Chapter 20

Stories

Rose rarely woke in a completely amicable mood, a symptom borne of years of harsh wakeup calls. She got around this by getting up early, another habit she'd picked up in the war. She made the most of the daylight, when the faunus night vision couldn't factor into any possible engagements. Tactically sound, if a bit morbid. It was a cycle she'd been following for years, engrained in her before she had even finished her schooling.

She hadn't included her uncle or her father into this tried and true equation.

"Morning sweetcheeks!" Qrow practically cheered, giving Tai-Yang his best shit-eating grin.

Tai-Yang glowered at him, his lilac eyes glowing malevolently. Apparently he wasn't a fan of the new nickname. Rose muffled her laughter into her pillow, getting a winning smile from Qrow and identical glare from her father.

"Good morning, Rose." Qrow said, pointedly ignoring the baleful eye of his partner.

"Morning uncle." She replied, still chuckling. "Good morning, dad."

Grumbling lightly, Tai-Yang gave one last huff. "Good morning, Ru. Morning Qrow."

"How are you two feeling?" Qrow asked, showing genuine care, despite his jocular grin.

"One hundred percent." Tai-Yang said honestly, stretching lightly. "I think I can make my grand escape today."

Rose lifted her hand, giving them both a 'so-so' gesture. "Eh, I've been better."

Qrow grimaces sympathetically. "Yeah, you're going to be on bed rest until your leg gets un-fucked."

"Thank you for your heartfelt well wishing." Rose replied dryly. "What about you, and, you know," She gestured airily at the side of his face. Qrow gives them both a wide grin, lifting his hand to the side of his face. Neatly, the gauze is removed, showing the side of Qrow's face.

Qrow's features had always been handsome, in a dark and aristocratic sort of way. Fine lines and high cheekbones, he'd been an elegant looking man, with his black hair and obsidian eyes. Now a long, red line stretched from the corner of his eye to the side of his jaw. It added a roguish danger to his features that hadn't been present before, with the almost tattoo like quality of the scar. If anything, the acid scar made Qrow look younger.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Tai-Yang said incredulously. Rose let off a whistle.

"Not bad, uncle." Rose said with a lopsided smile.

"Only him." Tai-Yang said with a groan, gesturing helplessly at Qrow before turning to Rose. "Only he could get hit in the face with acid and come out prettier than he was before."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Qrow said, obviously preening slightly. He seemed ridiculously pleased the turn of events. "I think it looks rather dashing."

"It does suit you." Rose mused aloud, giving Qrow an appreciative nod. Her uncle grinned happily, enjoying the bolstering of his ego. "It doesn't bother you? It is kind of visible." She commented.

Qrow waved her off, his smile spreading. "I've already said I like it. I'm happy the way it turned out, really. If it had been anything like Tai's…"

Tai-Yang swore lowly but Rose gave him a placating look. "At least you can hide yours." She said to her father.

"True." He conceded with a sigh. "And it wouldn't be good for my image if my partner went everywhere with bright pink hearts scalded onto his mug."

"Now if you could only keep your ass to yourself, I could say the same." Qrow said blandly.

"I'm not cruel enough to deprive the world of something quite as fine as my ass." Tai-Yang sighed dramatically, as if making a great sacrifice.

"Truly, you are a paragon of generosity." Qrow returned wryly.

"It's a gift that keeps on giving." Tai-Yang told him with a nonchalant shrug.

"Ah, so that's where all the shit you manage to talk comes from." Qrow shot back with a smirk.

"Nah, I just picture your smug face and it comes naturally to me." Tai-Yang retorted.

"How often do you day-dream about me, buddy?" Qrow asked with mock horror.

"Do assassination plans count?"

"Depends on how naked I am, I suppose."

"Very."

"That is worrying."

"You seem convinced that I have a thing for you."

"Just following the pattern, Tai." Qrow pointed out.

"Oh?" Tai-Yang asked, lacing his hands under his chins curiously.

"Look at our team. First Raven, then Summer." Qrow shuddered. "I'm the last one left, the only one not in your sick, sick collection."

Tai-Yang scowled, giving him the finger. "You'll notice they lacked certain things you have." He said, waving a hand at Qrow's lower half.

