Ch 71: I Burn (3)

Once they reached the top of the stairs, a cute girl with brown hair and freckles in frayed blue jean booty shorts and a tied-up checkered shirt to show off her midriff wearing a professional if distant smile on her face escorted them to one of the closed-off private room. The room was mostly filled by a table long enough to seat six people comfortably with dark red velvet booth seats on either side set against the railing overlooking the floor below but could be closed off by a curtain.

"My name is Sally. If you need anything, please press the buzzer on the table, and I'll be happy to get it for you." the girl said before leaving them alone and closing the wooden door behind her.

"Nice." Yang commented as she took a seat, bouncing a bit on the plush cushions.

"Thank you." Ray said as he sat across from her while giving her a questioning look wondering why she appeared to be stalling.

*FuHaaa* Yang gulped down her liquid courage and let out a contented sigh before slamming it down on the table in front of her.

*Bang* "So, you know where my mother is." It wasn't a question. She had held off on asking before, partly because solving his and Ruby's dispute at the time took precedence and partially because she was apprehensive about what Ray would say. But the time for hesitation was over. It was time for some answers.

"Yes." That was it. A one-word answer to her fully loaded question. Ray didn't even look up from his drink that he was swirling around, admiring the mixing colors and scattered sugar stars. It infuriated her.

*BANG* "RAJEEV!" Yang shouted at her younger brother as she slammed her gauntleted fist on the table between them and her eyes turned crimson. The entire first floor went quiet as everyone looked up at the blond and redhead sitting overhead with curiosity and wariness. However, their interest in the duo didn't last long as Ray shot them all a chilling looked out of the corner of his eye, silently reminding them all to mind their own business.

After sweeping his gaze a couple of times over the quelled spectators, Ray turned his attention back to his incensed sister. She had taken the opportunity while he was ensuring their privacy to recover from her outburst. However, her eyes were still a bloody red.

"Where is she?" Yang growled through gritted teeth as she held her anger carefully in check.

"I'm not going to tell you." Ray looked her dead in the eye and said.

"Why?" Yang wanted to lash out at her uncooperative brother, but she could see the apology in his eyes and barely held herself in check.

"Because of hope." Ray said with a gentle smile that absolutely infuriated Yang.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean! Stop being so obtuse!" Yang screamed. All she wanted was some simple answers! Was that too much to ask!? Why did he have to be so ambiguous with his answers?!

"Does this have something to do with why you said she didn't deserve to be my mother?" Yang asked, her anger giving way to the fear behind it.

"Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh." Ray rubbed the back of his head and looked away sheepishly. "That may have been a bit harsh." Ray looked back at his beloved older sister and saw the pain, fear, and hope shining in her eyes. He let out a long sigh and decided to come clean.

"*Haaaaaaaaa* Look Yang, your mother is an extremely complicated individual, and I would prefer you received your first impression of her from her and not from some second-hand account covered in personal bias."

"It's a little late for that." Yang said with a huff as she crossed her arms and leaned back in the booth. "Besides, why would that prevent you from telling me how to find her?"

"Because she needs to find the courage to make the first move. As she is right now, she isn't worthy of being your mother. That's her opinion as well. Raven is a messed up bundle of fear, shame, guilt, and conflicting senses of responsibility hiding behind a tough-as-nails exterior. She left you with Mom and Dad because she didn't think she was capable of being a good mother. She wanted you to inherit Mom's courage, Dad's kindness, and Uncle Crow's righteousness, not her cowardness. If she doesn't find the courage to forgive herself and make the first step on her own, I'm afraid she will never be able to forgive herself and will spiral even deeper into the darkness."

"I don't understand." Yang felt her heart beat faster in fear, but not fear for herself anymore. Now the fear she felt was for her mother. Raven may have never been there for her, but Yang had still always seen her as her mother. The knowledge that she needed help caused a desire to help her, to protect her, to fight for her, to well up inside Yang.

"Remember that threat I mentioned." Yang nodded. "Ozpin told Mom, Dad, Uncle Crow, and Raven about it too. They were the team he had chosen from their generation that was supposed to stand against it. However, he didn't tell them everything, and when Raven discovered the true extent of the threat they faced, she lost hope and ran. Her twin brother and the man and woman she had fallen in love with stayed to fight, but she ran. She has never been able to forgive herself for that.

