Thanks for the support and comments as always everyone! Here's the chapter I warned you about last time. It might not have been what you thought but let me know what you think.
"Come on, Amber. You can do this." Deep within her mind, Amber Autumn hyped herself up as she took deep imaginary breaths.
She doesn't know how long she became aware that she was a floating ghost but it shouldn't have been more than a day…hopefully.
Throughout that time however, she came to know a few more things about herself.
One, she wasn't dead yet. At least that's what her body is saying seeing as it keeps on breathing comfortably inside the pod.
Two, something was trying to pull her or at least her soul away from her body and she had a worrying feeling that it was probably the woman who attacked her and stole part of her power. The worst part was that it felt like she was near to Amber's senses.
She didn't want to be pulled away from her body but in this case it felt like it was the only thing allowing her to be aware of her surroundings because everytime she went back inside her body….darkness was all she saw no matter how she tried to open her eyes.
It gave her the shivers to be honest and thus, she discovered the third thing about herself. Every so often, Amber could fling herself out of her body by pulling on the imaginary rope linking her to the other Maiden.
It came at a cost however.
Every time she flung herself away from her body, a tension starts to build before she is eventually snapped back inside.
She's done it three times now and every time it happens…..Amber fears that it would be the last and she would never wake up again even as a ghost.
Still, it was the only way she could interact with the outside world.
Which is the reason why she was currently hyping herself up from the darkness of her own mind before willing herself to walk forward as she pulled on the imaginary rope she envisioned between her and her attacker.
Light enveloped her before the next thing she knew she was floating a foot in front of her body. Wherever she was, it seems the other Maiden was just directly above her.
"Okay, so I'm floating. Not where I thought I would end up to be but it's cool, it's cool." She says shakily as she spreads her arms wide to look at her near translucent body.
Floating was a weird feeling with nowhere to plant your feet but luckily for her, Amber was experienced in flying using her Maiden powers back when she was still healthy.
As it is, she manages to gently plant herself onto the floor in front of the pod containing her body.
She smiles sadly as she looks back at her injured body before shaking her head. "Damn, it's still weird seeing my body like that."
Sighing deeply in her misfortune, she doesn't notice her visitors until someone literally speaks their mind.
"Hello, Amber."
She screeched out in surprise as she rapidly turned to see Ozpin walking towards her as Qrow followed behind him.
"Ozpin?! Qrow?! You can see me?!" She asks hopefully, if they were then that means she was in Beacon!
And if they can see her then she could point them to the direction of the woman who attacked her! Her hopes were disappointed however as they walked past her but in Qrow's case, he actually walked through her.
"Is it just me or did it suddenly get cold?" Qrow shivers as he pauses and pulls his cape around him.
"Hmm? I didn't feel anything." Ozpin hums, turning back confusedly at Qrow.
Ahhh, that answers that question then. Amber's shoulder slumps in defeat as Qrow resumes walking forward.
"Must be Yang or Ruby talking about me then." Qrow mutters absently as he straightens his back.
Amber didn't even have the energy to quip at that as the two men now stand in front of her pod.
"Do you know why she's not waking up?"
Amber perks up slightly at that as she sees Ozpin take out a scroll in response to Qrow's question.
"We've already been through this, Qrow. She's in a coma. She has partial brain activity allowing her body to breathe normally but she won't wake up." Ozpin finishes as Amber peers over his shoulder to see him looking at scans of her body.
"Doesn't that mean we only need to make her have full brain activity to help her wake up? Don't you have any kind of magic that could do that?" Qrow asks and Amber gasps hopefully at his question.
That's right. Ozpin had lifetimes of experience so surely he at least knows a way to try and wake up a comatose patient. Her hope is crushed however when Ozpin shakes his head.
"Healing never was my forte and besides, you heard what Mr. Arc said."
Mr. Arc? Amber tilted her head at the name. The name doesn't seem to ring any bells on her mind but it is safe to assume that this Mr. Arc is the one she has to thank for her current awareness.
"Yeah, yeah. Her soul was injured. Scarred if you will, which is why part of her soul won't regenerate back with her Aura no matter how much the kid used his Semblance."
