2 A Torn Family
Quincy's POV
"Quincy! Wake-y wake-y!" Taiyang called out as he shook me out of my sleep. I was lying in my crib and was just having the best sleep of my life.
"Daddy! Daddy!" I had to act like a normal kid even if it hurt my soul to no end, I was basically an adult man in a child's body. My use of basic words and making those little baby giggles was subpar at best, I was afraid my act would be blown but Taiyang didn't think much of it. Probably because I was the first child he ever had.
"Ohoho! My little star! You little beacon, mommy's got breakfast waiting for us!" Taiyang excitedly told me as he pinched my little baby cheeks until they were rosy from pressure. I could tell he was holding back a great deal of strength, the man was in the prime of his life. As for the affectionate nicknames, I was first caught off guard and then set off one of the rare genuine giggles I had in my short life so far.
The nicknames were a perfect mix of cheesy and meaningful, I always noticed the parallels that Beacon and Signal Academy had. That being they're both guiding lights for the future of Remnant.
My dad calling me his little beacon meant a lot to me. Thanks Tai.
The amnesia wasn't too bad. I forgot the name and appearance of my previous life as well as what he did, and that doesn't sit well with me. How could something as meaningful as my life here be wiped out entirely?
However, the show is still clear in my head at the very least, so I'm always one step ahead. Little details I still remember include me being a soldier in my old life, the weapon and semblance given to me by the God of Light, my name of Quincy Branwen, and how to access the stat sheet, but so far no traces of 'Polaris' my supposed weapon.
And that's probably because I've been sitting at home getting potty-trained and spoonfed by my parents. The misery.
You wouldn't have a clue, being a baby is so sedentary compared to my last life as a soldier.
Speaking of the stat sheet, all I have to do is mentally will it into existence which is pretty cool. It's nothing like a pause menu like the games of my old home Earth, time wouldn't freeze and I wouldn't be left suspended with my own thoughts. That'd be quite a broken ability, any type of temporal manipulation would be too much.
Quincy Branwen
- Baby, Age 1 -
Level 1 - 0/100
Vitality - 5/5
Strength - 0
Speed - 0
Agility - 0
Mind - 2
Stamina - 0
Charisma - 0
Defense - 0
Offence - 0
I have been able to take a peek at myself through the reflective surface of one of the balloons I've been given to play with by Raven and Taiyang. Mirrors and countertops are way too tall for me, but through the balloon I can see my semblance has already been manifested in my crimson-star eyes. The first year of my life I could see little stars on my parents, it seemed like a passive semblance. When I'd crawl outside I could see the weaknesses and pressure points of earthworms and insects. Any living thing really.
So far, not a lot of mirror touch synesthesia. Only the fleeting sensations of people touching one another.
Clearly my semblances' ability hadn't been too developed, the stars were far fainter than I imagined they'd be since my baby brain couldn't handle it. I'm sure it'd turn more powerful when I hit puberty and become... what I'd become when I turned 18.
I couldn't wait to look like that, but I also dreaded the fact that the God of Light gave me that appearance in exchange for a few things. Seriously, I knew Yang, Ruby, Raven, and Taiyang were good looking people in the show but having me look like that was just over the top!
SKILL UNLOCK
Observation
Keenness is a necessary trait in Remnant for those whom want a true understanding of the world around them. Your use of your semblance to see the weak points of lifeforms and animate objects is one such example. More observation can be given through reading, listening, perceptive meditation, and journaling.
Congratulations!
Observation (2/100)
Ack! This is just like the games I had at home! What was that one, Runescape? Honestly, a system like this would be of massive help. The inner completionist within me said to max out everything I possibly could.
But that'd be tough, especially considering that as of current, I'm just a year and a half old kid.
I can stand, but there'd be no way Taiyang and Raven would train me yet. Or Qrow for that matter, he's been coming around the house playing with me and he's pretty awesome. You wouldn't have a clue that he's capable of training a 15-year-old Ruby Rose to pull all the stuff that she did in the "Red" Trailer. Everything as well in the first episode of volume one. It was batshit insane what she did with Crescent Rose.
At least none of the responsible adult figures in my life had the "if he can crawl, he can brawl" mentality, the training to get there would literally break my bones. I'd have to wait if I wanted to start increasing my skills. The most I could do right now is meditate on my thoughts and just gaze at what life had to offer in the menu.
- CHARACTER PROFILE -
This section includes:
A 3D turnaround model of what I looked like
My inventory, weapons, and semblance
Eye color, height, gender, basic qualities
Stats (Attributes & skill levels)
- Relationships -
Because how else would you survive in the world of Remnant as a lone wolf? You'll be swallowed alive by Grimm
without others around to support you.
