Before the satisfying ending that Summer craved actually occurred, it was over. A split second of blackness hit her vision before Silver Eyes fluttered open. It wasn't much different from her dream as the room was pitch black.

'Wh-where am I?' The fog of sleep still looming, Summer's mind wandered through the events of last night in an attempt to recall where she was. Reminded of the two kisses that she shared with Qrow, her face grew hot and cherry red. The next recollection, that of sharing a bed with said man, froze her body into place.

Summer suddenly became very aware of her position in the heap of blankets and against the mattress beneath her. Curling her head around over her shoulder, she was surprised to see that the other half of the bed was made and Qrow was nowhere to be found.

A sigh of relief escaped her as her form relaxed into the bedding. Not counting Inn's and their cheap, thin beds, Summer couldn't recall the last time she had slept with blankets and a mattress encompassing her. She shifted her body to lie stomach down. Her nose breathed in the scent of the pillows, comforted by the aroma.

'So…she wants me to join her…' Qrow had admitted the other night that it was his task to 'sway her loyalty' and bring her into Salem's fold. The idea intrigued her, surely, but she wasn't going to pry herself from the claws of Remnant's citizens and Ironwood just so that Salem could use her in return. 'Why does Qrow and his sister work for her? Why be pawns for Salem? Qrow is so powerful, skilled, intelligent…strong…muscular…h-handsome…'

Sitting herself up on her heels, she sighed heavily. Eyes fluttered open as she gently touched her lips. Thinking upon the night with little focus, the sensation of his lips resonated within her.

'Why…did you kiss me? Why did you let me kiss you?' Concerned with her life being tossed aside, Summer decided it was not only easier but more pleasant to focus on Qrow Branwen. The man was truly a puzzle. A mystery that even he might not completely understand.

An abrupt clamber of footsteps and scratching keys against the door grabbed her attention, pulling her from the recesses of her mind.

The door swung open quickly, followed by a flood of light. Summer winced, blinking rapidly to ease the pain of her pupils contracting to adjust. Before her stood the man, who raced through her thoughts, holding a large basket.

"You're up. Good." Walking into the room, he closed the door behind him with a small kick. He proceeded to dump the basket out onto the bed before placing it back in the place it sat last night. Summer's eyes, still squinting, noticed that it was a pile of clothing that he had unloaded.

Wasting no time, Qrow quickly took to folding the garments. Each and every piece of clothing folded was nothing but black, red, or charcoal grey.

Summer watched as he swiftly took care of the folded clothes, staying silent and focused. 'It's almost as if he's in a trance.'

At last, the biggest pile of cloth was revealed from underneath the pile. Whipping it into the air, Qrow's silence ended as he addressed the woman before him.

"Here." Presenting it to her, it was revealed to be her dress. Her eyes widened, realizing that he took the time to wash it for her. She took the dress from him, nodding her head in thanks for his kind gesture.

His black hair shook at her, "Don't thank me. I just didn't want that filthy thing sitting in here anymore." The bridge of his nose crumpled against the push of his eyebrows, disgust riddled all over his face.

Summer silently giggled at the sight of a different side to her guard. Her hand grabbed her journal and pen, and quickly jotted down the question on her mind.

'Neat freak? Really?'

Qrow's gaze lifted, pouting at either her question or the amused grin on her face. Crossing his arms, he huffed and lifted his head in response to her. "I like things clean and orderly. That a crime, Bright Eye's?"

The irritated look on his face only pushed more laughter from her gut and lungs. Her head shook at him.

"Now that you're done laughing at me, go get dressed. I have a few things I need to check on today since Salem's out."

Summer ceased her laughing, turning her head surprisingly back into his direction. Catching her expression, and the innocent and curious way she tilted her head, Qrow responded to her unspoken question.

"She's gone to visit a big, cowardly pawn in Mistrel." Rummaging through his end table's drawers, he pulled a carton of cigarettes and a lighter from its contents. "Didn't I tell you yesterday? We have the castle all to ourselves."

Straightening his back, Summer felt her heart skip as his eyes connected with hers once more. With a flick of his neck, he gestured her to the bathroom. "Hurry up and change, Bright Eye's. I'm hungry."

Giving her arms a good stretch, Summer contently sighed at the fullness of her belly. The feeling of being full was still very new to her, though it was something she could very well get used to.

Walking side by side, Summer's thoughts drifted back to her earlier questions about him. She drifted behind ever so slightly, getting a full view of his figure. Her eyes drank in his muscular, lean build along with the messy black hair that was either intentionally unkempt or unintentionally disordered. Either way, it seemed to wave into place and shaped into an attractive form.

