Author Notes: I was listening to the Attack on Titan soundtrack while getting this out; if you haven't listened to that before, 10/10 recommend. Also great to run to. As always, thanks for the reviews.

I Will Not Scatter

Chapter 4

Team STRQ Part III

"Are you ready?" Summer asked her.

Her partner had mustered the recruits into a somewhat cohesive force on the field, and after agreeing to her plan, the teens had accepted their assigned tasks with relatively little complaining. Raven gave her Dust cartridges a final spin in their sheath before acquiescing. She was as ready as she was ever going to be.

The other future huntsmen were running their own weapons and ammunition through whatever inspections suited their needs. However, they finished in a timely manner; having recovered from the chaos of the previous onslaught, they were ready, staring up at the cliff in determination.

"Alright. Let's do it," Summer said, gesturing to Barty and Becca. "You guys have got this."

Barty took a final sip of coffee before extending his thermos, grinning dangerously, while the explosive brunette sneered; Becca didn't say anything inflammatory, however, choosing to play along as she swung her flail and let it to drop to her side heftily. They would be watching their flanks, holding off the masses of Grimm that were already converging on the horizon.

Ophelia, the red headed archer girl, primed her bow with red Dust arrows as her partner Naga made her way to the middle of the field; Naga's chain was spinning in her hand, its curved blade flashing in the sunlight. The olive skinned huntress peered into the sky, looking for her first target. Raven, Summer, and the two boys whose names she'd forgotten stood nearby, ready.

As the wind had picked up earlier, Ophelia had donned a pair of tinted goggles which now glinted beadily in the sunlight; she drew back her bow's string, aimed, and fired off a shot at a gryffon swooping lazily overhead. The arrow grazed it, drawing its attention. Screeching, the beast dove towards them; Ophelia was already searching for another target when Naga spun her chain and let it go. The gryffon was lassoed tightly before it knew what was happening, and the other teens leapt to help the slight girl pull it to the ground.

The Grimm screamed in outrage, knees buckling as they dogpiled it; Raven would be the first to mount up, as she was technically the test dummy and generally agreed to be the least likely to get herself killed. Summer and the boys pinioned the gryffon's wings as she leapt on its back. The Grimm shook hatefully under her, snapping its beak at unwary hands and the chain digging into its neck. Drawing her sword, she held it ready at her side and shared a final look with Summer before nodding assuredly. Naga detached the chain with a casual flick, and for the second time in her life, Raven was really flying.

The beast did not want her there, and was determined to throw her, bucking wildly; she dug in, using her aura to enhance her grip and muscles as she clung to its back. The gryffon rolled in midair, listing to the side as it shrieked. Snarling defiantly, she whipped its flank with her sword, allowing a blossom of fire to spark to get its attention. It cried and rolled again, but she repeated the gesture several times, dragging its neck in the direction she wanted.

The gryffon made for the cliff face, flapping madly as it galloped through the air, occasionally kicking its hind legs to test her. Raven held on. Behind her, she could hear one of the other boys yelling as his gryffon shot into the air, trying to bring it to heel. She focused on the task at hand, tuning out the screams and explosions as Becca and Barty engaged the incoming Grimm hordes.

The jagged granite of the cliff loomed ever closer, and Raven could feel sweat beading on her brow; just as she was sure the Grimm was going to crash, it tilted upwards, and they were running up the cliff. The gouges containing the relics were several hundred feet above the field, but they were approaching them quickly; she tensed, preparing to leap.

They passed the gouges and Raven jumped straight at the cliff, but not before slicing the Grimm's wing in two; as black matter splattered her clothes, she dug her blade into the granite, slowing her descent until she reached an opening. She swung bodily into the nook, detached her sword, and began looking about for a so called relic. Laying peacefully on top of a rock pile was a black, circular piece with the stamp of a white lotus. Without pausing she nabbed it, secured it in her hip pouch, and stuck her head back outside.

Below was a fairly remarkable scene. The field was aflame, the combined forces of Barty and Becca working together to create a truly violent firestorm that was holding the Grimm at bay; the other students had managed to mount their Grimm, including Ophelia, who would be grabbing a relic for herself and Naga. The other two boys were getting one both for themselves and for the fiery defenders below.

