Long story short Kryheart doesn't like Fanfictions set up (something I can totally understand), so she is using my account she can be found at. KryHeart at Archive of Our Own - archiveofourown users/ KryHeart /pseuds /KryHeart
Any favorites, follows or reviews, she will be notified of and she appropriates any support. This was just such a cute sweet story that I felt it need to be shared.
Purpose
By KryHeart
Qrow felt his mind blur in and out, thoughts began tumbling through his head and leaked from his ears like familiar voices. Where was he? even the pitch blankness was dizzying before he realized his eyes were shut tight and slowly opened the heavy lids. Boxes and trash piled around him huge and decaying, had he been throw out? His heavy garnet eyes twinkled with life at the prospect of freedom and took in his surroundings.
Metal walls rose high above him and his body lay on top of a black plastic bag that was leaking horrid smells and flies. His fabric hand was stuck to a grunky liquid that coated part of the bag and he used his strength to pull it free.
"Disgusting, what the hell is this crap." Gathering his energy Qrow shifted his still dizzy body into a seating position and looked up. The moon smiled back at him, its crescent form illuminated his surroundings, was that what woke him up, the moon light? "Hi beautiful." he waved his hand at the silvery light beaming down upon him.
Once a toy was thrown away they existed only in darkness or so that was what he'd always been told. Qrow was little more than a rag doll, although his features were as human-like as they came, his body was made of wool and thread, a new rip in his arm ligaments told the story of how be came to be thrown away like so many toys before him.
"Guess I wasn't worth fixing." His voice was gruff from ill use and he was stuck by the inevitable condition. Such a sad fate for a toy really, to be tossed into the trash and forgotten, not that he was new but he had been kept in good condition but such was his luck to be fragile and ripped. Instead of being mended they had thrown him away. Qrow gazed up at the moon again, for what purpose had he been called back to this existence he didn't know, but he wasn't about to let it go to waste.
Standing proved difficult at first, his body wasn't made of stern material and he flopped around in an almost drunken manner for a few moments before he got the hang of moving independently. Once he steadied himself he began the process of moving rubbish around, creating a sort of makeshift platform so he could reach the lip of the bin before falling out onto the muddy ground. Qrow tried dusting himself off but a light from the nearby house lit up the garden and he ducked into a weed patch.
He waited, eyes peeled on the house long after the light flicked off again before moving away. The ground was soft under his feet and already his woolen body was streaked with mud. He made a dash for the woodlands besides the house letting the moonlight guide him through the shadowy area. His grey arm already ripped caught on a thorn bush and he was forced to stop and untangle himself, tucking the stray strands into the ripped seam to avoid any more damage.
A loud squawk sounded above him and he stared into the eyes of a large black raven. "Stay away!" He shouted hoping the animal was intimidated by his harsh voice, unfortunately the bird continued to watched him unblinking before jumping from its perch to dive down straight for him. Qrow tried to hit the bird away, scare it to fly into another direction but the raven plucked him from the ground and held his wiggling body in its beak. Qrow grunted "Get of! You flea ridden rat with wings, I SAID LET GO!"
The bird tired from carrying the offensive toy opened its beak and squawked again almost laughing as Qrow fell from the sky. The rag doll splashed into a pond and tried to free his body from the watery hole. His wool soaked up much of the water making the little arms and legs slack with weight. Qrow tried again to crawl up and was finally able to drag his body onto the bank. He lay in the long grass and regretted only for a moment leaving the bin.
Was this any better, lost in the woods with no purpose and falling to pieces? What would he even do now, wander aimlessly until the darkness came back for him? Maybe he should have stayed in the rotting garbage, maybe that 'was' where he belonged. His eyes stung slightly but without tear ducts he was unable to cry, not that he wanted to. Instead he lay in the cool air and waited for his woolen body to drain the pond water and watched the moon move lazily away from him.
Qrow closed his red eyes and lifted a hand over his chest, had he had a heart he would bet it would beat strong and loudly. Many a time he had enjoyed the sensation of lying by a human chest, just so he could hear the thumping organ as they slept, safe and free of nightmares. It had been his purpose, to sooth and bring joy but also to ward off nightmares and absorb them so his humans could dream in peace.
