The sunlight felt good as I was working. It helped with how sore I'd been recently. All the running around I'd had to do the past few nights was starting to wear me down. Bad enough my sleep schedule had been pared down as much as it had been, if it started keeping me from other work then it'd be bad. Things had been ramping up in Vale, and trying to keep up with it was getting to be a little rough. Nothing I couldn't handle, but I could feel it starting to chip away at me.
Normally I'd relay what I'd found the previous night to my teammates after work was done. But this time, they'd found their way to me. Ruby and Yang chose to come meet me outside after class, before I'd had a chance to nap or finish my work for professor Peach. I'd even entertained the notion that they might be kind enough to actually help me, rather than just leave me to tend to everything by myself.
Shortly after we began however, their real goal came to light.
"The answer's no." I said, as I stepped the blade of the shovel into the mulch with my boot.
"Six~" Ruby whined.
"None of your whining either." I said, tossing my shovel-full of mulch into the wheelbarrow. I then stabbed the blade of it into the mulch and started to wheel the material away.
"But Six-" Ruby continued, hounding me like an angry puppy "You can't cover everything on your own."
"Watch me." I shot back.
"We have been." Yang said "It's not looking any better either."
A fair assessment, frankly. Every night I went out and came back, even with the progress I was making, most of what I told them wasn't good. Even if I was preventing some trouble, the White Fang were still making inroads. I was doing a lot, but it wasn't enough for a complete stop.
Which led to this conversation.
"The plan stays as we set it." I told them "I can handle doing this on my own, you girls just need to have the information straight and be ready to go. When the time comes, you'll be doing plenty of fighting."
"But we can help!" Ruby argued "If you would just let us come with you at night, even one of us, we could make everything go faster."
"Or tip off the White Fang that a larger force than what they might already think is working against them." I countered "They already know about the police, and I think they're starting to gather that I'm actively working against them. Once they realize the kinds of numbers they actually dealing with, it'll become even more of an uphill battle, because then they know they're only up against four teenage girls and a former mailman."
"You know we can handle ourselves in a fight." Yang said "We'd be fine."
"That's not the point I was making." I told her "It's not a quality issue at that point but a quantity one. Once they know there's only five of us then, at most, they only need to set up five different things to keep us busy. Once we're all preoccupied, they can go about their business unimpeded."
"And that's somehow better when there's only one of us?" Ruby asked, doing math with her hands "That would just make it easier for them."
"Not when they haven't figured out our numbers." I said "They may know that someone is giving them grief. That have no way of knowing that it's just one person specifically. Having that bit of mystery on our side is invaluable under the right circumstances. Especially when the time comes to actually have you girls involved."
"Well…" Ruby said, trying to build to a point, before deflating "I still don't like it."
"I didn't say you have to like it either." I told her "I know it's unfair, and I know you want to help, but you have to trust me here. When the time comes, you girls are going be invaluable."
"Tell that to Blake." Yang said "She hasn't been looking so good recently."
"I'm aware of that, believe me, I see her most mornings." I agreed.
Blake… hadn't been taking my nightly outings well. Not because I was attacking the White Fang, no, that ship had sailed. I had to guess it was more that, much like Yang and Ruby had argued, I'd forced her to the bench. This whole situation had to do with her wanting to do something about the White Fang. Whether that was to soothe her own guilty conscience or not didn't matter. Being told to sit back and be patient wasn't easy, and I could tell it was eating away at her. It was no small miracle she hadn't done anything stupid yet, but I had to hope it was in effort to avoid a repeat of recent events.
Instead, Blake had taken to another popular form of torture: insomnia.
Every morning I'd comeback for the past week or so, Blake was still wide awake. A small reading light pointed over a book in her hands, and several cups of coffee not far out of reach. Just judging by the books' varying covers, a rarely effective method, they weren't her preferred form of literature either. I had to imagine their contents were tangentially related to our situation. When she wasn't reading, she was pouring over the documents I'd brought back, or studying the map. Putting every ounce of energy she had into trying to figure out just what was happening.
