AN: Hey guys, sorry for this chapter taking so damn long. we had scheduling conflicts and just in general this one seemed to fight us tooth and nail before it let itself be written.

The heavy bass of alternative rock music thrummed in my ears as my mind wandered, eyes solidly focused on my notebook containing notes and possible details about my very own mechashift weapon. At the moment, I had moved away from all the fanfiction that Hans was so determined to spend his time with so that I could comfortably sit at my desk, trying to put some serious thoughts behind a potential design. Designing your own mechashift weapon was just as complicated as I had thought it was going to be, and more so. There were so many variables to consider, so many calculations to make, and so much prototyping that I was going to need to do just to make sure the thing wouldn't tear itself apart if I swung it too fast.

At least I could skip a step or two by using my Semblance to mimic parts to see if they'd fit, before I waste my time and money custom-ordering actual machined components. Unique mechashift weapons need custom components, who knew?

The main problem I was having wasn't really the materials themselves, the field of material science here on Remnant is pretty damn impressive and I've had trouble breaking their training weapons on purpose, much less ones meant for real combat. I suppose that's the result of near-constant warfare against a relentless enemy that wants nothing more than to see humanity go extinct. Jaune's sword was damn near untouched by time, just as sharp as the day it was forged. And according to him, his family used that very sword for generations. And that thing wasn't benefiting from more modern breakthroughs in the field.

No, the real reason why I was currently wracking my brain was how I was going to keep all the much more delicate internal mechashift mechanisms intact when I swung the thing fast and hard enough to shatter concrete.

I rubbed my temple to head off a building headache as I tore my eyes away from my notebook and over to the multitude of books stacked on my bedside dresser, specifically towards the couple that I had open to various other pages for references on my bed. Suffice to say, the art of creating a good Huntsman weapon was not simple in the slightest. Not if I wanted to make anything actually worthwhile, at least. It was honestly a bit startling to realize just how much depth there was to the subject, but when has that ever stopped me before?

I already wrote down half a dozen formulas dedicated to calculating various things, like how the size of my weapon would correlate to the potential force of the impacts. There was actually an interesting theorem that related to how the material strength of the components could reinforce the outer shell of the weapon itself to blunt impacts.

But one thing that surprised me when I discovered it, was that these books often talked about how Huntsmen typically use their Aura to affect the way a weapon would take damage over time, and how my own skill with Aura could be used to actively reinforce the durability of my weapon during combat. They really pulled out all the stops when it came to emphasizing how necessary the skill was for Huntsman.

It amuses me to know that this was surely going to annoy a certain someone in my head with how I had just found information on Aura Techniques right after he spent weeks looking for information by himself. But in my defense, how was I supposed to know that it would be found in a theory book about material science of all places, though?

It was probably the last place I would have thought to look for magical soul theology, yet the extrapolations about how Aura could be used to retain cohesion in different materials was a surprisingly interesting topic. I theorized that a technique similar to this existed based on the fact that I've seen my Uncle put Harbinger through enough stress that for all rights, it should have shattered. Yet, it held strong.

Glad to know that I was right, after all.

My thoughts drifted as my gaze wandered away from my open theory book and back to my own budding schematics. I knew that I should have waited for Ruby, given her adorable threats of withholding dessert should I get started without her, but I just couldn't help myself. Eh, I'm sure she'll forgive me. Eventually.

But it's not like I've gotten very far with my plans, anyway. Nothing conclusive just yet, beyond the fact that I did know I wanted two things; to stick with my usual main weapon of choice, an axe, along with the fact that I'd like a longer-range option incorporated into it. Ruby has been trying to win me over with the idea of a high-caliber sniper rifle.

I suspect that her motivation boils down to the fact that she wants us to match, and honestly, the idea of using a sniper rifle was starting to win me over. But I won't give her that victory just yet. I kinda want to see how far she'd go while trying to convince me.

But it was amusing to see just how quickly she had developed an obsession with sniper rifles, beforehand it had been a general interest in all kinds of weapons and guns. Now that she was finally working on creating her Huntress weapon it was like she had zeroed in on scythes and snipers and decided that everything else wasn't even worth thinking about. Though I was one hundred percent certain that after Crescent Rose was finally and fully complete she would start thinking about other kinds of weaponry again.

