The Rose and the Candle

Chapter 3: Introductions

The walk through the woods was long and boring. Despite the exercise that comes with running away from the scene of a crime with hard-earned rewards in hand, Roman could feel his legs begging for a respite. Next to him, Summer Rose, his new "mother" as she had reminded him multiple times on the boat ride from Vale to Patch, strode casually, as if she had done this numerous times before. She's a Huntress, so of course she has. That and she knows this path by memory.

Patch, an island off the coast of the continent of Sanus, considered part of Vale's sovereign territory. Roman had never visited the island himself before. He never had a reason to. But from what Summer described, it was a quiet place with a lot of nice people. Summer's family lived in a large, two-story cabin that was isolated from the rest of the people on the island. Roman didn't really enjoy the idea of being isolated from any place where he could continue to steal from people. Then again, Summer didn't let him out of her sight the whole trip, so why would she let her guard down while he lived with her?

Finally, their destination came into sight. Just as Summer had described, the house they had come upon was a two-story cabin made out of logs. A mailbox was positioned some distance down the front path. Off to the side, in what would normally be the backyard, was a shed, no doubt full of assorted tools and supplies. The door to the shed was open just a small bit, and it appeared as if someone was inside working on something. Roman and Summer continued following the dirt path up to the front door. Summer placed her hand on the doorknob before pausing and turning to Roman, a look of concern, almost worry, on her face. Roman's instincts immediately told him to be ready to run.

"Just so you know, the girls were a little excited when I told them the news (Yang more than Ruby), but my husband was…skeptical, let's say."

Nice hesitation, there. Making me feel real welcomed right now.

"And he was very vocal about it. Just, if he asks you to do something, do it. Okay?"

Roman's instincts were about ready to assume control of his body at this point. Summer had mentioned her husband while they were making their way here: he was a Hunstman like her, had taken a lengthy leave-of-absence to help take care of their daughters, and was serious about looking after his family.

This is going to be a wonderful introduction, Roman thought.

Summer turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. She ushered Roman into the main room of the house. There was a couch and a few chairs arranged around a table in the middle of the room. Of to the side was a fireplace, not in use because it was in the middle of summer. On the opposite end of the room, to the right, was a set of stairs leading up to the second floor. On the end opposite of the front door was a doorway that led into what appeared to be a dining room. Roman didn't get enough time to survey the rest as Summer started calling out to the house's other occupants.

"Yang! Ruby! Are you two there?"

The two arrivals didn't have to wait much longer as two young girls came barreling down the stairs to greet their mother. They crashed into their mother, knocking all three down to the ground. All three laughed as they embraced each other on the floor. Roman just gave the three a quizzical look, seeing what they were doing as alien to him. His instincts told him to bolt out and leave this behind. As good as that idea sounded, he just stood there watching this exchange of family love he had never experienced.

After the exchange was over, Summer got up, set her daughters standing on the ground, and kneeled to meet them at eyelevel.

"Yang, Ruby, remember when I told you I found a brother for you two?" Both girls nodded in confirmation. "Well, why don't you say hello to him?" she said as she turned her head to Roman.

Both girls turned to look at Roman, whom they had not noticed during their rush down the stairs. They took some cautious steps towards him as they took in his still rather dirty appearance. As they did so, Roman also took in their appearances. The oldest had bright-gold, almost blonde, hair tied into pig-tails and lilac eyes. Her clothes made Roman think of a farmer's clothes with the way they appeared to have been made: a dullish light-brown top with the front and back seemingly kept together by strings along the sides; black pants went down to her knees; her shoes were brown with orange socks worn under them; an orange belt wrapped around her waist and a gold handkerchief hung around her neck. As for the youngest, Roman swore she was the spitting image of her mother, albeit in the form of a young child, younger than him. Her hair was black, but ended in red near the tips and her eyes were silver. Her outfit was closer to what you would normally see on the Vale mainland: a red vest with a white undershirt served as her top; a black miniskirt hung from underneath her vest; black shoes covered her feet; the most defining part of her outfit, though, was a little red cape and hood attached to her jacket's neck line.

After a few uncomfortable seconds of staring, the blonde smiled brightly, grabbed Roman's hand with a surprisingly strong grip, and started shaking it awkwardly.

"Hi, I'm Yang!" she said excitedly before breaking the handshake, bright smile still plastered on her face. She turned to her younger, red-clad sibling. "And this is Ruby!" In a whispered voice to Red she said, "Go on, Ruby. Say hi."

Red shrunk a little from being put in the center of attention. All she gave was a small, simple wave. Summer had mentioned her youngest as being rather shy. Since this would be her first exposure to Roman, she would be hesitant to interact initially. But there was only thought that was in Roman's head after watching her for a few seconds: I don't know if she's trying to be, but this girl is just. Too. Cute! I cannot believe I'm thinking this, but she has to be the most adorable thing I have seen.

Roman was snapped back into reality when Summer cleared her throat to get his attention. She apparently knew what was running through his head, since the look she gave him seemed to say I know.

"The girls have introduced themselves. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

Roman focused back on the girls. "My name's Roman. Roman Torchwick."

