RWBY: Am I Your Teacher or Mother?
CH 12: Scars of the Past
Weiss was at a complete lost of what to do right now as she sat in the ambulance outside the courthouse Yang just practically blew up. Winter was busy discussing the situation with Ironwood on her scroll after the paramedics assured her Weiss had no injuries, at least not physical ones. She was shivering into her blanket as she struggled to process the chaos that erupted tonight. Jaune and Pyrrha were busy helping Paramedics treat injured with either the formers semblance or the providing aide carrying others with her polarity semblance. Ren meanwhile kept the masses from drawing in Grimm with his semblance, and it was a good thing too. A disaster like tonight was generating a tidal wave of negativity threatening to crash into the city with hordes of Grimm if not for the boy drowning it out. Weiss herself felt like she was about to bring forth a Nevermore, and not from her glyphs. She nearly drew her saber, as a voice startled her out of that dark thought, only to tremble further as she locked eyes with those just like her.
"Are you hurt Weiss?"
"W-Winter!? Oh I mean-eh…."Weiss fidgeted in her response, her anxiety skyrocketing under her sisters gaze.
"You didn't answer me. Are you alright Weiss?" Winter asked her, her tone so serious and calm in unnerved the girl much worse than it normally did. Weiss always did her best to meet her expectations and appease her…..a bar she did feel was too high though. She couldn't help but sulk and crash at the prospect.
"*SIGH* No I'm not hurt, not physically. Just like Ruby right now." Weiss groaned, causing Winter to raise a brow in confusion.
"Your teammate just nuked the courthouse and nearly took us with it, and your more concerned with your partner right now?" Winter asked bewildered, her red cheek trembling with phantom pain as she still felt the blow from hours earlier.
"I can't blame her! Ruby she…..she's been through worse than this, than anything you can imagine!" Weiss yelled, her throat burning from the effort. To her surprise, Winter actually gave a solemn look.
"I read the report on her, after your incident at Beacon." Winter sighed.
Weiss sighed heavily as she rubbed her temple, the screams she heard that day echoing in her mind. She saw it in her nightmares so many times it was oddly something she got used too, only giving her headaches at this rate, which did nothing to alleviate Weiss's fear right now. "Yeah, hence why Yang and the others are going on a wild manhunt for her monster Uncle. She's probably scared and weak after all she's been through and needs our help" Weiss said, tears soon falling from her eyes to Winter's shock.
"Weiss….she really means that much to you?" Winter asked bewildered.
"YES! She's like what you are to me! I see her now and think she's like the little sister that needs help! Help you gave me growing up from dad! HELP I NEVER GAVE HER! NO ONE GAVE HER ANY!" Weiss cried into her hands as she screamed this to Winter's sadness.
"W-Was I really that important to Weiss? Is this girl really that important to her too? I….never thought I helped her that much, just took the slaps from Father for her when she messed up around him. How-"
"Another rough night huh Miss Schnee?" Weiss jolted, dropping her blanket as she eyed the source of that sudden voice. "P-Professor Ozpin?" She said shakily, a sniffle mixed in, surprised to see him.
Winter herself straightening up after shaking off her equally surprised look.
"W-What do we owe the honor Headmaster?" Winter asked nervously, but Ozpin gave a solemn shake in disproval.
"No honor from this is owed, trust me. If anything-" He said, tone filled with guilt as he sat beside Weiss, placing a somber hand on her knee. "It's me who owes you an apology Weiss."
"W-Why? You didn't do anything sir?" Weiss asked bewildered. Ozpin merely sighed as he rubbed his tired, guilt riddled eyes.
"That's the issue. Your lawyer was right, I did nothing to prevent this, all of this chaos. I set up a dangerous academy to mimic the dangers of the outside world for you students, only for more dangers to come not from a Grimm Forest but from within my fortress. Poor miss Rose was tormented, broken at the hands of people I let into my walls. Those walls-" He said while pointing to the burnt down courthouse. "Incinerated at the hands of another of my students. All because I never stopped to consider how risky my ways were for you all." He said somberly before getting up and surprising Weiss and Winter, even JNPR near them as they walked over to see them.
He was bowing to Weiss.
"I am dreadfully sorry for another of my many, many years of mistakes you suffered for Miss Schnee…I am truly sorry." He said solemnly.
As all stood shocked at the humble apology, too scared and surprised to say anything, someone finally broke the silence, but not one of the students or winter.
"Ozpin come now, the headmaster of Beacon shouldn't be bowing to a child, a once Schnee heiress no less." Goodwitch grumbled as she got out of her car.
"My you're here fast Glynda?" Ozpin sighed as he did as she said and stood. She just rolled her eyes annoyed at his sarcasm.
