Memories of the previous night came back in embarrassing bits and pieces. Somehow Qrow had been involved—again—how exactly was still uncertain. Something about the Atlesian Inquisition and…
Weiss.
Winter shook her head and finished strapping on her last piece of armor.
It was too early to go there.
She hadn't meant to drink that much.
Or perhaps she had.
It was one of the two ways she could briefly stop thinking about Weiss, Penny and all her other catastrophic failures. Although alcohol didn't even seem to be blocking that out anymore apparently.
Fuck.
And what was Qrow doing there again? Of the few things she did remember, going to the cliffs to be alone was one of them and yet, Qrow had somehow been there to witness who knows what.
That irritated her.
Then again, everything irritated her these days:
The ace ops, and what was left of the Atlas military now treating her as if she were their general.
Theodore, Shade Academy's disturbingly enthusiastic headmaster, who consistently reminded her of Ironwood.
Her mother's newfound attempt at concern.
Cinder, and her existence.
Marrow, and his constant cheerfulness.
All the fucking sand in this abhorrent place.
Her own existence.
As it so often did this irritation was morphing into rage.
A knock on the door caused her to snap her head around at a dizzying speed. She winced and grabbed her pulsing headache.
'What?' She hissed in a harsher tone than she meant.
The door swung open to Marrow's smiling face. 'Coffee boss?' He chirped with a wagging tail. His brow creased upon taking her in. 'Another late night? You don't look so hot—'
'I'll be fine.' She cut him off and took the coffee. 'Thank you.'
'We've got a lot of updates for you,' He said excitedly as he led her down the hallway.
'Regarding the blind worm nest?'
'Yeah for starters, we have a new way to pinpoint the queen's location. We've started devising a…'
'I'll take care of it.'
'Well ok but, I think all of us should…'
'I said, I'll take care of it.' She said harshly. 'We don't need to put more lives at risk than necessary. Just, give me the coordinates.'
'Ok but, if you would just let us explain…'
'Hey, where's my coffee?' Qrow asked with a smirk as he approached them. 'I had a late night too you know.' He added and winked at her. She rolled her eyes. 'Marrow buddy, you wanna be a gem and get me one of those too? You know how I take it.'
Marrow glanced between the two of them, then sighed in defeat. 'Uh, yeah sure. Be right back.'
'So what were you gonna do, freeze his tail off?' Qrow questioned when Marrow was out of earshot.
She suddenly felt guilty for snapping at Marrow. 'I…ugh.' She sighed. 'I'll apologize to him later, I just, can't do this right now.' She said and turned to walk down the hall. Qrow quickly caught up to her.
'Can't do what?'
Winter sighed. 'Everything, just everything.'
'So, don't.'
'What?' She felt the need to stop and look at him when he made such stupid one liners like that. 'So, don't,' She repeated. 'What is that supposed to mean?'
'It means don't.' He said with a casual shrug. Then he sighed and looked directly at her. 'It means, you look stressed out and need to let people help you instead of pushing them away. Wasn't it your former boss who operated that way? How did that work out for him?' This gave her pause, she was nothing like Ironwood. Yet, Qrow was being serious. His eyes were so intense, so sincere. She never had trouble understanding Qrow by looking at his eyes. Whether he was being a dick or being sincere, it was always written in his eyes. Right now, he was genuinely worried about her. She softened.
'I just, don't see the point in putting people's lives at risk when I'm more than capable of handling things on my own. Ironwood pushed people away because he was paranoid, I'm not.'
'I know that. Look, I know a little something about pushing people away, and blocking the world out by drinking it away. It doesn't lead anywhere good.'
'Well maybe I'm not looking to go anywhere good.' She countered.
'What does that mean?' He asked with a creased brow. The same look of concern in his eyes flashed in her mind from the night before. She had to pull her eyes away from his.
'It means… I don't know what it means.' She admitted with a sigh. 'I'm just, not sure what we're even fighting for anymore… Atlas is gone. Salem is immortal and will come for Shade next, and…' And my sister is dead, she refrained from saying.
He stared at her for a long moment, then fidgeted with his pocket and produced something small and metal. He studied it, then flipped it to her. She caught it and turned it over. Her heart dropped when she saw what it was.
