Compass Rose

by enigmaMystere

Chapter 5

"...how... how do I fly? I... I can't remember..."

"Huh?" Her father looks at her, confused. "You've always just flown by instinct, I thought. Just flapping your wings in the right way."

"But what way is the right way?" She pouts quietly, hugging his arm for security.

"I... don't really know." He says softly, kissing her forehead. "Maybe you can practice once we get you cleaned up?"

She nods quietly, letting go of his now-sticky arm. She looks down and giggles softly, giving a sheepish smile. "Sorry for the icing hug..."

"It's fine, though I think both of us are going to need to clean up." He chuckles, shutting and locking the bathroom door. "I'm thinking shower, then maybe a bath if you're still feeling bad after and want to try practicing flying in water first."

She quietly nods, reaching up in reflex to try and pull a hat that's not there down over her face. "Okay, daddy."

He chuckles, picking her up once more and bringing her to the bathtub. "Now, let's get you cleaned up. I know you're sweet, but this is a bit much."

She sticks out her tongue at him and giggles quietly. "Your jokes are the best."

"Daww... I'm glad to see being a dad hasn't changed that." He chuckles, turning on the water to get the temperature right.

She just gets settled in his arms, gripping his shirt so she doesn't fall on accident.

He looks down at his shirt, seeing the icing on it and not minding. "Do you want to be in the shower when the water comes on or get in after?"

"...which one is better?"

"Hmm... probably getting in after." He admits.

She smiles, holding up a hoof. "Then let's do that."

Chuckling, he nods and turns the shower on, light steam coming from it as he angles the nozzle so the water won't escape the tub. "There we go, ready to get in?"

She nods, smiling weakly at him. "Please don't drop me..."

"I was just going to set you in there... did you want me to come in with you?"

"...I don't know..." She sniffles a bit. "I just... don't wanna fall..."

He kisses her head, nuzzling her after. "Hey, it's okay. I'll go in with you. I just need to set you down a moment so I can get undressed."

She quietly nods, turning to nuzzle him in return.

Smiling, he gently sets her down on the bathroom counter. Swiftly, he disrobes and picks her back up. "Okay, ready?"

"I guess." She looks at her legs, pouting cutely. "It's starting to harden..."

"Don't worry, we'll clean you off and have you back up and flying in no time." He gently touches her nose with a finger before stepping into the water.

"...I sure hope so..."

Meanwhile, back at the party, Yang is licking frosting off her fingers with a smile. "Great party!"

"I sure hope so." Qrow smiles, then points at her cheek. "By the way, you have a little frosting there."

"Right here!" Ruby pushes a finger with melted chocolate ice cream on it against her sister's cheek.

"Hey!" Yang playfully pushes her hand away. "Don't make me start the dessert fight again."

The toddler just sticks her tongue out in response.

Yang puts a dollop of icing on it. "There, eat that."

Ruby pulls her tongue back into her mouth to eat the food while Qrow places a hand on Yang's shoulder. "So, what do you want to do while we wait for Tai to clean Daring up?"

"Umm..." She looks around. "Should we clean up the cake or just leave it?"

"We can put it in the fridge." He chuckles, looking at where there's a near-perfect imprint of the filly's face. "This is sure gonna be a funny story to tell..."

Yang giggles. "You think if we just had t shaped like Daring for Ruby's birthday it would save time?"

Ruby looks appalled at this, shaking her head vehemently. "I don't want to eat Daring! Not even Cake Daring!"

"What do you call that, then?" Yang asks, pointing to the cake.

"An untouched part of the cake." She sticks her tongue out.

Yang makes a disregarding sound, waving her hand. "Anyway, what should we do next? Presents, games?"

"Until your father gets back, I'll have to insist on games." Qrow closes his eyes, knowing that they would try the puppy dog eyes on him.

"Hey, stop cheating by closing your eyes!" Yang's tiny fist can be felt lightly thumping his stomach.

"It's not cheating. It's a perfectly sound tactic." He smiles wryly.

"Ruby, help me team up on him!"

"...I'm not opening my eyes." He turns and walks over to the presents, lifting them up over his head. "No opening them until your dad gets back. It's only fair he gets to see your excitement, isn't it?"

"Then we'll do something else to kill time." Yang says quietly, giggling.

"...you're getting punished for any trouble she causes, Ruby."

The girl stares at him in shock. "What? Why?"

