Cowardly Lion

Summary: He was scared. That was nothing new. Ever since he came into the world, he was always scared. From day one to now, he lived in fear. However, he wouldn't let it control him. Not when he has people he needs to protect.

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Fear

It was a feeling Taiyang Xiao Long was very familiar with, having tangled with the sly devil ever since childhood. He didn't have a very good home life when he was young. His father was a former Hunter who had lost his leg and an eye in an accident while protecting a shipment of Dust, forcing him to switch jobs to private security. He was also an aloof father and husband who never seemed to have time for his own family, barely even acknowledging his own flesh and blood whenever they called upon him and did the bare minimum. However, that was nothing compared to what his mother was like, a depressed homemaker who, in hindsight, drank a lot and let out her frustrations about her life on her son. Because of this, Taiyang lived in constant fear of when he would be subjected to a session of angry slurring from his mother, if not a broom to the backside. The only found memories he had of back then where those of his grandfather, Helios Xiao Long. Tall, strong, fearless but kind, caring and even gentle, the man always showered him in love, taking him to see new places in town, reading stories of noble warriors fending off the forces of Grimm to him, letting him climb up trees then catching him as he fell. Whenever his grandfather was around, he could laugh, cry and smile all he wanted, he could feel something other than fear. Alas, at the end of the day, the illusion would shatter and he would be back at home, feeling nothing but fear all over again. Then came the fateful day. Although it happened decades ago, he could still remember it as clearly as yesterday.

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He was about seven years old at the time, not too long after starting school, having woken up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare. Even more scared than usual, Taiyang had crawled out of his bed and made his way to his parent's room. As soon as he made it there though, he heard the familiar sound of his mother's screeching and his father's apathetic grunts, signaling another fight between them. Although he wanted nothing more than to run, run and hide from the fight, he stayed rooted in place as he looked through a crack in the door, witnessing the events that would change his life forever.

"You useless sack of crap!" She screamed, her speech slightly slurred no doubt from the missing alocohol from the scotch bottle she was holding, "Everyday, all you do is sit in front of that TV. Every single day, no matter how much I tell you to get your lazy, fat ass up and help me. When was the last time you ever did any housework, huh? Cleaned a dish or picked up your fucking trash? Remember how to do any of those things?"

"Apparently not," his father responded dully, looking off to the side as his mother shambled over and circled him, spitting out more and more spiteful and angry words while Taiyang stood there, his feet rooted in fear of the familiar scene.

"You're a piece of work, aren't you? While I, your own wife, is wasting away trying to make a good home for you, cooking to feed you, cleaning your clothes for you, you just sit there and do nothing. I toil away and you do nothing. Do you even care anymore?" She declared, circling him around and around, try to elicit a response beyond a grunt or a look. That was not the case as the man simply responded only with a roll of the eyes. With a particularly loud scream, she raised her liquor bottle and smashed it straight into the back of the man's head, his Aura barely able to block the blow. The man stumbled around, reeling from the impact of the blow. While he did, the woman strutted over to the closet and took out a big, shotgun-like weapon. The man had only enough time to recognize the weapon and his face to contort into a look of surprise until she pulled the trigger, engulfing the man in a blast of fiery Dust.

Taiyang let out a yelp, which didn't go unnoticed by the murderer, glaring at the crack in the door. She turned the door and raised her firearm, which caused Taiyang to turn tail and run, run as fast as his short legs could carry him. He raced around the house, the fear of ending up like his father fueling his escape. Running through the kitchen, Taiyang noticed a scroll on top of a table. While running by, he quickly grabbed the scroll and continued running. He scampered downstairs and found the small alcove between the washing machine and the wall, an area he used to hide from his mom when things like this happened. Fitting himself snugly in the area, he fumbled with the scroll until managed to dial the number of his grandfather. The frightened child held the phone up to his ear, praying that the person on the other side picked up with each ring being a painful stab to the heart.

After the third ring, a tired voice yawned, 'What is it?'

"Grandpa!" He cried, fear echoing in his voice.

"Taiyang, what's wrong?" Helios asked, his once drowsy voice now alert, "What's going on? Why are you calling from your father's scroll?"

"M-mommy and daddy were fighting," he explained, "Th-then mommy hit daddy with a bottle and th-then she got daddy's shotgun and-and-and," Taiyang gasped for air as the brutal scene replayed in his head.

"What? What did she do?" The old man demanded, panic bubbling beneath the surface from his side.

"She-she-she...shot him!" He answered, sobbing afterward, "I'm scared, Grandpa. Mommy's going to-"

"No." He heard the man say on the other side, his voice firm with conviction and determination, "She's not going to hurt you. Listen Tai, I'm coming over right away so I'll be there soon. Until then , hide. Hide somewhere she can't find you. I will find you." Before he could answer, the scroll beeped and the line went dead. Now alone, cold, sleepy and scared nigh beyond rational thought, Taiyang curled himself up as small as he could, begging and pleading that his mother wouldn't find him. He stayed like this, waiting in the cold, in the darkness, holding onto the glimmer of hope that his grandfather would make it there soon. However, as he waited in the darkness, he could hear the footsteps of his hunter above, calling out to him and yelling sickly sweet words of comfort, no doubt to lure him into the open for an easy kill. Even so, the child was very tempted to do as she asked in the vain hope that she could provide him with warmth and safety. The only thing that kept him from doing so, however, was the promise of his grandfather taking care of the problem. But even with that hope in mind, it did nothing to soothe the sadness nor the fear that consumed him.

He didn't know when it happened but eventually sleep must have overtaken him as one minute he was huddled in the dark as his mother's footsteps ringing out above him, the next he saw someone above him, shaking him awake. Taiyang opened his eyes in panic, expecting to see the woman who gave him life promptly take it back, fortunately met with the sight of a familiar man looking down at him with kind if not sad eyes.

