Tom 1. Chapter 6. The Birth of a Future Hero
My attempt to break the boredom was risky but successful. Although Summer was not pleased with what I did, for me as a child, it was an interesting diversion. The only thing left to do was to annoy the adults that Taiyang brought to watch over us.
This action, which we often repeated, had its pros and cons. The first pro was that it allowed us to test a person's ability to fulfill their duties, and the second was to break the monotony of the coming days.
Everyone was curious about what Summer did when I did that. At first, she was scared and quickly moved the axe away from my neck. Then she came up to me and checked if I was hurt. After making sure everything was fine, she sighed with relief and said:
"Don't do that again, Yin," she said sternly.
"Alright," I replied, pretending to be remorseful.
"And one more thing, not a word to your father," she added gently but firmly.
Although in the story itself Summer had a good character and strong will, here she spoke words asking me not to tell my father about what happened. Was she a naive woman or not? It was interesting to find out the truth.
Yang's reaction to this childish prank was especially intriguing. When she heard the noise, she returned to the room she had left a minute ago, and surprise was evident on her face. I noticed her reaction precisely at the moment when Summer removed the weapon from my neck.
Suddenly, I noticed how Yang approached Summer and said:
"That was cool," she said with a gleam in her eyes, coming closer to her.
"Yang, can you also not tell Dad about what happened?" - Summer asked, turning her gaze to the little girl.
"Okay... Aunt Summer," Yang agreed, but paused for a second, unsure how to proceed, and responded like her younger brother.
It's interesting that I was Yang's younger brother. Perhaps her character would eventually lead her to distance herself from me in the future, but that was far off for now. For me, mischief was more like entertainment that made me feel better about myself. And if I hadn't done it, maybe I would never have seen her weapon, so I don't even regret it.
Moreover, my actions helped bring Yang and Summer closer together. That's great news, though there's a downside: Summer won't stay with us for long. She will have a baby, and then a strange plot will begin, which was never mentioned in the original story. Although what happens next is a mystery to me, my curiosity to see a funny or dramatic love story hasn't left me.
While I'm not a fan of love stories, when there are no other options for entertainment, I'm ready to agree to anything. It doesn't matter what it will be.
After the incident, everything continued to go well. Summer and Yang talked and played together. My involvement in their games became another part of another day, as there was no escaping Yang.
When Taiyang returned from work, he was very surprised that Summer was unharmed. I don't know what he had already imagined, but the feeling that our childlike friendliness was not believed in was both sad and funny. And so what if some nannies couldn't last more than two days and ran away screaming, "They are not children, but monsters!"
Their conversation didn't last long, and he spent it showing that he appreciated her help and to help her get home safely if anything went wrong. In the following weeks, Summer watched over us attentively, like a hawk over its nest. On those days, even Qrow came by to check how she was managing.
One of those days, the old group of hunters had a gathering for socializing and discussing the past and future. Taiyang's question about what they planned to name the girl caught my ear, and I began to eavesdrop carefully.
"And how do you plan to name the child?" he asked with interest, shifting his gaze from the children to Qrow and Summer.
"We've thought about several names," Summer said, recalling. "For a girl, we've chosen Amelia, Sophie, or Ruby." Qrow initially looked at her, then turned to Taiyang.
"And for boys, we have names too: Will, Faith, and... that's all," she said, thoughtfully trying to remember more.
"You both are well-prepared," he said with a cheerful tone.
"And when my sister was expecting a child, did you pre-select names?" Qrow asked, smiling.
"No. So we did an ultrasound to determine the baby's gender," he reported.
"And how did that help you?" Qrow teased.
"Not much. It actually got it wrong at the time," he recalled. "Turns out there were more than one child," he said, shifting his gaze from Qrow to Yin.
After those words, I didn't hear anything else interesting, except that in Beacon, Qrow dressed in a skirt, and Raven, Summer, and Taiyang nearly demolished the dining room. Then the empty chatter about life, Ozpin's health, and how the children treated Summer began.
