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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 9: It's official (2)

~Ruby's POV~

Spying wasn't something nice, especially if one of the people she was currently eavesdropping was someone she didn't know how to approach.

Ruby would never consider herself as the most rule-keeping girl despite her father's serious commitment to give his daughters the best of moral upbringings, especially with the two influences in her life that were Uncle Qrow and his sister.

Albeit not as strong and fierce as Yang's rebellious personality in certain tidbits of her own life, the young Rose wasn't certainly shy to snoop around because of some curious and important situations that she felt somehow involved about.

It had been quite the two awkward days since the newly formed Team STRQ had successfully brought to safety two unarmed individuals out of the section they had ended up into.

While part of her was interest over the various details that led the new team to recover these people, her mind had been quickly shifted to focus on the greatest development from that very case.

Summer Rose, her mother which had been presumed death for almost eleven years… was alive and here at Beacon.

She was here, the woman she knew mostly about from some pictures and fragmented memories, maybe even some few tales that were told to her by her sibling, their father and Uncle Qrow-

It was a predicament that caught off-guard everyone, but the one that seemed to be shocked the most was… Yang.

The usually fiery brawler had stilled at the news delivered by Ms. Goodwitch, her lilac eyes widening at the words uttered by the older blonde as she alerted both Ruby and her of this new situation.

It was fairly late for the day when they had received to the hospital ward, the rest of the team having retreated back to the dorm room because of the intimacy of such event and… she was there.

The friendly bantering shared by the woman, Taiyang, and Qrow ended the moment the two girls entered the large room, their attention quickly grabbed by the newcomers.

Silver met silver, mother and daughter sparing each other a quiet stare directed at each other that seemed to last an eternity, but ended mere moments later when Yang spoke, seemingly ignoring the little exchange.

"M-Mom?"

Summer looked to the oldest of the two siblings, her smile slightly widening and showing just a hint of sadness on her eased expression.

But why?

"Yang."

The blonde took some steps forward while Ruby stood back as she was quick to pick up the highly-emotional state coming from her sister.

Yang had always appeared strong before everyone, either in public or in private moments.

She was always exceeding incredibly with her positive look of life and capacity to help those that needed her presence.

Her bravery, her determination… it all seemed to flicker away for just a moment, a tired young woman replacing her as she slowly approached their mother.

The older Rose's eyes were already watering at seeing both of her children, and she seemed fairly accepting of the sudden half-hug initiated by the brawler.

A muffled sob managed to escape the limitations imposed by the embrace, the blonde burying her head on the woman's shoulder while her arms mindfully wrapped around her neck.

Summer's arms were now around the girl's waist, and one of her hands was patting on her upper back as to comfort the distraught daughter.

Taiyang smiled as he looked at the scene, happy to see this reunion proceed this smoothly.

Qrow gestured Ruby to get a little more closer, at least enough for her to not be completely excluded from this.

But what was this?

She had heard stories about her mother, tales of heroic deeds and old team-led fights where… the leader of team STRQ was so awe-inspiring and admirable, so courageous and undefeated.

She knew it was all true and that this individual before her, currently busy with tending Yang's unexpected attitude, was even more than that.

But the young girl was also hesitant to proceed and try to get a hug, to 'meet' once more her mother after so many years as… she was confused about her lack of general emotion.

It was odd, yet she had trouble mustering the same reaction as Yang's. That was certainly bothering Ruby the most considering that she was the biological daughter.

Nothing against her sister, quite the opposite truth be told, but that lack of interest of pursuing a sudden embrace left her not only perplexed-

But also hesitant over what to do now that she was here.

Moments of uncertainty passed and the embrace between mother and daughter concluded with a pleasant closure as Summer spoke.

"My little Sunny Dragon, you shouldn't be crying now, right?"

The question was enough to bring a twitchy smile on the blonde's face, enough to give some reprieve from that bittersweet scene.

And now that the oldest of the two had her time with their mother, Ruby felt tensing in visible nervousness as she took two simple steps forward.

"Ruby," Summer muttered with a mirthful tone, it was soft and… familiar yet so distant and difficult to connect to.

"M-Mom." The red-caped girl leaned forward and slowly accepted the waiting arms of her long-lost parent.

