Part 2 - Explosions & Reunions

To the west of Vale, across a narrow strait sea, lies the quiet island of Patch. Much of the area has been cultivated into farm land, leaving nothing but rolling hills of vegetation for the eye to see. On one of these hills was a quaint two story farm house with its own little dirt road leading up to the front porch where a happy little dog sunbathed and slept soundly. In the back there was an old rusty red barn, filled to the brim with all manner of junk, spare parts and other oddities. A small vegetable garden was recently added near the barn, in the hopes that two growing young girl would eat better. To complete the rustic picture of countryside life, a small windmill stood steadfast against the sea breeze that rolled up through the hills.

Oh and then there were fire balls, lots of them, being scattered across the horizon.

"Heeya!" Yang Xiao Long let out a roar of confidence, sending bolts of fire straight at her opponent.

Taiyang, the father of the ferocious little dragon, gave her a cocky grin as he weaved around her ranged attacks. It reminded him much of the time he used to play dodge ball with her when she was just a little girl. In essence the same rules apply in both cases.

"At this rate you're going to burn through all of your ammo sweetheart." Taiyang jumped high as the ground he stood on a moment earlier exploded.

Yang, a fifteen-year-old star student of Signal Academy, and pupil of the legendary Taiyang Xiao Long, only mimicked her father's cocky grin.

"Not if you make a mistake first!" She charged forward and leapt towards her father, right fist drawn back for a strike.

The older man raised a brow before touching back down and setting one foot back to prepare to repulse her. His foot suddenly sunk into the charred earth, like stepping in a sand filled pothole. He winced as he felt his stance weaken from the bad footing. This was what she waiting for. He was so proud of her.

Despite being unarmed and off balanced, Taiyang did not quiver. He charged his aura to the center of his chest and caught the shocking blow of Yang's Ember Celica right where he predicted she'd aim for. His body flew back but he never allowed his feet to leave the ground which carved a trail into the soil, much like a plow readying a field for planting.

Coming to a stop nearly five meters away, chest steaming from the powerful blow, Taiyang let out a boisterous laugh. "Ha ha! Very good Yang. You havebeenlistening to my lectures." He patted his chest proudly. "Any harder and that would've really hurt."

Yang smirked back. "C'mon dad, you barely felt that one." She opened the chambers on her weapons and emptied all of the spent shells. "Let's keep going!" She took two sets of dust shells and whipped them around her weapons, instantly refilling their ammo chambers.

Taiyang twisted his chin to the far left and felt a satisfying pop come from his neck. "Alright, this time though, you don't have to hold back. I'm not over the hill just yet ya know!"

Yang flashed a serious grin. "Okay, but I won't be going completely all out on you. Otherwise, who else is going to make us dinner tonight."

Taiyang rolled his eyes. "Just get that semblance fired up already."

Yang nodded and closed her eyes. Focusing her thoughts onto her aura, she willed it to release all of the stored energy she's been building up during her battle. It manifested itself as golden flames coming from the long locks of hair that reached down to her waist. The flames grew larger and brighter the more she's focused. The ground began to shack a little from the sheer amount of energy she was giving off.

Taiyang scratched scruffy chin. "You sure are taking a while. If I were a Grimm, you'd be in my belly by now!" He goaded.

Yang retorted angrily. "Hold on, I'm trying." Eyes still closed, still trying to bring herself close to full strength.

Taiyang pretended to yawn and stretch his arms. "Try faster."

She was almost there, she could feel it. Every time she called upon her semblance, she got better at using it. Her father was certainly going to feel what comes next.

"HAAAAAA!" Yang exploded is a furious fire ball, the heat of it washed over an impressed Taiyang. Her eyes were as red as her mother's.

"That's my girl." Taiyang raised his fist and got into a defense guard. "Keep that focus up and show me what you got!"

Yang nodded, pulled both fist back and focused all of her released energy into them.

Taiyang was ready but then suddenly was distracted by the squeaking of a lone crow flying overhead.

"Can it be?" Taiyang wondered to himself, staring at the familiar avian. He turned to look towards the fence and saw a familiar roguish-looking character sitting on it.

