School.
Between all the training and reading I did on my own I figured it was a dull fate that I'd managed to sidestep entirely. What point was there in me being forced to sit around following some standard curriculum when I was reading ahead and able to understand things others at this age struggled with?
Plenty according to Dad and Summer.
"Mister Xiao Long." Holding back a sigh, I pulled my eyes away from the clear skies beyond the classroom windows and focused on the front of the room. Our teacher, an older man with graying hair, stood beside a large monitor where a whiteboard typically would've been, gesturing towards it. "Care to answer question three for us?"
"67." I answered after a quick glance over the math equation.
"Very good." Reaching into the clear jar full of candy at the edge of the wooden desk he was leaning against, the teacher tossed a random one my way. I raised my hand, catching the stick of a lollipop between my fingers. "But please try and pay attention. Even if you know this, a little review can always help you."
I nodded but before I could even think of pocketing the candy it was snatched away. Beside me, my desk mate Trivia, a weird name even on Remnant if you asked me, spun it between her fingers, smiling innocently. Dark brown hair meticulously styled into neat pigtails and equally dark eyes, she wore the same black skirted uniform as all the other girls in the school, her appearance pretty plain compared to the name.
I just let it be, looking ahead and pretending to pay attention. Of course, that meant ignoring the tapping of her leg against mine beneath the table.
This class that I was stuffed into was far removed from a normal one. Being the most expensive private school in Vale already set the equipment and expectations a step above traditional schools. The only reason I'd even been enrolled in such a place was due to this specialized class though.
It was small, only a dozen of us with our shared rectangular shaped desks shaped in a U and facing our teacher, a retired huntsman more than capable of reigning in kids with aura unlike traditional teachers. And every student in here, all kids with at most a two year age difference between us, had our auras unlocked early for whatever reason.
What better place for me to make friends than around fellow kids I already had something in common with? I bet that was their thought process when they sent me here.
Yet another sigh suppressed, I kept one eye on the clock, waiting for this long day to be over. And as soon as it came, an electrical recreation of a bell's ring filling the room, as much I would've liked to get up and head home right then and there, I packed up my stuff, lining up like the rest of the class.
I'd say their plan failed for one simple fact. Aura or not, children were still just children and I honestly couldn't be bothered to pretend to be interested in any of the few conversations I'd been drawn into when the school year first started. I didn't talk or socialize with any of them really.
Trivia, backpack straps over her uniform, pushed her hand into mine, forcing our hands to swing as she popped the stolen lollipop into her mouth.
She was included in that talking bit, but that was on account of her, or at least I assumed, being mute. I picked up on some of the sign language she knew but other than questions directly from the teacher she didn't like using that, just silently going about her day. After seeing that I was by myself I guess she took it upon herself to make messing with me part of that day.
I just let her do whatever she wanted as we were led out into the busy but organized halls of the school's main building, all the teachers managing their respective classes. As soon as we were down and out in the equally fancy entry courtyard the school sported, kids were separated based on how they went home.
We were let go, our respective guardians just beyond the large, opened gates of the school's entrance.
The swinging of our hands slowed, Trivia's jot turned to a prim and proper walk by the time we stepped beyond the gates.
"How was school you two?" Dad, just beyond the gates along the sidewalk among a few other parents, said, smiling down at the two of us.
"Good." I said, Trivia falling back, and hiding behind me slightly. She only managed a silent bashful wave before letting go of me and scampering off towards a slick black car parked at a different part of the sidewalk, the backdoor opened for her by the sharply dressed suited man beside it. Some kind of butler or bodyguard.
A kid being shy wasn't something I'd typically consider attention worthy.
That said, the Trivia I always dealt with, while quiet, was the word troublemaker personified.
While she was up front whenever she took something from me, I'd seen her steal from others when no one else was looking. It wasn't even for useful stuff either. She'd just take whatever caught her passing curiosity and if it failed to hold her interest, she'd just throw it away. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, she was quick to cut class too, skipping her way through halls until she was caught. If she was caught. And she sure wasn't shy about anything she did, overly confident no matter what was going on, which wasn't a surprise for a child that knew how to use an aura shield.
Not hard to brush it off as a kid smart enough to realize if she acted a certain way, adults would find it difficult to place the blame on her for any of that.
