Tai didn't know what to do, the sound of his fingers rapping against the surface of his table a subconscious reflection of the anxiety surrounding him. As a father, he knew that he needed to be there for his children, but he had nothing he could say to make everything magically better for Ruby. That was something Summer was good at, and just the thought of her plagued his mind with another bout of sadness.
Time ticked away from seconds to minutes and yet he didn't so much as shift his position, the complexion of his face taking on an unhealthy pallor made worse when he noticed Yang starring at him.
She was attempting to hide at the corner of the room behind the couches, but there was no way an experienced Huntsman like himself could fail to detect her stiff movements. She was still wrapped in bandages that surrounded her chest and right arm but her vitality made it so that Tai wouldn't have to worry about her recovery. Crouched on the ground, the nervousness surrounding her was unable to be hidden from him.
Presently, he could understand why she had come to him instead of staying in her room to recuperate. The sounds of Ruby sobbing weren't loud, yet they were piercing to Tai and even more so for Yang who felt responsible for her careless comment.
Unable to sit still, her guilt had festered within her until it was unbearable. Naturally, she did the only thing a child could do.
She was seven, only two years older than Ruby, and when met with a problem she couldn't possibly solve, daddy and mommy become her only solution.
She was staring at him in distress, her teeth nibbling on her lips while her eyes seemed to be on the verge of crying.
If not for the fact that his current appearance didn't inspire much confidence, Yang may have already run into his arms and started babbling her grievances.
Damn it, Tai. You can't keep doing this!
His hands clenched into fists, his eyes shutting hard before he opened them and abruptly stood up from his hunched position over the table.
"Yang," he called out, startling his daughter who tentatively approached, not knowing what to say. It made it all the more apparent to Tai of his shortcomings since Summer's disappearance and why Qrow had to straighten him out before he realized.
Father's must not show their weakness to their children in times of hardship because through Ruby and Yang's eyes, he was the last of two pillars supporting them. One was gone, suddenly vanishing, and then here he was, the final pillar steadily crumbling away, cracks forming into fissures before his daughters' eyes.
It was not the job of a daughter to console the father. It was the other way around.
Moreover, if he had stayed with his daughters rather than gone out madly searching, then would he have ever allowed Yang and Ruby to venture off on their own?
The thought itself was the final nail in the coffin. He was done. It was over.
He knew Summer better than anyone else. She loved Yang and Ruby just as much as himself, and he'd only make her regret if something happened to them. Therefore, he'd leave it to Qrow and keep his family together, such that when Summer came back, he could say to her with confidence,
"Welcome home."
He took a shuddering breath, taking his girl into his arms and pressing her face to the crook of his shoulder, bobbing her up and down while feeling his shirt quickly dampen as Yang clung to him tightly.
"Where's my strong little girl?" He coaxed gently. "Papa's here, h-he'll fix things."
Listening to himself, even he couldn't find much confidence in his voice, but it was more than enough for Yang. She held him tighter before blubbering out and apologizing for her mistakes, for making Ruby cry.
All the while, he simply listened silently, stroking his daughter's back in little circles until she stopped and all that left her mouth were stifled hiccups.
Meanwhile, he had not once stopped hearing out for Ruby's sobbing, quickly realizing that she'd finally grown silent. The time had come. He didn't have just one daughter to console, but two.
Gently, he carried Yang back to her room and placed her on her bed. Unfortunately, she was reluctant to let go of him and had even insisted he stay for a while, stubbornly clinging onto his arm.
"Me too," she kept persisting, leaving him no choice but to pick her up again.
He knew that if he left her in her room, there was nothing stopping Yang from getting out of her bed and following him. Summer had always praised Yang for her head-strong personality, but in this case, he caught a glimpse of what it would be like should she ever turn rebellious in her adolescence, and he didn't like it. No father would.
Regardless of his thoughts, his paternal instincts over-road everything and his features soon softened.
He cradled Yang in his arms and breathed in deeply before heading to his youngest daughter's room, once again stopping at the door.
He couldn't hear anything from the other side, but he quickly surmised that either Ruby had cried herself to sleep, or had run out of tears to shed. In either case, he would still check up on her.