'It almost looks like…feathers.' Her head cocked to the side, finding that thought peculiar. It raised more questions for her. 'What is his semblance? Why were his group mates continually calling him Albatross?'

"Hey!"

Blinking away her thoughts for a moment, Qrow's loud voice startled her. Sneering at her, his figure leaned away. "Could you possibly not stare at me if you're not also going to converse?"

Summer's neutral expression switched into a slightly more apologetic one, nodding to him. She quickly took to writing as they walked pass one of the large staircases that was housed inside the castle.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to. I actually was just going to ask you a few things, if that is alright.'

Qrow continued to keep pace, though something appeared to be turning the gears in his head. Suddenly, the hard click of his boots stopped in their tracks, echoing down the halls only to leave him and Summer in silence. Rolling his shoulders and stretching his back, Qrow turned to face the SEW behind him, grinning all the while.

"You know the rules. My information isn't free." He winked at her, turning her face a bright pink. "Gamble for my answers? How about a guessing game?"

'I don't know, Qrow,' her writings filled the few lines below her previous question, 'do you really want to waste time just so that I can win and have my questions answered?'

"You got lucky, Bright Eye's." Crimson eyes narrowed at her sassy remark, prompting her to shrug her shoulders. "Ask one of your questions."

Expressionless, her journal asked another question for her, 'What happens if you win?'

"Nothing that you're not already 'down' for." His head tilted to the side, throwing another wink in her direction. Her mouth's corner pulled at his suggestive and vague answer, though her stomach began to knot itself in a delightful way at the thought of what he very likely is alluding to.

"Hey," Qrow chuckled, throwing his hands up in a gesture of defeat, "don't give me that look. You're the one who suggested that the other night. I'm just assuming that the offer is still on the table."

He had a fair point. In truth, it wasn't the lack of will or want that made her hesitant. Just the mere thought of being with him made her heart sprint under her breast with no notion of stopping. What made her take pause was Qrow. She wasn't deluding herself to the notion of someone like him falling for her. Even if she had fallen hard and fast, last night made his intimacy levels very clear. Summer knew that he had an interest in her, but whether it was merely sexual desire or something beyond that, something deeper, she could not answer. The unknown that is Qrow Branwen gave her pause.

'Well,' She thought to herself, 'I suppose I'm not going to get my questions answered nor get any closer to understanding him and this inner circle just by bouncing around in my own mind.' Scratching her marks into the journal, she presented her answer to him.

'While some things have indeed changed, I won't take that offer off of the table. It's a deal.'

Qrow raised his eyebrow to her. "Uhh…mind telling me what has changed?" Raking his fingers through his bangs, they lifted off of his forehead and locked into place with the rest of his hair. "Look, I'm not exactly the kind of guy who gets his rocks off through overpowering women, so if you're going to end up crying through this and basically regretting the whole thing, then I'd rather not..." He trailed off, mumbling to himself filler words to sloppily end his sentence as his face flushed a pale pink.

Summer smirked at his response. 'Wow,' She thought to herself, moving closer to him, 'even when he isn't trying, he's cute. Terribly awkward and blunt, but cute.' She giggled to herself as she planted her feet just an inch away from him. Shaking in response, her fingers gently grazed the side of her head and intertwined into her hair. Throwing him a wink of her own, she licked the upper corner of her lip and tilted her head to the side. Summer watched as his blush deepened in response, and crimson eyes seemed to widen at her gesture.

Soon after, his eyes narrowed once more as a lopsided smile christened his lips. "So, we are on the same page."

Summer quickly jotted down a few notes, 'Yes, we are. I, however, would like to switch up the rules. If I'm guessing and lose to you, then I'll preform willingly. If you, however, are guessing and lose to me, you must do the same. If I guess and win, you don't have to do anything, and vice-versa.'

"So…basically, if either of us are not successful in extracting our information, then…?" Qrow's eyebrow raised, trying to make sure he followed her proposal.

Summer nodded hastily.

"Okay, I guess that's— w-wait… 'must do the same'?" His red eyes matched her silver pools, which only stood out more against her blush to his question.

"Oh? Must I?" Qrow placed his face no more than an inch from Summer's, though nothing about her expression changed beyond further red to her cheeks. "I suppose fair is fair," A devious smile carved itself into his mouth, sly lips curling away from his teeth, "though I will warn you...there is more than one reason as to why I have been claimed to have a…silver tongue."