"Stunning good looks?" Tai's partner returned, ignoring the insinuation.

"Oh please." Tai-Yang snorted. "I saw them both at their worst. Morning sickness does not an attractive woman make, but they still blew you out of the water on a bad day."

Qrow laughed at that, true but wistful. "They did, didn't they?"

Tai-Yang sobered a little, losing his teasing edge. There was a definite trace of melancholy to his features, but it also spoke of old warmth and adoration. "They sure did." He said softly.

Rose watched with a soft smile at the banter between the long-time partners. It hadn't always been easy going between the two; their history was storied and had more than few ups and downs. Qrow had been viciously angry when Tai-Yang had moved on from his sister, Raven, and started dating Summer. Qrow had been nurturing feelings for Rose's soft spoken mother for years, unrequited as they were.

Still reeling over the loss of his dear sister, Qrow had apparently felt utterly betrayed when his best friend and brother-in-law had 'swooped in' and 'stolen' his love from under his nose, when by all rights Tai should still have been grieving. It was only years later, after Summer's death that the two of them really reconnected, both lost in grief for the woman they loved. The mutual support they shared in those months had been the foundation for the rebuilding of their bond, indispensible and stronger than ever. It cemented their friendship on a level that they had never even considered, unbreakable to the core.

Her father had been struggling immensely with the raising of two little girls without Raven or Summer, and Qrow had almost lost himself to loneliness and depression. Qrow had been the first to reach out, offering to look after Yang and Ruby when Tai-Yang couldn't handle it. This had a two-fold effect, it gave Tai the space to grieve without the heavy burden of constantly being strong for his daughters and Qrow found himself as part a family again, a feeling he had yearned for longer than even he remembered.

The spark that remained of their camaraderie came roaring back to life in the face of the love of two hurt children. Tai-Yang gained his friend, able to provide an island of support in the turbulent waters of his grief, able to lift him out of the black moods that would sometimes strike him. Qrow gained his friend, filling a void, healing him of his bitterness and his anger with his laughter and his light, and once again showing him the love of family in his beautiful nieces.

A flash of movement in the corner of her vision had Rose reflexively snapping her attention to it. Glynda stood in the doorway, with both Rose's father and uncle back to insulting each other, a litany of verbal abuse that would have been horrific if they didn't obviously hold each other above reproach, they didn't see her. Rose stiffened, licking suddenly dry lips when Glynda lifted a file out of the leather satchel at her side slightly. Glynda subtly gestured toward the clock, then she allowed the file to slide back into her bag, and mimed 'ten' with her fingers.

Rose got the message. The contents of the file would be discussed ten o'clock tonight. And seeing as how Qrow wasn't consumed by apocalyptic rage, and her father and Yang weren't tearing Vale apart brick by brick, they weren't aware of its contents.

Dust, tonight was going to be one hell of a shit-storm.

"Hello Rose, Qrow," Glynda greeted, making her presence known and sweeping into the room. She paused after her initial greetings, before nodding at Tai-Yang. "Sweetcheeks." She said blandly.

The arm that Qrow had been using to support his head whilst he sat at Tai-Yang's bedside table slipped, his face completely startled. His fell out his chair as he lost his balance, his head smacking against the low metal table. He cursed violently, almost as violently as Tai-Yang, who was mumbling some rather choice words under his breath.

Rose was kicking her legs out feebly, tears in her as she hugged her midsection with both arms, completely breathless with helpless, almost hysterical laughter.

If she didn't know better, she would think that Glynda wanted to keep her hospitalised.

"Oh my gosh Rose, are you ok?!" A red and black blur asked, coming to an immediate stop next to Rose's bed.

Wow, Ruby was loud. Had she ever been that loud? She couldn't remember it, really she couldn't. "Just fine, little Rose." She said, placating her younger self and patting her hand.

Ruby gave her an unsure look, eyes darting over her bandaged form, silver eyes bright with worry. "Are you sure?"

"Very." Rose replied instantly.

"Well that's just dandy!" Yang's boisterous voice cut in. "Good to see you're ok." She said, walking over with long strides to join her younger sister at Rose's bedside.

