"Blake Belladonna has cat ears, black hair, fair skin, and amber eyes. She also usually wears white and black. Is that all?"
"Pretty much," Adam responded. He was asked for more descriptions of his no longer partner, which he gave.
Leaden stood up. "Alright, if I find anything, I will tell you," he said. "There's something else I want to talk about, Adam."
"Oh? What is it?" From his tone, Leaden could tell that Adam was curious.
"I need to speak with you in person, for the sake of our quid pro quo relationship," he said. He walked towards the ladder, the shattered moon not leaving his sight. "And bring an extra White Fang mask with you, will you?"
Adam didn't respond for a while, but Leaden concluded that he was confused.
"Weird, but I will grant your request. You better explain when we meet. Forever Fall in 2 days, is that okay with you?"
"Perfect, I have nothing to do anyway. Beware of the Grimm," he laughed, knowing that Adam's negative emotions would attract them."
"Funny, I was going to say the same to you," Adam scoffed. Not for the same reason, but Adam knew that Leaden could get lost in the fantasies of his mind and lose sense of the real world. "Until then, Human."
"See you, Faunus."
The call ended. He got off the roof and walked among the streets of Vale. He rarely saw anyone. He wondered if there was a curfew he wasn't aware of, or people just slept early.
'It's beautiful,' he thought while walking and watching the shattered moon. 'Here, the people could live a full life without encountering a single Grimm. They could live a happy, normal life. The people of Mistral don't have that luxury, well, most of them don't. But here in Vale, it is more guarded and safer. It's really beautiful. I wish I could have a life like that.'
The kingdom of Mistral, unlike Vale, was quite large, so it was normal that maintaining order and safety was difficult. Leaden was aware of that, but he was also aware that Mistral was probably the most corrupted kingdom. If a criminal wanted to hide, they would be safe in Mistral. Mistral was the most dangerous kingdom, but it was also the safest one.
Yes, not just safe for criminals, but also for those who were part of high society. The truth was that those called high society were the safest people in Remnant.
# # # #
Apparently, Professor Ozpin arranged a private Bullhead to take them to Patch. He found Ruby waiting for him inside the Bullhead; he would have been forced to sleep in a hotel otherwise.
This was also a reason why he rarely saw anyone in the streets; most of the transportation stopped working at 10 pm. He felt grateful to Ruby for waiting and not just leaving because he told her to.
'Ruby never fails to make me admire her more by the minute,' he smiled. He might not remember much about Summer, but the only thing he was sure of was that Ruby resembled her mother a lot. He felt the same warmth and familiarity around Ruby.
It was luxurious; he didn't expect this much from Ozpin. The room was large and connected to the pilot cabin. In the middle of the room, there was a large half-circle yellow couch, and the window was big enough for people sitting on the couch to enjoy the view. Lastly, there was a small fridge in the corner, filled with soda, beer, and more. There was also another door, he guessed it led to the bathroom.
A faint white light made the atmosphere peaceful. Yet the peaceful atmosphere failed to distract him from thinking about something important.
There was an issue roaming around his head: 'Father and Yang.' Well, two issues to be exact. He didn't know what he would tell them or how they would take it. Raven was a sore subject, and for him to just come back seven years later after leaving them like the way she did, and not only that, he left them for her. That wasn't going to be taken lightly. He was afraid of rejection.
'Father might accept me again; he is my father.' He spent his childhood thinking that his father unintentionally favored Yang. He came to that conclusion because he was named Branwen when he was born, and the fact that he resembled his mother while Yang resembled her father. Looking at your kid's face and remembering how your wife abandoned you wouldn't make you hate them, but it could make you uneasy.
Of course, when he matured, he knew that he was delusional. His father might have indeed unintentionally favored Yang, but the reasons he made to believe it were just excuses. He was named Branwen probably just because he looked the part - simple, and with no ulterior motives because he was hated. 'A kid's thought process is really stupid and absurd.' Yang's only resemblance to his father was the blonde hair; everything else was just a copy of their mother. She resembled Raven more than he ever did. So, the reason his father favored Yang due to how he looked didn't make sense at all.