A gleam of white stood out, patiently crouching at the bottom of the cliff; Raven paused, her chest fluttering anxiously. She knew there was only one way down at this point, and that was the way previously discussed. But she waited anyways, until one of the boys made the leap of faith and watched attentively to what happened.

He fell. Straight down, hundreds of feet; his aura flared instinctively, she could see it sparking to life from her perch. She flinched, waiting for the impact to come. However, it never did, as white rose petals soared up to meet him; Summer caught the recruit and skillfully used her Semblance to slow their combined mass safely to the field below.

Raven let her breath go, unaware that she had even been holding it. Before she could make her decision to jump though, the other boy leapt, cursing the whole way down; Summer caught him too. Not about to be completely outdone, Raven shook the nerves out of her hands, ran and leapt out into the open void.

The air whistled about her, tossing her black hair in wild streams as she free fell. Her crimson eyes watering as wind stung her face; the ground was getting closer, and she could smell the smoke. There would be no trees to slow her fall this time. Raven winced as she reached the last hundred feet, bracing her arms in front of her automatically; and then she wasn't falling anymore.

"I gotcha!"

Arms wrapped about her as she was twisted around, and no longer falling face first towards the ground; instead she was surrounded by a blizzard of white, slowing her momentum. The duo hit the ground and rolled, a gentle enough landing all things considered; regardless she still had the wind knocked from her. Raven was still flinching and coughing when she realized Summer was kneeling next to her, shaking her gently.

"Rae? Rae! Hey are you ok?"

Forceful hands were touching her, pinching, laughing-

Raven jerked away violently, grabbing her sword hilt as she gasped for breath. Summer froze, holding her palms up and speaking gently.

"Woah. Hey. It's alright," she smiled. "I'm sorry about the landing, it was a little rougher than, uh, anticipated. That was my bad."

Raven inhaled deeply, realized where they were, and got to her feet.

"Fuck. Ok, let's go," she said, dusting herself off. She was admittedly embarrassed for that display, and hoped the other girl would just let it go.

"Are…are you alright?"

"Yes! Get the other girl and let's move, there are Grimm everywhere," Raven grumbled.

She didn't wait for an answer, breaking into a sprint towards the other recruits. The key to their plans success was to run like hell as soon as they were all down, and not get pinned against the cliff face by the incoming Grimm; otherwise, they would be there all day. The sword and shield wielders would head the charge back to the other cliff, as the long range weapons would support them and protect their sides; the BB would protect their rear, or engage masses of foes at a distance from the group.

Summer had caught Ophelia, and dashed up next to her, still carrying the ginger bridal style; the archer had a bemused look on her ink stained face. Smirking, Raven did a swift head count; everyone was down, everyone was alive still, and most of the Grimm on the field were currently smoking piles. It was time to go.

Her partner skidded, setting their comrade down, and whistled again. Raven actually winced at the sound, rubbing her ear.

"AYE YO! The party train is leaving the station! Form up, my dudes!"

"Does this party train have any brakes!?" asked Ophelia, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Hell no!"

"WHOOWHOOT!"

Raven changed her blade coating to blue, took a deep breath, and started running again. One of the boys, the one who cursed a lot and carried an axe and gravity Dust shield, took up next to her on the left; Summer fell in on her right, as the others sped in behind them, the group forming a spear point. They would not go through the forest this time, instead curving along the open stretch of valley to the forest's left for as long as possible.

So the recruits once again ran for their lives. However, instead of the desperate sprinting of before, they maintained a reasonable pace to conserve energy; Summer had a tendency to dash ahead, but would reel herself back in besides her. The axe wielder, Argent, was a bit slower than them but made up for it in defensive skill. Every time Grimm approached from the left, the boy used his shield to launch them back explosively, the gravity Dust glyphs woven into the metal activating on impact. Then one of the long range wielders took them out.

As groups of Grimm approached from the front, Raven would use her ice coating to freeze them in place, shattering frozen limbs and throats. Summer would trip, cripple or bodily toss startled enemies to her or Argent to finish with a blow; or toss them into the air for Ophelia or Reinhardt to shoot. At the back, Barty and Becca took care of any that they missed, preventing the Grimm from chasing them in a swarm again.