He knocked on the hard-wood door, producing a distinct thumping noise that he knew Ruby would be able to hear if she was awake.
"It's me, Ruby," he spoke from behind the door, Yang keeping quiet in his arms while shifting her positioning.
No answer as expected.
At least it was easier this way.
He was going to be there for his daughters not just for his sake, but for Summers. After all, Yang and Ruby, their children, were their greatest treasures.
"Listen Ruby," he said with patience. "Your mother isn't here right now, but I promise you that your papa and Uncle Qrow will fix things."
Still no answer. He knocked again, louder such that it was impossible for Ruby to remain asleep assuming that she was. Yang even decided to chip in and help, banging her tinyy fists on the door as hard as she could with her size.
Oddly, Ruby still didn't respond to him when he called.
Fine, if she was going to act like this, then Tai still had one more trump card to play.
"Little Rose," he called out lightly. "How about coming downstairs and eating some cookies and milk? Your mother left some in the pantry before she left on her mission. I'll even let you eat all of them."
Still nothing.
By now, Tai was certain that there was something wrong. Gloomy as Ruby may have been, Summer's cookies had always been able to get a reaction from her, if only just a little when she was truly sad. Yet to not react at all, no rustling of her bed sheets or stifled exclamation, it didn't fit Ruby's personality.
He steeled himself, his hand moving away from knocking and instead reaching out for the door knob.
"Ruby?" He called out softly, pushing the door forward.
Only to be met by the sight on an empty room and an open window Ruby would never have had been able to get out of alone.
The panic that gripped his heart at that moment was indescribable.
This was a bad idea.
Rather than a bad idea, it was a horrid idea, one that he had no choice but to follow.
The three red seals previously marked over Ruby's right hand were what were known as Command Seals, absolute orders used by a Master over his or her Servant. Not only did they force compliance, but they did so thoroughly to the point where even self-harm was within its limitations. The only downsides were commands that were either too broad or unachievable by any means. In this case, Ruby's abrupt command of "Take me to mommy," was specific enough to compel him into action.
The current situation of him striding through the air with a little bundle of sadness in his arms was a direct result of her order and his curiosity. The notion of saving Ruby's mother had already surfaced in his mind from the moment he understood that she was missing, and as a result, he had glimpsed through the notes Tai had made about Summer's potential whereabouts the previous night.
His actions shouldn't have been so detrimental for his cause, but it was because of them that Ruby's command had been so effective. Take for example if he had no idea where Summer could be? Even if Ruby ordered him to take her to Summer, his body wouldn't have automatically picked Ruby up and taken her out of the window if he had no destination in mind.
Unfortunately, he did. An area somewhere outside the general safety of Patch and into a specific part of the unexplored wildlands of Remnant where Summer was said to have gone.
He had wanted to help Ruby's mother if he could, but it was something he would have had done at his own time, and certainly not having to endanger a child in the process.
With the situation as it was however, Ruby had tagged along with him for the journey; the implications of what that meant for her father who was already struggling with his wife's disappearance, not something lost on Shirou. Yet what could he possibly do?
Ruby's command was to take her to her mother. It brooked no room for any other interpretation he could exploit.
The sigh that subconsciously left his mouth was one he was familiar with, the troubles of a Sword and an abysmal luck stat.
This was why he inwardly lamented being the Servant of a child as forethought was never up for consideration. Ironically, it was because she was a child that he couldn't be too hard on her.
Feeling the little bundle in his arms shiver, he put aside his concerns and instead slowed down his pace. As a Servant, his physical abilities far surpassed normal humans. One long stride could propel him forward at unimaginable speeds and the wind-chill alone could rival that of winter's bite.
Ruby's only saving grace to combat the cold had been his quick thinking to take not only her, but also the bedsheets and blankets she was wrapped in as well. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough. The zephyrs pierced through the fabric like a frigid gale, her cheeks flushing from the cold.
His pace continued to slow until he unknowingly reached the movement speed of an average Huntsman of Remnant and then stopped completely.
