[Chapter 5]

When Qrow had realised that he was going to have to be the one to drop his nieces off to school, this wasn't exactly what he had in mind. "For the love off all that is dust, Yang stop wandering off!" Qrow exclaimed whilst planting a firm hand on the girl's head, completely ignoring the shout of annoyance to someone touching her hair.

"Just carry me like Ruby then!" She shouted back with a pout and a few foot stomps. "The only reason I'm carrying the little terror like this is because she refused to leave Gore at home." He grumbled, more so to himself than to try and explain to the girl. Said terror in question, was currently hanging limply from Qrow's hooked arm, a pout of indignation on her face before deciding to violently flail her body.

"Don't you start!" Qrow's glare now pointing at the red-tipped ravenette under his arm as he continued his walk to Signal. "But Uncle Qrow I'm five years old. I can skip a few days and hang out with Gore some more. Think of the adventures! Think of the cookies." Her train of thought managing to catch Qrow as well before he shook out of the trance and wiped his mouth.

"Nope. Gotta be the responsible one for a few. Besides, if things go alright I'll be joining you at Signal." Both the kids sprung up at the news, Yang stopping her wandering to instead walk besides Qrow, and Ruby managed to squirm out and instead sit atop his shoulders. "No way!" Yang breathed out, excitement quickly springing up on her face at the Idea. "Aren't you a bit old to go to school though?" Ruby asked, leaning forward so she looked him in the eyes with clear innocence and wonder. Double damage

"Gah! It's a teaching job you little monster. Wouldn't want to sit in a room with so many snot nosed brats anyways. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from Rubes. You ARE five after all." His smirk was noticed by the two of them as Ruby perked up at her age being questioned. "Huh? Oh right. Of course I understand all that tall people stuff. I'm a big girl." Her legs kicking out as she crossed her arms on Qrow's head with a proud smile.

"Yeah you are. And big girls go to school without much fuss." He told her, watching as Yang started to giggle under breath at Ruby deflating. "You win this one Uncle Qrow. But I swear, justice shall be swift." A challenging glare of the highest degree was pointed at her uncle, only getting a snort and chuckle in return. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say squirt."

[~Timeskip~]

Having dropped Yang off to her own class, Ruby and Qrow were now stood in front of her classroom door. Qrow was able to see and almost feel the nervousness coming from his niece, so he crouched down and tapped her on the head. "You gonna be okay in there kid?" He asked, her silver eyes locking onto his red ones. After a moment of deep breathes, she managed a mumble. "I want Gore." His lazy red eyes softened along with a small smile pointed at her. "I know you do kid. Unfortunately, cause of some silly people up top, pets aren't allowed." He explained to her, watching as the look in her eyes grew a little sad.

"He's not a pet. Rules are dumb." She mumbled again, a smile of her own breaching her face when she saw the amused smirk on her uncle. "Don't I know it kid. But. I may be able to work something out, don't get your hopes up though." He told her, some of the nervousness washing off of her as she looked back to the door of her classroom.

"Now, there's one more really important thing I gotta tell you. You listening?" He asked, her face morphing into the best serious look she could muster. He reached out and carefully grabbed her hands, his Aura pulling out into existence before making contact with her, a faint red glow being coaxed from her hands. "Alright. You've got your Aura unlocked. Now this means a lot of things that me and your dad are going to go over later, but for now, it means you're gonna be a lot stronger than a lot of the people in there. So I need you to be careful, okay? Can you do that for me?" He asked, a brow raised in her direction as he disconnected, and the colouring went away. Her gaze locked onto her hands in wonder.

"Rubes?" He asked again, she looked up to him, her face still showing the amazement locked behind her eyes. "Pinky promise?" His pinky finger held out towards her before she quickly hooked her own. "Promise." She responded with a nod of resolution. "That's my girl." Giving her a quick head pat before standing up and grabbing the door handle. "You ready then squirt?" His usual smirk back on his face as he received a nod filled with the excitement bereft of the nervousness she usually held.

The door to the classroom opened with Qrow filtering in and Ruby rushing off to her group table. "Ah, Mr Branwen. I see Ruby is back for school, is everything… better?" The teacher nervously asked, not really too sure how to go about the subject without seeming insensitive. "Probably as good as she's gonna get. The two months have been good and bad for her. Still some other stuff that needs sorting out… but… not much else that we can do. Hopefully routine might help some." Qrow drawled out, his gaze moving over to his niece that had pulled a blank book from somewhere and had started to draw.