"Because it's her birthday. Then you get to remind us what she did tomorrow so we can punish her then." He smirks at Yang, opening one eye to see her. "Sound fair to you?"

"Put down the presents, and then I'll tell you what I think." She says, smirking.

"So you can try to open them, or try to play fight?" He makes no move to put them down.

"I'm not going to try to open them, I promise." She smiles at him.

"...fine." He places the presents down on the counter, pushing them back until they're against the wall.

Once his hands are free, she looks to her sister with a grin. "Let's get him! I bet we can take Uncle Qrow now that we're older!"

"Ah, so you wanted to tussle?" The man chuckles, picking up Ruby and holding her sideways across his chest. "Try my shield!"

"No, Yang, he got me!"

"Hey!" Yang springs forward, locking his leg into a hug as she tries to throw him off balance.

"Rawr, you can't beat me!" He starts walking around the room, taking the two of them along for the ride.

"Ruby! What do we have for weapons?" Yang cries out, letting go and moving to try and jump on his back.

"I can't reach anything except..." She looks down. "...his belt!"

"Whoa, hey," he lifts the girl above his head, "you're too young to reach for that. Plus you're like family."

"...what?"

"Hold on!" Yang darts to the couch, picking up a cushion in each hand before diving at her uncle, pummeling him with them.

He laughs, carrying Ruby around like a basket. "No, she's my hostage! You can't beat me, pillow-mage!"

"I'm not a pillow mage, I'm a pillow fighter!" She lets out a small war cry before jumping up and latching onto his back, punching him with her pillow pads.

His legs get unsteady beneath him, much to his concern. "W-whoa, careful! I don't wanna drop Ruby!"

Yang stops, hopping off him. "Then release your hostage!"

"...only if you say I'm better than your dad."

"At what?"

Qrow grins cheekily. "Everything."

"Nope." She says with a grin, trying to jump up and grab Ruby.

He pulls up a leg to keep her at bay, chuckling quietly. "Not good enough."

Yang pauses, giving him a look before she suddenly smirks once more. "Last chance to let her down before I do my next move."

He stares at her suspiciously, while Ruby kicks her legs idly. "...should I be worried?"

She nods her head solemnly. "Just make sure to drop Ruby on the couch or something when I get you, or just surrender."

"Can we put pillows down? Please?" The brunette looks at her sister upside down.

Yang blinks, looking at her weapons. "I guess my next move doesn't really need these..." She tosses them back onto the couch.

Ruby flails her arms. "I meant on the floor!"

"Pfft..." Yang blows a raspberry as she puts them on the floor. "So... ready to give up Uncle Qrow?"

"No." He gives her a cocky grin. "You can't beat me."

"Oh yeah?" She grins before jumping toward him and reaching up to start tickling his stomach.

"Hey, wait, no!" He tries to dodge her hands, slowed down by Ruby enough to barely be able to do so.

"You can't win! Put her down!" Yang laughs, pursuing him.

"Never!" He jumps around as he avoids the girl, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

"Zwei! Help!" Ruby flails her arms to try and get the puppy's attention.

The puppy barks, launching himself at the command, aiming for Qrow's chest.

The man lets out a manly yelp as he gets hit, bringing Ruby to his chest as he falls so she won't get hurt.

Instead, they both land on Yang, if only partially.

"Hey, get off!" She tries to get them to roll off her.

He seems to think for a moment before setting Ruby on her chest, staying where he is on her legs. "I don't know. I'm kinda comfortable here."

Yang looks thoughtfully at her sister. "Does this mean we win?"

"I think so." She giggles, turning and picking up the puppy to pet him. "Good boy, Zwei!"

"Yeah!" Yang smiles, leaning back and kicking her legs a bit. "Finally got you Uncle Qrow."

"I don't think so." He chuckles, turning to smirk at her. "Zwei got me. I've got you pinned."

"Doesn't Zwei count as being on our team?"

"He was a neutral party." He places the puppy in question right by the older girl's face.

As Zwei starts to assault her with licks to the face, the girl tries to roll away but can't. "Hey! Zwei!"

"See? He's true neutral." Qrow smirks slyly at her as he props himself up.

"Ugh...." she slumps backwards onto the floor, smiling. "I did better than last year though."

"Yep." He chuckles, reaching over to ruffle her hair once more. "I'm not cruel enough to deny that."

She giggles. "Okay... can you get off me now?"

