Eclipse
Chapter 3
Back to School
Raven exhaled in relief, dropping her pack heavily on the ground of their dorm room floor. Very little had changed in casa de STRQ since they had departed for Anima several months ago. But it felt as if an entire lifetime had passed since they were all in this room, together.
Summer promptly leaped onto her bed with an exclamation, splayed out wildly on the comforter as she let out a huge sigh. Taiyang fell face first onto his bed, without bothering to take off his shoes, Yin hopping up on the bed with him immediately. Qrow didn't make it to the kitchen to climb into his hammock; he just flopped onto the floor, arms over his head.
"We did it," he drawled. "Yaaaaay."
Summer snickered, eying her from under her pillows. Raven smirked, sitting on her own bed and letting herself slump over, exhausted. They had a few days to rest before the new semester kicked off, and then it was back to grindstone. Still, after the events of last semester combined with their so called summer vacation, she doubted Beacon would be able to pose much of an obstacle for them.
Dust, at this rate, they may as well graduate us early.
Still, second year at Beacon was said to be the hardest of the four. It had the highest drop out percentages of all the years combined, due to a sharp increase in actual missions and physical training. They would spend several weeks at least in the field, shadowing grown hunters and living the life to see if they really were cut out for it; said hunters graded them on their performances, and could even cause them to be expelled from the program if they did badly enough. Despite that, Raven wasn't really worried; any of the survivors from their year group who had made it through Mountain Glenn were hardly going to be phased by anything smaller than such a catastrophe.
"I never want to move from this bed," moaned Taiyang. "Whyyy am I so tired?"
"Awww, what's the matter, old man?" Raven droned mockingly, tilting her head. "Was running with the big bad bandits too hard for you? Hm?"
Tai flipped her off, before tossing a pillow halfheartedly her way. It fell way short, landing on Qrow's face. He simply lay there, accepting his fate, before hugging the pillow.
Summer giggled, watching them impishly. She had grown more and more amused by Tai and Raven's interactions lately, her bond always supplying a wave of mirth and glowing warmth whenever she caught them flirting; because that was, quite honestly, what they were doing. Not that she would admit that aloud, yet. If ever.
The team lapsed into cozy silence, basking in the safety of their home and each others presence. Eventually, they would have to get up. They had laundry to do, Dust allowances to see to, check ins and a heap of paperwork to get sorted so they could actually start second year; but right now was not the time for that. Right now, it was time to just fucking sleep and watch tv and stupid videos on their scrolls. Which is exactly what they did.
...
"Ohhhh my gods," Qrow groaned, taking a long sip from his mug. "Damn. I missed good coffee."
Raven snorted, eying her twin wryly as he sat next to her in the mess hall. It was the first day for new check-ins, and the fresh recruits had flooded the hall in a heap of confusion. Raven observed the potential freshmen as they flocked together, trying to seem tough and confident as they stood in line for chow or asked for directions.
Despite themselves, they all looked so...innocent. Raven knew she had never looked innocent in her life, but still, she had to wonder.
Did I look so young on my first day?
Team STRQ had their usual table at the end of the hall, the one that let them see all the exits. Tai and Summer were grabbing breakfast together, looking at silly videos on Tai's scroll. The twins had gone ahead and claimed their traditional territory.
Raven had noticed that their year group, and the years ahead of them, definitely seemed smaller; not everyone was back from vacation, but she also knew that not everyone was ever coming back. Her eyes fell on the empty seats a few rows down, where team OBSN and their friends typically hung out. After a heavy pause, she looked away.
A pair of new recruits were shuffling across from them, looking anxiously at the tables. They were two faunus boys, one with a yellow leopards tail, the other with brown rat ears. Raven met their eyes carefully, trying to appear nonthreatening. She knew it could be particularly hard for faunus student's on their first day at Beacon.
The leopard faunus met her eyes hopefully and she pushed a chair out for him, nodding at it. Qrow gave her a surprised look, that changed to something a bit proud and she rolled her eyes at him as the two recruits scurried over to sit with them.
"Hey," the first boy started, looking between Raven and Qrow. "Um..can we sit here?"
"Go for it," smiled Qrow easily.
The pair practically sighed in relief before sitting in unison, and Raven studied them habitually; the boy with rat ears had an interesting looking weapon, something she had only seen in Arc's weaponry classes. It was an upgraded spear-thrower, or Atlatl, one used for hurling Dust infused darts or spears, which he carried a supply of on his back. The boy's human ears were bright red as he glanced between Raven and Qrow, and in a fit of awkward solidarity, Raven spoke up.
