As the Qrow Flies
"Come on! Let's go, we're gonna be late!"
"Just five more minutes Qrow, Raven wouldn't stop talking last night. Something about Faunus…"
"Tai, you know we have a new mission today and I don't want to be late, you know how much this means to me!"
"Fine… fine, I'm up, I'm up…"
Qrow could hardly contain himself, after weeks of being pent up at Signal, he was finally getting to go out and actually do something.
I mean, sure, teaching all these kids is great, he thought but I haven't let myself completely go in almost two months! It's ridiculous! And I get to spend some time with her again…
Taiyang was not a morning person at all. Most of the time, Signal had let him schedule his classes and lessons in the afternoon so that he wasn't late. But when it came to missions, they always had to start so early.
Who even plans a mission to start this early, the sun isn't even out yet, he thought.
Oh wait. He looked at Qrow, who was struggling to hide something in his pack. Now I remember
"What do you have there, Qrow?" He said. "Did you make a new weapon? Again?"
"Hey! No peeking!" said Qrow with a touch of exasperation to his voice. "You'll see it soon enough."
"Come on man, you've gone through three different weapons in as many weeks. At what point are you gonna choose?"
"When it's perfect," Qrow mumbled. Then, a little louder, "I'm almost there, I can't decide if I want to be a ranged fighter or get up close and personal to my adversary!"
"Well you know what I think. Nothing says a short range weapon can't hit from far away."
Qrow got quiet after that. Taiyang knew what was on his mind.
Taiyang smiled as he laced on his boots. "You know what? I think Spring is finally over."
"What?" Qrow turned to Taiyang looking confused. "It's the middle of January, Tai… No! Don't say it. I've had enough of your stupid pu…!"
"It's SUMMER-TIME!"
"Ugh…" Qrow turned back to his pack, blushing bright red.
"That's why you planned this trip so early in the morning. You couldn't wait another hour to see her again."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Qrow said, more exasperation in his voice.
"Don't worry, little bird," Taiyang said, smiling. "I'll keep you secret."
He knew that his little verbal jab had hit home when Qrow's voice cracked when he spoke.
"Come on, let's go."
Qrow lead the way out of the room so Taiyang couldn't see his blush. Tai giggled.
Taiyang was beginning to get annoyed.
"We've been walking for hours, Qrow. Can we rest for a minute, please?"
"It's just a little bit further Tai, we need to make it to our next checkpoint by nightfall."
There was no arguing with Qrow when on a mission. Taiyang had been on enough of them to know that it didn't matter what condition he was in, Qrow was always the last to rest and the first to push forward.
"Qrow, you're leaving Summer behind."
Qrow turned around, concern in his eyes.
Well, that got his attention. I'll keep that in mind.
"Okay, we'll wait here for fifteen minutes, but we can't wait too long. The Grimm get more aggressive at night."
He turned and set his pack down, his new weapon sticking suspiciously out of the bed roll.
As much as he gave Qrow a hard time about his weapon choices, Taiyang could never hide his awe at the stuff Qrow had made. In fact, Tai's own weapons were a design from Qrow. All he could see of this new one was a handle and some cogs but it looked to be on another level, even for Qrow.
He sat down on his pack just when the girls came over the ridge.
Raven was just as beautiful as ever, her red and black armor shining in the evening light, giving it a sinister, blood color. Raven was all curves and seemed to enjoy, uh… snug… armor, not leaving much to imagination. She was every guy at Signal's dream, but somehow, she chose Taiyang.
How did I get that? Taiyang thought. I mean I know I'm good, but I'm not THAT good.
He smiled at her as she made eye contact with him. She smiled back and turned to help Summer over a large rock.
While every guy at Signal loved Raven and her… assets… they were all "in love" with Summer. She was the only girl in the school who everyone knew would always help anyone, regardless of how they treated her. She was so genuine and loving that it was impossible to not love her. Her laugh was known to cure bad days and the common cold.
Well, maybe not that last one. Taiyang thought.
She was so shy, though, that no one ever made a move on her. She was also one of Signal's most powerful huntresses. Her power kind of snuck on you when you were sparring her. But she usually apologized for beating you up with the most delicious cookies.
Qrow, Raven, and Summer had grown up on Patch together. Qrow and Raven's parents had all but adopted a young Summer when they were about six years old. Her parents had left her on the steps of Signal Academy and when the school had approached the island authorities, the Branwen's volunteered to take her in.
Qrow was conspicuously retying all of the strings on his pack, something he had done every time they had stopped on this mission.
"I'm really sorry for slowing us down," Summer said, her voice hesitant, embarrassed. "I know how important it is to get to the objective before sundown."
"It's really okay," Qrow said, not looking up from his pack. "We'll make it in plenty of time."
He looked up and made eye contact with Summer. They smiled at each other for a second before blushing and looking down.
