Chapter Text
ALL RIGHTS GO TO MONTY OUM, VIZMEDIA, AND FORMERLY ROOSTER TEETH AS THE RIGHTFUL OWNER OF RWBY.
I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING APART FROM THE OCs AND THE ART I'VE MADE.
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CHAPTER 1 : Another Kind Of Rose
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(A.G.W ‘After Great War’ / October 31st, 1065)
“Push, why won't cha’ Summer! I can see the head!” A rasp voice of a middle-aged woman encouraged, a constant noise of a younger woman screaming in pain followed after, drowning out most of the noise in the background, filling the cabin with erratic loudness.
“I-I’m trying!” The woman who had been grunting in pain was Summer, a well-known huntress in her twenties. She was currently giving birth to her twins whom she'd procreated with her husband Taiyang Xiao Long —- He was a man in his early thirties, his once bright blonde hair turning a darker tone, he had two small strands sticking out from the top and below his blue eyes. He wore a brown cargo shorts with a dark brown belt, black shoes, a red bandana on his left arm, and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off. For armor, he wears a metal spaulder, leather vambrace, and a brown fingerless glove all on his right arm. — Her silver eyes were fluttered with a little hint of tears, and her usual smooth short hair with red fades was haggard as she panted, breathing heavily full of exhaustion with each excruciating push.
“G-Gods damn it, Tai..” She swore, to her right, like any husband in the process of becoming a father – Once again – was Taiyang, whose hand she was holding onto with deadly force, crushing his aura-infused hands in the process.
The poor man could only weep in silence as his hand became crumpled paper in warm loving grip of his Wife, where he was encouraging his wife, now turned into a trial of will of trying not to cry out from the pain of his hand being crushed by what feels like to be a hydraulic-press pressuring on his left hand.
Entering the room with multiple blankets wrapped around his arm and warm water was Qrow Branwen without his signature red cape, he still wore his typical gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. Walking next to the oldest in the room, the brown-haired middle-aged midwife wearing a classic housewife dress with a flowery pattern helping Summer at the moment, Quarta, a friend from town.
“Qro, Place warm water bit low to summer and don't cha’ dare look, stay to the right!” Quarta ordered Qrow with the patience of an old nanny.
“Yeah, yeah. Don't need to tell me.” Qrow said with a quiet voice, doing as Quarta requested. Flinching occasionally as Summer's screaming reached maximum pitch every now and then. Wanting to be respectful, he averted his eyes from Summer and looked around until he spared a glance at his brother in all but blood, he almost pitied Taiyang as the man looked like he was about to wilt to death, but he digressed, the man brought it to himself. Poor bastard.
Seriously, who was supposed to be in agony here?
“Push ‘em more! First one's almost out!” Quarta announced, Qrow almost wanted to sneak a peek. But held off as that would be disrespectful.
Summer's pained groans reached a new high as the first newborn finally got out, the cries of an infant quickly joined in on the noise, however Quarta was quick with her work and immediately cleaned the new one and wrapped a blanket around the baby.
“Qro’ grab em’ new one, the other twin is comin’ out already! Taiyung don't cha’ dare pass out!” Qrow hurriedly placed his new niece/nephew(?) At a basket and ran back to Quarta with a new clean blanket.
This other last twin took a bit longer to be pushed out, leaving everyone more exhausted than the first, more so because they had to be delicate as the last one took longer, Qrow himself felt mentally exhausted than physically tired. Quarta blanketed the last twin and gave them to Qrow, who placed the newer child in the other basket they've prepared.
“Tai.. Wake up, I swear to gods..” Summer said with a half-conscious drowsiness, Qrow and Quarta raised a brow and noticed the corpse that used to be Taiyang Xiao Long, complete with a flattened right hand.
Yeesh.
Qrow shook his head as Summer ripped Tai a new one – she tried at least – and turned his attention to the younger newborn and gently picked them up, checking which it was, was it a niece or a nephew..?
God their crying is loud as hell.
Oh? What’s this…?
Strike, another niece. Qrow smiled, he picked up the other newborn, he was about to do another gender reveal when Quarta suddenly called him, something about snapping Taiyang awake.
Qrow placed both babies back in the baskets without looking.
…
“Seriously man? Just from that?” Qrow faux-disappointedly shook his head as he returned back to the newborn twins, he’d heard of men passing out from anxiety or tension in worry of their wives, being well-traveled, he knew one or two people like this, or at least have met them. An above-average huntsman who boasts in strength passing out from the grip of his wife however? Yeah, seriously Tai. But then again, this was Summer’s grip they were talking about, the woman could literally tear apart an entire truck just to rescue someone or get to something.
“Yeah, just laugh, you wouldn't even be awake if she tried that grip on your hand.” Taiyang pouted while helping his wife. Summer shot him a side-glare which made him shut up.
From the side, Quarta was cleaning up her hands after getting rid of the “Qro’ the kids, give em’ ere’ already you mook. The mother needs to see her children, both em’ kids need to stop crying as well!”
