Chapter Text
Chapter 5: Stoking the Embers
She returned again. It had been two weeks since he sent her away, and yet, she continued to come back searching for him. Ashen assumed that after the first time he hid himself from her, she would be disheartened and return home.
Instead, she waited. She waited until the sun was high in the sky and her father came to retrieve her. Despite the tongue lashing he gave her, she never did tell him why she came. When he dragged her home, he thought that would be the end of it. He thought the ring that weighed on his finger had served its purpose.
As much as Ashen was repulsed by the nefarious purpose behind the creation of the Obscuring Ring, he could not deny how useful it was. Combined with the Slumbering Dragon crest, and he had practically become a phantom. Which proved highly fortunate as the child, Ruby, proved that she was nothing if not persistent.
She was back the very next morning, and once more, she was dragged back home. It practically became a game between her and her family. Would she succeed in sneaking away here or would her family catch her before she could arrive? She was never absent for more than a day.
It was in the middle of the second week when her father decided to confront her, and he did not come alone. He brought with him her sister and uncle. Yang and Qrow if he remembered what he overheard correctly. Rather than berate her for her madness, they pleaded with her. They begged her to cease her madness. They wanted to understand why she was going so far.
He could see the effect their words had on her. The distress and guilt she no doubt felt for causing her family so much worry nearly broke her. Yet, despite her tears, she would not divulge the reason she kept coming back.
Ashen was surprised that she kept him a secret from them. He did not swear her to secrecy. Did she misinterpret his words and believe that he would disappear permanently if she told them about him? He had no intention of revealing himself to her again.
In the end, he was a stranger to her, and despite whatever feelings she may have had, it was unlikely that she would place him over her family. She was ready to give up. She would have given up were it not for her uncle.
He had a sharp eye and an equally sharp mind. Sharper than what his appearance belied. He had noticed the firepit, which would not have been a problem were it not for the fact that Ashen had used it the night before. He assumed mistakenly that she had finally given up and thought it would be safe to indulge himself by relighting it. She had made him regret that decision. Her uncle, Qrow, was quick to deduce what or rather who Ruby was waiting for.
Yet, despite that her family now knew what she was doing, she would still not tell them why. They each prodded her with various reasons, but she would not provide any answers. When her father suggested that he had done something untoward her, to say he was surprised by her reaction would be an understatement. All were taken aback by the ferocity she defended his honor with. He would admit to being touched by the gesture. Few were those willing to stand by an Undead.
From that day onward, she was no longer the only one seeking him. When they were not waiting with her, her father and uncle were combing the forest for him. Her bird shifting uncle was the most troublesome. Thankfully, his presence had become established enough that it warded off all other animals from a wide berth around the site. He hadn't seemed to realize yet that other than the insects, he was the only living thing that could tolerate his presence.
Now, here they are, in the middle of the third week. The flame of hope and desire that drove her for so long had been reduced to a flicker. From the way she slouched to the despondent look in her eyes, it was obvious that she was finally at the end of her rope.
Persistence can only carry someone so far. At least for the living. After today, her flickering flame of hope should finally be snuffed out. He took no pleasure from the pain he was putting her through, but he had decided that it was necessary.
All too often do the young chase after warriors like himself for all the wrong reasons. When she told him about her dream to be a hero, to be like him, he suddenly found himself staring not at her face, but an amalgamation of dozens of different children. He could only recall a few of their names. Despite their different features, regardless of whether they were a boy or girl, they all shared one thing in common. That same look of idolization and awe.
They all said words similar to hers. They followed in his footsteps... and they died for it. He would not be responsible for another. His presence would only encourage her. Better for her dreams to die now. Enough have thrown their lives away. At least this way would help convince her to choose a different path.
Ashen was pulled away from his thoughts by a growl and a gasp. Prowling out from between the trees was a corrupted wolf. It was smaller than what he had deemed average size for the creatures, lacking most of the bone-like plating that covered its kind.
He expected her to flee, that the appearance of this beast would finally convince her to cease her madness, but against all odds, she did not. Despite her obvious fear, she held her ground. She had plenty of time to change her mind and flee, but she refused to budge. The beast, sensing an easy meal, took its time prowling towards her. Despite the beast drawing closer with every step, she still. Would not. Leave!
He could see the tears running down her face as she braced herself for the inevitable. It was an inevitability he denied. The beast had barely made it halfway to her before he fell upon it. With a single swing of his sword, silver steel sang as it split the air and decapitated the beast. He had put too much strength behind the blow that he carved a deep gouge in the dirt.
All was silent in the clearing with the exception of the hissing as the beast's corpse dissolved into smoke. It was a curious sight the first time he had witnessed it, but he knew it was merely a convenience since it meant that he did not have to bother cleaning his sword.