He looked out the window. 'I might have a chance with Father, but Yang is a complicated case.' He used to push her around and call her a weakling. He didn't even remember how he came to the strong and weak ideology; maybe it was because of Summer's death, or just a genetic thing. It didn't matter anymore. Then he just left without a word. 'If Yang doesn't have an issue with this, then she is absurd.' The brother who used to bully her got chosen by the mother who wanted nothing to do with her. It might be a problem.
'An asshole and delusional kid, I was something.'
He walked away from the window and saw that Ruby was sitting on the couch, playing a game on her scroll. He smiled at that. 'At least, I have Ruby to support me.' But the smile dropped, and a frown appeared instead when he remembered that he had left her to a possible death earlier.
He understood himself, he was aware of how absurd he was. He didn't like it, but he didn't regret it.
If he were in a situation that made him choose between risking his life or leaving anyone to die, he knew what he would choose again and again. He wouldn't like it, but he would choose it regardless.
'It's just who I am.'
The Bullhead landed in Patch. They were at the Bullhead's stairs when he saw what he couldn't avoid anymore.
His Father and Yang must have been waiting for them. 'Or, more specifically, waiting for Ruby.'
He stopped in his tracks at the end of the stairs, not knowing what to do or say. Ruby, of course, hurried to join them eagerly.
He watched Ruby being hugged by their father and sister, and he just stood there.
"Dad! It was so cool! I was like hoowaaah! and anyaaaahh!" moving her arms around, Ruby began describing how she stopped Roman Torchwick. But then she came to the part where she met Leaden. "And then, Leaden appeared out of nowhere! I still don't know how he did it. I mean, Professor Ozpin said it's probably some sort of teleportation, but it was still cool! He did it twice!"
The mention of his name made them turn their attention to him. It was awkward, no one knew what to say or do.
His Father wore his black pajamas, but it looked decent enough to meet his returning daughter. Yang is what made him confused - she wore her combat outfit. It made Leaden wonder if she planned to fight.
Leaden gulped, gathered his courage, and walked towards them with a waving hand, "Hi, long time no see," he said with a smile.
That was a great mistake.
He only felt himself on the ground, lying on his back. He opened his eyes to see only one thing - a red-eyed Yang. She gritted her teeth so hard and clenched her fists.
His Aura was on. However, it wasn't clear if he fully or unconsciously expected it, but it didn't matter to him because he believed that he deserved it.
"Alright, I deserve it," he said, lifting his head from the ground to look at her while he still sat on the ground.
Ruby was stunned. Tai seemed like he knew what was going to happen but failed to stop it. "Yang!" Tai shouted.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She roared. If she was on the verge of tears, she hid it well. "You made me feel worthless, but you suddenly left for seven years with someone who abandoned us, who didn't care about us, and then to come back and say 'Hi, long time no see.' as nothing happened! Are you for real!"
He truly wasn't sure what to say, so he lowered his head. "It was a mistake. I was naive, I made the wrong choice and I reg-"
"Is that all you have to say, you piece of shit?!" That didn't seem to calm Yang down even a tiny bit as she kicked him in the face with her full power. He knew that kick took a good chunk of his Aura. She must have strengthened it with her Aura.
Tai was going to intervene but Leaden lifted his hand, stopping him, "Let her, Father."
Tai seemed unconvinced, but he eventually nodded. "Don't get yourselves killed," he said. He turned to the still stunned Ruby and put his hands on her shoulder. "Come on, Ruby, let's give them some privacy," he said as he guided Ruby to their home.
Leaden could only hear Ruby muttering, "I don't understand, I never saw Yang like this before." Upon hearing this, he felt extremely guilty.
'I'm sorry, Ruby'
After they left, he felt the tension in the air as he stood up from the ground. He looked at the still furious Yang. "Still mad? Or do you need to beat the shit out of me more?"
"That's the plan," she growled while approaching him.
