//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Patch of Roses // Story: Remnant's Twilight Rose // by Ghost Alvasa //------------------------------// The world of Remnant. A world of war and chaos, as well as peace and order. This world is not perfect, but it is a testament to balance. The four kingdoms, Vale, Atlas, Vacuo and Mistral, stand tall in their respective continents, powerhouses of the world. It is in the kingdom of Vale, on the small island of Patch, where the story continues. It was a standard Saturday morning as far as this island was concerned. It was around ten in the morning, and on this little island, a small house was about to have an unexpected visitor. The two-story house was picturesque, peaceful, the kind of place someone would want to raise a family in. And that is what it served as. A home for a family. “Come on daddy! I want to get to the lake before it gets too hot!” The voice of a young girl breaks the peaceful silence of the area. A second later the door to the house opens, revealing the source of the voice. A young girl who looks to be around seven years old, her blond hair tied into a pair of pigtails, wearing a red t-shirt and blue overalls. This young girl, was Yang Xiao Long. “Alright Yang, just hold your horses. I know you wanted to go fishing for a while, but you need to be patient.” The voice of a man replies. A couple moment later, a tall man with blond hair walks out of the house with several pieces of fishing equipment. His right arm was exposed, showing his black tattoo, his tan cargo pants filled with hooks and bait. This man was Yang’s father, Taiyang Xiao Long. Behind the man, hidden beneath a red cap and hood, was another girl, looking to be two years younger than Yang. She was struggling somewhat to carry the box of fishing tackles, barely managing to keep her balance on her feet. She walks forward a bit, before bumping into Tai, and falling to the ground, her hood falling back to reveal her red and black hair and silver eyes. This young girl was Tai’s second daughter and Yang’s little sister, Ruby Rose. “Aw! I almost had it!” The silver eyed girl whines as she picks the box back up. “Hey, relax sweetie. You don’t need to carry the box if you don’t want to.” Tai says, loading the gear into a small cart for the trio. “No, I got it, daddy.” The young girl says, bringing the box over to her father. Tai smiles at his daughter wanting to help, rubbing her head. “That’s my girl.” He says with a laugh, taking the box and placing it into the cart. “So, are we all set for our fishing trip?” “Yup!” Both girls say together. Tai nods and begins to head out with the wagon, his daughters right behind him. They walk for a couple of minutes before arriving at a large lake, the water filled with plenty of fish and underwater plant life. Nearby are some blueberry bushes and apple trees, lovingly cultivated by Tai, his friends and family. Walking over to the pier on the side of the lake, Tai began to take out all the supplies he brought while Yang sat by the water and Ruby wandered around. “Ruby! Please stay in sight sweetheart!” Tai calls to his younger daughter. “Ok, daddy!” Ruby calls back, going over to some of the berry bushes. Tai smiles and shakes his head at his youngest daughters antics. As Tai gets everything set up for himself and his daughters, he allows himself to relax against the pier, looking up at the sky as a few clouds go by. He can hear his daughter laugh a little as she watches some fish go by in the water in front of her. The peace the two enjoyed was broken, however, when they hear Ruby yelling. “DADDY! YANG!” The two blonds jump to their feet and notice Ruby is not in view. “Ruby! Ruby where are you?!” Tai yells for his daughter, Yang quickly going to him. “Over by the apple trees!” The duo quickly heads over to where Ruby’s voice came from, Tai mentally preparing himself for a fight against a monster. The two of them arrive at the trees and Tai sees his daughter hiding behind a tree, looking at something. “Ruby! Are you-” the little girl quickly shushes her sister, pointing to an area ahead of them. The three humans look past the tree Ruby is hiding against, and look towards one of the trees ahead of them. It took a second for Tai and Yang to process what they were seeing. At the bottom of one of the trees in front of them, was what looked like a little girl. She looked to be around the same age as Yang, her skin a light tan like Tai and her long purple hair with blue and pink highlights held in a ponytail. She was wearing a light blue blouse and a silver skirt with the symbol of a six-pointed star on the side and a pair of light purple boots. But what caught the family’s attention, was a pair of purple animal ears on the top of the girls head. ‘A Faunus girl? What is she doing here in Patch? And where are her parents?’ Tai questions himself. He motions for Yang and Ruby to stay where they are, the two sisters nodding, before he carefully walks over to the young girl. She was clearly unconscious, but the question was if she was hurt. Once he is within arms reach, he carefully turns the girl over and onto her back. He goes over her small frame carefully, making sure he checks all the major parts of her body with the care one would expect from a father. After checking for a pulse and her breathing, the only possible injury Tai could find was a small bump on the center of her forehead, likely from falling or something. “I-Is she ok?” Tai turns to find both his daughter next to him and looking at the girl, Ruby having asked the question. “Looks like it. She might have hit her head if this bump is any indication, but other than that, I think she’s fine.” He says to his daughters before picking up the unconscious child in his arms. “Yang, head back to the pier and pack everything up. Looks like we’re going to have to go fishing another time.” The blond girl nods before taking her sister by the hand and heading back to the pier. He looks to the little girl in his arms and sighs. “What happened to you kid?” One-hour later…. The three humans and their new addition made it back to their house without any troubles. Tai had put the little Faunus on his bed, going over her body more closely with a first aid kit, seeing she’s just like his daughter Yang in terms of weight and height, so she was healthy at least. She also lacked any physical injuries aside from a couple scraps on her knees. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find anything that would identify her. No ID or even a name tag on her clothes. She was a real enigma to Tai. He leaves the sleeping girl to rest after a bit and went into the kitchen to make some food for when the Faunus girl wakes up. “Daddy?” Tai turns from chopping tomatoes as Ruby walks in with concern in her eyes. “Is that girl going to be ok?” Tai couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he sees Ruby’s worry for someone she has never even met before. “I think she is going to be just fine Ruby. Once she wakes up, we’ll get in contact with her parents and get her home.” He says, before putting the cheese, tomato and lettuce sandwich on a tray with a glass of milk, and then getting an idea. “Hey, sweetheart. Why don’t you take that girl some lunch? I am sure she would want to meet the one who found her.” He says with a smile, handing the tray to his daughter. With a smile, Ruby nods and takes the tray from her father, carefully heading up the stairs to her father's room. Walking into her father's room, carefully holding the tray in her hands, she sees the girl still sleeping on the bed. Ruby placed the tray on the nightstand and climbs up the chair next to the bed to get a better look at the girl. Ruby had never met a faunus before, aside from one of her dad's huntsman friends. Ruby felt her eyes being drawn up to the girl purple ears, their look reminding her of a horse, or maybe a pony. She nods to herself that a pony sounded better with the way the girls hair is. Quickly looking to the door, then to the girls face, Ruby climbs up to the bed and sits next to her. ‘I think I wanna….touch them.’ Looking to the girls face again, Ruby carefully brings her hands up and rubs the girl's ears. They felt almost like velvet, despite the purple fur on them. She pulls back and looks to the girls face again. She gasps slightly as she sees the girl's eyes fluttering a bit and realizes something. Ruby runs to the doorframe. “Daddy! Yang! She’s waking up!” The response was instant, Yang running out of her room and Tai from the kitchen towards the bedroom. The trio make they way to the bed as the girl groans and rubs her face a bit before opening her eyes, showing a deep purple just like Yang. “Where..?” Blinking her eyes a couple times, the girl begins to sit up, groaning in discomfort. “Take it, easy kid. I have no idea how long you’ve been out for.” Tai says, placing a hand on her back. The girl looks to Tai, and soon gains a confused expression, one that didn’t change as she saw Ruby and Yang. “W-who are you?” She asks, scooting away a bit. Tai sees she is scared and sits down in the chair, Ruby sitting in his lap. “It’s ok, your safe. My name is Taiyang Xiao Long. These are my daughters, Ruby Rose, and Yang Xiao Long.” He introduces, the two girls waving to their new addition. “Hi!” Yang says with a smile, Ruby just nods with her own smile. “Um, hi.” The girl responds quietly. “So, what’s your name sweetheart?” Tai asks calmly. The girl pauses for a second, placing a hand on her head. “T-Twilight. I think?” She says timidly. The trio look to her in confusion, and with worry as well in Tai’s case. “You think? So, you don’t know for sure?” Tai questions, ‘Twilight’ scooting back and wrapping her arms around herself a bit. He sees the fear in her eyes and takes a breath. “Easy kiddo. You’re