Music Choices: Shadow Kids by Ivory Hours
Eclipse
Chapter 11
Feathers Part II
Raven waited outside of the nurses station, accompanied by Taiyang. It had been decided over the course of their weekend that not all of them should play hooky to deliver the baby crows to the sanctuary in Vale; it would be too suspicious if a whole team fell sick at once on the second Monday back.
Qrow had opted out of going in person, likely believing he would cry; not that this was ever, ever actually said aloud. Her twin had spent most of his Sunday reading and hovering over the nestlings; he even read to them when he thought no one was paying attention. Raven didn't doubt for a second that he would have tried to keep all of them if they actually had the means to care for them. However, with their schedules, and the fact that they would be spending weeks at a time away in the field, it would have been impossible.
Since she was ahead in her homework, and doubted missing a few classes would hurt, Raven offered to take them. Taiyang promptly volunteered to go with her, while Summer kept hiding knowing smiles as he listed things they could do while in Vale. Summer sagely declared that she would stay with Qrow for emotional support, when he wasn't within earshot of course.
After several more minutes, where Raven was beginning to grow impatient, Amosa finally opened his door and summoned the two of them inside. The nurse had apparently spent his vacation well, as he had several new photos of himself and family up on the walls of his office, one where he was holding up an immense fish as long as he was tall. Another photo was of him and what was possibly his brother, hanging from a cliff side as they free-climbed.
"What's up, troublemaker?" he boomed, his voice friendly. "How was vacation?"
Raven smirked, folding her arms. Amosa and herself had come to an understanding last year, where she bribed him frequently for sick chits to get out of class or to use in an emergency.
"It was pretty relaxing. We just visited family."
Tai sent her a humorous look, before looking at Amosa's pictures further.
"Ooh, that's a nice board, sir," Tai observed, tapping the photo closest to him. In it, Amosa was doing a trick jump on a long-board over an obstacle course designed for crazy people.
"None of that sir, crap, kid," Amosa waved, grinning. "Makes me feel old. But you ride?"
Tai returned the smile, looking a bit cocky.
"Yea, you could say I dabble."
"Oh? Maybe we could go to the park sometime; I hear you can do some pretty cool things with portals," Amosa chuckled.
Tai lit up at the idea, before a brief flash of hesitance crossed his face. Raven watched him carefully, remembering that was how he and Evan spent most of the 'mentoring' hours. Taiyang rallied quickly, however.
"Yea, that'd be pretty cool," Tai smiled sincerely.
Raven glanced away before changing the subject.
"So, we were going into Vale today," she started, meeting Amosa's eyes slyly. "And were wondering if you'd like some to-go from that place you love so much."
Amosa nodded seriously, his eyes glinting.
"I see. And I take it this trip is during school hours?"
"Technically," Raven hummed.
"Uh huh. You two goin on hot a date, eh?" Amosa chuckled, causing Taiyang to sputter nervously. Raven raised her eyebrow in defiance; but look on Tai's face was too good to pass up, so she didn't bother to correct him.
"If taking birds to a sanctuary is a hot date, then I suppose."
Taiyang continued to die. Amosa laughed, shaking his head.
"The fewer details I know, the better," he declared, pulling up his pad of scrips. "But you know the routine. If you get caught-"
"Then you had no knowledge of our reckless deviance whatsoever," Raven smirked.
"Exactly. Getting interrogated by Joan is no walk in the park, you dig?" he finished the sick chits with a flourish. "That woman could put the fear of the gods in a Jotun. I'm putting myself out there with this, got it?"
"And as always, I appreciate it," Raven smiled mischievously. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."
"Uuuuh huh. You kids stay out of trouble, if you can," the nurse declared humorously. "And if you can't, remember, we have a basket in the hall with free condoms-"
"Annnd thanks Amosa! I'll take you up on that boarding idea soon, ok!?" laughed Tai, on the verge of near hysteria.
