It was a peaceful night with light rain and a small breeze. Qrow was shockingly content. He had a plan that he had full capability to control and they were not in immediate danger, they had enough food that they wouldn't have to stop in any more towns and they were only a few days away from Southport. He was excited to tell Ruby that he was all better and to get an earful from Tai about almost dying. He couldn't wait to be back on his floating home.
They started moving as soon as dawn broke and they could see again. They snacked on some oat biscuits and an apple shared between them. Qrow drove and Winter sat beside him again, perhaps a little closer than usual. They rode in amicable silence for a long while until Qrow spoke up.
"So you've been using a lot more magic lately." He noted. Winter frowned and looked down.
"I can stop if you would prefer." She said quietly.
"Why would I want you to stop? It's been really useful. I didn't realise what you could do until...well..." he gestured to his torso.
"Well, I didn't realise that it was so common." Winter shrugged. "I inherited it from my grandfather, Weiss and I both did. Try as he might, my father could never steal it from me. He had no magic of his own, so he raised us to hide ours so we wouldn't make him look bad."
"Wait, Jacques has no magic at all?" Qrow looked at her with concern.
"None, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't have magic." Winter shrugged.
"Well, there are plenty of people who aren't as powerful or obvious with their magic as you are, but magic is linked to your soul. Everyone has it, at least a little bit." Qrow explained.
"Well, I wouldn't be horribly surprised if my father didn't have a soul at all." Winter smirked at him and Qrow chuckled.
"I guess, then he meets all of my criteria. Just say the word and there will be no more Jacques Schnee." Qrow winked at her. She rested her head on his shoulder and he stiffened.
"My hero," she crooned, "But you've done enough for me." She closed her eyes.
"So what all can you do?" Qrow asked, trying to keep up the conversation.
"Well, our magic is hereditary so Weiss and I can do very similar things. Weiss is much better with glyphs than I am, but we can both do them. I don't believe she can summon yet, but she will some day. I only know how because it was the first thing that my grandfather taught me, before he died and father wouldn't let me practice. Ice, too, so I suppose your terrible nickname is rather fitting after all." Winter sighed. "I really don't know what else, but that might be it."
"That's a lot of stuff, Ice Queen. Don't you think you're a little overpowered?" Qrow teased.
"Well how else did you think the Schnee's came to have such power?"
"Your grandfather's wit and charm, his honesty and fair business practises, stunning good looks which are also hereditary." Qrow winked and Winter smiled.
"I suppose you're old enough to remember him." Winter prodded him.
"I'm not that old, but the only reason Tai and I do this job now is because your father took over. There was a worldwide mourning period. I guess I was a teenager when he died but, I didn't really get out much." Qrow shrugged.
"Oh no? Did your parents also keep you locked up in luxury? Is that why you felt the need to kidnap me?" Winter teased.
"No, my parents were bandits. They were the leaders of a bandit tribe that is now run by my twin sister. You know, that bitch." Qrow clenched his fists at the thought of his turncoat sister. She didn't deserve to have a child or the heart of such a good man.
"But you aren't a part of the tribe?" Winter looked up at him. "What made you leave?"
"What makes you think I wasn't kicked out?" Qrow raised his eyebrows.
"Well that makes sense I guess."
"Hey, rude. I wasn't kicked out, I left. In fact, I left because of her." Qrow reached down his shirt and pulled out a locket. He opened it to a picture of Ruby.
"Ruby's only 11, how long have you been gone?" Winter was surprised, he made it seem like he's been with Tai on the ship for far longer.
"Well, Ruby is part of it, but this is Ruby's mom Summer." His smile softened.
"Tai's second wife?" Winter looked at him, confused.
"My best friend. She could see the good in anything and anyone, just like her daughter. My family had raided a town and was torching it. They ran off but I fell behind. I decided to steal some food from a local farm and this girl knocked me flat on my ass and held me to the ground with a pitchfork." Qrow laughed at the memory.
"Tai was right, you really do have a type." Winter teased.
"There is nothing wrong with a man surrounding himself with strong women. And boy was she strong. She was a great leader. She's the one that introduced me to Tai. She had started this whole endeavour. She lived near a lot of faunus families that had their children stolen in one of Salem's early raids and she wanted to get them back. We've save thousands of kids together. She and Tai were always close, but she had a huge crush on him that he was too dense to realise. Luckily for me, the thought of having me as a life partner is repulsive to most women so we were free to become as close as family. Which was great, until my blood family had to ruin it." Winter muttered something along the lines of "not all women" but he just kept on with his story.
"Salem killed my parents when she felt they were creeping in on her territory. Raven took over as the leader and wanted to bring me back. I had been with Tai and Summer for 5 years at this point and the last thing I wanted to do was leave. I had finally begun to feel like I could be a good person, I had atoned for my sins and was living happily. I refused to leave and begged Raven to stay. She relented and stayed for a while. Tai fell head over heels for her immediately, much to Summer's chagrin, and mine. It's weird when your best friend starts boning your identical twin sister, that's all I'm saying there. I don't think Raven ever intended to stay as long as she did, but the dumb bitch managed to get herself pregnant with the assistance of one Taiyang Xiao Long. Nine months later, Yang appears and Raven disappears. Tai was a wreck but Summer helped him. I did too, but Summer was a much better mother than I was." Winter snorted at that one.
