and threw it into a nearby tree, smashing through it with a groan. He had about five seconds to catch his breath before the first Ursa came back into the fray, attempting to body slam the brawler. Taiyang slid away again, leaving the beast open for a frenzy of punches and kicks which he delivered with gusto. The Ursa rose up, dizzy and in pain from the multiple attacks. The golden haired teen noticed this and kept his guard up, knowing that it would only make it more dangerous. The Ursa suddenly leaped forward with a great amount of force. The monster leaped forward so fast that Taiyang couldn't move out of the way, making the attack land and sent him flying through a tree and into another one, just as what he did to the other creature. Groaning from the pain, the sunny boxer rose back up to his feet and assumed a defensive stance. The Ursa bounced forward again, snapping at him. He slid to the right and socked it in the jaw. The Ursa returned the favor by slamming him again, flinging him a few feet away. The teen landed on his feet and glared at it, apparently ready to end this. He gripped his hand tightly, electricity sparking around it violently. Taiyang ran up to the giant monster, which simply challenged him with a roar. The fear fueled brawler stopped only a step away, leaned downward before slamming his fist up into it's jaw with a powerful uppercut. The Grimm's head exploded into a mess of red liquid and black fur with a thunderous bang. He slumped over, smiling in victory as he exaimed the fading body. He didn't have too much time as the other Ursa finally got up from it's spot on the ground, shambling towards him.
"Well, this is a bit much to bear." He joked, sighing loudly. The Ursa rose up onto it's hind legs, roaring over him-
Shlink!
-Only to stop as the slick sound of sharp metal slicing through defenseless flesh rang throughout the forest. Taiyang watched as the two halves of the Ursa fell away from each other, revealing the person behind it, the one who had helped out the fighter and sliced through the Grimm like butter, to be Qrow Branwen, his broadsword dripping in the blood of the recently killed Ursa. The two of them looked at each other's handy work before locking eyes with each other. Their eyes widened in realization as they remembered Professor Ozpin's words. A deathly silence passed over them with the two of them paralyzed in realization. Taiyang was the first to make a move, smiling over at Qrow happily. This knocked the shock out of the blade wielder, who turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, without saying a word.
"Hey! Wait up!" Taiyang yelled out, racing up to the grumpy teen, 'Oh come on, what's wrong? I never did anything to you!"
Qrow whipped around, glaring at the broader teen with a fierce glare and snarl on his face. "never did anything? You punched me in the face, got in a fight with my sister, hit on my sister, tricked me into wearing women's clothing-"
"That last one's on you." He interjected, "Who doesn't know what a skirt is?"
Qrow shoved, the blade underneath his chin, "And now you've ruined my plan!"
"Plan?" he repeated quizzically, "What plan?"
"My plan to be partner's with my sister!" he yelled, glaring him down, "I was going to go find her and make sure she didn't get in any trouble! But no, I had to come and save your ass! Last time I do something nice for someone." he spat, walking away. Taiyang gave him a bit of distance as well as took a bit of time to gather his thoughts before following him and continuing the conversation.
"Well, things happen and sometimes you can't control them," He reasoned, getting nothing but a snort from the other teen, "The best you can do is make the most of what you have right now!"
"Yeah sure," Qrow snorted, quickening his pace to trip Taiyang up, "Like you could know anything about a bad thing happening."
He chuckled nervously, "Yeah. Like I would ever know."
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For the first few months at Beacon, things basically went that way for Taiyang. Though things did turn out alright at initiation as he and Qrow ended up with Raven and Summer amazingly, that barely helped things. Qrow became twice as protective of Raven as before, glaring at him if so much as looked in her direction. He was also very prone to taking jabs at him, both physically and verbally, whenever he was angry, or upset, or frustrated, or tired,or bored. He tried his best to get along with Qrow but he always shrugged off his attempts and told him to leave or else, the else being especially definite whenever he called him the "Grimm Reaper." In combat and training they did alright, able to hold their own against their opponents when need be. However, everything feel apart whenever they needed to work together, which devolved into Qrow shouting at him and Taiyang attempting to keep himself calm, ending with them both losing as their opponent's took them by surprise. Afterward, they would fight ad their relationship would only become worse.
Things got so bad that their combat instructor, Professor Verma, stole one of their weekends and forced the two of them into going with her on what she called "remedial partnership classes." So that is why, at 9:30 in the mourning on a Saturday morning, Qrow and Taiyang were both trudging through the Emerald Forest, swatting at mosquitoes and following their teacher to some secluded campsite. As they walked through the legendary forest, Professor Verma, a tall pretty woman with medium length purple hair tied up in a ponytail, looked back at her two students with a smile. "So kids," She said in a sunny tone of voice, "What do you think of this glorious morning?"
Qrow grunted, frowning even deeper than before, as he squashed another mosquito on his face. "I think it reminds me a bit like home," He grumbled, swatting away more annoying insects before they could land on him.
"Really?" She said, her eyes sparkling in excitement before looking at Taiyang, "What about you?" The usually sunny teen didn't respond. Instead he was staring at the ground blankly, apparently lost in thought. Both Professor Verma and Qrow looked at the teen oddly, confused as to why the normally chipper and talkative teen was being so silent. "Uh, Taiyang?"
