Here we go.

Chapter 18

Raven's weapon quickly became the envy of Signal and it was no wonder. They were still at the stage where other kids were picking out what might become their final weapon style, and there was Raven showing off a rotary dust-blade system with blades capable of launching bursts of fire and lightning. It was like bringing a machine gun to kid's birthday paintball party.

Naturally, she was not subtle when it came to showing it off and telling anyone who asked that he'd made it for her. Raven was boasting almost as much about him as she was her weapon.

"My brother made it for me," she would say, smirking as she drove him how she had both a better weapon and a better sibling.

It was a strange thing to have Raven be so visibly proud of him.

Qrow wasn't sure how to handle the butterflies in his stomach. Maybe, deep inside, he'd always missed his sister back in the original timeline. There was no pretending otherwise when he longed for the days of Team STRQ so badly. He wasn't the only one who had changed once Summer died. Having Raven cling to him and show him off and drag him around like he was a trophy was something he'd have never expected.

And yet he let it happen because he didn't want to upset her. Even when it made him feel uncomfortable, he'd smile and say, "only the best for my sister" and get to see her face light up. If older Raven could have seen this, she'd probably have beheaded her younger self out of shame.

Raven's gang found it adorable.

Summer, too.

"It's great you're getting on again but why does Raven keep thanking me as well?" asked Summer.

"I may have told her you had a hand in this."

"Me!? In what way? I couldn't pull off half the stuff you crammed into that thing."

"You gave me the idea of getting her a gift."

"Qrow, I meant, like, combat manuals or a subscription to a weapon magazine." Summer sighed dramatically. "Not a weapon that has to be worth tens of thousands of lien!"

More, technically. Huntsman weapons were obnoxiously expensive when they were sold – which was why 99% of huntsmen made their own. It was the rare breeds like the Schnee family who commissioned weapons from master weaponsmiths, and those were truly marvels of engineering. Beyond that, weapons were mostly bought by expensive collectors like art pieces. Retired huntsmen could actually get quite the retirement package by selling off their gear.

It was mostly down to supply and demand, in that there wasn't much demand because of how many people made their own weapons, and because of how low the numbers of huntsmen were. Plus, everyone had their own specialised style. It wasn't like Ruby could have walked into a shop and asked for where the sniper-rifle-slash-scythe aisle was. In a way, most huntsman weapons were one of a king. You didn't find many shotgun bracelets like Ember Celica. The Arc's weapon was more bread and butter, but even that was of a significantly higher quality than what you'd find in a store.

As for Omen and Harbinger, they might as well be works of art – though neither could be said to be on the level of the rapier the Schnee brat wielded. That thing probably cost several million in materials alone.

Ozpin was generous, but he wasn't made of money.

"So," said Summer. "My birthday is coming up…"

"Are you asking me to build you a weapon?"

"Me and half of Signal right now. And I wasn't asking. I was hinting." Summer rocked on her heels, smiling innocently. "That's different."

Summer wasn't the first to ask if he could make them a weapon. A couple of older kids near graduation had approached him and asked if he took commissions. They'd been polite about it, and he'd said he'd even consider some requests if they could provide materials and some money for him. They couldn't rely on Ozpin's generosity forever.

He didn't have part-time blacksmith on his "time-travel bingo card" but it wasn't like he lacked for time. There was another year and a bit before they could head for Beacon, so why not build up some funds? Also, his weapons might help them survive, and he knew they needed as many huntsmen as possible in the future.

So, while Summer wasn't the first to ask, she was the first to try and tease one out of him for free.

"Talk about cheek," he said. Summer kept grinning. "I don't think I should make you a weapon."

"What? Why not!?"

"Because your taste in weapons is awful."

"Whaaat!?" Summer reeled back. "It is not!"

"What's the coolest weapon?"

"An axe."

On the other side of Summer, Raven choked on breakfast.

"See!" Qrow pointed. "Awful taste."

"Axes are cool!"

"Axes are not cool," coughed Raven, thumping her chest. "Swords are cool. Right, guys?"

