Thanks to everyone for the support and special thanks as always to Cr00cy for keeping the wheels from falling off this thing.
We've talking about some heavy stuff in the past few chapters, and I think we've all earned a palate cleanser of snark and violence. Glorious, glorious snark and violence.
Rematch AKA The Lost Chapter
Qrow was in desperate need of some kind of stress relief as he continued to scratch old friends' names of his list of Huntsmen one at a time.
Shit wasn't going great on the family front either.
So, when he saw that sleek white airship start to circle the town, he was practically jumping for joy.
Perfect.
He walked out the outskirts of the small hunting village and waited for the elegant ship to touch down.
His thoughts wandered while he waited.
How do we even differentiate between a hunting village and a 'Hunting' village in conversation? Should I start winking at people when I say 'Hunting' village? Nah, that'd be weird.
He silently watched as the aircraft settled gently on its landing gear and its ramp slowly started to lower.
What if I just said 'big H' after? Would that make me sound like a tool?
The eldest Schnee daughter was making her way down the ramp.
Oh well, thoughts for later.
"What's going on Ice Queen?" He quipped.
Her eyes narrowed.
Today is going to be fun.
"What are you doing here Qrow?"
"Oh, you know, just looking up some old friends, then finding a bar. The usual. What about you Snowflake?"
Her frown deepened.
We're just getting started babe.
"I've been looking for you." She responded curtly.
He recoiled in mock shock.
"Looking for me? Why Winter…I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I'm going to have get a few drinks in me to lower my standards first."
"General Ironwood sent me!" She snapped.
"Ole' Jimmy Steel-boner? I'm sorry, but I just don't swing that way." He shook his head sadly. "Has he tried Port? Maybe one of those new scroll apps?" He offered helpfully.
"Why do you insist on baiting me?!" She growled.
Cause it's easy and I wanna kick the hell out of something.
"Bait you? I would never." He held his hand to his chest in mock outrage.
Time to seal this deal.
"But speaking of Jailbait, when's the last time you spoke to your sister?"
He ALMOST didn't make it out of the way of the first trust as it slid by his cheek.
His eyes gleamed.
There she is!
He swung his sword up to meet her next stroke, deflecting it to the side as their blades became blurs, striking again and again.
He watched as she began to reach for her smaller blade hidden in the hilt of her saber.
Not so fast Ice Queen!
He remembered how fast she'd been with the two blades back at Beacon, he was going to shut this party down before it started.
He brought down a heavy overhead blow, forcing the Specialist to bring her blade up to defend, then slammed his forehead into her nose.
She cried out in pain as she begun to fall back, with Qrow close on her heels.
You're fast Schnee, but I fight mea-
All coherent thought left his mind as he felt the boot connect with his nether regions.
"Oompf!" He articulated.
Winter scrambled backward to gain her distance and glared as she fell back into her fighting stance.
"Didn't know Schnees fought dirty." He growled.
"I'm just surprised I hit such a small target."
Today is going to be a LOT of fun.
"Don't lie, you just wanted to cop a feel."
"Sorry I don't swing that way."
His eyes widened.
"Wait, real-"
His blade barely made it up in time to meet the thrust.
"Yes." She stated as she parried his counter. "I prefer men."
Oh, Ice Queen's got burns today!
He kicked her knee out and slammed the pommel of his sword into the side of her head.
"I'm impressed Frosty, didn't know you had a mouth on you."
She responded by bringing her elbow into his chin before kicking him away.
"And I, like all the women in your life, am disappointed."
How am I losing the trash talk battle?
He grinned. "Let's fix that shall we?"
Gears whirled as his sword became a scythe.
Her smaller blade was in hand.
"Don't hurt yourself old man."
Time to put you on the back foot.
He shot forward, his scythe spinning and reaching, aiming for legs, arm, hands, and heels. He pushed her back, using his reach and unfamiliar style to keep her on the defensive.
You aren't going to be able to block with those tiny blades and you can't push off for a thrust while you're backing up.
"What's wrong Winney? I thought working for Jimmy would have you used to an older man stalking you."
All I need to worry about now is her-
She ducked under the next swing and a white glow started at her feet.
-Glyphs.
He leapt to the side as Winter shot past him, a blur of white.
He immediately started shooting at her before being forced to dive again to avoid her next lightning fast thrust.
They played a game of cat and mouse for the next few moments as Qrow searched for her pattern.
Head, body, head, body…she going to aim for the-
He held his ground this time, jerking his head out of the way at the last moment and clinching with the Schnee.
Whoopsie daisy.
He turned his hips into hers as he threw her to the ground. She grunted as they slammed into the earth.
He brought his fist down on her face.
"Always-"
Punch.
"Knew-"
Punch.
"You'd"
Punch.
"Fall for me."
He felt a hand on his chest and looked down to see a spinning Glyph.
Well...that's probably not good.
He rocketed off Winter as the Glyph took effect and sent him flying backward.
They both made their way back to their feet, breathing raggedly.
