#dan effuiller

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon Qrow—Thundersnow

[Link to Masterpost]

[Apparently I didn’t post the last few chapters on Tumblr? Use the masterpost to make sure you don’t miss anything]

[tw for sexual assault mention]

They all knew—everyone knew he was weak, that he wouldn't fight back—the crowd pressed in and he recoiled, curling away—one of them grabbed his arm and he choked back a scream—

"Qrow, Qrow, it's me, it's okay, it's me," Summer's voice cracked as the hand tightened and he dared to look out through his arms. Tears trickled across her cheeks as she stared down at him, wide-eyed.

Summer… Summer wouldn't hurt him.

"H-help."

"Okay. Okay, let's get out of here." She eased him back to his feet and the crowd let them through easily.

Gods, he wanted to throw up.

The main doors were at the other end of the hall, and she guided him into the shadow of the arch leading out to the balcony. "Are you okay?" she rasped, sitting next to him on the stone bench.

He really didn't want to open his mouth.

She wiped at her face, smearing the dark makeup on her cheek and hand. "I don't—I don't know how he could do that!"

His stomach rebelled and he pressed his hands against his mouth, fighting for control.

"What's—how do I help?"

Qrow leaned on her shoulder, the way she leaned on his when they both had nightmares, and she let go of his arm to pull him into a hug. When she didn't pull away, he held her back and waited for his stomach to stop churning and lungs to start working again.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?"

What good would that do? He shook his head.

"…Qrow… where you were… before… did someone ever…?"

He shook his head before she could finish. "N-not me. Or Raven."

"…But… others."

"I d-don't want to think about it."

Summer nodded and released him, standing before offering her hand with a bright, warm smile. "Dance with me."

"H-huh?"

"Distraction!" she declared, taking his hands and tugging him back to his feet. Her fingers tangled with his as her other hand reached for his bad shoulder—he flinched, expecting pain, but the touch was too light. She snatched her arm back anyway and her left hand tightened on his reassuringly. "Oh no, I'm so sorry—did I—"

"N-no—I just—you startled me."

She nodded, relieved, and placed her hand on his hip instead, mirroring him. Not exactly proper form, but she... it mattered to her. "Okay. Focus on your footwork. Left goes first."

"But I—"

"Just follow my lead," she said, stepping back and drawing him with her like being pulled by a current. Being right-handed, though, he stepped forward with his right foot and they immediately stumbled a half step before correcting with the ease of trained warriors. "Left right left, right left right, left right left, right left right, hey, you're not bad at this."

"Y-you say that like you're surprised," he mumbled through half a smile. She was right, the monotonous movement was helping. So was the fact that she wasn't pinning him against her and dragging him around the room with Semblance-enhanced strength.

Focus.

"No! I meant—I didn't expect you to know how to dance. Is that something a lot of farmhands do?"

"…Had to keep ourselves entertained somehow." Farmhands did, in fact, dance. Bandits usually did not. "But I learned from the man who trained us. He said it would improve our footwork while fighting."

Summer laughed. "My mom did too! It must be an Anima thing." She was almost as good as Bones, but of course she didn't have several stolen lifetimes of experience. And far better than Raven—his sister didn't have a strength Semblance but she tended to drag people around too.

She stepped back, bowing with a little flourish that he recognized, and responded in kind. When they pulled back together the steps were far more intricate, including the half-beats as well. They were clearly both rusty at the more complicated Mistrali dance but it was easy to adjust when one of them tripped up.

Flurries started to fall, but the balcony wasn't too icy yet.

"I'm pretty sure that's not traditional," Tai teased as they creatively returned to the correct rhythm, and they quickly slowed to a stop. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…" he swallowed. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

Tai blinked, his eyebrows knitting together. "…Why?"

"D-dan's your friend."

Both of them started at him, mouths hanging open. What—why weren't they mad until he—

"Not any-fucking-MORE," Summer screamed at a whisper.

"My friends don't treat anyone that way. Especially not my other friends."

"But I—"

"Repeat after me," she demanded, resting her fists against her hips in an eerily Professor Mesánychta-y way. "I. Deserve. To be. Treated. Better."

He swallowed another wave of nausea. "It doesn—"

"I. Deserve. To be. Treated. Better."

Raven poked her head around the column behind them, wide-eyed and knife half drawn. Summer and Tai followed his gaze, and she didn't quite manage to get it hidden in time.

"You're still carrying—" Summer buried her face in one hand. "Is that why you wanted long sleeves?"

"Yes," she said immediately, clearly relieved to have an excuse that had nothing to do with keeping her wrists covered, but Summer sighed deeply and she faltered. "…No?"

"Raven, I just got three months of detention for punching that shi—"

"If you stab somebody it'll be a lot worse!"

She leaned back defensively. "They have auras."

Summer gave another long-suffering sigh and beckoned her over. "Come on, group hug."

"I'm okay."

"That's an order from your team leader."

Raven had never disobeyed a direct order, and it was probably that habit that convinced her to join in the hug.

The world lit up white, followed by a muffled thump, and the four of them stared upwards at the snow.

"Is that lightning? In winter?" Raven asked as the sky flashed again.

"Thundersnow," Tai said, brushing snow from his bangs. "Only happens in Vale, something to do with warm air from the Emerald Forest. Isn't it pretty?"

Other students—especially ones from other Kingdoms—began to join them out on the balcony, all staring out at the storm together.

Qrow stared down at his feet. My friends don't treat anyone that way.

What would they do when they found out he was a murderer?

Next Chapter: Summer—Special Request

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #qrow branwen #summer rose #taiyang xiao long #raven branwen #dan effuiller #zelenia mesánychta #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—A Glass of Punch

[Link to Masterpost]

[Apparently I didn’t post the last few chapters on Tumblr? Use the masterpost to make sure you don’t miss anything]

[tw for sexual assault]

The dance was… kind of boring. Though, after the Halloween party, boring wasn't so bad.

Tai surveyed the ballroom. Dan had texted him that he'd see him there—twice—and it was a little surprising he hadn't tried to talk to him yet. Maybe he'd changed his mind?

...Or maybe he found someone else . There he was, over in the corner, slow dancing with another guy, and it was like a stone weight lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't expected to feel so… relieved. Guess I should just break up with him properly and be done with it.

Dan noticed him staring and smiled, tightening his arm around the small of his partner's back.

Prick. Tai smiled back with a small wave. ...Should he try to warn the guy…? Dan wasn't in the best place right now, and he didn't envy whoever—

He jumped back to his feet, something like an electric charge arcing through him and made a beeline toward the pair, pushing past other couples in a straight line across the dance floor. " What the hell are you doing?! "

Dan scoffed. " You broke up with me . You don't get a say in who I dance with."

"I do when you've treated him like shit all year!" Tai snapped, reaching for Dan's arm, but the asshole stepped back and dragged Qrow along with him. Qrow stumbled, nearly falling, and Dan wrenched him upright again.

"Let him go," Tai said, hands curling into fists. He could almost feel fire curling around them.

"He wants to be with me," Dan purred, dropping Qrow's hand to grab the back of his neck and kiss him full on the mouth.

Tai seized him by the necktie, dragging him off, and as soon as his nose came into view Tai's right fist connected with it. He screamed and clutched his face—Tai yanked him closer, shaking him. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

He wailed pathetically, still clutching his nose.

"XIAO LONG! DROP HIM!" Tai did, without thinking, and Dan staggered back into a table before sprawling onto the floor. Professor Mesánychta was angrier than he'd ever seen her. "You've always been a troublemaker, Xiao Long, but I thought you were better than this. Your father—"

"He forced Qrow to kiss him!"

The ballroom fell deathly silent—when had the music stopped?—as the professor, and everyone else, froze.

"Is this true?" she asked quietly. Dangerously.

"That's crazy!" Dan protested. "I don't know what he's—"

"I saw him!" a third year shouted, stepping out of the crowd and pointing down at Dan. "Freaking creep! "

Tiffany stood beside her, glaring with something resembling hate. "So did I." The crowd parted respectfully to let Summer and Qrow through. He was too quiet and still but at least he was letting Summer help.

"Both of you come with me to the headmaster's office," Mesánychta ordered, waiting for Dan to climb to his feet before taking off toward the exit.

***

"What happened?" Professor Ozpin asked calmly.

The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving him shaky and exhausted. Tai took a couple of steadying breaths and began. "Dan's been harassing Qrow all year. Calling him names, insulting him, calling him a girl and being really fu—really creepy about it. Complaining about him constantly, behind his back and to his face. ...Telling him he doesn't belong here…" he muttered. "When he wouldn't stop I told him we needed time off—we, uh, we were dating—but then tonight…" he glared at the floor. "We've spent an entire week watching Qrow like a hawk and the first time I take my eyes off him for a second my ex-boyfriend assaults him."

"Do you think Mister Effeullier's behavior has contributed to his illness?"

Tai's fingers dug into his arms, tears burning in his eyes. He'd been so blind, let it go for so long—he let this happen. "Well it can't have freaking helped!"

Ozpin nodded solemly. "I understand your concern, and your compassion is admirable. However the fact remains that you attacked your classmate."

"What was I supposed to do?!"

"Assist Mister Taupe. Remove him from the situation, and find a teacher. A Huntsman's first priority should be to de-escalate."

"But—Huntsmen fight people all the time."

"It is a Huntsman's duty to protect people. Not to deal out justice. If you had thrown the second punch we would not be having this conversation."

"I…" Dan fucking deserved it. But Tai had to admit it would have been just as easy to pull Qrow away without throwing a punch. "Okay. I understand."

"Then I think a week's suspension will suffice."

His heart sank. "N—no—please—"

"You're getting off easy, Xiao Long," Professor Mesánychta growled.

"No, it's not that—they're supposed to leave the castle tomorrow! Summer can't watch them on her own! What if—what if—"

Ozpin regarded him steadily. "Three months' detention."

Tai winced. No more weekend trips to Vale for a while, then. "Deal."

"Very well... I need to speak to Mister Effeullier," he said, getting up from the couch. "You have good instincts, Mister Xiao Long. I trust you will learn from this."

"Thank you, sir." He'd learn, all right. He should never have let it go so far. "...What's going to happen to Dan?"

Ozpin's expression darkened. "The behavior you've described could have cost Mister Taupe his life. And considering sexual assault as well… I do not have sole power over expulsion, but I can guarantee he will not remain at this Academy."

Bittersweet anger twisted in his stomach. "If—if you do have to transfer him don't send him to Atlas."

"Oh?"

"Our friend Zaff from Signal—he went there, to avoid him. He told us over the break."

Ozpin nodded. "Thank you for the insight. Now, go look after your team."

Next Chapter: Qrow—Thundersnow

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #taiyang xiao long #qrow branwen #summer rose #ozpin #dan effuiller #zelenia mesánychta #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

Taiyang—A Glass of Punch

Up on AO3!

