[A few hours earlier]
Winter...crashed?
Weiss pressed her lips in a firm line as she stared down hard at the concrete ground. Clenching her fists hard at what she just heard, her knuckles turned white as a burning anger came to life within her. She couldn't just stay here. Not after what she had just heard.
"I'm going with you." Weiss stated as she lifted her head and met Ruby's Uncle Qrow gaze straight on. Seeing his blink of confusion, Weiss let out a huff before taking a step forward.
"I said that I'm going with you. To find Winter."
Qrow tilted his head while he pocketed his scroll, a brow curiously raised. He certainly hadn't expected to see anger in the Ice Princess' eyes at that moment. It really brought a flash of Winter in front of him for a second.
"Okay, Ice Princess. What makes you think that I'm going to search for your sister? What if Ironwood already found her at this point? What -"
"I don't care. I'm going."
The sheer weight and tone of Weiss' words caught everyone off guard, making the remaining members of Team RWBY to glance at the Schnee. Qrow only blinked again in speechlessness before shaking himself free, letting out a small scoff.
"So...you have a little fire in you after all. Well...since I do like getting on ol' Jimmy's nerves, I'll bring you along - only on one condition." Qrow said as he lifted a finger, watching the rest of the girls' expressions shift at his tone.
"I only bring Weiss."
"What!?" came the chorus from the rest of Team RWBY. Yang stepped forward and placed her hands on her hips, looking ready to fight. Ruby had a wide eyed incredulous look on her face, while Blake's ears were drooping in what was likely disappointment.
"You can't just take Weiss and not the rest of us, Uncle Qrow. We're a team." Yang argued as she looked up at the older man.
"Don't you think I know that? What do you think would happen if all of you were to get hurt? Or even worse, end up dead?" Qrow retorted with a furrow of his brow. He didn't like this grim situation just as much as they did.
Yang looked like she was about to retort when Weiss put a hand on her arm. The yellow haired firecracker glanced at her in confusion, while Weiss shook her head.
"It's okay, guys. I'll go." Weiss said as she turned to her friends, Qrow nodding to the Schnee in response. "We'll make sure to find her."
It had to happen now. No more waiting.
Winter sat in her cell with her eyes shut, taking deep breaths in order to calm herself. She needed to make it out of this place alive in order to see Weiss again.
No matter the cost.
She had managed to save most of her aura during stay in this compound, but the physical exhaustion of not fully resting was gradually eating at her. The constant fiery ache in her injured thigh kept her awake for most of the time, her aura only able to contribute so much to the healing process. It was draining, but Winter didn't have any more time. Those of the White Fang knew she would never speak about the incident at the warehouse, no matter how much they pried - due to her training and because they're unable to gather any information, Winter could already guess what they would do to her later.
1) They could kill her and close that chapter of her life.
2) They could ransom her to her father and who knows what kind of mess that would be.
So, she needed to leave.
Winter opened her eyes as she heard a set of approaching footsteps - knowing that it was a guard checking in on her. As her nerves buzzed with anxiety, she pulled herself up and removed her jacket, grabbing both ends to act as a rope. She carefully stepped in front of the door, adrenaline pumping through her blood at the thought of her plan beginning. She knew that there were CCTV cameras everywhere in that hallway the guard was walking in so she needed to get the guard into her room. As she heard the lock begin to turn, Winter sucked in a breath and turned her back to the door, her jacket wrapped up in her arms.
The door opened and she heard the guard pull the key out of the lock.
"Rise and shine, Schnee. It's time for another session." The guard greeted with a sneer from behind. Winter chose not to respond, prompting a sharp "Hey!" from the man.
She heard him take a couple steps toward her and the sound of the door closing.
It was now or never.
Winter whirled around just as she felt the guard's hand reach for her shoulder, and with the blood roaring in her ears, threw her jacket into his face, a fist already coming from below to slam into his stomach. As she felt him stiffen and go limp, Winter shifted to catch his body, carefully setting him down as she began to remove his gear swiftly. Removing the guard's helmet, she froze to see the face of a young man with faunas features. He looked so young and yet here he was, in an organization that truly wanted who knows what other than equality.
Shaking her thoughts away, Winter quickly put on the guard's gear over her torn uniform, completely aware of the time before suspicions arose. Of course those watching the cameras would be alerted the moment she left the cell without an accompanying Schnee, but at this point she would rather have some type of armor than no armor at all. She had no idea where her sword and scroll were and did not want to waste time trying to find them during her escape.
With a sharp exhale, Winter slipped on the guard's helmet and opened the door to step out into the hallway.
