Reclaiming in Black
Chapter 12: Division, and Explanations
Rose looked at Ruby, both confused and slightly angry. A simple demand, "Why?"
"He killed Yang, he hurt you, he...he…" Ruby began and quickly tapered off.
"Yang's right there, unharmed. Obsidian hasn't done anything to me. He is your teammate, who was opening up to people he trusted, and you shot him."
Ruby paused, looking over to her team, all accepting of his abilities. Who he is. She stands, slowly, attracting the attention of her teammates, specifically Obsidian, who looked cautious again.
She walked up to him, "I'm sorry."
"That's kinda lame sis." Yang says, "You kinda shot him in the chest."
"Yang…" Obsidian begins.
"No, she's right." Ruby said, "I… when I saw you…"
"I tend to call it shifting." Obsidian supplied.
"Shifted." Ruby continued, "I thought of… of my mom."
Obsidian looked up, confused, and Yang explained, "Summer Rose died when she was out hunting and was surprised by a large pack of Beowolves."
He looked down, and paused, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."
"How could you, we never told you." Yang said.
"I just freaked out." Ruby explained. "And I…"
"I understand." Obsidian said. "Maybe next time, we can talk about things, before you shoot me next time. That thing hurts."
"That was fun." Yang sang chipperly. The last minutes had been draining for everyone. Rose, Weiss, and Ruby went out for a little relaxation. Obsidian, just sat down, overwhelmed.
"It wasn't so bad, actually." Blake said truthfully. "Ruby was a little overly enthusiastic."
"The hug or the shot she took?"
"Both." Blake began, "But the hug was something."
"Like a sniffly koala shot from a cannon, right?"
Blake blinked slowly. "That is an... apt description."
"Who has endured those for the last fifteen years?" Yang pointed at her chest, before grinning. "Luckily, you ladies and gent get your own share now."
"Joy." Blake deadpanned, while Obsidian groaned.
"You'll deal." Yang waved off, not at all sympathetic.
"I'm sure." Blade said dryly before she began indulging herself in a languid stretch, the likes of which she hadn't exercised in any sort of company for quite some time. The reason this became immediately apparent as her back arched in a manner that was blatantly not possible for a normal human.
"So, you're like a legit cat-person." Yang commented.
"In the flesh." Blake sighed, feeling the pleasant relief of a good stretch.
"Hey," Yang began, getting Blakes attention, before pointing at her ears. "Do you mind...?"
Blake smiled indulgently at Yang, rolling her eyes for good measure. "Sure, get it out of your system."
Yang bounced forward gleefully before she began rubbing her Blake's ears. She 'ooh'ed' and 'ahh'ed' appropriately, trying her best to not go too crazy with her affectionate petting. As she was humming, rubbing the soft warmth of Blake's right ear, something caught her attention. Two small indents. She frowned minutely, rubbing her fingers over the spot and using her superior height to peer at what felt so odd.
Two small circular dots. And as Yang stared at them, she realized they were scars.
When she was younger she had volunteered at an animal center for some time, caring and looking after the various strays that were brought in from all over Patch. She'd always been fond of animals, and her time there had taught her a lot about them. She'd seen some terrible things, various critters too sick, weak or feral to survive that were inevitably put down via euthanasia, a hard pill to swallow for an animal loving eleven-year-old girl. And she'd some wonderful things, pets that were picked up by families that ended up being nursed back to health, and went on to have long and happy lives. Hell, she'd picked up Zwei himself at that very same shelter for Ruby's ninth birthday!
So yes, she recognized the signs of old scarring, even under the fur. But this... it was too neat, too uniform.
Almost like someone had taken a hole punch to Blake's ear...
"Oh no no no."
"What?" Blake asked, startled by Yang's horrified tone. Her anxiety spiked when Yang turned watery lilac eyes on her.
"Blake, your ear." Yang said softly, her voice bubbling with repressed rage. "What happened to your ear?"
Obsidian looked up, and Blake felt her ear buzz slightly, and Obsidian froze, eyes snapping hellish red, as he stood, looking in every part the man who burned nations.
Blake stiffened as soon as the sentence had left Yang's mouth, and Yang made a strangled noise in the back of her throat. They'd all seen too much over the last few days. Too much not to understand. Too many pictures of downtrodden, haunted faces with bright yellow markers clamped to their ears, like so much livestock.
