Having friends stuck in birds' bodies leads to panic. Who knew?
In the end, it took Taiyang a little more than an hour to convince Raven and Qrow not to kill, maim or otherwise injure Summer. He would never be entirely sure how he had managed to do that - not when the twins were more emotional than he had ever seen them, panicked and angry and terrified at the fact that they were birds.
Given the situation, perhaps it was understandable that they were freaking out a bit. (A lot.) So was Taiyang, to be honest, because what did one do when one's girlfriend turned one's other girlfriend into a bird? But he knew that in this situation, he had to be the calm one, no matter how much he felt like screaming and/or bursting into hysterical laughter. So Taiyang forced himself to be calm, taking deep breaths as he carefully talked Qrow and Raven out of their murderous panic.
(He ignored how strange it felt, to be talking to two birds. He ignored how they squawked at him when he said something they didn't like, a tell-tale sign that they understood exactly what was happening in the world around them. He had to be the calm one, and to do that, he had to ignore every strange thing about the situation.)
Only when it seemed that Qrow and Raven had mostly calmed down did Summer return to the clearing from where she'd hidden in the trees, clutching her book of spells to her chest defensively as she cautiously skirted around the birds, both of whom had calmed down but were still giving her rather impressive glares.
How they could glare despite being birds, Taiyang didn't know. He supposed it was just a talent, those infamous Branwen glares.
"Hey Sum," Taiyang smiled as his girlfriend sat down next to him, the petite girl leaning into his warmth when he slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. In front of them, one of the birds made a soft cooing sound at the sight, and Taiyang grinned, reaching out to lightly stroke a finger down the bird's head. Now that some of his panic had abated, and now that the birds were no longer trying to murder Summer, Taiyang could appreciate how adorable both of them were. He wondered if they had any human instincts still - from the way the bird leaned into him as he stroked their head, feathers fluffing up in contentment, Taiyang could certainly guess that the birds had avian instincts.
(The other bird made a noise akin to gagging at the sight. Taiyang would bet everything he had that the bird was Qrow, considering the bandit had taken to doing the exact same thing as a human, whenever he saw any hints of affection between Taiyang, Raven and Summer.)
"Hey Tai," Summer murmured, sighing as she settled into her boyfriend's embrace. She did her best not to look at the birds, guilt swamping her whenever she saw a flash of feathers out of the corners of her eyes. She couldn't believe that she'd done that - she'd turned her girlfriend and brother-figure into birds. Would they ever forgive her? Would she ever forgive herself for what she had done, even if it had been an accident?
"Do you think you'll be able to ... do something about this?" Taiyang questioned carefully, not wanting to upset Summer even more than she already was but also needing to know whether this was permanent or just a temporary problem. "Cause, um, I'm not entirely sure we can date a bird, no matter how much we love Raven."
Still drowning in guilt, Summer opened the spell book she'd gone to fetch while Tai calmed Qrow and Raven down, flipping through the pages as she searched for anything that might be able to help with what she had done. "I don't know," she whispered after a few moments, swallowing back the sobs that rose in her throat as she admitted that, as she admitted that she might be the reason Qrow and Raven were stuck like that forever. "I, I don't know! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this was never meant to happen-"
"Oh, Sum," Taiyang murmured, adjusting his position so he could wrap his arms around her properly, hugging her tightly as she began to sob, hands to flying to cover her face as tears streamed down her cheeks. "It's okay, Rosie," Taiyang soothed, rubbing calming circles on Summer's shoulders as she cried, the small woman still mumbling apologies under her breath. "Everything's going to be okay. We all make mistakes sometimes. And this isn't irreversible - you can fix it, I know you can. It's all going to be alright."
"But what if I can't?" Summer wailed, glancing up at Taiyang with tear-filled eyes, lips quivering as she sniffled. "What if they're stuck like this forever, and it's all my fault?"
"You can," Taiyang said firmly, refusing to tolerate Summer not believing in herself, refusing to allow his girlfriend to beat herself up over one mistake. A big mistake, granted, but still just a mistake. "Of course you can. You made one mistake, Summer, but it isn't the end of the world." One of the birds made a noise of disagreement but Taiyang ignored them. "You can fix this, Sum. You just need to believe in yourself."
Summer wiped her eyes, breath hitching as she tried to stop crying. She wanted to believe Taiyang's words, she desperately wanted to believe that she could fix this, but she was so terrified. Because what if she couldn't? She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she was the reason the tribe lost their leaders, and Taiyang lost his friend and girlfriend. But her boyfriend said that he believed in her, and while Taiyang was often wrong, he'd never been wrong about her capabilities before. So maybe she could fix this? "You really think so?"
Taiyang smiled, warm and comforting as he nodded encouragingly. "You can do it," he murmured to his girlfriend. "You can do it. I believe in you."
Taking a deep breath, as she allowed herself to trust her boyfriend's words, Summer wiped her eyes and opened the book of spells, hands trembling but face set in a determined frown as she flipped through the pages, looking for anything that would help her fix this. Because she would fix it.
She had to fix it.
//
She couldn't fix it.
"Ugh!" Summer groaned, flopping backwards into the grass, the book of spells falling off her lap and landing upside down next to her. "Nothing!" Summer threw a hand over her face, almost ready to start crying again out of pure frustration. "Hundreds of spells on how to transform just about anything, but not a single spell that could help me fix this!"