"Huh?" Taiyang said, snapping out of thought, "Oh sure." He responded half-heartedly, his mind looking back to what he was thinking of before...
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Taiyang was sitting with his friends Peter and Bartholomew (why he insisted on the full name would forever remain a mystery to him) in the cafeteria, laughing about his recent prank on his partner involving some chains, a lock and a cat when he heard someone cough behind him. Taiyang knew the cough instantly so it wasn't a surprise to him that it was Professor Ozpin. The kindly headmaster of Beacon Academy, standing behind him. However, what did surprise him was that the kindly man wasn't smiling. In fact, he wore an expression he had seen on his grandfather's all too often, an expression of sorrow and regret.
"Hello, Taiyang," He greeted coolly. He flinched at the sound of his name. Ozpin never referred to someone by their first name. Something definitely wasn't right, "I need you to come with me."
"Um okay." he said, looking back at his friends for support. Getting only shrugs as responses, Taiyang reluctantly got up and walked with the white haired headmaster. He tried to read what the headmaster was thinking, to see what he was in trouble for, but alas the man's face held no clues for him. They walked side by side in silence all the way up to his office in Beacon Tower. There, Ozpin took his seat at his desk, motioning for him to take the chair in front of him. He gulped fearfully. The man always intimidated him, from day one every instinct in his body screamed in terror at the power hidden beneath this veneer of a man. But now, with this deathly silence filling the air and soaking into his every one of his pores, it took everything he had to not run. Still though, the blond brawler managed to keep his cool and walked up to the desk and took his seat from across the desk.
Ozpin looked at him with his old green eyes."Taiyang Xiao Long. Something important has come to me attention, something involving you."
"Listen, if this about Qrow and that cat I swear I fed the thing!" He swore.
Ozpin raised a single eyebrow, an action Taiyang would never have never thought scary before, but continued talking, "No, that's not what this is about. I'm afraid I was contacted by a Huntsman from Mistral. He was on a mission with your grandfather and something went awry."
The brawler's eyes widened in response to what he said, his face morphing from anticipation to confusion to realization to disbelief and then to sorrow, "My grampa, he's...'
"I'm sorry for your loss." Ozpin muttered, his sadness and pity falling upon deaf ears as tears well up inside his eyes, falling to the ground as he felt a sickening coldness consume him.
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"Xiao Long!" Qrow yelled angrily, shaking the teen out of his thoughts and making him look at his partner with a dazed look, "Rattling around inside that empty head of yours again huh? Well, could you do us a favor try to at least pretend you have two brains cells to rub together and keep an eye out for Grimm?"
Usually he would try to crack a joke or something in response but Taiyang was just too worn out to say anything, so he just nodded and tried to focus. The teacher looked back at them and gave them a disappointed frown, as if saddened by this interaction. After another two hours of trudging through the woods, the trio from Beacon Academy made to a wide open clearing, which would have been rather beautiful with luscious, deep green grass and a plethora of wild flowers that adorned the area if not for the numerous Grimm in the clearing. The two teens, for the first time in their partnership, were in agreement as they stared at their teacher, who simply smiled at them. "Well boys, better kick these Grimm to the curb, this is our campsite!"
"Wh-what?!" Qrow stammered at her, his eyes widening in utter shock, "You brought us all the way out here to set up camp on a Grimm infested area and then make us clear out all the Grimm?"
"Yep!" Verma chirped loudly before looking at her other student, "Got anything to add to this Taiyang?"
The abnormally silent brawler shrugged. It didn't really matter to him and he honestly just wanted to set up camp so he could get this over with. And so, he immediately flung himself at the nearest Grimm, an unimpressive Beowolf. He socked the monster in the face, sending it flying into a few other Grimm, stopping at the collision with an Ursa Major. The Grimm all looked over to the trio of humans that dared to intrude on their turf. Normally Taiyang would be burning with fear from the sheer number of Grimm around them, especially as he could also spot an Alpha Beowolf along with the Ursa Major, but all he could feel from the cold emptiness inside was a few small embers that began sparking a bit. So he simply ran up to another Grimm and started wailing on it aimlessly.
Meanwhile, Qrow just shook his head and growled in anger, glaring at his partner as he jumped into battle to help fend them. Professor Verma smiled mischievously as she slid the bags on her back onto the ground.
Another hour and a half down the drain, the last Grimm fell to Qrow's blade, falling the ground in several large chunks with Taiyang sitting on the decaying corpse of the Ursa Major he fought earlier, slouched and tired from the battle as what little fire he had in him during the battle died out, leaving him cold and empty again. Qrow removed his sword from the Grimm, gave it a disdainful look before looking at his partner with the same look on his face. "Do you remember what I said about pretending like you have brain cells to rub together? Well, apparently not."