"The mines." Yang and Obsidian both hissed, almost in tandem.
The cat Faunus snapped her head up. "Yang, Obsidian, I-" She paused as Yang shut her eyes, fisting her hands and trembling violently. "Yang?"
Scorching crimson glowed from beneath Yang's hooded lids. Every single muscle was taut as a bowstring as she fought the urge breakburnhurtfightdestroy. "Gym." The enraged blonde snapped in explanation, before storming from the room.
Obsidian slowly blackened, but as the door opened he almost immediately returned to human, as he put forth his iron will, stating "Same." As he left the room, the door closed.
Obsidian made a left, heading toward the other gymnasium and he fully Grimmed out and tore apart everything the training simulations could manifest. Venting everything he felt, and absorbed from Yang.
Blake watched them go, unable to pursue, rooted to the spot by shock and worry.
Yang stormed down the hallways, everything a blur as she fought her violent urges.
How dare they touch her partner?!
How dare they hurt her like that?
How dare they hurt anyone like that?!
Monsters. They were monsters in human skin, and Rose could go fuck herself if she thought she could stop Yang from hunting down every last one of them and pulling their spine out through their esophagus.
She needed to vent, needed to do something. She needed to hurt, weights, boxing bags, whatever she could get her hands on. If she didn't do anything all this energy would make her explode.
It was too much, far too much, and Yang was burning. Every inch of her was screaming violence, her fight or flight instincts multiplied a thousandfold, with flight completely thrown out the window.
Yang barely had time to pause as she barged into a workout room, almost knocking over an unfortunate gym-goer.
"Hey, sugartits!"
Yang stopped and turned.
And then she snapped.
Rose, Weiss, and Ruby walked in companionable silence during their trek back to the dorm from communal showers. They had a personal one in their dorm, of course, but it had been clogged once again by Yang's ridiculously long hairs, so in the end, they had to settle for what they had available. Ruby and Weiss were both bone tired, having both gone through a long day. Or days, really. Weiss had been run through the emotional gauntlet, and Ruby had been there every step of the way, and they had never been so unabashedly glad that tonight marked the start of the weekend.
"Do you hear that?" Rose asked with a small frown, stopping her languid pace and staring out a nearby window.
"Hm?" Ruby replied sleepily. "Hear what?"
"Heeeeeelllllllp!"
"That." Rose answered, trotting over to the window. Weiss, despite her craving for her soft, warm bed, dutifully followed as her own curiosity spiked, dulled by tiredness as it was. She looked out the window, taking in the early evening display of Beacon. A myriad of lights lit a variety of pathways and courtyards, and sprawling greens shadowed by large trees were illuminated by the soft glow of the shattered moon. The mass of the fortresslike buildings was dotted with lights, and the tall spire stretched up into the night sky as if they were great candles providing light to all the world around them.
"Is that Yang?" Weiss muttered, staring at a bright, glowing form on the lawn far below them. The form was darting to and fro, in between three other shifting figures.
"It is." Rose confirmed with a chuckle.
"Someone, anyone!"
"What is she doing?" Weiss asked, narrowing her gaze. Ruby, who had always enjoyed the gift of spectacular sight - a big part of why her chosen weapon included a sniper - answered for her.
"She's fighting." She sighed. "Again."
"Who is she fighting?" Weiss asked in morbid curiosity.
"Looks like Cardin." Ruby told her. "Except I don't know what weapon she's swinging." Ruby commented with a confused frown.
"That," Rose began.
"Ohgodhelpus!"
"Is Mr. Bronzewing." She finished with a snicker.
"Why would she be beating Cardin unconscious with his own teammate?" Weiss wondered, peering down at the drama below.
"WHO YOU CALLING SUGARTITS NOW, FUCKERS?!"
"Idiots." Ruby moaned, banging her head against the window sill.
"Well, as much as it hurts to give them this much credit, but they really should know better." Weiss muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"As I teacher, I feel like I should stop this." Rose posed philosophically. "But as an extremely vindictive person, this is just way too much fun to watch."
"Oh god, RUN!"
"That's only a flesh wound! Come on, you pansies!"
"Wow," Ruby uttered as she listened to the girlish shrieks of her sister's victims, in a mix of horror and fascination. "People really should not fit together like that." Ruby said, scrunching up her nose in distaste.
