How It All Began:
The white haired woman stomped hastily down the empty road, brushing her fringe out of her face repeatedly. She turned left, into an alleyway, but was surprised when it stopped abruptly. She spun around, but saw a silhouette blocking her path.
"A little late for such a young lady to be out by herself. Maybe you should get home." A condescending voice spoke. "Gimme your money, now!" The silhouette exclaimed, lunging forward as it brandished a knife. The woman grabbed a sword from her hip, and the man staggered backward and fell. "O-O-OK, take it easy… N-N-No need to b-be hasty." The man stammered, slowly backing away from her.
"Leave. Now." The woman ordered, her voice cold and harsh, and the silhouetted man fled, leaving his weapon on the floor, glittering in the moonlight. She sheathed her weapon once again. She spun on her heel when she heard a voice speak up from behind her.
"You did that all wrong. You were too rigid. Need to be able to move in a fight." A man's drunken voice slurred, and she squinted in the darkness. A man pulled himself from the shadows, his hair tousled and his eyes glazed. "Can't move, can't win. Can't win, you die. Simple." The man said, and the woman raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me, but if you were able to see through your drunken stupor, you would have been able to discern that my posture was just fine. And I for one doubt you have even the faintest of ideas who you are conversing with at this moment." She countered, speaking calmly and clearly, earning a hearty laugh from the drunk.
"Don't matter. All you rich kids are the same. Don't need to know." The man replied, brushing a lock of black hair from his red eyes. "Talk rich, act rich. Probably are rich. It'd be nice if you gave to the worse off, or is that too generous for your kind." The man taunted, and the woman's eyes narrowed.
"Mind you words, drunk. Otherwise I may be coerced to deaden them." She riposted, and the man chuckled.
"Alright. But come back 'ere tomorrow. An' I'll teach you how to use that sword of yours properly." He finished, an boisterous grin on his face.
"That depends. I'll shall have to see if you are worth my precious time." She replied before walking off, leaving the man to slump over where he had first stood from.
The next day, the man stood to his feet, his head pulsing dramatically as he climbed. Groaning, he leant his head against the bricks, the throbbing increasing.
"OK… OK Qrow… OK…" He murmured, and he heard several heavy footsteps. He looked up, and saw a woman with pure white hair, and pale ice blue eyes. "Who the hell are you?" He questioned, and the woman raised an eyebrow at him, and pointed to a sword attached to her hip. "What. A mugger. I ain't got nothing to be mugged, so go 'head." The man told her, and she sighed in annoyance, her fringe blowing lightly in the early morning breeze.
"You told me to return here. I have done so, and would like you to… I would like you to inform me how to wield my weapon correctly." She notified him, and he narrowed his eyes as he gazed at her.
"Ah… Yeah, right, that. Gimme… Gimme a minute to recover." He muttered, holding his head in his hands. "OK. Follow me please. I'll take you to training facility one." He laughed, and walked off with the alabaster haired girl following suit. After a few minutes, the man chuckled before speaking up. "Guess I was worth your 'precious time'." He joked, but received only a silent reply from the woman. "OK then." He groaned, and continued on down the path.
"This is it?" The woman queried, and received a slow nod. "It's a rooftop. Of an apartment." She communicated slowly, earning a nod after both sentences. "And you expect to be able to educate me up here?" She questioned carefully, and the man nodded another time.
"We're talking about swordplay, which is practically child's play compared to other types of combat. We won't need more room." He replied, and grabbed a small folding and threw it too her. "Take a seat. I'll be back in a moment." He told her, and disappeared. The woman drew her weapon, the finely decorated silver shimmering in morning sunshine. She made several ferocious slashes through the air, and listened to the sound the sword made as it sliced.
"Preparing already. Good. You've got determination. You'll need that." The man spoke as he reappeared, and the woman instantly stopped. "Now. You seemed a little stressed when you walked into that alley last night. We'll talk over combat. Casual swordplay and questions sounds good." He spoke, drawing a large gray sword, which caused the woman's eyes to widen. "You rich kids always have some fancy designer make your sword. But the fanciest of designers is yourself. You always know what to make and what works for you." He told her, holding the overly sized weapon in his left hand. "Now, let's see what you got, kid." He said, and he readied his weapon. Their swords clanged against each other, and the man sliced horizontally. "So." He said between strikes. "How 'bout we start with names? You are?" He suggested.