His old teammate no less. Elated, Taiyang waved over to him. "Qrow! Hey, when did you get back." He hollered over to him.

Qrow waved back, grinning, and then pointed a finger at Yang.

Taiyang cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you…" His eyes widened to their maximum length and he jerked his head back towards Yang but it was too late. His feet had already left the ground.

Yang's attack came in the form of a massive shockwave. It was a move she's been perfecting for months now, sending all of her energy forward as she punched the air with both fist, creating a shockwave of compressed super-heated air that was violent enough to catch Taiyang off-guard and send him flying… right into the barn.

Taiyang sailed headfirst into the broadside of his own barn. Crashing through the wooden wall like a wrecking ball going through paper. Loud crashed of metal and wood could be heard from the inside of it, leaving much to the imagination on how bad the damage was going to be to the interior.

After a split moment of silence from the barn, with Yang watching, mouth covered, and Qrow laughing his butt off, a girl's voice could be heard.

"Waaaaaaah! Dad! What happened! Why'd you fly in here like that?!" More crashing noises came from the barn's interior. "Ahhhh! Stop moving, you're breaking all of my stuff!"

The groans of Taiyang were loud. "I'm trying not to but you've got too much stuff in here anyways. Ouch!" Another loud crash.

"Gaaah! Watch out! That's where I keep the-"

BOOM! A section of the barn's roof exploded outwards with a massive plume of red dust coming out of it. The barn door burst where thrown open by Taiyang who came out coughing and covered in soot.

Qrow walked up to Yang, slowly clapping his hands. "Nice one kid. High score." He chuckled. Normally he'd have to be half way through his flask to be this entertained by something as chaotic as what he just witnessed.

Yang turned, eyes still glowing red, fist steaming from releasing all of her energy at once. "Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow suddenly gagged for air as Yang clamped on to him with a vice-like hug. "Uncle Qrow! It so good to see you."

If it didn't suffocate him so much, he'd say it felt good receiving a genuine emotional hug from his eldest niece. His arms were stuck anyhow so he couldn't properly return it.

"Yeah," Qrow wheezed, eyes rolled back. "Good to see you too Yang. You've gotten…" His back screamed with pain, "…a lot stronger."

Yang finally let go and stood there with giddiness. Now that he had a better look at her, he can only stare in wonder. She looked so much like her mother now, which only brought memories of his sister rushing back into him.

Qrow shook his head to stop starring and looked over towards Taiyang. "So… the barns exploded."

"Uhhh…" Yang nervously looked over her shoulder to see her handy work. She sheepishly grimaced. "That was probably just all the dust in the storage cabinets going off."

Qrow and Yang approached the scene to find a soot covered Taiyang trying to brush his clothes off in front of the barn's now wide open doors.

Qrow lifted a brow. "That must've hurt." He grinned.

Taiyang looked up and rolled his eyes. "It did," He glanced at Yang who nervously looked away. "It really did."

Qrow wasn't worried. Of all the members of their team, Taiyang was without a doubt the toughest one to take down.

Qrow looked around and wondered. "Where's the other one?"

Taiyang jerked a figure behind him. "Inside, trying to clean up the mess someone made." Before Yang could make a rebuttal in her defense, Taiyang called out. "Ruby! Come on out here, there's something you gotta see!"

A fresh set of rattling came from inside the barn, and along with another voice. "What? Did you guys blow up the house too?" The little voice sassed.

A young girl emerged from the barn, also covered head to toe in soot. Qrow wouldn't have recognized her right away if it weren't for the red cape she wore, the same one he remembered her wearing years ago.

The moment she laid her eyes on him they lit up like fireworks, mouth slowing dropping with the unmistakable expression of joy propping up her cheeks. He felt the nostalgia and emotional reunions kicking him in the gut again and wanted to take a drink, but for the second time that afternoon, he felt the life being squeezed out of him.

Not even a second had ticked by and yet somehow she was already on him, arms and legs pressed around his torso with her face buried in his chest like some sort of super sloth hanging onto a tree branch. She didn't say anything, just held on to him, flooding Qrow's body with emotional warmth. He felt almost dizzy. Mainly due to Ruby crashing into his chest at a speed he couldn't even begin to register. It was as if she teleported right onto him.

