Chapter 2: Beacon of Destiny

The poisons swepted deep into Qrow as he sat down. He could feel everything. His semblance; his exhaustion, the void. Any and everything his mind tried to do brought pain. Only one thing kept him from just giving in right there: Protecting Ruby. She was innocent; yet a victim of this war he was now leading. All due to her and her mother's silver eyes. He looked down and quietly sighed to himself as he tried to fall asleep; slowly letting his body let him rest as it naturally closed his eyes.

Qrow awoke the next morning in a fit of coughs. Ruby ran to his side to see his cut had oozing an unnatural purple.

"Well, that's unfortunate" Qrow said as he fell unconscious, now using the time to himself in his endless void to think back on his team-no. Not his team: Summer; and how he had failed her by getting himself poisoned; therefore not being able to protect Ruby, unknowingly allowing his body to start giving into the toxins.

Both he and his sister passed the Beacon entry exams with flying colors. When Ozpin came to them afterwards he offered the Beacon Forge to them to build new weapons; which they both easily accepted.

Weeks passed until they actually arrived for classes. Qrow and Raven had split up upon landing to scope up the place differently; and to remove themselves from each other. Qrow stood in the audience of Ozpin's speech next to a young pale woman with black hair and hints of red highlights. He couldn't see much of her outfit due to her white cloak; which draped over her whole body. The one thing Qrow really noticed this girl had; were her silver eyes.

Qrow stared at them for a solid second; all of the tribe's stolen science books had never mentioned the color silver as an eye color. When Ozpin finished his speech he soon noticed the woman was now trailing him.

"So… hi, I'm Summer", said the woman once she realized Qrow had noticed her.

"I'm Qrow", Qrow coldly replied, while curious about the woman's eyes; he had no reason to keep hanging around.

"It's nice to meet you Qrow, so what's your weapon?" asked Summer kindly.

Qrow sighed his mind flashing the thoughts of 'Of course, that's the question she asked'. "I don't have one," he answered.

Summer looked at him with a shocked expression. "What?"

"I was raised outside of the kingdoms, I shared weapons with my family… Ozpin told me that I could use the armory to build one with him, through." 'Yeah that worked.' Qrow thought to himself as Summer just beamed at him.

"That sounds amazing!" Summer bubbled excitedly as she pulled out her weapon, a dual bladed scythe, a blade on each end of the weapon. "This is my weapon or rather weapons: Strawberry Solstice and Apple Slice."

"That's neat…-" Qrow started.

"It's also a gun!" Summer said as she combined them together to show that it now had a barrel.

Qrow didn't reply as he saw the armory was in sight. There standing was a younger looking middle aged man dressed in an emerald green suit. Headmaster Ozpin. Ozpin soon spotted Qrow and waved; he spoke up when Qrow and Summer walked up. "Good Morning Mr. Branwen."

"Good Morning Headmaster." Summer said smiling towards the Headmaster.

"Ah, good morning, Ms. Rose." Ozpin said, as he noticed Summer sticking around.

"Hi Professor Ozpin!" she happily replied.

"Mr. Branwen, you said you don't have a weapon?" Ozpin's words were unlike how they were at the speech; a lot warmer.

"No." Qrow, sharply spoke. "As discussed; my family shared weapons and I could not afford to take any of the family's weapons."

"Well, Mr. Branwen, there are plenty of parts here." Ozpin grinned towards the two students in his sights. "Any type of weapon in mind?"

"Well… I was trained on swords, however, I've liked the feeling of holding a scythe." Qrow answered; a little reminded of his own broken sickle at one and what Summer had just showed him.

"A scythe!?" squeaked Summer.

"Yes, I had one… but it was damaged beyond repair. My sister who accompanied me here said she had chosen a sword so I'll go with what feels better for me."

"Very well, then, Mr. Branwen." said Ozpin, "I'll help you build a scythe."

"You mind if I watch?" asked Summer.

"Not at all." replied Qrow; deep down happy that someone was already taking an interest in him.

Hours went by as Qrow worked on forging his weapon, with help from both Ozpin and Summer. At the end of the day, he was holding his new weapon. At some point, someone, likely Summer, mentioned that a pair of shotguns would be useful for combat. He was testing it out, swinging the weapon back and forth.

"Well?" asked Ozpin.

"Thank you ever so much," Qrow added, smiling at his headmaster.

"You're welcome, Mr. Branwen, now you two run along to meet with the others in the ballroom." mentioned Ozpin, smiling at Qrow and Summer.

"You have a name for it?" asked Summer as she and Qrow left.

"No-"

"No?! All proper Huntsmen name their weapons!" Summer screamed at him.