"Gr-grandpa?" He said.

"Yes Tai, I'm here." The old man assured, pulling him out of the hiding spot. Taiyang squeaked in fear, calmed a second later by a firm hand to the shoulder and a soft a smile, "Don't worry, everything's fine. Your mother can't hurt you anymore." He finished drawing his grandson from the hiding spot, held him close by and carried him out of the house.

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After that, Taiyang memory was a bit fuzzy. He remembered his mother's trial, where she was sentenced to life in jail for his father's murder. He also remembered his grandfather taking custody of him and putting a restraining order on his mother, ensuring she would never come near him. Even with all of these comforts, Taiyang couldn't return to his normal life Every night, he was haunted by feelings of fear and powerlessness from that night, tormenting him in his sleep until he woke up screaming bloody murder. With each and everyone of these outbursts, Helios ran to his side and held his hand, comforting him and assuring that what had happened would never happen again. Even with these words delivered to him every night, they did nothing to stop the terrors that visited every night.

The days weren't much better. Even though he stayed by his side for weeks, His grandfather had to go out and take local missions in order to pay expenses and with the addition of another mouth to feed, Helios couldn't allow himself too much time off so he had to re-enroll his family in school. Even after all that time, Taiyang did poorly there, constant plagued by sleepiness and fits of fear that caused him to huddle himself in the classroom corner. Soon, the teacher contacted Helios and told him of this, causing the man even greater sorrow. At the end of the day, Helios sat his grandson down for a talk.

"Tai," He said, sitting down in front of him, "We need to talk." The boy didn't respond, simply looking up at his grandfather, "Tai, I know things have been hard on you these past few weeks and I know you've been doing your best to move forward." He stated, looking into his grandson's eyes, filled with varies shades of panic, despair, powerlessness and terror, no doubt breaking his old heart, "But I also know you haven't made any progress."

"Tai, I know how you feel right now." The look in the boy's eyes shifted slightly, allowing surprise to enter in, "Well, not exactly. I had a good home and loving parents. I never had to face the exact challenges you have. But, I do know what it's like to feel fear and to feel helpless, to feel like nothing could ever go your way no matter how much you try." he leaned forward, close enough for Taiyang to see just how old his grandfather truly was, behind his vibrancy and physic, "I know that you're just learning about the Great War, about how we rose up against those oppressed us and fought for our freedom. What they will never teach you, however, was what it was like to live in that world, the world we fought to tear down. And I don't blame them, it was a cold, hopeless, desolate world where all one could hope to do was get up, go to work, eat then sleep then do the same thing, over and over again until the day you die. There was no laughter, no music, no art, no soul in that world. All that existed there was despair and fear. I know this because, as you probably can tell, I lived in that world, I felt the same way you did everyday: fear of being at the mercy of a cruel world and powerless to stop it. That is, before I enlisted with the Resistance, before I fought in the Great War."

"You...fought?" Taiyang whispered, his surprise increasing as well as a new sense of awe awakened inside of him.

Helios smiled at him, "Yes Tai, I fought in the Great War. I was only about seventeen at the time and the war had been going on for quite some time, ever since I was about your age. Anyway, I was just walking home from doing some errands when some government soldiers stopped me on my way. As it turned out, it was past curfew and I was still out. At the time, with the kingdom at such a volatile state, being out past curfew meant death." Taiyang squealed again, causing the man to pat his shoulder comfortingly, "Tai, if I were to die in the story, how would I be here? … Right, so as I was saying, the soldiers were taking me into custody to schedule me for an execution when suddenly, a woman wielding a sword and shield leaped from the shadows and cut down the soldiers, saving my life. Her name was Johanna and she was a member of the Resistance, getting some intel from a local informant. As she walked away, I asked her a question: 'Why are you fighting?'"

"Why did you ask that?" The boy himself asked.

"Because, at the time, the Resistance didn't make sense to me. As bad as that life was, it was the only one knew of that the time so trading that cold but comfortable life for one of strife and death really confused me. She turned, looked at me square in the eye and said: 'Because we're afraid.'"

"Huh?"

"You see, Tai, fear isn't something you should run from nor is it something you should let dictate your life. Although it can be used to make some men run and make other men be controlled, Fear should be used to make you move forward, to fight and struggle against what you're afraid of so that you can show that it doesn't control you nor does it make you turn tail and run. In doing so, you can take control of your life, you can have the power to change things for the better."

Taiyang said nothing, letting his grandfather's words sink into him before speaking, "But grampa, what if I can't do that? What if I can't face fear? What if-"

"Tai," He said firmly, allowing no more room argument, "From the first moment you came into this world, you are strong. I've seen people with lives better than yours fail to stand up to their fear. Taiyang, you are far stronger than you think and I can prove it.'

"How?" He asked.

"Simple, I'm going to teach you how to fight." Helios answered, making Taiyang look up at him curiously, "Well, the reason you're afraid is because you feel powerless to stop people from harming you, right?" The blonde looked to the side, his silence answer enough, "Well, I'm going to teach you how to protect yourself so you don't have to worry about that ever again. Not only that, it'll be a good way to work out any anger you've got. Now come on, let's get to training!"