"Yeah, sure." He mumbled, only half hearing him. The lanky teen stared at him with a look of uncertainty and curiosity in his eyes before shrugging it off. He looked back to where their teacher was, about reprimand her for making them clear out Grimm detention be damned, only to find the bags of supplies she was carrying left on the ground. Panicking, Qrow surveyed the area around them, desperately scanning the trees for some sign of their teacher. Alas, he couldn't find a trace of her anywhere, confirming his fear that they were, in fact, alone in the middle of nowhere, Oum knows how many miles away from Beacon in any direction. He whipped around toward the only other person in the forest.
"Xiao Long, did you see where Professor Verma went?" He asked quickly, answered with a single raised eyebrow from him, "Don't be a smartass. We're trapped here in the middle of the Emerald Forest, miles and miles away from Beacon with barely any supplies and no supervision with about a small army's worth of hungry Grimm waiting to chew on our bones so I don't need your attitude."
"Okay, so what do you propose we do about it then?" Taiyang asked in low tone, getting a little infuriated by his insults now.
"I think I should go looking for our teacher. Hopefully she just went off to patrol the forest or is just in hiding. I would take you with me but it's pretty obvious something is wrong with you and I do not need your help attracting Grimm. And while I'm off in the woods," Qrow walked over and threw the biggest bag of the group to him, "You can setup camp and get some firewood. If we can't find her, that means she's likely head back to Beacon and she wouldn't let us die...probably. So all we have to do is wait for a rescue team so we'll just set up camp here and wait. Any questions? No? Good boy." The angry teen started walking toward the woods before Taiyang stopped him with a small shout, "What?"
"Try going that way," Taiyang stated, pointing to his left, "There's a stream we passed by a few yards back. It would be the place Verma would go for a patrol since it's wide open to give her space to fight Grimm and it will help you find your way back here as well."
Qrow blinked, his expression changing from irritation to surprise, "That was actually a good idea. I guess I'll go that way then. … Thanks?" The depressed brawler grunted in response, shuffling through the bag while Qrow walked into the forest, with a rare smile on his face.
Hours and hours later, Taiyang had killed what seemed like the thousandth Beowolf, he dragged the body to away from the campsite and onto a pile of other dead Grimm. He returned to the fire and poked at the logs being consumed by the flames. He was a little worried about Qrow. Despite the bad blood between them, Taiyang did hold a soft spot for him. He couldn't quite his finger on it but there was something very...familiar about him. There was something in him that he also saw in himself. "Or maybe I'm just seeing things." He commented to none one else but himself and the fire in front of him.
"Wouldn't be the first time," He heard a familiar snarky voice call out. Looking over, he saw the red-eyed male slipping out of the forest, drenched in sweat and blood, though the latter was from Grimm most likely. Judging from the frown on his face and the absence of their energetic teacher he had failed in finding her. Taking pity on him, Taiyang gestured to the spot next to him. He looked at the spot warily, as though it would come alive and eat him, before he decided to take the spot. Though things were silent for a moment, Qrow didn't take long to voice his frustrations about their current situation.
"Well, I looked everywhere for Professor Verma," He said while Taiyang shuffled through the bags, looking for something to eat. "Went up and down the river, shouting out for her. Didn't get anything in return except the occasional Grimm. What a waste that was. Guess we're stuck out here huh?"
"I guess," The brawler agreed, still looking for food in the backpacks.
"Well, not that it matters to me, I'm use to living out in the woods," He told his fellow classmate, "I'm just worried about what might happen if you get yourself killed, Xiao Long." The fisticuffs user didn't respond to that, instead drawing out a package of hotdogs that the professor had packed. Tearing the package open with his teeth, He handed the grumpy teen a single hotdog as well as a sharp stick. He saw that the sword wielding teen was confused as what to do with the food. Sighing, Taiyang grabbed another stick and hotdog and demonstrated what to do by stabbing the food quickly and holding it over the fire. Nodding in understanding, Qrow did the same and held his dog over the fire. While they waited for their food to cook, the avian-named male looked over at his partner and sighed, "So, what's your home like?"
The yellow garbed brawler was caught off guard by both the sensitive question, his partner's bluntness and the fact that he was asking in the first place, "W-why do you ask?'
"Well, we're stuck in this Oum-forsaken forest with each other," he pointed out, "I thought I might as well make the most out of it and get to know you better."
Taiyang narrowed his eyes at him. Never in their entire time together did his partner show any interest in learning about him. He didn't even want to go on this bonding trip in the first place and only came because Verma would inform the headmaster. Needless to say, he was very suspicious. "How about we just eat and wait for someone to come find us?"
"Oh come one, Xiao Long." He moaned, turning his hot dog over. Seeing the teen turn as far away from him as possible, Qrow sighed, "Look, we honestly don't get along well. At all. And for the record, I don't want to become besties or whatever with you, not with some pampered city boy like you-"
Taiyang whipped back around, giving him a glare as he felt the unfamiliar burn of anger rise up inside of him, "You don't know a damn thing about me!" He spat at the red-eyed fighter.
"I know you're reckless, moronic, overly upbeat and under the delusion that your puns are funny," Qrow countered, "And that's all I need to know to not like you. But I want something out of this weekend that isn't a waste of time. Might as well try to understand what goes on in that empty skull of yours."