"Uh… he kid. It's been a while." Qrow said awkwardly. He's never been hugged by a sloth before, you know?

Ruby peeked up with sparkling eyes. "Ohhhhh, Uncle Qrow! It's so good to see you! You've been away for so long and I always wondered when you'd come back and visit!" She kept hugging tighter. Ouch!

"Right, well…" He looked over to Taiyang and Yang, both smiling widely. "I'm taking a sort of break from my missions and figured I could go for some down time." He looked down to the sloth of girl hanging on to him. "I will say I am a bit surprised by how much you've grown. If I'm not mistaken, you've already activated your aura and developed a semblance."

Ruby grinned. "That's right! I got my aura locked and loaded! I going to be attending Signal Academy with Yang real soon and I can't wait to get started on my huntress training." She finally released her sloth grip on him and hopped onto her feet. "Want to see my semblance? It's super cool!"

Qrow wondered if Taiyang had been giving this child gallons of coffee and sugar or if she was always this hyperactive. Either that or she was just really happy to see him. Just maybe.

"Alright then, show me what ya got kid."

Beaming with excitement, Ruby jumped backwards a few paces, spread her feet like a runner whose about to take off. Qrow didn't blink that time and still she vanished from his sight with only a trail of rose petals left in her wake.

Before any remarks were made, Ruby popped back into their view, caring a half awake dog in her arms.

"See!" She lifted up the dog. "I can move super-fast! Like, really fast!" The dog yawned and gave a welcoming bark to Qrow.

"Well that's certainly something." Qrow commented. He crossed his arms and studied the girl.

He had already expected Yang to have activated her own aura by now but Ruby was certainly ahead of the curve. Both of the girls are already able to call upon their semblances at will but he felt something odd about Ruby's. To him, he felt she was just barely scratching the surface of her full potential.

"Oh, that's right," Qrow suddenly remembered. He reached behind his back and pulled out a crudely wrapped package with a tangled bow affixed to it. "This… uh… yeah, happy birthday."

That did it. That is what truly set off the gleeful volcano that was Ruby Rose.

She inhaled deeply as she was handed the gift, silver eyes brighter than the midday sun. "You remembered?" She squealed and smiled. Ruby's smile could melt glaciers.

Instead of shredding through the wrapping, like Qrow thought she might do, she delicately took off the wrapping and opened up the package.

A second time she inhaled, holding in her hands a dog shaped pillow. "It looks just like Zwei!" She exclaimed, squeezing it into her chest to feel its softness. Zwei barked with approval.

Qrow felt lucky. On his way out of Mistral, while still drunk he might add, he had come across a children's toy store and saw that they had several animal shaped pillows on display in the windows. He didn't want to get her a teddy bear, since that would be silly for someone of her age, thank you random White Fang guy I threw through a window, but he did know she took care of a dog so a dog pillow would probably be a good choice. The fact that the pillow happened to look just like her dog was a welcomed bonus.

Yang walked over and gave Qrow another hug. This one didn't hurt as much. "Aww, that's so sweet of you Uncle Qrow." She said very mother-like. "You know, my motorcycle could do for some new paint on her. I'm thinking of this sweet yellow and orange design. Maybe you could remember that for my next birthday?"

The hint there was obvious. Also, since when does she drive a motorcycle?!

Qrow felt Taiyang hand on his soldier. "It's good to have you back Qrow."

He nodded back, with a smile of his own.

"Now then," Taiyang began. "Yang, Ruby, I want all of the holes in the barn fixed by dinner time."

"What?" Both of the girls exclaimed.

"Hang on dad," Yang started. "It's not exactly my fault you didn't block in time. You were telling me to attack, so I did."

Ruby pipped in too. "And you did accidently knock over the dust cabinet. Which then went ba-choooo!" Ruby's added with sound effects with flailing arms.

Taiyang nodded in agreement. "Fair points, but I need to catch up with your dear uncle. So I trust you two will do this one favor for me." That was dad code for please just do it since I am your father.

Taiyang led Qrow away while Ruby grumbled to Yang about wrecking her workshop and the other claimed it wasn't her fault, mostly.

