Team Building
Taiyang
If I loosen this bolt here, and shift this gear over, that should cut my deploy time down a bit, Taiyang thought as he worked on Dragon Fist. As he made his adjustments, however, Dragon Fist locked up. Dammit, okay maybe not. He heard the door close behind him, and he turned to see Raven entering the Weapons Workshop.
"Hey, Raven!" he greeted. "Where's Summer?"
"She went back to the dorm," the dark-haired girl answered. "I see Qrow did the same."
"Yeah, I wanted to stay and do a little work on Dragon Fist," he said, patting his gauntlet. "What are you doing here though? I thought you and Summer didn't take Mechanics."
"I need more Dust Blades," Raven answered. "I used 4 during initiation and when I fought CMSN."
"You forge your own blades?" Tai asked, a little impressed.
"It was always cheaper to buy Dust and make the blades myself then to have them forged for me," Raven explained, setting her sword on the workbench. "It also gives me a moment to relax and clear my head."
"Maintenance does that for me, too," Tai said as mhe walked toward her. "Hey, I'm sorry about what happened at the docks the other day. I may have been over excited and came on too strong. I hope it won't cause problems between us, it's going to be a long four years if it does." Raven looked at him for a moment before responding.
"I don't think it will," she said. "I'm sorry I punched you."
"Eh, it's fine," he said, smirking a little. "I guess I had it coming." Both of them chuckled at the joke before Taiyang continued. "So, now that I know you don't hate me, can I look at your sword?"
"I suppose," Raven said, moving aside for Taiyang to get a look.
"Whoa," he said as he unsheathed it. "A telescopic ōdachi with interchangeable Dust Blades. I'm guessing the trigger activates the Dust."
"That's right," Raven confirmed.
"This is awesome!" Tai said, examining the sword more. "Although, if I could make a critique…"
"Critique about what?" Raven said, a bit of hostility in her voice.
"I was just going to say that you could save a lot of Dust and Lien if you'd make a single blade, with interchangeable Dust edges," Tai explained before Raven got mad again. "It'd be cheaper, easier to make, and have the same effect as a Dust Blade."
"I've thought about it," Raven admitted. "Except that having the entire blade made of Dust also allows me to color-code my blades, so I always know which one I'm selecting." Taiyang thought for a moment.
"How about this?" he asked. "Dust coatings instead of blades. If you modify your sheath a little, you could have coatings that cover the blade in Dust. They use less Dust, and the same blade. And they fit in with color-coding, since they'd look like blades."
"That's actually a great idea," Raven admitted, shooting Tai an impressed look. "It's going to take some modification, and I'd have to dismantle my existing blades. That's a lot to do in one night for one person."
"Are you asking me for help?" Taiyang asked, smiling at her.
"I'm just saying that I wouldn't be opposed to having an assistant on this job, if he should choose to help," Raven answered, a smug smirk on her face.
"Well," Taiyang said as he turned to the workbench, "he'd love to help."
Summer
Summer put her scroll next to the electronic lock, unlocking the door to her dorm room. She found Qrow sitting at his desk, with the holoscreen on over the window, tuned to a news station.
"Hey Qrow," Summer greeted as she entered.
"Hey," was all he responded with.
"Where's Taiyang?" Summer asked.
"He stayed behind in the workshop, said something about upgrades," Qrow explained.
"Maybe Raven will run into him, she said she was heading down there," Summer said as she sat in her chair. "I didn't peg you as the 'news-watching' type."
"A Huntsman should be up on current events, shouldn't he?" Qrow answered. "Just wish the real news wasn't overshadowed by political BS."
"I feel ya," Summer replied, knowing the feeling. "Don't like politics either, huh?"
"Or military," Qrow said. "They think they're so special over in Atlas. More like entitled pricks being bossed around by more entitled pricks. I couldn't handle losing my freedom like that."
"What do you mean?" Summer asked, a bit confused by the answer.
"Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't bound by anything," he explained. "They only serve the people and themselves, in that order. Atlas decided to throw that out the window, turning the Atlas academy into Hunter boot camp. They're not real Hunters, they're puppets of their Commander-in-Chief, who also happens to be their Headmaster and Government figurehead. It's more of a dictatorship than a Kingdom."
"So that's why you want to be a Huntsman?" Summer asked. "To be free?"
"I'm already free," Qrow said, smirking at her. "Huntsmen make more than mercenaries do, though."
"So you're in it for the money?" Summer replied, a little disappointed by his answer.
"God no, more than a mercenary is still not a lot," he explained, chuckling. "I want to be a Huntsman because it's the perfect fit for me. I get to live my free lifestyle, while using my skills to make Remnant a better place. That sounds like the perfect deal to me."
"Before, you and Raven said that you guys had no formal training. What did you guys do before you came to Beacon?" Summer asked. Qrow's smile faded, and his eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment, before he recovered.
"Stories for another time, Summer," Qrow said, his smirk returning. "After all, we just met formally."
"Oh yeah, I guess you're right," Summer giggled. "I think this is our first actual conversation together."
"Well, if they're always as pleasant as this, I'm excited to have more," Qrow said, winking at her. Summer felt her heart skip a beat at the wink, but she couldn't place what exactly caused it.
"Breaking news!" the newscaster said, gaining the Hunters' attention. "We have just received reports that a massive increase of Grimm activity in Mountain Glenn has led to an all-time high in civilian casualties. The Vale Council has decided to move the settlement to the Mountain Glenn caverns, to ensure the safety of the civilians. More Hunters are being contracted as security for the construction of the underground settlement."
"Oh no, Dad!" Summer said as she frantically pulled out her scroll and selected her father's number.
