-Sometime Ago-
Only a few days had passed since the truce between team RNJR and team CRMS, and already they were starting to get to know one another. Most of there travels they had just talked to one another; Melody and Ruby mostly caught up after two years of being apart, and Rosario and Scout from time to time mostly let them know a little bit about themselves. Cristal on the other hand mostly kept silent, and whenever, Ruby or any of her friends tried to ask about her they simply said, they couldn't say. Ruby couldn't help as to wonder why exactly Cristal was being the strong silent type, but she felt the need not to push it, but only to wait till when she wanted to tell them.
Like with a certain someone she knew.
Today on their travels however, she noticed one of her new friends acting differently; this one being particularly Roman. Earlier that morning and afternoon, she noticed that he had a certain look on his face, as he trailed behind with Cristal from the group. He just seemed to have avoided all conversation with everyone, even Neo who had kept a respectful distance from him. Soon enough the group stopped to take a break near a river bank after walking for hours on end to get to the next town over.
They put together a small picnic to eat what they had gotten for lunch.
"So Scout, you really stayed with your teacher since you were little?" Ruby asked as she took a bit from her sandwich.
"Yup." Scout replied, "But it's not as bad as you would think. He's a rogue Huntsmen, but the good kind of rogue. He maybe rough around the edges but he's a real sweet guy, who won't admit that he's a hugger. He taught me everything I know about combat and my skills in medicine and medical expertise."
"But… Didn't you have any parents?" Jaune asked her.
"Oh I do." Scout said, "But… My parents are unfortunately a part of a bandit tribe. Teacher, was one of the people defending the one of the towns that they tried to invade and he managed to drive them away before they could attract any Grimm. In the scuffle I ended up getting left behind. Teacher took me in, and as you can tell, he put my abilities to good use."
"Damn straight!" Nora said with a smile.
"What about you Rosario?" Ren asked, "What made you a bounty hunter exactly?"
"Let me put it this way." Rosario said taking a sip from her drink, "I put my trust in the wrong people, and like Scout, I decided to put my abilities to good use and to get a hella lot of cash. I figured bounty hunting was the best way to do it, since, I'm not rolling in money."
"Ooo, that is super interesting!" Nora said again with a big smile.
"And you Melody?" Neo asked, "What were you doing all the way out here before you joined up with team CRMS?"
Melody looked to Ruby, before turning back to her, "I'm keeping a promise to myself and my family, one that I don't intend to break anytime soon, and I don't think a certain someone would like me talking about it so I'll leave it at that."
"And you guys didn't even attend one of the four academy's to learn how to fight?" Jaune said.
"Nope." Cristal, Rosario, Melody and Scout said at the same time.
"We were either taught, or just learned it ourselves." Cristal said.
"Though technically I did go to school before I left home, and that was the academy Signal." Melody said, "The rest of my fighting style, with a scythe anyway, I learned from my old man."
"Uncle Qrow rules!" Ruby said with her fist raised in the air; Melody couldn't help but chuckle at her younger cousins enthusiasm.
"Seriously where do you get your energy from?" Neo asked.
"One word." Melody said, "Coffee, and lot's of it."
Everyone had soon finished up their lunch after they had chatted some more. "Hope you all got room, because I packed us some pancakes!" Nora said, pulling out a fresh batch of pancakes out of her bag. Of course everyone was surprised that she had something like that.
"How… does that even work?" Rosario asked, just stunned at this.
"As said before, you get used to it." Ren said.
"Might as well have some, I could go for some desert." Scout said, "That and it's been a long time since I had a pancake."
"Than you're gonna love this batch! Ren's pancakes are delicious! Especially with syrup!" Nora said.
As she handed the pancakes out to everyone, Ruby turned over to Roman who was currently sitting at the river bank, taking a puff from his cigar every now and again, Frosty sat beside him as a way to comfort him. She noticed that he still had that pained expression on his face.
"Something wrong Ruby?" She heard Cristal ask.
"Yeah, it's Roman…" Ruby said, "He doesn't look like himself. He just seems… Down."
"Really?" Jaune said before looking over to Roman, "Huh… I didn't actually notice. He does look upset about something."
"Wonder why he has the long face." Rosario said.
"I wouldn't blame him if he was thinking about his daughter again." Scout said, "I can't imagine what it's like to be apart from his child for so long."
"I… Think there might be more to it than that." Ren said as he looked over in Roman's direction. Neo looked over to Roman, "Yeah… More to it…"
It was than Cristal's eyes widened in realization when a thought had come to her, "Wait, what day is it today?"
"Umm…" Ruby said before looking at her scroll for the day, "April 13th. Why?"
Cristal had a saddened look on her face, as did Neo; she brushed her bangs with her hand.
"Oh…" Neo said solemnly, "That's right, how can I forget?"
"What is it?" Jaune asked.
"Is there something special about that date?" Nora asked.
"You could say…" Cristal said with a solemn look.
Neo let out a sigh, looking over to Roman; her eyes had changed to a white color, "April 13th... Was Trinity's birthday."
-Present; Somewhere in Remnant-
Within the meeting room of the large castle, Salem and Cinder sat at the table of the meeting room, while Emerald and Mercury stood close by incase Cinder needed them. She appeared to be in pain, as she groaned with agony; Salem's hand was casually out to her.
