「The Crow and the Wolf」

「Chapter One - A Return」

The older male smirked, his finger moving in a 'come-hither' motion, taunting his opponent. His keen eyes could already spot her superior approaching, and he was going to make sure that she would get in trouble. He tilted his head, watching the general stop walking, along with the headmaster, and teacher. As she came charging forward at a blinding speed, he smirked, but he felt his body tense, as if he lost control, and she had also been frozen in spot, against her own will.

"What the-" the male began, but was cut off by a stern voice.

"Qrow, no one has time for your petty taunts." The authoritative voice sent chills down the spines of the surrounding onlookers. "And Winter, to think you would fall for his lacklustre jests. Honestly, I'd expect much more from a trained Atlas Specialist, such as yourself."

Both Ruby, and Weiss turned to look over at who had spoken, and they were greeted with a very familiar figure.

A woman of medium stature, and a medium build, sauntered forward, her hands held out in front of her. White hair was tied back into a long braid away from her face, resting over her shoulder, and contrasting against her warm brown skin. On her face, navy blue was painted across certain features. Under her left eye, two strips. Underneath her right eye, an upside down 'L' was painted. Over her right eyebrow, two more lines were painted. On her chin, a single thin line ran down the middle. Her eyes were a striking blue. Her body was donned in an outfit, blue a prominent colour. Long blue sleeves ran up to to the middle of her upper arm. Silver chest, and shoulder armour that was similar to wiring, with fuller parts on her chest and shoulders, was over a light blue shirt. She had a silver choker-like necklace with a sky blue gemstone in the middle. A corset with a white centre and laces, with dark blue sides was wrapped around her waist. Metallic below-the-knee boots clicked against the concrete of the courtyard, students shuffling to the side to avoid being in her path. Dark blue leggings tucked into her boots, were worn out, and fading in colour. A leather belt held the white loin cloth-appearing fabric up in front of her crotch. Said belt had one pocket, though none knew what was in it. She had wristbands that were metallic and glimmered in the light over long blue sleeves. Attached to her back, two silvery axes with blue mechanic-like handles glinted against the light of the sun.

"You both are children," the unnamed woman chided. She dropped her arms, and both of them were free of her grasp, now standing where they had been positioned when she had intervened.

"Pft, you're younger than me," Qrow chuckled, eyes glinting with hopefulness as he made eye contact with her. "Honestly, Thyra, it doesn't make sense calling me a child."

"Would you rather I call you 'old man,' Qrow? You may be a few months older, but I'd be glad to do it." A ghost of a smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth. "I know Taiyang found it hilarious whenever I called you that."

"Listen here, you little-" the drunken male was cut off again, this time by his youngest niece.

"Aunt Thyra!" She exclaimed, charging at the woman, who had caught her with ease. Her face softened, a smile appearing on the Huntress' face. "I haven't seen you in forever, and you have answered only three of the nineteen letters I sent to you." The young girl pouted, earning a tinkling laugh from Thyra, whom she had dubbed her 'Aunt.'

"I don't always get your letters, and you know that, Ruby. I'm constantly on the move during typical missions. I can't stay in one place long, if I want to finish in time to see my two favourite nieces from time to time," Thyra hummed, gently placing the smaller girl down on the ground. "I'm glad to know that you're doing well, regardless of the little information I have. I might even say your dear old Qrow is quite happy with your progress, but he'll probably give you a lecture, because he has the highest expectations, right, Qrow?"

"Oh, shut up," retorted the Huntsman, rolling his eyes at the unimpressed expression on the once stoic woman's face. "As if you don't have high expectations, Ms Top-of-the-class. In fact, I think that your expectations are higher than mine."

"Actually, my expectations depend on the person. I had high expectations for you because I knew you had so much potential but you wasted it." Thyra rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, resting her weight on her right hip. "I knew you could do much better than what you were doing. But there you were just goofing off."

"Yeah? Well you and your team acted all high and mighty beca-" before he could finish his sentence, the woman had immediately cut him off.

"My entire team grew up in the same village, Qrow. Harnessing your semblance and strength was a high valour. All four of us came to Beacon, obviously a bit more on the ball than most of the students." The white-haired woman raised her eyebrows. "Strength is prided in our village, physically or mentally. The ability to keep going after being knocked down countless times is seen as noble. Or maybe I should speak in the past tense so you can understand the weight of my words? And you know, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't bring them up. You certainly don't have the right to."

"Yeah? Well-" Qrow was cut off, General Ironwood finally speaking up.

"Enough arguing. We have much more important matters to attend to," the male grunted, spinning around, Winter following behind him as he walked away. "It's nice to see you're doing well, Thyra."

"Thanks, Jay." Thyra briefly smiled, as she began to trail after the General and Winter. Qrow rolled his eyes, slowly following after her. "Come on, old man! We don't have time to wait for you!"

"Oh, shut up, Thyra," Qrow replied, though it lacked any anger.

The two followed after Ozpin, Glynda, Winter and Ironwood. They were silent, the "playful" banter had ceased. Qrow had a regretful look on his face, while Thyra looked pained.

"I can't believe you brought them up," she mumbled, voice shaky.

"I'm sorry, Thyra. It was just in the heat of the moment. I didn't mean-" once again the Huntress had cut him off.

"We don't mean to do a lot of things, Qrow but they still happen," she spat, not sparing him a look. "Sometimes we hurt people, but you know what? We should just move on as if nothing happened, right, Qrow?"

"Thyra, please-" the male tried to plead, but she didn't give him the light of day.

"Enough, Qrow. We don't have time for this. We have more important matters than the past." And with those harsh words, the woman walked faster so she could walk next to the headmaster.

The Hunter cursed under his breath, but he made no move to quicken his pace. He trailed behind the group, a little further than necessary. He had returned to his slouching posture, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Don't do this, Thyra. Just give me one chance. Give us one more try."