When Ashen turned to face Ruby, she greeted him with a timid smile on her tear streaked face.
"You're here," she said. "I-I was right. I knew you would be here."
He said nothing as he watched her break down in hysterical tears, overwhelmed by the maelstrom of emotions that coursed through her. Ashen rested his sword in the ground as he towered over her small frame.
"Why didn't you run?" he asked when she finally calmed down.
"I knew you would protect me," she replied. Though her tone was meek, Ashen was able to pick up on a level of certainty in her voice.
"And how could you have been so sure? How were you certain that I did not leave for some far-off lands?"
"Because you're still camping here," she responded. "At first, I thought that I was just unlucky and was just missing you each time I came by. Then, I really started to believe that you left and broke your promise. When my family came to get me, I was ready to give up, but then, my uncle—"
"—noticed the ashes I left behind," he cut in. "Which inspired you to continue your search for me." He cursed himself under his breath.
"Yeah. We realized that you never left and were still camping here." Ruby's eyes narrowed as realization hit her. "You were watching us!" she accused.
He saw no point in hiding it, so he nodded.
"Why? Why were you hiding from me? Did I do something wrong?"
He sighed. "Let me ask you this first; why do you want to be a hero?"
She blinked in surprise at the question. "I want to help people because it is the right thing to do. That's why I want to be a hero."
"Do not lie to me, child," he chastised. "I do not believe that you are truly so selfless at your age. You seek to become one for yourself. Is that why you sought me out? For my approval?"
"But I'm not lying to you! I do want to help people."
"Then you are not telling me everything, or you are lying to yourself. Really, for what reason did you push yourself so far? To the extent that you worried your own family! You went so far as to recklessly endanger yourself!" He watched her shrink into herself, unable to reply. She could only stare at the ground as he waited for a reply that he knew would never come. "This foolish endeavor of yours ends now. Do not return here again." He walked away. His cape snapped and billowed out in the breeze behind him.
"Please, don't go," she pleaded.
He ignored her.
"Come back, please!" she begged.
He didn't slow his pace as he reached the tree line.
"I don't want to be alone!"
It wasn't so much the plea itself that made him turn around, but rather, it was the level of desperation and fear in her voice. As Ashen stared at her, he realized that he may have been a bit too harsh. Tears ran down her face as she clutched her cloak tightly around herself.
"I'm scared," she whispered faintly. The silence of the forest was the only reason her words were able to reach him.
"What are you scared of?" he asked as he approached her once again. "Do you fear for your family?"
"I-I'm scared that one day they won't come back," she said through her sniffles. "I'm scared that the same thing will happen. They'll leave and I'll wait, but they will never come back. Just like mom."
"What about the rest of your family? Surely, there are others who would worry for you if you too decide to leave for the battlefield. What about them?"
"There's no one else. Uncle Qrow is the only other family we have."
Ah. Now he was beginning to understand. "If I remember correctly, you mentioned that your sister is currently undergoing training." She nodded in confirmation. "So, I can assume then that when she leaves to follow in the footsteps of your father and uncle, you will be the one left behind; forced to wait for their return until the day comes where they don't."
Ruby whimpered as she nodded. She clutched her cloak tighter as she shrunk in on herself. An awkward silence settled between them, occasionally broken by her sniffles. She wished that she could see his face, because she couldn't get a grasp on what he may be thinking with the helmet in the way. It didn't help that with the way he was standing over her, he was very intimidating. Ruby jumped when Ashen broke the silence with a loud sigh. He took a seat next to her.
"I will not lie to you—you are trapped in an unfortunate situation. You have two bad choices in front of you."
"But what's wrong with me wanting to be a huntress?" she questioned. "Am I too weak? Too small? I'll grow bigger, stronger! So, why is it so bad that I also want to be a huntress? My family doesn't want me to be one. My sister doesn't think I can. Even you don't want me to be one. Why?"
"It is not that I don't believe that you can one day become a great warrior. I just did not want to be responsible for another..."
"Another what?"
"...You are not the first child to have gazed upon me in awe and been inspired to wield the sword. There were others like you. They saw a great warrior, a champion, a hero. They saw someone to imitate and follow. I've seen some of these children grow up and commit to the path of the sword. There were even a few rare ones who I trained myself." Ashen sighed morosely as he stared up at the sky. "It always ended the same, though. I would eventually lead them, and they would follow without hesitation... I led them to their deaths... I led them to damnation."
"That's why you don't want me to be a huntress. You're afraid I'll end up like the others you've met," Ruby whispered. It reminded her of the guilt that still plagued Yang after she dragged her into the forest that day. She could only imagine how much worse Yang would feel if she had died.