"What's wrong, Summer?" Qrow asked, his voice heavy with concern.
"My Dad works in Mountain Glenn!" Summer explained as she put the scroll to her ear. "Please pick up, Dad, please pick up!"
"Summer?" said her father's voice over the scroll.
"Dad? Are you okay? I just saw the news about Mountain Glenn and-"
"Summer! Summer! Calm down, I'm alright!" her father reassured. "The Hunters on-duty were able to evacuate everyone safely underground. The only bad thing for me is that my day job just got a lot darker." Summer and her father both chuckled at the joke, Summed being extremely relieved that he was well.
"Okay, Dad, I'm glad you're okay. Just, please be safe, okay?" Summer said, her voice cracking a bit.
"I will, sweetie, and you should too. How was your first day of classes?"
"It was… eventful. I'll have a full report for you later," Summer said, her nerves relaxing. "I gotta go, I love you, Dad!"
"I love you too, honey. And I'll be waiting on that report!" Summer giggled at her father again before hanging up.
"Everything okay?" Qrow asked.
"Yeah, he's okay," Summer said, relieved. "Although I don't know how I feel about him working underground."
"What does your father do that would have him working in such a dangerous location?" Qrow said. "Is he a Huntsman?"
"No, he's a researcher at Merlot Industries," Summer explained. "They're based out there because of the high Grimm concentration. Merlot is one of the leading Grimm research companies, and being close to a high Grimm population makes it just a bit easier to research, on account of Grimm dying in captivity."
"Don't you worry about him?" Qrow asked.
"Every day," Summer answered, her face softening. "But then I remember that he works one-on-one with Hunters everyday, and I know they'll keep him safe. They've demonstrated that today."
"I see," Qrow said, thinking for a moment. "Question."
"Shoot," Summer said happily.
"Why do you want to be a Huntress?" Summer thought for a moment, looking for the right words.
"Well, I don't really know, I guess," Summer admitted. "It just feels, right, you know? Like, I know that I'll be living a full, happy life by becoming one, and helping people that need me."
"Well, when it's put that way, you and I aren't so different," Qrow chuckled out. Summer thought for a moment, before noticing the similarity of their answers.
"Oh yeah!" Summer laughed out. "I guess you're right!" After a few moments, the door opened, with Raven and Taiyang entering the room.
"What's up guys?" Tai asked as they entered.
"Not much," Summer asked. "You guys upgraded your weapons?"
"Well," Tai said, deflating. "The upgrades I wanted to make ended up being a wash. Raven, on the other hand, made some significant changes," he explained, with Raven holding up her sword and winking.
"What kind of changes?" Qrow asked.
"I won't be spending nearly as much Lien on blades, now," Raven said. "I now only use one blade, and I have Dust coatings for the elemental edge."
"Impressive," Qrow said.
"Anyway," Raven said as she set her sword on her desk, "do you have any more 'team bonding' activities planned? If so, I'd like to get them over with as soon as possible." Summer thought for a moment.
"Nah," she said, earning a surprised look from her partner. "After talking with Qrow, and seeing you two getting along fine, I realized that you can't rush or force this kind of thing. I'm sure we'll be fine just by being together."
"Good," Raven said, sitting down on her bed. "This morning was something else."
"I found it entertaining," Qrow said, throwing a teasing smirk toward Taiyang, who remained oblivious.
"There is something I want to take care of though!" Summer said.
"What would that be?" Taiyang asked.
"This dorm room is boring," Summer said, looking at the walls.
"How is it boring?" Raven asked.
"It's just so… uniform," Summer explained. "Bland. Perfect symmetry with the furniture, bare white walls, I think we should give it some Team STRQ personality!"
"Some of us could probably use some extra personality," Qrow snarked at Raven, who shot a glare at him.
"Everyone, pick a corner!" Summer ordered. "Move your bed and desk to the corner, and then decorate at will!"
Summer and Raven took the corners closest to the window, with Raven shifting her bed to where Qrow's was, and moving her desk to take her bed's previous spot. Summer moved her desk to the spot where Taiyang's bed was, making a mirror of Raven's corner. Tai and Qrow took the corners closest to the door, with Taiyang on the left, across from Summer, and Qrow on the right, across from Raven. The arranged their bed and desks exactly as Summer and Raven did.
"Guys!" Summer said. "I wanted to do this to get rid of the symmetry! It's still symmetrical!"
"This is the only way we could do it without blocking the doors or taking up floor space in the center," Taiyang reasoned.
"Well, I guess," Summer said as she scanned the room, seeing what Taiyang meant. The team then proceeded to decorate their corners. Summer hung posters of famous Hunters on her walls, while Raven hung a weapon plaque above her desk, hanging Quoth Shadow on it. Qrow set up a personal CCT terminal on his desk, and Taiyang put an armor stand next to his desk, placing Dragon Fist on it's shoulder. After the teammates made some other minor cosmetic changes to their parts of the room, they all stepped back to admire their handiwork.
"Team STRQ, Mission Complete!" Summer cheered as she admired the team's new, not-boring dorm room.
"It looks good!" Taiyang agreed proudly.
"It does feel more open," Raven said, regarding the center of the room.
"Great job, Team!" Summer cheered again. "Next Mission… bedtime!" She said as she flopped on her bed. "I'm beat, today was a long one!" The other members of Team STRQ groaned in agreement, the toll of the the first day of classes weighing on them. "We got another one tomorrow, guys, so we need to rest. Goodnight!"
Team STRQ
Mission: Survive the First Day of Class
Status: Complete
Shorter chapter this time, wanted to focus on the team members a bit more with this one. As always, thank you all so much for reading! Remember to follow, fav, and review, love all the feedback I've been getting on this story! See you later!