The Duel between Drunks
I had this idea in my head for a while and decided to have some fun with it. If you are not familiar with the show Utawarerumono, or the character Karura from that series, I suggest you watch it and see for yourself BEFORE reading this story. She shows up at episode 10 I believe. I made the route of this story based off of facts from the series, not my own personal opinion. Anyway, I do not own RWBY or Utawarerumono. They belong to their respective owners. Enjoy.
During the break from Beacon, Yang and Ruby are at home, watching the news when they hear a knock at the door. Yang goes to open it up and finds their dad, Taiyang, carrying a few grocery bags in his arms.
"Hey Dad. Back from shopping?" she asks as she takes a few bags.
"Yes, but there's one other thing," he says, his tone somewhere between annoyed and irritated.
"Yeah, and he also got a one of a kind of item from the store. The only one there," they hear a slurred voice behind them and Yang looks back to see their Uncle Qrow standing behind him, taking a sip out of his flask. "Hey there, firecracker," he greets her.
"Uncle Qrow!" she says as she drops her bags and gives him a big hug.
"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby quickly joins in and clamps her arms around him.
Taiyang groans, but let's them have their moment as he takes the bags inside. A few minutes later, they are all inside the living room. The family all have their tea, while Qrow has his flask.
"So, how has Beacon been for you guys so far?" Qrow asks.
"It's awesome! I still can't believe that Ozpin let me in two years early. Being on a team with Yang helps, and our other teammates, Weiss and Blake are really great friends. We've made other friends as well. It's been really cool," Ruby says, getting all giddy.
Qrow chuckles, "Well, of course you would get in so early. After all, I was the one that trained you," he says before sipping his flask again.
"Hopefully that's the only thing you taught her. I certainly don't need her developing your drinking habits," Taiyang says, resting his chin on one hand.
"Hey, I didn't start drinking until after I spent some time on missions after we graduated from Beacon. It's not like I was under age at the time. Besides, I know you taught them better than that. They'll be fine," he plays it off.
Yang chuckles, "Yeah, but I'll be honest, it's always a little surprising with how much you drink and yet you haven't died from it yet, or that you can still fight the way you do even while drunk," she notes.
"Yeah, I bet you've never most in one of those…um…what were they exactly, Yang?" she asks Yang, her innocence blinding her to the truth.
"Drinking contests, Ruby. And she has a point, I bet you've never lost a fight when it comes to alcohol, right Uncle Qrow?" she says. However, when Qrow doesn't reply and looks away, she gets curious. "Uncle Qrow?" she asks.
At this point, Taiyang actually smirks for the first time, "Oh, Qrow. Do you want to tell them, or shall I?" he says, crossing his arms.
"Uncle Qrow, what's Dad talking about?" Ruby asks.
Seeing that he can't get out of this, Qrow sighs, "Well, it's true that I've been in quite a few drinking contests, and won all of them, but there was one instance where that…didn't exactly happen," he admits.
Yang and Ruby gasp, "You mean you actually lost at a drinking contest?! When did that happen?!" Yang yells.
Qrow sighs and sags in his seat, "It's a bit of a story. This is what happened…" he begins.
…Flashback begins…
In a town in the continent of Anima, Qrow walks through the streets, looking for a place to crash after fighting some Grimm on the way here. After walking for a while, he finds a local tavern and decides to get a drink, and maybe hear some interesting things that could be of use to his mission. Entering into the building, he sees that only a few people are inside that night, and a long bar in the back, with different barrels of various alcoholic beverages waiting for him to try. Sitting at one of the seats at the bar, he orders up a glass with some kind of bourbon in it and takes a sip, enjoying the taste of the cold drink going down his throat. After a few more drinks, he hears the tavern doors open up, but pays it no mind. That is, until someone sits next to him. He glances to his right and gets a good look at the person, noticing that it is a female Faunus if the cat-like ears and tail are any indication. The woman is wearing a tight burgundy one piece with a white stripe down the center. She is also wearing a loose red and dark brown cloak with white trimming over the one piece. It is tied to her white belt. She has dark blue eyes, fair skin, dark blue hair tied in a braid, and her Faunus features are a tan-like color. Around her neck is a thick collar with a broken chain dangling from it. She places a large sword with a dull edge next to her.
