Intermission
Tai's Guide To Becoming Super Strong Huntsmen
A camera turned on and Taiyang Xiao Long himself was shown waving to it from inside his home, wearing sunglasses.
"Hey guys!" Tai started off with a wave at the camera. "This is Tai's Guide To Becoming Super Strong Huntsmen. I heard these MeTube videos are all the rage and I figured how hard can it be. And I have a chance to show you how I became the strongest Huntsman in all of Remnant!"
Tai started flexing his muscles to the camera. "See this? People get all obsessed over weapons and Semblances, but they easily forget that once upon a time we didn't have those. All we had were our fists!"
He made a few punches in the air.
"And I'm going to show you the secret of how to get super strong!" Tai finished with a thumbs-up to the camera.
The camera was turned off, seemingly the end of the scene and then showed the next one, starting with a black background and white words appearing in the middle of the screen.
Step 1: A Healthy Diet
Part 1: Breakfast
"It's always important to start a day off with a very healthy meal." Tai was in the kitchen now, holding up a breakfast. "Something like oatmeal, a banana and two boiled eggs. And to wash it down, you work best with orange juice or green tea. Right girls?"
The camera turned to three girls sitting at the table, all of them staring blankly at the camera.
"Yes, Dad." The three girls said, sharing nervous looks.
"Oh, here's my girls. There's Yang,"
Yang turned away from the camera.
"Ruby."
Ruby pulled her hood over her face.
"And the youngest by just a few seconds after Ruby, Xion."
The girl named Xion bore a remarkable resemblance to Ruby, only she had blue eyes instead of silver and wore a white cloak. She just waved at the camera with an embarrassed smile, blushing red at the same time.
"And like any good dad, I make sure my girls only eat healthy meals in the morning." Tai finished with a laugh, embarrassing his daughters even further.
Part 2: Second Breakfast
"You probably think when you want to become big and strong, you shouldn't be having snacks and be on a diet or something but in truth, going on a diet would be a bad idea. You want to have the extra energy to work out. So, after you spend an hour or a half on exercising, you can have second breakfast." Tai held up a plate that had tuna and four rice cakes with peanut better. "Rice cakes are healthy for good body building and they are a delicious snack to have with peanut butter."
"Dad, will you put the camera down already?!" An annoyed Yang yelled out.
"Coming!" Tai called back, stepping out into the backyard. "Worked up an appetite, huh girls?"
"You better not film us eating!"
Part 3: Lunch
"And now we come to the middle of the day which means," Tai was back in the kitchen with something steaming in the background. "Lunch. If you've been working out for the last few hours, you're going to be starving and probably be thinking burgers or pizza. While I can't fault you on your delicious choice, you still need to work on building up your body with the best health food you can find. At least consider putting some vegetables on your pizza but here, I got only the best for my girls."
He angled the camera to show the lunch he was cooking up.
"A grilled chicken, a baked potato, steamed vegetables and vitamins." Tai listed off the food before bringing it out to the girls who were waiting.
The three looked excited but Yang wined when she saw the steamed vegetables. "Not carrots."
"Yes, carrots." Tai placed the plates on the table for the girls. "They're good for you."
Ruby looked ready to whine as well but Xion just dug in, even enjoying the vegetables much to the horror of her sisters.
"At least someone appreciates my cooking." Tai said happily.
"Your cooking?" A voice spoke from behind.
"I-I mean our cooking!" Tai hastily corrected himself.
"And turn the camera off! It's lunch time!"
The camera went black.
Part 4: Afternoon Snack
"Okay, well into the afternoon and time for a snack." Tai held up a plate. "And I don't mean cookies, even though my youngest girls would prefer it that way. But when you're training to be a future Huntsman and/or Huntress you got to prioritize the healthy foods. Like here,"
He pointed and listed off the food he has assembled.
"Oatmeal crackers-"
"NO!" Ruby was heard crying nearby.
"They're not oatmeal cookies, Ruby!" Tai called out.
"STILL!"
Tai sighed and got back to the camera. "Oatmeal crackers with fruit and cottage cheese. Not too bad."
"WHOEVER INVENTED OATMEAL IS EVIL!"
"Don't mind her. She secretly likes them." Tai whispered to the camera.
"NO, I DON'T!"
Part 5: Dinner
"And now we've come to the meal of the evening: dinner." Tai back in the kitchen was something was heard sizzling in the background. "This is one meal the girls are the least fussy about."
"DAD!" Three girls were heard shouting.
"Sorry!" Tai quickly apologized before turning back to the camera. "We have some options here, this time."
