So, in case you didn't know, you can watch RWBY early if you have a regular account on RT's site. Last year it was a day after FIRST members, this time it's the Tuesday after…I guess they're jumping on the RWBY Tuesday train now. So for all us people who don't want to spend however much for FIRST, our day for Volume 5 is October 17.
"Raven," Summer called as she walked down the stairs, "I'm going to the mainland. Want to-"
"Yes." Raven stormed out of the kitchen, her fists balled. "Get me out of this house."
Summer frowned. It wasn't even ten. What happened so early in the morning? "You don't even know why I'm going."
"And I don't care. I need to clear my head." Raven glared back into the kitchen. She stomped to the door and grabbed her sword before smashing the front door open. With the punishment that door received over the years, it was a miracle that it was still in one piece, even more so that it still locked.
Summer sighed and finished walking down the stairs. She peeked into the kitchen and saw Tai gripping the edge of the sink. His whole body stood like a statue. Qrow sat at the table eating toast, and a glass of orange juice sat to the side. A normal day for him, not his partner.
"Tai," she called in. Tai turned his head back. "I'll get her out of your hair for a few hours. See what's really bothering her too."
"You do that." Tai faced the sink again. "Good luck getting anything out of her. She's as open as Mary's Market."
"You'd be surprised," Summer mumbled. She locked eyes with Qrow and gestured to Tai. He nodded then returned to his toast.
Summer finally followed her partner outside, picking up Sun's Light on the way out. Raven was going through her stretches, even though the team workout was an hour ago. Raven straightened back up and turned to Summer. "Ready to go partner?" Her voice had already leveled.
"I'm the one who suggested this, remember?'" Summer approached Raven with a smile on her face. "I was ready to go right after our workout.
Raven shook her head. "Of course you were. We taking Bumblebee or are we walking and teleporting?"
"The fare to transport vehicles across the straight has gone up. It doesn't make sense."
"Really?" Raven put her hands on her hips. "You bought that thing, and how many times have you actually driven it?"
"I know." Summer sighed. "If the Armen Highway is ever built, I might have to rent a garage on the mainland. Then I can actually get some speed up."
"Speed demon." Raven smirked. "Let's get going."
Summer flicked her eyes to the edge of the yard and teleported there. She turned back to Raven. "Way ahead of you."
Raven shook her head and she walked to close the distance. "You know, you're not as funny as you think you are."
"Really?" Summer smirked. "Why don't you Summerize your argument?"
"Oh boy." Raven brought a hand to her face. "I walked right into that one, didn't I."
"You flew into it, bird brain." Summer's smirk turned into a full-blown smile. Now this was the Raven she knew back at Beacon. Well, fourth year anyway. "Come on. I was planning on getting brunch at Lenny's."
"Been a while since we've been there." The partners started walking toward the beach. "What's new with you since I've been out of town?"
"Not much." Summer shook her head. "It looks like the Grimm have finally calmed down after Mountain Glen. No outlying village is hiring anymore, and Vale's Huntsman defense has turned into a full time job. Like, literally, not time commitment. Those Huntsmen are paid a salary by the Kingdom. If I want to find a job, I'm really going to have to go out there or work directly with the police here."
"So killing Grimm, or helping people in the city." Raven shook her head. "One is fun and a public service, the other is direct public service but more visible. I wonder which you'll choose."
"I'm being serious here, Rae. VPD's top Huntsman detective is retiring, so there's going to be an open spot. It sounds like the job's going to someone already there, and that's going to bump a whole lot of people up. There's an open position somewhere, and I'm thinking about taking it."
Raven blinked. "Really? I never thought you'd be a cop."
"Neither did I. But it's a constant income unlike defense missions, and I won't be away from home for long periods at a time."
"Still get homesick?"
"Oh yeah, just not as bad as first year." Summer shook herself at the memory. The homesickness alone was terrible. Losing her mom to cancer made it worse. She broke her leg in her second month at Beacon and she thought it was over. But Tai, Qrow, and a few other teams rallied around her. Raven was there too, but she still had the bandit 'the strong live and the weak die,' mentality, not that anyone knew about her past at that time. Either way, the rest of that semester, even though she was in a boot and on crutches for a while, were the best couple of months of her life.
The partners arrived at the beach and looked out over the water to the city. "Still can't make it to the other side in one go?" Raven asked.
"First time yesterday." Summer puffed her chest out. "I was carrying groceries too. I knew I had it in me."
