Thank you for the support with the follows and favorites, everybody. Also, special thanks goes to Cryocene and MissAnimeMiss for dropping reviews. Hopefully we can see some more of those. I know I can still improve in my writing, so seeing those will help me reach that goal.
Legend:
Italic: Thoughts/Letters/Journal Entries/Flashbacks/
Winter's eyes were still focused on me and she showed no signs of leaving. Now I'll be honest here, I'm not a very personal guy, and that partly has to do with my past to an extent. Only the people I deem close friends or family have that luxury.
"You've got all night, huh?" A smirk played on my lips.
"Don't make me repeat myself," she quickly retorted.
I held up my hands and another light chuckle left me.
"Fine, but if you want me to continue, you need to get on my level."
Her eyes narrowed just a bit and her scowl grew when I lightly tapped my glass. She said she was not much of a drinker, but she sure as hell would need to be one tonight if we were doing this.
"I have responsibilities. Getting drunk is not one of them," she said.
"Then finish that drink and head back to your ship."
Whatever got her out of my hair faster was fine with me. The sharp bite of the whiskey hit me once more and I instantly felt the tight tension in my muscles sag and loosen up.
A light clatter came from my side and out of the corner of my eye I saw the empty glass of wine that Winter had been drinking. She signaled the bartender to bring her another and as soon as he did, she took a large gulp from it. She rested her glass back on the counter and turned back to me, her eyes alight as if challenging me to dissuade her again.
This woman's pride knew no bounds.
"Hopefully you're not a lightweight. You'll be out before I even start the story," I said.
"I can hold my own. Now, start talking."
Every story had a beginning, so I would indulge her and start from there. It would be the first of many tonight, depending how much alcohol the Ice Queen could handle. The whiskey burned the back of my throat when I took another sip.
"We'll start with my family."
Most people only know of two people from the Branwen family, and that would be me and my twin sister Raven. The Branwen family has always been small with each generation only having one kid, maybe two at the most. We're a unique group of people with our own tricks and history that you would have to see to believe, but I'll touch on that soon enough.
Like I mentioned earlier, I have a twin sister named Raven who is two minutes younger than me. Then there's my old man, Cole Branwen. To wrap it up is our mother Merla.
Dad… well, he was never a simple man. I'm sure I spent half my time wondering what he was thinking about and the other half I just didn't have the balls to ask him. He always had high expectations for both me and Raven, but more for me because I was the older brother. I had an obligation to watch Raven and take care of her which Dad made a point to hit home with me time and again. And like a soldier following orders, I took his words to heart and barely let Raven out of my sight when I was old enough to know better.
If I had to be honest, I think Raven was his favorite. She was always special. She was very gifted, constantly overcoming challenges that kids our age were slow to reach. Just to name a few examples. Raven taught herself to walk within three months, took me almost a year to do that. By the time she was five, she was already studying Aura, Grimm and the philosophy of Huntsmen to begin her path to become a Huntress. Dad didn't even introduce me to it until I was seven, so Raven had a good jumpstart over me.
However, there was one thing that made me stand out apart from my sister in my father's eyes, and that was fighting. I'm not really sure how to explain it, but for me it just came naturally. I could handle a weapon with ease and I could read an opponent like a book. It actually filled me with a sense of pride that Dad acknowledged me, even if it was just a little bit. From that point on, I always strived to show Raven up in physical strength to get praise from Dad, which usually ended with us getting into a fight, but at the end of the day it made us grow closer as siblings. We pushed each other where we fell short.
Then there was Mom.
At the risk of being deemed a mama's boy, I will say that I was closer to her than Dad and Raven. Then again, I guess that's where the phrase "Mama's boy and daddy's girl," comes from.
Anyway, Mom was the best. She was always tentative to me and Raven. Whenever we were sick, she would make us the best chicken soup you'd ever have. If we got hurt, she'd clean it up and tell us that everything would be just fine and that we were her, "Tough little birds." When I couldn't sleep, she'd sit on my bed and sing until I did and even then I'm sure she stayed there long after I did so.
She had more patience with me than Dad did, and that was probably the most friction they had between each other in their marriage.
"You and I both know what they need to do when they're old enough! With the way his growth is now, he'll be the first to kick it!" Cole spat.
"Don't you take that tone with me! He's not Raven, Cole! You can't expect it to be smooth sailing for both of them!" Merla shot back.
