A man found himself surrounded by trees with lush green leaves; he would have been enjoying the beauty of nature if it hadn't been for his current situation. He was blitzing through the woods, not fast enough to be a blur to the naked eye, but enough to think that you saw something at the corner of your eye.

He vaulted over logs and made quick work with every grimm he encountered along the way. He was a strong huntsman back in his prime.

And his name is Taiyang Xiao Long.

He liked to think he was a little special, his combat grades were high enough to boast about, which he did, but that was during his time at Beacon. It's been so long that he couldn't even remember most of the stuff he learned in his classes. But they weren't important to what, or who, Ozpin was up against.

The Queen of grimm, Salem.

Now, he never liked the idea of some super powerful force that controlled the grimm from the shadows, but when Ozpin gave him concrete evidence of that idea being a reality, it changed him. He no longer looked at the grimm the same anymore. Before he met Ozpin, he thought all the grimm were just mindless human-killing animals, except for the few that gained intelligence from experience and age.

But he didn't want any part of it. He just wanted to get his school life over with and then move on to college, have a normal life, and have a family. So, after all those grueling long night study sessions, he finally finished school, but he never went to college.

He wasn't upset that he didn't make it to college, Yeah, they denied his admission form, but he definitely didn't cry about it… maybe a little. But in the end, he finally made the relationship between him and Raven work.

He felt like the happiest man alive.

But, for some reason, she didn't feel the same.

He wanted to live with her a little longer and love her a little longer, but as time passed, she spent less and less time with him. At first, he didn't mind, she would be gone for one or two hours, but those two hours turned to four. Then those four to half a day, and finally, it turned to a couple of days a week. She might as well become an archaeologist with how long she would be gone for.

It made him wonder if she even liked spending time with him. Of course, he knew that the reason why she was gone for most of the time was because of her family… well, it was more of a bandit kind of family; they weren't really blood-related, but she felt like she had a responsibility to protect them, which he found admirable and stupid.

Fortunately, one night, he found out that Raven became pregnant, and it wasn't until two weeks after that Raven told him. He was bummed out that she didn't tell him earlier, but the thought of having a kid made him giddy. But it didn't last long.

Unfortunately, not long after Yang's birth, Raven left Yang and him for her tribe.

Ozpin wasn't the best of people in my eyes. He would always send my wife on missions, though Summer never told me why or what for, we would always have a farewell kiss, nothing much but a peck on the cheek since the kids were watching, but it still made me worry seeing her walk off in the distance, knowing there's a small possibility she wouldn't be coming back this time.

Meeting Summer was the best thing that could've happened to me. But, one day, she received a mission from Ozpin, and it was some sort of "investigation." I doubted it. Summer never told me the truth, and it wasn't hard to tell she was lying, but at least she always came back, so I never really pestered her about the details.

Now I regret it. I should've stopped her from going on those missions, and I should've asked her to spend the day with her family. I wished she had just ignored the missions and retired already.

And like any other day, when Summer left on a mission, I gave her a kiss goodbye and wished her safe travels, the usual. I didn't have a single worry on my mind, well, that was a lie, I was more worried about having to take care of the two young hyper-active, energetic, and destructive girls.

So, when Summer didn't come back one night, we thought it was one of those long missions she sometimes received. But for the kids, one day was a week for them, so they were worried about their mother.

I would've let them stay up however long they liked, but Summer would've definitely had a talk with me about their sleeping schedule being all messed up and how hard it is getting it back to normal. That's when I decided to put them to bed and read them stories like how Summer did, and luckily it didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

At the time, I thought it would've been a bit difficult, mostly because I'm not the best storyteller, and I don't exactly think my voice is as soothing as Summer's voice. But I guess I worried for nothing.

And it would be like this for the next couple of nights. Taking care of the girls, making sure they were fed, and showering them, though Yang was reluctant because he was a guy, which was a sound reason. But I'm their dad, plus she isn't even thirteen yet. She has a long way to go.