My thoughts ground to a sudden halt, the music pumping through one of my earbuds suddenly cuts out as it's removed from my ear. My head swivels slightly to see the perpetrator and I frown in annoyance. I see Yang leaning in towards me with my earbud in her ear, her eyes closed and a carefully neutral expression on her face.

Slowly her expression morphed into a cheeky smile with a hint of mania, she then all but choked me by wrapping an arm around my neck and ruffled my hair against my will.

"I knew you were my favorite little brother for a reason, as someone who is well versed in alternative rock I can respect a love for Beeftops!"

Beeftops was the name of the band I was currently listening to, but I ignored her words in order to pry her arm off my neck and shove her away. My frown grew worse when I realized she still had my earbud in her hands.

"Yang…" My stare hardened somewhat, and I extended my hand out for her to hand it back.

A chuckle escaped her, and she palmed it back with a neutral smile, "Alright, I wasn't going to do anything to it. Can't an older sister appreciate her brother's music every once in a while, or is that a crime somewhere?"

"Considering how often I have to get them replaced every time you decide to 'borrow' them, then yes, it is a crime," I state, aiming a glare as cold as my tone. "A crime to my wallet at the very least."

She sighed, before continuing with a hint of guilt coloring her voice, "Oh, you know I'll give you the lien for new ones if that happens… Which I really didn't mean to actually lose them, sorry about that."

"You said that last time. And the time before that." I let out a heavy sigh, rubbing my temple in exasperation. "Between you and Ruby, I'll be bankrupt at this rate."

She reached into her sweat pants, pulling out her wallet, before plucking a couple of lien cards and laying them down on the study desk in front of me, "Anyways, Uncle Qrow's about to head out. Figured I should bring you down before he slipped away."

After glancing at the contents of her wallet with a small frown, looked at me from behind it, "You and Ruby are building your mechashift weapons, aren't you?" She asked, tapping the notebook in front of me.

"Yeah, mostly going over all the fundamentals at the moment, really. Ruby and I want to build the best possible weapons we can. I even have some ideas for future additions like railguns, however, that would take some serious knowledge of Dust and Physics that I really don't understand yet."

A thoughtful nod came from her. She closed her wallet and slipped it back into her right pocket, "Sounds pretty rad," she said looking over the specifications, biting her lip, "You and Rubes definitely have expensive taste when it comes to hardware."

"I'd rather have something expensive that'll last than cut corners and have a Grimm cut through it." I eye her wrists, a teasing glint in my eye. "You know, unlike someone. I remember how Ruby almost had a heart attack when she saw your initial draft."

"Hey! Ember Cecila definitely had some oversights with the first build… There's the latest and greatest composite material expensive, and then there's railgun expensive," She shook her head, strands of blonde swaying with her movement.

Yang grinned and reached out her hand in what I knew was an attempt to ruffle my hair. I leaned away from her with a mock look of annoyance but felt momentarily guilty when her smile noticeably flickered.

"A-Anyways, you should come downstairs. Uncle Qrow is about to leave and Ruby is trying to get him to stay and needs backup."

I opened my mouth for a second, hesitating a second too long, the blonde started to walk away and all I could do was to hurry and catch up with her. Only casting a pensive glance back at my various notes while I got up from my chair, I followed closely behind.

I fended off yet another of Yang's attempts to rustle my hair as we descended the staircase just in time to see Ruby giving our uncle her best pleading puppy dog look, evidently in a futile attempt to keep our Uncle around for a little bit longer.

Speaking of our Uncle, he looked relatively well-kempt for once, almost like he actually bothered to run a brush through his messy black hair a couple of times. Even his cape looked less like a ragged, shredded mess and it appeared like he sent it to a tailor to get it fixed up. Most notably, the cast and sling that kept his broken arm was absent. And at that second, he was using that very same arm to give our sister placating pats on the arm she was using to tug on his shirt sleeve.

"'-fraid I can't just stick around even if it's for you, Ruby." He spoke with a bitter smile, "But, you better keep that work up on what I showed you whenever you get that scythe of yours finished. You'll be showing up your brother and sister in no time if you keep it up."

He winked at my twin, and she fidgeted with uncertainty in her eyes, "I'd even put good lien on it."

I couldn't help snorting at his comment. "Sure Uncle Qrow, I know she's your favorite, but can you at least be a little more discreet about it?"