Raven's gang agreed – and not just because she'd told them to. They were teenagers. Swords were, factually, the coolest thing in the world to any teenager. It wasn't just fact – it was statistic. There were more huntsmen using swords than any other weapon. Unless you lumped "gun" into one weapon type, because obviously most mechashift weapons had some form of gun attachment on them.

Even then, no one thought guns were cooler than swords. They just knew guns were useful.

"An axe is just a sharp lump of metal on a stick," said Raven.

"Well, a sword is just a sharp lump of metal!" Summer fired back. "It's overused and overrated! How an anything be cool when three-quarters of the school has it? Yawn." Summer both said the word and faked a yawn. "Talk about boring. I guess you're just too unimaginative to stray from the crowd. I never pegged Raven Branwen for a conformist."

Raven slammed a fist down on the table and shoved her face into Summer's personal space. "You want to go, bitch!?"

Summer pushed back, the two girls nose to nose, growling like wolves.

"Last time we went, I knocked your ass through a window and beat you black and blue." Summer slowly enunciated, "Bitch."

Qrow sighed.

Raven howled.

"CAT FIGHT!" someone a table over screamed.

Like every school ever, the cafeteria of Signal was quick to gather and form a circle around Raven and Summer as they wrestled, spat, and bit on the floor. This being a school for huntsmen and huntresses, the fight was both more brutal and less dangerous than it would have otherwise been. It wasn't unusual to see kids actually going at one another with butter knives, steel trays and wooden chairs and coming away with little more than bruises.

It certainly wasn't the first time Raven had been in such a brawl, nor would it be the last. It was the first time Summer had, however. He was surprised at how good of a showing she was giving, and mildly amused at the same time. Though the teachers would disagree, he felt it was probably a good thing she was willing to engage in a fight and not weep over her grandfather.

Summer was moving on.

His smile faded when he heard ripping fabric followed by hoots, whistles, and the snap of scrolls.

Qrow waded into the fight and pushed them apart, then swept off his school jacket and tossed it to his sister to hold over her chest. Summer glanced down at the fistful of white shirt she had in her hands and said, "Whoops."

Raven growled behind him.

"Fair warning!" shouted Qrow. "I so much as see one photo of my sister's bra and I'll not just hunt you down. I'll offer to make free weapons for whoever brings me your balls. The upper years will be lining up to castrate you."

That certainly wasn't going to stop some of them saving the images for later. Qrow memorised the boys with scrolls out and made a mental note to "slip" in combat class and drive a practice sword down between their legs.

Accidents happened, after all.

"Axes are better, though…"

"Summer. Shut up or I'll not make you one."

Summer smiled cheekily and made a zipping motion across her lips.

This was convincing Ruby to pick a sensible weapon all over again.

He'd lost that fight, too.

/-/

"I hear you've become something of a local celebrity," said Ozpin, on one of their occasional meetings. These were less suspicious and more mandated by law, with Ozpin having to come as their guardian for teacher-parent conferences and then talk to them after.

He'd already met with Raven for the last hour or so, and Summer before that. He was, technically speaking, all three of their guardians now, which wasn't a great feeling but also wasn't exactly a problem. Better Ozpin than Leonardo.

"It's just a bit of part-time work. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Not at all." Ozpin chuckled. "Many students coming into Beacon squirrel away their funds partying and enjoying their independence. It'll be good for you to have a source of income."

"Tell me about it. I'm looking forward to being able to go out and get drunk."

Ozpin winced. "I'd really hoped we'd broken you out of that."

"Maybe you would have if my drinking were entirely out of trauma and not because I didn't enjoy it." Years being teetotal had not robbed him of that longing. "Besides, I'll be legal then. Nothing you can do to stop me."

"Unless you cause trouble while drunk."

"I know how to handle my alcohol."

"As if that isn't a worrying statement." Ozpin sighed. "Just be careful. I'd hate to see such a talented future squandered through alcohol. It destroys people, Mr Branwen, and you have so much potential – be that as a huntsman or a weaponsmith."