"Ah, thanks Yang." Rose said with a smile. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"Goodwitch told us you would say that." Weiss' smooth drawl sounded in, as she too came in, with Blake at her side. "She also told us you would be lying."

"Rooose!" Ruby whined, giving her a betrayed look. "You said you were ok!"

"I am ok." Rose replied with a little exasperation, giving Weiss her own betrayed look, then pointing at Ruby as if to say 'you did this'.

"Your charts would disagree." Blake replied dryly, looking through the chart of papers. Rose frowned at her, but sighed in resignation, it wasn't if she could stop Blake from reading them in her current state. Not that this realisation made her feel any better when she started reading the list of injuries off. Yang's grimace deepened with every hurt listed. Weiss pursed her lips, getting thinner and thinner as the number of large injuries became apparent. Ruby just looked a little green around the gills, and rather pale. Blake's face was inscrutable, but Rose knew her very well, and could tell that the stoic faunus was less than pleased with her.

"Damn sis, what the hell happened to you?" Yang asked as soon as the list was finished, looking like she was gearing up to go and get revenge for her sister then and there.

"Izhar the Ravager."

There was a collective choking around the room.

"Are you serious?" Ruby squeaked, now sheet white and looking terrified.

"Yup." Rose replied, popping her 'p'.

"Izhar, as in Thousand Homes Izhar?!" Yang questioned bug-eyed.

"That's the one." Rose said blandly.

"How are you still alive?" Weiss breathed. There was a reason Izhar was feared, it had slain countless amount of people. As in probably a literally innumerable count of warriors in the past.

"I'm the biggest badass you know." Rose pointed out. "Except for maybe Ozpin, he's pretty good too."

"Pretty good?" Blake echoed with a raised brow. "Isn't it a little arrogant to put yourself on the same level as possibly the most powerful Hunter alive?"

"If anything, the man is treading my level." Blake looked like she didn't believe a word of that. "Ask him yourself, if you want. Better yet, ask Glynda, my uncle or dad. I went against one of the scariest Grimm out there with a badly mismatched weapon mano a mano."

"What was it like?" Weiss asked softly.

Rose grimaced, running a bruised hand through her hair. "Dust damned awful." She breathed out, closing her eyes as she began to explain. "It was like... like all the stories you've heard come to life, but so much worse. People talk about how nightmarish Izhar is, and they were completely right. It was massive, I've never seen a Grimm that big before. At least three times the size of a giant Nevermore. Completely black, except for the balefire green eyes and the bones. It was all teeth, and claws and... fuck, it was just scary."



"That does sound pretty bad." Ruby said weakly.



"That wasn't the worst part." Rose said in a slightly haunted tones. "It was smart. Smarter than me, at the very least." She chuckled hollowly. "It kept on looking me when I was running away from it, trying to get back to the others. It kept on looking at me and it was laughing. It was chasing me, trying to kill me, it was going to eat me and it was laughing. Like it was all some big joke, or a game. Like me fighting was nothing more than amusing." Rose took a moment to compose herself, before flipping off the air above her. "Look whose laughing now Izhar, you gigantic prick."

"That is completely horrifying." Weiss chimed in shakily.

"It isn't the most encouraging sto- wait," Blake lifted a hand, before narrowing her eyes and scrutinising Rose. "You used past-tense when talking about Izhar."

"Past-tense?" Yang murmured with a frown, before her eyes went wide and she gaped at Rose. "No way!"

"No way what?" Ruby asked, curiosity peaked.

"You killed Izhar?" Blake asked, a little awed.

"No." Rose replied bluntly, and despite themselves, the four younger girls deflated in disappointment. "Dad killed Izhar."

"Whaaaaat!?" Ruby yelped, flailing her arms around her, eyes bugging out her head. "Dad killed a legendary Grimm?"

"He sure did." Rose told her with a wide smile, radiating pride.

"How in the world did he manage to do such a thing?" Weiss near demanded of her, utterly shocked.

"He threw Malwr down it's gullet."

"He didn't." Yang breathed, lifting a hand to her mouth.

"Hell yeah he did." Rose nodded enthusiastically.

"What is Malwr?" Blake asked, a little confused.

