"Thoughts"-Italics
"Speech"-Regular
"Past/Flashback"-Bold
Long days Longer nights
Ruby stirred awake to the sound of melodious notes echoing through the house. Her small headache soothed by the simple song, "Twinkle twinkle little star?" she thought sitting up and stretching out. Ruby smiled as her headache was slowly soothed by the song, she remembered the first time she had heard Ash play piano. When she had asked why he had learned all he said was that his mother knew how to play.
"But isn't this a little easy for you?" Ruby muttered aloud walking out of the room with a small yawn. She walked into the living room and her eyebrows shot up in shock as she watched Garnet carefully play the notes. As he finished she let out a small clap that gained the attention of both he and Ash.
Garnet blushed and suddenly felt bashful, looking down to the keys, "U-uh d-did you like it mom?" he asked with a small fidget.
Ruby gave a gentle smile, "It was wonderful." she complimented running her hand through his hair, something that her father and mother always did with her and Yang when they were younger. Ash watched as Garnet seemed to happily melt from Ruby's smile, "There are few things more beautiful than a mother's smile, did you know that Ash?"
Ash mused on one of the many nuggets of wisdom his mentor had told him when he was younger, much too young to understand any of it at the time of course. A loud yawn made him turn his attention to a small Ember that seemed to groggily make her way towards the three of them, rubbing her eyes, and grumbling to herself.
"She wakes up like Ruby used to..." Ash thought with a small snort. With a small heave Ash picked up the small girl, "Good morning princess." he said said with a smile, something Taiyang had done for both Ruby and Yang once upon a time and as much as he hated copying the old man he found the act itself too tempting not to take part in.
Ember smiled but yawned tiredly, "I'm hungry, food."
Ash laughed again, "Of course...what do you guys wanna eat?"
Ruby put her finger to her chin, "Didn't Ren teach you how to make his famous pancakes?"
"PANCAKES!" a loud voice interrupted.
"Do you have to be so loud in the morning..." another groggy voice replied.
"Quite. I need my beauty sleep you know." A haughty voice agreed.
Ash sweat-dropped, he was rather used to hectic lifestyle of living with multiple people, "Morning Yang, Blake, Weiss."
All three morning mumbled their own greetings before Yang threw her arm around Ruby, "You didn't do anything naughty last night did you? We wouldn't want anymore kids would we?" she joked making Ruby groan.
"Are you seriously not going to drop this?" she said with a slight twitch.
"Daddy why would mommy be doing naughty things?" Ember asked.
Ash blushed, "For fun..." he said cryptically.
"More kids?" Garnet asked with a furrowed brow.
Ash twitched, his child was a very shrewd, "Nope. Not today. I refuse." He thought shaking his head and walking into the kitchen, "I'll tell you when you're older!" he said dismissively. Quickly heading into the kitchen and ignoring any banter that Ruby and her team was going through. He was unsurprised to see Haden sitting down at the table already, drawing with a cup of tea to her left side. Stella was across from her, reading the paper whilst drinking some orange juice. Sabin was balancing on the top of his chair while reading the news behind Stella. Ash's strict morning practice schedule seemed to having an influence on their sleeping habits.
"Hey I didn't finish!" Sabin said with a pout.
Stella took a sip, "Read faster."
Sabin stuck his tongue out, "Drink less!"
Stella swatted at her brother, "Little brat!"
Haden laughed and Ash shook his head, "Morning~" he said pulling out a few pans and throwing them onto the stove, casting a curious glance at Haden, "What are you drawing?"
Haden looked up from her journal and flipped it around to show a rather...lewd sketch of himself with the words, "Infinity." covering his unmentionables. Ash turned back around wordlessly but in a flash of orange a few kitchen knives erupted behind him surrounding Haden. Said girl was currently taking a sip of tea.
"You're cute when you're cross with me." Haden said with a smile.
In an instant the blades dispersed and Ash rolled his eyes, "You're the worst friend. Like the worst. I hate you." Ash said pouring some of Ren's famous batter onto the pan.
"Translation! Haden you're the best! Like actually the best! I love you! You even added the cute mole I have on my right butt cheek! Such a cute butt it is!" Haden raved with a sweet smile. Ash rolled his eyes as he cooked, he had gotten used to his banter with the girl but he seldom won an engagement.