"I don't believe it." Raven shook her head. "There's no way."
"Wanna bet?" Summer put her hands on her hips. "Let's race. First to the beach wins. Loser buys brunch." She took a hand off her hip and stuck it out to Raven.
"You're on." Raven took the hand and squeezed. "Hope you don't mind me getting steak."
"I don't. You're paying." Summer smiled and faced the mainland. Raven drew her sword and swung it in front of her. Both teammates crouched down in running position. "Three." Summer stuck her tongue out.
"Two." Raven dug her feet into the sand.
"One." Both of them put more pressure on their feet. "Go!" Summer sprang to her feet while Raven rushed forward. She picked out Raven's portal on the beach and teleported directly beside it. As expected, Raven hadn't made it through. Summer hunched down where Raven would come through.
A second later, Raven burst through and swung her hands up. "Yes! Take that…" She blinked and dropped her arms.
"What took you so long?" Summer asked in her best old woman voice. "It's been fifty years."
Raven stood silent, then sighed. "I thought you were exaggerating."
"Nope!" Summer bounced to her full height. "Next milestone is from Patch to Beacon."
"I suppose I owe you brunch." Raven rubbed the back of her head. "Be nice, will you?"
"It's me. Am I ever mean?"
"I don't think I've seen you mad." Raven shook her head. "Which one we going to, the one on main?"
"It's the closest, and the least busy." Summer started walking toward the city. "Come on, slowpoke. Time's a wasting!"
"You know, I've been there before." Raven speed walked to Summer's side. "I could be on the roof of that place by now."
"And you know I'd jump in your portal before you could close it. No getting rid of me then."
"I don't know. I could try." Raven smirked. "Then I'd have two of you to have fun with."
"I don't know what you're into, but I'd for sure be having fun with my parents."
"See? Fun times all around." The partners made it to the city sidewalk. Their banter continued, and Summer dropped a few more well placed puns that she was proud of. Of course, Raven groaned or facepalmed at every one. She just didn't understand the art.
After a few long red lights and idiot drivers cutting them of, Summer and Raven made it to Lenny's. As Summer expected, the place was practically dead. She and Raven were seated right away. Their waitress came for their orders and they ordered right away. Their choices never changed, no matter where they went.
The projections on the wall were showing a VNN broadcast, and from the look of it, they were talking about a warehouse raid in Vacuo. Summer saw Raven's eyes flick to the projections and back. There wouldn't be a better time to bring this up. "That was you, wasn't it?" Summer gestured to one of the projections.
Raven grimaced. "Yeah. What about it?" She always tried to act tough around Summer, but starting their third year at Beacon, Summer could see right through it. Now, Raven was nervous.
"How many people did you take down?"
"I saved six Faunus. That's what I count."
Summer frowned and Raven winced. "How many?
Raven hesitated. "Five, Vacuo police got the sixth." She glared at Summer. "Don't give me that look and say nothing." After all this time, she was still looking for other people's approval.
But Summer still hadn't figured out what she needed to. Maybe it was time to just say it. "Raven, I don't care about how many people you took down. I don't care how many times you've done this. I don't even care how many Faunus you've rescued. None of that matters if you're doing it for the wrong reasons. So I'll ask, why are you taking on the Nevermores?"
"I…uh…" Raven stuttered, "it's the right thing to do. I heard about what was going on and I had to do something about it."
Summer shook her head. "That's the Summer answer. What's the Raven answer?"
Raven stared at the empty table in front of her. "I will admit, the first time was for Lien. I was finishing up another mission in Vacuo when I saw how many missing kids there were, and the rewards for most of them were pretty high. Vacuo police aren't the most trustworthy cops on Remnant, but they take anything involving kids deathly serious. The deal was we share information, and if any of each other's information led to finding the kids, we'd split the reward.
"I can't say enough that this was only the first time." Raven raised her hands in defense. "I followed a tip that led me to the first warehouse. I expected just one to be there. Not five in chains and…" Raven looked around the restaurant, "in such a bad condition I don't want to say in public. I'd heard of other bandit tribes doing this to their prisoners. Besides the whole thing being wrong, it got personal."
Raven crossed her arms. "Still, I'm expecting a nice payment to be wired to my account in the next few days. My contacts in Vacuo still think I'm doing this for the Lien. It's better that then them thinking I actually care. All I want either to think is that I'm a former bandit after Lien before anything else." Her head dipped. "It does pay well."