The blue-eyed teen growled, "Fine, you wanna learn about me? I'll teach you a thing or two! But I'm not doing for nothing."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that just as you want to get inside my head, I may as well get inside yours." He answered back, swinging his hot dog in his face, "I tell you something and you tell me something. Got it?"
The male Branwen twin locked eyes with him as their wills clashed against each other. After a full five minutes of this, he relented with a sigh, "Fine, I agree to your rules Xiao Long. And as a show of good faith I'll go first: Me and my sister have no parents." He smirked at him,, "Your move."
Taiyang rolled his eyes at him. He wanted to make this a game? Fine, he'll show Qrow the hole he dug for himself. "Easy, my mom beat me and my dad and I shared a total of thirty words between the two of us."
He must have caught Qrow off guard as his face changed into a look of surprise. He caught this mistake and returned it to his cocky look, "Me and my sister had to fight our whole lives."
"Me too," He countered, "I had to fight against the schools to get into Beacon."
"Tch. We had to live off the land."
"I've had to work to support me and my grampa."
"I've never stayed in more than one place for a week."
"I wish I could run away like you I have to stay and fight!"
"I've had to protect my sister since we were born!"
"I don't even have a sibling!"
"I've never met my parents!"
"Big whoop, I wish I never met mine!"
"Grrr," Qrow growled in both frustration and surprisingly, admiration as he shot up. "I grew up in a bandit clan!"
Taiyang rose up as well, matching his movement "I grew up with a distant father and an abusive mother!"
"I've had to kill to survive!"
"I wish I didn't survive!"
"If I didn't get tough, me and my sister would have died years ago!"
"My own mother tried to kill me when I was seven!"
"I don't have a home to back to! The clan has disowned me!"
"Neither do I! My grandfather was killed by bandits!"
The two teens panted as they felt all the air escape from their lungs. The two kept looking into each other's eyes, their looks changing from rising anger to something that neither had ever seen in the others' eyes: respect. As soon as they caught their breath, the two of them sat back down, an air of silence surrounding them, interrupted only by the low, comforting sound of the cackling fire. Qrow was the first o cut through the silence between them, "You've had it pretty tough huh?"
"No more than you." Taiyang responded, smashing through his end of the silence in return. "Bandit clan huh?"
The sword wielder sighed, blowing on his hot dog, "Yeah, born and raised there. The tribe takes care of you collectively for a few years then you gotta pulling your own weight, raiding villages and stealing things from merchants for food and money. Strong must fight and the weak must die, that sort of thing." He pulled the dog from the fire, removing it from the stick, "Guess this is the part where you tell me how awful bandits are, how monstrous they are and how wrong I am for being a part of a bandit clan huh?"
Taiyang shook his head, taking his own food away from the fire and stick, "No, I'm not. You did what you had to in order to survive, that's perfectly understandable. Life dealt you a bad hand and all you could do is deal with it." He took a bite out of the hot dog before talking again, "Same as everyone else. Besides, you weren't the one who killed my grandfather or anything so why should I get angry at you?"
Qrow looked at his fellow Huntsman-in-training, as though surprised by his words, "I guess that makes sense. It's just, everywhere I go, people just assume all bandits choose that life when some of us never had any other option."
"And that's why you came to Beacon," He said as he watched the former bandit take a bite of his food as well. He made a weird face, probably as he had never eaten a hot dog before in his life, before hesitantly swallowing it. The scene brought a smile to the young man's face before continuing his part, "I mean, you came here so you didn't have to be a bandit anymore."
"Pretty much," Qrow answered, "You can only do so much you don't want to survive before you start to wonder if it's worth it."
The pun maker let out a laugh, this one full of understanding and sadness, "Don't I know it. You fight and fight to survive and hope that you can make things better. But the more life knocks you down, the harder it is to get up. Makes you wonder if you really can continue, if you can keep marching forward." The other teen nodded in agreement, making the warm brawler look over at him, "What keep you going Qrow? What gives you the strength to keep moving forward?"
Qrow lowered his head in thought, his eyes becoming unfocused and distant as he apparently thought very hard about the question. After a short while of this, he returned to the present and answered, "My sister. I mean, as long as I can remember, we've always been there for each other. Through the thick and thin of life, we've cut our way through it all. And while we did so, we have made some truly great memories together, memories that are special, that are irreplaceable. And I want to keep going so we can make of those memories. You understand?"
"Yeah, I do." Taiyang responded, as he felt the cold empty feeling in him grow, "I felt the same way about my grandfather. We also made a lot of special and irreplaceable memories together. Hell, part of the reason why I became a Hunter was to make sure people would be happy and never feel the pain I did, just like what my grandfather did for me." He felt tears well up inside his eyes and the feeling grew and grew, threatening to consume him, "But now with him gone, I don't know what to do. I have nowhere to go, no one to share with. I'm all alone, with nothing in front of me and only pain behind me." His eyes held in the tears as much as they could before the salty liquid escaped, busting through every barrier he had. "I'm scared and I can't stand it anymore. Why should I keep going?" He cried, slouching over in defeat.
