It was a day like any other. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and it was the beginning to another year at the prestigious Beacon Academy. Right now we focus in on two individuals who were making their way to the school right now. They were walking on a dirt path on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Vale as the two could see the kingdom in site along with the school even further away.
"Looks like we finally made it." The woman of the two of them announced as she crossed her arms and looked down at the city.
"Remind me again why we're attending this stupid school anyway." The man next to her complains as he rubs his temples with one hand.
The woman looks over to him in annoyance as a scowl begins to form on her face. "If you would remember correctly the village elders wanted us to pursue this school so we could further improve our combat training. Their is only so much they could teach us after all." The woman states before they continue walking towards the city. "Believe me, I don't want to be here any more than you, but it was not our decision to begin with."
"We were already good enough, this whole 'extra training' is complete nonsense." The man sighs. "We both know the only real reason we're here is to improve 'our craft'." The man implies.
After that the two remain silent as they make their way towards Beacon as they look around.
As the two of them make their way through the kingdom they look around to see where all the main shops are and where to buy supplies for in the future. The two of them then make their way towards Beacon Academy. As the two enter through the large gates at the front the woman looks over to her companion. "You look around the courtyard and spot anyone that may be a compatible partner, I'll look up ahead."
The man looks over to her with a look of confusion at those words. "What do you mean by that? We were supposed to be partners in here. You can't just run off like that."
The woman turns to him and scoffs. "Foolish little brother, this school requires groups of four. We need to look around for two more members that also seem competent. If we split here then we cover more ground. More ground means more options. Understand?" The woman begins to walk towards the school as she leaves her brother behind.
"Don't let all of that pompous attitude of yours go to your head sis. We're not in the tribe anymore." His sister continues walking without even looking back as she get farther and farther away.
The man sighs again as he lazily scans the courtyard to begin looking around. As he walks further in he continues looking around scanning the courtyard for a potential partner. As he does so he soon realizes that there is nobody here that really piqued his interest. In his eyes from just how they hold themselves and how innocent they all looked none of them had any experience fighting the Grimm let alone other humans. He sighed again. "This is going to be more difficult than I thought."
As the woman made it inside the large school and into the main hall she began her search as well for her partner. After a moment of looking around she made a similar conclusion to her brother. No one piqued her interest. That is until she heard shouting. She turned her head to see that two men were fighting each other. Out of mild interest she went over and saw what was happening. As she got closer she could hear one of them begin shouting.
"What the hell is your problem?!" One of them angrily yelled. To her this one looked weak. Then she looked over to who this nobody was fighting. He had short blond hair and he had blue eyes. He seemed well built. Bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet as he was in a fighting stance ready to battle.
"Well you did say you wanted to fight me, so I complied. I'm always looking for a good fight!" The man jabbed the air a few times before provoking the other man with his hand. "Come on, give it to me. Give me a good fight." The man began to back away as he turned around and ran. This man with fighting spirit did catch the woman's attention.
'He seems to be the only one who isn't a complete pushover.' She thought internally. 'Maybe I'll test him.'
"Man, I was really looking forward to see what he had in him." The man lowers his head in defeat. He then looks up and dramatically shouts to the heavens. "Is there anyone who will fight me?!"
"I will fight you." The man turns around to see a woman wearing what looked to be red plated armor on her. She also had a sword at her hip in the style of what looked like a katana. But her most striking features were her red eyes and long dark hair.
A grin began to widen across the man's face as he got into another fighting stance. "Are you gonna use that weapon of yours or are you gonna use your bare hands? I've gotta warn you, I think you'll need it. I've gotten pretty good at my craft." The man smiles with confidence.
The woman tightens the gauntlets on her hands as she gets into her own fighting stance. "I think I'll be just fine." The frown on her face deepens.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." The man smirks as the two begin to slowly inch towards each other ready for one of them to strike.
The rest of the students begin to crowd around them as they begin too chant: "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
As the man continues to scan his surroundings he feels as if their is no one who could be his partner. Sighing in defeat he makes his way to the side of the courtyard and sits on a nearby bench. "This is harder than I thought." As he sighs the bench suddenly snaps as he falls on the ground. This makes him sigh in even more irritation. "Damn my bad luck."
