Author's note: A short sequel to Storming the Castle. After being granted the freedom to leave the Schnee Estate, Team RNJR, The Ice Princess and Qrow prepare to set out and continue their journey.
RWBY - Melting Snow
The children were standing in front of the main security building, where they were handed their weapons and a patrol was sent out to retrieve their backpacks, which they hid in the forest, having planned on getting back to the same spot. Qrow carefully inspected his sword, making sure it was not tempered with, before he holstered it on his back, as Winter watched him, with her arms folded.
"They haven't done anything to it. Relax." she told him.
"Hey, it's bad enough they took 'er from me. Just making sure no one touched 'er inappropriately. No one but me. Heheh." Qrow chuckled and Winter visible shuddered.
"Ugh. Why do men always objectify every piece of equipment, as if it was an actual woman?" Winter asked in disgust. "Giving them a feminine name is enough."
"Pheh. As if some women don't do the same." Qrow replied. "You should see how my niece is with hers." he nodded at Ruby, who caressed Crescent Rose, before she put it away, on her back and under her cloak, as Weiss stood next to her, looking at her with a small smile.
"Well, she does seem to take after you. Not exactly a good example." Winter observed.
"I only needed one to make you not really have a point." Qrow smugly said and Winter was outwitted, once again. She pressed her lips together, and turned to walk away. "2 for 0." Qrow called after her and Winter glared back, over her shoulder.
"Weiss, this place is amazing!" Jaune fawned over the estate to her. "They got a pool! A library! A tennis court! A greenhouse! Everything!" he listed.
"Yes. I...know." Weiss told him, with a funny look.
"Oh. Right." Jaune forgot she grew up there. "Oh, hey, they sent out soldiers to bring all our stuff back. But, they didn't exactly know where to look, so Ren and Nora went with them. The guards looked kinda nervous around her." he added.
"Gee, I wonder why." Weiss commented.
"Anyway, I kinda wanna look around some more, before we leave. Feels like a person could seriously get lost in this place." he turned every way. "So, if I'm not back in time, just, uh, send a search party or...something." he said and practically skipped off to explore the estate, slowing down, as he passed Winter, who was walking their way. She glanced after him and stopped in front of her sister and her friend. She locked eyes with Ruby and the latter did not like the look she was giving her.
"Weiss, perhaps you should accompany your friend and make sure he doesn't get lost." she indicated Jaune.
"I'm...sure the guards will keep an eye on him." Weiss shrugged.
"All the same." Winter insisted. "You should make sure they don't get up to anymore trouble." she was looking at Ruby, without taking her eyes off her.
"Um..." Weiss glanced between them and could tell Winter wanted to have a few words with Ruby, which made her as uncomfortable as it did the latter.
"Go on." Winter told her, smilingly, hands behind her back. "Weiss slowly and hesitantly walked away, glancing back several times, as Winter watched her leave, from the corner of her, before focusing on Ruby, again. The latter was giving her a wary look. More uncertain and suspicious than nervous, wondering what Winter wanted from her.
"I wished to thank you, again." Winter spoke and Ruby blinked in confusion. "It's been...months..." Winter glanced in the direction Weiss went. "Since I've seen Weiss so alive. She's been completely miserable. She hadn't and couldn't focus on anything with her full attention. Not her training, nor anything else." she stepped to the side and briefly paced in front of her. "The moment I stepped into her room, I could tell something had changed. Her eyes were different. And not just because I could see she had been crying. There was life in them." she stopped to look pointedly at him. "And when I found you, I understood where it all came from. She is...like me, in a way. She tries not to let her emotions show, although she is far less successful at it than I am." she commented. Ruby gave a small snort and Winter narrowed her eyes, slightly. Their very first meeting was not exactly proof of her control.
