Yang Xiao Long
-----
For some reason, the black bird refused to leave Yang alone.
It's been a week since her panic attack in the forest, and the darn thing won't quit visiting like it decided they were best friends now or something.
Wouldn't be surprised if it went ahead and made a nest on the roof for the heck it.
The worst part was how the bird watched Yang from every single window in the house, cawing like a fan cheering on their favourite player, and she couldn't decide whether it was cute or annoying.
Squawk!
Speaking of which. . .
The bird eyed Yang from a tree branch like a hawk, even though it clearly wasn't a hawk.
"Yeah, yeah," Yang said without looking and opened the tool shed. "I hear you."
Waving away the mist of dust swimming in the rays of sunlight creeping into the shadows, she yanked the tarp off her motorcycle and basked in the awesome sight of her baby girl for the first time in a long while, still as gorgeous as ever.
Yang ran her thumb across the handlebars and goosebumps tingled her arm.
It's been too long.
The ghostly rev of her baby's engine, the purr shivering throughout her body, the invigorating gas smoking from the tailpipe, and the fingers of the wind caressing her face and combing her hair.
What she wouldn't give for one more magical ride. Nothing could catch her. Absolute freedom, the closest she could get to speeding off and leaving everything in the dust.
The sirens of despair pulled over her runaway fantasy.
Yang's heart creaked.
It was torture not being there for the two people she loved way too much.
Ruby. Roderick.
Who knows what they were going through? Every piece of Yang wanted to roll out there, find them, and do whatever she possibly could to help out. Instead, she was stuck here, powerless and trapped, and each passing second was another knife to the gut.
Obviously enough, the way to save them was to save herself, and it started with putting on that darn metal arm.
Wear it like a glove, simple as that, and yet, despite how easy it should've been, she couldn't.
Dad said Ironwood had the arm made for the bravery and sacrifice Yang showed at Beacon—that it's what she deserved.
She gripped her empty sleeve.
This was what she deserved.
"I hope you're not planning on leaving without saying goodbye." Dad's big, goofy grin blocked the doorway as he faked a heart attack. "I'm starting to get the feeling that nobody actually likes me."
"Don't worry." Yang snorted. "I would've written you a letter, but I'm right handed."
"Ha-ha. Very funny." He slowly clapped. "You know what else would be funny? Trying to see you drive that thing one handed." A light hearted mix of sarcasm and concern juggled on his tongue. "As a father, I can't exactly condone such a terrible act."
The side of her mouth twisted. "Hasn't stopped me before."
Hanging his head, he groaned away the many headaches she's given him.
"Well, the food's done," he said and patted his belly. "Come inside so we can eat. I'm starving."
"Yeah." She imagined riding her motorcycle a little longer. "In a minute."
"Wait." His tone went from fun to dead serious. "You're not actually thinking about driving, are you?"
The urge was irresistible. "Maybe."
"Yang." A serious tinge coated his eyes. "Clearly, there's something on your mind. What's up?"
"Nothing much." Her little laugh fell flat. "Just miss the open road and stuff."
"Well, if you miss it that much, then try out the arm." He smirked and pretended to roll the throttle. "I'm sure it'll be just like riding a. . . bike."
Someone's full of jokes today.
After a brief pause, Dad sighed and stood firm, hand on his hips and straight faced like any other parent about to give their kid a stern talking to.
Oh, boy.
Coming closer, he reached out to touch her, but his fingers passed her to pick the keys hanging on the side of the motorcycle.
Dad lifted Yang easier than a baby and saddled her on the motorcycle.
Huh?
"There's a certain place I've been meaning to visit for a while now. Let's go." He dangled the keys and grinned. "I'll drive."
-----
Stiofan Ua Binn
------
For dinner today, Stiofan and Viola were having a hearty soup and a side dish of the most revealing news to date.
Stiofan's spoon clatter back into the bowl, broth spilling from the sides.
"Pardon me," he said. "Could you repeat that?"
Viola stirred her soup and indulged in a spoonful, savouring the rich flavour.
