Chapter 18

The day air was sweet. It was pretty chilly, definitely sweater weather, but the sun was out and it was actually quite nice once it was beating down. Ruby was having a good day, and for good reason. It was October thirty-first, and besides being Halloween with all the festive decorations and seasonal gear around, it was her favourite day of the year.

Her birthday.

She skipped up the promenade on school grounds, between the short skinny trees that hadn't yet reached the height she remembered them being. But that was okay, she knew she'd be back soon enough to see them at the right height. It was a good day for her birthday, especially with how her morning had gone. She had woken up nice and early, before her teammates, had a nice comfy and fairly long shower, and visited the kitchens for an early morning plate of scrambled eggs, just as terrible as she liked them. And her run into town had proved extra fruitful this morning. She was riding high up on her little cloud, so much skip in her step that for once she was actually skipping, and there was no one around to tell her not to. And she was digging it.

She caught sight of one student in particular in amongst the rest of the faculty enjoying the day, sitting on a picnic table under the ramparts that encircled the courtyard. His lovely blond hair shone out at her like a spotlight, drawing her in. She turned, and skipped her way onto the grass and across to him. It was nice to see him out of his room for once. He had his head down, scribbling something in a notebook as she made her final approach.

"Hey, big guy." she said, hopping to a stop behind him.

"Hey yourself, Mere." Tai chipped, sitting up and turning around.

It was then Ruby noticed the guitar in his lap. It was actually really nice, an open-body Electromatic in a sunburst colour and all chrome trim. Looked expensive, she thought.

"Whatchoo doing?" She slung her legs into the bench and put her arms around his neck to get a better vantage over his notebook. She frowned. "Are you writing a song?"

He blinked at her.

"I might be. What's it to ya?"

"Who you writing a song for?"

"That's classified information."

"Is it your girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend, what are you talking about."

Ruby damn near clambered into his lap as he tried to keep the notebook out of her line of sight.

"It literally says 'For Raven' at the top of the page, Tai-Dye, don't lie to me."

"Scramble elsewhere, Summer, you're bothering me, it's not for her, I swear it's just a coincidence."

"You can't bullshit me, man, don't even try. I can see through you like a chain-link fence."

Even his burly arms and significant height advantage couldn't stop her as she easily clambered up his outstretched arms and relieved him of the notebook. She was able to hold him off with one arm as he struggled.

"Summer- give it-"

"Nuh uh." She held up the notebook and gave it a read. She had to bite her tongue. "This is terrible, Tai!"

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" he said, or at least tried with her hand in most of his mouth.

"Buddy, this is so sappy. Do you even know if she likes love songs?"

"You said to be spontaneous!"

Ruby shrugged and slapped the notebook back down on the table.

"Hey, at least you're listening to me."

"Obviously!"

"But Tai, this isn't what I meant. I meant like, bringing her flowers or taking her on a date to somewhere interesting like the Arbouretum, not writing a sappy love song!"

"How is that not also a part of that?!"

"Because I said so, Taiyang!"

He pouted and gave up arguing, putting his guitar back into its case and turning around to face her.

"Well maybe I want to write her a song. Whether you think I should or not."

Ruby sighed and leaned against his arm. He didn't object.

"I'm not going to fault your enthusiasm, bud."

"Then stop stopping me?"

"I'm just warning you, big guy."

He leaned back and sighed, putting his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Hey Tai."

He opened one eye and looked down at her.

"Yeah?"

"Guess what day it is."

"Uh, it's Halloween?"

Ruby blew a raspberry with her tongue.

"Nah. I mean, Yeah, it is, but nah."

"Then what day is it?"

"It's my birthday."

He looked down at her fully.

"No shit?"

"Uh, yeah. Today I turn eighteen years old."

He frowned.

"Well happy birthday, kiddo. Why didn't we know about this sooner?"

Ruby paused, remembering that Tai obviously didn't know her birthday since she hadn't been born yet.

"I forgot to tell you."

"Oh. Well, damn, I forgot to get you anything."

"That's okay. I bought me something nice so you didn't have to."

"Well what'd you buy?"

Ruby bopped him in the arm. "I'll show you later."

