Winter walked down the stairs with a slight blush on her face, stuffing the back of the oversized shirt into the waistband of her jeans. Mere moments ago it had sounded like an elephant stampede was making its way through the house, but now the house was dead quiet and still. The only noise in the house, besides her steps, was Zwei who was drinking out oh his dish without a care in the world. "Hello?"
She waited for a response, her pulse started to speed up ever so slightly… Honk! Honk! Winter's head turned and seen everyone piled into the red truck, while Ruby leaning over Qrow and laying down on the horn with a smile. "Let's go, Winter! We're gonna be late!" Ruby called out the open Winter, screaming right into Yang's ear. Yang turned and pushed her sister back into her seat with a grumble of words Winter couldn't make out.
"Winter, can you grab my gloves? I think they're on my bed, or maybe the floor. Or the desk. Whatever, you'll find them!" Yang gave her a thumbs up. Winter sighed, knowing she really didn't have a say in the matter and turned right around and ran to Yang's room.
"How'd she forget her gloves? That's the main thing she uses!" Winter complained as she opened the door into Yang's mess. Honestly, the gloves were a lot easier to find then she would have thought. Instead of being buried under a mountain of clothes shoved under her bed, they were sitting right on her desk. The gloves were dark red, with cracks and grooves in them, a lot more than could be done with the few weeks of lessons Yang's had. When she looked inside of the gloves something was interesting, written in marker was the name, Tai.
Winter didn't have time to dwell on this though, realizing she was keeping everyone waiting. So she hurried over to the door with the gloves in hand. She looked down at her heels and gulped, thinking about walking around for God knows how long in them. Instead, she slid her feet into a pair of flip flops that looked like they were Yangs, hopefully, she wouldn't mind and ran outside.
Yang flung the door open as Winter walked up, but she stopped and looked at the fully packed truck, "So I'll follow you guys over I guess?" She asked, throwing Yang the gloves who caught them with a grin.
"What? There's no time, get in!" Qrow insisted, waving her into the truck. Now, for most of her life, Winter had never dreamed of into a car with so little space before. If there was too many people for the car, her father would always get a bigger car. Too many people for a big car? Get a second limo. So being the fourth person in a car meant for three at most wasn't something she was exactly used to. Yang grabbed Ruby and pulled the small girl up into her lap as they both giggled. Winter watched the younger girl carefully as she sat on Yang's lap, trying to pull the seatbelt over both of them. Winter crawled into the truck and was still scrunched together against Yang, their legs were so squished together it was hard to tell where Yang ended and she began.
Qrow didn't waste any time, the second the door was closed the truck was in drive and he was speeding down the road. The second they were out of the driveway Winter and the girls were getting slingshotted into the air over and over again as Qrow hit every pothole on the road! And there was a lot…
It only took a few seconds on the road for someone's eyes to turn to her outfit, "Winter, are you wearing Uncle Qrows shirt?" Ruby wondered, innocent smile on her face.
"And are those my flip flops?" Yang asked, turned and looking down at her feet. Winter wrapped her arms around the camo tee-shirt she was wearing, trying her best to hide it, but the secret was out.
"I didn't wanna wear the same shirt two days in a row, and this was the only thing even close to small enough to fit" Winter mumbled, looking out the window as her face slowly turned scarlet. Outside, she watched a girl about Weiss's age with long black hair and a backpack walk down the sidewalk, heading the same way they were. Winter couldn't be sure, but it looked like she had a small smile on her face.
"I like it!" Ruby gushed from her sisters' lap, "You tucked in the shirt and it looks great on you!"
"Yeah, it's nice to see you look so relaxed" Yang laughed as she poked her sisters sides hard, making Ruby jump and squeal
"Yang! You said you wouldn't tase me anymore!" Ruby whined, trying to cover her sides with her hands.
"No, I said I'd stop for the day, and it's the next day! So I can do it again!" Yang grinned as she poked her sister again, Ruby groaned as she moved her hands trying to keep Yangs tasers at bay. Winter smiled but didn't say anything as the girls played with each other, instead she turned and looked out the window again, watching the world race by.
The ride was probably only a few minutes, but with Yang and Rubys nonstop jokes and banter, the ride only seemed to take an instant. Qrow pulled off the road and into the parking lot of a huge building that was painted a dull beige with black silhouettes of kids playing and jumping brightening up the mood. It vaguely reminded Winter of one of her father's warehouses.
She didn't have much time to look through, because right as Qrow parked the car, everyone else started to jump out of the car like it was about to explode. Qrow slid out first, then Ruby, and finally Yang, all while Winter sat there in silence. "Yang, go get ready, we'll be in asap," Qrow told her, pulling Yang's backpack out of the back of the truck and tossing it to her without even looking.