But, maybe because I used my Sharingan so often, I tended to pick up on little things without it.
The way she walked. Her expressions. Those genuinely confused reactions the few times she was caught in the act.
Watching her deal with adults felt like watching someone else entirely.
"She didn't drag you into any trouble today, did she?" Dad questioned as the two of us began our usual walk. Signal wasn't far from here, and depending on the day and their schedules, either he or Qrow would bring me back with them for the last period of their day before I got to head home.
I didn't mind it. I sometimes got to watch older kids fight one another and, if I was lucky, catch sight of a useful semblance.
"Just stole my candy." I complained. The change, act, or whatever she put on was enough for most to just label me the one behind the trouble she sometimes created but Dad never bought into, just accepting my denial as the truth.
"I'm surprised you let her get away with that." He said with a chuckle that was overwhelmed by the evening rush, traffic and crowds picking up as we got further from the school.
"She doesn't have any friends." I shrugged.
"Ah, but she does have you."
I wouldn't call a troublemaker that let me take the blame for everything she did a friend, our time together more of a pity thing for me. That, and from time to time the things she got up to could be a little interesting, especially compared to lectures and bookwork. Still, it just proved my point. Since it always involved Trivia, he never cared all that much about the occasional call complaining about whatever trouble was being pinned on me.
I was being sent here to make friends.
A complete waste of my time.
"What were you teaching at Signal today?" I asked, looking up towards him. As he shared what he'd been up to, bringing up a few of his students, his eyes were lit up, genuine enjoyment in them despite how he sometimes complained about the whole job. The kind of upbeat energy I expected from him and had been missing for far too long.
That whole school mess was a waste of my time, but it made Dad happy.
XOXO
"Tally! I finally beat it!" Yang, long blonde hair bouncing with every hurried step, ran up to us as we stepped into the house, one of my few portable gaming consoles held proudly up to us.
"That's good." I said, placing my hand on her head and ruffling her head. Before kneeling down and pitching her left cheek. "But who told you to go in my room?"
"Oowww! Daddy, tell him to stop!"
"You know you shouldn't be going in Talon's room just because he's at school." Dad as he finished taking off his shoes and hanging his bag beside the door. He patted both of our heads. "You brought it on yourself, kiddo." He finished, before walking away, abandoning Yang to her punishment.
"You sorry yet?" I asked.
"No!" She shouted, tongue stuck out at me. This little brat was just as much a troublemaker as my so called friend. I reached for her other cheek, pinching both and smushing her face about. She stubbornly refused to apologize though. Shaking my head, I threw her over my shoulder and followed after Dad.
"Mommy!" Yang shouted, struggling to get down. "Tally's bullying me again!"
Summer, over in the kitchen in the middle of a call, lowered her scroll from her ear as she turned to face us. In her other arm, Ruby, damn near a perfect copy of Summer from the silver eyes to dark red, near black hair, was against her chest, playing with an old teddy bear. As soon as she saw me and Yang she started babbling, reaching out for us.
"Did you go in his room?" Summer asked while setting Ruby on her feet. As soon as she was sure she was stable she let her go and Ruby set off in an unsteady run, her small feet taking her nowhere fast.
"No!" Yang shouted.
"Are you lying to me?"
"Maybe."
Summer hummed in amusement, scroll brought back up to her ear, attention turned away from us as she exchanged a quick kiss with Dad before returning to her call. Again, there was no help to save Yang from the consequences of her actions.
"Stap." Or so I thought. Ruby's patters had brought her right in front of me, her face scrunched up in a glare that could only be described as cute and a small hand held out to stop me. Of course, I flat out ignored the demand, scooping her up in my other arm and rearranging the struggling Yang so that she sat on my shoulder instead. That frown changed, the few words Ruby was capable of turning into incoherent mess of excitement as I balanced her higher up.
"The captain has spoken." I said, looking over to Yang. "Be grateful she likes you."
Yang just stuck her tongue out again.
Heading around the couch, I dropped Yang beside me and left Ruby in my lap as I grabbed the TV remote and my game controller. Until Dad was done finishing up whatever leftover work he brought back with him, having gone upstairs, I was going to be hanging out with at least one of these two for a while, especially with Summer on the phone.
"You play anything else while I was at school?" I asked. Ruby's little hands trying to get at and mess with the game controller. I'm pretty sure she still didn't understand the connection between it and the games but that never stopped her from trying to figure it out.
