Truth, Lies, and Silver Eyes (A Sequel to STRQ) [Book 2]

Chapter 52: Qrow

The next few weeks without Summer were hard. It was bad enough not having her around. And I wasn't about to call her. She could be mad at me for all I know.

I sighed as my scroll rang. Tai's face appeared on the photo ID. What could he possibly want?

I pressed the button to answer.
"Yes?" I asked.

"Qrow! Thank the gods you answered. I could really use your help," he said on the other line.

"My help? What could I possibly help you with?"

"It's one of my students. He ran off and now I can't find him anywhere at Signal. Could you help me look? Please? I don't want to stress Summer out. And you know how Raven is."

I sighed. "Fine. Who am I looking for exactly?"

"His name is Marcus Black. I'll send you a picture of him so you'll know what he looks like. Thanks again for agreeing to help," he said.

Shortly after he hung up, I was sent a photo along with a text from Tai with a few more details. Apparently this student had been causing some trouble with the others.

I put my scroll back in my pocket and walked outside. I changed into my corvid form and took off into the sky. If I had an a real view of the place, I could probably find Marcus faster. I spotted him not too far from Signal. Maybe a few miles away. I changed back and landed on my feet.

"Marcus!" I called.

He froze and looked back at me.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.

I held up my hands in defense.
"Hey, I'm not here to cause any trouble. I'm here to take you back to Signal. Your professor is worried about you."

"No. I'm not going back. I haven't made any progress at all! I suck!"

"You just need to train a bit more. Skill takes time, you know," I told him. "Now, how about we go back to Signal together?"

His eyes narrowed.
"Make me," he said, getting into his fighting stance.

I shook my head. "I'm not gonna fight you, kid. I don't want to fight."

He glared at me. "I do."

He then kicked me straight in my side. I staggered a bit and fell back. My blade skirted across the ground a few feet to where I couldn't reach for it.

Marcus stomped his foot onto my chest.
"Not much of a fighter, are you?" he asked.

I smirked and punched him in his chest. He staggered a bit, which allowed me to grab my blade. I quickly got to my feet and turned it into its scythe form.

"Okay, kid. I tried to be civil with you, but you're proving to be quite difficult. Either you come with me back to Signal, or I will have to take you there by force."

"You're not taking me anywhere," he snapped.
"I'm not going back to that school! The training isn't helping! I'm failing at everything!"

"That's not true. You can't fail at everything, Marcus. Surely there must be something you're good at," I said.

"No. You're wrong. Just leave me alone!"

He again kicked me in my side. Harder this time. I fell to the ground.

"Marcus! Wait!" I called.

I got to my feet, despite the ache from my side. He kept on running and quickly turned down a dark alleyway.
I bolted after him and found him at a dead end.

"Dammit," he cursed.

"You have nowhere to run now," I told him.

He glared at me, and then bolted straight towards me and tried to kick me again. I was able to dodge his attack and grabbed both of his wrists.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" he demanded.

"We're going back to Signal. Now come with me."

"NO!"

He broke free from my grip and kicked me in my ribs. I stumbled a bit and fell, hitting the back of my head pretty hard against the ground.

"Marcus! Please!" I begged.

But he was already gone.

I sighed and grabbed my scroll from my pocket. Tai wasn't going to like the news...

"Hello?" I heard him ask.

"Hey Tai... look things didn't go so well when I found Marcus. We kinda got into it and now he ran off again."

"What? Qrow, why didn't you run after him?!"

"He kicked me in my side pretty hard, so running after him isn't going to happen."

I heard his sigh on the other end.
"...Fine. I'll go looking for him myself once I'm off work. Thank you for at least trying to help."

"It's not a problem. I'm sorry I couldn't help much," I told him.

"It's okay. You tried. That's what counts. I'll call you when I've found him. Thanks again."

He hung up the call and I put my scroll back in my pocket.

"And now for the journey home," I mumbled to myself.