"Roger that!" Yang saluted before turning and running into the building.
"Good luck, Yang! Kick butt!" Ruby shouted, jumping up and down like it was going out of style. Yang held up her thumb as she opened the door, her grin clear even from so far away.
Qrow, Ruby, and her all started to follow after Yang, but at a much more leisurely pace. Ruby swung her arms in circles and was humming a song, "She likes this by the way. Boxing" Qrow suddenly spoke up, breaking the near silence and causing Winter to look over at him "It was a good idea is all. She's gotten into a few fewer fights at school. Not no fights, but less. Which is pretty good for her" Qrow chuckled lightly, scratching the back of his head, his eyes still on the door ahead of them.
"I thought she'd like it, glad I was right" Winter smiled, the sound of her flip flops the loudest thing in the parking lot, "What do you think about it, Ruby?" Winter looked down at the girl, her arms still spinning in circles.
"I like it! She'd been a lot happier since- um, boxing started! Yeah!" Ruby stuttered out with her arms coming to a halt after she was done talking. She was silent after that, looking at the ground with wide eyes her fingers tapping on her legs.
Qrow held the door open for Ruby and Winter, bowing as they passed him like he was a butler. A butler with a pretty lousy bow, but Winter still appreciated it. Ruby led the way down a long cement hallway with ceilings so high even a giant would be comfortable. There were signs for massage parlors, tea shops, and even some kind of an arcade! But they turned into the first door on their right. Blue Bear Boxing.
The first thing that hit Winter was the smell of the disinfectant. It wasn't so bad it made her gag, but it was clear that a lot was used all the time. The walls were a light blue color except for the side of the room that was one long mirror and the other that had a few windows for some natural light. The room was a small gym, but instead of weights, there was a lot of… Machines? Winter wasn't sure what to call them. There were punching bags, those small bags you hit in circles or something, mannequins for punching, a weird looking thing that was bolted into the ground with pads at all kinds of angles for you to hit, and a few other odds and ends. But all of those were pushed to the side to make room for people.
In the middle of the room was a large boxing ring, that stood taller than even Qrow. In the ring were two boys going at it with everything they had. They were moving fast, throwing hard punches, and the crowd cheered whenever one of them landed a hit. The energy in the room was electric, and it was quickly spreading to all of them.
"Will you folks be watching?" An old woman politely asked them. She was sitting down at a plastic table with a tin money box in front of her, a weary smile on her face. There was a small sign on the table written in sharpy, $5.
Winter reached for her wallet, which she thankfully left in her pants pocket, the pocket was by far her favorite part of these jeans. But Qrow had beaten her to the punch and had already handed the woman a handful of bills. Fast as lightning, the woman stamped all three of their hands and waved them inside.
"Next one's mine, Qrow" Winter insisted as she shoved her wallet away.
"Whatever you say, Snowflake" Qrow shrugged her off as he and Ruby walked past her and stood on the outskirts of the crowd. Winter walked to join them but stopped when her eyes found Yang walking out of the locker room, fully changed. Winter waved, but a man with a large stomach and an even larger gray mustache walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder with a laugh. The two talked and the man threw some punches at the air while Yang nodded. But her eyes weren't on the man in the slightest.
Her eyes shot rapidly through the crowd and Yangs usually happy go lucky smile looked tense. When her eyes found Ruby and Qrow, she didn't relax. Her eyes didn't even seem to register Winter, gliding right over her until they landed on something behind her. Yangs smile thawed and bloomed into one of pure joy, and she started to hop up and down excitedly. The man kneeled and talked to her, and she seemed to be listening, her eyes focused solely on him.
Winter looked behind her and found the same girl from earlier, the one with long black hair and the backpack. She was talking to the old woman, an almost invisible smile on her face as she reached in her pants for something. She was dressed in dark blue jeans and a black long sleeve shirt that looked like it had been around for a few years. But her hair looked like it was silk woven from pure darkness, while her eyes shown like gold.
She pulled out a wad of crumpled dollar bills and started to count them, but stopped and looked down, her golden eyes wide, "I only have four… " The girl all but whispered, Winter was tuned in now though and caught it without difficulty. Winter walked up without hesitating.
"I can help you out" Winter smiled, pulling out her wallet and handing the woman an extra dollar before any protests could be made. Before she realized what had happened, the black-haired girl's hand was stamped and she was ushered into the gym.
"Thank you very much," The girl said before taking a few rushed steps towards the crowd.
"No problem- I'm sorry, what's your name?" Winter asked with a smile, watching as the girl's eyes turned defensive and cold. But, the girl smiled all the same.
"Bella, Bella Donna. Thank you again" She said, both of them eyeing the other like hawks before Bella turned around and vanished into the crowd like a cat in the night, just as Yang walked onto the vacant boxing ring.