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fire-the-headcanons · 4 years

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Red light pulsed in the distance, along with music and laughter. The main lobby. "Oh, thank gods it's over," Summer gasped, but Qrow drowned her out with an even more emphatic string of curses. He leapt to his feet and ran, wiping slime from the back of his neck, and the rest of them scrambled to follow.

More than a few heads turned as he pelted out into the party, still swearing and flinging ooze.

BANG.

One of the food tables buckled, the end slamming into the floor like a gunshot followed by the massive cascading crash of the dishes tumbling to the floor and shattering. A few other people screamed but not loud enough to cover Qrow's final curse as he jumped at the sound.

Someone grabbed her arm, dragging her sideways onto a bench. The rest of her team wasn't far behind—practically thrown onto the seat by two other fourth years.

"Take a minute to calm down," one of them barked.

Follow the Beacon Summer—A Bit Much

[Link to Masterpost]

[We're halfway through the book, whoa

This chapter was A Lot, and I also had to move my company's infrastructure online so everyone could work from home because of the pandemic... it's been a very, very weird month. Anyway, the chapter is finally up!!!Brief reminder that I've been using "obscura" in place of "television" because they call phones scrolls

TW for blood, death, and existential dread. You can skip down to where it says BANG on one line to skip the horror house if you wish]

The door rattled as something big slammed into the other side, still snarling. "Okay, moving on," Tai muttered, backing away. As one, all four of them turned and sped off.

"So, uh, you tied," Summer joked. It didn't do much to lighten the mood—Qrow giggled, high-pitched, with a glance backward. Tai and Raven just looked at each other and remained silent.

Thanks to the streetlamps outside the corridor was a little brighter than the warehouse had been, but not enough to see well. All the classrooms on the left were barricaded. Desks piled against some, barely visible through the windows of the doors, and others were convincingly boarded up.

"What is that?" Tai's voice rang with disgust.

A sheet lay on the floor beneath a window, splattered with red. Summer's stomach twisted. Come on, guys. That's a bit much. "Someone very good at holding still," she said firmly, striding toward it and reaching for a corner. "Oh, I bet it's one of the first aid dummies! That's clev—"

Oakley lay under it, eyes open and staring blankly into space.

...Somehow she hadn't expected it to be someone she knew.

They worked part-time in the campus post office, everyone knew them… The cloth slipped from her fingers and fluttered back over their face. Of… of course you'd recognize them. She stood and continued down the hall, the others falling in around her. Our classes aren't that big, we all know each other by sight at least.

"What is it?" Tai's voice wavered with concern.

They're just acting. Get it together. "It's nothing."

Haphazard piles of desks blocked the hallway ahead, but a classroom door sat open and streaming light into the hallway. The four of them crept in silently, trying to ignore the bloodstains on the walls and the thick haze of Grimm smoke trapped near the ceiling with nowhere to dissipate.

"Are we having fun yet?" Qrow whispered. Everyone else returned a weak chuckle.

They climbed through the rows of seats, outdated or worn-out textbooks crumpling underfoot with broken pencils and loose sheets of paper. An icy draft blew through the third row and they all hurried a step to be out of it. The only other open door was in the back of the room, so they headed that way despite the obstacles blocking the steps. Twice they had to climb over a bench wedged between rows.

The next hallway was worse. More debris littered the floor, and more sheets that Summer now knew better than to touch. It was darker again, too. The bright classroom had probably been there to keep their eyes from adjusting again.

"Look," Tai said, pointing to a sloppily-made sign pointing toward the east wing. "...That guy downstairs said to head for the safe zone, right?"

"Guess we follow it." Summer's hands shook, missing Gungnir's comforting weight. It's not real, it's not real. She still felt like she had to do something.

The path forced them into another classroom where a Boarbatusk roared and slammed into the walls of its cage to get to them. They ran through, eager to move on—that one was definitely not an actor.

"There's the lobby," Tai said. Debris still covered the floor but there were no more barricades between them and the 'safe zone'. On the other hand, it was getting darker again, which was probably for the best.

