Qrow and Winter ran for dear life. They hooked up the cart and shot out through the woods to avoid detection. The rode for almost an hour, the wind whipping their face. Tears sprouted in her eyes. That man knew, he knew who she was and who she was with and it wouldn't be hard for him to guess where Weiss was either. They needed to get to that ship. She urged the mule to go faster and faster, half standing to get a better gage on their environment. The tears streamed down her face. She had to get them there.
"Ice Queen slow down!" Qrow shouted, but she couldn't hear him over her own heartbeat in her ears.
"Winter, you need to stop. There are too many roots and rocks, you could bust a wheel! He can't keep this up he's just a mule!" Qrow shouted louder, she didn't respond.
Qrow scowled and finally decided that drastic measures were needed. He snatched the reigns and pushed her back into the cart. He eased the mule to a slow and maneuvered deeper into the woods. Winter laid in shock for a moment, then sat up. She turned to Qrow and lunged at him. He ducked to the side with ease.
"Don't distract the driver." Qrow continued deeper through the wood.
"Don't distra- YOU THREW ME OUT OF THE DRIVER'S SEAT!" Winter screamed and lunged again.
"Keep your voice down, Ice Queen. We're trying to hide, remember?" Qrow turned down into a dark clearing.
In front of them was a cliff face with a small waterfall trickling down to feed the stream below. The ground was mostly rocky due to the lack of light, but there was some grass growing along the breaks in the trees. Qrow unhooked the cart and brought the mule to the stream to drink.
He turned and walked back to the cart where Winter was fuming. She faced him, waiting for him to dare approach her. He stood across from her, hands in his pockets. He smirked at her.
"Go on, say your bit. I know you're just dying to-"
"I'm sorry." Winter spoke, quietly but firm. Qrow raised his eyebrow. He was expecting a fight, part of him was actually looking forward to it.
"You, what?" He asked, making sure he was hearing her correctly.
"I'm sorry. I was being headstrong and almost got us killed or worse, immobilised. I let my emotions get the better of me and I need to have some self control. We can't help them if we get stuck because the cart broke. We can't help them if we're dead because our fighting alerted other travellers." Winter looked away from him, holding her head high. "However, you did not need to throw me into the back of a moving cart AGAIN."
"Well I'm sorry for that then. I'm glad you've decided to come to your senses. Though self control is overrated." Qrow smirked. "You just need to find the right outlet." Qrow turned around and smirked. He pulled off his shirt and called back to Winter.
"Come on, Ice Queen, get those clothes off." He looked over his shoulder to see her reaction.
"I BEG your pardon?" She squealed incredulously. Did he really just say that? Was this real? Was she dreaming, or rather, having a nightmare?
"Then beg, Ice Queen." Qrow threw his shirt at her. "This is the only stream within the day's journey. We need to get cleaned up before we get to the next town for supplies."
"Oh." Winter responded dumbly.
She was probably going to murder him, but that reaction was worth it. She seemed a little disappointed, probably looking forward to cutting him to pieces then and there. He tied the mule to a tree near a lush patch of grass and then returned to the stream and removed his trousers. His shirt fell onto his head and he looked up. He should not have done that.
"I'm sure this stuff is actually meant for cleaning the cart, but it's all that we have." Winter shrugged.
She sat beside him, her clothes in her hands. He wasn't sure if he was grateful for her corset or not. She grimaced at the amount of blood that flowed downstream the moment she put them in the water. She rubbed them thoroughly with soap and rinsed them in the stream. She repeated the cycle a few times the passed the soap to Qrow. She stood and stretched, pushing out her chest to pop her back then stretching each of her long legs. This was revenge for pushing her into the wagon, he was sure of it. She wrung out her clothes and sighed.
"I may need your help with this bit." Winter turned around, reaching for the tie of her corset.
"Be patient, Ice Queen. Do you really want to have nothing to wear while we wait for these to dry?" Qrow asked, praying that she would agree.
"Well, no. But I don't want to waste time waiting for two rounds of drying. It'll probably take all night for them to dry with the lack of sun. We don't have the time." Winter argued.
"I don't see why you even need to wash it, you're fine." Qrow continued scrubbing his clothes.
Winter turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She gestured to her blood spattered torso that was smattered in nick and cuts from knife wounds. Qrow continued scrubbing, refusing to look up at her. She crossed her arms and stood there for a moment then gave up and reached back for the tie. She didn't need his help, she could probably just get it herself. She stretched and reached for the knot, pulling at strings as best she could, grunting in frustration every so often.
She was so stubborn. Qrow rolled his eyes and wrung out his clothes. She was really just tightening the knot, he knew that and he was sure she knew it too. It was pretty fun to watch her struggle, but he knew he didn't want to listen to her complain. He approached her from behind and batted her hands away. He was gentle and focused on the mess of a knot that she had created. It took a few minutes but he got it untangled. Since he was already back there, he loosened the ties for her.
She was blushing, even in the dark it was obvious. The blush spread up her neck and her ears. Parts of her shoulders and back were blushing, even her bruises were blushing. He knew he was blushing too, just not as bad and maybe not for the same reason. He patted her shoulder awkwardly when he had finished.
She turned to thank him but he was gone. She assumed he was giving her some ounce of modesty and was grateful. She knelt beside the stream and scrubbed at the satin cloth. It was harder than her other clothes were but she managed to get a decent amount of dirt and blood out. She was certainly happy that it smelled nicer too. She wrung out the corset and went to lay it beside her clothes but they were gone. She had left them draped over the cart.
