Chapter 4: Stark Beginnings

Summer was sitting in a chair on stage in Beacon Academy's main assembly hall. Raven, Taiyang, and Qrow were all seated next to her on her left. Summer had never been comfortable being the center of attention, but fortunately, while there was a large audience gathered in the hall, all of the rest of her fellow first-year students were also up on stage as well. They had all returned from the initiation ceremony, and Headmaster Ozpin, who was standing at a podium right at the front of the stage, was announcing all of the new teams.

Summer had been extremely curious to learn who her other two teammates would be. She still technically didn't know, but thanks to the process of elimination, she'd figured it out.

Up at the podium, Ozpin announced, "And finally, having chosen the purple gravity crystals, Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen will henceforth be known as Team STRQ."

One last round of applause rose up from the assembled audience. The noise almost caused Summer to not hear Ozpin when he said, "Led by Summer Rose."

"Wait…me?" Summer asked no one in particular.

Taiyang reached out behind Raven and tapped Summer on her shoulder. Summer looked at him. He gave her a thumbs-up and an encouraging wink.

Raven spoke up, saying, "Congratulations, Sunshine."

"You're okay with me being the leader?" Summer asked. She was a little suspicious. Raven seemed like the ambitious type.

Raven stole a brief glance at Taiyang and Qrow. Taiyang had turned to Qrow and was presently trying, and failing, to get a high five from him. For Qrow's part, he looked like he wanted to slap Taiyang's hand, but for some reason he wasn't.

Raven turned back to Summer and said, "It was either going to be you or me. It's better this way. Trust me."

"Thanks, Raven," Summer said. A warm feeling filled her. She wasn't entirely sure if Raven's approval was genuine or not, but it felt surprisingly good to receive nonetheless.

Back up at center stage, Ozpin said, "My congratulations again to all our new teams. And good luck in the years to come. That is all."

The noise of a hundred overlapping conversations suddenly filled the assembly hall as the audience began to disburse. Summer stood along with just about everyone else on the stage.

Taiyang pumped both his fists in rapid succession and said, "Yes! We are Team STRQ!"

Qrow muttered, "What kind of color is 'stark' anyway?"

Summer said, "It'd be…white? I guess?"

Taiyang turned to both Summer and Raven, ignoring the discussion on color, and gave then a suave smile. He said, "You two may not have needed partners, but we all ended up together anyway. Lucky you!"

Raven rolled her eyes at Taiyang, but Summer giggled. She had to admit that she was really happy with how everything had worked out. In her mind, Raven had no choice but to accept Summer's offer of friendship now that they were partners. Summer wasn't sure why, but the idea of getting closer to Raven was extremely appealing. Taiyang was admittedly a little strange, but Summer found him impossible not to like. There was also a little voice in the back of her head suggesting that he might be good boyfriend material, although she was doing her best to ignore it. It was far too soon to be thinking about that, and she wasn't convinced that dating a teammate was a good idea anyway. The only real wildcard, in Summer's opinion, was Qrow. He just didn't seem to want to open up to anyone, but Summer hoped that would change soon.

Summer was about to suggest to her team that they try to figure out what dorm room they'd been assigned to when she spotted Ozpin heading their way. At first she assumed he was simply going to pass them by, but he walked right up to her and stopped.

"Miss Rose," Ozpin said. "It's a pleasure to properly meet you."

"Headmaster Ozpin!" Summer said, trying to contain her surprise. "It's good to meet you too!"

"You don't remember me, I'd imagine," Ozpin said. "But we have met before. Although you were very young then."

"Really?" Summer asked. Then she recalled the inkling of familiarity she'd felt when she'd seen Ozpin back on the airship.

"Yes," Ozpin said. "You could say that I'm an old friend of the family."

"That's odd," Summer said. "Papa's never mentioned you before."

"Hmm. Well I'm sure he has his reasons," Ozpin said. "I was very sorry to hear about your mother."

Summer's mood suddenly dipped. She said, "That was a long time ago."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to reopen old wounds," Ozpin said.

"It doesn't bother me," Summer lied. "If you met her before she died then you probably knew her better than I did."

"Maybe not to the extent you think. You very much remind me of her," Ozpin said. "And you most definitely…have her eyes."

Summer wasn't sure how to respond to Ozpin. She'd only been five years old when her mother had passed. Ozpin speaking about her in such a familiar way was making Summer feel uncomfortable, although she couldn't for the life of her say why.

Ozpin turned to Raven and Qrow. He said, "And you two must be the Branwen siblings."

"Who's asking?" Raven said, crossing her arms. She had a huge scowl on her face.

Qrow sighed. He said, "Come on, Sis…."

Raven glared at Qrow. She said, "Unless he's about to tell me that he's an old friend of our family too. Which he's not. He's got no business taking an interest in us."

"To the contrary," Ozpin said. "I take an interest in all the students under my charge. Your futures are very important to me."

Taiyang suddenly butted into the conversation, saying to Ozpin, "Well then, I'm Taiyang Xiao Long! But you can call me 'Yang'."

"If you wish," Ozpin said, hardly even bothering to look at Taiyang.

There was an awkward pause. Summer was suddenly feeling equal parts anxious and perplexed. There was something unsettling about this whole conversation. She didn't like how Ozpin seemed to be playing some unseen game. She didn't like how Raven was acting so confrontational. And she especially didn't like how a part of her felt that Raven might have the right idea.

"Well," Ozpin said, pushing the bridge of his glasses up his nose. "I won't waste any more of your time. You only have one life to live after all. Although…. There is a small matter I'd like to clear up."

Summer asked, "What's that?"