Qrow paused at her, as she tripped on a rock. "You ok?" Qrow said as she got up.

"Oh yeah I'm fine." Summer said; her cheek bruised from the fall. "Maybe I should of been looking ahead."

Qrow didn't respond. "Harbinger."

"Harbinger? For your weapon?"

Qrow just nodded as Summer cheered as they entered the ballroom "That sounds amazing!".

Qrow's eyes scanned the room and found his target: his sister; Raven. He left Summer to head over to Raven who looked ready to throw a punch at a blonde boy in tan clothes.

Raven smirked as she saw him walk up. "About time you arrived, Qrow."

"Hey, I wasn't done talking", said the blonde boy who nearly froze. "Heya Summer", he added as he spotted Summer.

"So what happened?" asked Summer; clearly knowing this boy in front of her. "It's way too early to try to ask a girl out if that's what you're doing."

"You know me too much, Summer" Tai jokingly added, turning to Qrow, "So, who are you?"

"I'm Qrow Branwen, I'm Raven's brother", he stopped talking to Tai to whisper to Summer, "You two know each other?"

"Oh yeah, me and Tai go way back, we were friends at Signal, on Patch".

"Patch?" asked Qrow, unaware of the location.

"You don't know about Patch?" asked Tai, "It's an amazing island off the coast of Vale, where were you raised that you don't know about it?"

"Anima, outside of the kingdoms" he said, he smirked as he added, "Tai".

"My name is Taiyang Xiao Long." Taiyang muttered.

"So…" Raven said, changing the subject. "Who's this?", asked Raven, as she towered over Summer.

"Uh… my name.. is Summer Rose" Summer stammered quite shyly.

"Raven's all bark, no bite, Summer" Qrow replied as he met with a glare from his sister's eyes.

Before Raven could tell him to stuff it; Ms. Goodwitch, a new teacher's aide, caught their attention and said that dinner would soon start. Qrow was relieved to not get an earful from Raven. It wasn't long after dinner that they all were told to go to bed early to get ready for the next day. Qrow sat up the longest just pondering how he was gonna deal with all these students and how to murder them if needed; however Summer; she seemed interesting and he couldn't fully peg down if she was gonna be an issue or not for him and Raven.

Qrow awoke early the next morning, and watched the sun rise. Raven awoke as the sun rose. Raven spoke first. "You're up early, Qrow." Qrow smiled at his sister in a very cheeky way. "Well, the early bird catches the worm.-" Qrow was hit in the head by a pillow. "Raven, you should get a grip, it's just slang here."

"Remember what we discussed before arriving here." Raven added as she walked up to Qrow, who had already gotten breakfast. "You already have breakfast?"

Qrow smirked back, "Of course, it's unfair to others, my semblance, I mean." Raven just nodded.

Summer awoke next, yawning, she got up to see the two siblings looking out towards the sunrise. "Morning."

"Good morning." Qrow replied, not even turning to face Summer; he was too busy focusing on the birds flying overhead.

"So… are you guys excited for the idea of being on teams?" Summer bubbly asked in response.

Qrow and Raven looked at each other before Qrow spoke. "Sure are."

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation, again all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." Glynda said over the intercom late into the morning. It didn't take long until Qrow arrived at Beacon Cliff, where Ozpin was waiting. Qrow stepped onto the pad next to Summer, seeing that Raven was already surrounded by other people.

"Hey." he said to Summer.

"Hi." she said, turning to him, her face slightly blushing towards Qrow. "Sorry for leaving you behind at the cafeteria, Qrow… I needed some air." she finished, now a tad rosy around the cheeks.

Ozpin ushered the group for silence. "For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest." Ozpin smiled at the teens as he spoke. "Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams… Well allow us to put an end to your confusion, each of you will be given teammates today."

Summer looked over to Qrow, a wave of social anxiety flooded over her; she was expecting at least having either Taiyang or Qrow on her team to ease her mind, so this scared her a bit. "What?!" she shrieked.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. After you've partnered up make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die."

Qrow and Raven just smirked at that statement.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation but our instructors will not intervene. You will find a temple at the end of the path containing several relics each pair must choose one and return to the top of this cliff. We will guard that item as well as your standing and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions? No? Good, now take your positions." Ozpin finished.

Soon enough, the group of teenagers were catapulted into the air. Qrow soon landed, he was trying to find Raven. 'Where could she be? We didn't land that far from each other, did we?' Qrow stopped thinking as he hit someone. "Oomph!" he shouted as he got up, he was standing on Summer; and for once he could see her huntress outfit, a black corset and matching skirt.

"Summer, is that you?" he asked.