"Is something wrong?"
The man suddenly is taken aback as he was not expecting anyone else to be around. He quickly turns his head to see who said that. "Who said that?"
"That would be me." He turns his head around to see something peering from the corner of one of the pillars. Seeing as they have been spotted they slowly walk out from behind the pillar. He realizes that this mysterious person is wearing a white cloak that completely conceals everything. The only thing he can see is their mouth.
"Who are you, and why were you hiding behind that pillar?" He asks.
"I believe I asked you a question first. It would only be polite if you went first." He realized that this was definitely the voice of a woman.
"Where I come from we aren't taught manners and any of that other worthless crap." He states sternly.
She sighs before walking and standing in front of him. "Alright them." She breathes in to steel herself. She holds out her hand to help him up. "My name is Summer Rose."
As the man looks up at her hand then further up to look into her hood he can very slightly see her eyes. Her eyes were a magnificent shade of silver which completely surprised him. He had never seen silver eyes before. He quickly recomposed himself as he took her hand. She helped pull him back to his feet. After that they shook hands and the man gave Summer his name. "The name's Qrow... Qrow Branwen." He shook her hand as a slight smile began to creep onto her face.
"You said you didn't have any manners." Summer giggles to herself.
Qrow looked at her indignantly as he huffed. "I know how to shake hands." He plainly said.
"Oh I was just teasing a little." Summer chuckles. "To answer your other question..." Summer wiggles her finger in his face. "It's a secret."
Qrow looks over to her confused. "I guess it really doesn't matter anyways." Qrow turns around and begins to walk away.
"Wait." Summer slightly raises her voice.
Qrow turns around. "What?"
"You never told me what was wrong." Summer begins walking towards Qrow.
"Oh that." He turns around and keeps walking. "Not that important." He responds.
Summer continues to follow Qrow much to his annoyance. "I want to help."
Qrow looks at Summer in slight irritation. "And why is that?"
"Because a huntress helps anyone who is in need." Summer boldly states.
"Last I checked you weren't a huntress." Qrow responds.
"Not YET I'm not." Summer responds back.
Qrow sighs before caving. "Fine, I'm looking for someone who could be a good partner for me. So far I haven't found anyone who looks strong enough. Their, are you happy?"
Summer thinks about it for a moment as Qrow walks around her. As Qrow continues to walk towards the main hall to report to his sister, Summer runs up in front of Qrow. "Why don't I be your partner?"
"No." Qrow flatly tells her as he yet again walks past her.
"Why not?" Summer asks.
"My sister said to look for the strongest person I could here while she checked for her own partner. No offense to you... Autumn?"
Summer gets slightly offended. "I said my name was Summer!"
"Summer, right." Qrow makes a mental note. "No offense, but you don't strike me as someone who is very strong."
"Is that so?" Summer questions with a mysterious smile on her lips.
"Yeah it is." Qrow deadpans as he continues walking.
"Would it shock you to know that I've never been hit in a fight?" Summer grins to herself.
"Must've never been in any fights then." Qrow flatly responds.
"Guess you'll have to see for yourself once tomorrow arrives." Summer lightly smiles at Qrow who doesn't notice it.
"You sure are dedicated, I'll give ya that." Qrow slowly makes his way to the main hall.
As the two continue to stare each other down the man is the first to attack. He throws a right jab that the woman dodges by moving her head to the left. She then moves into his arm range so he can't counterattack and tries to sock him in the gut. The punch is pushed aside by his left hand as he brings his knee up and smashes it into her gut instead. The woman jumps back as the man begins to come at her in a combination of punches that the woman tries her best to deflect.
"Hey, you're pretty good." The man smiles. "The names Taiyang." Taiyang kicks her back. "Taiyang Xiao Long, but my friends call me Tai." Tai pulls his fist back ready to continue. "You?"
"Beat me, and I'll tell you." The woman quickly states.