Hell, I'd go to sleep and she'd still be awake when I woke up two hours later.
Girl was burning the candle at both ends, and not being wary of it either. But that was going to need to be a problem addressed at a different time.
Today was going to be something a bit more personal.
Having reached the designated spot, I tipped over the wheelbarrow and dumped its contents onto the ground. Leaving it for the actual club members to use when they finally showed up. What they did with it wasn't my concern, I was just the mule in this case. After dumping the mulch, I walked the wheelbarrow back to the shed, tailed by my two shadows, and locked it up. It was about two or three in the afternoon. Normally, this would be about the point where I wrapped things up with Peach for the day and went to go take my nap. But today was going to be different, there was something more important happening. Something I'd been waiting weeks for.
Harvest day.
My first round of Mutfruit were finally going to be ripe enough to harvest and eat. Which had me rushing to get the work done so I could actually focus on what was more important. To me, at any rate. Though I wouldn't have been surprised if Peach was interested in an entirely alien species of fruit.
I started towards my own garden, not minding that Ruby and Yang were following me at the moment.
"Where are you going now?" Ruby asked, still attempting to act as my shadow.
"To pick fruits and vegetables. My garden should be ready now." I explained.
"You mean that place where we had the campfire?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, most of the stuff should be ripe by now." I explained "About time too, that means you girls might be the first ones to taste the newest flavor sensations to grace this world. If I'm feeling so kind as to share, anyway."
"You sure it'll be safe to eat?" Ruby asked.
"Safe?... probably." I shrugged "New food, new allergies, never really know until you try them… but should be safe otherwise."
"Oh… yaaay." Ruby said, sounding less than enthusiastic.
It took a minute or two to pace our way through the grounds to the back corner I'd carved off for myself. Away from the prying eyes of students and staff alike. It wasn't their business if I unleashed a hardy strain of mutant fruit upon the world. They'd be grateful it wasn't something as vicious as what was in Vault 22 or Big MT. Most wasteland flora could grow in even the worst conditions, and could solve hunger as long as you had sunlight and water. Which you could also say about the flora from Vault 22 and Big MT. For different reasons.
As we walked into the garden, however, I found that my privacy was being challenged.
I had an uninvited guest in my garden.
Standing among the ringed back lot of trees and foliage, was a man. He was tall, well-built too. Smaller than the likes of Yatsuhashi and Junior, or Lanius for that matter. But that just meant he was normal tall, not a giant. I put him as being about half a head taller than Yang, so just over Six foot, roughly my current height. He was built lean, but strong. Callisthenic muscles, again much like Yang's. His skin was faire but tanned, carrying an earthy hue. The kind acquired by someone who spent a good amount of time outside. His hair was a short, sandy blonde, with a small curl sticking out of the top. He wore knee length orange shorts, along with a light, tan button-up and a small brown vest. The boots on his feet were dirty and scuffed, but sturdy. A metal spaulder rested on one of his shoulders, and a long leather glove-gauntlet that ran up the same arm, covering his forearm. Between the two, a tattoo whose shape I couldn't immediately discern.
He wasn't any teacher I recognized.
As we stepped into the garden, I slowed down. The stranger had not yet realized we were present, and I wanted a moment to gauge them before approaching.
The man, whoever he was, had a hand on one of my mesquite plants. He appeared to be gently examining the lea-
"Dad?" Ruby asked.
They perked slightly, then turned to look in our direction. His nose was long and straight, between warm blue eyes and below a soft brow. He had a strong jaw that lead to a rounded chin, dusted in a light fuzz, a small patch of blond beneath his lower lip. His mouth was wide and, with the knitting of his brow, set in a startled frown.
The man looked our direction briefly, his eyes darting over me briefly, before shifting to the girls trailing behind me. As he settled on them, his eyes lit with unbridled warmth, and his mouth bowed into a smile that could melt permafrost.
"Hey girls." The man said, starting towards us.
"Dad!" Ruby said as she darted forward, followed closely by her elder sister.
