June 15. The Island of Patch.
Within the modest Xiao-Long/Rose house, all was silent. An unnatural state for a house full of a retired Huntsman turned teacher, a drunkard who usually crashes in unannounced, and three children, the youngest of whom was chaos incarnate.
Said little girl, one Ruby Rose, hid behind a wall excitedly while suppressing her innate hyperactive state, making sure not to make any noise. Her crooked party hat kept sliding off her head, but she kept resetting it, not caring about such an annoyance at the moment, as her mind was completely focused on what was to come.
And just beside her was her older sister, Yang Xiao-Long, who was similarly hiding with a grin and a party hat of her own, similarly peeking out from behind the wall for their target.
At the same time, the older girl also kept checking the wall-clock, her face scrunching up slightly as she noted the time before relaxing.
'Looks like Uncle Qrow forgot about the party after all. No matter, he'll show up eventually. Then, Dad will give him a talking to!'
Then, in the darkness, they heard the telltale noise of the lock being opened, followed by the door being opened.
The familiar bickering of their father and their friend filling the dark house with noise immediately.
"-I told you we were being ripped off with the price! Why don't you ever listen to me when I say that you are not an 'expert' in Dust quality?"
Taiyang gave an annoyed grunt at the boy's words.
"I am an expert in Dust quality! It's just that these scammers are getting very good at fooling me, is all."
"Yes, my bad. Clearly, the scammers are so good that they couldn't even fool a 12-year-old like me, but somehow fooled the 'great' Taiyang Xiao-Long, right?"
"Indeed. And, if not for a certain someone experimenting with all the Fire Dust, leaving none for home use, we would not even have need to buy more Dust!"
Ignis's reply came instantly and with double the heat.
"And if a certain someone had heeded my words and reduced this house's reliance on Dust by installing Steam-based heating solutions, ones that I said I would pay for, we would not even need Fire Dust in the first place, would we?"
The boy's sarcastic remark sent arrows straight through the man's heart as he slumped in defeat. Especially when he remembered how his neighbors had also been told by Ignis to do the same and were now enjoying a reduced need for Dust. A system that Taiyang had only ignored until now because he was unsure of such a new and unproven technology.
But then, he grinned ominously, making the boy back up immediately and put up his arms in a basic CQC stance.
"The hell are you planning now?"
"LANGUAGE!! How many times do I have to tell you to watch yourself while in the house?"
Taiyang roared with genuine anger, knowing that his precious little angels were nearby, making the boy scratch his head with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry. Your creepy expressions made me react on instinct."
"...You are a real piece of work, Ignis. Anyways, you want to know why I was grinning? It's because of THIS!!"
With a dramatic flair, Taiyang turned on the lights, giving the signal to the hidden girls.
Yang pulled the string on a party popper, just like Ruby, filling the air with colorful strings while the lights illuminated the large banner tied across the beams.
"""HAPPY BIRTHDAY"""
The family of four roared as one. However, they immediately noticed the anomaly.
As one, the two girls shrieked in fear and jumped away as Qrow Branwen somehow materialized out of nowhere in the couple of seconds between the darkness being illuminated by the lighting in the room.
Ruby was the first one to recognize her 'druncle' and jumped into his arms.
"Uncle Qrow!"
Yang patted her chest to calm herself before glaring at the older man.
"Darn it! Uncle Qrow! You really scared me! How did you even appear like that out of nowhere?"
Qrow smirked at the girl's question.
"Because I am awesome like that. Anyways, where is the cake?"
Taiyang smacked his brother-in-law on the head.
"The party just started, idiot. Speaking of..."
Finally, the family turned to the 'birthday boy' only to fall silent at the sight they saw.
Ignis Ruben stood stock still. His shoulders drooped without strength, while his eyes held a hollow look and a thousand-yard stare.
A look that immediately made them worry.
Ruby ran to Ignis and tugged at his shirt, bringing him back to reality as she gazed up at him with her worried silver eyes.
"Ignis? Are you not happy?"
Her words finally brought the boy out of whatever memories he was lost in. His gaze slowly regained light as it turned extremely warm.
With a smile, he patted Ruby and picked her up.
"I am happy, Ruby. Just....thinking about something."
Yang masked her worry with a grin at those words, knowing that he was not fine but choosing to give him the space he probably needed.
"Well, then, I guess we can start the party properly! Get the cake!!"
Qrow rapidly nodded his head at his niece's words.
"Yeah!! Bring out the cake already!!"
"You two...Fine."
Taiyang sighed and went to the kitchen, bringing out a cake that looked slightly crooked and was covered in chocolate chips, peppermint, and all kinds of toppings that were definitely Yang and Ruby's ideas.
On top of the cake were thirteen candles.
Once the candles were blown out, the cake was cut, and snacks were had, along with a generous helping of chaos thanks to Ruby's sugar high, it was time for gifts.
Taiyang gave Ignis a few comprehensive books on both the laws of the four kingdoms, their history as a whole, as well as books on all kinds of Grimm known to humanity so far.
Qrow, on the other hand, gave Ignis the latest model of Scroll. One whose hardware and software were unlocked so that Ignis could play around with its programming as much as he liked.
Then, finally, it was time for the girls.
Ignis watched as Yang and Ruby carried a wrapped box and gave it to him.
The older girl watched with a grin while the younger one shyly twiddled her thumbs.
Once opened, the box revealed a beautiful, dark purple sheath with a golden band at the end and the mouth of the sheath.
"Ruby saw that the sheath you were using for your sword was a basic leather one, so she and I decided to get this as your gift. Uncle Norma said that this sheath would complement the sword perfectly!"
Yang proclaimed proudly while Ruby nodded.
However, both girls felt startled when Ignis pulled them into a hug.
"Thank you. I like it."
"W-Well, you better take care of it, yeah?"
"Eheheh!!"
Ruby just giggled, happy that the boy she saw as her older brother liked her gift, while Yang stammered in embarrassment before hugging back as well.
That night, the family spent all the time partying, while the orphan that they had taken in made a decision that would, one day, change their fates completely.
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Jian Sword with scabbard: (Click for Image)