"I like your attitude." Taiyang unleashes another flurry of blows that she tries to deflect, but is unsuccessful as a few hit her. She goes for a leg sweep which Tai jumps over but the woman uses her momentum and her hands to turn it into a spin kick which sends Tai skidding a few feet back. She then charges in with a left hook which Tai deflects. She follows with a right which is also deflected. She tries a quick kick to the shin which connects, but Tai doesn't let it phase him as he reaches down and hooks her leg as he uses his body momentum to spin and slam her into the ground. As she lands Tai brings his fist down to try for a punch which she catches. Shen then kicks with her trapped leg which frees it and quickly drags him down to one knee as she uses her legs to trap him in a headlock while also straining his arm. Tai's aura begins to strain from the lock as well.
Tai demonstrates his strength by dragging her up and slamming her into the ground to get her off of him. Tai tries going for a kick to the chest but the woman rolls away as she rolls back to her feet and hunches down ready to lunge. 'He really wasn't joking about his strength.' Is what she though as she subconsciously started reaching for her katana. Right as she grabs the hilt and has the blade half way out they both hear a shrill voice.
"What is going on here?!" Everyone turns their heads to the side to see a young woman no older than her mid twenties with blonde hair and green eyes stare angrily at the two teens as the woman quickly sheathes her sword. "This is the prestigious Beacon Academy not an arena! We do not tolerate such displays, especially in the main hall." All the teens who were around the fight all let out sighs of disappointment as they begin to disperse.
Before the woman can say anything Tai is the first to respond. "Sorry about that teach. I got a little carried away and challenged her to a fight. I didn't mean any ill harm." Tai bows his head in apology to the teacher who's expression seems to soften up before sighing.
"Just make sure not to do that again." The woman responds before leaving.
"Who was that?" The woman asked Tai.
"You don't know? She's the new Headmistress of Beacon. Her name is Glynda Goodwitch. Oh and by the way, you're welcome."
"For what?"
"For covering for us obviously." Tai grins. "By the way you never gave a name."
"Last I checked I didn't lose." She puts on an air of pride.
"I beg to differ." Tai argues.
She crosses her arms. "And why is that?"
"Well you did reach for your weapon after stating that you weren't going to use it sooooooo I'd say that this is my victory." Tai pumps his fist in the air.
She sighs deeply and begins to walk away from Tai as she simply responds: "Raven Branwen."
"Raven Branwen." Tai made sure to remember that name. "Will I see you around some time?" He asks.
Raven slightly tilted her head towards him before continuing to walk away from him. "Perhaps."
Tai begins to follow after Raven. "Hey, where are you going? The headmaster should be giving his speech in about..." Tai looks at a clock on the wall. "...ten minutes."
Raven thought it would simply be easier to tell Tai than to get him to leave. "I have to go find my brother to see if he's found a partner yet." Raven replies as she began looking for him.
"I didn't know you had a brother." Tai says in surprise.
"Of course you didn't, we just met." Raven replies now annoyed at Tai's simplicity.
"Can you describe him? Maybe I can help you find him." Tai offers.
"I'll pass." Raven sternly replies. "I don't need help finding him." 'If only there weren't so many people around, I could just use my semblance to find him.' Raven internally thought.
"Oh I don't mind, especially if it's helping someone as beautiful as you." Tai flirts as he winks at Raven.
"Flattery will get you nowhere." Raven responds as she squints her eyes to see Qrow just entering the building. Raven also sees someone in a white cloak who seems to be pestering her younger brother. "Found him." Raven begins walking towards Qrow.
Tai looks in the direction where Raven is heading off towards and he sees a man with lighter hair than Ravens off in the distance. "Wait for me Raven." Tai runs up next to her as she continues her walk.
"Why are you following me?" Raven questions with some irritation.
"I just think you would make a good partner is all." Tai responded.
"If you can pull your own weight around then I don't mind partnering up with you. Otherwise back off." Raven sternly responds as she continues walking forward.
"In that case I think you'll find that I'm more than capable of doing that." Tai smiles.
As Qrow makes it into the main hall he continues to look around for his sister as Summer continues to stick by his side. 'Looks like I can't shake her off.' Qrow internally sighs. Qrow looks around and spots Raven making her way right towards him. Qrow notices the guy following near Raven. 'Looks like she found a partner.' "Hey sis, looks like you found your partner." Qrow waved over to Raven who only crossed her arms and looked down on him.