Qrow didn't need to be told that as he brought both kids with him and gently handed them over to the Nanny. -
“Did ya’ already checkin’ their genders?” Quartz asked, swooning over both the infants and handing them to Summer who had sparkles for eyes, tired yet full of joy, Taiyang was practically resurrected when he saw his wife holding both their newborns, the goofball of a man simply couldn't hide his own excitement.
Qrow paused for a moment trying to remember, he looked back to the empty baskets and put a hand on his chin. Did he forget something important…? He does remember the older one being on the right basket , while the younger twin was at the left..
‘ Genders.. Oh right, they’re both girls.. I think? ’
Oh well, at least he had an eye for who was the older one, did that make sense? It didn't to him, probably because he was HALF DRUNK and had rushed here as fast as he could! How the hell could have he anticipated that Summer's water would break here and now?
Pretty sure having an intoxicated man near newborn brats was a health hazard.
Better they don't know that.. Oh who was he kidding, they probably already knew that the moment he entered the goddamn house. “They're both girls, which means I have two more nieces!” Qrow smiled. At least there was that, he had two more nieces alongside Yang. “The one on your right is the older one, do me a favor and don't name them after a bird.”
“Hahaha, very funny Qrow.” Summer shot him in irritated glare. Qrow simply shrugged and stood on the side, Taiyang was next to her giggling like a dork despite his… That can't be called a hand anymore, his Aura should be able to heal that...
“Well, if that's all, I'd go now Summer. Make'n sure I'm an aunt to those brats, I've got my own things to do.” Their friend waved tiredly.
“Thanks Quarta, sorry we called you here on a whim. We didn't expect my water to break so suddenly.” Summer apologized, straightening her posture from her bed, Quarta had already cleaned up after her after she gave birth.
“Bah! You've done more for me, rushing here is nothin’” Quarta waved her hand, turning to the door and opening it. When she opened the door she was suddenly welcomed with a very blonde and fiery welcome as a small Yang Xiao Long burst through the gaps in her legs and made her way through to Summer.
Rather quick for a nearly three years old child.
Quarta let out a tired breath and closed the door.
//—————————————————//
Summer's silver eyes shone down on her two new born daughters, a little rocking and motherly love was all it took to get them to calm down, they were all gathered up around her as they took in the sight of two new little Roselings whom are soon to be a part of their life, even her oldest daughter Yang, ran up to her with her cute little lilac eyes staring up at her new younger siblings.
Now that they've calmed down the atmosphere to a somewhat wholesome vibe, came their new predicament, while the Doctors did say it would be this month where she was likely to give birth, she and Taiyang had been caught off-guard when her water broke. They quickly called up Qrow — Who despite his efforts to hide the fact he was out drinking again, was easily found out by them due to the smell coming off of him, she'll make sure to give him a thorough scolding . — In the end, they had to call for help from a friend as getting to the clinic or a doctor here wouldn't have been enough, they had been unprepared.
Said predicament came in the form of thinking of names for their children, Summer played around with the idea of basing their names off seasons but that felt too obvious considering her name.
Taiyang was no good as his ideas were just as bad as hers, Qrow wasn't completely sober and Yang was a three-year-old. They would have prepared names if it weren't for the fact they had other matters to deal with.
Yes, the whole 9 Months. They've had to deal with Huntsman stuff and a few other things.
‘ Hmmm.. What if- Hm?’
Summer was removed from her thoughts when she felt a small teeny tiny hand grasping at her chest, of course, the children needed breastfeeding first!
When she looked down to look at her newborns, she saw the oldest of the two grasping at her clothes and eventually her
Blue and Red hybrid necklace given to her by Taiyang some time ago.
…
Wait, that's it!
“How about Lingshu Xiao Long or Liu Rose?”
“Tai, the hell is that name even supposed to be?”
“You two! I've got it!” Summer stopped the two idiot grown men who were bouncing off ideas on one another, they looked at her with confusion before it was replaced with anticipation.
“What do you have in mind, Sum?” Taiyang asked.
Summer huffed with a smirk, giving them one smug look. “How about~ we name the older one Sapphire, and the younger one Ruby! Like, Sapphire Rose and Ruby Rose!”
Taiyang and Qrow paused, the two looked at each other for a few seconds, and returned back to Summer.
“Yeah, that works.” The two said in unison.
Summer couldn't agree more, and this was pretty much the best idea she could muster. “Right? It sort of connects since they're twins.”
Taiyang moved to her side, carrying the three year old Yang who was joyfully reaching out to her younger half-siblings.
“Sapphire and Ruby, huh? It sounds a bit shabby like naming them after seasons, but yeah, I think that's lovely.” Taiyang smiled, caressing the kids with his free hand. His eyes traveled to the necklace he gave her and immediately saw where she got the idea from. “it works.”
Qrow smirked from the side, “You know, with you naming the older one Sapphire, she's bound to probably dye her color scheme to blue just to match her sister in the future.”
Summer shot him a glare. “Oh shut you.”
Her gaze returned to her twins and grew a fond, warm smile on her face.