"She may not show it completely and she may even be embarrassed by it, but I can definitely tell, the friendships she made at Beacon obviously mean much more to her than anything she ever had, here. You brought it all back into her life. And it seems, now, you are the reason our father had a rare change of heart." she averted her eyes, pausing just half a heartbeat. "That takes a special person." she added and Ruby uncomfortably averted her eyes. Clearly, she did not want to talk about why she was such a rare individual. "Our father...sees...something in you. It seems there is more to you than meets the eye, Ruby Rose. But, it's not my place to pry." Ruby raised her head to look at her. "I'm just glad Weiss will be among friends. People who need her as much as she needs them. With all of you, she can be...more herself than she's ever been. Before I left Vale, I encouraged her to discover more about the world and herself. And now she finally can. I would say I hope that whatever you face won't be too much to handle for any of you. But, after what the General told me, about what happened in Vale, all of us can expect only worse. At least, I know all of you will be there for Weiss. Even him." She turned to look at Qrow, who was still lurking around, holding up a food-cart to get a few bites. He stopped chewing, with two meatballs in each hand, when he noticed Winter glaring at him. He could practically feel it. Winter sighed and raised her voice enough for him to hear.
"Those were going to be served to all of you! You could've waited!" she reprimanded him.
"How was I supposed t'know?" Qrow shrugged.
"You were all invited to lunch, before you leave." Winter told Ruby, as she could see she wanted to ask her what she meant. "Weiss will find the rest of your friends. Follow me!" she told Ruby. "You, as well!" she shouted to Qrow, who left the cart and its contents alone to catch up to them.
In the dining room, a large table was set for seven people. With her father not present, Winter sat at the head of the table, with Weiss, Ruby and Nora on the right side, while Ren, Jaune and Qrow sat on the left. The latter farthest from her. All of the children nearly salivated, as the dishes were served. Nora and Ruby, in particular. Ren was keeping his hunger in check.
"We haven't had a decent meal for months." Jaune whispered, looking at his plate, as he was served his portion. Weiss was watching Ruby wolf down half her plate, in as many seconds and turned to Jaune in surprise, when she heard him. She appeared heartbroken that her friends were imaginably living on scraps for so long. She turned back to Ruby, whose cheeks were quickly speckled with grease and mashed potatoes, as she viciously attacked the food. Weiss' eyes wavered as she looked at her, feeling her heart sink and there was a pit in her stomach that was most definitely not from hunger. She slowly faced her own plate and began eating. Nora was destroying everything in front of her, like Ruby. Ren and Jaune ate more reservedly, while Qrow was asking the servants for booze, both for the course and for the road, waving his empty flask. Winter quietly nibbled, taking considerably smaller bites. The servants stood to the side, watching one half of the table eat with relatively acceptable table-manners, while the other half, with the exception of Weiss, might as well have been Grimm.
"You said you haven't had a decent meal in months." Winter addressed Jaune. "Surely you must've built a fire and ate something warm, at least."
"Uh...sometimes. We couldn't really be picky. Except when it was charcoal. Then, it was an easy choice." Jaune replied.
"Poisonous mushrooms and berries that give indigestion are not an easy choice." Ren stated.
"Well, there was that." Jaune admitted.
"And snails, uuugh!" Nora shivered. "Hm. What would Grimm taste like?" she wondered, with a finger under her chin, looking away in the distance and everyone stopped to stare at her. "Mh." she shrugged, abandoning the thought, as quickly as she had it.
"I noticed a few scars, on both you and your weapon." Winter directed her attention at Ruby. "I don't recall seeing nearly as many, when we first met."
"Yep. Every day out there is worth a week at school." Ruby repeated her uncle's words with a smile, as she looked at him. Winter glanced at Qrow, who chuckled to himself. Ruby was shrugging off months of daily trials and tribulations. Her loyalty to her friends and her determination were qualities Winter found rare and admirable. And she was not easily impressed.
"That's certainly true." Winter agreed. "As good as the academies are at preparing huntsmen, one can say that outside the kingdoms is where learning begins in earnest."
"Some friendly sparring and fieldtrips got nothing on the kind of field-experience you get, once you're far away from schools." Qrow stirred his soup, looking at it. Apart from Ruby and Nora, everyone was still on their first course.
"Well, we have some experience with that." Weiss noted, exchanging looks with Ruby, who nodded with her mouth full. "I know it's not much." she added, before either her sister or Qrow could dismiss their mission at Mountain Glenn.