Ash looked around before cracking eggs onto another pan, "Where's Neo?"
Haden pouted at how quickly he had gotten over the picture, "She said she had some business with Nox, said not to wait up."
Ash nodded, "Course." He mumbled turning his back to the stove, a small pressure pressed against his leg. Casting a small glance to the ground he let out a small smile, "Good morning, how is my favorite girl?"
"Hungryyyyy." a muffled voice replied.
Ash shook his head as Ember nuzzled her face into his leg as team RWBY sat with the rest of his team a set of plates and utensils materialized in front of them. Ruby looked at Ash and gave him a disapproving look.
"You really have started to abuse your semblance." Ruby said crossing her arms.
Ash pouted, "I thought it was cool...Ember don't you think it was cool?"
Ember tightened her grip, "Super cool!" she said with a cute smile.
Ash grinned, "That's my girl!"
Ruby rolled her eyes as Garnet sat in her lap due to the lack of chairs, a content smile on his face as Ruby played with his hair. Ash quickly served the pancakes and checked the clock at the top of the kitchen. With a sigh he lowered the heat on the burner and picked up Ember and placed her on Haden's lap.
"Work." Ash mumbled to Ruby kissing her on the tip of her nose, mumbling quick goodbyes to everyone and heading out of the room. Garnet took a small bite from his plate and looked up to Ruby, "Why is dad leaving so early?"
Ruby finished chewing a piece of pancake before a small frown appeared on her face, "Well Ash is in a pretty important position..."
Garnet looked at her oddly, "Position?"
Haden had a thoughtful look on her face, "Your father is next in line to become the headmaster of our academy."
Ember and Garnet both looked awe-struck. "Headmaster? That's so cool!" Ember said bouncing on Haden's lap.
Blake took a small bite from her food, "It's still kind of weird isn't it?"
Sabin's head cocked to the side, "Whatcha mean?"
Blake frowned, "Well it's not that I don't think he's fit for the job..."
"You think it was too early?" Stella said looking up from her newspaper, "I'm pretty sure everyone thought the same thing at first but it's worked out for the best. Ash is like Ozpin, we all know Ash is the type to throw himself into work when he's depressed, Ruby knows that." She said glancing at the red headed girl.
Ruby sighed, "Yeah..." she said quietly, the rest of the meal ending relatively quietly.
Beacon was a place that young hunters and huntress came to hone their skills, find their specialty, and pass on their knowledge to the next generation. Ash quietly watched as two students fought one another, looking at their gauges of aura fall as they traded blows. A sigh escaped his lips and he felt a small smack on his shoulder, Glynda giving him a small disapproving look. The timer sounded and Ash got up to grade both students, his gaze making them look towards the ground.
"Poor execution." he started running a hand through his hair, "Being cautious and being timid are two different things. If you don't follow through with strikes then you'll never do any real damage, as seen by the amount of aura you both have left." Ash gestured to the board, "You chose fine times to attack but you only half-committed to things. Be cautious but be resolute. There are no half-assed decisions on a battle field."
Both students looked at one another and then up to Ash, "Th-that's all?" the girls asked.
Ash raised his brow, "Yes? Go work on what I told you." he said with a small scowl before a bell resounded, signaling the end of class. Both girls scurried away making Ash sigh once again before sitting down next to Glynda. Opening his scroll he could feel the woman looking at him.
"Yes?" Ash said suddenly.
"You're in a rather good mood today aren't you?" She said with an even face.
"How do you figure?" Ash said sliding down a page on his scroll.
"Normally you would've ripped into those kids about lack of execution and the dangers of being too cautious." Glynda explained.
"Don't you do that too?" Ash asked looking up from his scroll.
Glynda gave him a small glare, "Constructively. Usually the main difference between you and I but today you did very well, you seem happier, have you made up with Ruby?"
Ash ran his hand through his hair making Glynda's mouth twitch into a smile, both the headmaster and his apprentice shared such habits, "Sorta yeah...helps that the kids are there too."
Glynda eyes sharpened slightly, "What have you learned about them?"
Ash closed his scroll and brought and placed his hands together, "They look like...artificially made clones of Ruby and I...Haden told me her mother was working on it before her death."
Glynda pushed up her glasses, "Homunculus?"