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From that day forward, Taiyang's grandfather dedicated every second he could spare to both teaching his grandson how to fight and bolstering his courage. Every day, the moment Taiyang had finished his homework, Helios would take him down to the basement where various pieces of workout equipment lied, ranging from dumbbells to punching bags, and taught him the basics of brawling, the form of fighting that got him through his old war days. At first it was simple stuff, like lifting dumbbells or throwing a few punches at the punching bag, nothing too complicated. While he worked out and trained, his trainer would gave out words of encouragement, telling him about how well he was doing and how strong he was getting. Taiyang had thought nothing of the words but over time he did notice he was getting stronger. Dumbbells that he once struggled to lift he now lifted with ease and his once clumsy and feeble strikes now struck strong and true, a fact that he admitted did give him some confidence. Enough that he was able to get through the days at school without any panic attacks or flashes of that night.

The nighttime was still very awful. Although they had decreased in frequency, the nightmares came nonetheless and he still awoke screaming and crying. In turn, Helios would stay by his side, speaking to him in a calm, soothing tone, even cracking a few bad puns to get a laugh out of him, until he fell back asleep. And as the months and years passed him by, the nightmares continued to appear less and less until they were nothing more than a terrible memory, as they should be.

In the meantime, Taiyang had grown strong enough to graduate from lifting dumbbells and punching sandbags to actually sparring with his grandfather as he taught him more and more complex techniques. Things went about as well as one would think having a pre-teen fight an old veteran, with their first sparring match lasting about a minute. This didn't stop Taiyang, who kept on fighting and trying his hardest, listening closely to each and every piece of advice the man had for him. And with each and every training session, he got a little better and better.

During these training sessions, Helios would motivate him with stories from his old days, telling him tales about how he and his fellow comrades fought against the oppressive government, detailing battles that he had heard of in class but only in passing. Eventually, Helios told him of the glorious day when they had overthrown the government that had dictated them for so long. However, that had also meant that Helios and the remaining soldiers were out of a job and forced to rejoin civilian life. Luckily, there was one field of work that they could apply their skills: Huntsman.

"Huntsman?" A thirteen year old Taiyang asked his grandfather, "What's that?"

Helios chuckled, taking a drink of water from his water bottle before answering, "Haven't been paying close attention in class, huh boy?" The blue-eyed pre-teen flushed in embarrassment, focusing his attention on the floor instead, "Anyway, you know what Grimm are, right?" Taiyang nodded, allowing him to continue, "Well, Huntsman are the people who fight the Grimm, who keep the rest of humanity safe by saving people and killing Grimm."

"Is it any different from being a soldier?" Taiyang asked him.

Helios shrugged "Not really. You go from protecting people from other people to protecting people from giant demonic animals. Same amount of reward, same amount of stress, same amount of risk. It quickly teaches you not to sweat the small stuff." The younger male gave him a questioningly look, "Well, as you should probably know by now, the creatures of Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, sadness, anger, worry and fear, it's like candy for them. If you hunt them, you have to learn to control your emotions."

"You mean learn to not feel those things." Taiyang said, causing a frown to appear on his grandfather's face.

"No Tai, I don't mean that." he corrected crossly, giving him a firm look. "You can't just lock away your emotions, that's just another way they control you. No, to be a Hunter you not only need to learn to embrace things like anger and fear but also know how to direct them towards something positive, it's easy to lose yourself in those emotions and do things you never should." Helios got up from the bench and gestured for his grandson to follow, which he dutifully did.

The next day, Taiyang had walked down to the store, picking up a few essentials missing from the house, before walking back, humming along the way. As he did so, the teen heard a loud yelp followed by deep, terrifying roar. This caused Taiyang to freeze in place, a lucky event as it happened as a small child appeared around the street corner, followed close behind by what appeared to be the biggest, blackest, deadliest-looking bear had ever seen. Deep in his panic stricken mind, the brawler noted both the glowing red eyes that caused great fear even though they weren't focused on him and the white, almost bone-like protrusions coming out of the bear. This allowed him to identify the bear as a Grimm, an Ursa if he remembered correctly. Whatever it maybe, it seemed to have found it's way inside the city's walls and was now hunting down the small child.

Said child ran behind Taiyang, pleading with him to save him from the Grimm. He looked behind him, barely registering the child before feeling a sickening shadow cast itself over him. Looking up, he had only enough time to see a giant black paw raised above him before he was sent flying across the street and into a brick wall, the impact rattling his entire skeleton before he fell to the ground. Taiyang looked up from his fallen position, watching as the Ursa growled and roared at him, as if challenging him to get back up. Meet with no response, The Ursa turned back around headed toward the child with hunger in it's glowing eyes.

"H-help!" The boy cried out, drawing Taiyang's attention toward him then back to the Grimm.

The frightened brawler stared at the Ursa, trying to find away to stop it. There was no police around here otherwise they would have come running at the sound of the child yelling for help. No one in the houses around them would help as it was damn near tantamount to suicide fighting a Grimm unarmed and under skilled. And the closest Hunter around was his grandfather, a few blocks away. That left only him, Taiyang Xiao Long, to save the little boy.

But what could he do? The Ursa was faster than it let on so grabbing the child and running wasn't an option and running to go get his grandfather would just leave the child at the Grimm's mercy. The only real option was to fight it and, in all honesty, it scared the ever loving crap out of him. There was no chance in Grimm that he could defeat something that fast and that strong. No, he knew that the best option was to find help, even if it meant leaving the child. That was the smart thing to-

"Help please!" The child cried out again, scurrying back as the Ursa snapped at him, savoring the sweet sounds of his screams. The bear-like creature swiped at him again, making him yelp.

Taiyang couldn't leave the child. Soon the Ursa would stop playing around and just eat him. He needed to fight. And yet, he didn't rise up, most likely due to the fact that his fear was still weighing him down. Thinking back to what his grandfather said, what he has always said, the brawler slowly rose up from the concrete, his breath ragged, his heart pounding like crazy and sweat streaming from every pour. Channeling all his fear; his fear of death, his fear of leaving his grandfather, his fear of the Ursa, his fear of how powerless he was in comparison and his fear of losing the child while he did nothing, Taiyang felt a burst of power run through him as he leaped into action and struck the Grimm, causing it to tumble over onto it's side. He then moved himself in front of the child and raised his arms in a defensive stance. The Ursa rolled back onto it's feet and let out another roar that rattled his bones. Though in complete terror, Taiyang stood his ground against the mighty creature.