"Hey, barkeep. I'll take some sake, thank you," she orders her drink and a moment later, the bartender shows up with a glass of sake for her. "Thanks," she thanks them and happily sips her drink.
"Quite a big sword you got there. You sure lugging that thing around isn't gonna leave you exhausted?" he says, gaining her attention.
The woman smirks, "Don't worry. I can handle it. Unless you want to try and see if you can lift it yourself," she challenges him.
Qrow chuckles, "No thanks, I'm not that brave. Nor am I that stupid. I'll just take your word for it," he says, sipping his next drink. "Qrow Branwen," he introduces himself, offering a hand shake.
"…Karura. Nice to meet you," she says and grasps his hand, giving it a really firm shake.
"Quite a grip you got there. I guess using that huge weapon of yours isn't much of a problem. So, what's a huntress like you doing out here?" he asks.
"I could ask the same about you, minus the huntress part anyway," she retorts, still smirking.
Qrow grunts, "Heh, alright, I don't mind a little mystery. Hey, I'll have a shot of what she's having," he says to the bartender, who comes back with some sake a moment later. Qrow drinks it and hums, "Hm, not bad," he notes.
"The sake here is supposed to be pretty good. I believe it's one of their crowd favorites," Karura says, sipping her own drink.
"I take it you've been here before?" Qrow asks.
"A few times. I've stopped by here during my journeys. They have good drinks here. I also have never lost a drinking game here either. The guys I beat last time had a problem with that and tried to get some payback. Suffice to say, they never bothered me again after I was through with them," she says.
This gets Qrow interested, "Oh yeah. I bet you're pretty good then…Care to show me how good?" he challenges her.
Karura glances at him and smiles, "Loser pays for the drinks?" she asks.
Qrow smirks, "And maybe then some. You're on. Bartender, get some glasses ready," he says.
The bartender gets some glasses out for them, six for each of them, and fills them all up. Both contesters grasp a glass each.
"3…" Qrow starts.
"2…" Karura adds.
"1…" They both say. "Go!" and they're off.
The two quickly down their first drink before moving to the next. They both keep a steady pace, neck-and-neck with each shot they take. Soon enough, they finish off their drinks and the bartender gets the next round ready. When the next set of glasses arrive, they continue their duel. Qrow maintains his confident smirk, while Karura shows a teasing smile as they down their eighth glass.
"Not bad. I might actually get a little serious here," Qrow taunts as he gulps his ninth drink.
"Really? I haven't even warmed up yet," Karura replies as she downs her tenth.
The two finish off their glass number 12 at the same time, and the bartender already has another set out as he takes the previous set of empty glasses. At this point, Qrow was starting to feel the effects of the drinks, especially since he already had a few before Karura arrived. He was starting to feel wobbly as he drank his fourteenth glass, but now Karura was getting ahead of him at fifteen, and she looked completely fine. They each drank their next glass, and a moment later, Karura had taken out her next set while Qrow was still on his seventeenth glass.
"Ready to quit?" she taunts him before she drinks her nineteenth glass with ease.
"I'm…not…done yet," Qrow says, his speech more slurred than normal.
Deciding to give him a handicap, she waits until he finally finishes his third set, and his fourth comes up. Karura Is up to her twenty first glass now, while Qrow has only managed to finish off his nineteenth.
"I really think you should stop. I can pay for the drinks. It's not that big of a deal," she offers.
Qrow shakes his head, "No…I…agreed to this, and I…won't stop…now. It's…a matter of…being a man," he retorts before he takes down his twenty first glass.
However, Karura has just finished off glass twenty four, and watches with some concern at how Qrow is struggling to drink his twenty second glass. He manages to gulp it down, but now is having trouble staying awake. He slowly grabs his next glass and shakily raises it to his lips, slowly sipping it down. Finally down to his last shot in his third set, he reaches out for it and clasps his fingers around the glass. However, as he raises it to his lips, the glass slips from his hand, and lands in the open palm of Karura's right hand. She drinks it and places the empty glass on the bar in front of him. At this point, Qrow had no choice…but to admit defeat, and his head falls onto the bar, passed out.
