114.
Chapter 1
Hey guys, new story that I thought was interesting to make. Will it be popular due to the character? Maybe, maybe not, but I write just for fun, anyway. Hope you enjoy!
Also testing on shorter-length chapter stories to see how I do.
A Story Of A Reset, One Where A Blank Slate Is Made; But With The Same Paintbrush, Nothing Of This Character Will Fade!
Chapter One: Reborn Rethrown
Taiyang would be the first to admit he wasn't the most rational person, maybe even reckless at times, especially during his younger days with team STRQ. However, what he just heard was a new level of stupidity even if it was an act from his six-year-old daughter.
Looking down at Yang, she looked absolutely ashamed. Not in the way Ruby and she'd do when they got caught eating sweets before dinner, but rather genuine self-hate for what she'd done. She wouldn't even meet his eyes, rather instead alternating between Ruby who was on Qrow's lap sitting off the corner, that was if she just wasn't looking at her own feet.
He knew why she'd done it, why Yang took it upon herself to find their old home. After. . . After Summer died, he only thought of himself and essentially left their two children alone while he grieved. 'You aren't the only one grieving, Tai, you damn idiot!' he thought, which seemed like what Summer would have said to him.
When he came home and found that broken picture frame, he knew exactly where Yang went. And when he couldn't find Ruby, he feared the worst. He had never called Qrow so quickly to find them, he was far faster than he was, his only hope to find them in time.
And Tai was right, the Grimm almost killed his daughters if it wasn't for Qrow. With that thought in mind, his mind turned to his daughter, his little dragon. He was furious for what she'd done, what almost happened. It will simmer down to disappointment and then forgiven later, he knew that, but until then. . .
"Yang." The way she flinched at his tone had him backpedal all that he wanted to say, what he wanted to shout at her for almost not only killing herself but her sister as well. He knew, though, deep down he knew that it wasn't just Yang's fault. "I'm sorry."
She flinched again, but in surprise. Was she expecting him to shout and yell? He did, too, but the more he watched his little, boisterous girl cower at his gaze, the more he knew it was only partly her fault for what happened.
"What?" she voiced, sounded confused but worried still.
He leaned down and embraced his daughter, it was the first time he'd done so since the funeral, now that he thought about it. God, he was a terrible dad, but that doesn't always have to be the case. This was, if anything, the wake-up call he needed, thankfully without any more loss than there already was.
"I'm sorry, Yang." He lessened his grip on her and looked to his other daughter. "I'm sorry to you, too, Ruby. I left both of you on your own when you two needed me most." He let go of his daughter, but stayed at her level. She wasn't scared to look him in the eye anymore, though she did rub her eyes from the tears, and he did as well. What a mess of a situation he'd made.
"I'm sorry, dad," she said finally. "I-I just wanted to know about this other woman, my other mom."
Raven, she was never a mom, not from the way she ran out. It was best Yang didn't know about her, not yet. For now, let them remember Summer, let them grieve together for their real mom.
"I'll tell you about her someday." He glanced at Qrow, who looked increasingly uncomfortable at the idea. He was right to, but Yang deserved to know something about the woman who brought her to the world, more so since that's what she wanted. "But later, for now, you two need your rest after what you've been through." Looking at Ruby, she looked half ready to sleep right there. "Gonna stay the night, Qrow?"
"Well, since you're offering, I guess I'll sleep over," he answered, earning a sleepy cheer from Ruby about a sleepover. He wasn't tired, a couple of Grimm wasn't enough to count as training for someone like Qrow, but Tai didn't mind the company from someone older than ten.
What a night it's been. He didn't do anything, and he already felt spent with all the worry and the little relief just now. Tomorrow would be a brand-new day, a day when he'd fix the wrongs he'd done for being a useless father.
Just before he called it a night, someone knocked on the door. It was late in the evening, Tai couldn't even guess who it could possibly be. Neighbors for a noise complaint? They lived in a log cabin in the woods, the closest neighbor was a ten-minute walk away, so not possible.
"You gonna get that?" Qrow asked him, snapping him out of his dazed confusion. Yeesh, he was more tired than he thought.