"Won't you two just make out and get it over with?" Raven said, coming over to sit next to Taiyang, running her arm through his and grabbing his hand.
"Raven!" Summer and Qrow gasped in unison. Taiyang felt his nose burn as the water he was drinking rushed through it he was laughing so hard.
"What?" she said. "You guys have been destined to be together since we were ten years old. At some point you are going to have to admit it."
"I don't… I don't know what you're talk… talking about," Qrow stuttered, almost passing out from embarrassment. "We are just good friends. She is more like a sister to me anyways. Isn't that right Summer?"
"Yeah," Summer replied, trying to hide the disappointment on her face. "Like a sister…"
"How could my brother be such an idiot?" Raven whispered to Taiyang before kissing his cheek.
"Tell me about it," Taiyang replied, draping his arm around her. "At some point he is going to have to wake up and sniff."
"Huh?" Raven said, looking at him curiously.
How does she not see this coming? Taiyang thought before saying, "He needs to wake up and smell the Rose!"
She laughed. "You know, I knew there was a reason I loved you." She leaned in and kissed him, clearly making Qrow uncomfortable.
"OKAY! Let's get on the move again!" he all but yelled picking up his pack.
Summer sighed, Raven and Taiyang laughed.
Night was falling as the team came to the final objective. Their mission was to investigate a cave where the Grimm were said to be congregating.
I wish Taiyang would focus this much outside of a combat scenario, thought Qrow. He rolled his eyes. At least I don't have to worry about any stupid puns.
Qrow was their main tactician when it came to combat. While Raven, Taiyang, and Summer were all capable fighters in their own right, Qrow was the only one who knew how to use them in the best possible way. Because of his leadership, their team had garnered a reputation of being the strongest team on Patch. Some even said they were better than the top Beacon teams.
"Okay, here's the plan…" Qrow said as they huddled behind a few fallen rocks above the opening to the cave. "Raven and Tai, go in and do your thing. Summer, wait here and take any that are trying to run away, I'll be in the middle to help anyone if they need it. Everyone good?"
He looked at each of them in the eyes, all doubt or embarrassment from earlier gone.
He's in the zone now, thought Taiyang. This is gonna be good. I still want to see what he's got in that pack of his.
Taiyang and Raven stood up, stretching their limbs. Raven loosened her sword in it's scabbard.
"Time to go to work, Love," she said giving his hand a squeeze before jumping down to the opening.
"Let's do this!"
He jumped down next to Raven, feeling his feet settle into his boots.
I hope those modifications you made work, Qrow. This could be less fun if they don't.
Qrow jumped down behind them with his pack still on. He reached into it and pulled out a small dust crystal. He looked at it for a moment before launching it into the mouth of the cave. It glowed slightly but was too small to light the cave walls. It disappeared into the darkness before clattering loudly to the stone floor.
Nothing happened.
"Uh… Qrow?" Raven called, still at the ready. "Are we in the right place?"
"Just wait," Qrow replied.
The dust exploded, shaking the very foundation of the hill the cave was embedded in.
The ground settled and the air cleared from all the dust and dirt floating from the explosion. Still, nothing happened.
"All right," Taiyang sighed, "I'm beginning to think we might be in the wrong place."
"But that's impossible," Qrow said walking into the cave, examining the walls and floor. "I read the map perfectly and made sure we were on course all day."
He moved further in. Raven and Taiyang followed, relaxing as the dust cleared to reveal a mostly empty cave. A few dead Grimm were lying about, as they inspected closer, the bodies started to disintegrate.
Summer appeared next to Raven and said, "What's going on? I thought we were about to start."
"It looks like we aren't fighting anything right now," Raven replied. "I think Qrow got lost in the woods."
"Oh… I don't think he could do that," Summer said.
"I studied that map for days," mumbled Qrow. "I know we are in the right place."
He snapped his head up, looking straight at Taiyang.
Uh oh… something's not right, Taiyang thought.
He immediately grabbed Raven's hand began running out of the cave. Summer was faster than all of them so she wouldn't need any help. He activated his new boots and felt the sting wind on his face as he pulled Raven along behind him. He looked back to see a trail of dust appear out of thin air. But it wasn't his trail. As fast as these boots made him, Summer was always a step or two, or maybe a hundred, ahead of him.
A twin headed King Taijitu appeared from the forest. It was covered in scars and battle marks.
Well crap, thought Taiyang, this fellow has been around for a while. Some of those marks look decades old.
It wound in and out of trees, but looked weirdly contorted. Like it was wrapping itself around nothing. Suddenly, it clicked in his head as he looked at the weird contortions of the snake. It had captured hundreds of smaller Grimm and had wrapped them up so they couldn't attack. It had planned an ambush and had decided to use the younger more rash Grimm to weaken its enemy.
It loosened its grip on all the smaller Grimm and watched as they barreled toward the Hunter and Huntress.