Ash frowned, "That's what it's starting to feel like and it's making me nervous."
The two sat in silence as the students finished filtering out, Glynda gave Ash a look, "Someone with the ability to create homunculus...what could be their goal...why are those two here?"
Ash bit his lip, "I wish I knew."
The two both sat in silence pondering the thought before Ash received a buzz on his scroll, swiping it open he groaned, "Doesn't he do anything himself anymore?"
Glynda rolled her eyes, "That's what he got us for." she said shaking her head.
Ash snorted, "Lazy ba-"
"stard." Ash said facing his mentor. Ozpin smirked at his young apprentice before gesturing to the seat in front of him. Ash sat down and looked down to the chess board and groaned, ever since he had become Ozpin's apprentice the man forced him to play a game of chess every-time he entered his office. Quickly moving a pawn forward, Ozpin responding instantly, the two went through seven moves each before Ash stalled and looked at the board.
"What did you call me here for?" he said moving his knight.
"Interesting this is a rather slow tempo for white isn't it?" Ozpin moving a pawn.
"Stop avoiding my questions old man." Ash said moving his knight back.
"Yes yes yes there seems to be a bit of commotion in Forever Fall, several teams have reported back...well let's say less than dignified." He said pushing another pawn forward.
"Dignified?" Ash asked taking on of the pawns with his knight.
"Drenched in water, paint, stink bombs, so and so forth..." Ozpin said moving a bishop out.
"Pranksters? Sorry but isn't this a little below my pay grade?" Ash said with a small twitch while moving a pawn.
"You don't get paid." Ozpin reminded castling.
"Kinda the point I was making..." Ash deadpanned moving his bishop.
"From the reports I have received their abilities are...familiar." Ozpin said moving up another pawn.
Ash looked up from the board, "Familiar?" he said castling.
Ozpin smirked, "You're interested?" he said moving another piece. Ash silently played threw the game until the board seemed to be at a stand still. After a few minutes staring at the board he sighed and knocked his own king over.
"You win." Ash said getting up and walking towards the exit, "Send me coordinates of their last known location, the last ten preferably."
"Thank you Ash." Ozpin said with a small smirk as he watched Ash leave with a raised middle finger.
As he neared the door Ash stopped, "Oh...Since my request for Atlas has been declined when are going to schedule a mission for my team?"
Ozpin smirked widened, "Tomorrow if it suits you."
Ash stuck his tongue out, "Suits me? Was that sarcasm?" he said closing the door behind him. Ozpin smirked before leaning back in his chair a red portal appeared behind him and a the sound of footsteps echoed through the room. Ozpin didn't move from his seat as a woman walked in front of him.
"He's unstable." she said with a small growl.
"He's fine." Ozpin replied, "You have yet to see an issue for two years now and even when it did happen it was for the greater good. He copes with his power just fine."
"That's the equivalent of calling him a high-functioning alcoholic!" she said slamming her hand onto the table. Ozpin glowered at her making a thick silence brew between the two. Ozpin leaned forward and placed his hands together, a glare behind his glasses, "Do you doubt my ability to put him down Raven?"
Raven grit her teeth, "He's a walking bomb!"
A slam interrupted her, "HE IS A CHILD!" Ozpin shouted causing her to flinch, "My soldier. My apprentice. He lives and breaths on my orders. He can handle himself and the day that he can't then I'll handle it accordingly."
Raven fist tightened into a tight ball, "Do you remember Fort Sol? Or do you all pretend like you didn't see? Amber eyes of destruction."
"He made the right decision." Ozpin said with a frown.
"What happens when he makes a wrong decision?" Raven said placing a hand on her blade.
Ozpin stared out the window with a small sigh, "Then I will erase my mistake..."
Forever Fall is a mountainous area that has many cliffs and is covered by a forest of red-leafed trees, allowing the whole area to appear as a dust-red color, even the grass. Ash pulled out his scroll and projected the last ten areas his targets were located, ten different areas across the entire area. Ash raised his brow and pressed his scroll a few areas before a line connected each dot in a circular path. Looking down at the railways Ash hummed, "So they're using the tracks...kinda...random." he muttered with a sweat drop before hearing a loud whistling in the distance. Holding out his thumb Ash watched as the train sped by, "No?" he said to himself as the train shot pass him, "Guess not." he said with a shrug before skidding down the mountain side, skillfully pushing off the side and flipping onto the front cart Ash headed to the last cart. Before his foot even stepped onto the next cart he saw a light hue of a glyph form underneath him. His eyes widened before he quickly shot up, narrowly avoiding becoming block of ice, a disturbance in the wind made him twist around kicking a cloaked figure. Ash felt air as his hand went through the figure, furrowing his brow as he watched the figure jump backward. Quickly crossing his arms he corkscrewed in the air to dodge a punch from another cloaked figure.