The sun was beginning to set overhead and he had long since passed the boundary of the Kingdom of Vale he had seen on the map of Remnant. In fact, he was south of the Kingdom, in the dense forestry forming a river outlet on the eastern mountain coast.
With the sunset, came the shadows, and Ruby's realization that she was very far away from home.
She peeked her head out from the blankets in curiosity, her tufts of red hair contrasting against the blanket's blue. Blinking her puffed and slightly red eyes, her gaze darted back and forth before fear overtook her simple mind.
Unlike the well-lit streets of the city, when the sun went down in the forest, only darkness remained. It was a hollow kind of dark accompanied by the scurrying noises of animals in the underbrush and in the foliage.
Imagination running wild, she convinced herself that the monsters from under her bed and in her closet were watching her in the shadows.
A shiver travelled down her back before she tightly closed her eyes. If she couldn't see them, then they couldn't see her. Probably?
Her insecurities were starting to show, her heartbeat audible to her ears while the urge to cry surfaced from within her.
That was when she felt it.
A tender warmth enveloping her in a protective barrier that could ward away all of the monsters.
It was a familiar feeling, one that she had only ever felt from one person in her life.
"M-Mommy?" She called out tentatively, shifting her body to realize that she was in a cradled position.
"As much of a hero as you think I am," he spoke exasperatedly, holding Ruby up with his arms. "I don't have the power to suddenly switch genders."
Ruby pursed her lips and fell silent as she stared at him, Mr. Hero.
He wasn't exactly whom she had been expecting, but he didn't think that it was possible that she would have forgotten whose command it was that started it all, right?
He shook his head, sitting with his back leaning on a tree while holding Ruby close. Regardless of what role he would play as Ruby's Servant, there was something he already understood he'd have to be.
Her Guardian.
Her Guide.
And
A Mentor.
It wasn't his obligation as a Servant that compelled him to be those things, but the responsibility and integrity involved with being who he was. A Hero as she saw him as.
"Relax little one," he said, attempting to alleviate her fears.
She stared up at him, her silver eyes unblinking, reflecting the innocence of her age.
He stared right back while tousling her hair.
"I'm a Hero aren't I?" He smiled, peering down at her. "I'll protect you and find your mother, Hero's promise."
He watched her closely, his words having some kind of effect on her. At the very least, the fear in her eyes was replaced by something else, something more thoughtful.
Slowly, she pulled her hand from out of her blanket and extended out her small pinky finger still pudgy from her baby-fat.
He smiled wryly at his master before extending his hand forward and wrapping his pinky around hers.
"Pinky Promise," Ruby said seriously, exhaustion suddenly coming over her face. "N-No take backs."
He opened his mouth to respond, but she didn't give him the opportunity, her eyelids closing before she fell on his chest and wrapped her blankets and sheets around her into a balled cocoon.
His mouth curved upwards, but her weariness was understandable.
Young as she was, she probably had an early curfew and the darkening of the sky was already signalling the start of the evening. Coupled with the fact that she had just went through a roller coaster of emotions in the past few hours, and his Master was out cold by the time she closed her eyes.
He really did seem to have a whimsical Master, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing?
He wrapped his arms around Ruby and kept her warm by thrumming his magical circuits to produce heat from over taxation. Within his arms, it wasn't long before Ruby's soft breaths indicated to him that she had fully fallen asleep.
Now then,
He looked up into the shadows of the tall trees, at the gleaming red-eyes in the dark.
There was work that needed to be done.
The exact location he remembered seeing Tai mark with a fat 'X' over the map of Remnant was not far from where he and Ruby were presently. With his speed, the only reason he hadn't reached his intended destination was naturally because of Ruby who he carried in his arms while he moved.
He couldn't go too fast or the wind chill would be too much for the child to bear, but he couldn't be too slow either and risk another situation like the previous night occurring.
Grimm, Ruby had called them before.
Out in the unexplored lands of Remnant, their numbers were hard to imagine, and the ones he had dealt with last night were probably only the tip of an iceberg.
The one's last night were relatively easy to handle, their low intelligence playing a definite factor as they charged head-first into the Traced blades he had projected into the air. All the while, Ruby slept silently within his arms, ignorant of any danger.
