STRQ (A RWBY fanfiction) [Book 1]

Chapter 31

The next few weeks went by fairly quickly. Qrow and I got extremely close during that time. We barely spent any time away from one another. One morning, Tai had called earlier that week to inform me that he and Raven might be returning a few days earlier, which I was okay with. It'd be nice to have the team together again.

"You know, we still have a few days left for ourselves," Qrow said, moving some of my hair that was covering my neck. My face became warm from his touch.

"Yeah," I replied. "Did you have something in mind?"

Qrow said nothing as he began kissing my shoulder and up my neck. My eyes widened and my body tensed as I realized where this was headed. Qrow noticed my discomfort and stopped immediately.

"Are you okay? I can stop if you want," he said.

"Um... I don't think I'm ready for this yet," I replied quietly.

Qrow's eyes widened when he realized what I had meant.

"What? No! I wasn't planning on taking it that far. Trust me, I'm not ready for that either. I just thought we'd stick to kissing for now," he explained.

I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit. I turned to face him. His crimson eyes locked with mine and he leaned forward to kiss me. The kiss was deep and passionate. He kissed me again as I ran my hand through his hair, pulling him as close as I possibly could toward me.

We continued this for several minutes before I heard a voice come from the doorway.

"Aw, come on. If you two are going to do that, then at least have the decency to put a tie on the door or something."

Qrow yelled and jumped back as I screamed. Raven and Tai were standing in the doorway with their suitcases.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?!" I yelled.

"We live here too, Summer. We shouldn't have to knock," Raven said.

"I didn't even hear you two come in," Qrow said.

Raven put her stuff near her bed and Tai winked at Qrow.

"I'd like to hear all the juicy details about you and Summer later," he said.

"Tai! That's none of your business!" I snapped.

Tai just laughed and started to unpack his things.

"Did you miss us?" Qrow asked.

"The tribe isn't the same with out you there, Qrow. You should come back," Raven said.

Qrow sighed. "This again? You know how I feel, Raven. I'm not coming back."

Raven glared at him. "Fine. Maybe it's better off without you."

I stood to my feet.
"So... how was your stay at your family, Tai?"
I asked, trying to ease the tension in the room.

Tai grinned. "It was great! I finally got to eat my mom's meals again. She makes an amazing roasted chicken."

I smiled. "That's good to hear. I'm happy that team STRQ is together once again."

Raven grunted. "Yeah. Sure."

"Oh come on, Raven. Aren't you excited to be back at Beacon?" I asked.

Raven shrugged. "I suppose so. I hope we go on more exciting missions this semester instead of those boring search and destroy ones."

"Since we've worked so hard last semester, I thought we could choose a new mission from the mission boards today," I suggested.

"That sounds like fun. Can we go there once we've finished unpacking?" Tai asked.

I smiled. "Of course. I'll help you with unpacking."

After Tai and Raven fully unpacked their things, we headed towards the mission boards. As I gazed across the several missions, I noticed that most of them were already taken.

"What about this bounty mission?" Tai asked, pointing to one of the very few missions left. I examined its details carefully. It didn't seem that complicated. Apparently there was a robber that was still stealing massive amounts of dust.

"Hm... I wonder what could require that much dust?" I asked.

"Who cares? I'm just excited to beat up some bad guys!" Tai exclaimed.

"Arthur Watts... it says he's originally from Atlas. What's he doing all the way in Vale?" Raven asked.

"No idea. But he looks around the same age as us. Interesting," I said.

"So... do we have a plan on what to do next?" Qrow asked.

"Raven, I want you to do some research on this Arthur Watts. Find out everything you can, including the recent places he's robbed, and report back to me. Qrow, I'm going to need you to start scouting those places within a few days before our mission. I'd like to see where he's likely to go before we set out. As for Tai and I, we'll get everything ready for the mission. Sound good?"

Raven nodded. "I'll head to the CCT later and see what I can find."

"Good. It's settled then," I said, trying to reach up and type in our team name. I was a few inches short. Qrow laughed a bit and stepped forward to type in my place.

"Thank you," I said, smiled up at him.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and smiled back. "Anytime."

Once we returned to our dorm and relaxed for a bit, Raven decided head to the CCT. Before she got to the door, I grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Hey, can I come with you?" I asked.

She looked confused. "Why? I thought you were helping Tai with the mission."

"I'll do that later when the mission gets closer. We have a week to prepare. And besides... I really want to see the tower!"

Raven stared at me blankly. "You haven't seen the tower yet?"

I shook my head. "No. I mean, I've seen the outside, but not the inside. Please let me come with you. This was my idea after all!"

Raven roller her eyes. "Fine... Let's go."

"YAY! Thank you!" I said, hugging her arm.

Raven stared at me. "...Please let go."

I quickly released my grip. "Sorry."

We walked towards the CCT that was just outside the academy. The height of the tower still left me awestruck.

"Wow... it's so cool!" I exclaimed.

Raven sighed in response and walked toward the doors. A voice came through from a speaker.

"Hello, and welcome to the CCT. Would you please place your scroll in the slot so we can verify your identity?"

Raven placed her scroll in the slot and waited.

"Thank you, Miss Branwen."

"I also have my teammate with me as well. She will be joining me," Raven said.

"Oh. That's no problem. Can they please verify their identity as well?"

I placed my scroll into the slot like Raven had before. After a few seconds, the voice responded.

"Thank you, Miss Rose. Once again, welcome to the CCT. If you need any assistance, the clerk at the desk will be able to provide any help you should need."

The door buzzed and slowly opened. I grabbed my scroll and rushed into the building.

"Summer! Wait!" Raven called, sprinting after me.