Weiss, fearing for her sanity if she continued to watch Yang bend team CRDL into what could only be described as non-euclidian geometry, turned on her heel and headed for bed.
Sometimes discretion really was the better part of valor.
"GAH, MY SPLEEN!"
Ozpin regarded Rose levelly, leaning back in his sturdy level chair. His fingers led a stuttering staccato on his desk, coupled with features and posture that were deceptively placid – bar his single raised eyebrow. Ozpin, like Blake, had the gift of saying many words with simple gestures. His single delicate brow was basically screaming 'why?' despite the fact that Rose didn't doubt for a second that his preternaturally sharp mind had probably intuited some of her reasoning already. The man had a habit of just knowing things.
Rose gave him a casual shrug, irreverently propping her feet on his desk as she leaned back in her own chair. "The kids are worried about dad and Qrow, and I don't think it's a good idea for them to be around this weekend. Both of them need some space to figure things out and I doubt they'll appreciate my little sisters pestering them." She finished with a small sigh.
"Hmm." He dipped his head slightly in acknowledgment. "True. They have been rather moody as of late," Rose snorted but didn't deign to comment and Ozpin continued. "But I can't help but feel that you have ulterior motives in this."
Rose rubbed her face tiredly, ignoring the slightly unpleasant smell of her leather gauntlet as she futilely tried to work some of the tension out of her body. "Emotional teenage drama." She supplied directly.
"I hardly think that serves as a respectable reason, does it?"
"Hey, teenage drama can be important," Rose disagreed, giving him an accusatory point. Ozpin didn't look particularly convinced. "Or at least it can be if you're the heiress of a multi-billion lien corporation engaged in some very questionable business practices, who has just come to terms with the flaws in her ideology, coupled with complete disillusionment of the image she had of her father. Or a man with a possible future as a country killing super being. " She explained hesitantly, not completely comfortable with sharing such private – albeit important – changes.
"What did you do?" He asked, a light air of surprise to his voice.
"I provided irrefutable evidence."
Ozpin sighed sympathetically. "I imagine that would be rather difficult for them to have accepted, yes."
"She wasn't happy about it, and he wasn't much better," Rose conceded. "But it's for the best."
"I agree. But I don't think you have provided me with the entire picture yet."
"Not quite." She allowed with a small smile. "While a big part of this is because them, but the entire team could use some mutual isolation to bond and come to terms with Blake's Faunus heritage."
"Ms. Belladonna's secret was discovered?" Ozpin murmured thoughtfully behind the rim of his mug before taking a sip. "I was under the impression that she would be hesitant to reveal such a thing."
"She just needed a little support." Rose said with a slight grin, and Ozpin cracked his own infinitesimal smile.
"I should have known."
"Probably." Rose told him with a wink.
Ozpin gave her a wry look.
"Blame my father, I get it from him."
"I think Tai-Yang said the same thing about his father."
"Another Xiao Long thing, then?"
"Your family's penchant for chaos is frightening."
"I feel like that 'frightening' is a bit of a strong word."
"Talk to Glynda, she'll provide you with several stronger."
"Talking isn't my go-to when I want her to curse my name." Rose waggled her eyebrows.
"As her colleague – and yours, for that matter – I feel talking about her sex life is wildly inappropriate."
"'Wildly inappropriate' is my middle name."
"I know your father said the same thing about his middle name."
"The Xiao Long blood runs thick, what can I say?"
"I shudder to think." Ozpin said wryly. "But we have digressed. You wish to book number…twelve was it? - the twelfth forest training grounds for this weekend for yourself and team RWBY." Ozpin tapped into his desk mounted scroll.
"That's the one."
"What would be the reason for this," He gestured at the scroll.
"Hmm," Rose hummed thoughtfully, but then slammed her hand down with a small 'aha!' of triumph. "Convalescence." She offered confidently.
"Convalescence? Most people don't undertake intensive outdoor training in order to convalesce."
"Most people don't travel backward through time."
"I feel like that excuse is going to come up far too often for my tastes." Ozpin said with a wry grin, tapping the last of the details into his master scroll. As soon as he was finished, a long slip of paper was ejected from his personal printer, the neat strip already laminated. "Your permissions, Rose."