A kid using his Semblance? Amber raised her eyebrow at that. Mr. Arc is just a kid? If so then Ozpin and his circle must have been really desperate to heal her. Not that she wasn't grateful but it could only mean bad things if they are already that desperate.
"It's not a surprise really considering someone stole half of her Maiden powers which are attached to her soul. Perhaps this is evidence that our consciousness is connected to our soul." Ozpin nods and Amber sighs sadly as she remembers how her Maiden powers were getting sucked out of her.
It wasn't a stretch to say that she was literally getting her life drained out of her back then as she felt the pain of her Aura being forcefully stolen from her body.
"So that's it then? She's just going to be in a coma and there's nothing we can do about it." Qrow frowned unhappily and Amber sighs sadly at his concern.
"No, now that she is no longer on life support, I believe it would be feasible to wake her up if we return the missing parts of her."
Good news at least but for that to happen they had to-
"You mean kill the ones who attacked her." Qrow finishes her thought for her.
"Just the other Half-Maiden but yes."
"If we can find her, that is." Qrow scoffed as his eyes narrowed in anger.
Amber clenched her fists in anger. They were so close! The Maiden was near and yet no matter how she tried to get their attention, her screams and touches passed unnoticed.
"Is this the reason why you requested me to bring you to her? To throw negativity around?" Ozpin sighed to which Qrow shook his head with a sad smile.
"No, sorry. Just disappointed is all. When the kid used his Semblance on her I really thought she'd wake up, you know? Part of me thinks that it failed because of my own Semblance."
"You shouldn't blame yourself for things you couldn't control, Qrow. We never were certain whether Mr. Arc's Semblance could wake her in the first place. We only took the chance because of our situation."
Amber frowned at that. Situation? What situation? What was happening that Ozpin had to ask a kid for help? Considering that Amber could feel the other Maiden was near then perhaps it was related to her?
"I know, I know. I just wish she would wake up and then she'd point me to who hurt her and it would be that easy. Problem solved."
Amber groaned annoyedly at that. It could literally be that easy if only she could tell them or at least send them a message!
"You of all people should know that it is never that easy."
Amber's throat closed up as she felt her body start to pull her back just as she saw Qrow lay a hand on the glass of the pod holding her body.
"You're right. I guess I just wanted to pass by and say goodbye before I leave again."
"Goodbye, Qrow. Thanks for trying to save me." Amber tries to lay a hand on his shoulder with a sad smile but her flesh just passes through his body as she desperately tries to fight the pull.
"You think it would take you a long time to confirm Mr. Arc's information?"
Amber musters a surge of defiance as she plants her feet on the ground at that even as the pull to her body gets even stronger. This was the first time she managed to fling herself outside of her body while someone was visiting her. She's not gonna let this chance go to learn new things about what was happening outside as Qrow turns to Ozpin..
"I'll try to be back before the dance but it's a big place, Ozpin. You gotta admit Jimmy had a point that southeast outside of Vale is pretty vague information. What's the distance from the city? Are we looking for a group of people? A warehouse of Dust and equipment? Both?"
"I seem to recall you were the one who offered to do it yourself." Ozpin chuckles in contrast to Amber who was groaning in effort.
"Yeah, I did. You know me and Raven snuck into Beacon ourselves so it just didn't sit right with me for Jimmy to be suspicious of the kid that much just because of his transcripts." Qrow smiles nostalgically as Amber stumbles into her pod.
"No! Wait!" Only her sheer force of will allows her to stay inches away from her as she grits her teeth in determination as their conversation goes on.
"And so you defend him." Ozpin nods knowingly to Qrow's own chuckles.
"Yup, it's a pain in the ass though."
"You might think that but this could lead us to a clue on how to find Amber's attackers."
Amber gets a second wind at that as she shouts. "She's near, Qrow! You don't have to go!"
"Yeah. The White Fang working with a human like Roman Torchwick? Someone is pulling the strings and I'm willing to bet it's the Maiden and she isn't far from here."
Oh if only you knew, Qrow, if only you knew. Amber could literally feel her somewhere above her meaning she was already in Beacon.