"My little petal," She whispered lovingly, her hand reached the back of her short hair and started to stroke some of the locks there.

The affectionate nickname and the caring ministrations were more than enough to bring up a strange resonance to this behavior, her actions triggering something within the girl's mind.

Figures gaining color and distinct forms within her memories, her childhood regaining something that was once lost and forgotten.

She could remember and… it was good.

The tales about the cookie-making that both Yang and her father had told her about? Now those were emerging so suddenly and so strongly within her head and…

Ruby nuzzled closer, her posture slowly ceding some of its tense guard as the warm hold was finally melting her reluctance away.

A tear dropped down, then another and… soon some silent crying happened.

Gone were the worries and the insecurity, both from now and from previous instances, Ruby finally let the simplicity overrule the complexity of her newest responsibilities as, for just that very moment, she felt once again like a little child.

But not the kind of little that she was so unwilling to look back, the clumsy and friendless one that failed to keep up with important responsibilities, but the one that had one of the greatest childhood with her parents, with a loving sister and a funny uncle.

One without issues, one without dangers and… then reality resumed its course as the woman let go of her in quite the careful but soft way as her arms shifted slowly away from her proximity.

"You have grown up a lot since… I've last seen you," The woman commented with a kind smile. "And Qrow told me that you've a proper scythe as a weapon?"

At the mentioning of Crescent Rose, Ruby's smile returned with a wider turn as she nodded happily, almost ready to take out the weapon but… it wasn't here.

It took her a few seconds of silent panic to remember that the hospital ward didn't accept any sort of weapon within its area and this little scene was more than enough to warrant a mirthful chuckle from Summer.

"A-And you were quite right too about her quirks, Tai," She sighed with an eased nod directed at the blond. "To think that she would inherit my little clumsy self."

...Her mother was clumsy?

None of the three had mentioned her this, the discovery being quite surprising and… interesting as it lifted her curiosity over the matter.

Soon, a little conversation was born from such a little detail.

An entirely new world from the Team STRQ's past was dug up for her to listen to, spanning from the new grandiose tales of good to some awkward and quite relatable issues the long-disbanded group had to face early on their formation.

It was all positive and nice, time flying almost too quickly as the time for visiting expired for the day and they were all asked to leave by the quite strange Fox Faunus nurse stationed there.

Her foxy tail started to waggle even faster as she mentioned needles.

How odd.

But just as she lead the way towards the exit, Ruby slowed down as something caught her eyes and she was forced to slow down a little.

She had been aware that the rest of the new Team STRQ was still recovering in the infirmary but with being busy with this important family subject, she had forgotten to check and see how they were.

While most of the individuals were unknowns to her, the only one that got her thinking for some time was currently resting on his bed, eyes closed and his breathing softly let out with a quiet snoring.

The girl was tempted to approach the bed, to sneak a better peek at the young man.

Shaun Reyter, the boy had left her team with so little notice.

At first she had thought that Weiss had been correct.

Her partner had brought up some interesting bits she had failed to notice back during their first graduation test.

Sure, Shaun did bring up some decisive help against the Nevermore, his presence helping the plan to properly take place and he had been incredibly nice when she had fallen off the mean bird, being the one that caught her during the fall.

But with so few means to bring firepower, his abysmal experience as a result of not coming from one of the preparation schools and… he was a guy sleeping in the same room as four girls, some doubts were genuinely easy to understand about his behavior.

Yet while such analysis from the Schnee did make sense back when the young man had been called by Ms. Goodwitch to her office, the aftermath had been… quite confusing if not incredibly perplexing.

It was professor Port that had been notifying the students over the presence of an ongoing mission that got some of the teachers taken off from duty for the rest of the day, in case the operation would have required more reinforcements.

It had been surprising when her team had then discovered that it was the newly-created group led by Shaun that was dealing with such a worrying scenario and… her concerns faded the moment they returned back to school.

Not only were they fine, but they had gone and killed a high-level Grimm while also saving both Doctor Merlot and Summer.

The scientist had been taken to Vale's Main Hospital, the state of his body warranting some checkups, especially with the years spent imprisoned and the ruined state of his prosthesis.