"Thank you, Ozpin." Rose said to him as she took the proffered slip. "I'll see you at the meeting."
"Until then."
"Cheers."
Team RWBY and Rose were in their shared dorm. The Hunter trainees were scattered around the room; Ruby was in her bunk with a weapons magazine in hand, Blake was similarly in her own bed with what looked like a fantasy novel of some description, Yang was packing away her latest basket of washed clothes, and Weiss was sitting at a desk with a pile of textbooks on hand, and Obsidian was working on some schoolwork, but mostly still reading about the Grimm he invented in the future."
All of them turned to stare at Rose, who was standing in the middle of the room having just proclaimed her plan for the weekend, laminated permission slip hoisted proudly.
"So, let me get this straight," Weiss began, shifting her chair to face Rose. "You - without asking any one of us - have booked an outdoor training ground for the entire weekend regardless of the fact that you begin teaching for the very first time in your life morning after, and that the entirety of team RWBY has some very important tests on that very same day. Am I correct so far?"
"That about sums it up." Rose said brightly.
"You're saying you are interrupting my well thought out study, training, and sleep schedule because you want to go camping?" Weiss continued, and Rose swore she saw her eyebrow start ticking.
"Do we have to call it camping?" Obsidian asked. "I hate camping."
"Camping is awesome." Rose nodded.
"I lived in the forest for seven years." Obsidian said. "I have the right to hate spending unnecessary time in the wilderness."
"Even for Rose's super-secret training trips." Rose declared proudly.
Ruby gasped. "Super-secret training trip?" She echoed reverently.
Obsidian groaned, "Do I…" He began when a glare from Rose silenced him.
"I am not going." Weiss huffed in denial, her eyebrow twitching as she swiveled in her seat and back to her books.
Ruby's head snapped to her partner. "But Weiss, it's a super-secret training trip." She implored.
"A secret I can live without."
"But- but it won't be the same without my partner." Ruby mumbled softly, giving Weiss the biggest, wateriest puppy dog eyes the heiress had ever seen.
Weiss flinched minutely. "I'm sure it will be fine without me." She said comfortingly, some of her rather obvious ire slipping out of her voice.
"It won't be, because you won't be there." Ruby said with a small sniffle.
Weiss looked equal parts exasperated and guilt-stricken. "I'm sure Rose will keep you so busy you won't even notice my absence."
Defying all possibility, Ruby's puppy dog eyes became even more pitiful. "Of course I'll notice if my best friend isn't there."
It took all of a few seconds of direct eye contact before Weiss slumped against the desk, groaning lowly in defeat. "Fine. I'll go. Just please put those stupidly convincing things away."
Ruby instantly became cheerful once more, letting out a victorious whoop. "Oh it's gonna be awesome! Have you ever been camping Weiss? No? Oh it's like the best thing ever! But you need the necessary supplies, of course. Things like tents, ammo, clothes, and smores! You can't forget the smores. Have you ever had a smore, Weiss? They -"
Rose smirked at Weiss, who was giving the soon-to-be teacher a barely concealed glower. Her impromptu staring match with the irate snow-haired woman was cut off when she heard a few slow claps.
"Well played." Blake congratulated with a small chuckle, lifting her book in salute.
"- and yeah, I guess we could sing some campfire songs, but me and Yang are completely tone deaf,"
"Hey!"
"But maybe you and Blake could sing? I bet you have a super pretty voice, Weiss! Do you think you could sing for us anyway, even if we don't end up doing campfire songs? Unless you're like me and Yang, I guess, because-"
"You just have to know how to set her off." Rose said wryly, tuning out her younger counterparts babble. As Weiss ended her small bout of glaring, having realized that Rose had not yet keeled over – much to her disappointment – she resigned herself to the arduous task of listening to and calming down one excited Ruby Rose.
Leaving Weiss to her in-enviable predicament Rose turned to Yang, the only member to not have said her peace so far. Well, technically Blake hadn't actually commented, but considering she hadn't voiced anything in the negative Rose assumed she was on board. Yang looked thoughtful, slowly packing away her things and ignoring Ruby's motor-mouth and Weiss quickly dissipating patience.
"Why?" Yang asked Rose simply.
"Why what?"
"Why are you taking us on a training trip?" Yang clarified.
"I bet you don't need my help to come up with a couple good reasons." Rose said with a raised brow.