Raven snorted, striding out into the hall; there really was a basket full of colorful personal protection, and a very devious part of her wondered what Taiyang would do if she took a handful. His neck was bright red at this point, and he kept talking as they walked.
"Gee, funny guy, huh?!" Tai babbled, staring straight ahead. "What a kidder!"
"You ok there, grandpa?" she drawled. "You're looking a little flushed."
"Oh I'm good! I'm great," Tai carried on. "Let's turn these in and pick up the kids-"
"Sure you don't want me to grab a couple of those?" she asked, jerking a thumb at the basket.
The look on his face was, absolutely, priceless. He stared at her like a deer in headlights, mouth parting slightly as his brain desperately tried to catch up to the predicament he had found himself in. She dedicated the image to memory before she smirked.
"Ya know? For you and Summer? I'm betting she would really like the colors."
Tai let out a breath like a balloon in dire distress.
This is fun. No wonder Summer teases us as much as she does.
"Um...We aren't - I can, wait a sec. Wait, ah-"
Vanilla exe as stopped functioning. Please send help.
"What?" she asked, grinning. "It's not a big deal."
"I um, you don't need to do that," he flushed like a tomato. "I can handle that, when um. Yea."
"Ok," she shrugged, walking ahead of him nonchalantly. "You coming or what?"
Heh. I have jokes, too.
He staggered after her, still looking thoroughly embarrassed. She wondered briefly if the idea of them together was that distressing to him, and decided to not go down that road. Taking mercy, she let him change the subject.
...
The babies were sleeping, still full from their feeding that morning. Summer and Qrow had gone ahead to class, taking their chits to Professor Port for them. Qrow had said his goodbyes before shuffling out the door, his shoulders stiff; Summer had scooted after him, waving at the pair of them with a impish look in her eyes before disappearing down the hall.
Raven waited a few moments before glancing at Taiyang, who had managed to somewhat recover from his fit; he was still having trouble looking directly at her, though. Sighing, Raven brushed her hair over her shoulder and picked up the box, before heading for the door.
"I'll go to the airfield and open a portal for you. It'll be less conspicuous than both of us walking off together," she drawled. He looked up at her sheepishly, before smiling.
"Sure! I'll um, wait here I guess."
She fought the urge to roll her eyes and strode out into the hallway. She briefly considered opening the app on her scroll that let her communicate with Reinhardt and take over the school's drones; she didn't want to be spotted and interrogated by someone, but she wasn't overly concerned. If worse came to worse, she'd just tell the truth, and leave Tai out of it.
Fortunately, most of the drones seemed concentrated on the classrooms and gyms at the moment. She made it out of the dorms, across the lawn, past the outlying buildings, and to the lot that led to the ferry terminal without incident.
The babies woke up with the movement and started peeping nervously. Raven hummed to them, occasionally talking to them to help them stay calm. They had gotten used to the fact that she and Qrow were bird people over the weekend, and were put at ease at the sound of her voice. She considered the fact that she was taking them to someone who wouldn't know their language, or be able to identify them separately, or know their actual names; it admittedly bothered her more than she'd like. However, she also knew the sanctuary had birds that could care for them, and hoped that would be enough.
She bought two round tickets to Vale, ignoring the odd looks the woman at the stand gave her and her cheeping shoe-box, before slicing a hole in space-time. The vortex sprang to life, and a few moments later, Taiyang hopped out. She noted that he had his skateboard under his arm, and he grinned at her.
"I figured since we were playing hooky anyways, we could stop at the park after?" he suggested.
"Sure," she shrugged. The shoe-box peeped in protest at the movement and she hushed them thoughtlessly. Taiyang smiled, sticking his head close to box.
"They ok?" he asked, looking inside.
Raven nodded. They fell into silence, before being allowed to board the ferry to Vale, finding seats with a window. The ferry was hardly crowded, though several civilians had taken up nearby. Apparently, people who lived in the outskirts of the Kingdom often took the Beacon ferry.
