GreyWing44: ...What the frick!? Now I'm not sure what that last part was from but I really wanna know. Sounds familiar. The book at least?
And I didn't see espers coming in. Hopefully it'll be a good addition, but I would think so. Maybe it'll be from Zettai Karen Children? God I loved that one. But who knows.
Also I was hoping for Halloween foreshadowing! The headless Grimm or the living jack-o'-lantern...Welp. always next time.
NeoNazo356: I've left a few hints as to the origins of the spell, but the name "Alkazar" is a HUGE spoiler, for those that know niche. *Cough* Indie Games *Cough*
Well, when you have Aura/Soul, and Appetite Energy/Body, having a Mind-based power source only makes sense, as I explained. Since [Silver Eyes] are independent of Aura/Semblance, and Faunus abilities are basically Superpowers (especially following the vein of Toriko), it only makes sense that Aura isn't the be-all-end-all, but one of many "power sources" that people can choose to draw strength from. Hell, Senjutsu is just as much self-hypnotism as it is body manipulation. Don't know about Zettai Karen Children, but the whole ESP/PK thing is a generalized format, not character-specific to any franchise, though I have left hints about future character cameos, subtle as they are.
As for a Halloween thing… Maybe a RWBBY Chibi holiday special?
Blaze1992: So I guess it was a Banzai run instead of Kamikaze one? (Chapter 20)
NeoNazo356: Yeah, I guess you could say that.
Blaze1992: Wait what happened between him and the Doc?
Kissing only or more?
Hmm well if you do add in the BS cities here's hoping the cast can deal with the madness/gore of those cities.
I wonder why no one made a crossover between RWBY and Storm Hawks since both have tech/weapons that not only fold but also powered by a crystalline energy propellant. (Chapter 21)
NeoNazo356: She smothered him in kisses, except for on the lips, as thanks for getting her name right. Because of his naivete however, even that is enough to make him red-faced and/or "slouch".
Since the previous time this came up, I now have a plan set for Bioshock Infinite's Columbia. Won't say for when or what, only that I intend for it to be a real "war of the worlds" kinda deal.
Plans are already in place to have Skyskimmers be part of the Remnant meta. Between the Transformation, crystalline energy sources, and floating island, I'm surprise no one has made a Storm Hawks crossover. I've seen a few episodes of it, but not enough to faithfully represent it, so don't expect to see any characters beyond the purest of cameos.
TM11: Lol, this was funny, though I think it would be better if you put it as a separate story from Giant Slayer. Just my opinion. Nonetheless, it seems we found something Jack isn't good at: kamikaze runs.
NeoNazo356: Jack can't be good at everything. His failures and his shortcomings (and the fact that he admits there are people stronger than him who he aspires to become strong-enough to defeat someday) I hope portray him as "not being OP". The only reason he's stronger than his peers of equivalent age is because he hasn't been "cruising through Easy Mode"; this is based on Qrow's famous line after he whooped Yang's butt at a videogame concerning the world outside of Beacon.
*NEW WORLD*
Apparently, news travels fast because as soon as Yang made it back to her dorm, she was immediately besieged by her sister and the curious members of Team JNPR, wondering just how she got wrapped up in the seizure of a Sky Pirate airship.
Even though it was one of those things you had to "tilt your head and squint" for, you could still see it; even if you had to tilt your head and squint.
With no other recourse than to spill the beans, at least after explaining Jack's absence by letting Ruby know he hadn't been hospitalized, again, Yang began regaling them with tales of their fight against the raiders of the sky.
Suffice it to say, by the time Jack and Yang assaulted the raider vessel directly, the others were on the edge of their seats; Ruby and Nora in particular. Sure, Weiss and Blake looked composed, but the blond could tell they were hanging on her every word as well.
"And then the two of us punched him in the face with a baseball-inspired one-liner and sent that fat SOB flying!" Yang finished.
"I still can't believe you called that combo 'Sunny Badger'," Weiss deadpanned.
"Hey, 'Sunny Badger' is a kickass combo name!" Ruby yelped.
"And then what happened?" Blake asked, not wanting to weather another of Ruby and Weiss' famous "old married couple" arguments concerning combo names.
"Lena hooked up the airship to the winch and we took back the spoils of war," Yang said with a cheeky grin, hands interlaced behind her head. "Of course… since some of that stuff might be stolen we couldn't just loot everything that wasn't nailed down and line our own pockets."
"Aww what a rip!" Nora whined.
"Behave," Ren sighed.
"So all you have to show for it is that?" Jaune asked pointing at Yang's arm.
"Yep! Got a new kickass shot-gauntlet out of it," Yang said with a grin as she held up the Two-Step Goodbye. "Thing kicks like a mule on steroids but damn does it have stopping power."
"Sooo… Is Jack going to keep your other Ember Celica or what?" Ruby asked, the door opening a moment later.