Whipping his head around, the fighter yelled, "What are you waiting for? Run!" The child nodded, scrambled to his feet and ran off, no doubt to find help. Turning back around, he saw the Ursa charge straight at him. He leaped to the side in response, acting on six years of combat training, resulting in the pseudo-bear's swipe to miss it's target. Not wanting to miss an opening, he stomped forward and delivered a straight punch with his right arm which sent the Ursa tumbling back again. Only this time, The Ursa recovered more quicker than before, getting back into it's feet and closed the distance between them to swipe at him. Taiyang raised his arm to block the attack and the paw connected with his arm. Surprisingly, the attack didn't seem to be as strong as before and he wasn't sent flying this time. Unconcerned by this, Taiyang punched the monster in the underbelly, sending it flying back into the pavement around them.

The Ursa rose up again, shaking off the pain and eyed him suspiciously. The two of them locked eyes and the two circled each other, patiently waiting for the other to make a move. Soon, the Ursa got impatient and charged him again. This time, Taiyang didn't move out of the way, instead he drew his fist back. Taking careful aim and timing, Taiyang slammed his fist into the monster's face. While the skull-like helmet blocked most of the blow, it still left the the Grimm dizzy and disoriented, a condition he took advantage of and hit the bear-like monster with a barrage of quick jabs to the face, bouncing the creature's brain around in it's skull. Taiyang bounced back, panting heavily from the attacks he delivered . The Ursa stumbled around a bit before regaining full control of it's senses and attacking Taiyang again, this time being smart enough to stop outside his attack range and sending him flying with a single swing of it's arm.

The stupid brawler tumbled across the concrete for a few seconds before skidding to a halt. Despite this, he stood right back up, surprised that his body wasn't screaming in pain from the blow. He looked the monster straight in the eye and, if he didn't know any better, saw a smug look in it's eyes. "That was a bear-rible attack." He joked, using the humor to keep his fear from making him run, "My situation isn't as Grimm as it seems." Taiyang leaped back into battle, slugging it in the face again with enough force to send it tumbling over onto it's back. He took advantage of this, elbowing and punching the Grimm repeatedly in the stomach and sides as fast as he could. The brawler tried backing away as it got back up but then the Ursa grabbed a hold of him with it's powerful jaws. It sank it's teeth into him enough to hook him in before sending him flying again with a toss of his head. Taiyang flew through the air, stopped only when he crashed into a fence in a nearby ally, taking. He got up, groaning and aching from the throw. He looked over at the Grimm, who seemed to be waiting for him to attack. He looked around, trying to find something that would help him fend off the creature, until he spotted the down fence.

After a minute or two waiting, The frightened fighter flung himself at the monster, barbed wire wrapped around his fists. He slammed his fist down into the beast, forcing it into the concrete and hard. He bounced off the face of the Ursa, landing a few feet away while it recovered from the attack. He ran up to it again, giving it a few strong strike to the jaw and one from below with an uppercut. The Ursa retaliated with a strong swipe, which Taiyang braced himself for and endured. He struck the monster again in the jaw, leaping around to the side and hitting it several times there. The monster whipped around to snap at him only to be greeted with a hook to it's jaw. The blue-eyed teen delivered another barrage of jabs to the head before hitting it with a powerful uppercut, strong enough to force it up, exposing it's underbelly. With a mighty roar, he stepped forward and drove his fist into the stomach of the Ursa with so much force he embedded his fist inside of it, causing blood to ooze from it's body and the dark light in it's eyes to thankfully peter out. He removed his arm from the now dead Grimm, making it fall with ungraceful thud. Taiyang stood there, admiring his handy work before the pain from the fight caught up to him and the world turned dark.

When Taiyang opened his eyes, he was laying on a hospital bed with his grandfather looking over him with an exhausted but relieved look in his eyes. "Oh Tai, you had me so worried." he said, wrapping his arms around the injured teen, who returned the embrace gladly. 'What were you thinking, fighting an Ursa? Do you know how easily you could died?"

The teen chuckled nervously, "Yeah, I do. But I had to fight. If I didn't, a little boy would have died." Taiyang's eyes widened and he drew away, "Wait, what happened to the boy? Is he okay?"

The older male smiled with a bit of pride shining in his eyes, "Yes Taiyang, he's fine. He was actually the one who got the police but by the time they made it, the Ursa was already dead and disappearing and they found you unconscious, probably from the fight. They brought you here to be treated and contacted me." He teared up and wiped away the stinging liquid from his eyes, making Taiyang feel rather guilty. While he was caught up in the moment of saving the boy, he didn't think about what this could have done to his grandfather.

The man wiped away his tears, "Anyway, while I'm happy your safe and proud you saved that boy, never do something like that ever again."

Just as Taiyang was going to say something, a nurse knocked on the door, drawing both of their attentions. "Excuse me but some one's here to see Mr. Xiao Long."

"You'll have to be a bit more specific, we're both Mr. Xiao Long." Helios said. The nurse pointed at the teen in the bed, "Okay send them in."

The nurse nodded and said something to a person waiting out on the hall. She moved away, allowing the boy from before and who appeared to be his mother to walk in. Both of them approached the bed with Helios moving aside to give them room.

