AN: Always exciting to start a new arc. Especially when I know it won't be anywhere near as long as the Atlas Investigation Arc (fingers crossed). As I said last chapter, this arc, we're going to be doing some things a little differently. Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 65: Family Vacation

Hello, everyone. I am the narrator for this story. First, if you have made it this far because you are interested in how this tale plays out, I hope you know that as the one telling this story, I am grateful to you. And now that we have gotten that out of the way, allow me to give you all fair warning.

This part of the story in particular is quite cruel. If you wish to continue this tale, consider yourselves warned. Good? Good! Then let us continue…

Ruby Rose knew exactly what the first thing she wanted to do when she got home was. Well, after a good night's rest after the flight back home, that is. The first thing Ruby wanted to do was visit the grave of Summer Rose, her mother.

The last time Ruby had the chance to do this was before the second semester of Beacon had started. Things were so much different for Ruby back then. She was all smiles when she was 'talking' to her mom back then. She talked about her friends. How much fun school was. The stuff she should have spent her time talking to her dead mom about.

However, the second semester complicated things. Silver eyes. A monster of a woman who commanded Grimm that apparently killed Summer. A demanding, but kind combat instructor. Enemies all around. It was all so overwhelming.

Even so, Ruby tried her best to start this conversation with a smile. "Hey, Mom." She said sweetly. "Sorry…I know it's been awhile. But, I guess you kinda know that already, yeah? Life of a Huntress never stops, yeah?"

Ruby paused. "Things have gotten way more complicated since the last time I talked to you. My eyes…the eyes I inherited from you, I know about them now. I know about Salem too…I spoke with her. She said she killed you, Mom."

Ruby swallowed hard. "It's so much to take in, Mom." She admitted. "I always thought you just went on a mission and never came back. But instead, I find out that you were fighting some kind of secret war with a monster of a woman who commands the Grimm. I don't know whether to be proud of you for it, or appalled that you picked a fight you clearly couldn't win."

Ruby took a deep breath. "We got a new combat professor too. He's young enough to be an upperclassmen, but he's good at what he does. He's incredible…er, incredibly strong I mean." She explained. "I never realized just how far ahead the teachers were of me until I saw him in action."

Ruby lowered her head. "I'm not strong enough, Mom." She admitted. "I know I'm not half the Huntress you are, and I'm not even a tenth of the Huntress I want to be as far as I'm concerned. I'm nowhere near the level I want to be or should be if I'm so special, and evil is making its move all across Remnant."

"I don't know what to do. These are the moments I really do wish you were alive. If you really had the power and responsibility I have now…then I wish I could ask you for your wisdom."

At that moment, a voice very familiar to Ruby cut in. "I figured this is where you were." Taiyang Xiao Long spoke up.

"Hey, Dad." Ruby said softly.

Taiyang rubbed Ruby's head. "Lien for your thoughts?" He requested.

Ruby paused, wondering if she should bother talking to her dad about how she felt about taking up her mom's fight. Did he even know? However, Ruby knew she could never hide things from Taiyang forever. "Did Mom ever tell you about the kind of missions she was going on?" She asked.

Taiyang's face fell. Ruby waited for him to respond. Taiyang took a deep breath. "You don't have to dance around the subject, Ruby." He promised. "Qrow told me that Professor Ozpin told you about Salem."

"You knew?" Ruby gasped.

Taiyang nodded. "Back at Beacon, Team STRQ were the golden children of Professor Ozpin, who had only just become Headmaster." He explained. "We got special treatment, special missions, and a lot of leeway when we really should not have. Especially when you consider how much trouble Qrow and Raven caused."

"But Professor Ozpin was most interested in Summer's abilities, and it all came back to those eyes from her's. The same eyes that you inherited from her." Taiyang paused to let his words sink in.

"After we graduated," Taiyang continued, "Professor Ozpin told us about Salem. Qrow and Summer were very eager to get involved. Raven and I were much more hesitant. But, I wanted to keep fighting with Team STRQ."

