• Published 23rd Mar 2017
  • 2,129 Views, 79 Comments

Compass Rose - enigmaMystere



A PWNY-Verse like story involving Daring Do and RWBY.

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Chapter 6

Months later, Tai is outside with Yang, the two having a little sparring match that mostly amounts to her punching his padded hands and trying to get around his guard.

Ruby watches them, eagerly mimicking Yang's moves as best she can without falling over again.

Yang tries to stand light on her feet as she jabs, jumping a bit to try and get above her dad, who just moves to block her again with a smile.

Daring watches from where she's sitting in the shade, slowly moving her wings in the motions that Qrow taught her, pausing every so often to fold and unfurl her wings.

After another series of punches, Yang suddenly jumps forward in a full body tackle, catching Tai off guard as she hits his stomach. With an 'oof', the man lets out a wheezy chuckle and pats her head. "Very good. Changing it up is a valuable tactic."

Ruby and Daring both applaud her, smiles on their faces.

Yang looks proud of herself as her dad rubs her head. "So this means I win?"

He laughs. "Yeah, you won."

"Woo!"

The smaller girl giggles, holding a cookie up for her sister. "Here you go!"

"D'aww, thanks Ruby." Yang says, hugging her and taking the cookie.

Before she can eat it, Daring hops up and takes a bite out of it as it moves between them.

"Hey!" She quickly tries to shield the rest. "Didn't you already get a cookie?"

"Maybe." She sticks her tongue out playfully.

Yang playfully swipes at her, not aiming to hit as she eats the cookie.

She easily dodges, though she does end up backing right into Tai's legs. "Sorry, daddy!"

Snorting, he scoops her up and nuzzles her. "And how did your own training go?"

She frowns, flapping her wings slightly. "...it still feels weird..."

"Even with what Qrow said?" He checks on her wings, holding them softly.

"Maybe she's overthinking it?" Ruby tilts her head a bit. "Kinda like what Yang does when playing games with Uncle Qrow?"

"Maybe..." He offers, lifting the filly up a bit. "Underthinking is probably what got her into this, but I guess she could be overcompensating."

Daring looks up at him, confused. "How?"

"Well, keeping in mind what Qrow said, how does it feel like you should be flapping your wings to fly?"

"...umm..." She starts flapping them, though rather slowly, almost lazily. "...kinda like this?"

"Hmm... well, that might work if you have updraft... seems slow to me, but you're the one with wings." He moves his hands so she's more resting on them, but able to lift upward out of them.

She starts to lift up, but her hooves grip him as her wings flap faster and out of sync. Her breaths come quickly and her pupils shrink to pinpricks - especially noticeable, given how big her eyes are.

His fingers close over her back as he tries to calm her. "Easy now, panicking wont help."

She nods, blushing in shame. "S-sorry..."

He brings her down and hugs her. "It's alright, just try focusing on a consistent flap rate instead of trying to tire yourself out, okay?"

She looks over his arm at the ground, then grips the limb in a death grip, whimpering softly.

Sighing, he tuckers her into his chest and strokes her mane. "I think you've done enough for now. We can head back inside if you want."

She nods once, trembling in his arms.

As they head off, Ruby leans close to her sister, whispering to her. "Hey, Yang? Do you think she's scared of heights?"

"Maybe... she didn't used to be, but maybe the falling got to her?" She asks, scratching her head.

"Probably had to do with the cake, too..." She looks up at the sky. "...at least she's not afraid of water, right?"

"At least who isn't?" A hand rests on each of their heads and ruffles their hair.

Yang turns, getting back into a sparring stance.

He chuckles, patting her head playfully. "You sure you wanna spar? I don't have boxing gloves like you do."

She smiles as she sees who it is. "Oh, hey Uncle Qrow! We were just talking about Daring."

He raises an eyebrow. "Why? Did something happen?"

"She's still having trouble flying and she might be scared of heights now." Yang says. "We're not sure."

"That... actually sounds bad." He looks towards the house, frowning a bit. "Maybe it could wait until later..." Shaking his head, he turns to head off when a long white object falls out of his pocket.

Being the curious girl she is, Ruby walks over and picks it up, opening it to reveal a house and a woman. "Oh, she's pretty! Look, Yang!" She turns it to her sister before Qrow can react or protest.

"Huh?" She turns her head a bit and looks at it, seeing something... familiar about it.

"Thank you." He swiftly takes it back. "It's not for your eyes, I'm afraid. Only your father's."

"How come?" Yang asks, mind buzzing.

"Because." He leaves it at that, heading inside.

Ruby scratches her head, confused. "...what was that about?"