#rwby #taiyang xiao long #qrow branwen #ozpin #zelenia mesánychta #dan effuiller #rwby fanfiction #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—Herbicide

Tumblr always screws up the formatting so I’m just linking to this week’s chapter on AO3. There’s too many italics today. If you really want to read it ON TUMBLR tell me in the replies

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18679840/chapters/63114445

Next Chapter: Summer—Sentinel

#rwby #taiyang xiao long #summer rose #qrow branwen #raven branwen #strq #team strq #dan effuiller #follow the beacon zaff #rwby fanfiction #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon Summer—What Happened

[Link to Masterpost]

The school slowly broke down into organized insanity as exams approached. Students worked through meals or fell asleep in the library as teachers gave more and more coursework for review. Teachers encouraged team leaders to make sure their comrades were ready.

Raven was being exactly as cooperative as usual.

"No." She almost growled, pulling the blanket over her head. "It's a stupid assignment. We already learned that."

"Which is why it's called review," Summer argued. "Come on. Our team could be top of our year! Just look over your notes again—"

"Go to sleep."

She raised an eyebrow. "It's only eight."

"Sun's down."

A badly-suppressed noise wafted past her ear, and she turned to scowl at Tai and Qrow. "What are you two snickering at?"

"Oh, nothing." Tai buried his face in his textbook. "What's a Goliath?"

Qrow didn't bother to look up. "Elephant Grimm."

"Oh, charming." He flipped to the index with a scowl. "Come on, Summer, let's just head to the library without her."

She scowled at the simmering lump of blankets. "Nope. We're going to study right here ." The quilt growled, a low rumble with enough snarl to make her hair stand on end. Raven could make a Beowolf jealous, in the right mood.

"Any chance they're smaller than the real thing?"

"Um… no."

"...Common in midwestern Sanus. Why haven't I heard of them?"

"Because they're smart enough to stay away from Vale," Qrow said, holding up his own textbook. A photograph took up most of the page, and the Grimm took up most of the photograph. The unlucky Huntress that had taken the picture had nearly been standing underneath it, and the edges were blurred like they'd been running. As always, the tender spots were identified with thin red arrows. The Goliath had one. Right under its chin, past the trunk. And the tusks. He set the book in his lap, continuing. "They're not very common in Anima, but if you ever see one in the wild, run in the opposite direction."

"No kidding," she muttered, leaning forward to look again. "That thing could flatten a bullhead."

"Size just makes them a bigger target. The real problem is they're one of the weird ones."

A shiver ran down Summer's back at the dark in his tone. "Weird—"

"—ones?" Tai squeaked.

"They can trumpet like regular elephants, except that when you hear it you're struck with paralyzing terror. Big cities use androids to fight 'em, and smaller towns pay the big cities to take care of it if one shows up. If they can afford it."

"...Have you ever seen one?" Summer asked.

A shadow fell over his face. "Once."

Tai swallowed. "...What happened?"

Qrow didn't meet either of their eyes. "People died." With the aura of someone trying to change the subject, he continued on with forced nonchalance. "Its trumpet won't affect you if you're drunk enough, but it makes it kind of hard to fight. …Don't put that on the test."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Summer said, tracing an X over her heart as she copied it down in her notes. Raven pulled her blanket down just enough to give him a scathing glare before disappearing again.

He glanced down at his notes, searching for another way to change the subject. "Uh, the collapse of Vacuo's government, was, um…"

"Well, if you ask some people the Dust companies were behind the whole thing," Tai said, still flipping through pages of tracks to be identified. "But Lionheart's probably looking for something more along the lines of 'Vacuo's people trusted Shade more than their council and it fell apart.'"

Qrow frowned at his notes. "What actually happened?"

"Depends who you ask."

"…But what actually happened?" he asked again, transferring his stare to Tai.

Tai just shrugged.

Qrow sighed, dumping the book back on his desk before getting up to rifle through his closet. "I've been going for hours, I'm gonna take a break. …Raven, where's the shampoo?"

"I used the last of it this morning. Sorry."

"Guess we're going into Vale tomorrow."

Summer leaned back on the hind legs of her chair, biting back a smile as she swiped her shampoo out of the closet. "Here, you can use mine tonight." The cap opened with a soft click and she sniffed at it. "If it's not too flowery."

He took it and gave it a shake. "Are you sure? You're almost out too."

"Yeah, how about I give you some Lien and you can pick mine up for me to pay me back? Tai and I still have to study for our history midterm too, we were going to do the reviews this weekend."

"Yeah, no problem. Thanks."

"Ehh, let's take a break too." He tossed his notes onto the bed and stood up, stretching. "Maybe the dragon will fall asleep while we're gone if we go on a walk."

"Takes one to know one, Xiao Long ."

"Goodnight, Raven," he said in an exaggerated whisper, gesturing for Summer to go through the door before him. Qrow pulled away, headed for the men's room, and Tai turned in the opposite direction.

"Wait, you're serious?" Summer asked as he started toward the stairs. "It's freezing out there."

"Use a little aura," he said, the humor gone from his voice. "We need to talk."

"...W-what…"

Tai shook his head, gesturing for her to follow, and as they stepped into the dark a shiver ran down her back that had nothing to do with the weather. A few flurries caught the light of a lamppost. First snow of the year, in the middle of exams. It figured.

"Qrow asked me not to talk about this," Tai muttered, and Summer snapped back to the moment. He rubbed his eyes. "I just…"

"What?"

"I walked in on him changing the other day…"

"Awkward. ...More awkward since you're telling me about it."

Tai shook his head, still not making eye contact. "That's not it. S… someone cut him."

Summer gritted her teeth. "He's hiding another injury? How low is his aura this ti—"

"No—not injuries. Scars. ...I've never seen anything like it," he mumbled, nausea stealing over his face. "Not in the first aid textbooks. None of the lines were parallel, they couldn't have been made by teeth or claws."

Summer's stomach turned over.

"I can't be sure but they looked recent."

"How recent?" she demanded, surprising herself with her voice's high pitch.

"I don't know. I asked him about it but he won't talk to me. All he said was that Raven didn't do it, but she couldn't know that I knew." His hands tightened on a book Summer hadn't noticed him holding as he held it up to glare at the cover. "...I've been reading about human trafficking."

"You don't think—"

"I don't know." Tai's hand dropped back to his side. "All I know for sure is, wherever they came from, they can't go back."

She nodded, wishing her stomach would untie itself or at least stop moving.

"Just… try to stay close to him, y'know? He's… he's terrified of me. He swears the skirt thing didn't bother him, but I can't think of any other reason for it—"

The knot in her gut tightened painfully. "Oh, fuck."

* * *

"Hey, Summer? Is your hair that color because of your soap?" Qrow asked, holding up the empty shampoo bottle. "City dwellers." He scraped a lock of hair between his nails and completely failed to remove the color. Slightly lighter than hers, now, but a similar deep red. "How the hell can anyone make soap complicated?"

"I put hydrogen peroxide in as a prank," Summer said, forcing a smile and fighting to keep her voice steady.

Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh!"

"I'll get you some Lien for black dye so you can put it back to normal tomorrow."

"I dunno, I kinda like it," he said, examining his reflection in the mirror on the inside of his closet door. "…And I can spend the next few months telling everyone you're my twin."

"You can have him," Raven said instantly.

Qrow grabbed his pillow and casually tossed it on her face, ignoring the half-hearted squawk of protest. "Whatever. Let's get back to work."

Who could hurt him? He was kind to everyone—even Dan , for gods' sakes, with how unpleasant he'd been.

" ...Hey, this stuff isn't going to stain my pillow, is it?"

"It removes color from your hair, actually."

"Weird."

[A bit rushed, but it exists.]

Next Chapter: Qrow—Kill Me Yourself

#rwby #strq #team strq #summer rose #taiyang xiao long #qrow branwen #raven branwen #dan effuiller #follow the beacon #tw profanity

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon

Raven—Separate Ways

[Link to Masterpost]

[TW underage drinking, theft mention]

"I can't stay. They could walk in any minute, and everyone thinks I can only jump to Qrow."

"Hmmph." Vanta turned over the page, looking at his record now. "You're standing out too much on the battlefield. Look at what they said."

"They know we come from the wilds, and they believe we were trained by a veteran Huntsman," Raven said. Breathe in, breathe out. Stay calm, stay relaxed. Getting tense will only make her suspicious. "It's balanced out by the useless things like history that the others studied in their schools."

Vanta hummed again, and tossed the papers into the fire. "I'm glad you've thought this through. At this stage, you're unlikely to be caught. Sneaking in was always going to be the riskiest part. The Vytal Festival may pose a problem, do you have a plan?"

"Our team won't be able to compete if one of us is injured, but obviously we'd prefer something else. The Tournament isn't until next year. We have some time."

"Very well, then. What do you have to report?"

"We haven't been taught anything new in days. The teachers are reviewing for exams."

"And your brother's weapon?" she asked dangerously.

She hadn't really meant to tell Vanta about the new sword's convoluted design—she'd just been frustrated, and let it slip while relaying what they'd learned about maintaining Huntresses' weapons, that he'd never be able to keep it working without regular access to an Academy forge.

But while Raven had been annoyed, Vanta had been furious.

An image of Qrow popped into her head, standing with his sword drawn in a back alley in Vale. The way he'd stared her down, ready to fight. Really fight—to die or to kill, with the same grim resignation he'd worn on every raid.

It's completely ridiculous, she swallowed the truth. "I made him see sense. He's simplified things."

"Good. As if his Semblance weren't bad enough on its own, he insists on setting himself up for failure," Vanta muttered. "All right, get back to your school. I want to speak to Qrow."

Raven's heart pounded. Breathe in, breathe out. "The others could be back soon, and the huntress woke up last time I tried to visit. I managed to convince her I was returning and not going, but it's too dangerous to keep coming. Especially while the teachers aren't giving us anything useful."

"Brat," Vanta snarled, and Raven wasn't entirely sure if she was referring to Summer or her. "Fine. If you can't report in person at least drop a note through once in a while so we know you haven't been discovered."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"And keep an eye on your brother. He's always admired the Huntsmen and he might just be stupid enough to let something slip for the chance to impress one."

Internally, she cursed. Why couldn't Qrow and Vanta settle things themselves? Why did she always have to get caught in the middle? Even when they didn't need her portals to speak to each other. "Yes, ma'am." 

She would have to handle his delusions of heroism on her own.

Qrow sat bolt upright as she stepped back into the dorm and her portal snapped shut behind her as quickly as it had opened. Still no sign of their teammates, thankfully.

"Well?" he demanded.

"She bought it," Raven growled, dropping onto her own bed. "Gimme a drink."

He leaned back, reaching behind his bed for their stash. All the dorms' mattresses sat on strange wooden boxes covered in cloth—whatever they were, they were hollow, and the perfect place to hide things. They hadn't even had to cut the hole. Generations of students had probably been using it for the exact same purpose.

Raven took the bottle gratefully and uncapped it, pouring a shot's worth down her throat. At least she finally had something to relieve the tension.

"She didn't want to talk to me?" he asked, taking the bottle back.

"She did. I told her our teammates would be back soon and she let it go."

Qrow took a much longer drink than she had before returning it. "What are you going to do with the time off?"