"One thing led to another, Raven and I got together and we had Yang. Then, Raven ran left both us and the mission and Summer stepped up. She became Yang's mom by all intents and purposes." Taiyang smiled fondly at the memories. "Missions for Ozpin and mothering Yang. She was amazing."

"Eventually," Taiyang continued, "your mom and I got together and then you came into the world."

A single tear fell from Taiyang's eyes. "I still remember how happy she looked when she held you for the first time. She promised she would always protect you."

Ruby's expression turned slightly bitter at how that promise turned out. "She loved you, Ruby. She loved Yang too, but because you were her blood daughter, you were special for a very different reason. And she loved you so much, Ruby. Going on missions and being separated from you was painful for her."

Ruby wanted to be touched by those words, yet all she could focus on was the missions. The missions that separated mother and daughter forever. "Did she ever tell you about the missions she went on for Professor Ozpin? The missions involving Salem?"

Taiyang sighed. "After I retired from those missions to focus on you and Yang, Summer only gave me the basic details. Hunting Grimm in extremely hazardous areas, investigating the activities of her agents."

Taiyang's expression turned dark. "But her last mission was the one mission that she gave me absolutely no information whatsoever."

"Did you think to ask Professor Ozpin once she came back?" Ruby asked curiously.

Taiyang nodded. "He told me that Summer was only on a basic reconnaissance mission. One that should not have been so dangerous. He told me that ever since you were born, he had been trying to send Summer on safer missions." Taiyang snorted bitterly. "Good job there…but I do believe he at least tried."

Taiyang sighed. "Qrow tried to look into it himself after Summer vanished, but found no clues about what happened to her. It was shortly after Yang took you from the house to try and find Raven that Ozpin told us he discovered…she was gone."

"Salem killed her." Ruby bitterly revealed. "She told me as much."

Taiyang fell silent at this. He loved Summer. He loved Raven too. And hearing just how Summer died made his stomach twist in knots. "Now it's up to me…I have these eyes, after all, just like Mom did."

Taiyang's stomach twisted further when he realized Ruby wanted to fight in this. "There's no law that says you have to pick up where Summer left off." Taiyang told her.

"I have these powers. If I don't use them, what good are they?" Ruby countered.

Taiyang sighed. "Summer said the same thing once upon a time. That was actually another thing she never wanted to talk about. All she ever told us was that silver eyes run through her family, and she's always known she's had a great responsibility that came with that power as a result." He admitted. "You two are so alike, it's scary."

Ruby gazed at the words on Summer's tombstone: "Thus kindly I scatter." She never did understand what that meant. "But we're not though. Mom knew her role. She knew she had to be ready for something big. It took us being invaded for me to learn about this power, and there is still so much I don't understand about my eyes."

Ruby lowered her head. "You and Yang talk about her like some kind of superhero…and if that's true, I bet she could have taken Cinder. Professor Kobalt wouldn't have gotten so badly hurt against that big guy. Weiss's sister would have been saved. I'm nothing like Mom."

Taiyang winced. Ruby was such a positive ball of light and energy, hearing her talking down to herself like that. How would you handle this, Summer? He wondered.

"There's something else I should tell you, Ruby." Taiyang said to her. "When we brought you home from the hospital, I overheard your mom speaking to you over your crib."

Ruby looked at Taiyang. "She vowed that she would do everything she could to make sure you didn't have to live the same life as her."

"She failed." Ruby bitterly noted.

"She told me afterwards she still felt she had far more room for improvement." Taiyang continued. "So, she intended to continue taking missions. She planned to reach her full potential as a possible S-Class Huntress."

Taiyang rubbed Ruby's shoulder. "Your mother was an amazing woman, Ruby. But she was by no means perfect." He admitted. "She would be the first to tell you that. Constantly comparing yourself to her is unwise. After all, she was an adult with years of experience under her belt, and you only just finished your first year.."

