Parent-Teacher Conference Part 2
I don't own anything except OCs: All content goes to its proper owners.
Ruby wished that she could tamp down her stomach so she could stop having butterflies. She wished she did not want to throw up. She wished honest to gods that she could be able to not feel nervous. Yang, Trivia, and Ember tried their best to calm her down, but to no avail. Then a firm hand gripped her shoulder, and she tensed up, before hearing a familiar voice.
"Ruby? You okay, sweetheart?" The voice of her and Yang's father Taiyang asked.
This caused Ruby to jump and turn on her heels to meet him. "D-Dad. Hey, how's it going I was just about to get something to drink. Trivia, you want some Dr. Pipper?" Ruby answered, speaking at a manic rate.
Trivia bobbed her head in response, more than a little overwhelmed by Ruby's hypersonic ramblings, her innocent little brain overheating like an overclocked CPU.
Tai then turned to look at Yang, Trivia, and Ember with a smile. "Hi, Yang. How have you been doing, my Sunny Little Dragon?" He asked, happy to see his eldest.
"Sunny Little Dragon?" Blake and Weiss asked with raised eyebrows.
"I kinda like it." Ember meekly answered.
Yang blushed ever so slightly in embarrassment. "Dad! Not in front of mine and Ruby's friends…!"
"Yang help, he still has his hand on me!" Ruby whispered hoarsely.
However, Yang was too late to react as Tai pulled his girls into a bone crushing hug. "I'm so happy to see my baby girls again! I hope you two haven't been causing too much trouble!" He told them with a big smile.
"Y-yes, daddy. Nothing but your perfect little angels." Ruby answered meekly, sweat coming down her forehead.
"Way to be subtle, Ruby…" Yang muttered.
"You know how much of a bad liar I am! And you're hardly any better…!" Ruby hissed as quietly as she could.
"At least it looks like I'm trying!" Yang hissed back, only for both girls to wince as Tai hugged them even tighter.
"Girls, girls, calm down." Tai said with a chuckle.
"Should we talk about what happened with the toilets?" Ember asked.
"No." Blake sternly said.
"What was that?" Tai asked, confused.
"Nothing!" Blake and Ember answered.
"Well, I'm glad you two have gained some new friends. Especially you, Ruby! I'm so proud! If that pup would be able to behave, I would have brought Zwei along!" Tai said with a smile.
"Pup?" Blake fearfully asked.
"Easy, Blake. Zwei's just a little corgi. And he's so well behaved, too. Most of the time…" Yang told her partner, trying to reassure her.
"Oh sure, I use him to hunt Grimm one time…" Ruby groaned, rolling her eyes.
"You two led a Beringel back to the house!" Yang told her little sister
"Details, details. At least it wasn't an Island Stalker. Those things give me the creeps. You can't ever tell where they are looking." Ruby shuddered along with Yang.
"A rare species. Quite the feat to survive such creatures. Speaks to some skill. Junior, hurry the hell up, your cousin is over here!" A loud, brisk, and somewhat crass, voice could be heard.
"I'm coming, dad! I'm coming!' A voice familiar to Yang called out in response.
"Oh, fuck no, what is he doing here?" Yang muttered out a growl.
"Seriously pops, what… Blondie, the fuck you are doing here?" A familiar smarmy voice said as the familiar frame of Junior rocked up.
"I could say the same for you. How's that glass jaw of yours?" Yang replied with a smirk.
"Friend of yours, Junior? Remember, son; we are here to see Trivia. I don't want no trouble today, boy." A more overweight and wider version of Junior.
"Oh, I just beat up him and his goons when he wouldn't give me a drink while I was looking for information on someone. You still owe me that strawberry sunrise with the little umbrella, by the way." Yang told the man with a grin.
"You owe me a new bar, Blondie!" Junior roared, before his father's hand was put on his shoulder.
"Wait a minute. This is what happened to that bar of yours? A blonde first year from Beacon?" His father Hei Xiong asked.
"Oh, I wasn't even a first-year student here yet. I was still in my last year of combat school." Yang replied, a smirk on her face.
"I'm not even surprised at this point. I always knew you were a failure. Unlike my precious little niece Trivia, you really can't seem to do anything right." Hei Xiong said in about the most Mistrali parent way possible.
"Wait… niece? Junior and Trivia are related?" Yang asked in disbelief.
"So, that's where all of Trivia's height went. Junior stole it!" Ruby shot out, pointing at Junior.
"We aren't related by blood, you little twerps." He growled.
"How many times do I have to drill this into your concrete skull? Family is Family. Blood clearly means nothing around here." Hei Xiong barked into his son's ear.
"Yes, Father…" Junior scowled.
Oblivious to this whole ordeal, Trivia casually sips her Dr. Pipper, minding her own business, unaware of the chaos her existence has wrought.
