Compared to the excitement of the other division, the CCT tower squad might have been tame.
At least at first.
Whitley was a little nervous about being in on the more dangerous side of the action here in Vacuo, and Willow seemed antsy about it too.
Qrow thought overseeing things would be dull for him--he was probably wrong about that.
Winter, finally feeling a bit more normal, after nearly two days of not doing too much physically to strain herself, just wished she was on the field. But she wondered how Shine's chat with the prisoners went.
"Think she'll pull it off?" Qrow must have read her thoughts.
"I don't know," Winter said. "She has...done many things I didn't think she'd do. Still, that man is...impossible."
"Well, so is my sister, and somehow she's still here." Qrow looked somber.
That topic was still awkward.
Winter didn't want to think about the Bandit Camp... She shivered without meaning to.
"Well, they were killers and thieves." Qrow guessed that time also.
"Still," Winter said.
That was all she really needed to say to make her point.
"Well, the older ones probably knew their number would be up," Qrow remarked flatly. "But there were kids there--didn't have anywhere else to go, probably. That's kind of the part that's...not fair."
"The whole thing isn't fair." Winter didn't mean to get angry, but she did anyway. "I'm aware that they were scoundrels, but they certainly were not worse than those witches! It was simply a display of power, and that is an abomination on their part."
"All right, don't get all worked up." Qrow was afraid she'd draw attention. "Yeah, it's messed up. But it's not surprising."
"Isn't this a bit backwards?" Winter asked. "It seems to me I'm not the one who should be angry about this."
"Out of the long list of things to be pissed about," Qrow said, "I'm not sure that's at the top of it for me. We lost Beacon, Haven, and Atlas in the last year. The Bandit Camp is a drop in the bucket compared to that. It bites that Raven is stuck with us now, and it was a waste, but anger about it right now doesn't help anything."
Well, he'd sure changed his tune from the last few days.
"So when it's not in your interest, it doesn't matter?" Winter said coldly.
"Why do you care? You have absolutely no reason to care about them," Qrow said. "Didn't they kidnap your sister anyway?"
That was news to Winter.
"What?" she said.
"Nevermind." Qrow realized his mistake. "I'm just saying, it's not like it's your problem. Why don't you focus on what is?"
"I do," Winter said pointedly.
Qrow rolled his eyes.
"I'm just not above looking at someone else's misfortune with some amount of...awareness," Winter said carefully. "After all...the death toll was far less in Haven and Atlas at least...so it's a...sizable tragedy."
"This your attempt at being sympathetic?" Qrow asked.
That miffed Winter so much she sunk into sullen silence.
If he was going to be that much of an ass about it, she wasn't going to go out of her way to try to express concern about it! Why did she think this was a good idea anyway?
Qrow was brooding for a while, but then he thought perhaps he was being a little...unfair.
Winter was ice cold usually, but she wasn't a monster... The whole thing had probably rattled her anyway. Maybe this was her way of trying to make it better... She sucked at it, but who was good in this situation anyway? No one. There was nothing you could say to make it better...so what did it matter?
Anyway, he knew he was lying about not being affected by it, but he'd not admit that to Raven for anything...but she wasn't here...
"The situation is complicated," he said, a bit less snarky. "I knew some of those people...not most of them--they were too new. But we weren't friends. I left ages ago to work for Ozpin. Now Raven is going to blame him for what happened, but she was the one who went back there and led Salem to them. It looked like either option was equally dangerous now, and somehow we're still alive, and they aren't. Something about that is really cruel irony, but it's not funny. They had it coming, in a way. They destroyed other people's lives, their homes, everything. Now it happened to them, and a lot of people would say they had that coming. But it's not like Salem is an example of justice, so that's not a lot of comfort. It pisses me off, but it's like...what was going to happen? Of course, it wouldn't have if Raven had told us her secret ages ago and just left the d--- tribe."
"Yes..." Winter understood this part. "That is true... She would have led Salem back to you."
Pause.
"But we're already involved," Qrow said. "We chose that. So..."
"I'm not commending her, but your sister clearly isn't interested in being a part of this war," Winter said, "so she ran...to me this more says that Salem will let no one stay neutral...but that fact was not clear until recently. I can only say I'm glad the General didn't hand over the Staff in Atlas, because clearly she would have killed us anyway... But there is no real bright side to it, is there? And if Raven was going to doom someone, would you rather it be that tribe or your family?"
"I think that's giving her way too much credit," Qrow said. "She left before she was ever the Maiden. I don't know when the Maiden found her, but I'm betting she didn't die of natural causes, because she was young. Raven killed her. Does she think I haven't figured that out? I'm sure she'll have some excuse about it, like it was mercy or whatever, because Spring was weak...but that's just an excuse. She had to know Salem would come for her eventually. She chose to stay away and make those people a part of this instead of us, the actual guardians. It makes no sense."