Panting in steady rhythm, Raven kept her eyes out for any unpleasant surprises and stayed aware of the terrain. As the group rounded a rocky outcropping, she nearly skidded to a halt; they had found the other recruits, or some of them anyways, and they were in the middle of an ugly fight. A familiar scythe was spinning red and black rivers through a mass of Beowolves; besides her brother was the fanny pack kid, punching and leaping about like a spider-monkey. The dozens of Beowolves weren't the worst of what the other group was dealing with though.

"What the frick is that!?"

"And why are we still running towards it!?"

An immense elephant Grimm was trumpeting in the middle of the field, rearing up on its hind legs and bringing its front down like enraged, black tree trunks; the ground quaked with the impact even where they'd collectively screeched to a halt. The creature's plated trunk and tusks would sweep the air before it, knocking astray any huntsmen or unfortunate Beowolf before it. A ball of pink, or rather what looked like several balls of pink, was trying to keep the Goliath occupied; whenever one would be hit, it would disappear, only to reappear later. Another, darker form was trying to assist it, firing an automatic Dust rifle at whatever looked squishy enough to hurt.

"That's my sister!" exclaimed Summer, pointing rapidly. Raven glanced at her partner, realizing what was about to happen; she focused on the thin figure of her twin, and her face settled stoically.

"Hey!" she called out.

"What?"

"What does the party train not have!?" she asked.

"Brakes?!"

Summer grinned at her, silver eyes gleaming.

"That is correct," she said.

"Fuck!"

"WHOOOWHOOOOT bitches!"

Before she could give herself time to regret it, Raven took off again; the group stayed with her, spreading out as they swept down the slope towards the carnage. Summer managed to not blur away this time, and was actually calling out attack plans as they charged.

"BB with me, we're going to take out that things knees! Naga I'll need your help once we trip it! Everyone else, help the guys with the Beowolves and provide support!"

With various sounds of acceptance, the eight recruits crashed into the scene; Raven immediately went to Qrow, or as close as she could get without triggering his Semblance. Years of fighting alongside her brother had taught her the best way to support him in a fight was to protect his perimeter and flank, giving him plenty of room to wield his scythe and Semblance. His unfortunate partner, however, had yet to learn that; the blonde kept trying to fight alongside Qrow, only to suddenly trip or miss a punch.

"What the hell is going on?" he yelped. "This is like fighting drunk!"

"My bad," Qrow apologized, taking the head off a snarling Grimm. "That's my fault."

"Hey fanny! Get out of his range you idiot!" Raven called, shattering the frozen lower jaw of a Beowolf.

"What?!"

"It's his Semblance! Give him room!"

The blonde punched through an eye socket, pulled his fist free and leapt away; Qrow spun his scythe in expert, fanning sweeps, the Beowolves scattering like leaves in a breeze. The Grimm would leap at her brother, only to suddenly run into each other, or bite their own tongues, or fall on their faces.

Raven continued to clean up Qrow's perimeter, while keeping an eye on the Goliath behind them, as the blonde boy came to her side instead; as the Beowolves circled, they wound up back to back, slashing, punching and kicking their way through the beasts. Their disciplines were similar enough that they could easily meld in a combat scenario, and read the other's intentions without even having to speak.

The other students were faring well enough with what remained of the Beowolf horde, despite the rampaging Goliath; Raven kept her eye on Summer instinctively, the little faunus darting around the immense Grimm's face in concert with her sister's clones. Occasionally she'd fly up and drop a grenade its eyes to blind it. Beneath the Goliath, Barty and Becca were launching explosive attacks at its legs, the combustive partners managing somehow to not get trampled.

Seeing how the Beowolves were now in hand, she paused, glancing between her brother and her new partner. Qrow shot her a knowing look, before gesturing to a drone hovering overhead and spinning away in a storm of gore. She frowned, but got the message.

"You've got him?" she asked fanny-pack.

"Yea!" he said, breaking a Grimm's neck expertly. "Go help your partner!"