"Are you the person who saved my son?" The woman asked. As soon as Taiyang nodded, the women embraced him. He blinked in response, unable to think of anything to say before the woman spoke again, "Thank you, thank you so much. If anything happened to my precious boy, I would never have been able to forgive myself!" The teen smiled, wrapping his arms around her and patting her back. As she drew away, her son walked up to Taiyang, looking up at him with a look of awe and gratitude.

"What you did back there was so cool!" He cheered happily, "With the punching and jumping and all the glowing and sparks!"

Helios leaned forward, looking at him inquisitively, "Glowing? Sparks?" He asked.

The boy nodded furiously, "Yeah! He was glowing yellow and there was sparks coming off him! It was so cool!" The teen tilted his head to the side, trying to remember what he was talking about while his grandfather frowned, as though he knew something.

The mother laughed at her son's enthusiasm, "Well, I guess we should leave now. Let you rest up. Thank you again for saving my son." She said, pulling her son away from the teen and out of the hospital. As he watched them go, Taiyang felt a feeling of happiness and pride, knowing that they were happy and healthy because of him, that they didn't suffer because of him.

Looking to his grampa, he said, "Grampa?"

"Hm? What is it, Tai?"

He took a deep breath and said, "I want to become a Hunter."

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Taiyang's journey to becoming a Hunter was fraught with trouble. The first obstacle was his grandfather, who insisted that he take on any, any other profession besides Hunter. Not only was it incredibly dangerous, with even the strongest and the best of Hunters risking their lives each and every time they went out on a mission, and the fact that the job was wracked with misery and regret but Taiyang, having been through a bout of depression, would have it even worse than most as he would reek of negative emotion, attracting powerful and deadly Grimm. However, even with all this knowledge, he never budged an inch and kept asking his grandfather to allow him. Eventually, Helios realized that his grandson wouldn't stop until he became a Hunter and agreed to enlisted him in one of the many training schools across Vale.

His second obstacle was the intense training. Even though he had some experience in fighting thanks to his grandfather, the training to become a Hunter was unlike anything he experienced. Each and every day he was forced to his limits both mentally and physically, not to mention the training he had with Helios who also forced it up several notches to toughen up his grandson. At first, this was excruciating and damn near painful, pushing himself so hard that he ached every day without fail and he could barely conjure up a coherent thought. But as time went on, things became less and less hard as he adapted to the rigorous schedule, becoming stronger and stronger until he could take on the best in in his class and stand his own ground.

Speaking of his classmates, Taiyang had to work extra hard as he soon found out, many of them had already unlocked their Aura and figured out their Semblances wheres barely had a grasp on his own ability. So he was forced to take remedial classes to learn more about Aura and find out about his Semblance. Although it wasn't as hard as his other obstacles, it was still quite the pain to catch up. However, he soon caught up to his peers as he unlocked his Aura and began working in his Semblance, which he learned allowed him to endure far more damage than his peers, a fact that worked very well with his fighting style.

Lastly, he had to convince his teachers that, despite his history with it, Taiyang no longer had a problem with his mental health. Due to the danger that those with mental disease and issues posed in the field, Hunters were screened very closely for those sort of things. With him, all it took was five minutes before they figured out about the events in his family and the effects it had on him. He would normally be rejected immediately but his grandfather quickly jumped to his defense, fighting to give him a chance. After a battle with the determined old veteran, the academy did eventually relent and let him in. However they did inform him the instant they thought he was a liability to his classmates, they'd kick him out without hesitation or remorse. So each time they trained and fought, Taiyang had to keep his fear under control, leaping into battle so that he didn't start running away; making jokes and puns to hide the quivering in his voice. Before he knew it, those worries had long since faded and he was nominated for Beacon, one of the most prestigious Huntsman academies in all of Remnant.

The day before he was to leave for Beacon, his grandfather lead him down to their basement for one last spar, one last battle to share with each other before he left. Unlike every other spar he had with the man, Helios held nothing back, even using his old brass knuckles. In return, Taiyang was using his gauntlets, the Thunder Eiris. The two traded blows for what seemed like hours and hours, their natural endurance and skill in brawling leading to both of them being evenly matched in almost every aspect. The sounds of metal against Aura rang throughout the old house as they fought, both of them too invested to give an inch. Even so, the two of them couldn't be happier, laughing and smiling despite the punches and pain, the memories of their bonding rising to the surface of their minds as they fought on and on.

Finally, after their Aura had long since been drained and they had suffered quite a few bruises and scraps, their battle had finally neared it's end with the both of them bloody and sweaty. Taiyang stood opposite of his grandfather, his breath labored and heavy from the long battle. Determined to finally win, Taiyang drew on the power deep within him, feeling it burning and bubble as it grew inside him. A few seconds later, the power burst forth in the form of a bright light and a cloak of bright yellow fire covering his body from head to toe. With his ace in the hole ready and the battle basically his, Taiyang leaped forward and struck at his opponent with a strike to the face. The older man dodged to the right, causing the punch to miss and giving him an opening,which he took advantage of and delivered a punch to his ribs. Even so, his Semblance absorbed a good chunk of the damage and dulled the pain from the rest, so he was able to whip around his grandfather and strike at his back. As soon as the punch connected, Helios turned around, using his momentum to strike him in the face, the blow being repeated with the younger male punching him in the face. Then Taiyang kicked him away with a quick blow to his stomach. The both them locked eyes and an agreement passed between them: This was the last blow.

The two of them dashed at each other, fists raised and teeth grit. Helios flung the first blow, pouring all of his remaining strength into the attack. Taiyang ducked under the attack and followed up with a quick, powerful uppercut to his jaw, sending the man into the air and falling onto the hard ground. He grunted as he shifted up, seeing his grandson standing above him with a fist raised triumphantly, a fact that Helios smiled proudly at.