"Yes, when you told me your aspirations that day, I grew fearful that I was about to inspire another to their death. Now though, if what you told me is true, then it may seem that you have no choice but to follow your family's footsteps."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Only time will tell. Though, to be fair, I would make the same choice if I stood in your position." He turned his head to face her. "All I can say for now is that you would have to be heartless to turn your back on what remains of your family. You don't strike me as the type who would."
"Of course not. I love them," she stated. "But that doesn't mean that I don't want to help people. I want to make my mom proud, so I'm going to be an amazing huntress just like she was." She wasn't aware that she had done it, but Ruby had puffed up her chest in pride at her declaration.
"And it is just coincidence that doing so allows you to remain by your family's side." She gave Ashen a sheepish smile in response. "No matter. It is as the old saying goes: two heads with one swing."
Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "Isn't it to birds with one stone?" There was a long silence before Ashen replied.
"It is an older saying."
Ruby couldn't suppress the snort of laughter that escaped her. She could feel the tense atmosphere that had been surrounding them finally easing away with her giggles.
"And just how old are you?" she teased.
"Far older than I have any right to be," he responded.
"Can you show me?" she asked. Ashen tilted his head in confusion, so she mimed removing a helmet. He shook his head.
"It would be best if I did not. You do not survive as long as I have without collecting a few scars. My face has become something that has made children flee in fear from me."
"It can't be that bad. What happens if I see you without your helmet? How am I supposed to recognize you?"
"Hopefully, that would never occur. I practically live in this armor anyway; can't even remember how long it's been since I had last taken it off."
"But how can you live in there? Doesn't it get stuffy and—" Ruby was interrupted by a chime from her pocket.
Ashen watched as she removed a rectangular object from her pocket. It was something that he recognized. From the interactions he witnessed, he was assuming that it was a device to communicate with. No doubt, it was a product of some new and advanced sorcery. As he watched her manipulate the device, he realized that it could probably do a lot more than simple communication. Other than a picture of a dog that quickly disappeared, he could not recognize anything on the device. None of the characters or symbols were remotely familiar.
"It's a message from my sister," she commented. That confirmed at least one of his suspicions.
"Just what is that device?"
"It's a Scroll. Don't you have one?"
Ashen hadn't realized that he had given voice to his curiosity. He shook his head. "It is the first time I have ever seen such a device."
"How do you not know what a Scroll is? Everyone has one." Ruby waved hers around for emphasis.
"I am from the wastes. After my home fell, I spent my life wandering the wilderness and outskirts of the kingdoms. I had never actually set foot inside any of the kingdoms themselves, so I will not deny that I am ignorant of many things because of this."
"Ohhh, you're from the badlands." She nodded her head understandingly. "My uncle, Qrow, has done missions out there before. He's told me how dangerous it gets out there since they're so far from the Kingdoms and how villages out there are... um... simple?"
"You mean primitive." Ashen couldn't help but chuckle at Ruby's embarrassed wince. "I take no offense. I accept that I am ignorant, but that is only because I had been preoccupied with other pressing matters."
"Like what?"
"Survival for the most part."
"Oh."
Ashen waved her concern away. "I believe we have gotten off-track. What message did your sister send you?"
"She was just asking if I was done waiting for you to show up." She held the "Scroll" in front of him. "She also said that if I take any longer, then they'll come drag me back home again."
Ashen nodded as he stared at her Scroll. The characters he was staring at were completely foreign to him. Not a single one bore any resemblance to any language he knew, and—considering how far he traveled and the lands he visited—he could recognize quite a few. Once more, he could not prevent himself from voicing his thoughts.
"Interesting."
"What is?"
"It seems that I cannot read," he admitted.
"What?"
"Maybe it would be more accurate to say that I can read, but just not your alphabet," he explained to Ruby's bewilderment.
"I've never heard of any other alphabets. What did you learn to read?" she asked incredulously.
"An odd and nearly forgotten language," Ashen explained. "It is no longer spoken, only written. A futile attempt to prolong its life, but seeing as I am one of the last few who still use it, there is no stopping it from fading away completely."
Ruby stared at him with a frown as she hummed in thought.
"You know," she said, "every time you tell me something about yourself, it always ends up being something sad and horrible. Your life sucked."
Ashen stared at Ruby, surprised, while the horror slowly dawned on her face as she realized what exactly she had said.
"Oh, brothers. I'm so sorry! What I meant—" Ruby was cut off as Ashen burst out into loud boisterous laughter.
"Ah, child. You are not wrong, though while most of my life has been filled with hardship, it was not completely depressing. I had my moments of fulfillment and joy. It is those moments that I treasure most."
