A/N: Hello, and welcome to my first story, thank you for giving it a try! To those of you who frequent R/RWBY, this story may seem familiar; I wrote the heart of this for one of their Writing Prompt Wednesdays. For those of you who don't frequent Reddit, never you mind! Either way, enjoy!
Words Have Wings
"You will leave us. You will leave our home and live among enemies. You will learn their ways, and become masters of yourselves."
Raven broke through the trees as the sun began to rise over the horizon, arriving back at the cabin, panting heavily. Qrow and Raven had faced a great many challenges in the world beyond the tribe: handling highly explosive dust, Grimm attacks with panicked civilians present, paranoid governments! Summer Rose's training regimen was by far the hardest. The two late sleepers were forced to take to pre-dawn runs around Beacon, their chipper slave driver and blond helper forcing them along all the while. Raven only found mild solace in the fact that Summer hated Branwen strength training as much as Raven despised Rose cardio. But with the doctor's prohibition on lifting weights, or anything 'too heavy', the runs were Raven's best option. This baby weight wasn't going to lose itself, damn it!
She sat down under a tree, watching the Sun light her and Tai's cabin. "Life sets a strange path", the warrior mused. She and Birdbrain didn't have friends on the agenda when they reached Beacon. They didn't have much beyond 'Be the best fighters in Vale' on the agenda. And here she was, married! A mom! It felt like one moment some blond was hitting on her, and the next she was looking over their first house's floor plan with him! Not that she was complaining, no sir. Surprises made life, much like combat situations, far more interesting.
A rustling in the branches above drew Raven's attention. A bird was staring down from a branch, balefully meeting her eyes.
"Fuck."
"You will master your powers, master your blades. You will become feared. Your skills will be unmatched, and your names will bring terror into the hearts of our foes."
Qrow blearily stumbled into his run-down apartment, latch failing to take, as the sun began to break through the cracked window. Another late night for Oz, the young Huntsman thought, pushing aside the untouched beer Tai had brought him, reaching for the half-eaten Mistrali takeout. He collapsed onto his bed, feeling the makeshift supports creak, and began to eat his… breakfast? Dinner? "Fighting for the salvation of Remnant certainly wasn't part of the plan, way back when. Heh, even if late nights were." Being a Huntsman was a rewarding enough job, he supposed; killing Grimm by the hundreds and getting to look good for the ladies.
It was he and Summer's burgeoning duties with Ozpin that really got Qrow's blood pumping, though. Oz had opened their eyes to a world beneath their own, and a war they could fight. Stalking prey through dark streets and soulless woods, desperate battle in overlooked spaces, it was his unthanked tasks that gave him pride, now.
Knocking on the window pulled Qrow from his reverie. A bird, tapping at his window. It stared at him, looking into his soul.
Qrow threw open his fridge, and grabbed every damn bottle Tai had left.
"And when fear carries your names back to us, back to your home, we will call for you. You will return to your home, to your family. You will leave that world behind."
Summer Rose looked like a woman on the warpath to anyone who saw her face, but inside she was panicking. She was half running, half storming down the early morning streets of Patchwork, Qrow's crappy apartment her destination. "Be home, be home, be home", a silent and desperate prayer repeating through her mind. As she crashed through his perpetually broken door, her heart soared to see her partner. It crashed back into her stomach when she really saw him. He was laying against the wall, staring out his window. Empty bottles surrounded him, his weapon lying across his knees.
"Q-Q", she stuttered, unable to summon her commanding voice, "Qrow I need your help. Tai's freaking out, he says Raven's missing. Her weapon and gear are gone, she never came back from her run. Are you OK? You need to help me go look for her, to help calm Tai down. You there, partner?" Silence reigned.
Qrow did not turn to her, did not look away from the window. His hand tightened on his weapon, and a pained croak crept from his mouth: "Leave".
Summer, as if in some horrid nightmare, turned to do just that when a shot rang out, glass shattered, and feathers fluttered. That agonized, but oh so familiar, voice spoke again: "Wssn't talkin t'you, Summer. Need some help. Feet ain't right."
Summer could not find the strength to talk, to demand what the hell was happening to her friends, but she could find the strength to lift her partner to his feet. To lead him forward.
"This is your purpose. For only a warrior whose name alone can defeat an enemy is fit to lead us. Return to us masterful. Return to us feared. Return to us triumphant."
Tai held his world in his hands, and wept. She was gone. She was gone, so his little one would be his world now. He had to be strong: how could he take care of the world if he couldn't stop crying, if he couldn't stop shivering? He... He... He had to do something. A knock pushed open the door, and Summer hobbled in. Qrow hanging off her. Qrow was... Qrow was drunk?
"Tai. Rvn's gone home. T' the tribe. Called us back, both've us. Ain't goin, but Raven went. Fuck em, right? I won't ru-" Qrow was cut short as Tai shoved his former friend out the door. Tai didn't know when Summer had taken his world into her hands, but it let him make Qrow stop saying all those terrible things. His world didn't need to hear that. He moved towards Qrow, but a light hand tugged Tai away from his friend; Summer, pulling him into a hug.
As Tai returned to weeping, and Summer set to consoling their broken friend, Qrow kept his eyes for a traitorous bird in the trees. One thought grew louder and louder in his mind, however.
"I need a drink."