“Sapphire and Ruby, hmm.. Mommy's glad to have you both my little Roselings.”
.
..
…
//—————————————————//
A day or two passed by after the twins were born. It had nothing been less but busy, mostly just fixing up papers with the clinic to get some birth certificates done. But since Summer took some time to finally be able to walk again without any lingering pain from her labour, and with Tai always hovering by her side as well as the children, they made the mistake of having Qrow fill it out himself — Though this time, he was sober — and as much as they trusted their honorary family and friend, as well as being a LITERATE and LICENSED VETERAN HUNTSMAN, he still had his flaws.
Of course one of his first mistakes was mistaking both twins to be girls, when in fact, the older one was actually a male. And to BE fair, he was called in drunk by that time, so the fault wasn't on him, they were just lucky they managed to keep track of which was the older one.
But oh boy, he did have some mistakes to be blamed for.
Such as fucking misspelling things. What did he do? It wasn't much of a big deal other than butchering the name of his nephew.
From “Sapphire Rose” To “Sapphyrr Rose”
…Yeah, for someone who's about to become a teacher at signal, he still had things to work out.
Lastly, they didn't have any last option to give the older twin a new name, one that fit a more boy-ish name rather than.. Well, Sapphire. By the time Qrow was finally done filling out the papers, it was too late for them to make a call, as well as only realizing his mistake by the time he got back.
So when he came back to the Xiao-Long/Rose abode, Summer was there to catch his ass lacking.
“YOU DID WHAT?! YOU IDIOT!!” Summer screamed as she rocked Qrow by the collar, attempting to strangle the man. Tai wasn't too far off on the side, landing a palm to his face.
“To be fair Sum, this is on us as well, we got too excited. We didn't even double check when things finally calmed down.” Tai pointed out. Summer's terrifying glare landed on him, causing the man to freeze up.
She let go of Qrow's collar, causing the taller man to drop to the ground like a ragdoll. “Ow.”
Summer frustratingly groaned in both of her hands, turning to the house ceiling and letting out a muffled scream. “Ughhh.. I hate that you're right. It's not like Qrow is completely at fault either.”
Said man stood up, grunting and dusting off his shirt. “Agh, if it's that much of a problem we can just petition for a clerical error, a newborn's name can be changed apparently, and maybe get his gender right as well since I put the brat in as female.”
Summer liked that idea. “Or we can do that.”
“About that.” Taiyang spoke, garnering their attention. “Aside from obviously having to fix my son's misgender, what are WE going to name him? Since it's a clerical petition it has to be done now or else it'll be recorded and it would just become a bigger pain in the future.”
Taiyang leaned on the kitchen counter with a hand on his chin. “That said, what's wrong with the name Sapphire though?”
Summer raised a brow. “You want our son to be called ‘Sapphire’ and be bullied for a feminine name? I mean, I like the name, it fits. But I wouldn't want him to go through early bullying because of his name. And we know how kids could get.”
That was true, kids, often at a young age, even during teenage years can be stupid. Like the unreasonable kind of stupid, all kids were. They'd make fun of you for the slightest things and get into that whole gaggle of groups or whatever. Both Summer and Taiyang realized this as they grew up, with maybe the exception of Qrow who's only form of educational success was Beacon.
Only because Raven was the local bully, the kind that asked for fights and called people weak, not because of her entertainment like the average bully, but to try and goad them.
“Soo.. What do you suggest to name him then?” Taiyang asked.
Summer groaned, setting herself at the dinner table. “I was thinking along the lines of Aqua, but it feels like I'm ripping it off somewhere.”
Qrow shrugged at that and fell to the couch in the living room. He pulled out his flask and paused, remembering the occasion. “Speaking of that, where's my adorable nieces and nephew?”
Taiyang answered by pointing a finger up.
Ah, so they were sleeping.
The adults stayed there for some time, thinking of a possible name they could give the older twin. The silence was only then cut off when Qrow spoke again.
“Why not.. Keep it?”
Summer balked. “Qrow?! Didn't you just hear what I said? We'd just be setting him up for some inconvenience in the future!”
“No, no. Listen to me first,” Qrow waved his hand. Taiyang and Summer looked at him. “Didn't we have a classmate at Beacon that had the name Sapphire or something? And he was a dude. That name isn't exactly strictly for females, you know.”
Taiyang clicked his fingers. “Hey, yeah! And since Qrow misspelled his name in a way it can still be pronounced as ‘Sap-fire’ but looks a little masculine, you can even pronounce it ‘Sa-Pear’ or ‘Sap-Ire’, it shouldn't be that much of a problem!”
“Seriously?” Summer drawled, “We're going with this? Couldn't have been Aqua or Colt. Not one that sounds cooler, but a misspelled one.”
Qrow snickered, “What, you don't think a little creativity works? Besides, didn't you two say I'd get to be godfather if you had a son? Think of it as my naming to him.”
Ugh, that was true. It was only Taiyang who promised him that if they had a son, only then could Qrow give a name. Summer was more reluctant, but only because this was the guy who's name was spelled with a Q!