"That's a cool name!" came Yang's response. Ruby didn't say anything, but she seemed to like it too.

Suddenly, a door at the back of the house opened up. A man's voice called out from the dining area: "I'm back!" Almost as soon as the sound of the voice ended, the man it belonged to stepped out into the living room. This man had blond hair like Yang, but with blue eyes, not lilac. He had a blonde soul patch with a small stubble along his jawline. The tattoo on his right arm was similar to a heart in shape, but was more ornate. His outfit consisted of brown cargo shorts with a dark brown belt, black shoes, a red bandana tied around his left arm, and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off. On his right arm, he sported a metal spaulder, a leather vambrace, and a brown fingerless glove.

The newcomer looked around at the people gathered in the front room, until he laid eyes on Roman. Roman could tell this next encounter was going to be tense.

"Ruby. Yang. Go upstairs and into your rooms. I need to talk with your mother and our newcomer."

"Dad…can we stay please?" Yang pleadingly asked. Ruby shared her sister's sentiments, as she was giving her dad a pleading look. Roman thought he would die of continued exposure to her cuteness.

"No. You two need to head up to your rooms NOW."

"Yang, Ruby, listen to your father. Go upstairs. We'll call you back when we're ready, okay?"

Yang and Ruby reluctantly began making their upstairs, disheartened that they couldn't stick around.

Once they were gone, the man that was apparently the girls' father moved one of the chairs in front of the couch. After positioning it so it was facing the couch, he took a seat on the side closest to the stairs. Roman's instincts were practically screaming at him to get out of there, but he was already being moved by Summer to the chair. After Roman took his seat in the chair, Summer sat down next to her husband.

Summer's husband fixed Roman with a hard stare like the one Summer used on him back in the interrogation room. Gods, these people love to drill holes into you with their eyes, don't they?

"Well then, Roman, is it? Since my wife has been adamant about bringing you into this family, I just want to make a few things clear to make sure we're on the same page. First: our names are Taiyang and Summer, but since you're going to be part of this family, you'll refer to us as 'mom' and 'dad'."

A nod of confirmation from Roman was rather quick to come. He knew this part would be doled out first, as it would be the most basic. He didn't know what else would be asked of him, though.

"Second: Everyone in this house is expected to pitch in wherever necessary, especially given where we live. That's not too much to ask."

Roman gave another nod. Another basic thing to ask.

"Third: I know you were out on the streets and are accustomed to stealing everything you want, but – and I cannot stress this enough- you better keep those hands of yours close to you at all times. If you want something, tell us and we'll decide if it's worth getting at that moment. If we find out you stole something, we will make sure you regret it. I can guarantee that."

The threat in and of itself wasn't particularly intimidating, but it was the way Taiyang said it, the tone in his voice, let Roman know he was serious about this. Whatever they were planning to do in case Roman stole something while under their watch, Roman didn't think he wanted to find out.

"Fourth: I work hard to look after my girls. Summer works hard to look after them. If you're going to be part of this family, I want you to promise that you will do the same. This is the most important thing I want from you."

Roman did not see a way out of this. Was that last one a bit too much to thrust on a boy, even one like Roman? Maybe, but all other avenues had been closed. There was no way he was going to return to his previous life, not at this juncture. Besides, Roman had already taken a liking to the girls. Mostly the youngest one, but still. It was at this moment that Roman spoke, "I promise."

As much as he was starting to like this idea, however, a part of him still tried to hold onto the independence of his previous life. That same part of him was uncomfortable with how quickly Taiyang's terms were accepted.

You're placing yourself in a prison. We've never needed anyone before this, so why are you just giving in?

Because we were never going to break out of that cycle, and we would have ended up paying for it eventually.

You're just giving up.

And you're refusing to think. You call this a prison, but if what Summer said before is correct, we'd rather be here than wherever they would have thrown us.

Well, what do you mean we would have "paid for it eventually"? Like some random woman would come up to us with a big plan and we would have ended up axed before it was all said and done?

I don't know, but I'd rather not find out now that we're here.

Roman shook his head to end the conversation before it got out of hand. Taiyang stood up off the couch, with Summer following suit. Taiyang turned to Summer and said, "I'm going back out to the shed. There's still some things I need to organize in there."

Summer perked up as if she had an idea. "Hey, why don't you take Roman with you? Teach him how we do things, give you two some time to start bonding."

Both Roman and Tai gave her stares displaying their skepticism of that idea.

"You two are going to have to start doing things together and getting along eventually. This is a good place to start."

"I don't know, Summer…Are you sure about this?"

Summer looked her husband in the eyes. "Positive. I'll keep the girls entertained while you boys work."

Before anything else could be said, Summer was already at the top of the stairs and making her way to where Ruby and Yang were playing. The only sign she was there were the white rose petals that showed the path she had taken.

"Damn that Speed Semblance of hers!" Taiyang let out a sigh. "If Ruby gets that Semblance later in life, I'll have two headaches, one for each of them." Tai then turned to Roman, still seated in his chair. "Well, come on. I'll show you around."

Tai began making his way to the back door, with Roman in reluctant tow.

Welcome to your new life. You new family.

Hope it works out for you…