"It'll be as a huntsman. The smithing is just favours. Honestly, I wouldn't do it at all if I didn't know refusing would just make people pushier. It's easier to set limits and prices. At least then they can go off and try to gather the materials and money and stop bothering me. Six or so hours in the forge is less time than I'd spend dealing with their begging."

"True. That much is true. You should start branding your works," Ozpin said. "Even if you don't intend to make a business out of it, they are good weapons. You should put your name on them."

"Qroworks?"

Ozpin winced. "If that is what you decide."

"Nah, I'm joking with you." Qrow laughed. "Yeah, I'll consider making Branwen Works an official name or something. Just as long as I don't get hassled by people coming from other schools and stuff."

"I doubt that will be a problem. If needs be, I can always assist in making a webpage for you. As you say, having clear pricing and requirements will stop people feeling the need to come bother you in public. But that's not the only reason I came today." Ozpin leaned forward. "Did you know the Vytal Festival is taking place soon?"

"No shit? Really?" He hadn't actually kept track. This was still before he and Raven left the tribe, so he wouldn't even be able to use future knowledge to gamble on the winner. Damn shame. "Where is it? It's not in Vale, is it? I figure I'd have heard if it was."

"No, no. Signal would arrange a field trip to watch it if it was. It's in Mistral this year. I'm obviously going in my role as combat instructor of Beacon, and I was wondering if you, your sister, and Miss Rose wanted to come along. I'll obviously ask them personally later, but I thought I'd best check with you first."

Huh. He hadn't expected that. There didn't seem to be any great reason for Ozpin to bring them other than to keep an eye on them, so maybe he was just offering to be nice or to keep in their good books. Or maybe he thought they might like to check in on the orphanage. Which, now that he thought about it, wasn't a bad idea at all. It'd be nice to see the matrons and assure them they were doing well.

Hanging out together would also cement him, Raven, and Summer as better friends too. They were already peas in a pod, but he really didn't want to take any risks on ending up on different teams. The only one missing was Taiyang.

"Do all the schools do field trips if it's in their kingdom?" he asked.

"Hm? Normally, yes. It's no formal agreement but it is a great waste not to let students see such a monumental event if it's happening on your doorstep. I expect both Haven and Sanctum will have their students in attendance. The next time it's in Vale won't be until the three of you are in Beacon."

"I'll look forward to competing, then."

Ozpin smiled. "I'll look forward to that as well. So, are you interested?"

"Absolutely. I mean, Raven would murder me if I said no to this."

That wasn't the only reason, though. If Sanctum were going, then that would be a chance to try and find Taiyang. He didn't know his best friend went there, but he didn't go to Signal. That only left three other pre-schools, so he had a 33% chance of finding him. Honestly, it was more a 50% chance because he definitely knew Taiyang wasn't from Atlas. Not with his personality. You didn't grow up in Atlas and not have a stick shoved up your ass.

He could really be from Vacuo, though. He has the skin tone, and he always was a hardy fucker. Still, it's worth a shot to try and find him and it's not like people born in Vacuo can't go to school in Sanctum.

And Raven really would kill him if he said no.

"When is it?" he asked. "Do we need to prepare?"

"I'm giving you a week's notice and I can have some suitcases delivered to you both. I won't have all the time in the world free for you as I need to do a lot of official work, but I'll be attending with a host of students from Beacon. Our own competitors. You're more than welcome to share their part of the stands. I'll have a hotel room made up for you all. You'll get a room to yourself since I don't think it wise to have you sleep with Miss Rose."

"I'm not into her like that."

Ozpin chuckled. "I meant not wise from how people would look at me for allowing it. I'm your guardian after all. I'm expected to take care of these things."

"Ah. Fair enough. Guess it'll be cool to have a room of my own. Why a hotel, though? Don't people stay at the school? I figured everyone would be boarding at Haven."