"Was…it…something…I said?" He panted as he grinned at her.
"I'm…going to start…hitting you…I don't know when I'll stop."
What you got Ice Queen?
Beowolves. The answer was Beowolves, he soon learned as the first bit into his shoulder.
"Sonnuvabitch!" He cried.
"I'm sure she was." Winter responded as she fell into a summoning stance and started bringing more Beowolves into the fight.
Shit! Need to close that distance!
His scythe cut the false Grimm holding him in twain as he rushed forward, slicing the summons out of the air as his scythe shifted back into a sword.
Winter frantically tried to bring her saber up to defend as she rose from her summoning stance, only to have it batted out of the way.
This is it!
His blade rested on her neck.
He'd done it. He'd bested the arrogant Atlas Specialist.
At least…he would have if not for the short blade pointed at his heart.
Shit.
"Are we done here?" She deadpanned.
He sighed. "Yeah, I guess so." He removed his blade. "What does Jimmy want?"
"General Ironwood, wanted to recruit you for a team." She said, sheathing her blades. "These are hard times, we're putting together a strike force to hit back."
Look at you go Jimmy.
"Yeah, we kinda had the same idea."
She nodded. "You came here for Shion?"
He grimaced. "I did, but it looks like I was too late."
"Qrow…" Sympathy flooded her eyes. "I'm sorry."
Huh, who knew? Snow Angel's got heart.
"It's becoming too common, something's going on."
"I know. You should come with us." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to get them for this."
He shook his head. "Not this time Snow Angel. I've got a team back in Mistral."
If they'll have me. Wait, did I say Snow Angel out loud? I feel slightly ill.
"Then watch your back." She pointed a finger in his face. "And watch after my sister, or I will end you."
"Promises, promises."
She rolled her eyes. "You're insufferable."
"You love it."
She shook her head and began walking back toward her airship.
"See you around Ice Queen, thanks for the dance."
She looked back over her shoulder.
"Qrow…"
"Yeah?"
"If you die out there…"
Confession time?
"…I'm charging the wake to your account."
Ice cold.
Omake
Fighting Elegant
Weiss blade flicked out again and again, trying to find some gap in her sister's defense. It HAD to be there, it just had to be.
Winter calmly parried each strike, carefully redirecting the force of the blows and slapping Weiss with the flat of her blade as each opening presented itself. She watched as her sister's frustration grew, and with it the wildness of her attempts.
Weiss growled in frustration and began charging a glyph as she lowered her stance, preparing to lunge at the older woman.
Winter calmly strode over and struck her across the face, sending her sprawling to the ground with a yelp.
"Too slow...too wild." The elder Schnee said with a sigh.
Weiss shook her head. "How are you so good?" She exclaimed frustratedly. "It's like your defense is perfect...like you're just...dancing around my attacks."
"My defense seems elegant?" Winter offered with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes!"
"Would you like to know why? What advanced training and techniques I've been using to stay ahead of the competition?"
Weiss jumped to her feet. "Please!"
Winter leaned in close. "The secret dear sister, is that there is no secret."
"What?!"
"You heard me, there is no secret technique, no special training."
"Then how? How do I get to your level?" Weiss shouted with her arms spread wide.
Her older sister grimaced. "Drilling. Hours upon hour and days and upon days of relentlessly boring drilling little sister. You want to know how to make it look like your defense is choreographed? That your enemies blows were fated to miss? You do it by having the discipline to force yourself to do what's boring, what others won't do."
Weiss looked incredulous. "Drilling? But don't you need to spar to get better?"
Winter rolled her eyes. "Everyone wants to spar. Sparring is fun, it's exciting, But let me ask you this, which do you think makes you better, trying out a dozen half-thought out attacks every time you spar or perfecting a technique till it's like breathing?"
Her sister looked at the floor in embarrassment.
She placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't look so glum. You'd hardly be the first person to make that mistake, or the thousandth."
Weiss sighed. "I suppose boredom is a small price to pay for perfection. I will refrain from trying to innovate on the battlefield in the future."
Winter shook her head. "There's still a place for innovation little sister. Eventually, you'll find an opponent against which all of your tried and tested techniques fail, and when you do…" She shrugged. "You do what you need to."
Weiss looked shocked. "Are you suggesting that we fight...dirty?" She asked scandalized.
She leaned in close. "I'm suggesting that you win."
JJD fight nerd corner: I realized this was something that we never covered in the earlier chapters, but getting good at a martial art is really, really boring. Nobody just wakes up one day and masters a technique after trying it out once. It takes hours of forcing yourself into the same situation over and over again before you're able to pull something off without thinking about it, especially if it feels unnatural to you. It feels like sparing would be the best way to get better right? But when you spar, you're trying to win, so you just end up going back to well of what you know works for you. You never expand your arsenal of techniques, and you never put yourself in uncomfortable situations. It's only through the dreaded act of making yourself bored that you burn those techniques into your muscle memory, and once they're there, you can look like you know what your doing when pulling them off.