He sighed, "What do you want me to say? I said I fucked up, do you want me to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness?"
"You still act like it's no big deal, asshole!" She roared.
Leaden narrowed his eyes. "Of course, it's a big deal," he said. Yang delivered her punch at full speed, but Leaden moved his head to the left. He felt the air hit his head from the pressure of her punch. "What I meant is, I'm the one who suffered and still suffering the consequences of my own decisions, and I accepted it a long time ago. I accepted the suffering." He tried to keep his voice low as much as he could, but he couldn't help it when he delivered his honesty. "Do you want me to be honest? You are lucky, Yang!"
That seemed to give her a pause, but only for a moment before it made her even more enraged.
He decided to speak up his mind, so he wouldn't back down now.
She rushed at him with a clenched fist, but he dodged every single blow she tried.
'She is being predictable,' he thought as he caught her fists and looked her in the eyes. She was gritting her teeth so much he thought it would shatter. "Trust me when I say that the best thing our Mother did for us was abandoning us the moment we were born. I was naive, I ruined my life but you didn't! You lived a good life with Father and Ruby, a normal life! I'm envious of you, Yang! Yes, I'm envious because you had the normal life I didn't, but I don't blame you. It's my fault! I accepted that it was my punishment, the absurdity I chose and regret!"
She headbutted him hard to break free, and she succeeded. She had a look of disgust on her face that Leaden didn't expect. "How selfish and arrogant can you be? Do you say it's okay since you got what you deserved and accepted it? What about us? Dad, Ruby, and me? Dad was devastated because, for the third time, a person he cared for left him. I was miserable for a long time, I blamed myself for it, I wasn't good enough for any of them to stick around. Ruby, she has a pure heart, she believed you would come back, she never thought badly of you." She sighed and narrowed her eyes. "But here you are saying that it's no longer a problem because you feel good about yourself and feel envious because we had a happy normal life?! Fuck you!" She growled and took her leave.
Leaden was stunned. He didn't have anything to say because if he did, it would have made things worse.
He still believed that Yang and Ruby were lucky; he was still envious. 'So that's the problems people with normal lives have? That's the most absurdity they face? How lucky, I would exchange my absurdity for theirs anytime.' She called him selfish, that he knew.
But he didn't expect arrogance. He thought that the only issue would be how to make a good impression on them to not reject him. Of course, he knew that Yang would have problems, but for another reason entirely. He didn't expect this; he didn't put their feelings over the past seven years into consideration.
'I guess that makes me arrogant?' He came to one conclusion: "I'm even more absurd than I thought."
He sighed and looked around. He had forgotten something important: the way to his home. He could still see Yang, he could follow her, but he was afraid that she wasn't going home and instead going somewhere else to blow off some steam.
If he followed her and it turned out that she wasn't returning to their home, he could be in more trouble with Yang. He gulped and decided to follow her.
Wherever he looked, he saw grass. It was beautiful. The road he was walking on was surrounded by the lush greenery.
Some lights were visible, and he guessed that was the town. Most of the people were sleeping, so it made sense that only a few lights were on at the moment.
As he neared it, he saw the houses. Most of them are basic designs one would expect from people that built their homes themselves. Of course, the shops were closed, so he didn't have a chance to see what they were selling.
Their home, if he remembered correctly, wasn't in the town. Yang wasn't heading into the town, and he hoped that was a good sign she was heading for their home.
He couldn't see the forest from his current location, and he knew that it wasn't safe. Bewolves and Ursai were known to roam in large numbers there, so unless for some training, he planned to keep out of the forest.
He also found it weird that people said Patch was a nice place for raising a family. Weren't Grimm next to them? Even if Huntsmen were constantly present, he thought that living in the city was much safer but he could be wrong.
'Wasn't Signal Academy somewhere near the forest too?'
It was somewhat of a good place for a combat academy to prepare new generations of potential Huntsmen and Huntresses. Fighting Grimm was a sort of training and their future profession too.
Fortunately, Yang was returning to their home, but he stayed out for a minute to not clash with her.
