A/N: Hello guys, Fernachos here and I got some good news and bad news. The good news is that this is an actual chapter! Again, my apologies for the extended break/hiatus. Writing, as I've found out, can be very difficult. I was stumped on this chapter but I somehow got it finished, if you can even call it that. The bad news now, is that this is probably the last chapter I'll write for this fic. I'll talk more at the end. Now some of you will probably point out "Hey, he's not a legit professor!". Well, you're correct, he wasn't a professor, but he was most definitely a mentor and teacher. This is a fanfic about the teachers. Therefore, he qualifies for it. Also, props to you people who get the Sci-fi references I've put in here. Anywho, I'll stop the interludes. Please enjoy!

Chapter 5: A flask of Whiskey to forget our woe

He watched her carefully, analyzing every movement, every action she performed. He was her mentor, of course. It was his job to determine if she was meeting their training expectations.

"Form five, attack pattern soresu." He stated. She reacted without hesitance, dropping her stance slightly and angling the shaft of her weapon horizontal to her midriff. The crescent blade sliced through the air as she seamlessly went through her kata.

"Alright Ruby, break time!" He called to her from the side.

"Woohoo! Snack time!" Ruby cheered, dashing to her mentor's side. He watched as she opened a paper bag, from seemingly nowhere, and take out a dozen or so chocolate chip cookies. He couldn't help but chuckle as she mumbled with joy once she finished.

"You're a bit addicted to those, y'know." He snorted.

"That's not fair uncle Qrow, and you know it!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing to the flask in his hand.

Qrow turned to regard the silver container in his right hand, before taking a swig from it.

"…Fair point. How 'bout we don't mention either of our… interests… to anyone?" He held his hand out to the teen.

Ruby scrunched her face in thought, before beaming and grasping her uncle's hand, "Deal!"

"Great, now back to work. Forms three to seven, Vapaad defense pattern. Then after that, we'll get a spar on."

Her face paled at the idea. He smirked, reading her train of thought, "Don't worry, I ain't sparring you today."

He chuckled when she sighed in relief, "I've been going easy on ya too."

She threw herself into practice, performing her defence forms for him to analyze. He watched carefully, regarding her stance. He didn't say a word as she continued, observing with scrutiny. He couldn't help the pride he felt for teaching her so well.

You'd be proud of her, Summer. He thought wistfully.

Unbidden, his team leader came to mind. Her smile, her laugh, he could hear them again, even as he watched her legacy attack and defend in a perfect mirror of himself.

"Jeez Qrow, you're getting sentimental." He mumbled to himself.

He uncorked the flask and took a swig, the burning liquid cleansing him of his nostalgia.

He continued watching his niece, her movements slowing down as he inspected her every action. He couldn't help but notice how Ruby took after her mother in regards to physical features. It was an uncanny resemblance.

He shook his head. Focus bub, you're supposed to be training her, not comparing her.

He tilted the flask to his lips again, savouring the taste of his poison.

He regarded his niece once more, "Alright S…- Ruby… Sparring time. Get ready." He announced even-toned.

He watched her ready herself as he reached for the remote in his pocket.

"So uh… who am I sparring exactly, uncle Qrow?" she looked at him curiously.

Metal scraped against metal. Loud buzzing came from the other side of the room. Qrow grinned even as a robot brandished cleavers in each arm.

"That thing." He nodded at the droid as it stalked up to its prey, his student.

The machine stopped three feet away from Ruby, awaiting further instruction with its hands at its sides.

Ruby stared at it quizzically, waiting for it to take the first move. She took a step towards it. This set it off, immediately slashing at her with its left blade.

Ruby stepped back, avoiding the blade entirely. Qrow watched the exchange, his student and his invention trading and blocking each other's blows. He was impressed with her improvements, being able to hold her own against an almost unstoppable force.

The droid delivered an overhead strike, faster than Ruby anticipated. She tried to block it, quickly bringing up Crescent Rose in an attempt to meet the blade head on. The block wasn't fast enough and pushed Ruby back a couple feet, catching her off balance.

Qrow tensed, leaning forward with his hand reaching for his own weapon.

Calm down, this is her fight. No interfering. He chided himself, relaxing his stance and resuming to drink once more.

He glanced at Ruby again, noting her furrowed brow. She was determined now, he saw. This didn't bode well for his robot.

Qrow watched as she went to work, blocking, attacking, and countering with ease and grace.

His mind may have been dulled by the alcohol, but he could still analyze every move she made with clarity. Unwanted, Summer came to his mind's eye again, overlapping Ruby's form. The weapon was different, but the movements were the same, down to the rose petals that scattered around the room with her shifting form.

The room fell away from him, replacing itself with a green forest. He saw Summer cutting down swaths of minor Grimm, that same look of determination written on her face.

He unconsciously smiled at the memory, even as the clashing of metal brought him back to the present.

"C'mon Ruby, stop playing around with it." He jested while turning up the dial on the remote.

The robot intensified its attacks, moving the blades faster and swinging harder. Red flitted in and out of his field of vision, rose petals flying about the room.

He tried to focus, but his vision couldn't distinguish between the rapidly moving bodies. He found himself struggling to catch even a glimpse of his prodigy student.

He turned from the fight, rubbing a newly-forming migraine away from his temples.

