He was still driving when she woke. He hadn't eaten and he hadn't slept since Raven appeared and would be in no shape to fight at this rate if what she said was true. This called for drastic measures, and perhaps a little bit of revenge. His head was drooping and he had allowed the cart to slow, not wanting to collide into anything at a fast pace. Winter silently sat up and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him back hard into the cart.
Winter grabbed the reins and brought the cart to a stop. She turned to Qrow who had an almost crazed glint of rage in his eyes. She looked at him with an equal fire of determination, daring him to yell.
"Are you insane, Ice Queen? We have a mission to accomplish." Qrow shouted.
"Keep your voice down." Winter snapped, "I know full well that we have a mission to accomplish and I'm sure your sister spooked you but you need to stop. If Raven was telling the truth then we are going to be greeted with half a fleet of Salem's ships. Do you expect me to fight them on my own?" She was fuming.
"No, I'll be there to fight too!" Qrow argued.
"How? You can't even fight me right now!" Winter pushed him back to prove a point. He launched at her and she easily pinned him down.
"Qrow, please, you need to get some rest. If not for yourself then for the people who love you. I can't do this by myself but if you kills yourself getting us there then I won't have a choice." Winter stroked his cheek.
Qrow turned away but did lay down nonetheless. Winter covered him with a blanket and sat in the driver's seat. She moved the cart forward and they walked at a steady pace for a while. She kept her dagger ready and her mind alert then whole time, but she was still caught by surprise when Qrow wrapped his arms around her waist for a moment before laying back down to sleep.
After a while she could tell that he must have been having more nightmares, not as bad as the night before but still bad. She began to sing again. He continued to toss and turn and she reached back with a hand to hold his until he woke up. He woke in a cold sweat, his heart beating frantically. Winter was singing and holding his hand, which was odd to say the least. She was singing the same song that she sang in his nightmare.
"Do you always have to sing that song?" He asked hoarsely. Winter turned to him.
"Oh you're awake, good." She smiled and turned forward. "Would you rather I not sing?"
"Well, maybe not that song." Qrow sighed and sat back, pulling out some biscuits.
"Well I don't know many others. I suppose I know a cadence or two courtesy of Ironwood, but I didn't think you would find them calming. What's wrong with this one?" Winter asked.
Qrow shrugged and continued eating. Winter reached back for a biscuit and Qrow handed her a small piece of one. She ate it but flicked his ear and requested another piece. He handed her a whole piece this time and she rolled her eyes. When she finished she began singing the song again to annoy him.
"You sang that to me as you died." Winter turned to look at him with concern.
"Qrow, I'm not dead. I'm right here."
"The other night. Everything fell apart. Raven took the kids and turned them over to Salem, she kept Yang and trained her to be a bandit, the tribe killed Tai and Tyrian got us both. But you died first, but you were still trying to comfort me. It was like losing Summer all over again." Qrow took a drink from his flask, disappointed that it was still just water.
"Oh…" Winter stopped singing and faced forward, not wanting to push him.
They remained silent for a while longer but they knew they would have to stop and let the mule rest. Qrow took over driving and brought them deeper into the wood. There was a creek but the trees were still dense. They couldn't spread out like usual but that wasn't important. They unhitched the mule and it eagerly ate the apple offered by Winter. It drank and ate grass to its heart's content.
Winter sat and pulled out their rations. The bag was light, but there wasn't much left to the journey. She pulled out the last apple and a few biscuits. She left another handful for the next day's journey. Qrow filled a waterskin in the creek and the pair sat to eat together in the back of the cart. They ate slowly, trying to make the food last, and they drank plenty so that it would be more filling. After finishing the biscuits they passed the apple between themselves.
"You know, this is kind of like an indirect kiss." Qrow teased, passing her the apple.
"Indirect kisses don't bother me, direct ones that lead to you abandoning me for hours do." Winter raised an eyebrow and took a big bite before passing it back.
"Well it's a good thing that never happened. You women just can't seem to let dreams go." Qrow shook his head and took a bite of apple.
"It was not a dream, and you banned me from singing because of a nightmare you had so don't even go there." Winter argued before swallowing her bite of apple.
"I can't understand you when you talk with your mouth full. Where are your manners, Ice Queen?" Qrow chided and bumped his shoulder into hers. She punched his shoulder in return.
"I must have left them behind when you kidnapped me and put me to work on your ship." Winter grinned and took the last bite of the apple.
Winter threw the core, aiming for the treeline but Qrow caught it. He shook his head and began to eat the apple core, chiding Winter for throwing away "the best part." Winter pulled a disgusted face and drank some more water.
"So, what about direct kisses where you don't get abandoned.?" Qrow asked after a moment of silence.
"Well I wouldn't know, would I?" Winter frowned.
"Well, you could find out…" Qrow smirked and leaned in close to her.
She could feel his breath on her face and she looked into his eyes. She grinned and leaned in closer until their foreheads were touching. She leaned her cheek against his and whispered in his ear.
"You'll have to show me when we get to Menagerie." Winter grinned and pulled back.
"Why Menagerie?" Qrow leaned back.
"Hopefully it will be incentive not to sacrifice yourself in battle like a fool." Winter stood and stretched.
"Fine, but it's your loss Ice Queen." He winked and she rolled her eyes.
"I would rather wait a week than lose you forever." Winter hopped out of the cart and hooked the mule back up. She handed the reins to Qrow.
"It's my turn to sleep. Try not to get us killed in the meantime." Winter wrapped herself up comfortably and smiled. Qrow shook his head and grinned.