She told Cinder, "You can feel it, can't you? Don't fight it, girl. It can feel your trepidation. You must make it dread you."
From outside of the room, their was a strange clicking sound that had echoed through the halls. What had came into the room was a creature of Grimm that gave an odd glow, made Emerald and Mercury's eyes look at it fearfully, taking a step back from it.
The Grimm was a jellyfish type; it had long red tentacles and it's body was black and white. It gave an orange glow in the center of it's head. The Grimm, known as the Seer floated to Salem's side, as it clicked. Salem put her hands together and allowed her chin to rest against them.
"Cinder." Salem said, "I'm going to ask you one more time, and I expect a clear answer… Did you kill Ozpin?"
Cinder looked away from Salem; How can she be expected to give her an answer if her voice can be barely heard? She turned to Emerald and signaled for her to come over.
"NO!" Salem yelled as she slammed her hands on the table; her eyes glowed of orange. Emerald went back in her place while Cinder turned her attention back to her.
"I want to hear… You say it." Salem said to Cinder.
Cinder started to move her lips; her words were raspy a few times before saying hoarsely, "... Yes."
There was a moment of silence between them; Salem straightened up in her seat, before turning to the Seer. "Reinforce our numbers at Beacon." Salem told the Seer, "The Relic is there."
With a click the Seer glided away out of the room; Emerald and Mercury drew further away from it as it had passed by. Salem sat back in her chair and placed her fingers under her chin, thinking to herself.
"... What are you planning?"
(Opening Theme: Let's Just Live Performed by Casey Lee Williams)
Yang couldn't believe what she had just heard from the young teen before her. He knows her name! Her actual name! How?! How was that even possible!? Angel saw the look on her face, and he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"... Yeah, I had a feeling that would be your reaction." Angel said, "It sounds crazy I know, but… Ah, you probably do-"
"How?" Yang asked cutting him off; Angel looked at Yang befuddled, "How… Do you know her? Was she here?! In Patch!?"
"Okay, I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting that reaction…" Angel said, putting his hands together, "I thought you'd think I was crazy."
"Just answer the question!" Yang said, "Was. She. Here!?"
Angel had answered, "Well… Yes, and no. Like I said, a Grimm was the one that told me. It's kind of hard to explain."
"Than explain it to me!" Yang demanded, "If it's about Destiny, than I need to know! You have to tell me!"
Angel looked to the door, hoping that Taiyang didn't hear all the commotion that was going on right now. When he was sure that he wasn't there listening, he turned back to Yang. "Okay. I'll explain it to you." Angel said, "But not here… Can we go somewhere that's more private than in the kitchen?"
Yang nodded to him, and motioned him to follow her, to which he did. They had gone up the stairs and into her room; she looked the door behind her, so that there would be no interruptions from her father. She turned to the fanus before her, "Alright, now start explaining."
"Where do you want me to start?" Angel asked her.
"Start from the beginning." Yang said to him, "Tell me everything up till now."
Angel nodded to her; he pulled up a chair that was by her desk in her room and he sat down while Yang leaned against her dresser.
With that, Angel had started to explain it to her.
"Well, for starters, to why I'm in Patch in the first place… I've done a lot of traveling ever since I was a child. Since my father passed away I've just been wandering across the four Kingdoms, to help out whoever I can at every town or village I come across. I took on jobs from time to time, but other than that, it's just been me just going from one place to another. But than… I heard that Ozpin had gone missing after the fall of Beacon. I started to look for him, sometimes returning to the towns and villages I've been to before in the Kingdoms. Eventually I heard about a girl getting moved ahead in two years from the academy in Signal. Your sister Ruby. When I heard she came from Patch, I came straight here, hoping I can get her help to find Ozpin; Since I'm a Dragon Faunus it made it easy for me to fly over here. I couldn't get here by boat anyway since I don't have any money. While looking through the island however, I noticed a Grimm… A beowolf just wandering through the forest."
Yang had gotten confused at this. "Wandering?" She asked him, "What do you mean?"
Angel continued his explanation, "... I thought it was looking for its pack at first, and I was going to take it out before it could, but when I followed it just stopped and whimpered like an injured dog. As I had gotten closer to it, I saw instead of burning red eyes, it had instead glowed green and had a look of innocence to it... As if it was a child."
Yang slightly gasped at this, while her eyes widened. She had remembered hearing this before when she had woken up in the safe zone; she had heard someone say that the Dragon that flew from Mountain Glenn that it's eyes had changed color in a certain pattern; From orange to green. She didn't acknowledge it at first, but since she was hearing this now, she couldn't help but wonder…
Angel pressed on with his story, "I approached the beowolf, preparing myself in case it had attacked, but I was shocked when it didn't. It had finally noticed that I was there and turned to me. To my surprise it had just started to talk to me; I was even more shocked when I heard a little girl's voice in the beowolf. It-She told me that she was scared, and she was looking for the people, her friends, her family… She said, she needed them to find her."
Yang finally felt her legs weaken; she backed up and allowed herself to fall onto her bed that was behind her. She couldn't believe this… Destiny, was actually looking for her, her team, her own father! It was just insane; she had told them, she SAW herself she could calm Grimm, but now this! If he had told anyone else this, she would be sure they would put him into a mental institute.
"Why…?" Yang asked, "Why was she scared?"