He pointed the camera to the dinner as they were being cooked.
"We got grilled chicken again but if you don't like eating that twice in the same day, we also got fish and stake along with steamed vegetables and rice." Tai listed off. "A few big and healthy meals for young growing Huntresses-"
"Or future Keyblade Masters!" Xion called out.
"That too!" Tai pointed in the direction of the voice.
"Do we at least get ice cream for dessert?" Ruby groaned, not happing to be having vegetables again.
"Of course." Another voice answered.
"And don't forget," Tai pointed at the camera. "To drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated. If not water, have some Ginger Ale, like me."
He held up a glass of Ale for the camera to see.
"That's right. No smoking or alcohol in my house, Qrow." He glared at the camera. "That's right, I know you've been sneaking booze into my house again. AND STOP LICKING ALL MY STUFF!"
"Tai, stop shouting and put the camera down already."
Part 6: Before Bed
It was dark now, with the camera's light on while Tai was in the kitchen. "And now, when the sun is down and it's time to hit the sack, here's a little something before bed."
He held up a blender with something already inside, the contents having been shredded.
"A protein shake mixed with fruits and vegetables." Tai poured the contents into a glass. "I kind of have this for me now since the girls aren't into it yet-"
"NEVER! WE'LL NEVER BE INTO IT!" Ruby called out.
"Go to bed, Ruby!" Tai called back and sighed. "Kids, you try to help them grow through life and for some reason they only listen to her better than me. Well, that's it for the diet part. Now tomorrow, we get to the workout."
And with that, the camera went dark.
Step 2: Workout Routine
Part 1: Monday
The sun was shining as the camera was turned back on, with Tai pointed it out the window for the viewers to see the sun slowly rising behind the tree.
"Sunrise is the perfect time to start your training. Early to bed, early to rise is how everyone in the Xiao Long family goes." Tai remarked as he came out of his room, smiling at the camera. "Get up, train early and you still have a lot time to spend the day."
"Uh, Dad. Are you still doing this?"
Tai turned the camera around to show a young Yang, possibly fifteen wearing black and yellow tracksuit. Nearby, Ruby and Xion were wearing identical black shorts and sneakers with Ruby wearing a red top and Xion wearing a blue one.
"Hey, I'm educating everyone on how to be an awesome Huntsman like me and like you three are going to be." Tai defended himself.
Yang sighed but said nothing.
"So, what's the plan here?" Tai angled the camera to Ruby and Xion.
"Uh…" Ruby looked nervous, so Xion answered. "We start Mondays with a jog. We start off going as far as we can but over time we'll be running more. And when we get back, we'll go through some upper body conditioning and that's it for the morning."
"You got it!" Tai gave a thumbs-up to Xion who sighed. "All right, let's go jogging!"
(Transition)
The camera was back on to show the three girls panting as they returned to the Xiao Long residence.
"Well, that was a workout." Tai muttered the camera, his voice sounding dry as he spoke. "But we made it."
Yang wiped some sweat from her brow, but she didn't look tired at all. "All right, nice start. Now we get to the-"
(Transition)
"Real workout!" Tai finished, the camera now inside the garage, showing Yang lifting weights.
"I said that five minutes ago." Yang groaned as she lifted.
"Yeah, but me finishing it here makes the transition cooler." Tai replied. "Come on, Yang. Give us a smile as you lift."
"Ugh…You're the worst." Yang groaned as she lifted.
(Transition)
"Hey there." Tai happily waved to the camera. "Morning workout is done, and we had lunch. Midday is calmer with just twenty minutes on the punching bag."
"YA!" Tai turned the camera to show Yang repeatedly hitting the punching bag. "Look at her go. Pretty easy huh?"
"Feel free to put the camera down and find out." Yang replied as she hit the bag again.
(Transition)
The camera now showed Ruby and Xion on the ground, groaning as they were doing various training exercises such as push-ups, bench dips, back extensions, sit-ups, and squats.
"We took another break after the punching back. Now we're settling on an hour of circuit training." Tai whispered to the camera. "Very important and a lot of exercises to keep the body in shape."
(Transition)
The camera was now showing a river with Ruby struggling to swim, holding someone's hands.
"Come on, Ruby. You can do it." The woman encouraged but her face was hidden by a tree branch.
"Afternoon, folks. Here we are now doing thirty minutes of swimming followed by some physical practice and weapon's training." Tai whispered as he turned the camera to show Yang knocking some training dummies down with her own weapons before Tai quickly turned away. "Can't give away too much because you know…Never spy on a Huntress when they are training with their weapons."
