Sure, sure, this works. Warning for a bit of mentioning of abuse but nothing explicitly shown. Do you like team bonding? I bet you do00o.

Night at Beacon Academy was almost peaceful. Raven found the best places to spend the evenings were along the various balconies that jutted out over the courtyard. Most of the time there were students scattered about them, talking, stargazing, studying—but sometimes they were empty. Raven spent her first few weeks at Beacon visiting a small, rounded balcony that hung down a wing far from the others. Students only passed occasionally and most hardly bothered her. Tonight was no exception.

Raven, for the most part, was alone.

Alone and free to think.

She picked at her nails as she gazed at the shattered moon. So bright. It seemed almost closer here, not lost in the canopy of their old forest home. She missed that small hut sometimes. Tucked away under trees that changed color with the seasons, away from the boisterousness of the main camp. Some of the members of the tribe had gossiped that it was a perfectly executed exile. In order to keep Qrow's misfortune from touching them, they'd virtually quarantined him and, by expectation, Raven.

But she always saw the fire of the main camp and it had seemed so warm. Her fellow tribe members were all gathered around it talking and drinking and laughing. But she was always outside looking in.

"Raven."

She spun with more ferocity than intended, fists curled. The girl behind held up placating hands.

"It's only me."

"Summer?" Raven straightened. "How did you—?"

Summer scratched at her cheek. "I didn't. It gets too crowded in the study sections sometimes, so…" She offered a smile that Raven did not return. She turned her back on the girl.

"I'm just taking some time to myself." She bristled when she heard Summer's steps come to join at her side. The girl leaned over the railing with a thoughtful expression.

"That's convenient. Me too."

Raven glared at her. "I meant alone."

"I know." Summer said. She grew solemn, her light smile fading. "I know you don't like me very much—" She paused and when Raven said nothing she continued. "But…we're partners now. I know I'm not a very good fighter, not like you. So I thought, maybe, if it will help our team, you could teach me a bit."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Teach you?"

"Yeah." Summer straightened and the wind took her short hair and whipped it around her chin. "I want to be more than your partner, I want you to be able to rely on me. Qrow and Tai—they already seem to be good friends." Raven, to some consternation, had noticed that. "I'm not asking to be friends, but…"

"Aren't the teachers…teaching enough?"

Summer let out a breath of laughter. "Sure, but you're still some of the best fighters of our year…if not, the best. It'd be ridiculous not to ask you for some guidance. I would ask Qrow but…I don't think he could teach his way out of a paper bag."

Raven snorted. "Yeah, well, I've always been the better fighter anyway."

Summer grinned. "So you'll help?"

Raven took a moment to study this girl. She was an easy smile, a simple person. Too simple. Too trusting. Maybe Qrow had been right in that sort of thinking—placing their game in the hands of those who wouldn't think to sniff it out. Who'd want to befriend them, honestly and truly.

"I'll…do what I can." Raven folded her arms before her chest. "But I can't promise I'll be good at it."

Summer beamed. "That's all right!"

The thought of training created a strange giddiness in Raven. She didn't find the prospect of Summer's leadership very assuring, but if she could teach the girl a thing or two about real combat, then maybe she could learn to like her better.

Four years, she reminded herself. The long game.

"Thank you!" Summer reached out to her, reconsidered, and rocked back on her heels. "I'll be a quick teach."

Raven imagined so. She was flighty, sure, but the girl had some talent with her weaponry. Raven felt her curiosity grow. "What's their name? Your daggers?"

"Oh." Summer laughed bashfully. "Bloom and Petal. I know it's kind of…dumb. What about yours?"

Raven bit back her hesitation. Final Parting had been a rather…dramatic name when she'd first received the weapon. Qrow had tried very hard to shelter laughter over it but Raven had thought it too edgy to pass up. She swallowed down some pride. "Final Parting."

Summer's grew wide. "I like that!"

Raven fed her a look of disbelief. "Do you?"

"I do! It's a…promise, to the Grimm."

Raven quirked her lips up in a small smile. "That was the point." The expression faded slowly. She looked down at her hands. They were shaking, slightly, and not from an anger that usually heralded the tremors. Not from fear. From a mixture of the two that was neither. She curled her fingers in. The long game, she repeated to herself.

"I don't mean to…impose, I guess." Summer was not looking at her when she spoke. She'd resumed her position against the railing, looking up at the moon. "The truth is when I first saw you and Qrow I thought: Wow! They're so self-assured and confident. They've probably been through so much. Much more than I have." She exhaled. "And I kind of like that you're not all that, well, nice."

