Chapter 2 - Blood Ties
Xiao Long Household, Patch - RWBY World - roughly a minute or two after the end of the previous chapter
(Raven's P.O.V)
It's strange to be back here after not being here for years due to my own choices, it feels like all I did with the Branwen Tribe when I left all those years ago just ended up with me right back where I started as if I never left, although I know that the reality of things is crueler than that.
Although speaking of the tribe, what happened back there was a very poor showing on my part as I think the earlier confidence I felt with my new power ended up blunting the broadcast of negative emotions to the point that the Alpha was able to focus on the much more real burst of those same emotions occurring at the camp.
While the intended result of me and Vernal leaving the tribe was achieved, it was a total waste to have allowed the destruction of the tribe to occur, although my brother would no doubt think it causes for celebration which is just typical of him when he never really liked the tribe to begin with.
Still, it was not something I had actively planned on allowing to occur and I will have to be more careful with my newfound confidence in my abilities lest it becomes the source of more mistakes, either way, the house is just how I last saw it before that ill-fated request from Summer.
I began to shake slightly as my fist started to clench hard, the memory of that night filling my mind as regret, guilt, and anger filled my mind, it was that night I truly ended up fearing Salem as what ended up happening was…
"I should have never agreed to that request of Summers…" I say under my breath, pushing past the memory of that night to one side as I take a moment to calm myself, placing the Grimm Mask in my pocket space so I can start walking through the house without having that in my hands all the time.
I can hear Tai talking on his scroll outside, likely Informing Ozpin that I've come back which while disappointing to see that he's still another unknowing pawn of that man, it's understandable when you factor in he doesn't know what kind of game is actually going on here.
Part of me genuinely wants to just leave before any of Ozpin's Inner Circle come here and drag me into their war all over again, although if I'm being honest I know that I am not going to be able to avoid it as the Spring Maiden if my foreknowledge is anything to go by, and I am most certainly not going to avoid it with the new powers I have now.
I sigh before shaking my head to clear it of distractions as I resume walking about the house, wanting to see if anything changed since the last time I was here. However, I sincerely doubt much has changed beyond a handful of things really as Tai tends to be the sentimental sort with such things…
Truth be told, I was happier when it was just team STRQ and we didn't need to worry about Salem and the fools that follow her, where the only problem we had to face was just the Grimm and that's all it really should have been.
But then Ozpin decided it would be a good idea to bring us on board his endless back-and-forth with Salem, his own former wife from perhaps centuries past if not a millennia, it was never clear how many lives that man has lived from the memories I've gotten and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more hosts he's taken that were never revealed.
"I suppose it really doesn't matter in the end, I intend to break this little cycle into pieces…" I say softly to myself, pushing away the memories of happiness forged in Beacon Academy that are now tainted by the things I've learned over the years and the foreknowledge I've gained from my past life.
It's then that I hear Tai finally walk inside the house and I turn to look at him with annoyance and slight disappointment as part of me did hope he wouldn't be so quick to let Ozpin know I'm here, but I really shouldn't be surprised as that man has a way of getting to people.
"So how was your discussion with Ozpin, wouldn't want him out of the loop about my return now would we…?" I say as Tai, to his credit at least, does flinch and look regretful at the fact he was so quick to break to news to Ozpin and is about to open his mouth before I hold up a hand to stop him.
I know for a pragmatic reason why he said it, I know that back when I was the leader of the now defunct Brawnwen Tribe I would want to be the first to know about one of our own returning to the fold after being gone for so long.
It still stung that he would do so that fast…
"It doesn't matter I suppose, at least now I won't have to ask you to arrange a meeting between him and me…" I say as I shake my head, at the very least the consequence of Tai's actions will work for my plans anyway as I need to talk to him regardless.
An awkward silence settles between us as neither of us wants to be the first to speak up, the sound of the house clock audibly ticking down the seconds is all that can be heard before eventually, Tai sighs before mustering up his courage.
"You could have easily gone to your brother, perhaps even our daughter but why come to me…?" Tai asks making me sigh as I knew this question might come up at some point, just didn't think it would be so soon.