"I have good reason to be. Our "old friend" kidnaps my daughter and nearly incinerates her friend. Weiss…are you alright." Goodwitch asked calmly after stern reprimand.
"Physically? Yes, no thanks to Yang. I should have never told her." Weiss grumbled.
Goodwitch sighed not surprised at that answer. The feeling was mutual, not that she'd voice it. Yang did have right to know and honestly Goodwitch should have told Weiss to just come home first then tell her in private to keep her under control.
"It's not the time for regrets, we need to go look for Ruby and that idiot Qrow instead. I knew he was crazy at times, but never this much. I don't think he'd harm her on purpose if it makes you feel better Weiss, but we need to look for them now, then we can focus on his idiotic niece and her friends."
"Our friends you mean." Ren said sternly as his teammates nodded. Glynda just fixed him a frustrated glare.
"Your staying here and keeping the masses calm." She sternly ordered, receiving a glare in response.
"Screw that! We're finding Nora and Ruby!" He yelled.
"Mr. Ren, I know miss Valkyrie…..Nora means a lot to you, but you and your team need to help with the relief here so no Grimm come hunting. Leave hunting down the others to us, I promise we won't hurt your friend." Glynda swore sternly. Her promise did little to sway them.
"With respect professor, we weren't able to help any of our friends when they needed us. We need to do this too." Pyrrha countered, gripping Milo as she itched to fight.
"No, you WANT to do this, but me and the headmistress at Beacon are more experienced and equipped to do this, which is why I am not thrilled you volunteered my little sister for this Goodwitch." Winter countered sternly.
"She does actually need this, she needs to make up for her mistake and need to help her little sister." Glynda shot back, surprising everyone.
"Sister?" Jaune asked confused. "I know you adopted Ruby but, when did Weiss-"
"*Sigh* long story, and Miss Nikos." Winter said heavily before eying the gladiator, who stood at attention expectantly. "Honestly with your help at least we could use-" Winter sighed, but Ozpin cut her off.
"No Winter, I won't condone anymore of my students being put in harms way here. I can see there's no arguing with Glynda so I'll let Weiss go, but the others need to stay here and help the people. Especially with what I got planned to find Qrow." Ozpin said sternly.
"Which is?" Winter asked, the others nodding curiously.
Ozpin just sighed heavily, rubbing his temples as he instantly regretted ever coming here tonight.
"Lets just say a little birdie can track him down for me, and Miss Rose."
Glynda's eyes widened as she instantly realized whom he was referring, actually standing between him and Weiss protectively for a moment.
"You can't honesty mean her!? She's a disaster waiting to happen!" Glynda yelled exasperated.
Elsewhere….
A ship rocked back and forth against the ocean waves of the Mistralian sea, but Yang swallowed thickly as she did her best to crouch low and stay stable regardless, wary of the light rays flashing around looking for her and her friends. It wasn't difficult to sneak aboard a cargo ship to Mistral, courtesy of her ninja-like partner Blake. However, she and Nora were just mere moments away from bursting out and knocking out the guards and commandeering the ship….if not for Blake hushing them, reminding that none of them knew how to drive a boat, not to mention the captain would likely call to authorities in Mistral to apprehend them, making it a mute point.
"Looks like its empty." One guard said as the other shrugged.
"Just like the last 80 times we checked, lets get some grub already I'm sick of wasting our time on this shit." The other guard groaned as they closed the door, leaving the girls sighing in relief as they scrunched up against a crate.
"That was a close one." Blake sighed softly, mindful not to raise her voice too high for fear of the guards returning.
"Yeah, I'll feel much better though once we get to Mistral." Yang agreed. Nora fixed her a curious stare at that notion.
"Okay…..but you still haven't said WHY we have to go there? Shouldn't we be looking for that Qrow bastard?" Nora asked a bit annoyed.
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but Nora's right Yang. We need to focus on saving her, so why not try Patch where she was abducted? Trace her steps." Blake whispered, but Yang just shook her head.
"Despite him being a drunk, Qrow's no dumbass, he can hide his tracks well. That's precisely why we're going to Mistral. Lets just say I gotta…..contact there that could easily find even my drunk ass of an Uncle so we can kick his ass." Yang said hesitantly, her tone filled with frustration and anger that brought curiosity and fear to Blake and Nora. Whenever Yang got like that, it was best not to push the subject.
"Okay, we'll trust you then to find them…..poor Ruby, she must be so scared right now." Blake bemoaned, her ears scrunching as she imagined the trembling little girl she once cradled.
"If it makes you feel better Kitten, probably not. Hate to say it, but Ruby's mind being shot this once might be a blessing for her." Yang countered with a grin, almost rolling her eyes as the two eyed her exasperated.
"YANG! She just got freaking kidnapped!" Nora whispered yelled.