A hard surface blocked her back from further movement. When had she moved away from him? Had her feet moved on their own? Back against the stone wall of the main hallway, her eyes continued to be entranced by Qrow's. How, she wasn't sure, but he had a way of hypnotizing her; placing her in a willing and ready trance. Her hand twitched before gliding up his chest and resting just below his collarbone.

The slick smile dropped from his lips. His body moved slightly into her hand, his own arm coming up to rest against the stone and above Summer.

"Is that…" His deep voice was no more than a hushed whisper, gliding across her like silk to skin, "a problem…Bright Eye's?" Lips ghosted her own, taunting with the minimal distance between the two. Crimson and Silver mixed stares with one another, freezing the one another in place. The tension was palpable, thickening the space around them and suffocating the ability to have coherent thoughts. Summer's fingers curled against his chest gently, hoping to prompt some type of movement. Just a nudge was all that it would take to send her into the sweet nirvana of his kiss.

Nearly closed eyes suddenly shot open, both red and silver widening at the chiming at Qrow's side. Not moving from his station, he fumbled in his pocket as his eyes kept Summer's attention.

"Damn Scroll…" He mumbled to himself, freeing it from the confines of his pants pocket and answering the broadcast. "Yes?"

'My thoughts exactly…' Summer sighed, annoyed at the ruined mood.

Qrow straightened his posture, eyes glancing down at the floor. "Understood," The dark-haired man uttered, closing the communicative device and turning for his room. Summer trailed after him, grabbing his upper arm in an attempt to gain answers.

Qrow slowed his pace to be next to Summer. "That was Salem. I've got marching orders…and you're coming with me."

From his room, he grabbed his retracted broadsword and threw on a black and red vest over his compression shirt. From what Summer could recall, it seemed like the same one he wore when she was taken by him. Placing his flask in his pocket, he quickly left his room and locked it behind the two of them.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised," Qrow grumbled, striding toward the castle's main exit, "it would just be my rotten luck that she'd have orders for me." Turning to address her, a heavy sigh escaped him. "So, I guess what I said wasn't true. We don't have the castle do ourselves.

"We're going to be gone for a while. About a month."

Silver eye's widened at his timeframe.

Responding to her shocked expression, Qrow cleared his throat. "That is just an estimate. Could be longer…or shorter. I'm not sure." He paused, then swore under his breath, "Scheisse! Raven. Well Bright Eye's, make it possibly a month and a half. I need to set things straight with my tribe, too."

Turning into the Arena, Qrow began to shuffle through a locked vault. A quick toss from his two hands had red and black items twirling toward Summer. Without missing a beat, her fingers slid around the hilt of Schwarz and Rot. From her lips left a sigh that was encased in ecstasy and content. Shaking her weapons to him, she raised her brow in question to returning her twin dagger-pistols, which was returned with a toss of her utility belt as well.

Qrow snorted, shoving a couple of dust cartridges into a black and grey bag that had also been stored away in the Arena's vault. "I know you're not going to shoot me. Not that you could, but that is beside the point. The places we're heading isn't necessarily dangerous, but you might need them." Closing the vault, Qrow sauntered up to the tiny woman. "The more important matter is how I could allow you, a perfect warrior, to walk out into Remnant without your weapons?"

Summer tilted her head to the side, prompting Qrow to continue. "Bright Eye's, I have never met someone who likes to be in the heat of battle as much as I do…until I met you. To deny you the chance to fight, and also to see you more in action, would be a big mistake. You and I…we like to battle…we like to fight, to shoot, to hear the scrape of a blade against another. No sense in forcing you to sit on the sidelines anymore, right?"

A smile slipped onto Summer's face as she pulled her journal out once more. 'Thank you, Qrow. Believe me, I'm going to enjoy the work out. Schwarz and Rot have been aching for battle for a very long time…and should we run into trouble, I'll be able to grant their wish.' As Qrow read her entry, Summer allowed her thumb to caress the blade of Schwarz while Rot sat sheathed at her hip. The cold, smooth blade hummed under her touch. 'Don't worry, you two,' she thought to herself, 'you won't be silenced anymore.'

Handing her journal back to her, they exited the castle doors. Finding his footing, Qrow sliced into the void of space with his sword, ripping open a new portal. Stepping halfway through, he turned and held out a hand for his short companion.

"While we're out…might not be a bad idea to get you more clothes." He eyed her dress up, catching the small tears and noticeable dirt that the garment carried. "How long have you worn that thing?"

Summer ignored his comment, neutral expression holding fast and unwavering from her person. Her hand slid comfortably into his, and with one step, entered the portal with him.

"Just asking, Bright Eye's."