Had this half done for a while...regardless, finished it now! Hope you all enjoy.
A year. Somehow Ruby had been at Beacon a year without anyone else really seeming to notice. Qrow did, though. Oz apparently wrote Peter letters about how the apprentice was doing, so her family could see. That was all well and good, don't get the archmage wrong...but she was still no closer to control of her magic than the day they left Patch. So much time had passed, only making the guilt he felt pile higher and higher.
"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby had a book in her lap that she'd been reading a moment ago, or maybe longer since he seemed to have gotten caught in his own head.
"What's up Kiddo?" Qrow turned his head from staring out the window in his room without any reason.
"Force... it's not as simple as just moving things, is it?" His body refused to do anything but stare for several moments. Was...was she asking about magic?
"Uh...n-no. No, it's not." The shifter rose to his feet. "Force magic can move anything from seeds, somehow, to stones. Not trees or living things...or things that were living." He took a breath, trying to figure out how to say his next words. "But if you have the ability and practice enough, you can 'lock' things back together."
"Lock?" The redhead tilted her head slightly, confused.
"Yeah, like...um..." Red eyes looked around. "Say the pages of that book were ripped out-" The child pulled the book close, causing a chuckle. "No worries Kiddo, I ain't getting Glynda mad at me for it. Anyway, if that were to happen then someone with enough force magic and practice could put the pages where they belong and the book would be perfectly fine again."
"Magic can do something like that?!" Even with the goggles on he knew her eyes were wide.
"Yep. It's what Glynda ends up doing around here most actually. Something gets broken and she fixes it back up." After a moment the drunk gave another little chuckle. "That's why if anyone breaks something you'll usually hear them call 'sorry Glynda' or 'sorry Impetus Goodwitch'."
"Ren said most mages start with force magic."
"He's right. It's simple enough in idea, even if the locking thing is real hard and takes a lot of concentration, and it's near impossible to find someone who has it as a vice." Slowly the silver eyed girl nodded, turning her book to reveal it was a beginner's book for force magic. He could only guess that had been gotten from the library on the first floor.
"Can...can I try?" The man nearly choked, eyes so wide it was uncomfortable.
"Yo- yeah, of course! I, uh... I'll go get you some things to use!" He practically tripped in his haste to shove open his window, shifting immediately and flying out. Lien coins were about the size of bottle caps, and were usually used for first teaching and practicing force magic. Considering his apprentice's hesitation to use magic up until now however, the archmage decided to get something smaller from the only guy who would have it. Oz.
~Ozpin's Office~
"Qrow...would you like to explain why, exactly, you rammed into my window at full speed?" Ozpin questioned slowly, staring down at the twitching and near unconscious bird on the floor that had smashed through a window in the tower. It shifted back to human form, but was still twitching a little.
"Old coins!" Qrow coughed, body sore from the window. "Force magic! Kiddo!" Was he freaking out? Yes. Was it completely unlike him? Yes. Was he going to risk this opportunity going to waste when she might then never want to try magic again? Hell no!
"You very nearly knocked yourself unconscious Qrow, and we'd be lucky if you have no injuries from that. Take a minute to stop trembling and figure out if you're injured, alright?" The wizard had that voice. The one that, while calm and caring, still made it very clear he wasn't to be argued with here.
"Y...yeah..." The younger man took a deep breath, letting himself relax some as he sat on the floor. "Yeah, okay." He wasn't supposed to shift back to human form if he was hurt, at least not until he was healed. Or could evaluate the damage done to him. Magic was truly amazing, but shifting forms would usually only make wounds larger.
"Bleeding from anywhere?" The top of the black haired man's head and back had cuts, but neither were too deep. His shoulders and upper arms arched but not enough to be broken or sprained. The nose and mouth, which had become the beak, had the most pain... probably expected when he'd purposely dived to hit the window with his beak.