The glance ended to be a passing one, her mind quick to reassure her that the next days would have surely given her the chance to spend a chat or two with the resting boy.

A day passed, Ruby had planned to visit once again the hospital ward to see if that would have given her that one opportunity to catch up with the former member of her team. Maybe even see if her mom would have told her a little more about… Uncle Qrow's misadventures with skirts.

Yet, just as she giddily lead her own team right to the first lesson for the day, her initial plans were proven to have been unknowingly foiled the moment she entered the class and… noticed Team STRQ had been there and had taken their seats by the several desks available in Port's classroom.

They looked fine, just a little tired and bored by the 'preparation speech' the portly professor was known to give at the beginning of his lectures.

While she quietly got the team to their usual spots, Ruby's eyes would constantly linger at Shaun as he continued to give his maximum effort to keep track of the unimportant words and details given by the old teacher's tale-telling.

An interesting feat considering how dull the tone of the lesson was... and she would be lying in saying that her staring at the young man proved to drain her immensely.

By giving attention to the boy, she was also listening to the horribly-paced lesson by proxy and… her brain felt aching at the torture she had to endure for the sake of a simple talk.

So when the lesson ended and everyone was preparing to leave for the next subject, Ruby's mind quickly had her try to approach the young man.

That failed miserably for two distinct reasons.

First, Team JNPR had moved faster than she could have hoped for, stalling her means to reach out for Shaun and… then she was subjected to some yanking from a certain grumbling white-haired heiress.

Weiss' impatience was legitimized by the fact they had already 'enjoyed' some detention the day before and that it was best to 'not antagonize any of the teachers for any reason' which prompted quite the rush to reach the next classroom.

It was during this peculiar lecture that things took an interesting turn compared to their first day as… Oobleck's lesson was turned into something far more interesting, and not as difficult to keep some attention onto.

While not as boring as Port, the coffee-addicted teacher that was Bartholomew Oobleck had a certain 'insanely quick-'paced speaking volume that made him a challenge to listen to.

And that was quite the saddening thought consider how some of his words do bring out some interest in at least trying to entice his classroom to listen.

This lesson became much more easier to keep up as it was hijacked by someone younger and less speedy with his own speech pattern.

Shaun's consideration to details over the specific historical context, aided by the constant questioning given by the professor- doctor, was more than enough to give a fresh new spin to the usual lesson.

Thoughts were added to genuine facts and the sharp but sudden attack directed at Cardin's blatant racism turned those two hours into quite the entertaining show about something that was meant to be… inherently boring.

A testament to this shocking development was the attention Blake had given to the lecture, something that warranted even more interest considering the abysmal interest the dark-haired girl had shown over any of the subjects here at Beacon.

The bow-wearing young woman would merely read her unique books, barely glancing up from those during lectures as she deemed them 'not-so-important' to give these any 'major focus'.

Something that had initially got Weiss quite irritated over the matter, the heiress demanding to check on the bookworm's homework and…

It was all correct. No mistakes, not a single issue that could have been used to rightfully condemn the 'obsessive hobby' the girl had, putting an end to the Schnee's contact with the silent brunette.

Yang was the one that initially brought up this situation, cheekily remarking how her partner's attention hadn't been just fixed upon the lesson, but onto Shaun himself.

Something that, strangely enough, annoyed a confused Ruby but that was soon defused when the young woman openly admitted that the topics brought up had gained her interest, nothing else.

Which was suspicious enough to get the blonde to pester her some more before conceding to silence and letting the lecture continue uneventfully until its final point.

With the end of the lesson, so did the subtle attempts to try and strike any polite conversation with Shaun and…

That called for some drastic actions that were partly-difficult to pull off.

The first step of her 'brilliant' plan was to dodge the next lesson for just a couple of minutes, which was taught by Ms. Goodwitch.

The means to attain this completion proved to be actually fairly simple to achieve.

"I-I need to go to the bathroom!?"

Weiss had blinked sternly but only said that she would have 'three minutes to deal with whatever' she had and thus the excuse was set to give her some opportunity.

Following Team STRQ around as they made their way back to their newest room proved to be a little more difficult as, from what she could remember from Oobleck's lessons, Faunus were capable of hearing little noises from far away and one of Shaun's teammates was a Bear Faunus.