Shaking his head, he barked a laugh as he turned toward me and Yang, "Oh, of course. You all are equal in my eyes."

A coy glint shone in his eyes as he scanned us, "I'd hate to cause a little deathmatch to spring up, and have you three fight for my tender affection."

Rolling her eyes, Yang stepped forward to give him a tight hug, "Riight, Uncle Qrow, don't go doing anything to get your arm rebroken too soon, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, firecracker," I heard him rasp before wincing as she squeezed harder.

As he gently pried Yang from her enthusiastic death hug I took the chance to get in a hug of my own. Qrow rarely stayed longer than a couple days at a time, and it was genuinely a shame he was heading back on the road; these past few months with him around made the house more lively than usual.

"Are you sure you have to leave Uncle Qrow?" I asked, even if I already knew the answer. I even had a very distinct feeling about what he was leaving for. Uncle Qrow just gave me a sad smile though I couldn't help but regret not making more time to hang out with him.

"Don't worry pipsqueak, It's not like I'm going to be gone forever. You'll see me again whenever old Oz decides to stop running me around like I'm some kind of gopher."

He had a cocky smirk on his face but it didn't replace the worry in my heart that something would go wrong nonetheless; realistically, I knew he would probably be fine considering my own foreknowledge, but I knew what he was going to fight against and even being the greatest Huntsman in the world wouldn't be enough, he didn't even have a team or really even a partner he could rely on.

"Less like a gopher in my opinion and more like a particularly annoying dog that likes to get yappy in the mornings," Dad said, suddenly appearing from the kitchen with a bag in his hand.

Qrow gave the man a look of mock hurt before replying in a snarky tone, "I'm hurt Tai, truly and utterly hurt."

He then drew his hand to his chest while he hammed it up,"Oh how much deeper will you go to deal such savage blows to this scarred heart of mine," before leaning in, dropping the smarmy tone, and asking quite bluntly, "You should take responsibility for this atrocity and help buy me some emergency supplies for the trip."

Ah, well, one thing you couldn't say about Qrow was that he had any sense of shame whatsoever. At least when it came to trying to get my father to pay for his alcohol.

My Dad just gave Uncle Qrow an amused snort, "I'm not buying you any more alcohol Qrow, last time I offered to pay, you bought some kind of stuff I can't even pronounce and almost bankrupted me."

Uncle Qrow's grin only grew at those words, snatching the bag from my Dad's hands and peeking inside momentarily before turning back to us.

"Alright kids, It's abo-"

"Hey Uncle Qrow, before you leave could we… have a quick spar?" I asked suddenly, leaving everyone in the room blinking in surprise.

Uncle Qrow's face was one of confusion, "What didn't get enough of an ass-kicking these last couple of months?"

I chuckled, an awkward tilt in my voice as I barreled on, "We barely even did any real fighting, I want to actually test myself against you. No holding back…."

I trailed off in annoyance at the sudden snort of disbelief from Uncle Qrow.

"What?! I know I'm not going to win, I just want to know how much I measure up… Uncle Qrow, please stop laughing." I pleaded, my cheeks reddening in embarrassment as Uncle Qrow full-on laughed at my request.

Uncle Qrow wiped an imaginary tear off his face, "Sorry kid, it's just, it'll be hard to use me as much of a measuring stick if I really gave it my all. You'd be down and out in a second flat, no if's or buts."

"Are you that far ahead?"

"Yes Russ, I am that far ahead. I've been doing this for almost three decades. Going all out is not going to be any more use to you than beating your head against a brick wall." Uncle Qrow said all of this with a shake of his head. He was right, I knew that intellectually but it was still a hard pill to swallow considering how hard I had been working ever since I started training.

"You're better off using your old man as a measuring stick at your level, pipsqueak."

"Oi, Qrow, what's that supposed to mean?" Said old man inquired indignantly, but we both elected to ignore him.

"Tell you what, Russet, since I can plainly see how unsatisfied you are with that answer, I'll throw you a bone and give you a bit more of a workout than we usually do in our spars." Uncle Qrow's words were paired with an arrogant-looking smirk on his face. A small momentary flicker of regret and dread welled up in me at that, but I squashed that feeling just as quickly as it came. I couldn't afford to hesitate or doubt myself, that would be just as bad as giving up entirely.