"Okay." he paused and got comfortable again. "Say, did you start school late as a kid?"

"Yeah, actually. I started kindergarten when I was four, and turned five shortly after."

He seemed to frown.

"Why start so late?"

Ruby shrugged. "My mom passed away when I was three, and my dad didn't think it was appropriate to send a grieving toddler to school so soon after a significant emotional event."

"Huh. I would have sent you to school anyways."

"Trust me, no you wouldn't have."

"What are you talking about, making friends at kindergarten would be a lot better way of dealing with grief than staying home."

"Tai. Trust me."

He shrugged.

"Alright, alright. I'm just saying what I would do."

"That's fine, but I'm telling you, you'd have kept me back a year."

"That just doesn't seem fair to you."

"I dunno, I'm okay with it. 'Sides, it means I'm older than all my friends. I'm an adult now."

Tai chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I guess you are, eh? What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm gonna vote in every election I can. I'm going to apply for a liquor distribution license. I'm going to go down to the bank and take out a loan and buy a house."

He paused.

"You know, most people would say they were going across the river to the south side so they can drink and buy booze. Not… all that."

"I figured that you knew I wasn't 'most people' by this point, big guy. I'm an independent young adult now. I have important adult things to do."

"It's a good thing you're cute, Summer, or you'd be really annoying."

"Thanks, man!"

He chuckled and leaned back, looking up at the sky. Ruby copied him, eyeing up the tall imposing central tower that stood proud in the middle of the campus. It was a pretty tower, in the ivory white concrete and marble shine it had in the midmorning light. A real feature of modernist architecture, especially interesting because it was designed three hundred years before modernist architectural design was even a thing. It was really ahead of it's time.

"Say…" Tai paused, pointing up at the tower. "Is someone up there?"

Ruby opened her eyes to look.

"Probably just the headmaster. That's his office up there."

"I thought… the headmaster had a green coat..."

Ruby stood, and squinted. It was unmistakable that whoever was standing up there was wearing red and not green. She fumbled inside her coat, and pulled out her spotter's scope, still in its lovely leather pouch. With a flick, she extended the collapsible lenses and pointed it upwards at the top of the tower. She was a little taken aback by what she saw.

"That's Raven and Qrow."

"That's what?"

"That's Raven and Qrow and they're standing on the outside of the windowsill."

Tai jumped up off the bench.

"What the hell?!"

"I don't know either, it doesn't-"

She watched them jump.

"Holy fuck!"

Ruby dropped her scope and dashed forward with Tai in hot pursuit. The two bodies tumbled through the air down the side of the tower in freefall, almost gracefully. It almost didn't make sense to her. In fact, it didn't make any sense and she was having difficulty processing what she was seeing to the point that she stumbled through the bushes and fell over just short of where they would land. She scrambled to her feet as the screaming voice of Qrow accelerated loudly from above.

"...itshitshitSHITSHITSHITSHI-"

Wham

She didn't have time to even try and catch him, and his body hit the ground like a sack of bricks, shattering the poor boy's aura as he bounced about a foot off the grass. She dove for his side as Tai caught up.

"Holy fuck, Qrow, are you okay!?"

A dumb question to ask of a person who had just fallen a thousand feet onto the cold hard groud. She rolled him over to see the thick pain on his face She noticed that all his limbs seemed to be in one piece, which was good. He wasn't displaying any of the five signs of death, which was good to see.

"Ow…" he said, breathlessly.

"Why the hell did you jump off the tower!?"

"Ow…"

Tai slid to a stop on his knees in the grass, starting to reposition the boy so he was in a more comfortable resting position.

"Where's Raven!?"

Ruby perked her head up and looked around. She was nowhere to be seen.

"She didn't land."

"What?"

"Well she's obviously not here, wise guy, so that must mean she didn't land!"

"How?!"

"I don't know! Maybe she-"

She stopped, catching sight of a branch on a nearby apple tree. A peculiar black bird was sitting on it, its feathers severely ruffled, especially around its head. Almost like a particular hairstyle. The bird seemed much less easy on its feet than it should have been, for as big a corvid as it was. She stood slowly and maintained eye contact with the strange bird.

"Summer, What's going on?"

