Chapter 2

It was a bright and sunny day. Sounds of life were everywhere on the island of Patch. The birds sang and chirped in the forest alongside their woodland friends, the people in the small town went about their day with a smile, dogs barked happily and cats purred in contentment. Positivity thrummed and thrived, and there was so much of it that the Grimm cowered and ran back to whatever dark crevices that they came from with their tails between their legs.

Life was good, everyone was beyond happy. There wasn't any particular reason for it, it was just one of those days where people would look up, sigh in contentment and say "Life is good."

It was bright and happy everywhere…. except for a certain two-story log house on the outskirts of a forest.

A certain reaper with a tattered, red cape and black slacks inwardly sighed as he dragged himself towards the door of the house, picking up his sword off of a nearby weapon rack on his way out.

Now, it wasn't really his fault that he was dragging his feet. But at the same time, it wasn't like he could blame the 2 little reasons for why his feet were dragging. Qrow sighed again, this time out loud, and stopped as he looked at the two 5-year-olds that were holding onto his legs as he tried to walk to the front door.

Sheathing his sword onto its usual spot on his back, he tiredly massaged his forehead with his right hand. "Ruby, Kit, will you please let go?"

"NO!!" Ruby shouted out. Kit shook his head, making sure the reaper knew that he wouldn't let go either. Both his hands clutched tightly around his uncle's leg, with all the strength that his 5-year-old hands had.

If anyone had been watching, it would've been an absolutely, downright hilarious sight to see. A grown man walking around with 2 little kids clutching his ankles as they tried their best to stop him from leaving.

"We don't want you to go, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shouted out.

Qrow whipped his head to his left as loud, rambunctious laughter exploded out. A tall, blonde haired man with a lively expression on his face walked out from the shadow of the doorway to the kitchen, laughing at the sight that was in front of him.

The mysterious and deadly reaper of grimm, the man who many criminals feared as bloody death itself, was practically being tied down by two 5-year-olds.

Tai could barely stop himself from being bent in half from laughing so much.

Said man being tied down by two 5-year-olds gave him an annoyed look. "Tai, get over here and get your kids off me!"

The man that was Qrow's brother for life, the one that had stood by him time and time again, saving his life countless times…. just stood there shaking his head. "Sorry, Qrow. No can do." Tai shrugged helplessly, but it was offset by that smirk that was plastered onto his face. "What do you want me to say, man? They really love their Uncle Qrow."

'This is getting nowhere!' Qrow thought to himself. He looked down again at the 2 little kids that had a death grip on his legs. "I'm only going to be gone for a week, promise. There's some Hunter business that needs to get done, and I've gotta be the one to do it."

The 5-year-old with the orange fox tail looked at his red-hooded twin, before giving his Uncle Qrow a look.

Ruby nodded, agreeing with her twin. "Yeah, what Kit said!"

At this point another kid made herself known, one with blonde hair and lilac eyes. Yang came out from behind her dad, shaking her head with a smile. "Ruby, how do you even know what Kit said? He didn't even say anything."

"Twin power!"

Yang giggled at her sister's innocent reply, echoing her dad who was chuckling right next to her. "Okay, so for everyone else that doesn't have 'twin power', can you tell us what Kit said?"

Ruby scrunched up her face in thought, before thinking that it made sense. It's not like everyone else was her twin, right? So of course they wouldn't have her twin power! The black-haired 5-year-old looked up at her uncle who'd tried to slip out of their grasp while everyone else wasn't paying attention. "Kit said that we can't trust your promises!"

Hearing this, Qrow gazed at his nephew. "Oh, really?" He said, dragging out the last word. "And did he say why?"

Ruby nodded her head. "Last time you said you'd be gone for a week, you didn't come back for a month."

The black-haired reaper sweated a little at his niece's statement. Flashbacks about the drunken escapades that he'd gotten into after celebrating another successful mission done for Oz flashed through his mind. One particular waitress came to mind. She'd delayed his return with her amazing 'customer service' for a few days just by herself.

"They've got ya there, Qrow." Tai said. "You do kinda just disappear and not come back for a while."

"Tai," Qrow replied with a deadpanned expression. "You're not helping here."