Angel answered, "I… Don't know. Her words didn't make much sense. All she said was she was looking for you, your sister, your friends and her father; she said where she was dark, and she didn't know where she was keeping her. I tried to tell her that I didn't understand what she was saying exactly, but before I knew it, the beowolf attacked me, after it's eyes changed back to red. I tried to fight it off but it got the upperhand. I had done my best to get the little one back so she could tell me more, but my aura broke and I received my injuries. Your father showed up just in time, and ended up killing the Grimm. From there, you know the rest of the story."
Yang ran her hand through her hair, with a stunned look on her face. This whole time Destiny has been trying to find her; her sisters, her friends, even her dad. She didn't even know she was capable of something like that. Just talking through the Grimm; If she'd known she would've told them. She didn't know how it was possible but… It was. It was a miracle to hear that Destiny was speaking through the Grimm, trying find them. Trying to find the people she loved.
Yang buried her face in her hand; soon enough Angel saw tears stream down her face.
"Yang…?" Angel said with concern, seeing her tears, "Oh God Yang, is it something I said? If it is I'm sorry."
To his surprise, he heard Yang start to laugh; he soon realized that she wasn't crying out of sadness. They were tears of joy. She wiped her eyes as she finally smiled as she laughed slightly.
"She's alive…" Yang said through her tears, "...Dessie is alive…"
-Meanwhile-
Ruby, with her friends along with Roman, Neo and team CRMS walked along the pathway trying to get to the next town, so they could grab some shelter for the coming storm for the night. Ruby was trying to make sense of the map as she lead the group.
"Okay guys!" Ruby said, "If we pick up the pace we can get over to the next town before sunset."
"Assuming that it's still there." Jaune said still feeling down after the town from before.
"Don't worry, it will be." Cristal said, "Beside this town is supposed to be better than, the others we've been to."
"Yeah she's right." Ruby said, "This town is called… Um… I-gan-Uh…? Ban-ra…?"
Roman leaned over Ruby's shoulder and read, "That says Higanbana Red."
"Right, I knew that!" Ruby said as she laughed nervously, her face turned red from embarrassment.
"I've been bounty hunting from across Remnant but I don't think I've heard of that town before." Rosario said, "Anyone know what we can expect?"
"From what I heard it's a well protected village with a popular inn." Ren said.
"Which means we won't have to sleep in the rain!" Nora said with a smile.
"That's good to know." Neo said, "It's nice to know that we'll be sleeping in a warm bed with a roof over our heads. That and a good shower doesn't hurt either."
"Yeah. Though I do like camping taking a break from all of it will be nice, even if it's only for the night." Scout said.
"See Jaune?" Ruby said, "Everything is gonna be fine!"
"I guess." Jaune said, "I mean it could be worse. I honestly thought we would see more of Grimm out here." Senka growled slightly at Jaune, "Well, other than him of course."
"Speaking of which, we can't exactly walk in there with Senka. It would be very hard to explain that he's not here to hurt anyone." Ren said, "Any ideas?"
"Don't worry, I have that covered." Cristal said before turning to Senka, "Hey, listen. Fly ahead to the other side of the town and stay hidden till I call for you." Senka understood her words, and spread his wings. With a running start he took flight high in the skies and flew way ahead of the group. "There." Cristal said, "Now unless if I call for him, no one will even know he's with us."
"Okay that takes care of that problem, but… What about these two?" Melody asked gesturing over to Roman and Neo, "Not to be offensive or anything, but there are people still looking for these guys after what they were involved in the downfall of Beacon. True, they turned over a new leaf but others may not see it that way."
"I can always disguise myself." Neo said, "It is a part of my semblance after all and my tricks managed to fool even professional Huntsmen and Huntresses whenever I'm on undercover jobs."
"And if it's any consolation to anyone, I'm fine with doing the usual and just camp out doors." Roman said.
"But there's going to be a storm tonight." Ruby said, "You might catch a cold if you're caught out in the rain."
"I appreciate the concern Red, but I'll be fine. I'm not one to get sick easily." Roman said.
"Even so, it's not exactly the smartest idea to be in the outdoors alone." Cristal said, "Grimm might attack you in your sleep and we can't have that."
"Than what do you suggest I do?" Roman asked.
The whole group thought about it, and there was silence. Nora soon hatched an idea, "We'll do what Neo does and disguise you!"
Roman seemed taken back by this, "I… Don't know. I'm not really big on, dress-up."
"You've gotta stay undercover Roman." Ruby said, "We'd rather not let you end up in prison."
"I think we can whip something up, with the stuff we have." Jaune said.
"Might as well try it." Rosario said.
Roman let out a groan of defeat as he said, "Fine, as long I don't look too ridiculous."
"Yay! Luck is finally on our side!" Nora said, "TO HIGANBANA!"
"TO HIGANBANA!" The rest of team Jaune, Ren, and Team CRMS shouted.
"TO HIGBA-" Ruby tried to yell before she shouted, "BANA!" The group couldn't help but look at her funny before pressing on.
Just as the group went ahead, Melody stopped in her tracks for a moment when she thought she heard something. She turned to the cliffs that were nearby; her partner Scout noticed this and turned to her. "... Melody? What is it?"
Scout swore that she saw Melody smirking, as she turned to her, "Oh it's nothing. Let's go catch up with the others."