She rolled her eyes. "I imagine the city-dwellers would take offence if I spent it hunting. You'll be in the forge the entire time, working on that ridiculous machine, won't you?"

Qrow leaned back, tossing his pillow behind him. "It's gonna be cool as hell."

"Impractical as hell," she corrected, passing the bottle.

The door flew open, and both of them jumped. The whiskey slipped through their hands—Raven tugged on a thread of aura, and the bottle reappeared near the ceiling before landing in Qrow's waiting hands. One drop of spilled whiskey hit the floor.

"Hey, you started celebrating without us?" Tai demanded, leading Summer and Dan into the room.

"Pull up a mug," he said, raising the bottle before handing it back to Raven. "And don't mention it." She scowled, but didn't say anything—there were three more bottles still hidden and it was hardly difficult to get more.

"Booze? Excellent!" Dan said with an oily smile. "Who's selling right now?"

"We smuggled it from home," she lied, pouring him a shot, and he pouted into the cup.

"Aw, come on, that's it?"

Raven turned away, pouring for their teammates as well. "...As funny as it would be to watch you try to drink a mug of this, yes. That's it." Did the moron think it was wine?

Summer's eyes widened. "Wait. Did you just make a joke?"

Sure enough, as soon as the mug tipped back, he doubled over coughing and sprayed half of it on the floor. 

Qrow smiled a little at the back of Dan's head. "Yeah, I don't like this brand much either."

"Wow." He cleared his throat. I don't suppose you could smuggle another one over to sell to a friend…?"

"We're staying here for the break," Raven said dismissively, taking another gulp. "So, no."

Tai elbowed him with a grin. "It was worth a shot, though, right?"

Gods, that one was awful. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm and covering her mouth with her fingers—but, unfortunately, the Huntress was always watching.

"Raven smiled!" she shouted, beaming.

Tai snapped his fingers with a sarcastic frown. "Darn. I was trying to make her laugh."

"Good luck with that," Qrow said, taking a shot, and Raven glared at him. "See? Back to normal."

"I'll have to keep trying, then."

"Bet I can get her to laugh first," Summer said.

"You're on."

The most fearsome warriors on Remnant, playing games like children. "Oh, enough." The last thing she needed was the two of them prodding. "What are we drinking to?"

"To Qrow, seventh in the year!" Summer cheered, lifting up her mug. Behind her Dan's scowl deepened. "It's really amazing."

"Yeah, top ten! Who knew?" Tai chuckled, still laughing at his boyfriend's exasperated expression. "Maybe we should be sparring with you more often."

"I mean, you guys helped me a lot with history," he mumbled. "Got any plans over break?"

"Dad'll probably pester us for a bunch of stories," Tai said dismissively. "It'll be good to see Zaff again, though."

"Yeah, he called this morning from Haven, he's flying home!" Summer said. "We should all meet in Vale when you're finished at the forge!"

"Had to work over break?" Dan simpered. "Or couldn't afford the tickets home?"

Tai glared at him. "Dude."

"Tai, he's wearing your old pajamas."

"Don't be an ass!"

"It was the only time Professor Carmine could work on my weapon with me," Qrow muttered, taking another gulp of whiskey. "We've been working on something a little more custom." 

"Don't tell him, let it be a surprise!" Summer shouted, a little on the loud side—the alcohol was finally starting to kick in. "The plans are so cool. Have you thought about any names for it yet?"

"…I kind of want to hold it first," he admitted. "But I'm definitely not calling it 'Beak'."

"Beak?!"

"It's what Professor Carmine named the file."

"It looks like a beak," Raven said.

"I already know you hate it." He set the empty mug on the bookshelf and flopped back on the mattress. "This weekend is going to take forever."

[Unrelated note... Raven is *very* good at Portal games]

Next Chapter: Taiyang—Breaking the Ice

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #raven branwen #qrow branwen #summer rose #taiyang xiao long #strq #team strq #dan effuiller #carmine eitri #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—Breaking the Ice

[Link to Masterpost]

[Who wants to read a big pile of headcanons?]

"Seriously?" Zaff demanded, throwing his arms open. "I get that you're dating each other now, but if neither of you are going to joke about 'liking a man in uniform' then why did I wear this thing on a five hour flight?"

Summer laughed, accepting the hug. "We wear uniforms too! Welcome home, dummy."

"It's not as comfortable as it looks. I could have worn sweats. Pajamas ."

"Cold enough for you up there?" Tai asked, hugging him in turn.

"Surprisingly not bad." Zaff shrugged. "The city's climate-controlled—it's colder here right now."

"No kidding."

"The real problem's the altitude. Your aura can kind of make up for the air being so thin, but it's draining. Half the students from outside the city had to do aura suppression crap for a couple weeks to force our lungs to get used to it. Even the people from Mantle. That's when it got cold."

"Wait, seriously?" Dan asked.

"If your aura keeps compensating for the altitude you never physically adjust. Not a big deal when you're just climbing a mountain, pretty bad when you're living in the clouds. That's why I got my ear pierced," he said, flicking at it. "Always wanted to and it was easier than hours of meditation, or sticking myself with a needle nine times a day."

"Yeah, I wish my mom had pierced my ears before starting me on aura training," Summer sighed. "I've tried to get it done a couple times but the constant draining feeling's too creepy."

Tai nodded. "And then that last time you almost got through but one fell out."

"It closed over in like four seconds!"

"Oh, yeah, I remember that. This one locks closed—only way to get it off is wire cutters."

"Neat. That would have been nice."

"Can we talk about painting our nails next?" Dan asked with mock enthusiasm, and everyone laughed. It had been a long time since one of his sarcastic jokes didn't have a bitter, cutting edge, and Tai had missed it. "Come on, man. Get to the important stuff. How's your team?"

"Team lazuli's great!"

"Lazuli?"

"L-Z-L-I. Laurel and Lavender are cousins and trained together, so they're still partnered up. Then there's Isabel and me."

"...How did your teams get organized?" Tai asked the question that had obviously crossed the others' minds as well.

"The officers pick students based on weapons, fighting style, and Semblance," Zaff said. "I guess that's an Atlas thing though, you guys wouldn't have COs. How'd you get teamed up?"

"First person you lock eyes with during initiation is your partner," Summer said.

"...What? You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. What did you guys do for initiation, anyway?" Tai asked. "Did you jump off Atlas, or…"

" Jump—" Zaff's eyes widened, the rest of his face freezing in horror and bewilderment. "...We sparred with our CO, what the hell did you do for initiation?!"

"Launched off Beacon cliff, fought our way through the Emerald Forest out to some ruin and back," Dan said. "You didn't fight any Grimm?"

"They don't even let us out in the tundra until second year! Is Ozpin hazing people?!"

Tai and Summer glanced at each other and gave a simultaneous shrug.

"You really have officers?" Dan asked.

"Uh. Atlas Academy and the military are basically the same organization. Most graduates become operatives but the ones on track for command stay at the school another four years and train a team."

"Wait. So you have, like… a personal TA?"

"Nah, it's only for practical training," he said. "Combat, Semblance, hunting and tracking, you get it. They have their own classes to deal with. James is pretty chill, though."

"What kind of color is 'James'?" Tai asked.

"...I don't know." Zaff frowned. "Maybe his parents were Suppressionists. They're pretty old, and they are from Solitas."

"Well, we may not have officers," Dan said, "but get this—our floor monitor is Professor Mesánychta's TA."

"Ouch."

"Eh, Pete's cool," Tai said with a wave. "Just a little… enthusiastic."

"Pete? Isn't that the guy you dressed up as for Halloween?"

"Yeah."

"Man I wish we'd thought of that at Signal," Zaff sighed. "I would've made a great Azraq."

"Balt maybe," Dan laughed, flicking one of his dreadlocks off his shoulder. "I don't think Azraq's ever grown his hair out."

"I'd've cut it for a joke that good."

"No, dude, long hair is better on you," Dan protested, and Zaff's smile wavered with a glance in Tai's direction.

He just shrugged with a grin. "He's right."

Anyone with eyes could see Dan still had feelings for Zaff, it's why he'd been making an ass of himself all semester. It wasn't a big deal. Tai had only planned to address the issue if he or Dan wanted to take things more seriously.

Except Zaff was on the wrong continent and Dan wasn't talking to him. Tai hadn't considered it might be… awkward.

"Well, let's head to my place!" Summer said. "We've already got lunch ready!"

"Awesome. I'm starved." Zaff shouldered his bag.

Tai held back, letting the others take a step away before grabbing his elbow and holding him back. "You okay?"

He nodded with a glance at Dan's retreating back. "I'm fine. You? You're together now."

"We're not that serious. I mean… like I said before, we were both bummed that you left, and then we started spending more time together."

"Right," he said, clearly relieved, and they began to walk again. "...Just be careful, yeah? Dating teammates is a good way to lose friends."

Tai faltered, frowning. What was that supposed to mean?

Next Chapter: Raven—Stuck

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #taiyang xiao long #summer rose #strq #team strq #dan effuiller #follow the beacon zaff #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

 "I, uh, got pretty good at carving too." He stood and crossed back to the closet, opening it just wide enough to fish something out of the bag on the floor. Unrolling the rags, he passed her an action figure that fit comfortably in her palm.

 "Wait. You made this?" Summer gasped, lifting the little wooden Grimm to her eye. "It's so cute!"

 He chuckled. "Only you would call a Beowolf cute."

 "But he is! Look at his little teeth!" she said, turning it in her hands. How did he cut such tiny details? "...Is this real bone?"

Follow the Beacon Summer—A Moment’s Peace

[Link to Masterpost]

[I had a bad weekend so I'm posting two chapters. I want to post a nice chapter and leave everyone on a high note this week but the one that was scheduled isn’t fluffy, this one is. Anyway make sure you've read Taiyang—Dannit]

Summer hissed at her scroll in frustration. Of course farmers in rural Anima wouldn't post job listings online—Qrow and Raven barely knew how to use a scroll the first week. But a typical contract would have to include room and board, though, right? It's what made sense.

But then what was going on?

The door clicked, and Summer opened her mouth to ask Tai what had happened—but it was Qrow who stepped through. "Oh! Are you feeling better?"

He stared miserably at his desk before walking to the closet and pulling it open a crack. He shoved his things to the side and hung his dripping clothes over the bar. "Yeah. ...Where's Raven?"

"She went to get food. Where's Tai?"

"...With Dan," he muttered. 

Oh, no. He must have heard Dan yelling—the whole building probably heard it. "I— I don't think he meant that, he was freaking out and—" she cut off as Qrow stared at her, bewildered. "...Never mind."

He half-shrugged before slumping back into his chair, picking up his pen like it was carved from gravity Dust and starting to shuffle through the book.

"Qrow, you should rest!"

"I just wanna get it over with," he said again.

And how is making yourself sicker going to help with that? "Fine. Then I'll help you. It's for history, right? What's it about?"

"...No, you're right, I should do this later." Qrow shut the book on his notes and dropped it in a desk drawer before setting his head down.