Then something special happened, Qrow Branwen, the person who had fought against Taiyang the whole time at Beacon, the one who had used every insult in the book on him, the one who had threatened his life more than once, wrapped one arm around him in comfort , pulling him close. "He now, that's not true. You've got a lot going for you."
"Like what?"
"Like those two guys you always hang out with, Peter and Bart right?"
"Bartholomew, but yeah." He corrected.
"Well, what about them? I'm sure that you guys have had some good times together, with how much you three laugh. And what about Summer? I've seen you two talk a lot together, sharing stories together. I'm sure you'll make plenty of memories with her. And as much as she may not look like it, my sister respects you somewhat. I'm sure you can squeeze one or two good times out of her," Taiyang looked up at him as Qrow realized what he just said, "Not like that, Tai."
"You said my name." He said, a little shocked by the fact. Qrow always addressed him by his last name and now he was calling him something that could almost be interrupted as a friendly nickname.
"Well yeah, with all this talk and crap we're doing I can't keep calling you "Xiao Long" anymore? I mean, we've basically just told each other our life stories and things that not even Summer or Raven know about. You can't do that without gaining a little bit of respect for each other right?"
"Respect? You? Me?" Taiyang questioned, as though the three words just couldn't co inside with each other.
"Yeah! At first I just thought you were a run of the mill, happy go lucky class clown who could just punch things. But, after getting to know you a little, I can see you are a really strong guy. Almost as strong as me." He said proudly, thumping his chest and eyes closed in pride.
When he opened his eyes, all he could see was a barreling wall of a person, embracing him in a tight but gentle embrace as let out tears and laughs of joy and relief. After days and days of loneliness, of feeling as though he were alone in the world and thought that he had no one else in the world, the great god above gave him a gift in the most unusual of forms, his asshole of a partner. He danced and danced the fire in joy, the cold empty feeling he had felt melted away as he embraced his new friend. Of course that invited the familiar feeling of fear as he thought about the multiple ways he could lose his friend as well as the rest of his team, but he didn't care. He'd face those problems head on with fear in his heart, so long as he had his friends.
While the brawler danced in joy and the sword wielder squirmed in discomfort, a certain, invisible woman with purple hair and eyes watched on with a proud smile on her face. "Well, that went better than expected." Professor Verma stated.
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The next few weeks went rather well for Taiyang. With the strain between him and Qrow gone, Team STQR quickly became one of the most powerful teams in the first year with their natural fighting abilities amplified by their team synergy. This meant that they were allowed to take missions, giving them both real world experience as well as fame behind them. The first few missions were simple enough, tracking down groups of Grimm terrorizing certain parts of Vale or helping evacuate ruined villages that had been sacked by either Grimm or bandits. However, their fourth mission was where it all changed. Charged with the simple task of rescuing a lost Huntsman, things became complicated when the Grimm the Huntsman had been fighting, a behemoth known only throughout all of Remnant as a member of the fearsome Goliath species, attacked them. With the knowledge that they could not outrun the massive beast, Team STQR was forced to take it down. While that sounded easy as Huntsman killed Grimm all the time, Goliaths were among the most powerful and it was reflected in their battle. No matter what they threw at it, the monster would just shake off the attacks and continue to assault them. Even the direct blows to it's legs by both Qrow and Raven seemed to only scratch the surface of it's skin. Meanwhile, the Goliath thrashed about, causing massive damage sending the members flying in several directions multiple times, causing several cracked bones. Still though, the team persevered against the behemoth, slowly but surely doing damage little by little. In the end, after several hours of continuous battling, it took the coordination of the entire team; Summer yelling out orders, Qrow and Raven attacking with all their might in tandem and Taiyang pushing his Semblance beyond it's limits before they cut the beast's throat and watch in relief as it fell to the ground with an earth shaking thud, finally dead and defeated. And that was when the blazing brawler passed out from exhaustion for the first time in four years.
When he woke up, Taiyang was laying in the middle of a hospital bed, the shattered moon high in the sky glowing with it's ethereal beauty. He tried to get rise up from the bed but was forced back down because of the pain that wracked his body from that simple action. Looking down, he saw that his left arm was in some sort of cast. He thought back to the battle, trying to recall if he had broken it during the fight. He assumed it was sometime around the fourth hour, after being flung through a couple trees by the Goliath when he decided to take on for Summer. It didn't occur to him at the time that it was broken, most likely due to combination of fighting a Grimm roughly the size of a small village and a huge amount of adrenaline.
Shrugging it off, he decided to look around the room he was confined in. When he did, the brawler saw the other members of his team sitting around, deep in slumber. Qrow and Raven slept together in the corner, sitting in side by side chairs and leaning on each other in an adorable manner. As for their leader, to his surprise, she was sleeping in the chair right next to him with her head resting next to him and her hand on his. Judging by her unusually pale skin and the drool streaming from her mouth she had spent all her energy and Aura trying to heal him, the fact making him feel a surge of happiness and guilt. Happy that he had such a great leader and friend that would try so hard to ensure he was healthy. And guilty because of the fact that they really hadn't talked very much for such a long time. Between the leadership lessons Summer had and his training with Qrow alongside the numerous attempts he had made to get closer to Raven they never seemed to find the right time to just sit down and talk. Maybe if he hadn't let himself get so caught up in his newfound friendship or his allure to his teammate they could have hung out more, having more moments like they did back on their first day. And yet despite the gap between them, she had risked her own health and safety just to make sure he was fine. Made him wonder what he did to deserve someone like her as a friend.