"Trivia, sweetie! Come and give your dearest uncle a hug! You're looking well!" Hei Xiong said happily.
Trivia gives the throwing up face, and signs, 'Ew, no, you fucking weirdo! You're cringe, fuck you.'
"There's the ball of marshmallow fluff I know and love. Come on, let's go talk to your professors." Hei Xiong said with a smile, walking along towards the line with Trivia and Junior in tow.
Trivia rolls her eyes in contempt, as she signs, 'Touch me and this pencil will be shoved so far in your eye socket, that you will be able to write notes on your brain by blinking!'
Yang looked in disbelief at this. "Where is all this sudden hostility coming from? Trivia's not even this bad with Azura. This is something I'd expect from Neo…" She commented.
"Weirdly, she talks about her past about as much as Azura does." Blake answered.
"What's this about Trivia and I?" Azura asked, seemingly popping up out of nowhere and scaring all his friends shitless.
Trivia, turning around, held up a large sign, 'This black bear bastard knows what he did!!'
"Well, that answers nothing…" Azura replied.
"Where did you come from, Azura!?" Weiss asked in disbelief.
"Blame my parents, Miss Schnee. You see, when a man and a woman are in love or very drunk, they-" Azura started only to be cut off by Ruby.
"FILTH!!" Ruby began to hit Azura's side in an embarrassing fashion.
"What did I say?" Azura asked in confusion, trying to stop Ruby from hitting him.
"So, is this the Azura you've told me so much about?" Tai asked with an eyebrow raised.
Azura looked at Ruby and Yang in confusion. "You two have talked about me?" He asked.
"Maybe…" Ruby nervously said, touching her pointer fingers together.
Turning to look at Tai, Azura gave a polite and gentlemanly bow. "I am Sōtora Azura. It is my honor to meet you, Lord Xiao Long." He said, trying to be as polite and courteous as possible.
"It's just Tai, young man. I work for a living." Tai answered, dismissing the lord title.
"It would be disrespectful to be so informal with someone of your caliber that I barely know, sir. After all, you were a part of the greatest Huntsman team of your generation." Azura replied with a smile.
"Azura, what are you doing with my dad!?" Ruby huskily said in a nervous fashion.
"Merely trying to show due respect to a very pretty girl's father, Ruby." Azura told her with a gentlemanly smile.
Ruby blushed red enough that her tail accidentally formed, forcing Yang to force it back in by firmly grabbing it. The pain caused Ruby to yelp, drawing everyone's attention to her. Including Azura's family that arrived back on the scene.
"Aqua, we discussed you blowing gum bubbles in public." Verdant sternly told her young daughter.
"Not to do it, mommy…?" Aqua asked, blowing a bubble and popping it.
"Exactly. Look, there is your big brother now." Verdant said, pointing to Azura.
"AZZY!" Aqua called out happily, tackle hugging Azura.
"Whoa, easy Aqua! You just saw me five minutes ago!" Azura told her with a smile.
"But you're so cool!" Aqua bubbly replied.
"I apologize to you all for my daughter's outgoing nature." Azolum said as he walked up straight towards Tai.
"It's no trouble at all. After all, I raised Yang and Ruby." Taiyang replied with a smile.
"Hey! I'll have you know that I was a very well-behaved little girl, thank you very much!" Yang replied indignantly.
"Where did that go?" Ruby asked playfully as Aqua glommed onto her.
"Big Sis Ruby!" Aqua cried out with joy, hugging the young Rose tightly.
"Hey, Aqua." Ruby said, ruffling her hair.
"If you need me, I'm out of here. There's only so much sappy stuff I can take in one night." Weiss groaned and walked off, leaving everyone confused.
"And I presume you two are Azura's parents?" Tai asked Azolum and Verdant.
The seven-foot Azolum gave an aristocratic smile and bowed. "Sōtora Azolum. This is my wife, Sōtora Verdant. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"The honor is mine to meet such lords of Eastern Mistral such as yourself." Tai said, somewhat shocked meeting such highborn people.
"I must say, Sir Xiao Long, your daughters are just a delight to be around. Especially Ruby. She and our son seem to be quite taken with each other." Verdant said with a smile, pulling out a tessen and fanning herself a bit.
"Is that so?" Tai asked, looking straight at the boy.
Azura nodded, trying not to appear nervous as Ruby blushed. "You've raised two incredible daughters, Lord Xiao Long. Yang and Ruby are two balls of sunshine." He replied, trying to be respectful.
"Thank you, young man. You two have raised a very respectful young man." Tai said, keeping his feelings close to his chest.
"We may be seeing some adorable silver eyed cubs in our future. It would be nice to get some hair colors other than shades of blue in this family, after all." Verdant added, teasing Azura and Ruby.