Summer scowled at her scroll, considering. It couldn't hurt to do a bit of gentle prying… "Huang—Tai's dad—would always make us oatmeal or chicken noodle soup when we were sick, growing up. Do you and Raven have something like that?"

"We ate whatever the farm's cooks gave us."

Not very helpful for cheering either of them up, but it did answer the room and board question. "...Well, what did you do for fun, then?"

"Reading."

Oh, right, she could give him the Grimm Reaper scans! That'd cheer him up. ...Right after they were done talking. "Just comics?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he mumbled. "They're—they don't take up much space." 

Interesting. 

"I, uh, got pretty good at carving too." He stood and crossed back to the closet, opening it just wide enough to fish something out of the bag on the floor. Unrolling the rags, he passed her an action figure that fit comfortably in her palm.

"Wait. You made this?" Summer gasped, lifting the little wooden Grimm to her eye. "It's so cute!"

He chuckled. "Only you would call a Beowolf cute."

"But he is! Look at his little teeth! " she said, turning it in her hands. How did he cut such tiny details? "...Is this real bone?"

"Cow, deer, whatever was lying around," he shrugged. "I stained the fur with coffee and vinegar. Paint wasn't, uh, easy to get."

"We should get some! You could do the markings and eyes!"

He scratched his neck, looking at the rags in his hand. "I dunno… I've never even held a brush before –"

"Aww, come on. This little guy deserves a face," she mocked a pout, holding it up next to her cheek. "I wonder what kind would work best…"

"Bone's fairly porous, I don't think it'd be hard to find something that sticks."

"Are there more?" she asked, with a pointed glance at his hand.

"Y-yeah." He dragged his chair closer, setting two more bundles on her desk. Gently, she unwound the first to reveal an absurdly detailed Nevermore. Individual feathers were etched into the wood, some even carved to look like they were blowing in the wind as it flew. The second—

"Look at her tiny scythes!" Summer squealed, setting the Nevermore down and snatching the Grimm Reaper up instead. She wasn't stained dark like the others, though her mask and blades were bone. "And her mask! This is amazing! Qrow, we have to get you some paint."

"There's no way I could paint that one! Everything would be too small."

Summer set the figure on the desk next to the other two and crossed to her own closet. "Well, I have no idea how to carve, but I did learn to paint figures when Tai and I started playing Grottoes and Grimm…" She pushed aside some of her clothes, taking out a small box from the shelf behind. "I didn't bring all my stuff, but I've got our player characters. Here!"

She drew a couple pieces from the box and headed back over to him, dropping them into his hands. "The figures are just molded plastic, but I did the color."

"They're amazing," Qrow said, peering at the little spear-wielding Huntress with a small smile. "Why don't you paint them?" he asked, looking back at his own figures.

She blinked. "I—I couldn't! They're yours, and –"

"You should! You're really good."

"O-okay." She fought back a huge smile. Keep it cool. "I'll bring my paints back after winter break. It'd be fun to try playing Grottoes and Grimm, but Zaff was our GM…"

"Zaff?"

"Oh, that was Dan's old partner. The one at Atlas."

"...Did Dan play?"

Summer rolled her eyes. "Never had the patience. …Actually, I'm not sure Raven would either…" 

He glanced at the little Grimm Reaper before staring at his knees. When he spoke, it was barely audible. "What's Dan like?" 

Summer's shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry… he's not usually so rude. I mean, he's rude a lot, but not like he's been with you and Raven." The jokes had ranged from mean-spirited to downright crude until she and Tai finally got him to stop. "I mean, we weren't… trying to be mean with the skirt thing…" 

Qrow laughed. "No, that was pretty funny. And I've been getting compliments on my legs all semester, so…"

Summer snorted, covering her mouth and nose with a fist. 

"But, he's never… scared you or Tai, or…"

What the hell? "What happened?"

"N-nothing!" he shrugged, shoulders too tense, avoiding her eye. "I... just get a weird feeling from the guy sometimes."

"...Why are you lying? He's said some awful things to you."

Qrow stared silently at his knees for a few seconds before answering. "He—he's your friend, I… I don't want to cause problems."

Summer grabbed his hand and stood, pulling him to his feet and into a hug. "You're our friend too."

“I—it just—" he stammered, rigid with surprise. 

"He's the one being an ass." She sighed. "Okay. I get not wanting to fight with Tai's boyfriend. If he's weirding you out just… come find us. Or a teacher. He won't bother you if there's other people around." 

Slowly, his tension flowed away. "Thanks."

"...You can hug back, you know," she teased, and he quickly wound his arms around her back in return. “Wanna read the Grimm Reaper comics? We could put the scans up on the obscura, it’s kind of hard to see on a scroll—”

“Hell yes.”

[Finally... a much-needed hug.

The obscura is the television. It feels weird to use the word television in a world that calls phones "scrolls"]

Next Chapter: Taiyang—Off Track

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #follow the beacon #summer rose #qrow branwen #taiyang xiao long #dan effuiller #raven branwen #strq #team strq

[fire-the-headcanons]

He hadn't known there were any photographs. The tribe hadn't exactly had a camera.

Bones smirked up at him from the page, hair and beard only just starting to gray. Another of Lionheart’s other ‘supplemental sources’ lay over Vanta’s face. A reporter had gotten lost, according to the book, and stumbled across the tribe. By some bizarre stroke of good fortune they were allowed to leave with a couple dozen photos. Including one of the tribe's leaders.

The photo had then been used to try and track them down for the next twenty years. Luckily, their eyes were too dark to make out the red, and the beard disguised just how similar his face was to Qrow‘s.

...He probably needed to be more careful about shaving.

Follow the Beacon Qrow—Just Like Home

[Link to Masterpost]

[TW vomit, panic attack, abuse, sexual harassment]

He hadn't known there were any photographs. The tribe hadn't exactly had a camera.

Bones smirked up at him from the page, hair and beard only just starting to gray. Another of Lionheart’s ‘supplemental sources’ lay over Vanta’s face. A reporter had gotten lost, according to the book, and stumbled across the tribe. By some bizarre stroke of good fortune they were allowed to leave with a couple dozen photos. Including one of the tribe's leaders. 

The photo had then been used to try and track them down for the next twenty years. Luckily, their eyes were too dark to make out the red, and the beard disguised just how similar his face was to Qrow‘s.

...He probably needed to be more careful about shaving. 

"Qrow?"

Summer's voice yanked him from his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You look kind of sick too," she said, frowning.

He just wanted to get Lionheart's essay over with and stop thinking about it or the tribe. Problem was, he kept getting… stuck. "I'm fine. Too much homework. You know." The essay was in worse shape than even his notes, with random half-formed thoughts littered over the page.

It didn't help that there weren't really any differences between the tribes in the history textbooks and the nightmares he'd rather not think about. It wasn't like the they had adopted the new technology of the Kingdoms after the Great War.

Maybe that was the point, maybe the tribe hadn't gotten any weaker. Like Lionheart said, the Huntsmen were just getting better at hunting them down—

He pushed back from his desk, barely getting his head over the trash can in time to avoid making a mess.

"Not you too!" Summer cried in dismay. "…I hope it wasn't the ramen yesterday…"

"If it were, you and Tai would be sick," he croaked, knotting the liner shut.

"Brother, what are you doing," Raven groaned, pulling the covers further over her head.

"Lionheart's essay."

She struggled to push herself upright, glaring at him through her hair with bloodshot eyes. "You're not actually doing it."

"Yeah, if you're getting sick too you should rest—" Summer began.

"I'm fine," he said quickly, getting to his feet and heading for the door with bag in hand. "I just want to get it over with."

"Why do you even care about your History grade?"

"What?" Summer blurted.

"It's one dumb assignment. Just ignore it," Raven muttered, retreating back under her blanket.

Summer looked appalled. "Raven, our grades affect what jobs we can take after school! You can't just start skipping assignments!" 

Qrow ignored them, pulling open the door—and walked right into the person on the other side. There was a loud POP, and the wetness on his shirt and pants told him his Semblance had just made a poor decision on his behalf.

"Oh gods, WHAT IS THIS?" Dan gagged, staggering back, wringing it off his arms onto the floor. Tai stood frozen with a look of horror, scroll hovered over the pad to unlock it.

Qrow took off for the bathroom, his stomach churning again. He barely made it to the stall in time, not bothering to close the door behind him.

It wasn't fair. Bones had kept him alive, had literally given them life, he didn't deserve to die like that—except he did, he was a terrible person who killed so many—why couldn't he just be one thing? He… he… 

He should have gotten a burial. They all left him there in the freezing mud—his children, sister, tribe—

CRACK

Qrow reeled, aura sparking in his eyes as he slumped to the bathroom floor, head ringing from slamming into the toilet seat.

"You stupid hick," Sanguin spat, hand curled into a fist and crackling with the sickly yellow-green of pond scum. No… not Sanguin. Dan. 

Dan hit him from behind. But… he was a Huntsman.

The door creaked open, out of sight at the opposite end of the bathroom. "Hey Dan, I got your clothes." 

He grabbed Qrow's arm, dragging him back onto his knees, shoving him around so he was bent over the toilet again. As his aura settled from the hit, he felt just how much energy it had taken to soften the blow—how could he have done so much damage?

"There you go, let it out," Dan said silkily, rubbing his back, making Qrow's skin prickle like he'd slept on an anthill. His stomach clenched again, but at least it was empty now.

"I hope this isn't from the ramen," Tai muttered. Qrow was shaking and couldn't stop, chafing under Dan's arm.

"You all right?" he asked with convincing concern, digging his fingers into Qrow's shoulder. "You slipped pretty badly there."

It took him a second to catch his breath, the pain in his shoulder growing every second. "I'm f-fine." 

"No you're not, you're sicker than Raven," Tai said. "Here, Dan, go clean up before you catch it too."

His fingers bit into Qrow's shoulder once more, until the tiniest breath of a whimper escaped his throat. Finally, finally, he pulled away and his footsteps retreated toward the showers.

Qrow dry heaved again, his stomach muscles screaming in protest. When it was over he slid sideways, sitting on the tile and leaning on the toilet for support, trying to catch his breath.

Tai stood in the stall door, looking concerned and a little nauseated. "You gonna be okay long enough for me to grab you a change of clothes?" 

Qrow glanced up, briefly meeting Tai's eye before another convulsion ran through his abdomen, nearly sending him back to the toilet bowl. "…M' fine."

"'K. I'll be right back."

"N-no, I'm fine."

Tai paused, looking down at him like he was crazy. "Dude. You can barely sit up. I'll bring you some clothes."

He leaned his head against the wall as Tai vanished, letting his eyes close. After a few seconds the bathroom door swung shut with a quiet thunk behind him.

"Gods, you're pathetic." He jerked back up, but Dan wasn't in sight. "How'd a coward like you get into Beacon? The rest of us have worked our whole lives for this. You think you can just come in halfway through?"

Qrow didn't say anything. Talking to Sanguin or Vanta always, always made it worse. Far better to let him blow off steam, and be ready to run when it got violent.  …He just hadn't expected it from a Huntsman.