"By our Uncle. The one who trained her and was practically the father she always needed. Qrow took over for Dad when he fell, raising Ruby and me in between missions. He'd leave us with sitters when he had to go out on missions, or when he just wanted to keep us safe from his bad luck semblance. That's why he never got custody of us and lost out to Goodwitch." Yang countered, though frustrated she had to defend her Uncle after what he just pulled.
"Goodwitch is trained to deal with traumatized kids." Blake added and Yang nodded.
"That and another thing." Yang muttered to herself, a frustrated sigh actually slipping out of her that Blake caught quickly. She walked up to the brawler, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Yang, I know Qrow was hardly around, and you did say your dad shut down after what happened. You don't need to say more" Blake said softly. She remembered the time she nearly destroyed herself, denying herself food, sleep, and even her friends support all in an arrogant drive to right the wrongs of her past with the White Fang. It took a serious pep talk from Yang, one the brawler had to bleed her own past out to her to get the cat Faunus out of her funk.
"Yup, Qrow had to pay bills for us, even before dad died. He took to the bottle more than Qrow some nights, but I never did tell you HOW bad he was before he died, right?" Yang asked, bearing a strong frown that radiated a cold sadness even stronger than her usual fire. Blake and Nora double backed a bit as their hearts trembled a bit. When Yang told you about her past, it was never pretty. Even Nora, who usually spoke her mind without hesitation, was afraid to ask more despite her curiosity winning out.
"Yang…what happened?" Nora asked wearily.
Yang sighed heavily as she rubbed her arms, wincing a bit as she struggled to fight the pain.
"If I tell you girls this, you promise never to bring it up again, right?" She asked painfully. When they both stood frozen in surprise at the request, Yang clenched her teeth as her anger rose, she hated speaking of that day, and wasn't about to repeat herself ever again. "RIGHT!?" She almost hollered, making the girls recoil in fright.
"O-Okay! We promise!" They replied quickly, feeling their lives actually on the line with that response. Yang huffed as she took in deep breaths, willing her aura down as her lavender eyes returned.
"Good. I'm sorry its just not something I ever like saying. I see it enough in my dreams as is." She sighed, calming her breath as she fought the trembling in her arms to will herself. If her friends had sacrificed their future for her and her fight for Ruby, they deserved to know her darkest secret, to understand why Qrow did what he did. "So…you know how Weiss told us Ruby shut down mentally, regressed to her 5 year old self?" Yang asked, receiving somber stares and nods from the girls that tugged her heartstrings. "Yeah well, that's not the first time Ruby's repressed a memory. And we can blame my dad for that." Yang spat.
"Wha…What did he do to her?" Blake fearfully asked.
"Dad he….started touching her." Yang nervously said, almost hurling as she remembered Ruby's pitiful crying. Blake and Nora's mouth hung open as their eyes widened in terror hearing such news. Yang knew there was no turning back now, but she still hated speaking every word of that horrible time.
"I don't think he meant to really. Either it was the bottle or his mind shattered like Ruby's he, just started calling her Summer. He might have actually though Ruby was our mom. At first he began just hugging her a lot, crying and saying "your back"'. Ruby was just a little kid, she and I didn't realize what was going through that lug of his until…." Yang's breath caught her throat in a knot as she struggled to press on.
"Goldilocks…we can guess the rest." Nora said sadly, trying to spare her friend the torment, but Yang shook her head defiantly. She needed to get it out.
"He kissed her. Starting groping her. Times he would stop I could see he was scared, like he got his memory back. But it kept happening. A bad dream here, a few cans of beer there, he was back at it. I couldn't stop him, I wasn't strong enough to help her, just hug her myself and let her cry her eyes out." Yang said, her tone filled with guilt as her eyes stung from tears. "Qrow was off on missions, he wasn't able to save her either. No one could protect Ruby from him….at least that's what I thought at the time, before he finally died." Yang sighed, almost relieved to Blake's concern.
"Yang, he wasn't well I know, but, your not actually glad he was murdered by that woman on a mission right?" Blake asked wearily.
"IT WASN'T A WOMAN!" Yang's outburst made her recoil into Nora's arms as the Valkyrie stood frozen in fear as Yang's tearful red eyes bore down on them. "It wasn't a mission or some assassin that killed dad."
"What did then?" Nora asked. The air grew hot and heavy as Yang breathed in slowly, her hair sizzling as she had her tears evaporated from anger and sadness blending together badly. She hated every bit of this, even speaking was like injecting acid in her blood as it boiled thinking about what she had to answer. "Ruby did it."
Yang's bitter revelation made her friends pale at the thought.
"W-What?" Blake whispered in fright. Yang averted her gaze, rubbing her shoulders with dread. It didn't matter how many times she talked it out with a counselor Qrow once hired, some hurts just never went away.