I listened to this conversation with one ear while struggling not to get trapped in Yang's demonic embrace. So the days passed: the Earth spun around its sun, and my days seemed increasingly boring.
So I started opening up my aura from the age of two. Progress was slow but stopping meant death, so I had to continue. How did I train? Simple—meditation.
Time passed imperceptibly until the arrival of new life into this world. One day, Qrow informed Taiyang that Summer was giving birth. I accidentally overheard this information.
"Her water broke," Taiyang said, bewildered. "She's only in her seventh month of pregnancy," he said, paling. "She's not ready yet," he stared at Qrow through the swirling.
"I know!" Qrow replied. "The waters broke suddenly; we called an ambulance, but they won't let me into the room, so it's hard for me," he said with a grim voice.
"Sorry for putting you through this," Taiyang said understandingly. "And don't worry, it's not your fault," he added seriously.
After Taiyang's words, there was a dead silence for a while. The first person to break the eerie silence was Qrow.
"This power I possess is uncontrollable..." he spoke grimly, pausing to choose his words. "Most likely, I'm to blame for this, and this is my punishment..." he didn't finish as Taiyang harshly interrupted him.
"Are you out of your mind? I've already told you, it's not your fault," he said irritably. "This isn't the end; you'll be fine with her, and..." Qrow cut him off.
"You know, right? Women with aura can't control it when pregnant. And when their body isn't ready to give birth, they can die with the child," his voice became icy on the last words.
"Alright. I'll come to you," unexpectedly, Taiyang uttered these words.
"What!?" Qrow's horrified voice suddenly disappeared when he heard these words, surprise engulfing him.
"I'll come to you. Even if I have to ask for time off work and leave someone with the children," he said, starting to get ready. "Hold on a minute; I'll call you back, then you'll tell me where to go," he looked at the receiver, ready to hang up.
"Why are you doing this?" when Taiyang's hand was ready to press the button, these words rang out.
"No matter what kind of relationship we had with you in Beacon, everything has changed. I can't leave you in this position," he said seriously. "See you later," Taiyang added, not waiting for Qrow's response, and hung up.
He waited until the nanny, whom he had long persuaded to watch over us, finally arrived. When she did, Taiyang quickly took off. And our game began anew.
Time passed, but I didn't receive any news about events. The only thing left was meditation to find and feel the aura. The more I tried, the more I understood that this power didn't want to respond to my attempts. The only understanding I gained was that I still didn't understand this power, so I couldn't activate it.
Recalling the series, I knew that aura is the power of the soul that protects the body, and its manifestation depends on a person's mental state. It provides its strength when needed. The series showed that aura can be unlocked with someone else's help, not on its own. Strangely, the series never depicted the natural emergence of aura. And then I remembered something. Ren, that guy who has the ability to control emotions, received his aura manifestation during strong stress. If that's the only method, it doesn't suit me right now.
Why? Firstly, who can I ask to unlock my aura without them thinking I'm crazy? Secondly, at my age, I'm not afraid of anything, not just in my childhood, but in reality. Actually, in my world, I was considered quite old.
Life went on, and my body grew. I began to feel that my powers were about to awaken. However, the feeling of breaking through the barrier was still absent. Moreover, Yang constantly provoked me to play with her because her brother had to fulfill his duty even when he didn't want to. If I didn't play with her, she caused a real havoc to my nerves, not letting me meditate.
Although playing with Yang sometimes annoyed me, I constantly felt warmth in every part of my body when playing with her.
I was worried about why Summer still wasn't here and when she would appear with Ruby in Taiyang's arms near the house. It had been three months since she disappeared, which seemed strange. Although I didn't know what events had taken place during this time, I expected a sign from above. But understanding why she wasn't here and where Qrow was already piqued my curiosity.