'Dad?'
My two teammates ran up to the man, who promptly scooped the both of them into a bear hug. He squeezed them hard, and I could tell they were reciprocating. They stayed like that for several silent moments. It probably wasn't strange for them, but it felt awkward to me, considering I was the one just standing there watching them.
After a few moments more, the three of them released each other and the man, their father, spoke. "It's so good to see you girls, I was going to come find you, but wanted to stop here first."
"It's good to see you too dad." Yang said, a smile that matched her fathers on her face "What're you doing here?"
"What, a guy can't come visit his daughters unannounced?" Their father asked.
"You could've at least told us you were coming." Ruby pouted "We haven't seen you in weeks, we could've had lunch or something."
"Who said we weren't going t-…" Their father stopped mid-stream, as his gaze drifted away from his daughters. It found its way back towards me, and furrowed in confusion "… Who's he?"
"Uh, hi." I said, giving a wave "Don't mind me, just the mailman."
"That's Six, he's one of our teammates." Ruby said "I told you about him in the letters I sent home, along with Blake and Weiss, remember?"
"That so?" Their father said, his gaze narrowing "You didn't mention he was a guy."
"O-Oh, right." Ruby stuttered, face reddening "U-umm…"
"Surprise?" Yang offered, handling the situation far better than her sister.
"Hrm…" their father grunted. He gave them both a small smile, before slipping past them and approaching me, expression narrowing again. "So, you're the odd one."
"Odd one?" I asked "I think you've got me mistaken with someone else. Compared to most I'm actually quite normal."
"Most teams only have four people. But you're the fifth on their team." The man said "I'd say that makes you a little odd."
I shrugged "Well, if you want to get technical, I suppose that would make me a little stra- wait a minute."
The smile returned to the man's face again, this time with an amused edge to it. "Well, you at least seem to pay attention, which counts for something."
"Oy." I groused.
The man smirked at me in a fashion that reminded me all too much of Yang. He reached a hand out to me. "Taiyang."
"…" I took a moment, then traded grips with him "Six, a pleasure, sir. I can see where Yang gets her sense of humor."
His gaze sharpened again, in what I'm sure was supposed to be an intimidating fashion. "And that means?"
"That Yang's puns make most wish their days were numbered." I answered honestly.
Taiyang's eyebrow quirked at me, before giving me a good-natured smirk, nodding. "Not bad."
"Thank you, I have less control over it than I like." I said.
"I'd give it a six outta ten." Yang broke in, smiling.
"Boo." I intoned.
"What, it's not the worse five ever heard." Yang said.
"Can we please change the topic?" I asked "I didn't mean to start this."
"What four?" Taiyang asked back, smirking "Can't handle the heat?"
"No, but puns make me want to slam my head into a three." I said, motioning to the nearest tree. It took me a moment to realize what I'd done after the fact.
"Six, c'mon~" Ruby whined "Don't encourage them."
"He wasn't trying two." Taiyang said, playfully ruffling his youngest daughter's hair, eliciting an embarrassed whine from her.
"Yeah, he's got no chance of winning this one." Yang said.
"…" I pinched the bridge of my mask "Ok, I yield, satisfied?"
"Nope." Yang said, still smirking.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Ruby asked again, having come up with a better answer "You didn't say you were coming."
"Was I supposed to announce myself?" Taiyang asked.
"This is a private academy, which likely would have security keeping random people from walking in off the street so… yes?" I said, trying to follow Taiyang's logic.
"I'm an alum, comes with a few perks." Taiyang answered, before wrapping an arm around either of his daughter, hugging them again "Like visiting the two most wonderful girls in the world, who couldn't bother to pay their old man a visit over vacation."
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Ruby and Yang blanched.
"We-um… kinda got into trouble." Ruby said.
"Oh, don't worry, I know." Taiyang said, smiling "Professor Goodwitch gave me a call the morning after what you did at the docks."
"And you're not mad?" Ruby asked hopefully..
"Oh no, I was livid." Taiyang answered, not losing his smile "But I was happier the two of you and your teammates came out in one piece."
