A/N: Hey guys, I went back to re-read the whole story a week ago and I didn't really like how I wrote it. So I nuked it. Every chapter save chapter 1 is new soooo yeah, certainly a thing.


Raven was leaning against a wall with various other teams in a room adjacent to the auditorium where teams were being formally created by Professor Ozpin, waiting for Glynda to usher them in. "Edward Silver-Schnee, Magnolia Pourvoi, Nate Krass, Topaz Grace." Ozpin announced in the next room, "The four of you retrieved the white king pieces. From this day forward, you will work together and Team EMNT (Element). Led by… Edward Silver-Schnee.

Good for him, Raven thought as he saw Pyrrha, Ren, Nora and Jaune get ushered out of the room. Between him and them he could see Ruby moving from foot to foot nervously and had a quiet laugh.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie." They heard Ozpin say, "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Led by...Jaune Arc!"

"That's certainly something." he speculated louder than he intended to, gaining the attention of the team ahead of him.

"What was that?" Yang asked as she turned towards his voice.

"He's surprised that Jaune was made leader." Blake, a girl wearing black and white, answered without turning around. Before the conversation could start Glynda ushered them out, leaving him alone with her.

"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." the muffled voice of Ozpin said as Edward choked on nothing, "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

"Yeah, that's about right." Raven observed. Glynda motioned for him to go. "Let's see how this goes then." He walked out into the auditorium amidst thunderous applause, but was replaced with hushed whispers when they saw only him walking towards the stage.

"Ahem." Ozpin coughed to get everyone's attention, "Every year there are some prospects that don't make it through their initial trial, we expect this, but this year we have one less casualty than anticipated. Raven Corvus. You collected the black king piece. From this day forward you will be the first free agent to attend Beacon in several years." This was followed by a lot of talking from everyone else in the room, to much for anything to be comprehensibly heard. "Things are shaping up to be an… interesting year." Off the mic he said, "Raven, a moment of your time if you would." and beckoned him to follow into the hallway.

Raven shrugged and followed. After they had gotten reasonably far away from unwanted ears Ozpin asked, "Should I be concerned about your lack of concern?"

"No." Raven answered back almost too quickly. He was being led by the headmaster towards Beacon Tower, presumably to the man's office.

"And why not?" He asked, curiosity now entering his voice. They entered the base of the tower.

Raven took some time to ascertain why Ozpin was so curious before saying, "Because there's nothing you can do to change me." Ozpin ushered him into the elevator with him. Ozpin hit the floor with his cane and together they went down below the tower.

"Good." he said. The doors opened into a massive, dimly lit, underground chamber where someone was waiting for them.

"You certainly took your sweet time Oz." He said not unkindly. He was dressed dominantly in white with a tattered red cape. He had red eyes and black hair. He looked at Raven directly and said, "Good to see you again kid."

"Qrow." Raven acknowledged with a nod.

"I'd thought you'd enjoy the downtime Qrow." Ozpin said, stepping out of the elevator with Raven in tow. "How is she?"

Qrow sighed and took a flask out of his pocket, taking a short swig. "She's alive." he said beckoning them further. At the end of the long room Raven sighted a complex series of machines with a tube at its center. In it was Amber, the Fall Maiden, barely being kept alive.

-hours later-

Raven had a lot to think about as he made his way towards his dorm. It was nearly midnight and all of the other teams were already asleep. Or so he thought. Outside of one of them, sitting against the wall in a similar sleeping outfit as the night before with her long golden curls around her was Yang. She had her arms wrapped around her knees and didn't notice him as he walked closer. He took off his jacket and sat down and wrapped his right arm around her.

He shook her gently and she jolted awake and jabbed his ribs. Definitely fight over flight, he mused, Not as hard as last time though…

She got her wits about her quickly and saw who she just attacked. "There you are!" she exclaimed groggily, making it very apparent that she fell asleep waiting for him.

"Now what would people have thought if I didn't come down here?" he asked playfully. She was still waking up so he had an idea. He took his scroll out of his pocket and unlocked his door remotely and took off his duster. He wrapped it around Yang who tried, and failed, to protest and carried her bridal style into his room. Inside was a standard sized dorm room with beds, desks, closets, and a large window. Though it seemed that it was prepared for a team of four. He walked over to the window and opened it with a wing. Cool air pushed in and Yang wrapped the duster further around her, regarding him with a curious expression as she did. He grinned and jumped out.

The unexpected drop took the breath out of her and he laughed for the first time in years as he unfurled his wings and started flying straight up. "I hope you're not afraid of heights." he said calmly as he kept ascending. She didn't give an answer, but was staring at his face with a sparkle in her eye. "What?" he asked when he saw what she was doing.

"I don't think I've seen you this happy before!" she shouted happily. She started to look around and was marveling at the new perspective. "This is incredible!"