"Soon Tai realised that the true love of his life had been right in front of him this whole time. They were married and Summer raised Yang as her own daughter. Soon enough they were expecting their own daughter, Ruby. Summer was so cute when she was pregnant. She was always petit but feisty and pregnancy suited her. Tai wanted to have a dozen children with her, but unfortunately it didn't really work out." Qrow faltered slightly.
"She died when Ruby was about 8. Salem started coming down harder on us than ever before. I thought it was because we were making more progress, but it turns out that Raven was giving information on our routes. Summer would put up a great fight but she's a true mother hen. One of Salem's grimm got me bad and Summer ran to help me. She killed him, but not until he had gotten her a good few times. I thought that we were going to die together that night, but I wasn't that lucky. She died in my arms and for a long time I closed myself off. Tai went a little crazy and we fought constantly. Yang stepped up to be the grown up and took on a lot of responsibilities, something that she really doesn't get enough credit for, and took care of Ruby like Summer had taken care of her. Tai wouldn't speak to me and I wouldn't speak to anyone except Ruby on occasion, but even then she was too much like her mother. I was alone for a long time." Qrow frowned. He put the locket away and cleared his throat.
"What changed?" Winter asked. He just glanced at her with a grin then faced forward to continue driving. Winter sat silently, a small grin formed on her face.
"So, is it just birds or?" Qrow asked. She looked at him questioningly.
"Your summoning. Can you summon other things or just birds?" Qrow asked.
"Oh, no, just birds as far as I know. My grandfather could summon many things but I just have birds. I suppose it makes sense though, I've always felt a connection to birds of all kind and if magic is linked to your soul then I suppose..." Winter shrugged, unsure how to finish her thoughts.
"Makes you think, doesn't it?"
"About what?"
"About soulmates." Qrow half-teased, "I'm just saying, your soul is a bird, you know someone who can literally transform into a bird…"
"You're right. Oh my goodness, Qrow, I don't know how I missed this. Raven must be my soulmate. Turn around, I must find her immediate and profess my love to her." She joked back.
Qrow shook his head and drove on. The ride was long, but the company was nice. Well, nice wasn't the word. He put an arm around Winter's waist and she froze, eyes wide. Fun, the company was fun and easy to antagonise. If he had realised that he would get more of a reaction from affection than from teasing he would have started doing this a long time ago.
Winter eventually leaned into his casual embrace and they continued riding along together in pleasant silence. She dozed off once or twice and Qrow made sure to hit a bump each time to see her reaction. She didn't stir at the last bump, so Qrow pulled her closer and let her sleep for a while. He listened to her faint snores with a chuckle and sighed happily, but remained on edge. His happiness doesn't usually last this long, but when it does the fallout is much worse.
He urged the horse to pick up it's pace. He made sure that his sword was accessible and kept Winter's dagger closeby. He heard rustling and his heart was ready to beat out of his chest. He nudged Winter awake and shushed her as she began to tiredly babble at him. He pointed his head towards the bushes and she gripped her dagger. They kept a fair speed but the rustling persisted. Suddenly they saw a black shadow swoop down at them and the rustling stopped. They looked to their sides but saw nothing.
"Boo." Raven whispered, sitting in the cart with her head between them.
Winter spun around and held her knife to the woman's throat. Raven transformed and flew out of the girl's arms and sat down with her legs crossed.
"Now Winter, is that any way to treat your soulmate?" Raven teased. Qrow stopped the cart.
"You've been following us." He seethed and turned to face his sister.
"Well of course, I had to make sure my widdle bwuver was okay didn't I?" She smiled condescendingly.
"You're the reason I got hurt in the first place."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. After Summer… I tried to keep you guys off of the radar. I told them your leader was taken out and so they didn't care as much. Then you stepped up and abandoned me."
"Raven you know as well as anyone what I'm doing. The tribe never needed or wanted me, I was a backup in case you died. I found my family and they needed a leader." Qrow sighed.
"I just wanted to thank you for taking out Tyrian. My tribe and I are able to lay low now and avoid Salem's summoning. In return I want to warn you. Dr. Watts and an unknown assistant are hunting you. They know you're heading to Southport and they are waiting there with half a fleet. They're going to take both of you and the ship." Raven sighed.
"Why should I believe you?" Qrow frowned.
"I know I've hurt you and I know you don't trust me but my daughter is on that ship. I may not be there but I do care. I have my own people to look out for, but I owe you this much. Consider yourselves warned. Take care of yourself Qrow." Raven put a hand on his shoulder then transformed, flying back towards her tribe.
Winter looked to Qrow but he was stoic. He urged the cart forward at a quick pace and focused on the woods ahead of them. She tried to sit closer but he pulled away from her. She decided to give him space and keep her weapon ready in case of other surprises. The moon was full and the path was easily lit so they drove through the night. Winter offered to drive but Qrow didn't even acknowledge her. She decided that at least one of them should be well rested and laid in the back to eat and sleep.