"Beacon's competitors will be. That doesn't really cover you all – and while I'm sure you wouldn't cause any trouble by interrupting classes, can the same be said for your sister and Miss Rose?"

"Yeaaah. Probably not."

"My thoughts exactly." Ozpin laughed. "I'll let them know the good news, then. I hope you'll take the chance to network. You might be surprised at the people you meet there, and they could well become your future teammates in Beacon."

That was the point.

Qrow had a himbo to hunt down.

/-/

"Vytal Festival! Vytal Festival!"

It was all Raven and Summer would talk about for days. It reminded Qrow darkly of Christmas Eve at the Xiao Long-Rose home when Ruby and Yang would wake him up on the hour, every hour, asking him if it was Christmas yet, except that these two were a lot less forgivable since they were neither that young nor that cute.

"Is it time yet?"

"No."

"Is it time yet?"

"No."

"Is it—"

"Raven, I will donate your sword to charity."

"No!" Raven wrapped her arms and legs around the weapon and clung to it like a barnacle. "Don't touch Qromen."

"Raven, you're not calling it Qromen. Just call it Omen."

"But you made it so you should be remembered for it."

"Can I be remembered in a way that doesn't butcher my name?"

"Well, Summer suggested I call it Bromen."

"Raven, no."

"Don't you mean Nomen?

Qrow groaned. He'd almost forgotten how easy it was to blame Taiyang for making Yang into a horrible pun-wielding monster, but it was all coming back that Raven had been just as bad when she'd been younger.

A thumping came at the door, and it slammed open.

"It's time!" Summer yelled.

"Miss Rose, please," said Ozpin, relegated to dragging her case behind him. "People are trying to slee—"

"IT'S TIME!" yelled Raven. "HELLS YES!"

Ozpin sighed. "Well, they were trying to sleep. Come along, then. With any luck we'll be able to sleep on the flight over. And no, Mr Branwen, there isn't any alcohol on the in-flight service. Your options are soda and water."

"Boo."

Ozpin forced Summer's suitcase back into her hand and motioned for them to follow. They already had theirs ready for several days, courtesy of Raven being so excited that she'd forced him to pack his own three days early, all because she was afraid he'd leave it too late and somehow miss the flight for them.

The taxi ride to the ferry involved hm and Ozpin sat in the back with eyes closed, doing their best to ignore Summer and Raven arguing and excitedly chatting about the fights, and then a two-hour ferry to Vale in which Summer and Raven chased each other across the deck as Qrow longingly watched a sailor drinking some booze.

Once they reached Vale, they took a quick flight to Beacon before finally meeting up with the many students, all ready for the much-longer flight across to Mistral. There were two other teachers coming along, including the headmaster of Beacon, a rather worn-looking man who left most of the organisational things to Ozpin.

The man was probably "in the know" when it came to Ozpin and Salem. Oz tended to keep his closest teachers and colleagues informed, especially if they were to take over. He obviously needed his next host to be offered a job. Glynda had been primed for that, ready to become headmistress had Beacon not fallen, and to run the school until a young boy called Oscar would have gotten in touch and given her a passcode. At which point he'd have been recruited to Beacon or hired as staff, depending on his age.

Ozpin had a system that had been running for several hundred years without issue.

And it'd run for another twenty or so before shit went wrong.

Something I'd best put a stop to.

"Mmmm." Raven made a strangled noise beside him and ducked behind Qrow. He turned, spotting Nicholas Arc stood a small distance away with his team. "It's him," his sister squeaked.

Another something I'd best put a stop to, thought Qrow.

"Maybe you should crush on someone closer to our age—"

"I'm not crushing on him!" she hissed, then stammered. "B—Besides, he's not that much older than me."

Summer snorted.

"All right, everyone!" shouted Ozpin. "Form a line. We need to do a headcount and I swear if anyone gets on before being counted, we will have everyone out to start over again. Yes, Mr Granite, that means you. Cease your edging toward the stairs. Miss Petal, thank you for the public display of affection with your teammate but if you could stop sucking his face off for one moment, we can begin. And I shall remind you all that dust must be securely sealed and contained in the hold. Securely sealed," he stressed. "I do not want a repeat of the Forever Fall field trip where a certain team who will not be named caused the hold to explode and down a Bullhead. If you believe you need to double-check your dust, do so right now, because if not I will ensure you swim home."