"Oh…" Ruby hugged her dad a little tighter.
I let them have their moment and took the chance to move past them. Try to focus on my plants. The honey mesquite pods were ripe for the picking, so I began plucking them by the fistful. Roasted, they'd make a nice addition to my morning coffee.
"You sure you should be picking those, kid?" Taiyang asked, still hugging his daughters.
"I planted and tended them, so I'll do what I want with them." I shot back.
"Oh…" Taiyang paused for a moment, then nodded "Carry on then."
"… Actually, quick question, sir:-" I said, continuing to harvest "How'd you find this place, most students don't know about it."
"I know, who do you think planted it?" Taiyang asked, slowly releasing his daughters "I'm surprised the place has held up as well as it has."
"You're welcome for that, it was a bit overrun before I started." I said "Spent a good couple of days after I found this place just clearing out the weeds and brush. Made planting my own stuff easier."
"I was wondering where this stuff had come from." Taiyang said, walking up to the mesquite tree "I know how to hoe a row, but I don't think I've ever seen some of these plants before."
"They're not native to the area, no." I said, hedging the truth "Brought them with me when I came to Beacon, planted the seeds hoping I'd get the taste of home while I was here."
Taiyang nodded "Well, don't think there's anything wrong with that... What're those orange flowers over there?"
"Broc flowers." I answered "Good for medicines, remedies, and teas."
Taiyang hummed in acknowledgement, then looked around the rest of the garden. Whatever wasn't taken up by pre-existing flower beds and trees, I'd crammed in whatever seeds and vegetation I could. There were plenty of things that were going to take years to mature to their most efficient. But wasteland crops were hardy, and most mutated or evolved to produce fruit, and seeds, as quickly as possible. Even if I wouldn't be getting anything in large numbers, something was better than nothing, and they'd produce all season long.
"Looks like you're growing corn over there." Taiyang noted, looking towards my maize. He then looked over towards the mesquite bush I was currently harvesting. "You sure doing this won't cause any problems?"
"For the most part, no." I said, plucking a handful of the beans off the vine. Rather than store them away though, I decided to do something nice. I held the beans out to Taiyang. "Care to try some?"
"…" Taiyang looked at the beans for a moment, cautiously, then back to me. "You know you have to cook beans before you eat them, right? They're poisonous."
"Not these ones sir." I said "They'll only make you sick if you eat too many, and that's a fiber issue not a poison one."
"I dunno, common sense says otherwise." Taiyang said, eyeing me warily.
"Well, common sense isn't always right." I said, know damn well that was a very slim margin for error. "Trust me, I've eaten bushels of these things raw. They're pretty tasty, nice and sweet too. Kinda tastes like candy."
"What kind, a chocolate covered laxative?" Taiyang asked.
"Oy, don't be rude, you want to try it or not?" I asked again "You've got an aura, don't you? What's a little food poisoning?"
"Clearly you've never had Mistrailli sashimi turn on you in the middle of a long drive." Taiyang said, before finally growing a pair and taking the beans from me. Holding the pods in his hand, he slid one into his mouth and started chewing. He seemed confused by it at first. But as he ate, his expression lit up, his chewing grew slower and more thoughtful. He swallowed, and spoke. "… It's… It's like a green bean… but it's sweet." Taiyang turned towards his youngest daughter with a smirk on his face "I think I finally found a vegetable you'd eat without complaining."
"Dad~" Ruby whined.
"Share with her, she might actually like it." I said, finishing the first shrub of mesquite pods.
As I started to move onto the next shrub, I heard rustling in the tree above me, and looked up to the branches.
Resting on the branches was a small dog, staring down at me with a doggy grin. It wasn't any type of dog I was familiar with either, I could've almost mistaken it for a rodent of some kind. About the same size as any of the giant rats you'd see running around Freeside. It was small, pudgy, with short and stumpy legs. Most of its body was covered in coarse black or light brown fur, save for its white belly and legs. Its beady brown eyes looked down on me with mischief and excitement.
