Pure white snow lay in deep drifts, piled against tree trunks and hiding rocky outcrops and shrubs, smoothing the landscape. It almost buried the headstone of the little cliffside grave.
Qrow walked through the deep snow, his long legs sinking into the cold white blanket past his calves and letting snow find its way inside his boots. He sighed out a cloud of white breath and knelt by the grave and began brushing snow off of it, revealing the rose carved there above the epitaph.
Thus Kindly I Scatter.
Over the wind and the sound of his work he heard the flutter of heavy wings, followed by the crunch of another pair of boots in the deep snow far behind him.
Qrow narrowed his eyes, set his teeth, and continued tending to the grave.
"Qrow?" asked Raven's voice. He turned and looked back over his shoulder. His twin sister watched him the treeline, staring at him through the small oval eyeholes in her mask from, framed between two snow-crowned trees, her hand on the hilt of her katana.
"Raven," he replied with a nod, "Better late than never, I guess."
Raven removed her mask and walked forward, placing her feet carefully between snowdrifts as she picked her way towards him. He felt her eyes flick up from finding safe footholds in the snow to glare at the back of his head.
"I've been busy. How are things on your end?"
Qrow shook his head.
"Right to business as always," he chuckled as he turned his attention back to the grave, "But to answer your question - steady. Ruby and her friends are on their way to Haven. They'll get to the bottom of things once they arrive, more likely than not."
"You think they're smart enough?" she asked as she paused her stride.
Qrow smirked.
"Heh. Smarter than you'd think. At the very least they'll stir up trouble and flush something out. Kids are good at that."
Raven stopped a moment to scan the area, eyes ghosting over the horizon, then the treeline behind her.
"Hmm. What about the others?"
"Still where they were before. The princess is locked in her tower up in Atlas and the Faunus girl is sleeping in empty houses in Vale."
"And our enemies?" she asked, walking forwards again.
Qrow stopped tending to the grave and let out a heavy sigh.
"No sign of the 'Fall Maiden'. For all I know she's still up on that tower. As for her two sidekicks...they're in Vale, somewhere, hiding. I'll know if they leave the city."
Raven pursed her lips in thought.
"I see. Think our Faunus friend could root them out?"
"Not alone. She'd need help."
She gave him a rare, knowing smile.
"I'm sure you have someone in mind. How is the girl?"
She stepped up next to him, leaving a deep trail through the snow behind her, and went to one knee next to him. She brushed the remaining snow off the headstone. Qrow inhaled sharply and shot her a furious glare.
"You mean your daughter?" he asked, his voice hard and cold as stone. She narrowed her eyes at him, her smile vanishing as suddenly as a whiff of smoke.
"I mean the girl. The serial killer. I hope this whole gamble was worth it," she replied, voice equally cool.
Qrow nodded and sat back on his heels.
"It was. She's with us now. Or...she's with Yang. She's not with them, at the very least."
The two siblings passed a quiet moment observing the grave. Raven ran her eyes over the epitaph, while Qrow merely stared at it, a distant contemplative look on his face.
"I saw their fight yesterday," Raven said after the pregnant pause.
Qrow raised his eyebrow and looked at her.
"Really? What did you think?" he asked, the hint of a bitter chuckle in his voice. Raven raised her face to look at the horizon.
"I'm proud of Yang. I knew she could recover on her own. I...I knew how strong she was."
"Yeah, guess she didn't need you after all," Qrow stood and looked at Summer's grave. Raven stood up as well, brushing the snow from her knees and continuing as if she hadn't heard him.
"And now she'll be more dedicated than ever to our cause. I do wish she hadn't gone through such a loss so soon...but she's stronger for it now, I think."
She stared off into the distance, while Qrow pursed his lips and thought about that.
"She didn't recover on her own, you know," he said, "She had her dad. And Neo."
"All the better," his sister replied, emotionless, "She'll need someone with her on the road."
Qrow shook his head.
"Taiyang says I sound more like Ozpin every day, but I think it's you who really took after him."
Raven winced, but quickly composed herself and looked at Qrow.
"Have you heard from Ozpin? Do you know what happened?"
Qrow took out his flask and drank deeply from it while Raven frowned at him.
"I couldn't tell you," he said bitterly when he had finished, "Won't risk anyone finding out."
Raven nodded, satisfied.
"Very well. I believe we're done here, then." she said as she placed her mask back over her face. Qrow watched her make her way towards the cliffside, shaking his head. She stepped up above the piled snowdrifts onto a large flat rock and perched there, the wind picking at her scarf and hair and making them flutter like banners.
"Hey," Qrow said as Raven paused on the very edge, "You know Yang's gonna want to come after you."
Raven glanced over her shoulder one more time.
"...Let her. We have a lot to talk about," she said, then with a flash she turned into a raven and began winging her way north and west. Qrow shook his head and stowed his flask away.
"Nice talking to you too, sis."
He looked down at Summer's grave and shook his head.
"I'm trying to look after your girls, Summer I really am..." he said in a hoarse voice, "But I'm just one man."
He turned away from the cliffside, cloak swirling in the cold breeze. A moment later he too was flying west, leaving a lonely grave on the cliffside.