"Malwr is dad's R.K.H, Reusable Kinetic-explosion Hammer." Ruby told her distractedly. "Think a big, strong explosion on a stick."

"Yeah, that." Rose agreed. "Not the highest on my list of snack-foods, personally."

"What happened after...?" Yang made a throwing motion.

"Izhar died, and it was the grossest thing ever." Rose said with a grimace. "It was vomiting up blood and organ chunks at first, then it fell over. Then I think it started screaming, basically, and it's chest puffed out really strangely. It was thrashing around like crazy. It vomited a lot more blood, and more organs bits. Then it made this last wailing noise before it's chest exploded. Think a fountain of gore and entrails. Bits of Grimm were everywhere. And believe me, once a Grimm gets that old and big, it has a lot of innards. I thankfully passed out when it exploded again, causing even more shit to go everywhere."

"Ugh." Weiss shuddered, not keen on ever seeing such a thing.

"I know, like I said, gross."

"That. Sounds. Awesome!" Yang yelled, cheering loudly and fist-pumping enthusiastically.

"It was also pretty cool." Rose allowed. "Glynda cast this spell..." She shakes her head, remembering the magnificent work the mage had done.

"What spell?" Weiss asked curiously, as always an avid fan of the Dust arts.

"It's hard to explain." Rose admitted. "She must've used at least a thousand crystals." Weiss choked at that, a thousand crystals was almost four times the largest amount she'd ever seen being used in spell. "She sort of threw them at Izhar, then she summoned a massive circle in the middle of it. Before the crystals reached it, she shot lightning at the rune. It sucked in the Dust, and out came this massive bolt of lightning, but it looked like it was on fire. It tore Izhar's wing right off."

"An expensive spell." Blake commented.

"Totally worth every lien." Rose said in reply. "Think about it, without Izhar, what's stopping us from hunting down the rest of the Drakes?"

"Oh my god." Weiss said loudly. "You could actually reclaim Thousand Homes."

"I'm sure Ozpin's already getting that prepared. No doubt Ironwood will be pleased." Rose mumbled thoughtfully.

Weiss cocked her head to the side, eyeing Rose with a considering eye. "Do you wish for me to contact my father?"

"No." Rose said instantly, a hard look in her eye. Weiss recoiled a little, startled by the vehement denial.

"Why? Surely contracting the largest Dust supplier on Remnant could only help things along." Weiss pointed out.

"Your father is a slaver." Rose bit out harshly, and Weiss sucked in a sharp breath. Blake gave an approving nod, turning to look at Weiss, waiting on her response. Yang shifted uneasily, uncomfortable with the sudden turn in conversation. Ruby bit her lip, and looked ready to jump in with an outpouring of placations, but the look Rose shot her dissuaded her. She didn't understand why, but she felt that this was something that needed to be addressed...

"My father is no such thing! How dare you?!" Weiss yelled in outrage, cutting her hand through the air.

"Your father is a despicable criminal that thrives off the suffering of enslaved faunus. He would sell his own mother for some lien. He's a vicious, disgusting human being. If Cinder were dead, I wouldn't hesitate to call him the most morally repugnant being on Remnant. Grimm are born evil, growing off the pain of others. Your father is worse because he abandoned his humanity, and learnt to enjoy the exact same thing. He has made his choices, and that is what makes him one of the greatest monsters I've ever faced." Rose hissed, scowling fiercely. She wouldn't sit by and wait for Weiss to come to realise this on her own. The sooner she came to understand the man's nature the better.

Weiss was clenching her fists so hard she was drawing blood, her nails digging into her palms. She couldn't believe she was hearing this from Rose! To believe she looked up to this woman! "I don't have to listen to this." She said icily, turning to stalk out of the room.

"Wait." Rose said sternly, and despite herself Weiss stopped in her tracks. It was in her nature to defer to authority, and as much as she loathed it, Rose was her superior officer. "Take this. Look under the file 'Schnee mining ops', and only that. If I catch you digging around anything else, I'll have you thrown in a high-security cell at Fallstar gaol for the next ten years." Rose threw Weiss her black keycard, and Weiss' hand snapped out to catch. The white haired girl paled significantly at the warning, but gave a stiff nod regardless, then promptly walked out the room.