"Winter Schnee. And yourself?" She informed him calmly as she parried a blow that was aimed for her head. The man slashed upward, almost catching her leg, but she dodged it carefully.
"Qrow Branwen. Next up is age." He replied, ducking under a high placed strike.
"Fifteen, sixteen in two months and three days." Winter apprised Qrow, who nodded as he swung.
"Recently twenty three. Siblings?" He asked, and parried several strikes from her blade before making an attack of his own.
"Two sisters, who are twins to be precise. Any of your own?" She declared, finishing with the question.
"Well…" Qrow muttered sadly. "I used to." He slashed, but it was blocked professionally. "Siblings ages?"
"Almost one. Yours?" Winter huffed as she swiftly dodged his attack.
"Recently twenty three…" He muttered angrily, and Winter slashed at him several times, two of which hit his right arm. "Date of Birth?" Qrow asked her, and she smiled.
"Fourteenth of November in the year 1984." She voiced, and Qrow laughed.
"Third of September, 1976." He replied, and he shoved both of their swords to the ground. "And that's enough for today." He told her, and Winter's eyes narrowed.
"But we've only been going for a few minutes." Winter argued, and Qrow shook his head.
"Almost fifteen minutes of consecutive fighting. That's enough, trust me." He told her again, and she stopped trying. "We do this again tomorrow, and the day after that until I believe we are done. Meet me here everyday from five AM to… I don't know, eleven AM." He said, and Winter nodded in appreciation.
"Thank you. For letting me do this." She expressed her gratitude, but he waved it off.
"It's fine kid. Just make sure you turn up, don't be sloppy." Qrow ordered her, a smile on his face as she nodded, a left him in the roof. "Finally." He muttered. "Something to do."
Qrow threw the bottle across the room, and if smashed as it hit the wall. "He groaned, lying down on the sofa. The door squeaked open, and Qrow threw his hands over his ears. "Oum, stop! That is not what I want to hear that this early." Qrow cried out, and the door shut slowly. "What do you want..?" He asked, Winter walked over to him.
"I'm here for my daily training which you've been teaching me for over two years now." Winter notified him, and he groaned to himself.
"Gimme a few more hours…" Qrow told her, and she sighed at him.
"If you didn't drink so much, you'd be able to move around far better and earlier." She spoke, and Qrow huffed in response. "Fine. I'll wait. For an hour, no more." She informed, and he pushed himself from the sofa he had been lying on.
"Alright. Let's go. No time is to waste." He murmured loudly, grabbing his sword from the arm of the sofa.
"I assume you mean that 'There's no time to lose', correct?" She suggested, but he shushed her, dragging her by the arm to the roof. "I thought you wanted to wait an hour or two?" She grinned at him, and he waved a hand at her.
"Fight. Sword. Now." Qrow spoke groggily, but Winter frowned.
"No. You're drunk. I'll come back later." She informed him, but he grabbed her arm.
"Nuh nuh no. We're doing this now. Sword. Ready. Now, Schnee." He growled, and she twisted from his grip, doing a full turn on her heel. Qrow grinned, drawing his sword, and Winter rolled backwards under the blade as it sliced over her. Drawing her own weapon, she expertly parried three consecutive strikes, before throwing two slashes of her own. She conjured a glyph below herself, which sent her high into the air. Her sky blue Aura channelled around the silver sword, and she summoned another glyph, and it ended her fall. Qrow fired a shot, which hit the bottom of her glyph, and Winter heard him growl angrily. "Get down here, Ice Queen." He called to her, and Winter's eyes widened.
"Don't test me, Qrow." She replied, her voice filled with hostility. Qrow laughed at her, and the glyph below Winter faded quickly, and she dropped down onto him, bringing her sword to his throat. "Yield, Qrow." She ordered, her eyes narrow. "Yield!" She exclaimed at him, and he pushed her sword away, grabbing his weapon again. She charged at him, hastily throwing slashes and slices at Qrow, who was dodging and parrying them with ease. "Stay still!" She cried out with anger as Qrow dashed around her, each time stabbing at where he had once stood. Qrow sidestepped once more before he threw a punch at Winter, which sent her crashing to the ground.
