Chapter Five
Tai had coffee and tea ready for them when they arrived. There were bags under his eyes, and a bloody bandage wrapped around one bicep. Ruby had thrown herself into his arms when she saw him and he had laughed, swinging her around in a wide circle. He hugged Yang next, tears running down his face. Zwei, their corgi, ran around their feet, barking furiously. Ruby dropped to her knees to scratch his ears and rub his belly, saying, "Who's a good boy? Zwei is! Yes, you are! I missed you so much you little fluff-butt!"
Tai, still laughing, said "I missed you both so much! Ruby, I saw your message. It was the first broadcast we had gotten that wasn't local. You were great, kid. I'm so very proud of you. Theodore and Qrow filled me in on the situation in Atlas and Vacuo. What happened with Ironwood was terrible. Are you guys doing ok?"
"Oh, hanging in there," Ruby said bravely, still scratching Zwei's ears. "The last couple months have been really hard though."
"We've had a tough go of it," Yang said. "But we're still standing. How about you? You look like you've been through the ringer."
Tai looked at his bandaged arm. "Oh, this? Ursa. I'm sure Theo filled you in, we had a hell of fight earlier. A swarm of refugees, followed by an even larger swarm of grimm. Then Raven appeared, which was a very pleasant surprise, and we fended off the first wave. She went back for Qrow and Theo and then we mopped up the rest. And where are my manners? These must be the teammates I've heard so much about." He smiled at Blake and Weiss.
"Right! Dad, this is Weiss," Ruby said.
Weiss curtsied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Zwei ran to her, stub tail wiggling madly, and she took the opportunity to pet him and confirm that Ruby was right, he was indeed the best boy. Tai nodded to her.
"And this is Blake," Yang said, moving to Blake's side and putting an arm around her waist. "My girlfriend."
"Hi, Mr. Xiao Long. It's good to finally meet you," Blake said.
Tai blinked when Yang introduced Blake as her girlfriend, and then broke into a wide, sunny smile. "About time she brings someone home! Great to meet you!" He enthusiastically shook Blake's hand. "Oh, I've been waiting for this for a while. I'll be right back." He disappeared from the room.
Ruby had started chuckling. Weiss and Blake looked confused, and Yang had a look of dawning comprehension on her face. "He's not..."
"He is!" Ruby chortled gleefully as Tai returned with a pair of thick photo albums in his arms.
"Oh no, Dad," Yang started to protest weakly.
Tai slammed the albums down on the table. "Where to start! Blake you're gonna love these. I've got all kinds of pictures from Yang's childhood here. He flipped the first album open, and turned pages until he found was he was looking for.
"This is when she got into the cocoa powder when Summer was baking. I've never seen such a mess in my life! We were cleaning chocolate off the ceiling," Tai chuckled. Blake and Weiss crowded in on either side of him to see the pictures.
"Oh, Yang! Look at your hair!" Weiss exclaimed. "It was so bushy!"
"And look at those chubby cheeks! You were adorable," Blake said, grinning at her.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Yang rolled her eyes. "Hey Dad, find that one of Ruby from her twelfth birthday party."
Ruby stopped laughing. "I don't think I like this game anymore," she said, starting to panic.
"Oh, right! That's a good one." He turned the pages. "Ruby had just gotten really big into comics. She wanted to match hairstyles with her favorite heroine and tried to dye her own hair, to surprise our guests. I thought she was going to have orange hair forever." He found a picture of a gangly, pre-teen Ruby with a shock of bright orange hair.
"I didn't know it was going to turn my hair orange! I was shooting for scarlet."
"Ruby, you've already got such wonderful natural red highlights. What were you thinking?" Weiss asked, laughing.
"I don't know! I wanted it all red, but I mixed it wrong, or messed up the bleaching process or something and it came out orange. Don't tell me you've never done something like that before."
"Ruby, dear, I had a personal hairstylist. I never had to worry about it," Weiss said, patting her hand.
"Stupid rich people and their stupid servants," Ruby grumbled.
"Oh, there's a good one!" Blake said, pointing at a picture. In it a six- or seven-year-old Yang was pulling Ruby around the yard in a wagon attached to her bicycle. "You two were really cute kids."
"Yeah, they were. It's been a while since I've gone through these. Life was simpler back then," Tai said, smiling sadly down at the photographs. He sighed. "And now my girls are all grown up and saving the world."
"You ok Dad? You look exhausted," Yang asked.
"Oh, I'm all right. Help yourself to a drink while they're still warm." He sat at the table and poured himself some tea.
"How's the town holding up, with the extra people?" Ruby asked, sitting down across from him and pouring herself a coffee, adding liberal amounts of sugar and cream. Zwei curled up at her feet and huffed contentedly.
"It's doing ok, I guess. The other hunters are holding down the fort, I got sent here to meet up with your team," Tai said, taking a large gulp of his tea.
Yang had sat down with Blake and good naturedly looked on as Blake and Weiss continued to peruse the old photo album. "Theodore said he wants us to help, with the grimm and with the defenses. What are we looking at?"
"Ursai, beowolves, nevermores. The usual, mostly. Just way more of them than we're used to. That swarm earlier was massive, I've never seen grimm in those number here on Patch." Tai had settled into his chair, still sipping his cup of tea.
"What about the town's defenses?" Ruby asked, sipping her coffee which was now at about a fifty/fifty ratio of coffee to sugar and cream.
"In bad shape. The wall needs repaired and expanded to accommodate the new folk."
There was a sudden outburst of laughter from the end of the table. "Oh my gosh, Yang! You were caked!" Blake said, leaning into Yang while she laughed.