"I don't understand it." Winter didn't. "But I highly doubt her intention was to get them killed... You can call her foolish, but the real reason for this is still Salem... But her hurting the Spring Maiden...is not a pleasant thought... However, it's no different from what you did in Beacon with Amber."
Qrow glanced at her. "What?"
"Miss Nikos filled me in," Winter reminded him. "And you owned up to as much later, if you'll recall. For that matter, it's no different from what I was willing to do to Fria. Raven may have judged that the powers were no good in the hands of someone else who wouldn't protect them well...a cold choice, but hardly one that she could say was unlike the ones Ozpin has made. I fail to see the difference here. I agree that thinking she was safe in the woods was idiotic...but then, fear is a strange thing." She frowned. "I don't know. Miss Likstar seems to think we're judging her too harshly."
"And Likstar's opinion is just law now?" Qrow said.
"Perhaps not, but she has a fair point. If we all make the same choices, why are we so desperate to say someone else making them is worse than ourselves?" Winter said. "I can't find any way to justify myself that holds up. We were all selfish."
"I'm not sure it's the same," Qrow said. "Raven helps only herself."
"And her tribe," Winter said.
"Like she'd not have ditched them if she wanted to save herself," Qrow said. "She already did anyway. She wasn't there."
"If anything that would have protected them, you would think," Winter mused. "I'm sure, had they known she was with us, they'd not have bothered with the camp. They would have come right to us. In a strange twist, she's bought us time...not much time, but...I've thought about it since yesterday, and her leaving them to come to Atlas is almost too perfectly timed. The loss will hurt her, but Cinder getting two Maidens' powers would hurt all of us far more. Instead we now have two Maidens here on our side, albeit reluctantly. That gives us more of a chance to finish Cinder if she does appear."
"But it's not like Raven did that on purpose," Qrow said.
"Neither did we," Winter countered. "I still don't see how she's demonstrably worse than the rest of us. We've all turned on each other so much..." She pursed her lips. "She's unpleasant enough, but that's not enough reason to judge by. I suppose my point is...she needs help. And she's suffered a personal loss. Isn't Miss Likstar's wish to save her admirable?"
Qrow hated when people were right who he found annoying--or who he was trying to argue with, period.
But after a moment of silent stewing, he said, "I guess if she wants to be all noble, then personal business isn't important... Anyway that's going around. At this point I'd be able to count the number of people who haven't lied to someone. It would probably be on one hand."
"I believe it would be team JNPR and Pine," Winter said. "Out of everyone. And not all of them."
"Not helping," Qrow said.
"I was not trying to," Winter said. "This cannot go on, all this mistrust and double crossing. I hate to say it, but we're all doomed for certain if we keep infighting. Salem will be here any day. We need to be able to trust each other."
"That's not going to be easy when we've all been breaking that trust so much," Qrow said. "And why do I have a feeling this is leading to asking me if I'm still holding out on anything?"
A pause.
"I would assume if you were, by now it would have come out," Winter said carefully. "Unless that was a backhanded confession."
"I don't know anything else," Qrow said.
"Are you sure?"
"Why would I?"
"There is something that I think is still unexplained. About your teammate..."
"Tai?"
"No, the other one."
Pause.
"Summer." Qrow's tone said this was not a good topic to bring up.
"I was never told what happened to her," Winter said carefully. "But she disappeared...correct?"
"Yeah," Qrow said. "I guess to find Salem... I'm not sure why."
"And she was like Miss Rose...with silver eyes," Winter clarified.
"Yeah...must not have been enough." Qrow didn't want to think about it.
"Perhaps this is a stupid question--" Winter hated that she had to ask, but knowing Ozpin... "--but on the...team of the Maidens...I don't suppose she was in line for the Summer Maiden powers?"
Qrow had thought the same thing.
But he shook his head. "I don't see how she could have been. I mean, I guess she'd have been just the same age as Raven, so she was young enough, but Ozpin never seemed to know what happened to her. And if she was, she'd have come here. Not gone to Salem."
So much for that theory...but Winter still thought it was strange.
"What was the Spring Maiden's name?" she asked, curious.
"Spring," Qrow said.
Winter shot him a look.
"I know," Qrow said. "Creepy, right? I'm serious--it was like it was planned."
"As planned as someone named Qrow or Raven turning into a crow and a raven?" Winter said.
"The old man has a theme," Qrow said.
"Yes..." Winter put a hand to her head. She didn't like her name being Winter. "And the theme continued..."
She was afraid to ask the other question she had, but...
"How long was the General planning on me being the Maiden?" she asked in a low voice.
Qrow didn't anticipate that question, and it threw him for a second.
Why did she care?
He shrugged. "I honestly don't know."
"Everyone keeps saying that it was obvious," Winter said, suddenly sounding tight. "Am I supposed to believe that?"
"I mean, was it a suspicion? Sure," Qrow said. "But he never came out and said it to any of us that I know of. Not to me especially. He'd have probably thought I'd argue with him about it."
Nice.
"I'm sorry you're disappointed in how it turned out." Winter was offended. "But it's not like it was avoidable."