"I don't-" There was a sudden wet feeling drip down to his lip, wiping it off with a hand revealed it to be blood from his nose. "...Broken nose then, but nothing else too bad." At least the jaw wasn't broken too.
"It would seem." The grey haired man agreed. Two small disks, a third the size of lien coins, were covered in a green glow and floated over to his hand from the shelf on the wall. "Promise you'll go get healed once you're done your training." He narrowed his eyes.
"I promise Oz." The red eyed man assured, shifting back to his animal form. Only to immediately make a horrific sound of pain and collapse. The top of his beak was cracked into two pieces, the pain far more severe compared to his human form and was bleeding excessively.
"Qrow!" The bird didn't hear the coins hit the floor, he could barely hear his old mentor yell his name. The agony overwhelmed his brain, nothing else seemed to exist. Suddenly it was gone, like it had never existed to begin with. There had been no numb feeling that came with the magic of most healers, stopping the pain while it was slowly healed...this had been instant. "I believe it's safe to say you won't be trying that stunt again." Black eyes looked to the wizard, finding the fingertips of one hand dripping blood.
"Caw." A short confirmation and apology. Healing tended to take a lot out of the older man, that was part of the reason they had the healing wing after all.
"It's... it's quite alright Qrow. I'll be fine. You should be getting back to your apprentice before she worries." He almost seemed to collapse into his chair, but gestured to the still broken window regardless. The bird nodded and fley to the old coins, grabbing one in each talon and proceeded to fly back out the broken window.
~Qrow's Room~
"You okay?" Ruby asked the moment her uncle flew in the window. Shifting back to human once landing on the larger bed, he gave a nod.
"Yeah Kiddo. Just took Oz a minute to find what I needed." The lie rolled seamlessly off Qrow's tongue as he moved to stand on the floor again. "Speaking of, tada." He grabbed the coins from the place he'd dropped them on the bed, holding them out for his apprentice to see.
"Those are...coins?" She asked, curiously looking at the small disks.
"Old ones, from before the time of lien coins. Normally people start with a lien coins for force magic, but I figured these might be a bit easier for you." The girl gave a soft, nervous smile. In return the man gave one far more confident. "I know you've probably read all about it, so I don't need to do this...but I'll remind you of how it looks." With more focus than he'd care to admit, the two coins were covered in his red magic before pushing up slightly from his palm to hover an inch above it.
"I...think I get it." She took a slow, deep breath and adjusted her goggles. Finally her small hand was held out, palm up. "Please." Her mentor floated one of the coins into her palm.
"You've got this Kiddo." It seemed almost unnatural after all this time, the crimson glow of the apprentice's magic trickling across the coin like it was being lowered into red dyed water. He didn't dare speak, didn't dare break the concentration she needed. The small disk wobbled for a minute, like she was trying to figure out how much magic she had to put in to get that slight movement.
"Force." The girl with red tipped hair spoke the word as the coin began to lift itself ever so slowly to match the height of the black haired man's own. Her chest moved slowly with each breath, in a forced calm sort of way. He could see her eyes focus completely on the coin behind the red lenses of the goggles.
"Pretty-" The red eyed man didn't realize he might startle her until her body jerked back, eyes blinking as the magic faded and the disk fell to the floor. "You okay Kiddo?" He knelt down to be eye level, watching as she calmed her breathing again.
"Y...yeah. Did I...do okay?" That same nervous smile spread across her face.
"Okay? You did great." He placed a hand on her head. "Most people end up sending the coin shooting into the sky their first try. You figured how much magic was needed for where you wanted it to go, all on your own." This time she grinned, finally looking like she wasn't so scared of it all. "I say we get you a treat for that. Let's go get you cookies from the cafeteria."
"Yay!" The little practice object was brought around with her all day, there were even a couple more times where she tried using force magic again. It was kept in Summer's old pouch until it was next needed.
Ruby is still very cautious about her magic, but she's damn well trying. And that, at the moment, is all that matters. Shifting does not heal damage, sadly. Poor Qrow.