"I better not see my weapon on MeTube, Dad!" Yang called out. "I'm keeping it a surprise until I get to show it off at school!"
"Got to go!" Tai said and turned the camera off.
Part 2: Tuesday
"Okay, you got the rundown of what we do on Mondays. Now we're on Tuesday." Tai said, gesturing to what looked like a stone wall behind him. "The start of training today…Rock-climbing. I was pretty on the fence about this one, but you go to a lot of places on Remnant, you're bound to end up climbing a mountain at some point so here we are."
"Waiting for you." Yang said dryly from behind.
Tai turned the camera to show Yang, Ruby and Xion, all wearing mountain-climbing gear. "All right, ready girls? Just remember, if one of you fall, we'll be here to catch you."
(Transition)
Tai was now watching as the girls climbed up the stone wall. Yang was the furthest up with Xion behind her, but Ruby was struggling, even though she made it a few feet off the ground.
"You can do it, Ruby." Tai called out, trying to encourage. "This is no trouble."
"Why…." Ruby was panting. "Why do we have to do this?"
"You heard what your M-" Tai spoke while Yang shouted from above.
"FIRST ONE TO THE TOP!"
"Said. It's important to train the physical as well as the weapon, the Aura and the magic. Come on, Ruby."
Ruby just groaned.
(Transition)
"That wasn't as hard as I thought." Yang admitted, now back on the ground and flexing her muscles as they returned to the Xiao Long residence.
"Speak for yourself." Ruby muttered, looking ready to fall over.
Xion patted her on the back. "Hey, you made it halfway up before you fell. Just be glad you had a safety line."
Ruby just groaned.
"Hey, you did better than on your first try, Ruby. You'll get better." Tai cut in.
(Transition)
Tai was back in the garage. "Mountain climbing is harder than it looks for some people. Well, now we're back here and this time we're working on the lower body."
He turned the camera to show Yang, Ruby and Xion doing squats.
"This won't be as long as before. Just thirty minutes." Tai whispered.
"So, hurry up and get over here!" Someone called out.
"Coming!"
(Transition)
"YA!"
The punching bag was shown again, only this time Yang was holding it as Ruby tried pummeling. However, Ruby's punches were not quite up to Yang's standards, so she tried motivating her little sister.
"Are you even trying, Ruby?! I've seen little Grimm that puncher harder than that!" Yang yelled.
Ruby growled in frustration and started punching harder, but apparently not good enough as Yang kept on mocking her.
"You know, if I close my eyes, I picture you back as a little girl punching this bag." Yang commented. "Come on, Ruby. Just visualize the bag as something that really bugs you and hit it as hard as you can!"
"…Do I really have to?" Ruby kept throwing weak punches.
"…I put all the cookies we had in the bag." Yang simply said. "Including the secret stash, you had under your bed."
"WHAT?!" Ruby shouted, growing furious as she started pummeling the bag as hard as she could. "MY COOKIES ARE IN THERE?!"
With one final punch, there was a surge of red Aura, signaling it had been activated as Ruby punched through the bag, ripping it in half and the contents that fell out were…
Sand?
Ruby froze and looked at the sand before glaring at Yang. "You're the worst, Yang!"
"Okay, I lied. Your cookies are still safe under your bed." Yang shrugged.
Ruby grumbled and stomped off, leaving Yang who turned and looked at the camera. "Dad! You filmed that!"
"That was a dirty trick, Yang. And what's this about a secret stash?" Tai's voice sounded stern now and Yang froze, her eyes going wide.
(Transition)
"Okay, so the twenty minute punching bag training ended a little differently this time." Tai admitted to the camera. "What with my eldest daughter provoking my youngest with a lie and my youngest sneaking cookies behind my back but I'll let that one slide for now. We're in the evening now and things have simmered down. Enough for us to get on with our next practice. This one…I'm not sure I should be filming this."
"What's the matter, Dad?" Yang said teasingly. "Don't want some boys ogling your 'little' girls?"
Suddenly the camera was snatched out of Tai's hands. "Hey!"
Yang turned the camera to show Xion in a dark leotard with dark blue sleeves reaching down her arms as she carefully walked across a beam. She stopped and lifted one foot up while folding her hands over her head.
"Yang!"
"Calm down, Dad. It's just gymnastics." Yang replied.
"Ouch!"
Yang turned the camera to show Ruby in a similar leotard but with red sleeves as someone wearing a blue leotard knelt and helped her up. With their backs turned to the camera they could not see who it was.