'Clover.' She whispered as she studied the small metal crest. 'You kept this?'
Qrow shrugged. 'It reminds me that, no matter how bad things are, there's always hope. What we're fighting for, isn't just for those who are still living, but to honor those we've lost. We can't let them down.'
She was still staring down at the crest and could feel her eyes growing hot with tears. Weiss, Penny. She could vividly hear them both giving her a lecture on hope. This caused her to smile. 'Why don't you hold on to it for a while.' He said and folded her hand around it. She took a breath to hold back tears, then nodded.
'Thank you.' She whispered. He was still holding her hand in his, and had moved very close to her. For some reason, whenever he got this close she seemed to lose all sense of rationale. Something about his aura was magnetic, and made her feel warm, like she was melting.
'Speaking of hope, I have an idea I want to run by you later…' She looked up at him with curiosity.
'Hey—ahhh ohhh.' Marrow said as he approached with a coffee in hand. Qrow turned to look at him, but didn't move away from her or release her hand. 'Sorry, I'll just be on my way…' Marrow said quickly, sounding embarrassed.
'Marrow it's fine.' She said and put a hand to Qrow's chest, gently pushing him away from her.
Marrow cleared his throat. 'Cream, five sugars.' He said awkwardly and handed Qrow the coffee.
Winter rolled her eyes. 'That's blasphemous.'
'It is the only way.' Qrow growled near her ear. She swatted him away. 'Thanks Marrow.'
'Do you even taste the coffee that way?' She asked offhandedly as they started walking down the hallway.
'Deliciously so, want a sip?'
She shot him a glare and kept walking.
'To be fair, I put six in mine.' Marrow felt the need to add.
'Why does that not surprise me.' Winter muttered, then took a long swig of her black coffee.
'No way. Five is the perfect balance, six will ruin the equilibrium.' Qrow said over his shoulder.
'You both, have something wrong with you.' Winter announced as they reached the atrium.
Theodore was already there, along with Nora, Ren, Oscar, Robyn, Emerald and the ace ops, all seated around the large round table.
'Alrighty, let's get down to business then shall we?' Theodore boomed upon seeing the three of them enter. He was such an odd individual. A strange mix of flamboyancy and brute masculinity. She hadn't been able to fully work him out yet, but Ozpin and Qrow seemed to trust him, so she supposed that was something.
She took her seat between Qrow and Marrow as Theodore began: 'Some good news, first. The housing and relocation projects for the refugees is progressing. No one has been left without a place to stay which is a huge accomplishment, and we are now working towards building more permanent residences for those left displaced.'
Winter's mind started to drift. She began to visualize all the different ways she could decapitate the blind worm queen. Dealing with it should take up quite a bit of her time, if she was lucky, she would be exhausted enough afterword and fall asleep—then there would be no opportunity for her thoughts to take over…
'I'm happy to report that our defenses remain strong. The combination of our huntsmen with what was left of the Atlas military and the Winter Maiden, have dramatically reduced Grimm attacks on our city and nomadic outposts.' He looked at her and nodded in thanks. This snapped her out of her blind worm fantasies and she nodded in response to whatever he'd just said.
'Which brings me however, to the worm situation.' At this, she perked up and tuned in to what he was saying. 'The blind worms, as you all know by now, have plagued this desert for centuries. Since Salem's return their sneak attacks in the desert have increased tenfold. We've located the nest, but our huntsmen have never been able to finish off their queen. We believe doing so would stop the spawning of new worms and consequently reduce attacks—'
'We have it under control.' Winter spoke up, eager to move on and get this meeting over with.
'What's the plan? Perhaps our Grimm Watch can assist…'
'The plan is that I kill it.' Winter said bluntly, cutting him off. 'Using my semblance in tandem with the maiden power.'
'Right well, it's very dangerous. I think you need a larger strategy involving your team and huntsmen.'
'I disagree.'
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, apparently not used to being challenged. The room was thick with silence. 'May I ask, why?'
'You just said that many huntsmen have died fighting it. Why should I involve them when I can handle it myself?'
'Winter,' He said in a patronizing tone that so reminded her of Ironwood. She had to resist the sudden urge to jump across the table and slug him. 'To be blunt, your reckless behavior has all of us disturbed. I can't allow you to keep risking your life and the maiden power.'