"Then may I recommend searching at Mountain Glenn first since it is already in that direction? The ruins would provide adequate shelter for any operation the White Fang would want to hide."
"No….stay….please." Amber's desperate plea goes unheard with tears in her eyes as her strength finally fails her.
She gets sucked into her body and only her fear and desperation lets her see them for a few more moments.
"Or serve as a feeding ground for the Grimm but don't worry, that's the plan from the start. Get to Mountain Glenn first and then scout back towards Vale's direction to save time."
"Good. I appreciate it. Thank you, Qrow."
The last sight Amber sees before darkness overtakes her sight is Qrow smiling at Ozpin while turning away from her
"Nah, it's no problem. Thanks for letting me say goodbye before I leave."
And those were the last words she heard before silence filled her mind.
Alone in the dark and silence of her mind, Amber Autumn's cries are unheard by the two who were walking away from her.
Qrow felt like he was making a mistake as he started to walk out of Beacon.
"Uncle Qrow! You're leaving already?!" Ruby screamed as she towards him while he was just on his way to Beacon's docks.
Ahhh, there's the mistake. With how deep in thought he was, he forgot to say goodbye.
"Hey, pipsqueak. Don't you have classes right now?" Qrow greets as he turns around with his arms wide open to receive Ruby's flying hug tackle.
"I just wanted to see you before you left." Ruby pouts as she hugs him tightly and Qrow hugs back and laughs at her for that.
"You mean we wanted to see Uncle Qrow before he left." Yang pipes in as she walks into view with her partner.
"Where's the white one?" Qrow asks as he sees only three of their team here.
"You mean Weiss? She's with her sister." Yang answers with a smile.
"Winter, huh?" He says absently.
"You know her, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked as she pulled back away from him.
"You could say I know a lot of people because of work and with that said, sorry kids, but I've got a mission to get to."
Ruby gasps at him with stars in her eyes for that.
"A mission from Ozpin?! That's so cool! Are you going to hunt for bad guys?! Clear out a Grimm nest?! Save a town from bandits?!"
"The first one but don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want any chance of it leaking to the wrong ears so they can hide from me." Qrow answers with a wink.
"You're hunting bad guys?!" Ruby squealed loudly, immediately ignoring what he just said.
"Shhh! What did I just say?!" Qrow shushes her immediately, good thing nobody else was around to hear them. Except of course for Yang's partner who nods in understanding before walking back a distance away.
"Right! No leaking of ears here!"
"I'm serious, Ruby." He says seriously, holding her by the shoulders.
"So am I, I mean we've hunted bad guys before-" Ruby rolls her eyes dismissively but Yang thankfully interrupts her.
"Anyway! Be careful out there, old man." Yang shouts loudly, shoving Ruby out of the way to give Qrow a quick hug.
"Don't call me old. It's cramping my style." He grumbles back as he squeezes her before stepping back.
"Ha! As if you had any style to cramp!"
Ahhh, he can't take that lying down now, can he?
"Hey! I'll have you know I was a member of the coolest team to ever grace Beacon's halls! We had plenty of style." He smirks as he fishes out an old photo from his pockets.
He smiles as he sees both of the girls' awestruck gaze at his team's old picture.
"Team STRQ." Yang says reverently and Qrow just knows that she was looking at her mother. Her biological mother, not the one that stayed with her.
His smile dips down a bit at that before he puts the picture back into his pocket with a flourish.
"Yup and that's where I met your parents. We were pretty well known back in the day."
Yang blinked back at that before scrunching her nose at Qrow.
"More like well known for your crummy fashion sense, yuck."
"Hey, I'll have you know we looked good back then and I have a number of inappropriate stories to back it up." He waggled his eyebrows, knowing his nieces would back off with that.
Little did Qrow know, however, was that the next series of events brought upon by his words was something he would never forget.
Ruby's reaction to what he thought was a good joke however was somewhat different to what he was expecting.
Sure, disgust was expected. That was the point of him saying that, after all but this? Her face had horror written all over it.
"Please don't tell me you are actually my father and not my uncle all this time."
Out of all possible replies Ruby could have had to his quip, that was not one Qrow thought possible.
