Theft, magic and serious trust issues
"You ... you stole from Ozpin?"
"Yup!" Summer chirped, popping the p like she always did and grinning cheerfully as she perched atop the arm of an unreasonably comfortable armchair. From where he was sitting on the ground next to the armchair, Taiyang snickered at the looks that greeted Summer's words, discreetly pulling out his scroll and snapping a picture of Qrow and Raven gaping at their smaller teammate in astounded awe. Checking how the picture had turned out, he chuckled. Oh, that one was definitely going into his photo album.
"I hate to stoop to my brother's language level," Raven murmured from where she sat on a second armchair just a few steps away from where Summer and Taiyang was sitting, ignoring her brother's grumble of irritation at her insult. "But what the fuck, Sum?"
"I may or may not have gotten ... slightly upset with him," Summer said delicately, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she reached for the small backpack she'd brought into the Branwen camp with her. Resisting the urge to burst into laughter, and hearing Taiyang choke on his next breath as he realized what she was going to do, Summer opened the bag and turned it upside down. Immediately, things began to spill out, books and bags and contraptions and clothes thumping onto the ground until there was a pile of things in the middle of the tent, taller than Summer could ever hope to be and blocking Taiyang and Summer's view of the Branwen twins. "So," Summer raised her voice, grinning impishly. "I may or may not have stolen some stuff from Ozpin in retaliation for being the reason you two left Beacon."
"Sum," Qrow's voice sounded form somewhere behind the pile, and Summer could practically see the look of resigned disbelief on his face. "I hate proving Raven right about my language, I really do, but ... what the fuck. Actually, no, I have a better question. How the fuck did all of this fit into that tiny little bag? Is is some sort of new technology?"
That proved too be too much for Taiyang, as the blonde brawler burst into laughter, Summer right behind him, the small girl laughing so hard that she fell off the arm of the armchair, landing in Taiyang's lap with a muffled thump. Of course, this only further contributed to the laughter, and it was a good two minutes before the two members of Team STRQ managed to restrain their laughter slightly, gasping for air as they tried to stop laughing.
"I don't know, Qrow," Taiyang eventually managed to try and answer his friend's question, gasping the words in between bouts of laughter. "I guess you could say that Summer is just magical."
And that set them off again, tears falling from their eyes as Taiyang and Summer shrieked with laughter, clutching their sides when stitches began to form because of laughing so much. From the other side of the pile of things that had appeared out of the bag, Qrow and Raven exchanged a bemused look, wondering why their teammates were laughing their asses off. Was it an inside joke that the two had developed while at Beacon, in the months Qrow and Raven had been missing? The Branwen twins had to fight not to frown at that thought, reminding themselves that they couldn't be jealous about the closeness between Taiyang and Summer. After all, it had been the Branwen twins who had abandoned their teammates. It was no wonder Taiyang and Summer had grown closer.
It still hurt Qrow and Raven, no matter how often the told themselves that it was their fault for leaving without the rest of their team, to wonder if Summer and Taiyang even needed them anymore. Technically, they knew that the other two wanted to be around them, that was proven by how they'd sought the Branwens out, but what if Summer and Taiyang realized that they were actually better off without the Branwen twins and left?
Neither Raven nor Qrow thought that they would survive losing their team a second time. The only thing that could break them more than that, would be losing each other. But even that wouldn't hurt as much, for if one twin died, it was an impossibility for the other to survive for much longer. They were simply too close to live without each other.
"Chief Branwens," a low mutter from the side drew Qrow and Raven's attention to a tribe member who had stuck their head through the back entrance of the tent, and was looking at the Branwen leaders nervously even whilst making sure Summer and Taiyang weren't listening in, no one in the tribe trusting the two people who had shown up out of nowhere, claiming to know the chiefs. Raven and Qrow might trust them, but the tribe knew that the leaders were young, and while everyone trusted their Chiefs, they also refused to allow the twins to be stabbed in the back. So they would keep an eye on the Hunstman and Huntress. Just in case. "There was an accident down at the forge. The healer is busy tending to Conan, but now there's no one there to supervise Conan's apprentices, or to help with weapon repair."
"Alright," Qrow got to his feet, placing a hand on Raven's shoulder when she made to rise as well. "Nah, I've got this handled, Rae. You show those two idiots," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing in the general direction the continued laughter was still coming from, "around them camp. Once they've decided to stop acting like lunatics, I mean. I'll be down at the forge if you need me."
For a moment, Raven simply stared at her brother, who gazed back calmly, knowing that she was just trying to make sure he was okay, that the abrupt return of Summer and Taiyang hadn't disturbed (elated, terrified, shocked) him so much that he would try and ... do anything. After a few moments, Raven nodded and settled into her chair once again, content in the knowledge that Qrow was alright.
"I'll come and see you later," Raven murmured, rolling her eyes slightly when she heard Summer mutter something that prompted her and Taiyang to erupt into another round of breathless giggles. "It might take these two a while to calm down enough to appreciate the tour. I'll try and corral them to come and see you in the next hour or so."