Later, the two of them sat side by side, resting from the harsh battle. As they did, Taiyang felt his grandfather pat him on the back, making him swell with pride. "Thanks Grampa."

Helios let out a hearty laugh, "You earned it, Tai. That battle was pretty fly."

The young man face palmed in embarrassment as he processed the joke while his elder simply grinned, "You're never going to stop with those jokes, are you?"

"Until the day I die!" He cheered, pounding his chest proudly. The Hunter-to-be just shook his head at his grandfather's lame joke. The two of them just sat in silence, enjoying each other's company for the last time in what could be months. Helios broke the silence again, this time with a proud and almost wishful tone. "My grandson, going off to Beacon. You know, when I took you in all those years ago, I would have never thought that scared little boy would become a Huntsman-to-be getting into Beacon!"

Taiyang blushed in embarrassment at his grandfather's prideful talk, "Grampa, you're embarrassing me."

"But it's true," Helios assured him, drawing him in close for a hug, "Taiyang, you've grown so much these past few years. You're no longer that scared little boy who lost his parents nor are you that weak boy who would suffer panic attacks in school. Now, you're a strong, brave man now, stronger than anyone I've ever known."

"Well, not everyone," The young man stated, "I know I'm not stronger than you."

Hearing this, Helios laughed out loud, which echoed throughout the house, "Tai, when I was your age, I couldn't even imagine handling the things you've overcome. I could never handle losing my parents or handle those panic attacks. Especially as well as you have."

"Well, all I did was follow your advice. Besides, you're a war veteran. I think that counts for something." He countered.

"Taiyang, it took me years to follow the advice I gave you. Before that, I couldn't stop myself from running and I was older than you. And for a few years after the war, I-I just couldn't handle the return to civilian life. Not after what I had seen and what I had experienced." He shook his head in shame, "To this very day, my first answer to most problems is to punch them. You actually made something out of that Tai, and I'm proud of you for that."

"I-I guess I'm stronger than I think." he admitted, his blush intensifying.

"Yes you are." Helios agreed, tightening his hug, "Tai, I want you to know something." The younger brawler looked up, seeing nothing but pride and love in his grandfather's eyes, "I want you to know that no matter what happens or what you do, I will always be proud of you."

"Th-thanks, Grampa." he said tearfully, returning his hug full force.

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The next day, Taiyang left for Beacon with his grandfather calling out to him, congratulating him and yelling out farewells as he boarded the Bullhead. Once aboard, he looked out of the window, watching as everything he knew gradually get smaller and smaller until they were out of sight. He felt a small bit of home sickness as well as an even greater feeling of terror, seeing everything disappear before him. The place he had called home for so long and the man who had always been there for him even in the darkest of times. Even so, that meant he was on his way to becoming a full fledged Hunter. He let out a loud cheer, flinging his arms into the air in excitement, accidentally hitting the guy standing next to him.

"Ow!" The teen exclaimed, rubbing his injured cheek. The blonde brawler chuckled nervously as the other male glared over at him, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

"What the hell is your problem?" The other teen yelled, getting in his face. The teen wasn't too threatening, with a thin, lanky frame draped by a raggedy looking grey shirt, even the black trimmings looked like they were done in about a minute. The pale skin may have been a bit off putting if not for the messy black hair he sported, giving him the overall look of a man who just got out of bed. The only vaguely scary part of him was his piercing red eyes, which currently bore into his own.

Taiyang shot his arms into the air, showing his palms in defeat, "I said I was sorry!"

"Well, instead of being 'sorry,'" The teen said, putting air quotes around the word "Sorry", "You should look out before punching people in the face!"

"It was an accident!" He defended, leaning back and raising his arms up. In response, the teen ground his heel into the brawler's foot, which would have hurt had Taiyang not suffered far worse. Instead he simply tried walking away, his turning around knocking the other teen aside by mistake. Now looking furious, the teen flipped onto his feet, drawing his weapon which appeared to be a big longsword with red accents. He pushed the blade up to his throat with a fierce glare and snarl on his face while Taiyang went from surprised to scared, his eyes tracing the blade. Scared out of his mind, he did the first thing that came to mind.

"That sure is a nice broad." He joked, using the humor to mask the ever-growing fear within him. It also confused the teen with the sword, who just stood there in silence, trying to process what he said.

"... what?" The teen said, completely caught off guard.

"I said you've got a nice broad: thick, heavy, pretty." he continued, silently praying to every deity he could think of that this won't get him killed, "maybe you could introduce me to one of your broad's friends?"

The teen blinked again, trying to comprehend what he was saying before realization hit him. Groaning loudly at the pun, he lowered his weapon, allowing Taiyang to let out a sigh he had been holding in. "Okay listen up, as much as I want to gut you like a fish, I'm pretty sure the teachers would look down on that. So here's the deal: You take that side of the ship and I'll take this side," The teen ordered, cutting the air between them to emphasize what he was saying.

In response, the blue-eyed joker relaxed, smiled and winked, "Sure thing, on one condition-"

"No." The teen answered him immediately.

"Okay, so do you know why the chicken crossed the road?"

The teen sighed, slamming his head into his hand, "Fine, what do you want?"

"Your name," He asked. They may have gotten off on the wrong foot but he was really desperate for a friend or acquittance or a truce, anything to help deal with his time at school. "Mine's Taiyang Xiao Long."

"A stupid name for an equally stupid person," The red-eyed male groaned and Taiyang wouldn't deny the fact that barb did hurt a little, "Qrow Brawen. Now," he jabbed his finger against the fighter's chest, "Get out of my face!"

"I'll zit away!" He commented, causing an almost painful groan from Qrow as he sauntered away with a cheerful smile.