"Do you want the Branwen answer, or do you want the more sentimental answer?" I ask after a short period of time, the choice Tai is given shocks him momentarily before he calms himself and looks right into my eyes before he answers…
"I would like both Raven, I think I….no all of us deserve that much," Tai says as once more I sigh as I hate how vulnerable I am feeling right now internally, I hate how these past life memories are making me feel even if I know I really don't have anyone else to blame but myself for all of this.
"Very well then, to start with the Branwen answer, the tribe is dead with only two people surviving which is me and Vernal, so there is no point in continuing a life that has run its course," I say, seeing Tai frown at the rather cold and purely pragmatic view of things but shakes his head as he looks me in the eyes again.
"And the sentimental answer?" Tai asks, pressing me to speak up as he does want both answers to his question and not just the Branwen answer, I can see a very slight amount of hope in his eyes even as he waits for the other answer.
"...I don't want to keep running anymore, I went back to the Branwen Tribe because I was afraid Tai, afraid of what we were tangled up in, afraid of the woman that Ozpin says is the root of all the shit going wrong in this world!" I say as my voice begins to rise with every word I speak, my hands starting to curl up into a tight fist before finally…
"...I was afraid that I wouldn't be a good enough mother to Yang…" I say softly, the tension leaking away from my form as Tai just looks utterly stunned at my admissions, but before he says anything it is right then that the front door opens.
"Hey Dad I'm home, I can help with the fire…..wood…." a young woman with familiar long blonde hair says before her words trail off at the end as she stares right at me with shock written across her face.
The young woman in question is Yang Xiao Long, my daughter…
"Mom…is that you?" Yang hesitantly asks me as I really did not want to speak to her just yet, honestly, it feels like for a moment my brother and I have just switched semblances, but I know that's not the case really as I turn my head to look at yang properly.
"I…yes, it's me.." I say reluctantly as I can already feel the intense urge to try and flee the situation, to use my semblance to leave again and just continue avoiding all of this like I have been for the last few years.
But something inside of me keeps me from doing that, knowing that if I did that now I would be making a terrible mistake, one that would only compound all the mistakes I've been making up to this point and make them all worse as a result.
I don't know if it's a lingering influence from my past life pushing me forward or the fact that I can tell somehow that if I run now, I will not be able to attempt to fix things between my family again a second time.
So silence lingers between the three of us as none of us are able to speak up for several seconds before I can see Yang's anger slowly bubble up, my daughter begins to slowly make her way over to me with her hands curling into a fist.
"Yang wait what are you–?!" Tai asks Yang hurriedly as she marches over toward me, I see what's about to happen before she takes the first step toward me, her right arm pulling back in a telegraphed wind-up for a haymaker that I know I could very easily dodge and then subsequently restrain her.
But that's not what I end up doing, not if I want to fix things…
Yang's punch sends me right into the kitchen table which breaks under the impact of my body slamming into it with the force of Yang's punch, my left cheek is now red with a bruise that my aura is already working to heal as I look at yang as is quivering with barely restrained anger.
"Do you know how long I've been searching for you…?" Yang says with a downright furious tone of voice as she starts to stalk over to me once more, soon she looks down toward where I have fallen with her lilac eyes having turned the same shade of red as my own due to her anger.
"Where were you all these years?!" Yang screams as she punches right next to my head with the wood flooring cracking from the force of the punch Yang's eyes begin to leak with tears as she suddenly grabs me by the collar of my top and forces me to look her in the eyes.
"Where were you when summer died huh?!" Yang demands angrily, I try so desperately to not react here but to the surprise of both Yang and myself, I can feel myself start to tear up as I begin to remember more of that wretched night, for a brief moment a memory forces its way into my mind from that very same night…
"R-raven….R-RUN!"
"I ran….I fucking ran from all of this, I was too fucking afraid of coming back when it mattered most, I was too afraid of being not being the mother you wanted, compared to S-summer" I finally say to Yang as my composure that I've held up for so fucking long finally snaps, snaps in front of the one person I didn't want to break down in front of the most as I can feel the tears leak out of my eyes like a running facet.
Yang takes a sharp intake of breath at that before pulling back her free hand as she looks to try and punch me again, but barely restrains herself as her own tears begin to leak out as she looks me dead in the eyes before speaking.