"I don't know... but I don't like that reason." Yang says, crossing her arms. "That lady kind of looks like me..."

"Really?" The smaller girl taps her chin. "Because her hair's longer. And darker."

"Her face kinda looks like mine." She insists. "Plus, my hair can get longer, too."

She looks at her with a mix of profound curiosity and innocent confusion. "...will its color change?"

Yang shrugs. "I dunno."

"If it did, I think you'd want to change it back." She smiles brightly at her. "You look great just the way you are!"

"D'aww, thanks, sis." She hugs Ruby. "I think your hair suits you, too."

"Of course!" She grins brightly. "Daddy always said I'm the cute one!"

"What does that leave me and Daring as?" Yang asks, curious.

"You're pretty. And she's... uh..." She thinks for a bit, not wanting to share or give up her mantle as the cutest. "...cuddly?"

"Hmm... I think that sounds about right." She nods. "She does have that soft fur all over her."

Ruby fist pumps, excited she gets to keep her title.

Looking around a bit, Yang takes off her sparring gloves. "Wanna go see what's going on in the house?"

She gives her sister a curious look. "Sure?"

"Don't you want to see what was important about that photo too?"

"I guess?" It was more of a confused question than an answer, but it was all Ruby could give her.

"Well, I do anyway." Yang says, heading towards the door.

Not wanting to be alone, the smaller of the two quickly hurries after her.

When they get inside, Yang looks around. "Now where did they go?"

Daring, sitting on a cushion on the floor next to Zwei's bed, raises her head and points to their father's bedroom.

Confused at why she was left alone, Yang sneaks over to the door.

"I'm telling you this as a teammate." The familiar voice of her Uncle Qrow filters through the crack at the bottom of the door. "As your friend, you should stop looking and focus on your family."

"She's part of this family." Her father's voice replies.

"You know what I meant, Tai."

"...yeah, I do." There's a sigh. "So, she was around long enough to take a picture?"

"I barely got that before she disappeared. I don't think she knew I was there."

"Ah, guess she didn't ask about the girls, then." It's not a question.

"...seriously?" The tone is perfectly flat.

Another sigh. "Alright, maybe that was a stupid thought. Is it so wrong to think for a moment she might be interested in her daughter?"

Yang blinks at that, confused because she knew her mother was no longer with them.

"...honestly, there's no way to know what's going through her head. Kinda like Yang, sometimes."

The girl narrows her eyes.

"Well, I guess it's good to know she's still around, in a sense. Thanks, Qrow."

"Yeah." There's the sound of a chair creaking. "Dunno what she wanted with the old place, though..."

Yang backs away from the door, heading back to the other room, looking thoughtful.

The filly sits up completely, looking at the girl with concern and curiosity.

"Yang?" Ruby gently pokes her sister in the shoulder as she passes by. "You okay?"

Sitting down between them, Yang lays back and stares up at the ceiling. "I'm confused..."

"About what?" Their attention turns to the tall man in dark clothing, who is looking at Yang curiously.

She barely spares him a glance before looking up at the ceiling. "Nothing."

He crosses his arms, looking at her skeptically. "You're confused... about nothing."

She sticks her tongue out at him. "I'm just thinking."

He squats down beside her, Ruby sitting down on her opposite side as the filly moves to sit on Yang's belly. "Anything you'd like to share?"

She looks between all of their faces, sighing and smiling sweetly at the man. "I'm fine. Did you only come to visit Dad?"

"Of course not." He chuckles and ruffles her hair. "I came to see my favorite nieces."

Giggling, she smiles more genuinely at him. "You've been doing that more lately. I like it."

"I have?" He taps his chin thoughtfully. "I didn't notice anything different."

Sitting up, she hugs Daring to her. "Well, it's been nice anyway."

"I'm glad." He stands back up and stretches a bit. "Otherwise, I'm being an uncle wrong."

She giggles. "I wouldn't know if you did."

Ruby looks to the filly, clearly confused. "Do you know what they're talking about?"

Daring can only shrug, their wording throwing her off.

At that moment, Tai walks into the room, looking surprised to see all of them there. "Well, everyone having fun?"

The brunette scratches her head a bit. "...is it fun being confused?"

He chuckles, coming over and rubbing each of their heads. "Sometimes, but I think you'll figure it out."

Yang smiles at him before she remember something and looks to Qrow. "Oh, didn't you want to talk to Daring about flying more?"

"Oh." He winces slightly, then turns and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah... wasn't expecting to do that, today, so-"

There's a loud pop as the lights to the cabin go out, plunging them in darkness, broken only by the light coming through the windows.

As the girls yelp and cling to the nearest body, Tai groans, stroking Ruby's hair as she's the one that latched onto him. "Well, at least we have spare bulbs."