Summer stared at her partner, trying to process everything she just heard. Raven was originally out for lien, but that was now only for her cover. She was working with albeit corrupt police to find these kids. But something wasn't sitting right. Summer leaned forward. "Raven, look into my eyes." Raven's red orbs tilted away from the table. "Are you doing this for revenge against other tribes?"
"No." Raven kept her eyes locked with Summer's. "I had…acquaintances who were in that situation back when Qrow and I were with our tribe. I don't want to see anyone in that position again." Her face stayed stoic. None of her usual tells shone forth.
That time there was no denying it. Summer let her face soften and she let her lips curl up. "Thank you, Raven. That's what I needed to hear."
"You're not…mad at me?" Raven timidly asked. Still the people pleaser.
Summer shook her head. "Not at all. I was disappointed before because you'd never tell us what you were doing. The way you acted when we asked said we wouldn't like the answer. Now I see none of us had to worry."
"You're not…upset about the people I…" Raven let the thought hang.
"I wasn't there." Summer shook her head. "Considering we all know how to take down people without taking their lives, I'm assuming you felt like you had to do that. Unless you have something else to say, I'll trust your judgement."
Raven's shoulders sagged and a smile formed on her face. "Thanks, Sum." She set a hand on the table.
"Anytime, Rae." Summer grabbed the offered band and cocooned it with both of hers. "I know you've never been the most open person. This can't have been easy for you." Summer paused. "You know, you should tell Tai too. It might help smooth things over with him."
"Maybe." Raven pulled her hand back. "We're fighting about more things than just that."
"Then it's a start." Summer retracted her hands as their waitress was coming back. "Food's coming. Why don't we talk about something more pleasant?"
"Works for me." Raven smirked. "How about Steel Gray's new movie?"
Summer fake swooned. "That is one beautiful man."
"Dangit!" Summer yelled. "He is married…" Her entire body slumped and her Scroll hand dangled a few feet above the concrete. "Why are all the nice looking movie stars married or dating?"
"Quite a few are gay too." Raven smirked and patted her partner's back. "You'll find someone. You're too cute to be single forever." Her smirk grew. "You could try again with Qrow."
"Ew!" Summer pushed Raven away. "You know what happened with that."
"Yeah." Summer pushed back. "You punched him through a wall when he tried to kiss you."
"Not on a first date!" Summer swung her arms in front of her. "And definitely not any of that other stuff!" She scowled and pointed a finger directly at Raven's face. "Don't you dare say anything about that."
Raven held up her hands in surrender. "Never even crossed my mind." In truth, it did, but the last time she mentioned getting Summer laid, she was singing soprano for a week. She didn't have that kind of equipment. How did Summer even do that?
She heard sirens blaring behind her. A police cruiser blew by seconds later, the fifth one in under a minute. Something was up. "Sum, I'm not the only one seeing those, right?"
"Nope." Summer stared after the later car as it disappeared around a corner. "Let's check on this. Be ready to get backup if needed."
"Will do." Raven drew her sword a fraction of an inch then slid it back. It wouldn't due to scare people around here by running around with an oversized sword. She and Summer slowly made their way toward where all the police were heading. Raven would have preferred to just cut across the roads, but Summer was with her, and there were already so many crazy drivers out there. She did not need to add broken legs from being hit by a car to her ever growing injury list.
They rounded a corner and saw a perimeter of cop cars and a SWAT van outside a building. Raven and Summer locked eyes and nodded. They jogged forward up to the perimeter and ever growing crowd. Raven pushed through the crowd as gently as she could. She and Summer made it to the police tape and Summer tried to wave down a police officer.
It took a while, but one finally walked over. This guy had the markings of a lieutenant. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to stand back. This is a dangerous situation."
"We know dangerous." Summer jerked her head to Raven. "We're Huntresses." Summer grabbed Sun's Light's sheath and jerked it in front of her. Raven did the same with her own weapon.
The cop looked between the two. "Either of you good with stealth?"
Raven nodded. "I am. Both of us can teleport in our own ways."
"And if you need it, I'm a sniper." Summer smirked. "I can make a Beowolf a cyclops from five hundred yards out. Taking care of any weapon shouldn't be a problem."