Ten minutes after my challenge was issued, my entire family was outside at our usual training grounds, Ruby, Yang, and our Dad standing a distance away, shouting words of encouragement that echoed across the forested field. Across from me stood Qrow, lackadaisically rotating his wrist as if we're about to play a friendly game rather than a serious training match. He held Harbinger in sword form, the deadly blade gleaming under the afternoon sun.

The seeming disinterest mixed with an odd intensity was quintessential Qrow. His casual irreverence was a signature part of his personality, one he had certainly earned the right to after years as a veteran Huntsman. Even if it did scratch at my ego just a tad to be regarded so flippantly.

I settled into a ready stance, gripping the reliable training axe I had grown accustomed to using. Waiting for Dad's signal to begin, I watched as Qrow pursed his lips, a mischievous grin reappearing on his face that had me instantly on guard, wondering what the hell he was planning for an opening move.

The veteran huntsman took a winding step backward, bringing Harbinger to a two-handed grip in front of him. At first, I tensed, thinking he was about to charge and unleash a devastating swing, but that wasn't his intention at all. In a blur of motion almost too fast to track, Uncle Qrow whipped Harbinger end-over-end, sending the sword whistling right over my head at an incredible speed.

It struck a tree behind me with a resounding thud, its impact causing a fissure of cracks and splinters to erupt along the surface of the tree it struck home. The mechashift weapon sunk deep into the wood, practically piercing straight through to the other side.

From the sidelines, Dad raised an eyebrow as Qrow transitioned smoothly to a brawling stance and smirked cockily, "Just because I'm a sporting sorta guy, I'll let you start things off."

I glanced back where Harbinger was embedded into the tree. "You're not going to use Harbinger?" I asked, quickly weighing my odds of landing a hit.

"Kid, if you can land a hit on me even without my sword, I'll personally put down half the lien towards whatever insane designs you and your sister have been cooking up for the mechashift portion of your Signal weaponsmithing course."

Ruby's eyes practically sparkled with excitement as she bounced on her heels next to Yang, "Oh, you're so on! Russ, for the future health of our allowances, you gotta hit him!"

More like for the mere possibility of having any spending money at all. We're going to be flat broke once we put those damn custom part orders in… There's only so much cash a couple of kids can scrap together from birthdays and working odd jobs around Patch.

I took a deep, purposeful breath. Letting myself be immersed in just a hint of the focused calm of meditative Aura control. The world around me seemed to sharpen and come alive as background noises faded away until only the cheers and shouts of my sisters registered. I could feel the subtle sway of the wind as it gently caressed my hair with its light breeze, the slight hint of the cologne that dad wore came as a soft undertone as the scent drifted in the environment, and every subtle movement stretched into minute focus.

Every movement, every subtle twitch of muscle was thrown into hyper-focused clarity as I locked eyes with Uncle Qrow. It was still a new sensation as I hadn't really tried to do this beyond some basic exercises, but it seems like I wasn't too far off with thinking that leveraging the focus provided by meditation could actually be used for a more practical purpose beyond refining Aura control. My sense of perception was already noticeably faster when I began preparing my Aura for a fight, but this was a notch above that.

Yet, while the world slowed to a crawl from my perspective, I could see my Uncle effortlessly tracing every one of my own nervous movements with that patented aloofness and patience, the same expression he always wore when teaching lessons to Yang, Ruby, and myself.

Beating my Uncle, well, it was a laughable proposition. I had to be realistic. The man wasn't joking when he made his offer - landing just a single hit on him would be a monumental task, even more so now that the guy has both functional arms back.

Coming straight at him was predictable. And while it probably was something Yang would wholeheartedly approve of, it wouldn't be that smart of an idea. So… I needed to play around with my Semblance. It was the one thing my Uncle couldn't directly counter or outmatch me in by the sheer fact that each person's Semblance was unique unto themselves, unlike the general use of Aura itself.

A small flex of my will was all it took to get the process started. One crystalline petal formed, then ten, then a hundred. And in a blink of an eye, thousands of rose petals began to swirl around me in a dizzying, ambling pattern. It quickly began speeding up as I called more and more petals into existence. A small swarm of petals was nothing, a small and easily recoverable chunk of my Aura that I could forget about in the grand scheme of things, but I wasn't going to settle for half-measures or my usual practice of conservation of Aura when it came to my use of my Semblance this time around. Not this time.