"You will make up for lost time, soon." Winter assured her and smiled. "After all, your friends are ahead of you. You have several months of field-work, before you're properly caught up." she teased her.
"They had a head-start!" Weiss complained.
"All the more reason for you to perform at your best." Winter told her.
"Slackers wash all the clothes!" Nora pressed past Ruby, who reflexively leaned back in her chair to let her.
"Um...where, exactly?" Startled, Weiss tilted away and back, as Nora left both of their personal space.
"A river. Or, uh, waterfall, if you want something scenic, while you're at it." Jaune suggested, speaking from experience, though he was mostly on washing duty, because he and Ren were too polite to refuse, when Ruby and Nora dumped the chores on them and not because either of them fought any less. Not from a lack of trying, anyway. The two girls were simply more eager to start fights and finish them. And it showed the most on Ruby.
"Isn't that...cold?" Weiss asked, with some discomfort at the thought of washing clothes in the usually cool waters of rivers.
"Very." Ren replied.
"Ooh, the Ice Princess is afraid of the cold! Isn't it…your thing?" Nora asked with half her mouthful, swallowing it, mid-sentence.
"That doesn't mean I like it." Weiss said, then muttered "I'm not even Ice Queen, anymore." almost offended and missing her nickname.
"You're gonna have to earn back the title." Jaune joked. "But, I guess that won't happen." he added.
"Why, because of her?" Nora thumbed at Winter, who raised an unamused brow.
"Uh, no!" Jaune waved his hands, apologetically. "That's not what I meant!" He chanced a glance at Winter, nervously.
"Then, what?" Weiss asked.
"He means you're not cold and unfriendly, anymore." Ren explained.
"That." Jaune smiled.
"Oh." Weiss lowered her head, with a small smile.
"Still not sure about her!" Nora pointed a fork at Winter, with a suspicious leer. Winter barely narrowed her eyes at her.
"Nora!" Jaune hushed her.
"Mheh." Qrow lightly chuckled. "Those two are always looking for a fight." he said, nodding at Nora and Ruby. He already knew what her niece was like. Essentially a tiny, innocent, green, female version of him. And he developed some understanding of how the rest of them behaved, after having kept an eye on them, throughout their journey.
"And you're not?" Winter asked.
"Hey, not my fault some people make it easy." Qrow smirked with a shrug and mouthed the word 'three' to her, before taking a spoonful from his soup, making Winter glare and quietly growl. She was easily goaded into a fight, by him. Ironically, she spoke to her sister about emotions, the strength drawn from them and control, right after.
"Ooh, what are those?" Nora excitedly asked, as they were served a selection of sweets and candy, pointing at one kind, in particular. It was a rolled-up string of gum-like, sugary treat.
"Hey, I remember these!" Jaune exclaimed. "We used to have them in school. Guys usually rolled them out and gave one end to a girl, then both would start eating until...they'd, uh...kiss. It never worked." He shook his head. "Or maybe it was just me." he added with a shrug.
"Smooth." Nora mocked, not the idea, itself, but the execution and swallowed it whole.
"Yes. How very...subtle." Winter commented and watched as her sister picked a roll up, by one end, letting it drop and unfurl. Weiss inspected it, having never been served that type of candy, before. She bit down on it and her eyes jumped to the side, as Ruby snatched the other end, shoved it in her mouth and was giving her a silly grin. The entire room stared, most of all Weiss. She blinked at what Ruby was doing and felt her cheeks flush.
"Ruby!" She slammed both fists on the table, with one end of the candy still in her left hand. Ruby giggled, grinning with the candy between her teeth. Weiss yanked on it, breaking it off to leave her with only a stub, which Ruby ate with one big chomp. She reached for the end of it, but pulled her hand away, when she nearly got a slap on the back of it from Weiss. Neither one of them moved, as Weiss pinned Ruby in her place with a puffy glare. It did not look like either of them was going to eat the rest of the candy.
"Move it or lose it!" Nora told them, grabbed it and swung it into her mouth, practically inhaling it, as both of them gaped at her.
"Nora, you know you need to be careful with sugar and caffeine." Ren sternly reminded her.