“Alright, fine.. I suppose that works as well. I even got the idea from the necklace. But if he gets angry, it's on you two.” She narrowed her eyes.
Qrow shrugged. “Eh, more teasing material for me.”
“And more diversity for my son, I guess?” Taiyang quipped.
They'd decided not to change Sapphyrr’s name thanks to Qrow's suggestion and mistake. Funnily enough though, because of this conversation about names. They've completely forgotten about the fact his gender was still filed in as Female.
It wouldn't really be much of a problem in the future as fixing papers didn't take that much time if the mistake was minimal, such as a clerical error.
It would be unfortunate if they realized this too late, wouldn’t it?
//—————————————————//
(A.G.W ‘After Great War’ / October 31st, 1069)
It was unfortunate. Much to Summer's ire.
The paper in Summer's hand nearly crumpled as the woman was tempted to rip it apart before remembering it was a birth certificate. Her eye twitched as she looked at the accursed paper.
“Ms. Rose, is something the matter?” The Kindergarten Registrar called out to Summer.
Summer was currently inside the office of a kindergarten office to pass in some minimal requirements to get her son and daughter, Ruby and Sapphyrr to finally begin their schooling, in kindergarten. Both were finally old enough to enter a time where education would enter their developing stages, both of them being nearly five years old.
Really, it felt like time passed by way too fast. As both kids were already four years old and running around just outside the office, Yang — Who's six years old now — watched over the two and struggled to chase both her younger siblings who moved in comical synergy.
Summer was glad Yang grew to love her younger siblings and acted like a responsible 6-year-old big sister.
Unfortunately, that small mishap from four years ago came to bite her in the ass again when she realized they'd forgotten to petition a clerical error for Sapphyrr's gender.
“Ms. Rose?” The Registrar called out again.
Summer finally snapped out of her thoughts. “Ah right, sorry. Say, if there was a medical error in a child's records, like perhaps, the wrong gender being filed in? Would they still be allowed to enter school?”
The Registrar smiled brightly, nodding. “Yes! It's not a big deal. You see, minor discrepancies are common in schools and are not that much of a problem, such as a wrong gender listed in their medical records, though we do ask to fix this error later on. If only for your child's sake.”
Summer felt relieved hearing that. “Oh thank the gods, at least that's one problem of my chest. I'll just fix it later, if I may?”
The Registrar nodded, pushing in some papers and handling the enrollment documents. Summer took a pen and started signing in for her son, at least their education wouldn't be hampered.
//—————————————————//
(A.G.W ‘After Great War’ / October 31st, 1070)
Taiyang picked at his slightly bearded chin in confusion. In front of him were the twins who've finally hit five years old today. Turns out, these little goobers inherited his goofiness and their mother's mischievousness.
Because as soon as he and Summer were done setting up some birthday decorations, the two little brats disappeared and came back wearing the same exact outfit, a small red hoodie and a black pants.
Both of which were grinning at him.
“‘Hey daddy! Guess who's who!’’” The twins grinned in unison.
God. They looked so adorable if only they weren’t making it so difficult for him, the problem with having unbelievably identical twin kids was differentiating WHO'S WHO!
Both of them had the same hairstyle, outfit, and voice! You'd think since that one of them was a boy, he'd be a little different. But noooooo, biology said ‘screw you’ to him and decided the Xiao-Long genes were irrelevant as both of them looked exactly the same!
From behind him was his wife, Taiyang could see Summer holding a long paper deco in her hands, trying not to laugh as she watched him struggle with their kids, Yang was there too snickering.
The traitors!
“Dad! Say who” “Yeah!”
Uh oh, the twins were getting impatient.
‘Quick Taiyang, you’re a badass huntsman that’s supposed to be the cool pun-loving dad. What do you do-’ An idea struck him.
He feigned a cough and turned away whistling. “Oh man, I didn’t know Sapphyrr liked dressing up like a girl.”
The left twin froze and made a disgusted face. “What?! Ew nooooo dad!”
Bingo, Hook line, and sinker. Attack the boy with twin sibling puns and double the damage.
“I guess we’ll have to DOUBLE the skirts we buy now huh?” Taiyang smirked. Yang started giggling more while Summer lost her smile, looking at him with a flat stare that screamed ‘seriously, puns?’
Hey, she married him. Now she’s gotta deal with the puns.
“Nooooo!” The left twin shrieked a little louder in despair. “I’m not a girl–!”
Before he could finish, Taiyang took the opportunity and struck. Picking up who was obviously Sapphyrr and carrying him into the air. “Alright, alright. Here’s my baby boy. Look, your baby sister is laughing at you.”
“Hehehehe.” Ruby giggled while Sapphyrr was suspended in the air by Taiyang, kicking and throwing around.
Man, is it a pain to differentiate your identical kids? Yes, it was. Was it worth it having twins? Absolutely, they both look so adorable. After he played a little with the kids, Summer finished the rest of the decorations and returned to the kitchen to retrieve her newly baked cookies – Something both Ruby and Sapphyrr loved – and placed it on the tables, Qrow was out buying cake for the kids and no, he wasn’t drunk this time.