Raven, startled to offense, leaned back. "What's that supposed to—"

"Oh!" Summer held her hands up defensively. "No, I don't mean it like that." She exhaled. "People here think I'm too nice. My parents always told me I apologized too much or never stood up for myself enough." She grew quieter. "I've always had a hard time defending myself or sticking up for people I love because I'm afraid that if I say something I'll upset someone. It's a fear that's kept me from doing so much good. But with you…there's an honesty there. A real one. I think that's admirable because I know you'll act with what you believe in, not with what you think will make everyone happy."

Raven was taken aback. People in the tribe had called her blunt, angry, and had often threatened her for her tongue. She'd learned to hold it. But she'd never been called honest. That was not something that was valued for her people. Honesty was a platitude. Nice got you killed. Mercy could be a final act. So she'd learned to live as dishonestly as possible—without healing the scars the world had carved on her. Each one she bore, knowing full well what had caused them. Anger, distrust, ruin. The world was not a kind place everywhere, and she would never let herself forget that. But it was not often people applauded her for that particular kind of straight-forwardness.

"That's…not really what I am." She looked down. "Honest, I mean."

Summer bent to try and meet her eyes, a smile on her face and hands clasped behind her back. "Maybe not. But I still think you're someone I can admire." She grinned wider. It was bright, it was true, and it was something Raven had rarely seen before. Glimpses of it had come from her brother, but there was a purity to this girl. A kindness. An unshakable faith. Raven almost couldn't bring herself to consider it childish. There was always a light to the shadows cast.

Summer held a hand out. "Partners?"

Raven stared at it for a moment. She took it. "Partners."

So they stood together on the balcony and when small talk fell away they simply remained. And for the first time, Raven didn't mind the company.

—

"Can anyone tell me the key difference between Atlesian trained huntsmen and our own?" Professor Eurick—a tall, studious man—stood before all of them, pacing as he looked at the gathered students. A hand went up. "Yes, Miss Virissal?"

"We have more fun?"

Professor Eurick shook his head. "Nice try. Mr. Branwen why don't you give this a shot, and do put your feet down."

Qrow was seated in the back row beside Tai, a pinky finger in his ear to scratch at it with a distracted air. He took his feet off the desk and leaned forward. "Sorry, I missed the question."

"I asked for the key difference between huntsmen and huntresses trained at Atlas and those trained here at Beacon."

"Well, we're less pompous about it."

Chuckles. Raven slumped further into her seat, a hand on her temple. She sat some rows below Qrow. Summer, at her side, was looking similarly unimpressed. Professor Eurick's expression flattened and he raised a single finger.

"Wrong, both of you, and presumptuous. The key difference between an Atlesian huntress and a Beacon-trained huntsmen is nothing." He began to pace again with slow steps. "Both are loyal to their occupation. And when you leave this Academy, you will be working alongside fellow graduates from the other Academies without ties to any particular nation. The differences in teaching styles are somewhat…detectable…but in the end all of you will have to let those preconceptions go if you want to succeed as a huntress or huntsmen." His dark eyes scanned the crowd again. "Branwen, Virissal. I'd like you to stay behind a bit after class so we can iron out these feelings. I can assure you Atlas is no more pompous than you are."

Qrow groaned quietly and Tai pat him on the back with condolence. Raven and Summer both hung their heads.

"Now…" Professor Eurick stepped back towards his desk to grab his mug. "Let's move onto something a bit more fun: differentiating Grimm physiology." He smiled as he said this and his hand brushed the mug, knocking it over with a small crash that several students gasped over. Professor Eurick's expression grew grimmer.

"That's the second time that's happened." One of the students whispered near Raven.

"Think he's cursed?"

"No—it happened to Towers too. Remember when his chalks all fell and broke everywhere? Must have taken them a while to clean it all up."

"Yeah I remember that. Maybe the school's cursed. Remember that one time—?"

Raven didn't dare sneak a glance up at the rows above her. But she could imagine Qrow's expression as the words slid through the gathered students.

Professor Eurick sighed. "Just my luck."

—

Tai hovered over his partner. Qrow had been seated on his bed for the past hour, invested in a book on Grimm. He was ensconced in a pair of headphones and when Tai pulled them up he startled his friend. "Why are you reading?"