A soft tink disturbed his thoughts and he sat up again, head resting on his hand and peered around the darkened pond. The tink sounded again to his right and Qrow stood, his body lighter now without so much of the pond water saturating his limbs and headed toward the noise. When he peeled back a branch he caught sight of the raven, it was pecking away at some kind of glass ball. Was it another toy? If so then he didn't want that bird getting at it. Qrow spied a twig by his feet and slowly picked it up.
He waited until the raven started its pecking again before racing out "GET LOST BIRD BRAIN!" he howled at the bird raising the twig up and attempted to swing at the winged creature. The raven sensing him immediately battered its wings and took off for the sky leaving Qrow on the ground. "Good riddance." Qrow dropped the stick and turned to the glass orb his body growing completely still.
She was poised on a small white platform with artificial snow littered around her. Her left hand outstretched towards him, body leaned back and right leg lifted slightly revealing a pale naked foot and part of her leg. She wore a black dress, the skirt half was almost tutu styled, her many petticoats lacy and red peeked out from under the black fabric. Her chest was coated in a cream puffed sleeved blouse, topped with a corset again in black with red laces.
The figurine wore her hair short and black with crimson tips under a bright red hooded cape that swirled around her bare feet. Her right hand was positioned over chest and she had her head tilted towards the sky eyes shuts. It was probably one of the most beautiful toys he had ever seen and there had been A LOT of female toys were he came from.
Qrow placed his hand on the glass orb, it was freezing to the touch and cracked slightly where the raven had pecked at it. "Hello?" he called out knocking lightly of the fragile glass, no answer. When he ran his hands over the base he discovered a rather large hole, of course it was a musical toy, it probably had a winding key. Qrow scoured the area, lifting leaves and twigs from the ground before he spotted it.
It was a very small dainty silver key, its delicate design matched the patterns around the base and the handle of the key was decorated in a rose which had over time chipped and rusted slightly. Qrow wondered if it would even work, it looked like it had been left out here for a long time, still he hefting the key and fit it into the mechanism. When nothing happened he took the key handle in his hands and began to turn the key clockwise. After a minute he heard a click and immediately let go allowing the music to fill the quiet space.
The plate that she stood upon began to circle in place while the girl also started to move her immobilized body, jerkily dancing to the notes played underneath her feet. Soon her voice joined in as she sang in time with the music box and Qrow stepped back listening to her young melodic voice.
:"What do you see, you people gazing at me?"
"You see a doll on a music box that's wound by a key,"
"How can you tell, I'm under a spell?"
"Im waiting for loves first kiss,"
"You cannot see, how much i long to be free."
"Turning around on a music box that's wound by a key."
"Yearning… Yearning….."
"While….. I'm …. turning around and around.":
The ending notes caused her to shift back into the position she started in becoming frozen once more as silence returned to the pond.
Qrow was transfixed, what a beautiful toy, why would anyone throw her out? It was a shame really and he wondered what he should do. He could just walk away but, his gaze landed on the young woman, now fixed into place since the music had stopped. What if he got her out, would she want that? Still it would be a shame to leave her here, as a fellow toy he didn't want to see her rot and fade from existence. He looked up at the largest crack made by the raven before running off to retrieve his twig from before.
Qrow took aim and tried to use the twig to shatter the glass sphere, sadly it was too light and snapped against the glass before making any sort of progress. Qrow rummaged around a nearby bush before returning with a rock, hefting it above his head he used all the force he could muster to heave the stone at the glass. The stone bounced back but it did crack the glass more, much like a spider web the crack grew and spread wide.
Qrow heaved the rock again and threw it, this time the glass shattered, shards of glass littered the snow covered platform and the red eyed toy used his uninjured arm to brush away the debris so he could climb onto the stage where the figurine stood. She was even more beautiful up close but when he touched her she stayed unmoving and still. Qrow looked down at her feet and couldn't find any reason why this toy wasn't waking up.
Maybe it was something to do with her mechanics. That was when Qrow remembered that she had sung about it, what was it again? Qrow jumped from the platform and began turning the key again. Once he heard the click he jumped back up just in time for her first words.
:"What do you see, you people gazing at me?"
"You see a doll on a music box that's wound by a key,"
"How can you tell, I'm under a spell?"