Ash landed swiftly and cast a quick glance to the three cloaked figures, pointing to them, "So I'm guessing you've been causing trouble?"
A trail of Glyphs lead toward him and he twisted on his heel to dodge a speeding punch from the last cloaked figure, grabbing his arm Ash continued spinning slamming them into the second cloaked figure came in from overhead creating another shadow clone to dodge. Ash almost groaned in annoyance throwing the one he had in his hand back at the first cloaked figure.
"They all look the same, I'll have to number them in my head..." Ash thought looking at one, two, and three circle around him, "One uses Glyphs like Weiss, two uses shadows like Blake, don't need to be a genius to know what three does..." Ash thought looking back at number two, "He's the slipperiest one." he thought with a quick back-step, number two couldn't react as he went for a quick chop. Ash felt his hand pass through the shadow and watched diligently for the escape route.
"Left." he thought with clenching the same hand and a bringing it back around for a wide punch but to his shock felt another shadow, "Multiple shadows?" he thought gritting his teeth as number three threw a combination of punches at him. Ash raised his brow ducking the first punch, stepping back to dodge the wide punch, and quickly breaking into their guard dodging the jab, headbutting into them. Three recoiled backward before Ash shot a strong kick into their chest sending skidding back.
"AH! A little help!" one shouted, the voice was lighter but obviously male.
"Maybe if you would stop charging in alone like some idiot!" number one shouted at him.
"Well maybe If someone wasn't running away I wouldn't have to!" he shouted back.
"He's obviously stronger than us, we should fall back..." Number two said keeping up his guard. Before they could continue arguing Ash appeared next to one and three, making their eyes widen as he placed his hands on their shoulders, "The slippery one over there is right you know..." Ash taunted, "I am way stronger than all three of you combined."
"B-bastard!" Number three shouted while going for a sweeping kick. Ash jumped up and grabbed a punch by number one. While in the air number two came in with a axe kick from overhead. Ash smiled as the kick neared before disappearing in a streak of fire making him slam his foot into number one.
"Tch damn it." Number two muttered.
Ash stood about ten feet away with his AT's on his feet, "You know this could be so much easier..."
"Fuck you!" number three yelled.
"Got a girlfriend for that thanks." Ash said scratching his head.
Number three growled and turned his head to one and two, "We go this together." he said slamming his fist into his hand. All three nodded and turned back towards Ash who was currently observing the three patiently, ready for an attack or a surrender, more likely the former. All three had a glyph of a clock appear under there feet making Ash rev up his AT's. Both three and two shot out from either side of one, Ash brought up both his arms to block two lightning fast kicks. Number one charged forward attempting an axe kick on his head, Ash pushed backward to dodge the kick. Ash felt weight lift off from his right arm, "Another shadow." he thought with a growl grinding on his AT's to dodge a chop towards his neck. Ash flinched as he felt pressure build on his left arm, pushing off number three he felt his right leg stick into the ground, a glyph of ice keeping him in place. Bending backward into a bridge Ash pried his legs out of the ground and spun on his hands, sending out flaming kicks, knocking back both three and two.
Ash regained his balance and took a deep breath, "One last chance..." he warned as the two were helped up by one.
Number three growled and charged forward a red gleam shining from under his hood, in a flash of yellow he swung his fist out. From a distance one would have thought that a collection of dust exploded from the top of the train. The bright explosion quickly settled into a hazy smoke that was blown away by the wind from the speeding train.
"U-uh-n-no way..." he managed to say as his hand stood firmly in Ash's uncovered hand. Sizzling smoke came from his bandaged hand, Ash's previous aloof demeanor shifted to a deathly aura. All three cloaked figures felt their knees buckle from a sudden pressure being projected from Ash.
