(7 years ago, your p.o.v.)
"Again!" Taiyang shouts out.
You stood in a fighting stance, facing one of the many trees in the back of your families house in Patch. You punch the tree in an indented spot stripped of bark, leaving behind fresh blood from your knuckles on the stained and worn down wood. Your face winces after every strike, tears welling up in your eyes. You try to hold them in, however it's too late as Tai has already spotted them.
"Warriors do not cry (Y/N)! If you can't handle punching this tree, what makes you think you can handle a Beowolf?" Your father shouts out to you.
You turn away from Tai's scolding as he shouts at you to continue, to which you do. By the time you are done, you look to see your knuckles bloody and gashed, as if the skin had been ripped from them. You look up to your father who simply tosses you a roll of bandages as he walks back to the house.
"Clean yourself up, it's time for me to train with your sister. Next time there will be no tears, got it?" Tai asks looking back at you.
You simply nod as the blonde haired man walks away from you, leaving you to wrap your hands by your lonesome. You begin to wrap your hands before you feel like someone's watching you. You look up to see Ruby staring out of her bedroom window at you. The young Rose quickly hides after you set eyes in her, in an attempt to make it seem like she wasn't spying on you. You couldn't fault your younger sister for being curious, however you just hoped she wouldn't see you in your weakened state.
You then hear the front door to the house open, curious you peak out from the back to see Yang and Tai light sparring. Your father clearly holding back on Yang as she throws everything she has at the elder Xiao Long. After a volley of punches to his chest, Tai falls over 'defeated' by Yang, who celebrates her victory.
"I won again Daddy! Looks like your getting a little rusty." Yang says in her cool and confident voice.
"You're starting to pack quite the punch pumpkin, but I wouldn't be too high and mighty just yet." Tai says smiling as he picks himself off the ground.
The two begin to spar again, this time Tai not going as easy on Yang but making sure not to actually hit his daughter. You look down at the dirt, beginning to weep at the thought of your sister's preferential treatment. Ruby had Qrow as a mentor and Yang obviously had Tai, but you felt like all Tai was focused on was making you're training as miserable as possible. You kept sulking before you were suddenly shoved into the dirt. You look up to see your older sister standing over you laughing at your current position.
"What, you're just gonna go down that easy?" Yang asks, holding a hand out.
"Knock it off Yang." You say simply, knocking her hand out of the way as you stand up.
"Come on (Y/N), lighten up a bit. I'm just teasing you. It's not my fault you're weak."
"I'm not weak!" You say, trying to hold back your hatred for those words.
"Well Dad's gonna take me to go kill my first Grimm tomorrow! With all the training you do with him you'd think he'd ask you to go too." Yang says slyly.
You clenched your wrapped and bloody fists over your elder sisters comments. You so badly wanted to prove to your father you weren't weak. Maybe then he'd treat you like your sisters. Treat you like how things were before Mom disappeared.
"I'll show you Yang, I'll go kill a Grimm right now without Dad's help!" You say storming off into the woods as Yang scoffs, walking back to the house.
You march off into the foliage of the forest without a second thought in your mind. You moved driven solely by determination, hoping to prove your family wrong about you.
You were not weak.
(Back at the house)
Tai stood at the counter top, cooking dinner for his family. He focused keenly on cutting the vegetables for their meal when a small yet pronounced voice came from around the corner.
"Daddy? Do you know where (Y/N) is?" Ruby asks looking at Tai with sad eyes.
"I never saw him come in, he must still be out there training." Tai said plainly, not looking back at his youngest daughter.
Ruby simply looks down at her feet before asking a simple yet painful question.
"Daddy, why do you hate (Y/N)?"
Tai froze, baffled by his daughters question. Of course she was only nine but it made Tai freeze. The veteran huntsman set down his knife and turned to walk towards a young Ruby, holding her shoulders in a comforting manner.
"Ruby, I don't hate your brother. I love all of you equally." Tai said smiling, hoping that'd cheer up his youngest child.
"Then why do I see you making him punch that tree? Or make him do those painful things?" Ruby asks.
Tai just sits and reflects on his... strict training regiments for his son. Thinking back to him punching the tree, or when (Y/N) would stand still and take strikes from a pole arm to condition him.
"Daddy?" Ruby asks again, snapping Tai from his train of thought.
"Is it because Mommy's gone?" Ruby said, her voice sinking considerably.
"Oh Ruby, how do I put this. I love (Y/N) just like I love you and Yang. Your brother has your Mothers heart, but lacks her strength. I want him to learn fast that the world isn't like all the fairy tales in the books you guys read." Tai says, trying to find the right words to tell Ruby.