“‘Cookies, Cookies!’” Ruby and Sapphyrr chanted while jumping, Summer smiled at the sight and placed it on the dining table. The little rascals were quick, they tried to snatch some immediately but were scolded by Summer. “Nuh uh kiddos, not until everyone’s here. Have some patience. I still have to call in our neighbors and friends.”
“‘Awwwww..’” Again, they were dejected at the same time. Taiyang coo’d at this.
It wasn’t long until Qrow arrived with a box of cake on his hands, along with some neighboring friends they’ve known in patch — Quarta was included in this — Some kids were here and there, and the birthday party proceeded as would any parties prepared by parents wishing their kids a happy birthday, Yang acted maturely like a proper big sister, they played games, ate good food. Everything was well.
While the party was ongoing, Taiyang decided to hang around Qrow and Summer. Having the average adult late-night conversation when a party is about to end, they were all hanging around the porch, with Qrow learning on the wall next to Taiyang, while Summer sat at the wooden ledge.
“Sooo… It’s not just me that noticed how Identical those two looked, right?” Taiyang started, looking at his drink.
“Yup, we’ve had this conversation multiple times now. Kids took more from me.” Summer chortled. “Unfortunately, that also meant that they looked like exact copies of me when I was smaller, kinda hard to tell which is which if it weren’t for the color contrast clothes we bought them. Kinda funny on how feminine Saph looks like though, he might have taken way too much from me. ”
Qrow drank the last of his glass. “Heh, better watch out. Kid might have more suitors than his sisters if he grows up looking like a girl.” They laughed at that. “Both brats might probably grow up loving the obvious colors on their name, Is that a good idea by the way? Feels like you’re giving them color roles, they might keep sticking to it.”
“Oh. Totally.” “Yup. Definitely.” Taiyang and Summer answered at the same time.
“But trust us, we tried. They started crying when I talked to them about having different hairstyles and all that stuff.” Summer continued. “But those cute puppy silver-eyes made me rethink otherwise, they were too cute.”
Taiyang hummed in agreement. “Almost too impossible to deny them, with how much those two are in synergy, they’ll probably always stick together in the future. Wait, speaking of that, have any of you noticed how much those two become in so much synergy? Like with the way they talk and do things, it’s perfectly synchronized.”
Qrow snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that too. Little brats managed to prank me by pulling my cape and holding my face. Every time I tried to noogie one of them, they’d move away from every direction.”
Now at that, Summer and Taiyang laughed. Qrow himself had a faint smile.
“Hahaha! Imagine if they became huntsmen and landed on the same team, they’d be unstoppable.” Summer joked, truthfully, the two would become extremely formidable. They’ll probably become inseparable as time goes on… That’d also mean they would become each other’s weaknesses, and knowing Yang, she’d probably be there to watch over them.
…Huntsmen, huh.
Summer’s smile slowly faded, looking out to the night sky. Taiyang and Qrow were quick to notice her change in demeanor.
“Sum..? What’s wrong?” Taiyang sounded concerned, even Qrow had a mildly worried expression.
“Nothing just… Worried if they became huntsmen and they probably would try to follow my footsteps, they’d be inseparable, but that also means they’d be weak without each other.” Summer pointed a finger to her eyes. Qrow seemed to catch what she meant. Since Taiyang wasn’t aware of things like Salem and Ozpin, he didn’t know about it.
And that meant things like the Silver-eyes as well. Really powerful eyes capable of outright disintegrating or ending a whole Grimm invasion in one blast, as well as having high potential? It was almost bullshit. And the two just so happened to have inherited Summer’s eyes as well, which meant they were bound to be targets for Grimm… And Salem, Fucking hell.
“Then that just means we’ll just have to be there for them when they choose to become huntsmen.” Taiyang smiled at Summer, she looked at him for a few seconds before a smile crept up to her.
Qrow thought that as well, if they’re not there, then he will. If not him, then Yang will be. With that, he went off to grab another glass of alcohol and waved away. “I’m going to get wasted with the others, try to make more nieces and nephews for me alright?”
“QROW!”
Heh.
//—————————————————//
“—And on the wind, Alex heard one more question. What, are you?” Summer read out the last of the contents of the book. She closed the book with a heavy sigh, casted a loving glance at her children. A yellow lamp lit over the room, Ruby and Sapphyrr shared a bed, clinging onto one another like glue. While Yang slept with a drool in her mouth, Summer smiled at this. “I love you, just the way you are..”
Summer stood up and placed the book on top of the drawer, “Always.” Before turning off the lights and leaving the room dark. Only illuminated by the moonlight.
The cold night sky whistled, Summer Rose watched through the windows as leaves flew carried by the wind. She sighed. Her chest felt heavy doing this, lying to her family, to her husband – Even if she and Taiyang were never formally married – It hurt her doing this.
‘Would you look at that, Summer Rose. Lying, of all people. I can’t believe I’m doing this… But, it’s for their safety. So that they can grow up in a world free from HER threat.’