Ruby was still unconvinced. If that really is the case, then what was the point of her choosing her mission over Yang and me? She wondered.

Taiyang then rubbed Ruby's hair. Ruby was briefly taken aback by this affection and her old self returned. "I see a lot of her in you though." Taiyang admitted. "And I completely agree with Qrow's assessment of you. You're gonna go far. But you're not going to get as far as you can go in one day. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Whether you choose to continue to fight in Ozpin's war, or just focus on helping the little guy in some settlement like Patch Island as a pro, you don't get there in a single day."

Taiyang then kissed Ruby on the forehead. "And no matter how high you climb, remember that the important thing is that you're still you. You're still my little girl, and you're still a friend and leader to your sister and those girls you've met. And that's not getting into the other friends you made in Beacon too."

"I don't want to lose any of them, Dad." Ruby pitifully admitted. "That's why I need to be strong."

"I know, baby." He promised. He then decided to change the subject, realizing he was not getting to Ruby for now. "How about we stop dwelling on this? You're on vacation. You should act like it. I was thinking that the three of us could go on a trip. It's been a long time since we've done something fun, just the three of us. There's a great deal on a nice little cabin in Thimble that we could use as a nice little vacation home. Do some hiking, swim in the lake. Sounds like fun, don't you think?"

Ruby could not resist smiling at this. She had to admit. That did sound nice for her. "I suppose it has been awhile." She admitted.

"That's my girl!" Taiyang practically cheered. He rubbed Ruby's shoulder. "Now buck up. We both know Summer wouldn't want you to sulk so much. She loved your smile more than anything in the world, Ruby. She loved that smile even more than she loved me."

Ruby had to giggle. "She wasn't your first love, after all." She teased.

"Hey now, if it wasn't for my first love, you wouldn't have your big sister." Taiyang looked offended.

Ruby pouted. "With the way she acts sometimes, I wouldn't call that a gift." She muttered, making Taiyang laugh.

"Come on, let's head back to the house." Taiyang told her. "I haven't told Yang yet. I'm sure she'll be thrilled at the thought of a vacation."

With that, Taiyang led Ruby back to the house. Mom…is Dad right? Am I really going about this the wrong way? She wondered.

Meanwhile, inside the Xiao Long-Rose household, Yang calmly sat on the couch with Zwei in her lap. A bag of chips was at her side that she was slowly munching on. The TV was on. She could not find anything she particularly wanted to watch, so she just sat through the news. They were doing some profile on some big shot scientist.

"We're back with our exclusive interview with Dr. Cambridge Knowell, Remnant's brightest young scientist!" Lisa Lavender introduced to her live studio audience.

Yang hummed as she got a good look at Cambridge Knowell. He was an attractive young man, who looked somewhere between 10-15 years older than her. He had light brown hair that practically shone in the light. His suit was light blue and his eyes were a deep ocean blue. Brains and looks, huh? He must've been popular with the ladies in school. Yang noted. He certainly looks like less of a nerd than Charlie.

"Now, Dr. Knowell," Lisa addressed the smiling scientist, "military science, medical science, molecular science, and that is just to name a few of the fields you have involved yourself in. In fact, you have become quite famous for involving yourself with a new field every year. And you've made your mark in just about all of them."

"You flatter me, I'm just a man blessed with a great deal of intellect and a keen ability to pick things up at an unnatural rate." Cambridge replied.

"You're also an incredible inventor yourself, with several patents with a variety of companies. You are currently attempting to partner with Surgeon Defense, the top defense contractor in Vale" Lisa continued. "I must know, how are you able to come up with so many brilliant designs for these companies? And how do you find time to master so many fields of study in your early thirties when there are those who devote their entire lives to a single field?"

Cambridge took a sip of the coffee that was provided and hummed. "That's a loaded bunch of questions, but thankfully I think I can answer them all at once." He noted. "Now…how do I put this?"

