Raven and the Rose
Raven Branwen hefted the dumbbell in her right arm, exhaling as sweat droplets formed upon her forehead. It was her usual routine when Team STRQ wasn't on any missions to get some gym time. Once she had finished, she switched the dumbbell to her left arm, repeating the process.
Among all the students in Beacon, none proved themselves more merciless than Raven. She treated her days as a battle, with a single moment's hesitation able to lead to her death. Thus, every chance she got would be devoted entirely to polishing her skills or maintaining her strength. This however, caused most people to give her a wide berth. Still, Raven appreciated the solitude. She wasn't one for pointless and idle chatter, though she did make exceptions for people she would work with.
As she put the dumbbell down, she sensed a familiar presence behind her. Turning, she spotted her team leader Summer Rose hovering behind looking impressed.
"What?" Raven asked curtly.
"Oh, nothing." Summer shrugged. "It's just, you work out so hard but still look the same as you normally do. I mean, loads of girls freak over how they want to be fit, but not buff if you get what I mean."
Raven snorted at Summer's comment. She wasn't like loads of girls. She cared very little about such petty things. It was Raven's desire to be a Huntress, and one didn't become that by being conscious about figure. If it needed to be done, then so be it. "At least I'm glad you think so highly of me." She replied dryly. "But what brings you here? It's not your style to come to the Academy gym."
"Caught me huh?" Summer giggled. "Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to join me for a bit of downtime…"
Raven registered the words as she picked up her stuff and made for the changing rooms. Downtime, Summer had said. Possibly a means to catch a break during the free time they've found themselves with lately. Raven mulled over the idea in her head. Half of her didn't see any point in it. It would possibly be just some boring spectacle of a walk through the city that fulfilled next to nothing in her life.
"What did Tai and Qrow say about this?" Raven asked Summer as she stepped into the shower, hitting the tap and letting the refreshing cascade of water hit her head.
"Nothing." Summer said. "It's just us girls on a 'no boys allowed' outing."
"What's gotten you so caught up in such an excursion?" Raven asked through the splashing of the shower. "Seems pretty pointless to me."
"Well, it's just, out of all our teammates I know you the least, even after our first year. I mean, you don't have hobbies to talk about, you rarely speak unless it's necessary. I mean, I thought I was anti-social till I met you." Summer shrugged, her silver eyes now resembling that of a puppy dog.
Raven turned off the shower as she grabbed the towel. "That's because I don't have them Summer. I'm not the glamourous wannabe every girl is. I want to be a Huntress, and a Huntress rarely has time for such little details."
Raven now stepped out of the shower as she dried herself, putting on her undergarments and stalking over to her locker. Raven sighed irritably as she rubbed her left shoulder. Suddenly, she could feel a silent stare directed at her by none other than Summer Rose.
"What now?" Raven huffed.
"Your shoulder." Summer frowned. "How long has it been like that?"
"I don't get what you're talking about." Raven said as she rubbed it continuously.
"Actually, I think you do." Summer replied. "Does it hurt that badly?"
"No." Raven answered sharply, only to wince slightly as she moved her left arm.
"Sorry Raven, but you aren't fooling me." Summer said firmly. "As your team leader, it is my job to ensure all members of my team are fit and ready at any time for any mission. If that means I have to chain you to bed so that you can get some rest for your clearly overworked body, then that is what I'll do."
Raven stared into Summer's eyes and knew there was no talking her way out of that one. It was true, her shoulder had a dull pain running through since yesterday. She was loathe to admit it, but it truly appeared she might be on her way to an injury. And Summer did make an excellent point that overworking herself wasn't going to help. "Fine." She replied, admitting her defeat. "I'll go along with whatever you want for us."
"Then it's settled!" Summer beamed. "You are probably exhausted, so why don't you rest for the day. But tomorrow is going to be girl's day out!"
"As you say…" Raven nodded. As she opened her locker and reached for her signature red dress, she suddenly got the feeling that something was out of place.
"So anyways," Summer droned as she explained her plans. "There is this really god spa down in V-mmph!" Summer's face flashed with surprise as Raven's palm went to her mouth. Raven now motioned for her to keep quiet. Raven now scanned the room, her eyes meticulously looking at each locker as she walked slowly past them.
