~ Starbright ~

Team STRQ had been missing their fourth member since early morning, and they couldn't reach her by calling her scroll. They had already tried that after their first class this morning, only to find she'd forgotten it in their dorm room.

"I'm starting to get really worried," Summer says, as the three of them sit down at their usual table in the cafeteria for lunch.

"Yeah, me too," Taiyang agrees.

"Look, I know my sister, and I'm sure she's fine," Qrow says. Privately, he thinks she might have been feeling a bit homesick, or just tired of dealing with people, and needed some 'bird time'.

"Maybe we should look for-"

Summer is interrupted by the dramatic arrival of exactly the person she was talking about searching for.

"What's up, losers?" Raven calls out as she approaches their table.

The rest of Team STRQ stare at the unfamiliar blonde girl that she is dragging along with her.

"This nerd is my soulmate," Raven says, wrapping her arm more firmly around the other girl - who looks as though she would like nothing better than to escape.

A quick glance at their foreheads tells the rest of the team that, yes, these two are definitely soulmates.

"Nice to meet you, uh..." Tai is the first to break the silence, but trails off when he realizes that Raven didn't actually tell them her soulmate's name.

"Glynda Goodwitch," the aforementioned soulmate fills in curtly.

"Taiyang, Summer, and my brother," Raven says, gesturing vaguely to each member of her team with her free hand.

"I'm Qrow, by the way," Qrow adds, when it seems his sister isn't going to bother introducing him by name.

"Charmed," Glynda says, still sounding entirely annoyed.

"Raven, where have you been all day, anyway?" Summer asks.

"Around," Raven replies.

Seconds drag by in tense silence, and once it becomes obvious that Raven isn't planning to elaborate, Glynda answers for her: "She walked into the wrong history lecture this morning, and apparently didn't notice. Not that it makes any difference to her, since she slept through the entire thing. And then she had no clue what class she was supposed to be going to because apparently she doesn't keep track of that herself, and followed me to combat class."

"Her semblance is amazing," Raven pipes up.

Glynda's heavy sigh clearly conveys her irritation that this is what - out of the whole tale - her soulmate sees fit to actually comment on.

"The professor told me off for dragging my soulmate to class with me, and neither of us had even realized that our jewels had changed color until she pointed it out. Raven has been... attached to me ever since. As you can see."

After a few more long, uncomfortable moments of staring, Qrow put forth a suggestion.

"Hey, sis... maybe let her go? Sit down? Eat?"

Raven looks back and forth between the table and her soulmate thoughtfully.

"Good idea," Glynda says, hoping to spur her soulmate into making a decision. "I'm hungry." As Raven's expression changes, she adds, "I'm not going to run away!"

Raven finally nods and releases her, and the two of them join the rest of Team STRQ at the table - before realizing that they don't have their food yet, and sending Qrow to fetch some for them.

~oOo~

A/N: Don't expect other chapters to be this long. They probably won't.