My wait was incredibly long. I even waited a month to learn the strange news from Taiyang, which I overheard: Raven doesn't want to see him or hear him. It was strange to me because I didn't think he had any connection with Raven or even looked for her.
In reality, my life resembled more of a child's, with limited abilities, such as going to the store with his father or walking in the yard under his supervision. I often asked him many questions to better understand the world, but he himself knew little. The books from which I could get information turned out to be ineffective because they described a lot of unnecessary information that children of my age wouldn't understand or wouldn't find interesting.
Days passed like rain: now it's here, now it's gone. It rained for three days straight, and on the last day, only gloomy weather remained, bringing no surprises. Besides this, she appeared, and I almost wanted to shout "Hallelujah," but I restrained myself because I was an adult, although it wasn't obvious at the moment.
We saw her while walking down the street near our house. Just as we were about to head home, an unexpected gust of wind made Taiyang turn back and look at the woman in the hood with surprised eyes.
I won't talk about why he reacted that way because I don't know, but the emotions on his face showed strong excitement and fear, which I felt while watching him. His subsequent reaction was understandable: he shielded us to ensure our safety. This made Yang and me start to worry, even though we didn't understand what was happening. The dark figure began to approach. When she got close enough, Yang hid behind her father and me. The scene was almost comical: I stood behind my father, Yang to my left, and when she hid, she ended up to my right.
The comical nature of the situation was embarrassingly exciting. In the past world, I knew the true story and could intervene, but now I had become a person who couldn't even protect myself.
The dark figure came closer, and I began to realize that it was probably Summer. Taiyang seemed to recognize her too, although his face showed only tension and anxiety. He stepped forward, protecting Yang and me.
"Summer?" he asked uncertainly.
The figure raised a hand and removed the hood, revealing Summer's face. She looked tired, but her eyes shone with determination.
"Taiyang," she quietly spoke. "It's been a long time. I'm here because I need your help," and with these words, she opened her cloak.
When she opened her cloak, we saw a little girl peacefully sleeping in her arms.
Taiyang, without hesitation, invited Summer into the house and sent Yang and me to our room to play and not disturb their conversation.
The kitchen door, where they were sitting, was tightly closed, so it was difficult to eavesdrop on their conversation. However, I still managed to catch some words. Making sense of their conversation was hard because many words were inaudible.
In summary, their conversation boiled down to why she was here and what had happened in these three months since Ruby was born. The narrative consisted of vague statements like "everything was fine, but..." which added more realism than intrigue. However, I was most interested in the incident that changed everything in their family life. From what I could overhear, it became clear that they were almost killed, and Crow was partially responsible, though not entirely.
Even short phrases like "old enemies" and "Ruby nearly died from the explosion of a small bomb" piqued my interest strongly, as such events were not in the original story. I pondered over what I heard and thought about a team that had so many secrets and could create enemies while studying at Beacon Academy.
And then I realized that this story would likely repeat itself with the RWBY team and their secrets and actions that would go beyond the main plot.
I couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation for long because Yang wanted to play with me. She constantly pestered me, hindering my attempts to see the truth and pulling me away from the door. I didn't resist much when she dragged me because at that moment, I was her brother and didn't want to create unnecessary conflicts. However, I understood that someday she would leave me, so I tried to remember every moment of our interaction. The desire to know the truth was strong and burning, but from my previous life, I knew it was better not to delve into the abyss without proper preparation.
When the conversation ended, Summer walked out of the room with Taiyang, who looked quite disturbed and saddened by what he had heard.
"You can sleep in my room with little Ruby, and I'll take the couch," he said, looking at the couch where the kids had been playing.
"I can sleep on the couch, Taiyang, you can—" she began hesitantly.
"Don't worry. Sleep in my room, you need it more," he said, looking at her with concern.
"Thank you, Tai," she said, and there was no hint of falsehood in her words.
"If you're hungry, I can bring dinner," he said, his voice filled with care.