Yang, apparently not in the mood to dance around the question, rolled her eyes pointedly. "I don't want my reasons, I want yours."
"Sharp." Rose commented offhand, before focusing on her sister's question. "I want to get started on fixing each of your biggest weaknesses." She told Yang plainly.
Yang blinked slowly. "Oo-kay, what exactly does that entail?"
Taking a small moment to think, Rose noticed that Ruby had stopped talking, and the entirety of her team was focused on the older woman. "Well, it means I'm going to get started on fixing your biggest flaw in combat, all of you."
"You know what these flaws are." Weiss stated thoughtfully.
"I do." Rose admitted before she flashed Weiss a grin. "You'll be glad to know you are more or less the most well rounded of the team."
"Oh?" The heiress looked surprised but pleased. "How so?"
"You have a reliable answer to every range in combat. Not the most specialized, mind you, but you can fight at long, medium and close range with no noticeable problem." Rose praised.
Weiss preened under the positive attention, blushing very lightly at being encouraged so honestly. "Thank you, I've worked hard." She replied politely, apparently a habit of her tutoring.
"You're welcome." Rose chuckled, before giving Weiss a downright evil grin. "But do you know your biggest weakness?"
Weiss frowned, opened her mouth, closed it, and frowned even deeper. "No." She admitted sounding not very well pleased with herself.
"Stamina." A few moments passed before Weiss paled at that simple declaration. "Oh yes, you and I are going to have ever so much fun." Rose proclaimed in a childish, aristocratic squeak.
"Oh Oum." Weiss uttered apprehensively, and Ruby took pity on her.
"What about the rest of us?" She asked curiously, diverting attention away from her slightly doomed partner.
"You," Rose began by pointing at Ruby. "Are completely pathetic in a fight if you don't have your scythe." She stated flatly and Ruby deflated comically.
"I'm not that bad." Ruby pouted, crossing her arms.
"Your best-unarmed move right now is slap fighting." Rose said dryly.
"That's not true!" Ruby protested until Rose raised an eyebrow. "…Is it?" She finished unsurely.
"I remember sucking pretty hard until I got Ren to teach me some stuff." She shrugged. "It might be different for you."
"Ren?" Ruby blinked slowly. "He taught you – us – martial arts?"
"But Ruby's terrible at martial arts." Yang cut in.
"Am I?" Rose asked, giving her bustier sister a significant look. Yang paused in thought, remembering the thorough thrashing she and her team had received when they had faced Rose.
"No." Yang sounded vaguely surprised. "You aren't bad at all." She murmured thoughtfully, turning to look up at Ruby. "How come what me and dad tried to teach you didn't stick? You have the talent for it, apparently."
"I can answer that." Rose lifted her hand in the air like a school child. Yang rolled her eyes with a grin, flicking her hand at Rose in acquiescence. "You and Tai fight in a way that is almost my polar opposite. Dad's a power fighter and you, whilst not slow, definitely rely on your strength when you fight hand-to-hand. I don't have the same build as you two," She pointed at herself and then Yang to highlight the differences, which were rather pronounced. Yang, despite being almost half a decade younger, was already more overtly muscular than Rose with her own lithe, corded build. "I'm built for speed, and what I needed was a style that played to my strengths."
"The Wavering Fist." Blake finished with a contemplative hum. Rose gave her a slightly surprised, slightly questioning look. "I didn't recognize it – and I guess it comes as surprise now – but Ren did."
"I didn't know you and Ren talked." Weiss commented.
"We have common interests." Blake said evasively.
"Smut." Rose coughed into her hand, muffled just enough that anyone who didn't have the enhanced hearing that came with being a Faunus or a Grimm would have missed it completely. She got a dirty glower from Blake for her efforts and a brief blush from Obsidian.
"The Wavering Fist?" Ruby said with starry eyes. "It almost sounds like one of the ancient ninja styles from those kung-fu movies Yang and I used to watch."
"Still do." Blake snorted and Yang grinned. "I got some of my best moves from those movies." She told her partner shamelessly. Blake snorted again.
"That's probably because it does originate from an ancient ninja clan." Rose told Ruby with a grin.