"Ok, I may have done that myself, at one point," Weiss said, smiling.
The picture in question was of a young Yang, who had applied large quantities of make-up in a haphazard scrawl across her face. Yang rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too. "Try telling me you didn't do that to yourself at some point, Blake."
"I'm sure I did, but it's your picture we're looking at right now, Hun," Blake said.
"Remind me to ask Kali to get out your photos next time I see her," Yang said.
"Oh, she'd love to. And it's only fair, I suppose." Blake rested her head on Yang's shoulder. "Thanks for showing us these, Mr. Xiao Long."
"Just Tai, Blake, I don't even ask my students to call me Mr. Xiao Long. And it's my pleasure. I've been dying for Yang or Ruby to find a partner or bring friends over so I could share them." He yawned and stretched. "I figured we could get started tomorrow, if anything happens overnight, we'll hear the siren. I'll go make sure the rooms are set up." Tai got up and left the room, and they could hear him climbing the stairs.
"Your dad is nice," Blake said to Ruby and Yang.
"Yeah, he's pretty great," Ruby agreed.
"Your house is so homey!" Weiss said.
"Well, we can't all live in palaces, Ice Queen!" Ruby said defensively.
"No, no, I meant that as a compliment! This home is warm and inviting. All wooden and cozy. It's so much different from the mansion I grew up in. I like it!"
"I take it back. Thanks Weiss!" Ruby said. Yang chuckled.
"It sounds like we have our work cut out for us. What do you think Salem wanted with Vale?" Blake asked, head still on Yang's shoulder.
"She may have been after the crown, but I thought Ozpin said it was somewhere else," Yang said, absently running her fingers through Blake's hair.
"Or, she's a crazed psychopath who just wants to destroy everything. Which was basically confirmed by what Jinn showed us. She's just confident enough now to move in the open." Weiss sat back in her chair, arms crossed.
"We can ask some people tomorrow, see what they know," Ruby said. "Try to get some more details about the attack, get a clearer picture of what she was after."
They were all silent for a moment, each thinking their own thoughts. Yang suddenly broke it by addressing Weiss. "How do you think lover boy is going to do without you for a few days?"
"More like how am I going to do without him. I wish I'd had a chance to tell him what we were going to be doing," Weiss sighed forlornly.
"I'm sure Theodore or Qrow will fill them in. Maybe if we see Raven we can request their team to join us, too," Blake said, patting Weiss's hand.
"Thank you, Blake. At least one of you appreciates my struggle," Weiss sniffed, pointedly looking at Yang.
"Really, Weiss, I'm glad you and Jaune are together, and I do appreciate that you'll miss him. It must really suck that you started going out and then had to leave him right away," Yang said.
"It does suck! We really do have to see if we can request his team," Weiss said.
There was a clatter as Tai came back downstairs. "Weiss, Ruby, you'll be in Yang and Ruby's old room. Blake, Yang, I've got the guest room set up as well. If you ladies need anything else, let me know. You're welcome to food or anything else you need." He gave his daughters another hug, then said "I'm gonna head to bed. That fight earlier wiped me out. We'll tour the town tomorrow, see what we're working with, ok?"
"Sounds good, Dad, thanks," Ruby said. "Goodnight!"
Tai disappeared back out of the kitchen with a wave.
"A thought just occurred to me," said Yang after he had left. "If I knew I was going to be back in my old home, where, you know, my stuff is, I wouldn't have bought so much new stuff earlier." She looked down at her shirt as she said this.
"Are you really regretting a shopping trip?" Weiss asked.
"Well, not really, but you get my point." Yang yawned. "I don't know about you ladies, but I'm ready for bed. I'll see you in the morning." She kissed Blake's forehead and left the table.
"Good night!" Blake said to Ruby and Weiss, and then followed Yang from the room.
"I'm gonna stay up a bit, I think," said Ruby. "I took a nap I didn't mean to earlier, and that coffee is giving me a buzz right now. You want me to show you where the room is?"
"Please," said Weiss. "I was up too late last night and am feeling it right now."
Ruby walked Weiss upstairs to her and Yang's old bedroom. Once Weiss was settled, she then went back downstairs and outside to the porch. She sat down in an old weather-stained wooden rocking chair, staring up at the stars and the shattered moon. Zwei had trotted out and lay down at her feet again. It felt good to be home. When she had last left, nearly a year ago, she had slipped out unseen, her only goodbye a note she had left on her desk. Her dad had deserved better than that, she thought.
It was late summer in Patch, and the night was comfortably warm, much more pleasant than the scorching heat of Vacuo. Looking east, she could see the faint glow of the lights from town washing out the night sky and hiding the stars. As her mind wandered, she thought back to her days at Signal. She wondered if any of her old friends or Classmates were still around. She had been moved up two years to start at Beacon early, which meant that this would have been the year her class from Signal would have graduated and started at an academy. Except Beacon had fallen. Ruby felt a pang of loss. She had been at the school for less than a year, and if things had gone normally, she would have spent two or three more years there. She had lost her chance at a normal education, and she sorrowed for it.
I'll find out how bad things got in Vale in the morning, I suppose, Ruby thought. She let the night air, warm and smelling of the woods, settle over her. The crushing despair that had so frequently been present over the last weeks had retreated to a faraway distance, but the grumbling hadn't completely vanished. She was too anxious about Salem for that. Ruby sat there, slowly rocking, watching the stars and listening to Zwei snore, until fatigue caught up to her and she went back inside and to bed.
