Here we go.

Chapter 6

Talk about flying too close to the sun – Qrow wasn't sure if he should be elated or horrified. Ozpin was here in what was so blatant a recruitment attempt that Qrow sometimes wondered how Ruby never realised it, and it was both everything he wanted and everything he didn't. A one-way trip to Beacon and the attention of the future headmaster would be ideal, but getting bumped ahead like Ruby had would be a disaster.

He couldn't lose this chance to form Team STRQ and save Summer.

That left him now in the particularly awkward situation of not wanting to interest Ozpin too much for fear of being recruited early, but also not wanting to fail to meet his expectations so badly that the man dismissed them. It was a delicate balance, and if anyone knew anything about him normally, they'd have told you that "balance" and "Qrow Branwen" didn't belong in the same sentence together, not unless it was a sentence about how he'd gotten drunk and lost his balance.

Ah man, not this delicate cloak and dagger shit. I'm no good at this…

And against possibly the most paranoid man in existence, too. Barring General Ironwood, of course, but the less said about Jimmy Irondick the better. If he so much as set off a single red flag in Ozpin's mind, it'd never be forgotten. Ozpin would dig and dig and dig until he either found something – which he wouldn't – or until he came up with his own, flawed, explanation for what was going on. This was going to be a problem. A serious problem.

"Hello there," said Ozpin, smiling in that crinkle-eyed way that made you believe he had your best interests at heart. Ozpin typically did, and wasn't a bad guy, but knowing a lot of it was put on and now being the target of it, as a child no less, was all kinds of wrong.

"Hey," said Qrow, waving awkwardly. "I'm Qrow. This is Raven."

"Who the fuck are you?" asked – well, it was more of a demand really – Raven. "You're interrupting my party."

"Our party," said Qrow.

"Our party – and my cake!"

"Our cake."

"Fuck off, Qrow. You won the tournament and I win the cake. That's how it works."

"Is it? I really don't think it is…"

"It's called sharing. Look it up."

Oh, good lord he was being lectured on saving by his bandit sister. The irony was almost delicious enough to distract him from the manipulative man watching. Almost. Ozpin was smiling, deeply amused by Raven's antics, and maybe that could work to his advantage.

As agonising as Raven's mannerisms were to the matrons trying to get her to treat everyone else nicely, they were pretty damn funny to a cynical adult like Oz. To Qrow, too, though he constantly had to worry about her falling to the "dark side" as Yang would have put it. A lot of people like them found Raven's brutalism funny in such a small child. A little sad, but undeniably funny. Ozpin's attention was immediately drawn to her, even as he stifled a smile.

"My name is Ozpin. I am a teacher at the Beacon Academy of Huntsmen in Vale. Specifically, I am the combat instructor there, and I had the pleasure of watching your display in the tournament. If I may ask, where did you learn such skills?"

"Parents taught us," said Raven.

"And where are they now?"

Raven looked away and Qrow felt a quick surge of anger. "Seriously?" he asked. "We're in an orphanage. Take a guess."

Oops. He hadn't meant to snap that hard, or swear, but Ozpin could sometimes be so freaking dense with his questions. Or maybe that was the point of it. People were oftentimes more honest when they were angry, and he might have suspected they'd been planted there by Salem. Yeah, sure, because Salem regularly recruits people our age. I guess Cinder must have been young when she was recruited. Huh. I wonder if I should do something about that. Would she even be alive yet? Hard to say. He hadn't gotten her real age, but if she was alive then she'd be a baby.

"I apologise. That was careless of me. I meant to ask how they— ah, let us not talk about that. Your performance at the tournament raised a few eyebrows. It's hardly the professional leagues but those fighting weren't complete amateurs either. You both handled yourselves very well. Have you ever faced Grimm before?"

"No," said Raven, answering for them. That saved Qrow having to lie. "But we've seen them before. Seen other people fight them."

"Not always well," said Qrow. "No one was a proper huntsman with aura."