"Fine, then you take him! I'm not going to hamper Raven's training because he can't keep up!"
A small smirk danced at the corner of my lips as I swirled the glass in my hand at the memory. Mom took the challenge and from there it really clicked into place, and I'm sure that rubbed him the wrong way.
Next to me I could see Winter staring back with the smallest curve in her lips. She would probably never let me live it down that I told her I was her exact opposite in terms of skill and growth when I was younger. Of course if we were to go all out on each other now, I'd walk away the winner. With age comes experience and she would learn that the hard way one of these days if that were to happen.
"Your little sister was more skilled than you were?" The mocking tone was clear.
"Keyword there being "was," Ice Queen." I gave her a warning finger. "I may not have been the fastest learner, but I was a better fighter and I got friendlier with the other nuts and bolts when Mom took over my training."
She was about to speak again, but I stopped her. It had been a while since she took another drink. When I pointed at her glass, the scowl that came to her face was fierce. She brought the glass to her lips and tilted her head back, downing the rest of the golden beverage.
She set the glass back on the counter and turned back to me, but I only shook my head again.
"Nope. Get another one, and get something other than wine. You're in a bar for fuck's sake."
"What's wrong with wine?" She snarled back.
"Nothing, if you like being a dull and boring prude. Point is, you're in a bar. You come here to drink the strongest thing they have. So go for something like rum, whiskey, hell, go for the strongest vodka on the rocks!"
Winter clicked her tongue and slid her glass for the bartender to take and her eyes looked up at the menu. Her eyes went from left to right, all the while her frown growing tighter by the second.
This wasn't complicated. Just pick a drink already.
"I don't know what to get." Her voice almost a whisper.
"What?" I quirked a brow.
"I said I don't know what to get!"
I blinked and had to resist laughing. The flush on her porcelain face was priceless and I knew it wasn't the alcohol that was causing it, at least not yet anyway.
"You've never had anything outside of wine, have you?" My teeth poked out in a wicked grin.
The flush grew at the jab and confirmed my words. Her hands formed into tight fists, shaking in anger from humiliation.
"Oh, that's beautiful!" I laughed taking a sip from my glass.
"Well, excuse me. Father said anything outside of wine was distasteful and not appropriate for women."
Ah, that… would make sense to a degree. This was the woman that was supposed to be the heiress to SDC at some point before it went downhill and got passed on to her sister. No doubt her old man would have her primed in proper etiquette and all that shit.
Usually I didn't feel much pity for Winter, but this time I was willing to give her a pass. It didn't help that she most likely never went out on her free nights to live a little, either.
I took another drink and carefully scooted my chair closer to her, the screech of wood garnered her attention. Her narrowed eyes fell on me and she folded her arms. Her defenses were up and it would take a rein on my teasing to lower them again.
"Okay, let me give you a quick rundown." My eyes drifted up to the board. "In bars you have a lot of hard liquor to choose from. You can order those on the rocks which is just a glass of that drink filled with ice. You also have mixers which involve using other soft drinks or juices to make the drink easier to go down and taste better. Then again, you could also go for a plain beer. Nothing wrong with that."
The small shift in her arms came and uncrossed. She nodded and looked back up at the board again, trying to use the quick knowledge I gave her to make a decision.
While she was doing that, I took another long drink from my glass and looked her up and down. If I had to make an assumption, she seemed more like a vodka or rum kind of woman. Whiskey had a harsh kick to it and it took time to get used to, so that was out of the question.
"Try a vodka cranberry." I signaled the bartender.
When the man came over, I nodded at her and she snapped to attention.
"Could I have a vodka cranberry, please?" She asked.
The bartender nodded and set down a fresh glass.
I watched Winter from the corner of my eye as her drink was fixed before her. First came the ice, and then the vodka.
A light chuckle escaped me when her eyes widened just a bit from the amount poured in, and even more so when she gave me a heated look. A third of a glass was not that bad, in fact it was pretty tame. A lot of bars tend to do all alcohol with a quick double shot of mixer, she was getting it easy.
Her eyes then landed on her drink again and perked up slightly when the cranberry juice was added, turning it a nice strawberry red. One third alcohol and two thirds juice. I'd have to see where she stood after this drink.
Once she paid the bartender for the drink she picked up the glass and examined it closely.
"Cheers." I held my glass up towards hers.
"What?" She looked back.
"It's a toast. You know, the thing you wealthy people do when you want to commemorate something important."