Karura shakes her head, but smiles, "Guess I'm paying for the drinks anyway. Bartender, check please. I'll pay for his as well. I can afford it," she says.
She pays for the drinks, placed her weapon on her back, and hoisted Qrow onto her left shoulder. Leaving the tavern, she walked a block or two until she found a local inn. Walking inside, she asked the receptionist for two rooms, one for her, and the other for her 'drunk friend' as she put it. Getting the keys, she found the room reserved for Qrow and opened it up, seeing a bed with a desk, a lamp, and a closet inside. She places Qrow on the bed and takes a seat on the desk chair. A moment later, Qrow wakes up, and holds his head as he groans.
"Still alive there, old man?" she jokes.
Qrow groans, "Don't call me old…Where am I?" he asks as he looks around.
"A local inn. I took you here after you passed out. Had to pay for everything too. By the way, you owe me for the drinks, and for your room here at the inn," she says, taking out a jug of sake and taking a sip.
This just makes Qrow groan again, "I can't believe I lost at a drinking game. I must be losing my edge. How the hell did you manage to hold all that alcohol down?" he asks as he slowly sits up.
"It's one of my special powers," she jokes. "Don't worry about going anywhere, this is your room. You still owe me the lien though," she says.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll pay," he says as he takes out his wallet.
"I didn't say you have to pay tonight. Keep it until I feel it's time. Or you could owe me one," she suggests.
"I don't like owing people favors," he says.
Karura grunts, but smiles as she stands up and sits next to Qrow, "How about instead of lien, you can repay me with a good conversation. You're the first person I've met that has lasted as long as you have against me in a drinking game. Had you not have had those drinks before a showed up, you would've lasted longer," she says.
Qrow just looked at her, raising an eyebrow, "Okay…like what?" he asks.
"How about for starters, what's your favorite drink and why?" she suggests.
…Flashback ends…
"And we talked for a while as the drinks went through us, though it looked like it didn't bother her as much as me," Qrow ends his story.
"Wow, I can't believe you got beat at a drinking game. Who would've thought that the 'mighty Qrow Branwen' could actually lose at something," Yang says.
"I hope drinking so much that night didn't damage your health too much," Ruby notes, sounding concerned.
"I'm still here, aren't I. Yeah, I lost, and I'd appreciate it if you kept that on the down low. If anyone I knew found out about this, I'd never hear the end of it," he says.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with us. Well, with me anyway. I'm not so sure about Ruby though," Yang says.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Ruby retorts.
"Just an observation," Yang quickly says before she takes off running.
"Get back here Yang!" Ruby yells as she runs after her.
"Girls! No running in the house!" Taiyang goes after them, but stops and glances back at Qrow. "Thanks for not telling them ALL of your story," he says.
"Eh, I'll wait until they're older," Qrow replies with a wave of his hand.
"Not until they are at least 30," Taiyang says and then goes after his daughters.
Qrow chuckles, "…Definitely a heck of a story, especially towards the ending…" he thinks.
…
"You're nieces sound like they can be a handful," Karura says as she finished off a cup of sake.
"Yeah, but they'll become great huntresses in the future. No doubt about that," he says as he finishes off another cup. "It's getting pretty late. And I'm just about out of conversation in me," he says.
"What do you know…so am I," she replies, smiling…which he eventually returns.
…
The next morning, Qrow wakes up in his room…in nothing but his boxers. As he lifts up his head, he sees a note fall off his forehead. Opening it, it reads 'See you around' along with a contact number below it.
Qrow rests his head and sighs, "I need a drink," he says.
And that's it. I know Qrow fans may be questioning why Qrow lost, but like I said, watch Utawarerumo season 1 episode 10 to find out why. I like Qrow, but I gotta go with the facts here. If you want to watch all of it, go right ahead because I thought it wasn't too bad a series. This was just for a little fun. Hope you enjoyed it. Please Read and Review.