Yet that was exactly how he wanted her to be.
Ruby was at an impressionable and tender age, and he didn't want the feeling of constant danger to traumatize her despite it being her fault that they were out here in the first place.
Speaking of his Master, the following days of travel had given her enough time to come to terms with the situation regarding her mother. At the very least, she didn't cry when she was awake anymore, although she did sniffle when she slept.
The stimulation of the outdoors was doing wonders for Ruby, her curiosity at times taking her mind away from her mother as she glanced at the growing fauna. At those moments, he would further distract her by telling her stories of the Heroes of his world or stick a piece of freshly hunted and cooked food into her mouth. Sweet berries were her preferred treat and he was starting to understand that his Master was most likely a sweet tooth because of it. It didn't help that she'd occasionally mutter 'cookies,' before falling into a daze and drooling over his head when he carried her over his shoulders.
He put up with it. Drool was always better than tears.
Presently, the two were walking slowly within the foliage of the trees. Ruby was insistent that she could walk and that she didn't need to be carried anymore. He thought otherwise, but when he considered that if he argued with her and she got too heated up and subconsciously used another Command Seal, he became helpless.
When the thought occurred to him, he had already given up resisting and hardened himself to the fate of being bossed around at the whims of a child.
Rin would surely be laughing.
"Hey what's that?" Ruby asked pointing to a flower before running towards it.
He glanced up, but what caught his attention wasn't the flower Ruby was pointing at, but the settlement beyond it that he saw due to his powerful eyesight.
His brows furrowed in confusion. As far as he recalled, the information Tai had documented on the map said that the general location of where Summer had disappeared was uninhabited. Too many Grimm lived out in the wilds and successfully establishing a new settlement was almost unheard of. Moreover, the settlement itself was in the exact direction he and Ruby needed to go.
He frowned, contemplating the matter further, but was forced to stop when he felt a tugging on his pant leg.
Staring down, he saw Ruby pouting at him as she gripped his leg with one hand and pointed at the flower with the other.
"Ah um, yes," he coughed into his hand, patting Ruby on the head before explaining. "It's called a lavender rose, a type of rose that blooms violet in the spring and summer with a soothing scent."
He crouched down and plucked a lavender, placing it in front of Ruby's nose who sniffed curiously.
Distracted as Ruby was with the lavender rose, he picked her up without much difficulty and decided to move in the direction of the settlement. Habited or not, Ruby needed a proper bed to sleep on rather than use his chest as cushioning and his arms as a pillow. For the life of him, he couldn't understand how Ruby even considered sleeping on top of him as comfortable.
It was a matter that eluded him, but not something he concerned himself with presently. Instead, he dashed forward in a burst of speed that caught Ruby by surprise, her arms instantly wrapping around him as she pressed her face into the crook of his shoulder. Fortunately, the rose in her hands managed to survive the ordeal, but she ended up glaring at him when he stopped.
He smiled placatingly until Ruby relented, and by then, the both of them realized that they were the center of attention.
With his last burst of speed, his legs had propelled him to land at the very center of the settlement he had seen from the distance. One that he realized while striding in the air, was populated.
When he landed, he naturally kicked up a storm of dirt, dust, and gravel, the action producing a popping sound.
"A Human?" Someone said cautiously.
He looked around at the people surrounding him and Ruby. From a distance, he had not noticed anything off about them as he had approached, but now that he looked at them clearly, their features were impossible not to notice.
Animal ears?
Animal tails and features?
What were these people?
"Faunus!" Ruby answered his internal questions enthusiastically, seeing them herself for the first time.
Faunus were a race of humans on Remnant with distinct characteristics similar to that of animals that could be used to discriminate against them, leading to violence, and even a war that had happened in the past.
To a non-native inhabitant such as Shirou however, he knew next to nothing about them. Yet, it wasn't as if he hadn't seen any people like them before. Atalanta was his best example. He had heard of her legend a few times before and her cat ears were perhaps her most defining feature.
Therefore, although he was shocked for a moment, it didn't last as he regarded the faunus in front of him with confusion, unable to understand the hostility in their gazes.