"Relax. We don't bite," she smirked.
"Well, I don't anyways," Qrow chuckled, earning a baleful look. He leaned across the table, offering his hand. "I'm Qrow. This is my sister, Raven."
"I'm Matias," the leopard faunus gestured to himself. His chest even puffed up a little bit. "This is my brother, Alejandro."
Raven looked over Matias's armor, which was admittedly very well made; Dust glyphs adorned his gauntlets. He carried no visible form of weaponry, only a Dust glyphed shield.
"Where are you two from?" she asked casually.
"Argus," they said in unison. They looked at each other, and Raven smirked.
"Ahh. What year are you guys?" Alejandro asked, picking at his eggs.
"We're not students, we're instructors," Qrow insisted dryly, taking a sip. Raven rolled her eyes.
The brother's eyes widened, apparently believing him.
"Wait, really?" Matias hesitated.
"No," Raven droned.
C'mon, kid, seriously?
"Yea, they're actually janitors," said Taiyang, plopping down besides Alejandro, who jumped slightly. "But their Semblances let them combine into one gigantic trash heap to confuse enemies."
"Yes, clearly. And this geriatric individual is Taiyang," Raven drawled sardonically. "His Semblance is simply a debilitating lack of wit, which lowers the collective intelligence of everyone within earshot."
Tai winked at the recruits, taking a bite of ham.
"Nice to meet you," Tai beamed, unperturbed.
"And if you listen closely, you can even hear his last two braincells trying to create a spark between them," Qrow continued, lifting a hand to his ear. Alejandro smiled, looking a little less nervous in the face of their banter as Taiyang flipped his partner off.
Summer finally joined the lot of them, sitting across from the two boys who blatantly stared at the pretty faunus upperclassman. Raven wasn't sure whether to be amused or a little irritated.
Take a picture, it will last longer.
"Hi!" Summer chirped, her plate full of bacon and hash-browns. "How's your first day going?"
"Um...you know, better than we expected," Alejandro admitted. "So you guys are a team, I'm guessing?"
"Yup! We're STRQ! Oh, I'm Summer by the way!" Summer smiled, holding her hand out.
Alejandro shook her hand, looking a bit shell shocked as Matias's eyes widened at their moniker.
"Wait. Seriously?" he asked. "You guys are really STRQ?"
The four teammates shared glances, as Qrow smirked mischievously.
"Yea? What, does our reputation proceed us?" he chuckled. "Don't worry, we don't actually start that many fights."
"I do," Raven quipped. Matias met her eyes, and her smile widened. Summer's foot nudged her under the table.
"Ok, yea, she does," Qrow conceded. "Just don't bully people and she'll probably leave you alone."
"Maybe," Raven hummed.
She felt Summer nudge her again, and she chuckled. Summer mouthed 'behave' at her. Raven raised her eyebrows in challenge.
Why don't you make me, darling?
Summer's eyes got a dangerous little glint at Raven's expression; Raven looked away innocently, fighting a pleased smirk twitching at the corner of her mouth.
"No, it's just. We ah, we heard about you guys from Mountain Glenn," Matias admitted. His brother nudged him, trying to be subtle.
Summer's eyes widened perceptibly. Raven had to admit, she was a little surprised as well. Matias leaned forward, appraising them.
"...Did you guys seriously fight a Jorogumo?" he asked, a little awed.
Alejandro's human ears were bright red, as he kept shooting his brother and the teammates concerned looks.
"Yup," Qrow drawled. "Well, Summer and Rae did. And BBLK was there, too."
"Oh, no, no, it wasn't so much fighting, as fleeing desperately," Summer laughed nervously. "We were really unprepared for something like that, we were just rescuing survivors-"
"Well yea, but you were what? Just freshmen?" Matias grinned. "And you didn't die? That's crazy."
Raven felt her eyes pull towards the empty tables again.
"Yep. Crazy," Raven droned.
Alejandro winced, elbowing his brother again. Matias finally got a clue, spooning eggs into his mouth. Taiyang decided to come to the rescue, and changed the subject.
"Anywho, why'd you guys choose Beacon if you're from Argus?" he asked with his mouth full. Raven gave him a disgusted look, and he opened his mouth mockingly at her. She rolled her eyes.
"Haven isn't really our scene, and neither is Atlas," Matias admitted.
"Definitely not Atlas," Alejandro shuddered. "Ice and fascists? I think I'll pass, thank you."
Summer bobbed sympathetically.