"Uh…" Scout said awkwardly, "Okay…"
They walked to catch up with the group who had already walked ahead.
Up on the cliff, a beowolf stood on the edge prepared to attack on the unsuspecting group. Before it could pounce, a blade had suddenly gone through it's chest, killing it instantly. Qrow threw his blade over his shoulder as he looked to the group. His attention was slightly drawn to a raven that flew from the tree. He looked back to the group.
Qrow couldn't help but scoff, "Huh… Luck."
"Yang! Yang!"
Yang found herself standing in the middle of the Beacon courtyard; everything looked like the way it was when she had first arrived at the academy with her sister. She looked down and saw that her arm was back, like nothing happened, which left Yang shocked of course. However she soon discarded that thought when she heard someone call out to her.
"Yang! Yang!"
She looked up and saw that it was a familiar twelve year old girl with magenta and orange hair. "... Destiny?" Yang said.
The child laughed as she smiled her usual warm smile. She turned and started to run in the other direction. "Hey! Wait!" Yang exclaimed; she started to run after Destiny through the school grounds as she called out to her. Just when she thought she lost her, she always heard her laughter; she would turn and see her run from her.
"Dessie!" Yang yelled, calling the child by her nickname, "Stop! Where are you going!?"
Finally she saw Destiny run through the doors of the cafeteria building. Yang ran towards the building, and went through the doors. But, as she did, everything that was once lively, had suddenly turned into an eerie red color, with smoke and flames surrounding the whole building. Nevermores, and creatures of Grimm were heard roaring, screeching just outside, like it was all those months ago.
Yang's eyes widened slightly, but soon started to look around for the little one who ran into the building.
"Destiny!" Yang called out, "Destiny, where are you!?"
The minute went further into the building, she froze with fear. There in the room, she saw Adam Taurus walking towards her. His hair, mask and coat glowed red like the Grimm as he slowly walked towards her. Yang got into her fighting stance, and suddenly saw her weapons, her Ember Celica were on her hands, armed and ready for combat. Out of fear she started to fire at Adam, but the bullets when straight through him.
As Adam went to his sword, Yang went to fire again. But that's when she saw her Ember Celica were no longer there. Instead she was back in her current state, with her arm missing and bandaged. At that point she felt helpless; she couldn't do anything in the state she was in. She looked down and she was put into an even more horrified state of mind.
There on the floor just in front of her was Destiny, her body covered in black slime, her eyes opened slightly like she was half dead.
"I'm scared…" The little one said reaching out to her, "... Please… Please help me… I need you…"
With a trembling hand, she reached out to the little one, but soon realized that someone was right in front of her. Yang gasped when she Adam standing right in front of her. Adam smirked to her and went to draw his sword and-
"Yang! Yang! Wake up!"
Yang awoke with a gasp as she found herself back in her room. Angel was beside her who shook her awake. She slowly sat up from her bed as she rubbed her head.
"Are you alright?" Angel asked, "It looked like you were having a nightmare."
Yang replied hesitantly, "Y-yeah, I'm fine." She looked over to the robotic arm that was on the dresser, before she let out a sigh just thinking about what to do about the robotic arm exactly. It had been some time after she received this as a gift from her father. Despite telling him that she would try it on later, she still hadn't even moved it from where she had placed the arm after taking it out from the box. She didn't want to admit it, but, she was just scared to put on her new limb. It was just something she couldn't get used to in all honesty.
It wasn't long before Angel and her heard laughter coming from downstairs. Curious to see what it was, they went to check it out. They tiptoed down the stairs and heard the laughter coming from the kitchen. As they went over to peak in, Yang recognized the two new voices; this being her teachers, Professor Port, and Dr. Oobleck.
"And, and, and then, in comes Qrow, wearing a skirt!" Port said through his laughter, "I was just a TA than! I didn't know what to do, so I just left the room and laughed!"
Taiyang and Oobleck laughed along with Port; Yang and Angel couldn't help but stifle a laugh, just at the mere thought of this.
"We told him it was a kilt!" Taiyang said, "He never wore a uniform before, so he had no idea!"
"Oh that is terrible!" Oobleck said with a smile, "What is wrong with you!?"
"Hey! All the girls said he had nice legs!" Taiyang said, "I did that jerk a favor! Besides that's not even the best part! Then we-"
Port cut him off by placing his leg on the table. "Like what you see?" He said, pretending to be Qrow. The three of them burst out laughing. Port ended up losing his balance as he fell flat on the floor, causing them to laugh even harder.
Finally Yang nor Angel could hold it all in; they finally laughed which had gotten the attention of Oobleck and Port. He immediately straightened up, while Oobleck stood up from his seat.
"Oh Miss Xiao Long!" Port said awkwardly as he brushed off some dirt off of his coat, "Good evening!"
"It is uh-very good to see you!" Oobleck said.
"It's good to see you guys too." Yang said, as her and Angel entered the kitchen.
Port and Oobleck noticed Angel just behind her. "And you must be young Angel that Taiyang mentioned earlier."
"Ah, yes, yes, it's very nice to meet you!" Oobleck said to Angel, "Mr…?"
"Uh, no need for formalities, Angel is just fine." The teen said to the two teachers, "Your one of the teachers at Beacon right? It's an honor to meet the both of you."
"Won't you two join us?" Port asked the two of them.
"Yes, please pull up a chair!" Oobleck said.