He pulled Ruby in close, shielding her from the glaring eyes of the townsfolk.
"Look," he said sternly. "We didn't come her looking for trouble, but a temporary place to stay. If you don't welcome us, we can leave," he tried to reason.
Rather than listen to him, the crowd broke out into heated murmurs. Some even went to the extent of readying the weapons they had on their persons, hybrids between some kind of gun and a blade.
His turned grim. He didn't want to turn his swords against any humans over a misunderstanding, but he couldn't stand back and do nothing with Ruby in his arms.
Just when it seemed like he was just about to be attacked, a voice dispersed the crowd.
"Enough!" An old man said sternly.
The old man was hunched over a cane which he leaned on to walk. Rabbit ears fell lopsidedly from his head and his face was creased with deep wrinkles and stress lines such that it was no longer possible to see his eyes.
"You, all of you," the man motioned towards the other faunus around admonishingly. "You all should know better than to fester with such negative emotions! Enough with them!"
Under the old man's criticism, none dared to speak back.
It was the old man who had kept everyone safe outside of any of the known Kingdoms, making him the natural leader.
He stared at the old man, not knowing what was going through the elder's mind, but feeling as if he was being heavily scrutinized.
Moments later, the old man nodded.
"You are a Huntsman?" The old man inquired.
Figuratively speaking, he was a Heroic Spirit: An entity beyond the physical capabilities of any Human, but in Remnant's standards, Huntsman was probably the best way to refer to him.
As he was about to nod his head to agree with the man's words, the bundle of joy he'd been keeping pressed to his chest with his arms squirmed as she turned around to face the old man accusingly.
"Noooo," Ruby denied, an inflection in her tone as she dragged her vowels. "He's not just a Huntsman, he's a Her-"
He abruptly covered her mouth with his hands in exasperation, giving the old man a knowing look in regards to children and their antics.
"Yes, I am," he said calmly, ignoring the minor discomfort of Ruby biting down on his finger.
The old man looked at him for another good moment before finally relenting and motioning for the others around to stand down.
"There's a spare house near the edge of the settlement in the north," the old man said while turning around to return to his own home. "It will be free for your use."
The old man's words were like laws in the hearts of those that followed him, so reluctant as many in the crowd were, they put aside their prejudices and left.
Seeing this, Shirou couldn't help but direct his gaze back to the departing form of the old man and inclined his head.
"Thank you," he gave a quiet acknowledgment of his gratitude.
In the meantime, he finally pulled his hand away from Ruby's mouth, his lips twitching when he discovered it was covered in saliva.
He ignored her momentarily afterwards, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of causing trouble to someone who was only trying to look out for her. It wasn't a habit he wanted her to develop as a child after all.
Recalling the direction the old man gave, he took Ruby to the specified location without interacting with the other members of the town lest he agitate them.
The house the old man had designated for their use was rather small, made out of wood and thatch, but it had a coziness to it that was rather endearing.
Ruby for her part was overjoyed when she entered the house for when he placed her inside, he dubbed the place as 'Rose Manor," in Ruby's name. It was like a tree house to her, she running around within and eventually tiring herself out until falling asleep on the floor.
Soft snores escaped her mouth, and he really didn't know where Ruby seemed to get all of her energy from.
He knelt beside her, picked her up, and then promptly set her on the only bed in the one roomed house.
Now that she was asleep, it was time for him to start searching.
Ruby's command had been to take her to her mother, but so long as she was still a certain distance away from him, it could still count as him having taken her.
Besides, there were some things he could only do alone like taking spiritual form.
Not only could he move unhindered in this form, able to simply pass through obstacles and the like, but he was completely unnoticeable when he wanted to be. The only downside of his spiritual form was his inability to interact with the physical environment.
He was basically a ghost from the movies.
However, he would use it to his advantage.
Gathering information and surveying a broad area was far easier in spiritual form. In fact, it even allowed him to discover the reason for the hostility directed towards him and Ruby by the faunus.
Discrimination was the answer. The way the humans in Remnant had treated the local faunus had forced them to leave the known Kingdoms to found their own settlement.
