O brothers mine, take care! Take care!
The great white witch rides out to-night.
Trust not your prowess nor your strength,
Your only safety lies in flight;
For in her glance there is a snare,
And in her smile there is a blight.

-The White Witch, James Weldon Johnson

Chapter 9: A Party

The rabbit had been a gift from Summer's parents to Raven, given when the team had been packing up to return to Beacon.

"Summer told me you used to have rabbits," said Dean, "And ours just had a litter of adorable kits. Emilia wants to keep them all, but she settled for finding good homes for them."

Raven had been speechless as Karen placed the small, fluffy rabbit in her hands. "Thank you," she said quietly. The rabbit snuggled in close to her chest, seeking warmth. Raven wrapped her scarf around it.

Half a year later, the rabbit bounded playfully around the dorm room, familiar with every nook and cranny and good hiding space. Raven had named her Cinnamon, because of the reddish-brown color of her fur. The rabbit cheerfully munched on a banana Qrow had forgotten as he got up from his desk.

Qrow had gotten up to open the window, in order to get some airflow into the sweltering dorm room. Being on the upper level definitely did not benefit them when the temperature was this high. Qrow felt sticky and lethargic, and just wanted to sleep. "Why aren't you feeling this?" he asked the rabbit. Cinnamon twitched her nose in response.

Raven had gone to town to purchase some Dust for her sword. Taiyang and Summer had gone off somewhere together, and Qrow's plans with a girl in their year, Tricia, were thwarted when she earned herself detention for talking back to Professor Q. How someone could even get detention over summer break was beyond Qrow, though he had a few close calls due to his mischievous nature. Perhaps that's why he got along so well with Tricia.

He fell back on his bed, debating a strange mystery that had been bothering him lately. There were two parts to it. First was the book. Summer's propensity towards Grimm theory had been extremely well-received by Professor Grey, and Summer had been invited to take Advanced Grimm Theory, usually reserved for upper-level students, that spring. During the class, Summer had to write a research paper on Grimm-related folklore, and she had come across an eerie book in Tukson's. It was called Grimm Genesis, and it was a small, black book with worn, yellow pages.

Qrow had picked up the book one day on a whim, and began reading the strange conspiracy theories of the author, L. Malone. Malone seemed to believe that Grimm came from certain origin points, brought to life by a great and terrible White Witch. The witch was incredibly powerful and timeless, and would eventually overrun the world with her terrible machinations.

Qrow didn't find this very strange at the time. It reminded him of the old nursery rhyme: Grimm from black, Grimm from white, Grimm will eat the stars of night. It wasn't until a few weeks later that Qrow began to believe Malone was on to something. It was a Friday, and Qrow had travelled to a bar on the very edge of the town to avoid earning his team another detention. He sat alone, sipping his whiskey, and watching some early rounds of the Vytal Festival.

Someone bumped him from behind, and Qrow jumped in surprise. He did not want to be caught here. "Great Salem, what's got you so frightened, boy?" asked the old man who jostled him. He was thin and tall, with missing front teeth and floss-like gray hair.

"What did you say?" asked Qrow, "Did you say Salem?" That was the name Malone had used.

The man snorted. "She's real, I met her," he said, belching. "Hell of a charmer, that one. She damned near killed me, just for breathing." The man stumbled out the back door.

"Wait!" said Qrow, going after him. When he got to the back alley, the man was gone.

He'd not heard another word about a white witch or Salem since, and Summer seemed to dismiss Malone entirely ("Professor Grey says he was a lunatic"), but the thought still made him feel uneasy. He kept Grimm Genesis tucked in a corner of his shelf.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Qrow sat up to see Raven standing in the doorway, a small paper bag in her hand. She was wearing a black tank and shorts, her white skin glowing fiercely. "Trying to nap," he growled.

Raven set her bag down carefully and scooped Cinnamon into her arms. The rabbit nuzzled close. "I've said it a million times," said Qrow, "But the adorable bunny doesn't really fit your image."

"Hey! You're both here, perfect!" Summer burst into the room. Raven moved swiftly to protect the Dust. "Oh, hey Cinna," added Summer, patting the rabbit. "There's a party tonight, and we're invited!"

"Hmm. Where?" asked Qrow. He needed a night to relax and get drunk before the term began again.

"It's on a fancy yacht, docked in the harbor south of the docks. Yarrow's parents own it, but they're off on a trip to Vacuo for a long weekend."

Raven looked to be in a foul mood at the mention of the classmate who had bested her in individual combat twice.

"Yeah, alright. Come on, Rae, you're not gonna sit home alone all night, are you?" Qrow looked at his sister with disapproval.

"I'm not alone, I've got Cinna. And I'd much rather stay here, I'm not in the mood."