"I'm good." Yang said going by her father; she took a seat up top the kitchen counter.
"I prefer to stand, but thanks anyway." Angel said while he went to the opposite side of the kitchen as he leaned against the wall; Oobleck and Port both took there seats.
"What are you guys doing here?" Yang asked curiously to the two professors.
"Well, despite popular belief teachers do have a life outside of the classroom." Oobleck replied to Yang.
Port had added, "Professor Goodwitch is working around the clock to restore Beacon to its former glory! But Mistral wasn't built in a day. And we all need rest from time to time."
"Hey let's not worry about that!" Taiyang said, before continuing his story from earlier, "So, there we were, standing in the auditorium, looking at Qrow, wearing a skirt! Then Oz tells everyone, 'It's time to work on our landing strategy!'"
Everyone laughed at this, before catching their breath.
"The Branwen Twins have always been… Interesting to say the least." Oobleck said; Yang flinching slightly at the mentioning of it.
"That didn't seem to stop young Tai!" Port said
Angel gave a curious look to that, as he looked over in Taiyang's and his daughters direction. "Hey guys come on, she's right here." Taiyang said, earning a look from Yang.
"Oh please!" Port said, "She's a mature young woman! If she can handle combat, she can handle a few jabs at her old man!"
"That's not the issue Pete!" Taiyang said, "And besides, she's also a teenager."
"Excuse me!" Yang said jumping down from the counter, "She is also in the room and can be directly spoken to. And I think I've been through enough to be considered an adult at this point."
Taiyang let out a sigh, "Whether your an adult or not, you've still got a lot to learn before you're ready for the real world."
Yang rolled her eyes at this, "Oh my gosh! Does every father figure have the same three condescending phrases?"
"Yeah, but we only use it when we mean it!"
"Is that so?"
"As a matter of fact, it is so! If you honestly think that you're ready to go out there on your own, huh, well I guess you lost some of brain cells along with that arm!"
The room suddenly grew deadly silent when Taiyang had said this, and Port, Oobleck, and Angel's jaw dropped at this. The mug slowly fell out of Oobleck's hand at it the solid surface of the table. Angel wondered what Yang was going to exactly; though he was surprised as ever when Yang playfully punched his arm and laughed.
"You jerk!" She said with a smile as Taiyang started to laugh along with her.
Angel pushed himself from the wall and said getting their attention, "Okay… Just to check, you're going to address the Goliath in the room?"
Taiyang and Yang both looked at one another, before they started to laugh again; Angel began to laugh awkwardly along with them, while Port and and Oobleck did the same. Though after awhile there laughter transpired from an awkwardness to more of an relieved laughter. Soon enough it came to an end.
"Oh, Miss Xiao L-I mean Yang." Port said, "If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you tried on the arm yet?"
"Ah, yes, yes!" Oobleck said, "A piece of Atlas technology given out like that is rare indeed! Not to mention the effort it took to deliver it here. It seems a great many people want you returned to normal."
Yang let out a sigh as she looked where her arm once was.
"I'm… Scared." She finally said, "Everyone keeps talking about me getting back to normal. And I appreciate it. But… This is normal now. It's just taking me awhile to get used to it."
Port and Oobleck both exchanged sad glances to one another, while Angel went over to Yang.
"Listen Yang…" Angel started to say, "I may not know the exact pain you've been going through, and I won't say that I understand you what you've been through, but… Sometimes it's just okay to be scared. There was a time when I was just terrified of something that I couldn't sleep for months, and I've tried just to pretend the fear was never there. But I've learned that you can do two things. You can either let it hang around you, and it let consume you, or… You can learn to conquer it, but just know you don't have to conquer your fear alone."
"Angel…" Yang said, moved by his words.
"He does make a good point." Taiyang said getting two of the teens attention, "Besides… Normal is what you make of it."
Yang gave her father a look at this, "What's that supposed to mean? Do you want me to just pretend like nothing's happened? I lost a part of me. A piece of me is gone, and it's never coming back."
"You're right." Taiyang said, "It's not coming back. But that doesn't have to stop you from becoming who you wanna be. You're Yang Xiao Long, my sunny little dragon. You can do whatever you put your mind to. So whenever you're ready to stop moping and get back out there… I'll be there for you."
Yang looked to Taiyang and Angel, surprised to hear something like this from her dad and the young teen she barely knew.
"I-I-" Yang stammered.
Port soon said getting her attention, "Fear is like an emotion. It comes and goes. It's all how you handle it. Why, even I find myself wrestling with that emotion from time to time."
"Really? You?" Yang said not necessarily believing it.
"What is that you're afraid of?" Angel said.
Oobleck whispered to the two of them, "He's afraid of mice."
"THEY ONLY BRING DISEASE AND FAMINE!" Port exclaimed, causing Yang and Angel to laugh.
"AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THEIR TAILS! SO HAIRLESS AND SIMPLY UNNATURAL!"
"Port I assure you, there are no mice here."
After awhile, Yang and Angel headed up the stairs to call it a night. They bid their farewells to Port and Oobleck and headed to their rooms. Yang walked into her room stopping in place when she saw the robotic arm, thinking about what Angel and her father said to her. It wasn't long before she heard commotion outside of the house. She went over to the window and listened.
"Thanks for having us over Tai." Port had said.