Qrow winced at the scene. "...When you guys said Halloween was about 'scares' I thought you meant… y'know… 'Boo!' Not…"

"A realistic depiction of a large-scale Grimm attack," Raven muttered.

"...It usually is," Tai said pathetically. "'Boo!', I mean."

It had been a triage. People lay lined up on the ground—a few on stretchers, but most on only blankets. What tables hadn't overturned held a few rolls of bandages. They'd clearly been running out of supplies, but that didn't really matter considering the small pack of Beowolves milling through the rows and sniffing at the 'bodies'. Nothing else moved.

"Help…"

The four of them scanned for the source of the feeble voice—a doctor in bloodstained scrubs sagged from the Alpha's jaws clamped around his neck. "Help."

As one, every other wolf in the pack froze and slowly turned to look at them. The unified, eerie movement sent ice down Summer's spine.

"Run?" Tai asked. The wolf furthest from them howled with disturbing accuracy and the rest rushed forward. Nobody bothered to answer him, pelting down the next hallway without discussion. To her unease, the light was still getting dimmer.

"I think they stopped chasing us," Qrow muttered, squinting behind them.

"Is that really what it's like?" Summer blurted. "Have you… ever..."

"The smell is wrong."

Raven scowled at the ground, her hair blending into the dark of the hallway and making it look like she was disappearing. "No blood or shit. It still smells like school."

"Oh. That's it," Qrow murmured.

So that's what we're fighting. Summer's hands clenched. Anger seared in her chest like an open flame. She'd never felt hatred like this before.

"Are you both all right?" she asked the twins.

They replied in unison, voices thin and tired. "I'm fine."

Qrow folded his arms. "...I want to go back to the party."

Summer wanted to go to the Emerald Forest and turn the first Grimm she saw into a smoking pincushion. "Okay. We've almost looped back around to the main entrance. Do we push through whatever's ahead, or hop out a window?" she asked, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

Tai swore loudly and jumped back from the darkened glass. The rest of them whirled around just in time to see a giant Grimm eye close outside. Something rumbled, almost shaking the air.

"Let's just get this over with," Qrow muttered.

Summer grabbed his hand with her right and Tai's with her left, dragging them within comfortable reach. "All right, team STRQ! We walked into this mess together and we're walking out together."

"I'm fine," Raven said again as Tai pulled her into the chain too.

"Well, you shouldn't be, because this thing is messed up!" Summer declared, staring ahead into the dark. "...Here we go."

The hallway stretched on forever, eyes glowing from the depths of the classrooms on either side. Something banged on one of the doors and they darted forward a few steps as it rattled.

Help…

"...Did you hear that?" Tai whispered.

Help…

Qrow hissed, his hand tightening on Summer's. "I'm trying not to."

Help me!

"...Is that a child?" Raven said, voice a little higher pitched than usual.

Anyone!

"It's just an actor."

"There aren't any little kids in the fourth year class!" They rounded the corner with a death grip on each others' hands.

"Tell that to her," Qrow muttered. The hallway was still dark, right up until the end where a single light shone on a little girl, even shorter than Summer, with eerily immaculate golden curls.

"Help me," she begged, making no effort to struggle against whatever bone-plated shadow curled around her middle, holding her five or six feet above the ground. "Please, help me!"

Against her will and better judgement, Summer stepped forward. There was more debris on the ground here—how many old books did the school have?—and she moved carefully to avoid slipping.

"What are you doing?!" Raven demanded, her yank stopping the rest of them short. "It's clearly a trap!"

"And it's all a game. The quicker we lose the quicker it's over."

She didn't seem any happier, but she also didn't protest as Summer stepped forward again. Qrow, on the other hand, was chanting swear words under his breath and his grip was probably cutting off the blood supply to her fingers.

"Help me," the girl sobbed again. "Please!"

"Okay, okay," Tai muttered.

"Help me." She smiled, going unnaturally stiff. "Help me, I'm hungry."

The lights brightened, revealing the twisted and disorganized mass of the Grimm poured over the end of the hallway. Fur and feathers and bone covered it like a pile of scrap, but the thing breathed, expanding and contracting around the point where the little girl emerged from the top, her arms and stomach disappearing into its mass.