not in trouble. I just want to know what happened so we can find your family.” The girl nods and closes her eyes for a second, before scrunching her eyes shut in an effort. “I-I don’t remember.” She says quietly, beginning to breathe heavily. Twilight feels something against her hand and looks to see Yang holding her hand and looking to her with worry filled eyes. She hears some movement and sees Ruby bringing over a tray with a sandwich and a glass of milk on it. Ruby is careful as she places the tray on the bed next to Twilight. “Maybe you should eat first?” Ruby asks, slightly unsure. Twilight nods after a second, picking up the sandwich and taking a bite, a smile appearing on her face as she eats. The trio smile as well at seeing Twilight happily eating. Once she finishes the sandwich and milk, thanking them for the food, she sighs and lays her back against the bed board in thought. “So, you said you don’t remember what happened to you, what do you remember?” Tai asks, carefully taking a seat on the bed next to the faunus. Twilight flinches for a second as Tai takes a seat before taking a breath and trying to remember. “I-I know my first name is Twilight. All I remember other than that is some man saying ‘we may never truly meet again, but we will always be watching over you.’ Other than that, nothing.” Twilight begins to sniffle a bit, for some reason the man's words making her sad. Tai looks to the sniffling child in worry and sadness. If a man said something like that to a child, it is safe to assume that man was her father, and he and likely her other parent are no longer of this world. Before any could react, Ruby jumps onto the bed and hugs the faunus girl tightly. “Please don’t cry. I don’t like it when people cry.” Ruby says in sadness and with her own tears in her eyes. Twilight sniffles again and wraps her arms around the little girl in front of her. Yang soon joins the hug as well, keeping her arms firmly around the purple eared girl. Tai smiles as he sees his daughters doing what they can to make a stranger happy like this. “Twilight,” Tai begins, getting all three of the girls' attention, “I am sorry first off. I am sorry you lost your memory. But know I will be making some calls with some contacts of mine to see if we can find any of your family. Until then, you’re more than welcome to stay here.” Twilight looks to the man in surprise at his decision. “I….do...don't want to be a bother, Mr.Xiao Long.” She begins, only for Tai to place a finger on her lips. “Don’t even try Twilight. You won’t be a bother. Besides, these two could use a new friend.” He says with a smile, motioning to his daughter that are looking to Twilight expectantly. Twilight looks to them, unsure, before sighing and nodding. “Ok.” “Yay!” Twilight is quickly brought in for another hug by the two girls, this one filled with happiness. Despite herself, Twilight smiles again and hugs them back. Maybe things aren’t so bad after all. One-week later…. Twilight had adjusted well as a member of the Xiao Long-Rose household. She would awaken along with Yang in the early morning to try and make Tai some breakfast. Unfortunately, Yang tended to overcook the food while Twilight could barely make scrambled eggs properly. Despite this, the two seven-year-olds worked together and made a relatively simple breakfast of some scrambled eggs, fruit and coffee for the patriarch of the house after a week of practice. The duo was proud of themselves for their job well done. Once they finished setting up the table for Tai, Twilight would make some cereal for herself and the other two girls, while Yang went up to wake her father and sister. Despite herself, however, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of Yang. She had a loving father and an adorable little sister, while Twilight couldn’t even remember the faces of anyone she might be related to. All she could remember was that man’s voice and her first name. She couldn’t even remember her last name, so that has just make it harder for Tai to find her family. With a sigh, Twilight sits at the table and begins to munch on her food, even as she hears the family trio coming down the stairs. She barely glances at them as she eats her cereal. “Twilight? Are you ok?” Twilight looks up from her bowl at Ruby who asks that. “I’m fine Ruby, just a little tired.” She says, the trio looking unconvinced. The three of them sit at their seats and begin to eat their food in silence, the three humans glancing at the faunus from time to time. Once they all finish up, Tai begins to clean up the dishes. “Twilight, me and the girls are going to be heading into town later to do some shopping. Do you want to come with us?” Tai asks, the faunus reading a book on the couch. The girl shrugs after a second, placing the book away. “Ok. Maybe we could find someone who knows me.” She responds, heading to the door and placing her boots on. Even