The man just crossed his arms over his brown leather vest with a smirk. "Oh, I know I'm not. I never said I would, either."

Qrow gave him a look, irritation flickering through his eyes. Lesser men had quivered in fear under his stare.

But there was a reason why Taiyang Xiao-Long was once revered as a Huntsman among Huntsmen. When he had been an active Hunter, people had a saying when it came to him.

"The Dragon Fears Nothing."

He'd been a man that had stared down a rampaging herd of Goliaths and stood strong! Nothing stopped The Dragon!

Especially not an irritated look from a crow.

Taiyang just stared right back at him with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow, just waiting for a challenge.

….Qrow was the one who ended up looking away first. 'Dammit. Never did manage to stare him down back then, either.'

The reaper knew that he couldn't look down again towards the two reasons why he hadn't left the house yet either. If he saw one of the twins' famous wide-eyed pouts, there was no way he'd be able to go on Oz's assignment.

Seeing no other way out, the black-haired man finally looked at the only responsible one of the family.

….but she was also the one who was least likely to him out at this point.

"Yang," Qrow said with a sigh. "Please. Do something?"

The blonde-haired 8 year old stared at her uncle, a finger tapping on her chin in thought. She could say no… but her uncle did say that it was important for him to go this time. But then again, without her Uncle Qrow around, the twins might start turning their pranks towards her instead. Still…

Suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went off in her head, and she stared her at her uncle right in the eyes. "What's in it for me?" She asked, her long blonde hair ruffling behind her.

Qrow paused. For a split-second, Yang's figure had overlapped with another one from his memories. One with black hair and red eyes, staring at him as she said the exact same thing. 'D*mn. Raven would be proud if she saw this. Her daughter is already learning the art of extortion.'

At this point though, he was completely at her mercy. So he said the exact same thing he'd said whenever Raven had the same look in her eye.

"Alright," Qrow drawled as he looked into his niece's eyes. "What do you want?"

'YES!' The little sun dragon cheered silently in her head as soon as she heard her Uncle Qrow admit defeat. This whole thing hadn't been planned, but it still worked out pretty well. "Take us to Signal with you on the next 'Bring Your Kids To Work Day'."

The red-eyed man squinted his eyes suspiciously as he looked towards his niece. "Why do you want to go Signal with me?" He asked.

"Cuz Signal's awesome! Duh."

Qrow mulled it over in his head for a second. It wasn't that bad of a request, and in all honesty, he'd thought she'd go for something a lot harder, like helping her convince her dad to get her a motorcycle. It's what she'd been trying to get him to do for the past few months after all.

Even though he knew what the answer would be, he still looked over towards Tai for confirmation first.

The man just shrugged, the metal pauldron on his shouldering clanking a little as it rose up before falling down again.

Qrow took that as a sign that he was alright with it.

"Ok, little lady. You've got yourself a deal."

The budding, blonde extortionist smiled as she cheered silently in her head. With a confident air, she walked towards the twin cookie monsters clinging onto their uncle's leg for dear life.

Bending down so she was level with their heads, she whispered into their ears. "Kit? Ruby? Would you pleeease let go of Uncle Qrow's leg?"

The orange-ish blonde-haired twin shook his head, while the black-haired twin yelled out, "Never!"

"But if you do, I'll put a little something extra in your lunch!" Yang smiled and said in a sing-song voice.

Faster than lightning, both twins let go of their uncle's leg at the same time and spun around to look at their sister.

""REALLY?!"" The both of them asked excitedly, Ruby shouting it out while her twin signed in VSL excitedly.

Yang nodded.

"YAY!!" Ruby screamed out, her brother echoing in his own way. "Bye, Uncle Qrow!" The black-haired twin said, as the orange-blonde haired one waved.

….Qrow was dumbfounded. He stood there for a few seconds as the rest of the family went into the kitchen to pack lunch for the kids, before he finally snapped out of it and went out the door, his red cape flourishing dramatically as he left the Xiao-Long/Rose residence.

If anyone was nearby as he left, they would have heard the fearsome reaper mutter to himself, "Can't believe I got replaced by fruit!"