"Are you done?" Ash asked his amber eyes seemed to cut through them like a blade.
The train came to an eventual stop, Ash silently lead the three off the top in chains he had created. It was a silent procedure, the three hadn't said a word since Ash had gotten serious with them. Ash silently pondered if he had taken it too far, he already had an idea of what they were and he wasn't very pleased. Ash stopped and turned around, "Hoods. Off." he commanded simply.
All three looked at one another, number three went first and Ash eyebrows raised as a young boy probably around the age of 13 or 12 stood before him. He had lilac eyes and disheveled golden locks that reminded him of a certain busty blonde that went by the name of Yang Xiao Long. His hair came down past his neck and he had yellow markings coming down from his lower lip, Ash was sure they continued downward just like Ember and Garnet's. Ash's mouth twitched ever so slightly, "Payback..." he muttered underneath his breath.
"What?" The boy asked with a scrunched up face.
"Nothing..." Ash waved off before gesturing to the other two.
Number two pulled off his hood and curly black hair and amber eyes revealed themselves along with a black mark like Blake's symbol on his cheek, Ash cocked his head to the side, "Little Blake..." he thought turning to the last cloaked boy, "Next." he commanded.
Number one pulled off his hood and short white hair that was expertly framed and sharp blue eyes were tentatively staring towards him, a small blue line right under his eye like Weiss's scar. Ash nodded, "And a little Weiss…that's about right." he thought with a nod before noticing the nervous glances directed towards him. Quickly changing his demeanor Ash reverted back into his aloof aura, making them all slightly relax.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you or turn you in or anything I just need you to answer a few of my questions." Ash said taking a seat on a bench, the three circled around him.
"What do you want to know?" the black haired one asked.
"To the point, very blake-ish." Ash thought with a small smile, "Well lets start simple, names? Although I have a feeling I'm going to get numbers..." Ash said loud enough for them to hear.
They looked at him with wide eyes, "How did you know about our numbers?" the blonde boy asked.
Ash scratched his head, "Let's call it a lucky guess..."
They all looked at one another before turning back to Ash, "Well I'm ten." the white haired boy said.
"I'm nine." the blonde boy followed.
"I'm eight." the black haired boy finished.
Ash rubbed his eyes, "I refuse to call people numbers..." he grumbled before pointing to ten, "You...I'll call you Eis, okay?" Ash said turning to nine, "You blondie I'm calling you Yin." Ash said with a small smile at the clever name he made on the spot before pointing at eight, "And you broody, your name is Noire." Ash said clapping his hands together as if he just ended a meeting.
"W-wait you can't just name people like that?" Eis said angrily.
Ash tilted his head to the side, "Why not? You wanna be called a number? I don't know how you guys went through all this time and didn't just name yourselves honestly." Ash said shaking his head.
"Hahaha he called you broody Noire." Yin said cackling.
A small glare was sent towards Yin, "You had other questions?" Noire said crossing his arms.
"You guys aren't going to argue about this!?" Eis said throwing his hands into the air.
Yin threw his hands behind his head, "Erm I kinda like the name...no one ever bothered to give us names before either so he can't be that bad...I mean he could have done way worse on the train!"
"I could have thrown you off." Ash pointed out before looking at Noire with a small smile, "Well moving on, where do you three come from?"
Once again all three looked at one another making Ash smile, "They're just like RWBY...wonder how Garnet will take to them?" he thought awaiting their answer.
Noire pursed his lips, "Well...we don't really know. We woke up in some lab and everything was destroyed..."
Yin bit his lip, "We looked for information on ourselves but it was all trashed..."
Eis sighed, "And then there was a bomb that destroyed everything."
Ash raised his brow, "A bomb? Where was the lab?"
"Well the lab WAS near a cliff-side on the far north side but there was a bomb planted where we were looking...guess whoever did all that damage wanted to make sure there was no evidence left." Yin said with a shrug. Ash cursed underneath his breath before running his hand through his hair with a sigh, "It can't be helped...Now last question. Why were you guys messing with some of the younger teams that were around here?"
The group of boys looked at one another before Yin turned around and grinned, "It was fun!" he said with a cheesy smile.
Ash twitched, "You know my days have been getting longer lately..." he thought rubbing his eyes.