"AWESOME!" Ruby practically exploded out of her bunk, landing on the floor and striking a variety of action poses (simultaneously scaring the daylights out of a very startled Weiss). "I can't wait! It's gonna be like when uncle Qrow taught me all over again! I'm gonna be like hawww-watchawww whaaa haa swish punch hooooo!" She finished by kicking her leg out awkwardly in a poor imitation of the traditional crane stance.
Rose laughed, shaking her head. "Whatever you say, little Rose." She said, ruffling the smaller girl's hair, much to Ruby's consternation. Ignoring the mulish pout being directed at her Rose focused on Yang. "You have no restraint or finesse." She said bluntly.
Yang pursed her lips pensively before nodding. "I don't know about finesse, but I guess I have some problems with restraint."
"Says the girl who routinely gets so angry she catches fire." Weiss muttered.
"It's not just when I get angry that I can do that." Yang pouted. "Getting pumped up, in general, is all it takes."
"Exactly, spontaneously combusting whenever you get excited is a bit of a problem, but not the only reason you need to learn some restraint." Rose told her.
"Yeah, I've heard it all before." Yang said before she sighed. "But it's just never really sunk in, ya know?"
"Which is where Weiss comes in." Rose grinned.
Yang froze, and Weiss turned eyes narrowed heavily with suspicion toward their time traveling friend. "What do you have planned?"
Rose's answering smile was predatory in face of its utterly unconvincing serenity. "Many, many things, my dear."
"This is going to be a disaster," Yang said ruefully. "I just know it."
"Man up." Rose told her blithely, before turning to Blake, who was looking at her in worry.
"So?" She prompted with barely hidden anxiety.
"Strength training." Rose informed her with a vicious, toothy smile.
Blake viciously fought down the urge to whimper.
Obsidian looked over, a slightly smug smile on his lips. Until Rose looked to him, an increasingly terrifying smile growing on her face, "Adaptivity."
This weekend did not sound like it was going to be fun.
Tai-Yang and Qrow sat on two leather recliners on the balcony adjoined to Qrow's new office. It had been repurposed years ago from a suite of V.I.P accommodations, one half turned into Peter Port's office and place of residence on campus, now it was Qrow's. The sun had set about half an hour ago, and the night was darkening. The air was cool and clear, carrying faint hints of the sea behind the cliffs and the scent of apple trees that they could see were visibly prominent in Beacon's greenery. Qrow really couldn't have asked for a better space, all things considered. Peter was – as always – utterly unconcerned about most situations, including moving to accommodate Qrow's need for a series of isolated, soundproofed rooms.
Knowing the man all too well, Qrow was slightly concerned the older gentleman was under the impression he was indulging a new co-worker in some sort of kink. And considering most of the work he would be undertaking in these rooms would highly confidential, he wouldn't even dissuade him about the notion as it served as a rather excellent excuse.
Sometimes working as a professional Hunter and maintaining any semblance of pride just didn't click.
Tai-Yang put down his personal scroll, having read his daughter's message that consisted of a basic 'I've stolen your daughters and their teammates in order to do various nefarious and painful things to them. Will be at Forest grounds twelve if you need us, otherwise, we'll see you at weeks end – Rose'.
Seems like the biggest, scariest munchkin was taking on the smaller, not-as-scary-yet munchkins as trainees.
Poor them; Hunter mentors were notorious for being right bastards.
He picked up his shot of Jotun's whiskey, an expensive blend of well-aged liquor that had been imbued with ice Dust. It remained permanently semi-frozen, an icy amber slush in his small glass. He slammed back the shot in one smooth motion. It was delicious, sweet and smooth in equal measure with hints of smoke and wood in perfect harmony.
More importantly - it started making its way down his throat burning with a sensation so minty and cold he felt like he could breathe through his fucking eyeballs - it packed one helluva kick.
"They don't make drinks like this in Vale." Tai-Yang sighed contentedly, his chest thrumming with an odd heat - almost like a trail of frozen fire.
"More's the pity." Qrow agreed, sipping at his own shot much more conservatively. Unlike Tai-Yang, who had the stature of a bear and the constitution to match, Qrow was much smaller and would find himself flat on his ass if he consumed more than a handful of shots, so he chose to savor what little he could handle.
"You know," Tai-Yang began contemplatively, snaking his hand around to grab the frosty green bottle of whiskey on the small table between himself and Qrow. "After all this mess with Rose and Cinder is over, you and I should start a bar."