"That makes them even stronger for having done it without," argued Raven.

Qrow rolled his eyes and remained silent.

"I see." Ozpin might have been crafting his own backstory for them in his head. "Am I to assume then that your aura unlocked naturally?"

"Qrow unlocked mine," said Raven. "He's been teaching me."

Thanks Ray.

Really helpful.

He almost wanted to shove his cake into her mouth to shut her up, but the damage was already done, and Ozpin looked surprised. Intrigued, too.

Great. Qrow shrugged and tried to cut it off at the pass. "We got stuck out in the winter on our own and nearly froze to death. I think mine unlocked there and I kinda just shoved it into Raven. As for teaching her, it's just been telling her what worked for me and having her do it. It feels instinctual but it's not always perfect. Sometimes hits get through."

"That's to be expected when you're first learning aura control. Aura is the soul, so it is instinctual to a degree, but that is sometimes to your detriment. It can rise and fall with tension, like a flinch, and a proper huntsman needs to know how to keep it up fully, or when and how to let it drop to conserve aura."

Being lectured when you were an honest-to-goodness teacher wasn't fun. Qrow could have recited all of that and more back at Ozpin, but he had to stomach it and nod his head like he was grateful for the advice. He hadn't thought unlocking Raven's aura would be an issue because he'd assumed they wouldn't be running into Ozpin until he was seventeen, at which point it wouldn't be seen as a big deal. The best laid plans and all that.

"We're doing our best," said Qrow. "It's trial and error."

"As I've heard. Training every morning, isn't it? The matron seems quite calm about it all, so I suppose you've been doing that for a while now. Tell me, do you plan to apply for the huntsman academies once you're older?"

"That's the plan!" cheered Raven. "Qrow said we should catch some eyes to get invited into Sanctum early. Get a spooner."

"Sponsor," mumbled Qrow.

"Yeah, that. They were chumps, though. What the fuck? I thought huntsmen would be tougher."

Ozpin chuckled. "I can assure you that our students in Signal are tougher than those you faced in the amateur leagues. While there are plenty of students who take part in tournaments, they tend to be on the professional side of things. Then there are those like you faced, who don't attend any academy and have no interest in becoming huntsmen. For them, it's just about the fame of the tournaments and trying to earn a living that way. Most of them aren't interested in what we do, and most huntsmen aren't interested in wasting their time fighting for an audience."

There were always a few who straddled the line, like that Pyrrha girl, but even they tended to pick one or the other and quit the latter. Pyrrha had chosen to go to Beacon and dropped her career as a tournament fighter, which went to show she was serious about the job.

Occasionally you'd get someone down on luck, money, or injured, who would sign up for a tournament to patch a hole in their finances, but it was seen as a bit of an embarrassing thing to do, and no one really liked it. It was like a professional sportsman turning up at a park to play against teenagers. Of course you were going to win, but you wouldn't feel proud about it.

"I just wanna fight," said Raven. "I wanna be strong."

"The strength to protect yourself and others around you is noble," said Ozpin, perhaps misinterpreting Raven's motives just a little bit. He must have seen her as a traumatised child who didn't want to lose everything a second time. "I think it is a good thing to aim for, but practicing with sticks in the back garden of an orphanage isn't going to give the two of you much opportunity to improve. I would hate to see such potential squandered."

Here they went. Qrow couldn't decide between excitement or fear. This would either be the perfect offer, or the worst offer, or – and more likely – it would be perfect for now with the potential to blow up in his face later.

"How would the two of you like a chance to study and live at Signal?"

/-/

Raven had the window seat and was staring out at the clouds and the ocean below with open wonder. It was the first time she'd ever been off the ground, which was amusing to him given that in the future she'd have the power of flight like he did. Assuming things went the same way, anyway. Qrow planned for them to. He may have been lying to and trying to stop Ozpin recruiting them now, but the reality was that he fully intended to side with Ozpin in the long term. He'd just be doing at his pace, and with a hopefully much stronger Team STRQ at his side. Hopefully with Raven staying too, and the four of them being a bulwark against Salem so that his nieces could have safer lives.