"You've grown sloppy since you've gone to Beacon. Why?" He questioned her, and she groaned as she tried and failed to stand herself up.
"I've reached… The peak of my skill." She murmured, and Qrow sighed sadly. "No more advancements could be made…" She continued, and Qrow helped her to her feet.
"That's not true. There's no such thing. To 'achieve perfection' is impossible. There is no such thing as perfection. If you do think you've 'achieved perfection' then you've only stopped trying to advance. If you continue to grow, if you always believe that there is something you can do better, then you will advance regardless of what others believe you can do." He told her, and she looked at him sadly.
"I'm sorry…" She murmured, and Qrow sighed.
"Don't apologise to me. Only to yourself. And think about what you've done and what you need to do. OK." He told her, and Winter nodded, her eyes watering. "Now come inside. I've seen enough for now. We'll start up again properly tomorrow." He said as they headed into his apartment, and they sat beside each other on the sofa. "How's the family?" He asked her, and she growled in annoyance.
"The usual." She muttered, anger lacing her voice. "I just- I don't understand how Father thinks I'll be able to be the best. I-I'm not even very good. My team are clearly have far superior skills and experiences. They grew up properly, but I had to grow being pampered like some fairy-tale princess because my Father's rich." Winter exclaimed, and she yawned as Qrow shushed her.
"Quiet now. You're tired and stressed. Just rest awhile." Qrow whispered, and Winter looked at him, her eyes dull. "It's OK. I'll wake you later. For now, rest…" He said, and Winter's eyes fell shut.
Winter stood in the elevator, her face filled with anger. It continued to descend, and then the doors dinged open. The white haired woman took several steps out, and twisted on her heel to face the two elevators to the Headmaster's office, her hands behind her back. She continued to stand there for several minutes, and after almost a quarter of an hours, the doors slid open, revealing the black haired and red eyed, Qrow.
"You unforgivable, insatiable, idiotic, dunce." Winter growled at him, not moving from her position. "What did you think you were doing. I should slice your throat right now." She told him angrily, and he laughed.
"If… If you'd kept your word, I wouldn't have been able to control you with your emotions. So, why was I able to do this?" He questioned, and Winter sighed.
"Because… Because I wasn't focused…" She muttered to him, looking at the floor.
"Exactly. How long ago did we train. You were fifteen when we started. So that's…" He thought for a moment, and Winter spoke up.
"Sixteen years ago. It has been sixteen years since we began training, about fourteen since we stopped." She told him, and he smiled.
"Well. Then we better start again." Qrow replied, and Winter looked at him in surprise, before she replied.
"I don't have the time. I'm too busy, working." She told, and he laughed, hard.
"Working? You mean working for Ironwood. That isn't work." Qrow chuckled, his arms folded across his chest as he walked around. Winter looked at him, her hands intertwined behind her back. "What Ironwood does, is stupid and unreasonable. Bringing an entire military fleet to a completely unknowing and unsuspecting kingdom of innocent civilians. That is isn't work. That's idiocy." Qrow finished, shaking his head slowly. Winter looked at him, his eyes wide.
"I… What General Ironwood did is what is needed." Winter spoke calmly, and Qrow laughed hysterically at her statement.
"I can hear in your voice that you don't even remotely think that. State your mind." He told her, and Winter sighed to herself, before she replied.
"I… I believe what the General did was hasty. The situation should have been looked at from a more… Strategic point of view." Winter muttered, and now Qrow smiled, and walked over to her, placing a hand on Winter's shoulder.
"And how much better is it saying what you want to say?" He questioned, and Winter looked him in the eyes before she quickly looked at the floor again.
"It… It's O-OK, I guess." She stammered nervously, and Qrow studied her with a raised eyebrow. "It feels... A lot better." Winter gave up, and Qrow grinned, and Winter looked at him, her eyes dull. "I just… I… Nevermind." Shu murmured, and walked away from Qrow. He looked at her, and let out a calm sigh.
"Winter. Training hall. Now." He ordered, and the white haired woman looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes now alight with ferocity.
"Alright." She growled, smiling. "You're on, Qrow." She informed him, and headed down the stairs that were ahead of her.
Quick oneshot. Hope you enjoyed. Remember that Constructive Criticism is always Useful, Reviews are Welcomed, and Keep Moving Forward!
Stinger out!