"I don't think your aura can take more than a couple hits from my Semblance." He sneered. "Gods, you don't even have a Semblance. How did you get in?"

"Do you hurt Tai?"

He hadn't meant to say it. He hadn't even thought about saying it, it would have made more sense to just ask Tai anyway –

Dan laughed, and the shower hissed to life at the other end of the room, covering any reply he might have made. Qrow curled in on his stomach as it tightened painfully, trying to keep from losing it again.

He still hadn't caught his breath when Tai finally got back.

"…This was all I could find," he said uncertainly, holding out Qrow's worn-out sleep clothes.

"Thanks," he murmured, taking them. Tai…Tai was okay. He and Summer trusted Dan, right? They didn't flinch away when he was angry, weren't afraid to disagree with him. He backed off when they told him to. 

Qrow was an impostor, he didn't belong here. Someone was bound to pick up on that, and with his luck, it just happened to be Dan.

Right?

He couldn't bring himself to speak. Dan was right, he was a coward. The Grimm Reaper would have fought back, made sure her teammate was safe, but Qrow could only sulk and hide like he had in the tribe.

Tai offered a hand. "Come on, I'll help you over to the shower."

 "I'm okay, really," he rasped, forcing himself to his feet without Tai's help. "I'll meet you in the room in a few minutes."

Tai shrugged, looking at him with something resembling pity. "If you're sure."

He forced a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Yeah. Thanks." 

The lock on the stall was flimsy, but better than nothing, and he couldn't change in front of Summer or Tai. No way was he showering with Dan here. He wiped himself down as well as he could with his soiled clothes, and hurried back to STRQ's room long before Dan finished.

The essay was still waiting on his desk when he got back.

Next Chapter: Taiyang—Dannit

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #strq #team strq #qrow branwen #raven branwen #summer rose #bones branwen #vanta branwen #leonardo lionheart #dan effuiller #follow the beacon #mine

[fire-the-headcanons]

Port reached the door and started on the mess. Tai reached out— "Oh, Pete, I can get that."

"Nonsense! This is what I'm paid for."

"...You're paid to let us into our rooms when we forget our scrolls."

Peter raised the mop threateningly. "Go take care of your teammate."

"Yessir," Tai said, throwing his hands up and skirting around the business end to avoid needing a change of clothes for himself too.

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—Dannit

[Link to Masterpost]

[I posted two today, read this one first]

Something felt wrong. Qrow seemed… Tai shook his head. It had been bothering him since yesterday, but he couldn't place it. And why wouldn’t Qrow want help?

"Taiyang! Is he all right?" Peter Port called, dragging a mop and bucket from the small closet between the bathrooms. He'd come over to investigate why Dan was screaming his head off, and promptly volunteered to get cleaning supplies.

"I mean, he's not great," Tai said, following him back down the hall. "I'm getting him something to change into."

"Oh, dear. How unfortunate."

Unfortunate. Yeah, that pretty much summed up the weekend. First the twins come home from class looking like death, then the gamestation acting up, then the lovely little embarrassment at the thrift store, and now food poisoning of all things.

Port reached the door and started on the mess. Tai reached out— "Oh, Pete, I can get that."

"Nonsense! This is what I'm paid for."

"...You're paid to let us into our rooms when we forget our scrolls."

Peter raised the mop threateningly. "Go take care of your teammate."

"Yessir," Tai said, throwing his hands up and skirting around the business end to avoid needing a change of clothes for himself too. He stumbled into the room, careful not to step in anything, and—"Where's Raven?"

"Cafeteria."

Well, at least she wasn't following Qrow's lead in the next bathroom over. "Alone?"

"I offered, " she grumbled, before pitching her voice up in a slightly mocking impersonation of her mother's. "Ozpin likes to make everyone work with different types of people! And, get along with your teammates!" Dropping back to her normal pitch, she set Carmine's apron on the desk and dropped her head into her book. "Come on, I'm trying. "

"What is with these two and accepting help?" Tai grumbled, turning toward Qrow's closet. "He's bent over the toilet and won't let me get his clothes for him!" The door opened with a creak, and Tai paused, glancing over its contents.

His bedroll took up the top shelf, the glasses and scarf from yesterday on the one beneath it along with his pajamas. School uniforms hung neatly in a row next to his armor, and a small leather bag—the right size to hold a couple of textbooks—sat in the bottom with a tiny pile of dirty laundry. Three or four pieces of dingy, worn-out clothing at most. 

Tai's sense of unease solidified as the reason for it clicked into place. "Summer?"

"Huh?"

"They used to work on a farm. Not their family farm, someone else's."

"Yeah…?"

"They had jobs."

She nodded, frowning as she glanced at the near-empty closet. "...Probably room and board, too." Sliding from her chair, she crossed to Raven’s and cracked it open— "So why don't they own anything?" she asked the identically bare shelves.

"I mean, Qrow likes comics. They're only a few lien each, the Kingdoms pay most of the cost. So why doesn't he have any?"

Summer's eyebrows pushed together. "He said yesterday one of the other hands trashed them."

"Something's wrong," Tai muttered, grabbing the pajamas. 

***

Qrow sat on the floor, leaning against the toilet, paler than Grimm bone and still out of breath.

"…This was all I could find," Tai said, holding the clothes out.

"Thanks," he murmured, reaching up but keeping his eyes down. He paused for a moment, as if about to speak, but then closed his mouth and said nothing.

Tai offered a hand. "Come on, I'll help you over to the shower."

 "I'm okay, really," he rasped, using the toilet seat to push himself to his feet. "I'll meet you in the room in a few minutes." Qrow glanced at him through his bangs, eyes darting up toward his face before returning to the floor. The clothes shook in his hand, white-knuckled with tension, and… and it wasn't because he was sick.

... Scared. They were scared.

The twins weren't weird, or asocial, it wasn't culture shock—they were always terrified. 

Something was very, very wrong. 

Should he ask…? What would he even say , though? "Why are you scared all the time" was probably not a great way to get either of them to open up. "Hey, why are you so poor? " was worse. 

Tai shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "If you're sure." 

 "Yeah. Thanks." Qrow smiled like it was hurting him. Tai took a step back to let him past, but he closed the stall door and started to change on the other side. 

What do we know for sure? It was almost more of a habit than a question… but maybe the twins would be a little easier to figure out than Ozpin.

Okay, first, they don't own anything. He headed toward the bathroom door, scratching his neck. And what they do have is beyond shabby. If they really had jobs, they didn't pay much. If they have parents they either can't or won't take care of them. His stomach lurched. 

"Hey, I'll be out in a minute. Hold up?" Dan called, peeking around the shower curtain.

"Sure," Tai said, hopping onto an empty washing machine to wait. Second, they can fight. Really fight. ...The teachers don't correct their technique much either, so they're probably not self-taught. And telling the truth about learning from a Huntsman, from their styles. He frowned. Though, the way they fight is different enough they might not have been taught by the same person…

 But both of them got their weapons from Carmine, we know that for sure too. So whatever they were using before wasn't good quality.

The stall door squeaked as he emerged, old clothes wadded in one hand. Tai stared at Qrow's back as he tossed them in the sink and started scrubbing with the hand soap. "You wanna borrow some detergent?" he asked, softly enough Dan wouldn't be able to hear over the water.

"No, thanks."

"...Hey, are you okay?" Couldn't hurt, right?

"M'fine," he mumbled.

"You don't… seem all right."

What little of his reflection Tai could see over his shoulder twisted in fear. "I'm just sick."

"...Okay. Rest up.”

"Thanks." 

He watched as Qrow shuffled from the bathroom, rubbing at his shoulder. Maybe the curdling sensation in the pit of his stomach came from the lingering smell of the accident, but he couldn't shake the thought something was very, very wrong.

What else do we know. They are from Anima, it's on their student IDs. I don't think they were lying about coming from the middle of nowhere. ...Their work is the only thing that doesn't fit. So if they weren't farmhands, why would they lie? And if they were... what happened?

"Well, that was fun," Dan griped, pulling his t-shirt down as he walked out of the stall and tossed his towel on the counter. "Starting to think you're jinxed, man."

Tai shook his head to clear it, giving him a sideways glance. "Huh?"

"Oh, y'know. Our friend going to the wrong school. Spraining your ankle during initiation, the three of us getting split up, Ozpin picking on you at the obstacle course. And don't forget getting detention on the first day of class."

Tai snorted.

"I'm just saying, whatever funk you've got going on, keep it to yourself," Dan laughed back, play-punching his arm.

"Sure, Dan. I'll make sure you don't trick me into wearing a skirt to Grimm Studies."

"I still can't believe he fell for that." Dan grabbed the comb out of his shower basket and started on his hair. "There's the worst luck of all, getting stuck with a teammate that can't even walk through a door without screwing something up."

He rolled his eyes. "Dude. Come on. There was an accident. It's nobody's fault." 

"Well, he could have looked where he was going."

So could you. Better change the subject before he got invested in it. "Yeah, whatever. Did you see the new trailer for—"

"Tai, I'm serious." Dan set down the comb and turned to face him. "You need to be able to rely on your teammates. If you or Summer gets hurt because of their damn incompetence—"

 "Just let it go, will you?" 

Dan scowled, tilting his head. "Why are you taking their side?"

"Why do there have to be sides?" Tai spread his arms. "Why are you still so angry? Even Zaff isn't this upset, and he's the one freezing his ass off in Solitas!"

"They shouldn't be here!"

Tai almost laughed. "Dude, have you ever sparred with either of them? They should definitely be here."

"So they're competent in a fight." He grabbed the comb and finished sweeping his hair into place. It was already halfway dry, but a few wet curls draped over the base of his neck. "Want do they want, a medal? That's a basic expectation, not something special—he doesn't even have a Semblance! "

Annoyance cooled and hardened like hot steel plunged into water and any humor Tai might have been feeling vanished in the cloud of steam. "Neither does Summer."

"...Well, that's different," he protested, clearly trying to cover his ass. "She can fly."

"I don't see a difference," Tai snapped. He should know better. They'd watched her frustration at Signal, how she stuck to the edges of the class during combat training, how much time she'd spent meditating. Hell—Qrow didn't even seem to care about his at all! Who was Dan even trying to insult?

"C'mon, Tai," he said airily, grabbing his stuff. "You're blowing this out of proporti—"

"I don't want to talk about this any more."

"What?" Dan threw an incredulous glance over his shoulder as he pushed the bathroom door open.

"Look. It'd be better if Zaff were here too, but there's nothing any of us can do about that. You're the only one who won't accept it," Tai said. "He says you don't even call him!"

He leaned back in a swagger that he probably thought was charming. "Do you really want me talking to my ex?"

"YES!" Tai shouted, and Dan flinched in surprise. "Because, yeah, I like you, but the most important thing is that we all stay friends!" Deep breaths. Shouting never helped anything. "...Y'know, Ozpin keeps saying that we need to learn to work with different people. I'm starting to think he's right. We were too comfortable with the four of us."

"You think th—"

"Dan, just because we're not all on the same team any more doesn't mean that we're not a team! Qrow and Raven are our friends now, too. I'm sick of listening to you rag on them." He pushed past, out into the hallway.

