Chapter Text

Standing on the edge of a cliff, two figures were silent, looking in the distance or at a gravestone at their feet, enjoying this moment of silence. They both knew that they would talk about things that neither of them liked, but it was a tradition at this point. Whenever they met up, they talked about things that mattered, information that they needed to share and then… They talked about them. About the family that was, in the end, always what preoccupied the end of their meet up.

Deep down he knew that she cared even if she didn’t want to show it. After all, she had a persona to keep acting like. The man rolled his eyes but still smiled. Deep down, she was still the same woman he’s known all these years. It was pleasant to see that even if the world changes, if time passes, some things stay the same. He heard a sigh and he saw, from the corner of his vision, that she slowly turned her head towards him, daggers shooting from her eyes. She hated when he didn’t talked about what she wanted and he just loved to make her mad.

“Come on, just tell me what I want and maybe I won’t kick your ass” she said, clearly irritated by the other silhouettes attitude, who just laughed, before grabbing something in his coat and drinking from it.

“Ruby, you know, Summer’s daughter, is gone to hunt down Cinder and here goons, Yang is getting all emo and… “He sighed before looking up at the moon. It was pointing its perfect side at the moment, hiding its shattered side from the view of anyone looking up. “Taiyang is being…

The crow landed on a branch in a tree, in the north of the Forever Fall forest, looking down at the clearing in front of it, it cawed loudly, making some of the people in the camp jump and look around. When they saw the crow the sighed and just went back to their work, some tending to weapons, other unpacking what hadn’t been offloaded from the bullheads when they arrived yesterday. The crow began to fly through the camp, looking around, as if it was looking someone or something. It landed in front of the biggest tent and cawed once again, this time hearing a grunt and someone cursing. Whoever this was, it didn’t like to be bothered. So of course the crow cawed once more. This time the man inside didn’t bother to curse; he just exited his tent, grabbed a pistol and began to shoot the bird. The bird quickly flew away, avoiding the bullets while it fled to the shelter of the forest.

“Get back here Jett, we don’t have all day.”

“Come on Adam, why do we have to be in this place? We could be in Mistral, shooting at scared civilians, but no, we have to be here and train. Why don’t you-“

The crow was now far away enough to be unable to hear what was said, but it had heard what it wanted. It landed back in one of the trees, this time however it cawed three times in rapid succession, followed by two long ones.

“Thanks Qrow… So he’s here?” a hooded figure asked, slowly coming out of the shadows of the canopy.

The bird simply flew down, disappeared behind a tree and didn’t reappear, a man in grey, black and red clothes with black and grey haired appeared in it's place, simply walking with his hands in his pockets. The man took out his flask and took a few sips, before putting it back in his jacket.

“Yeah” Qrow answered, looking back at the camp, sighing. “Are you sure you want to do this? I mean… I could help you if you want. I mean… I take the hundred to the left and you take the hundred to the right, we could be done in a few minutes.”

“I appreciate it Qrow, but I can’t. I wasn’t there to protect them another time and I can’t deal with it with you. I know you care about them, but they’re my daughters. And he’s going to pay for what he did to her.” the blond brawler said, blue eyes staring at the camp, anger filled in them.

“As you want Tai… I’ll stay nearby just in case. Deal?”

“Sure”

With that, Taiyang slowly walked toward the camp, Qrow sighed and rested itself on a tree, arms crossed and worry filling his eyes. This was going to get messy and he knew it.

“Well… Tai is being… Tai actually.” The male silhouette sighed, looking down at the grave at their feet.

“You mean… reckless, doing absurd stuff but still doing what feels right to him?” the woman said, laughing softly, her eyes locked on the moon, thinking about past times when she was still a student, when she still had her friends.

“Yeah, that’s about it. You remember the fire in Forever Fall?”

“Yeah, why?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“You don’t mean…”

“Yep.”

Taiyang was a blur in the camp, his machinegun gauntlet roaring frequently while the other one, the flamethrower gauntlet, kept burning the camp and its occupants. He took a second to reload his left gauntlet and he was back in the fray, a few dozen bodies on the ground, knocked out or worse. Nobody was left standing around him, but he still wasn’t satisfied, he still hadn’t killed the one he was after. The one he wanted to take care, the one for who he went all this way, leaving his older daughter alone at their house. He still had to get him and he could go back to his daughter and she wouldn’t have to worry about the man killing her friend or even coming back to get her.

“Well well, what do we have here? A lone human? Well, this is going to be so much fun.”

Taiyang’s head snapped and looked at the man in front of him. He looked young, not much past his teenage years, probably twenty or twenty one. Armed with a simple stick, he was grinning and laughing, getting in position to fight, before someone came in between the two fighters. The man dressed in a black coat and clothes, red hairs and a Grimm mask was looking at Taiyang, a smile creeping on his lips.

“Jett, stay down. I’ll take care of this.”

“But Adam!”

“Don’t. Talk. Back. To. Me. I’ve given you an order and you’ll respect it. Clear?” the voice of Adam was filled with anger and hatred, while he shot an evil look at the young man behind him.

“Yes sir.”

“SHUT UP! Right now, for what you did, you answer to me!”

Taiyang’s eyes were wide, rage filling every fibers of his body, as he looked at the man that destroyed his daughter’s life. He roared as he began to shoot with his machinegun, but the black swordsman quickly blocked most of them, evading the rest that he couldn’t block. He was smiling and they soon were locked in an exchange of blows. The roars of the machinegun were regular, but same as the sound of Adam’s gun, while his sword never managed hit the huntsman direcly, always being blocked by the guards that extended all the way to the elbows, also used as blades to counter each of Adam’s hits.