Qrow, having been hugged by Yang, looks very nonplussed at this. "You should check your breakers, just in case."

"Yeah, I'm on it." Pulling out a scroll device from his pocket, Tai takes on it to make it give off a small light. "Come on, Ruby." He gently takes the girl's hand as they walk off towards the breaker panel in a different room.

She does as he says, gripping his hand tight out of nervousness. Eventually, she speaks up. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, Ruby?" He asks, looking back at her.

She looks up at him, his face silhouetted by the light of his scroll. "Who was that pretty lady in the picture?"

"Ah... you saw that?" He says, smiling fading a little but still there.

"Yeah, Uncle Qrow dropped his thingy outside." She tilts her head a bit. "Who is it?"

"She's... an old friend, and the one who gave birth to Yang." He answers softly.

She blinks, frowning a bit in confusion. "...mommy?"

He shakes his head, bending down and hugging her. "No, Ruby... not Summer. This woman helped make Yang, but she didn't stick around after that."

She hugs him tight, arms wrapped around his chest as far as they can reach. "Why'd she go?"

"I... don't know. It was her decision and despite it, well, because of it, I found your mom and got you." He says, kissing her forehead.

The words make her smile, but she feels bad for doing so, since it seems to be at Yang's expense. "...can you tell us about mommy, sometime?"

"Sure, Yang can probably help, too." He gives her another light squeeze of a hug.

She blinks, tilting her head at him. "She can?"

He nods. "She helped me raise both you and Yang. So she knew her a bit longer than you."

She's quiet for a bit, but she eventually nods, smiling softly at him. "Okay, daddy."

Smiling at her, he sets her down and takes her hand once more, going to the fusebox and opening it to see what's wrong.

A couple pairs of eyes look back at him. Frowning, he pulls Ruby back and clenches his fist.

She looks at it in confusion, flinching when it hisses at her. "W-what is that?"

"Tiny taijitu." He says simply before darting his hand in and pulling out a double-ended black and white snake by both it's heads.

The little girl blinks, confused. "...daddy, what's the snake doing in there?"

"Making trouble." He says, glaring at the snake. "And a sign that I need to check the defense in small grimm are getting through."

"...defense? I thought our yard was open..."

"It is, but I have some things around that keep us safe." He says, squeezing the snake until it pops into smoke and fades away.

She relaxes slightly, her grip on his hand loosening a bit. "...then where's the fence?"

"It's less a fence and more aura and scent that instinctively makes bad things steer away from our land." He explains, going back to the breaker box.

"...scents can have a hole in them?" Ruby is very clearly trying not to laugh, her cheeks puffed up and her lips curling into a smile.

"Well, sort of, if it get weak enough." He answers, flipping the switches back on, the lights coming on soon after.

The girl squeaks, covering her eyes from the sudden brightness. Even so, she feels compelled to ask. "...does that turn on the smells, too?"

He shakes his head. "No, the smell is always on. I just need to go make sure it's fine after this. Since it was only a small Grimm, I probably just need to boost the aura a little."

"Okay?" She scratches her head in confusion, but doesn't ask anything else.

"Wanna go check on your uncle and sisters?" He asks, taking her hand once more.

She nods, smiling happily. "Yes, please."

He leads her back to the others, checking the lights in each room they pass to make sure they work.

They all seem to, except for the closet, which seems to have broken glass on the floor.

He grunts. "Well, at least we have spares. I'll replace that in a bit."

Ruby eyes the glass on the floor, pressing closer to her father's side.

He scoops her up into his arms, shutting the door and continuing to move through the house. "Good job being careful of glass."

She beams at this, chest puffed out in pride. "Thanks, daddy!"

Chuckling, he kisses her head as they rejoin the others.

They find Qrow sitting with his back against the couch, and everyone else, Zwei and Daring included, laying on him, fast asleep. He frowns and carefully points a finger at his friend so as to not disturb the pony on his shoulder. "Not a word."

True, Tai doesn't say anything out loud, but his grin says plenty.

Ruby looks up at her father, innocent curiosity filling her gaze. "...daddy, when did uncle Qrow become a couch?"

"Apparently when we weren't looking." He says, looking at her. "Want to join them while I clean up that light bulb?"

She points at them, confused. "But there's no room..."

"Well, I'm sure we can figure something out, but you can just come with me if you'd rather do that." He says quietly.

She nods once and gently takes hold of his shirt, smiling up at him.

Chuckling, he looks back to Qrow. "You keep an eye on those two and Ruby and I will do a little bonding."

"Sure. I guess I can continue to be a bed for a little while longer." His voice and expression are completely deadpan.