"I'm pretty sure it's just a loaner since she couldn't fit both on the same wrist."
"Jack, you're back!" Ruby beamed as the Faunus came in. "Yang was just telling us about-"
"I know. Ngh! I was there," Jack grumbled, his right arm hanging lazily in a sling.
"Yow, what happened to you?" Nora winced.
"If you were actually paying attention, you'd remember that he broke his arm after two usages of the Two-Step Goodbye," Ren stated, since as-usual Nora was off in her own little world.
"To be fair, it was an old break that broke. It wasn't a new one," Jack said rolling his hand. "You don't have to worry about me, though. I'm a fast healer, and this isn't the first time I've worked around a broken arm. Rgh!" he winced again, his free hand going to the back of his head.
"I don't remember any of the Sky Pirates getting a clean shot at the back of your head. You wanna tell me what happened?" Yang asked.
" . . . "
*Flashback*
Following Jack and Yang's trip to the Bounty Office, where they deposited their satchels of severed human heads for identification and reward dispersal, the two of them parted ways; Yang went on ahead to Vale, while Jack simply told her he had an errand to attend to in-town and he'd catch up with them later.
Making his way to the Vault of Glass nightclub, a cue had just scarcely begun to form as the sun began its descent; likely by those who had the patience to wait until the late evening where things really got hopping. There wasn't anything in the club rules against this, it was a common tactic for getting into the higher-end clubs, you just had to have the patience to wait it out, and the deep pockets to keep you occupied in the interim.
With his VIP access, Jack got past the cue with little fanfare, mainly because the bouncer recognized him at a glance and didn't ask for ID.
After the last would-be impersonator had gotten found out by Miltia and gotten a free orchiectomy courtesy of Melanie's stiletto heel for his troubles, it became common knowledge that to impersonate that particular VIP was only to be done at one's own peril.
There weren't any dancers yet, just a few couples getting cozy in the wall-side booths and higher floors, so the place was oddly quiet, and the bar was running slow-enough that Junior was able to step away and pass on the reigns to an intern while he and Jack went into his back office.
"So, Jack, what can I do for you this fine afternoon?" the bearded man questioned. "Drink?" he offered, holding out a bottle of whiskey and a glass.
Jack's response was to take the bottle and chug the glass he topped off for himself in one long gulp, panting audibly once the well was dry.
" . . . I take it you had a bad day?" he asked seeing the sling.
"Heh. You should see the other guy."
"If you had a nickel for every time I heard that, you could probably have your own nightclub."
"Yeah, but where'd the fun be in that?" Jack chuckled, the burn of the alcohol dulling the throbbing of his arm.
It was one thing to use Aura to heal external wounds, but the internal ones took more time and effort. Contrary to popular belief, having Aura was not the same as having a Healing Factor; it only augmented the inborne ability you already had to heal.
"So, got an interesting story to tell me?" Junior asked as the twins peeked into the room, Miltia's eyes going wide before she ran up to Jack, cupping his cheeks with her hands and looking him over.
"Jack! What happened to you?" she gaped as she saw his arm.
"If you lovely ladies would take a seat, I'd be more than happy to tell. Saves me the trouble of telling it more than once."
One explanation of the Sky Pirate attack later…
"And… the gold?" Junior asked with a raised brow, as halfway into the storytelling Jack had upended a bag filled with gold bullion onto his desk.
"One of the bodies I was frisking was a raider who was probably going to go AWOL at the next port of call. Guy had gold bullion out the wazu sewn into his clothing under his armor, and I was able to sneak it past the Valian Fleet; spoils of war and all that," Jack shrugged. "Of course, I can't sell this at a pawn shop without raising too many eyebrows, so that's why I came to you."
"Jack, I am offended and appalled that you would even insinuate I would mediate the sale of such ill-gotten gains," Junior said to him in a very stern tone.
The next moment the two of them let out a hearty laugh, punctuated by the clinking of ice as whiskey passed their lips.
"Ahhh, Jack. With you around, things are never boring," Junior said with a smile.
"May we live in strange times," Jack returned with a smile of his own, his arm thrown over Miltia's shoulder as she fretted over his bad arm.
"Still, Sky Pirates, huh?" Junior hummed as he sifted through the gold, arranging it meticulously by size and weight. "Always good for a cash influx. If you can catch 'em with their pants down."
"Yeah, I didn't really see them coming either. Part of what makes them so-terrifying to those who do get caught with their pants down," Jack shrugged. "Still, I had a good pilot at my back and a teammate at my side, and they got overconfident with the dozen-to-one numbers advantage, so everything worked out relatively okay in the end," he said drumming the fingers of his bad arm.
"So, how do you want the money to be divvied up?" Junior asked taking out a notepad.
"Hmmm… How about fifteen percent to the club-"
"So generous," Junior said with a roll of his eyes.