"Oh, right." He stands, brushing himself off before helping both the girls to their feet.

Giggling, Yang hugs him before she feels a weight on her head and looks up to see Zwei sitting on it. He barks happily.

Qrow just blinks at this, confused. "How did he get up there?"

Yang shrugs. "He's springy when he wants to be."

He raises an eyebrow, leaning close to the dog for a moment. "Is that right?"

Zwei pants happily, wagging his stubby tail and tilting his head at the man.

"...I wonder what else he can do..." The man scratches behind one of the dog's ears.

Yang shrugs as the puppy leg kicks. "I don't know, Dad says he probably has an aura and semblance, too."

He just smiles softly. "Of course he has an aura. He has a soul."

"Heh, yeah..." Yang giggles. "But then when I asked dad what semblances deer and stuff had if they had auras, he couldn't tell me."

"That's because we don't know." He shrugs a bit. "Have you taken the time to look at just what every deer in the forest can do, and if they even all have abilities?"

"Well... no." She admits, thinking. "There's other stuff to do."

"There you go." He nods to himself, smiling softly.

"Huh... okay." She looks to the bathroom. "I hope Dad gets Daring clean soon."

"Let's go check." He picks her up and starts walking towards the bathroom.

Once at the door, they can hear the girls' dad's muffled voice and splashing.

Qrow awkwardly stands there. "...I guess they're still in the bath, then?"

The splashing stops for a moment as they talk, followed by a slightly clearer voice from within. "Do you want me to let them in?"

"It's fine with me." This is followed by a quiet giggle.

Yang looks at the door curiously until it clicks and Tai is standing there, looking at them wearing a very soaked pair of shorts. "Sorry we've been taking a while, I'm helping Daring with something."

Ruby frowns a little, having just approached. "Is frosting that hard to get out of fur?"

"A little, but I'm helping her with something else now." he says, going back to the tub.

"What's that?" She walks inside, standing right next to her dad as they both get splashed.

"She's having some flying issues." He explains. "I thought it was because she hurt her wing, but now I think it's something like she was doing it instinctively before, but now she suddenly thought about it so much that she can't because she doesn't know how she does it."

Qrow just stares blankly at him. "...do you know if you can help her with that?"

He shakes his head. "Not really, but I had to try. She was depressed as soon as she couldn't fly."

The man looks at her, thinking for a bit. "...maybe I can teach her."

Yang tilts her head at this. "You can fly, Uncle Qrow?"

"I might be able to teach her how." He says, reaching down and ruffling her hair once more.

"If you can help, then by all means." Tai gestures to the filly.

"I can't do it right now." He points to the Pegasus as she paddles through the water. "Her wings are wet, so it would throw her off if she tried to do it while they're dry... I guess we could always practice form..." He quietly mutters as he makes his way over to her.

Yang giggles as she watches. "It's like a small pool for her. I never thought of that."

"Yeah, imagine if she was in a regular pool." Ruby looks up at the ceiling as she thinks.

"She'd be like... a duck in a pond." Yang smiles at the thought.

Apparently overhearing this, the filly turns to them and smiles. "Quack!"

Tai chuckles as the girls laugh, petting her head. "You might make a cute duck."

She just nuzzles his hand, floating there in the water.

He smiles, looking to the other man. "So, how can I help?"

"Be there for emotional support. Unlock her aura so there's less chance of injury." He shrugs a bit. "Those are what come to mind, first."

Nodding, Tai reaches out and rubs the filly's head more, starting to lightly glow.

Daring, almost feeling compelled to, closes her eyes at this.

A shimmering field flashes over his body, touching hers.

Ruby watches in awe, her hand gripping Yang's tightly.

When his aura touches the filly, it seems to pause for a moment before a matching olive green light comes from her, soon covering her entire body.

She squirms a bit, the light tickling her body and making her hold back a giggle.

When it completely covers her, Tai takes his hand off. "There we go."

She shivers, shaking her head and getting water everywhere. "What was that?"

"Giving your aura a jump start." He says with a smile.

"You keep saying that word." Ruby pokes her father's shoulder to get his attention. "What does it mean?"

"Hmm? Have I not given you girls this talk yet? I thought I had."

"Is it possible you only explained it to Yang?" Qrow speaks up, smirking slightly.

"Maybe..." he rubs his chin. "Well, I guess now's as good a time as any."