"If I see him again in this lifetime, it'll be too soon." Qrow said, walking to the other side of the ship.

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Upon reaching Beacon, Taiyang ran out of the Bullhead as fast as he could in excitement, racing toward the school as fats as he could so he could explore the new area. So caught up in his excitement he was that the blue-eyed Huntsman in training that he collide straight into someone. Taiyang stumbled backward, nearly falling to the ground in surprise while the person he crashed into only stepped to the side, almost as though they were unaffected by sudden collision.

The brown-clothed male regained his balance and looked over to the person he had crashed into, opening his mouth to apologize to them but stopped as his words petered out and disappeared in his throat. The person he crashed into was, in his opinion at least, a drop dead gorgeous woman with long, luscious ebony locks tied up in a giant ponytail which was accented by her flawless, pale skin. Her striking and somehow familiar red bore into him, analyzing his very soul. Her attire consisted of a short, robe-like shirt with swirling shades of red and black, a short black skirt that showed off her round derriere, accompanied by same colored stockings and shoes that adorned her strong, beautiful legs.

Taiyang would have just stood there, dumfounded and tongued tied if the women hadn't slashed at him with a red katanna. The brawler leaped back in time to avoid serious injury but his clothes couldn't avoid it, jacket getting both cut and singed by the strike. He held up his hands for the second time that day as fear began rising up in his throat again. She ignored him and struck again, this time aiming at his head. He dodged the sword again, fear growing again. Seeing no other way out, Taiyang used this as an opportunity to strike, throwing a quick punch to her face. She cocked her head to the side nonchalantly, causing his swing to miss. The swordswoman whipped around him, cutting his back. He felt a burning pain shoot from the slash, notifying him that the woman was using Dust. Gulping down a ball of terror, Taiyang flipped around and struck his opponent, the force from the blow forcing to adjust her stance against it but nothing else. She retaliated with a handful of graceful cuts and slashes, which he was able to dodge for the most part, each blow that did land burned him a bit more. Seeing an opening, he caught the blade in his hand, something so out of left field that the woman couldn't mask her surprised. The fearful brawler let out a cry, striking at the woman from below with a powerful uppercut, sending her flying into the air and onto the ground.

Taiyang groaned, looking down at his opponent with a careful eye. He knew better than to just assume his opponent was down from just a few attacks. True to what he thought, the blade wielding woman rose up from her spot, dusting her clothes off and glaring at him coldly. She pointed her sword at him, a harsh light emitting from it, causing a surge of fear and, oddly enough, excitement to ripple throughout him. Before they could re-engage in the fight, the two of them were interrupted by a man's voice crying out, "Oh for Oum's sake!"

Taiyang whipped his head around, seeing the teen that had attacked him on the Bullhead, marching towards them with his sword over his shoulder, shaking his head with an even deeper frown embedded in his face. The two of them blinked their eyes in recognition, saying, "Qrow?" in unison, looking at each other in surprise. Qrow stormed in between the two of them, directing his angry gaze towards the women.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He spat at her, looming over the rather tall female. To the sunny brawler's surprise and amazement, the swordswoman was completely unaffected by his anger, simply returning the gaze with her own chilly red orbs as she sheathed her sword.

"Fighting." She answered coolly, returning his gaze without any sense of hesitation or fear, something that Taiyang envied greatly. Oh how he wished he could be as brave as her. The other sword wielder's frown deepened even further as he glared at her. "He started it." She stated, pointing at him. His eyes widened in surprise as he watched the tall teen whipped around, turning his burning hot gaze towards him. "Why am I not surprised that you're a part of all this. Now," he continued, looming over him menacingly, "Explain what exactly you did to piss off my sister."

At first, he didn't say a thing, simply taking his time to gather his thoughts. As much as Taiyang wanted to simply crack a joke about the situation and wave it away, he barely got away with that before with only one of them, now he had two of them looking at him, one glaring at him and the other looking ready to cut him down if given the chance. Fighting was also not an option since he knew he couldn't defeat both of them, nevermind the amount of trouble he get in if he got into a fight before initiation. There was always the tried and true method of running away but he knew that would only stall the problem, not solve it. He might get beaten, sliced and stabbed but he took comfort in the fact that it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to him.

"I'm sorry," He said, looking Qrow in the eye, trying his damnedest to ignore his instincts telling him to run away as fast as he could. "I got excited about coming to Beacon and in my excitement I harmed both you and your sister. I should have controlled myself and contained my excitement. For not doing so, I'm sorry." He looked over at the woman observing them, "I'm sorry."

The sword wielder rolled her eyes at his apology, as if disgusted by it. On the other hand, her brother calmed down, going from blazing mad to simply upset. He let out of a sound somewhere between a grunt and a growl, turning his back to the brawler. "Come on, Raven," he said, "This guy's not worth missing initiation." Raven sparred him one more look over, shrugged and followed her brother. Taiyang watched the two of them walk away, feeling a smile spread across his face.

"Two possible friends/enemies huh?" He commented cheerfully, "And one of them is even a pretty girl. Better than I expected!" He jogged away, barely containing his excitement. And feeling rather optimistic.

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After a rather uneventful initiation, Taiyang spent the night in Beacon's ballroom, trying his best to calm down so he could get some sleep for tomorrow for the entrance exam. During the night, he spotted Raven on a sleeping bag in the far corner, reading some sort of book. Seeing a chance to make a friend, possibly more in the future, he walked up to her and tried striking up a conversation with her, topics ranging from the first day at Beacon to their first fight with the Grimm. Alas, the most he could ever get out of her was "Leave me alone or else I shall introduce you to my blade once more." The scared brawler kept on trying to get something out of the woman but before he could make a breakthrough with her, he felt something blunt being slammed into his head, strong enough to cause everything to go black.