Cambridge smiled. "They just…come to me." He admitted. "Like bubbles welling up in spring. I wish I could give you a far less boring answer, but that's the truth of it. They just come to me."

"However, I will tell you this, the key to obtaining expertise in so many different fields and creating so many designs for contractors like Surgeon is to first distance yourself from all worldly desires. That way, you can focus entirely on your passion." Cambridge explained. "For starters, I have what you would call an atelier for science, rather than art. That atelier is nothing more than a modest cabin in the woods."

"I spend probably nine months out of the year in that atelier of mine." Cambridge admitted. "I don't have much of a social life as a result. Which is a shame, because I know at my age I should focus on starting a family."

Cambridge laughed. "I guess if I did find a wife, she would have to share my passion for science or understand the kind of man she married."

Lisa laughed as well. "Is there anything you can tell us about your proposal with Surgeon?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Lisa, but due to the nature of the design, I'm afraid I cannot." Cambridge admitted. "All I can say is that it's something I'm very excited for. Something that could even the playing field between the military and professional Huntsmen."

"That is something I wanted to ask you about." Lisa admitted. "You've taken some heat for publicly criticizing Huntsmen and that is the reason for your attempts to work with defense contractors for the military."

"That I have, I am not ashamed of speaking my mind." Cambridge nodded.

"How do you respond to your critics in light of support for Huntsmen Academies and professional Huntsmen increasing in light of recent events such as the Vytal Festival incident?" Lisa asked.

Cambridge hummed as he sipped his coffee once more. "Lisa, I will not deny that the Huntsmen involved in recent events like the attack on the Vytal Festival conducted themselves admirably. Let me first say that my critique of Huntsmen is in no way directed towards the individuals themselves."

"The reality, however, is that the system of Huntsmen is extremely fallible. We are talking about independent warriors who can level buildings, even entire cities if they have the ability. Independent warriors who only answer to the ones who hired them. Huntsmen do protect us, but who is going to protect us from Huntsmen if the worst case scenario happens? After all, going rogue isn't unheard of in that line of work."

"Now, I could certainly say that if a Huntsman goes rogue, another Huntsman would stop them. However, instead of relying on independent individuals to save us, shouldn't we be allowed to rely on our own military for protection, too?"

"There are plenty who would disagree, considering the Atlesian Army's failure in Vytal." Lisa pointed out.

"It is precisely because they failed that I believe we need to focus on the military. They failed because they were targeted as the weakest link." Cambridge explained. "If we can level the playing field between the Huntsmen and the military, both sides will be properly equipped for the enemy. And I hope my critics will understand that is all I'm trying to do. This is nothing personal. This is just me making sure we have no weak points when the next attack occurs."

"And you believe it is highly possible that another attack may occur in the future? Is that why you are trying to work out a contract with Surgeon to develop something for them to give to Vale's military?"

Cambridge nodded. "What do you have to say to the people who want to know why nothing's been made official yet?" She asked. "You've worked with Surgeon in the past. In fact, you're widely credited for their rise as a company. It's surprising they haven't just picked you already."

Cambridge laughed. "Well, there are several other developers who are attempting to sell designs to Surgeon, and they only have enough funds to outsource to one high-profile scientist. I'm confident that it will be me, mind you, but I will not deny that the others are quite brilliant. For example, one of my competitors is proposing migrating all of Vale's military data to a more secure platform of his own design."

"Oh my, and you're not going to get in trouble for saying any of this?"

Cambridge shook his head. "While I cannot say who will be selected or how much money is involved, who is in the running to partner with Surgeon for their newest contract with Vale's military and their proposal is public knowledge. I simply have chosen to keep my proposal a bit more of a guarded secret. After all, it is quite the revolutionary idea if I do say so myself."

Yang rolled her eyes as Lisa continued brown-nosing this know-it-all scientist. "Him and his humble brags." She muttered, a bit put off by the way the guy acted. It almost seemed too scripted in her eyes. "Spare me."

With that, Yang turned off the TV.