Their home was near the town, but compared to the other houses, it was bigger and fancier. His father was a crafty one, that was for sure.
He took a deep breath. 'For someone absurd like me, this was really hard.'
Leaden hesitated. 'Should I knock or not? I don't want to just barge in, especially after what happened.' Finally, He decided to knock on the door. He waited for a moment before someone opened it. It was his father, which wasn't surprising.
Tai, his father, had an unreadable expression. It was awkward; Leaden had no idea what to say or do. He put his hand on the back of his head and, with all the courage he could muster, said, "Um, can I come in?"
His father flashed him a smile, "Of course, you can, it's your home, after all."
Leaden felt a sense of relief wash over him and stepped inside. He looked around for a bit. 'Nothing really changed that much.'
As he entered the living room, he saw a light green rug on the ground, with a dark green couch and matching chair arranged around a wooden coffee table that was centered on the rug. Between the couch and chair was an end table with a lamp on it, and at the other end of the couch was a dog's bed. At the end of the rug is a wooden TV stand with a holographic projector lying on top of it and a potted plant at one end.
'A dog's bed?'
Leaden didn't stand around much and sat on the couch, with his father sitting beside him. Leaden didn't meet his father's eye and kept his head down. "How is Yang?" he said.
His father sighed. "She will get over it. She is a strong girl."
Leaden chuckled. "I know. I just experienced it." His smile faded. "And Ruby?"
"In bed. When I got her home, she excused herself."
He raised his head and looked at his father, "Look, Father, I-"
His father didn't let him finish. "It's okay, there is nothing to explain. You were just a kid, my kid. You made a mistake, and I, of course, forgive you. I'm just glad you came back."
The soft, calming voice entered Leaden's head, causing his eyes to widen in disbelief. He looked into his father's eyes, and that made his eyes widen even more.
Tears kept streaming down his father's face, and Leaden's mind froze in shock. He didn't realize he was crying until his father wiped his eyes.
'Huh?' Leaden touched the skin under his eyes, 'it's wet,' he muttered.
Tai wrapped his arms around Leaden."I missed you." He said, his voice choked with emotion.
"Please, forgive me," Leaden said, his voice shaking. "I'm not going anywhere anymore, I have come back home."
'This is absurd.'
# # #
Leaden sat down in the kitchen while his father made coffee for the both of them. "I remember the first time you tasted coffee, you hated it big time," Tai grinned.
"Well, what can I say? People change," Leaden laughed.
The truth was, he still hated coffee, but he had the idea that normal people often drank it. His father brought the two cups and gave one to him. He sat down across from him, holding his own cup. "I forgot to congratulate Ruby about going to Beacon," he sighed.
"With everything that happened, I don't blame you. It's my fault," Leaden said, taking a sip of his coffee.
'Still bitter, how normal people like this is beyond me, it's absurd. No, it's me who's absurd. Normal people are normal because they are normal. They can't be absurd.'
His father frowned. "No, it's not. I will just tell her tomorrow before she leaves."
Leaden raised his eyebrow at this. "What do you mean tomorrow?"
"The new semester at Beacon begins in three days. They leave tomorrow. They have initiation the day after, and then the semester begins on the third day." Tai explained, taking a sip.
Leaden was speechless. He didn't understand how someone could accept another student the day before. 'Well, it takes an absurd person to make an absurd decision like this.'
"I guess I have no time to make peace with Yang," he sighed.
"You wouldn't have succeeded even if you had a week. Yang is stubborn. she needs time to adjust," his father laughed.
"Thanks for the encouragement," Leaden grumbled.
He looked away from his father, annoyed, but also taking a look at the kitchen. On the wall to the immediate right of the door, he saw a shelving unit containing various books and another doorway, with a small landscape painting tucked away in the corner. A shovel can be seen leaning against this wall as well.
A landscape decorates the wall next to a large window behind the chairs on the wall opposite the archway, with cream curtains, next to a door leading outside. A coat rack is attached to the wall on the other side of the door, with two coats hanging from the hooks.