So her clothes were gone and Qrow was gone. She was just going to have to murder him. Now is far from the time to play pranks and she groaned in frustration. She flipped up the bench of the cart and pulled out a blanket. It was thick and cotton. It was warm enough to survive a night in Atlas snow, she was sure it would be fine for the night. She folded it and wrapped it around herself so that she could walk. She grabbed the soap and walked towards the waterfall, where the water was much deeper.
She removed the blanket and folded it neatly. She stepped into the water, shivering at the chill. Thankfully the water from the waterfall had gotten the chance to be warmed by the sun. She stood beneath it and let the water flow over her. She combed her fingers through her hair, working out the knots and tangles before lathering it in soap. She felt almost human again. She scrubbed her body and washed away all of the blood and grime. She scrubbed her face and arms before bending down to wash her legs and feet. She heard a small splish, splash and the soap was taken from her hands. She wiped the water from her eyes and scowled at Qrow.
"Sorry to ruin your alone time, Ice Queen, but you were taking too long." He smirk and began washing his hair, not looking at her once.
She splashed him. She knew it was childish but she had been having such a pleasant time before he came and ruined it. She filled her hands with the colder stream water and threw it in his face. He finished rinsing his hair and wiped his eyes, looking at her with a grin, very careful to maintain eye contact.
"What, are we five years old now?" He teased. Winter splashed him again.
"I've met five year olds more mature than you, Branwen." She splashed him again. He caved and splashed her back before moving on to wash his torso, careful of his stitches.
"Where is your bandage?" Winter asked, looking at him.
"I took it off." He shrugged and pointed over a second blanket with a bloody bandage on top.
Winter rolled her eyes and went to retrieve it. With her back turned, he allowed himself to watch her walked and smirked to himself. He continued washing until the soap was snatched from his hands unceremoniously. He deserved that. He saw her on her knees, scrubbing at it and spoke up.
"I can't put it on if it's wet you idiot, it'll melt my stitches." He frowned.
"Well you can't put it on when it's covered in old, poisoned blood either, you'll get an infection." She said.
She stood and wrung it out. She walked over to the cart and hung the bandage over the edge. She grabbed her dagger and approached him. He prepared himself for impact, but was confused when she started cutting up his blanket instead.
"What are you doing? I need that!" He threw a pebble at her.
"I'm only taking a little bit. You need a bandage that is clean and dry." She folded the cut strip and placed it back on top of the blanket.
She brought the soap back to the waterfall, but did not return it to him. She returned to washing her legs and feet. He was a simple man, of simple pleasures, and could not say that he minded much. She stretched and ran more soap through her hair and relished in the lukewarm water. Qrow eventually took back the soap and she allowed it, content to lean against the cool rockface and let the water fall on her head. She sat down in the water, mostly submerged, and crossed her arms over her chest. She laid her head back and smiled.
"If only my father could see me now." Winter sighed.
"I knew you had daddy issues, but that's taking it a bit far don't you think?" Qrow chuckled.
"It would kill him. He would drop stone dead of a heart attack. To see his prim and proper oldest daughter, naked in a stream with an old scalliwag." Winter grinned up at him then turned to look straight ahead, giving him the same modesty that he had been giving her. She had no idea.
"Well, we could only hope. If the heart attack didn't kill him then I probably would." Qrow placed the soap on the bank.
"You would kill my father?" Winter asked.
"Well, if I needed to. He is an abusive bastard and apparently working with Salem, so he meets my criteria." Qrow shrugged and sat in the water beside her.
"What criteria?" Winter asked with a giggle.
"Well I don't just kill people willy-nilly. That's what my sister does, but she's evil. I'm a good guy, really. I only kill people who deserve it." Qrow leaned back against the rock.
"I suppose that's fair." Winter frowned and wrapped her arms tighter around herself, distress clouding her face. "I can't really judge, I'm just the same now…" She trailed off and sunk deeper in the water. Qrow put a hand on her shoulder.
"There's really nothing wrong with it, Winter. You were defending yourself. Any court of law would call you innocent, so stop treating yourself like you're guilty of a crime. That psychopath has killed hundreds of innocent people and enjoyed it. He almost killed me, he would've killed Ruby, and then he would have killed you and Weiss. You did what you had to to keep us alive." He knelt in front of her and put a hand on each shoulder, forcing her to look at him.
"Winter, you may have taken one life, but you saved many. He has been killing for Salem and for pleasure for years and he wouldn't stop if you just beat him up. You need to let it go and move on." She couldn't face him.
"Maybe I'm not cut out for this life after all…" Winter sighed.
"Well, I'm sorry but it's too late. Winter, they found us in a hospital in Haven. We should have been safe, we were laying low and using false names. If you take Weiss and run now then you will just be alone when they find you again. When, not if." Qrow spoke firmly. "At least if you stay with us then you'll have a better chance of getting away."
"So what, I stay here so you and Tai can protect me? I think I've proven myself capable enough so far. I don't need you to trap me on that ship to protect me, I've had enough of that my whole life long." Winter fumed. Qrow tried to bite his tongue, maybe he was being a little selfish. He didn't want to trap her and she was a good fighter and a great partner, but…
"Is your freedom worth gambling Weiss' life too?" He spat, wincing internally.
She slapped him. She slapped him so hard that his ears rang, and he knew he deserved it. She stood abruptly and grabbed her blanket, wrapping it around her as she walked backwards into the deep woods, tears streaming silently down her face. He rushed to stand up but winced, his stitches we too wet to exert himself. He dried off and wrapped her homemade bandage tightly around his waist.
He toyed with the idea of chasing after her, but he was weak. Admittedly that why he insisted that they stop. He was drained and tired and starving, his needed to recoup and he had exerted himself too much to transform. He had to trust that she would return, he had to give her the freedom to come back on her own. She deserved that much anyway. He wrapped himself up in the blanket and sat in the cart, trying to stay awake so that he could watch out for danger.