Ozpin had not technically adopted them. No one had. They were still orphans, but they were now orphans being given a chance to transfer in and study at Signal on the orphan recruitment scheme. It included a scholarship and lodging at Signal, which Qrow had seen a few times in his time teaching there.

The lodges weren't always for orphans, either. Sometimes they were for children of disadvantaged families who couldn't make it back each evening. They'd board at Signal for weeks or months and go home for the holidays – or sometimes go home for the weekends and study weekdays. Signal always did its best to be accommodating since the world needed more huntsmen and huntresses.

"I hope you're not too upset to be leaving the orphanage behind," said Ozpin. He handed them some drinks bought from a trolley, and a packet of chocolate sweets each as well. It was hard not to think that manipulative, even if Qrow knew he was a good guy all round and was probably just doing it to spoil the poor orphans.

You won my niece over with cookies and dragged her into Beacon early. Ugh. Now I'm becoming the paranoid one. Sheesh.

Qrow still wasn't entirely over the Ruby thing, even if it hadn't been enough to make him hate Ozpin. Like all people, their relationship had its ups and its downs. They'd agreed fundamentally on Salem, the Grimm, Vale and Beacon, and Ozpin wasn't the kind of guy to demand more than that. Qrow had always thought it a sign that he wasn't brainwashed like Raven said that he could – and did – argue back with Ozpin plenty of times. Ruby had been the closest they'd ever come to an actual fight, though.

"We weren't there that long," said Qrow. "It's a shame, sure, but I think the matrons were happy for us." He lowered his voice. "And happier still to see Raven go."

Ozpin's eyes sparkled. "Your sister garnered quite the reputation with them. I hope she realises her actions will prompt reactions in Signal. It's a combat school, so the students are quite capable of sticking up for themselves. They're encouraged to."

"Eh. That's probably what she needs. Someone to beat her into her place."

"What did you say?" asked Raven.

"I said you'll beat people into their place at Signal, Ray."

"Heh. Damn right!"

Qrow cracked open the can of soda and took a drink. He wished he could get a drink, but it'd be one of those stupidly small and overpriced bottles sold on flights. Also, it'd be illegal. Damn it. Did Patch have any dodgy bars serving underage kids? He wished he'd asked Yang because she'd have sure as hell known where to find such places – not that she'd have admitted it to him. He guessed he'd have to have a look around in his own time.

I wonder if Taiyang lived on Patch before Beacon. Don't think I ever asked. If he's at Signal now then I could meet him early. Qrow felt his stomach flip at the thought. He didn't know where Summer went either. Him and Raven had gone straight to Beacon, and they'd kind of been a little wild. Not a pair who really engaged in conversation or cared about people's pasts or getting to know them.

Come to think of it, there was a lot he didn't know about Taiyang and Summer. A lot he'd never cared to ask. He loved them both, obviously, but their pasts before Beacon were pretty much unknown. It never seemed like anything important to him since the past was the past, and you couldn't change the past. The irony wasn't lost on him.

"Will we have missed out on a lot of work?" asked Qrow, if only because the silence was growing, and he felt that might be a bit suspicious.

"The teachers there will help you catch up. You needn't worry."

"You're not a teacher there?" He knew the answer, but it sounded childish enough to ask. Ozpin smiled.

"I'm afraid not. I work at Beacon, the next stage on your education, but you won't be going there until you're both seventeen. Or before if you excel." He'd be sure not to. "But I can assure you that the teachers at Signal are very talented and experienced huntsmen and huntresses, and they know what they are doing. Your timing in the year might be unusual, but cases like yours are not. They have helped many talented young people catch up with their peers."

"Yeah. That sounds doable."