Qrow had taken the time to make sure Raven's was secure so that wasn't a problem. The funny thing was that dust was actually a lot cheaper right now anyway – or it felt that way to him, since he'd had to content with almost thirty extra years of inflation and then a dust shortage. The prices had more than tripled compared to what it was now.

Once they were on the flight, Raven and Summer's excitement finally caught up with them and they passed out in their seats, leaning on one another with Summer's head on Raven's shoulder, and Raven's head resting atop Summer's. Qrow snapped a silent picture. Things like this… They were happy memories he'd given up on ever seeing again, and there were so many from Beacon that he'd just never thought to immortalise. They'd thought themselves immortal, that they could never be broken as a team.

He knew better now.

"You should get some sleep as well," said Ozpin. "We'll be arriving in the early hours of the morning. The festival will begin in five days, the tournament in seven. Can I trust the three of you alone in Mistral or should I seek a chaperone?"

"We'll be fine."

Ozpin stared at him.

Qrow sighed. "I'll keep an eye on them."

That was enough. Ozpin nodded. "Thank you. I'm sure you'll all be safe in the city given your resourcefulness and skills, but I still don't enjoy abandoning children your age to their own devices. Would that I could have someone look after you. However, everyone will be busy settling the students from Beacon in."

"That's fine. We'll be okay."

"Any plans?" he asked.

"Probably just to look around but I do plan to visit the orphanage and tell them we're okay." If he could, he'd be getting himself a drink as well. There had to be some shady bars willing to pretend they thought he was seventeen. "I might try and find the huntress who picked us up, too. See how she's doing."

"That sounds like something I could help with."

"No rush, old man. I know you're busy."

"Only for the first day or so. Things will calm down for me. Though I do have to meet with Nicholas Schnee." That was a name Qrow hadn't expected to hear. "We're agreeing a new deal for dust and his daughter is soon to become a huntress."

Willow Schnee, huh? Qrow hadn't thought much of the woman who in the future would become a drunkard housewife. He hadn't even realised she was huntress trained. At this point, Jacques Schnee wouldn't be a thing. Qrow had never cared for history, but he thought she got married after he died. Something about the business not doing well and Jacques stepping in to save it. Albeit not in a way that the faunus would appreciate.

"Is she coming to Beacon?"

"I don't think so, though her mind wasn't made up from when last I met her." Ozpin shrugged. "I expect she will go to Atlas, however. Having the daughter of an influential businessman go to an academy in another kingdom could cost Atlas a little reputation on the global stage. It makes people wonder what's wrong with their academy – which isn't good for Beacon, either. The academies are not in competition despite what people may think. We all want one another to succeed, and we cooperate on just about everything."

"It's humans against the Grimm at the end of the day."

Ozpin nodded, pleased with his response. "It is. We are all fighting on the same side, and these petty rivalries and issues only weaken us. Still, it will ultimately be Miss Schnee's choice where she does or doesn't go. I won't try and influence her if it harms Atlas."

Qrow grunted, and wondered whether Ironwood was much of a thing yet. He was probably a snot-nosed brat in the military at this point. And Winter Schnee hadn't even been conceived. Damn shame there. He'd always liked teasing her.

I get to come back and have Summer and Raven, but it sucks how many people I'm now missing the other way around.

He sat back, sighed, and thought back on times with Ruby and Yang.

They may not exist yet, but they would in time.

And this time, he'd be an even better uncle than he was before, and they'd grow up with a mother. Both their mothers. Things would be better for them and for everyone. Beacon would stand, Cinder would fall – or even be removed from the board early, steered away from Salem – and things would go back to how they were supposed to be.

He'd make sure of it.

Next Chapter: 10th February

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