"Anytime." Taiyang replied, "You're always welcome."
"It may be awhile before we return." Oobleck said, "There's still much work to be done at the school."
Port had said, "... I hesitate to ask this, but, I understand that your niece and Miss Rose have been away from Patch for sometime. Have you heard from either of them?"
Taiyang replied, "Well… Melody's texts stopped coming after the CCT tower fell, as for Ruby… I haven't heard anything from her yet."
"Have you thought about going after them?" Oobleck asked, "Try to bring them home?"
Taiyang let out a sigh, "I've got to… Look after some things." Yang hid herself from the view of her father and squeezed her upper arm, having a look of dejection. Angel soon came into the room. "Angel…" Yang said noticing that he entered, "Hey, listen… Thank you for, what you said back there. It was something I really needed to hear."
"It's no big deal." Angel said with a shrug, "But… Are you sure you're okay?"
"What do you mean?" Yang asked him.
Angel looked over at robotic arm, before noticing that her corgi plush was on the floor. He picked it up, "... I know that you're scared, but like I said before, you don't have to conquer your fear alone. And I don't mean to push you or tell you what to do, but… That arm will be able to help you conquer it too, like they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And if you won't do it for your father, your sister or even your friends…"
He held the plush out to Yang, "... Than do it for her."
Yang took the plush from him and looked at the little corgi plush before hugging it. "Dessie…" Yang said before thinking in her head, "... When I've done what I needed to do… Than I'll come find you… I promise you…"
-Meanwhile; Later that Night-
"I look completely ridiculous."
As said before from the team, they managed to put on a disguise for Roman; Luckily Rosario was an expert in sewing dust into clothing, so it proved to be easy getting the outfit that they needed for him. Roman had to undo his hair tie so it would be left loosely and he even had to undo his curls while his bowler hat was kept off.
His outfit instead of his usual new outfit he had on a green coat with brown pants and overalls that just hung loosely with a green shirt that was baggy.
"Don't be so modest, you look fine." Ruby said, "And this way, people won't be able to recognize you now."
"Good thing I had that extra Dust on me." Scout said with a smile.
"No kidding. Creating this outfit was a snap." Rosario said.
"Why the hell did I even agree something like this?" Roman said with a certain look on his face.
He turned over to Neo who was already in her disguise; the same black hair and green eyes with twin tails, black blouse and white collar and black skirt and white boots, like when she was in the Vytal Festival Tournament.
"You're lucky you don't have to put up with dress up." Roman said to Neo, "You can just change your appearance no problem."
"Yeah, though the downside for me is the amount of concentration it takes to pull off this trick, other than that it does come in handy for quick getaways." Neo said.
Just as this was said, they noticed a few drops of water, before it started to rain. "Oh crap! We better get to the Inn!" Jaune said.
"No need to say it twice!" Ren said.
The group made a run for it in the town and managed to get to the inn before it started to rain like cats and dogs. "Holy hell, we would've been completely soaked out there." Cristal said, "That storm came up pretty quick."
"It's a real good thing that we're not camping outside." Nora said getting the water off. Frosty shook off the water while Melody shut her eyes from the water. "Yeah thanks for that little buddy, just when I finished drying off." Melody said.
"Come on guys, let's go and see if there's a room available." Ruby said, "Than we can grab dinner!"
"Yay, dinner! I'm starving!" Scout said.
Just as the group went to the front desk Roman stopped in his tracks when he noticed someone looking on from the tavern just across. Neo noticed the look on his face and looked where he was. "Roman…" Neo said, her eyes changing to brown.
"I know." Roman said, "Neo… Go with the others, tell them I'll catch up."
"Are you sure?" Neo asked.
Roman turned Neo and nodded slightly to her. Neo let out a sigh and nodded; her eyes changed back to the color green before joining the others. Roman walked out of the Inn and entered the tavern just across. Just as he suspected he saw a familiar Huntsman was sitting at one of the tables.
It was Qrow, Ruby's Uncle, and Melody's father.
"Roman." Qrow greeted.
"Huntsman." Roman said not even calling him by his name, "I had a feeling someone was on our tail for awhile. Didn't think it would be Red's famous uncle."
Qrow pointed to the seat just across from him, "Why don't you take a seat? I wanna talk to you about something."
Roman looked at Qrow, having a tense look on his face; until he reassured him, "Relax, I'm not gonna turn you in. Like I said, I just wanna talk, one family man to another, since we didn't get a chance back in Vale." Finally, Roman let out a sigh, as he took a seat just across from Qrow. A waitress came by the table, "What can I get you?" She asked with a smile.
"I'm good." Qrow said to her, before pointing to Roman, "But his drink is on me."
The Waitress nodded and turned to Roman, waiting for him to order a drink.
"Just some scotch if you got any. Make it a double." Roman said, to the Waitress.
"Coming right up sir." She said, as she went to get what he asked for. Roman turned his attention back to the Huntsman across from him. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Roman asked.
"I appreciate you and your partner looking after my niece." Qrow said, "The fact that your actually watching her back as she is watching yours. The fact that you've been helping her instead of trying to kill her, I have to say I'm surprised at this."
"Where exactly are you going with this?" Roman asked him.
Qrow said, "I'm just wondering about something… When you find your daughter, and I'm not saying that you won't I sincerely hope you do, but… What will do after you find her?"