Raven looks over at Summer and can't seem to pinpoint how strong she is. Raven assumes that the girl in front of her is weak. "Your choice in partner is disappointing." Raven responds.
Summer looks taken aback by this. "Now that's a bit rude."
"She's not my partner, she just got latched on to me and now I can't seem to get rid of her." Qrow responds with some annoyance.
"Hey, that's also rude." Summer looked over to Qrow.
"Are you gonna introduce me to your brother?" Tai asks Raven.
Raven scoffs. "Do it yourself."
Tai simply brushes off Ravens words as he extends his hand. "Hi there, my name is Taiyang Xiao Long, but my friends call me Tai. What are your names?"
Summer is the first to respond. "My name is Summer Rose. It's nice to meet you." She smiles warmly and shakes Tai's hand.
"The names Qrow... Qrow Branwen." Qrow also shakes Tai's hand.
'Does he always do that when he introduces himself?' Summer though. She then looks to Raven as she extends her hand. "What's your name?"
Raven looks down at Summer's hand for a moment before slowly uncrossing one of her arms to shake her hand. "Raven Branwen." Raven shakes only once and goes back to crossing her arms. "Looks like we have a full team now."
"Technically we don't get to decide that." Summer informs Raven.
Raven's eyes open a bit wider as she stares down at Summer. "Excuse me?"
"That's the whole point of initiation. To see how the Headmaster is going to go about selecting us. Although from what I've heard your initial partner is usually whoever you see first in the initiation. As for teams the Headmaster seems to switch it up every year so there's no telling what he'll do." Summer explains.
Suddenly curtains begin to close on the windows and a spotlight shows down on the Headmaster who is standing on a podium. "Ooohhh it's time!" Summer quietly cheers.
Qrow eyes the Headmaster up and down taking in his appearance. He seemed to be a man who was a bit older than he would've expected. He had Dark brown hair that was a bit messy but he also had some grey streaks going through it. Looking a bit lower and he could see that he wore glasses as well. In addition to that he wore a black suit jacket and matching pants, but also a green undershirt. Lastly he held a cane between his hands that didn't look like anything special. 'He looks like a Professor alright.' Qrow inwardly thinks to himself.
The four decide to stand in the back as Ozpin gets ready to deliver his speech.
"I'll make this brief. I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin. You have come to this school looking to become strong huntsmen and huntresses. What I ask of you is this: Are you willing to pour in the blood, sweat, and tears that come with this line of work? Are you willing to put your lives on the lines against humanity's greatest threat the Grimm? Are you willing to save the weak and defenseless even if it means endangering your own life? If you answer no to any of these questions, then I politely ask you to leave through those doors." Ozpin points towards the doors at the back. "Otherwise I expect to see each and everyone of you at eight a.m. tomorrow morning. You will all sleep in this main hall for the night. That is all." Ozpin turns and walks off the podium as the hall becomes much livelier with murmurs of what he just said. The light turns off and the curtains begin to reopen to allow for light to once more bathe the room.
"So that's Ozpin?" Raven asks no one in particular.
"Looks like it." Qrow responds with narrowed eyes.
"So what now?" Tai asks the group.
"For now we do whatever. Now that I know we can't even pick our teammates I see no point in us sticking together now." Raven walks away from the group to begin looking for a place to rest for later.
"I have to agree with Raven on this. I see no reason in sticking together if we probably won't even be on the same team." Qrow also leaves to look for a place to sleep.
"Guess that just leaves us huh?" Tai looks over to Summer who is already gone. "Huh. Wonder where she went?"
The night eventually came and went and everyone got up at the time Ozpin specified. Some were better off than others as Ozpin lead them all to a giant air ship. As they all boarded it Ozpin looked on at all of them as he drank from his coffee mug. Ten minutes later they were at the edge of Emerald Forest. Seeing this Ozpin began to speak loudly which gained everyones attention.