Her eyes hardened just a tad at the sarcastic poke before she lightly tapped her glass to mine. A small clink and the both of us brought our glasses up.
The last of the whiskey traversed my throat and sent a tingle down my spine. Time for a refill.
As if on cue, another one was placed in front of me. This bartender was definitely getting a good tip tonight if he kept the service up.
I gave him a quick nod and turned back to Winter to see how she took the drink. Imagine my surprise when I saw the drink was gone. She either was able to tolerate it well or she had no idea how to pace herself. Her mouth was open just a bit and she looked ahead with a gaze of contemplative wonder as the aftertaste danced on her tongue.
"Well?" I asked, snapping her from her daze.
"It tasted great," she admitted with a rare smile. "I will have to order another one."
"Good, but for the love of god, pace yourself. You can't slam those down. They're made to be savored and taken slow."
"Duly noted. Now, I believe it's your turn to hold your end of the bargain."
I rolled my eyes and waited for the bartender to give her a fresh vodka cranberry before continuing.
"Right, where was I now?"
So, Mom's guidance was what it took for me to start catching Raven. Fast forward a few years, age thirteen and we're just a couple of months out from starting at Signal Academy. Mom and Dad have taught us everything we know and it's time for us to start down our own path to become Huntsmen. For any normal kid that aspired to be a Huntsman, this would be like a dream come true, but for me and Raven it was a little different.
Sure, me and my sister had different views on philosophy and excelled in our own skills, but we did share two things. Outside of being very analytical of a situation, we both were able to sense when something was off.
Now, imagine our surprise when Mom and Dad come up to us one day and say we are going on a family mission.
Here's the thing. Whenever Raven and I did missions that our parents assigned us as tests for our skill, they usually tailed us and would intervene if we ran into a snag. So for all of us to go out and do one together, it was kind of a red flag. I can still remember the look Raven gave me when we were leaving the house.
My sister was never one to show fear, she created it. She always had this intimidating vibe with her stride that carried nothing but power and confidence whenever we were around other kids in the neighborhood. You add that to our genetic red eyes, it was easy to do. I'm sure she got that from Dad after spending all that time with him. So when I saw those confident eyes filled with uncertainty and a tint of fear, I knew that whatever was going to happen that day would change us.
"I don't like this," Raven whispered to me. "Dad and Mom have been acting off for a while now."
"I know what you mean. Do you think this is a test to make sure we're ready for Signal?" I looked back.
My eyes did a quick shift back to Mom and Dad as they walked ahead of us. Neither of them spoke a word and their heads were just inching around enough to check their flanks for any lurking Grimm… or whatever else they may have been keeping an eye out for.
Raven shook her head, her long locks bouncing with each sway. Her brow furrowed and her eyes bore into the ground as we walked.
"I want to say yes, but it feels too outlandish. I mean, look at them," she said.
She did have a point with that one.
"You see it too, huh?" I looked to my left. No Grimm in sight as of yet.
"Of course I see it!" She hissed. "I've never seen them like this before, and you know how strong they are. They may be wary of Grimm, but they can handle them with ease. They're looking for something else."
"Looking for what, though?"
"Exactly. What."
A chill went down my spine when she said that.
Like I mentioned before, our family is small, but our name is well known among the Huntsmen. The Branwen family were fierce fighters and our parents were the epitome of that. They carried themselves with grace and fought with a vengeance that could only be seen to be believed.
Whether it was stories of Dad being able to take on hordes of Grimm at a time, rending their flesh and cutting them down like a ghost from beyond, or Mom's long and deadly blade that could kill a giant Nevermore or Deathstalker with one blow. These stories could easily be tall tales and exaggerations, at least until you saw it with your own eyes. I know Raven and I were skeptical about it when we started hearing about them from some of retired Huntsmen.
We were both stunned out of our minds when we saw it for ourselves the first time we each ran into trouble. It was the coolest and most terrifying I had ever seen in my life at the time. You think you know your parents, but when you see what they are truly capable of, it makes you glad you're not on their bad side.
"Look, if Mom and Dad are with us we'll be fine. They can take on anything," I tried to assure her with a hand on her shoulder.
She swatted it off and glared at me.
"Only until they meet the thing that's stronger than them," she said.
Talk about negative, right? I try to be the comforting big brother and I get shot down in flames. I'd be lying if I said her words didn't carry truth.