"You s- you stay here. Make sure he gets some bandages for that scrape on his… body. Take him to see the nurse, she'll do something about his aura."

"But where's Raven!?"

"I have a funny feeling I know where she is. Why don't you get him at least standing. I'll come see you guys in a bit."

Tai seemed a little put out, but didn't disobey, easily lifting poor Qrow off the ground and slinging his arm under the man's shoulders to keep him upright. He carried him off and back into the school building in the direction of the infirmary, Qrow grunting his lungs up the whole way in. Ruby tried not to be so concerned about him, since he was still breathing and able to mostly walk. As soon as the door to the building closed, Ruby tightened up her stance and turned back to the tree with the bird in it. It was still there on the branch, still looking shaken to bits.

"Well, isn't this interesting."

She turned fully towards the tree and took a step forward. The bird turned its little face at her, it's red eyes scared and uneasy. She had to admit that this bird looked kinda silly from the front. Not as menacing as it did from the side.

"How did you… end up in that tree, bird?"

She took another step forward. The bird stumbled on the branch, and used its wings to support itself. Very unlike a bird might.

"You seem a little lost, friend."

She couldn't help but to smirk. It was really funny how un-bird like this poor bird was. She crept all the way up to the tree and looked up at the bird, maybe ten feet off the ground. She'd never before seen a bird be afraid of a little height, but here they were.

"Did you get stuck up there?"

The bird nodded. It nodded. Ruby gasped. A short but passionate history of birdwatching with her dad around the farmhouse when she was nine had shown that this was something that birds typically didn't do, let alone were capable of. She chuckled softly and put her hands on the tree.

"Listen, birdie. You seem like you're new to this whole deal."

The bird nodded again.

"Would you like me to come up there and help you?"

The look on its face was one of pleading. She chuckled and stepped back a few feet, lining up with the middle of the trunk. With a hop and a skip, she vaulted her way up the tree, jumping out and grabbing on to the tree branch. Like a practiced gymnast, she pulled her body up to the branch, and swung her legs over to sit on it. She looked down at the little bird, nearly having been shaken out of the tree by her efforts to climb it. She smiled motherly down at it.

"Well then, little bird. Now I'm up here with you. Now we're both stuck in this tree."

The bird looked up at her, still wrapped around the branch like it owed it money. She waved at it with her fingertips.

"You feeling okay? Do you need a snack?"

The bird was frozen.

"Are you scared?"

A nod. Again, kinda strange that the bird could understand her.

"Do you mind if I help you?"

Another short, vigorous nod. Ruby was chuffed to bits. She reached out very slowly and carefully stroked the feathers on the back of the bird's small head. It's feathers seemed almost like they had been shampooed and conditioned recently, again, not something most birds did to their feathers. Generally it was just preening. This was a very soft bird, and it smelled suspiciously like her hair products. With a careful hand, she picked up the bird under its breast and lifted it, shaking, off the branch and into her arms.

"There you go, buddy. How's that? Better?"

She could feel the bird's rapid heart beat through her sweater as she caressed the bird close to her chest. She knew very basic ornithological information about corvidae and their family members, but she was pretty sure that anything above two-hundred and fifty beats per minute was a little too fast. This bird was very scared. She gave it a good solid cuddle, hearing the very faintest of squawks.

"Now. Let's see if we can figure out…" she crossed her legs and held up the bird to her face. "...what to do with you."

She brought the bird to her shoulder and opened her hand. It clearly understood her, and hopped from her hand to her shoulder and settled in. Ruby rolled out her neck and looked the long way down to the ground. She turned to the little black bird.

"Hold on, friend."

The bird gripped its toes a little deeper into her sweater. She took this as confirmation of readiness, and slid her butt forward on the branch. With a flick of her hair, she pushed off the branch and fell out of the tree and down to the ground. Normally, she liked to roll over her right shoulder when hitting the ground so she could draw her weapon with her left hand, but since there was a bird clinging to her shoulder, that would be unsafe. Instead, she did her best superhero landing and crunched down on her left knee. It hurt a little, but not too much.

"C'mon, I know just who we can go see."