Her eyes finally fell upon one locker. She frowned as she studied it closely. Summer watched as Raven examined it like a hound on the hunt, wondering exactly what had gotten into her teammate. For a minute, Raven stared at the locker before backing down, blinking a few times quizzically.
Quick as lightning, Raven now spun and smashed through the locker behind her, the sound of metal splitting catching the attention of all the other girls in the room. She withdrew her hand, the door of the locker breaking apart to reveal a very familiar person. The air was pierced by feminine screams as the room's occupants hastily covered up their bodies with towels or quickly put on their clothing.
Raven eyed her brother Qrow with a steely gaze while Summer stared dumbfounded. Qrow on the other hand smiled sheepishly. "So, you two having an outing tomorrow huh? Have fun I suppose…"
Raven looked at her brother with blood red eyes for a few seconds, not bothering with the fact that she had yet to put clothes on. She then hefted Qrow up and threw him across the room and through the window, hearing his cry as he flew through the air.
"Umm…" Summer gulped as she stared at the broken window. "You realise we are at least four storeys high, right?"
Raven merely shrugged and resumed clothing herself.
The next day
Raven remained silent the whole way as Summer brought her to the spa, a rather nicely constructed building in the central part of Vale. The whole way, she was rather appreciative of the fact that Summer was too busy with looking forward to their time at the spa to strike up a conversation with her.
"Okay Raven, so here's what I have planned!" Summer said as she took out her scroll, pulling up her list of activities they have had to do. "First on the list is a time in the steam room! A good sauna should get you nice and relaxed. Next up is a mud bath, which ought to revitalise your joints and muscles, helping with that ache you have in the shoulder! And finally, we have a facial spa and pedicure at the end, just to help you get more relaxation in! Sound good?"
Raven did not particularly react poorly at Summer's itinerary, but she blanched at the mention of the facial spa and pedicure. "Just don't give me makeup or nail art alright?" Raven firmly said. "I don't need Qrow going on about a change in appearance that obviously doesn't suit me."
"But of course." Summer smiled. Raven rolled her eyes. Her leader had obviously taken into account for everything that she did not take kindly to. She wondered to what extent Summer took to such a trivial activity.
"Well, let's just get this over with…" Raven sighed, eager to get the day done and back to their room in Beacon.
Summer smiled as she poured more water on the hot stones, squinting her eyes shut at the rush of steam.
Raven merely watched as Summer was somehow having the time of her life doing absolutely nothing. She fingered the towel that was wrapped around her body. This is pointless. Raven affirmed as she laid back, obviously irritated by the towel that kept her hair rolled up. She crossed her arms as Summer laid her head back on the wooden wall of the sauna with a pleased expression. Suddenly, she did realise that the pain in her shoulder was gone. Raven blinked in bewilderment as Summer's suggestion had seemingly relieved her of her aches.
"Doesn't hurt anymore does it?" Summer asked smugly.
"I admit, it is quite impressive." Raven nodded. "I'm starting to get curious as to how it works."
"Just chalk it up to absolute peace and quiet." Summer answered.
"Huh." Raven mumbled as she continued to drink in the quiet of the place, taking into account the sensations that ran through her head to her toes. The heat of the sauna, the sliding of her sweat upon her skin, the warmth of the wooden bench she sat on. Perhaps this was what she was missing for a while.
"Sooo…" Summer frowned. "How is it going with Tai?"
"What?" Raven replied sharply. "Whatever are you talking about?"
"Oh c'mon Raven." Summer giggled. "Did you really think I was going to ignore it forever? It's obvious you like him!"
"I do not!" Raven snapped. "We are partners in battle, nothing more. I am very sure that is pretty clear."
But Summer was not deterred. "Raven and Taiyang sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"Summer! Knock it off!" Raven growled, losing her composure. "I won't emphasise this again! I am not in love with Taiyang at all!"
"Sure…" Summer droned. "So says the denial of your heart."
"You know, I thought this day was meant to help me relax." Raven growled back. "Instead, I feel more stressed now than ever…"
"Alright, alright. I'll stop." Summer surrendered, deciding that the conversation was starting to get uncomfortable. She reached for water again, pouring it on the hot stones and engulfing the room in steam.