A huge gash opened in its middle, glowing red and lined with teeth. The walls and floor seemed to writhe in the light, glowing violet—and then they twisted inward like a thousand arms and yanked the four of them off their feet and into its mouth. Everything was red and orange and screaming and they were falling—sliding—the walls getting tighter—slimy—

They tumbled out the bottom of the chute into another dark hallway. Red light pulsed in the distance, along with music and laughter. The main lobby. "Oh, thank gods it's over," Summer gasped, but Qrow drowned her out with an even more emphatic string of curses. He leapt to his feet and ran, wiping slime from the back of his neck, and the rest of them scrambled to follow.

More than a few heads turned as he pelted out into the party, still swearing and flinging ooze.

BANG.

Someone grabbed her arm, dragging her sideways onto a bench. The rest of her team wasn't far behind—practically thrown onto the seat by two other fourth years.

"Take a minute to calm down," one of them barked.

Summer sagged against the wall, heart still pounding. It's okay, it wasn't real. It was never real. Next to her Tai leaned his elbows on his knees and rested his head in hands while Qrow returned to muttering obscenities under his breath and massaging his shoulder. And Raven…

She sat rigid on the edge of the bench, spine stick-straight and her hands clutched at the fabric of her borrowed pants. Most of the flour had fallen out.

"...Are you sure you're okay?" Summer asked. The way she stared glassily into the crowd didn't seem… right.

"I'm fine," she murmured tonelessly. "...Are… you?"

"Wasn't real," Summer said. "I just need to calm down… I... " Something twisted painfully in the back of her throat. "It's just a game. It's so dumb. I— I couldn't fight back. I felt helpless."

Raven finally blinked, looking down at her with something like surprise. "Me too."

"I guess that's kinda the point of a horror house." Tai's voice was slightly muffled by his hands. "All in favor of never doing that again?"

"Aye," Summer said, and Raven echoed her quietly.

"Not even at gunpoint," Qrow muttered.

They sat in—well, not silence, the party was plenty loud—but they all took hands again. Raven didn't even fight that much when Summer reached for hers, though she didn't lean in like the rest of them.

"Good evening, Miss Rose." She looked up blearily—Ozpin stood over them with a fresh mug of chocolate. "Is your team enjoying the party?"

Qrow muttered something that Summer rushed to talk over. "Uh, the horror house was… a bit much."

"Yes, that's probably Ebony's doing," the professor muttered into his cocoa cup.

"I thought the gods-damned point of this party was to STOP people from drinking. Fu—"

"—n! Fun!" Summer squeaked, reaching around Tai to give Qrow a pointed shove and cutting him off.

"You need to watch your language," a horribly familiar voice said. Behind Ozpin the little girl from the… Grimm… thing glared at them over her glasses, holding a cup of punch. At least Summer hoped it was punch.

"What are you doing here?" Raven hissed.

"I'm on break." She took a slightly smug drink. "Throwing you around takes a lot of aura."

Summer's eyes widened. "You did that with your Semblance?"

"And a little bit of gravity Dust, to make you lighter." Her curls bounced as she smiled up at them.

The fourth year standing next to her offered a hand, and the two of them high-fived. "You got 'em good, Glynda."

Qrow folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. "Aren't you a little young to be at Beacon?"

"Aren't you?"

"What? No!"

"...I'm getting my knife back," Raven muttered, climbing to her feet and wandering toward the weapons check.

Tai followed and the crowd filled in around them but Summer still saw him gesture in exasperation. "Again. Why do you have one?!"

Well, she really couldn't put it off any longer. "Uh… will you grab my gloves and stuff too, Qrow?"

His eyes almost flicked to Ozpin as he nodded and climbed to his feet. "Yeah, sure."

"And maybe confiscate Raven's knife…?"

"Nah. I like my fingers where they are."

The professor raised an eyebrow at his back while he disappeared into the party. "Those two are a bit… wilder than I expected, when I met them."

Ask him. Just do it. Just ask him—"No costume, Professor?"—dammit.