I shook my head and sighed. Sometimes there was just no reasoning with Raven. She was stubborn that way.
"Qrow, I'm sorry," she said, her eyes meeting mine. "I know you're trying to help, but I can't shake this feeling. I don't know how to explain it, but I know something's going to go wrong."
I smiled at Raven and my hand resumed its position on her shoulder. My fingers dug into it as I gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"We'll be fine, you'll see. Stick close to me and I'll keep you safe. If we get separated, call for me and I'll find you."
For a fleeting moment, I actually believed my words. The delivery was filled with arguably the most confidence I ever said to Raven on something I firmly believed in. Deep down, I could not deny it. It was gnawing at me from the inside and it had me on edge. Everything that can and could go wrong was going to go wrong in some way today. She felt it and I did, too.
Despite that, I kept up my front and a wave of relief met me when I saw her lips curve up in the smallest of smiles. It was a rare thing to see her smile as we got older, normally reserving it for some degrading thing that happened to me. Spending all of that time with Dad had more of an impact on her than I could have imagined and she was almost a copy of the guy in terms of personality, but thankfully she still had some individuality.
"Okay. I trust you," she said.
My hand fell back to my side and my eyes turned back out to the fields around us.
Our walk had led us towards the Mistral border. The familiar farmland of Vale's countryside slowly diminished and was replaced with more trees as we got closer to the forests.
Forests and swamplands were a Grimm paradise. No junior Huntsmen were given missions to those spots for the high level of danger. Being accompanied by veterans was the only exception, but even then the most experienced group of Huntsmen liked to avoid the area. It was too unpredictable and the swamps alone were labyrinths that stretched for miles.
Getting lost in the cold, murky quagmires was the biggest killer. The conditions could change quickly and best everyone who had a poor sense of direction. The misery it brought bred negativity and with that came Grimm, and they came by the dozen.
By the time we reached our stopping point, it was dark. The moon was out and gave us all the light we needed to continue, but before we could, Dad had us gather around.
"I'm sure by now you two figured out this isn't a normal mission," he said.
Raven and I only nodded back, not trusting our words at the moment.
"This isn't a test to see if you're ready for Signal, either. You two have been ready for a long time," he continued.
"Then why are we out here?" I finally found my voice.
Dad's red eyes met mine. They did not carry the intimidating or critical look they always did, but it was one of the utmost sincerity.
"Qrow, our family has many secrets. One of them is that we have been in service to a group that does everything it can to ensure Remnant remains in order. This goes back further than you can imagine," said Dad.
"And the mission is our initiation into this society, isn't it?" Raven crossed her arms.
Dad only nodded back.
"Then why wait until now to tell us about this? What exactly are we doing?" The questions began leaving my mouth like rapid fire.
A firm look from Dad stopped me from spewing more out. Mom stepped forward and put a hand on each of our shoulders.
"We will tell you more when the time is right, but before we do that, we need to be sure you're ready. This mission will be our way to determine if you are ready for this or not," she finished for Dad.
Raven and I exchanged looks. That gnawing feeling in my stomach returned full force and its claws slowly began to climb from the pit of my stomach and into my chest. This mission was not a simple search and destroy kind.
"We are looking for a man and a woman who are believed to be responsible for the destruction of a town in Mistral," said Dad.
"We're going to kill them?" I asked, thrown off when he revealed our targets.
Dad just nodded at me.
I shook my head. This did not make sense. Why do we have to be part of this society if we're training to be Huntsmen? Was there a way to prove that these two did what they did?
"Believed to have burned down a village?" Raven repeated, voicing my thoughts in turn. "How do you know they did?"
"Our leader oversees everything. He knows everyone and everything," Dad answered her.
I could not find the words to talk back to that. Not just in fear from starting an argument with what we intended to do, but more because of this leader. How could a guy know so much?
It could not be dismissed either. Dad never was one to be a bullshitter and the fact Mom did not say anything only sealed it. Everything they said was true. Talk about creepy, right?
"This is what we know. Their house is a couple miles down the path here. Both of them are strong and there are a lot of Grimm in the area," said Dad.
This was really happening. Now that the icebreaker had passed, it was time to get to work.
"When we do this, we cannot let them run. They know this territory and can shake us with ease," said Mom.
"Remember your training. Keep your emotions under control to avoid drawing Grimm. The more factors we have to account for will lead to mission failure and death," said Dad.
Once again, Raven and I could only nod. We were in too much shock with what was about to happen and for good reason.