She stood up and strolled gently away from the tree, trying to keep her shoulders level to not knock the bird off. It clearly wasn't so comfortable with its wings, or it would be flying right now. She pulled out her phone and dialed Tai's number without even looking. After a few rings, he answered.

"Hey, Mere."

"Hey, Tai."

"You find Raven?"

"Almost. How's Qrow?"

"He's alright, just winded. And what do you mean 'almost'?"

"I'm ninety nine percent sure I know where she is. If he's alright, bring Qrow and yourself around to the student parking lot, we can find her together, alright?"

"Uh, okay. We'll be down in a few minutes, nurse's just putting a bandage on his knee like a ten year old. It's pretty pathetic."

"I bet it is. See ya soon."

She hung up and slid her phone in her pocket, skipping her way out into the courtyard again, and back towards the parking lot. She turned to the bird on her shoulder.

"Hey, you know, it's my birthday today."

The bird nodded and shuffled closer to her cheek.

"I turned eighteen today, pal. I think you and I should have a party. What do you think?"

This pleased the bird, who nodded again and rubbed its beak against her cheek.

"I know, I agree. C'mon, I'll show you what I bought myself for my birthday with all that money I've been swindling out of the headmaster."

She bounced her way off of the grounds and down the little gravel path that lead to the student parking lot just outside the grounds. Right out front was Glynda's stylish Bantam Renegade, with its hard top on due to the cool, autumn climate. A shame, it was fun to climb in over the rear fender to get in the back seat. The seats on that little four-by-four didn't fold forward all that well, so it was a pain to get in and out of. She chipped along the pavement, finding her way all the way to the very back of the lot, where the herd of cars thinned out. And right at the end of the lot, carefully placed where no other car could touch it, was her new car.

"Well, what do you think?"

The bird looked to her, it's eyebrows shooting up. At least, the eyebrow region of it's forehead.

"It's an FJ60. Turbo-diesel. Valean spec. Cost me a pretty penny. Half a million pretty pennies, actually."

The big square SUV proudly in the very back of the parking lot, the gloss Charcoal Grey paintwork shiny brightly, as were the white yellow and orange stripes down the truck's sides. It was super retro, and absolutely beautiful in her opinion.

"My mom had one of these." she quipped, reaching up and scritching the bird behind the head. "Same colour, too."

At this point, she knew why she remembered that. Her mother had one, because she had one. It wasn't lost on her anymore. She let the bird hop onto her hand again and lowered it down to the hood, where it disembarked, careful to not scratch the paint with its talons. She stuck her fingers into the grill just above the blocky Hunter badge and felt around for the hood release, prodding it and lifting the long and flat hood up. The bird hopped forward and looked down into the engine bay with an interested look on its face.

"Four point two litres, hundred and seventy horsepower. Runs like a top. Four hundred thousand hard-earned miles, bird. Look how clean it is." She patted the long aluminum valve cover. "No squeaks or rattles either."

The bird jumped down from the edge of the hood and landed on her head, turning and bouncing back down to her right shoulder. Ruby sniffled and scratched the bird again under its beak.

"I bought this so I could take my team out for day trips 'n stuff. Four doors, five seats. I think it's a good investment. Don't you?"

The bird nodded again. She grinned and turned, hearing someone approaching from behind. It was Tai and Qrow, looking no worse for wear than he had left them in, save for a few scrapes and bruises on poor Qrow.

"Hey guys. How you feelin'?"

Qrow shook his head.

"I've been better."

"Yeah I guess so."

Qrow frowned.

"What's with the bird?"

Ruby glanced over to it with a smile.

"This is Raven."

"You named it Raven? After my sister?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, but chuckled.

"No, idiot, this is your sister."

He just blinked at her for a second.

"Bullshit."

"No, I'm fully serious."

Tai crossed his arms.

"Summer, you plan to tell me what the hell's going on?"

She ignored him, turning back to Qrow.

"I know what you two were up to in that tower with the Headmaster. Why don't you tell your partner, eh bud?"

"Wai-wait. Professor Pine said it wouldn't be possible the first time around."

"Yeah, apparently she didn't care about whether or not it's possible on the first try, because here she is. As a bird."

"But he said we'd have to practice a lot."

Ruby nodded smugly.