The soft-spoken blonde seemingly failing to notice Ruby's swift but soft step, enough to provide to the young girl the change to finally reach the dorms' corridor.

She stopped by the corner, the scene of her father, uncle Qrow and mother entertaining some discussion with the team before following them inside their dorm-room.

The young Rose swiftly moved by the door, left ear carefully close to the wood-like texture as she tried her best to listen up to what was going on inside.

Confusing words left through the small openings of the door, but nothing truly interesting seemed to come up much to her increasing chagrin.

After five minutes or so of eavesdropping, something did pass through the annoying sound-proof door and… she almost tripped on herself as those words left the room clearly and distinctly.

"I want you to quit, Summer Rose!"

A yelp failed to leave her lips as she knocked her head by the door, producing a clear noise and… prompting her to bolt away from the proximity, her face burning red at the sudden and embarrassing reaction to that strong exclamation.

Her Semblance saw her blitzing through the school's hallways, her mind pinpointing the best path to reach Ms. Goodwitch's classroom and-

What was going on inside that dorm-room? And why Shaun said those things to her mom?

~Shaun's POV~

Our dorm-room was just as I thought it to be.

The beds were disposed on a linear positioning, the room looked devoid of anything but the same wallpaper present in other rooms. Our stuff had been 'carefully' left by the far corner on the right, nearby the lone large windows that gave to the inner courtyard of the campus.

Still, while the work at hand looked to be as difficult as the 'first time', my mind was more interested on a completely different matter, something that was barely connected to the room itself but about it's occupants.

I had expected many things to happen from this private encounter with Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long and Qrow Branwen, just not the developments and revelations born from that 'simple conversation'.

Some of my ideas over the soon-to-happen discussion being incredibly good, a few bad and… some seeing some neutral conversations.

The woman looked much better compared to her bed-stuck version, her skin having regained some color and her actions-reactions being immediate compared to the slower pace it had back by the hospital ward.

"This looks decent," Qrow commented with his rough voice before taking a sip from his little silver flasket, gaining quite the confused look from Qiu.

"Isn't it a bit early to be drinking?"

Considering it was around lunch-time, it wasn't truly that early but… yeah, he was drinking a little too much.

The man merely shrugged at the question.

"Never too early to get some energy back from babysitting people," He replied calmly, getting a snort from Summer.

"I don't recall being too much of a burden, birdy?" The woman huffed, giving him a faux glare and 'urging' the man to concede.

"Okay, I wasn't referring about you, Sum" He said, giving a long sigh as he glanced around the room. "Just not having much fun dealing with this 'apprentice' gig."

An apprentice? Now this was a novelty, especially if I considered that Qrow was supposedly meant to be dealing with some dangerous scouting mission against some enemy to Ozpin and his group in this current time, his presence here only temporary before having to return back to his job.

Since when did he have an apprentice? Ruby never ever mentioned about this once, not in the series nor now that this was all real.

And why would someone like him take some guy as an apprentice?

More details that I discovered on the very moment that had to be either related to the volumes I hadn't seen or a completely new element within this changing world, which would mean that… not everything I know was really 100% going to happen.

"It's surprising you took someone under your wing," Taiyang cracked a smirk for some reason. "Wouldn't have expected you to teach anyone beside your own classroom… and Ruby, that is."

The Branwen nodded in agreement, seemingly surprised of this development himself.

"Neither did I, and yet I found myself dealing with quite the polite brat to teach to," He answered with a serious tone. "His potential is here and he understands the basics too."

"You could have taken him to Signal," Summer joined in with a curious expression directed at the former red-eyed teammate. "What got you to take him of all people if it's a burden for you?"

"Boredom?" Qrow suggested with a brief hum. "But I don't know exactly, I guess he got me interested when he literally begged me to take him to some adventure."

"A young farmhand is meant to have for himself some 'flashy tales about heroes', in real life," The Xiao Long mentioned with a tired tone. "But to have him join you with how many horrible places you have to visit. Are you sure you did the right thing?"

There was some silence after the lengthy question from Taiyang, yet the discussion rekindled when Summer turned her attention back to the four of us.