- SKILL TREE -
Now this was the real meat. Hundreds of skills as miscellaneous as rock skipping, hula-hooping - to foundational skills like
hand-to-hand combat, weapon mastery including with swords, hammers, bows, and botany which is your skill of surviving
in the Remnant's unforgiving wilderness.
The only stats I've been able to increase have been my vitality and mind. Vitality literally just by growing up, and mind through meditating and thinking out things in my crib.
Speaking of, Yang is currently crawling around in a separate crib with a bunch of dragon dreamcatchers above it. My own crib mobiles have been fitted with red stars, I guess Raven took a liking to me? I'd notice little glow-in-the-dark marbles amongst solar system decorations held over my face when I slept. The set up clearly had a lot of care put into it.
Every night, she'd would tuck me into bed with a maternal smile as she slid me under blankets.
It was weird.
I was so used to seeing the woman in the show who had been so cold towards her family, being such a cynical, "in it for herself" person and her tribe all for the sake of "survival." And here she was pampering, pacifying, and cooking food for me. Tucking me into bed at night and giving me smiles at just how unique and rare my eyes looked. I was the spitting image of her and she appreciated it.
Should I let my guard down? I know I'll get backstabbed once she leaves the Xiao Long household. And that would hurt. A lot.
But as far as I knew with the amnesia, she was the only mother I knew. Her touch was so kind.
Same with Taiyang, the man was proud. He had a well paying huntsman job yes, but more importantly a beautiful wife, his little stargazer and beacon of light, and a sunny little dragon by his side.
I couldn't help but generate that bond that a child would have with their parents, y'know? And that's when something came to me...
RELATIONSHIP STATS INCREASE
Raven Branwen (Mother)
100/100 - Mother (Rank 3)
0/100 - No interest (Rank 0)
Taiyang Xiao Long (Father)
100/100 - Father (Rank 3)
0/100 - No interest (Rank 0)
It seemed that there were two categories of relationship. The first was the completely platonic category for friends, good friends, acquaintances, and could probably go into the negatives if you had conflict with an enemy. More interestingly, a romance category for that special someone in your life.
Of course, everything was on good terms with my family. I was sure Summer and Ruby Rose would be maxed out in that category as well once they came around. The system automatically filed my family into rank 3, which I assumed was the maximum tier.
Later on, about 8 months into Yang's life and 24 months into mine, I noticed something peculiar. The scent of red herbs when I'd be put into the crib to lay rest.
Raven had apparently lit scented candles that wafted various red herbs into the air. I wouldn't put it past her that these candles were from some kind of superstition, especially when she left her family out of fear from Salem in the show. Dear God, I hope I can prevent that... to prevent the suffering of my younger sister Yang especially. Ruby wouldn't be born to see Raven leave, but Summer would die and... Remnant really is a cruel world, isn't it?
And apparently I had been right about my hunch. Raven over the past few weeks became colder and more distant from Taiyang, she'd get into more arguments with my dad. Had she found out about Salem and started to act out of paranoia? She'd try to distance herself however she could, cryptically saying that, "The Branwen tribe is my calling."
Taiyang's POV
What happened to my lovely wife?
She's become almost paranoid. Constantly on edge, anxious. Whenever we lay in bed together, I'd try to snuggle up to her but she'd dismiss me.
Something was weighing on her mind, and it was big.
I regret not asking sooner, it all boiled over one day and Raven announced that she'd be returning back to her tribe.
"WHAT?!? Raven, why- what happened? We have children," I asked in while shocked and confused. It was clear that this only meant one thing.
Divorce.
At least I hoped to God not, I was just making assumptions. Raven never said it directly, yet that was the first thing my mind went to.
"My dear husband, you wouldn't understand. There's a lot going on in the world right now," Raven said vaguely, trying to soften the blow by sounding cryptic and caressing my cheek. Except that touch felt cold, it was as if her blood had iced up. It didn't feel like my wife's, this felt of a touch of someone that was going to leave everything behind. Including the warmth she's given her children.
"What do you mean? The only world that matters right now is with our family! What's wrong Raven? You can trust me," my wife could sense my tone became progressively desperate and louder throughout the sentence. This attracted the attention of my two youngins, they walked up to the dinner table to watch. Those poor innocent eyes...
"It'd be better if we moved on, Taiyang. The only closure you'll need is that there's a looming threat," Raven's tone increasingly more impatient and stark, I would prod and ask her questions but I knew that'd give me less of a chance to convince her to stay. She clearly didn't like talking about the topic.
The thing that worried me most was that she stopped using the word "husband," was she really? No, that can't be true.
Before I could speak up, it was time for Quincy and Yang to protest.
"Mom! No! Who's going to tuck me into bed every night?" My little stargazer Quincy looked at his mother with those pleading crimson-star eyes. If there was anything that could convince Raven to stay in our marriage, it'd be the spitting image of her. Those puppy eyes of his, I hope she could see a reflection of her lighter side within the boy.