though she says she is fine, Tai could tell that the loss of her memory is really bothering, so he was planning on heading over to their family doctor to ask for a second opinion. The other two quickly grab their shoes and Ruby’s cape and the four of them head out of the house and towards the nearby town. Later…. Twilight was looking around the new town with wonderment, making sure to stay close to Taiyang all the while. She couldn’t remember, but she was pretty sure she had never seen machines like the cars and hologram screens. She wanted so bad to find a book about these machines and pick them apart. She kept her curiosity to herself, however, as she continued to follow after the three humans. They had already stopped by the school Tai worked at, Signal. Twilight was plenty curious as well about what being a ‘huntress’ or ‘huntsman’ meant. They continued to walk the street for another couple of minutes before arriving at a three-story building with a red and blue cross on the sides of the doors. Checking the sign up front, Twilight saw that it read ‘Vale Local Pharmacy and Clinic’. So they were going to the doctors. Curious, Twilight thought maybe Tai wanted to get her checked out to see if maybe they can restore her memory. The four of them enter and Tai heads up to the front desk and asks for someone named Dr. Blush. Twilight couldn’t tell how long the four of them were sitting around for, Twilight having brought a book with her, before they heard someone calling for the Xiao Long-Rose family. Twilight put her book away and saw a woman with a pale complexion, short magenta hair, and deep green eyes. “Tai, good to see you again! Hello, my little firecracker and flower.” She says, hugging the trio. “Hi, Aunty Blush,” Ruby says with a smile, the doctor rubbing her head before noticing Twilight standing behind Tai. “Oh, who is the little one?” The woman asks, crouching to be on eye level with Twilight, the girl hiding behind Tai despite herself. “This is Twilight. She’s the reason we’ve come over today.” Tai explains, patting the little faunus head. Dr. Blush nods and motions for the four of them to follow her, entering an examination room. “Twilight dear, why don’t you have a seat on the bed.” Blush asks, grabbing a clipboard. The young faunus nods and jumps up and onto the examination bed, while Ruby and Yang sit in some of the chairs nearby. “Now then, how about you four bring me up to speed on what’s hurting this little faunus.” “That’s kinda the thing Megan. Twilight has amnesia. Ruby found her in the apple orchard on our island a week ago and she can’t remember anything before waking up in my bed. Well...aside from something some guy said.” Tai says, the doctor looking to the young girl in shock and worry. The faunus in question began to wrap her arms around herself as all the attention is on her. “Oh, you poor dear. So, you brought her here to see if maybe I can find her in the system, and notify her family, right?” Megan asks, Tai nodding. The doctor nods before heading over to a drawer and taking out several examination tools and needles. Ruby yelps and hides behind her father as she sees the needle. Twilight was unfazed. “Alright dear. We need to go over a few tests. Is that ok with you?” She says softly. Twilights response was to roll up her sleeve and offer her arm. Dr. Blush smiles at the little girl's bravery. They spent the next half hour going over some tests on Twilight, recording her DNA into the system, and coming up blank on any matches, even similarities, so it became apparent that her parents likely lived in one of the towns doting the continent outside the kingdom. After that revelation, Megan Blush and Taiyang began to fill in some health and citizenship sheets for Twilight, making her an official resident of Vale as the ones from outside the kingdom need to get certification. After that and some basic reflex tests, Megan decided to have Twilight take an MRI scan to see if something is wrong with her brain or skull that caused her memory loss. Twilight was amazed by the machine and after Megan’s explanation, she asked if there was an owners manual she could read, earning a laugh from the two adults. It took about forty-five minutes for Twilight to go through the scan, and the results were not that encouraging. Her brain and skull looked completely normal, no damage, no change in thought patterns, the only oddity was part of her skull that is slightly elevated, almost like a horn in the center of her forehead. With that in mind, Megan theorized that her memory loss was caused by emotional trauma, likely from whatever happened to her parents. Twilight was saddened that her memory loss couldn’t be fixed by medicine or anything, and it will only take time for them to come back. After they got everything sorted out with Megan, the group of four headed out of the clinic and towards the academy again, so Twilight can get a