"Ruby, you okay?" Tai called out.
(Transition)
"Okay, I'm glad the gymnastics part is done. I should have remembered that before I started doing this." Tai rubbed his head and sighed but then smiled. "It's the evening now and we end these days with some sparring which is probably the most fun part of the training."
Tai looked around. "Hey, Yang! Up for some father-daughter sparring? Give the people a real show?"
"I was just about to ask that…" Yang said from behind. "But you just beat me to the punch!"
Tai spun around in time to see Yang punch at the camera. "YA!"
POW!
CRACK!
(Transition)
Part 3: Wednesday
"Okay, my eldest daughter broke my first camera, but I came prepared!" Tai said with big smile as he held the new camera in front of him. "I bought a few extra cameras just in case! Taiyang, the man who thinks ahead!"
Tai was walking down the stairs as he spoke. "Okay, today is Wednesday and actually, our activities are just going to be a repeat of yesterday. With the rock climbing, the lower body, punching bag and I got a new one and Yang will think twice before tricking her sister like before. And there's the…" Tai shuddered. "Gymnastics. I think I'll edit that out since the last thing I want is everyone in the kingdoms ogling my girls. And then the day will end with some good old fashioned sparring-"
"EARLY SPAR TIME!" Yang shouted out.
Tai turned around just in time to see Yang's fist hit the new camera.
POW!
CRACK!
"YANG!"
Part 4: Thursday
"Okay, I lost my second camera yesterday morning because of a sneak attack but I will be ready this time!" Tai declared, pumping his fist into the air as he stepped out of the house. "In the meantime, it's Thursday now and we start off with something different after breakfast."
Tai walked out in front of the garage of the Xiao Long residence to see Yang, Ruby and Xion doing jump rope. "Some good old-fashioned jump-rope! That'll get you feeling the burn!"
"Feel free to join us, Dad!" Yang called out.
"Sure! Bet you can't keep up with me! I can go for a full hour!" Tai called out, putting the camera down.
"An hour?!" Ruby and Xion exclaimed, looking fearful.
"You're on!" Yang replied as Taiyang joined them in jump-rope, lasting for a full hour.
(Transition)
"I can't feel my legs." Ruby groaned as she fell onto the ground.
"Come on, Ruby. We're not even halfway through morning yet!" Yang said, proudly stretching her legs.
Xion was not lying face down on the ground like Ruby was, but she was sitting on her butt, rubbing her legs. "Not everyone is a training enthusiast like you, Yang!"
Yang shrugged and waved it off. "So, what's next?"
"Just about thirty minutes of circuit training but we can take a break first." Tai answered. "We kind of did the reverse. It's usually jump rope for thirty minutes and then circuit training for a full hour."
"Meh, mixing things up can be fun." Yang shrugged.
(Transition)
"And we're back in the garage." Tai said, lifting some weights. "Doing upper body conditioning again and some kettlebell training."
To emphasize his point, he pointed the camera to show Yang doing a Halo where she brought the kettlebell around her head about eight times. Ruby and Xion were doing the same but having more difficulty.
"Keep at its girls!" Tai called out. "Only ten more minutes!"
Ruby and Xion just groaned.
(Transition)
"And once again, after we have a break and have some lunch we do more sparring!" Tai pointed to the camera. "And this time, I won't lose a camera!"
"WATCH OUT!"
"Huh?" Tai turned to see a red blur with petals shooting all directions flying right at the camera, knocking it out of Tai's hands. "GAH!"
CRACK!
(Transition)
"My second youngest daughter unlocked her Semblance that makes her go super-fast." Tai rubbed his head, holding up his third camera. "Is Qrow around here somewhere? I feel I should be blaming him."
He pointed the camera around, even carefully looking at tree.
"Anyways, it's the night now and before we go to bed, we hit the punching bag for at least an hour."
"HA!"
Tai directed the camera around to show Xion hitting the bag this time and doing better than Ruby.
"Don't throw all your strength into one punch, Xion! Pace yourself!" Tai called out.
Xion wordlessly nodded and followed Tai's instructions as she continued punching the bag.
"At least one of you takes after me in some way." Tai sighed happily. "I mean, you and Yang, sweetie."
Xion only blushed from that as she tried to focus on her training.
(Transition)
Part 5: Friday
"Okay, we're on Friday now." Tai said, doing some stretches and aimed the camera to show Yang in her black and gold tracksuit from before while Ruby and Xion wore their shirts and running shorts. "Another jog through the woods. Hopefully we'll last much longer."