"Flapdoodle!" It bounced off of her. "I know when I had enough!" she replied as if she was drunk on sugar, already. "And it's never!" she affirmed and stood, slamming both palms on the table, daring anyone to deny her cravings.
"Oh, no." Ren sighed, burying his head in one hand.
"Sounds like she already had some, before this." Jaune noted with worry.
"Well, she was hiding in the kitchen." Ruby recalled.
"Uh-oh." Jaune whispered. "Do the guards have, like, sleeping gas or something?" He asked Winter, who was not entirely certain he was exaggerating with his suggestion for how to handle the hyper-active girl. They looked as one of the butlers stepped behind Nora, lit an incense candle and placed it in front of her. Nora gave it a confused look-over.
"What's this?" she asked and began to feel drowsy. "I can't eat this!" She sniffed it. "It smells funny..." She wobbled and sat back down, as her legs fell asleep, slowly followed by the rest of her.
"Huh. She's countin' sheep, already." Qrow was impressed by how fast the effects were.
"Ursai, actually." Ren corrected him and Qrow gave him an odd look.
"Well...was expecting more of a fight, from that one." Qrow said and continued to eat.
"Really didn't think some candle could knock Nora out like that." Jaune was surprised and relieved. "I didn't think anything could. We gotta stock up on those!" he exclaimed, turning to Ren, who nodded in agreement.
"Make sure you don't let her ingest it." Winter warned them. "It can cause nausea and upsets the stomach." she added, appearing mildly uncomfortable, as if she was speaking from experience. With a glance, she stopped everyone from asking if she was.
"She's not a stranger to puking." Ruby waved a hand, chipping in, tactfully as always. The eating stopped and she was miraculously not a block of ice, as she was getting freezing stares from both Weiss and Winter. She silently resumed her own act of making everything disappear in a blink of an eye, as Nora had done. Qrow started laughing to himself and was prompted by the inquiring looks he was getting to explain why.
"I just pity whoever's gonna date her." he nodded at Nora. "Or you, kiddo." he told Ruby.
"Huh?" Ruby cocked her head to the side.
"You're both pretty high maintenance." Qrow commented. "So're the rest of your old team. Especially the Firecracker."
"Hh-oh, now I feel like chopped liver." Jaune quietly moaned.
"I believe he was strictly speaking of needs. Appetite..." Winter clarified and continued as she glanced at Ruby, whose mouth had gravy around it. "Tidiness and...manners." Weiss stuck a napkin to her mouth, making Ruby cross her eyes as she looked down at it, through the bridge of her nose. She understood the message and began cleaning herself.
"Besides..." Ren started. "The liver is an important organ." he stated, trying to get Jaune to remain positive and confident in himself.
"Not when it's food." Jaune shook his head, making the distinction, all shattered.
"Relax, kid." Qrow stirred his soup. "If you weren't cut out for it, you would've been food, by now." he told him and it seemed to have improved Jaune's mood and self-esteem. Qrow picked up the bowl and drank the rest of the contents.
"You're certainly taking your time." Winter remarked on Qrow's surprisingly reserved eating habit, compared to the children.
"I have some table-manners. Shocking, right?" Qrow shrugged with a spoon in hand, as he generously portioned himself from the second course that her niece and Nora already finished. "Why rush? You gotta take time to enjoy the meager pleasures of life. And for rest. The kids don't feel it, yet, but as soon as we'll get on a ship, most of 'em'll be out like a light." He told the children, then turned to Jaune "Hey, wanna bet on which one o' ya goes first?"
"Uh...I don't, uh…I don't really have any money on me." Jaune tried to back out.
"Well, you better start earnin', then. Take on some bounty jobs. Plenty of people are looking for a rent-a-kill, especially these days. Good way to get t'know a place. And you might even run into a few new Grimm you haven't seen before. Right, kid?" He looked at Ruby, who already had such an encounter. Ruby made a face and quietly growled. She suddenly found it a little unnerving that her uncle was watching them the entire time, even if he did so out of love and care, for her and responsibility, for all of them. "Now that my cover's blown, it's gonna be a tad more difficult to just hang back and see how you kids handle stuff. Without an excuse, anyway." He took a quick bite.