"Can you tell me about any of them?" There was no mistaking the wonder and curiosity on her face. For a moment, he hesitated before he brushed it off.
Her fate is all but decided. I need not worry about her, he thought. "I have quite a few stories I could tell. They are all similar in theme, though, as they relate to the many drinks I have shared with my comrades over the victories we had achieved against impossible odds. Jolly cooperation indeed." Ashen sighed wistfully. "For the longest time, I, along with many brothers and sisters in arms, followed a simple proverb—'Victory above all else'. I'm not sure which I enjoyed more, the battles we fought together, or the celebrations that came after."
"Wow. So, what types of Grimm—" Ruby was cut off once more by a familiar chime. She frowned as she read the message on her scroll.
"Time for you to go home?" Ashen asked. Ruby pouted as she nodded her head.
"And just as things were getting good," she grumbled before she smacked herself on the head. "Wait! If I just tell them that I am with you, then it should be fine if I stay longer."
Ashen reached over and covered her scroll with his hand, interrupting her before she could send a message out. At least he hoped he did.
"I would prefer it if you would wait a bit more before telling your family about me."
"Why?"
"Answer me this first: what do you plan to do after today? Do you still intend to come here, seeking me out?"
She squirmed in place before she nodded hesitantly.
"You should let your family know that you will be home soon." The hurt on her face was plain to see. She hung her head, unable to meet his gaze. He reached under her chin and tilted her head up. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "Do not assume that this is me sending you away like before. You have worried your family enough this month. Go home and let them know you are safe. Come back tomorrow or whenever you are next able. I will still be here, and I will hide from you no longer."
"How do I know you won't break your promise again?" she asked as she wiped her eyes.
"I do not believe I ever gave you my word before. In fact, I never even agreed that we would meet again."
Ruby frowned as she realized that he was right. He never had promised her anything. The most he gave her was a maybe, but she treated it like a yes. She was just so eager to see him again. And if she was being honest with herself, she had also wanted to ask him why it was so bad that she wants to be a huntress. At least that matter was dealt with...
"How do I know you won't lie to me?"
Ashen bowed his head as he brought his hand to his chest in a closed fist. "I swear on my birth name that I am not deceiving you, nor will I hide from you any longer."
Ruby was surprised and touched by the act, but she soon narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Didn't you say that you don't remember your name?"
"Does not make my vow any less binding. A friend once made a similar promise to me. At the time, he had forgotten who he was, and when he remembered—despite any misgivings we may have had with each other in the past—he kept it. A vow, a promise, is never to be made lightly. I have never made one that I intended to break. It is why I didn't make one before."
She nodded in understanding. Promises were important after all. It was something that she could still remember that her mother told her. Anyone who would break their promise is no better than the Grimm.
"Okay then. You've made a promise now, so no more hiding, alright?" He nodded. "Is it okay if I ask you something?"
"What do you want to know?"
"You said that you like to be alone, but don't you get, like, lonely not having anyone to talk to?"
Ashen sighed. "I would be lying if I said I did not." He unsheathed a dagger that was clipped to his belt. Black-gold veins of titanite contrasted against the dull grey steel of the blade. The sheen worn away by time and use. "I still miss my comrades. They were the men and women who fought, bled, and suffered beside me."
He noticed the curiosity in her eyes so he titled the blade for her to see the characters engraved along its length. He was all but certain that she would not be able to read it, though.
"What does it say?" she asked. There was a sad tone in her voice. She no doubt understood or least suspected that the blade was not his.
"It says 'Resist to the Bitter End'. Words that every warrior should live by." He resheathed the blade. "While I still long for the moments I have shared with them, I have long since come to terms with their passing. If anything, it is the feeling of isolation that gets to me."
When he met her eyes, he was surprised by the moisture on them. He couldn't remember the last time—if there ever had been—someone shed tears for him. After all, who would shed tears for an Undead. Despite the fact that she did not know what he was, she was still ready to cry on a stranger's behalf. What a strange girl. A strange and kind one.
"How? What makes it worse?" she asked.
"People," he explained. "I am never more aware of how different I am than when I am surrounded by others. It is a feeling I hope you never experience. That moment when you realize that the world you inhabit is so different from the common man's that you find yourself no longer able to relate to their everyday struggles. You have become a foreigner in your own lands among your own people."
Ashen jumped when he felt something wrap around his hand. It took him a moment to repress his instincts to lash out. He was surprised to see that Ruby had wrapped both of her hands around his. Despite the twin trails of tears, she tried to give him a comforting smile. The action warmed his heart.
"You have a very gentle soul, child."
