"Compensating for something?" I asked once Qrow got to the table.
"Have you looked in a mirror?" Qrow retorted as he pulled out the seat across from me, dropping into it, one hand placed on the table while he casually leaned back, the other placed on the backrest of his seat as he glanced around the others at the table.
I held back a chuckle.
One big aspect of everything I'd been doing was building a reputation that'd get around. Good, bad, it didn't really matter. The important part was that mentions of me got around in all sorts of different circles, from the criminal side of kingdoms to those officially running things. Ideally, if I didn't find him first, Tyrian or any of Salem's people would make the mistake of coming straight to me themselves.
I expected Qrow to catch wind of it sooner or later, Ozpin still sending him out in and field from time to time. And it was about the usual time he made his yearly trip to Mistral to come looking for us.
The same old stubble along his chin and laid-back demeanor. If it weren't for that bit of gray beginning to streak throughout his hair it would've been hard to tell he was getting on in his years.
He looked good. A bit worn down by rushed travel, clothes a bit dirtied and a few red lines taking shape in his eyes, but good.
"So-" Melanie said, her brow raised as she looked between us. "-you two going to talk or what?"
Miltia, sitting across from her, shared that same curiosity. Cinder, at the table for once and seated beside me wasn't quite the same, regarding Qrow with her usual narrowed eyed suspicion. In fact, it wasn't just the people at our table curious about what a huntsman wanted with me, a few around the bar not at all subtle about trying to listen in on whatever conversation was about to take place.
"Let Em know something came up. I won't be taking on any work." I said to Cinder as I stood up, Qrow doing the same.
This wasn't the place for what we had to talk about.
XOXO
"Nice place." Qrow said, setting his sword and the small bag he'd been carrying with him against the island separating the kitchen from the rest of the apartment, before taking a seat on one of the stools running along it.
"No point in having lien if I'm not going to spend it." I said while grabbing a pair of ice cold cans of soda from the fridge and bumping the door closed behind me. Stepping up to the opposite side of the island, I slid one over to him while setting my down, taking a moment to remove my helmet and place it aside.
"You been keeping your semblance active all the time?" Qrow asked.
"Oh, yeah." I blinked, a familiar easing sensation following. At this point I was so used to keeping it active at all hours of the day that it felt more natural to have it on than off. I haven't had it off around another since setting off from the tribe. "Better not to take any chances while I'm on my own."
The constant drain on aura, while only more efficient than ever, interfered with my ability to regenerate the energy as quickly as others but that was a small price to pay when it kept me prepared to react to nearly anything.
Besides, I probably had bigger problems on my hands if I allowed my aura levels to fall far enough for it to be a real concern.
Qrow cracked open his can, the hiss filling the apartment, but only took a sip. "About that, why aren't you with your mother?"
There were plenty of reasons I could give but they all stemmed from the same thing.
"Salem." I said. No matter how it was sliced, everything I was doing went back to her. "Mistral seemed like as good a place as any to start looking for her people." With a nudge of my head, the drawers of the end table beside my bed slid open, the envelope and pictures of that cold case Miss Malachite provided flying over and landing in front of Qrow. "Not much to go off but I'm pretty sure one of them was in the city recently. If I'm lucky, they're still somewhere in the kingdom at least."
Qrow silently set aside his can, looking the information over.
"You can take all that with you." I added. Ozpin influence in Mistral was a little questionable, the loyalty of the headmaster of Haven Academy a mystery at the moment. That was a more tentative situation, especially with the relic involved, but worse comes to worse I'd be paying the man a visit myself. With Qrow around, if I went about things right, that might've opened a few doors involving handling that business.
"You say that like you're trying to get rid of me." Qrow said, setting the photos he'd been looking over aside. "You know, I've heard plenty of things on my way to the city and whole lot more once I got in. Protecting villages, freeing faunus, and apparently going after her people too." Qrow shifted in his seat. "I see what you're doing, kid. Summer would be-"
"How's Yang and Ruby?"
Qrow paused, silence setting in for a moment. He didn't double down or push against the change in topic, however. "Good. Yang's always finding new ways to cause trouble and Ruby still asks about you whenever I see her." He said, reaching down and pulling up that bag he brought with him. He opened it open and slid over a simple red folder. "She wanted me to bring that to you."
I opened it up, sliding out and spreading out the stack of papers that'd been tucked behind one of its flaps.
Drawings and sketches.
"She's really something." I muttered. I was used to getting more childish and colored filled drawings from Ruby and while there were still a few of those among the papers, some depicting me in my mask fighting off Grimm and others without my mask standing amongst the family, it was her sketches that really caught my eye. The drawings of my weapon and its different blades were getting more detailed every year. Her handwriting, notes drawn from new pieces and symbols she came up with, was as bad as ever though, the chicken scratch barely legible to anyone who wasn't used to it.