I froze, trying to puzzle out how they'd even gotten up there in the first place. "What the fu-"
The dog fell out of the tree, crashing into my face. I fell back, landing rough and loosing grip on some of my mesquite. As I lay there, the dog bounced off of my face, and trotted happily over towards my teammates and their father.
"Zwei!" Ruby shouted, voice a peel of delight.
The little dog toddled up to her at a break-neck pace, bouncing around her feet and yipping happily.
"…" I looked to Taiyang in annoyance. "Why was your dog up in the tree?"
"He gets around." Taiyang shrugged.
"That's not an answer." I said, picking myself up out of the dirt.
As the small dog continued to yip and bound around Ruby, she bent down and snatched him up off the ground. The little dog wriggled in her arms for a moment, before settling against her, panting happily. Yang reached an arm out to the pup and gave him a scratch behind the ears.
"Ok, now I know something's up." Yang said, smirking to her dad "What gives?"
Taiyang sighed dramatically, still smirking at his eldest daughter "Fine, if you really need to know, I'm heading out of town on a job."
"Really?" Ruby asked, surprised.
Taiyang nodded "The Grimm have been more active recently; Council thinks it's due to the Vytal Festival. We can't seem to get enough people together to look into everything, so they're having the staff from Signal pitch in."
"You're going on a mission?" Ruby asked, visibly excited.
"You bet." Taiyang smiled "But it's nothing big. They've got me looking into some disappearances that happened outside Vale's borders. We're honestly not expecting to find much, but the request came through."
"What are the odds that it's not just Grimm?" I asked "White Fang have been active in Vale lately, there's always a chance."
Taiyang looked my way, then shrugged "There's always the chance. Some of the people that've already been looking into it seem to think the same thing. There's evidence people were involved, but their money is on bandits over White Fang. The attacks don't fit what people think the White Fang are up to."
"Alright, what do you think about it?" I asked.
"Personally? I have no idea." Taiyang answered "From what I've heard it doesn't really fit either one. Which is why I'm getting sent out to look into it." He then motioned to the pup in Ruby's arms. "Since I won't be around, I need someone to look after Zwei for me."
The dog, Zwei, yipped again, and leapt out of Ruby's arms. Completely unafraid of the fall despite his small stature. He landed harmlessly and bounded over to me on his stumpy legs. As he reached me, he leapt up onto his hind legs, planting his front paws onto my leg for balance. His stumpy tail beat the air aggressively as he gave me another, panting, doggy grin. Tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.
"…" I looked back to Taiyang "You know, asking for a favor after your dog just knocked me to the ground is a bit impertinent."
"Well, I wasn't going to ask you." Taiyang answered snidely, turning back to his daughters "I was going to send you girls a letter, but figured it'd be nice to get to spend a little while with you."
Ruby gasped, smiling "We can watch him, totally!"
"Oy, shouldn't you let Blake or Weiss know before you go agreeing to anything?" I asked "Giving everyone a warning would be the nice thing to do."
"Oh, they won't mind." Yang said "Zwei's a sweetheart, they'll warm up to him in no time."
"Again, he attacked me the moment I saw him." I said.
"He was just playing around, you're not actually hurt, are you?" Taiyang asked.
"Well, no, but he still jumped me. Shouldn't I get a say in this?" I asked back.
Ruby, Yang, and their father looked at me for a moment, before Ruby decided to actually ask. "Do you mind if he stays with us?"
"…" I looked down at the dog still leaning again me. The grin had left his muzzle, and his eyes had suddenly grown watery. He looked to me with puppy eyes, a pleading little whine elicited from him. "… I recognize coercion when I see it." I said, before reaching a hand to scratch him on the head "Damn you."
"That sounds like a yes." Ruby said "Three to two unaccounted for, he can stay!"
"Awesome, thanks girls." Taiyang said, smiling "I brought a bag with his food in it. There should be enough in it to last until I come back to get him. I don't know how long the job is going to be though."
"All good pop." Yang said "It'll be nice having Zwei around. Haven't seen him in forever."