"Like I said, there was an incident the other day at the charity auction." She sipped her glass of wine and rubbed her brow. "Lady Weiss lost control of her Semblance and caused an incident. Thankfully, General Ironwood was there to put a stop to it before her summoning could hurt anyone."
The residuals of soup in his mouth became thicker than honey, yet it was more bitter than sweet.
"How—" He swallowed the unappetizing taste. "How is that even possible?"
"Lady Weiss hasn't been quite herself ever since she's returned from Beacon." She sighed and pushed her bowl away. "She never leaves the mansion either, spending hours on end in her room or aimlessly wandering the halls like a lost puppy."
An uncomfortable roll in Stiofan's stomach made him forfeit his own bowl.
"The only time she ever leaves is when Lord Jacques has her sing at his events." Viola leaned on the table, jaw in hand, and scoffed. "Sympathy and good will from his clients and customers does wonders for the business and his public image and all that."
He gritted his teeth. "I assume that last event was the last straw."
"You said it." She paused and gave a glance to warn him that the worst part was about to join them for dinner. "Lady Weiss. . . She was stripped of her inheritance."
"What?!" Stiofan shot up. "That's ridiculous!"
"Lady Weiss is no longer the heiress, Stio." Viola moved to the window. "That title officially goes to Lord Whitley now."
A headache pounded his skull.
"Lady Weiss has been locked in her room as punishment." She side-eyed him. "Unless there's something you want to do about it?"
Weiss needed a friend the most right now, and Stiofan could give that to her at any moment. However, despite how much he wanted to fly to Atlas and barge into the Schnee Manor at this very moment, he couldn't bring himself to show his face to her right now.
Stiofan's eyepatch throbbed.
As a matter of fact, even if the embargo was never put into effect, Stiofan wasn't sure how he was supposed to leave Solitas in such a pathetic and worthless state.
Stiofan so desperately wanted to find his teammates, to find Blake, but to be seen by them like this. . . It was far too humiliating to bear.
"Ua Binn."
The sternness of Viola's tone scratched his skin, and he snapped towards the Captain's glower, only ever seen when a First Guard makes the most fatal of errors.
Stiofan prepared for the worst.
"I've been patient with you." She faced him fully and stood ramrod straight, hands clasped behind her. "But it doesn't appear to be working."
"Ma'am." He copied her stance and did his best to calm his rising heart. "Permission to speak freely, Ma'am."
"Permission denied."
Stiofan remained stoic and composed against the verbal lashing about to be inflicted upon him.
"I'm fully aware the Fall of Beacon wasn't exactly a walk in the park," Viola stomped closer, "but I know for a fact that if anything were to happen to Lady Weiss, it'll take the entire city of Atlas to keep you from her, First Guard or not."
That bite of hers gnawed his flesh raw.
"I don't know what's going on with you because you're not telling me anything." The rising pressure in her words forced him into a corner. "Remember what I taught you when I took you under my wing?"
His first task was to hunt for food, which he'd failed to do on his own. They both starved for days, but it wasn't until he asked her for aid that they were able to finally eat their fill.
The reminder stole his breath, casting a net into the deepest parts of his foolishness to retrieve the lesson given to him from many years ago.
How could he have forgotten?
Anything that exceeds a person's capabilities and limitations are meant to be shared, never to be endured alone.
A spark lit the back of Stiofan's head. "I remember."
Viola breathed a smile of pride and joy.
"Your request to speak freely has been granted." The push of encouragement in her voice guided him toward what he needed to do. "So, tell me, Stio. I'm always here for you."
This hurricane of apprehensions consuming him couldn't be defeated on his own nor ignored any longer. It tore him into a right wreck, and he had no clue where to begin salvaging what remained in the hopeless disarray.
Viola was right.
Stiofan needed her, in spite of how much he wanted to keep this to himself and spare her the burden of being dragged into his mess. She's already done much more for him, no need to impose on her kindness anymore, yet he could not hide his strife.
Stiofan drew the hardest breath of his life and released his woes all at once.
"Captain," his voice shuddered, "am I a good apprentice?"
The question crushed the light in her eyes.
"Because lately. . ." The air became lead, and the pounding in his chest was suffocating. "I feel as though everything you've taught me has gone to waste."