Lastly, the table that both sat at had a yellow runner, and underneath the table was a matching yellow rug.
"Don't suddenly start observing the kitchen when I am speaking with you. Or are you upset that I told you the truth?" His father said, an evil grin appearing on his face.
Leaden looked at him. "Yes, I was disappointed, so I needed a necessary distraction."
The grin vanished from his father's face. "You are not fun to tease, like Yang."
That got Leaden's attention. "Yes, she is easy to provoke, I could tell. Speaking of Yang, earlier when we were talking, she said that Ruby never thought badly of me. What did she mean by that? Does Ruby not know where or why I left?"
His father's lips turned upwards, but his eyes betrayed the smile he was trying to make. He then took a long sip of the coffee. "Ruby understands, she is more mature than she lets on. I know I wasn't a good father for her and Yang, but the way she grew up to be so optimistic, and determined to make the world a better place, made me very grateful for Yang's ability to pick up the broken pieces."
As if the coffee were alcohol, his father opened up a little to him. Leaden knew Yang was the responsible one after Summer's death. She did the shores, the meals, and raised Ruby, she basically took the role of their parents.
It was at that time that Leaden and Yang began to have a not very healthy sibling relationship. It was mostly his fault and he was aware of it.
But for him back then as a kid, it was alien to him the way Yang began acting as the one calling the shots when he was supposedly the older twin. He still didn't know why that was unacceptable for him. 'A child's mentality is absurd.'
Maybe because he felt useless and jealous of Yang, and that came at a time when he thought that Yang was the favored child. Maybe as a result of that, he felt threatened that Yang would eventually erase any trace of his existence left for his father to be able to notice him.
The already favored child picking up the mantle when it mattered, would only make her grow even more in his father's eyes, that's what he thought.
He had to do something, but he was just a kid so, instead of stepping up as the older brother, the answer he reached was to bully her to make her give up. Maybe from there, he gave birth to the strong and weak ideology.
'Yang was always mature. I guess that made her a good judge of character.'
But it wasn't all bad. He liked to think he managed to save his sisters' lives when he stopped Yang from going to look for their mother when they were kids. Well, it ended with a fight, but he came out on top.
A sigh from his father snapped him out of his thoughts. It appeared that his father was silent for a couple of seconds.
"As I was saying, Ruby is optimistic. She is always positive and because of that, she never thought badly of you. She believed that you will definitely come back, and everything will be okay, that's why she was a little shocked at Yang's reaction. She thought our little family will be once again happy and reunited."
Leaden was speechless. Again, the one he admired kept exceeding his expectations. 'This is absurd. She has to be the most admirable person I came across. How can she be like that? Because of Yang? If that's so, then Yang has my respect. But if not, and it was Ruby herself who shaped her own personality, I might idolize her.'
He was raised by bandits, but his personality took a drastic turn from what was expected of him. What happened around him was a major factor in building his personality, unlike Ruby, who shaped her own.
Maybe he was just jumping to conclusions again and was looking for an excuse to admire her more.
He ignored the aching pain he felt in his heart and pushed it away. "She is an admirable person, isn't she?" Leaden said.
His father seemed to lighten up. "Yes, she is."
He felt grateful for how his father didn't ask him anything about his time in the tribe or why he left. He theorized that his father already knew how the tribe worked, so no need to revisit hell.
'He might also think that I, much like uncle Qrow, realized the faults of the tribe and took my way out. Well, that's not far from the truth.'
A comfortable silence prevailed in the kitchen until they both heard an unexpected, awkward, "Can I join you?" coming from the kitchen's entrance.
There stood a blushed Ruby in a pink pajama with strawberries in it, and from the look on her face, he guessed that she heard at least the last couple of words.
His father was surprised and asked the obvious question. "What are you doing still awake at this hour?"
Leaden, curious to know why, paid attention to her. Ruby, face still red and playing with her fingers, answered and looked at them.
"Well, I couldn't sleep. Tomorrow is a big day and I didn't spend enough time with Leaden. I figured, maybe, I could get to know him a little better."