"Twenty into my personal account, half of the sum into St. Dolittle's, and just for good measure, send the rest of it the Beggar King's way."
"Ugh. Guy gives me the creeps," Melanie shuddered.
"He's the king of beggars. Being creepy is a given," Junior lamented. "Still, is it really worth sending so much cash to that old rat?" he asked turning back to Jack.
"The guy has eyes and ears all over the city. They see everyone, everything, but are never seen in turn. Just the kind of information network I need since I'm going to be living here for the next four years," Jack waved off. "You could benefit from a relationship with him too."
"I'll file that as a 'Soft Maybe'," Junior said raising his hands. "Anything else you need?"
"Not really. As much as I'd like to laze about in the VIP Lounge, I really have to get back to Beacon, make sure Yang doesn't tell people the two of us stopped a whole fleet of raider ships," he said getting up from his seat and swiping three pieces of bullion from the pile. "From one bro to another," he said tossing a piece to Junior, "and a gift for two very lovely young ladies," he said turning his attention to the two sisters, placing the bullion into their palms.
While Miltia received the offering with a grateful smile and a kiss on the cheek, her twin… Well…
Not as such.
"I don't need your damn charity!" Melanie yelled, the 10oz bullion leaving her hand.
*Flashback End*
"A minor altercation," Jack waved off. "Anyway, here's your bracelet back. You still going to keep the TSG?"
"Well…" Yang hummed as she caught her weapon. "Since we made a bit of a mess with this thing-"
"Ha!"
"Nora, behave."
"I'll probably bench it until it's only the Grimm I evaporate with this thing," Yang concluded.
"Fair enough," Jack shrugged. "So? Did anything interesting happen while we were out?"
"We witnessed a full-blown poltergeisting!" Nora whooped.
" . . . Okay then," Jack nodded.
"Does nothing faze you?!" Weiss squawked.
"Not really, no."
"You should've heard about his time as a kamikaze pilot," Yang chuckled.
"Wait, then how the hell are you still alive!?" Jaune gawped, Nora walking up to Jack and poking at him.
"Nora, I'm not a ghost, I just suck at being a kamikaze pilot," Jack said swatting her hand away.
" . . . Okay, that's fair," Pyrrha nodded.
"Anyway, I got you guys a souvenir," Jack said drawing a draw-cord bag from his side.
"Ooh! What is it?" Nora asked excitedly, their contents upturned onto the room's divider. " . . . Isn't that a bit of a stereotype?" she asked pointing to the gold teeth on the shelves, completely nonplussed by it while everyone else shifted away in revulsion.
"Do you see the golden teeth everywhere?" Jack asked dryly.
" . . . Fair point," she acquiesced.
"Ugh, gross, why do you even have these?" Jaune squealed.
"Uh, because I ripped them from pirate heads with vice grips. Duh," Jack returned with a roll of his eyes.
"I mean why did you bring them here!"
"I dunno. In case one of you wanted to use them for a necklace or a bracelet or something," Jack shrugged noncommittally.
"Jack! How could you desecrate the dead like this!?" Weiss demanded.
"To be fair, they weren't all dead," Yang hummed.
"Not helping," Jack stated. "To answer your question, when a Kingdom's citizen surrenders their citizenship and becomes a Bandit or a Raider, their civil rights are similarly redacted; the Council's way of 'dissuading' anyone from turning against the Kingdom's interests in pursuit of your own."
"Which is why killing a Bandit or a Raider, even on Kingdom soil, doesn't count as murder, I take it?" Ren hummed aloud.
"Pretty much. If you put the idea in citizens' heads that anyone who goes after them 'won't take prisoners', it goes a long way in stopping people from dropping their societal obligations and becoming ass pirates."
"But what about women?" Nora asked legitimately.
"They're still ass pirates but they need to use strap-ons for plundering booty."
"Jack! TMI!" Jaune squealed.
"Oh grow a pair," Jack bit out. "The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It's dark, and gritty, and quite frankly I don't think most of you are ready for it. The only ones remotely ready to face the rigors of the real world are Blake, Yang, Nora, and Ren. The rest of you are just dead weight."
"Well that seems a little harsh," Pyrrha pouted.
"Pyrrha, you couldn't beat me in a fight even when you were trying your hardest. What makes you think you could survive against a raider legitimately trying to kill you?" Jack questioned back, Pyrrha wilting backwards under his gaze. "Geez, everyone calls you a bunch of prodigies, the best in a generation… but in the end you're nothing but a bunch of immature brats," Jack sighed tiredly. "My condolences to whatever villager is counting on you to save their lives."
"Hey…!" Jaune spoke up, only for his words to die on his lips.
Out of everyone there, he was the absolute least qualified to rebuke the older teen's claims.
By his very admission he was the least-qualified to even attempt becoming a Huntsman.
"That's what I thought," Jack huffed. "So… Who wants a morbid charm bracelet?" he asked with levity.