He felt Summer stir in her sleep and watched as her heavy eyelids fluttered open, looking up at dazed and unfocused. Once her mental facilities returned to her, she leaped forward and wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a deep hug. He grunted as his body screamed in pain from the contact, but he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of warmth radiating from her so he returned the hug the best he could. After a full five minutes of hugging and what he suspected was silent crying, the white-cloaked Huntress pulled away from him, looking at him with a mixture of relief and joy. "Thank Oum you're alright. I was so worried." She cried as tears welled up in her silver eyes. Seeing this, the injured brawler smiled through his pain.
"Oh, you didn't need to that for little old me," He told her, reaching over with his good arm and ruffling her hair affectionately. He was glad that the gesture stopped her from crying as it was very painful to watch the short girl cry. "I mean, I wasn't that hurt."
"Tai, you had three cracked ribs, both your legs were on the verge of breaking, three of your organs were bleeding internally, a broken arm and no Aura left." Summer told him with the injured fighter laughing nervously at that fact. He hadn't expected on taking so much damage but it was expected fighting one of Remnant's most powerful Grimm. Suddenly, Summer leaped forward and slapped him in the face, causing him to cry out in shock. "This is no laughing matter!" She yelled at him, "Do you realize just how much damage you took? There was a very real chance you could have died!"
'Heh, how many times have I heard that?' Taiyang laughed internally. He had been brought to the brink of death plenty of times, it was the only way he could use his Semblance to it's fullest. "Listen Summer," He said, patting her cheek reassuringly, "Taking damage for the rest of you is just what I do, it's my part in this team. I mean, seriously, do you think you or Qrow or Raven would be any better off bearing the attacks meant for you instead of me taking them? I mean, look at you: you're hurt from just slapping me. Do you honestly think you could endure what I did?"
"No," She answered honestly, looking uncomfortable as she began to see where he was coming from, "But that doesn't excuse what you did. All the rest of us suffered was a couple of cracks and fractures and we even had a tiny bit of Aura left, unlike you. We were all afraid that we were going to lose you there for a while."
The tough brawler let a hearty laugh that didn't help his pin in the slightest. "Summer, let me just say it's going to taken a bit more than a Goliath to take me down."
"Oh yeah? And what makes you so special?" Summer questioned, "From where I'm standing, you're just as weak as the rest of us."
"Trust me Summer, no one agrees with that statement more than me," He assured her, "I'm just saying that I'm a bit too stubborn to die so easily. Besides, I was only trying to make you feel better."
The team leader huffed, turning her head away from him in anger, "Well, that didn't work out very well for you, huh?"
"Oh come on, don't be that way Summer," Taiyang begged with the healer ignoring his words, "Hey now, you can't be that mad with me over something as silly as that."
"Silly?" She said, whipping her head around at him, glaring at him so fiercely that every cell in his body told him to run and hide, "Do you find death silly? What about the loss of someone you care about? Do you find that silly? Do you find the fact that me and Qrow's lives would have never been the same without you silly?" The tears that were once in her eyes welled up and burst from her eyes, "Well it's not! It's not silly at all! It's scary! It's terrifying! It's-it's-it's-" Summer Rose broke down and started sobbing into the bed, muffling her cries so that it didn't wake up the other two people in the room.
The blue-eyed teen looked at his team leader with a look of pain and sadness. In his fear of losing his friends, he had caused them so much strife and pain, especially his leader who had done nothing but help him the entire time he was friends with, going as far as emptying what little Aura she had left into him to help heal him. He had let fear and pain dictate how he was running his life, he let it hurt those around him.
But not anymore.
Sitting up and moving so he could face Summer properly, he pulled her up into his arms so he could fully hug her, letting her cry into his chest while he removed the hood from her head and gently petting her head. Once her cries died away and her tears dried up, Taiyang lifted her up so he could look her face to face. "Summer," he said, "I'm sorry that I put you, Qrow and Raven through so much, worrying about me and making sure I was safe. I should have thought about what it would have done to all of you to see me like that and I'm sorry."
"Well, so long as you don't do that again," Summer said, "I guess I can forgive you."
"Well, I can promise that I won't do something like rush in front of a Goliath's attack again," He admitted, "But I'm not going to stop trying to protect all of you. In all honesty, it's the only thing I can contribute."
Summer blink at him, her expression going from reluctant forgiveness to curiosity, "What do you mean Taiyang?"
"Well," He said, "I'm not as agile as Qrow, nor am I as stupidly strong as Raven. And I'm definitely not as smart or cautious as you are," The young woman blushed at the compliment given to her, smiling sheepishly at him. However, the sturdy brawler didn't notice this and continued talking, "The only thing I can really do is take a hit and keep fighting. So that's what I do for the team: take the hits you three can't and keep fighting. Even my Semblance shows this. It's entirely useless if I don't take damage. So you see, if I don't take hits then what am I supposed to do? Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Summer looked down in thought, probably trying to think of an argument against what he said. However, in the end she simply nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess."