As his senses returned to him, an unfamiliar scent wafted through his nose, a sweet and gentle scent that graced his nostrils. As he focused, Taiyang could feel something warm and soft below as well as above him. He felt two hands on either side of his face, dainty and warm, cradling him as he felt something wonderful wash over him. He also heard soft humming as who ever was evidently holding him was humming a lullaby. Forcing himself to return completely to consciousness, he opened his eyes, trying to focus on whoever was above him. His vision was blurred and unfocused at first, only able to make out a white, pink and red blur. As his vision returned to him fully, he finally got a good look at the person holding him.

The person in question was a girl his age, although she could pass as someone a year or two younger. She was pretty, with smooth porcelain-like skin and medium length dark hair that seemed to turn red at the tips, something Taiyang found cute. Her eyes were closed as she hummed her song so he couldn't tell what color her eyes were but the rest of her face had a serene, calm beauty to it, accented by her humming and the peaceful smile adorning her face, that he couldn't help but admire. She wore a pink shirt with the face of an adorable dog, a corgi perhaps?, on it with words "Arf Arf!" in a speech bubble beside it. She also wore a cloak along with the shirt, the same pristine color as freshly fallen snow with the hood drawn up over her head. She finished the last few notes of her song as the warmth flowing from her hands ceased, leaving a pleasant feeling behind. She opened her eyes, which were a breath taking color of sliver, looking down at him. In response he did what came first to him and smiled up at her, looking into her eyes.

In response, the girl blushed. She quickly zoomed out from under him, causing his head to bounce off the stone floor with a groan. Getting up off the floor, he looked across from him, seeing the girl who was holding him. She sat a few feet away from him, trying her damnedest ti hide herself within her cloak. He crawled over toward her, which caused her to give out a loud squeak and scooted back even further. The brawler sighed. He was never very good at these kind of things "Hey now," Taiyang cooed, using his gentlest voice possible, slowly but surely advancing toward her. He hoped to Oum above this worked, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk." Although she didn't say a word, he could tell she had relaxed so he scooted up beside her, leaning forward a little so he could see her face. He gave her a smile as bright as he could, holding his hand out, "Taiyang Xiao Long."

The woman looked at the hand then up to him as if questioning whether or not she should take the hand. After a moment of hesitation, she grabbed the hand with a surprisingly strong grip. She took several breaths before answering back, "Summer Rose."

"Summer Rose huh? That's a lovely name!" Taiyang cheered loudly, making the girl squeak a little. She looked as though she wanted to run away and hide in another corner, making him wonder what he was doing wrong, before she gave him a small, timid smile that made him want to laugh at her awkwardness.

"Th-thank you." She replied, shifting herself over as if to get a better view of him. "Your name is very nice as well."

"I should hope so, my grampa gave it to me!" The yellow-wearing brawler exclaimed proudly, making the hooded girl look at him, curiosity shining in her silver eyes.

"Your grandfather named you?" Summer repeated, seemingly surprised, "Not your mom or dad?" At the mention of his parents, Taiyang felt himself visibly frown as some of his memories of the man and woman he was descended from flashed through his head. Though they didn't cause a panic attack like they use to, it still took him a lot of guts to freak out. Summer must have caught onto his sudden shift in moods as she huddled herself up again, hiding her face back inside her hood and muttering, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Upon hearing that, the yellow dressed brawler took a deep breath, calming his nerves and giving her a reassuring smile, "No no, it's fine. I'm just not that close to my parents. A bunch of weird family stuff I never looked into." He assured her, waving away the issue as fast as he could. He wouldn't allow those people to ruin his life anymore than they already had, "So, what was with you holding my head a minute ago? I mean, I'm not offended or anything. It's just, when you were holding me and humming that song, my head felt really warm, a nice kind of warm." The young woman muttered something under her breath, something that Taiyang couldn't quite hear, "What was that?"

"I said, that was my Semblance." She repeated, showing her hands to him. They glowed brightly before fading away, "I can heal people by giving them some of my Aura. I saw that you were hurt by the guy with the sword earlier and I wanted to make sure you were okay so I decided to see if you were hurt. So I dragged you aside and healed you." Taiyang looked at her in amazement, making the shy girl feel more self-conscious, "Sorry if I overstepped my boundaries. I just wanted to make sure you were alri-"

"That's amazing!" He cheered loudly, his eyes bright and shinning, "I've never even heard of a Semblance like that before! It must be so cool to be able to heal people like that!" Summer blinked at him, not saying or doing really anything. After the words apparently sunk in, she smiled widely with a hint of pride.

"I guess it can be pretty cool sometimes, not that it helps me fight very much." She admitted.

"Well, it takes more than just being able to hit something to be a good Huntsman," He assured her, remembering the lessons his teachers taught him, about learning how to care for the sick or help the injured, stuff outside of punching things. The two of them sat in silence, enjoying each others' company before Taiyang let out a long drawn out sigh, "Guess it's getting a little late huh?" He said, getting up and offering his hand to her.

"Yeah, we should be getting to bed," She agreed with an almost sad tone in her voice, "So this is goodbye huh?"

"For now at least!" He agreed, keeping the smile on his face, "I mean, we'll still see each other around school. Who knows, we could even be on the same team!"

Summer rolled her eyes at that notion, "The odds of that happening are very slim, almost astronomical. But I could have worse teammates than you. Good night, Taiyang."

"Good night Summer."` The blonde fighter agreed before they both walked away from one another, resting on their respective cots. While he laid there, Taiyang couldn't help but bust out the biggest grin possible, "That's one friend and two possible friends! Things are looking up!"