"Oh believe me, she needs more practice. She's uh… how do I put this? Stuck?"

He balked.

"Stuck?"

"Yup. Stuck like that for now. I got a friend who can help us out with that."

She looked down at the bird. The bird rolled it eyes at her as if to say 'of course you do'. A cheeky look.

"Hey, if that's really my sister and you really know someone who can help out, I'm all ears, man."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?!" Tai almost demanded.

Ruby turned to him, finally.

"Headmaster Pine is teaching Qrow and Raven how to turn into birds using ancient arcane magic. Qrow failed the first time, Raven succeeded but can't turn back. I bought a truck for myself for my birthday, we're gonna go see someone about this matter in my new truck."

Tai choked up for a minute before turning to Qrow.

"R-really? Magic?"

He shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean, he just called us into his office this morning and asked if we wanted to learn how to turn into birds. Rae jumped all over it, and you know everything she does I have to do too to keep her safe and make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

Ruby reached out and slapped him on the shoulder.

"A fine brother, you are. So caring of your sister."

"Family comes first, Mere. I'm sure she'd do the same for me."

Ruby smiled, but shot a quick glance back to the bird, who seemed to scoff and shake its head.

"Honourable. Alright, get in, we're going into town."

"Alright."

She spun around and slammed the hood closed, making sure it was latched. She skipped her way around to the driver's door and yanked it open, falling in and fishing around for her keys in her coat pocket as Tai got in the back seat behind her. She watched Qrow reach for the passenger side front door before stopping him.

"Whoa, dude. You get in back."

He paused, confused.

"And… leave the front seat empty?"

"No, it's for Raven. In case she changes back halfway there."

She lifted the bird up off her shoulder and down onto the passenger seat, scooting it back against the seat back. She reached up to the pillar and grabbed the seat belt and pulled it down and across so that the lap belt was across the bird and latched in place.

"Uh, okay."

He still seemed unconvinced, but got into the back of the truck anyways. Ruby grinned back at him in the rearview mirror, pushing in the heavy clutch and reaching for the ignition. The engine clattered into life after only one crank.

"Alright. Seat belts on, and let's ride."

/.../

"I didn't know you could drive stick, Summer."

She smiled at Tai through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, my dad taught me when I was eleven."

"Oh yeah? Think you could teach me?"

Ruby chuckled.

"I mean, probably. You can drive a tractor, right farm boy?"

"Not well, but I can."

She shrugged and slowed the truck down and signalled for a parking spot on the side of the street.

"Same principle, in fact it's easier."

"Huh."

"Yeah, I can teach you. In fact, all three of you are gonna have to learn." She looked down to her passenger seat. "But not right now, since you can't reach the pedals at present."

The bird shook it's head. Ruby smiled and pulled up to a stop, just ahead of the spot she wanted. She wiggled the long, skinny gear stick over and down into reverse, and twisted her body around in the seat. With a sensitive foot on the clutch, she rolled the classic truck backwards, spinning it smoothly towards the curb. An easy maneuver for her, really. Even in a fairly unfamiliar vehicle she had only just bought. With another spin of the wheel, the big square front end swung into the spot, the front right tire just barely touching the curb as she stopped.

"Damn, you can parallel park, too?"

"Yeah, my dad taught me."

"Your dad sounds like one hell of a driver."

She turned around in the seat to smirk.

"Yes, Taiyang, he was. The best, in fact."

She twisted the key back around and shut off the clattery diesel and reached for the door handle. She shouldered her way out and into the cool air, hearing her back seat teammates do the same, their doors slamming closed behind them. She skipped and circled around to the right side of the truck, and pulled open the door for the little bird, who jumped off the seat and into her hand as she presented it. She put the bird back up on her shoulder and closed the door, sighing and pocketing her keys.

"So an FJ60, huh?" Tai wondered aloud.

Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, my mom had one. Same year, same colour. I just wanted one too. Besides, nothing is more reliable than the Hunter FJ-Series. I don't exactly think of myself as the best mechanic, so the less work I have to do to fix it, the better."

"It's a damn nice truck."

"It's my birthday present to me."

"You have good taste."

Ruby shrugged.