The airship took off with a gentle shudder, and soon they had climbed up near the clouds. Raven stared out the window, lost in thought as Tai played a few games on his scroll, shooting her furtive looks when he thought she didn't notice.
"Soo," he started after a long mutual silence. "What's it like?"
"Hm?" she turned away from the window.
"Being able to turn into a bird and use magic?" he asked quietly, leaning on his forearms. "Do you use your aura? Or is it something else?"
She considered the question, tilting her head.
"Well. The ability isn't aura activated," she admitted, trying to pick the right words to explain it. "But you know how you reach for your aura when you need to activate your Semblance?"
"Yep," he bobbed.
"Well with this, you reach for something else. You can feel it when you meditate, sometimes, if you're really into it. That current that runs up your spine and down into the world, connecting you to everything," she drew out, feeling self conscious. "Do you know what I mean?"
"Oh yea," he smiled. "Or when you perform katas or martial movements. I thought that was aura, though? That's how I activated mine, actually, during one of my routines."
Raven picked at the table, her brow furrowing in thought.
"It's connected to aura, I think. Because it's connected to everything. But it isn't aura in itself," she continued. "Magic, or whatever one calls it, is the font that I believe all things ultimately draw from. Consciousness, life, spirits, even Semblances. Like a million rivers and streams that all lead back to one immense lake or ocean; and this ability just follows a different riverbed than a Semblance or aura does. I think that relates to how magic workers and other things can gain power that isn't related to acknowledged abilities; and I think in part that's why Ozpin and people like him want to keep magic a secret."
Taiyang gave her an impressed stare and she flushed slightly.
"You think he doesn't want lots of other people making their own riverbeds to the source? Because it's a finite resource?"
She considered his question, impressed herself at his deduction.
He really is smarter than he gives himself credit for...
"Maybe. I'm sure that it really isn't a finite resource, though," she said, playing with feathers on her belt. "It isn't like Dust. I think that maybe he's just scared of people taking power for themselves consciously. Because then you aren't limited by an ability that just happens to you, you are actively striving to understand the universe on a more intimate level, and becoming more for doing so."
And also becoming people who can challenge him. If Ozpin really is the warlock, he likely doesn't appreciate the idea of sharing power with others.
Taiyang scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"So by that argument, anyone could technically learn to use magic. Even just your average joe down at the coffee shop."
She smirked at the idea, finding it appealing.
"I guess so. I'm not entirely sure how it works. I'd have to get Ciara or Nwyfre to actually explain more, and I'm sure there are limitations."
"Sure. But you'd think it could make the world a safer place, yea?" he said, frowning slightly. "If civilians had the means to protect themselves against Grimm, even without aura or a Semblance, then the world would be safer for them wouldn't it?"
She smirked.
"Not necessarily. Magic isn't always safe. But that's my point exactly. If you're invested in controlling a population...then do you really want it full of empowered people?"
"Man, probably not," he grimaced, shaking his head. "You really think that that's his angle?"
Oh absolutely.
"I'm sure he doesn't see it that way," she muttered. "But it is pretty suspicious, even if you aren't a complete paranoid."
He chuckled at her description.
"You aren't a complete paranoid, just like, ninety percent."
"Oh that's nice, what makes you think I was referring to myself?" she asked, hiding her smirk.
"Considering our options, I made an educated guess," he laughed."I bet you even hacked the school drones so we could skate off."
She gave him a salty glance.
"I did not."
"Oh, but you thought about it. Didn't you?" he teased leaning closer.
She paused.
"Nope."
"Ya huh."
"No, I didn't."
He smiled knowingly, and she huffed, inciting another round of chuckles. She rolled her eyes, before they were interrupted by the overhead announcing their arrival to Vale. They continued to play fight as they followed the other passengers down the aisle and towards the fluorescent lights of the ferry terminal.