Wow, thanks so much for all the reviews and follows! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. So sorry this took longer than I had hoped, but here it is now! Thanks for being patient about it :)
It was brought to my attention that I've called Winter's weapon a rapier when it is not, and for that, I apologize. I did my research a little too late, and by the time I had found out that the proper term would be sabre, I had already published the first two or three chapters. Rest assured, I've done my best to remind myself that her weapon is not a rapier (that would be Weiss'), and you shouldn't see it referred to as such anymore.
As a semi-important note, I have changed the rating of this story from K+ to T, as in Teen. I got to thinking about it since I included a tiny little bit of swearing in this chapter, and then considering the nature of this story and the world of Remnant, I figured it would be better to label this story as T. The content of the story won't really change or anything, and I'm not gonna include anything incredibly "mature", for lack of a better word. The change is mainly for swearing and because there will probably be more and bigger fights coming. I will try to keep swearing to a minimum (you won't see it every other sentence). This has just been a friendly notification.
And now, I hope you enjoy the story.
I, again, do not own RWBY.
XXX
"Ozpin?" Winter asked, furrowing her brows. Qrow glanced away for a moment, and Winter could have sworn he seemed almost sad.
"He disappeared the day Vale was attacked. It's been weeks, and no one has heard from him since," Qrow mumbled. Winter's eyes shot down to his belt loops. As usual, Qrow had his sword-scythe strapped to his back, but this time, a slim cane hung from one of the belt loops. "I've kept my eyes open, looked around. He just vanished." The Huntsman looked up, meeting Winter's solemn face, and smirked. "But I'm not giving up. Ozpin may seem like some old school teacher, but he's tough. There's no way he's dead. He wouldn't have given up." Winter looked away for a moment. She had forgotten how bad the situation was. Professor Ozpin was someone she had respect for, though she did not know him nearly as well as Qrow or the General. She had never seen him fight, but she could tell from Qrow's stories and General Ironwood's deference to the professor's advice that he was probably an incredibly strong Huntsman.
"You're nieces," Winter said suddenly. "How are they?" This time it was Qrow who looked away.
"Ruby was fine after a bit of rest. Yang-," he paused, rubbing the back of his head. "She'll get there. She's strong enough to handle this."
"I'm sorry about that," Winter stated, trying to find something, anything to say. The air between them had turned from tense to somber. Qrow glanced up at her, his lip curling slightly into a peeved expression.
"Don't be," he scoffed. "You had nothing to do with it. If anything, you should worry about yourself." Again, Winter fell silent.
"Hey." Winter turned. The two men who had been sitting farther down the bar had gotten up and were now standing right next to Qrow. One had his hand at his waist. Winter froze, but Qrow just lazily turned his head and gazed up at the two men.
"Can we help you? We're trying to have a conversation here," he drawled, waving his hand around. The first, a ginger, bearded man with scraggly hair, looked at Qrow with near disgust. He slid a metal axe off his back.
"Never seen you around these parts. And we know outsiders when we see one," the man said dangerously. Qrow shrugged again.
"Well, I think we're better customers than you've been. Creating a scene and pulling weapons on other customers." The redhead's eyes bulged and suddenly the axe's tip was pointed directly at Qrow's neck, mere inches away.
"Say it again, outsider," he snarled. The other man pulled out a scimitar, his face a dead calm. The red haired man took a step forward. "If I had to guess from Miss Rich and Prissy over here, you're from Atlas. Though you definitely look like you've rolled around in Mistral swamps for a while." The man's gaze shifted to Winter, who stiffened at the man's hateful look. "Here to take over Mistral like you tried to with Vale?" Winter breathed in quickly, her cheeks flushing. She couldn't help it; she had guessed, she knew that people from the other kingdoms would be suspicious of anyone from Atlas. Would think that the attack on Vale would have been caused by Atlas. But she hadn't been prepared for the amount of animosity and hatred she might face. The journey suddenly seemed so much more harrowing.
The metallic ring of a blade sounded through the bar. Qrow was on his feet, his sword intersected with the man's axe. Winter got to her feet immediately, pulling out her own blade.
"Maybe you should just keep your mouth shut," Qrow said in a steely tone.
"Hey! No brawling in here!" the bartender shouted. "You wanna fight, take it outside!" Lu had stopped wiping the counter, her eyes widening as she took a couple frantic steps back. The redhead shoved his weapon against Qrow's, pushing the man backwards.
"Maybe you should scram while you can," the man snarled. "Before I show you who you're dealing with." At that Qrow grinned wildly, and Winter's eyes widened a bit. As far back as she could remember, Qrow only had two expressions; his stupid smug smirk, and his peeved, angry snarl that was enough to intimidate experienced Hunters. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him smile so wickedly before.
"Alright then. Bring it," he said, leaning back. The red haired man raised an eyebrow, but gripped the handle of his weapon and positioned himself, readying to attack. Qrow shot forward, slashing his sword at the man and sending him flying backwards until he hit the wall. The man's companion, a man with slicked back, blond hair, snapped his head toward Qrow, a mixture of shock and anger in his eyes.
"You're gonna pay for that, filth," he growled, dashing forward and pulling out a broadsword. Qrow darted forward too, and the two clashed swords, pulling back only to have at it again. Lu had backed against the wall, nearly whimpering with fright. Winter glanced her way, gesturing impatiently towards the door.