"For some things. C'mon, the place is just around the corner."

She skipped off with her team in tow and her bird friend sat politely on her shoulder. For a Saturday, the downtown core was quite busy with people milling around doing their shopping and enjoying their days off. A lot of parents had their children out, in costumes, buying candy for the night festivities, and a lot of local college students doing just the same, albeit with a lot less costume actually on them. Ruby smiled. It was like this every year, and she was almost remorseful that she wasn't joining in. Had it not been for the mishap with her partner, she might have sewn up a quick costume or two for them, and actually enjoyed the day for more than just her birthday. As a small child in a pirate costume ran past in front of her, she remembered her earliest Halloween, dressing up as a strawberry in a costume her mother had made for her completely by hand. She knew she had a lot to live up to on that one.

She rounded the corner, pushing the thought out of her head, seeing the familiar building facade just half a block ahead. The big wooden sign stuck to the front of the building was much cleaner than she remembered, for obvious reasons, the sign was much newer now. She slowed her speedy walk and turned to Tai and Qrow.

"Okay, it's just here. Now, I gotta warn you, this guy is a little confrontational. He's ex-Fang, and he might react harshly to criticism of his person or his place of business. So sock it if you're feeling like being rude."

The boys were taken aback. Tai gave her a look.

"Uh, would we ever be?"

"No, but just in case. This guy is on the run, but only from bad people. You should be fine, but be forewarned."

"Okay, Mere, whatever you say."

She pushed forward and into the door of the building, pushing it carefully open. The musty smell of old books and parchment paper wafted into her nose as she stepped into the dimly lit store. It was a familiar and pleasing smell. It reminded her of the library archive room at school, and the smell of her grandmother's attic where she spent a lot of time as a child, reading old history books from before her time. It was a cathartic smell.

"This the place?" Qrow asked,quietly.

Ruby nodded, stepping into the rows of shelving and running her hands along the thick spines of a few novels.

"Yep. Every book under the sun in here"

"Really?"

"Well, except for The Third Crusade." she paused on the rack, hand on a book. "Or apparently they do. Would you look at that."

She pulled the book off the shelf, turning it over to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, it was the very book this store hadn't had when she remembered it.

"So… every book under the sun, then."

"Looks like it." She chuckled. "I think I'll buy this while I'm here. I never did finish it before I lost my copy."

"I'll get it for you." Tai said softly, reaching out and slipping it from her fingers. "Birthday present."

"Aw, thanks, man."

"Nothing to it."

She grinned smugly and turned around, making her way through the store and the piles upon piles of books that littered the floor. It was an awful nice gesture of him to buy her a present even when she had told him it was unnecessary. He was a sweet boy, and it totally made sense why it was so easy to convince Raven to date him. Speaking of, she approached the desk at the back wall and leaned against it, sticking her head over and looking for the shopkeeper.

"Hello?" she called, glancing around.

After a moment of no answer to her call, she reached over and rang the little chrome desk bell once, filling the room with its cheerful chime. That got somebody moving, as she heard the immediate sounds of footsteps coming from up above, hurriedly around and down a staircase somewhere behind the desk. Very heavy footsteps. She was not put out by this, unlike her teammates, who seemed to shiver and freeze in place. A tall and broad shadow approached from behind the desk, thumping slowly closer.

"Just a moment…"

Ruby mused for a second. Then, like a golem guarding his land, the store owner appeared around the corner. His well-trimmed and thick mutton chops were much younger and sharper than she remembered. But again, it's wearer was also much younger. And sharper.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. How can I help you today?"

Ruby smiled up at him.

"Hello, Errol."

He squinted at her. She held his gaze. Most people would have melted into the floor, but not her. She was stronger than most people put together, however.

"Who are you."

"A customer. Looking for a book."

"How do you know my name."

"I know a lot of things. One of them happens to be your full name, Errol James Tukson."

His glare bore into her. Hers bore back. She paid no mind to his claws slowly extending into the tabletop.

"Hmm."

"Anyway, I'm looking for a book. It was going to be Third Crusade, but you had that on the shelf."

He paused and stood up a little taller. Being five-foot-three meant she was a lot less intimidating than he was, but her unwavering bravery and steadfast position was wearing into him and making him uneasy.