"O-Okay, I think we should get in line! D-Dad, Yang, let's go!" Ruby replied extremely nervously, blushing as red as her hood.
"You two have a good one… I have to go see Professor Ozpin on how my girls are doing this semester." Tai said, unsure how else to respond to that as the three headed off.
"M-Mother, please…!" Azura stuttered in embarrassment, blushing.
"Oh, don't tell me you wouldn't want her as your bride, Azu." Verdant replied with a smirk behind her tessen.
"Mother!" Azura called out, blushing deeper as Ruby turned a shade of red not thought possible at overhearing that.
"Azolum? What are the marriage regulations these days in the clan?" Verdant asked her husband.
"They aren't much different than when we were wed, darling." Azolum said with a playful smirk.
With that the group splintered, with Tai and his girls heading off to the dwindling line. All the while Ruby sat there nervously, with Yang comforting her. The time soon came for Tai to see the headmaster. When he got up, he turned to address his girls.
"Try to relax, girls. I won't be long." Tai reassured them.
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, gulping.
"Take it easy, Ruby. If dad says he won't be long, he won't be long." Yang reassured her little sister.
"Okay…" Ruby gulped.
With that Tai smiled, ruffled the two's hair, and entered through the door. Passing Glynda, who closed the ornate doors behind him with her Semblance, he stood in the opulent and well-crafted office of Ozpin. Sitting behind his desk, he set his coffee cup down as he positioned the girls' files in front of him.
"Greetings, Taiyang. It has been far too long." Ozpin said kindly.
Tai gave the headmaster of Beacon a curt nod. "Ozpin. You're looking well. How's the current meat suit holding up?" Tai replied, walking over and taking his seat.
"Skipping right to animosity, I see?" Ozpin asked, clasping his hands in his signature fashion.
"I still haven't fully forgiven you for what happened to my team… to Summer…" Tai admitted, trying to not sound bitter.
"I didn't expect you to. Such loss is hard to move past. If there's any consolation, I do wish I didn't have to send Summer alone." Ozpin said before a brief pause, "She asked to go it alone."
Taiyang sighed in response. "So typical of her. Trying so hard to protect others, but not enough to protect herself…" He admitted sadly.
"Yang and Ruby are most certainly her daughters. You and Summer raised them well." Ozpin said.
That got a reluctant smile out of Tai. "Thanks…" He replied to a bit more cordially.
"Now then, let's start with my evaluations. Yang has proven to have top marks in the physical aspects of being a Huntress." Ozpin explained, pulling up Yang's file.
"She should. Qrow and I put those girls through the ringer." Tai responded proudly.
"She also has exceptional protective instincts and is quite perceptive. In fact, considering her personality, she tests remarkably well." Ozpin continued.
"Yang may like to party, but I told her she only could if she kept her grades up." Tai explained.
"That's certainly stuck with her. Indeed, on the whole, her record so far is self-explanatory." Ozpin said before taking a sip of coffee. "Now onto Ms. Rose."
Tai frowned a bit, knowing that this was coming. However, controlling his temper, he allowed Ozpin to speak.
"Like her sister, her physical evaluations are exceptional. In fact, she's fighting for top of her class in that regard. Her actual testing however…" Ozpin began to trail off at the end, causing Tai to cut him off.
"Ruby never did test well. She has too much energy for her own good." Tai admitted reluctantly.
"I fear that might be causing her emotional evaluations to be so poor. That or her condition…" Ozpin said before Tai snapped.
"I knew you'd bring that up. Why don't you quit beating around the bush and say what we both know you want to, old man?" Tai replied with a glare.
"Taiyang, I warned you at the police station. Ruby is not her mother. It's clear we don't have the expertise to control her. If she loses control…" Ozpin said before Tai cut him off again.
"She won't lose control! She's a lot stronger than you think she is!" Tai snapped, starting to get hostile before taking a deep breath to calm himself. "We won't let her lose control. We can teach her how to control it…"
"Incidents have already happened, Tai. I believe you met Azura? She broke two of his ribs after losing control in a sparring match. And her easily flustered and overly energetic personality makes Beastmen lose control. If she can't get a handle on her emotions, then I don't know what I am supposed to do other than quarantine her. After Summer, I don't want any more loss…" Ozpin said, losing his breath at the end. There might be some emotion in the old man after all.
Tai glared at the headmaster. "We only lost Summer because you didn't try hard enough to convince her to not go alone!" He stated accusingly.
"Not try hard enough. I spent hours with her! I gave her every other option I had! The only people left were the rest of you! Raven had already left, Qrow was busy on another mission, and you had your girls! What else was I supposed to do, Tai!?" Ozpin said, slamming his hands into the desk as he stood up to his full height.