"We're back!" Ruby shouted with a cheer as she and Taiyang entered the house.

"Yo!" Yang waved pleasantly while Zwei happily barked at the sight of the rest of his 'pack' entering the scene.

Taiyang clapped his hands together. "Quick family meeting." He said. "I've got some rare time off, as do the two of you. It's pretty rare nowadays that we're all able to do something together as a family for an extended period of time."

Zwei barked. "My mistake, Zwei, all four of us have enough time off to do something together as a family." Taiyang corrected.

Taiyang grinned. "Therefore, I have a proposal!" He exclaimed. "It's time we take our first Xiao Long-Rose Family vacation in years!"

"A vacation!" Yang's eyes lit up like this. "Please tell me we're going to the beach! I saw this new swimsuit in town…and it was so me!"

"Nope, there will be no beach trip." Taiyang shook his head. "A more private lake perhaps, but no public beaches?"

"Why not?" Yang pouted.

"Because no boy is going to stare at you in a bikini while I'm around." Taiyang stated firmly.

"Oh, you are such a hypocrite!" Yang yelled. "Every time we've gone to the beach in the past, you've been hit on!"

"I am an adult, and I turned all those women down." Taiyang pointed out. "Besides, they lost all interest when they realized I was a single dad. It's kinda sickening, but that thing tends to turn partners away, unfortunately."

"What, so you being Mr. Noble means your logic doesn't apply to you?" Yang scowled.

"Exactly, I resist temptation." Taiyang nodded. "You'll understand when you have kids…especially if you end up with a daughter or two, Yang."

Yang grumbled, unable to dispute that. "Besides, we don't need a beach to have fun!" Taiyang said with a cheer. "There's a great cabin in Thimble that I got a great deal on! I'm talking about hiking! I'm talking about roasting smores! I'm talking about all the cute little shops Thimble has got!"

"Hold on, you already decided?" Yang frowned. "If this is a family vacation, shouldn't we vote on this?"

"Okay, sure. I vote for Thimble. Ruby?"

"Thimble!" Ruby cheered.

"Zwei?" Zwei barked.

"That's 3 against 1, Yang." Taiyang turned back to Yang. "Thimble it is. You can still buy that swimsuit. Like I said, Thimble has got a nice lake we can all swim in."

"Ugh, what's the point of buying a new swimsuit if all you're going to do is show it off to your family?" Yang groaned. "That's just weird and you know it, Dad."

"Then maybe next time, don't put your pervy intentions on display before your old man, Yang." Taiyang teased. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start packing."

Taiyang walked away, leaving the sisters alone. Yang sighed and gingerly put Zwei back on the floor. "Want me to get you anything while I'm out, Rubes?" She offered.

"You're going to buy the swimsuit after throwing that little tantrum?" Ruby was perplexed by Yang's behavior.

Yang sighed. "As much as I hate the idea of breaking in a new swimsuit when the only people around to admire it are my sister and my dad, I do need one. The top of my current bikini just doesn't fit well anymore. They got bigger over the school year."

Ruby immediately scowled, staring at Yang's chest hatefully. Yang sweat-dropped. "Ruby, staring daggers at my boobs isn't going to make them shrink." She pointed out.

"I've hurt people with my eyes before." Ruby muttered.

"Ugh, I don't have time for this." Yang sighed as she walked past Ruby. "I should've seen this coming, you know. Spending all your time with girls way more mature and grown up than you."

"Excuse me?" Ruby sounded indignant.

"Like I said, I get it. I should've seen it coming. Blake's ass is on another level. Pyrrha's practically a sculpted goddess. Coco and Weiss's fashion sense is amazing. Velvet and Nora wear their athleticism well." Yang then grinned teasingly. "You want to grow up and turn into a hottie with a body, yourself, so that you can impress Teach!"

Ruby turned as red as her namesake. "Not that again, Yang! I am not interested in the professor!"