Scanning her left and right, Winter noted thankfully that no one had come running hot on her tail just yet. She wanted to exert as little energy as possible, but given her predicament, it was highly unlikely that would happen. After rounding a couple corners, the Schnee made it to a clearing where most of the White Fang were milling about giving orders and fulfilling those orders. Winter's gaze darted from soldier to soldier as she waited for any sign that she had been made.
Luckily nothing happened as she crossed the area, spotting a diagram with shapes vaguely representing the layout of the building. Upon a closer look, Winter confirmed that it was indeed a map and took note of her current location and any possible exits. With a memorized glance of the map, she was about to continue down through the hall when someone cleared their throat behind her.
She felt her blood go cold when she recognized the intensity of Cinder's stare that was at the back of her head. With her brain screaming at her to run, Winter did just the opposite and turned around to meet the woman's gaze behind the helmet.
"We'll find her, okay?" Qrow reassured as he gazed down at Weiss' worried expression. They both stood at the edge of the city that Ironwood stated was where the carrier was last seen. After his insistent pestering of Winter's last location, Ironwood begrudgingly handed it over, informing Qrow that there was already a search team on the ground.
"She's got to be around here somewhere." Weiss quietly said as her concerned gaze flicked towards the city. Seeing the obviously distressed Schnee, Qrow's uncle instincts kicked in just as they usually do with his nieces, making him put a hand on her shoulder gently.
"She will be. Don't worry, Weiss."
The two of them split up within the city with other soldiers from Atlas tagging along, desperate to find the specialist as soon as they could. Qrow had walked around for a bit, asking if anyone had seen the appearance of Winter, only to come up with nothing. He paused in the middle of the cobblestone street, his gaze up to the cloudy sky when his eyes widened with an idea.
Glancing around, Qrow let out a small sound of victory when he spotted a not so crowded alleyway and made way for it. Within a second Qrow was up in the air transformed as he rose higher and higher to catch a view of most of the city. Gray pointed structures greeted him as he flew around hoping for any sign of a skirmish.
Because if there was a disturbance, there had to be a Schnee there. Knowing her enough she would probably try to escape as stealthily as she could, only to have it blow up in her face by some pure chance.
Or in this case by Qrow's semblance.
Which is exactly what happened.
At the sound of an explosion nearing the opposite end of the city Qrow was on, he let out a squawk as he turned his head and veered straight for the commotion. The smoke he spotted only made the feeling of unease within him intensify. As he got closer to the source, he noticed it was some small type of shop that was going up in flames. Qrow swooped to yet another alleyway and came out of the shadows stumbling, trying to get by the citizens who were beginning to crowd and wonder what was going on. Upon seeing damage, he asked the citizens around him to step away to avoid getting hurt and glanced over his shoulder to spot a group of people huddled near the ground.
Qrow rushed over to the huddle with his heart in his throat.
There was a body collapsed on the ground that seemed to be dressed in the armor of the White Fang. As he stepped closer, he could see that some of the armor was blackened as if it were singed with direct fire. Qrow's hands grew cold when he noticed the familiar stark white hair that was dirtied, peeking out from underneath the damaged helmet and instantly knelt down, his hands already working to carefully remove the helmet.
"Winter..." Qrow said with a breath of disbelief as he stared down at Schnee's bloodied face. Upon checking her breathing and finding that she was thankfully alive, he was about to pull out his scroll to call Weiss when he heard rapid approaching footsteps.
"Hey! Did you-?!" Weiss' words cut off as she stopped next to him, her eyes already on who they had been looking for. "Oh gods, Winter!"
Weiss fell to her knees when she took in the sight of her sister, a choked sob escaping her lips as she carefully held her sister's hand. Qrow glanced around to see the search team that Ironwood had placed arriving quickly, hearing them order for a medical team along with other orders being shouted.
"Who did this to her?" Weiss shakily said, Qrow's attention turned back to the sisters. He blinked, caught off guard when he saw that there was a flicker of anger behind her tears. Qrow shook his head as he glanced down at Winter, only wondering the same.
"I've got a few hunches."
She felt her blood go cold when she recognized the intensity of Cinder's stare that was at the back of her head. With her brain screaming at her to run, Winter did just the opposite and turned around to meet the woman's gaze behind the helmet.
"Well, well...to think you would actually attempt something as foolish as this?" Cinder said with a dissatisfied frown on her lips. Next to her were Emerald and Mercury, grinning mercilessly with a cross of their arms.
Winter gritted her teeth at her situation, her hands balling into fists as she remained silent. She prayed to the gods that Cinder was only joking with this confrontation and would walk away, but when Cinder gave Winter a small wry smile, she knew this was no joke. Winter knew that she could not face all three of them at once, given her condition - she was in no shape to really fight at all - but if this woman refuses to release her she would have no choice.