"It's not?" Ruby asks innocently.
"I'm sorry honey, as much as I'd love it to be the worlds a little more complex than that."
"Then I'm gonna make the world like the fairy tales!"
Tai simply smiles at his daughters determination. Their moment however is cut short by Yang who comes sprinting down the stairs.
"Dad! Dad!" Yang shouts before Tai brings her into an embrace.
"What's wrong sunflower?"
"I told (Y/N) about our Grimm hunting trip and I think he actually went out to fight a Grimm by himself! I saw him go into the woods but I thought he'd come right back!" Yang says, fear and despair evident in her voice.
Tai looked horrified. He never thought his methods would drive you to these measures, if anything he was trying to put a little fear into you. The blonde haired fighter quickly let go of his eldest daughter before rushing to the door.
"Yang, look after Ruby. I'll let Qrow know you two are home alone." Tai says as he exits the house, making a break for the woods.
Tai's mind was bend on one thing as he rushed into the woods. Find his son and apologize for his actions, hoping he would understand. However, after what seemed like miles of running Tai was met with his worst fear. Blood staining the ground and a torn (F/C) shirt on the ground. Shocked at the sight, Tai fell to his knees, grabbing the torn shirt and gripping it tightly.
"Summer... (Y/N)... I'm so sorry I failed you." Tai said holding the torn fabric to his heart.
(A few moments beforehand)
You were trudging through the thick foliage that made up most of Patch, your legs scratched by the various thorn bushes and dead sticks that littered the ground. The cuts stung, almost making you turn back. However, your determination powered you through to continue looking for your first Grimm to kill. After some time, you suddenly stumble across a lone Beowolf searching through the woods. You hid behind a tree, waiting for it's back to be completely turned to you before you went in to strike. Once you saw your chance, you made a mad dash for the beast. However the Beowolf caught wind of your attack, quickly striking you with its claws. The attack immediately broke your aura, cutting your skin and painting the nearby tree line with your blood. Your shirt was torn off your body, stuck to the Beowolf's claws. You cry out in pain as you hit the ground, looking up in fear as the Grimm loomed over you. It's piercing eyes staring into your own.
"Dad... you were right. I am too weak." You say, slowly closing your eyes accepting your fate.
As you waited for the inbound pain, you hear the Beowolf let out a whimper of pain. You peak open an eye to see a man, clad in a kung fu outfit with his leg going straight through the back pack the Beowolf. As the man pulls his leg out from the Beowolf's chest, the beast disintegrates into nothing. The man turns to you, kneeling down to your level before looking at the three cuts going across your chest.
"These are some nasty cuts, they'll scar but you'll survive." The man says as he rips off his sleeves, wrapping them around your chest while exposing his extremely toned arms.
"Who... are you?" You ask weakly.
"My name is Bruce Lee, how about you son?" Bruce asks as he helps you to your feet.
"I'm (Y/N)... (Y/N) Rose." You say as you look down.
"So (Y/N), what's a kid like you doing out in these parts?
"I wanted to prove to my dad I'm not weak. I train all day and he still treats me like I'm helpless."
Bruce Lee takes a closer look at your hands, seeing the bloody bandages that adorn your knuckles, as well as the numerous bruises around your body. Bruce then stands up, walking in the opposite direction you came from before turning to you.
"Come with me (Y/N), and I can show you that you are in fact, not weak." Bruce Lee says.
You look in awe at the man before you as he brings his hand out for you to grab. You smile as you take his hand, the two of you walking off into the forest as you picture you're new beginning ahead of you.
(A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry this took so long to write, hopefully the next chapters will be quicker. Life's been hectic to say the least but I promise to be more consistent. To list off the changes, I wanted to make Tai and your sisters more, well, human. I didn't wanna stick with the typical angst and just abusively evil for the sake of being abusively evil. I took a more Wenwu from Shang Chi approach, where Tai would be colder and only be interested in making you stronger for a selfish gain. While it's not as up front as beating a kid, it still falls under abuse. Yang and Ruby will be more a youthful misconception of cruelty towards you in your eyes. All this is being done to make the redemption more believable. Other than that major change you still meet Bruce Lee in the forest and go off to train with him. Anyways I'll see you in the next chapter, peace!
Edited 3/28/22)
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No More Sympathy (Abused Male X RWBY) {UNDER EDITING}
Fanfiction(Y/N) (L/N) was the adopted son of Taiyang Xiao Long and Summer Rose. He was loved, cherished, and well trained until Summer one day didn't come back from a mission. Since then you've become the punching bag of the family. Eventually you leave them...
