What can I say? I whipped this up at 2am cause I am Qrow trash. And Raven trash. And QRTS trash. And RWBY trash. And Rooster Teeth trash in general. Qrow and Raven are definitely two characters that I can't wait to see more of.
Any backstory in this fic is pure speculation, none of which relate to my major Raven theory which I may or may not do a fic on.
Qrow abhorred the cold.
That was a good word, he noted. Abhor. Something far worse than hatred or even loathing. It sounded intelli
gent. A word that would look good in a half-assed essay on the Haven War of 387.
The cold meant winter. Winter meant bad memories - of death, of mourning, of rejection, of times that would have split the Branwen twins had they not been so insperable. It was a winter night when his sister hit her lowest point. It was a winter night when the girl he had fallen head over heels for rejected him. It was a winter night when he received the news of his parents' passing.
It was a winter night when Raven tried to run away from home.
He shook off the distracting thoughts and clutched at his coat tightly, shivering. The forest - which had looked so welcoming in the Autumn, with the array of red and orange and yellow painting the leaves - was white and black. The trees were all dead and the animals had gone into hibernation. The only beast that could be heard was a distant growl of Grimm. Qrow huddled by a makeshift campfire, poking at the logs in an attempt to raise the flames.
He finally managed to get the fire to co-operate with him, and edged closer to the flames, holding his hands out for warmth. The heat was a relief from the icy snow and cold night air. He sighed.
"Something wrong?"
He jumped and turned around, blinking at his sister. She stood behind him, wearing her usual attire (how she wasn't freezing to death in that skirt was beyond him) and posing with one hand on her weapon and the other hanging loosely on her side. He thought she'd gone to sleep like the other two. Trust her to prove him wrong.
"Huh?" he blurted out.
Raven sighed, setting herself down next to him. "Cold?" she asked, eyeing his shivering form. Qrow rolled his eyes.
"H-How could you tell?" he cursed his teeth for chattering so much.
Raven suddenly grabbed something from behind her and threw it at Qrow. The twin gave a panicked scream, clawing at whatever was covering his face. It took him a moment to realise that he was scratching at a sleeping bag.
...Oh.
He slowly removed it from his head and gazed sheepishly at the other two members of the team. Fortunately, the both of them seemed content sleeping soundly. Thank Oum. He glanced back at his sister, who was stifling back fits of laughter.
"Oh, shut up," he snapped. Raven grinned playfully.
"It's my turn for watch, brother," she said. "You should get some rest."
"That's not really -"
"You're freezing Qrow, some sleep will really warm you up -"
"That's not the problem," Qrow sighed, slipping into the sleeping bag nonetheless. He got tired of bantering with his sister - he never came out on top.
"Then what is?" Raven inquired.
Qrow lay down on the forest floor, staring at the night sky. All was silent but the crackling of the campfire.
"Do you remember when mum and dad took us to this forest?" he whispered. Raven stiffened.
"No."
It was a lie. He knew when she was lying. She knew when he was lying. They had always been connected that way.
"Dad would take us fishing and mum used to help us design weapons."
Raven clutched the hilt of her weapon until her knuckles turned white. "Mother and father..." she seethed, "...are two people I do not have the time to think about."
"They're dead, Raven. Don't you want to at least remember the good times?"
"I hate them," she snapped. That wasn't a lie. Qrow felt his own heart ache with pain. He tossed over, turning his back on his sister.
"...I miss them."
He couldn't tell whether it was him or Raven that said it.