/-/

Their flight landed first in Vale, and then they had to take another shorter one to Patch where they landed town in an island town that looked at once both familiar and unfamiliar. Some of the landmarks he'd gotten used to were there, but others weren't. Most painfully, though he couldn't have seen it from so far, was knowing that the home built by Taiyang and Summer, and inhabited by his darling nieces, would just be a rough patch of grass and moss. Qrow didn't think he could see it without breaking down, and he sure as hell wasn't going to visit the site of Summer's future grave. Houses could be rebuilt. Would be rebuilt. He'd make sure they had their home again – and this time Summer would be there to watch her children grow up. Qrow swore it.

When they reached Signal, Qrow was surprised to find a whole wing missing from how he remembered it. Must have been something built a few years from now. It wasn't as big as Beacon, but it ironically had more students than Beacon did. It was utilitarian in design, basically being three big rectangles arranged in a u-shape with training fields off to the back, a lawn area out front, and a metal-link fence around the whole complex.

hat was meant more to keep Grimm out, or at least to slow them down, than it was to keep the children in, but it hadn't stopped some parents in his time for complaining that the place looked like a prison. As if prisons had a literal front entrance left open for the inmates to walk out of whenever they wanted. There was no pleasing some people, and parents to young kids could be the actual worst.

They were met at the entrance by an old woman Qrow absolutely didn't recognise, and a younger woman he thought he might have. She had long blonde hair a shade lighter than Yang's, was dressed in Signal's custom blue skirt and black blazer over white shirt uniform, and had a pair of narrow, grey-framed glasses in front of her green eyes. She was maybe a year or two older than them, and pretty damn pretty. He still didn't think sixteen was old enough for him to be interested in, but she was close to adulthood.

"Julianna," said Ozpin, stepping forward to shake the old woman's hand. "It's good to see you again. Children, this is Julianna Verdant, the headmistress of Signal." And obviously, she'd left before Qrow got a job there. Not unreasonable since she looked like she might retire in the next ten years or so. "Julianna, this is Qrow and Raven Branwen from Mistral. Did you have a chance to look over the material I sent you?"

"The legalities and the details, yes. I didn't have time to watch the fight but if the combat instructor of Beacon can't differentiate skill from luck then we have bigger problems than two students slipping in." Her smile had Ozpin chuckling. They obviously knew one another. Ozpin did always like having his fingers in as many pies as possible. "And you two. Welcome to Signal. I'm going to go and assume Ozpin has filled you in on anything I could about lessons and what have you. Your new schedules will be sent to you tomorrow, but you won't be joining classes until at least after the weekend. You need to get uniforms first and be tested to see what academic level you're at. I've asked an older student to show you around and to your rooms for the evening. Glynda?"

"Ma'am."

Glynda? Glynda Goodwitch!? Qrow's eyes threatened to bog out as he put the pieces together. Holy shit, the stern and brutal teacher had actually been something of a babe in her teens. Damn. Qrow wondered if he'd have a chance with her on reaching Beacon. He'd be seventeen and she nineteen by then, which would still feel a little creepy but at least would mean they were both on the right side of legal.

"This is Glynda; she'll show you to the main things you need to remember – our cafeteria, your rooms, and the front desk. I'll ask you both not to engage in any combat training until we've had a chance to test you. If you have energy to burn, do it running the track or on the obstacle course out back. Glynda. Are you content to deal with them while I speak with Ozpin?"

"Yes ma'am. Of course. Follow me please."

Qrow shrugged and went with her, idly wondering if Ozpin was already looking at her and thinking what an absolute lifesaver she'd be in the future, or if that realisation wouldn't come until much later. It was still the first time he was seeing someone he knew at a younger age – Ozpin didn't count since he'd been Oscar for a while. It was weird. Weirder still was realising that Glynda had almost certainly been at Beacon when he had, and yet they'd never interacted. Or not to his memory. That wasn't unusual or anything with how many people were taught at Beacon, but it seemed kind of crazy that he'd never known the woman who would go on to be such a pivotal figure.