Ozpin smiled down at her. "I could say the same to you, Carmine." She had to stifle a snort into her hand. "But… Truth be told, Halloween has never had strong appeal for me. I feel there is enough darkness in the world—though I would never spoil the fun for those that do enjoy it."

"I mostly like the costumes," Summer admitted.

"It can be amusing to wear a different face for a while."

"Every year since moving to Vale, I'd want to be a hero from another story. ...I never understood dressing up like the villains."

Just ask, just ask, just ask. It felt even sillier here, with the loud music and 'spooky' lights. And dressed as Professor Carmine. Summer took a quick, steadying breath.

"Professor, what's your favorite fairy tale?"

In obscura shows, when someone is surprised while drinking, they spit it out dramatically in a fine mist. Ozpin's cocoa revolted with an undignified glug and bubbled over to dump a streak down the front of his jacket and leave him with a hacking cough. Alarmed, Summer reached out and thumped him on the back.

"Who told you that?" he wheezed, glaring at her over the top of his glasses and wiping his mouth.

"Uh…" She steeled herself, speaking with firm determination. "That's not an answer."

He studied her for a moment as his breath settled. When he finally spoke, his voice was neutral.

"The Story of the Seasons."

And then he turned and left.

Next Chapter: Qrow—Mother Knows Best

[Oh, hello Glynda! What are you doing here? Besides scaring the costumes off teenagers]

#rwby #strq #team strq #summer rose #qrow branwen #taiyang xiao long #raven branwen #ozpin #professor ozpin #glynda goodwitch #carmine eitri #rwby fanfiction #follow the beacon

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sapphic-sustrai · 5 years

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Time for me to share a quick couple of Team STRQ headcanons that I’ve been sitting on.

I know that most people believe that Summer + Qrow & Taiyang + Raven were partnered up together. However, I’m so incredibly attached to the idea that Summer + Raven & Qrow + Taiyang were partnered up together.

Summer to me would be the best cook on the team, her desserts were absolutely to die for. Taiyang was a pretty competent cook in his own right. The twins however... were not. So Summer took it upon herself to help teach the twins how to cook. Qrow got better in his adult years, but I believe that Raven still probably isn’t the best cook. She’s definitely a better cook than she was previously though.

Sexuality-wise, I headcanon that: Summer is Biromantic Demisexual, Taiyang is Straight, Raven is Bisexual, and Qrow is also Bisexual {this may be subject to change in the future, but this is what I have for now}.

We know that Raven and Taiyang got together at some point, but I’d also like to think that Summer and Raven had crushes on each other back in the day.

Ironically, Summer and Taiyang are the early birds on the team... Qrow and Raven are not.

Taiyang has no sense of direction, so someone on the team has to keep watching him at all times to make sure that he doesn’t take off on them and get lost.

Whenever the team is watching a scary movie, Taiyang eats almost all of the popcorn, Qrow will sometimes fall asleep halfway through, and Summer will be laying in Raven’s lap with her head buried into Raven’s shoulder.

#team strq #rwby #rosebird #phoenix #roosterteeth #headcanons #rwby headcanons #strq headcanons #food tw #I wanna write more about strq in the future

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fire-the-headcanons · 4 years

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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.

...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

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fire-the-headcanons · 5 years

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Follow the Beacon Summer—Summertime

[If you don’t like angst, go ahead and start here! Otherwise, here’s a link to the Masterpost. A fun chapter this time.]

Summer squinted through the rifle’s scope at the apparently deserted building, searching each window for any sign of movement. Of course, if a teacher had come in on Saturday to grade papers they’d hardly be pacing around their classrooms, but at least none of the lights were on.

Back on the field, preparations for the dance were now well underway. She took a few seconds to locate her mother and Huang, helping Tai and a few other students put up the large tents near the cafeteria doors. All busy and distracted.

Summer spun the rifle, extending Gungnir into spear form with a satisfying click. A twist and a shove let the shaft separate from the gun. Clamping the harpoon between her teeth, she slotted in the special Dust magazine she’d prepared.