If I wanted any chance of even momentarily catching my Uncle Qrow off guard, then I needed to hit fast and hard. He stood impassively across from me, an arrogant smirk still plastered over his face while he observed me turning my small petal swarm into a roaring tornado. The buffeting winds kicked up Ruby's cloak and whipped Yang's hair around from where they observed on the sidelines. Soon, the individual petals blurred into a cloud of red streaks that expanded until it was large enough to swallow three of me whole.

Obscured behind the veil of crimson, I let out a steadying exhale. Uncle Qrow curled an eyebrow, whistling appreciatively.

"Impressive pipsqueak, if a little uncreative."

I ignored him, I wasn't finished with my prep work, and I started to pull away a portion of the maelstrom, shaping it to create a burst mi-

"Alright, I'm bored now." Uncle Qrow declared. I blinked and he vanished from sight.

"Fuck!" I swore, a sense of certain danger tingling on the back of my neck forcing my body to duck out of sheer instinct. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Qrow's fist sailing where my upper head had been a heartbeat before. Panic fueling my Semblance, I flexed my will and smoothly shifted my storm of petals into a tornado, and that tornado's funnel surged toward Qrow like a living thing bent on death and destruction. It did not hit, and Uncle Qrow blurred backward and all the vortex managed was carving a deep furrow into the empty ground.

Spinning to face him, I narrowed my eyes at his casual stance, hands clasped behind his head. I began to stalk forward, not wasting any breath or brainpower on his taunts, my training axe becoming coated in a film of red construct. More flashes of red sparked into existence around me and consolidated into several clones, mirroring my every action as they did so.It was easier to have them do this than trying to personally micromanage their every movement. My focus was already divided enough between stopping myself from being pummeled into next week and keeping the rest of the unused petals circling around us.

Uncle Qrow let out a derisive snort, and before I could even try to figure out why he blitzed towards one of my clones, his speed nowhere near as fast as his first strike. He lashes out with a punch and even as far away as I was now I could almost feel the waves of Aura rolling off his fist. Concentrated to such a dense level that when his fist smashed through my clone it didn't just temporarily disrupt my construct but shatter it. The construct broke apart and the petals that made it up faded from existence, the Aura invested into them disappearing like a foul breeze.

My eyes widened momentarily at the casual destruction, but I ruthlessly suppressed my reaction and rushed forward while bringing my training axe to bear. Not exactly the best plan, made immensely clear by the way he immediately knocked my weapon off course with a dismissive backhand.

I wasn't too concerned, with my Semblance reinforcing and coating the axe, I could alter its trajectory faster than my body was capable of moving. I couldn't help myself as my lips twisted into a grin of satisfaction as I watched Qrow actually have to lean back to avoid my follow-up slice. I hadn't hit him, and he had still dodged with disgusting amounts of casual ease, but I had forced him to dodge!

I refused to allow this minor victory go to my head, and before Uncle Qrow could even twitch a muscle, the world seemed to fold in on itself. I took a half-second too long to reorient myself after my teleportation on the other side of the field and that was enough for Qrow to devour the distance I had made between ourselves, my eyes widening in surprise as my vision was filled with his fist. Moments before my face and his fist connected, I activated my Semblance again, the universe warping around me as I reappeared a relatively safe distance away. Far enough that he can't get a quick strike off on me.

The tornado of rose petals shifts and splits according to my will, three massive streams forming from the main vortex and arcing to try and strike him from behind. With three different angles of attack converging on him at once, I rushed forward to make it four. My axe still coated in a dense layer of razor-edged rose petals. I swung the weapon with all my might, the reinforced blade screaming through the air in a vicious arc.

Uncle Qrow dodged, because of course he does, ducking underneath my strike with fluid grace and leapt over my weaponized streams of rose petals before smoothly lashing out with a roundhouse kick aimed at sweeping my legs out from under me. But, then he stumbled when one of the three tendrils that he'd evaded suddenly latched onto his ankle, solidifying into a construct and dragging him off balance and sending him tumbling to the ground in a semi-controlled roll.

While we couldn't help the immensely satisfied grin that formed on our face, I also didn't hesitate to take advantage of his misstep. Feet pounding the dirt, I launched myself at Uncle Qrow's prone form, petal shrouded axe raised overhead to deliver a downward chop that could split concrete. I just needed to reach him before he could tear free of the crimson chains binding his legs.