"My dad tells me that I'm sweeter than cookies."
"Indeed," he chuckled. "I do owe you an apology, though."
"F-For what?" Ruby asked, surprised.
"I did not handle this situation as I ought to have," Ashen replied. "I should have confronted you much sooner, but instead I had let this drag out for far too long and put you and your family through unnecessarily hardship." He flexed the fingers of his left hand. "I am used to solving most of my problems by killing something or someone. The ones I can't solve through conflict are ones I can usually walk away from or at least wait for them to go away. Obviously, I couldn't act on the former, so I went with the latter.
"I'm glad you did," she chuckled nervously. "...I think I see what you mean about being different. I don't think any of those are normal ways to handle things."
"Which is why I will indulge your desires for a time. Consider it penance for how I have wronged you."
Ruby shook her head vigorously in denial. "No, no, no! You didn't do anything wrong. You saved my life twice now."
"Yet it was because of me that it was endangered a second time."
"But you didn't have to," she argued. "You could have waited and then this 'problem' would be gone, but you didn't. You're a good person."
He couldn't help but chuckle at her simple logic. "Saving your life twice does not define me as a good person."
"Are you trying to say you're a bad person?"
Ashen found that he had to take a moment to consider his reply. "I don't know if I can be considered a good person after the things I have done. I would like to think that I am not a bad one. At the very least, I hope I'm not one of the worst."
"Well," Ruby drawled, "if you can't call yourself a bad person, and there's how you saved my life now... then that could only mean you're a good person." Ashen couldn't help but smile at her. There was nothing like the straightforward and simple logic of a child. "At the very least you're an okay person," she added on teasingly.
He couldn't contain a snort of laughter. "So, this girl has some bite to her."
Ashen found himself thinking back on the past. He could remember those short periods of time after each linking of the Fire where an Undead was not feared. Certain kingdoms would celebrate the Undead as heroes who saved the world. They were the few that knew of and misunderstood the connection between the Undead and the linking of the flame. No one was ever foolish enough to correct them. A short period of time where the world was not gripped by despair and solemn duty.
It was easy to forget about the times when the world was flush with life, but it was impossible to forget how it rotted away. The people who blessed your name one day would be the very same hunting you the next.
"Can you cup your hands together for me?" Ashen asked as he reached into one of the many pouches clipped to his belt. He placed a single coin in her outstretched hands. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates while her mouth gapped like a fish. It was a comical sight... and one that felt vaguely familiar.
"I take it that you have never been in possession of a gold coin before." She absentmindedly nodded her head as she rotated the coin between her fingers. "You should know that there will be rules to our arrangement."
Ruby stopped staring at the coin as she looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"When you come down here, I will meet with you if I am not in the woods culling the beasts, but understand that I am extending this courtesy to you and you alone. If you bring others with you, regardless of who they are, I will not show myself. I am sacrificing my solitude to meet with you. Please, do not demand any more from me."
"Do you really want to be alone that much?"
"As the events of these last few weeks can attest to, I am not used to dealing with people. I don't want to deal with so many others.—you are more than enough. Just know that once sufficient time has passed, I will disappear again."
"So, you really will leave."
"No. I still intend to look over this site. You will just never encounter me again. It will be just like these past weeks, only the next time you endanger yourself, I will not save you. Understand?"
Ruby nodded before her face scrunched up in a frown. As she stared at him, he could see the thoughts turning in her head.
"What if... what if I can convince you that you don't have to be alone, that you're not so different that you have to avoid people?"
"Do you think you can?"
"I don't know, but I still want to try," she replied honestly.
"Then you have a challenge ahead of you. Regardless, I believe I have delayed you much longer than I should have." He laughed when she winced after checking her Scroll. "When you spend as long as I have drifting through life, you lose your concept of time."
"Well, you made me a promise, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Ruby stood up dusting off her skirt. "Would you like for me to bring you anything?" she asked as she glanced around the site.
"I am well provisioned. I keep everything hidden, so the beasts do not get to anything while I am away. You need not concern yourself, though I appreciate the sentiment."
"Are you sure?" The disappointment was clear in her voice.
He was about to nod when a thought occurred to him. "On second thought, there may be one thing I could use."
"Oh, what is it? I'll try to get it if I can."
"A map."
"A map?" Ruby blinked clearly confused. "Shouldn't you already have one? Like, what would you need one for anyway?"
"I don't have one because I never really had anywhere I wanted to go, so I rarely bothered with the things," he explained. "I drifted from place to place. As for why I desire one; simple curiosity. I want to know if anything drastic has changed since my travels."
"Okay! I'll make sure to bring you one tomorrow."