It wasn’t a difficult shot. A huge banner stretched over the cafeteria doors, taped to the gutter. She took aim at the far side and fired, the modified ice round striking the tape dead center and freezing into a ball about the size of her fist.

Nobody on the field batted an eye at the sound of the rifle discharge, and she hadn’t expected them to. Gunfire was just background noise at a combat school like Signal, even on a Saturday. Three other shots had echoed over the grounds by the time the ice melted enough to fall from the wall, taking the soggy tape off with it. The banner fluttered down, still anchored on one side, to hang over the security camera on the corner.

Summer grinned and let the harpoon drop from her teeth into her hand. It glided into the rifle’s barrel with ease, and she aimed over the building before pressing the button on the stock. The Dust cores in the rifle and arrow glowed to life, repulsing each other, and she braced against the gun to keep it from flying in the opposite direction. The half-spear arced into the air, stabilizer fins popping from the shaft as soon as it left the barrel, and disappeared onto the school roof.

Perfect.

Her mother emerged from the tents carrying a stepladder toward the banner, and Tai sprang forward to stall. At best, they had a minute before the security camera was clear. Summer tossed her rifle into the box of tablecloths she’d been sent to retrieve and stepped from the bushes onto the sidewalk. Nobody spared her a glance as she strode right up to the wall and back out of sight of the field.

Around the corner, the ladder rattled under her mom‘s footsteps. “Ah, the tape’s wet. Tai, could you grab some more?”

“Sure, Mrs. Rose.”

The banner twitched as her mom started to pull it back into place. Summer dropped the box, grabbed the rifle, and activated the Dust cores again—this time to attract. The gun nearly leapt from her hands, but she was ready and tightened her grip as she flew into the air. The angle of attraction threatened to drag her against the brick, but she ran up the side of the building using Gungnir like a rappelling line.

Below her, the camera emerged as her mother dragged the banner away, but she rolled onto the roof out of sight. She retrieved the arrow and returned it to the rifle, folding her weapon to its most compact form before sliding it down the back of her hoodie. It took a moment to get it to clip to the magnetic holster, but finally it caught with a soft click and Summer moved for the entrance.

The door opened without trouble, and she peeled the tape from the latch before slipping inside and letting it lock behind her. No cameras in the emergency stairwell, luckily, though one pointed at the ground floor exit. Summer headed down to the second floor instead, and gave the handle a slow and tentative push. It still creaked louder than she liked.

Other than the faint growls of captive Grimm in a classroom, the hallway was silent and deserted. If the door opened more than a foot the cameras would catch it, but she’d always been on the small side. It wasn’t hard to squeeze through. The bank of lockers that ran right up to the doorframe provided a blind spot—she jumped, grabbed the top, and pulled herself up as quietly as she could manage. No one came tearing out of the classrooms at the sound of wobbling metal, though the Grimm growled a little louder as they sensed her nerves.

Her boots on the locker roofs sounded almost like swords clanging together, but she made it to the next classroom without falling from the narrow ledge or alerting anyone. Another door she could only open a crack waited at the other end.

This room was unique, with windows into the courtyard that were nearly blocked by a large tree. Summer slid to the floor and inched forward along the wall to the blind spot behind the teacher’s desk. It was easy to climb from the window to a sturdy branch and make her way to the ground. Leaves shielded her from the camera at the far end of the yard, and any movement would be passed off as a gust of wind.

It was even easier to climb back in through the window to the headmaster’s office, always left unlocked. No cameras either, thanks to the same employee privacy law that provided a blind spot behind the desk upstairs. Summer exhaled with satisfaction as she sat in the grand leather chair.

And nearly fell out of it again as the phone rang.

Just someone leaving a message. She shook herself mentally. The computer snapped awake at her touch, demanding a password. Summer grinned and started to type.

SUMM3RTAIM3.

It opened instantly, and she leaned back in the chair with a delighted smile. What should she dig through first? …His travel arrangements would probably still be in his email, if the state of his office at home was anything to go by. She clicked on the application.

Password:

“Oh, come on, who logs out of their email?!” She slapped the desk and tried again. SUMM3RTAIM3.