After a few more seconds of staring, the lieutenant nodded. "Come with me, but stay close to the building." He lifted the tape and the two Huntresses ducked underneath. "We have a hostage situation here. A man is holding his ex-wife at gunpoint. From what we gather, this started over custody arguments. But he's not the smartest guy in the world. He's in her living room with his gun pointed at her head, in full view of the rest of the city."
Summer searched the surrounding buildings. "I take it you have snipers up there?"
The lieutenant shook his head. "Sniper unit's on the way and SWAT's moving up inside."
"Is he talking with negotiators?"
"He is, but his demands make no sense." The lieutenant shook his head. "Either way, his gun's still in a bad place." He turned to Summer. "If you're really as good as you say you are, we'll need your aim."
Summer gave the man a salute. "You can count on me!"
"If you have police scanners on your Scrolls, listen in."
Raven took out her Scroll and opened the right app. "I'm good when you are, Sum."
"Good. We're going up." Summer clapped a hand on Raven's shoulder and looked up to another roof. Before Raven knew it, she was standing on the roof of that building. She stumbled a little as white rose petals rained down around her. Teleporting with Summer was always disorienting. To be fair, anyone else but Qrow going through her portals puked their first time through.
Raven shook her head and turned back toward the building the suspect was holed up in. She crouched low behind the half wall and looked over the side. Sure enough, on the third floor, a man held a gun to the back of a woman's head, in full view of the rest of the city. He also held a Scroll to his ear and it looked like he was yelling into it. His gun arm shook. He was nervous, equally likely to pull the trigger and not to.
A familiar sound came from Raven's right. The business end of Sun's Light slid into sight. Raven put her Scroll on the wall between her and Summer. "Sniper team in position." Summer said. "Awaiting instructions."
"Hold fire until necessary," a voice came over the Scroll. "You're the only one with a direct shot. If provoked, take it."
"I copy. Sniper out." Summer pushed a button on the Scroll while never moving her weapon. She grimaced. "I don't have a good angle at his gun. I'm moving." Summer slowly moved to the side while keeping her gun on the hostage taker. Raven followed her while listening to police chatter. It sounded like the SWAT team was just outside the apartment and VPD's sniper unit was still a couple minutes out.
Meanwhile, Raven searched the apartment for other avenues of entry. With the position of the man's gun and likelihood to shoot, Raven couldn't just open a portal in there and run through. There wasn't enough time. It looked like the police cleared the apartment above as well. If she could get in there, she could possibly…
She noticed the hostage taker staring up at her and Summer. The man grimaced and yelled into his Scroll more. His arms trembled and his aim wavered. The woman's head sunk and it looked like she was crying up a storm. The man took his Scroll off his ear and yelled directly into the mic. He threw it down and focused on the gun in his hand and the back of his ex-wife's head. He was going to shoot.
A gunshot rang out, but from Raven's side, not the building. The window and gun shattered, and the Dust round still had enough energy to punch into the man's chest. He staggered backward and fell to the floor. The SWAT team burst into the room and the woman dove for cover. But Raven could tell, even from this distance, the man wouldn't be getting up ever again.
Raven straightened on her knees. "Nice shot, Sum." She waited for the inevitable 'Just add another one to the tally' joke or off by half an inch excuse.
But it never came. Raven turned her head to her partner and froze, and not just because the temperature had dropped considerably. Summer's eyes were as wide as they could possibly get. Her whole body except for her sniper trained arms shook like and earthquake. Neither her chest or her stomach were moving. Summer wasn't breathing.
What got Summer like this? It was just... "Oh no." Raven looked back to the man who was surrounded by cops. Summer's first human kill. And Raven just congratulated her on it.
Raven hesitantly reached a hand to her partner's shoulder. "Summer?"
On contact, Summer's head flicked to Raven. Her eyes leaked. "What did I just do?" she whispered.
"You saved someone's life Summer." Raven spoke slowly and carefully. She knew Summer wouldn't take her first kill well, but she didn't know how bad it would be.
"By…by taking another…" Summer's eyes fell to her weapon. She threw it clear to the other side of the roof.
That wasn't good. Summer would never treat her weapon like that. "Summer…" Raven reached her other hand over.
Summer stared at Raven. "You…you do this all the time?" She batted both hands away. "Get away from me!" She stood up and backed away from her partner.
"Summer, what happened to our talk earlier?" Raven stood up and took a few tentative steps forward.
"Stay away from me Raven!" Summer took even more steps back, shaking her head. "I'm…I'm a…"
Hero! You're a hero! Raven thought as loud as she could, not that Summer would ever be able to hear.