"Ugh, what sane person would wear something so morbid?" Weiss asked.
"I'd like a morbid charm bracelet!"
"I WAS FUCKING JOKING!" Weiss shrieked at Nora's shameless admission.
"Excellent~ Let me get your wrist measurements and you'll be the envy of all your female friends~"
"Yay! Conversation Piece acquired!" Nora said chipperly.
"You are literally out of your damn mind," Weiss bit out.
"You have to be for this line of work," Ren hummed.
" . . . Make me one of those bracelets too," Yang added after a moment. "I can say it's a hobby knocking people's teeth out to make jewelry out of them."
"Intimidation Factor, ho!" Nora whooped.
"I'm surrounded by crazy people," Weiss groaned.
"Says the girl who drags the dead from their eternal rest to fight for her."
"For the last time, Ren! My Semblance creates golems based on my memories! It doesn't raise the dead, and it doesn't summon ghosts!" Weiss cried.
"I feel like I'm missing some context here," Jack hummed aloud.
"Don't worry about it, just get back to making me that epic charm bracelet," Nora said from her place on the bed, a measuring tape around her wrist.
"Just how many of these 'morbid charm bracelets' have you made?" Blake asked with a raised brow.
"Do you really wanna know the answer?" Jack asked.
"I'd rather not… but I kinda do," Blake admitted, morbidly curious.
"Well… Let's just say that certain circles call me 'The Tooth Fairy' for a good reason."
"*Snrk!* Tooth Fairy," Jaune snickered.
"Do you want a visit from The Tooth Fairy?"
"No thanks!" Jaune squealed as a pair of vicegrips were held up in his face.
*NEW WORLD*
"So… Why is everyone eating dinner outside?" Jack asked a couple hours later.
"Everyone thinks the dining hall is haunted," Ruby answered with a roll of her eyes.
"Says the girl who thought we had a ghost in our house," Yang chuckled.
"Only because you hid a walkie talkie next to my headboard when we had to replace the drywall!" Ruby squealed.
"Well, that would explain the Seyance, Ghost Whisperer, Exorcism, and Supernatural club creepers," Jack said as he eyed dozens of students in varying ghost-hunter related attire and gear going over the place with a fine-toothed comb. "You think they'll find anything?"
"Don't know, don't care," Yang said as she wolfed down her food.
"Yang… Are you okay?" Ruby asked nervously.
"Mmf. Yeah. Couldn't be better. Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seem a little… distant right now…"
"Fighting sky pirates is hungry work. Have to keep up my energy!"
"Yang, you're stress-eating," Weiss stated.
"You're stress-eating!" Yang snapped back.
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"It doesn't have to! I'm hungry!"
"Jack, what exactly did you tell her?" Blake asked accusingly.
"It's less about what I said and more about what shedid," Jack whispered in turn. "She's your partner, so keep an eye on her, okay?"
"Sometimes it feels like keeping an eye on the both of you is a full-time job."
"Yeah, well, that's the tradeoff for hunting in a pack. You have to put up with other people," Jack waved off as he ate.
*NEW WORLD*
Yang was alone, the full moon at her back as she stood atop a raider vessel.
Fists and feet flying, raider after raider were knocked down, nary a bit of effort on Yang's part needed.
"Yeah!" Yang whooped, the blast of her Ember Celica punctuating the night loudly as another body was sent flying. "How d'you like me now!"
"Blood… So much blood…"
"Oh god… It's everywhere…"
"Huh?" Yang asked confusedly. "What the-!?"
Set upon both wrists were the Two-Step Goodbye, one apiece, and in place of the bodies she'd knocked down, were nothing but massive blood spatters.
"When the hell did this get here?!"
"You… How could you do something so horrible, Yang?"
"Ruby?!"
"Monster."
"Hold on-"
"Killer."
"Wait a-"
"Murderer!"
*NEW WORLD*
The next moment Yang was wide awake in her bed, lilac eyes darting through the darkness of her room, her body covered in a sheen of sweat, her fists trembling even as the memories of her nightmare faded away like fog.
Rolling to her side and reaching into the room's divider, when her hands found her Ember Celica, her trembling stilled. When her eyes spied the clunky-yet-dangerous silhouette of the Two-Step Goodbye… a feeling of dread rose up within her.
'Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick,' Yang groaned, hand going to her mouth before she climbed out of her bunk and ghosted out the door
The blond making her way to the roof, the night air was brisk, the light from the moon casting a pale glow on Beacon. Though Yang fell to her knees and hugged herself, skin clammy, it wasn't due to cold, but to the night terrors she now felt.
"Yang."
The blond's eyes snapping into focus at the shadow in the doorway, two orbs of golden amber peered at her through the darkness until the lithe silhouette of her partner stepped out into the open, like herself clad in her jammies.
"Yang. Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine."
"Really? Because you don't look fine."