"I think we digressed a little," She nodded to herself as she smiled again at the young team. "Let us talk with this Team STRQ now."

"How are you all doing?" The blond asked with a fatherly tone.

"Mostly well," Ryou replied calmly.

"I-I'm fine," Tulia followed with a slow nod, looking a little awed at Taiyang for some reason.

"Could be better," The short-haired brunette now leaning on my shoulder mused mirthfully. "Maybe if I was granted a month- no, two months of rest that I can spend to a millionaire villa with olympic swimming pool with all services and… my team always with me."

Qrow snorted at that. "Ain't that the dream?" He asked half-jokingly. "Still, that some good-thinking for a midget."

"Should I consider it a compliment, Mister Birdy?" Qiu shot back without hesitation, her smile only widening from there.

The Branwen shook his head, a small smile hidden as he took another long sip from his flasket.

"And what about you, Shaun?" The Rose intervened quietly, her smile twitching amused after seeing this little scene with the two.

"Mostly fine, I think by tomorrow I will be fully operational," I answered calmly and with my own smile. "May I ask about-"

"She will have to keep the wheels for two weeks as her body needs some time to adapt to her surroundings after the imprisonment she suffered," Qrow interjected bluntly. "She will get walking in no time with some exercise here and there."

"And then maybe, I will resume with my work," The mother concluded with a relieved sigh, getting some tensed looks from both men and… a confused look out of me.

While I could understand some enthusiasm from returning to walk as she had been an active-duty huntress for so long, I couldn't just understand why returning back on real missions.

Didn't she… learn to back away now that things were growing more dangerous for herself and her family?

Before anyone could have said anything about this subject, the woman continued.

"Still, I think it's rightful for me to thank you all for bringing Doctor Merlot and me out of Mt. Glenn," Summer bowed her head a little while nodding at us. "Your actions were proof of heroism, righteousness and… I think it would be correct in saying your leader's capacity to think was brave."

"And dumb," Ryou sighed, while shaking his head at the memory brought up.

"A-And foolish," Tulia glanced at me with a cute pout.

"Add stupid and dumb-dumb," Qiu finished by squeezing strongly at my poor arm, her glare burning momentarily at me for that very situation.

Oh right, did I forget to mention that they are still irritated by my choice to take on the Wyvern alone?

No? Well, what I can say is that it will take some time, hopefully just some days, to get this 'bad memory' to go away.

"It would seem like your team isn't happy about that, aren't they?" The Rose giggled after asking this, noticing the agreeing groan coming from my lips. "It was still something that exceeded your own duties. You jumped to make sure they were all safe and sound before trying to retreat."

I slowly nodded at that, still unsure as to why she was taking so long with saying this.

I could understand the need of thanking us but… why I felt like the woman was dragging the discussion for some reason?

"By the way, can I ask about your mentor? How is he doing?"

...What?

"You are talking about Gelb-"

"Yes, how is he doing?"

I blinked at the insistence, confused by the interruption but I still complied with her queries.

"He is doing well. He is still leading the Milita and he looked well last time I saw him, a few weeks ago."

Summer smiled happily at the news and nodded. "Has he ever told you about his apprentices?"

"He mentioned some during training but… not many," I replied, my pace was slower than before, my mind trying to understand where she was exactly going with this kind of inquiry.

Seriously, why was she going for this long detour?

"Did he ever mention the student that defeated him in two strikes?"

I blinked at that very specific question, frowning as the story had been indeed one of the ones that the man had told me during the training under him.

The story itself was vague, only that the now-old leader had been reluctant to take the challenge of this boisterous challenger, the girl in question having lost multiple times every week, never giving up from trying and trying again.

Then the final clash happened after a year after teaching her and it saw saw Gelb facing a swift defeat.

The full potential of Silver Darkness having been masterfully unleashed by this powerful apprentice and the battle ending the first steps of a glorious journey for this individual…

But the greatest twist was the identity of such student, someone that the militaman knew well and closely as… it was his daughter.

Just as I thought about this very detail and the strange insistence proclaimed by the woman, I felt a strange theory rising up from my brain and…

No. There was no way in Remnant that- It just couldn't be.