"Can I have everyone's attention please? Good. I will now explain to you all how this years initiation will work. You all will be dropped from the plane any second now." This caused a few gasps but Ozpin either failed to listen or chose to ignore them. "Once you all land you will find a partner. Your partner will be the first person you make eye contact with. This person will be your partner for the next four years, do keep in mind." More murmurs. "Lastly how teams will be formed. This year we have created special colored ribbons that will be tied around the necks of various Grimm throughout the Emerald Forest that you and your partner must slay and take the ribbon of in order to pass the test. The two groups who have the same colored ribbons will be apart of the same team. Now, any questions?"
"I have a question." A random in the back calls.
"Good. I wish you all the best of luck and try not to die." Ozpin reaches over to his right and pulls a lever that says 'EJECT' above it. The bottom of the plane suddenly opens up as everyone begins to fall out of the plane to begin their assent towards the ground. As Ozpin takes a sip from his mug he looks over to see Raven with her katana lodged into the side of the opened door.
"I do hope you aren't quitting the test Ms. Branwen. You showed good potential." Ozpin takes another sip of his coffee.
Raven looks up at the Headmaster as she gives him a smirk. "Don't worry about me. This is aaaaaaall apart... of... my... landing plan!" Raven unsticks her katana as she quickly slices below her to create a portal that she falls into.
As Qrow is falling he quickly begins to reach for the sword on his back. As he draws it he quickly presses the button on the bottom of his sword as the blade begins curving into a scythe and the handle elongates. As Qrow gets closer to the canopy of trees he begins to prepare his scythe to latch onto one of the tree branches to swing around it to slow his momentum down. Unfortunately for him his semblance decides to come in at the worst time. As he tries for his first swing on a branch the scythe ends up slipping which causes Qrow to hit a dozen tree limbs on his way down as he curses. On the third branch he hits Raven emerges from her portal and lands on that branch while avoiding eye contact as she goes in the opposite direction of where Qrow is tumbling. As Qrow finally hits the ground with a resounding thud he groans loudly as he slowly get up and pops his back. "My semblance has to be one of the worst semblances in all of Remnant." Qrow then creaks his neck before heading out to find a partner.
As Qrow walks around he finds a cluster of white rose petals that seem to be scattered in a straight line. At first Qrow was just going to ignore it and move on, but just as he's leaving the rose petals begin to all move and concentrate in one area. Qrow senses this and turns around with his scythe in attacking position. As Qrow watches, the petals begin to cluster and build upwards as they begin to take on the vague shape of a human. As this continues Qrow begins to see a familiar white cloak form as a smile is formed beneath the cloak.
"Looks like we'll be partners after all." Summer smiles as she fully forms.
"Ozpin said that we could only become partners if we made eye contact and from here I can't see your eyes." Qrow quips as he brings his scythe up to rest on his shoulder.
"Well if thats the case..." Summer reaches up to her hood as she slowly takes it off. Qrow can now see that Summer has smooth shoulder length black hair that becomes red at the ends and he can also see that her eyes are currently closed. Summer slowly opens her silver eyes and looks into Qrows with them. "...here you go."
to be continued...
Authors Notes: I would like to start by giving a big HEEEELLLOOOO TO THE RWBY FANDOM! I've been deciding for the good part of a year on whether or not I was going to go through with this story as I had an idea for this story but I didn't want to write it because it felt like I was neglecting my other story if I did so. However, after finally getting around to watching Volume 8 I decided that if their was ever a better time to write this story it would be now. I've wanted to see more fanfictions that were about Team STRQ and making a potential prequel like story about them, but after looking for awhile I just wasn't able to really find anything that I personally liked regarding these characters. So I decided to make one of my own. I have plans for this story, big ones at that. Although I'm still not one hundred percent sure if I'll continue past this point or not as I still don't know whether I'll be committed enough to write past this point. So I've decided to leave it up to the audience. If this chapter gets feedback then I'll know people want to read it and I'll fully commit to writing this story. If not then this will be a simple oneshot instead and that's fine to. Anyways sorry for dragging on. Thank you for reading this chapter and giving my story a chance. If you have an opinion then share it! I always love reading reviews. With all of that being said this is Exile Mansion signing off!