"You don't fucking get to decide whether or not you're good enough, you're my fucking mother for fuck's sake!" Yang snarls, looking like she's about to punch me again before not only letting her free hand fall to her side but also releasing her hold on my top as she begins to cry, her emotions in complete turmoil as she struggles to regain any semblance of composure.
"...I'm sorry….I'm so sorry Yang…." That is all I can really say, even though we both know that my apologies mean very little in the end as neither of us can get back the lost time, Yang merely begins to cry harder as she buries her face into my shoulder as her free hand is weakly punching the wooden floor.
Despite how awkward it feels to do this after so, so many years apart, I sigh and tentatively hug Yang who stiffens for a brief moment before ultimately relenting and accepting the hug, as the two of us remain on the floor with Tai just remaining on the sidelines, having heard everything with a complicated expression on his face.
Eventually, Yang slowly pulled away and looked at me, her arms rubbing against her eyes to clear away the tears as she looked at me with an angry expression, however, all of the actual true rage had left her eyes as she soon spoke up…
"You fucking owe me a ton of missed birthday presents, you know that right…?" Yang says while the demand does get a bemused chuckle from me, I can only nod my head as I know I have a lot of making up to do towards everyone I care for outside of the Branwen Tribe, Yang most of all.
"Make a list of things you want, and I'll see what I can do…" I say as I ultimately relent to Yang's demand, Yang nods her head in response as she takes a deep breath to compose herself once more, standing up slowly before holding out a hand.
With a wry smile on my face, I take her hand and she pulls me up so that I am able to stand on my own two feet, however, Yang does not let my hand go as she suddenly pulls me forward to whisper into my ear.
"Let me make myself perfectly clear, I am giving you only one chance to prove that you aren't trying to bullshit our family, If you ever end up running away from Dad and me again, I don't care if you're my mother, you will never get a second one and I will make you regret it, am I clear?" Yang says with the threat making me smirk and look directly into her eyes as the sheer fucking balls she has to make such a threat to me is quite admirable even if she lacks the strength to actually pull it off, even if she's never been a part of the tribe she's a Branwen through and through with that one move.
That being said though it is clear that this is not so much her forgiving me at all, rather Yang is extending a single olive branch for me to take in order to start trying to build our bond anew, with both of us knowing that I will only get one and only one chance to make things right.
Not to mention that I have a very strong feeling that I'm only being given this one chance in the first place, is because I'm here a decent amount of time before the so-called canon events come about, meaning that I don't have more recent fuck-ups preventing this chance from being granted in the first place.
Had I awoken at any point during the fall of Beacon, at any point before the major fuck-up that is Haven Academy, or even simply not showing up here until much later on to preserve the timeline or some asinine thing like that, I would never be given this chance to begin with.
With that in mind and knowing that this is my only chance to start making amends, there is only one response to this threat I can give…
"Crystal clear Yang," I say as Yang gives a confident smirk of her own as she is about to turn to walk toward her room when all three of us hear the door open again, and soon a familiar stench of alcohol fills the room which can only really belong to one person.
"Hey Uncle Qrow, what are you doing here?" Yang asks my brother who takes one look at me, then at the broken table behind me and just sighs before taking a swig of his flask, Tai shoots the man an annoyed look for drinking so openly in the house as Qrow finishes taking a swig of his alcohol flask.
"You could say a little birdie told me that my sister finally decided to show her face again after several years of not being around at all, figured I'd come to see how she's doing," Qrow says as I scowl at that, seems that Ozpin ended up choosing my brother of all people to come bring me to see Ozpin.
"Or rather you're here on behalf of Headmaster Ozpin to come to see if I've become more cooperative to his little pet cause" I can't help but say with barely restrained anger, while I may at least understand why Ozpin is doing all of this now with all the metaknowledge I've gained, it still doesn't change the fact that I dislike being made into another pawn on this massive chessboard of his between him and Salem.
Qrow can't help but scowl back at me, not exactly happy that I'm being a bit loose-lipped around Yang but I really don't give a fuck when I know for a fact that Ozpin will inevitably drag Summer's daughter into all of this which will naturally draw in Yang by association.
And I am not inclined to have another STRQ happen again…
"Raven you know it's not like that," Qrow says as his scowl settles into more of an annoyed frown, I just can't help but scoff at his attempts to convince me of what he believes Ozpin is doing when out of the two of us I think I am the one more informed, even if he doesn't know that just yet.