"Ruby was starting out, training to use a prototype Crescent Rose. Qrow had it locked up, told her it wasn't safe to use when he was away, that he'd get back to training her once he got back. That was when this mess started. I think deep down she wanted it, to end the misery, the nightmare. One night she got her wish." Yang gulped as she struggled to speak the horrid memory. "I-I heard Ruby screaming. I rushed downstairs to see she was in the living room, crying and screaming while holding her prototype scythe...both were covered in blood. That's the night my family was cut apart for good. I saw him-" She couldn't finish before her breath hitched.
"She actually-" Blake fearfully asked, already knowing the answer.
"She must have picked the lock somehow, or got the key in dads dresser when he wasn't looking to get it. Thinking now…that's probably where she did find it that night." Yang spat angrily.
"You mean?" Nora asked, Yang just groaned as she cried into her hands.
"Dad must have dragged her to the bedroom during one of his Summer episodes. Ruby didn't have her shirt or pants on, just some panties. And, she was covered in blood. Dad's blood." Yang whimpered.
Blake and Nora lowered their heads, vainly fighting tears back as they realized what Yang meant. "I saw dad lying down on the couch, a big slash across his chest. His eyes were open but he wasn't breathing. Soon...Ruby wasn't either." Yang whimpered to their horror, jaws dropping.
"She shut down. I didn't know what to do. It was dumb luck Qrow finally got home that night to revive her, take her to a hospital to save her. When the police asked Qrow lied and said he saw some tall woman named Cinder kill him and take off. He's a huntsmen so it was believable, both them made enemies over the years. We just couldn't believe dad would become one. Become someone who tore us all apart like that! FUCK! When Ruby woke up she didn't even remember anything from that year. We had to tell her Mom was gone, and Dad too, lie to her that they both died on a mission! That dad never hurt her! It makes me want to hurl to this day." cried in sorrow. "First Dad and now Qrow too, why do they keep hurting her, hurting me? I'm so sick of having to pick up the pieces of my family." She whimpered.
Blake and Nora at first sat silent in shock, contemplating this horrifying news. Ruby actually killed her father. It was a chilling thought despite what the broken man had done. Their feelings on this mixed from anger, to shock, to hate for the man, to pity for poor Ruby as they just pictured her squealing cries and blood soaked face. But right now as Yang also broke down whimpering like a child, they did the only thing possible to make her feel better. They wrapped her in their arms tightly.
"Calm down Yang." Blake said.
"DON'T TELL ME TO-" Yang began to yell, eyes glowing red before seeing the watery ones of her friends staring at her. Really, they knew this was impossible, but it touched her a bit they still tried to help her after all the baggage she just dumped on them, only able to offer her a small promise in return that made her heart sink a bit.
"We'll follow you anywhere to get her back. Neither of you are gonna be alone again. That's no lie." Blake whispered
"R-Really?" Yang sniffled.
"Cross our hearts, hope to break some jerks legs." Nora whispered softly. Yang couldn't help but fight her sobs and give a brief sad chuckle.
"Well. Get in line sweetie." Yang joked as she embraced her friends, but her sadness and warm comfort only fueled deep down the dark anger she felt boiling up within. She wanted to pummel Qrow, as well as the source to find him she had a mix of excitement and dread to see after so many years. It was her source of pain almost as much Tai was to Ruby, one she partially blamed for causing him to hurt her.
A few days later….
In the edge of Haven Forest, a fortress of wooden stakes was blasted apart by a torrent of fire striking the gates. Yang stood dead center in the encampment of a tribe of bandits, eyes glowing red with rage and hair on fire, not at the sight of the grunts aiming their guns at her ready to fill her full of dust round. No, Yang stood, fists trembling, as she eyed a masked woman with long black hair wearing a Nevermore mask at her and her friends behind, almost trembling as much as Yang's fist as they struggled to choose who to be more scared of, Yang or the gunmen on them.
"Yang Xiao Long…..so nice of you to finally visit." The masked woman said mockingly.
Yang just grit her teeth at the mockery. If not for the mental image of her small little sister crying before her, begging for help, she'd have gone and roasted this woman alive. This was no ordinary bandit, this was someone Yang once searched for her whole life, once even endangering Ruby to her absolute shame. That guilt fueled her anger, and her drive to settle things with her only after her sister was once more safe. She'd pay any price for that treasure, even her soul.
"Hello….Mom." She spat after a heavy angry sigh.
Author Notes.
We never know what we have or how important something or someone is, till we might lose it. Memory is painful, whether warm or frightful if it is accompanied by loss. Poor Ruby suffered and had to bury those to survive, Yang however had to bare the burden for her. Now she might have to bare a new one. Next time on Chapter 13: The Bargain.