"Go on, get out of here," she ordered. The young Faunus woman didn't need to be told twice. She practically sprinted out the door, not taking one look back. Winter turned back to the two men attacking each other. Despite the small space they were confined to, neither seemed to be holding back. They had already shoved two tables out of the way in their brawl, and one chair lay on it's side, the wood cleanly sliced through. The redhead Qrow had shoved aside was beginning to climb to his feet, his eyes locked onto Qrow. He reached for his axe, gaze still trained on the Huntsman. Winter ran forward and sliced her sabre sideways, which the man narrowly dodged. He darted to the side, repositioning himself with a glare at Winter.
"You friggin' Atlas bitch!" he spat, slashing his axe toward her. Winter brought up her own blade, trying to block the man's attack as best as she could. She slid her sword downwards, the man's weapon following suit, and kicked him hard in the gut. He grunted, putting a hand to his stomach. Winter took the opportunity and jabbed the handle of her sabre into the man's chest. He stumbled back, dragging his axe along the ground, and Winter followed. She gritted her teeth and stabbed at the man, aiming for his shoulder. Angry as his comments made her, and hateful as this man seemed, Winter didn't want to kill him. He wasn't worth it.
But the redhead drunk wasn't a complete idiot, it seemed. He looked up just in time to see Winter stab her sword at him and deflected her blade with his own weapon. Winter scowled, staring the man down. He gave her a cocky grin and pushed her back before bringing his own weapon down, aimed at the Specialist's head. Winter focused on her Aura, and a white glyph appeared under her, propelling her backwards quickly. The axe smashed into the floor in the spot where Winter had just been standing. The man stared at his weapon for a moment, confusion filling his face. Winter leaned forward, a deadly calm look on her face, and another glyph, this one black, appeared beneath her feet. She pointed her sabre at the man, and the glyph's color shifted to a whitish-blue. The glyph launched her at the man, and she slammed into him at full speed. The redhead hadn't been expecting it, and he fell to the ground, his weapon dropping from his hand and landing a few feet away. He tilted his head back, looking dazed, before Winter delivered a final kick to his head. The man's eyes rolled back and his head dropped back.
Winter sighed and stepped away from the man's unconscious body. She turned around, looking to see how Qrow was doing. From her point of view, Qrow had nearly beaten the man. The blonde was on his knees, an angry scowl on his face, and Qrow was standing above him with his sword at the man's neck.
"Wait!" The bartender leapt out from behind the bar, grabbing one of Qrow's arms and receiving a glare in return. "Don't kill this man!" Qrow rolled his eyes and lowered his sword a bit.
"I'm not gonna kill him, though it'd be pretty easy," Qrow commented. "Scum like him isn't worth it." Winter smiled softly, turning her head away from Qrow. She stopped when she saw the blonde man slowly aim his weapon at Qrow. Except it was no longer in its sword form, it was now transformed into a gun. And the gun was aimed at Qrow's head, whose attention was still on the bartender. Winter didn't even stop to think; she stabbed her sword into the ground as a new glyph appeared. This glyph's appearance was slightly different than her normal glyphs, which consisted of the symbol of her family. The new glyph had the same symbol, but over it was the images of swords, spinning in a rapid circle. Pale blue flashes of light floated around her before shifting into a flock of small Nevermores. The Nevermores flew around Winter once before diving straight for the blonde man.
"Argh!" The man was knocked off balance as he was bombarded by the spectral Nevermores. The ghostly birds continued to barrage him until Winter stood up, letting the Summoning glyph disappear as she sheathed her sword. The blonde man was leaning against the bar and groaning, rubbing his head lazily. The bartender was staring at the guy in shock, then looking around at the half-ruined bar.
"Look what you've done!" he cried.
"Time to go, Schnee," Qrow said quickly, grabbing ahold of her arm and pulling her towards the door roughly. Winter quickly grabbed some Lien from her pack, throwing it on one of the undamaged tables.
"Our apologies for the damage!" she called as Qrow dragged her out the door. He didn't let go until they were at the edge of town.
"Move, Ice Queen, move!" he snapped. Winter yanked her arm out of his grip, giving him a glare.
"Look at what you did!" Winter snapped back, waving a hand at the bar behind him. Qrow glanced at it.
"What? That?! That wasn't just me, you know. That you too, and those guys back there." Qrow shrugged. "Besides, I think we helped them. Those guys were nothing but trouble, and we took care of them. Not to mention, I saved you." Winter couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You saved me?!" she said incredulously. "I saved you! That drunk could have shot you!"
"Please, he wouldn't have shot me. I can handle myself."
"Hardly!" Winter fumed, her hands on her hips as she glared at the man before her.
"Well, we really shouldn't stand around here. I doubt they have any suitable police force, but in case those morons back there wake up, or the bartender calls for help, we should get a move on." Qrow pulled out a flask and took a long gulp before returning it to his pocket. Winter grimaced. Drinking, as usual. Even at a time like this. She turned to the dirt road, the one that the elderly man who had helped her the day before had ridden down as he waved goodbye.
"That way then?" Winter asked.
"About the only way to go. We're gonna want to avoid the swamps and woods as much as possible." Winter nodded in agreement.
"Fine, then. Let's go," she said. Qrow shrugged his shoulders again, but joined her side, and the two began walking down the road. This, Winter thought, is where the real journey begins.
XXX
Well, now they're really on their way! Yay! Finally, we get to see Qrow and Winter travelling together!
For The Real Big Bad: I hope this chapter answered your question. In case it wasn't clear enough, Qrow kept Ozpin's cane and now carries it with him, usually strapped to his back like to his own weapon, or hanging from one of his belt loops.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please leave reviews; you can tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you hope to see, any theories you have, etc. I love reviews, and they motivate me when I'm writing the story. Just please remember to always be polite. There's a difference between constructive criticism and just plain, old criticism. And if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes, let me know!
I will try to get the next chapter out soon.