"I suppose that's the best you could ask for given the situation. Is there anything besides the Aura that I need to know?" He asked, looking away from the girl to the Huntsman near his desk. "I guess. She's got this new, friend. Yeah, friend. She might mention him a few times and that she's missing him which is the main bad part of the two months. They've gotten really attached and school is splitting them up for a few hours, so normal childlike reactions from them both."

The teacher watched as Qrow looked over to his niece and gained a small smile, doing the same, he saw Ruby holding up a crude drawing of what he can only assume was a Dragon. "I see. Well, not to worry Mr Branwen, she's in good hands for the day." He spoke up whilst a kind smile adorned his face. "Good, need to go see about a job." Qrow returned before turning to leave, however, he stopped at the door, looking over to Ruby once more before a smirk took over.

"Hey kid." He called out, Ruby looking over expectantly with a slight tilt of her head. "Be good." A beaming smile adorned Ruby's face as she frantically nodded her head. "I will Uncle Qrow. See you later." She called back whilst waving him off. And when Qrow left and all calmed down, she went back to her drawing.

"What's with the scales?"

A new voice broke Ruby from her concentration, turning around, she looked up to see one of her classmates, a confused and slightly weirded out look on his face as he pointed at her neck. "Huh?" Ruby dumbly responded, caught off guard as she reached back and trailed a hand over them.

"They look weird."

[~~~~]

Taiyang Xiaolong lay in his bed, sprawled out with a face that screamed defeat and grief. The clock on his bedside table showed 09:47, morning, and definitely not the time he felt he should be up for. He had never realised before how hard it was to tear his gaze away from the ceiling. Just lying there, in his bed, eyes locked upwards, it felt like the only thing he could do.

His head lulled over, tired eyes snapping onto the empty side of his bed. Oum he missed her, he missed everything about her. Just waking up in the morning, being able to turn and see her there. That was all he needed for his day to get brightened. And yet, here and now, that was no longer possible.

His thoughts were shunted to the side however at the sound of a light huff to the left of his bed. Slowly rolling over and staring at the source of the noise, he came face to face with Ruby's new friend. The Gore Magala uncomfortably close to the grieving adult, and then he licked his maw and shuffled in place. When Tai continued to give a blank stare, Gore opened his mouth and used his winged claw to gesture to himself.

"Are… Are you hungry?" Tai slowly guessed. A slight bit of astonishment at the creature's ability to communicate, even more so when Gore's jaw clasped shut and he began to rapidly nod his head. "Can't you go hunt your own food?" Tai asked, tempted to just roll over and ignore existence for a while. However, the smallest glint of amusement wormed its way onto his face when Gore tilted his head up in contemplation, right before rapidly nodding again.

"But I'm guessing you don't want to?" The amusement stayed with him, even as Gore rapidly nodded at the question of his laziness. "I see. No food for you I guess." Tai spoke out whilst turning over and facing the opposite way, ignoring the huff of disbelief and noises of arguments from Gore, his gaze instead once more landing on what was once Summer's side of the bed.

His moment of spiralling was quickly broken as Gore bounced into his view. The mumbles and shouts of protest continued to leave the Wyvern before Tai finally caved. "Fine! Brothers forbid I continue to lie in bed." He mumbled whilst kicking the covers off himself, standing to his feet and throwing on some slippers. Gore quickly ran over and followed him out and around the house, almost accidentally tripping Tai over a few times as they ventured down the stairs and to the kitchen before heading out back.

"I swear. Sit still. Or at least walk calmly so I don't mess anything up." His tired gaze drifting over to the shed before shuffling over. Opening the door and walking in, Gore attempted to rush past but instead tripped on a unlevel piece of wood and went tumbling into the new freezer they had installed.

"What did I say about sitting still." Tai's tired eyes sharpening into a small glare as he looked down at the wyvern. Said wyvern could only stay laying on the floor as he tried to cover his head with his claws. "Yeah, feel embarrassed." Tai mused before sliding open the freezer door. The smell of raw meat impacting Gore's heightened senses as his mouth started to salivate.

"Now… where are those gloves?" Tai mumbled to himself whilst looking around, keeping Gore away from the opened freezer with his outstretched leg. Finding the box of disposable gloves, he pulled out a pair and slid them on before diving in. Grabbing the first chunk of Frozen meat he laid his hands on, he put on the covered table next to him before pointing at Gore. "Don't eat that. Gotta let it thaw." A pointed stare directed at the Wyvern who refused to make eye to head contact.