"Gonna feel like we're in class." Jaune moaned.
"Out there, you're always in class." Qrow was quick to reply. "It's just that the teacher is life itself." He emphasized. "It's a lot less forgiving. And it doesn't care who you are. Or where you're from. How you hold a fork. It doesn't give grades, but…it gives no second chances, either. But, I guess, I'm a few months late with that lecture." he added.
"It serves them if they are reminded from time to time." Winter stated.
"Mhm." Qrow agreed, without looking at her, as he dug into his rice and peas.
"Wow. You two agreed on something." Ruby said with a snorting laugh. "My uncle won't be a loner, for much longer, if that happens some more." Winter slowly turned to her, with a disturbed look and slightly recoiled in surprise, along with Weiss, as a single pea hit Ruby on the forehead, bouncing off. They looked at Qrow, who twirled the fork in his hand back into a proper position, frowning at his niece's suggestion. The latter was preparing to retaliate and was balancing the same pea on her own fork, making a catapult.
"Don't you dare start a food-fight." Weiss warningly muttered.
"Was fun the last time." Ruby told her, smiling mischievously.
"It...was." Weiss admitted. "But, we're not in the caf-..." Ruby released the ordinance, which Qrow swiftly caught in the palm he put up. He rolled the pea to hold it between his index and middle finger and potted it in his mouth, head held high, with a satisfied, victorious smile and continued to eat, as Ruby let out a disappointed groan.
"Would be nice to make some Lien." Jaune started, getting back to the topic of bounties and glanced at Qrow, then down. "But, I'd feel bad about taking people's money for... a hunting mission. I mean, that's not why-..."
"Yeah. Yeah." Qrow cut him off. "It's not why any of us do it." He knew. "But, what else are we supposed make a livin' from." It was a job, after all. "And you don't have to take payment from everyone. If they're poor people t'begin with, it's on the house. Maybe take a bottle from whatever they got lyin' around." He raised a glass, for effect and downed it, then put it back down, turning more serious, even bitter. "But, if they're loaded. Some big land-owners. Stuffed-shirts with a lot to lose. Then, I'll make sure their coffers lose some weight. 'Cause most of 'em sure don't give a damn about the rest. Folks who can't hire a huntsmen or a personal army." He explained some of his principals. Winter was listening more intently, seeing a side of the usually insufferable man she had not seen before. Out of nowhere, a pea hit Qrow on the side of the head and his eyes widened at the contact. It landed in his plate and he blinked at it in surprise, then looked in the direction it came from to see his niece holding a fork, again. She took the pea from Weiss' plate, who glanced between the two and shook her head at Ruby.
"You were getting all serious." Ruby told Qrow, almost accusingly, as if it was something that had to be prevented from happening. He briefly raised a brow at her excuse.
"Cheap-shot." he told her and shoveled his lunch.
"I...have been meaning to ask..." Weiss slowly began, but reconsidered. "But…it's really not appropriate. It can wait. After we've finished lunch."
"Shoot." Qrow told her. "You're gonna have to come up with something really messed up to make me lose mine." he assured her and she looked at Jaune and Ren, who gave her an encouraging shrug, as a go-ahead. They were nearly done with their plate, as was Winter.
"Well..." Weiss glanced at her, at Ruby, then did not dare to look at anyone, in particular, as she phrased her somewhat sensitive query. "Where did you go...when...you had to, um...go?" Qrow briefly stopped, with a fork raised to his mouth and let out a burst of laughter that nearly blew off what was on it.
"Weiss!" Winter glowered at her.
"Sorry..." Weiss hung her head to stare into her lap, ashamed she had asked such a question and around the table, no less.
"Well, we could usually find some nice restrooms in villages. Some of them were surprisingly modern. Others we more...rustic, wooden. But, they're okay." Jaune happily stated. "Even if they were...you know...burning. Sometimes." Weiss' eyes were saucers. "Most of them are intact." Jaune added, hoping it would allay her concerns.
"That's...better than none, I guess." Weiss commented, with an uncomfortable smile.
"Don't worry! You're not gonna get any splinters in your silky butt." Ruby assured her and Weiss puffed her cheeks to glare at her, again. They heard a sleepy groan from Nora, as she stirred.