"Then I will see you tomorrow, child." Ashen was taken aback when she planted her hands on her hips and pouted at him. "Is something the matter?"
"Ruby."
"Pardon?"
"My name is Ruby." She stomped her foot for emphasis. "You never call me by my name and I know that you know it. It's always 'child' or 'little' something. Stop treating me like a stranger." Her frown softened into a small sad smile. "We're friends now, aren't we?"
"I apologize. I will see you tomorrow... Ruby."
She nodded in approval. "Good. I'm sticking around, so you better get used to using it." The sad look on her face morphed into a radiant smile before she dashed off with a wave over her shoulder.
When Ruby reached the base of the cliff, she turned around for one last wave before she froze in place. He had to suppress his laughter at the face she was making. She was standing in the effective range of the cloaking ring. Ruby squealed in excitement before she dashed up the ramp.
A strange child indeed.
Ruby was ecstatic. She found him. She finally found him. Or maybe he found her. Regardless, he was back and wouldn't be vanishing anytime soon. All the waiting and groundings she endured were worth it, now that she found her hero again. And what better way for her to see him again than having him save her from a Grimm.
Thinking back on it now, it was really amazing how he did it. He moved so fast that it was like he came out of thin air. The Grimm didn't even hear him. She was certain that it never realized that he was there even after he cut its head off.
Ruby couldn't help but squeal as she danced in place. He was so cool! She continued on her way with a spring in her step and a smile plastered on her face. She would admit to herself that there was something familiar about the way he stood over the Grimm, cape billowing out around him, but for the life of her, she could not remember what it was. No matter.
What was important was that she found her hero and he gave her a gold coin. A real solid, gold coin. She still struggled to believe it that she just had to take it out of her pocket once more to be sure.
It was much heavier than she expected a coin of its size to weigh. There were scratches and nicks all over it. She didn't recognize the face on it, but it was probably some old king. She was going to have to hide it from Yang, though. Knowing her, she would want to sell it.
Ruby let out a sigh of relief as her home came into sight. She had taken a single step on her front porch when the door burst open and she found herself staring into a pair of lilac eyes.
"Ruby!" Before she could react, Yang pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "There you are! We were getting worried. You should have been back ages ago." Ruby flailed widely as she attempted to gasped for air.
"You may want to ease up there, Firecracker. I don't think Ruby can take much more." Ruby glared at her uncle as he smirked in amusement. He reached over Yang and ruffled her hair. "Welcome back, squirt."
After what felt like an eternity, Yang finally released Ruby, and she was able to breathe again. Her dad, who had been watching in amusement, stepped forward. "So, now that my little jewel has found its way home, are you ready to put all of this behind you?"
Ruby blinked in confusion before she remembered the promise she made that morning. A promise she no longer had to keep.
"Nope!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and down. "I don't have to anymore."
Three sets of eyebrows rose skeptically. Her dad crossed his arms as he leaned on the doorway. "Oh? And do you mind telling me why that is?"
"Because I found him! He showed up today!"
Her dad and uncle exchanged a look. "How about we continue this inside."
Everyone gathered in the living room. Ruby and Yang took the couch while her dad took the reclining chair across from them, with their uncle leaning on it.
"Okay, let me get this straight," Tai started off. "The guy we've been looking for these last few weeks showed up."
"Yep!"
"Is there a reason why he finally decided to show up?"
"Sort of. He—" Ruby froze as a thought occurred to her. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Wait. What do you mean he finally showed up? You've been telling me that he probably left since you couldn't find any traces of him."
Her dad looked to her uncle for help, but only got a sheepish shrug in response.
"You lied!" Ruby gasped, betrayed as her darted between the two. "You knew he never left."
The two shared an unspoken conversation with a glance before Qrow stepped forward.
"Yeah, squirt, we lied to you. You have to understand that it was painfully obvious that your new pal was avoiding us, so we thought it would be better if we said he left to spare your feelings."
"How did you know he was avoiding us, but was still here?"
"The Grimm," Tai interjected. "There has been a very noticeable decrease in their population on the island. I've been hearing from the other staff at Signal that there have been reports of someone hunting them in the forest even at the dead of night. No one has ever managed to see him, though, so a lot are more like rumors than actual reports."
"Your pal is slippery. I'll give him that," Qrow said. He took a quick swig of his flask. "Leaves one hell of a trail, though. I found more than a handful of trees cut in half. Guy is definitely strong."
"I know!" Ruby exclaimed. "You should have seen what he did to that Beowolf." She froze as the temperature of the room dropped to arctic levels. A quick glance revealed three sets of eyes staring at her with a laser focused intensity. Four if she included Zwei who was the only one who looked amused.