"Yeah. I had to delete your-Owww!"
"Delete?" I repeated, pinching her cheek again. I swear, the older she got the more she went out of her way to mess with my stuff. Grabbing my games was one thing. Even the few broken CDs I'd found hidden in my room didn't bother me. But deleting something? That was hours down the drain in an instant.
I was going to have to start putting passcodes on stuff at this rate.
"Tally. Scroll." Summer, directly behind the couch, tapped her scroll to my shoulder before the troublemaker could explain herself. I let go of Yang, taking it. "And now you and I are going to put your brother's stuff back in his room and make sure you cleaned up after yourself." Yang pouted but jumped off the couch, heading to the stairs with Summer.
But not without looking back and sticking her tongue out one last time.
I returned the stupid gesture as I brought the scroll up to my ear, adjusting Ruby and letting her hold the game controller.
"Hello?"
"Talon." Of course, the only voice I really expected, Winter's, answered. "How was school?"
"School."
"That's not a real answer." She complained. "Come on, you're lucky that you get to go to a real school. I have to stay home all day."
I held back a sigh but relented, sharing all the things I considered to be a waste of time with her.
I didn't think I'd see or hear much of anything from her after the little over a week we'd been stuck together during the Vytal Festival but had been dead wrong. Aside from calls, after Summer ended up pregnant with Ruby, Willow visited a handful of times, kids brought along with her.
Unlike me, she was being taught by private tutors all the way in Atlas, all her socialization during brief official parties I didn't really know much about. All stuff probably meant to prepare her as heiress to her family's company.
Which meant she had no friends. Summer wouldn't exactly be happy with me if I didn't make some effort to be nice to her and I wouldn't lie, flat out ignoring the calls would've felt too mean.
Watching Ruby and talking with Winter. Not really how I expected to spend my time, but I couldn't say I hated it.
XOXO
A blade, a real blade made of a faded golden metal, approached my chest.
I angled my sword, forcing it to slide off the blade and rushing in, quick slashes sent out. Most were avoided, catching nothing but air, but as the axe was repositioned, its curved blade met my sword's, dull clangs filling the air with each clash. I only managed a few more swings before I was forced to backpedal, the swings of the weapon outpacing my attacks despite being the heavier one.
There were limits to a body this small that no amount of training could change. Not training like this at least.
Axe raised above her head, Summer stepped in, her weapon brought down with far more force than any previous strike. Rather than trying to block or deflect it, I jumped back, the strike uprooting the backyard's sparse grass. That proved to be a mistake, Summer stepping past her weapon as she changed her grip on it, the weapon flung out from behind her far too quickly for dodging to be an option.
I brought my sword up, another clang filling the yard as it ricocheted off my blade, the force sending me further back through the air.
Summer was already back in front of me once my feet hit the ground, air born axe caught by its handle, once again giving me no choice but to try and block strikes I had no way of truly matching. This time her axe tipped just a little further than necessary, slipping past my defense. Rather than carrying forward, she yanked her arm back, catching the blade of my sword with the curved end of her axe's blade.
At the same time a click filled the air.
Both of our weapons sent flipping through the air, Summer's began to transform, main blade receding into the stock of a rifle that fell directly into her prepared hands.
There was no way I was getting hold of my weapon without getting hit. Moving out the way wasn't an option either, Summer already taking aim.
I threw up both my hands.
Bang!
The impact shook my arms and forced me to stumble back but the fired bullet harmlessly slammed into the dark red aura disk I'd formed, cracks left across the hasty defense as the casing fell away into the dirt.
"Good try." Summer said, her innocently cheerful smile not matching that hyper aggressive approach to combat of hers. As she propped her axe turned rifle against her shoulder she caught my flipping blade out of the air with her free hand. "But I win."
"This time." I muttered, rubbing a wrist as I lowered my aura.
I'd fought her enough that even without my Sharingan I could get a good feel for what she'd do. With it I could predict those moves. Yet that just meant that I was fighting a different kind of battle. Before I'd been slowly improving, more options open to me, but no matter how we fought it was just a case of hoping my body could react when she really pushed me.
It was frustrating.
"That's the spirit." Summer said.
But it wasn't nearly as frustrating as her.