Incorrect password.

Just perfect. The phone wasn’t helping her think either. “You’ve reached the office of Headmaster Azraq of Signal Academy, please leave a message...”

She scowled and typed BALT515.

Incorrect password.

She didn’t know any others. Maybe she should go through his latest documents instead? They were a lot less likely to hold anything useful...

There was one more thing she could try. She started to type, ST3RLINGRO—

“Summer, knock it off.”

She froze, hands hovering over the keyboard, staring at the phone in abject horror. “B-Balt?” her voice squeaked so badly she winced.

“Come on, pick up.” He didn’t sound mad, but he definitely wasn’t happy either. “Azraq set up the webcam, I can see you in there.”

Summer hung her head and pressed the button. “Hi, Uncle Balt.”

“I thought you talked about this,” the desk speaker said.

“I didn’t get to talk,” she grumbled, leaning back and kicking at the floor so the chair spun slowly. “They did all the talking. I just want to know what they’re hiding from us!”

“It’s Huntsman business. Summer, they don’t tell me about their secret missions either.”

She paused, halfway through her second rotation. “…What, really?”

“I love Azraq and I trust his judgement. And he tells me what I need to know, even when Ozpin disapproves.”

Ozpin.

A wild grin stole its way over her face as she stared at the phone in disbelief. She’d been hoping to get an imprecise location, or more cryptic and coded messages. Maybe today hadn’t been a total loss. “Ozpin?“ she repeated. The new headmaster of Beacon Academy, the mysterious academic that everyone joked was too young to attend the school, let alone run it? The one that had been appointed amid whispers of nepotism and conspiracy? That Ozpin?

The line went silent. And then very...not silent.

“Swear jar, Uncle Balt!” Summer laughed, logging out of the computer and ending the call. This was worth getting grounded.

Well, no point in hiding now. She walked right out of the office, around the corner, and out the front door.

“Summer? Where were you? I thought you were helping them set up for the dance on the back lawn!” her mom demanded, nearly dropping the box of tablecloths Summer had abandoned earlier.

“Azraq’s office.” She didn’t bother to hide her grin.

Tai stared at her, disbelieving. “What happened to stealth?!”

“Were you involved with this?” Huang scowled down at him.

“No, definitely not.”

He shook his head, almost laughing. “I ought to ground you.”

“You broke into the school?” her mom demanded. “We told you he was leaving for a classified mission, and you broke into his office?!“

“No! Calm down! The doors were unlocked, so I just…walked in.”

Her mom didn’t look convinced, but she also had no way of knowing Summer had spent the better part of two years figuring out that route through the security cameras. “You’re going to make your uncles a batch of apology cookies, and then you’re grounded for a month.”

That was way too much! “Mom!“

“That sounds like an excellent idea, Claret,” Huang growled at Tai.

His jaw dropped. “Dad, come on! We’ll miss the dance!”

“Then you two shouldn’t argue if you want to convince us to let you go.” Her mom folded her arms. Summer and Tai both grumbled acknowledgement, and the four of them headed back toward the field.

Is Uncle Azraq even going to be home in time for the party? Wait. Maybe— “Is Uncle Azraq even going to be home from Solitas in time?” she blurted.

“Nice try, kiddo,” Huang said with a glare.

Summer grinned. “So he’s not in Solitas.”

Her mom grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the Xiao Longs. “You’re going to have to try harder than that if you want to convince me to let you go to the dance, Summer.”

“I wasn’t going anyway,” she said. “Sorry, Tai! Balt caught me. They rigged the webcam. See you Monday!”

“Yeah, sure,” he sighed. Behind him, Huang looked like he wanted to laugh.

[Looks like Qrow isn’t the only Grimm Reaper fan in Team STRQ...I couldn’t resist giving Summer a weapon that also took inspiration from Maria’s. The gravity Dust cores are awesome and I’m kind of sad the show probably won’t utilize them more]

Next Chapter: Taiyang—Baking the Rules

#rwby #roosterteeth #strq #team strq #summer rose #taiyang xiao long #rwby fanfiction #follow the beacon #my fic #mine

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