"Blake, I said I'm fine-"
"And I'm saying you're not," Blake bit back. "Yang, I know what you're going through. You feel guilty for killing those raiders even though they were unarguably 'the bad guys'. I've been through the same thing."
Though it'd been before the whole "Circle of Man" revelation, Blake had killed before; in order to protect her comrades from the automatic rifle of a man who'd been playing possum, she'd stained her hands red. She didn't regret it, but she'd been ill for quite a while afterwards.
"You… You have…?" Yang gawped, seeing her partner in a whole new light.
"Yes… I have…" Blake returned, striding forward to sit next to Yang, the two of them looking out over Beacon. "The first time it happened, I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I thought what I was feeling was the closest you could get to dying while still alive… But when I thought of the alternative, I realized how-important it is to reflect on the kill, why you do it, and for whom you do it."
"I…"
"Yang, your guilt is perfectly natural. I'd be more-worried if you didn't feel any kind of guilt from what you did," Blake interrupted. "That you can still feel guilty, even after all you killed were sky pirates… It's a sign you haven't lost your humanity. And as long as you continue to feel guilty, even while accepting that sometimes it has to be done, you won't lose your humanity."
"But what about Jack? He didn't seem shaken up in the slightest."
"Jack's had blood on his hands since he was a child. He's been steeped in it for so long that it's become part of his 'default', so more bodies on the pile won't bother him after everything he's been through," Blake answered. "That look you had on your face after you trailed after him into the boy's shower, it has me pretty sure you knew about that already."
"Wait, then why do you know that?"
"I'm his kid sister. We share all we're able to with one another," Blake answered, a soft smile on her face at the thought of having someone so-reliable at her back. That Jack was actually "Jack the Ripper" didn't even bother her anymore, because now that she knew why he killed… It just didn't really bother her anymore.
It was shocking, that was for certain, but the revelation that he was the "big brother" she'd grown up with could be considered equally shocking.
"Well lucky you. When I found out, I got the shock of my life," Yang huffed.
"Why? Didn't you like what you saw~?" Blake asked coyly.
"I did and didn't like what I saw for different reasons," Yang pouted. " . . . How much did he tell you?"
"As much as he told you. Maybe more~"
"I'm not sure whether I envy you or pity you," Yang sighed. "And it came as a hell of a shock seeing the two of you in the same baby pictures. What're the chances your moms were best friends even though they were different species?"
"Yeah… What're the chances?" Blake returned, present pretense still weighing her down.
"Anyway, I don't want you telling Jack about this."
"Why?"
"Because if Jack found out how shaken-up I was over this, he'd feel like this was his fault for taking me along. I won't put that kind of burden on him."
"For the record, he already knows," a voice said from the door, the two girls whirling around to see twin orbs of soothing jade looking out at them through the darkness of the doorframe, their owner stepping out and letting out a jaw-cracking yawn as he scratched at his stomach, eyes squinting shut.
"Jack?! How long've you been awake?" Yang asked frantically.
"Long enough. Don't forget, I'm a light sleeper, and I can see people's Aura, so I know that yours has been twisted in knots over this," he said as he cracked an eye open, ghostly flames alighting his eye before he let out another yawn. "Anyway, I'm glad you're confiding in others like this, but even I can tell this isn't enough."
"Well then what do you recommend?" Yang asked. "I don't want to drag anyone else into this. Let alone Ruby."
A moment later, she and Blake had a set of fresh clothes thrown their way.
"Get dressed and meet me at the south exit," Jack said as he turned around, cracking his neck as he went. "We're going on a road trip."
*NEW WORLD*
"Jack… where're… we… going…?" Yang questioned, she, Jack, and Blake astride the team's hovercar, the absolute smoothness of the ride quickly lulling her to sleep as the forest and the river rushed past them.
"We're going to see your dad about this. It's been a while since you've been home, hasn't it?" Jack asked from behind the wheel.
"My-My dad?!" Yang gawped, all notion of sleep leaving her.
"Yeah. That horny bastard," Jack answered. "It's a parent's job to make sure their kid's head's on straight, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but so late at night!?"
"I can smell it on you," Jack hummed aloud. "You're afraid of going to sleep again. Afraid of whatever nightmare your guilt-fueled psyche will cook up. If you can't get a decent night's sleep, every other facet of your life will suffer for it, so we're going to nip this in the bud before it turns into a bigger problem than it already is."
"You'd really go this far? For me?" Yang asked as she glanced over her shoulder, seeing that Blake had fallen asleep in the back, face pressed against the passenger-side window.
"Hey, you accepted me for all my ugliness. The least I can do is help you out with yours, even if your ugliness is only on the inside," Jack shrugged.
"I'm not sure whether that's a compliment, or an insult."
"Take it however you will," Jack shrugged. "Feel free to nod off like your friend there, if you're able. It'll be a while before we get to Patch, even if I floor it once we hit the bay."