"Thank you again, Tai," she said after these words, and they went to his room. When they reached the door, Summer stopped, turned back to Taiyang, and after a moment of silence, turned back again.
And so began a new chapter in life with Summer Rose.
Several days passed, and time seemed fluid. At first, it seemed like she would stay for a long time, but then she abruptly moved back to her home, where she had been living while taking care of us, Yang and me. The feelings were strange, and I constantly wondered, "How will this turn out? Will it be like in the series if events unfold in this direction?" Continuous reflections led me to the conclusion that chasing ghosts would lead to nothing, so I passively observed what would happen next.
A few more days passed, and Taiyang's actions were unclear. One day, Summer came and offered Taiyang to live with her, arguing that it would be simpler for both her and him. Another wonder was that Qrow knew about her proposal.
I was more surprised not by the drama unfolding off-screen, but by how easy it is to overhear something when you're a child, though not everything. The proposal was tempting, but Taiyang wanted more time to think.
Another day passed after their conversation, and another meeting took place, this time between me and little Ruby. She was in a stroller, her hands and feet even smaller than mine are now. It looked very cute. Not only did I look at Ruby and watch her, but Yang also watched her with an interested look, although she didn't reach out to her.
The child was also watching us, closely following our movements and reaching out to us with her tiny hands. I couldn't resist and reached out to her. Little Ruby grabbed my finger with her tiny hand.
I didn't have children in my previous world, so I was curious how tightly she would grip me. Her grasp on my finger was quite strong. It was interesting to see Yang looking at me with a look that seemed to say, 'Did you really do that?' Her reaction was actually quite funny.
Some time passed as we got to know Ruby. Yang herself reached out her hand for Ruby to grasp with her little hand. At first, Yang was afraid, but looking at me, she understood that everything was okay and relaxed.
The adults were talking among themselves all this time, and that's about it.
Another day passed, and I found out that we were moving to another house. It didn't surprise me, but it intrigued me. They had enough of the cute reactions of the two-year-olds to move together. Although I couldn't eavesdrop on the adults, I shifted my focus to Ruby. At first glance, this child seemed completely ordinary, but I was curious to see if she would be a regular person after meeting me.
When we moved to another house, the only one who mourned for the events that happened here—both good and bad—was Taiyang. He constantly looked at the house and at some photos he kept in a separate album. Probably, he was reflecting on his entire life up to this point, not knowing whether to take those photos with him. Judging from what Yang found out, that Summer was not her biological mother, from those photos he left, this seems to be true.
Observing him amused me a little, because from his actions, one could conclude that he loved her very much, even after she left him.
To put it simply, did I miss this place? No, I didn't miss it. The only thing that kept me here were the people I grew up with, played with, and explored the world with. So the place didn't matter to me. I was more interested in how Summer started dating Taiyang, despite still loving Qrow.
Although in my previous world I didn't like drama because I lived in it myself, when your body doesn't give you what you want from it, you have to think about what to do until you can do what you want with all your heart.
The desires I had, or what I wanted to do after the opportunity for a new life, remained important to me. Although I don't want to agree that it was fate, but no matter how much I thought about it, the only thing I understood was that I was lucky not to fall apart into atoms after the jump. Although it's hard to call it luck when you save yourself at the expense of someone else's life, which I could steal if something went wrong. It's more like... stealing the future from the person who could make it better or just live their carefree life, making their own mistakes.
I thought about it countless times while I was in this world. Therefore, understanding the question of how strange it looks that I have my own body but at the same time there is some strange connection became even more mysterious to me.
Time spent on futile reflections was measured by countless hours. However, I have one excuse that might answer the main question: why do I continue to think about it, even though I told myself it doesn't make sense? It's boredom and misunderstanding. The one who gave me this body—is he a friend or an enemy?
These reflections constantly appeared in my mind and did not let me go. Besides that strange monster I met at the beginning of my journey, I saw strange things that could be described as the world's desire to kill me.