So she hides. Hiding her fear behind the guise of fulfilling her responsibility to the bandit tribe that raised her and Qrow. Hiding her shame behind a mask of indifference. Hiding her guilt behind a stance of survival of the fittest. As her daughter, you are probably the only person who can save her from herself, but she has to be the one to reach out first. Otherwise, she will just keep running."

A heavy silence fell between them as Ray finished. For a time, the two just drank their cocktails in silence as Yang digested what Ray had just said.

"What should I do?" Yang asked, looking lost and conflicted. Not really expecting an answer, if Ray had an answer, she knew he would have told her or acted himself by now but needing to give voice to her inner turmoil.

"I don't know. All I can recommend now is patience and understanding when she is ready to talk." Ray confirmed her thoughts. "Anyways, Raven is currently leading the Branwen Bandit tribe. They are the ones that raised her and Uncle Qrow and sent them to Beacon to learn how to kill huntsmen. *Hmph* Bet they never expected them to grow a conscience while they were here. They are currently roving around the forests to the south of Minstrel. If you decide you want to meet her, I can get you more precise coordinates. I wouldn't recommend it, but you are her daughter. The final decision is yours."

*Ugh* Yang grunted, slamming her forehead on the table in frustration. "You can be a real pain in the ass. You know that?" She growled up at him with her face still pressed into the table.

"I love you too, Yang." Yang grunted indifferently at her brother's weak attempt to lighten the mood but sat back up and didn't pursue the subject any further. She had a lot to think about, but right now, she just didn't want to. Her brain was already overloaded enough with dates and names of people and places long forgotten by the masses but vital to her survival tomorrow, and she seriously needed to relax if she was going to have any hope of passing.

"What do you say we get something a bit stronger?" Yang suggested as she pressed the buzzer for Sally, determined to enjoy herself and forget about the serious talk they had just had and her test tomorrow.

"Ok." Ray nodded in agreement. "Anything in particular you want?" He asked, turning his head slightly to acknowledge Sally's arrival.

*Hmmmm* Yang hummed in contemplation as she flipped absently through the drinks menu. "How about this one?" Yang finally said, pointing at a picture of a bottle of whiskey surrounded by fire in the expensive section of the menu.

"Menagerie Fire Whiskey. An excellent choice. It's made from a type of spicy barley wheat grown in the desert on the island of Menagerie and is their primary export. A new brand, but one that is rapidly making a name for itself with its powerful kick and smooth after taste." Sally began introducing Yang's choice to them before leaning forward to subtly show off her cleavage and make what she was about to say feel more mysterious as she whispered to them, "Rumor has it that each bottle contains a pinch of pure Fire Dust in it." and winked as if she had just shared an important secret.

"Sounds good. We'll take a bottle." Ray was unimpressed but appreciated her effort as a saleswoman.

Sally blinked at him in surprise for a moment before abruptly standing up straight again, her eyes gleaming. "Right away, sir." she said before rushing out of the room. Fire Whiskey was usually sold by the shot, not the bottle, and had a price tag to match. More importantly, as the hostess that had made such a lucrative sale, she was going to be getting a hefty bonus in her next paycheck thanks to this.

"Here you are. Please enjoy." Sally soon returned with the bottle, a pair of whiskey glasses, and a small bucket of ice for the drinks. She poured them each their first glass and then left with a noticeably more genuine smile on her face.

*cough* *Cough* "That *wooo* that certainly does have a kick." Yang sputtered after she tried to down her whole glass in one go. The liquid fire bringing tears to her eyes.

*Hmhm* Ray chuckled as he got up to walk over and rub his panting sister's back. "You're supposed to sip it, not chug it." he gently reprimanded.

After a couple of seconds of coughing to ease the burning feeling in her lungs, Yang recovered and glared at the glass her brother had refilled for her warily.

"You like this stuff?" Yang asked as she looked up at her brother, who was leaning against the railing with his jacket off, slowly sipping his whiskey as he watched the people below reminding her of the cold domineering young CEO she had read about in one of the books she had borrowed from Blake.

*haha* "Yes. It's great as long as you respect the drink and drink it slowly. Try it again. I promise you will like it." Ray encouraged as he glanced over at her and chuckled.

Yang raised her glass vigilantly once more and looked at the amber liquid in doubt before shrugging and taking a sip.

*hmm smack smack* Yang smacked her at the taste. The kick was much less intense now, and she could see why others might like it, but it was still a little much for her liking. So, she put it back down and decided to order another fruity cocktail from Sally instead.