She didn't reply, and instead leapt over a Beowolf as she made for the ungodly behemoth. It was trumpeting and flailing, black blood pouring from its legs from where the recruits had been focusing their attacks. Suddenly, it screamed, and its legs crumpled.

"Naga, now!" shouted Barty, making a mad scramble from under the Goliath. "Gogogogo!"

Becca sprinted the other way, braid whipping in the wind.

Naga snapped her chain-hook around the Goliath's tusk, swung to the other side, and anchored herself; apparently, her Semblance made her an immovable object when she chose to activate it. The Grim's legs trembled awkwardly, trying to regain its footing as its immense head was twisted down and to the side.

Raven took that moment to jump up and join Summer on the beast's huge neck, while the others started hacking at its exposed belly; the other girl was sweaty, bloodied, and smiling like it was the best day ever. They didn't say anything. Practically howling, Summer dashed across the beast's neck in a cloud of white, dragging her hook blades behind her through the monster's flesh as she fired into it; Raven stabbed her blade into the cut her partner had made, igniting the fire Dust, and charging after her.

Her aura flared brightly, strengthening her arms and bones, and giving an extra edge to her blade; with the combined efforts of the fire Dust, aura, and Summer's gouges, she cut its throat open wide. Raven leapt from the expiring creature's body on the other side, rolled and came to a stop next her partner; they were both panting in exhaustion, and turned together to behold their handiwork.

"Woah," she said breathlessly.

"Coooool," sighed Summer, hands on her knees as she panted.

The Goliath was dissolving, the mountain of bone and black matter smoking away so thickly it was blacking out the sky; all around it were the scattered remains of the Beowolves, and the still standing figures of the now twelve huntsmen. They looked equally awed by their combined handiwork. Barty promptly set off a grenade in celebration; or by accident. It was hard to tell.

Aural fatigue hit her like garbage truck as her adrenaline plummeted, and Raven hid a wince. She was going to be very sore later. Summer looked equally drained, but held a shaky thumbs up at her glance. Raven determined to pull herself together. They still had to make it back alive.

"Are you…are you good?" she asked awkwardly, staring at a very interesting flower.

"Yup! I'm not done, just, ya know," she tiredly pumped her arm. "Whootwhoot."

Raven laughed a bit, shaking some Grimm blooded locks from her eyes.

"Yea."

"Summer!" called the pink girl, bouncing and waving in the field.

"Sigyn!" Summer perked up. "Hey!"

With that, she was already speeding away; Raven took a leaf from her book and sought out her own brother, feeling some of her tension slipping away as she was reunited with her twin. Qrow smirked at her, casually shaking Grimm blood from his scythe.

"Hey. What was that about beating me to the finish line?" he asked.

"Shut up," she said fondly. "I see you aren't dead."

"Yea, well I was almost positive that you were gryffon poop," he drawled. "Saw this big pile when I was getting my relic and thought 'Hey, ya know, that turd looks really familiar'."

She scoffed.

"I expect so, since you look at something similar in the mirror every morning."

"We're twins, though, so what does that say about you?"

She actually laughed, and he looked at her curiously.

"Aww were you that worried about me?"

"Nope," she said. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"

He shrugged, shouldered his weapon, and looked to his own partner. Fanny-pack was eyeing them both evenly, toned arms folded across his chest. She was genuinely curious as to how Qrow ended up paired with him, but now wasn't the time to ask.

The recruits were gathering on the field again, discussing in rapid, sometimes unintelligible, voices about their next course of action; they were apparently close, and just needed to get over the next set of hills and through a small mountain pass. However, those hills were full of open caves, and in those caves, subterranean Grimm.

"Getting through there the first time was a doozy, lemme tell ya! Like, wild ya know?! But with this many people working together, I'm sure we'll be just fine!" exclaimed Sigyn.

"Riiight," droned Becca. "Because everything's been just fine so far."

"Wecangobackthroughtheforest-"

"There is no way in god's savory sweet potatoes I am going back into that forest."

"But! It's a known quantity!"

"So are the hills."

"We can split up-"

"No, there's safety in numbers."