The young girl smiles, sitting down next to him and waiting to hear what he has to say. Daring does much the same, though while floating in water.

"Right, so to keep it simple: aura is the manifestation of your soul. It get's stronger with experience and training and can be used in many different ways. The most common one, and the one I mainly did this for, is the fact that it acts as a sort of barrier around your body for injuries and blows. Normally, you naturally unlock your aura as you get older with enough willpower and a bit of coaching, but I agreed with Qrow in that you could use a head start."

As the other man nods, the filly turns her curious gaze to him. "...so... it's just a force field?"

Ruby blinks, quietly wondering when she got into the comics Qrow left them.

"Well, that's part of what it can do." Tai explains. "It also powers semblance and can be used for a number of other things but we're focusing on the shield for now."

Daring quietly nods, even though she burns with curiosity for semblances.

"So, that should help you out with any more crashes." He finishes, looking to Qrow.

"...daddy?" She pokes the hand resting on the edge of the tub. "What are you looking at uncle Qrow for?"

"Hmm, oh, just wondering what the next step of your flying lessons is." He says quickly, smiling at her.

"She needs to be dry, and elevated so she can practice the motions easily." The man shrugs a bit. "I'll have to go into more detail when she's set up."

Nodding, Tai holds his hands out to Daring. "Ready to get out?"

She nods, swimming closer to try and climb into his hands, her hooves slipping on the porcelain surface.

He scoops her up when she gets close, wrapping her up in a towel and starting to dry her off.

She squirms in his grip, clearly not enjoying the feel of a non-fluffy towel rubbing against her.

He chuckles, wrapping her up with her head poking out before he kisses her head. "Towel too rough?"

She nods, quietly pouting as she looks up at him.

He nuzzles her, making sure she's still dry. "We'll get some better ones next time we go to the store. I'll even let you girls pick out a special one for each of you."

Ruby cheers, hugging her dad's side gleefully.

Yang gives a fist pump as he sets down the filly on the floor and pets Ruby's head.

The girl just happily smiles as Daring gets up and walks off, looking for Zwei. Once in the hallway, she tries to whistle for him, only succeeding in blowing out some air.

"Now... I believe there's a party to get back to." Yang beams as he says this.

Daring appears in the doorway, riding on Zwei's back. "To the party!"

Laughing a bit, Tai nods, putting his shirt on and picking up his other two girls. "Let's go!" He heads towards the kitchen

The filly looks down at the puppy, hopeful. "Take me to the kitchen, please?"

He appears to think about it before giving off a howl and happily heading into the kitchen.

Daring cheers, throwing her forehooves up in the air.

When they get there, Yang has been let down and is now looking at her presents meaningfully.

Qrow sighs, playfully shaking his head. "Go on, kid."

"Woo!" She pounces on the small pile, picking up one with a smile as she brings it over to the table.

"Ooh! That one's mine!" Ruby grins excitedly.

Yang hugs her befores starting to open it.

She sees the tiniest bit of silver peeking through a crack in the box.

"Ooo..." she looks curious as she fully opens the box.

There lays a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs with a silver chain attaching them.

"Friendship bracelets!" Ruby beams brightly. "I found them in dad's room!"

"..." Tai groans, shaking his head as Yang looks at them. "Why would Dad have these?"

"Umm, Ruby, those are mine." Tai says, steadily ignoring any looks Qrow is giving. "Maybe we can pick up some actual friendship bracelets for you two next time we're in town?"

"Okay!" She grins, then hugs her sister. "I hope you'll like them! Maybe he'll let you choose one you like!"

"Yeah, I bet we can find some cool ones!" Yang says, hugging Ruby in return.

Daring giggles, poking one she and Zwei are by. "Look at the one daddy and I got you!"

"Oh, you guys teamed up?" Yang says, interested as she picks up the next present. "I wonder what it is..."

The filly sheepishly smiles. "Daddy chose it, honestly... he said I'm too young to go places..."

Qrow raises an eyebrow at Taiyang. "...how old is she, exactly?"

"Honestly, I'm not completely sure. She couldn't speak and was bottle fed when I first found her less than a year ago, so she wasn't that old. But look at her now, speaking." He gestures to the filly as Yang opens the big box, revealing it to be a sort of young child's dark leather jacket with wings on the back.

"Awesome!" She says with glee.

"Cool! You got wings too, now!" Daring grins, hopping in place on Zwei's back.