"Butts..." she muttered in her sleep.
"I hope she will wake up before we depart." Ren said, looking at Nora.
"You're gonna have to carry her, if she doesn't." Jaune told him. Ren was just about the only person, in all of Remnant, who could get away with picking Nora up, without reflexively getting a black-eye, then get bashed with Manghild, for good measure.
"I know." Ren sighed. He knew the drill.
"She's heavier than she looks." Ruby remarked, having tried hauling Nora along, once. And never again.
"Hey, how come guys can't say things like that, but girls can?" Jaune complained.
"You can say it." Ruby shrugged. "But...you'd get hit." she added.
"That's my point!" Jaune raised his voice.
"Uhgn...smaaash..." Came another murmur from Nora and Jaune went slightly pale. He lowered his voice to nearly a whisper. "Never mind."
Weiss and Winter finished eating at the same time, but Qrow was still...pecking at the meat that was left on the bones. He was tearing off a thin strip and could feel stares. He moved only his eyes and sure enough, the entire table, minus Nora, was watching him. He put the bones back down.
"Habit." Qrow simply stated and was done with lunch.
"Makes sense." Jaune said.
"Makes me wonder how many times we had crows around us. And one of them had to be you." Weiss folded her arms.
"Not really." Qrow replied, grabbing a toothpick. "I didn't follow you kids everywhere, all the time. For one, it would've been inappropriate." He pointed at Weiss with it, then started picking his teeth. "And I had other errands to run." he added.
"For Ozpin." Ruby stated, as Qrow already mentioned it to her and he somberly nodded. Though he hid it well, it was still clear to all, he was even more affected by what happened to Ozpin than most. He, Glynda and Ironwood were the closest to the man. And had been, for a long time. Qrow snagged a bottle of wine that one of the servants brought in, earlier, at his request and poured himself a full glass, then drank it, slamming the glass on the table. He shot a side-glance at the others, knowing he was letting his guard down, but he did not care much. His mood seemed to have shifted. He stood.
"Right. 'Bout time we started packin'." he announced.
"Do you have any other destinations in mind?" Winter asked him, then looked at Ruby. "Aside from going to Haven, I assume you plan on finding the other members of your team." Ruby glanced at Jaune and Ren, who gave her a sympathetic look as she cast her eyes down.
"We're...not sure." Weiss answered for Ruby. The way the latter described what Yang told her, how Yang herself felt and how they had no idea where Blake was, there was not much hope for a reunion, anytime soon.
"Then, if Haven really is the only place you have in mind, one of our shuttles could take you part way. Help you reach the continent, at least. Approaching Anima and its outer regions, from any direction, is dangerous. Even for our troops." Winter told them.
"The Grimm'll be the least of our problems." Qrow said, propping himself up on the back of the chair. "And a little more trekkin'll do 'em some good, if they wanna chase down people and get around. Get a feel for the place."
"Easy for you to say. You can literally fly." Weiss replied.
"And you could buy a ship." Qrow shrugged and pushed himself off from the back of the chair. "Of course, you'd be lucky to find someone who'd wanna part with a workin' airship. Even one that doesn't work. Some would rather keep things and let 'em rust than take Schnee money."
"It's not like I wasn't expecting everyone to hate my family, outside of Atlas." Weiss muttered, only slightly discouraged by the reception she will likely get, in most places.
"Well, you get t'see it for yourself, if nothing else. Won't be much of an eye-opener, then." Qrow saw and understood that both Weiss and Winter were not proud of how their father ran the company and the reputation their family had because of it. They were Schnee only in name. And a little bit in attitude, but not hopelessly uptight, Qrow thought.
"I hope not everyone will recognize me. I don't want things thrown at me, everywhere we go." Weiss worriedly said.
"Well, there's always a good chance for...a rain of insults, in your case." Qrow played on the word for the weather. "And wind. In one's general direction." he added with a stupid smile and Weiss looked at him, horrified.
"Eww! Uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Hey, kids who throw boogers in glass houses don't get to complain." Qrow told her, knowing his niece had habits that were socially frowned upon, as well.