"I'm leaving and I will bring whatever is happening here, down." Winter stated as she stared hard at Cinder, every nerve in her body on high alert at the threat.
"Oh? And what makes you think you'll leave this place?" Emerald spat back as she took a step forward with a brow raised and a cocky smile on her lips.
"Emerald, please." Cinder said with a hand up in the air, stopping the woman next to her from taking another step. "If Ms. Schnee wants to leave so badly..."
Winter swallowed nervously at the condescending tone and widened her eyes when she saw Cinder's eyes become covered in flames.
"Let's give her a parting gift, shall we?" Cinder said with a smile as she raised a hand, the small ball of fire that formed steadily growing larger.
Winter's instinct to run kicked in just as Emerald went to work with her illusions, Mercury ran at her, and Cinder launched a massive blaze of fire in her direction. All Winter could see and feel were the flames that were magically coming from Cinder's hands before everything went dark.
Winter jolted awake at the lingering feeling of flames and found herself staring up at the darkened ceiling of what seemed to be a medical room. The consistent beeping on the heart monitor and the smell of the room invaded her senses as all that happened to her came back to hit her like a truck. Raising a hand to her head, she stopped when she saw the entirety of her right arm bandaged. The feeling of flames lick at the skin underneath the bandages, Winter bit her lip as she reminded herself that the fight was over and that she was safe.
Glancing around on her back, Winter spotted Weiss' slumped on the chair next to her with a blanket draped over her shoulders. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her sister and moved to sit up, needing to use the restroom. As she threw the covers back, Winter noted the bandaged area of her thigh where the hole was and carefully put her good leg down, the coolness of the tile spreading throughout her foot. Just as she slowly slid off of the bed, the door to her room quietly opened causing her to glance up.
Upon meeting Qrow's surprised gaze, Winter put a finger to her lips as she remembered Weiss' sleeping form and reached for the crutch that was laid next to her bed. As she made her way over to the entrance of the door, she was so winded she didn't shy away from Qrow assisting her to the benches out in the hall. Once seated, Winter let out a pained sigh and leaned her head against the tile, eyes shut. She could feel Qrow's stare in that moment of silence, and was about to say something when he went first.
"I didn't think you would be awake so soon, Ice Queen." came Qrow's greeting as he swirled a cup of coffee in his hands.
"Neither did I, but here I am." Winter replied as she opened her eyes and glanced over to the Branwen, seeing his gaze on her bandaged hands. When Winter said his name, Qrow's eyes darted up to hers and once again for the first time in a while - hazy red eyes locked with exhausted stark blue ones.
"I..." Winter hesitated as her mind ran a mile a minute, flooded with too many words to say. She could assume what had happened given her disappearance along with Qrow and Weiss' presence in Atlas.
"I know what you're gonna say: 'Again, Qrow? How did you end up here again? What sorcery!'" Qrow jokingly teased as he tried to lighten the mood the best he could. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he attempted a smile, but when he caught Winter's empty attempt of a response, did he drop the act.
"Weiss and I found you unconscious in the city your carrier was headed to. You were dressed in clothes that the White Fang wear, with injuries that were really bad..."
Winter focused on her bandaged everything before she tore her gaze away and looked up to Qrow's patient expression. Upon sitting in silence with Winter staring at Qrow's expression for a few moments, the Schnee let out a sharp sigh and shook her head as her jostled mind gradually cleared up and the words she wanted to say surfaced.
"It was bad, Qrow. Not to mention with a hole in the side of my leg as well. But I made it out - possibly by pure luck, who knows." Winter began as she tried to make light of the situation. When she saw Qrow quirk an eyebrow in response, she took that as a sign to continue.
"There's a lot I need to say that involves you and the General with what's happened, but for now I'll just..." Winter trailed off as the confidence to say the words she needed to say dissipated - having never admitted such a thing.
A hand gently gripped her shoulder, causing her to glance up to meet Qrow's curious gaze.
Unfamiliar with how to approach this, Winter rolled her eyes and leaned forward, wrapping her good arm around Qrow's back to pull him into a hug. She was met with a stiffened response as he let out a surprised "uh..." before Winter let herself smile for a moment.
"You're a good person, Qrow. And an even greater friend. Thank you for going with Weiss and for finding me." Winter said as she pulled away, catching Qrow's dazed blinking at the sudden words. Upon processing her use of the word friend, he broke out into a grin as he raised his cup of coffee towards her, taking a sip.
"No problem, Ice Queen."
Hey guys! This chapter's a bit longer than usual! Hope you enjoyed the read.
I've got a couple thoughts floating around regarding this story since it seems to be headed down a path of an actual plot line. I have recently been thinking of straying away from having this story develop into one with a full plot and sticking to snippet based chapters.
What are your thoughts? I'll be thinking it over for a minute.