One thing is chaos, then there is father, finally there is destiny… and ultimately luck trumps it all.

My eyes widened in shock as her face twitched in amusement at the receiving the realization and she gave a bigger smile.

"Maybe I should introduce myself better," The Rose commented with a playful tone, catching off-guard the young team and even her former teammates. "My name is Summer Rose, I'm the former leader of Team STRQ and I'm the daughter of Gelb Rostfrei."

I blinked at that and I slowly spoke back. "I-I'm Shaun Reyter and Gelb Rostfrei is my grandfather."

She giggled. "Hello nephew."

…

"Wait, what!?" Qiu commented suddenly, pulling at my arm as if to extort some explanation over the matter… which I actually didn't have.

"Summer, I thought you said you didn't have any siblings-"

"And I don't, Tai," The Rose interjected curtly. "In fact I was surprised myself when Ozpin mentioned that Shaun had been adopted by my father."

"That sound incredibly absurd," Qrow commented with a sigh. "But I've seen crazier stuff. I guess this is a 'happy family reunion'."

"This is a little beyond absurd," Ryou jumped in with an intrigued tone. "The chances of what just happened should have been slim if not non-existing-"

"Yet it happened," Taiyang said with a curious tone. "Something that was quite surprising as interesting, but still I'm glad to make your acquaintance… nephew."

I blinked at that followup, glancing at the now-smiling blond with a surprised look before nodding at him. "Uncle Tai."

His smile widened and, just as I glanced beside him, specifically to a certain Branwen, the man huffed.

"Nope," Qrow shook his head. "I've already enough with my nieces and-"

"Uncle Birdy~!" Qiu jumped at the opportunity, giggling by the very moment a noticeable scowl appeared on the dark-haired man's face.

"Not funny."

"I think that's hilarious," Summer said before chuckling briefly at his reaction, then the woman glanced at the short-haired girl. "Your name is Qiu, right?"

The youngest of the two twins nodded. "That is my name, ma'am."

"Call me Summer and..." The Rose glanced at our close predicament, the way the girl was currently latching at my tired arm. "I see that you are fairly attached to your team leader."

"Tightly so," Qiu added with a quick nod. "Wouldn't want to see him wander around and hurt himself."

"You say this as if I'm a clumsy child-"

"Which you are compared to us," Taiyang intervened with a sigh. "You shouldn't consider fighting 'those kind of battles' now that she is so close to your weak-points."

Was he trying to make it sound like Qiu was going to stab me if I said the wrong thing? I mean, I could see her doing this but- actually there is no but, she would really do that.

That was an interesting save, I merely nodded back at him and didn't continue that little protest, another giggle dignifying defeat in that awkward predicament.

Instead, I decided to shift the discussion back to something else.

Something that got me incredibly confused and… suspicious over Summer's behavior before this little detour.

"Summer-"

"Auntie."

I frowned at that interruption, but I was quick to catch her message and sighed.

"Auntie, can I ask what do you intend to do once you have recovered?" I asked with a sterner tone, trying my best to hold back the fact I was related, albeit by adoption, to Summer Rose.

The woman blinked and her smile deflated a little, possibly catching on why I decided to bring up this argument of all things I could have mentioned.

"Just as I said a few minutes ago, I plan to return to active-duty," The Rose answered with a calm and collected tone, her silver-eyed stare directed at me as if trying to gauge a solid reaction out of me. "Any particular reason behind this interest?"

I hummed at her defensive tone, my mind already trying to have me deterred from continuing down this path but…

I couldn't just let this dumb stuff unfold without saying something over the matter. I just couldn't.

"Considering the importance your 'death' has for some people, I think it would be best to take at least some less-active role-"

"And stop with the missions?" She interrupted with some cutting edge by the end of her words. "Let people either suffer or die because of some little issue-"

"Ozpin asked you to-" Qrow tried to speak, but was interrupted by his former leader.

"I will not back down to become a mere teacher," The woman said with a serious tone. "I've nothing against your wishes to teach at Signal, but I can't just back away from my duty as-"

"You know that you are talking to me, right?" I interjected with a more serious tone. "I'm the one asking you to not do this."

"And to what end? Why would I need to retire?"