Then, inexplicably, as if the universe were mocking me, I fucking tripped while I was winding up; Specifically, oh so conveniently, I tripped on a rut in the ground that I myself made in my first strike against him with the funnel of the storm. Thankfully, I had a feeling something like this would happen, so instead of getting hit with Uncle Qrow's immediate and vicious counter attack after he snapped the red crystalline chains around his legs, I simply disappeared in an implosion of rose petals.

I reappeared almost twenty-ish feet away where I had quickly put a clone I could substitute myself with in case shenanigans like this happened. I was scowling as Uncle Qrow climbed to his feet, dusted himself off, and began chuckling as if he'd just heard a fantastic joke. "It's not funny," I growled. "Your Semblance is stupidly bullshit."

"Damn right it's bullshit," he agreed, grinning. "It's also hilarious as hell sometimes. You should've seen your face when you tripped, pipsqueak!"

Thoroughly annoyed by his continued laughter, I flexed a mental muscle and a single tendril of shredding petals struck out at him, the construct spinning like a drill as it tried to punch through his Aura. Not that such a trick was necessary with Uncle Qrow sidestepping the attack with insulting nonchalance, not even bothering to break stride as he resumed his ready stance. Admittedly, I was hesitant to close the gap between us unless he was occupied enough that I could be confident I could actually land something solid on him.

I was breathing hard, sweat beading on my brow as I glared at Uncle Qrow. He just stood there, smirking at me with that insufferable smugness, not a hair out of place.

"Getting tired already, Russet?" He called out, voice dripping with mock concern. "We've barely even started!"

I gritted my teeth, refusing to rise to his bait. He was right though - I could feel my reserves starting to dip into the red. My Semblance was an Aura hog at the best of times, and conjuring up massive petal tornadoes, clones, and rapid fire teleportation burned through my reserves like nobody's business. I had more Aura than most people my age, true, but even I had limits.

Still, I wasn't about to throw in the towel just yet. Reaching deep, I called on my last dregs of power, the rose petals swirling around me picking up speed until they were little more than crimson blurs. One final push, one last ditch effort to try and catch my wily old Uncle off guard long enough to land a hit.

Unfortunately, my dearest Uncle also noticed the two other tendrils I had remaining from earlier had consolidated together into one and was rapidly moving towards him from behind. I wanted to try that leg trick again but he apparently wasn't taking any chances on letting that happen. Qrow moved, his body almost blurring to my own enhanced perception as he danced past the numerous miniature tendrils I sprouted to try and stop and slow him down.

Useless. All of it.

Damn it all. Uncle Qrow dodged and weaved around my Semblance's attacks like he was doing an elegant waltz. Before I could even begin to formulate a new strategy, the veteran Huntsman closed the distance between us in a flash, his fist rocketing toward my face with incredible speed.

I desperately twisted my body out of the way of his punch at the last second. Channeling my remaining petal reserves, I used them to force my spin to continue, riding the momentum to carry through a powerful axe strike. But Qrow sidestepped it just as effortlessly as everything else I had thrown at him so far.

Refusing to relent, I switched Harvester to my other hand and brought it slashing downward in a lightning-fast counter. Qrow's body contorted just enough to narrowly evade the blade's keen edge. Undeterred, I continued my frenzied assault - rapidly switching hands for a relentless chain of counter strikes while simultaneously sniping at him with a quick burst of razor-sharp tendrils from behind.

He was annoyingly agile.

But all things must come to an end, and this duel had already dragged on far longer than I think even Qrow himself expected.

There! For the briefest of moments, one of my tendrils managed to coil tightly around his leg. I didn't hesitate, instinctively willing it to yank him off balance with all my might, and I was almost slack jawed when it actually worked!

…For almost a second, that is. Before I could capitalize on the fresh opening, Uncle Qrow deftly caught himself with one hand. Then launched himself directly at me, moving even faster than when he had both feet on the ground!

Speaking of feet, his were busy crashing straight into my face with enough force that I could almost taste the dirt encrusting his soles.

"Russ! You okay?" A familiar voice called out from somewhere above me, concern evident in its tone.

I blinked blearily, the harsh glare of the sun forcing me to squint as my vision gradually refocused on Yang's concerned face. Glancing around, I realized that I was slumped against one of the trees at the edge of the field, its sturdy trunk sporting a brand new Russet-shaped crater.