Roman's eyes widened slightly at this, but he chose not to answer it.
Qrow said to him, "... After all is set and done, and you get your daughter back, you can't exactly go back to breaking the law for a living."
"You don't think I know that?" Roman said to Qrow, "After what I did, what Cinder made me do in Vale and Beacon… Things just can't go back to way they were."
"You plan on running away with her?"
"I would normally… But, my daughter doesn't deserve that life. Besides… I made a promise to her as well, and I can't bring myself to break her heart. Why are you asking me?"
The Waitress returned with Roman's drink; after thanking the Waitress, he took the glass and sipped from it. Qrow soon answered, "Well, I'm only asking because, after what you've gotten yourself involved in, with Vale and Beacon in all, I can tell you that a few certain people will think that you're not dad of the year."
Roman clenched his fist on the glass, causing it to crack slightly. "Are you trying to threaten me?" Roman asked with a glare.
"No, of course I'm not." Qrow reassured him, "I'm just saying that when everything is over, they're going to be consequences. And I can tell just from your reaction that you don't want her to be taken away."
Roman gritted his teeth before saying, "My daughter is the only thing I have in this hell of a world. It was bad enough when she was taken from me by Cinder; we were both apart from each other for two whole years, and now these months not knowing where the hell she is…. I can't bare to be apart from her any longer. I'm surprised I haven't even been driven insane by it yet."
"You could've avoided it all of it, what Cinder made you involve in. You could've gone to the police or told Ironwood when he had you up in his ship about your daughter's kidnapping but you chose not say anything and instead play along with it." Qrow said to him.
Roman replied, after taking another sip from his glass of scotch, "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not the biggest fan of law enforcement even before I started to lie, steal and cheat for a living. Especially for Atlas not being there when my town was attacked by the Grimm. Do you realize how many of my friends died trying to buy time for Atlas to come help? I witnessed most of the people I once considered a family getting eaten alive, and let me tell you it as something I could never erase from my head. They tried calling for help, I tried calling for help, but Atlas never came."
"That wasn't their fault and you know it Roman, though that doesn't mean you had to play the part in the destruction of Vale and Beacon."
"I had no choice. Besides, even if I could tell them, she threatened to kill her if I had told anyone about her and their plans."
"People always have a choice. You just made the stupid one and got your only kid involved in something dangerous."
"I've been involved ever since my wife told me her secret, and I tried to hide my daughter from all of it!"
"I can see you did a bang up job at that."
Roman gritted his teeth again and sat back in his seat, "Do you know the part where I just punch you several times in the face, because we're coming up to that pretty soon."
Qrow ran his hand through his hair, "Look Roman… It's no secret that I've been trailing behind you guys. I've seen that you've changed and that you love Destiny as much as I love my own two nieces and daughter. So right now, I'm offering you a choice that's not a stupid one, that is if you care to listen."
Roman gave a quizzical look to Qrow at this, "What do you have in my mind?"
"You want your kid to have a normal life while she still can after this is all over don't you?" Qrow said, "Patch can provide all you need, but before that I can help you to disappear, make it seem like you never existed."
"You can really do that?"
"Don't underestimate what Huntsman can do."
Roman gave a look to the Huntsman before him, "Why would you want to do that for me?"
"Who knows? Maybe it's because I owe for watching Ruby's back during the chaos…" Qrow said, "Or maybe it's because of what you're doing now, we may never know as to why. Just be thankful of what I'm offering you, what do you say?"
Roman let out a sigh as he finished his drink, "... It really is an offer I can't refuse, but, for now… I just want to focus on finding my daughter."
Qrow nodded, "I understand, just don't forget what I'm offering you."
Roman stood up from his seat, "I should get back to them. They might be wondering where I am." Roman turned and went to go out the door; though he stopped in his tracks, and turned his head slightly, "Thanks for the drink. Have a good night Huntsman."
With that Roman went back to the entrance and out the door. But… Just by the door he didn't realize two people were watching him leave. One having magenta and orange hair, covering her right eye, and the other having long red hair, just up to the waist, with her right eye covered by her bangs as well, and her left eye being a vivid green color.
"That's him than?" The girl with red hair had said.
"Yes…" The girl with orange and magenta hair said, "That's Roman Torchwick… And if he's here… Cristal is bound to be with him."
"It maybe possible that the Silver Eyed Warrior is with them as well. What do we do?"
"We have to know for certain that she is even among them. We'll report back what we've found to Tyrian, and not engage them for now. Once we have told him what we've found, we'll see where we'll go from there. Do you understand… Elise?"
The girl with red hair, who was Elise looked to her comrade, "Of course I do, Diamond."
-Sometime Ago; Later that Night-
The whole group traveled a bit further down the road and eventually had found a town that was well protected in case any Grimm showed up to attack. Tired from all the walking they had decided to rest up at the inn. They had each gotten separate rooms, one for team RNJR, one for CRMS, and finally for Roman and Neo. After having dinner, they turned in for the night.
Ruby didn't go to sleep right away however; she decided to do some late reading with the books she packed in case she was not engaged with the Grimm. Though every now and again, she would always take a moment to look at the bracelet that was around her wrist. Often some nights were like this; she would wonder if Destiny had any nightmares, or was even sleeping peacefully, wherever she was.
Ruby let out a sigh, "I really hope your okay Dessie, wherever you are we'll find you."