'You, can't allow me?' She questioned, the rage building inside of her.
'That's right. Vacuo is under my protection, and you're a guest in Vacuo.'
'And I don't take orders from you.' She spat harshly. She could feel the maiden power flare in her eyes but she didn't care.
'Hey hey alright, everyone calm down.' Qrow interjected. 'We're all on the same team here.'
Were they though? She wanted to yell. How did she know that this Theodore was not going to flip a switch and become the next Ironwood? Allegedly they were friends, and the similarities were already pronounced. When would be the day she woke up to find that he'd sacrificed thousands to save his own kingdom in the name of the greater good? No, she was not going to get suckered thrice in her lifetime by a powerful man with authority, and she certainly was not going to follow orders from this one.
'If I may.' Oscar spoke up, jarring her from her heated thoughts, only it was clear Oscar wasn't the one speaking. 'For weeks now, we've all been focused intently on immediate threats. Salem, the evacuation, Grimms of various shapes and sizes, relocating everyone. All of this has now stabilized somewhat, for the moment, so I suggest we all take some time to rest and relax—and grieve. Perhaps, dare I say, even try to have some fun? No one can keep going at this pace without breaking.' He said, and looked pointedly at her.
She folded her arms and sat back in her chair. No, she wanted to go murder Grimms. Murder them, and savor the temporary solace it brought her.
'I actually think that's a good idea.' Robyn put in. 'Everyone has been on edge since we got here, maybe we all just need to chill out for a little while.' She too looked directly at Winter.
Winter glanced around, they were all looking at her for a response. It was clear the unspoken consensus was that they all thought she was out of line. So be it. It wasn't as if she particularly wanted to be the one making the big decisions, but she sure as hell didn't think Theodore had any right to either. If they all wanted this then fine, she was going to do as she pleased. 'Fine.' She agreed curtly.
'Very well.' Theodore said with an undertone of unpleasantness. 'We've dealt with the worms for centuries, what's another few weeks.' He stood up and left the room.
Good riddance.
'Winter,' Came Ozpin's voice through Oscar's mouth. This tone was not patronizing, but kind in its own way. 'Consider perhaps, that a room full of people who have come to care for you do not want to see you dead, either.'
'I… second that.' Marrow added sheepishly. 'You told me we all need to start making our own decisions, well, mine is to fight with you.'
'Me three.' Qrow said. Everyone else nodded. Winter sighed and nodded in resignation. What could she say to that? If they chose to put their lives on the line, there was not much she could do about that. But Theodore dictating orders was still not something she was prepared to accept.
'Fabulous. Now that that is settled, shall we discuss what our next plan of action will be to maximize, fun?' Ozpin asked and folded his hands.
'Oh! Ahhhh yesss! Me! I have so many ideas for this!' Nora shouted.
'Nora. Ideas that everyone would want to participate in?' Ren asked, seeming to already know the answer.
'Who doesn't like shopping?' Nora asked incredulously. 'Besides, don't we all need new clothes? I know I do.'
Winter shook her head imperceptibly, this was absurd, frankly.
'The city is quite exotic and does have its own unique color, I would say. I think exploring it is an excellent idea Nora. Getting better acquainted with the locals would certainly be useful as well.' Ozpin said.
'I mean why not.' Harriet put in with a flick of her hand. 'I was so ready to go crush some worms, but I'll live.' Winter sighed, even Harriet was resigned to this absurdity.
Nora sprung from her seat as if she'd been ejected from it. 'I'm so excited!' She trilled in an earsplitting tone. 'And I know just the guy to show us around!'
Winter stood to leave, she couldn't handle more of this. Once again Qrow trailed after her. 'Don't you have anything better to do?' She asked without looking at him as they walked.
'Not really.' He answered, she could feel the smirk in his words. 'Pestering you has always kinda been my favorite pastime.' Winter rolled her eyes.
'Really though, come out with us. Forget about the Grimm for a little while—as much as I hate to say it Oz is right. You can't keep going like this forever, you're not a machine.'
This caused her to stop abruptly.
'No. You're right, I'm not.'