Footsteps rang from the wooden stairs as Taiyang walked down to meet her by the window.
The man smiled as always, unaware of her plans. “It’s not like you to rush off on a mission in the middle of the night.” Summer’s eyes widened for a moment, startled by Taiyang, before turning her back on him and putting a hand on her chest. She gripped her fist with guilt, frowning at what she was about to do.
‘It’s for them.’ Summer reminded herself.
She inhaled, before putting off her usual air. Shaking her head as she said, “You know how Ozpin gets.” She turned to face him, smiling and rolling her eyes. “Mystery after mystery.”
Taiyang crossed his arms and smirked. “Aaanndd, when it turns out to be yet another run-in-the-mill patrol, It’ll be–”
“”--I always prefer discretion.”” The couple mimic’d Ozpin's voice, Taiyang chuckled and scratched his head.
A moment of silence passed as Taiyang grew a worried expression, Summer was quick to caress his face, he put his hand on hers and looked at her.
“I’ll be back soon.” Summer reassured him, that killed off any worry in his heart. He pulled her in close and hugged her.
“I know,” Taiyang said in a more cheerful tone.
…
…
A somber mood was what Summer had when she walked the green forest of Patch, far away from their abode. Dusk had finally arrived as the moon fell, and the sun rose, leaves rustled as the windy forest grew heavier for her. From above, the cries of a Raven croaked.
Moments after, the raven transformed as Raven Branwen herself dropped from the skies, landing in a position and immediately crossing her arms.
Raven was around the same age as Summer, wearing clothes that consisted of a V-neck black and red kimono top with a black pleated skirt that has black shorts underneath, with a series of beaded necklaces. She also had a red obi sash around her waist alongside a red tassel wrapped around her waist that carries her weapon's sheath. Attached to it is a long black object that is either fur or feathers, with a red and white bandana material hanging from behind her. Her forearms bear red armored gauntlets that protrude outwards and black fingerless gloves. She wore black mid-thigh high boots that had armor plating with red splatter patterns and black heels.
“Nobody suspects anything?” Raven asked, walking towards Summer, who proceeded to remove her cape’s hood.
“No, they think it’s a typical mission.” Summer guiltily said.
Raven crossed her arms again, giving her a sarcastic smile. “Summer Rose, telling lies. First time for everything.” She said in an amused tone.
“And… ah” Her amused tone slowly faded into a somber one as well, matching Summer’s mood. Her eyes darted to the side. “What about..?” She nodded her head to the side, referring to Yang and the others. “You’re just going to leave them?” She said in a quieter, softer voice.
“You’re one to talk.” Summer glared at her.
“It’s..” Raven sighed, she regrettedly admitted. “You’re better at that life, better than I was.” Leaving Yang and him wasn’t what she planned, but.. Like she said, she wasn’t meant for a life like that.
“If I do this right.” Summer bumps into Raven’s shoulder, walking past her. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
She turned to her. “Trust me.”
Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. “Let’s get it over with I guess.” She walked next to Summer before unsheathing her sword, Omen. She slashed at the air, ripping it apart as a blood-red portal opened. The two then walked inside the portal.
//—————————————————//
Sapphyrr stared at the strange rock thing his dad put over his mommy’s favorite spot on the cliff. His twin sister was next to him, both of them being cuddled by their big sister, Yang.
He could hear his daddy sniffling. Sobbing in front of the small rock thingy. Uncle Qrow was there as well, though he was on the side, his back turned against them. He let out the same whimpering sounds.
..When was Mommy coming back though? Why are they crying?
Ruby had the same thoughts as him, as they were both toddlers, they understood things. But not complex ones like death at their age. Though, as they could sense the mood. They were just as sad, for reasons they didn’t know.
‘Daddy said Mommy went to go fight big monsters again and save the day, but she still hasn’t come back..’ The young roseling thought to himself, he’d expected her to come back like she always did, like everyone thought Summer would, but after she’d gone with Raven, weeks of waiting passed, Taiyang and Qrow grew worried. After she still hadn’t come back, weeks turned into months, both men had already used up all their contacts searching for her, even going as far as talking to Ozpin about it, the one who’d given her the mission. But to their ever-growing fear, he never gave her a mission.
More time passed and it was evident, that she was dead. Only confirmed by Raven who dropped hints through Qrow.
//—————————————————//
Weeks after Summer’s presumed death, Taiyang fell into an incredibly heavy depression. It was clear how much he loved Summer by how he was taking it, first, it was Raven who left him with Yang. Then now Summer..?
The man couldn’t take it, he simply broke down, losing another love of his life, the man suffered an emotional breakdown.. Barely moving, bottles of beer everywhere, he was pretty much a husk by this point. He was so broken that he’d even forgotten about his kids. Since Qrow couldn’t be around all the time due to his tasks, it was up to the seven-year-old Yang to take care of her younger siblings, she took up the task of trying to cook food for them, putting them to bed, and making sure they were okay. However, there was only so much burden a child could take when her own father was wallowing and drinking himself to death.