Taiyang grinned, hugging her again but with enough force to cause her to squeak, "Thanks Summer, you're the best!" He cried out thankfully. For a minute there, he was afraid that she would fight him over it.
"I'm also dying..." She wheezed out, her face turning red from the sheer pressure of the hug. The happy teen let go of her quickly, allowing her to breath once more which she embraced with a deep inhale. After a minute or two of gasping for air, Summer regained her composure and looked up at him, "I'm glad that we've finally come to an agreement and everything but can you try to restrain yourself from attempting to kill me from hugs of all things."
The affectionate brawler blushed heavily in embarrassment, "Yeah, I should watch that. Qrow keeps telling me I'm gonna paralyze him by the third year." Summer laughed at that little fact, a sound so full of warmth and kindness that brought a smile to his face. "You know something, I'm really happy that I met you guys. When I first came to Beacon, I was really scared. I barely knew anyone, it was the first time I had been away from home and it was right next to a forest of Grimm. I felt so scared that I wouldn't find a friend or anyone here, that I would be all alone here. And yet, despite all that, I've ended up with the best partner I could have had and two of the best friends I could have hoped for. No matter what happens, I'll always be okay when I have you three by my side."
"Same here," Summer agreed, nuzzling him affectionately for a little bit before pulling out of his hug, "You should some sleep, Tai. You won't get any better talking."
Seeing as his entire ribcage was in searing pain from the extended hug, he had no choice but to agree with her. He shifted back down onto the bed, containing winces of pain as he moved, gently lying back down. As he drifted back into the sweet realm of sleep, Taiyang felt his leader's hand, soft and warm and holding more strength than he could hope to achieve, assuring him that she would be there when he woke up. With that in mind, he let the blissful darkness wash over him.
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As much as he would like to say that his time at Beacon went by without a hitch, where was the fun in that? His time at Beacon was a tough one as missions went awry, Grimm became gradually more active and attacked them more and even a few of his fellow students caused trouble for them. To to mention the little incident with Summer and some previously thought mythical powers, but it wasn't enough to take down Team STQR. If anything, the battles only made them stronger, tougher, faster and wiser. So much so that when graduation rolled around, they were seen as one of, of not the best team to have ever graduated from Beacon.
Even after their graduation, the team managed to keep in contact with one another, unlike the many others that graduated. Raven and Qrow, being twins, obviously stayed in contact. Taiyang and Summer tried their best to stay close but problems arose that only the former team leader could solve so she had to regretfully leave him and the rest of her team behind. While he was saddened by the loss of his friend, the sunny brawler took solace in the fact that he and Qrow managed to stay together, staying together in the house that his grandfather had once owned. While this meant that they could always watch each other's backs and always have someone around, it was still difficult living in the house that once sheltered the man who had always been there for him.
Another plus was that as he kept in contact with the scythe wielder, Taiyang got to spend time with his sister, where he finally managed to break through her silent, icy exterior and finally get something from her. Time after time, as she visited her brother, he was able to talk with her and get a little closer to her. After months and months of this dance, he gained the courage to ask her out on a date and to his surprise, she actually said yes! A fact that made him leap for joy. And so, they went out several times after that, simply talking and hanging out with one another. Then, after one of their dates where they got a little...frisky, the unthinkable happened.
Raven got pregnant.
It wasn't obvious at first, especially since the former bandit had never learned about pregnancy before. So for the first few weeks they thought she was just really sick. Then when they all finally find out the truth, they were shocked to say the least. Raven expressed panic for the first time in her life while her brother immediately flipped his shit and beat the ever loving crap out of his partner while screaming bloody murder. Speaking of the yellow haired brawler, Taiyang was absolutely frightened by the prospect of becoming a father. Not only had it come out of the blue for him without any kind of preparations or warning, but the only experience he had with parents was with his own and needless to say, that did not help him in the least. In fact, throughout Raven's entire pregnancy, these thoughts prevailed through all and haunted him without end: What if he ended up like his own parents, ignoring his child or worse, beating them when he was in a bad mood? What if he screwed up the child's life and he ended up making them as screwed up as he was? What if he was no better than the people he had spent a great chunk of his life despising and cursing?
So when he heard from Qrow that his lover went into labor, he had to summon all of his mental strength in order to not faint on the spot. Instead he immediately dropped what he was doing and rushed to the hospital at full speed. Upon reaching the maturity ward, he ran right up to the receptionist and said, "I need to see Raven Branwen, right now!"
The woman nodded and typed quick into the computer before looking up at him, "I'm sorry mister, she's currently in labor and no one is allowed to be with her except hospital staff. If you want, you can take a seat over there, next to that gentleman," she pointed over to where his partner was sitting, twirling his thumbs nervously, "and wait for the doctor to let you in."
Taiyang opened his mouth to object but he saw the receptionist glare at him, causing the nervous brawler to shut his mouth and take the seat next to Qrow. He took a minute or two to clear his mind enough to gather a coherent thought before speaking to the soon-to-be uncle. "Is she alright?" he asked, his voice quaking in fear and uncertainty. In response to this, the male Branwen twin gave him a somewhat reassuring smile.