"Quite uplifting, isn't it?" he asked. She laughed quietly at his pun. Emboldened by this he gave her a quick kiss.

"A quick peck?" she asked with an adorable smirk.

He snorted and under his breath said, "Took the words right outta my mouth…" They peaked out a little over a kilometer above the school before he said, "Hold on tight." He waited until she did before he flipped and dived back the way they came.

"WOOHOO!" she screamed in delight. In seconds he had closed the distance that had taken them minutes to gain and 20 meters up he flipped again and unfurled his wings as wide as they could go to stop gently onto the roof of the dormitory. Their hearts were racing in unison.

"So," he said while panting, "you awake now?"

"Yeah," managed to say between laboured breaths. He took a deep breath and fell backwards onto the roof, earning a surprised squeak from her. He sighed contentedly as he laid there. Yang positioned herself against his side on his right wing, still wrapped in his duster. He pulled her closer and wrapped his wings around them. "Thank you for tonight." she whispered, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The sun peaked over the horizon, bathing Beacon in golden sunlight and waking Raven up. He cringed away from the light and looked down at the blonde bombshell on top of him with a smile radiating from his face. She was still fast asleep and he guessed that he had about forty minutes before her absence would be noticed by her team. A shame, he thought ruefully, but for her sake…

He slowly wrapped his arms behind her knees and back and carefully picked her up bridal style and looked down from the edge of the roof. Why is their window open? he wondered as he looked at the small balcony of what he hoped was her team's room. He jumped down, using his wings to slow his descent and landed somewhat nimbly in front of the open window.

Looking in he saw all of her teammates were sleeping comfortably under their covers except for Weiss, who was covered in sweat above hers. That explains the window, he surmised and he gave a sigh of relief. He saw that the bed furthest from the door was empty and slowly started to walk towards it.

CREAK.

He stopped dead in his tracks. You have got to be kidding me, he thought at the emergence of the horrendous cliché. He was about halfway to her bed and he took another few steps.

CREEEAK.

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and he stopped again. He looked over and saw Ruby roll over towards the door. He was only a few steps away now so he used a wing to push the covers of Yang's bed down. In a flash he was beside her bed and he gently placed her down on the mattress and pulled the covers over her shoulders. "I'll see you later." he whispered to her before kissing her forehead briefly.

He turned around and saw two amber eyes staring at him, making his heart almost stop. He kept a cool composure though, and matched her gaze. The eyes belonged to Blake Belladonna, who was still wearing her bow. He gestured above his head, down to his ears and then raised an eyebrow. Her eyes widened and she nodded. She turned back into her bed and let him leave without making a scene.

He made his way out the same way he got in, this time not making a single noise, and leapt to his dorm, which was conveniently the next one over. He made his way inside and realized that his duster was still wrapped around Yang. "Awww shit." he said not happy about having to have his wings exposed. He noticed something on one of the beds and went to investigate.

"No." he declared at the discovery of the school uniform: a black, gold-lined suit with a blue vest, white dress shirt and a red tie. Then he thought back to his exposed wings. Then back to the uniform. He went back and forth for a short while before taking off his left arm and deciding to check out the bathroom and take a shower.

The bathroom was really only equipped for one person, something that made him laugh when he imagined all of the teams' infighting for hot water. He got undressed and turned the shower on, letting the slowly heating water run over his fingertips. He stepped into it after it had gotten warm enough and he revelled in the warmth for a moment before he started to do what he was there to do. Shampoo. Rinse. Body wash. Rinse. His mind started to drift to a certain blonde, and to what she would look like with the water running through her beautiful golden blonde hair, dripping from her supple breasts and gently tracing her curvaceous hips…

Frigid water shocked him out of his reverie. He quickly turned the water off and grabbed a towel, drying himself off thoroughly in the steamy room. He opened the door to the main room to let some of it out and used his wet towel to wipe off the fogged over mirror and got a look at his face. His face and neck were covered in white stubble and he saw small tinges of red were embedded in the silver of his eyes. He ran his hand against the small hairs and thought, It doesn't look too bad. His eyes were more concerning to him, mostly because he had no idea why that happened. He shrugged and decided to wear sunglasses until he could figure it out. He went back to the main room and finally decided to at least see how the uniform fit him.

He removed his towel and started to get dressed. He put his arm back on then pulled a knife out of one of his nearby boots and cut slits into the backs of the dress shirt and the suit coat. He threw one of his grey shirts into the mix and put it on before the dress shirt. A few minutes, and a fair amount of struggling, later he stood fully in uniform with his wings folded up along the outside of the coat, and his gunbelt on his waist. "This is an incredibly good fit." he observed after putting on his boots. He surveyed the room for his scroll and found it laying haphazardly on one of the beds. He flipped it over and turned it on then cursed loudly. He shoved it into his pocket and ran out the door, sunglasses forgotten.