Shaking his head from that weird episode, he walked over to the door, a little annoyed that someone decided to bother them at a bad time. The moment he saw a face, he'd hear what they have to say and dismiss them as quickly as possible, he just wanted to rest.
When he opened the door, instead of seeing a face, he saw no one. Tai looked around, seeing no one nor even the tells of a person hiding the bushes. If it was a prank, he'd see any of the kids, but instead, he saw no one.
He was about to close the door, but he caught the sight of something lower. When he looked, it wasn't what he expected, not in the damn least. He rubbed his eyes, just in case he was a bit more tired than he thought. Nope, it's still there.
"Well, who is it?" Qrow asked. More like 'whose', really.
Tai picked up the wicker basket and brought it in. "You're not going to believe this."
The basket held a baby in a bundle. Not a baby as though a year old, but less than that, evident from how it was still bald, he could tell as much even if the newborn was covered in blankets.
"What the f-" Qrow glanced at the two children in the room. "-fudge." He picked up Ruby from his lap and had her take his seat, walking over to Taiyang and looked to see the child. "This is a joke, right?"
"I'm still hoping it is, Qrow, really I am." Who even did this? Someone out there was watching too many dramas on TV, and even then, what the hell!?
"Lemme see," Yang said as she bounced on her feet, and for whatever reason he obliged. "Aww, it's a baby." She stuck a finger and played with the baby's lips. "Coochie coo, lil baby."
"Bah," the baby 'replied', sounding annoyed and even looked grumpy. Aww, so adora- Wait, not the time!
Tai moved and set the basket on the table in the living room. His legs gave out and landed on the chair. Seriously, what the hell? The night was just getting full of drama, wasn't it?
"I wanna see, too!" Ruby complained and moved to the table along with Yang, standing on the chair to look into the basket. "Oh, a baby like me!"
Tai let out a breath of amusement as he watched his four-year-old compare herself to one aged less than a year. It was a wholesome scene, actually, not all too dissimilar when he first showed Ruby to Yang.
"Don't be too rough, girls," he said, still feeling a bit weary from all the new updates to his life. He went ignored by his daughters, but he kept watch in case they did anything wrong.
Qrow pulled up and sat on a chair beside him. "You don't see that every day, ey?" he said, from the look Tia gave him, he backtracked. "Okay, never outside of those movies. Like really, a wicker basket and everything."
"I noticed, Qrow." He deflated. "Don't suppose you know of procedure on what to do with movie-trope baby delivery to your home, do you?"
His brother-in-law shrugged. "Orphanage comes to mind." Both their faces twisted at the idea. It wasn't great, but he didn't really know what else to do.
"Can we keep it?" Yang asked as she looked away from the baby. "Can we, pleeeeaaaaaase?" You can always depend on Yang to make adopting a child sound like taking in a stray cat.
"It's not that easy," Tai answered with a tired sigh. "I can't just go and say 'okay, you're my kid now', what if the baby was kidnapped?"
This saddened Yang, and it hurt him to do so, but this wasn't so simple. This is a kid, a long commitment he didn't know he was ready to even handle. Hell, he's still grieving for Summer, only now did realize that he had two kids to take care of after weeks of ignoring them. Not exactly grade-A father material at the moment.
"And if he wasn't?"
Even then, he had to think of so- Wait a minute. "How do you know it's a 'he', Yang?"
She held up a sheet of paper. "Because I can read the paper in the basket, says his name. Sounds like a boy's name, I think, a weird one, too."
A note? How did he miss that? "Just leave it on the table, I'll read it later." Once he finds the energy to do it. "Anything else in there besides the baby and the blankets?" She shook her head. Good, less movie-tropes, the more normal it was, not that this was anything normal.
"Why do you want the kid, anyway, Yang?" Qrow asked. "Don't you know how hard it is to raise one?" He should know, he helped raise them at times. "All they do is vomit, poop, and cry all night."
"Bah!" the baby shouted, as much as a newborn could, anyway. From his slight vantage point, Tai could see the baby looking adorably grumpier.