There's a tense silence between the two of us as Yang looks at both me and Qrow in hesitant confusion, unsure what to think of the tension between the two of us and soon looks to her father who is clearly not happy with the fact we're arguing over Ozpin so quickly.
"Raven, Qrow, if you're going to argue about Ozpin then do it outside so I don't run the risk of any more of my furniture getting destroyed," Tai says while gesturing to the broken table behind me, both myself and Qrow glancing at the table before we reluctantly nod and start walking toward the door, stopping right as I reach the door and turn to Yang.
"Yang I shouldn't take too long so when I get back, we can talk more in-depth, preferably over dinner maybe?" I suggest that while I could never beat Summer in the pastries and baked cooks department, cooking various forms of meat is the area that I can shine in as you don't live as a Branwen without doing some survival hunting, to say the least.
Yang's eyes widen before she has a smirk on her face, knowing that she'll have a chance to talk to me and my own days as a part of Team STRQ, even if those memories are admittedly not as warm as they once were these days.
It's here that I turn to Tai with a serious look as I know that with me leaving, Vernal will wonder where I am and likely inquire with Tai about my whereabouts, meaning that I should try to give them a specific phrase that will keep Vernal from doing anything rash.
"Tai when Vernal gets back, tell her that I have gone to see the highest tree with Autumn leaves," I say to Tai who while confused at the phrase, does nod at that although Qrow does narrow his eyes at the use of seasonal terms as it would normally correlate to Maidens and their assigned vaults.
As for what exactly the phrase means, it is telling Vernal that I've gone to speak to the Headmaster of Beacon, there are similar phrases that we have as a sort of special coded language between only me and Vernal as I only ever taught Vernal these phrases so if Vernal is told this by Tai, that means she can trust him and by extension my daughter.
With that sorted now, I leave the house with Qrow waiting for me just out of sight of the house while taking a swig of his flask again with my brother only stopping once he spots me walking over to him.
"Hope you haven't lost your wings Raven, would be a shame to have to fly alongside a bullhead or something because of some hang-ups," Qrow says with a smirk, making me twitch with visible annoyance before I suddenly shift into my strangely fitting Raven form and immediately flying towards and begin clawing at his head, my brother panicking as he tries to slap my raven form away.
"OK, OK I GET IT!" Qrow says before he rushes away and turns into a Crow as he flies toward Beacon with me in hot pursuit with absolute annoyance radiating off my bird form, my brother always seems to have a knack for annoying me in the strangest ways, although I really shouldn't be surprised really…
He is my utterly foolish, hopelessly naive, and a total drunkard of a younger twin brother after all~!
Author's Notes
With that Chapter Two is now done, with Raven now having handled things at home for now and will be heading to Beacon to speak to Ozpin.
Now that the story is starting to pick up, It is finally time to begin plot discussion as we have two major points to bring up here!
Resolution of Family Issues, Part 1
Let's get this out of the way first and foremost, Raven isn't exactly forgiven just yet, rather Yang and Tai both are giving her a chance to prove that she is willing to actually invest her time into her family again and not fuck off at the earliest sign of trouble.
If you might be wondering if this is being resolved so fast, keep in mind that this is just her being able to open the door to trying to resolve things with her family so to speak, it's up to Raven to bond with her family in order to take full advantage of this one chance she's being given.
She will NOT be given a second chance on this matter so she can't afford to fuck this up, ergo she will have to spend a fair amount of time with her family before she can truly be fully forgiven.
In other words, she will need to work on this over the next several chapters and there will almost certainly clashes between mother and daughter over things due to differing perspectives, but it will hopefully for Raven's sake, work out in the end.
Hints of the past
Many of you will likely have noticed sprinklings of references toward a certain something happening in the past, with a very prevalent memory of that night being part of why Raven completely dropped her guard in front of Yang, to begin with.
This will be something that I will be working on setting up for overtime, as I plan to pull the curtain back on a certain event at some point in the future of this story, so keep an eye out for any references you are able to spot!
Now then, next time on Spring of Rebirth: Arrival at Beacon Academy, long-overdue discussions and an offer made in earnest…
See you all next month!