Yang did her best "mommy" despite the fact she could barely speak. Oh my sunny little dragon. I hope her childlike cuteness would get through to Raven, those lilac eyes better work. They better!
It broke my heart to see my two children trying to fight as hard I as did to keep Raven inside the household.
And yet she'd just stare daggers at the little ones, before guiltily looking away.
"Yang and Quincy, this is not your problem. Stay out of this, children," her body language shrinking and her face starting to tic and twitch.
"Yeah, leave the kids out of this!" I said out of anger, making sure my tone wasn't too loud as to not frighten my kids. I felt betrayed that she would abandon her two children and me to go back to her tribe. There was definitely another, more terrifying reason why she'd start acting so paranoid and lash out like this. "Star and dragon, back to your room."
Quincy and Yang obliged, moving away and practically sinking into their rooms. It broke my heart to hear Yang and Quincy playing with their toys, the older of the two trying to take his little sisters mind off of what was happening. Despite his efforts, I can still hear my firecracker sobbing into a pillow or plush of some kind.
My sunny little dragon. How dare Raven hurt her...
"Raven, I'll be calling for a divorce then if it has to be this way. Go back to your tribe, you CLEARLY don't deserve our CHILDREN!" Taiyang snapped back, his eyebrows twitching at the trauma that would fall upon his children.
"Oh, I don't need that kind of baggage anyways. If you want to do something right, you'll do it yourself. And that's exactly what I'll be doing!" Raven had argued back, clearly wanting no part with this family anymore.
"Good riddance. I should've seen this coming," Taiyang said, clearly hurt that his household was going to break. Raven let out an annoyed huffed of air as she turned and walked out the front door, turning into her corvid form and flying off as a bird out of Patch. Taiyang doubted she'd even go through the divorce process properly, she'd just disappear and cut off contact.
Despite his stoic demeanor, he felt like he wanted to cry. God, how was he going to break the news to Qrow? Yang? Quincy? He felt as if the whole world caved in on him, his entire life up to this point had been on an upward trend. He got into Beacon, got strong, dated, married, and was the proud father of two children.
Keyword, "was." He felt like his world was crumbling.
"I'm sorry for your loss," a sober voice went through Taiyang's scroll. It was Qrow. Taiyang was sitting with his two children on the couch, stuck. Not knowing what to do next.
"Yeah, bills are going to be... something," Taiyang was holding back every possible swear in the dictionary. With Raven gone, it'd be harder to make ends meet. They'd be able to go to the mission board together, husband and wife, and practically bring in double the income for them and their children. Luckily, having known what lifestyle inflation was, they made sure to only spend and keep their expenses to that of one person. Taiyang would be able to manage by himself at least.
"Look, you don't have to help me at all, I'll figure something out. You keep your money, alright you stinkin' bird?" Qrow laughed at Taiyang's comment, trying to inject as much happiness into his teammate as he can.
"Well if you say so, if you need a hand don't let your pride get in the way, 'kay bud?" A reassuring sentenced uttered by Qrow.
Taiyang did a long sigh, the idea of asking for help from one of his friends made him sick to his stomach. It wasn't a bad thing particularly, but he'd burden Qrow and that'd probably come off as him pestering his friend to feed his children.
"I'll try," Taiyang simply mumbled. "Well, do you have any parting words to Yang and Quincy? I know the both of them have been feeling down as of late," Taiyang attempted to put some uumph into his voice, despite it coming out as flat. Qrow appreciated the effort anyways, it wasn't an easy situation at all.
"Well sports, don't blame yourselves. You guys have your own will and she has her own will. She decided, you didn't, and you'll have to grow to learn that some things just aren't in your control. I can assure you two did nothing wrong," Qrow gave the best uncle advice and pep talk he could, although it wouldn't stop Yang from audibly sobbing into her fathers shoulder. Taiyang's heart sunk as he patted the head of his 8-month old daughter. He hated the fact that Yang could realize what was happening to her despite her being so young.
"Right, thanks my friend. I'll deal with everything, see you Qrow." Qrow clicked his tongue and sent Taiyang on his way, ending the call.
Quincy's POV
I won't dig into the fresh piece of childhood trauma given to me, but it stung a lot more than it should've. Even if I expected it with my previous watching of the show.
But all the offscreen stuff that wasn't in the show had time to fully flesh out with me living on Remnant now. I could see and hear Taiyang sniffing and blowing into tissue after tissue. The poor skin around his nose becoming increasingly irritated. There was a lot more weight to living in this reality myself, more than what the production team could put in the episodes.