Raven and Qrow shared a look.

"Those hills are a death trap," he hummed under his breath. "I can guarantee if we march this many people through that little pass, they're going to get strung out and picked off. We're too noisy to just slip through unnoticed."

"I agree. The two of us could do it, yes, but not with the party train in tow."

"Party train?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes.

"Don't ask."

"What are we whispering about?" came a voice between them.

Qrow nearly dropped his scythe and looked down comically. Summer had come up behind them stealthily, eyes darting between the twins.

"Um?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm Summer Rose!" she held her hand out. Qrow blinked and accepted the handshake, looking nonplussed and not particularly suave.

"Hey."

"Your Rae's brother right?"

Raven could feel her headache coming on again.

"That's right. And you're…her partner now, huh?" he grinned devilishly. "That's interesting."

"Yea!"

"Yes, yes, all very fascinating," she said irritably. "Let's focus on the task at hand. Getting back before it gets dark and we're all eaten alive. I vote no on the mountain pass. We handled the forest well enough. Perhaps the four of us should break away here, and take that route back."

"Sounds good to me, RaeRae," drawled Qrow, using the loathed nickname.

"Awww he calls you Raerae?"

"Qrow I will strangle you-"

"Hey assholes."

They looked at fanny pack guy, who had come over to join them.

"What, Taiyang? Grownups are talking," said Qrow.

"Yea sure, look, do you want to get back or not, birdbrains?" his partner said. "Because personally, I'd rather not waste any more time on this bullshit."

Raven decided that, despite the fanny pack, Taiyang might actually be tolerable.

"Do you have a suggestion?" she asked.

"Yea. I just take us there," he said dryly. Summer tilted her head curiously, mirroring Raven's internal thoughts.

"Wut?"

"Wait," started her brother. "Are you saying you could have taken us there at any time, and didn't?"

"Nooo, I am not saying that. I'm saying I can take us there now, because I'm in range of the focus point I left on the cliff," he smiled.

"We've been in range for a hot minute then," Qrow said skeptically, narrowing his eyes.

Taiyang shook his blonde head, eyes crinkling mischievously.

"Not how that works. Look, if you don't want to go, that's fine. Because I can leave and let you run the gauntlet, it's cool-"

Qrow sighed and in a gesture Raven was all too familiar with, rubbed his brow in frustration. Summer leaned in close to her and whispered.

"What's going on?"

Raven found herself whispering back before she could stop.

"How should I know?

"Because you know things."

She shook her head, but found herself struggling not to smile at the compliment. She was apparently delirious from fatigue. Snapping out of it, she turned to Taiyang.

"Hey, if you've got a way to get us back, then cut the shit and let's just go," she said. "You two can have your little lover's tiff later."

"Okay," said Taiyang, and pulled a small stone from the fanny pack.

The girls stared at the rock in confusion, while Qrow continued to shoot his partner suspicious looks; Taiyang set the rock on the ground, met Raven's eyes and winked at her. Before she could tell him off, however, there was a sudden, reverberating crack. The rock was no longer a rock, but a glowing portal in the middle of the ground. He gestured to it grandly.

"After you."

Grumbling about showing off, Qrow hopped into the energetic blue field and disappeared. Raven was about to follow suit when a hand tapped her shoulder cautiously; she looked back over shoulder at her partner, feeling exhausted.

"What?"

"Are we leaving them?" Summer asked sadly, pointing at the other recruits. Some had noticed the portal, and eager, hopeful looks lit up their faces at the prospect of a free ride. Raven groaned.

"Not unless they're dumb enough to get left," she waved her hand. "Do your thing."

Summer whistled, grabbing the attention of those still arguing.

"YO! Let's go home!"

Shaking her head at Summer's antics, and at the boy still smiling at her, she leapt feet first into the portal and collapsed onto the grass on the other side. Qrow was sitting next to her, looking out at the dimming sunset colors that were spreading across the sky; behind them were Professor Ozpin, Murt, and several other staff members. Ozpin approached them, a soft, bespectacled smile on his face, unchanging even as the other recruits started pouring through the portal on the ground.

"Congratulations. And welcome back."