RWBY Through Worlds

138: Shadows Chase Me

The group left at Haven found the quiet a bit monotonous.

Shine and Wally seemed to enjoy having more time to talk with each other.

Yang, Weiss, and Blake, lacking Ruby to fuel their team activities, didn't know really what to do.

"I guess we revolve around her," Blake noted.

Weiss wished she'd gone with Winter almost, but supposed she'd not have had any more time to spend with her.

Whitely, Libby, Willow, and Klein all had tea in the back courtyard--Libby not doing anything properly, but Klein just patiently would show her what to do, and his constantly changing personality made her laugh.

Whitley actually kind of understood that feeling more, and was warming up to the experience.

Willow admittedly was starting to feel the effects of withdrawal for so long, though she tried to hide it, and she seemed to waver.

Tai offered to go a few rounds with Yang, mostly to make her less bored.

Yang agreed and they went in the dojo.

"So," Tai said, after some sparring. "You doing okay with your mom being here?"

Yang had almost forgotten that that had ever made her uncomfortable at first. 

"Yeah," she wiped her brow. "Honestly, Cinder and Watts are worse than her being here, so it kind of seems like nothing now."

"Yeah, well, I'm kind of glad Ruby isn't around them," Tai said. "I almost can't believe you girls stuck to this, with the kidnappings and...everything else."

Yang nodded but then after a while she said. "Dad why didn't you ever tell me that Mom still checked in on me?"

Tai paused.

"I guess you'd have figured that out," Tai said.

"Not just that, she told me more," Yang said. "That she left because you guys didn't believe her about Ozpin...and that she offered to let you come with her."

She frowned. "That's true?"

Tai sighed. "Yang...it sounded so unbelievable," he said. "I just didn't want to be in the middle of it, you know. Qrow was so sure Ozpin was a good guy, and Summer was too. Maybe later Summer started to doubt it, but I didn't know that. I don't know a lot, I just knew that Raven swore that Salem couldn't be killed. We thought she got spooked by something, but to be honest, it seemed like an excuse too. She never fit as well into the huntsmen life as Qrow, I think she always kind of liked the freedom of being a bandit. So, she left."

"But she didn't completely leave," Yang no longer accepted this as easily as she used to. "She still watched us...she...she still warned Qrow about Salem's attacks. Right?"

Tai rubbed his head.

"She's complicated," he said.

Yang took a drink of water, but then she said. "I'm actually not sure it's as complicated as you think."

"Huh?" Tai said.

"No one believed her," Yang said. "I...can't say her leaving was the right thing to do. But if she couldn't have persuaded you, wouldn't that  have been really awkward? It was hard for us once we knew the truth to know what to say. Mom just up and told you guys without thinking you'd not believe her, and then you didn't. Isn't that kind of rough?"

"You think about this a lot," Tai said.

Yang didn't quite like how he seemed surprised by that.

"Like I can't think?" she said. "Like I can't ask questions for myself about her?"