One day, while cleaning their rooms. Yang managed to find a picture of Team STRQ, the huntsman team that consisted of her Mom, Uncle Qrow, Dad, and lastly… Her actual birth mom, Raven Branwen. Uncle Qrow said that she left after she was born.
After she found the picture, she became intent on finding her real mom. Until she found what could be a clue to finding her real mom.
A mapped location behind the picture, leading up to where her mom should be. She’ll find her real mom and fix her dad, fix their family.
//—————————————————//
A glimmering yet dim light of a pair of silver eyes shone off a raven's own eyes as a small five-year-old child Sapphyrr curiously stared up at a bird. The adorably small child tilted his head, staring at the strange birdy in front of him.
Usually, birdies flew away when he tried to get close to them. But this one just started back at him, weird. Sapphyrr removed his eyes from the bird and looked back to his house, putting his hands together on his mouth before shouting out to his sister. “Hey Ruby, look at this birdy!”
Soon after, his sister who looked exactly like him ran up to his side. Wearing a red hoodie with a miniature cape bellowing behind her, as well as a small black skirt in contrast to his lighter red hoodie and crimson pants – and a noticeable lack of cape – as well as his hair was swept in the opposite direction as his sister, who bore a somewhat saddened expression, something they’ve all had for some time. “Sap?”
“Look, it's not flying away.” Sapphyrr pointed to the bird.
“Huh, weird.” Ruby looked at the bird as well, mimicking her twin's behavior. Her saddened expression was replaced by curiosity about the bird. She looked away from the bird and set her gaze on her sibling instead. “Sapphy, Yang said to come with her.”
Sapphyrr looked at her. “Why?”
“I dunno.. She said she was gonna help daddy be better again.” Ruby looked down. “She said we needed to go now, but how is she going to help her when he just went outside?” She tilted her head.
“Eh, Okay.” Sapphyrr took hold of her hand and walked back to the house. When he looked back at the bird, it was already gone.
And true to Ruby’s words, Taiyang had gone outside again, out to visit the grave of his late wife.
When the twins finally found their older sister, she was off preparing one of their toys, a wagon big enough to fit both him and his sister. When they asked where they were going, Yang simply answered. “Finding my real mom.”
After Yang confirmed her dad was outside, she ventured out to the location to find out the whereabouts of her real mom. Wheeling both Ruby and Sapphyrr in the small wagon, until she was slowly bruised and exhausted from the walking. Doubled by the weight of two toddlers on the wagon, the young Xiao Long pushed on despite how exhausting it was.
She was about to fall over if it weren’t for her younger brother getting off the wagon and helping push the wagon, she felt proud for that. When they arrived at the building where Raven was supposed to be, however. What Yang expected to be her mother, wasn’t.
When she got close to the building, her eyes widened in fear as she heard the fearsome growls emanating from the building. Exiting it was three, monstrous black creatures, Beowolves. They were tall, taller than most adults, it had the makings of a werewolf, but with sharp bones protruding from its limbs, as well as the signature bone-white mask paired with their inhuman red eyes.
Yang fearfully took a step back, to where her siblings were, only realizing now that she had just brought her younger sister and brother to their deaths, as one final attempt, she extended her arms wide in an attempt to protect her siblings, tears welling from her eyes. The younger siblings were just as scared, if not more. Ruby froze from where she stood, while Sapphyrr, seeing the monsters his mom told them stories about as big bad monsters brought shivers to his spine.
From where Ruby froze, Sapphyrr ran, actions run by pure instinct. Because he ran, out of the three Beowolves towering over Yang went after him. Yang’s eyes widened, watching him run away as the other Beowolf actively preyed on him as she screamed out. “No!”
The ones in front of them simply tilted their heads, before growling and raising a clawed paw. One word only registered in Yang’s mind, a concept that most seven-year-olds know by now.
Death.
Her mind blanked, as short as it may be, life still flashed before her. Her legs shook as her mom’s final words rang out in her head, and a some final regrets such as bringing her siblings here.
‘Someone, please. Save us, If not me then my siblings…!”
She closed her eyes as the paw descended–
She cried.
//—————————————————//
The bird from before, the Raven, had long since flown off to the skies. Flying through a set of trees, before it eventually passed by a tree, when it did. There was no bird, instead, an adult woman with a sharp crimson eye came out. Raven. The woman proceeded to slow down her momentum by jumping from branch to branch before coming to a stop on a branch strong enough to support a whole human, concealed by leaves everywhere.
“...That wallowing fool.” Raven, frowned solemnly. Watching Tai wailing out in-front of Summer’s grave. Her grip on the tree she was resting on tightened, and anger filled her chest. She didn’t know how long she was standing there, her eyes resting on Summer’s Grave and Taiyang’s crying form.
She closes her eyes and grits her teeth, looking away.
‘Summer… You-?!”
But before she could finish that thought, her semblance alerted her of Qrow moving at high speeds, to a remote location, to where Yang currently was… Her head snapped towards the location of where the kids were, the bonds through her semblance telling her they were in grave danger.