*NEW WORLD*
After crossing the land route between Beacon and Vale, instead of driving through Vale proper, Jack chose instead to take the Appleseed along the road at the base of Vale's wall. Even though the distance to Patch along that route was longer, without having to worry about traffic lights, the trip was actually much shorter since so-few people used Vale's exterior roads.
While it was true that the most-likely people in Vale to get attacked were those just-outside the walls, since so-few people really ventured beyond the safety that the walls offered, with the Appleseed's speed and Jack's natural nightvision that made the route as bright as though it were day out, the trip to Patch was actually uneventful. When the hovercar transitioned from land to water Yang had momentarily woken back up, but the novelty of flying over churning waves in the night swiftly wore off, and the blond nodded off, even if she was only half-asleep.
The island of Patch didn't have the same kind of wall that Vale did, mainly because the surrounding waters were a natural barrier all their own.
Very few aquatic Grimm ever made their way there through the shallow waters, those that were too big to completely conceal themselves victim to a bombing raid, while those that tried ascending its shores were the victims of auto-turrets stationed around the populated areas.
Grimm could still appear from inland, and no-one knew where fresh Grimm came from even after subjugation parties swept the island clean. Some speculated an underground route that only the Grimm were aware of, while others thought the Grimm manifested from the very earth itself, as though by magic.
Either way, the trip to Yang's childhood home was pretty straightforward once they'd made landfall. The roads were well-used with lots of space, and since most-everyone on Patch knew how to use a firearm, Grimm rarely ever poked their noses out unless an especially tasty nugget of negative energy made itself known.
The Xiao Long-Rose family home, located on a flat plot of land with a few trees scattered about was a two-story log cabin with a sheet metal roof in dull red. The place looked like it'd been built from scratch by the home's occupants, and since the house had been made by Hunters, that very well could've been the case. While it was true Hunters made serious bank, they were still a frugal, penny-pinching lot at times.
Though the patriarch of the house had given up full-time fieldwork to become a teacher, the headlights alighting the side of the family home was enough to make the bedroom light snap on, even if the low hum of the Appleseed's engine couldn't.
Jack, parking the Appleseed to the side of the footpath by the front door, had gotten around the hood and opened the door for Yang by the time Taiyang had opened the front door, letting out fresh light into the darkness.
"Tell me who you are, or you'll be meeting the business end of my shotgun!" Taiyang shouted from the doorframe.
"Dad, it's okay. It's me," Yang yawned.
"Yang…?" Taiyang asked as he rubbed his eyes. "Yang, what're you doing here?"
"My friends… think I should talk to you about something, and that it can't really wait," Yang admitted.
" . . . Well I always have time for my little girl," Taiyang sighed, letting the barrel of his shotgun dip. "Come on in. I'll put the coffee on."
The interior of the house was predominantly wooden, the walls covered with family photos. Suspiciously-enough, pictures of Yang's mother were far and few between bordering nonexistent, whereas an overabundance of pictures of Ruby's mother seemed to dominate.
Scratch that; pictures of Yang's mother were completely nonexistent. Almost as though the occupants were trying to wipe one mother out of their memories in place of another.
"So… You're Jack Braxton, in the flesh," Taiyang hummed as he sat across from his daughter and her teammates, casting a narrowed eye at Jack as he sized him up.
"Listen, blondie, I'm not here to butt heads with you because of any Humanized alpha male macho bullshit dick-waving. I'm here because Yang needs the advice of a parent after killing sky pirates today, and also because I'm the only one with a driver's license," Jack huffed in turn.
There was also the fact that the shuttles weren't running that late at night and the Appleseed was the only way to get to Patch at that time of night without chartering a private shuttle, but that was neither here nor there.
"You let my daughter fight sky pirates?!" the man demanded, slammed hands on the table startling Blake into wakefulness.
"Hey! I chose to fight alongside him so he wouldn't be up there all alone! So don't you dare take that tone with him!" Yang shouted red-eyed as embers leapt from her hair.
That Yang would actually talk back to him had Taiyang stepping back in shock.
Taking a second to digest what he'd been told, his daughter's actions were perfectly justified.
Besides, deep-down he knew his daughter would have to eventually kill other Humans as part of her work as a Huntress. Only over-idealistic fools would think they could become Hunters and only contend with the Grimm; not when Humans were just-as-monstrous if not moreso.
He'd just hoped his little girl wouldn't have to cross this hurdle at least until she'd graduated. Which had him wondering…
"Why were you on missions today? You aren't supposed to start until the lead-in to the Vytal Festival."
"To be fair, this was for Flight Club, not an official mission. Ozpin has opened up the bounty boards for us, but we haven't gone on official missions yet," Yang stated, excluding that messy business with The Crimson Orb since that was more of an "off-the-books" errand for Ozpin.