"Gore." Tai warningly spoke up. A huff and dejected sigh leaving the monster as he laid down and stared longingly at the defrosting red goodness. "Good. I'll get you one more to chew on for now." Gore's head perking up in intrigue at the promise of something to snack on. Tai reached into the freezer before throwing a piece in his direction. A jump and a chomp later and Gore was now the proud owner of a frozen slab of raw meat for him to chew on.

Taking the gloves off, he threw them into the nearest bin before sliding the freezer closed and turning on the heater. "C'mon Gore. Can't stay in here whilst it's doing its thing." He spoke out, holding the shed door open as Gore sauntered out, Tai right behind him. As he looked at his home, the quietness of it all seemed to hit full force, that same saddened look morphing onto him once more. His feet absently guiding him back to the door to wallow in his room once more.

But he was stopped. A grip on his arm kept him in place making him slightly turn his head to it. Gore's winged arm was latched on, even while he chomped on the frozen delicacy Tai had gifted him. When Gore felt no movement nor resistance, he slowly let go before patting the open space next to him, and no more effort was contributed.

Tai stopped himself, every thought froze as his slow gaze travelled between Gore, the wyvern that his brother in all but blood brought home after it had basically attached itself to Ruby. And then to his home. Where he could find her. Where he used to find her. Where he could curl up in his empty feeling bed and just remember. Remember what it was like with her in his life. He shook his head of these thoughts, tiredness seeming to take over as Tai dragged himself over to the door and was about to let himself in.

"Get your shit together."

He stopped, that recent memory surfacing in his mind as his hand dropped from the handle. He hated the feeling, he had seen it all the time, friends dying on missions, but none hit him like this. And what was worse was that she was right. Out of everyone that had tried to force him out of this hole, why did it have to be her. And yet, he supposed she was right, he had been falling for a while now, if he wasn't going to get up for himself, then he at least needed to for his family. For the two most important things in his life that he still had.

He leaned his head against the door in defeat before looking back at the relaxing Wyvern.

"Gotta start somewhere I suppose." He muttered to himself. Pushing off the door and giving the easy escape one last look before shaking his and sauntering over to Gore. Dropping down next to him, he hesitated for a moment, his hand up and hovering above the Wyvern as another internal conflict waged war inside of him. And then a sigh, his hand dropping onto Gore's head as the Wyvern stiffened at his touch, then after a moment, he went back to his food.

"I miss her, y'know." Tai started, his face contorting into a look of pain at the mere thought of it all. "Every tiny thing. The way her snoring would wake me up in the morning. Her God awful attempts at pulling pranks on me and Qrow. Oum the puns, I don't think I could ever tell her that I was laughing at how bad they were. I loved just watching her dance around the kitchen and bake to her hearts content. I'm definitely going to need to figure out how she made her cookies. If Qrow and Ruby don't get their fix soon I think they might explode." A small chuckle managed to leave his lips, a few stray tears streaking down before he wiped them away.

"I miss it all Gore. I miss all of her. And I'm never going to see her again."

[End Chapter]

Hello again. Me once more. Thought I should finish up this chapter and try to get it to you all. Sorry if there's any mistakes or if things don't make sense, let me know as I'm always willing to learn and get better. I also will not lie, I am not too knowledgeable on things like this, if for some reason I did such a bad job that it wasn't obvious, I'm trying to portray Tai with some form of depression, as any father/husband would feel in his situation. To summarise the main reason that I struggled with this situation, is that I am not what most people would call, In tune, with emotions. Mainly understanding them in myself or others, never mind being able to portray and write about them from someone else's POV in a situation I would have nowhere near any experience in. So, if there is anywhere anyone thinks I can improve when writing stuff like this, lmk.

And so… here we are. The main reason is that I've read a lot of RWBY fics in my time and I must say, I don't think any go into Tai as a character. That's not to say I will, or at least will perfectly, but Ima try. It's just, there's no feasible way that this man is alright. First wife leaves him, second dies on him. Practical brother constantly on dangerous missions and is active in some shadow war and then his only daughters go on to be in the same dangerous profession he's probably seen the worst of. And we're expected to believe that he's happy with all this? I can understand putting up a front for his kids but then there's never any side stories that go into Tai as a character. Even in cannon RWBY this man watches his daughters come back from some invasion, one in a short coma and the other missing an arm, and then is happy to send them off after getting one back up to snuff and the other to go on her journey. There has to be a sprinkle of visible depression, I refuse to believe there wouldn't be.

Just… ignore me. I'm trying to justify this extra younger years part that isn't in my original. And trying to think of things to fill it with, I technically have short plot points to add, it's just actually fleshing it all out and adding them.

Either way though, hope you liked this chapter for what it was. I'll talk in the next one whenever that is.