He didn't know what to think when he discovered that bit of information, but it wasn't something he'd ever have an easy answer for since the problem of racism itself existed even in his own world.
He tried not to let the issue distract him from the task at hand.
He took a breath and cleared his mind.
From the information he had gleamed from Tai's own search efforts, the area Summer was said to have gone was only ten kilometers off from the settlement of faunus he and Ruby were residing at.
In his spiritual form, the trees impeding a straight-line forward to his destination were of no consequence. Instead, as he passed through them all, his expression darkened as he took notice of an exceedingly high number of Grimm converging in the area. Large ones, small ones, it didn't matter, they were all grouping up near the vicinity.
His brows creased together more than once, because even in spiritual form, there seemed to be something about him that attracted the attention of the Grimm. Fortunately, he wasn't some average soul, he was a Heroic Spirit, enabling him to subtly sneak passed them all.
Floating through the trees and underbrush, he paused abruptly as he felt a strange resonance calling out to him in his spiritual form.
"I'm not going crazy, I'm not," he heard a voice mutter nervously.
It was faint, and if it wasn't for the fact that he had stopped, he never would have heard it. Frowning, he preened his ears and listened intently.
"Okay, okay, calm down, me. It's only been like two weeks, you'll think of some explanation for what's happened eventually."
There it was again.
Lips thinning, he slowly headed in the direction where he could hear the voice.
He passed through numerous trees and rock structures and eventually found himself in a dimly lit cave of sorts. The only form of light that illuminated the place came from the entrance just shy of twenty feet away.
It was musky within the cave, bats hanging from the stalactites above, but he paid no mind to anything other than the woman he could see in front of him.
She looked like an older version of Ruby, currently fretting with her fingers pressed to her cheeks.
Her hair was longer than Ruby's bob-cut, reaching down to her shoulders and parting to the side. Around her was a white cloak that obscured the attire she was wearing beneath.
Even without verifying the image he had seen in Tai's home, he was almost certain who the woman was, Summer Rose. The only problem was her current state.
If what his senses were telling him were correct, then Summer was only a spirit like himself.
Beside Summer were the tattered remains of a white cloak and a pair of gun-blades discarded to the side.
He stood rooted while staring right at her, ignorant to the fact that she had long since noticed him and was scrutinizing him looking at her.
"Y-You can see me?" Summer suddenly said with joy.
He nodded without much thought.
"You can really see me?!"
He nodded again.
The relief that flooded Summer's face was like a dehydrated man having found an oasis in the desert. Unfortunately, what he didn't expect was for the woman to jump on him in her excitement.
"I-I can feel you too," Summer said hurriedly. "I was beginning to think something was wrong with me. The animals around don't seem to notice me and I can't touch anything either. It was almost like I was a-"
"A ghost? A spirit?" He interrupted her, causing her expression to fall.
She backed away from him for a moment to examine herself in denial.
"B-But I can touch you and talk to you," she said stammering while shaking her head.
"And I'm a spirit," he informed her of the truth.
It was a revelation that stunned Summer into silence. He felt the panic building up within her, but had no words he could say to comfort her. Instead, the least he could do was try to understand what had happened to Summer in the first place.
The World of Remnant didn't seem to have anything close to magecraft that could tie down the souls of others. Therefore, he could only try to ask her for an explanation.
"How did this happen to you?" He asked after seeing Summer grudgingly compose herself.
"I-I can't remember," she admitted. "The last memories I can recall were when I met this man claiming himself to be a Wizard Marshal. He gave me a good luck charm before I left this place for another part of my mission."
He stiffened. Wizard Marshal?
A sigh nearly escaped his mouth, but anything was possible when he considered the antics of the user of the Second True Magic.
He moved passed Summer and towards the tattered remains of the cloak and weapons strewn across the ground, examining them thoroughly before finding what he was looking for.
In the torn spaces of the cloak, he saw the fluctuations of a magic seal whose properties he distinguished using a skill called Structural Analysis. It was a magic that allowed him to examine the components of objects and their functions.