"It's okay to say you feel sorry for them."

Tai froze, staring back at him. "What?"

"I mean, you've seen the shit they wear—and they wear their uniforms or gear most of the time so they don't have to! They hoard food from the cafeteria when they think no one's looking." 

Tai's stomach lurched. 

"All they've got on their shelves are schoolbooks. I get it, they're kinda pathetic. But they don't need to go to Beacon to get a roof over their heads and three meals a day, there are plenty of services in Vale—"

How had Dan noticed, but he hadn't? "I'm done with this conversation."

"Tai—"

"I said I'm done."

"All right. Fine. I'm sorry," Dan said with a tone that spoke louder than the words. " You're making such a huge deal over nothing, Tai, calm down." It had the opposite effect, if he was being honest with himself, and it took effort to keep from being drawn back into the fight. "Oh hey, did you see the new trailer for Fatal Fray 3?"

"...Yeah." 

Why can't we all just get along? 

At least Dan wasn't insulting Qrow to his face any more. Small victories.

Next Chapter: Summer—A Moment’s Peace

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #follow the beacon #taiyang xiao long #summer rose #qrow branwen #raven branwen #peter port #dan effuiller #follow the beacon zaff

[fire-the-headcanons]

"So kilts aren't actually a Vale thing?"

"No! Well, yes, but only if you're from Vytal. …I think some of their private schools might have kilts in their uniforms? But it's not something the rest of Vale does."

"They are kinda cool, though," Summer said, turning her camera over in her hands again. "Ugh, why isn't it working?!"

"Karma," Qrow said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Follow the Beacon Raven—Coping Mechanisms

[Link to Masterpost]

"So kilts aren't actually a Vale thing?"

"No! Well, yes, but only if you're from Vytal. …I think some of their private schools might have kilts in their uniforms? But it's not something the rest of Vale does."

"They are kinda cool, though," Summer said, turning her camera over in her hands again. "Ugh, why isn't it working?!"

"Karma," Qrow said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Raven picked through the unfamiliar greens of her salad. The food here was so… elaborate. Which wasn't really a bad thing, except right now her stomach still churned. Seven hours later.

She'd felt Qrow shaking when she tried to pull him away, knew he had been scared too. Now he laughed and joked with them as if it hadn't happened.

How did he do it? She still wanted to run.

"I'm sorry," Summer said yet again, setting her camera back in her bag. "We really didn't mean for you to walk into class like that."

"He's not the one who got detention on the first day." Raven's hand tightened on her fork as their friend dropped his tray on the table next to them, almost spilling whatever unnaturally orange liquid was in his glass. 

"Hey, Dan, what's up?" Tai asked.

"Still wondering why we're not on a team together," Dan complained, punching Tai on the arm. "Look at you, running off with the first couple of cute girls you see." He looked directly at Qrow, who stared down at his plate and said nothing.

"Har har," Tai said, shoving him back. "I'm not breaking up with you, if that's what you're asking." He rose out of his seat enough to give Dan a quick kiss.

"I'm just surprised you managed to get in trouble with Professor Mesánychta on the second day. Just like old times, huh?"

"Yeah, well, we didn't mean for it to go that far."

Dan ran his hand over Qrow's shoulder, down his side, pressing into the small of his back as he smiled down at him. "What's wrong, sweetheart? I thought you looked lovely." Smiling like a wolf looks at a lost lamb, or Sanguin eyed the farmers' daughters. Qrow jerked back, stiffening. Had they been at home the correct response would have been to twist his arm until he begged or it broke—Raven nearly went for the Huntsman's elbow joint with her fork. Nearly.

"Knock it off, Dan." Tai reached around him to wrench his hand away from Qrow and he stepped back, holding his arms up.

"I'm just messing with him a little, come on," Dan grinned again. "Lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure. I'll meet you in the courtyard."

And again, it was over as if nothing had happened. Except for Qrow's fists clenched under the table, Raven's palm aching where the handle of the fork pressed too hard against it.

"Don't take him personally," Summer said. "His partner from Signal didn't make it into Beacon, he's been sour about it for months."

Tai nodded. "Yeah, he gets carried away sometimes but he'll cut it out if you tell him off. …So, what should we do tonight?"

"Yeah, first day of classes! I heard there's gonna be a party in the courtyard."

Raven's ears perked up at the word 'party' until reality set in. Alcohol was illegal under the age of twenty-one in Vale. 

…She'd kill for a drink right now.

"We, uh, have a lot of history homework," Qrow said. Which was true, though she had been planning on ignoring it. What was the point? Dead people weren't going to make her a better warrior, she wasn't Bones.

"Awww," Summer whined. "Well, give us a call if you finish early and we can meet up!"

"Sounds great." Qrow forced a smile as they walked off with their empty trays. He and Raven waited until they had vanished through the hall's doors—and then without a word stood, ditched their own dishes, and headed back to the dorm.

The building was reassuringly quiet, deserted. Most students were headed the other way, to the courtyard party. By the time they reached the stairwell, the babble of voices outside had faded too, leaving them alone with the low drone of the Dust lights.

They still didn't speak until their door was securely closed.

Qrow set his books on his chair and flopped down on the bed, sprawling out with a deep sigh.

Her hands tightened on the strap of her own school bag. "Qrow. We can't do this."

"We have to."

"We stick out too much. Maybe we are pretending to be farmers, but if we keep drawing this much attention –"

"They don't see us as a threat," Qrow said, sliding back to his feet and moving to his closet to rummage through the bag tossed in the bottom. "They think we're stupid or weak. We can use that. Attention isn't a bad thing if it's distracting them from the truth." He straightened up, a particularly old shirt clenched in his fist.

"What's that?"

"A risk, I know." He rolled his eyes as he tipped it back, and Raven caught a whiff of something strong and familiar. He winced with a grin, holding it out. "Vanta's moonshine."

She snatched the flask, drinking in turn. Gods she needed this right now.

"Not too much," Qrow warned. "Summer and Tai could be back any time."

"…Right."

After a couple more sips she handed it back to him, and he put it back in its spot in the bottom of his duffel. He grabbed a clean set of clothes before closing the closet door. "I'm gonna shower. If you need me, shout into the men's room."

"We were sitting at desks all day. Just wash up." She flopped down on her own bed, reaching one hand under her jacket to unhook her bra. Instant relief.

"Have you even tried it yet?"

She exhaled sharply. "Standing naked in a room full of other women is not my idea of a relaxing evening."

"No one else is here. Come on, it's nice."

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine." She snapped her own closet open and grabbed her knife. As soon as he had gone, she dove into his closet and snuck one more drink before heading to the bathroom.

Next Chapter: Summer—To Keep You Alive

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #strq #team strq #raven branwen #qrow branwen #summer rose #taiyang xiao long #dan effuiller #bones branwen #The Kilt Incident #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

“Let’s give them an old-fashioned Vale welcome,” Tai said, carefully unfolding the paper around Qrow’s clothes and swapping all of the pants with ‘Robin’s’ skirts. “After all, kilts are very traditional.”

Summer stared. “Do you want to get stabbed? Because this is how you get Raven to stab you.”

“That’s why I’m not pranking her.”

Follow the Beacon Summer—Do You Want to Get Stabbed?

[Link to Masterpost]

[It’s time. It’s finally here. The moment we’ve all been waiting for: next week because it wouldn’t all fit in one chapter of course]

“Should we wake him?” Summer asked, glancing between Tai and their new teammate. Qrow lay curled in a tight ball on the floor next to his bed, cocooned in a blanket. 

Tai shrugged. “I dunno. He looks happy.”

“They’re both gonna miss breakfast.” Raven had also slept through their alarm somehow and was still sprawled face-down on her pillow. Maybe. Hard to tell where her face was under all that hair.

“So we’ll bring them some fruit or something. Come on, Dan’s waiting for us.”

“I guess,” Summer muttered, pulling on her hoodie and following him from the room. 

The mess hall stood at one edge of the cluster of dormitory buildings, along the wide central path that cut to the heart of the school. Through the massive windows they could see it was already packed with a mix of students wearing pajamas, uniforms, or creative blends of the two.

“Starting to think you weren’t going to show again,” Dan said, straightening up from where he’d been leaning against the stone.

“Hilarious.”

“How was your first night with the birdbrains?” he asked. Tai snorted, grinning. “Hey, maybe if we build a scarecrow they’ll fly away home to Anima a little faster.”

“Ehh, say what you want,” Tai said, pulling the door open and stepping aside to let them though, “they can really fight.”

“Won’t change anything if they can’t read.”

Oh, come on. Summer rolled her eyes at Dan’s back. Qrow was reading a textbook when we met him—

“HEY! IT’S THE CHEATERS!”

She froze mid-thought as several of the older students leapt to their feet, shouting over the noisy cafeteria. Some banged their empty glasses on the table or jumped up on the benches, and all of them were staring at the three of them and grinning like maniacs.

“What is happening.” She twitched, considering running back outside where things made sense, but finally some of what they were shouting started to filter through.

“Hey, nice trick yesterday!”

“That was some quick thinking, Reaper girl!”

Oh no, someone had recognized her weapon. It was kind of flattering to be compared to her hero… But on the other hand she’d hoped to shake the comics-obsessed fangirl image she’d kinda gotten stuck with at Signal. Well, that dream lasted less than a day—

“Nobody from our year managed to get around Ozpin’s ‘partners at first sight’ rule.” The boy who spoke didn’t look like a second-year. More like a giant. But the Professor hadn’t been at Beacon any longer than that, so he had to be. “You and those Taupe kids were definitely the crowd favorites. Your spear runs on gravity Dust?”

“Y-yeah—”

“You were watching?” Dan asked.

The boy grinned. “You firsties spend your first day of school running around in the woods being chased by Grimm. The rest of us get to kick back and spend it watching you.” 

Tai groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

“Hey, don’t be like that.” They put a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, it sucked that you got hurt, but like you said— even pro Huntsmen mess up, but they don’t panic. You did everything perfectly. Everyone has a little bad luck now and then.”

Tai stammered his thanks and the sophomore headed off toward the food line.

“...Can’t help feeling like maybe yesterday was a lot of bad luck,” Summer muttered. How on Remnant does Ozpin expect me to lead this team? Dan was supposed to be leader. Well, I guess he still is but he was supposed to be our leader.

“You gave Tai half of Gungnir?”

“Uh. Yeah…”

“Huh.” The sound was sharp and bitter, like a rusted knife across the tongue. “Good move.” 

What, did you expect me to give it to you? Tai’s… family.

They got food and, without having to say a word, drifted to an unoccupied table at the edge of the room away from other students.

“Well, crap,” Tai sighed, grabbing the hot cocoa off his tray. “So...Where’s the rest of your team?”

“Wanted to sleep in,” Dan said around a mouthful of pancake. “We may have, uh, raided the kitchen for snacks before bed. Important team building exercise. What’d you do last night?”

Summer swallowed a bite of fruit, eager to talk about something else. “Filled some new gravity rounds. I nearly ran out yesterday.”