"See? He's already started." Qrow was trying to keep the attachment to a minimum, because both of them knew the girls won't like what he'll do.
"Bah!" Okay, maybe that wasn't crying, exactly, more like an annoyed grunt.
Qrow looked at the basket. "Honestly, I don't know if the kid is just making random sounds, or he's actually answering me."
"Bah," the baby 'said' as it looked at his brother-in-law. "Baaaaah~"
Qrow turned to Tai. "Might want to watch what you say around him." The baby grumbled. "Seriously, I mean it." You don't normally see a baby in a basket on your doorstep, neither do you see an accomplished Huntsman warning another about a baby. Tonight was full of surprises.
"Is Uncle Qrow scared of the baby?" Ruby asked curiously, having him glare at his niece, though Tai couldn't help but chuckle at his daughter's innocent and emasculating question.
"Only those from women he met once," Tai said, knowing his two daughters didn't know what he meant, but Qrow did, earning a loud 'hey!' in response. He turned to him. "Qrow, can you head out and buy some formula? Just for the night."
He was going to say something about the little jab, but his request shut him up, knowing exactly what 'for the night' meant. His daughters will get upset, but this responsibility was too much for him. Both Qrow and Tai had to teach at Signal, and they can't leave the child to his young daughters.
No, a third child was too much. They'll keep the kid for the night before giving it to the authorities, no more.
"Alright, Tai," he said as he walked out the door. Just before he went out of sight, he turned. "You. . . might want to tell them. Better now than later." And that was that, he left to find a store that's open this late. Leave it to Qrow to delegate that part to him. To be fair, he was the one who should do it, regardless.
With another sigh, he turned to his two daughters that were crowding the basket. Not ten minutes ago they were having an emotional thing going after a near-death experience, now they couldn't have been more distracted. "Yang, Ruby, we need to talk about the baby."
Ruby perked her head. "We're keeping him?" she sounded so hopeful. He thought he'd hear those words when one of his daughters brought home a stray cat. But no, it had to be another person.
"We can't, Ruby," he answered. Her face changed quickly, from hopeful to sad in a snap. He didn't know if this would've been the same face if she brought a dog from the streets and had to say no, but his answer here was not something he can change. "Another kid isn't something I can handle, I'm going to have to hand him to an orphanage."
"But why!?" Ruby cried out. "We can take care of him, all three of us!"
Tai shook his head. "It's not that easy, Rubes. We're only keeping him for the night. Tomorrow he'll find a different home, one that will love him better than we can." He hoped. Orphanages don't really get a good repertoire, but he had enough on his plate as is. The kid will have a better life with someone else.
"B-But, dad-"
"I said no!" She flinched at his tone, this wasn't one he could give ground in.
Ruby turned to Yang for support, but even she knew she didn't have leeway to ask for anything, not after what she'd done. She was only six
"Dad," Yang began. "Maybe we need this." What? "We were always a family of four, maybe this is a sign?" He really didn't like what she was insinuating, but she was quick to continue at his look. "I don't mean to replace mom, that can't ever happen, but what if. . . what if this baby is what we need?"
"This isn't some stray, Yang, this is another person, another life, and you both know I snapped out of being a bad father." What they needed? Did she even know what she was talking about?
"I know, but-"
"No!" he shouted, quieting her. He hated this, denying his girls when he wanted nothing but spoil them, but he needed to be firm now for this baby as well. Summer wasn't here anymore, he needed to make the harsh decisions in her place as well. "Both of you go to your rooms." Ruby wanted to protest. "I can't raise the baby. He'll go to an orphanage and find a family that can, that's final."
Ruby was halfway to crying, and Yang put an arm around her sister. "Come on, Ruby, let's go to bed," she said, trying to sound comforting, then looked to her father. "I'll help her sleep, don't worry." Damn it. . .
He watched as Yang guided Ruby up the stairs to their rooms. Just before they went out of sight, Yang turned and gave him a nod, then went up the stairs. 'She understands. . .'
Damn him! Yang grew up too quickly in the weeks he'd been an idiot, she was raising Ruby when he should've. In a sense he was proud his daughter would show such maturity, but on another, he was angry more at himself now than he'd ever been.