Ruby looked at the time that was on her scroll, "It is getting pretty late… I should hit the hay."
Ruby stood up and went to put the book away in her bag, but soon saw outside that Roman was there alone, while having a puff of smoke. Ruby tilted her head, wondering as to why he was out there so late. Still worried about how he was, she decided to go outside and see how he was doing.
She had gone down the stairs and went out the back door of the inn. She approached Roman from behind, lightly tapping him on the shoulder; Roman jumped slightly, before sighing with relief, "Oh, it's just you Red. Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"If you and I were still enemies I probably would've whooped your butt at that remark." Ruby said with a smile as she nudged him with her elbow. Roman couldn't help but chuckle slightly at this, before he looked to the horizon again. Ruby looked to the horizon admiring the view and the shattered moon that shined in the sky. There was silence between them as they looked to the sky and horizon. Ruby looked over to Roman before clearing her throat.
"... Neo told me, why you looked so upset." Ruby said.
Roman exhaled the smoke, "... Did she now?"
"... You still miss her don't you?" Ruby asked, "Trinity I mean…"
Roman had said nothing, he just took another puff from his cigar. "You know… It's okay to miss the people you love. It's how my dad my felt when my mom passed away and it's-"
"It's not that." Roman said cutting her off, "I know it's okay to miss people you love but that's not what I'm thinking about."
Ruby looked at him with curious eyes, "Than, why are you so upset?"
Roman replied hesitantly, "Every time this day comes and goes, I just find myself back to that day when I fought for my life, when we all fought for our lives. I just kept thinking over and over again in my head on what I should've done, and how things could've changed. I told my wife to wait for me with Destiny until I returned home, but… I kept telling myself that I should've stayed with her to protect her… to keep her safe, but instead…"
Ruby noticed his hands shaking, as he tried to continue with his words, but he just couldn't. Ruby placed her hands over his; he flinched at this.
"Roman… Don't get me wrong, but I understand how you feel about it." Ruby said, "I may have been a little girl, but I felt the same way when I lost my mom and even what had happened to Pyrrha. Every scenario I thought about it over in my head about what would happen if my mom was saved or if I had gotten to Pyrrha in time. But I learned a long time ago that you can't change what happened, and what matters is what we do now."
Roman just snickered, "You say that and yet I failed to protect my own daughter. How pathetic is that? I couldn't keep one promise to her or even Trinity's."
"I know that your blaming yourself for what happened to her, and Destiny's disappearance." Ruby said, "But… It isn't your fault, it never was."
"I could've been there to save my wife and I was too much of a coward to even save my own daughter, I'm just a lousy father as I was as a husband. How can you say that it wasn't my fault?"
"Because it was a mistake, and you can learn from it. Sure they're some mistakes you can't fix but, what matters is what you can do for Destiny now. I know you've made mistakes but that's okay, it's what makes us people after all. And don't beat yourself up not being about being a horrible father and husband. You did what you could for your wife, but you can still make things right for Destiny when we find her."
Roman cracked a smile as he turned in her direction, "You sure do have a way with words, don't you Red?"
"I just rather not see you sad, especially after all that's happened, and you could use a friend to talk to."
"A friend huh…? That's something I haven't heard in a long time, and now I'm being comforted by a kid. Oh how the mighty have fallen."
Ruby giggled, "I would rather consider it an accomplishment."
Roman couldn't help but laugh along with her, as she continued her fits of giggles. After a while they had gone back inside into the Inn, Roman to his room down the hall. They both bidded each other good night as they went to their rooms for the night.
"That was quite a conversation."
Ruby was somewhat startled, but calmed herself when she saw that it was just Cristal, wearing a purple nightgown with yellow sweater. "I'd dare say that you managed to cheer him up."
"You were listening?" Ruby asked.
"Sorry I couldn't help but overhear." Cristal replied, "... That was one heck of a thing you told him, I bet he was grateful to you."
Ruby smiled satisfied, "Well, like I told him, he looked like he could use a friend."
"A friend huh?" Cristal said, "I think your one of the people Roman would consider a friend despite your history."
"I thought Neo was a friend of his."
"You've seen the way they are. They're more family than friends. Roman could really use one in these times, as can we all. It was nice that you said those things. He may not look like it, but he does appreciate it."
"I know, I could tell." Ruby said, "And I'm happy that I was able to do something for him. I really hate to see a person down."
"You're a really good person Ruby." Cristal said with a smile, "... It's no wonder why she likes you."
Ruby looked at her with confusion as she didn't hear the last part that Cristal had said. "Did you say something?" Ruby asked.
Cristal smiled and shook her head, "It's nothing, I'm going to head back to bed got a long day of walking and who knows, we might battle some Grimm along the way. See ya in the morning Ruby."
"Ye-yeah, sure." Ruby said.
Before Ruby could go back to her room, she noticed that Cristal had dropped something peculiar on the floor. It was a photograph.
"Huh? A pic-Wait!"
Ruby noticed something peculiar on the picture; It was familiar handwriting that read, "Our Day at Forever Fall". The young teen immediately went over to the picture and flipped it over, only conforming her theory. It was of her, her team and JNPR with Destiny.
Which had begged the question to her… Why would Cristal have this picture with her?
(Ending Theme: Soul Eater Ending 2-Style Performed by Nishino Kana)