"I didn't even throw any for weeks." Ruby quietly said and lowered her head, as if it was a tragedy or something as serious as not having enough to eat for months. Weiss buried her head in her hand with a groan, but as she glanced at Ruby and then in front of herself, her lips slowly twitched into a small smile, having missed it all. Winter slowly averted her eyes and stood.
"I'll arrange a transport for us. We can board, as soon as everyone is ready." she glanced at the still sleeping Nora.
"You're coming with us?" Weiss was surprised and happy.
"Only until we land." Winter said, with regret. "I cannot accompany you further without official orders and I'll have my own assignment soon." she told Weiss, who was expectedly saddened. Winter turned to leave. "Be ready!" she told all of them and proceeded outside, to the sky-dock.
"Saddle up!" Qrow said, slapping a hand on Jaune and Ren's shoulder. "Would tell you kids t'pack lightly, but you should definitely stock up on some good food, while you can. It'll last, at least, a few days." he added and took a step back to grab the bottle of wine from the table, before he left the dining hall.
...
Winter was waiting for the group at the main-gate. Her sister and Ruby Rose were at the front, followed by the blonde boy and next to him, the long-haired one, who was carrying the red-head on his back, holding her by her legs, with her arms loosely wrapped around his neck. How she had not woken up, yet, was a mystery. Then, she saw Qrow talking with her father, to who she and Weiss have both said their goodbyes. Naturally, she was curious about what was being said between them. They obviously despised each other, with Qrow having as much respect for her father as most people in the world, so their expression was not indicative of anything. She suspected they were discussing something even she herself did not have the clearance to hear. She had that feeling ever since her last visit to Beacon. With the General and Ozpin. She could not decide what irritated her more about it, the fact that potentially vital information was being kept from her or that an often immature joker like Qrow was privy to it. Despite his demeanor and seemingly irresponsible behavior, he was moving in even higher circles than her.
Everyone had their backpacks filled and Jaune was carrying Ren's, while the latter carefully walked with Nora. They filed onto a Bullhead and sat on one side, while Winter sat on the other, facing them. Qrow was last on board, with a pair of soldiers, who sat on either side of Winter, at a distance. Qrow plopped down, next to the kids, folded his arms and closed his eyes. The engines hummed and they were airborne, barely feeling any turbulence.
His prediction came true, as after only a few minutes, all of the children, with the exception of Weiss, have dosed off. The latter felt a weight on her shoulder as Ruby's head slowly came to rest on it. She did not want to wake her by moving, so she looked with just her eyes to see Ruby had her mouth open and was lightly snoring. Weiss got somewhat alarmed when she noticed she was drooling and it threatened to fall right on her. Instead of panicking, as she knew she would have, a year or two ago, she quickly, but carefully pulled out a hand-kerchief and wiped Ruby's mouth. Both of them remained as they were and Weiss slowly drifted off to sleep, as well, resting her head on Ruby's raven locks. Winter smiled at the scene and glanced over to Qrow to see he was watching, as well and the two exchanged a rare, genuine smile. It was not meant to last, as they knew they were heading into to eye of a storm that was coming, unbeknownst to most. And moments like the one they just both witnessed were the reason they all had to brave it. So the calm could last, for all, for as long as possible.
Author's note: I basically had three more scenes that I wanted to write. That have been bouncing around in my head for weeks. The first was Winter's talk with Ruby. The second was the candy-scene. The third was the drooling scene with Ruby's head on Weiss' shoulder. Those last two, again, can be easily viewed as friendship and cute silliness or as White Rose. Everything else, the table-conversation and the rest came as I was basically creating a setup to weave those three specific scenes into. Now, it's out of my system.
Watched Chapter 1 from Volume 4, so I know some elements in my story are not particularly accurate, but contrary to how I normally write my stories, I didn't want to change them. Turns out, they were doing bounty missions throughout their journey and hadn't just gotten into random scraps with Grimm. And I know Blake went to Menagerie. So, since they're already on the continent of Anima, I don't suppose they're trying to find the rest of team RWBY. Sadly. But, then, their reunion will be all the more sweater. I imagine. After more time apart.