"Ruby, what Beowolf?" Her dad ground out in a sickeningly, sweet voice.
"Um, what Beowolf?" Ruby asked, feigning ignorance.
"Ruby!"
She flinched at the volume of their combined voices. "He, um, he killed a Beowolf that wanted to eat me."
Her dad slouched back in his chair with his arm thrown over his face. "Ruby, you have to stop getting in these situations. I don't know how much more I can take." She could feel Yang grasp her hand in a reassuring squeeze.
"Now, hold on a moment," Qrow said. "You're telling us that a Beowolf attacked you guys, and you didn't think to come straight home after."
"Yep, that's what happened." She may have answered too quickly by the way her uncle narrowed his eyes.
"Now, my dear most favorite niece of all time, you wouldn't be hiding something from us now, are you?" Her silence was an answer in itself. "The Beowolf tried to attack you while you were talking with this guy, right?"
"While I was waiting," she whispered, "he showed up to save me."
"Ruby," her dad begged, "please tell me you didn't use yourself as bait to draw him out."
Ruby could only nod. She didn't have the strength to meet any of their gazes. The three pained groans she got in response made her shrink into herself. She felt Yang's hands on her shoulders turning her so they were facing each other.
"Ruby... why would you do that? What's so important about this guy that you'll endanger yourself?"
"Yang, I—"
"Look. We've tried to be patient. Don't you understand how much we've worried about you? You nearly died a few weeks ago, and here you are, risking your life. Don't you care about how we feel?"
"I do—"
"Why do you care about this guy, anyway. I get that he saved your life, but you barely even know him. You're risking your life for a complete stranger. If he didn't show today, you could be dead. Do you have any idea what that would do to us? It would destroy us. So, what makes this guy so damn important that you would risk doing this to us?!"
It was telling that no one called Yang out for her language. The silence that settled was stifling, and Ruby didn't know how to break it. In the end, it was Uncle Qrow who did.
"Look, we just want to understand what's going through your head. Can you at least tell us why you are obsessing over this guy?"
"I-I want to help him," Ruby whispered.
"What do you mean help him?" Her dad asked, joining back in on the conversation. "From the sounds of it, hasn't he been helping you? What do you need to help him with?"
She met her dad's gaze. "He reminds me of you."
Tai was taken aback. He shared a quick look with Qrow. "What do you mean?"
"He-He reminds me of you when... when mom died."
Tai took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He would admit that he still gets worked up over any mention of his wife, though he has gotten better—the nights he spent drinking with Qrow were no longer a frequent occurrence. He pressed on when he felt he had collected himself enough. "Do you mind explaining what you mean by that?"
"I'm going to need to sit down for this," Qrow commented as he plopped down next to her.
Ruby told them of how she learned that he was a very old huntsman from the badlands and how he had no home or family to return to. She even mentioned how he buried his friends at the site, but hid the graves because they've been looted before. She didn't mention anything about the tomb under the cliff, though. She did make a promise, after all. She did her best to explain the levels of depression she felt from him and how he was hurting and decided that isolation was the best way to make the pain go away.
When she was done, silence greeted her as the rest of her family digested the information. Her dad seemed to be the one deepest in thought. Ruby couldn't help but fiddle with her gold coin that she had taken out to show to everyone.
"What do you make of this guy, Qrow?" Tai asked, finally breaking the silence.
Qrow stared at his now empty flask as if it was holding all the answers. He sighed before pocketing it. "Out of all the people you could have met, you ended up meeting one of those guys. Been awhile since I ran into a self-made huntsman."
"Self-made? What's that supposed to mean?" Yang asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like. Your old man and I went to an academy to learn the trade while Ruby's new friend learned on the job from day one. The whole 'you learn fast or die faster' way of becoming a huntsman."
"So, it means he knows what he's doing."
"What it means," Tai jumped in, "is that this guy probably learned first-hand through constant life and death struggles, which means he is probably way more experienced than me or Qrow. There is a good chance he did all this without ever getting licensed. It would explain why we couldn't find any records of the guy."
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up!" Yang exclaimed. "Don't you need a license if you're gonna work as a huntsman? Isn't it against the law or something to not have one?"
"Yes and no. It's really complicated. You do need a license to accept contracts posted on the kingdom's board, but you don't really need one to accept jobs from settlements themselves. The license really serves as ways to keep track of huntsmen numbers, who has taken what contract, and serve as a way to ID huntsmen who go missing in the field."
"The reason the practical test exists is to give a chance for those outside the kingdoms to get themselves officially licensed," Qrow added. "The Grimm Reaper came from outside the kingdoms and smashed every record there was at the time. Some of them are still unbroken."