Stepping back, her jaw clenched tight enough to creak.
He choked up.
"My entire life I believed I was destined to wield a spear—to serve and protect whomever I wished." A tremor chiselled his knees, and his clammy hands struggled to stay still. "I'm not so sure if I should be holding a spear anymore."
What may have been the worst insult for Stiofan to utter struck Viola harder than a fist, drawing a slight gasp.
"I failed the First Guard, I failed Beacon. . . I failed everyone." Each and every beat from the gavel of confessions striking his core released the hidden truths staining his soul black. "And now, I'm wondering about giving my time to the slums in Mantle. I. . . I believe it will grant me the clarity I'm searching for." His voice quivered. "This is what I wish, although I know I shouldn't, I can't help but hesitate."
The regretful sting of his past decisions and the gut wrenching wish for a restart had him begging for mercy.
"The reason is obvious enough, I suppose." He touched his red hot eyepatch. "I'm afraid. That I might fail them, too."
All his hopes and aspirations scattered and drifted like snow on a windy day. His friends. His team. He longed to see them all once again, but now they are lost, buried beneath the rubble and ruins of the academy.
Viola swept Stiofan into her firm embrace.
Stiofan returned the hug and rested against her, the touch alone doing wonders to soothe his troubled mind.
"I read those letters you sent to me from Beacon, you know." Her soft whispers could be mistaken for a pillow. "It didn't seem like you enjoyed the academy very much. Then something changed and those letters were dripping with excitement."
The surprise remembrance tickled him the same way he scribbled ink during those many nights.
Peeling away, the warmth of her loving palms cradled his cheeks.
"You joined the First Guard for Lady Weiss, your most cherished." Viola stroked his hair. "So, who is it this time, Stio? Roderick, Cooper, Alexander. . . Blake."
Stiofan had to look away, but she wouldn't allow it, making him surrender to the mischievous twinkle in her grin.
"Lady Weiss' teammate, hmm." Viola glowed. "You mention Blake plenty of times and in such high regard. Don't tell me you went ahead and found yourself a new lady to serve?"
The screw of humiliation and regret for having sent those letters drilled deep inside him, far more worse than losing his eye.
After passing one more teasing look, she settled down and returned a tender gaze full of nothing except absolute love and respect.
"What I'm trying to say is that you never really wanted to be in the First Guard or Beacon Academy." She placed a hand on his chest. "All you ever really care about is the people you've grown to hold dear, whether you are aware of it or not. So, it must be torture, believing you let them down."
Stiofan tensed from the inkling of what she was about to say next.
"It's the same when your parents died. . ." Tears welled in her eyes. "You were so afraid of losing Lady Weiss, too, that you decided to join the First Guard so you could keep her safe."
The entire world halted and droned on in silence.
Viola was right.
When his parents were murdered by the White Fang, Stiofan couldn't do a single thing to stop it. His grief was immeasurable. How he survived was a miracle in itself, the sole reason being credited to the very woman he devoted his life towards.
Weiss Schnee.
If it wasn't for her friendship and benevolent hand raising him from the turmoil dragging him to the abyss of despair, this life he had would never have existed in the first place.
It's why he took an apprenticeship under Viola, so he could join the First Guard and faithfully serve and protect the former heiress, all to repay a debt that could never be paid.
Then along came a cat, and everything he believed he knew turned on its head.
Blake Belladonna.
Team RTLS.
All his friends at Beacon.
Stiofan found others he's grown to adore, and now that they were gone, swifter than a shooting star passing in the night, he yearned for more.
The fog clouding his senses slowly cleared, and images of the future that lay ahead, like flashes from a wonderful dream, flooded every crevice of his mind.
A familiar voice from the distant past echoed, and the nostalgia struck Stiofan harder than lightning.
'Trust your gut.'
The indecision chaining him broke, and the path forward Stiofan so desperately sought for finally revealed the way.
'Even now,' Stiofan thought, 'you still have my back, partner.'
Touching his face, his fingers came away wet.