"Yep." she said blushing, as she got back up, brushing off some of the grass and dirt that had gotten on her attire. "So I guess we're partners now?"

"That's what the headmaster said." Qrow said, "Now, let's go find those relics, or whatever they are."

The started to run; avoiding grimm wherever possible; until for a moment Summer froze and just started to sniff the air.

"Summer?" Qrow was confused. "Something's wrong?".

Summer shook her head. "No; I just needed to get a whiff of the sea air. Come on it's this way!" She nearly dragged Qrow away from the spot. The pair eventually made it to the temple, Qrow had just grabbed the white knight piece, and was about to head out, when Summer stopped him. "Qrow?"

"What's up?" asked Qrow, unaware of what Summer was doing.

"Do you hear that screaming?" asked Summer.

"Screaming?-" replied Qrow, no sooner did he finish, Tai and Raven came out of the treeline. Qrow's jaw nearly dropped from the thing chasing them appeared; destroying the trees in its way. It was a huge Death Stalker Scorpion Grimm.

"Oh shit, oh shit!" shouted Tai, as Raven grabbed a chess piece, as the grimm started to head towards Summer.

"Summer!" shouted Qrow, as his instincts kicked in and he transformed into his crow form and flew towards the Grimm, transforming back to give the Death Stalker a huge slash in the stomach with his new sword, knocking the grimm into the temple, avoiding Summer.

"Qrow?!" shouted a very puzzled Summer; as Qrow dusted off his legs. Qrow didn't reply, instead he turned to raven who gave him a glare. Not caring Summer kept asking questions bubblily "You can turn into a bird?".

The snapped Qrow out of his glare with Raven. "Uh.. yep, I didn't mean to use it, but…-"

"That's amazing! That's your semblance?!" Summer was excited by her voice so Qrow went along with it.

"It is."

"Mine is turning into white rose petals…. I should have been able to get out of that grimm's way… but-." Summer started to speak.

Qrow stopped her. " Nevermind that Summer, what matters is you're now safe."

"But, we're not!" said Taiyang, as the Death Stalker got free and charged towards them. Qrow and Raven looked at each other, both gritting their teeth.

Summer spoke up first. "If we attack from above, we might be able to kill it!"

"Well Raven?" asked a smirking Qrow.

"We might as well." shouted Raven, as Qrow transformed into his crow form and flew up, while Raven opened a portal.

"Oooo-" Summer started.

"There's no time to question my semblance; jump in and kill it from above!" Raven commanded as Summer jumped in almost instantly, twirling her scythes around; cutting the grimm's head clean off.

Summer just beamed as the four walked back and handed Ozpin the two chess pieces.

Once they got back to campus it was not long until they were called down to the auditorium with the other first-year students.

"As you all know, earlier today, we had you get a partner in the Emerald Forest. Now… if you have seen hunters and huntresses before, you should know that they are usually in teams of four. That is how we here at Beacon assign you." said Ozpin. "Upon your success in the forest, I have assigned you all teams based on multiple factors. Will-"

Summer turned to Qrow. "So.. who do you think will be on our team?"

"I honestly don't know, Summer." Soon enough, Summer, and Qrow were called up. Qrow looked around to see Tai following him. "Great...so you're going to be on my team, Taiyang." said Qrow in a sarcastic tone.

"Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen." started Ozpin as the four arrived on the stage. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team STRQ" Ozpin said, looking at the team in front of him, the members smiling at him. "Led by, Ms. Summer Rose… it seems like this year is shaping up to be an interesting year."

Qrow and Taiyang smiled at Summer who was still taking everything in, while Raven looked onward, a bit displeased that neither she nor Qrow was the team leader. After dinner in the commons, the group walked to the dorms, and were assigned a room. The team then claimed their own beds, Summer's was the closest to the desk, Qrow's next to hers, Raven next to him, and Taiyang on the other side of the room. Summer jumped onto her bed, as Qrow put his weapon by his bed.

"So…. Team STRQ… huh?" asked Raven, as she lay on her new bed, looking at the ceiling.

"Yep." said Taiyang who stood against the wall. "STRQ; it's got a good ring to it. Let's make it one of the best teams to come out of Beacon!"

Summer looked at Taiyang. "Nope." Popping the p as she said it.

"Nope?" repeated Raven, unsure of what Summer meant.

"Let's not just be one of the best teams to come out of Beacon." Summer bubbly answered. "Let's be the best team to come out of Beacon!"

"I'm in!" shouted Qrow, getting up. "Rae?"

"Sure."

"I'm in." added Taiyang which made Summer grin quite big.

"To Team STRQ!" shouted Summer, as she rose her fist. "To Team STRQ!" shouted the rest of the team in unison, their hands all in the air.