"Raven, I insist! The coolest team in Beacon needs to attend parties together." Taiyang had joined them then, bursting into the room with the same amount of energy as Summer, despite the heat. They truly were well-matched partners.

Raven considered Taiyang for a moment. "Maybe for a little while, to get the three of you off my back," she said.

Hours later, after the sun went down and everyone had showered and changed, they set off for the docks together. The boat was easily identified due to the music blaring from it, and the neon lights flashing from inside. Team STRQ climbed aboard together, the girls in dresses and the guys in jackets and ties. Yarrow's older brother, Zeke, was an upperclassman at Beacon, and so there were plenty of people Qrow didn't recognize mingling about. Qrow got himself a drink and watched Tai and Summer hamming it up on the dance floor, and scanned the room casually to see if Tricia had made it.

He saw some upperclassman boy talking to Raven, and felt his stomach knot. It wasn't as if he was concerned for his sister, exactly- besides maybe Yarrow himself, Raven could hold her own against most of the boys at Beacon- it was more of a warning from past experience. In the tribe and even before, most men who took an interest in Raven like that did not have her feelings in mind. It was strange: himself and Tricia, Taiyang and Summer (which wasn't official but heavily implied), and even Glynda and that weirdo Killian, Qrow had more or less accepted as normal. Somehow, though, the idea of Raven in a romantic relationship worried him. He couldn't even be sure if he was worried for his sister or her partner.

"Spying on your sister?" Tricia smirked, both at her comment and at the way she'd snuck up on Qrow. Her blonde hair was tied up into a bun, and her eyes were lined in black.

"Kinda, I guess," he admitted, taking a generous sip from his drink.

"Oh, I realized you were twins and partners, but I didn't realize it was like that," Tricia winked.

"Old habits die hard. No one had honorable intentions back in Anima. Not towards my sister."

"Who knew you could be so chivalrous?"

Qrow sighed. "Let's go see what's happening by the pool," he suggested.

The party raged on at the pool as well, and Qrow was amused to see Barty chug a beer like he chugged coffee by day, then cannonball into the pool. Barty might be a nerd, but he knew how to let loose. Even Glynda had jumped in, and Qrow had to admit that he liked what he saw. Perhaps he had a thing for blondes.

Qrow and Tricia talked with some of their mutual friends on the pool deck, got pressured into a game of poker, and then each had a turn throwing up off of the side of the deck.

"Have enough to drink?" teased Raven, eyeing their green faces.

"Heyy, Raven," slurred Tricia. "Qrow was afraid you'd gotten yourself a boyfriend."

"Hi, Tricia. Nothing that exciting has happened to me tonight. In fact, I just came to tell Qrow I'm heading home."

"Come on, Raven, don't be a buzzkill," said Qrow.

"I'm not a buzzkill, it's two in the morning. The police will be back soon, too, and it won't be a warning."

"Ooh, I'm on probation, I better find my team and get back," said Tricia. She waved goodbye to the twins and disappeared into the crowd.

"So, done cock-blocking me?" Qrow teased.

"Yes. Like I said, I'm going back now." Raven looked rather distressed. He felt bad, he knew crowds like this made her anxious.

"Hey, I'm just joking. I'll come with you, let's go."

She looked relieved at this and led him through the crowd to the exit. She stopped short just before the end of the ramp that led to the dock, and Qrow crashed into her back. She stumbled forward from the impact, and Qrow saw what had made her stop. In the moonlight, at the end of the next dock, were Summer and Taiyang, kissing passionately.

Qrow's first instinct was to call out and tease them, but he swallowed it down and grabbed his sister's arm. "Come on, let's go to bed."

"Mm," she agreed, her strides quick.

Qrow wanted to ask her if she was upset by the kiss, and if so, why, but he knew his sister well enough to know that this was not a good time. They wandered through the deserted streets of Vale in silence, two black birds, slowly approaching the school.

For some inexplicable reason, Qrow thought of what Raven had sat as they were sitting on top of that mountain in Lysander. I don't want to die.

"Remember when we were kids, and we were walking through that awful village after the tribe had gone through the night before… Wren, I think it was called?"

"Mhmm." Raven responded, but continued to walk in front of him so he couldn't read her expression.

"And that snake bit you, and you didn't tell me?"

Just a barely perceptable nod of the head this time.

"Well..." he trailed off. "You know what, nevermind," said Qrow. He didn't want to give up the conversation, but he couldn't articulate what he wanted to say, and she was obviously less than enthusiastic about the topic.

"It's not like that," she said, surprising him. Then, she laughed a little. "Oh, remember how mad Lianna was when we got back and my ankle was the size of a grapefruit?"

"Hiro damn near thought you were going to die that night."

"As if one snake bite could take me down." She turned towards him then, showing the hint of a smile. "Come on, hurry up, I'm exhausted."