What's your favorite fairy tale? I know what I'm asking. Don't be a dick. How about a story of the Huntsman? A rusty old crow who's been through a lotta shit ever since he was born. He saved his nieces from an evil goddess who murdered his brother-in-law with the help of one Snow Queen. The Huntsman and the Snow Queen joined forces with the one-eyed warrior to liberate a country from a corrupt Empire. After that quest, the Huntsman and the Snow Queen decided to get married and consummate for a child. In this fairy tale...the Huntsman, the Snow Queen and their Aesop comrades take on a real challenge as the land they fight in turns against them.

0800 Hours

21 km outside of Luang Prabang, Laos

Qrow Branwen awaited as the fist slammed against his face. His vision may be falling apart but that won't stop him from resisting. Qrow wasn't sure how long he was kept in this abandoned prison camp turned hideout. Probably near a week. He let himself get captured in the hands of Hmong separatists who had been a pain for locals across Laos. They had been trying to dig information out of him for the whole period but during that period, Qrow had been doing nothing but messing with them. Another fist flew into his ear, causing a loud ring to rumble inside. Qrow glanced up at the furious separatists.

"ທ່ານຈະບອກພວກເຮົາເຖິງພາລະກິດຂອງທ່ານດຽວນີ້, ໝາ ອາເມລິກາ! (You will tell us your mission now, American Dog!)" the seperatist demanded.

Qrow spat out blood from his mouth and chuckled. He could feel his busted lip swelling.

"ເພື່ອເຄາະພັນລະຍາຂອງທ່ານ ... ໄດ້ຍິນວ່ານາງໄດ້ຮັບຊຸດງາມໆ. (To knock up your wife...heard she got a nice set of ass.)" he joked in their language.

The separatist punched him again with Qrow laughing in response.

"ຢຸດຫຼີ້ນເກມ, ໝາ ອາເມລິກາ! (Stop playing games, American Dog!)" He shouted. "

ພາລະກິດຂອງທ່ານແມ່ນຫຍັງ?! (What is your mission?!)"

"ຂ້ອຍຫາກໍ່ບອກເຈົ້າ. ເພື່ອ fuck ພັນລະຍາຂອງທ່ານ. (I just told you. To fuck your wife.)" Qrow replied.

"ພວກເຮົາຮູ້ວ່າທ່ານເປັນທະຫານອາເມລິກາ! ເຈົ້າຢູ່ກັບ CIA ຫລື ກຳ ລັງພິເສດ! ບອກພວກເຮົາກ່ຽວກັບພາລະກິດຂອງທ່ານດຽວນີ້! (We know you're an American soldier! You're with the CIA or the Special Forces! Tell us your mission right now!)"

"ພວກເຈົ້າຕ້ອງການເຄື່ອງຊ່ວຍໃນການຟັງຫລືບາງສິ່ງບາງຢ່າງ '? ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າພຽງແຕ່ຕ້ອງການມ່ວນຊື່ນກັບການພັກຜ່ອນຂອງຂ້ອຍແລະສຽງປັ້ງເມຍທີ່ຮ້ອນແຮງຂອງເຈົ້າ. (You guys need a hearing aid or somethin'? I just wanna enjoy my vacation and bang that hot wife of yours.)" Qrow found them amusing as he continued to screw with them.

Another punch. Qrow then felt his hair tugged and his eyes met the separatist's, beaming with fury.

"You think you funny, American dog?! We'll see if you make jokes after we cut your ears off one by one!"

"Go ahead, do your worst but this ain't gonna bring your wife back. I mean, last time I saw her, she was screaming my name until she passed out at 7 in the morning."

The separatist's face was so red he almost looked like it was going to puff up and explode. He spun around to the other separatists.

"ຮັບຕັດເຄື່ອງ! (Get the cutters!)"

One of the separatist nodded and went up to a table where Qrow noticed some tools on it. Before the separatist could grab one of the cutters, they stopped once they heard the sound of gunfire and shouting outside. The separatists began to look around frantically.

"Now who would that be?" Qrow playfully wondered, cocking his head.

Suddenly, everything went loud as the sudden blast knocked everybody off the surface. Smoke spread through the room as the disoriented separatists coughed and struggled to get back up. Qrow looked to his right where a group of four entered from the hole and finished off the separatists. His smirk grew as he watched the group sweep the area before giving the all-clear.

His teammates Clover Ebi and Marrow Amin approached Qrow and cut the ropes tied to his hands loose. As he stood up from the chair, Qrow looked up and the first thing he saw was a flying fist to the face. The punch dazed the daylights out of him as he staggered and held onto the chair. Those Hmong bastards got nothing on that. His vision started to clear up and the figure became clearer. Qrow would recognize that white hair anywhere.

"I deserved that." He said, feeling for his mouth.

"You damn right deserved that for being a fucking Dummkopf." Winter snapped.

"But the plan worked, didn't it? We found out where they were hiding and you killed their leader. Clover helped me out with that."

"Yeah but Winter's right," Clover answered. "Putting your life at risk was dangerous...and those noises we made attracted a lot of attention."

"I thought you're my friend."

"I am but...Winter scares me whenever I lie."

"Are we done talking here? I think it's time for us to get the hell outta here." Marrow called.

"Agree with Fido." Harriet Bree said.

"Let's get moving now then." Winter said.

Clover handed Qrow a spare plate carrier and a suppressed M4A1 before heading for the exit.

"Ace 8, how're we doing?" Winter asked on her radio.

"Reinforcements are closing on the camp in two mikes. I'll slow them down but you need to move fast."

Sunny da Costa found himself a spot in the jungle and took a prone position to set up his M200 Intervention rifle, fitting in the environment with his ghillie suit. He had been in the Ace for a few months, no longer making himself the recruit. Positioning himself, Sunny adjusted the distance and looked through his scope and caught sight of four vehicles sitting several separatists heading towards the camp.

After calculating the distance and wind speed, he fired a round at the leading truck which went for the driver's head. Blood splattered across the window as the truck lost control and crashed into one of the Jeeps. The convoy came to a stop as separatists got out to take defensive positions, frantically trying to find Sunny. Then they began firing across the forest in every direction as if they're trying to find an invisible killer. Sunny chuckled at their expense as he picked off one of the separatists. Hmong fighters are so amusing.

"Ace 8, we're clear. Move to the extraction point." Schnee's voice cracked from the comms.

"Copy. Moving now." Sunny responded.

He then got up from his position and headed off, leaving the separatists behind. As he navigated through the jungle, Sunny connected his comms to the others.

"Ace 8 to Ace 6, we're on our way to the extraction point, get ready to pick us up, over."

"Copy, Ace 8. Out." Elm's voice replied.

Sunny managed to make his way out of the jungle and towards the open area near the river where the sight of looming cliffs watched over them. Shortly, the helicopter arrived just as the rest of the Ace team did with the leader Qrow. As the helicopter hovered below the ground, the grass flapped to the wind of the rotors and the river stream flailed. The pilot Vine made a hand gesture as the team hopped into the helicopter. Sunny was the last to enter before the helicopter lifted off.

With the team airborne, Qrow made the next destination back to their safehouse although he needed medical attention. Sunny looked up at Qrow's bruised face before looking away. He heard stories about his military life as well as his time as a CIA Paramilitary Officer. He was more aware of his stories in Remnant, a crime-controlled country that once belonged to an iron-fisted organization. Now it's under control by another gang. Sunny always felt Qrow took an interest in the thrills of battle and conflict but he always wondered if he was ever going to stop and retire at some point.