A loud clang brought his attention back to the ring. He saw Ruby, with her weapon locked against the cleavers, staring down the blank armored face. The droid twitched, mechanics exerting as much force as possible against the petite girl, who stood stock-still against it, sweat beading from her brow. He saw her frown turn into a smirk.

She moved fast, but the movement seemed to slow down in his mind's eye. A twirl of the staff, spinning off the foot, a jump with a double kick, followed by a diagonal slash across the chest. The movement was imbued with a finesse he hadn't seen in years. It was gone in a moment, etched forever into his memory. He gazed in awe. It wasn't the grace or the talent he was amazed at: those were almost a given. No, it was the familiarity he sensed from the flourish, the nostalgia from the stance, that made him edge closer.

She turned to face him, silver eyes freezing his heart, piercing his soul. They were full of wonder and innocence. She smiled at him and he bathed in the warmth it carried: the joy and love seeming to blanket the room. He found himself smirking back with pride.

"So how'd I do?" she asked, brows raised in anticipation.

He spoke. He was sure he spoke, if not for the creaking and groaning of metal.

A shadow overcast her form, black claws raised above her head to strike at her form. Qrow didn't remember moving. He didn't remember drawing his weapon. All he could remember was the fear. Cold, overpowering fear, spiking through his veins, boiling into rage as he hacked at the felled beast. There was no method, no technique, to his movements, just repetition. Over and over, he hacked away. He'd tear it to shreds before it touched her, then tear those shreds into smaller ones. He hacked until his vision blurred. Hacked until he only saw red, and he continued hacking, until the thing stopped moving at his feet.

He stood up, heaving in large breaths. He stepped away from the carcass to fall onto his bottom. His sword was standing upright in the gory wreckage. He wiped his face of an unknown liquid, smiling to himself. He'd saved her. He knew he'd save her this time. He chuckled.

"Uncle Qrow? Why are you crying?" a small voice quivered.

He froze, eyes widening in shock. Slowly, he turned to regard his niece, hugging her weapon tightly between her arms. Those determined silver eyes now shook in fear. Fear of him.

"Holy smokes! Did a hurricane pass through here or something?" Someone announced from the doorway.

"Rav-" he began before stopping to stare at the blonde locks that flowed from the visitor's head. She raised a brow questioningly.

He turned away in panic, doing the only thing he knew how: he uncorked his flask and downed the last of its contents before turning to his elder niece and pointing at the clock.

"Yang on a minute, we're not done yet." He over-slurred his speech. He was answered with a smirk and an eye-roll.

He stepped towards Ruby, kneeling and ruffling her hair, "Lookit whatcha made me do, bust my only training droid."

She whined and flayed her arms about, "You're the one that broke it, meanie!"

He smiled, "That's cuz ya forgot ta switch'er off."

Ruby frowned, "I'm sorry… are you mad?"

It hurt him to see that frown. It hurt him to be the cause of such doubt. He wanted to ease her mind, console her of her anxieties, but damn it all, he didn't know how to express it, so out-of-tune was he with such emotions. He rolled his eyes and ruffled her head.

"Next time, make sure your opponent can't get up before you turn your back. 'kay?"

Ruby smiled back, "Okay."

Qrow sighed, "Good. Now scram, or else yer cleaning up my mess!" he smirked, messing her hair up once more as he nudged her towards her sister.

"Tell yer dad to save me some stir-fry!" He called to Yang.

"What, bones starting to ache, ya old crow?" came the snide remark.

He laughed sarcastically, "har dee har har. Get outta here or these damages are coming from your allowance!"

"We're gone!"

He heard her call out as the air whistled behind the two of them walking away.

He swayed towards the doorway, leaning on it and sighing heavily. He looked at the scraps of the droid for a few seconds before turning away. He could hear the two sisters chatting excitedly.

"Oh hey, guess what Ruby? I got accepted into Beacon!"

"Ohmygosh! That's sooooo awesome! You've gotta call every day and tell me what's going on and what classes are like… Oh! And what your team is like and what weapons they use, and I have to meet them as soon as you all come home!"

The two of them laughed and giggled as they walked down the hallway.

Qrow frowned to himself, watching them follow in the footsteps of their parents.

A/N So I mentioned earlier that this'll probs be the last chapter of A Prof's Perespective. Why so? I've exhausted all trains of thought and run out of ideas. This chapter alone took 5+ months of simmering in my brain before I finished it. The main problem here was that I had an idea I wanted to express, but I had no idea how to express it. When I planned each chapter here, it played like a movie in my head and I blocked each chapter based on that imaginary scenario. The problem with that was that I might have had a good scene for a couple sections, but they were disjointed, with no connection as to how I got from point A to point B. Knowing this, hopefully my writing can improve. Maybe not with this fic, but others. Will I ever revisit this? Maybe I will, when I've had more experience in both writing and planning a story. In the meantime, I'll consider this story finished. Thanks to all of you who have read this. I'm pleased that people found this worth reading. It was my first attempt at any writing and while not the best, I can learn from it. Also thanks to reviewers! You pointed out flaws in the story and things that I wouldn't ever have noticed because of my bias as the writer. Thanks for all your feedback! I now pronounce A Prof's Perspective completed. Until next time,

Fernachos