Zwei yipped at that, before bouncing back off my leg. He balanced himself on his hind legs for a moment, then fell back onto me again. I moved the leg he was balancing on and let him fall back to earth. Immediately he began bouncing around me excitedly, before toddling back over to his family. He nuzzled up against Yang, who immediately knelt down and began fussing with him. A brilliant smile blossoming onto her face as she began squishing and molding the small dog's face between her hands. Little pup seemed to really enjoy it.
I'll admit, it was a nice scene, in the moment. A happy little family having a brief reunion.
"Well, this is nice… so, late lunch?" Taiyang asked.
"Sounds good, I skipped breakfast." Yang said.
"Well, I hope you three have fun then." I said, returning to the reason I was in my garden in the first place. "I've still got to handle this, and have a busy night ahead of me."
"We will, see you at dinner, Six." Ruby said "C'mon dad, we can tell you about what happened at the docks."
"Or Initiation, it was wild." Yang said.
"It always is." Taiyang chuckled "I remember doing it when I was your age."
"You could tell him about how you knocked me out and tied me to a chair while you're at it." I added snidely "That's a story I'm sure he'd love to hear."
"… Excuse me?" Taiyang asked.
I turned to look at him again, and found him staring at me in confusion. Ruby and Yang on the other hand looked like they'd both just stepped on a landmine and heard it go *click*.
If they thought I was going to let a moment like this pass, and had completely forgotten about that little incident, they were mistaken.
"Your daughters, along with others, invaded my privacy, knocked me unconscious, and tied me to a chair." I elaborated "While I let it go at the time due to extenuating reasons, I figured if they were going to be telling you all about these past few weeks, I wouldn't want them to overlook that one."
"…" Taiyang's face darkened slightly, before an unnerving tranquil smile found its way to his face. "That so?"
"Indeed." I said, sealing the deal.
Yang and Ruby, for no reason in particular, began sweating bullets. To be fair, it was hot out.
"I see, thank you for your candor." Taiyang said "I'll be happy to hear all about it." Taiyang turned, facing both of his daughters, putting a hand on either of their shoulders. "Girls, is there something you want to tell me?"
"Umm…" Ruby said, her eyes darted between her father and Yang "… We can explain?"
"Please do." Taiyang said "Because I think we need to have a… private conversation."
"Oh no." Yang said.
Without waiting a moment more, Taiyang turned his daughters around and began to walk them away. "Please take care of Zwei for me, Six." He said "It was a pleasure to meet you."
"No problem, he'll be safe as houses with me." I called back "And girls, don't fill up on cafeteria food, we're having roasted maize and Mesquite barbeque for dinner."
"Y-yea, thanks." Ruby said, as she and her sister were led away. Leaving me alone with the dog.
I looked down to Zwei, who had toddle his way back over. He was sitting politely beside me, looking at me with a doggy grin.
He sure was a happy dog.
"… You know, where I come from we eat dogs sometimes." I said, looking down at him "Especially the ones that attack us."
Zwei cocked his head sideways, but didn't lose his grin.
"We don't get too many like you though. Most of them are big, lanky. Not too much meat on 'em, save for a few steaks." I explained "… But a boy like you… well, you're small. Gotta have a bit of fat on you. Good life would mean you're tender. Make you a nice bit of stew, or a roast…"
I stopped harvesting my vegetables and turned towards Zwei. I hooked the small dog under the joints of his front legs and hoisted him up. Making sure I could look him square in the eye.
"How about it pup?" I asked "You sure you wanna stay for dinner?"
Zwei's head stayed cocked for a moment, eye contact unbroken. Completely fearless.
Then his tongue lashed out and licked my mask.
Either fearless, or really stupid.
"… *snrk*" I chuckled at the dog "Oh, I like you." I shifted him around so I could keep him rested in my off arm. He nestled in like it was the most natural thing for him. The little prince. "I think we're going to get along just fine."
…
When next I saw Ruby and Yang, I received a very formal and sincere apology.