"I'm sorry, Summer," he mumbled. "I'll make it up to them, I promise." For the weeks he showed them a bad side of him, he'd make it better. He walked to the table with the basket and looked inside. "Now about you."
The baby looked him in the eye. "Bah," the newborn boy said. He didn't really have an expression, too young to really make anything he can discern. The baby had pale skin, oddly so, it should've worried him that it was due to the cold, but it looked natural.
"Here's what's gonna happen." The baby blinked, almost attentively, at least that's what he's going to assume it was. "You're going to stay the night in my room. In the morning, I'll take you to a doctor to check you." Tai sighed. "And then I'll have to hand you to an orphanage."
The baby didn't respond, why would it? Words weren't exactly a newborn's forte, but it sounded like it understood.
"I lost my wife a few weeks back." He already felt weak from just saying that. "Until today, I was the worst father in history, grieving by myself while I left Yang and Ruby behind to deal with themselves." He breathed in deeply. "I made a mistake I shouldn't have committed, and now I need to make up for it, but I can't do that with you here. I'm sorry."
"Bah," the baby answered.
Tai gave a breath of amusement. "Maybe Qrow's right, maybe you do understand what I'm saying."
"Bah."
He chuckled. "Well, if you are, thanks for listening, and I'm sorry, again."
The doors to the cabin opened to reveal Qrow with a paper bag. Considering his little gift from Ozpin, speed was his specialty, he knew he would find a place that's open and return with the items.
"Back with the formula, want me to go make a bottle of the stuff? Can't say I remember perfectly how, but I think I can get by," Qrow said with the bag in one arm.
"Good, that makes one of us," he answered. "Sorry, Qrow, you saved Yang and Ruby, but I need you to do this for me." His former teammate waved the apology away and went to the kitchen.
"It's not a problem, I got this. I'll make two bottles, just in case." He left to the kitchen with the items. "But I get the bed, and you get the couch, okay?" Ah, the bastard. Still, it wasn't a bad trade, so he nodded. Qrow smiled cheekily before going out of sight.
Qrow was likely the only adult helping raise Yang and Ruby before his little grieving sabbatical, but only rarely considering what he and Ozpin needed to do. He taught and Signal when he wasn't on a mission, and that meant he had a workload while Tai was on leave from society as a whole, including his own family.
He sighed before looking back to the baby in the basket, who looked him in the eye again. "It might not taste good considering who's making it, but it's only for the night, maybe even for the morning."
"Bah." What a strange baby.
His eyes went to the paper note on the table that came with the basket. It wasn't filthy like a hobo would find, and thinking about it some more, the basket and blankets the baby was in looked pristine, as though newly bought.
Maybe it was some rich woman's baby that didn't want him any more? Or maybe even a spur of the moment from some teen mom? It's not like these things were expensive or even hard to find. Still, just what a strange set of traits for abandonment.
That didn't mean he wasn't pissed off at the lack of responsibility from these people. He was bad, but at least he didn't give up. If you didn't want the baby, at least don't leave it at some stranger's doorstep like a tool!
Taking a calming breath, he picked up the note and began to read it.
'This child is not normal, not in any way. Think of me what you will, but there are better people around that can raise it ten times better than I. I can't do it, I just can't, not with everything going on right now. If I tried, the baby would surely die, and he makes it difficult. He doesn't cry, so I don't know if he's hungry or dirty, sometimes days would pass and I forget he existed, I almost starved him several times from this. No, I can't do it, you'll have to raise him, and I can't risk it with the orphanage, I know what they do.'
Whoever this was, Tai would've punched him or her in the god damn face, the fucking, irresponsible coward. He seethed from what he read and calmed himself down to read the final note.
'Please take care of him, his name is Orochimaru.'
Yeah, if you knew me, I would never use the frontline main character. I have nothing against them, but side characters like this guy can make the story far more interesting given the right circumstances, hopefully, what I'm making is just that.
Reviews are premium fuel, and this story is a car. Fill 'er up, Scotty!