He looked expectantly at Tai, who sighed again, deeper than before. “...Taught Qrow how to use a washing machine.”

Aaaaand we’re back. She speared a piece of watermelon, wishing they could get a do-over of the previous day.

“Unbelievable,” Dan muttered, leaning against him and pressing his face into his neck. Tai went completely rigid, and Summer’s mind went blank.

“Dude!”

“What? I thought you wanted to tell Summer.”

She blinked, something in her stomach turning over. “...Tell me what…?”

“Uh…” Tai’s face was a nasty shade of gray. “Dan and I…”

“We’ve been dating for a couple weeks now. We’re talking it slow, since Zaff just left.”

It felt like a punch to the face. They were what? 

Now??

—She was staring at them open-mouthed. “Uh. I’m happy for you!” Summer forced a smile and hurriedly attacked her hash browns.

Tai, what the hell are you thinking?! Dan? Our friend? Who just broke up with our OTHER FRIEND? And when Dan and Zaff were together, they were together. She hadn’t spent nearly as much time with either of them. But they’d been happy… and she’d had Tai.

…Please don’t leave me alone with the Taupes.  

They ate in awkward silence, trying to avoid eye contact with the rest of the school. The food seemed to curdle in her stomach—this was a worse start to the year than she could have ever imagined.

“Uniforms!” Summer jumped about a foot, but it was just a teacher. “Hello again, Mr. Xiao Long.”

“Hi, Peter,” Tai said. “He’s a TA and our floor monitor. We, uh, met last night. Large, please.”

“Yes, my apologies again,” Peter blustered, handing the boys paper satchels. “Where is Mr. Taupe this morning?” If he’s smart, still unconscious. “No matter. Could you take one for him? Hmm. I’d hazard a guess at medium.”

“Sure.” Tai accepted the packet, and he moved on to the next table of pajama-clad first years.

It only took a few more minutes for the other TA to arrive with the girls’. “Extra-extra-small?” Summer asked hopefully. 

She dug around on the bottom shelf and finally emerged with a rumpled package. Summer beamed, taking it. “Thanks!” Maybe she wouldn’t have to alter something for once—she hadn’t exactly packed her sewing machine and it would mean a trip home. 

“Hey, we need a couple for our teammates,” Tai blurted, gesturing between himself and Dan. “Raven and, uh, Robin are probably both mediums, right?”

The TA just shrugged. Summer leaned over the table to whisper as she left. “What are you up to?”

“Let’s give the Taupes an old-fashioned Vale welcome,” Tai said, carefully unfolding the paper around Qrow’s clothes and swapping all of the pants with ‘Robin’s’ skirts. “After all, kilts are very traditional.”

Summer stared. “Do you want to get stabbed? Because this is how you get Raven to stab you.”

“That’s why I’m not pranking her.”

[Patch Notes: Tai’s chapter titles are now attempts at puns.

Professor Diana Miller is now Professor Zelenia Mesánychta (pronounced Meh-saan-eek-ta, it’s Greek). Boy did I not read the whole Wikipedia page on Baker-Miller pink before using it. Shit is WEIRD. It was supposed to be a throwaway name for a background character, but she’s suddenly becoming more important to the plot so I’m giving her a real name/color/allusion/etc. Basically the only thing that isn't changing is her personality]

Next Chapter: Qrow—I’ll Take Your Word For It

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #strq #team strq #summer rose #taiyang xiao long #qrow branwen #raven branwen #dan effuiller #peter port #The Kilt Incident #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

And now we're going to be teammates with Crow and Raven for four years. He glanced up at the screen where their pictures were arranging themselves in order, a letter fading into view under each face. S, T, R, —Q? What? How did he spell his name? Qrow? Qurow?

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—A ROOK-ie Mistake

[Link to Masterpost] [Whew! This is a long one, but I really wanted all of this from Tai's POV. I like to think Summer was the leader, but Tai was the glue that kept the other three from killing each other, especially in the beginning. I love Tai's emotional intelligence in the show]

"Where the hell were you?" 

The drone of Ozpin's voice lecturing the assembled students on the importance of flexibility, resilience and teamwork with unlikely allies barely masked Dan's angry words.

"In a tree with a sprained ankle," Tai hissed back. "Where were you?"

"I headed to the temple and waited for you! For like an hour!"

"Well, you were gone when we got there." He could stand on his own now, at least that was something, but his leg throbbed and healing had eaten through a good chunk of his aura. How do you always have enough energy to get angry? The last thing he needed right now was an argument. 

"Tiffany Sativum, Robin Dickinson, Tan Jack, and Lisera Madder, please come to the stand." Two partnerships stepped forward, one from the edge of the crowd of new students and the other pushing their way from the middle. In the stands above, the upperclassmen clapped politely. "The four of you retrieved the white pawn pieces during your trial. From this day forward, you will work as team TRTL, led by Tiffany Sativum."

Tai's heart sank as Summer seized his arm. " He's using the relics to put the teams together? "

"Which one did you two take?" Dan demanded.

Tai swallowed, trying to clear the sudden foul taste from his mouth. "A black rook." The next pair of partners took the stage, the hapless owners of the black pawns.

"Dammit, I had a white knight!" He glared up at Ozpin standing on the stage. "This is a stupid way to form teams!"

"Maybe Crow put the piece down," Summer muttered, rising on tiptoes to search the crowd. The Taupe twins were on the opposite side, and they appeared to be arguing.

Tai sighed, deeply. "He did not."

"Oh, no. Oh no… "

Couldn't have said it better myself . Crow seemed nice enough, if a little weird—a cape? Really? —but Raven was weird and…prickly.

"Don't like your new teammates?" Dan asked, voice still taut with anger.

"She's a bad-mannered Grimm magnet!"

Harsh. But true. "Well, look on the bright side. Ozpin probably won't make her the team leader."

"And you have someone you know on your team," Dan complained. Across the field, the twins had abandoned arguing in favor of glaring at the ground with identical scowls and folded arms. 

Absolutely nobody was happy with this, huh? Time to lighten the mood. Tai grinned, making sure he had both of their attention, and shrugged. "And, y'know. They're not unattractive."

Summer glared at him. "Godsdammit, Tai."

Ozpin cut her off, calling the next group to the stand, and Dan stepped closer as she focused once again on the stage.

"Careful, I might get jealous," Dan teased, quietly enough she wouldn't hear.

"Shhh." Tai elbowed him. "Unless you want to tell Summer now?"

"You're no fun."

At last, Ozpin made it to the rooks. As the newly formed team CIMN "Cinnamon"—that was a bit of a stretch, even for Ozpin—Tai and Summer started pushing forward.

"Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose, Crow Taupe, and Raven Taupe. You retrieved the black rook pieces." A few of the upperclassmen whooped and shouted as they stepped forward, and Tai's cheeks burned with embarrassment. How many people knew how badly he'd messed up?  

And now we're going to be teammates with Crow and Raven for four years. He glanced up at the screen where their pictures were arranging themselves in order, a letter fading into view under each face. S, T, R, —Q? What? How did he spell his name? Qrow? Qurow?

And then the four of them were lined up onstage under their photos, and Ozpin was smiling down at them despite their obvious discomfort."From this day forward you will work together as team STRQ, led by Summer Rose."

She sucked in a nervous breath through her teeth, with only a half-glance at Raven. Oh. Of course, the only thing that could potentially be more difficult than being on a team where Raven was leader… was leading the team Raven was on.

Although, she didn't look like she wanted to start a fight. For once. More like relieved—both the twins were. They're so weird.

They retreated gratefully from the stage and returned to their seats, clapping along with the rest of the school as Ozpin introduced the last few teams, and then they were free to leave.

"Well…" Summer began, but trailed off immediately.

Tai yawned. "I'm exhausted. Is anybody else exhausted?" 

"Probably because of your aura healing you," Raven said, quietly. After so many harsh words the softer tone was almost jarring, but anyone would know that . Was she trying to get under his skin? Again? Why?

He certainly wasn't going to rise to it. "Uh…yeah…"

"…You knew that already," she muttered, staring at the ground. A few yards away Professor Lionheart called everyone to pick up their things and go to Dorm B.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," she said, still not making eye contact. "I was… impatient, in the forest. I didn't realize we'd be working together …I don't want to make trouble."

Oh. She was trying to be nice? Tai scratched at the back of his neck, somehow even more uncomfortable. The next four years were going to be all flavors of interesting.

"Well, let's start over." Summer said, offering her hand for Raven to shake. Tai had known her forever, could tell she was just as uneasy, but also knew she was willing to recognize when someone was making an effort. "I'm Summer Rose. It's nice to meet you."

"Raven Taupe," she replied with a small smile. "You too."

Summer smiled, only a little forced, and swiped Tai's bag from his hands to sling it over her shoulder with her own. "Come on, let's go find our room." she said, rushing a few steps ahead.

"She really thought Ozpin was gonna make one of us leader?" Qrow muttered under his breath, one eyebrow raised. Tai stifled a snort, trying not to glance at Raven, but she was just nodding with her mouth pressed into a thin line.

Their room was on the second floor, near the end of the hall. A piece of paper had been taped to the door with STRQ scrawled in large, neat letters. "Home sweet home," Summer muttered nervously, pushing her way in. Four beds took up most of the space, with a couple feet between each. Two desks were crammed side-by-side in the middle, under the window, and as they filed in they found the other two pressed against the wall on either side of the door.

No curtains around the beds or for dividing up the room. "…Not real big on privacy, are they," Tai said. The dorms at Signal had been co-ed, but not this co-ed.

"Ugh, I hate getting used to a new mattress," Summer complained, flopping down on one of the beds against the wall. The twins immediately moved to claim the two at the other end of the room, leaving Tai with the one next to her—well, he was perfectly fine with that. He dropped his bag at the foot of the bed and started digging through it. Soap, towel, change of clothes, detergent, toothbrush…

"I'm gonna shower," Tai said, tossing the bundle over his shoulder. "I feel like I have bugs crawling all over me from that stupid tree."

 *****************************************************************************************

  "Dude, are you okay? You've been in there for like…forty minutes." Tai called tentatively. He didn't have his scroll, but Qrow had gotten in the shower while he was still trying to get his boot off his injured foot. He'd massaged his ankle, showered, and started a load of laundry since then.

The water switched off almost instantly. "I'm fine!"

Tai just shook his head and began to brush his teeth. Are these two really this weird or is this culture shock? he asked his reflection. I mean, we were eight when we moved to Vale. I don't remember Anima that well, and it's a huge place. In truth he couldn't even remember exactly where they'd lived…Ayame was closer to Mistral than not, right? And Qrow had said they weren't too far from there either.

The metallic clink of something metal hitting the porcelain a couple sinks down jolted him out of his thoughts. Qrow was now wearing a shapeless T-shirt and drawstring pants that Tai could only describe as dingy—faded colors, thin fabric. He'd tossed his combat gear into a sink and was filling it with water. 

Tai spat, rinsing his toothbrush. "What are you doing?" 

Qrow froze, hands dripping with soap. "…Laundry…?"