Qrow's jaw drops at that and it is just his luck that a fly happens to fly inside his mouth. His eyes immediately widen as he coughs the insect out while hitting his chest.
"W-What kind of question is that?!" He shouts through heaving breaths as he tries to get his breathing back under control.
"I don't know, okay?! You just said you had inappropriate stories with your team and I thought that was your way of telling me you slept with my mom and I'm a threesome baby-" Ruby screeched desperately with a blushing face
"Woah there, Little Rose! Back up for a second and say that again one more time."
"You know…..a threesome baby? Like Yang was when dad was with mom and Aunt Raven."
"I…uhhhh….geez, Ruby. This is kinda hard to explain." Qrow sighed as he smoothened his brow.
"What the fuck?" Yang blurts out with wide eyes beside them.
"Language!" Qrow snaps immediately with a flinch. This day really was not going the way he thought it was!
"What is there to explain?! You either slept with mom or you didn't."
"I was getting to that. First off, I did not have a threesome with your mom and dad and I can't believe I even had to say that."
"Oh cool, cool, cool. What's the second?"
The second….well, the second point was something Qrow was debating if he should share or not. This was the stuff that changes families because the fact of the matter is….he slept with Summer.
In fact, the whole team did.
Even Raven, though she has made it a point that she would never ever speak of her experience on it again. As much as everyone thought Summer to be the perfect representation of mom and huntress, she had her flaws.
Summer Rose was never perfect and she never claimed to be.
Oh she was still a supermom to Ruby and Yang, a wonderful wife to Tai, and the leader Team STRQ had that held them together. She also just happened to have had a high libido because of the stress of what she did.
In summary, she was good, kind, strong, beautiful, loving, heroic, and every positive characteristic you could think of. She just happened to be a bit too lustful.
It was certainly a surprise to discover during their third year in Beacon but it was a secret their team managed to survive through with surprising grace and a buttload of good memories.
So all those times he joked with Tai that he went for the whole team? They both knew it was a lie because Summer was the one who actually did it. Tai just had the pleasure of getting the two women on their team to fall for him.
He gulps as he sees pleading silver eyes so reminiscent of Summer that he can't help but think….what if he was Ruby's father?
He pales as images cross his mind.
She'd call him dad and they'd race across the cottage at Patch before eating Summer's cooking. They'd train together as they wield their scythes against-
Qrow immediately shook his head off of those thoughts.
It was a nice life. It was also an impossible life because he distinctly remembers the last time he slept with Summer was before she officially got hitched with Tai. There was no bad blood between him and Tai when it happened. They both knew Summer's condition and Qrow was happy enough for the both of them.
Sure she did have a crush on Summer. Who didn't? But Qrow knew while she might have cummed on his dick from time to time, her heart beat for Tai.
And when Tai and Summer got married, Qrow never touched her again. He had too much respect for the both of them to do that.
As it is, did he have it in to share that knowledge to Ruby and Yang?
The answer was no. No, he did not have it in him.
As far as anyone else was concerned, Summer Rose will stay unblemished with only him, Tai, and Raven knowing the truth.
And so he looked at Ruby's eyes and opened his mouth.
"What second?" He answered with a fake smile on his face.
"You said first off so that means there's a second, right?" Ruby asks with furrow on her face.
"Nah, I was just messing with you, kid." Qrow shook his head at that with a laugh as he ruffled her hair.
"So you're not my father?"
He laughs even more uproariously at that.
"No, Ruby. I don't think I am." He says with a smile as he wipes tears away from the corners of his eyes.
His nieces breathe sighs of relief at that before Ruby rambles on with her feelings.
"Oh, good. I know you'll be a cool dad and all but it'd be just weird when I already have a cool dad of my own. Plus, you're already Uncle Qrow, what do I call you if I found out you were actually my dad?"
"Yeah, I guess it would be weird, huh." He replies with a forlorn smile as he thinks on what ifs and could have beens before he shook his head again. "I don't think it would matter much, to be honest." The words come out of his mouth before he could even think about it.
"How so?" Yang raises an eyebrow as she calms herself down.
As much as fantasies of a life of having Ruby as his own daughter, he already had everything that matters, right? Family.