Yang coughed into her fist. "A little harsh there, weren't you sis?"

"If it weren't Weiss, I would have promised to have them killed." Rose replied honestly. "And everything I said about her father was true. You hated him even more than I did." Yang looked pensive at Rose's words. She'd never known Ruby to hate, and she was definitely more inclined to be negative in her opinions of others. If Rose was this vicious... well, she was going to be real wary when it came to Ice-queens daddy dearest, that's for sure.

"That seems overly severe." Blake answered disapprovingly.

Rose sighed and shook her head. "You don't understand because you haven't seen what I have. This isn't a game, there are millions of lives at stake here. Forgive me for being dramatic, but the fate of the entire country rests in my hands. I'm not going to pussyfoot around."

"Fair enough." Yang agreed, giving Rose a nod. Rose wasn't surprised by her easy acceptance of the situation. Despite her easygoing nature, Yang always had been a soldier at the core. She was also very capable of hardening her heart in the face of difficult situations.

Rose turned and looked at the silent Ruby, who had her head bowed. "Hey little Rose, you ok?"

Ruby lifted her head and stared at Rose, looking weary. "This is really serious, isn't it?" She asked softly.

"Yeah." Rose sighed in answer, giving her an almost apologetic look.

"I can't imagine making the decisions you do." Ruby murmured. 'I can't imagine what could have turned me into the person you are.' Rose heard underneath her softly spoken words.

"I've said it before, but I'm here to make sure you don't have to." Rose replied, placing a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder and squeezing lightly. 'If I can help it, you won't ever become me.' Ruby heard Rose say.

"Thank you." Ruby hiccuped lightly, leaning in to hug Rose. Rose wrapped her arms around Ruby, rubbing comforting circles around her back. The poor girl was only fifteen, and Rose hadn't been circumspect in outlining just how bleak the future could be. Uncertainty is a scary thing, something that she knew all too well. She'd often leaned on Yang to support her earlier in her life, but she knew it wasn't the same as a real adult presence. "I'm going to find Weiss." Ruby told the others as she disengaged from Rose.

"If I know Weiss, and I do, she's already started digging into those files." Rose blew out a weary breath. "They are going to tear down her world, guys. She's going to need a lot of support."

"Are they that bad?" Yang asked, chewing her lip.

"There aren't many things worse." Rose answered morbidly.

"Ok, I'm going to find her." Ruby said, running out of the room immediately, looking greatly worried for her partner.

Yang watched her go, looking torn between asking Rose more questions and joining her little sister in the search for her crush. "Yang." Rose got her attention. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here." She implored, her silver eye piercing in it's intensity.

A flurry of unreadable emotions crossed Yang's face as she stood stiffly. Eventually she relaxed, staring at Rose. The soft tilt of her mouth looked both grateful and sad. "Will do... big sis. Later Blakey, Ru." Yang departed with long strides and a jaunty wave. Rose watched her go, feeling warm, fully aware of what Yang had just said with her simple words.

Blake studied Rose, her face lit by the few god-rays filtering through the large windows of the infirmary. Her face was a study of emotions. The weary bags under her eye spoke of a heavy burden, the stress of upholding her duty. There was a fierce determination in her single sterling eye as she watched Yang depart. The soft, almost hidden smile was heavy with wistful melancholy, but also spoke of volumes of love.

"You should probably avoid Weiss as much as you can for the next few days." Rose told her, startling her out of her revery. "A lot of things are going to change for her, no doubt including her opinions on faunus and the White Fang. If her father could lie to her about so much, what else could he lie about? A question she's going to ask herself once she's done with those files."

"Do you know the answer?" Blake questioned.

"Everything." Rose said with a sad smile.

"Why should I avoid her?" Blake wanted to know.

"She's going to be rather... vocal on her world views. She'll realise quickly that she really doesn't know anything about the faunus, and be ashamed of her ignorance, but it won't stop her from saying some truly awful things in private. I don't want you dealing with that, especially once she understands she doesn't mean it."

"So I should just ignore her horrific racism, pretend it doesn't exist until the problem goes away?" Blake asked scathingly, looking rather unimpressed.