"Sum..." Taiyang trailed off, not sure what to say. He had been so certain that it would work, that they would find something that could help them get out of that situation. But they had found nothing. What were they supposed to do now? Were Qrow and Raven cursed to be birds forever? Taiyang had always prided himself on being the one who knew what to say, but at that moment, watching his girlfriend crumble under the realization that her magic might have caused both of them to lose their friends forever, he couldn't say a word.
Nothing he said would take away the harsh reality that they may have just lost the two most important people in their lives. Not by Ozpin's hand, or the tribe's doing, but simply by an accident that could have been avoided if they had told Raven and Qrow about Summer's magic from the start.
"FUCK!" Taiyang yelled, leaping to his feet and punching the nearest tree as hard as he could, ignoring how his aura sparked as it protected him from the splinters that would have otherwise buried themselves in his skin. Gritting his teeth, Taiyang hit the tree again, and again, because at that moment he felt like crying or hitting something, and hitting something felt like a better option. Behind him, he heard Summer begin to weep once more, the silver-eyed Huntress inconsolable over what she might have done, but couldn't quite bring himself to comfort her, not when his own emotions were so volatile.
(He would snap at her, he knew he would, and if there was one thing Qrow had taught him, it was that it was better to walk away. His teammates would always forgive him for taking some time to sort out his own emotions. But it would be harder to excuse his actions if he allowed himself to reach his breaking point and then lashed out at his friends, his family, when they were just trying to help him.)
Taiyang could not control his emotions enough to comfort his girlfriend. And so, as much as it pained him, he ignored her quiet sobs, choosing instead to turn the tree in front of him into firewood, his anger surging through him as he remembered everything that had happened in the last few months.
Ozpin called the twins up to his office on the one day that Summer and I weren't there.
His fist met the tree trunk.
The twins disappeared from Beacon.
The tree shuddered slightly, leaves raining down around Taiyang.
Ozpin could have helped Qrow with his semblance, but chose not to.
Taiyang's eyes blazed red and the tree groaned loudly.
We didn't tell the twins about Summer's magic because she wanted to understand how it worked before we told them.
The tree creaked, wavering as the trunk began to splinter.
Qrow and Raven are birds, and we don't know how to hel-
That thought was abruptly cut off as a hand landed on Taiyang's shoulder, the unknown person - because that was not Summer, Taiyang knew what his girlfriend's hands felt like and that was not it - squeezing his arm slightly when they felt the brawler tense beneath their grip. Whirling around, Taiyang opened his mouth, ready to give the person a piece of his mind, only to freeze, stumbling over his own two feet when he found himself staring at all-too-familiar crimson eyes.
"Hey, Tai-dye," Qrow grinned, a mischievous expression painted across his face as the younger Branwen twin waved cheekily at his friend. "So, I know you've got anger issues, but do you maybe wanna stop beating that tree to splinters?"
"Wha-Qrow?" Taiyang blinked, feeling his anger drain from his, the feeling replaced with a numbing shock. When Qrow did not vanish, but rather continued to smirk at the blonde brawler, Taiyang surged forwards, knocking the younger's hand off his shoulder as he swept Qrow into a tight embrace. "Thank the brothers!" Taiyang murmured, squeezing his friend, only putting him down when he felt Qrow tap his arm frantically, asking for air. "How?" Taiyang queried, hands on Qrow's shoulders as he looked the smaller male up and down, checking for any injuries or signs of harm. "You were a- Summer said she couldn't-Raven-"
Qrow laughed slightly, and there was something hysterical about the laugh that told Taiyang Qrow was still freaking out quite a bit, but was doing his best to postpone the inevitable major breakdown until he had calmed down the rest of his team. Taiyang had done the same thing on more than a few occasions, but he allowed himself to be hypocritical in wishing that Qrow wouldn't do the same thing.
He wanted to help Qrow, damn it. He wanted to help the younger male, instead of watching his friend drown himself and his emotions in alcohol. And how was he supposed to do that when it seemed that the only person who occasionally got a glimpse into what the man was feeling was Raven?
"Trust me, that is an experience I will not forget any time soon," Qrow shuddered slightly, shaking his head. "But I'm okay. And so is Raven - she's busy with Summer. Told me in no uncertain terms that I was responsible for stopping you from destroying that poor aspen tree while she tries to comfort Summer. I'd go help her, if I were you. We all know that Raven is shit at comforting people."
"Like you're any better!" A familiar voice called, and Taiyang glanced over Qrow's shoulder to see that yes, Raven really was sitting on the ground next to Summer, scowling at her brother even as she hugged the silver-eyed woman tightly, Summer sobbing out apologies as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.
"...How?" Taiyang stepped away from Qrow, running a hand through his hair as he gaped at his friend and girlfriends, wanting to sweep Raven into a hug but also desperate to understand what the bloody hell had happened.
"I wanted to stop you from destroying the tree," Qrow shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets to hide how they shook, still terrified from the memory of feeling his bones warp and shift as magic coiled around him, forcing him into a form he did not belong in. "And I couldn't do that as a bird. Turns out, I just needed to desperately want to be human again. Which I already did, so not sure why it only worked now...Raven figured it out shortly after me and then prioritized Summer, since I was already on my way to try and calm you down."
From across the glade, Raven met Taiyang's eyes, and the brawler read the unspoken promise written clearly across her face: they were going to talk about what had just happened, the moment Summer calmed down.
This was not going to be pretty.