proper passport and her papers. It didn’t take all that long considering Tai worked there. While the four of them were leaving the school, Twilight couldn’t help but let her mind wander to where she came from. She is going to have to do a lot of research to find her home. “Hey, don’t look so down Twilight. I promise we are going to find you a home in no time.” Tai says, noticing the girls sad expression. Twilight tries, and fails, to smile at Tai’s encouragement. The human just sighs and looks ahead of them as they head to the grocery store. The two human girls didn’t like how their new friend was looking, so once their group arrived at the general store, they immediately dragged her to the toy section to look around. Twilight rolled her eyes but joined the two of them without a fuss. No matter what, Tai couldn’t be more proud of how his daughters were acting around Twilight. ‘Maybe I should talk to Qrow about my idea. I am sure he would agree.’ He thinks to himself, grabbing the groceries while the girls wander around the toy section. The two humans walked around, looking at all the toys on the shelves with a smile. Twilight liked the selection as well, seeing a bunch of stuffed animals and board games, but nothing really caught her eye. Twilight went to the next isle past the toys, and found something that made her eyes widen with glee. An entire isle filled with books. A large smile split across the young faunus face as she began to go through the isle, reading the titles of the books before finding one that caught her eye. “The Saint Reaper?” That seemed like an oxymoron in Twilight’s mind. Picking up the book, it has the cover of some woman standing before a group of people, facing a large group of black monsters, a mask covering her face and two scythes in her hands. Below the title was a statement saying ‘based on a true event’. “Whatcha got there, kid?” Twilight yelps and turns, finding a man in his late twenties with black hair and sideburns and hazel eyes. Twilight shows the man the cover, a smile crossing his face. “Nice choice. That was a pretty significant event a while ago. Who would have thought that the Grimm Reaper would- oops, no spoilers.” He smiles warmly at his own joke, Twilight giggling a little. “Twilight! Where are you?” The duo turns to see Tai looking around with his daughters, finding Twilight with the book in her arms. “Tai! Good to see you again.” The man says, clapping the man on the back. “Tukson! How are things with the store?” The human asks, Twilight walking up to them. “So far so good. I finally got the place organized and we should be ready to open in a week or two.” Tukson answers with pride. Twilight looks to the other two girls inquisitively, the duo shrugging in response. Twilight turns her attention to Tukson, silently asking what he is talking about. With a smile, Tukson takes a card out of his pocket and hands it to the young faunus. “Tukson’s Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. What do you think?” He asks somewhat dramatically. Twilight looks to him with wide eyes and then to Tai. “Mr.Xiao Long, can we go to his store when it opens? Pleeeeaaaseee?” She begs, giving big eyes. Tai smiles at her plea. “Mmmmaybeee, but only if you are good.” He says with a smirk. Twilight squees at his response, hugging his waist. “Thank you thank you thank you!” The two adults smile at her excitement, Yang and Ruby surprised that a bookstore was all it took to make her happy. “So Tai, I have all my groceries, and it looks like you do too, so how about you introduce me to this little one properly on the way out?” Tukson says, heading to the registers. The four others follow after him, Tai beginning to speak again. “Tukson, this is Twilight. Ruby found her unconscious in the apple orchard on our island a week ago and….well, she has amnesia. We took her to the doctors and found she is perfectly healthy, but her family is likely from one of the villages outside of the kingdom, so it won’t be easy to find her family.” “Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine how that must be like.” The large man says in remorse. “Yeah.” Twilight replies simply, still clutching the book. Tukson looks to her in sadness, before a smile breaks across his face. “Hey, how about this? When you and Tai come over to the store when it opens, I’ll give you a discount on three books, how’s that sound?” He says with a smile. Twilight looks to the man in shock before smiling wide, a smile that was infectious as Ruby and Yang smile as well. “Thank you Mr.Tukson!” Twilight responds as the group all arrive at the registers. Tai and Tukson pay for their respective groceries and Twilight’s book before they separate. Twilight couldn’t stop smiling as she clutched her book, excited to get home and read. That thought made her stop for a moment and glance at Tai and his daughters ahead of her. ‘Home. Is….is my home….with them?’