After a year of testing my aura herself and plenty of excuses, she finally relented to letting us use our actual weapons while training. With her aggressive fighting style that should've opened up a whole new door of progress to be made but Summer had rules she wouldn't relent on. Our battles, be they with real or training weapons, always ended when the other was disarmed.
And she always ended them right when the pressure started. Right when it felt like I was being forced to really push myself.
"Aw man, I can't wait until you become a huntsman." Summer exclaimed as she handed me my sword. "You and me are going to be kicking Grimm butt."
But it wasn't the premature stops to training that truly frustrated me.
"Mom." I called out as she headed towards the back door. She stopped and turned back to me.
She and Dad hadn't needed to sit me down and make any demands or requests about it. With Yang growing older and believing that Summer was her mother, neither doing anything to go against that, I just opted to call Summer by that these days. It was better not to risk Yang hearing and asking why I called Summer by her name.
None of us were looking forward to having that conversation.
"Are you really planning on going to work again?" I asked.
"I can't really call myself a huntress if I don't."
"But…" I trailed off, eyes falling from beneath her expectant gaze. How exactly do I tell someone that they were prepped to go off to their death within, by my guess, the next few years? Maybe less? "…its dangerous out there."
Of course it was dangerous. Couldn't I have thought of anything better to-
I stumbled back, barely picking up on her step before I found myself in a smothering hug. "Awww, I'm happy to know you're so worried about me, but have some faith. I'm one of the strongest huntresses around. Not to mention I'm apart of the Eyes of Justice, you know." She assured me. I didn't bother fighting off the hug, her chin eventually settling in my hair as she tightened it.
"I'll always come back." She said, confident voice dropping to a gentler tone. "I promise."
This unshakable decision to go back to doing huntress work was what frustrated me. It didn't matter what anyone said to her, it was just waved off with optimistic confidence, as if her safety was already guaranteed.
The worse part was that it felt like she meant it.
She really believed those words.
XOXO
I tightened my dark cloak around my shoulders, sheathed sword held in hand, glancing towards the letter left on my bed.
These past years I'd been clinging on to a goal that'd already ceased to be. Thinking that I could simply sit by and wait around for events to reach their pivotal point to start taking real action was foolish. No, the foolishness started long before that. I'd been an idiot for ever thinking that would be possible for me from the very beginning.
I'd willingly let myself stagnate and waste time I didn't have here.
I took a slow deep breath.
That was wrong.
This, from Dad and Summer, Ruby and Yang, being bored at school, to playing video games and talking on the phone, was exactly the sort of life I'd subjected myself to training for. It was a nice life that could be enjoyed, monsters nothing to be concerned about and an immortal witch a thing of fairytales rather than reality.
But back then, when I first started, my only concern had been myself.
I should've known I couldn't be surrounded by people who treated me as family at all times and not think the same of them.
I closed my eyes.
My aura shifted and darkened, slowly but surely beginning to match the cold darkness I could never forget.
I wouldn't let Summer die.
I wouldn't let any of my family get hurt in the mess that awaited us in the future.
I wouldn't let myself get swallowed up by the temptation life here offered.
With a pull I unsheathed my sword and swung, all my focus on the distant subdued presence as my aura mimicked the movements I'd seen that day. A dark swirling portal took shape in front of me, red energy sparking off of it.
The world wasn't going to give me time for slow cautious training. There was only one person who understood and took that seriously.
But I wouldn't be like her. Even if it meant having to reveal what my semblance was capable of I'd be back as often as I could.
For now, however, getting strong enough to save Summer took priority above all else.
XOXO
(A/N: A time skip in a flashback? I'm sure its been done but its the first time I've done it. Anyways we finally get our first look at Ruby and Yang here and thankfully, our boy Talon doesn't treat them the same detached way he treats every other child he's had to deal with.
I'm sure those who know who Trivia is will enjoy that little school section more than others but fair warning, while I may adapt certain details for this story, I don't really engage with much of RWBY's extra content like comics. The name and some of the family background will be the main things adapted in that character's case, not the entire storyline. At least it isn't in the plans right now.
As usual, the link for those who want to read ahead:
patreon .com/ thirdratewriter
I hope you all enjoyed this extra chapter! Feels a little weird to do back to back posting after dropping down to three chapters a week. Going to have to bring back that month long streak again soon.)