"Okay, so it wasn't a mission, but a freak accident then," Taiyang hummed as he let the details soak in. "And you're sure you couldn't have taken them alive?"
"Not all of them. Those dirtbags were coming for blood, and if Yang hadn't fought them with everything she had, she'd have been reduced to a damn brood mare," Jack bit back. "Those raiders can get pretty rapey, wouldn't you say?"
" . . . "
Taiyang held his tongue, but his silence spoke volumes.
"Anyway, I'm sure you've had to kill to protect your teammates, otherwise you're a really shitty sort of person, so while you and Yang have this heart-to-heart, I'm going to go out into the woods and take out any Grimm your daughter might kite in this general direction," he said making his way out the door, taking Taiyang's shotgun along for the ride.
The door creaking shut, the creaking of boards on the roof told the two blonds that their extra was now maintaining vigil over the household, allotting them a little more breathing room.
"Aren't you going to go with him?" Taiyang asked turning to Blake.
"Yang isn't just the first girl to find me in the woods. She's my friend. I'm going to be here for her," the Closet Faunus asserted.
"Fair enough," the man nodded. "So… Yang… Got your first kill today, huh?"
"Yeah…" Yang answered, wringing her hands nervously.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
"I do… but I don't know where to start."
"How about at the beginning?"
"Well…" she paused, trying to get comfortable. "Things only started going bad when I tried climbing onto the roof of my airship without any mag-boots," Yang began. "I almost went over the tail of our airship and it wasn't until Jack turned another raider into a human rope that I was able to pull myself back up."
"Um… Huh?" Taiyang asked confusedly.
"Oh, well, Jack sliced off one guy's robot arm and then blew out one of his knees, making him flop backwards so I'd have something to grab onto," Yang clarified. "Anyway, Jack roughed himself up a bit bailing me out so clearly he wasn't going to be fighting at his best, and since we'd lost one of our engine pods and couldn't outrun them… fighting was really the only option left open to us."
"You couldn't have called for help?"
"Even if they hadn't been jamming our comms, which they were, the Valian Fleet wouldn't have gotten to us before the raiders reeled us in and hauled us off to god-knows-where," Yang answered. "Also, there was a very clear undertone of rape amongst the raiders, so they weren't the 'heart of gold' kinda raiders Ruby grew up with on Saturday morning cartoons."
"I'm… sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, well, let's just say rooming with Jack has been very… eye-opening," Yang admitted. "Anyway, firing off the Two-Step Goodbye for the first time cranked my Semblance up to eleven, so I'm not sure if my first kill was from actually nailing someone with it or when I accidentally sent one of them overboard, but… Yeah, now I've got blood on my hands."
" . . . Would you rather Jack have died so you could keep your hands clean?" Taiyang asked somberly, Yang's eyes widening at the inquiry. "When I was Ruby's age, I had this whole romanticized 'Hero of jJustice' spiel all thought-out for myself; that I'd be like the heroes from the old stories who turn enemies into allies and save the world… But the real world isn't that kind," he said interlacing his fingers. "Summer almost died on our first mission away from the Kingdom because I hesitated to kill a Bandit, and if Qrow hadn't stepped in to cover for my screwup… Ruby might've never been born."
"Dad, I…! I didn't know…" Yang returned, eyes wide.
"I kept that story from you for a reason… But it seems like I can't any longer," Taiyang said tiredly. "You've grown up so fast… It seems like just yesterday I was changing your diapers, and now you're losing sleep over murder-guilt."
"DAAAD!" Yang squawked, red in the face.
"At least Jack wasn't around to hear that," Blake sighed.
"For the record… I totally heard that!" Jack's muffled voice called out from the woodline.
*BANG!*
"Got 'im! Carry on!"
"Dad, could you please not say something so embarrassing when a guy with super-hearing's nearby?" Yang pleaded.
"Fine," Taiyang sighed dejectedly. "Back to what I was saying, I'm not saying you should go on a killing spree every opportunity like your mother did. All that'll do is make you more enemies."
"I… think I'll join Jack outside," Blake whispered as she excused herself, feeling like she'd heard something she hadn't.
"But at the same time, death and murder are unavoidable in our line of work. If you want to continue training to be a Huntress, you'll have to acknowledge that sometimes, you'll have to get your hands dirty. Don't make murder your go-to option, but don't completely write it off either."
"So… everything in moderation?"
"That's the ticket," Taiyang nodded. "I'm sorry you had to go through this so soon," he said reaching out and taking her hands, "but I know that you'll be strong-enough to get past this. And just know that no matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you."
"Thanks, dad," Yang said with a smile, reaching over and giving him a bone-breaking hug. "I… I really needed this talk."
"You've got good friends, kiddo. Not everyone would get up in the middle of the night and drive you home like this."
"Not everyone has a kick-ass hovercar to do it with," Jack said with a nod as he came back in, setting the shotgun on the gun rack. "Loads easier to make the trip that way."