For the next couple of minutes, Ray and Yang just drank in companionable silence as they enjoyed the playing of the guitarist and the natural ambiance of the old fashion bar, and Yang occasionally ordered new drinks to try, though nothing as substantial as the Fire Whiskey her brother preferred again.

Reincarnation had many advantages all on its own, adult knowledge that gave you a leg up on your peers, a mature outlook that motivates you to take full advantage of that initial leg up and increase the gap, and a unique perspective to notice what others take for granted to name a few.

But it also came with disadvantages, The worst of which was definitely having an adult mind in a helpless baby's body. However, the most lingering was the disconnect between what your head told you you could do and what your body could actually do. Case in point, though he was sure he shouldn't be drunk yet, Ray found himself more than a little tipsy after only a few Fire Whiskeys, and his muddled head wasn't going to be catching up to this fact any time soon.

"Have I told you lately how much I appreciate everything you do for us, Yang?" Ray said with a slight slur to his voice as he leaned against his sister's shoulder on his tenth drink.

"You think we don't notice, but we do." Ray tried to poke her cheek but, either he was more inebriated than he seemed, or he was taking advantage of the situation because he ended up poking a squishy soft mound of flesh much lower down. Not that Yang minded.

This is why she liked going drinking with her brother so much. He didn't hold his liquor well and was a happy, sleepy drunk. Making him a lot more honest with both his words and his actions when he was under.

"Ruby and I aren't very good at making friends." Ray lamented as he slid down from her shoulder to settle his head on his favorite pillows. "Ruby is too shy, and everyone is either too jealous or in awe of me to treat me as a person, let alone a friend. You're the one. You're the one that made us approachable.

Ray wrapped his arms around Yang's waist as he snuggled in closer and closed his eyes. "Your sunny smile and loud, bombacious attitude are what made everyone see us as kids that they wanted to be around. If it wasn't for you. *hik* If it wasn't for you, I'm not sure what would have happened. You're my anchor, Yang. You keep me grounded among the normal people. Without you, I think I would just fly away and forget all about them."

Ray's face scrunched up a bit in psychological discomfort as he continued, "It's hard, you know. There is so much riding on me. I have to win, but there are so many factors to consider and so many things and people trying to pull things in different directions. Sometimes I feel like a ship lost in a storm with my hull creaking under the pounding waves and my sails straining against the tearing wind, all my crew having abandoned me. But you're always there for me. Even though you don't know, you're always there for me. Even though your mother left you, you became a mother for Ruby and me after we also lost ours. We've never stopped being thankful for that. Thank you, Yang. Thank you for always letting me lean on you even when everyone else thought I could stand alone. I love you."

Yang looked down at her sleepy little brother, eyes overflowing with affection, and wrapped one arm protectively around his shoulder while she used the other one to gently stroke his hair.

[It goes both ways, Ray.] Yang thought as she strokes his silky hair. [When I learned that Summer wasn't my real mother, I felt so lost and alone, but you and Ruby were there. You never changed how you treated me and didn't care we were only half-siblings. When people called me dangerous and unstable because of my semblance and turned their back on me, you laughed and rebuked them for being cowards and fools.

No matter how dark things felt, you always shine so brightly, lighting the way forward like a blazing star shining bright in the sky. You give me hope and the motivation to try and shine just as bright. My heart burns with admiration for you and ambition to stand beside you, my beloved little brother. Thank you for being the spark that ignited my sun and giving me the courage to soar above any obstacles without letting my doubt or fears hold me down.]

"It's a big sister's prerogative to spoil her little brother. So don't you worry about it, Little Blue, your Sunny Dragon will always be here for you." Yang softly whispered as she planted a chaste kiss on his forehead. [So, please, always be there for me.]

*Mmm* Ray mumbled in agreement before drifting off to sleep in his big sister's loving embrace. After a few minutes, Yang rested her head on top of his silken hair and joined her little brother, lulled to the land of dreams by the warmth of her beloved brother beside her and the drink in her belly.

Thankfully, though Ray and Yang might have been behaving a bit carelessly, they weren't stupid. Before they had left Beacon, they had set their scrolls to go off an hour before the last bullhead would leave for Beacon. Otherwise, they might very well have inadvertently ended up spending the night at Blue-Ray's and missing morning classes tomorrow, including their history test. So, when their scroll simultaneously started buzzing, disturbing their restful, if stiff sleep, they were able to rouse themselves and circulate their Auras through their systems, cleansing themselves of the poison known as alcohol and make it back to the academy without any problems or signs of just how wasted they had gotten during their night out on the town.