In Sanctuary the day had been rather peaceful, the isolated area typically went through such quiet harmony. Sabin squatted next to the lush garden that filled the sides of the walkway, although Ash no longer lived there he often visited just to water the flowers. A collection of footsteps made Sabin's ears jerk ever so slightly. Quickly sniffing the air Sabin smiled and shot up form the ground.
"Boss you're back!" Sabin said with a large grin, "Who are-oh..." Sabin started and stopped in an instant as he recognized the three faces behind his leader, "This is...I should..." Sabin sweat-dropped, "Boss would you like a drink?"
Ash gave a grateful smile, "That would be great right about now."
Noire, Yin, and Eis all looked around in amazement at the lush garden the secret sanctuary held. Yin bent down and put his hand into a fountain that was shooting out water, Noire looked closely at lily flowers that Sabin had been watering, and Eis seemed as if he was trying not to enjoy the environment. Ash absentmindedly watched Yin and Noire explore their new surroundings as he and Eis sat on a bench next to the fountain, giving a small glance to the young boy Ash let out a small sigh.
"You're suspicious of me?" Ash asked bluntly.
"Strong hunter comes along and defeats all of us without so much as using a weapon and then invites us over to his house because?" Eis said with his arms crossed.
Ash placed his hand to his chin, "Yeah suppose if I were you I would probably be pretty jaded...Wake up in some lab with no memory of who you are and all the evidence that was there was blown up...then some guy kicks your ass and drags you here...yeah sounds pretty sketchy."
Eis sweat-dropped, "Aren't you trying to make believe in you or something?"
Ash shrugged, "I can't make you believe in me so why lie and try? In all honesty I have you here because I have people that can help you with your powers and I need to keep an eye on you. Why do I need to keep an eye on you? Because I don't know where you come from and I need to learn why and how you're here."
Eis looked down in thought and Ash took the moment of silence to sit up and call back Noire and Yin, said Yin had Noire in a headlock as he dragged him back, "This place is great!"
Ash snorted, "You haven't seen anything yet..."
Noire shoved the blonde off of himself, "The garden here is exquisite." he said dusting himself off, "Do you maintain it yourself?"
Ash hummed, "I do..." he trailed off quietly before Sabin returned back, a glass in hand.
"I don't know what you like so I just found what smell strongest." Sabin said with a shrug.
Ash smiled and quickly took the shot and pounded on his chest, "Ahhhh you guys will have no idea what that's like for a long time." he said with a small red hue on his cheeks, "Oh yeah how old are you guys anyway?"
"12" Eis said for the group, standing up from the bench.
"Ah you're all three years younger than Sparky here." Ash said gesturing to his younger teammate whilst leading them inside, "Oh Sparky where is Ruby and everyone?"
"They're in the living room watching T.V. right now, I think Ruby is playing with Garnet and Ember." Sabin said sniffing the new guests curiously, his nose twitching when he got to Noire, "You're a Faunus?"
Noire slightly turned revealing a cat tail, "Yes, yes I am."
Ash raised his finger to his lips, "Shhhh you're gonna ruin the surprise!"
Yin raised his brow, "Surprise?"
Ash just smiled.
Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladona, and Weiss Schnee were all fearsome huntress. The most talented of their generation. They overcame Grimm, terrorists, murderers, and psychopathic dictators. They could handle anything together. Everything. Almost.
"You have got to be kidding me." Weiss said in disbelief.
"..." Blake silently agreed.
"This is karma isn't it?" Yang said turning to Ash whose grin could quite possibly cure cancer at the moment.
"Say hello to Eis, Noire, and Yin." Ash said presenting the three boys to their lookalikes.
"So he beats us up and brings us to a house full of hot women? I'm game." Yin said nudging Noire who rolled his eyes at his friend while Eis rubbed his eyes and pointed to the older girls.
"YIN! They look JUST. LIKE. US." Eis said standing next to Weiss.
"Technically you're the ones that look like US." Yang pointed out.
Eis growled and Noire shrugged, "She's not wrong..."
"STOP BEING SO ALOOF ABOUT THIS!" Eis said throwing his hands in the air.
"Maybe you should calm down about this." Noire responded evenly.
"Guys come on we shouldn't argue! There are hot girls right there! Let's focus!" Yin said with a devious grin.
"SHUT UP YIN!" Eis growled while being held back by Ash.