One day, when we started living with her, I realized it more brightly. At first, the world put strange obstacles in my way, which could be interpreted as ordinary coincidences, but then a strange thing happened that almost killed me.
That day we were walking and running with Yang under the partial supervision of her father. It so happened that a large branch, which almost pierced my back, flew off the tree. It was large enough to kill me on the spot. I was lucky that Yang was close by and managed to pull me out of the path of danger.
When I saw something dangerous flying towards me, I thought I would be able to dodge it in time. But hope disappeared when I stumbled in a flat place. At that moment, I was overwhelmed by thoughts: "I'm going to die so stupidly." But I didn't feel fear or regret for losing my life, except for an unrealized desire. And then I felt myself being pulled by the hand with great force, pulling me away from the source of danger.
The events unfolding before me showed why she was one of the main heroines. Yang, with her bright hair and violet eyes, surprisingly had great strength for her age category. She quickly pulled me out from under the falling branch, which looked like a large bolt for a ballista that could destroy my small child's body.
My leg was clamped by roots that prevented me from quickly avoiding the rapidly approaching branch. Therefore, if Yang hadn't been nearby, everything could have ended very badly for me.
Another similar event happened when we were playing in the yard. Although the event also took place on the street, as last time, what happened made me understand that this world is not a friend to me. That time we were not only with Taiyang, but also with Summer and little Ruby in a stroller.
It happened when Yang and I were playing hide and seek. When it was my turn to hide, I walked and thought about what places we hadn't had time to try yet. Then suddenly, from behind the tree I was passing, a Beowolf appeared with sharp teeth and black slime dripping from its mouth.
When I realized who was standing in front of me, I didn't have thoughts of running. Other questions were swirling in my head: where did he come from and what is he doing in this place? I knew that in this world they have a kind of instinct that prevents them from entering human settlements, as they know they can disappear from this world. Although initially they were considered harbingers of death, needing only to destroy people, over time they adapted to different conditions of existence and became smarter. They never approach human settlements alone, only in packs, and not always.
After reflections and memories of what Summer had told us while watching over us, I had a feeling that she exaggerated a little, because this monster I saw now didn't look like part of a pack but like an individual. Another strange moment was that he didn't attack me, despite me standing in front of him for five minutes.
He only started moving when Yang saw him and came close enough to see him around the corner of the tree. At that moment, she screamed upon seeing the terrifying monster near her younger brother.
"Brother, I found you..." - her words were interrupted by a scream when she saw the monster. "Dad!" - she screamed with all her little lungs.
Taiyang's and Summer's reaction didn't delay. When the Grimm started moving, but not towards me, towards Yang, he approached her slowly, like monsters from horror movies. Although he passed by me, his movements indicated that someone was controlling him, as he looked very weakened and moved slowly. It would have taken him ten seconds to tear us to pieces, but here he was sluggish and weakened.
Although Taiyang and Summer ran towards us quickly, the monster was closer. So I made the decision to distract him.
"Don't touch her," I said, stepping forward.
The monster unexpectedly sharply turned towards me, which was significantly faster than its previous movements. But when he lunged at me, trying to kill me, he was suddenly split in half by an axe that flashed before my eyes.
So I understood that the world wants to kill me. Therefore, it's an enemy, not a friend. He can't be defeated, but he can be made to understand that he can't destroy me either. From this moment, my strange falls, which constantly ended in injuries, became more understandable and clear. I needed to quickly unlock my aura to protect myself from such unpleasant actions of the world.
This news gave me determination, clarity, and purpose. I could no longer afford to be defenseless, relying only on luck and the help of others. I knew my path would be full of dances with death, a deadly tango, but it was my only chance to survive in this hostile world. From now on, I had to become stronger and learn to protect myself and my loved ones from any threat this world might send my way. And finally, to get closer to transitioning to a new level that would lead me to my own story in this world, without interfering with the main events of this story.