Patch looked beautiful with sun going down, hanging low enough to create a beam of orange light across the ocean it descended towards.

The pair walked along a dirt road on a cliff overlooking the narrow stretch of sea that separated Patch from Vale. Qrow walked with his hands resting on the back of his head, Taiyang with his crossed across his chest.

"It's been years," Taiyang started. "Why the sudden change in mood?"

Qrow shook his head. "Not sure what you mean. I already said I'm taking a break from my missions."

"You mean a mission." Taiyang forcefully corrected him. "The same one you've always been on."

Qrow sighed. "I wasn't just cracking skulls and beating up lowlife scum." He reached into his pocket and found his familiar friend. "There's a lot out there that needs checking on, information Ozpin needed to know." He took out the flask and took a drink from it.

"Still, you should've been here more often."

Qrow stopped in his tracks and turned to face him. "Huh? What'd you say?"

Taiyang, arms still crossed, stayed silent.

Qrow shook his head. "Don't even start Tai." Qrow stated with a sharp edge to his tone.

"No," Taiyang stood defiantly. "There are other huntsman Ozpin can call upon. But you keep insisting to be sent back out there, without even coming back." He put a hand on Qrow shoulder and looked straight at him. "You've been running from it for too long."

A flash of anger took over Qrow as he knocked Taiyang hand away from him. "Me? Your telling me not run away?" He shook his head some more. "Oh brother," He took another swig and started to walk around Taiyang. "You know, that's some real bull to say to me." The alcohol didn't help his attitude at all. "I'm out there doing what I know best, what Team STRQ did best back then."

"It's over though!" Taiyang shot back. "I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to keep this up, keep being this one-man-team." He points behind in the direction of his house. "The girls want you stay just as much as I do. You don't have to keep going back out there, being by yourself."

"Hey, I'm here now aren't I?" Qrow waved his arms to emphasize the question. "Maybe not for long, but I still came back."

"Yes, and then you'll end up leaving again as soon as Ozpin hands down new information."

"That's…" True, Qrow thought. He never did stay long. "I'm not even going to try to argue about this. You're out of touch with the outside, you don't even know what kind of threats are growing out there."

"Maybe not, but I do know Ozpin. If we can't face what's out there now, then he's going to wait and plan for the threat whenever it shows itself." He shook his head and stared at Qrow intensely. "It's like you want to find whatever's out there and have it kill you."

"Oh yeah, right," Qrow gave a fake chuckle. "Me, a guy with nothing else to loose, want to go get killed." He gave the other a mocking smile.

"What about Ruby and Yang? Aren't they worth it? Aren't they the only reason you ever come back every few years?"

That one felt like a gut stab. Qrow turned especially serious. "Yeah, you're right, I care about those two." He walked up close to Taiyang. "They're the only thing's I have left to remind me on my sister and Summer." He said harshly through gritted teeth. "I fight out there so they can be safe in here. I care about them. I've watched over them when you broke down after we lost Summer. And it's a good thing I did too since you let them wonder on their own into the forest and nearly get killed by a pack of Beowolves!"

A fist swung up and caught Qrow in his jaw, putting him off his feet and landing several paces away.

Overhead, night swiftly approached and cast a shadow over the two. A crow flew overhead, screeching angrily, as if to scream daggers at Taiyang.

Qrow grunted and looked up from the dirt. Judging by the enraged flare in his eyes, Qrow was certain he had just woken the sleeping dragon.

"Okay," Qrow got up. He tasted blood in his mouth and spit out a bit of it. "This has been long overdue." He took has weapon and threw it to the ground. Sleeves rolled up, fist raised, he muttered. "You've got a lot nerve, brother."

Taiyang didn't say a word back, instead they charged at each other, both with fist pulled back.

A/N: Gosh, writing for Taiyang is not an easy task. Given what little we know about his character, I'm making a lot of assumptions about his personality and style of parenting. We also don't know the man's semblance or weapon of choice but I'm assuming, since Yang is his student, that he knows a thing or two about punching. More on that later.

Anyways, thank you for reading and I look forward to any and all feedback.