(Transition)
Yang was stretching as they returned to the house. "Five miles down. You've gotten a lot better, Rubes."
"Helps when you have a super-fast Semblance." Ruby chuckled but then groaned. "Too bad I couldn't use it."
Xion was panting a bit, but she seemed otherwise fine. "I'm just glad we're getting better at this. What do you think M-"
LOW BATTERY!
"DANG IT! I FORGOT TO CHARGE THIS THING!"
(Transition)
Ruby was grunting now as she and Xion were shown to be climbing ropes that had been tied to the strongest and highest branch of the nearest tree.
"On Friday, it's a split between upper body conditioning, rope training and martial arts practice." Tai turned the camera to him, holding up a dumbbell. "Makes things easier as we all have our strengths but we got to keep working on them. And followed by this is one hour of sparring."
"HA!"
Tai jumped, dropping the camera, and looked around frantically before sighing. "Sorry about that. Turns out Yang wasn't gunning for me this time."
He turned the camera around to see Yang behind some bushes, blocking a slash from a blue colored sword like weapon before charging with a battle cry, recoil noises from her weapon being heard in the background.
(Transition)
Tai was now near the river again, wearing only his swimming trunks.
"And now and we're back to swimming along with some basic hand to hand practice and even some yoga." He said with a smile.
"CANNONBALL!"
Tai turned the camera just in time to show Ruby landing in the river and creating a huge splash, making him laugh. "Yeah, I think the swimming is Ruby's favorite part."
He watched as the girls swam up and down the water, making it seem more like a fun evening than actual training.
Part 6: Saturday
"CANNONBALL!"
"DOUBLE CANNONBALL!"
Tai watched as Ruby and Xion both preformed a cannonball jump into the river. "That's right, we're starting the morning off with an hour of swimming which is good as swimming is the most physically demanding and most fun activity on a hot and sunny day. Followed by this, it'll another half hour of upper body strength conditioning. Speaking of which where's…."
"BOO!"
Tai jumped, turning around to see Yang in just an orange tank top and black shorts, looking smug with her arms crossed. "Sometimes it's too easy with you."
"Oh yeah. Coming for some more father-daughter sparring?" Tai asked confidently.
Yang brought a hand to her chin, seemingly thinking it over before smiling. "I could…Or you could have someone else to spar with?"
"Huh?" Tai sounded confused before there was a strange sound and there was a flash of blue, making him drop the camera. "GAH!"
Yang caught the camera and was grinning at it as fight sounds could be heard. "Yeah, too easy."
(Transition)
The camera was now showing what appeared to be a custom-made obstacle course, consisting of mud pits, monkey bars, swimming through ponds, climbing up a one-hundred-foot tower and then zip lining down.
"Man, you think we were training to be in the military." Tai remarked. "Her Semblance is amazing."
"Speak for yourself." Ruby said as she grabbed a sandwich out of a basket she had. "Just some old-fashioned running around. I'm good at that."
Ruby was wearing her jogging clothes, but they were all dirty and muddy now.
"It's more along the lines of training to move freely over and through any kind of terrain, Ruby. No Semblance or weapons, just old-fashioned running, climbing, and jumping." Tai lectured before turning to the camera. "And that's pretty much it. Well, there's some sparring and an hour of circuit training in the afternoon but I think we can end it here."
(Transition)
Part 7: Sunday
"And here we are, the final day." Tai remarked with a chuckle while stepping out of the house. "Boy, it's been a long week showing all of you how we do things the Xiao-Long way. Today's a bit of rest easy day, with just another jog with us hoping to break our record. Mine is over ten miles and I'm sure my girls will break that record, followed by some stretching and then some weapons training and target practice in the evening. And that is the secret of how the Xiao-Long family is the strongest family on Remnant. So don't be afraid to try and maybe you'll be as strong as us one day."
…
…
…
"Okay is it done recording?" Tai looked at the camera. "Now I just got to upload this thing and we'll be good."
Yang, Ruby and Xion were peeking out from the house.
"You think he'll actually figure out how to upload that?" Yang whispered to her sisters. "He does know he needs to first upload it to his Scroll, right?"
"Yang, remember the man never learned how to change his wallpaper." Ruby answered.
"He still thinks network cookies are real cookies." Xion brought up.
"Fair enough." Yang smiled.
"Lunch is ready!" A voice called from inside.
The girls went back inside as Tai continued wondering how to upload his video, just as the batteries started to die.
LOW BATTERY!
"Oh come on, I need to upload this before-" Tai complained before the screen went black.