How a fool he was—for believing everything he did was for a noble and just cause. When in reality, it simply boiled down to him being moved by his own personal feelings.
"Gratitude, Viola." His voice was low and quiet as if he just recovered from a long nap. "It's become clear to me what I must do."
"Tell me then." Viola held his hands and showed support for whatever he decided upon. "What does my most beloved spear want most?"
The stone that's been sitting on his torso for far too long was lifted, and he found the chance to breathe again.
Stiofan kept his left arm close to his body, making a fist to mimic holding a spear stuck in the ground, and with his right hand over his heart, he displayed the First Guard salute.
Viola's eyes shot open.
Stiofan spoke the honest truth.
"What I want most, more than anything else, is to do whatever I wish." The resounding conviction reinforcing his resolve painted proof into the foundation of his home. "This I swear upon my soul and spear."
Returning the salute, Viola was absolutely ecstatic as she returned to her long forgotten bowl of soup at the dining table.
"If that's the case," she tasted the soup and flourished her spoon, "what do you wish to do now?"
Stiofan smirked.
-----
Yang Xiao Long
-----
The trip lasted a handful of minutes, but once she started paying attention to the familiar path through the forest, their destination became way too clear.
Yang's stomach folded inside out.
Once they arrived at the cliff, she went ahead to the precipice and stood before the gravestone, marked with the emblem of a rose and an epitaph—taken right out of Mom's favourite poem.
Summer Rose
Thus kindly I scatter
This hunk of rock was all they had to remember her by after she left for that mission so many years ago. There wasn't even a body buried here, and Yang knew better than to give herself nightmares thinking about what might've happened.
Dad's footsteps rustled the grass until he came up next to her, basking in the sunlight with a small smile so full of love it was kinda weird.
"What a view." The air was so crisp it crunched when he took it in. "I remember when we used to have picnics here together. Your Mom really loved this spot. More than she loved me, I think."
Talk about a blast from the past. That was so long ago, before Roderick and Reynold came into the picture, Yang actually forgot about it.
Those picnics were great and all, but they clearly weren't here to remember the old days.
"Dad." Yang prepared herself for what was coming. "Why did you bring me here?"
Whatever bright idea he had oozing from his pores was more repulsive than greasy skin ready to break out at any moment.
It better not be embarrassing.
"I think we put off this conversation long enough ." He gently settled his hand on her right shoulder. "Why aren't you using the arm Ironwood gave you?"
Yang would rather dive off the cliff and plunge into the vast sea than answer that.
Pushing down the urge, she resisted the temptation.
"I. . ." Her voice caught. "I. . ."
"Tell your Mom, not me." He pushed her forward and stepped back. "She was always the better listener."
Yang hid behind her hair from the ghost of Mom standing at the edge, patiently waiting to hear what's been bothering her.
What a jerk.
This was his plan all along, wasn't it?
Either way, there was no point in standing around doing nothing, and anything was better than this suffocating silence.
The veins in her ears pulsed, and sweat smeared her palms.
"H-hey, Mom." She licked the shyness cracking her lips. "Sorry for not coming by more often. I've been. . ." Her loose sleeve swayed. "A lot of stuff happened."
Steeling her nerves, she beat herself up and spat out the honest truth, letting everything out in one big go.
It was now or never.
"There's something I have to tell you." She clenched her fist so hard it shook. "I lost a part of me. A piece of me is missing, and it's never coming back. Just like you and. . . my other Mom."
Yang trembled at the mention of Raven.
"Now, Ruby and Roddy are gone." The strength in her entire body faded, and it suddenly became difficult to stay standing. "And I want them back so, so badly, but whenever I think about finding them, I remember what happened the last time I tried to find Raven."
Flashes of her greatest mistake rang her ears.
"There's this new arm I got. If I put it on, it would make everything easier like it used to be, but the thing is. . ."
Yang wrestled the pride and humiliation stopping her from admitting out loud why she refused the prosthetic, something she couldn't even admit to herself.
Clamping her eyes shut and sucking the thick air through her gritted teeth, she choked on the confession.
"I," she whispered. "I'm scared."
Yang dropped to her knees and laid her hand on the gravestone, warm to the touch despite it being a cold rock.