Leaden's face heated in response. He was flattered that she felt the need to spend some time with him before she went to Beacon.
His father laughed, noticing the two embarrassed faces. Ruby caught on and pouted, "D-Dad!"
Leaden ignored his father and focused on Ruby. "Um, so did you want to talk, or are you planning to stand there all night?"
As if an entirely different person possessed her, she got rid of the blush instantly and speeded to his side and held his arm.
"Show me your weapon!" She said with a big grin on her face.
Leaden didn't know what to say to the sudden request. She was dragging him outside the house.
'Does she have a split personality? How can she shift her mood so fast?'
"This is her way to know you," his father said, chuckling.
They were out of the house. Ruby stood in front of him as if waiting for him to do a magic trick.
"You have a weapon, right?! I didn't see one with you, is it that small?!"
Leaden facepalmed, but then he got an idea to make it magically.
"Ok, close your eyes. I will show you my weapon, but don't raise your hopes up."
Ruby was confused but complied anyway. He looked at his father and brought his index finger to his lips. His father nodded, curious too.
He vanished, it didn't take a second for him to reappear again, but this time with a sword in hand. His father was stunned.
"You can open your eyes now."
Ruby opened her eyes to see a smirking Leaden but with a sword in his hand.
Ruby brought her hands to her chin and with an excited face, and drew closer to him. "That's!"
But Leaden cut her off, "A normal sword! isn't it awesome?"
Leaden's statement brought her down to Remnant, and she took a look at the sword. She blankly stared at it with not a disappointment, but a bafflement look.
There was something weird about Leaden that didn't make sense to her.
He seemed so normal to her, but she knew for sure that he wasn't. His semblance, the way he spoke. He appeared out of nowhere twice earlier, but Professor Ozpin said to her, it was some kind of teleportation semblance. But now for his sword to appear out of nowhere too said something about him. His semblance wasn't as simple as Professor Ozpin deduced, obviously. She felt he was swinging back and forth between normal and abnormal. It felt like an occurring theme with him, and that made him weird to her.
He had this mysterious aura around him, and she was so intrigued more than ever now to know more about him. Usually, when she saw other people's weapons, she could know more about the person. While Leaden's weapon made her realize his style, she didn't learn anything about him. On the contrary, there were even more questions.
"From Remnant to Ruby, are you still with us? Sorry to disappoint you, I said don't raise your hopes up," he chuckled.
It took moments for her to process what happened, then her face was red in record time. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to be rude! I wasn't disappointed at all! I swear! I really liked your sword! It matched your style!"
Again, like she hit a switch, she took a 180-degree turn. 'Was I on point about the split personality thing?'
His father put his hand on her head. "Ruby, calm down and take a breath."
Ruby did as she was told and began to calm down. "Relax, I wasn't offended." Leaden took the opportunity to speak.
His father looked like he had something to say, but then he looked at Ruby and took his silence again. Leaden noted to speak with his father when Ruby was gone.
"Really?" Ruby said, and felt relieved when Leaden nodded.
Ruby wasn't satisfied to leave things here, she wanted to know more. "Earlier, you said you wanted to be a hero, but how can you be one without being a huntsman?"
Leaden and his father blinked at this. "There are different kinds of heroes, you know."
"Different? How different?" She tilted her head, and seemed to think seriously about it.
"There is a people's hero, a faunas' hero," a certain bull faunas came to his mind. "And you don't need to be a Huntsman to be one, for example, the police fight crime, don't you think they are heroes?"
"I guess, but then what kind of hero do you want to be?" Ruby asked with genuine curiosity, she wanted anything. Leaden smirked at this, and his father was interested to hear the answer too.
"This curious to know?" He teased her.
"Say it already!" Leaden laughed and Ruby felt he was stalling. She wondered if he was trying to hide something, but she doubted it. She was just that curious.
"Alright, Alright. I will tell you."
Ruby waited for it. His father too.
"I want to be Remnant's hero."