I myself felt this kind of... weird hate? Resentment would be a better word to describe it. Resentment towards my not-mother. I've definitely inherited some of the personality quirks that Raven had, I'm less energetic than Ruby and definitely less energetic than Yang. That lesser energy has been replaced with a sort of darkness. Cold, faint, distant, but it's there. And it seems her betrayal sparked something within me that I'd rather not talk about.
One day, Taiyang brought home a new girl for a romantic date, making sure to usher me and Yang into our shared bedroom while they probably flirted. And that shared bedroom would soon would become a shared bedroom between three children instead of just the two of us. I noticed a red, rosy themed crib appear in our bedroom. And before we knew it, that woman was pregnant and Ruby appeared in that crib. So there's the protagonist of RWBY. Finally she showed up!
Yes, that woman was Summer Rose. The infamous Grimm slaying baker, her cookies were just otherworldly! I'm not surprised with Ruby's obsession with cookies that she had in the original story. My dad and her hit it off surprisingly well, she got acclimated to both me and Yang and loved us. That was honestly not the reaction I was expecting but hey! No reason to complain.
Curiously, I tried to use my observation skill on my step mother.
Summer Rose
- Slayer of Grimm -
Level 42 - 1242/4200
Skills: Baking [85/100]
Observation Skill Level Up!
You're now able to observe the stats of those next to you! Soon you'll become a complete mind reader. The ability is quite weak currently, only able to notify you of their level and the information you look for.
Congratulations!
Observation (5/100)
I am way too lucky that I have such good pastries at home, Summer's cooking was delicious.
I noticed that there was some lifestyle inflation going on after Summer came in to help support the family. She and Taiyang made sure to never go overboard and to put most of the savings for Beacon tuition fees. But the 1,500 lien extra spent per month on the property to expand it and pay for property tax was noticeable. If I had to convert lien to currency from my own world, it'd be about a lien for every Canadian dollar. There was never an official conversion rate in the show, so I'm glad it was made easy for me when the God of Light sent me here.
RELATIONSHIP STATS DECREASE
Raven Branwen (Mother)
80/100 - Divorced Mother (Rank 3)
0/100 - No interest (Rank 0)
I frowned a bit when I saw that my relationship with my mother had become strained.
My closeness with Taiyang, Yang, and Qrow have stayed the same at least.
Curiously, there were two new people on my relationships tab!
RELATIONSHIP STATS INCREASE
Summer Rose (Step Mother)
100/100 - Step Mother (Rank 3)
0/100 - No interest (Rank 0)
Yang Xiao Long (Sister
100/100 - Younger Sister (Rank 3)
0/100 - No interest (Rank 0)
Ruby Rose (Half Sister)
100/100 - Younger Half Sister (Rank 3)
0/100 - No interest (Rank 0)
The transition with Summer was a lot more smooth than I thought it'd be. She was a good person, better than Raven personality wise, that's for sure. It didn't seem like she'd flip out one day and leave us behind like she did. At this point, I was 5, Yang was 4, and Ruby had just reached 2. It seemed like Taiyang finally regained his bearings. Me and Yang had one more sibling to play with and it was a welcome surprise.
Alas, it was finally my time just sitting around at home to end. I've officially started attending combat school, having been enrolled into Signal Academy by Taiyang and starting with my general education! No sparring as of current, that's a few years down the line. It's general education and weapon designing, maybe I'll get to create Polaris in all of its glory?
Quincy Branwen
- Toddler, Age 5 -
Level 1 - 10/100
Vitality - 10/10
Strength - 1
Speed - 1
Agility - 0
Mind - 4
Stamina - 0
Charisma - 1
Defense - 0
Offence - 0
One Day
Quincy, Age 7
Yang, Age 6
Ruby, Age 4
Taiyang Xiao Long, Alive
Summer Rose, Dead
After a night of being worried sick that his new spouse Summer hadn't returned yet, Taiyang received the dreaded phone call. An agent declared Summer was missing and later on in the call, dead.
I won't spew out all my emotions here, just know the household had once again been torn and tears were shed. Ruby especially. I myself couldn't bear the loss of Summer either, it was traumatizing to have lost two motherly figures so early on. And I assumed it'd be the same for Yang, even if Raven's absence hit closer to home.
"Where's mom dad?" Ruby would ask all confused and worried while Taiyang looked at bills. My poor young half sister.
And that was another thing too, the financial consequences. Nobody foresaw Summer's death. With the bills coming in, Taiyang's savings were shredding a bit to feed us and to pay off the property. Even the slightest bit of lifestyle inflation caused issues.
A rose had wilted.
I had to do something fast. Something drastic. Maybe, maybe dropping out of Signal? No wait, I-
(Move inward to Vale Quincy.)
Who was that?
I'd turn around, only to be met with something the God of Light had given me previous.