Qrow, annoyed, snatched the headphones back. "Extra work from Eurick. Leave it." He shoved the headphones on with more force than Tai imagined they needed. The blonde hovered over his partner's shoulder, reading at his side.

"I thought he asked you about the kingdoms' differences?" He tapped at the book. Qrow jerked it away from him, growing angry. "That's not a history book."

"I said leave it, Xiao-Long."

Tai pressed a hand to his heart. "The formality hurts." He snapped the book up, which elicited a small "hey" from Qrow. "Why are you acting like this?"

Qrow glared at him. "I'm trying to do my work."

Tai flipped through the book, one hand rubbing at his chin. "Interesting. But not." He chucked the book over his shoulder. It landed beside the room's desk, where Summer was seated, and the young women looked up in frustration.

"Please stop throwing school work."

Tai shrugged. Summer picked up the book and glanced up at Qrow, her expression softening. "Is…everything all right?"

"Fine." Qrow tossed his legs over the side of his bed and moved to leave the room, hands in his pockets. Raven watched him from where she sat on her bed, polishing Final Parting. The door shut at Qrow's departure. Tai looked to Summer. They both looked to Raven.

"That's not going to work." She did not meet their eyes, her focus solely on her blade.

"Do you know…if something happened?" Summer chanced.

Raven's brow furrowed. She stopped polishing for a moment and held the cloth against the metal. She could chase down her brother but she could give nothing but more of the same assurances. Always the same. She shut her eyes. "He's just tired, probably."

"Tired." Tai studied her. "Right." He tapped at the back of Summer's chair. "I'll be back in ten minutes with Qrow."

Raven sneered. "What are you going to do, strong-arm him into coming back here?"

That's exactly what Tai did.

—

Qrow had hardly ever been dragged anywhere. When Tai found him he knew he didn't stand much of a chance against the brawnier boy, so he'd tried to placate him and ultimately failed. Tai had wrestled him into a hold and was now fully pulling him by the back of his shirt. Qrow let his feet drag dramatically on the ground as he tapped at his scroll, hunched over.

"Going to make me do all the hard work?" Tai asked over his shoulder.

Qrow gave no answer.

"Right. Of course. Just like Raven. Brood until the problem disappears. People are staring, you know."

"Good." Qrow glanced out at one student who had stopped her procession down the hall to stare at them both with alarm. Qrow gestured to her, his voice deadpan. "Help, I'm being kidnapped."

Tai snorted. "You have to be a kid to be kidnapped."

"Fine. I'm being napped."

The girl blinked confusedly at them both but did nothing. Qrow exhaled and turned back to this scroll and said nothing more until Tai stopped in front of their dorm room. He dropped his hold on Qrow's shirt and the younger Branwen simply fell with the motion, back flat against the hall's floor, scroll held before his face. Tai leaned over him.

"So now you're going to just lie there?" Qrow said nothing and so Tai nudged him over with his foot in order to reach the door, grumbling as he did so. "You're really annoying sometimes, you know that?"

"I don't know what you expected."

The door swung open before Tai could reach it. Summer stood on the threshold, silver eyes darting between them both. "What happened?"

Tai exhaled. "He's like a giant child, Summer."

Summer looked on, her confusion shifting to something gentler before Raven came up behind her, opening the door wider. She glanced down at her brother with her arms folded. "You're an idiot, Qrow."

—

The four were gathered in their room. A contemplative silence had taken hold of them all.

Tai stood against the door, arms and legs crossed. He was looking down at the ground, thoughtful, brows furrowed. Raven stood in the corner with a similar pose and Summer sat on her bed, legs kicking, as she looked between all of them. Qrow was leaning against the window and his eyes were fixed on the mid-day sun outside.

"Bad luck, huh?" Tai managed.

"Something like that." Qrow said.

They were all quiet a moment. Tai looked up at him. "And can you control it?"

"Partially." Qrow turned back to them. "Look, I…"

"So all this time." Tai stepped forward "All this time…when we thought we just had a school full of exceptionally clumsy people and professors. You're the one who's been causing all of that? The lights, the spilled coffee, the broken plates…"

"Tai…" Qrow tried.

"No." Tai straightened. "I won't hear anymore. I already know what we have to do." Silence again, taut this time with uncertainty. "We're going to stick you in the professor's break room."

Summer looked at him, startled. "What? No, Tai, please."

Qrow, mouth opened to respond, shut it quickly. He swapped his brooding to confusion and studied his partner with some disbelief before responding. "Uh…what?"