Glynda pointed them out to places that Qrow had long since memorised. A few of the facilities looked a little older, but they were all in the same places. The only thing he needed to remember was which room was theirs. It was a duo room with two single beds, an en-suite bathroom and a small kitchenette area with a medium-sized fridge already stocked with food and drink. There was no oven because they weren't trusted not to burn the place down (with good reason) but there was a microwave and a kettle, and a dust-powered flameless cooking hob and some pots and pans. The place was designed to have everything they might need, including a single sofa and a small table, and two desks by the beds to do schoolwork on. It was fairly generous all things considered.

"And this will be your rooms. Someone will be along tomorrow to take you out shopping. Do you have any questions for me?"

"N-"

"Yeah," said Raven. "You sure you're a huntress? Because you look weak."

Qrow almost choked. Glynda's left eyebrow rose in that way that looked oh so familiar, and Qrow took a big step aside and held his hands up in a "I didn't say It" kind of way. Ray was standing her ground like the idiot she was. Glynda sighed. "You will see for yourself the strength of your peers in class. I'm afraid I don't have the time to humour children."

Take the hint, Ray. Take the hint.

"Pft. Sounds like something a weakling would say. Just admit you're too much a coward to-bwak!"

Raven's words were cut off as she impacted the floor, pressed down by what likely felt like an impossible weight. Raven was squashed down flat and held there, then lifted and thrown through the air to hit the back wall and fall onto her bed in a crash of pillows. Glynda released a quiet breath, nodded her head, and turned for the door. "Do mind your tongue in future, Miss Branwen. It appears to have a tendency to write checks your ass can't cash."

The door closed behind her.

"I think I'm in love," whispered Qrow, then about-faced and added, "In two or three years when she's more legal…"

"That bitch!" howled Raven, throwing the covers off and racing for the door. Qrow caught her around her midriff before she could yank it open and get her ass handed to her. For his altruistic efforts, he received an elbow to his face. "Let go of me! I'll show that fucking bitch who she's messing with! I'll write a check across her ass in blood!"

"Only if it's your blood, Ray. That's someone who's been at this a lot longer than we have. She has a Semblance as well as aura. That's what threw you across the room." He pushed her back toward her bed, ignoring the way she growled. "Leave it be. You ran your mouth and got smacked down. This isn't like the orphanage. People will fight back here."

"Good! Let them! I'll show them who's the strongest!"

He really did think about talking her down, but Raven had always been stubborn, and he'd always been bad at getting through to her. "Then you can challenge some tomorrow," he said, instead. "But we should make sure you have a proper weapon first, yeah? No point fighting with your fists."

Raven grumbled and mumbled and complained but she did accept the compromise. He had her sit down on the sofa and got to work on some food. As an eternal bachelor, he knew a thing or two about cooking, even if the kitchen was lacking in any razor-sharp knives to cut veg with. Most of it came pre-cut and pre-sliced in bags which was fine by him. He set some onion to caramelise in a pot and fished out some stock and a big rump steak. Raven's mood almost immediately picked up when she smelt it sizzling away.

"What are you making?"

"Beef stew. Nice and thick. Big chunks of steak, too."

Raven danced over and peered over his shoulder, salivating hungrily. "Looks good. But since when do you know how to cook?"

Qrow paused. Good question. He quickly grabbed some salt and pepper and cast it into the pot while he scrambled for an excuse. "I asked one of the matrons to show me at the orphanage. You know, in case we were ever on our own again. She taught me a few recipes. This is going to take a bit, though. You might want to sit down. Unless you want to help?"

"No way." Raven pushed off his back. "Cooking is for girls."

He wasn't sure how to go about that for multiple reasons. Raven's worldview had never been what one would call normal. "Riiight. In that case you can at least grab some bowls for me. No, I don't know what cupboard they're in. Obviously. Have a look around. Sheesh."

"Sheesh yourself! When did you become so domestic?"

