The sun had set and it was fully dark. The moon was a tiny sliver and gave barely enough light for Winter to see her hand in front of her. She kept herself awake and alert but she was beginning to worry. She heard rustling and pushed herself back against the tree. Something landed on her shoulder and dug its beak into her hood, tugging at her hair.
She held out a hand and the crow landed on her palm. She looked at it intently, look for a sign that this was her Qrow. It bobbed its head and flew down to the ground and landed on a low branch. Winter climbed down and looked at the bird for direction. It took off and flew west, towards the open sea. She chased after it as quietly as she could.
Qrow transformed just before the treeline ended. He stepped out and waved to someone. He turned to face her and smiled.
"Did you miss me?" He grinned cockily. Winter held her head high with an air of confidence.
"Nope." She grinned. He pulled her into an embrace and she threw her arms around his neck.
A rowdy wolf whistle and a "whoo get it Uncle Qrow!" split them apart. Blake smacked her partner's arm and shushed her. Yang smiled and shrugged. Qrow and Winter climbed aboard, the latter with a bright red face and the former with a smirk.
"Here's the deal. Those ships are full of three things: enemies, faunus slaves, and gunpowder." Qrow started matter-of-factly.
"The faunus slaves are locked below deck as soon as the sunsets so that they can't escape or rebel with an unfair advantage over the Grimm." Blake continued angrily.
"And gunpowder and firebreath don't mix." Yang finished confidently.
"So if we free the faunus while everyone is either sleeping or at a heavy disadvantage, then they can escape and/or cause a panic to distract the Grimm from noticing the fire?" Winter finished questioningly.
"Exactly, and if someone were to, say, freeze the anchor mechanism and make it impossible for them to move…" Qrow smiled.
"Then they would all catch alight since they are so close together!" Winter finished happily.
"There's just two issues. You're clothes are too bright for sneaking, and you are a little under armed for my liking." Qrow grinned.
He reached below the bench seat and pulled out the long case. He passed it to Winter and her eyes lit up. She opened in and found a beautiful rapier with an intricate handle. It looked just like the one she fell in love with at the markets in Mistral. It was elegant, but lethal.
"I thought it suited you." Qrow smirked.
"How long have you had this?" Winter asked incredulously.
"Remember when we had to run from the Atlesian guards in the Mistral markets?"
"Are you telling me that this was in your possession when we had to fight an entire tribe of bandits and a psychopathic scorpion?" Winter arched an eyebrow.
"I was going to give it to you when we got back… You did just fine without it though." Qrow raised his hands defensively. "Anyway, take your shirt off, we need to swap so you don't get spotted."
Blake and Yang turned around as Qrow and Winter traded clothes. Rather, Winter wore Qrow's clothes and Qrow let Winter's shirt hang open on him. It wouldn't matter, he didn't intend to be in human form for most of this. Qrow transformed and Yang wrapped damp clothes around his talons. They moored the dingy just out of sight of the ships and Winter froze a path for them to walk to the first ship. They climbed aboard quietly and went their separate ways.
Winter crept quietly towards the anchor gears, a small hummingbird illuminating the path for her. She frosted the chains and encase the entire system in ice. She sighed and moved on to the next ship. This would be much less draining of she had some dust. She heard faint footsteps on the ship behind her and she saw a herd of faunus scrambling to the lifeboats.
Winter gasped as Blake appeared beside her, masked flipped up so Winter could see her face. She held out a large crystal and Winter beamed. She popped open the chamber on her rapier and the crystal fit perfectly. Blake disappeared below deck and Winter froze the mechanisms of the next three ships much faster.
Winter decided to work in a circle rather than wasting time freezing the middle ships. Blake quickly worked on freeing the faunus in the middle ship and Qrow was flying to each ship, disabling the cannons and spilling the gunpowder on the ground. Yang waited for Qrow to return and give the signal. She had to be ready.
Winter was on her last ship when Qrow landed on her shoulder and pointed his beak towards the ship that Yang was on. Grimm were swarming on the surface, each ship in uproar as they found their faunus were escaping. Qrow flew through a cannon hole and Winter used her glyphs to run after him.