"I'm scared of messing up again." The words strangled her throat and talking became harder than saving Beacon. "Will I lose my other arm? I might put Ruby in more danger, and Roddy. . . I couldn't live with myself if I end up hurting him again."
The tears slipped out, and her mouth quivered.
"I'm scared that if I put on that arm, it won't make a single difference." She begged her for any kind of clue of what to do. "I lost everything important to me, and there's nothing I can do about it."
Yang turned to the only person who could possibly answer the final question streaming from her eyes.
"Dad," she sobbed, "have I always been this weak?"
All the emotion drained out of him, and it left him stone faced and sturdy, like a statue having no problem holding the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Kneeling and taking her hand, he nursed her pain with a special look that only a parent could ever pull off.
"You were never weak." His squeeze of confidence assured that whatever her choice, she would have his full support. "You're the strongest girl in the entire world."
If she didn't have a complete breakdown a minute ago, Yang would've laughed at the cheesy line.
"I mean it, seriously." He guided her back to her feet like a lost little lamb that fell over. "The worst part of my life was after Summer passed away. Not because she's the second love I lost but because of what I did when I found out."
The scars of Dad's mistakes and regrets cried out from deep within his soul.
"I went to a dark place, Yang, and there's nothing I can do to make up for that." Shame tightened the noose on his neck. "I never should've left you four alone. . . Do you know what got me out of that hole?"
He chuckled and tapped her nose.
"You."
She blinked. "Me?"
"You stepped up and became the girl of the house." The shine in his eyes was blinding. "You took care of everyone when nobody could."
"I did? When?" Yang searched the grass for any clue how that was possible. "All I did was almost get us killed. Roddy lost his arm because of me."
"It's what you did after that makes me so proud." Dad held her shoulders and beamed. "I locked myself away, Qrow drank himself to death, Reynold had school and Roderick to worry about, and Ruby could barely read a book. That left only you, my Sunny Little Dragon."
Yang's cheeks warmed at the nickname.
"To this day I still can't believe how you, a child, did everything by yourself." His smile was loud and wide. "You cooked the food, washed the dishes, did the laundry, cleaned the house, and you learned how to do that all on your own."
The disaster of learning how to do chores and basic housework left a bittersweet tingle in the back of her head.
"You always remembered to check on all of us, just to make sure we're okay. I don't think I ever said this to you, so I'm going to say it now." Dad drew in the winds of true happiness and shared it with her. "Thank you, Yang. For keeping our family together. And I'm so sorry for having to put you through that at your age."
Yang gulped that pill too big to swallow.
"It's also how I know you'll always be okay." He pulled away and shrugged in a hopeless manner. "Whenever times get tough, you somehow find a way to run head first into battle, fists tight and ready to fight."
Dad ruffled Yang's hair.
"Whenever you're ready to get back up, I'll be right here waiting for you." He laughed and pointed at himself. "You can bet on that."
-----
After returning home and taking the entire day to finish sorting out what happened today, Yang finally came to a decision.
Dad was right.
Staying here in the comfort of her home wasn't going to do her any favours. It won't bring back Ruby or Roderick, and it definitely won't get her out of this rut.
Enough was enough.
It's time to quit moping around.
Taking her prosthetic out to her bedroom balcony, Yang examined the prosthetic in the moonlight, imagining what would happen and how it'd feel once she put it on.
Caw!
The bird swooped over and perched onto the rail. It gave her a funny look, and Yang swore that thing had the same smile on it just like Dad's.
She couldn't help but smile back.
Without another thought, she sucked in all the courage she could find and clicked on the metal arm.
"Whoa. . ." Yang motioned her arm and waggled her fingers, no different from the real thing. "This is pretty cool."
She gripped the railing.
Snap!
The bird squawked to safety, and Yang's face went hot.
Yikes.
Looks like she's gonna need some time to get used to this thing. Good thing she's got her Dad with her, so she's really got nothing to worry about. Oh, and who could forget this little guy.
Yang held out her metal arm to give the bird a place to perch, which it eagerly accepted.
Alright, time to get to work.