"It's simple. We're already a family, aren't we?" He asks with a smile on his face and the beaming smiles he receives from his nieces lifts his spirits up.
"Right…Thanks, Uncle Qrow." Ruby says after giving him a quick hug that Qrow returns.
"Yeah, that was pretty cool." Yang shoots him a thumbs up in approval.
"No problem, Little Rose, Firecracker. With that said, I think it's time to say goodbye."
"You're leaving already?" Ruby pouts at him.
"Like I said earlier, I have places to be and missions to do while you two have classes to attend to." He says with a smile on his face as he steps back.
"Here I thought you were the fun one." Yang smirks.
"Hey! I am the fun one! I'm the one going on cool Huntsman missions after all while you two attend boring classes." Qrow replies with a laugh before smirking at the two of them.
"Ha! Whatever you say, old man!" Yang scoffs to which Qrow only rolls his eyes.
"Bye, Uncle Qrow! See you next time!" Ruby waves enthusiastically as he turns around.
He raises a hand to wave back one last time before walking out of Beacon.
Gone was the feeling of mistake he had when he was just leaving after saying goodbye to Amber. With him was the love of a family that puts a smile on his face.
"You do realize he never said he didn't sleep with Summer, right?"
"Shut up, Yang. You're ruining the moment." Ruby cringed at that reminder as she watched her Uncle Qrow walk away.
"Hey, I'm just saying. Besides, it's not like it changes things. He was right that we already are a family." Yang shrugs with a smile before putting an arm over Ruby's shoulders.
"...He was, wasn't he?" Ruby smiles ruefully at that.
"Yeah! I'll always be your big sister and there's nothing you can do about it!" Yang pumps her hand with a smile on her face that gets Ruby to laugh at her sister.
"Thanks, Yang. I'm glad you're my sister too."
Yang pauses at that before slowly turning to Ruby with a grin on her face.
"Awww…that was so cute!" She squeals as she ruffles Ruby's hair..
"Urghh! What is with you guys and ruffling my hair?!" Ruby groans as she tries to push away Yang's hand. First Uncle Qrow, and now Yang. What is it with them and messing up her hairstyle?!
"We can't help it! You're just too cute!"
Ruby groans at that as they start to walk back to classes.
"Had fun?" Blake asks, coming out from one of the corners and unwittingly scaring Ruby.
"Blake?! How much did you hear?!" Ruby shouts with an embarrassed blush on her face.
"Only bits and pieces but I didn't pay attention."
"Oh thank the Gods." She sighs in relief but squeaks when she sees Blake's reaction
"Sounds private." Blake raises an eyebrow, causing Ruby to shake nervously.
"Meh, so and so. We'd have to talk to our dad some time in the future but all is good." Yang shrugs and Ruby is thankful for her sister who can navigate society for her.
"I'm surprised you didn't go with Jaune and Pyrrha." Ruby points out confused with a tilt of her head.
She'd have expected Blake to be with Jaune now considering she told them that they really were dating and going public soon. Isn't that a thing dating couples do? Go to meals and classes together? Blake only shook her head at her however.
"Contrary to popular belief, we don't need to always be together. Besides, you're my teammates, aren't you?" Blake replies with a smile on her face and Ruby squeals at that.
"Damn right we are. Now come on and let's pick up the Ice Queen!" Yang punches a fist to her palm at that reminder, hyping Ruby up even further.
Everything was going great! Her uncle didn't suddenly become her dad. Blake was sticking with them. Pyrrha wasn't trying to seduce her into a harem. Everything was perfect and now all they needed now was to get Weiss and then they'd all be complete! More than that, she knew just the perfect way to do it.
With her hands raised up, Ruby shouts as enthusiastically as she can.
"Alright! Let's go team! Time to get our team back together again and kick some ass!"
"We're just going to class." Blake reminds her, making Ruby freeze with a blush on her face.
"Shh. Let her have this." Yang whispers loud enough for her to hear and Ruby squeals inside her.
Regardless, she carries on.
"Alright everyone! Let's go!"
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pa tr eon.c o m (slash) MrLightbringer0
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P.S. Discord coming soon.