Qrow's previously dry eyes quickly filled with tears as he stared at the beautiful former maiden before him. She began to speak for the first time in ages.
"Lift your head up Branwen, and wipe your tears. I don't have the time for your sniveling."
Qrow wiped his tears doing exactly what she wanted. Salem smirked at this however, very amused at this situation.
"She's all yours. But know this. If you make another attempt to come after me or any of my children I will not hesitate to take her away from you again."
Qrow nodded as he grabbed Winter's wrist, quickly leading her out of the dark palace.
"Qrow!?!? Where do you think youre dragging me off to?"
"We're going home." His voice deeper than before.
Winter snatched her arm away from his grip and stood there with her arms folded. "You have no right to be slinging me around like luggage."
"Im not! Im trying to get you out of here."
They both stood silent for a moment.
"It's been so long. I never thought I would be able to feel your touch again. I had almost given up. Heheh...Everybody hates me now. Ruby, Tai, even Raven thinks im worse than her. Probably cause I killed a Oscar Pines in cold blood."
Winter dropped her arms and looked down.
"I have been dead for a while, you must have been distraut...I-Im sorry for leaving you." Qrow took her hand softly this time.
"Its okay, I have you again and im never letting you out of my sight ever again..." Winter nodded "O-Okay."
The rejoined couple decided to press on into the wilderness to escape the dark place they were in previously.
Time passes slowly as they travel through bone chilling dark forests.
Not being able to see makes walking around pretty difficult, one misstep and you could fall into a bottomless pit.
Qrow spoke
"We should make camp here and get some rest."
Winter agreed.
The two hunters carefully gathered nearby supplies. Plenty of dead sticks around makes it easy to start a fire but you still need to ignite it somehow.
"Qrow..Do you have any dust crystals on you."
The huntsman shook his head saying no to this question.
"We need to start a fire or else we're going to freeze to death."
Qrow took out his flask and poured the remaining liquid out onto the hastily made fire pit. He took out a match from his shirt pocket, struck it and tossed it onto the fire quickly creating a bright red-orange flame.
"If you had a match you could have just said so..."
Qrow shrugged. He had felt comfortable with his Ice queen once again so he didnt have many worries as of late.
The only worry that he did have is that he would lose her again, he was determined to convince himself that wouldnt happen but, in order to make certain that it wouldnt happen then he would have to stray from his old ways. Drinking till he was blackout drunk was no longer on his to-do list.
"Qrow?"
"Yea?"
"Do you still love me?"
"Of course I do!"
"Even if I look like this?..I-It doesnt bother you?...
"No, it doesnt. I like you just fine even if you look this way."
"Hm." She smiles feeling loved again.
The night closes in and the cold winds attack them mercilessly. They embrace eachother tightly for warmth. This feeling they had being so close warmed them easily, they were so hot with love for eachother their body tempuratures rose quickly.
Wrapped up tightly they leaned back on a nearby tree and fell into a deep sleep.
Ten hours pass and the shattered moon is replaced by the bright shining sun.
The trees sway in the now warmer winds, the small woodland creatures chatter and the birds chirp.
Winter opens her eyes to the sight of some meat on a spit being spun over a small flame
"Good morning Ice Queen."
Winter sits up and rubs her eyes
"Qrow...I thought we werent going to call me that anymore."
"I felt like saying it, I havent seen you in so long so, heh."
"Fair enough." "What is that youre cooking."
"U-uh...You know...whatever animal I could catch...that was mildly edible."
"Beggars cant be choosers I guess, I probably wont like how it tastes still."
Qrow reaches into his shirt pocket and takes out a mini salt shaker
"Voila, no matter how bland something tastes, you can add a bit of salt and it should taste just fine."
"If you say so."
They both ate the questionable meat that was provided. Qrow got some water from a nearby stream and he completely put out the fire
"We've been going south for quite a while, If we continue we will end up making it to Vacuo."
"Qrow we can't walk to Vacuo, we have to take a boat."
"Don't worry, Ive got us covered."
They pressed on going south for 30 miles. Fighting many grimm on the way to Vacuo. Winter wasn't able to fight the grimm herself because she didnt have her weapons, but she did use her Glyphs to support Qrow. A bunch of Ursa surrounded them. Qrow wouldn't have been able to take care of them all on his own thankfully, Winter used a type of glyph that can speed up his movements.
"That takes care of that."
Qrow closes his scythe and clips it onto it's back harness.
"Almost to Vacuo."
Qrow and Winter continue walking as they reach the end of the forest and arrive at a sand covered beach.
The air was salty and fresh. The water was so clean and pure that you could see to the bottom.
As they tuned to their surroundings they saw a blonde-haired man wearing an opened shirt exposing his chiseled abs standing by a boat. He had a tail that moved around alot, quite distracting actually.
He bent over and picked up a crate labeled "Rations" and set it onto the boat.
The man looked up
"Hey you two! Hop onto the ship so we can go to my hometown!"
Qrow and Winter got on the ship and the Captain pulled them off into the clear blue.
"So...Who is this exactly?"
Qrow smirked
"Im Sun Wukong, Captain of the S.S...Um..heheh. I never really got around to naming her yet."
"Its been a while, I appreciate you picking us up on such short notice."
"Anything for an old friend, I have to do anything I can to help. I owe that much to the friends who protect me as well as I them."
A tear goes down Sun's cheek as his dark memories start to claw the inside of his mind. The sight of seeing Blake cut in half by Salem and her magic replays constantly fading in and out. He tries to push away the thought and focus on navigation but that's easier said than done.
"So, how long are you going to stay in Vacuo."
"I-. Uh."
"Not too long. We might just stay here forever. We dont really have any plans on where to go after here. Everyone but you and I still think Winter is dead so its probably not a good idea to draw unwanted attention."
"I wanted to at least check in on how my little sister is doing running the family company."
"Shhhh. Do you hear that?"
Qrow, Winter and, Sun stopped silent. The water was still and the wind stopped blowing. A low rumble could be heard beneath the boat.
The water went from still to wavy and from wavy to violent and from thisr waves erupted a massive grimm. The grimm and its gaping mouth with countless teeth roared in the direction of the boat. The team if three looked pale. Sun spoke.
"We're fucked."