She slips it on as Zwei barks, spinning around. "This is so cool!" She looks at Qrow to see his opinion.

He smirks, nodding once as he messes with her hair once more. "It definitely suits you. Though I'd like to think my gift is just as cool."

"Oh?" She looks to the next gift, pointing at it questioningly.

"Well you aren't going to see what it is by staring at it!" He chuckles, then awkwardly coughs. "As... counterintuitive as it may sound."

Giggling, she goes and gets it, bringing it over before she starts to unwrap it.

She finds both light and dark yellow peeking out from behind tissue paper.

"Ooo..." She goes faster, soon having the thing exposed.

It turns out to be a couple pairs of boxing gloves, with a set of bangles underneath with her name written on them.

She gasps, looking them over before slipping them on and throwing a few punches. "Awesome! Thanks Uncle Qrow!"

"You're welcome." He looks to Taiyang, smirking a bit. "There's a pair for your sister, too, so you can spar with her. And I know your father has a pair."

"Yeah, you can't imagine the times when I'd find her trying to use them." Tai says, chuckling.

"Like yesterday!" Daring speaks up, beaming brightly.

Yang giggles, looking down at the gloves in her hands before walking over to her uncle. She lightly socks him in the arm before hugging him.

He chuckles, rubbing the top of her head gently. "Happy birthday, kid."

"Thank you, Uncle Qrow! Thanks Ruby! Thanks Dad! Thanks Daring! Thanks Zwei!"

They smile in turn, and the filly rubs the puppy's head.

"Now, how about some cake for everyone?" Tai says, showing he has actual cake slices salvaged onto plates.

Ruby gasps, eyes wide in shock.

Qrow decides to speak up for her. "...none of those are the Daring part, are they?"

He shakes his head. "No, this is the other part, but I did save it for those of you who don't mind."

The girl just pouts. "I'm not letting anyone eat Daring!"

The filly looks on in confusion.

Tai looks curiously at her. "Then what do we do with that part of the cake?"

"Preserve it!" She says, throwing her hand up in the air.

"... would a picture work?" He offers hopefully.

She blinks, then taps her chin thoughtfully. "...I guess?"

"Good, ta cake takes up a bit of space, but for now..." He offers her a plate.

She happily takes it and shovels the food into her mouth.

Chuckling as Yang does much the same, Tai offers Daring hers.

She takes the plate, looking at the small amount on it with a tiny pout.

He leans down. "You can have more after you eat that if you want, but I figured I'd start small in case you were sick of it after being covered in it."

She stares up at him as if he was speaking blasphemy. "No way!" She takes big bites out of her slice, finishing it off quickly.

He laughs, giving her another one. "There you go. Better?"

She nods, eating this one in much the same way.

As the girls are all distracted, Qrow leans close to Taiyang. "Are you sure you want to wait? You could hurt her..."

He sighs. "Look, give me a bit to eat and get my strength back. You know activating an aura takes a bit out of you."

"Yeah, I guess..." He shrugs as he looks to Ruby, who had slipped on a glove and started bopping Yang on the head with it.

Tai chuckles as Yang tries to fend her off while laughing. "Since you brought it up, it'll be another present."

He gives him a wry grin in return. "I'm sure she'll love it."

Nodding he eats his own cake. "Think I should wait for Ruby's birthday for hers or do that one today too?"

"That I'll leave up to you." He shrugs, then walks over and pats the shorter girl on the head. "Having fun?"

"Yep!" She then bops her sister on the nose.

"Hey!" Yang pulls Ruby into a hug and gives her a soft noogie.

She squeals, flailing her arms and making the glove fly off and land on Daring's head, nearly smushing her face into her third slice.

Tai takes it off her head, rubbing the filly's mane fondly as Yang eases up on Ruby.

She smiles up at him, happily nuzzling into his hand. "Thank you, daddy."

He kisses her forehead. "You're welcome. Have you had enough?"

She nods, yawning softly and shifting closer to him. "Yeah..."

Chuckling, he picks her up. "Tired from your active morning? What about your flying lessons?"

"They can wait until she's rested." Qrow chuckles from where he's petting Zwei. "I don't want to chance her getting hurt."

Tai nods approvingly, tucking the filly into his arms as the other girls continue to play.

Comments

[Nova Blaze]

Always nice to see this update

[LostArchivist]

Ready ot get out

Have I nto given you girls this talk yet