"Other than having someone constantly hunting you?" I suggested with an increasing voice, we were reaching quite the interesting escalation from that little turn of things. "Other than the fact that your daughters wouldn't want to see you disappear again."

There was some silence, I could feel the temperature suddenly drop to a chilling cold as the wheel-chaired woman narrowed her eyes at the last bit of my intervention.

"Do you think I didn't consider about them, that I don't think about my family?" She asked and I sighed.

"I know you care for them immensely, you love them and I will not say otherwise," I replied quickly, trying to not bring even more heat to the situation. "But you can't just hope to continue your work and expect no deadly threats more than what a normal hunter should be facing."

"And I should be leaving people in need?"

"Because of circumstances? Yes," I shoot back, starting to get fairly irritated by this rehearsing.

"You would let people die… because you have a family?"

"Since I lack the arrogance to compare myself to an unreplaceable huntsman and since I believe there isn't just a few of us, no. I would let them be saved by someone that has a better chance to help them than me when the time for me to retire finally comes." Qiu's hold was increasing over my arm, but instead of giving me discomfort, I could feel her trying to calm me down a little.

As much as I was trying to bring some sense in this debate, I was already losing some of my patience over the situation as Summer continued to paint me in such a negative light to even try to bring her to those thoughts.

"And what would you want me to do?" Some pressure started to channel and tighten up the entire room from the words of the woman. "To just give up and be selfish about-"

"I want you to quit, Summer Rose!" I finally exploded with fury, everyone tensing up at my outburst. "You are trying your damn best to try to get yourself killed, that is what I'm seeing. The only thing I can say is that this is not what a hero would do, not this vehemently and not this fanatically."

She looked surprised by my ire, yet she tried to push back. "T-There is nothing wrong in trying to protect those that can't-"

"Once again, you ignore the fact that the world has plenty of hunters that can do this job even better with their peculiar set of abilities," I interjected fiercely. "You are not an army, don't compare yourself to one."

There was once again silence but, differently than before, the escalation had died down as Summer's front had collapsed before my unwavering and stubborn voice.

I took a few breaths, calmly trying to relax over the matter and not let any negative emotion to influence my next words or action.

I expected more silence, I expected a refusal but-

"I will retire-"

I stared up again looking at the melancholic glint on her silver eyes, yet she didn't look too much defeated by this heated exchange.

"But I want you to come closer just for a moment."

I blinked at that request, feeling suspicious over some nasty comeback that I might not like.

Yet, considering the situation and how badly it could go if I didn't go through with her order, I decided to stood up from the bed I've been sitting by and approach the wheel-chaired Rose.

I leaned forward as a little smile appeared on her face and… the world exploded in white petals.

My body tensed up in panic at the sudden development. However, before I could anything about the impressive display of her Semblance, I felt her wrap something around my neck and… a white hood fell on my face.

"Uh?"

My hands pushed up the hood and I quickly understood what had just happened as… I felt the familiar cape, the very one I had taken to distract the Wyvern away from the group.

It was Summer's original hood and cape, the one that Ruby based her red version and-

"W-What?"

A giggle left her lips as she leaned back to the chair.

"I admit that I did use my 'stubborn' act to trick you to accept this," The woman confessed with a mirthful tone. "Thankfully, I had the help of two good actors."

I glanced at Taiyang and Qrow, both men looking partly guilty as they nodded at the silent guess of mine.

"B-but why?"

"When I wake up here in Beacon, the first thing I did with a clear mind was considering how much I had lost because of my duties as a huntress, how much I missed my life as a wife and mother," Summer explained calmly and with a hint of sadness. "I was so happy to see both Ruby and Yang… but then I remembered that I've been missing from their lives for a decade, ten years, and so I decided to consider quitting the Huntsmen Corps."

"Taking into account her current case, it wouldn't be difficult to get this official retirement going," Qrow added with a nod. "It would take some months for the formal acceptance of this predicament, but thanks to Tsune, Summer has a year-long leave for what has happened in her last mission. It's the least of compensations for that."

"Of course I will seek some new jobs," The Rose continued with a determined smirk. "I was thinking about something here in Vale. I've heard that many establishments have closed recently and… I'm a good chef so-"

"A restaurant would be nice~!" Qiu replied in delight, squeezing again at my arm. "We could eventually come to visit if you manage to do that."