"There's a machine free," Tai gestured at the wall of washers next to the door. Actually there were several open.

"…Never used one before," he muttered, continuing to scrub.

"Oh." Tai blinked. They'd had a washer growing up, but Ayame was a relatively large town. Not everyone in the reigon had reliable Dust power outside the cities. "Uh… you can use my detergent…?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, what are teammates for?"

Qrow grabbed his stuff from the sink, trying to wring it out a little but still getting plenty of water on the floor, and shoved it into the washer. "Can I ask Raven if she has anything?"

"Sure!" He hoped the cheerfulness in his voice didn't sound as strained to Qrow as it did to him. Once his new teammate had vanished into the hallway, the forced smile slid from his face as Tai's head dropped into his hands. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"You're telling me."

His head snapped up—but it was just Dan. "You're on our floor?"

"Best news I've heard all day."  He wrapped his arms around Tai's waist, pulling him close. "I thought he'd never leave."

"He's just getting more stuff to wash," Tai mumbled, letting his head rest on Dan's shoulder. He was so tired.

"How's your ankle?"

"Hurts if I step on it too hard or move it too much." Dan let him go, and he jumped up backwards so he could sit on the counter and get his weight off it.

"I'm glad you're okay. Sorry I got so heated in the auditorium. I just really wanted the three of us to stay a team."

"Speaking of which, when can we tell Summer we—" Tai broke off as Qrow walked back in. "Got it?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said, tossing a small pile of red, black, and gray-brown into the machine. Tai hopped off the counter and started to measure out the detergent.

"Uh, hi, I'm Qrow Taupe."

"Dan Effeuiller."

Tai squinted down into the washer. Even with both the twins' clothes, it was barely half full—and the only color in the pile came from their battle gear. Most of their things were the same drab grays, browns, and off-whites in various states of well-worn.

"Actually, I think this is silk," he said, reaching in to pull Raven's sash out. "This does need to be handwashed—"

"Did you steal clothing from a female student?! " Tai jumped about a foot as an older boy yanked it from his hands, face purple under a golden blond mustache.

"I-It's my sister's," Qrow stammered.

"Oh." The mustache twitched. "Right you are. My apologies, Mister Taupe. I am Peter Port, the floor supervisor. I'm also a TA for Grimm Studies. Though…this is not how I wanted to make an introduction."

"You know us already?" Tai asked.

"Indeed I do, Mr. Xiao Long," he said. "Fortune favors the prepared! If there is anything you need, my door is at the end of the hall. I'll be seeing you all in class tomorrow!"

They breathed a collective sigh of relief as the TA left the room. "Anyway, uh, use warm water unless the clothes say not to on the label…" All their clothes looked very handmade. "And make sure you use the Dust-enhanced setting on your combat gear, it'll make it last longer."

"What happens if you wash silk in there?" Qrow asked, glancing at the sash.

Tai rolled his eyes. "Summer hits you for ruining her cosplay." That had been a fun day, when her Grimm Reaper cloak had come out of the wash all rippled and bubbly. 

"Uh…" Qrow clearly didn't get it. "Okay. Thanks. I hate doing laundry."

He snorted. "Anyone would if you had to do it all by hand!"

[Qrow: Fortune favors the people at the other end of the hall from me. Sorry, Tai]

Next Chapter: Do You Want to Get Stabbed?

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #strq #team strq #taiyang xiao long #summer rose #raven branwen #qrow branwen #peter port #dan effuiller #follow the beacon

[fire-the-headcanons]

“If you are ready, step forward,” Ozpin said, waving his cane at the launch plates set at the edge of the cliff. The three of them pushed forward together, easily getting to the head of the line. It was like most people weren’t super eager to be hurled off a cliff.

“All right. Find each other first, then we’ll figure out what to do about a fourth person,” Dan said, taking the first plate.

“Right.” Summer stepped up next to him, extending her spear and twisting Gungnir’s arrow free.

Tai took a ready position on the next plate, pooling his aura in his legs to brace for the jolt. We can do this. “It’s gonna take a lot more than chance to break us up.”  The boy from the shuttle took the spot to his left, cape fluttering gently in the breeze.

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—Forever Apartner

[Link to Masterpost]

The first-years flooded down the path in a mass, the bricks under their feet growing rougher with every step away from the school. The sky was clear, there was a light breeze, and Tai couldn’t wait to kill some Grimm.

Dan scowled at the back of the faunus Professor’s head, all the way up at the front of the group. “Why. So. Early.”

“Probably so they can assign teams after the assessment,” Summer replied, her voice taut. Tai’s stomach clenched in an unpleasant way that had nothing to do with the upcoming fight, whatever it entailed.

“I’m just saying. We had to drag all our crap up here yesterday and then we slept on the floor. It’s not a great way to see us fight at our best.”

“But it is a good way to see how you handle adversity.”

Tai froze, head whipping around toward the man who had snuck up behind them, and Summer let out a shocked squeak. They knew that voice, they’d been watching and re-watching recordings of the man’s few public addresses for months.

“Y-yes, Professor Ozpin,” Dan stammered, turning a bright scarlet.

More heads were turning as the group milled to a stop a safe distance from the edge of Beacon cliff. Far below, the Emerald Forest stretched on for miles in an ocean of uninterrupted green. No buildings, no roads.

It was unsettling in a way he wasn’t prepared for.

“As Huntsmen and Huntresses, you’ll rarely have the opportunity to work at your best. You’ll frequently be tired, or hungry, or discouraged. But the people in your care will still need you.” He took a sip from his coffee mug. “Welcome to initiation.” 

He didn’t shout, but he didn’t need to. “All of you have spent your lives up to this point training and learning to become warriors. Consider this your examination. At the northern end of the forest, there is a small ruined temple containing various relics. You and your partner are to retrieve one and return here to the clifftop.”

“So we’re getting our teams assigned today?” someone shouted from the middle of the crowd.

“In a way,” Ozpin replied with a smile that Tai could only describe as devious, walking with his cane but putting next to no weight on it as he circled to the front of the group.  “The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the duration of your time at Beacon.”

WHAT?

Tai wasn’t alone in his assessment. Dan sucked in air like someone had just punched him in the diaphragm, and Summer downright whimpered. Anxious mutters erupted from the other students, almost but not quite drowning out a fervently whispered, “Oh thank gods.”

A dozen eyes stared incredulously at the one who said it—with a jolt, Tai realized it was the grumpy girl from the shuttle, looking much happier than she had yesterday. At least until she realized she was the center of attention and froze with the same kind of terror of a person who broke wind during a school presentation.

“I hope I don’t need to warn you that the forest below is full of the creatures of Grimm,” Ozpin continued, and everyone faced the front again. “And while your teachers will be monitoring your progress, we will not interfere if you find yourselves in over your heads. Are there any questions?”

Tai had plenty of questions, are you fucking kidding me at the top of the list, but his voice seemed to have stopped working.

“Well, I guess it’s better than teams being assigned,” Summer said with grim determination, shifting her grip on Gungnir. “Keep your eyes on the ground until we find each other.”

“If you are ready, step forward,” Ozpin said, waving his cane at the launch plates set at the edge of the cliff. The three of them pushed forward together, easily getting to the head of the line. It was like most people weren’t super eager to be hurled off a cliff.

“All right. Find each other first, then we’ll figure out what to do about a fourth person,” Dan said, taking the first plate.

“Right.” Summer stepped up next to him, extending her spear and twisting Gungnir’s arrow free. 

Tai took a ready position on the next plate, pooling his aura in his legs to brace for the jolt. We can do this. “It’s gonna take a lot more than chance to break us up.”  The boy from the shuttle took the spot to his left, cape fluttering gently in the breeze.

Dan launched with a defiant shout, his mace unfolding as he soared out over the forest. Summer’s plate clicked, probably a safety being disengaged, and she slid her arrow into Tai’s hand a split second before vanishing.

Oh. OH! Why hadn’t he thought of—

WHAM.

It didn’t feel like being thrown, more like being slammed into from below—at least from how the force bounced around his aura—and then he was flying.

He bit down on the arrow, freeing his hands to land. The others had seemed to fly for an eternity, but now that it was his turn in the air, the ground was already getting closer at an alarming pace. Aiming for one of the taller oaks using the drag on his arms and legs to nudge himself on the right trajectory, he silently thanked Balt and Azraq for all the extra skydiving lessons at Signal.

Tai caught a thin branch in one gauntleted hand, pooling his aura down his entire arm to give him the strength to hold on and keep his shoulder from dislocating. The branch twisted him in toward the trunk like a ball on a string, finally breaking under the force—and grabbed another with his other hand, continuing his controlled spiral downward.

Nailed it, he thought, releasing the last branch and aiming to land on a wide branch near the base of the tree. The spikes on his boots bit into the wood as he dropped onto it, bending his knees to absorb his momentum—

CRACK.

Oh, sh—

WHAM.

He hit the forest floor in a heap, the impact knocking the wind clean out of him, and pain shot up his leg as his ankle twisted. The arrow fell from his mouth as he gasped for air, clutching at his foot. Praying it wasn’t broken. Praying there weren’t any Grimm nearby.

The arrow! If Summer activated it, he’d lose his lifeline—and as much as he hated to admit it...he might need rescuing now. 

What felt like an eternity later, he finally managed to shove himself into a sitting position. Arrow firmly clenched in his left hand, he turned his attention to his ankle.

Well, it doesn’t look broken, there’s one thing to be grateful for. He tried to move it, a mistake that sent pain shooting through his whole foot. Aura’s great for impacts...not so great for getting my foot twisted like that. And I was surprised by the fall.

He was a sitting duck in a forest full of Grimm, he couldn’t even walk—

“Okay.” Tai forced himself to keep breathing deeply, though he’d mostly caught his breath. “Okay. This happens. Real Huntsmen mess up.” He grabbed the branch that had broken under him and braced the end on the ground, pushing himself to a standing position. “Real Huntsmen get hurt.”

He glanced up at the tree. Luckily, the lowest branches weren’t too low. He couldn’t fight like this, so his best option was to get somewhere out of reach. Grunting with pain, he limped over and tested his weight before hoisting himself up. 

“Real Huntsmen do not panic,” he panted around the arrow, slowly and painfully dragging himself up, branch by branch, with one useless leg. “Real Huntsmen do not draw the Grimm in while they can’t fight.”

About twenty feet up he sunk into a fork of the tree, almost as out of breath as he’d been after hitting the ground. “That’ll...have to be...good enough.” He wedged the arrow into the wood and held it there with both hands, leaning back against one of the branches to rest.

A camera was bolted to the trunk, just above him, swiveled down to stare him in the face. Of course. The professors had to observe them somehow.

Tai cursed, leaning forward against the other branch instead.

 [I'm so happy with this chapter. It just came together, it's exactly what I wanted... hope you enjoyed too]

Next Chapter: Summer—Half Cocked

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #strq #team strq #taiyang xiao long #summer rose #qrow branwen #raven branwen #ozpin #rwby ozpin #dan effuiller #bad luck charm #dramatic irony #follow the beacon #mine