"She's fine if you discount the baby pushing itself through her," he told the fighter. Upon hearing a nervous wheeze emit from Taiyang, the scythe wielder laughed at his expense before saying, "Oh come on Tai, this is Raven we're talking about. She's not a lightweight like you," he said, punching his soldier lightly, "It'll take more than some newborn to take her down."
"I know I know," he chanted, nodding his head furiously, "It's just, what if something goes wrong? What if Raven dies? What if the child dies? Oh dear Oum, what if they both die? I-I know it's ridiculous and that it probably won't happen but still, things like that can still happen and I don't know if I could handle it if something happened to them and I can't help but worry. What am I gonna do Qrow? What am I gonna-" Taiyang's little tangent was put to an abrupt stop with a quick, sharp punch to the face by his partner. Though his Aura did absorb most of the damage form the blow, it was enough to snap him out of his downward spiral and back tom the world of reality. "Thanks Qrow." he said, looking over at his great friend thankfully.
"No problem...although that was more for me than you," He told the soon to be father, who laughed in thanks. The two of them sat together, trying their hardest to keep their minds away from the dark thoughts in the back of their minds, talking about any subject matter other than Raven's labor. Eventually, their talk lead them to a different but still sensitive subject: Summer.
"So," Taiyang said, as the former team leader's name came up, "Have you heard from her at all?"
Qrow sighed, shaking his head in answer, "Nope. Not a letter, not a call, nothing," He let out a long, drawn out sigh, "I hope she's okay."
"I'm sure she is," He assured him, patting his back, "I mean, how many times has Summer saved our asses before? Just how many Grimm has she killed that we couldn't? How many times has she defied the odds? I tell you, Oum above couldn't stop Summer if she was determined enough."
The lanky man smiled and patted his back in thanks, an action he returned in kind. They only had a few minutes to enjoy this moment together before a doctor walked in, calling their names. Both men immediately ran up to the man, bombarding him in questions. In response, the doctor held up a single hand, silencing them both and informing them both that Raven was fine and that the baby was born healthy and fine. He also told them that they were allowed to come and see the child for themselves. So both Qrow and Taiyang followed the doctor through the hospital as he lead them to Raven's room. In sharp contrast to his outward appearance, the yellow-clad brawler was so scared that he had to force himself to keep up with the doctor and his brother in law as his mind was flooded with every single doubtful and fear charged thought that had passed through his head the past nine months. The entire world around him became blurry and unfocused as all he could see were the images of his parents, the sounds that roared around him became muffled as all he could hear was his mother's screams, his father's dismissive mumbling and his heartbeat. Even so, he kept on moving, getting closer and closer to his fate.
Soon enough, the doctor stopped in front of a door and opened it, revealing the red-eyed woman sitting in a plain hospital bed, her hair just as wild and untamed as before with an expression that neither male could read. In her arms she held something small, wrapped in a bright yellow blanket. Qrow walked up to his sister and began talking to her, whispering to her as to not wake the little bundle she was holding. Meanwhile, Taiyang has stayed rooted in his spot, unable to move as he stayed fixated at the bundle in her arms. He felt his heart beat faster and faster the longer and longer he looked at the bundle. Qrow took the bundle from the woman's arms and looked down at the bundle lovingly, letting out a sweet, genuine smile that glowed with such love and kindness. The golden-haired brawler watched as the avian-like Hunter walked over to him, giving him a proud smile as he handed him the bundle. "Say hello to your daughter." He cooed proudly.
Taiyang took his flesh and blood into his arms, he looked down at the bundle, seeing his daughter face to face for the very first time. Wrapped inside the bright blanket, barely hours old, was a small, chubby face that looked like a cross between his face and his love's. The top of her head was colored in a shade of beautiful gold, much like his own except more vibrant. Warmth radiated from the small body, easing the ice cold fear that once flowed through his veins, being replaced by something new and something unfamiliar, something that bubbled underneath. His breath slowed and his heart settled as he absorbed every detail of the baby's face, the unfamiliar feeling bubbling upside him at an even greater rate than before. Then, the baby's eyes opened up, revealing them to be a breathtaking shade of lilac, making him freeze once more as the feeling grew. The baby smiled and cried out happily to him and the feeling overtook him over, causing him to drop down to his knees, crying tears of love.
Both Branwen twins stared at this scene in shock and in Raven's face, disgust. Throughout the seven years they had known him and the countless number of fiends and beasts that they had fought over those seven years, they had never seen the man be driven to his knees. Once or twice they had seen him kneel down before, but that was only for a second and he had simply gotten back up and kept fighting. But now, a small newborn girl had accomplished what hundreds and hundreds of Grimm, the best Huntsman in training and even life had failed to do: Bring Taiyang Xiao Long to his knees.
Qrow chuckled in respect, wishing he had a drink in hand to celebrate the moment, Raven just looked at the two with a look of slight disdain and Taiyang himself held the child as close to him as possible, whispering to her, "I love you" over and over again.