Thank the Gods for Aura. A hit like this would have shattered every bone in my body without it.

"Yang? What happened?" I mumbled groggily. The pain had mercifully faded, but the lingering disorientation from my abrupt introduction to the tree didn't exactly do my memory any favors. In the distance, I could see Ruby animatedly trying to convince Uncle Qrow to spar with her next while Dad looked on with an expression of mild amusement.

Yang let out a rueful chuckle, the tension visibly draining from her shoulders. "You got humbled, little bro. That's what happened."

A wry grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. Humbled… Yeah, that summed it up pretty well. I mean, seriously, I had maybe made Qrow stumble once, and I would eat my left shoe if that second time hadn't been deliberately choreographed on his part. The stark difference in our skill levels couldn't have been more apparent if it bit me on the nose.

After taking a moment to catch my breath and gather my wits, I pushed myself to my feet. Side by side, Yang and I ambled over to rejoin our little family gathering. Ruby, still sulking over her foiled sparring attempt, seemed intent on guilt-tripping Uncle Qrow into staying a while longer. He, however, turned to regard me with eyes tinged by concern.

"I didn't rough you up too bad, did I, pipsqueak?" Uncle Qrow inquired, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Please," I scoffed derisively, waving off his worry with a cocky grin that didn't quite reach my eyes. "If anything that love tap was weak, old man!"

Uncle Qrow paused, a wistful gleam entering his crimson eyes as a ghost of a smile played across his stubbled face. "You know… that teleporting schtick of yours? It reminds me an awful lot of your Mom's Semblance."

He shook his head, and chuckled lowly, tinged with fond nostalgia and a hint of old grief. "Heh. Summer was an even bigger pain in the ass to pin down than you are, Russ. Like trying to catch a rose petal in a hurricane…"

A silence fell over our battered training yard, the chirping of birds and rustling leaves fading into the background as Uncle Qrow's claim trailed off, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Memories of Mom always had a way of sobering the mood.

But being compared to her… It filled me with a bittersweet warmth, a sense of pride mixing with sorrow. I always wished to know more about her beyond other people's stories and hazy memories filled with warmth and love.

Ruby sniffled quietly besides me and I reached out instinctively, putting an arm around her narrow shoulders. She leaned into me, seeking comfort, and I simply tightened my grip in response. The seconds ticked by, nobody quite knowing how to break the somber tension.

Finally, Uncle Qrow cleared his throat. He reached out and ruffled Ruby's hair, startling her out of her own introspection and causing her to pout up at him.

"Alright, well we had our fight but it really is time for me to get going." He said, injecting a forced cheer into his gruff voice.

Ruby let out a petulant whine, her big silver eyes shining with crocodile tears, "Do you really have to leave Uncle Qrow?"

The older Huntsmen let out a sigh and nodded. "Afraid so, pipsqueak. I've got places to be and bad guys to stop kids, can't do that hanging around this place no matter how cool you all are."

Ruby pouted at his words, but ultimately stayed silent and leaned closer into my embrace. Yang, however, just smirked at our Uncle in the infuriatingly smug way of hers, like the cat that ate the proverbial canary.

"Before you go," Yang crossed her arms over her chest, a sly glint in her lilac eyes. "Russ did tag you a little bit. And you said if he hit you, you'd cover their weapons, didn't-cha old-timer?"

The older huntsman froze mid-turn, frowning and his eyes quickly darting to our far-too amused father who was observing Yang's attempt to fleece our Uncle on my and Ruby's behalf while poorly stifling a laugh. Qrow's eyes narrowed dangerously at his former teammate.

"That reminds me. Kids, your father and I have to talk," He said with a put-on smile, winking merrily before grabbing our dad by an arm to drag him out of earshot, despite our Dad's sputtering protests all the way.

It wasn't long before Dad reappeared beside our smug uncle and informed us that he'd be the one to completely cover any "reasonable" expenses we incurred in the development of our weaponry. Although he seemed distracted by whatever Uncle Qrow had discussed with him, I wasn't bothered by the details if the end result was not having to work odd jobs to get the spending money to cover the cost of my mechashift weapon and Ruby's sniper-scythe.