"Okay okay enough and Yin it's weird hitting on your older sister don't you think?" Ash said motioning towards Yang. The three boys quieted down before looking at the girls again, Eis looked at Ash oddly.
"Sister?" he asked tentatively.
Ash gave a very brief glance towards them and sighed, "Look I don't know how or why but I know you're connected to them. From the way you look to the way you fight."
Yang stepped forward, "We haven't properly introduced ourselves." She said pulling Blake and Weiss to her side, "I'm Yang, Yang Xiao Long. I guess that makes you Yin Xiao Long." Yang said pulling the young boy into a hug.
"I'm Blake, Blake Belladona...your name is Noire?" she said holding out her hand. Noire nodded and gently took it.
"Weiss Schnee of the Schnee family, Eis was it?" she asked holding out her hand, Eis stared at the hand before looking at Ash who was blankly awaiting his response. With a large sigh he took Weiss's hand and mumbled an introduction. The sound of stomping interrupted the brief exchange of names as a blur of red and orange darted towards Ash. In a quick spin Ash picked up two small bodies and hefted them on his shoulders in one go.
"Yo." Ash said casually to his two children with a smooth smile.
"You have children?" Yin said looking at Ember and Garnet.
"Yeah this place is complicated like that, you get used to it." Ash said with a shrug, "Did you two have fun with your mom today?"
"Yeah and Miss Winter came over!" Ember said snuggling her face into Ash's head.
Ash turned to Ruby who was leaning on the door frame, "Winter came over?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Another hot girl." Yin said quietly.
"Yeah my hot girlfriend." Ash said with a pointed glare.
Ruby shook her head, "She had business with Weiss and a message for you."
Ash's face contorted slightly, "What sort of message?"
Ruby sighed, "She said that they may need your assistance for a job soon, Qrow and herself that is."
"I have a team now, I cant exactly drop everything and go...but I'm curious what those two could possibly need me for..." he trailed off before placing both children down on the floor, "Before I forget, Ember, Garnet, I want you to meet your new friends." Ash said directing the two to the three boys.
Ember quickly stepped forward and bowed her head down, "My name is Ember! It's nice to meet you!" she greeted politely which made Ash quirk a brow, Ruby let out a small giggle, "May have taught her some manners while you were gone."
Garnet scratched the back of his head shyly, "My names Garnet..." he said quietly as Ember energetically pulled him over to the boys. Looking to the floor he looked up to them, "Do you wanna play tag?"
"Sure!" Yin grinned looking over to Noire and Eis.
"Sure~" Noire said walking over and turning to look at Eis, "Well?"
Eis had a small pout on his face, "Were a little old..." he mumbled before a small hand tapped him, Garnet looked at him with a devious smile, "You're it!" he said before disappearing in a blur of speed. In frenzy of movement Eis was left alone as all 4 darted out of the room, with a growl Eis took chase leaving team RWBY and ASHS alone. Ash smiled as the group got along before a brief silence overcame the room. His smile slowly shifted into a frown before turning to Ruby.
"So what do Qrow and Winter want? It's odd enough they're working together..." he mumbled. There was another pause of silence, Ash watched as Ruby looked toward Yang, who looked at Blake, who looked at Weiss, who looked at Sabin, who looked at Stella, who looked at Haden sitting cross legged at a window seat. Haden looked up from her notebook and sighed before placing her pencil down and giving Ash a gesture as to say, "Sit down for this."
Ash was slowly becoming impatient as he sat down and the silence resumed once again. There seemed to be an air of apprehension surrounding whatever they weren't telling him. He let five minutes pass. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Ash sat quietly his aura slightly leaking from his body, no one dared look him in the eye for the last few minutes. Dispersing his aura he sat back in his chair and looked at Haden.
"Haden if you would please?" Ash asked.
"It's about-" she paused, "They wanted to inform you that..they may have found a lead on Cinder."
Everyone flinched. Awaiting the inevitable pulse of aura. The dreaded rage. The hatred of a broken man. But instead there was...nothing. Both teams looked at one another as Ash quietly got up and walked to the exit of the room, standing at the door frame he turned his head back, "Sabin, Stella, Haden, pack for our mission to Atlas tomorrow, I want to finish this as soon as possible." Ash commanded his eyes glowered with a radiant orange that boiled underneath a veil of indifference. The door was quickly closed and the two teams sat in the quiet. Sabin let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding in and fell on the floor.