"Okay, but where are you guys going with this?" Ruby asked.
Qrow sighed as he slumped in his seat. "Don't worry, I'm getting there. Here, let me summarize what you've told us about your new found friend, and this is assuming what he told you was true." He ignored the glare Ruby sent his way.
"We have a guy who was born and raised in the badlands. At some point his village is destroyed. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that he gets his Aura unlocked around this time. He obviously survives, and I'm going to say he wants revenge. I could be wrong, but it's a common reason for people like him, so we'll go with that for now. Being an Outlier he, no doubt, has that anti-kingdom mentality some of them develop which is why he avoids them. So now, this guy spends his years hunting Grimm on his own. He manages to hold his own and gets good at it. At some point, he joins up with other, probably like-minded, individuals. Maybe he forms a makeshift team or two. Either way, he has some friends to keep him company. They have some good times and they have some bad times. Despite everything he goes through, he survives. His friends aren't always so lucky. Now, his age is catching up to him and he's tired of all the fighting. At some point, he came to Patch to bury his friends and decided to come back to retire here."
"I don't blame him," Tai commented. "Patch is an island with a below average Grimm population, and that's before you take into account the staff at Signal who drive it even lower."
"Yeah, a nice quiet place right outside the kingdom's borders to retire. No doubt, he intended to live out his life as a hermit in the woods here before someone fell on top of them." Ruby chuckled nervously at Qrow's sharp glance. "Got to say you found a real piece of work, Ruby."
"How so?"
"He could be dangerous." Tai held his hands up placatingly when Ruby's head snapped towards him. "I'm not saying he is, just that guys like him have been through a lot and carry a lot of baggage because of it. I don't like this idea of you meeting with him alone."
"But why? He's not going to hurt me."
"How can you be so sure of that?" Yang asked.
"He saved my life."
"So, it means he's not a bad person," Qrow commented. "Doesn't mean he is a good person, though."
Ruby snorted. "He said the same thing."
"Looks like even he thinks you're trusting him too easily," Tai said. "What are you even trying to do here, Ruby? Why do you want to keep meeting with him?'
"I don't want to leave him alone out there. No one should have to spend the rest of their life alone like that."
"That's sweet of you, Ruby. It really is, but I can't just let you meet with this guy alone. How do I know he won't do something to you while you're alone?"
"He won't! We can trust him."
"See, that's what I don't get. You're not the most sociable person, yet you can trust this guy so easily. There has to be something you're not telling us."
Ruby huddled in on herself as she thought back on her interactions with Ashen. She could admit that her dad was right. People made her nervous, but Ashen didn't.
"Come on, Rubes, don't clam up on us now," Qrow begged. "You have to give us something."
She knew why she could trust Ashen and when she started to. It was a moment that she had been having dreams about constantly ever since she met him.
"It was the night I fell." When she raised her head, she could see the somber mood that fell on everyone. It was a day where their already small family almost grew smaller, but to Ruby, it was that and a little more. "After I fell, I felt so cold and scared. I didn't know what was happening. I wanted to go home. I wanted mom. She came for me... or at least it felt like her. I was warm and I felt like I was sitting in her lap like all the times she would read me stories. When I opened my eyes, it wasn't her... it was him. He was the one holding me. He was looking after me and protecting me. I know we can trust him. He's a good person. He's not a bad one. He can't be a bad person. He... He..."
Ruby trailed off as her words failed her. Her face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to put her feelings into words. She jumped when she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. Ruby looked up into her dad's gaze as he stood over her. He gave her an understanding smile.
"I think we understand now, Ruby."
"Does that mean..."
Tai sighed. "We're going to have to discuss it a bit more tomorrow, but I'm willing to give your friend a chance."
Ruby wrapped her dad in a hug. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
He laughed as he pried her off. "I think we've all had a long day today. I made lunch earlier, and it's been sitting in the kitchen waiting for you. Why don't you and your sister go eat. I have to ask your uncle something."
"Finally! I'm starving," Yang groaned. As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly in agreement, which caused Ruby to giggle. Yang rolled eyes as she grabbed her hand and dragged her into the kitchen.
They found four sets of sandwiches waiting for them on the table. Yang slid onto the chair next to Ruby. Just as she was about to take her first bite, a thought occurred to her.
"Hey, Ruby."
"Yesh," she answered, with her mouth full.
"You said your new buddy wanted to see a map, right?"
"Mm-hmm." Ruby swallowed. "Yeah. He said that he wanted to see one. Why?"
"Couldn't you have shown him one on your scroll?" There was a long silence as Ruby stared blankly at Yang. It was broken by the sound of a forehead hitting wood.
"Dang it."