When looking at the magic seal, he discerned that its use was to take a fragment of the user's soul and store it away until something drastic happened to the main body and spirit. The fact that the magic seal activated indicated that either Summer Rose had died, or something terrible had happened to her. In any case, the outcome was bleak.
At the very least, an aspect of Summer Rose still existed at the moment, and the command seal within him compelled him to save her.
"That wasn't a good luck charm the man gave you," he said slowly to Summer. "It was a soul tying magic."
Hearing his words, Summer's expression contorted.
"Magic, do you mean a Semblance?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's exactly it," he said, not bothering to explain the difference. "What the Wizard Marshal's semblance did was store a part of your soul away in case something happened to the main body. The fact that you're here and the seal activated means that-"
Summer cut him off before he could finish the sentence, swallowing audibly as her complexion paled. She understood the implications, but it didn't mean that she wanted to accept it.
A second passed, followed by a minute.
Realizing that the situation wasn't going anywhere, he took the initiative.
"To tell you truth, the reason I'm here is because of Ruby. She misses you," he said, eliciting a sharp cry from Summer.
"M-My Little Rose, she's here?" Summer said in a panic. "No no no, she can't be out here in the middle of the Grimm territory. Tai would never have had allowed it," she murmured.
The guilt that flashed in his eyes indicated immediately to someone of Summer's experience exactly what had happened.
"Y-You took her here?" She almost demanded, entering a type of mothering mode. At the very least, she seemed to have overcome the shock of her current state for the moment.
He shook his head and didn't answer.
Rather than explaining now, it was best for him to graft the magic seal on the cloak onto himself so that he could take Summer along with him back to where Ruby was staying. The seal only allowed Summer to wander a certain vicinity away from it which was probably why she was restricted to the cave and hadn't gone exploring too far.
Without saying anything, he promptly left the cave with the soul tying magic seal placed on his person.
Summer was hot on his heels, her experience as a Huntress showing as she flawlessly followed his movements to avoid the Grimm in the forest.
As the sun set in the horizon and the evening fell, it was only then that he returned back to Rose Manor with Summer in tow.
No words needed to be said between them as he simply gestured for Summer to enter.
She did so without hesitation.
Her feet left no sound, her breaths containing no warmth, she didn't even have to open the door to enter the small wooden house.
What awaited her within, was one of her greatest treasures.
Ruby lay on the bed, sleeping yet sobbing.
It was enough to practically tear Summer's heart out, and before she even knew it, she was by her daughter's side, arms extended to take Ruby into her embrace and comfort her yet passing right through.
The shock of it all froze her stiff.
There she was, her daughter crying right in front of her, and she unable to do anything.
She swallowed down the lump growing in her throat made worse when Ruby called out for her in her sleep.
"Mommy," Ruby muttered out, arms reaching forward and once again passing through Summer's own.
"I'm here, Little Rose," Summer said hoarsely, yet eliciting no response.
She began to tremble, her eyes shutting tightly while bowing her head low. "I'm here. Always."
Outside, Shirou closed his eyes and pretended he didn't see or hear anything, not the way Summer shuddered at the inability to feel her daughter, nor the way her composure slowly broke in front of him until she was silently sniffling even while smiling.
He had done his part and brought Ruby to her mother, yet he felt no accomplishment of any kind. Instead, rather than feel like he'd saved anyone, it was more like he'd inadvertently caused more pain. Bittersweet was the best way to put it, and it didn't sit well with him, yet no matter how much he wished to do more, there was nothing else he could do.
His lips thinned before he shut his eyes to think.
From the number of Grimm he noticed in the surroundings of the settlement and the unease of the townsfolk, it was clear that they were weary of an attack. The fact that the old man in charge of the settlement even let him stay with Ruby despite the animosity of the faunus spoke volumes of their need of strong individuals.
The question now was when the Grimm would attack? The uncertainty of which was impossible to determine.
Moreover, even though he'd reunited the mother and daughter pair, another difficult task awaited him. He stared at the two in the corner.
One in body and the other in soul.
His hands clenched into fists.
How was he going to convince Ruby to willingly return home?
A home where only her mother was missing.
He stared up at the clouds, thoughts straying in the moonlight of a cracked moon.
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