"Yes and no." The older woman said levelly. "You have to give her leeway, Blake. She isn't a bad person, but she's going to be climbing out of a mindset she's been brainwashed to believe since birth. The fact that she is going to be willing to do so, and so quickly, speaks a lot of her character, if you look for it."

"I suppose so." Blake said thoughtfully, tilting her head back and looking at the roof.

"You should tell them once she comes to terms with it." Rose calmly said to her.

"What?" The faunus exclaimed, startled, snapping her head back down to look at Rose again.

"Tell them." Rose prompted her. "Like I told you, Ruby and Yang won't care. If you can get them to realise that cooing over your ears is sort of racist in and of itself, they'll be completely fine. And Weiss will be starting on a blank slate, knowing nothing about the faunus. She's going to need someone like you to explain things to her, to help her understand."

"You make it sound so easy." Blake laughed derisively. "Like it's the simplest thing in the world."

"And you make it much too complicated." Rose retorted. "You fucked things up big time the first time round. You were so busy worrying yourself sick over how we would react, that you ended up not telling us and it came out in the worst possible way at the worst possible time."

Blake made an aggravated sound deep in her throat, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. "It can't be that easy." She disagreed.

"I never said it was going to be easy, Blake." Rose said gently. "I just said it wouldn't be complicated. It's going to be messy, and emotional, but it needs to be done."

Blake turned to her, looking inscrutable, but then she deflated, sighing heavily. "I know."

"It'll work out." Rose reassured her. "Really, it will. If Weiss can come round to it when she was still a firm believer in human superiority, it will be much better this time."

"If you say so." Blake agreed with a small smile. Rose felt something warm in her at the simple show of trust. Her eye flickered to the bow when it wriggled on top of Blake's head.

"Those must be getting pretty sore." Rose mused. "What with them being under the bow almost constantly these last few weeks."

Blake grimaced slightly, reaching up and rubbing her head softly. "It hasn't been pleasant." She concurred.

"Why don't you take it off?" Rose offered.

"That sort of defeats the purpose of hiding my heritage." Blake pointed out wryly.

Rose waved a hand in front of her face. "This is the teachers infirmary. No ones going to come in here that doesn't already know of your nature."

Blake frowned. "What do you mean, everyone thinks I'm a human."

Rose snorted incredulously. "Give Ozpin some credit, honey. He'd have known you were a faunus as soon as he saw you."

"Seriously?" Blake asked stiffly, slightly panicked.

"Glynda as well." Rose said with a nod. "But I wouldn't worry about it. He isn't going to challenge you about your heritage, and neither is she. In fact, none of the Beacon staff are anti-faunus, except for that one asshole janitor."

"That's a relief." Blake murmured.

"So, feel free!" Rose said cheerily, flicking her hands toward Blake's hidden ears.

"How soon should I start avoiding Weiss?" Blake asked suddenly.

"Immediately." Rose said with a wrinkled nose. "She's not going to be the most pleasant company. But don't worry, Ruby will talk her through it, and Yang's bound to beat some sense into her."

"Sounds about right." Blake agreed with a small smirk, thinking about her partners confrontational attitude. "I think I might go grab a book and some of my things."

"Oh?" Rose said, trying to hide her excitement. "Planning to keep the invalid company?"

"Sure." Blake agreed with a small chuckle. "See you in a few."

"Thanks Blake." Rose said with a beaming smile, waving lightly at the cat faunus as she left the room. Not a minute later, as Rose was lying down, thinking about everything that had just happened that she started with surprise.

A memory came to her, unbidden, of days spent falling in love with a girl with golden eyes, reading her stories by her bedside.

Rose had a sinking feeling that history was to repeat itself in the most painful, wonderful way.

FAVOURITE~REVIEW~FOLLOW!

Woah! You guys are going nuts! Like, three chapters ago I was sitting on three hundred and fify favourites, two hundred and thirty reviews, five hundred follows and fifty six thousand hits. Now I have five hundred favourites, a hundred more reviews, seven friggen hundred follows and almost a hundred thousand hits!

It's blatant insanity, and I love you for it.

Next time; ALL THE LADYBUG FLUFF, and we discover what the mysterious file contains!

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