With one smooth slash of her sword, a portal opened.
//—————————————————//
SLASH!
The sounds of metal cutting through bones and flesh rang and snapped Yang out of her fear-stricken state, opening her eyes, she saw her Uncle Qrow scything through the Beowolf that was about to kill her and Ruby.
As Qrow swiftly took care of the Beowolves in an instant with Harbringer, his weapon which was currently transformed into its Scythe form for longer reach, he looked around and felt relieved seeing that he made it in time. He immediately dove in and hugged Yang and Ruby, the latter had stopped crying and stared intently at his scythe, while the former wailed desperately.
As Qrow hugged them in relief, fear crept up to him again as he only now realized that one of them was missing. “Wait, where’s your brother?” Fear welled up in his chest, he had spent a good minute hugging his nieces, relief, and contempt that he made it in time. Causing him to forget about his nephew.
Yang, realizing that she needed to tell him, stammered out, pointing towards the forest. “O-O-One of them chased him over there–”
“Go hide in that building and stay there!” Qrow cut her off, immediately disappearing in a burst of speed. “Damn it! Damn it! GOD DAMN IT TAIYANG!” He cursed as he expelled as much aura as he could to run faster, turning into a corvid took time to accelerate, and that was time he didn’t have. Each second mattered in here.
//—————————————————//
Like most animals ran by Instincts, and being able to sense fear. The Beowolf tailing Sapphyrr played with him as it ran behind him, howling and slamming through bushes as it pursued the boy.
Sapphyrr cried, taking his small legs as fast as he could run. To run away from the monster behind him, he knew it was going to be bad if it caught up, he feared what it would do. And from what he remembers, his mom said Grimm loved Negative Emotions.
Small cuts and bruises appeared on his leg and arms as he forcefully ran through the bushes, for someone his age, small branches and sticks were sharp. But he didn’t stop, he was worried for his sisters, but he didn’t stop.
He was too scared.
And the sound of heavy paws thumping behind him getting closer made him cry louder. He wanted his mom, he wanted his dad, he wanted his uncle! They would stop the big bad monster if they were here!
But they weren’t.
Soon then, Sapphyrr ran towards a small landslide. He missed a step and immediately went flying down, rolling down the dirt as rocks and soil hit him, at an unfortunate roll, a rock hit his head, causing him to bleed out. When he finally stopped rolling, his vision was blurry, his other eye was covered by something red. It was completely unusable, he couldn’t see anything with it.
His other clear eye which could see was darkening as well, his consciousness slowly fading away.
The Beowolf from before stared down from the cliff, it howling, sliding down the cliff and running towards Sapphyrr. Then it jumped, it lunged at Sapphyrr with its claws ready.
SHING!
But before it could reach him, a red blade completely decimated the Beowolf in half. It instantly died and disappeared, motes of black smoke disappearing as a woman landed perfectly, sheathing her sword in a fashion an Iaido practitioner would.
With his ragged final breaths, and his only clear vision. He stared at his savior.
Silver met with crimson.
“Looks like I didn’t have to worry, the brat survived… Silver eyes?” Raven stared down at the bloody, dying boy.
Her eyes traveled to the cliff above, which looked about to be a few dozen meters high. Granted, it was a slope, so the boy only rolled down, but the fact he still survived it… Her crimson eyes shone.
“It’s clear that with Taiyang and Qrow, you would have died.” She walked towards him, crouching down and meeting his gaze once more. “Summer’s brat, you’re the male one yes? You wanna survive?” The woman asked as if it wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world.
As Raven stared at the brat's only good eye, she felt guilty at Summer. She shook her head upon thinking of Summer, that bitch brought it on herself, not her fault.
But still… Her gaze softened, the boy still had fire in those eyes.
“Hmph.” Raven closed her eyes. She took hold of him by the hood and lifted him like a cat. “I’ll be taking you then, I’ll raise you to be strong like your mother. So you don’t end up like her, and so you could protect your sisters. I’ll make sure you grow into someone strong.”
The boy answered with bloody gurgles.
Right, he was dying. She took a better hold of him, carrying him in a bridal carry.
Her eyes traveled back to the cliffs, her semblance alerting her of Qrow’s presence.
“Slow as always.” She hmph’d, readjusting her hold on the boy and cutting through air itself once more, opening a portal. Her eyes landed on a nearby Beowolf making its way towards them, likely lured in by the boy’s dying thoughts. Her eyes gazed back one final time to the cliff, before closing her eyes and walking towards the portal. By the time Qrow arrived, the portal was already gone, and the only thing he saw was the pool of blood and the nearby Beowolf. He already knew what happened. His grip on Harbringer tightened heavily, his furious gaze locking on the Beowolf howling at him
He crouched and held both the scythe with both hands. “YOU!” With speeds that surpassed bullets, he lunged with a roar.
It was his fault, it was his goddamn fault he took too long. And now, because of that. His Nephew was dead.
He failed Summer, THEY failed Summer
“YOU’RE DEAD!”
//—————————————————//
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