Qrow snorted, taking a larger than average sip in response. "What are we, frat boys?"
"Not since the glory days." Tai-Yang said wistfully, before shaking himself and pouring another shot of Jotun. "I'm being serious, though. I really would like to start up my own bar."
"Really?" Qrow said in disbelief. "Why on Remnant would you want to do that?"
"Can't Hunt forever, buddy."
"Just until you die."
"Aren't you just a ray of fucking sunshine?"
"I know, I'm the light of your goddamned life."
"You're the train at the end of the tunnel."
"And you're the dumbass standing on the tracks."
Tai-Yang snorted a laugh before slamming back his newest shot, releasing an 'ah' of satisfaction afterward. "What are you going to do when you retire?" He asked his friend. Qrow shrugged, sinking further into his leather recliner and sipping his whiskey.
"I never really planned to retire." He said honestly.
"Well, that's fucking morbid." Tai-Yang muttered.
"If you remember, had Rose not told me about the problems my smoking would cause we wouldn't have caught it so early and I'd be dead anyway." He pointed out.
Tai-Yang grimaced at that but nodded in acknowledgment. "That is true, but it isn't the case anymore."
"So I should start planning?"
"No, I was just telling you what we are going to do."
"So I don't get a choice in this?" Qrow asked with a raised brow.
"Do you ever get a choice?" Tai-Yang asked.
"Good point." Qrow told him with a sardonic smile. "So, a bar."
"A bar."
"Why a bar, exactly?"
Tai-Yang hummed a little, pouring himself another shot out of the potent liquor. "Seems like it would be fun."
"I'm sure Yang's going to be happy about it."
"I'm not sure how I feel about that considering all the bars she goes to end up exploding."
"No, she ends up exploding, the bar just follows her lead."
"At least she isn't drinking." Tai-Yang said gratefully.
"No, just causing massive property damage." Qrow snorted.
"You think if she was drunk she would cause less damage?"
Qrow laughed at that. "Point." He conceded.
"Rose would probably be pretty pleased, I can see her enjoying a good cider." Tai-Yang said.
"Drank from the freshly wrought skull of her enemy." Qrow said dramatically. Tai-Yang laughed.
"She is sort of scary, isn't she?"
"Kid's too good." Qrow shook his head, finishing his drink with one long sip and satisfied lip smack. "It's hard to imagine the clumsy little sweetheart I trained turning into a Huntress like that." He told Tai-Yang as he turned to refill his own glass.
"It's hard to imagine Ruby as a Huntress full stop for me." Tai-Yang admitted. "I wasn't at Signal, and I didn't teach her like I did Yang. It's a weird feeling when you realize your daughter's started turning into a warrior when you weren't looking."
"I don't think I need to tell you, but Ruby is going to make a great Huntress. I would've said the same thing even if we didn't have Rose around to prove me right."
"Yeah." Tai-Yang said distantly, staring into his glass. "Is it wrong that I'm glad she is who she is?"
Qrow frowned, giving his friend a scrutinizing stare. "Depends. Why are you glad about that?"
"She's strong and smart enough to change things for the better. She hasn't told me much about the war, or at least nothing personal, just the pertinent shit. But from what I have heard..." Tai-Yang rubbed his face tiredly. "Completely fucked up. I'm dead, you're dead, Ozpin, Glynda, Peter, Peach, Ironwood, Polendina, even Yang and," Tai-Yang paused, and took a deep breath. "Raven." He finished softly.
Qrow slammed his drink back at the mention of her name before he exhaled slowly. "Fucking Raven."
"She's alive, man." Tai-Yang chuckled bitterly. "Still alive and kicking."
An image of an immaculately detailed assassination plan flitted into Qrow's mind. "Not for much longer she isn't." He mumbled.
Tai-Yang looked astonished, and a little horrorstruck. "You don't want to save her?" He questioned.
"Of course I want to save her, she's my sister." Qrow frowned at his best friend. "But I don't know if she deserves it."
"What makes you say that?" Tai-Yang asked carefully.
"Because she's a fucking idiot." Qrow said scornfully. "There is a reason we have a chain of command, why we send in reports, why we never work solo." He tapped his index finger against the table to enunciate his words. "Because if you die alone, all your information dies with you."