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the memory of you fondling his bare chest in Atlas!" Yang cackled as she grabbed her things and made her way to the front door.

Ruby sputtered with rage as she trained her eyes on Yang's retreating form. "Go, eyes!" Ruby tried to command her Silver Eyes to attack Yang as she left.

Nothing happened. Ruby pouted. "Fly! Up, up, and away eyes! Shazam!"

Yang was now confused as to what Ruby was trying to say. She just shrugged and opened the front door. "Go! Go eyes go! Tally ho!" Ruby tried every command she could think of as Yang walked away.

Ruby turned redder and redder with each failure. Zwei just watched her with his usual happy expression. Then she heard her dad's voice. "Ruby, what are you doing?"

Ruby almost jumped out of her skin. "Oh, um…hey Dad." She said nervously.

Taiyang looked bewildered. "So…Yang went to get that new swimsuit after all?" He asked.

Ruby nodded. "Okay…is yours still good? I don't mind lending you some money." Taiyang offered.

"Oh, mine's fine, promise." Ruby quickly replied.

"Okay…so, why don't you start packing?" Taiyang offered. "It's a two-week trip, so you might want to pack a lot."

Ruby nodded and started making her way to her room. "Oh, Rubes, one more thing?" Taiyang spoke up.

Ruby looked over her shoulder. She turned pale when she saw her dad's face. It was a mixture of bewilderment, concern and overprotective rage. "What's this I hear about you fondling someone's bare chest?"

Ruby vanished in a burst of petals instead of responding, which only made Taiyang even more suspicious.

Wanting some privacy, just in case Ruby came back from packing, Taiyang went out to the front porch and took a seat. He dialed up a number on his Scroll that was quite familiar with. Thankfully, it would appear that Qrow Branwen was in a chatty mood today.

"'Sup, Tai?" Came Qrow's voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey there, Qrow." Taiyang greeted his old friend and in-law. "Glad I could actually reach you for a change."

"Ha ha, very funny." Qrow fired back.

"Listen, Ruby, Yang, Zwei and I are going on a family trip for two weeks. If you're on the island at any point during that time, do you mind checking on the place to make sure everything's in order?"

"Yeah, I should have some time off soon." Taiyang could practically hear him shrug on the other end. "How are the girls doing?"

"They seem to be doing better since we got back to the island." Taiyang replied. "Although, I think Ruby's developing a complex over how talented her mom was."

Qrow had no response for that. "Look, Qrow, was it really a good idea for you and Ozpin to tell her about her eyes and the powers that come with them?" Taiyang asked. "Ruby's a bright young girl, but I wouldn't say 'save the world' stuff is something a girl her age has the maturity to handle…no matter what the comics she reads say."

"For what it's worth, I wasn't big on the idea either. None of us were." Qrow promised. "But the situation changed after the Vytal Festival. We let our guard down, and the ultimate enemy made themselves known to Ruby as a result. Tai, we couldn't keep lying to Ruby after that night."

"Even if that's true, I don't know if she's handling it well. From what Summer told me when we were together, her situation was different from Ruby's. She shouldn't be comparing herself to her mom so much. I tried to tell her that, but I'm not sure if I got through to her."

"I know you thought the world of her, but don't forget Summer took herself way too seriously as a Huntress too. She and Raven hated losing more than anyone on our team." Qrow reminded him. "And then there was her tendency to go off and complete missions on her own single handedly…when we were supposed to complete them as a team."

Taiyang laughed fondly at the memory. "I don't know if Raven was more pissed about that, or I was for her putting herself in danger like that." He admitted.

"Look, if you're that concerned, I'll come around after you guys are done with your vacay. I'll try to talk the little runt off a ledge. Until then, you all just focus on having fun. Maybe a little R&R is what she needs too."

"You may be right," Taiyang admitted.

Qrow paused on the other end. "By the way, Hansel's out of the hospital. Just thought the girls might want to know their combat professor is going to be A-OK."