Raven herself huffed, evidently annoyed at Summer's prying. And yet, she also felt a slight sensation of relaxation seeping in.
Raven lay on her belly as the masseuse applied the oil onto her back. It had already been an hour since they arrived and Raven was starting to get put off by the boredom of it all. Still, she had a slight sense of calm and euphoria seeping into her mind, and it helped that her shoulder no longer ached. Still, she found herself rather apprehensive to try the mud bath. Despite Summer's assurances (most of it centred on seeing the bath like an oversized chocolate pudding), it took her a while to get used to the odour of the brown concoction she took a bath in along with the strange sensation she had of it on her skin.
Despite that, she found herself now nervous as to what the massage would entail. Summer allayed her troubling thoughts that the massage would be no longer than fifteen minutes at most. As the masseuse began with her shoulder blades, Raven tensed at the pressure being applied. Never before had she experienced anything like this, so it only got more and more uncomfortable as the masseuse's knuckles kneaded into her back.
Finally, the masseuse went for her shoulders. Raven jerked as the woman's hands applied pressure onto her shoulders. Raven feared that the aggressive handling of her body would put more pressure on her recovering shoulder. However, the minute the massaging motions started, Raven squirmed as another sensation prickled up through her arm and to her neck. In response, Raven squirmed slightly on the massage bed. As the masseuse attempted to continue despite her movements, Raven yelped in response to the increase pressure applied.
Summer's head snapped upwards, frowning as she registered Raven's stifled yelp. Judging by how tense she was, Summer could only make one assumption.
"Raven…" Summer asked from her bed. "Are you ticklish at the shoulder?"
"N-No!" Raven half screamed, half chuckled as the masseuse carried on, groaning at how difficult Raven was making this for her.
"Hmm, sounds like you are." Summer blinked.
"I am no-hahaha-t!" Raven comically replied, unable to hold back her laughter as the massage on her shoulder intensified.
"Well alright then Ms. Insistent." Summer replied, motioning for the masseuse to leave. Raven now breathed heavily as she experienced a moment's reprieve from the tingling sensation. She could already feel her eyes tearing up as she allowed herself to relax. As she looked up however, she could feel Summer's eyes boring into her back.
"Summer…" Raven growled. "Don't you dare…"
"Sorry Raven." Summer grinned evilly. "But I just need to know." Quickly, Summer dug her fingers into Raven's shoulder.
"SUMMER! NOOO-HOHOHOHOHO!" Raven screamed before succumbing to uncontrollable laughter. Summer remained as she was, relentlessly clamping down on Raven's shoulders and triggering peals of laughter from Team STRQ's most merciless member.
"SUMMER!" Raven screamed, trying her best to control her chuckles. "Knock it off! I said knock it off damn you!" Unable to take much more, Raven forcefully elbowed Summer in the gut, causing the smaller girl to fly through the door.
Raven grumbled as she walked through the streets of Vale, Summer trailing closely behind. Silence had gone in between them since they left the spa. Granted, Raven did feel quite refreshed after their outing, but she felt even more stressed now that Summer had found her tickle spot, something she hoped no one would know.
Summer on the other hand appeared quite apprehensive about approaching Raven. It was quite obvious since they left that Summer may have edged her a little too far in the wrong direction. Just another attempt at honest fun gone wrong it seemed.
"Um, Raven…" Summer said cautiously as they walked back to Beacon. "I just wanted to say, about what happened back there. I'm really sorry."
Raven didn't answer. She merely kept walking, seemingly absorbed in her own thoughts.
"It's just, I know how hard you work and your reasons for it. I know just as well that you push yourself more than anyone else on Beacon. And I know that you grit your teeth through it all because that is nothing compared to what is out there." Summer continued, slowly trailing behind. "But, I just wanted to show you that everyone needs a little time on their own to ease off here and there. And after everything about you I have known so far, I guess I just ended up forcing that on you…"
Raven now stopped right outside a clothing store, her head cocked back slightly.
"So, well…" Summer gulped. "We don't have to do these things again, if you don't want to…"
Raven immediately shot her hand into a clothes rack, stunning the stall vendor and Summer simultaneously. Slowly, Raven withdrew her hand to reveal Qrow Branwen.
"Seriously!?" Summer yelled. "Qrow what the hell?"