"I'm waiting for loves first kiss,"
"You cannot see, how much I long to be free."
"Turning around on a music box that's wound by a key."
"Yearning… Yearning….."
"While….. I'm …. turning around and around.":
Again the song ended, the woman toy figurine stopped moving and Qrow was stumped. So according to her song she wanted to be free but how would he do that. Qrow remembered a time when his owners read a story about a prince and princess, they had been under a spell too and a kiss had freed them. But he was neither a prince nor a storybook character, would a kiss even work? Still it was the only option he had really.
So Qrow got in close to the figurine, close enough that he could see each individual carefully placed eyelash, they fanned her cheeks, black and thick. Her painted red lips appeared rather bright against her snow white complexion but he leaned in slightly letting his hand cup the back on her head as he pressed his wool lips to hers.
Something soft and gentle pressed on her lips, it was a little damp but welcoming on her dry plastic feature. The figurine blinked her grey eyes open to garnet orbs staring back at her. Had he woken her up? It had been so long since anyone had turned her key that she had thought she was simply dreaming the encounter.
"Well isn't that a pretty expression you have there." Qrow drawled, such a sweet smile she gave him as he held his hand out to help her off the platform.
"Your quiet homely looking yourself." She gave a little bow still stiff from her rendering condition. "Thank you my good sir for releasing me." The figure noticed for the first time her glass sphere shattered in dozens of pieces littered the ground around them. Her first instinct was to give in to fear, her beloved orb was broken but then she realized that now with it broken she was free from it. The little figurine grinned widely and darted into the grey dolls arms hugging him tightly to her.
Qrow only smiled and stroked her back, giving her time to be herself. When she leaned away he spoke again "You're Welcome my lady. My name is Qrow, might I ask yours?"
The crimsonette drew a blank, a name, did she have one of them? "I don't remember my name, its has been such a long time."
Qrow puzzled for a moment "Well why don't you pick one for now." he said casually.
"That's sounds like a wonderful idea." she thought about it for a moment "Garnet."
Qrow winced at the poorly thought of name "Garnet? That's not really a name suited for a beautiful toy such as yourself."
"I'm sorry, it's just that the first thing i saw when I woke up was your eyes, they are like a red so I thought….." She rubbed her head eyes downcast, perhaps it had been a bit silly of her but she had liked his eyes and wanted to be named something she could remember fondly of.
"How about Ruby then." Qrow grinned, she was so precious just like the bright stone and radiant like a fire. "Yep, I can see that, how about it. Ruby."
Ruby jumped back into his arms again taking them both down to the soggy ground. They rolled around laughing like children for a few minutes before Ruby lay on Qrow's chest and pinned him down with her legs. "Thank you Qrow." She kissed his soft lips lightly and snuggled her head under his chin.
"Your welcome again Ruby." He let his hand rub her back and the two lay in silence for a while.
"What do we do now Qrow?" Ruby said in a small voice, not lifting away from Qrow
"What do you mean?" He was enjoying the way the stars sparkled above them that he had almost missed Ruby's softly spoken question.
"Well neither of us have a home anymore right? What is our purpose now?"
"Hmmm" Qrow shut his eyes and thought about it, what was a toy without a purpose? He had never heard of one before, they were made for a purpose and remembered as such, it was what gave them the power to move like he did.
"Hey Qrow?" Ruby lifted her head to look down at the rag doll under her
"Yeh" he looked into her grey eyes and waited.
"How did you come to be here, if you don't mind me asking?" she sheepishly asked, hoping she hadn't offended him. She didn't want to be alone again.
Qrow noticed her apprehensive expression and smiled softly, telling his story. "It's fine I'll tell you. I was meant for this little boy, you see he suffered with nightmares and bad dreams almost every night. Some of them were so bad that he wouldn't go to sleep, instead he would huddle in the corner and rock all night. His grandmother made me herself and called me Qrow."
"Why Qrow, that's an unusual name isn't it?" Ruby interrupted, Qrow only nodded and continued.