"And we could offer some hands by the weekends if needed," Ryou added with a blink, while Tulia smiled and nodded.

"I-I could help-" The blonde commented shyly. "I-I've learned how to cook six years ago and… I was the one that cooked food for orphans back at Menagerie-"

"I will consider those offers… but I think first I should see if it's possible to create a restaurant to begin with," The Rose giggled at the enthusiasm displayed by my team. "But I will genuinely consider it all once I know if it's possible."

"But what about the cape? Wouldn't Ruby and Yang-"

"They will be informed of this decision," Summer interjected swiftly. "I understand the worry, but I know that these two will accept this situation… despite what you might think of them after you left their team."

I tensed up at that mention as I had initially thought that the mother had been blissfully unaware of the circumstance behind the creation of this new team.

Yet she didn't look anywhere annoyed or angry about it, actually she seemed saddened by it.

"It's a pity that Yang and Rubes didn't vouch for you, but I will wait for a few days before actually chide them properly for this," She promised with a nod. "I need some time to get accustomed to Remnant and they need to get accustomed to me. I prefer to spend some time with them before saying anything about this to-"

"Avoid any unnecessary fallout, I understand."

She giggled. "That's good to know."

Soon, the trio was escorted outside and, with quite the heavy discussion left behind, we started to organize our room.

Hopefully, this time we will manage to create some bunkbeds without some chaotic 'order' behind its structure.

AN

Summer is a mischievous lady that will trick everyone for the sake of good. Yes, I did make her 'appear' as if she was stubbornly attached to her job as a huntress, but I am perfectly aware that her truest desire would have been retirement if she had managed to survive that mission.

And yeah, 6,5k words and… there are mistakes. I can feel it! And the reason behind the grammar mistakes is that I've wasted 6 hours writing this and I might have messed some of the words.

Any mentioning of the mistakes could be useful to fix those when I wake up… in 10-12 hours from now.

I need my slep!

P.S. Omakes? Next chapter, it will be about Summer, Taiyang, Qrow and… someone else. Be ready for some hilarious problems with Classic Stark Insanity.

EDIT: Endless Kudos for 'Guest2 Chptr. 14' (You could change the name to something a little more easy to remember, just mention it in some of the next reviews) for giving me a thorough list of grammar mistakes that I fixed for this chapter!

P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin

k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin

REVIEW Q&A!

Thomas Knightshade: Velvet shall be saved!

Unknown2615: First thing first, thank you for your kind words. I'm happy to know that the rewrite is doing well and I will quickly address the issue you've pointed out about the timeframe:
1) Rules in Hunters' Academies are slightly more draconian than simple High Schools, especially considering the importance of the job for the students that are going to pass the school years there. Team-making is one of the cornerstone of Huntsmen' society as a cohesive team is the prime need for the newly formed groups, thus proper team-making is so crucial that quick adjustment are not only expected to happen, but also favored by many academies in Remnant. Shaun's situation isn't the first precedent to happen so quickly, in fact Summer might have risked something similar if the 2/4 of her team hadn't vouched for her to stay; (No, it's not Canon Lore, it's something about the story. I understand it should be introduced via chapters, but I can concede this much beyond the plot)

2) Simple answer is Aura and battle-preparation. While many huntsmen have yet to face a 'truly deadly' fight, the experience given by Combat Schools gives a better mental preparation over the worst case scenarios. Interviews are generally conducted during the time of the recovery for huntsman/men and those are meant to decide if the recovery should conclude by the end of the medical recovery or if it needs to be extended as per 'psychological recovery'. They suffered from non-threatening case of Aura depletion, most of the damage having been tanked by their 'mini-shields' and their bodies didn't suffer any wounds.
Hopefully, this was enough. I understand the concern behind the timing of some of the chapters, but I've already planned some little time advancement to avoid putting all of the plot day-by-day. Things will have a proper pace and I will avoid the best possible some huge timeskips. Hope to hear some more feedback!

Guest2 Chptr. 14: Fixed everything! Massive thanks for the help, hopefully this made reading for everyone much easier! Once again Thank you x1000!