I looked at Raven from the corner of my eye. Her head was bowed and her hair served as a veil for her face. I could not see what she looked like, but I had a hunch that her face was white with surprise if the subtle shake of her hand was a giveaway.
"Raven will be with me. Qrow, you will go with your mother and take care of the woman," Dad continued before stepping up.
He motioned for Raven to follow him. She took a half step forward, hesitated, then marched towards him. This time I was able to get a clear look at my sister's face and it only made me more fearful for what would happen.
Her stare was distant, as if looking off into a void. She walked with the same confidence she had, but I could tell it was fake. Her mind was on autopilot and she did not spare me, Dad, or Mom a look. She even flinched when Dad put his hand on her shoulder and led her down the dirt trail.
I made to go after her and tell her that everything would be fine, but my legs betrayed me. My feet were rooted to the spot and my arm was reaching out for her retreating form. My mouth opened and I felt my throat close shut.
You're her brother! Let her know everything'll be okay!
I closed my hand and felt my knuckles pop from the stress as my fist shook.
"Raven, remember what I told you!" I said.
She stopped cold. I waited for her to turn back to me. I inwardly begged her to look back at me so I could see her face. See her smile. If I could just see that, it would give me some peace of mind.
When she did not turn back, my heart sank. Her shoulders were stiff as a board as she stood up straight and gave a nod before she and Dad started to move again.
I felt heavier with each step Dad and Raven took down that path. By the time they were out of sight, I did not have the strength to move my legs. I'm sure that if Mom did not start pulling me the other way I would've sunk into the ground.
"Come on, Qrow. We need to move," she said softly.
My head bobbed with a light nod and I dragged my legs to keep pace with Mom. They were heavy, almost like they were filled with wet sand. Gentle splashes met my ears as our feet stepped on the waterlogged grass.
"They'll be fine. They're strong enough to handle this." Her hand squeezed mine.
My head shook from side to side, dismissing her words. I did not have to look at her to know that there was a frown on her face.
"That's not what I'm worried about."
Even if we did make it out of this, there was no way we wouldn't have some scars.
The music in the bar met my ears once more, this time in the form of a rock ballad. Steady strums filled the air and drowned out the boisterous voices that grew louder with each drink. Seemed fitting for where the story was about to go.
The cool glass felt like ice when it touched my lips and I took a long gulp. I had been telling Winter the story and was not sure how she was taking it. Of course I omitted bits and pieces and downplayed some parts since it had some classified bits in it. Whether or not she could connect the dots to what I was saying was another story.
My fingertips rubbed my eyes and I turned back to look at the woman beside me.
Her mouth was agape once again as if she were trying to find the words to say. The piercing look her eyes usually had softened into a mixture of shock and empathy. She swallowed and her hand went for her drink.
"Your family went to kill these two people?" She asked.
"That's right," I said, my face blank.
I relived the story time and again in my dreams and whenever I drank, so I can talk about it without too much difficulty, but it still hurt something fierce. It hurt worse than the hangover that would be with me tomorrow. Almost as bad as having your heart broken by the woman you loved.
Winter took a drink from her vodka cranberry and slouched on the counter. The alcohol definitely made her relax. Her posture was not as stiff like it was earlier. It was refreshing to actually have a nice conversation with the high-strung woman.
"What happened next?" She asked.
I blinked. She still wanted to stay after all of that?
"You sure you want to know? It gets worse from here on in." I warned her.
Her answer to me was a curt nod and she drank from her glass.
"I want to know what happened to all of you on that mission. Bear in mind I did tell you I have all night and I want to know why you are the way you are."
My shoulders bounced in a light shrug and I took another drink of whiskey.
"Fair enough, but I'm not taking the rap for any trauma this may cause you."
She rolled her eyes and traced a small circle with her hand, telling me to continue.
I swirled the whiskey around in my glass and leaned forward to rest my arms on the counter. If she wanted to know about it, then I'd tell her, but I did not lie to her about what I said.
You brought this on yourself.
So, we'll end it there for now. Like I said, I'm not used to first person, so this is an experiment for me in this point of view. The advantage I see is that we can see further into a character, but it's a pain in the butt trying to work with tense and sentence structure. That's where all you wonderful readers come in! Pitch in and give me some pointers! Tell me what you liked, didn't like, things that could be improved, all that jazz. With that, I will see you next time.-CaptainPrice