"Only one of the Dust crystals your team retrieved during the initiation ceremony was returned," Ozpin said. "You wouldn't happen to know where the other one went by chance?"

Taiyang said, "Me and Qrow turned ours in."

Summer looked at Raven and asked, "You had ours. What'd you do with it?"

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked. "I gave it to you."

"Me?" Summer said. "When?"

"When we got back," Raven said.

"No you didn't," Summer said.

Ozpin smiled knowingly. He said, "I'm sure it will turn up sooner or later. Please return it to one of your instructors when it does. And again, congratulations to all of you. I look forward to seeing you unlock your potential here at Beacon."

With that, Ozpin walked away.

Summer's gaze was fixed on Raven now. She asked, "What did you do with the crystal?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sunshine," Raven deadpanned. She started walking away too.

"Raven!" Summer said, following after her. "What did you do with it?"

The next morning Summer was standing in Team STRQ's new dorm room. It was a bit small to accommodate four people and four beds, but so far everyone was making do. Summer was fastening the last few buttons on her new school uniform's maroon blazer which, in addition to the jacket, consisted of a white blouse and a plaid skirt. Summer had also opted to wear knee-high socks. It was one of the few parts of her uniform that she had some choice over.

Qrow was currently the only other member of the team present in the room. He was not dressed for class yet. He and Raven had apparently either forgotten or hadn't known that they were supposed to pick up their new uniforms when they'd arrived on campus. Raven had gone to grab them for herself and her brother. Taiyang had already headed out on his own as well. Summer presumed she'd see him in their first class of the day.

Qrow was sitting on his bed which was tucked into the back corner of the room. He had a photograph in his hand, and at the moment, he was using some tape to stick the photo onto the wall next to his bed like a makeshift poster. The photo's bent corners and worn edges indicated that it had been well-handled over the years

Sensing an opportunity to get to know her new teammate better, Summer wandered closer to Qrow's bed. The photograph he'd hung up depicted a young woman dressed in blue who was wearing a face mask stylized to look like a skull. She was holding a scythe in one of her hands. Summer also noticed that the photograph was signed, although the signature's swirling letters made it all but indecipherable.

"Who is she?" Summer asked.

Qrow turned around. He looked a little surprised at first. Then he asked, "You don't recognize her?"

"No. Should I?" Summer asked.

"That's Maria Calavera," Qrow said. "The Grimm Reaper."

"Oh! I have heard of her!" Summer said. "Doesn't she mostly operate out of Atlas?"

"She used to," Qrow said.

"Used to?" Summer asked.

"It's been a few years since anyone's seen her," Qrow said glumly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Summer said.

"Don't be," Qrow said. "I know she's still out there. She's the greatest huntress who's ever lived. There's nothing on this planet that could take her down."

"Sounds like you idolize her," Summer said. "Was she your inspiration for wanting to become a huntsman?"

Qrow chuckled, although Summer wasn't sure why. He said, "Yeah. Sure."

"At least you got to meet her before she, uh, went missing," Summer said.

Qrow raised a quizzical eyebrow at Summer. He seemed to think she'd said something silly.

"The photo's signed," Summer said. "She wasn't the one who signed it for you?"

"No, I…" Qrow said. "I…found the photograph."

"Oh," Summer said, "Well…. If she's still out there, then maybe you'll meet her yourself someday."

"Yeah. Maybe," Qrow said. He didn't sound like he agreed.

The door to the room suddenly swung open, and Raven barged in. She was carrying a big pile of loose clothing in her arms, her and Qrow's uniforms by the look of it.

Raven walked over to her bed and dumped the clothes on top. She was already dressed in her uniform. She must have changed before she'd returned. She'd also elected to wear some full-length stockings.

Summer looked Raven over. Beacon's uniforms were mass-manufactured, so they weren't exactly the highest quality clothes out there. But they were a far cry better than the old kimono Raven had been wearing up until this point. Even in the kimono, Summer had thought that Raven looked good, but now that she was better dressed, she looked amazing. Summer was especially jealous of the way Raven filled out her uniform. At least she was pretty sure that was what she was feeling.

Raven must have noticed Summer staring, because she asked, "Like what you see, Sunshine?"

Raven's insinuation went completely over Summer's head, and she responded with a genuine, "Yes! You look great! I love the stockings too."

For once Raven actually seemed to have been caught off guard. She muttered, "Uh…thanks."

Qrow ambled over to Raven's bed. He started picking through the pile of clothing, saying, "You couldn't have waited to change until after you got back?"

"No. Then I'd be late for class," Raven said.

"Class?" Summer said. Her eyes swiveled up to a clock on the wall. She suddenly realized her first class of the day, her first class ever at Beacon, started in less than ten minutes.

"Class!" Summer shouted. "We're going to be late!"

Summer ran over to the door and pushed it open. Behind her she heard Qrow sarcastically mutter, "No, no. Don't wait up for me."

Raven said, "Don't worry, we won't."

Summer didn't respond to either Qrow or Raven. Instead, she sprinted through the door and out into the hallway, only vaguely aware of Raven following behind her.

Summer knew she wasn't a perfect student, but she didn't think she'd be able to survive the embarrassment of being late to her very first class. She especially didn't want to make a bad impression on the teacher. If she recalled correctly, his name was Port.

Author's Note: In case it hasn't become obvious already, this story is basically The Author Winks at the Camera: A RWBY Fanfic. Buckle in because I'm not going to stop any time soon.

As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Please feel free to leave a review. And if you like what you've read, taking the time to favorite and/or follow really helps me out. You can also find me on tumblr (electronicyarn) if you want to send me a message or be notified of updates.