"Since I had a useless sister to look after."

Raven slammed the bowls down so hard one cracked. "I'm not useless!"

Qrow hesitated. "Ray?"

"I'm not useless!"

"Okay. Okay. You're not." He watched her jaw clenched tight. "I'm sorry, I meant it as a joke. I meant useless in the kitchen. Not… well, you know. Not a burden. You helped through the winter, remember? We worked together."

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, we did." Raven closed her eyes and then released the bowl. A piece tinkled off, and she stared at it sullenly, mumbling, "Sorry" under her breath. She looked frustrated, with the bowl, with the situation, with herself. "I'm fucking sorry, okay?"

"It's cool. I'll say I dropped it. Grab another? I'll make sure you get some big chunks of steak."

Like Yang at her most petulant, and her most vulnerable, Raven mumbled an "okay" and went back to collecting another bowl. He hadn't realised she was in such a state, or that his words would sting so much.

I need to stop thinking of her as my forty-something bitch of a sister. This is a little girl whose world has come crashing down around her. For fuck's sake, man, have some compassion. Raven wasn't like him. She didn't have his maturity, questionable as it sometimes was, to get through all this. I need to ease her into this.

He spooned out the stew and, as promised, made sure she had some big chunks, along with a nice crusty slice of toasted sourdough. Raven took it silently to the sofa, and Qrow came over after switching appliances on, and took a seat beside her. Then they ate in silence, while he wracked his mind for the right thing to say. Words never had been his strongpoint.

"Look, Ray. I didn't mean-"

"Leave it," she snapped. "It's fine."

"It's obviously not fine if it's bothering you."

"I said it's fine! Leave it be!"

Qrow sighed. "Okay. But just so you know, I didn't mean it like that. You're my sister, okay? We're sticking together. It's what mom and dad would have wanted."

"Yeah, I know. It's done. Let it go." Raven stood, set the bowl down and made for the toilets. "I'm having a bath and going to bed."

/-/

Raven rolled over in her new and overly comfortable bed. It was so different from the bedrolls she and her brother had shared in the tribe. Different and, in her opinion, not necessarily better. They hadn't had a choice, though. Cast out, forced away, and then left to survive. No. Left to die. That they'd survived at all was because they were strong, and because they refused to give up, but then Qrow went and let them be swept away into a fucking orphanage, and now to Signal.

This was better at least. They'd get to fight, learn to use their aura, and grow stronger. But it still felt like Qrow was the one making all the decisions. It was him deciding to leave the tribe, him who killed Balmung, and him who outed them to the team from Mistral, and then him who concocted the plan for the tournament which, surprise-surprise, had only gone and fucking worked exactly as he wanted it to. That wasn't bad. They'd got what they wanted.

It just rubbed her the wrong way that yet again he was the one to decide it.

Because if Qrow could do all that, and if he could defend them, and he could hunt for food, and he could sew and repair their clothing over the winter, and if he could make them a shelter to hide in, and if he could unlock her aura, and now if he could fucking cook as well? What was left for her to do? What was she needed for? What was she good for?

Nothing.

That was the answer. She was good for fucking nothing, and only alive today because her brother kept doing everything for her. Raven scrunched up under the covers and buried her weak fucking eyes in the sheets so they would stop fucking leaking everywhere. Weaklings cried. Weaklings like the fully grown adults who had surrendered to her in the raid, and who never even tried to fight her, and weaklings like those who couldn't fight for their place in the world.

I'm not weak, she told herself. Just because Qrow is strong doesn't mean I'm weak. I'm just… I just need to catch up. That's all. Qrow is the strongest and I'm second strongest. But that'll change. I'll train harder and fight better, and then he'll have to rely on me for a change!

She would show him.

"I'm not useless…" whispered Raven, gripping the sheets tight. "I'm strong. I'm the strongest. I'll be the strongest." Her eyes watered. "No matter what."

Next Chapter: 4th November

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