She was only eight, but that whole weapon obsession was already developing her some pretty good skills.
"Dad's not actually letting her mess with weapons, is he?" I asked, glancing up from them.
"Not in a million years." Qrow said with a shake of his head. "But I might've let her watch me fix up my weapon here and there." Yeah, Qrow was definitely going to be what inspired Ruby to go with a scythe for her own weapon.
"Yang said she'd give you something herself." Qrow said, leaning forward. "And we could go see her right now. You're still a kid, Talon. You should be at home enjoying yourself. Leave Salem to us adults."
It was funny. The exact details might be different but in the end what Qrow and others back home wanted from me wasn't so different from what Mom was trying to convince me to do.
"That would be a waste of all my training." I said, meeting his pleading stare. "Ruby has silver eyes. That makes her a target. I'm not going to sit around on Patch or keep running around with the tribe when I'm strong enough to do something about it now."
In an ideal world I could wrap this all up before Yang or Ruby ever got to Beacon but that wasn't realistic. I didn't even have a solid solution for Salem herself yet, hunting down her people more of a way to delay things. Who knows, maybe with Cinder and Emerald with me I'd already pushed back or completely averted the disaster that would've taken place in Vale.
It wasn't much but if that bought them a few extra years to just enjoy life without being faced with any of this, it was something.
"At least visit like you used to. I can wait here and-"
"No."
Frustration took the place of his hopeful desperation, Qrow and I falling into another silent stare, nothing other than the faint bubbling of our cans and the near silent air conditioning filling the apartment.
Finally, he released a sigh, reaching into that bag once more. He fully emptied it this time, a dark leather bound book and sizable dark box pulled out and placed between us. He'd never been one for arguments and already knew how'd they go anyway, the few he drew out always ending the same.
"The book's from your old man." Qrow said. "And the box is from Summer."
I grabbed the book, quickly flipping through it.
All the pages were meticulously written up by Dad himself, featuring recipes and drawings of all different types of food, sweets taking up the majority of it. There were few indents written in Ruby's messy style and other doodles in the margins.
Good to see he still found the time to do stuff like that.
"What about you?" I asked, closing the book and placing it back on top of the box. "Still teaching at Signal with Dad?"
"And regretting it everyday. It's a pain in the ass getting up so early." Qrow said, after a glance at the untouched box. "But it could be worse."
With the most pressing parts of the conversation out of the way, things got far more relaxed. Mom, anything going on back on Patch, and plenty of other stuff that didn't require either of us toeing our way around eggshells like just getting pictures of my weapon for Ruby.
A good hour passed before we were both standing at my apartment door, Qrow's sword back in place at his waist.
Unlike Mom, Qrow didn't care much for the tribe. And I couldn't blame him for it. After visiting me and short conversations with Mom he might've lingered around on our trail for a while but typically left not long after.
He'd be sticking around now that I wasn't there.
"Uncle Qrow." I said. "Don't go pulling any of that distance crap while you're here. Your semblance isn't a problem for me."
"You sure you of all people should be saying something like that?" Qrow asked, brow raised. Yeah, it was hypocritical but if he was going to be around there was no point in him worrying over something like a bit of bad luck. "But I got you, kid. Just don't go complaining about me sticking my nose in your business after saying something like that." He reached over, a hand place on my head and hair rustled up. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I might've gotten used to it, but I couldn't say I didn't find the gesture just a little annoying.
"If Ozpin isn't paying you enough to get a place here, you can take the couch." I said.
Qrow snorted. "Got a little lien in your pockets and now you think you can call me broke?"
"Hey, you said it, not me."
With a shake of his head, he pulled back his hand and left, casually waving as he walked down the hall. I closed and locked up behind him, returning to the island where all the gifts laid, stare drawn to the box.
I took a breath.
My aura changed, morphing from the rigidness of Glynda's to the dark cold composure of Mom's. And like clockwork, presences tugged at the edge of my mind and aura. They were like a weight, each one feeling as though they were looming behind me at different distances.
Qrow was the closest, probably heading down to get himself an apartment here.
Mom and a few from the tribe weren't too far off.
Dad, Ruby, and Yang felt the furthest, the tugs of their presences faint compared to Qrow's and Mom's.
They were all alive and well, different bundles of echoes joined with their presences.
And then there was Summer…
XOXO
Power Stone Goal: 500
(A/N: The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. In others words, if it isn't obvious, Summer is very much alive. More on that on the next episode of DRAGON BALL Z! Damn it feels like this might be the week of cliffhangers. Unintentional, I promise, its just how it turned out.
Anyways, the link for those who want to read ahead:
patreon .com/ thirdratewriter
I shall see you in the comments. Probably. I might go get some food first.)