"Hold on! I was just gallivanting here! Honest!" The male Branwen said in defence as he stared at his sister, whose eyes seemed to reflect murder. "Raven, believe me! I wasn't spying or-!"
"How much did you hear?" Raven asked.
"Huh?" Qrow stuttered. "Um, well, most of it…"
Raven now dropped Qrow, his rear hitting the concrete pavement. Slowly, she inched into him, her face just centimetres from his. "Breathe a word of that to anyone, and I guarantee you that the next we meet, it will be in a morgue. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am." Qrow nodded fiercely.
"Now then…" Raven turned back toward Summer. "Where are we going next?"
"Huh?" Summer blinked, dumbfounded.
"I mean, I have to make it up to you…" Raven replied sheepishly, scratching her head. "For punching you back then…"
"Um…" Summer frowned as she tried to process this. "I don't know… Maybe you should pick?"
"My turn huh?" Raven now replied with what Summer could only guess was a chuckle. "Hmm, how about for a bit of coffee at the Eternal Dawn café? Sound good?"
Summer mulled it over for a few seconds before she nodded. "Sure! Why not?"
As the two girls walked off, Raven shot her brother another steely gaze, reminding him of his earlier agreement.
Some time later, Raven and Summer made it to the establishment recommended by Raven. It wasn't long before they were seated and enjoying two refreshing mugs of coffee.
"Aaaah…" Summer breathed, savouring the warmth of her beverage. "This is amazing…"
"Isn't it?" Raven asked. "I like this place the most. It may take a while, but it's a good way to gather my thoughts."
"I can see why." Summer grinned. The two girls looked at each other for a few seconds before Summer finally broke the contact, staring down into her coffee.
"I've known you for two years at Beacon." Summer said with melancholy in her eyes. "And after just this one day, I feel like I've come to know more about you than I ever did in that amount of time."
"A single day is all it takes for something to radically change." Raven answered as she lifted the mug to her lips. "And in honesty, that is what I'm apprehensive about. This time of peace? To me it's just as fragile as this cup in my hands. I want to keep it that way. I want to make sure this peace lives on, for the future, for my future…"
Summer listened intently as Raven sipped her drink again. "Seems like that. You've really got a lot on your mind." Summer now leaned forward and clasped Raven's hand as she put the mug down.
"No matter what Raven, remember this." Summer said. "Even if you change your views on the world. Even if you do something I could never truly comprehend. Always remember, before anything else, I'm your friend Raven. And that is a promise."
"Summer…" Raven blinked.
"We bear something from the other, a small gift in plain sight." Summer chanted as she closed her eyes. "Thus kindly I scatter, let what I give be your light."
Raven regarded Summer strangely as she let go. Raven could now feel a small warmth coming from where Summer's hands had gone. "Wow. Didn't know you were such a poet."
"Just something my mom taught me." Summer smiled. "As to what the gift I give is, that is up to you to figure out."
"I doubt it'll take long." Raven winked as she finished her coffee.
The next day:
Raven lifted the dumbbell to a count of thirty before putting it down. Her shoulder wasn't hurting anymore, and for that she was glad. Maybe Summer did have a point. It was nice to have a break once in a while. Perhaps she should plan another, with just them of course.
Caught up in her thoughts, Raven didn't notice the presence of someone come up from behind her. "HEY RAVEN!" Came the voice before a hand slapped her on the shoulder, right at her tickle spot.
Raven yelped, jumping from the contact and the tingling sensation that ran through her neck. Sharply she turned to see Taiyang and Qrow, looking absolutely bewildered, as did everyone else in the gym. Raven blinked as Taiyang and Qrow tried to comprehend what had just happened.
"Hang on…" Taiyang frowned as realisation dawned. "Raven, are you tickl-"
Raven's answer came in the form of a very powerful punch to both their faces.
Author's Note:
Well, finally got this out of the way. So much has been happening in the past few weeks that I haven't gotten round to writing at all.
Still, I hope you all liked this girl-time chapter focused on Raven and Summer. I always felt that even if they were quite different, Raven and Summer did have a good understanding of each other, which is why Summer helped to raise Yang after Raven left, possibly falling in love with Taiyang in the process.
Once again, read and comment. Jdbl00d