"That was because crows are harbours of bad luck and misfortune and she told him that at night when the bad dreams came, they would come for me instead of him." he chuckled softly at that then carried on, "I was his protector at night and I would fight the bad dreams and monsters for him. But when the sun rose he needed to give me a big hug in the morning to thank me for keeping him safe"
"Did it work?" Ruby's eyes were like sauces glued onto him
"Well he's all grown up now and happily married with kids of his own, so you tell me."
"Then how come you're not with him anymore."
Qrow sighed, sadness leaking into his voice "kids well, they tend to forget the small things or outgrow them at least. His sons found me in a box one day and they started fighting over who would play first. Long story short in their fight they ripped my arm." he showed Ruby the torn arm, some fluff was peaking out from the wound. "When my boy found me he looked so sad for some reason, he cried a little and then took me outside before leaving me in the trash bin, guess i wasn't worth fixing."
"Ohh Qrow I'm so so sorry" Ruby cuddled closer to the larger toy, how she wished she could take away his sadness.
"It's okay, I served my purpose, what i was created for. Now i must find a new one. What about you, how did you end up in this place?"
"I'm not so sure, unlike you my consciousness only wakes properly when I'm wound up but I know that I'm quite old. My music box was passed on through a few different generations. I'm what they would have called 'Vintage' or rather 'Antique' but I remember that the little girl who last wound me up brought me to this place with her friend. It use to be some sort of park and they would wind me up and dance to my singing. But this day they brought many toys with them and we all were placed on the ground."
"What happened?" Qrow twirled her short hair around his hand and twisted his body to a more comfortable position.
"I remember it starting to rain, there was thunder and flashes of lightning and the girls quickly scooped up many of the toys but somehow I fell from the pile and rolled under the bushes, cracked my orb. The girl did come back for me after the storm, she was searching the muddy ground, i could feel the vibrations but had long since wound down. I think she gave up looking for me and left and i have been in this place ever since." Ruby leaned her head back down and listened to the quiet night sounds.
"We toys have it rough don't we?"
"Yep." Ruby agreed, shifting off the larger toy and offering her hand. Qrow leaned up and pulled himself into a standing stance. Both toys were mucky from their rolling around and he howled in laughter
Ruby hands on hips glared at the red eyed toy "Qrow whatever is the matter now?"
"Sorry but you got mud and leaves in your hair."
Ruby quickly shook out the muck and pointed at his back, "Well I'm pretty sure that not all of 'that' is mud." She sneered at him and Qrow looked over his shoulder, Nope that wasn't just mud if the smell was to go by anything.
"Well in that case." Not one to be outdone Qrow scooped Ruby up over his shoulder and raced back towards the pond.
"Qrow! No! Don't you dare!" Ruby squealed in horror before being dumped into the cold water, before she broke the surface Qrow jumped in as well, dragging her down to the bottom where they took turns wiping off the mud and gunk from their bodies. Once they were relatively clean they trekked back up the slope and onto dry ground again. Qrow pulled two large dot leaves off and lay them onto the ground before flopping onto one and patting the other for the figurine.
Ruby plopped down or the relatively clean leaf and the two sat in silence watching the moon move further across the sky. "Dawn is coming." Ruby commented, the sounds of birds tweeting grew louder above them.
"How do you know?" Qrow sat up, his woolen body mostly dry.
"I've been out here for so long now i got use to the changes in day and night."
"How long till the sun is up?" Qrow questioned looking around the area,
"Maybe two hours. Qrow do you have any idea about where to go now?" Ruby asked, once the sun rose what would happen, would someone find them, where they trash now?
"Well I was thinking of following that one." Qrow pointed to a rock some few feet away where a large raven sat, occasionally pecking at its wings.
"EEEK! How long has that bird been there for." Ruby huddled behind Qrow, birds were notorious for ripping toys apart or pooping on them.
"Well that bird is the one responsible for bringing me here, it led me to you and somehow I think it wants us to follow it." Qrow stood up and offered his hand to Ruby, careful to keep her behind him just in case he was wrong and the raven attacked them.
"Hahaha, you must be kidding, follow a bird."
"Well we wanted to find a purpose didn't we? So let's follow the bird and see where it leads us. It's not like we have anything else to do right?" Qrow chuckled.
"Okay, but if it goes for me I will throw rocks at it." Ruby stayed right behind Qrow as they moved closer to the large bird.