"Good luck with that," Qrow snorted, remembering the hours he and Raven had spent watching Taiyang and Summer laugh themselves silly over the smallest of things. Bending down, he brushed a kiss over his sister's forehead, before turning and following the waiting tribe member out of the tent, allowing the flap to fall shut behind him to muffle the sounds of Taiyang and Summer bursting their guts laughing. He was glad Raven had not protested the gesture of affection - he had needed the touch, to remind himself that she would never abandon him even if Summer and Taiyang chose to leave them one day soon, and he suspected that she had needed the touch just as much as he had, although she'd never admit it.
Qrow didn't want to think about Summer and Taiyang leaving. He didn't want to imagine that it was possible for the four friends to go separate ways without ever allowing their paths cross again. He didn't want to believe that his friends would one day leave him, just as he and Raven had left them.
(They'd had no other choice, he knew that. They'd had to leave. They'd had to run. He knew that. Raven knew that. But did Summer? Did Taiyang? How could he be sure that he could trust them not to leave him? How could he be sure that they wouldn't feel it necessary to make the twins feel what Summer and Taiyang must have felt, upon being abandoned at Beacon by those they'd trusted more than anyone else in the world? He had managed to keep his semblance relatively under control, but what happened when it lashed out again and broke something, or worse, caused someone to be hurt? What if they finally realized what a bad idea it was to be around him? He was being selfish wanting them to stay, he knew that, but he didn't think he'd survive it if they left him and Raven. He didn't think he'd survive their separation, not after the three and a half months they'd already spent apart.)
"So," Qrow took a deep breath and lengthened his strides, hoping that the faster pace would help calm his raging thoughts, that he would be able to burn some of the nervous energy which made him desperate to pick up Harbinger and go kill as many Grimm as he could before collapsing of exhaustion. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw s tent collapse, his semblance reacting to his distress and worry. He flinched slightly, but didn't stop - already, tribe members were flocking to the tent, bringing tools and repair kits to help fix it up again. To distract himself, he began to talk to the member of his tribe who had fetched him, hoping that the conversation would chase away the fears plaguing him, would stop his semblance from destroying the camp. "What exactly happened to Conan?"
//
"While I fully expect you two to explain later what caused this half an hour long laughing fit, as well as how you managed to fit all of that into that miniscule bag," Raven frowned slightly, turning away to hide her smile when she saw the mischievous glint in Summer's eyes, "Qrow suggested that it would be prudent to give you two a tour of the camp. I know that you will likely wish to return to Beacon soon, but I do agree that while you are with us, it would be best to ensure that you don't get lost. Unfortunately, the tribe doesn't trust either of you, so will likely not help you should you find yourself unfamiliar with your surroundings. If you want your weapons returned, I'm sure I can find the scout-"
"Raven." At the voice, Raven froze (when had she started pacing?) and turned to face her teammates, flinching away when she saw the tears brimming in Summer's eyes, and the exhausted grief which lined Taiyang's face. What had she said to cause them to look at her like that, with so much disappointment in their gazes? What had turned their mood so sad, when just moments before they'd been laughing like little kids?
Had it been her? Why was it always she and Qrow who ended up causing their teammates grief?
"Please don't do that," Summer whispered, reaching out tentatively and taking Raven's hands in hers, tracing the lines along the Branwen leader's palms as she stared pleadingly into the taller woman's face. Summer was barely holding herself back from sobbing - despite the apparent cheer she and Taiyang showed, they were both aching still, fragile from losing and missing and finding their teammates. Summer didn't think she could handle it if Raven and Qrow rejected her and Taiyang. She didn't think she or Taiyang would be able to survive without the other half of their team with them. Not now that they knew how it felt to be separated from their family for so long. "Please," Summer murmured, swallowing her tears. "Please don't shut us out like that. We're your friends, Raven. We're your ... we're your family. Don't treat us like, like some sort of business associates."
"And we're not leaving," Taiyang continued when Summer couldn't carry on, standing beside the smaller woman and giving Raven the sternest look he could muster. "Don't think I missed that part about you thinking we want to return to Beacon. We did not search for you and Qrow for more than three months just to go back to the place you two escaped from. We're staying in the tribe, for as long as you and Qrow will have us, and that is final."
Raven gazed at them, face unreadable. She didn't believe them, and she was sure that they knew that. She was far too untrusting of everyone (bar Qrow) to ever believe that she wouldn't be left by those she loved. But she was willing to pretend that she believed them. She was willing to give them a chance.
(She would break if they ruined the trust she was giving them. She would die if they chose to leave. It was stupidity to believe that they would stay with her and her brother forever. But she could not force them out of her life, not when they were looking at her like that, not when they looked so heartbroken.)
"Shall we proceed with the tour?" Raven said nothing about what they had just said, but the slight nod she gave to Taiyang and Summer eased their worries. They knew that the twins did not trust easily, and after whatever had happened with Ozpin, it was likely that the twins' ability to trust would never recover to the point of them fully trusting anyone. But Summer and Taiyang were determined to make the twins trust them again. They were determined that they wouldn't ever be separated from Raven and Qrow again, even if that meant joining the tribe and never returning to Beacon.
"Well?" Summer smiled slightly, wiping her eyes with one hand before grabbing Raven's hand in hers, tangling their fingers together and offering the woman a dazzling grin when she looked at Summer in confusion. On the other side of Summer, Taiyang snorted, obviously amused with Raven's reaction to their leader's tactile affection. It seemed Raven had forgotten how touchy Summer was in the months they had been apart. "Lead the way, Rae."