"…a killer." Summer's head jerked to the side. In a flash of rose petals, she was gone.
Raven ran to the edge Summer looked over and searched everywhere in that direction. But she saw no more rose petals. Summer could teleport from Patch to the mainland. She could be anywhere. Raven ran her fingers through her hair. This wasn't good. If Summer didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. Unfortunately, Raven taught her everything she knew about disappearing.
She heard something come over her Scroll. For a split second, Raven thought it was Summer, but that couldn't be it. Still she scooped it off where it sat. "I say again, sniper team, what's your status?"
"One shot, one kill," Raven responded. "Wish it could have gone differently, but it's the hand we were given."
"Copy that, sniper team. Your assistance has been appreciated. Someone will be on your roof shortly to take your statements."
Raven stared at the Scroll and didn't respond. She'd been working in Vacuo for so long, she'd forgotten about this part. The lieutenant on the ground saw two Huntresses not one. It would take too long to get Qrow down here wearing a skirt and one of Summer's hoods. If she left to get him and whoever came, she'd get everyone in trouble.
She closed the police scanner app and called Qrow's Scroll. She waited impatiently for him to pick up. "This is Qrow," his voice finally came through.
"Summer's gone," Raven blurted out.
Only static came from the other end. "Gone, what do you mean gone?"
"As in she's run off. Qrow, she killed a hostage taker."
More silence, then, "Shit. Tai! Freeze all our accounts. Summer's on the run."
"What?" Tai's voice faintly came through the Scroll. "What happened?"
"Just do it! I need to get to the city." Raven heard a door slam on the other side. "I'm on my way. You're going to have to get Tai over there."
"I will. Just get in the air.' Raven ended the call and walked over to where Sun's Light landed. She picked it up and immediately started wiping it down to try and get rid of any of Summer's fingerprints. Then she grabbed it all over trying to get her own covering as much as possible. Hopefully this worked.
She turned to the door to the roof and her own weapon swung around her waist. For the first time she could remember, she didn't want to be anywhere near her own weapon. She drew her sword and sliced open a portal in front of her. She sheathed it and threw the combination through. The portal closed, separating her from the quickest way back to it. It was a few buildings over
The door to the roof opened. Raven almost breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it was. She never really liked her, but Summer did. "Glynda, you don't know how happy I am to see you."
"That would be a first." Glynda Goodwitch crossed her arms, her cape flowing in the slight breeze. She looked around the roof. "I spoke with the lieutenant on the ground. He made it sound like it was you and Summer up here."
"It was, and she took the shot."
Glynda raised an eyebrow. "Then where is she?"
Raven gave a full body shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine. She ran off right after."
"That's unlike her. She's the one person on your team who liked to follow the rules."
"She just killed someone!" Raven tried to keep her voice down so everyone in Vale didn't hear. "We're in uncharted waters here."
Glynda scowled. "That is no excuse. Your whole team should know the laws about Huntsmen working in Kingdoms."
"Are you threatening to throw us in jail?" Raven laughed without humor. "Call your boss and ask him why that's a bad idea, and why we want to keep Summer's face off the news. If you wait to do that until after you report me and her to the police, it'll be too late."
Glynda narrowed her eyes and looked Raven up and down. She took her Scroll out of a pocket and hit a few buttons on it. Without taking her eyes off Raven, she rose the Scroll to her ear. After a few seconds of waiting, she straightened. "Headmaster, I am with Raven Branwen in downtown Vale where she and Summer Rose ended a hostage situation with Summer firing on the hostage taker. Summer Rose is in the wind and Raven insists that it's a terrible idea to report them to the authorities."
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "But, Headmaster, I can't…" Glynda faced away from Raven. "Why can't I report them? I have to…" She froze and nodded. "Understood sir…Okay, I'll tell her."
Glynda took her Scroll away from her ear and sighed. "For now, I'm going to assume you two are doing undercover work. I'll tell the police what they want to hear, but I still need written statements from both of you."
Raven shrugged. "I can fake her handwriting, if you've got a pen."
"I do." Glynda paused. "Also, Ozpin wants to speak with you to know exactly what happened here."
"For once, I am fine with going to the Headmaster's office." Raven sighed. "Maybe he'll know how to find her."
Oh, poor innocent Summer...And no, I don't believe this is an overreaction.