The woman sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Even after all these years, he hadn’t changed… Or maybe he had. She remembered when he had shut down after she was gone and after Summer died. She was… proud? Proud of Taiyang? For what? She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew that, deep down, she felt happy for him.

Blood was dripping from both fighters, Adam smiling devilishly while Taiyang was still burning with anger, not feeling any pain, but the sane part of his brain knew that in a few minutes, max half an hour, it would hurt like a bitch.

Away from the fight, Jett was getting restless. It was going on for too long and he knew that it took time for Adam to charge his semblance when he was ready to unleash it. Maybe, if he could just buy him time, he could end this quickly. So he began slowly to walk in a direction that he knew Adam wouldn’t see him, but Taiyang would. He took position while they were once again in a deadlock, the huntsman yelling at Adam who did not even answer.

“Is this all you got? Come on, tap into everything you have! I’m just playing with you! I don't care what causes you're fighting for, pull out your big guns and use them, because after all this time doing nothing, mourning for the deaths of those I love, I swear to god that I’ll make you pay for what you did to the ones that are still alive!”

Jett stopped for a second, before shaking off the feeling of horror that was creeping into him. He felt like if he tried to shoot down the huntsman he would pay it harshly. But he had to. If he didn’t he doubted that Adam would be able to pull it off. So he charged up his staff, lighting and fire coming out of each end and he slowly began to twirl it around. He was going to unleash the fury of the lightning and the power of the fire, he was going to-

He made a soft sound of surprise as blood came rushing into his lungs, his weapon fell to the ground, fire and lightning fading from his staff. He slowly looked down and his eyes widen in surprise and fear when he saw a white and red blade was through his torso, blood pooling at his feet as he was slowly being raised from the ground. He slowly looked around, unable to speak or make any sound, and he looked at the man that was looking at him, almost looking… Sad?

“I’m sorry kiddo, but this wasn’t your fight. You shouldn’t have gotten involved… You made a big mistake.”

The man just make a jerking motion with his scythe, making Jett fall to the ground, blood spewing from his body at an alarming rate while he was quickly losing consciousness, his eyes landed on Adam and the human, still fighting, none having seen the events that had just happened right next to them. He felt sadness, then despair and, finally, nothing.

“Wait, you did what? Qrow…” she was without words. Yes, she had done awful things, but this was… This wasn’t Qrow. It wasn’t his kind of things to do.

“Hey come on sis, I couldn’t leave him blindside Tai and risk losing someone else from my family.”

“But still, that’s-“

“Listen up sis.” His eyes were filled with anger, but she was also able to see pain and regrets mixed in his facial expressions. “I don’t like what I did, but it had to be done. Do you know how it feels to see the one you love die? After ‘losing’ your sister that has been with you all your life before? And then having to take care of two children because their fathers can’t do anything? Do you know how it feels to see those girls keep living and then almost dying if you weren’t there to save them… Well okay, maybe you know that last part. But do you know how it feels to see the people you care the most about in the world get broken in million pieces? No you don’t so stop judging me. I did what I had to do, because I will NOT let anyone else die or disappear if I can prevent it.”

Raven stayed silent, looking at the ground. She crouched and slowly removed some dirt from the gravestone and she looked at the emblem, a rose scattering in the wind, she looked at the name and slowly ran her fingers on it and the epitaph, sighing softly. “Alright… I’m sorry Qrow. Keep going please.”

Adam was panting and so was Taiyang. They both had lost a lot of blood and they knew that they had to end it fast. So Adam got in position, readying his semblance. He waited, and waited, and waited… And… Waited… but nothing came. He looked at Taiyang and he was surprised to see him with his eyes closed, breathing slowly. And after a second, he opened his eyes, anger completely gone from them, entirely replaced with determination.

“Do you know what Taiyang Xiao Long means? No, well let me show you.”

Slowly the flames around them seemed to get bigger, stronger, hotter. Adam’s gaze landed on the huntsman and he knew he had to end this now. He dashed forward, but the flames entirely engulfed Taiyang, his blue eyes shining through the crimson flames.

“Let me show you, just how much flames and anger the Elder Sun Dragon can have!” he roared, the flames forming a majestic dragon around his body. Every word he said, the mouth of the dragon moved. Every step he took the legs of the dragon moved. He wasn’t Taiyang anymore, he wasn’t fighting anymore. He had won the instant the flames had gotten under his control. The dragon roared loudly and flames engulfed the entire area, fire spreading faster than it should normally have. And Adam never screamed. He never fled. He was in shock, but he was also happy. He would die a martyr for his cause. That was important in the end. The white fang must live on.

Raven finally understood what she felt earlier in Qrow’s story. She was proud of Tai, because after all that happened he didn’t shut down. He got up and protected his house. In the end, he had grown up, just like his daughters had. She smiled and nodded softly as she stood up, still looking at Summer’s grave.

“Thank you Summer. For taking care of Yang when I couldn’t. I’m sorry that I could not be there for Ruby’s birth, your marriage or your funerals… But I know that you were never mad at me. That you knew that I disappeared for a good reason.” She wiped a tear that was slowly running down her cheek and smiled at Qrow, before softly punching his shoulder.

She didn’t say anything more, only grabbing her sword and opening a portal and stepping through it. Qrow stood alone for a moment before taking the final sip in his flask. He sighed and looked at the grave and he smiled softly.

“I miss you Summer. In fact, we all do. I hope we’re making you proud up there. Don’t worry about your girls. They aren’t alone. They have friend that care for her. Even if Yang doesn’t believe it, I know that her team always think about her.”

He slowly walked up to the cliff and looked back to the grave, before jumping down. He never hit the ground, he flew a long time, but he thought about the same thing over and over again. ‘It was good to talk Summer. I’ll make sure to come back soon with good news’