In the middle of us finally seeing Uncle Qrow off with waves, my eyes met my twin sister's own silver ones and we shared a meaningful look. I acknowledged and returned her almost imperceptible nod with one of my own. She split off with an excuse and started to head in the direction of town and with a quiet sigh, I followed Yang and Dad back inside the house, already mentally preparing for when my twin sister returned from her excursion.

I let out a sigh as I rested my chin on my palm, my elbow propped up on the window frame and my customarily white cloak nowhere to be seen. The sun was dipping low on the horizon, its fading rays painting the world in an array of warm hues. It would have been a peaceful sight if not for the all-too-familiar sounds of raised voices drifting up from upstairs.

At first, I was concerned I was going to have to do something to distract our family from noticing Ruby and myself smuggling the goods from Carmine's shop. The retired Huntress had eagerly agreed to supply us for the little plan we had. The old lady had a good laugh after hearing the details and offered to give us a steep discount on old stock that was never sold. She was happy to help out her two 'most favorite little customers.' Besides the customary cheek pinching the old huntress gave us, she was happy to give the parts to us for much less than the lien it was worth.

But it seems like dear old Dad and Yang were more than capable of keeping themselves distracted without my involvement.

Once again, Yang and Dad's voices were competing down below to see who could be the loudest while in an argument. I was thankful to be on the second floor where the noise was somewhat muffled. Maybe it was pent up annoyance with each other or something, but it felt like the moment Uncle Qrow left, they fell right back into their usual bickering. This time, Dad had brought up Yang's recent speeding ticket and she'd snapped back with some sharp retort of her own. Typical.

Between Dad's overbearing lectures and Yang's rebellious attitude, I felt like I was constantly caught in the middle of their drama. I was getting sick and tired of their constant fighting. Why couldn't they keep the peace they managed while Uncle Qrow was here?

But no, if it wasn't traffic violations, it was Yang sneaking off to go clubbing in Vale on school nights. Round and round they went, like a broken record that never seemed to stop skipping.

I knew that these arguments made Ruby uncomfortable too. She always tries to hide away in our room until the shouting dies down, burying herself in whatever hyper-fixation caught her attention at the time. I envied her ability to tune it out sometimes, but somebody had to keep an eye on those two hotheads.

"Psst," Came a loud whisper from below. I leaned out to see my twin sister standing there, a heavy looking duffle bag slung over her shoulder.

She was breathing heavily, her pale face flushed with exertion and using a hand to draw her darkly shaded hair back out of her eyes, "Get down here already, Russ!" She whisper-shouted, not that she needed to, with the racket our sister and father were making.

I raised an eyebrow at her disheveled state. She didn't need to run all the way back and tire herself out like that. A shimmer of red petals manifested around me before trailing downward into a humanoid-shape beside her. I reappeared in another burst of red light next to her with an eyebrow raised in confusion, "What, did you run all the way back? You know you didn't need to do that, right?"

Ruby fixed me a withering look as she gulped down a breath of air, "Do you have any idea how heavy this stuff is? I'm not built to carry all this junk in a bag while using my Semblance."

With a roll of my own silver eyes, I held out my hand. She passed me the duffle bag and I nearly dropped it, caught off guard by the weight before quickly adjusting my grip.

"...Did Carmine give you more than what we asked for?" I asked, really, I should have expected that from the old Huntress. She always gave us freebies whenever we bought stuff from her. Extra ammunition, extra Dust, or straight up giving us a 'Sample' of something we were making eyes at in her shop.

Ruby just nodded, grinning widely and silver eyes shining in excitement, "I've got plans. Now hurry up and teleport this stuff up!"

"Yeah, yeah. One teleport coming up." I quipped. I focused my Aura and felt the familiar sensation of my Semblance activating, the bag vanishing in an implosion of petals along with me.

I reappeared in our shared bedroom, the bag thumping heavily to the floor beside me. Whew, that had taken a lot more out of me than I'd expected. My Aura reserves were still running low after my spar with Uncle Qrow earlier. I walked over to the window and gave Ruby a thumbs up to let her know it was done, then practically fell into bed, not even bothering to get under the covers.

As I drifted off to the sound of Ruby entering our shared bedroom and moving about, no doubt rummaging through the duffle bag for our ill-gotten gains. Hopefully by the time I woke up, Yang and Dad would have long since finished this particular round of their seemingly endless feud. I could only pray that the peace would last longer this time.