"Throw me!" Raven yelled, preparing herself.
"Ungght!" grunted Taiyang as he launched Raven into the leading Grimm, a nasty looking Beowolf.
She drew her blade and dodged a swipe at her face, rolling beside the creature, swiping up with the sword, cutting off its arm. She jumped over stinger of a Death Stalker, sliced the head off the Beowolf, landing on the tip of the stinger.
She ran up the stem, severing it at the base with a slash of her sword. As the giant scorpion turned to look at it's attacker, she ducked under a massive pincer, stabbing her weapon into the base of it's skull where she knew the brain was.
The Death Stalker disintegrated and she was set upon by three other Beowolves.
Taiyang darted in and struck the biggest one in the chest with his foot.
Please work, please work, please work…
He pushed off the creature with his feet and felt the glyph form under his feet.
"OH YEAH!" He yelled, launching off the Grimm, flipping to where his feet would land on the next one in the same manner. The glyph leaving a burst of fire behind him. With each creature he kicked, trails of fire followed him. Depending on how hard he struck, the trail would grow or shrink.
He landed beside raven a few moments later, panting.
"You know," she said, half smiling. "You should work out more."
"Why don't… You….. Just….. stick to… fighting…. Ugh…."
Their song was playing. The sound of her blade piercing and slashing playing the melody of their music, his boots creating a dynamic bass line it was all going well… until that damn snake showed up.
It slowly wrapped its way around the battlefield, forcing all of the other Grimm to move closer to Raven and Taiyang.
"We've got to get them out," Summer said, pulling her hood back. It took all of Qrow's strength to not get distracted. He had known Summer for years but could never stop himself from staring into those eyes..
She looked at him. "What do you want me to do?"
He blinked, snapping back to the situation at hand.
"Keep that snake from closing in on them. I'll be there in just a sec."
It's time to try this baby out.
Summer disappeared leaving a small dust cloud where she stood.
Her cloak whipped behind her, unable to stay down because of her speed. She wore a black skirt with a bandolier as a belt. A harness held two folded fans forming an X on her back with the handles pointed down. She drew them, spreading the fans behind her.
As she approached the snake she launched herself into the air, waving the fans beneath her to give her extra altitude. She spun, the sticks firing bullets in all directions, launched by the force of her movement and the dust in the base of each stick.
Each round found its mark in a Grimm surrounding Raven and Taiyang. She landed next to them and prepared to hold them off when a group of Grimm twice the size of the original ambush jumped over the giant snake's body and began coming at the warriors.
"Qrow!" They all yelled.
Suddenly, a grey blur landed behind the charging Grimm. A mix of metal sliding on metal and cogs filled the air. A silver and grey blur, Qrow sliced in and out of the Grimm like they were standing still.
"Summer?!" He called, whirling through the Grimm. He finally stopped next to the beautiful young girl and grinned. "Wanna dance?"
"Of course," she beamed, before covering her face with her fan, hiding her blush.
Later, Taiyang would try to explain that battle to other Huntsmen and Huntresses but could never convey this part well enough.
"They look like water," he said, gaping at the two spinning around each other, Qrow using his scythe to pull the Grimm in and Summer blowing them away with her fans. There were moments when they were mere inches from each other, and even more where they could have sliced the other too pieces had they been a moment out of sync.
When their dance was over, all of the Grimm had been wiped out except for the King Taijitu who was looking angrier by the second.
Taiyang and Raven darted forward toward the white head while Summer and Qrow sailed for the other. In seconds, it was over and the Grimm was slowly drifting off into the night.
"Well, Qrow," Taiyang said, catching his breath. "It looks like your little toys are good for something after all. What is that thing by the way?" he said, gesturing to the giant scythe in Qrow's hands.
"This is the Beak," he said triumphantly.
"The beak?" Summer said, confused. "Why would you call it that?"
"Uh… Well…," Qrow stammered, "Because I'm Qrow. You know, like Crow, the bird. And they have a beak. And it's curved like this. And uh…"
"Branwen, we need to work on your naming skills," Taiyang said, holding back laughter.
Qrow blushed and turned to pack his weapon away. Taiyang and Raven laughed together walking back toward their packs above the mouth of the cave.
"Uh…" Summer walked up to Qrow shuffling her feet and looking down. "I just wanted to say…. Uh…" She moved closer, standing a few inches from Qrow's chest still looking down.
She looked up, "Thanks for the dance."
Then she kissed him.
At first it startled him. Her face was all scrunched up like she was expecting to get pushed away or even slapped, but he wrapped his arms around her and leaned into the kiss, softly pressing his lips to hers, reveling in the absolute glory he felt in that moment. And he knew. He knew that it was at that moment that his life would change forever.
She finally pulled away after a moment, blushing and stammering.
"I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me, I just got so caught up with everything I just…."
He hugged her, pulling her close into him and whispered.
"You know, I think Spring is finally over."