"Yea, I hear you. Beacon is pretty good overall, it's a much more mature crowd than Signal at least," she leaned on her elbows. "But it does have some problems. If anyone gives you guys a hard time, though, feel free to let us know. Or Professor Arc, she's a good ally."
"You mean that terrifying blonde lady?" Matias asked, yellow eyes rounding.
Qrow sighed dreamily, taking another sip of coffee as Taiyang made fun of him.
"Listen, Professor Arc is like, a refined, higher evolved taste, gentlemen" Qrow started, ignoring his partner's pantomimes. "You think she's scary, but in reality, she's just too much woman for little boys to handle."
"You are so gross," Raven drawled, taking a bite of bagel.
"I am so wise, you mean," Qrow laughed.
"No. No I do not mean that."
"One day she's gonna hear you say something stupid," Tai shook his head. "And then that's it. That's the end of Beacon's feathery fuckboy. There will be nothing left but a slightly alcoholic wisp of vapor."
"Hey, woah," Qrow raised his hands in protest. "I am NOT a fuckboy."
Tai, Raven and Summer exchanged amused looks, before simultaneously squinting at him.
"Well, you know what they say, if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...and it walks like a duck...then it's Qrow, and he's a fuckboy," Tai counted off his fingers.
Raven snorted, reaching for her tea as Summer giggled.
"You are all immense hypocrites, I hope you understand that," Qrow droned, pointing at them. "You are just trying to shame my comfort with my sexuality, which is extremely fucking hypocritical coming from you three. Fuckboy's lie to get into people's pants, and I do no such thing. Summer, I at least expected better of you."
Summer spluttered, tossing her hands up immediately as Qrow pretended to be disdained.
"I didn't even do anything!? That's so not fair, I wasn't even teasing you, you big baby-"
"I am extremely disappointed right now."
"Dooo you want bacon up your nose? Cuz that's how that happens," Summer waved bacon at Qrow menacingly. "You make fun of me all the friggin time, and you know it."
"Now you're threatening to put things in my nose without my consent, that's perpetuating really bad behavior Sum-"
"Oh my Dust," Summer huffed, folding her arms, ears flat.
"Tell them I'm not a fuckboy, Summer. I want my name cleared."
"Fine! You are a not a fuck boy. You are a fuckbird, and that is like, a hundred times worse."
Taiyang started laughing merrily at the new nickname as Raven chuckled at her twin openly, setting her teacup down to keep from spilling. Qrow gaped, pretending insult.
"Take it back, Milkshake."
"NOOOpe!" Summer exclaimed. "You're a fuckbird! How do you like them apples, huh?"
Raven met Matias and Alejandro's eyes and started laughing again at their bewildered expressions. Qrow and Summer continued to play fight, their banter devolving steadily until Summer started pulling out the mom jokes; mom jokes were now apparently safe territory since their actual mothers were no longer in hearing range.
Eventually, Tai broke up the argument, threatening a godless pun-a-ggedon that they would not escape from for the rest of the semester if they kept it up. Both Summer and Qrow pretended to sulk; sometimes they really brought out the little kid out in each other. Raven had to admit was kind of sweet, in a loud and annoying way.
Finally, they decided to stop traumatizing the new recruits and set to actually getting their responsibilities out of the way. Alejandro and Matias waved at them as they left, both of them smiling a little as the sophomores made their way out of the mess hall.
"Welp! Glad we're establishing ourselves as the 'cool kids' right off the bat this year," Tai laughed, his hands shoved in his pockets.
"Yeaaa, that's definitely how we came across," Raven said dryly. "Not as the resident escapees from the mental wing of the hospital."
"Hey, speak for yourself," Tai thumbed his chest. "I'm obviously the coolest and most stable guy here, hands down."
Qrow scoffed, shaking his head at his partner as Summer blew a raspberry at her boyfriend.
"Your crocs and sandles collection says otherwises, gramps," Raven smirked.
"I DO NOT own crocs, but if I did, I bet they would be very nice and feel good on my feet. In fact, I bet I could pull it off."
"Sure, yea. You know what? You're right," Raven nodded, pretending to imagine Tai in crocs. "You should wear them with your school uniform on Monday."
"I don't know why, but for some bizarre reason, I feel like you're trying to set me up?" Tai stated, feigning incredulity. "But you would never do something like that."
"Oh noooo, no. Never," Raven supplied, her face stoic.
"Psst. Hey Rae?" Tai whispered.
She raised an eyebrow.
"You're a trashpigeon."
"Better than being a fuckbird, I guess," she sighed, walking ahead with a silent snicker as she incited another round of Qrow's protests.