"I still can't believe you won a whole car in the Sports Day Raffle," Taiyang awed as he looked out the window at aforementioned "kick-ass" ride. "Back in my day the most we ever got was a new Scroll, maybe some school supplies."
"And wouldn't that be disappointing to win?" Jack chuckled.
"Hey, school supplies are important, you know."
"Jeez, Yang. It's a wonder you turned out so cool when your old man's a total square."
"Yeah, well, he's my dad and I still love him," Yang said patting him consolingly on the shoulder.
"Don't patronize me."
"Back to the topic at hand. Yang… Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm feeling much better," Yang nodded. "I really needed this. Thanks for going the extra mile for me."
Taiyang's hackles rose when his daughter kissed the Faunus boy on the cheek.
Not because he was a Faunus, but because he was a teenage boy in-general.
"You're welcome," Jack returned. "Why don't you and Blake start up the car. After I take care of some business, we'll head back to Beacon."
"Nu-uh, I'm putting my foot down, it is too damn late to be driving off to Beacon," Taiyang said putting his foot down. "The three of you are going to stay here for the night and head back out in the morning, and that's final."
" . . . Hard to argue with a guy who has a gun rack by the front door," Jack shrugged. "You win, Mr. Xiao Long."
"You bet I do," the man nodded.
"Cool. You guys can stay in my room. It'll be like a big slumber party," Yang nodded with a smile.
"I'll…" Jack trailed off when he saw the look Yang's dad was giving him over her shoulder. "I'll take the guest room."
"Awww," Yang pouted.
"Don't pout, Yang. You sleep in the same room as him on a regular basis," Blake stated.
"Don't remind me," Taiyang groaned.
"Says the guy that knocked up both girls he roomed with," Jack said with rolled eyes.
"Which reminds me. You touch a hair on my little girl's head, and so help me-"
"Dad! Chillax! I don't plan on becoming a teenage mother," Yang asserted.
"Chillax?" Blake asked with a raised brow.
"Don't give me that look. 'Chillax' is totally cool."
"Not if you have to say it's 'cool'."
"Just go upstairs already," Yang huffed, pushing Blake along while leaving the two males to their own devices.
"So… You're the guy Ruby inducted as her big brother," Taiyang hummed.
"More or less," Jack shrugged, plopping himself down on the recliner. "All things considered, your girls turned out alright. Most single parents can't even do half that well with one kid, let alone two. I'm impressed."
"Yeah, well… It was a little rocky, back when Summer died," Taiyang sighed, plopping down on the couch across from him. "I know I acted like the stereotypical dad back then, but can I count on you to look after my girls? They mean the world to me, and it'd be a load off my mind if I knew I could count on you."
" . . . I won't let either of them die on my watch, and I'll make damn sure they can carry on even after I'm gone," Jack said somberly. "You can trust me that much."
"In the end, that's all the father of a Huntress can ask for," the man sighed. "Thanks for keeping my little girl safe against those raiders. If anything'd happened to her I'd… I don't know what I'd do."
"If it were me I'd go on a murderous rampage, but that's just me," Jack shrugged.
And he knew he'd go on a quote/unquote "murderous rampage" because he had gone on such a rush of violent and uncontrolled behavior for a very approximate reason.
"Still, I'd rather not have Ruby go through this whole song and dance, sooo…"
"I can only promise to try and keep her hands clean, but if she chooses to get blood on her hands to save a friend… that means she's willing to put the welfare of others before herself. Everything a Huntress should be. And in the end… isn't that all you can ask for as her father?"
"Yeah. I guess you're right," he nodded. "I'm still not happy with you rooming with them-"
"Hypocrite."
"-but regardless of however I feel about that…" Taiyang bit out. "They don't live under my roof anymore, so I'll trust their judgement."
"Relax, I'm not a total horndog. We Faunus can keep our impulses under control. We aren't total animals."
"I'm not making this a race thing, I'm just saying-"
"Dad! Stop being racist! I can hear you form here!" Yang shouted from upstairs.
"Walked right into that one," Jack chuckled, Taiyang hanging his head.
"Just go to bed already."
*NEW WORLD*
AN:
At the end of RWBY Volume 6, Yand and Blake seemed really nonplussed by the fact that they totally killed a guy. Sure, he was trying to kill them both, but Yang showed more of a response from her PTSD than an actual murder. Since this is the first time anyone in the main cast other than Jack has killed before, I thought it'd be interesting to touch up on this part of their occupation. Just because Yang is strong on the outside doesn't mean she's as-strong on the inside; to get that kind of strength, she needs the love and supports of friends and family, which is why I wrote in the trip to Patch the way I did. No super-awesome fight choreography like during the Jack & Yang vs Sky Pirates fight, but the Lows are just as important as the Highs.
Tell me what you think in the Reviews Column!