"Good." Tai says cheerfully as he heads back out of the room with Ruby, chuckling as soon as he gets through the door.

The girl just looks up at him, confused. "Daddy?"

"Hmm?" He looks down at her as he gets the broom.

She tilts her head to one side. "Why were you laughing?"

"Because your uncle thinks doing stuff like that would ruin his image but he can't help himself around you three." He replies with a smile.

"You know I can hear you, Tai!" His voice comes from the living room.

He just chuckles more, heading back to the closet with Ruby and the broom.

The whole time, his daughter never lets go of his sleeve, wondering how the broom was going to pick up the glass.

Getting the dustpan from the back corner of the shelf, Tai sets it on the ground before looking up at the bulb itself.

He sees a little bit of glass still attached to the base of the bulb, still firmly screwed into the fixture.

He nods at that. "Yep." Flicking the switch to make sure it's off, he reach up and starts working to unscrew the bulb. "Always be careful doing stuff like this, Ruby."

She nods once, watching in fascination.

When it comes out, he catches it, his aura keeping him from getting cut. Putting it on the ground, he sweeps it up with the rest. That done, he reaches into the top of the closet, pulling out a lightbulb from a box and twisting it back where the other was, testing it after with the switch. "There we go."

Ruby just blinks a bit. "...that was kinda boring..."

He laughs, rubbing her head. "What were you expecting just changing a lightbulb? Did you want me to let you try to put it in?"

She blushes a bit. "...maybe..."

Chuckling, he turns the light off and unscrews the bulb, offering it to her.

She takes it, holding up her arms and looking at him pleadingly.

He picks her up, holding her so she can reach the ceiling. "There you go."

She quickly screws the bulb in place, cheering happily once she does so. Of course, she accidentally kicks the switch with a foot, causing it to turn on in her face and her hands to fly to her eyes. "Owie..."

He flicks it off and pulls her head to his chest. "Sorry, that happens sometimes. It'll wear off in a minute."

She clenches his vest in her hands, whimpering softly.

He strokes her hair, bringing her out of the closet. "It's okay, look, you did it yourself, right? That's something to be happy about."

She sniffles, then offers him a weak smile. "...okay..."

He hums in thought. "I think I know what might make you feel better." He takes her to his room, reaching onto a shelf and popping a pair of sunglasses onto her head before showing her herself in a mirror. "Some cool shades!"

She blinks a couple times before biting her lip, trying her hardest not to giggle at how silly she looks with oversized sunglasses.

He puts his head next to hers, wearing another pair. "There, now light bulbs can't get either of us."

She can't help but break into laughter at this one, leaning up against her dad so she doesn't fall.

He laughs with her, hugging her to him and just riding out the fun.

It takes a minute or two, but she eventually calms down, hugging him happily. "Thank you, daddy..."

"You're welcome, Ruby." He says, straightening her shades. "Want to keep those?"

She starts bouncing on her seat, grinning brightly. "Can I?"

"Sure!" He says, hugging her. "You can grow into them."

"Thank you!" She hugs him tight, unable to contain her enthusiasm.

Chuckling, he spins her a bit. "You're welcome, Ruby. Want to do anything else while we have alone time?"

She tilts her head a bit, then shrugs slightly. "Dunno. Cookies?"

"Works for me." He nods, heading tot he kitche now. "Chocolate chip or something different?"

"Chip!" She nods once, clinging to his leg and letting him carry her to the kitchen.

He chuckles, commenting as they walk in. "I swear the sweet level of this house has increased ever since we found Daring."

She looks up at him, her features scrunching a bit. "Sweet level?"

"We've been having more desserts and snacks." He clarifies.

"Oh!" She nods, then giggles brightly. "I thought you were talking about how our family got better!"

"Well, that's true, too." He says, rubbing her head as he starts the oven, the machine glowing orange with dust.

She watches curiously from where she stands on his foot, excitement slowly starting to build for her.

"Hmm... what do you think, two or three for everyone?" He says, smiling at her.

She pouts quietly, muttering to herself. "Why should they get any if they're asleep?"

"Well, it's more for later for them, in case they want some." He leans down. "We could probably have more and they won't know."

Ruby slowly begins to grin. "Deal. But I want eight."

He laughs, gently poking her stomach. "Think you can eat all those?"

She nods, fiercely determined to eat all her cookies.

He chuckles, getting out a cookie sheet. "Alright, but if you feel full, you might want to stop eating if you don't want a stomach ache."

She smiles, hugging him happily around the waist. "Thank you, daddy!"

One hand comes down to hug her as the other continues to work, placing premade cookie dough on the sheet. "You're welcome, Ruby."