Glaring at Ozpin, Tai stood up as well. "I think we're done here. You had better take good care of my daughter, Oz. I don't want to lose anyone else because of you." He replied, biting back his scorn for the man before him.
"I promise you that, Tai. You have my word." Ozpin said as he calmed himself.
"I was afraid you'd say that." Tai said in a somber tone before turning away from the headmaster and leaving.
Hours Later: Downtown Vale
After having said goodbye to his girls, Tai made his way to a bar for something to eat and a pint to calm his nerves. Trained as one of the foremost huntsmen of his day, his senses were pushed to a superhuman level. It was only his emotional compromise that he did not notice two shadowy interlopers.
"Why did the boss make us pay attention to this crusty old man?" A silver haired, gray-eyed boy said, his boots up on the table indignantly.
"Shut it, Mercury. Orders are orders. Let's just keep a close eye on him." A green-haired, red-eyed girl snapped back at the boy.
"He's a washed-up old hunter. What's so special about him, Emerald? You just want to look good in front of the boss." Mercury said, turning his head in a "bitch please" fashion.
"That has nothing to do with anything, Merc. Now be quiet before we're noticed." Emerald replied, snapping back.
At that, the two felt a powerful presence coming up behind them. Turning to look, they see a towering, chiseled and black-haired man. He looked down on them with a look of contempt, and a bestial snarl. Unzipping his fur-lined traveling coat, he finally addressed the two.
"And what are you two kids doing out past curfew?" The man asked in a stern, deep voice.
Both teens looked visibly nervous at this. "W-Well, you see Hazel, Cinder ordered us to…" Emerald started to say only to be cut off by the man.
"Explain to me how exposing yourselves in a bar helps your long-term mission?" Hazel asked, practically waiting for their answer to pounce on.
"To be fair, I doubt anyone's noticed we're keeping an eye on the blonde old bastard…" Mercury replied.
"You're lucky he's not in a good mood, or Taiyang Xiao Long would have noticed you, been on you, and snapped your spines like Grimm Crackers before you two had the chance to blink." Hazel said, surprising them by speaking so highly of their potential foe.
"He can't be that good…" Mercury thought out loud.
"Unless you two want to find out, run back to your boss and keep your cover." Hazel warned.
The two nodded nervously at that. "Y-Yes sir, Hazel…" Emerald replied as the two got up and left.
"Doesn't matter what age. Kid's never change." Hazel grumbled as he walked up to the bar and sat next to Tai. "Bartender. Tall pint of Northern spiced ale."
"On it, sir." The bartender replied, as Tai looked up from his chopped steak and potatoes to see a familiar face.
"Hazel. Been a long time, hasn't it?" Tai said, giving the mountain of a man a nod of acknowledgement.
"Indeed. So, what brings you here, old friend? You usually don't stray too far from your island." Hazel said with a smile, clearing trying to spark a conversation.
"Parent-teacher conferences for my girls at Beacon. Thankfully, they're both doing about as well as can be expected." Taiyang replied with a small smile of his own while sipping on a glass of Atlesian pale beer.
"Ozpin hasn't got a hold of them yet?" Hazel asked.
"Not yet. But, considering their talent and skill, it's only a matter of time. I just wish my girls didn't have to get dragged into this like we all did…" Tai sighed, looking down at his glass.
"It pales to imagine how many lives have been lost that could have been avoided if it wasn't for those two. This 'war' of theirs brings nothing but death and tragedy." Hazel said, sipping on his own drink.
Tai nodded at that. "I just wish it would end already. That way, the only things the world will have to worry about are Grimm and dangerous wildlife." He added in agreement.
"The world could always use strong fighters to make that happen, Tai." Hazel answered.
"I can't. I agree with her methods even less than I do Oz's. Besides, I have Summer's sacrifice and my girls to think of." Taiyang replied, turning the offer down.
"It's a reason I can't fault you for, Taiyang. I wish I had the strength of will to follow your path. After Gretchen fell…" Hazel said, but could not say anymore, it clearly still being a sore wound.
"She wouldn't want you to be doing this to yourself, you know. She'd want you to be happy. That sister of yours and Summer were cut from the same cloth." Tai told his old friend.
"The world needs more people like them. Shame they always are the ones to die…" Hazel agreed with a mournful sigh.
"There just might be. A lot of the Zodiacs are cut from that same kind of cloth. Hell, it looks like Ruby's developing the beginnings of a potential relationship with the prince of the Tigers." Taiyang admitted with a smile.
"Then to the fruits of their labors, and to the memory of Summer and Gretchen." Hazel said with a smile as well, raising his glass in a toast.
Taiyang raised his glass as well and, with a tink, the two drank to the future and to those they had lost. For the grand river of time never stops but does like to keep a certain rhythm to things.