"That could've been worse..." Sabin said in relief, everyone silently agreed.
The day quickly passed and the night quickly came. Everyone laid sleeping in their beds but two individuals. Ash stood at his balcony looking up, an artificial sky with artificial stars but it was still beautiful even to this day. A familiar pair of hands wrapped themselves around his chest, gently stroking his heart.
"You're stressed." Ruby pointed out.
"Yeah probably." Ash replied as he felt the side of her cheek lean against his back.
"You handled the news well...we expected to you explode." she said looking into his back as if trying to understand a puzzle.
Ash looked down, "Two years ago I probably would have. But I've grown up. I'm not a child anymore, I have responsibilities. I have a job, a team, a girlfriend, kids..." Ash said lightly, small joke as he twisted around and snaked his arms around Ruby's waist.
Ruby gave him a small smile and slight slap on the chest, "You gave me and my team a break, you know I don't like when you use your authority to stop us from doing missions..."
Ash rolled his eyes, "Who told you? Was it Glynda...can't keep a secret..." he muttered.
Ruby gave him a slightly serious glare, "Ash I'm serious. You can't keep playing favorites."
Ash frowned, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm looking out for all of you, I've done the same for Jaune and anyone else I felt shouldn't be going out"
"And why shouldn't we be going out right now?" Ruby questioned.
Ash looked away and sighed, "Look I know I'm not one to talk about breaks or taking it easy but you four have been out for the last 3 months fighting Grimm nonstop and you even liberated a city! I gave you guys an extra week of rest sue me."
Ruby smiled slightly, "At least you have a half-decent answer..." she mumbled while leaning into his chest.
Ash stroked her back slightly and smirked, "Besides I wanted to keep you to myself because I'm selfish."
Ruby flicked his nose, "Nu uh lover boy, they'll hear us."
Ash gave her a devilish smirk, his arms around her waist, "I may have added a few features to this room..." he whispered into her ear.
Ruby blushed slightly as he pulled her closer and started tracing kisses up her neck, "Features?" she said wrapping hands around his neck. Ash quickly picked her up by the waist and into the bedroom before dropping her on the bed, locking lips, his tongue sneaking in through her lips.
Pulling back he gave her a lust-filled stare and snapped, the room made a slight locking noise, "Soundproof walls..." Ash trailed off his shirt being pulled off, showing off his scars and chiseled physique.
"You p-planned this..." Ruby stuttered out as Ash forcibly pulled her shirt off and resumed tracing kisses down from her neck and onto her bare chest.
"You thought I could keep my hands off you when you wear nothing but my shirts and panties to sleep?" Ash almost growled laying light kisses down her chest to her navel, looking up he licked his lips, "You tease."
Ruby blushed as Ash gave her, "That look." the look that meant this was going to be one long night. A rip interrupted her thoughts as she felt he lower region exposed, in Ash's teeth were the remains of her underpants. Her face heated up as Ash looked her in the eye, her panties hanging loosely from his mouth as if he were a wild animal.
"I'll get you new ones." he said huskily before looking back downwards, his tongue sliding out of his mouth. Ruby's head snapped back and her legs locked up. It was going to be one long night indeed.
A/N: A little taste of lime there at the end xD I may have been slightly dared into righting a lime/lemon and I have never written one before so I don't know how well I did ._. Anyway because of that scene (and several future scenes) I'll probably raise this to "M" rated soon. So I know I haven't posted in quite awhile, I think it's been a little over a month and I apologize but life is hectic thing. College is tough, playing a sport in college is super tough, and not too long ago my girlfriend was admitted into the ICU (intensive care unit) because her pancreas was failing so I took a lot of time to stay with her and I just sorta put this to the side. Another excuse is because I was waiting for the new RWBY volume to see some more of characters and things so it would be easier to write but now I'm just making excuses. Sorry this took such a long time I can promise the next one will be sooner, tell me what you thought of the lime and this chapter in general! A lot of set up for a lot of different things are happening soon, what are the homonculus children? What mission awaits ASHS in Atlas? What did Qrow and Winter find out about Cinder? Find out next time, From the Ashes~