Tai-Yang swore lowly. "I never even thought of that." He admitted.
"From what I can tell, seeing as Rose told us she hasn't ever seen Raven, the assassination plan worked and her entire idiotic, self-appointed, fifteen Oum-damned years long infiltration mission was pointless." He slammed his fist down onto the table. "And it's pointless regardless, we have all the mission-critical info on Cinder from Rose." Some minutes passed in silence after that brief outburst, before Tai-Yang sighed.
"I don't know what do." Tai-Yang confided in Qrow, uncharacteristically unconfident. "What the hell should I be feeling right now?"
Qrow looked at his best friend, his normally exuberant lilac eyes shadowed with a myriad of emotions; melancholy, anxiety, guilt, and a definite twang of forcibly repressed longing. "I'd say angry."
"I was never angry." Tai-Yang told Qrow. "Or at least, I wasn't angry for long."
"Why the hell not? I'm feeling about as forgiving as a neutered Ursa."
Tai-Yang couldn't quite smother his chuckle at the mental image, but soon sobered. "I thought she died, Qrow." He said sounding pained. "I thought she was dead."
"And you never told Yang that you felt her mother was dead?" Qrow queried with narrowed eyes.
"I couldn't take that away from her." Tai-Yang said sadly. "I thought she would come to terms with the fact she would never know her mother as she grew up." He shook his head slowly. "Turns out she was right the whole time, and I have to say, I didn't want her to be."
"You wanted Raven to be dead?" Qrow asked with a perfectly level voice, and Tai-Yang recognized the danger.
"I wanted for her to never have left, or for there to be a reason why she never came back." Tai-Yang backtracked hastily, before chuckling darkly. "I guess dying is a pretty decent reason, even if it was about sixteen years later than I expected."
"Well, I hate to say it, but no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy." Qrow shrugged. "We can talk about it all we want, but we both know all that shit is going to be thrown out the window as soon as you see her."
Tai-Yang nodded slowly, eyes hooded. "Next weekend."
"Yeah." Qrow concurred before he paused when a thought struck him. "Why is it always the weekend?"
"Hm?"
"It's just, first there was my retrieval, then Izhar, and now Raven. Why does all the important shit happen to be conveniently sequestered within those three days?"
"It's because half of us are teachers and Cinder's at school." Tai-Yang stated, and Qrow looked confused. "Look, Rose is our field commander and she'll only have time to commit to an op when she isn't teaching, same with you; so we have the weekend. Cinder, our Grimm-shit crazy antagonist, is pretending to be a student in order to infiltrate Beacon, and she has to be one of the best at her school in order to get invited as part of their delegation. That means perfect grades and attendance as well as flawless homework. She has got a nine-to-five every day except the weekend when she and her lieutenants - who are also pretending to be students - have the time and freedom to act."
"Teacher by weekday, protector of the peace by weekend." Qrow joked and Tai-Yang snickered a little.
"So yeah, I doubt anything that can't be accomplished in more than six hours will happen during the weekdays. Ozpin promises he's going to have me be downright anal when it comes to truancy and curfew breaking, so I doubt they have even a sixth of that, especially with Rose around."
"It's a good cover to keep an eye on them, as well as keeping them cooped up." Qrow praised.
"I don't know why we don't just kill her." Tai-Yang told Qrow.
"She obviously abides by a scorched earth policy, and after seeing those plans you know she has to have at least a dozen contingencies. We have to make sure there is no one still loyal enough to her to go through with them in case of her death. That means we have to take out basically her entire chain of command either sneaky or fast enough that she doesn't notice, otherwise we don't know what kind of shit she'll pull in retaliation. Killing her would probably be pretty easy, but it's our responsibility as Hunters to protect the people, which means we can't risk the collateral."
"So we do it the hard way." Tai-Yang said. "Well, as hard as fighting only on the weekend counts."
Qrow laughed. "Fucking teenagers, Tai, I swear."
AN: You may have noticed that these are getting a little shorter. That is because I am approaching the end of the source material. Soon I'll put out original content. That'll be fun.
AN2: Yes I am still going with the 'Ruby overreacts' thing I did in Black Paladin. That is because it is far more in Ruby's character to see Grimm, shoot Grimm than any other character. She has lost the most to the Grimm and is the most personally invested in the events that create Rose than anyone else.