The raven seeing their arrival flapped its wings and took off to the air. This time it circled them twice before taking off to the east, it circled back as if to say "Come on, this way." and flew away. Qrow and Ruby looked at one another and took off at a run following the bird as fast as they could, thankfully the bird understood and occasionally circled back to ensure they were still following it and not lost in the woods.
The sky grew lighter as more morning noises woke but still the two toys continued, moving as a unit below the raven until they reached a clearing. The raven squawked once and flew into the field where a simple lonesome cottage stood. By the time Ruby and Qrow made it to the door the first streaks of sunlight were coming over the plains and they stood by the door.
"Well what now?" Ruby leaned against the wooden frame.
"I guess we knock and see if anyone is home." Qrow searched around and picked up a pebble from the flower beds.
"That is a bad idea Qrow." Ruby commented, worried about being seen.
"It's fine." Using the pebble he smacked the wooden door three times before dropping the heavy knocker. "Although you might want to rag doll now." Tremors under their feet shook the ground and the two toys instantly fell in natural positions next to each other.
The door opened inwards and a full grown male human stepped out, he scratched his head before looking down at the toys. His smile grew wide and happy as he gently picked up the two forms. "You two have had quite the journey I see, well let's get you inside."
The man shut the door and beckoned his friend over. The raven sat on his shoulder and squawked "Yes I know Raven, you have done a very good job bringing them here, i will reward you later. But first," he separated Qrow from Ruby and took a look at the ripped arm "we need to get this one fixed"
The man took his wooden wand from the shelf and began calling up his magick. Mocked by the people for his wizardry he had moved into the outskirts but it had not dulled his power and he used it now to repair what had been broken, mending Qrow's ripped ligaments. The Raven dropped onto the floor and with a sweeping hand from the wizard transformed into a human woman
"I don't know why you asked me to bring them here, but here they are now." Her eyes burned a deep red, the long black fall of hair curled and tangled with twigs and leaves. "I shall take my leave." She stormed over to the door and slammed it open.
"Good day to you Raven." The wizard said kindly and waited for the annoyed woman's response.
Raven sighed "Good day to you, Wizard of Oz" and with that she walked out slamming the door behind her.
"Well now that she is gone." Oz took both toys in his hands and placed them in a circle of herbs and stone salt. Lighting the colourful candles he sat them together. "A new purpose indeed, let's see then." Taking hold of his magick again he shut his eyes and let it surround the two souls trapped inside toy bodies.
A ray of light cut through the windows and landed on to full grown naked human bodies cuddled up in the center of his circle. Where plastic and paint had once been was now flesh, where wool and wood had been was now bone and muscle. Where purpose had been now grew a heart and together Ruby and Qrow stood human and whole.
The wizard said nothing to the couple as they explored their new bodies, simply supplied them both with a bag each and a set of clothes. Enough supplies to see them through however long they needed. Ruby and Qrow hugged one another before Ruby hurled herself at the wizard and into his arms.
"Thank you." She breathed in the new sensations, her human body was flush and warm compared to her plastic state. The wizard patted her back and spoke in a kind voice.
"Enjoy your new lives, your purpose is what you make it to be now. But please come back and visit me sometime."
"Of course and thank you." Qrow held his hand out and shook the wizards, pulling a red cloak around his back. Ruby pulled her new red hood over her head and hugged the wizard one last time.
The pair walked towards the door and opened it "Good day to you Ruby, Qrow." the wizard said kindly his eyes twinkling with happiness.
"Good day to you Wizard of Oz." They said in unison before slipping out of the cottage and heading back into the direction of the woods.
Ruby still astounded by her new human body hugged Qrow close to her "What do we do now Qrow, what is our purpose?" her eyes sparkled with silver as she looked up at her first and only love. Qrow smiled down at his woman, pure love evident in his own features and held out a hand and she took hold of him and beamed.
"I don't know Ruby, but whatever it is, we have a lifetime to figure it out."
Oz watched the couple fade into the forest and picked up his coffee, this would be a lovely addition. Walking towards the thick leather bound book on his desk and opened it out at a new page. Placing his coffee cup down he picked up the decorative quill and began writing a new fairy tail, one he named simply 'Purpose'.