Tai came towards him and threw and arm across his shoulders. "That's all it is, right? Some bad luck? Think about it guys." He gestured to the others as if framing a grand plan. "We could make exams even more inconvenient for the teachers! Everyone stubs a toe! Mugs spilling all of the coffee! Destruction! Chaos!"

Raven frowned. "This isn't the direction I imagined this would go."

Qrow glanced at her as if looking for a lifeline but she did not meet his gaze and kept her arms folded before her chest. Tai drew back. "Look, Qrow, it's not big deal. I know some people here who have stranger semblances. Like Raven's."

She glared at him. "Mine isn't strange."

"It's strange." Tai assured her. "But yours…Qrow, did you even think about the ways we could use this?"

Qrow was so unused to people joking about the very real detriment of his semblance that the smile that broke out was almost painful. "I didn't…spend much time…"

Summer looked between the both of them. "I don't think pranking is the best…"

"Hush-sh-sh-sh." Tai interrupted her. "Qrow…" He pressed a hand to his chest. "This is the best possible semblance for us to use."

Qrow quirked his smile up even more, a bit less reluctantly now.

"No." Raven stepped forward. "No. That's not how this was supposed to go."

Tai looked at her. "What did you expect, Raven?" He glanced at Qrow, hands on his hips, feigning authority. "You're terrible, get out of this room before all the bookcases fall over." Summer sheltered a soft smile. When Tai turned back to Raven his blue eyes sparked playfully. "He's my partner, Raven."

Raven looked away from him. Qrow did not. He looked at Tai as if he'd never seen him before. His uncertain expression returned, like a child poking at a wound to see if it still hurt. "Tai, you're not…worried?"

"I can't be." Tai said. "I know you can't help it. I can deal with some paper cuts."

Qrow, determined to bring this point home, grew serious. He shook his head. "It's about more than that. It's…worse than that."

"Or is that what people have been telling you?" Summer stood. "Plenty of people here have passive semblances too. Yours is just…well, a bit more influential. It doesn't change anything about all of us and you said yourself that you can practice channeling against it when you focus, right? Well…we'll just help you practice that. I'm pretty familiar with mediation."

Qrow looked at them all. He seemed to swallow something thick and Raven had the urge to shake him and remind him what happened the other times he'd broken in front of the Elders as a child. When Hale and the others had taught them a lesson in reality.

Her hand still shook with thar fear. They were not there.

But Qrow did not cry. He smiled, bright and big. It pulled something from Raven she could not quiet place.

"Let's do it." He looked to Tai.

Tai, catching his eagerness, reached out to clasp at Qrow's shoulder. "We'll start with the TA rooms. We'll need to develop a plan of action. Does anyone else know about your semblance?" Qrow shook his head. "Perfect."

Summer sighed but said nothing to dissuade them. Raven studied Tai. There was more to this deflection than a genuine interest in using Qrow's semblance to forward their agenda of being the school's most likely duo to earn detention. There was a kindness in Tai that existed similarly in Summer. But it was a far different expression of it. He was doing this for Qrow's sake. He was doing this to keep his partner from darker thoughts. He was bringing him towards a lighter solution, ignoring the implications of the truth, to protect him. Raven had been attempting to do the same for years. Since he'd first manifested his semblance. Since the Elders had first banished them to the outer perimeter of the tribe's main camp. But Tai was so…she looked away from them.

Dangerous.

The thought roared to her mind like water from a suddenly broken dam. She settled her expression into thoughtfulness. It'd been two months and this already felt like home. That viciousness she'd carried, that thirst for their mission's end—it was falling deeper and deeper away from the surface. Her days were no longer on auto-pilot. There was an energy to them, an eagerness to get up each day and attend class and training and…have fun.

This was dangerous. She looked to Qrow and the laughter he was sharing with Tai and Summer. So easy for him. So easy to see the difference between these people and the Elders, the tribe. She could see him sitting outside their small hut again, gazing at the stars through the canopy of the trees. Seeing something farther. She wondered what he harbored in those moments, what thoughts circled him, what held him down to that spot. She'd always seen the road before her. And he'd always been there at her side.

Dangerous.

She listened to the team's laughter and small talk and it gave rise to a joy in her. This place was warmth, it was a home. And she knew she could not build a life on its foundations.

She had never failed a mission before.

She would not fail this one.

I just...*clenches fist* love them