That's not even mentioning that my dad took showers with me till I was twelve, and thankfully, he stopped when I turned thirteen. If he continued, I think my ego would be in shambles right now.

But on the fourth night, I got worried. She would usually be back on the fourth day in the morning or on the third night. Obviously, I texted Qrow about Summer's whereabouts, and all I received was a 'Don't worry about it.' Sometimes, I just wanted to give him a good one-two and a knuckle sandwich.

Then on the seventh day, Qrow was at my front door. He informed me that Summer was M.I.A or possibly dead.

After that, everything felt like I was on auto-pilot like I wasn't in control of my body. But, I had vague memories during those times. One where I saw the worried looks in both of my daughters' eyes. Then I saw a couple of empty bottles of alcohol or whiskey sitting on the table and me taking another swing. There was more that slowly came back to me, but everything else was blurry.

There was a constant background noise, a person speaking. It was the news channel, and I kept it on all day. I always left it on in hopes I would see a title speaking about a huntress injured out in the field or, if I was unfortunate enough,

a dead huntress found…

But both never came, maybe because the missions Summer went on were more than just missions, so I doubt a regular news agency would have that type of information. Though, in the back of my mind, I knew if I kept on watching the news channel and saw Summer's face on the news in the recent deaths of huntsmen, my world would've crumbled to pieces.

So, I drank, watched, slept, repeat. It felt like I was only in this trance for a couple of minutes, watching my life play like a video while I watched. It didn't feel like a week had passed. And if I were stuck in that trance any longer, I wouldn't have been so sure if I would be mentally here right now. It almost felt like my body was trying to imprison my mind and make me watch as it did whatever it wanted to ease the pain in my heart.

Her once beautiful blonde hair, lengthy down to her waist, was a mess. Her lilac eyes troubled like they were asking for some form of help. Crying out to what was left of me. A shell of my former self. I watched within the prison in my head, barely recognizing the blurry face. It was my daughter, Yang.

...Yet, seeing them frightened of my presence. It all hurt. The expressions they wore were painful to watch, but no matter how hard I tried to escape the prison set within my mind. It wouldn't budge. No matter how much I cried, struggled, resisted, thrashed, and roared, it was all out of desperation. Out of all those attempts, I always returned to crying.

I recall the times I've taken care of my girls. Loving them with all my heart that knew no bounds of affection. Yet, my heart now knew of no way to care for them as it used to. I wanted to relieve their worries and tell them it's okay and that we'll make it through this. I wanted to take hold of their small tender hands, barely half the size of mine, and take them to the park as I always did. I wanted to show them love and fill the hole in their small little hearts. I wanted to sing them sweet lullabies like how Summer always asked me to on nights when she was out on a mission. I wanted to tuck them in and read them bedtime stories to rid them of their sorrow instead of hearing their cries at night.

I really just wanted to see them happy again.

A loud snap rang in my ear, snapping me back to reality. It originated from the tree in front of me, the tree that was peacefully minding its own business till I punched it into two.

I couldn't hold it in anymore, the anger bubbling in my heart. I was mad at myself for letting my daughters experience that awful side of myself. No. It wasn't a side of me. I just wasn't mentally there at the time.

It's my fault for letting Ruby run away from home, and only god knows what happened to her. The only thing I could do now was pray that Ruby was safe.

I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I allowed Ruby to die. My daughter dead because of me? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened. It would only hurt more, especially so since I would live on knowing that I could have prevented that outcome.

But I ignored those thoughts because I wasn't going to let her die, she would be coming home safe and sound.

Then my other daughter popped up in my head, Yang... I wasn't sure if she blamed me for Ruby running away, but if she did, I would accept the hatred that would surely be found in her heart, the hatred that would be directed at him.

I let out a sigh. This wasn't me. I'm not going to let negative thoughts take over my mind again. So I regained my composure and continued looking for Ruby.

I just hope Yang doesn't go out too far.

But he didn't have to worry. After all, Qrow was watching over Yang and looking for Ruby at the same time.

AN: Sorry for the small chapter.