Taiyang stiffened slightly at the mention of Hansel Kobalt. Qrow seemed to catch onto this. "You still pissed at the kid over his first day?"

Taiyang took a deep breath. Qrow told him about how disastrous Hansel's first day as a teacher was and how Ruby got hurt over it. He almost marched over to Beacon and ripped him apart with his bare hands. "Nah, I'm over it. Even though he went too far, it was a sparring match. But I'm over it. I guess him being a constant in their lives now is going to take some getting used to." He admitted.

"Glynda and Oz have given me updates. The kid's a natural. Rough around the edges, yeah, but he gives those kids great advice. By Oz's estimation, Ruby and her team have steadily grown to mid-high C-Class ever since he started teaching." Qrow told him.

"Yeah, I could tell Ruby and Yang both got way stronger since the second term started." Taiyang admitted. "But, I'm going to be honest with you Qrow, one of the only reasons I even bothered giving that kid a second chance after the first day is because of Glynda."

"I don't give a damn what you or Oz have to say about him." Taiyang bluntly revealed to Qrow. "Fact is, Glynda trusts him. That's good enough for me."

"She's more biased as far as Hansel's concerned than us." Qrow pointed out. "She raised him when he came to Beacon."

"It's because of that, I care about her opinion as far as he's concerned. If you were actually a parent Qrow, you'd understand."

Qrow grunted at that. "What's the other reason?"

Taiyang sighed sadly, remembering when the horrible news about the Kobalt Family being murdered came out. "The kid just needs some help…some stability. This job gives him that." Taiyang explained. "He doesn't need Ozpin sending him on dangerous missions."

Qrow sighed. "He's too much of an asset not to send on missions to Tai. Besides, he volunteered."

"He's still just a kid, Qrow!" Taiyang snapped. "And if he volunteered, then Ozpin is as good as enabling him."

Qrow grumbled at this. Taiyang sighed and calmed down. "Sorry, it sucks we can't seem to have a normal conversation anymore.."

"I know…"

"I miss the days when we could."

"I do too."

"I'll tell the girls he's out of the hospital. They're both more worried about him than they let on." Taiyang promised. "Take care of yourself, Qrow. And do make time to visit when we're back. Seeing you would make them happy."

"I'll keep that in mind. You all enjoy yourselves, Tai." With that, Qrow hung up.

Taiyang sighed. "Ah, Summer, if only you were still here." He lamented. "You're the only one of us who can relate to what Ruby's going through."

Ruby then called out from the house. "Hey, Dad, what kind of board games do you think we should pack?" She asked.

Taiyang calmed down and smiled. "Ah, Qrow's right. I should just focus on having fun and relaxing. It's a family vacation, after all" He muttered to himself.

He then called out to Ruby. "Hold on for a second and let's maybe look together!" He called back.

Within hours, the Xiao Long-Rose family would be driving from their home towards Thimble. Their first family vacation in a long time was underway.

Little did they know, they were driving into a particularly cruel and twisted nightmare…

AN: Yeah...when the narrator of the story has to warn you ahead of time...well, let's put it this way, I'm not normally one for content warnings, but I'm going to play it safe here. Besides, it sets things up nicely.

But, yeah, this time, the arc is going to be focused on the Xiao Long-Rose family. Which, by the way, let's not beat around the bush, the fact we only get that in Chibi is downright criminal. Par for the course though for the canon verse, I guess.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. If you liked this, then I encourage you to check out Age of Heroes: The Hero and the Disciple, my original novel, on Amazon. Do it in preparation of Book 2, Age of Heroes: The Capital's Secret, which is close to release.

As far as Wild Hunt goes though, we surpassed 500 followers recently and are nearing 500 favorites. I'm super happy to see this story picking up so much traction. This started as just a minor experiment of what a RWBY OC would look like from yours truly, and now it is my hellbent attempt to create a better version of RWBY than the canon verse.

Enjoy the rest of the Patch Island Arc, everyone!