"Okay… then what do you need instead… Miss…"

"Rose. Summer Rose. Summer Elouise Rose. I'm looking for a book on magic. One specifically only available in Mantle."

He looked down at the tabletop for a minute, then back up to her.

"Which book."

"Alchemy, Chemistry, Divination and Necromancy, by Hayek." She paused to watch his eyes. "The first edition, obviously."

He didn't like her answer, his body flexing slightly.

"That's not something I would have readily available."

"Hmm, sounds like you need to change your slogan, then."

He sighed through his nose.

"That book is locked in a vault in Atlas, I do not think it counts in this case."

Ruby shrugged.

"Eh, a shame. What about Hayek; The Origins of Science by George Cromwell?"

"I believe I do. Non-fiction, by the window."

She smiled brightly.

"Thank you, Errol."

"You can call me Tukson, and nothing else."

"No problem, Errol."

He grumbled.

"What does a person like you need a thousand year old book on arcane magic for?"

"A person like me?" She paused for effect. "Well, you see, a friend of mine came across some… shall we say magical ability, and is having difficulty with it. I thought I'd help her out and go right to the source."

"I see. What sort of magic?"

"Transformation."

His eyebrows twitched.

"Really."

"Uh huh. See, I noticed your sign out front that says no pets. But I figured that a person who had transfigured themselves and was unable to turn back could be an exception, right?"

She reached into her hood and pulled out the bird, who had hidden when the shopkeeper had approached. Tukson squinted harshly at her and the bird in her hands.

"That's just a crow."

"This is a raven. You can tell the difference by the tail, as crows have a fan-shaped tail whereas a raven has a triangular or wedge-shaped tail. Also this is my best friend, her name is Raven, and she turned into a bird. We'd like to turn her back."

"...I see. I don't… uh…"

"I promise I'm tellin' the truth. I came to the best book store in town hoping to find a book about magic. I also thought that maybe you might be able to help us out. What do you think?"

He crossed his huge arms over his chest.

"How would I be able to help you, do you think."

Ruby shrugged.

"I 'unno, maybe you know a little magic yourself. Or you know someone who knows about and uses transformation magic. Just a thought."

"Like who?"

"The Bengal Tiger?"

Tukson's claws shot out, but he stayed put. Ruby was surprised that Qrow and Tai hadn't fainted at this point.

"Who are you. I won't give you another chance to answer."

"Like I said. I know a lot of things. I'm not your enemy. In fact, the contrary. I don't want to fight you. And let's be honest. I don't want to get my nice white jacket all dirty. That'd be a shame. I'd have to wash it. And I really don't like doing laundry."

She paused.

"But to answer your question. I know who you are, I know who Sienna Khan is, and I know that you left the White Fang to get away and have a normal life. And that's fine, that's perfectly admirable. Sometimes you just wanna… settle down and open a bookstore. Have a comfortable life. But you know about magic. And you know someone who uses transformation magic to turn into a tiger. And right now, that's the kind of information and help that I need. So what do you say, Errol? Are you gonna help me?"

"I'm not afraid of you." he almost growled.

Ruby sucked in through her teeth. "That's a mistake on your part."

After a few moments of staring each other down, Tuskon sighed and relented, retracting his claws and deflating slightly.

"Alright, fine. I can help you."

"Excellent, thank you. See, I'd have gone to Headmaster Pine, but he's an asshole. He pushed my friend and her brother here off the top of Beacon tower and basically just said 'become birds or hit the ground'."

His brow furrowed.

"Jeez."

"Well, one of them became a bird, and the other hit the ground."

"Isn't that tower like, five hundred feet tall?"

"Four hundred and eighty feet to the windowsill they were pushed from."

"Holy cow." Tukson leaned around her and addressed her teammates. "You huntsmen?"

Qrow croaked. "Yes, sir."

He leaned back. "That explains why they didn't die. Goodness."

Ruby sighed.

"Yeah. So, if possible, I'd like to get his sister back to her former glory."

The bird bounced around in her hand, as if to agree. Tukson crossed his arms and nodded.

"Come with me. We can get this sorted."

"Excellent."