"I just always thought trying to control it like that kind of defeated the point of the Maiden picking her own successor," Qrow said. "But Amber kind of changed things..." He looked grim. "We thought she'd have longer than that... I think Jimmy felt at that point making it a choice was a mistake. That was before you got promoted, so maybe he had the idea that far back."
"I'm going to ask you something," Winter said, "and I want an honest answer. And do no read into it, I just want to know."
With that introduction, Qrow had no clue what she was going to ask.
"Given the family history, background and early training," Winter said, "one of us Schnees inheriting the power makes a certain amount of sense. Does that mean that the General handpicked me from the training academy from the start with that in mind? I recall being summoned to Beacon before it fell and then sent home with very little accomplishment. But I wonder now if it was leading up to including me in what happened...or starting to."
"Could have been." Qrow had had the same thought at the time--of course he'd kind of ruined that for Ironwood by starting that whole courtyard thing, if so.
Heh, he was glad he did that now. Served the b-----d right.
"That's not a clear answer." Winter frowned.
"This might shock you, but Ironwood and I don't chat that much," Qrow said. "And he was pretty tight lipped right about the Fall of Beacon. I really just don't know..." Pause. "I might say, it's likely."
"I see," Winter said.
Well...there it was... Her whole life really was a lie.
Not that it changed anything, but...she felt like a puppet.
"All right, I have a question now." Qrow was starting to wonder why she was so interested in the motives of everyone...but he had a guess...probably the same reason he was reevaluating everything he'd done for Ozpin. "You let Fria go, right?... Even before Ironwood flipped his lid about Mantle. Why? What made you pull out?"
"Why does it matter?" Stiffly.
"Well, since we're discussing motives here, I thought it was a fair question." Qrow got defensive.
Winter looked annoyed, but then she sighed. "I'm not sure... No, that's not true." She frowned. "I suppose it didn't seem right. Penny was objecting to it, and then that witch showed up before we really settled the matter. After that, it was easier to let her go than to try to justify interference. Miss Nikos' warning also struck me."
She tapped her chin. "In the long run, I suppose the real answer is, the General and I are not the same person. He is willing to sacrifice everyone else to get what he wants. I'm not." She looked upward for a moment. "I was lying to myself to try to think otherwise. I thought he was making sacrifices himself. But when it became him taking out everyone who was disagreeing with him, that was a lie also. And I couldn't keep helping him do that. Atlas was supposed to stand for strength and excellence, something to aspire to. For that, the greater good, we thought everything we did was right in the long run. But it seemed no one was winning, and we were fighting each other, not Salem. The students were more focused than we were. And Miss Likstar was right...we destroyed ourselves." She looked grim now. "I hope we don't do it again."
That was much more honesty than Qrow would have expected from a Specialist of Atlas.
"No snide comment?" Winter must have regretted being so direct a moment later, because she got terse again. "I would think this would be the time to say, 'I told you so.' "
"It's not anything I'm glad I was right about," Qrow said.
That was the closest he'd gotten to gloating since it happened...impressive.
Qrow rubbed his head. "You're not the only one who thought Ironwood was better than that," he said slowly. "He was a fool, I thought, but back in Beacon I still thought he was above that. Turning on his own people. All you ops were such sheep, I always thought, but that made you pompous pricks, not murderers. That was a surprise. There's not much to gloat about. I'm not sure this betrayal thing is ever something we learn to see coming."
"On the contrary," Winter said, "the General seemed to see it coming. One would have to wonder why, when he inspires so much trust." That last part was cutting because she was so angry at him still.
Qrow had to chuckle at the irony.
"Well, Ice Queen, the whole thing is a mess," he said dryly. "But for all the mud slinging before, my help wasn't worth s--- anyway. I'm never going to say this again, but, there's some guts in turning back at the last minute. In an indirect way, I'd respect that."
Winter didn't quite know how to take even a backhanded compliment from Qrow.
She glanced away and felt oddly warm...must be the sun.
"I presume the sarcastic comment is following that?" she said.
"Eventually," Qrow said. "But it would be too predictable right this second."
"You actually think you're unpredictable?" Winter said, flatly. "Don't tax your brain trying to be original, Qrow."
"It's not that hard," Qrow said. "I just don't repeat what everyone else says."
"There it was," Winter said.
"Don't ask for it if you don't want it," Qrow said.
"All things considered, that was weak," Winter sniffed.
"Excuse me," Whitley interrupted this, surprising both of them, "but if you're quite done swapping insults, I believe I've logged us in."
He pointed to the CCT computer.
"That took a long time," Willow said. "The internet is so slow in this kingdom."
"Between the sun and dust, you're lucky it worked at all," Qrow said. "Maybe I shouldn't stand too close actually."
"Please, if you're not going to be helpful, don't bother," Whitley said. "Now, who is it I'm looking for again?"
Winter glanced around. "Victoria Kanap," she hissed.
"How do you spell that?" Whitley asked.
Winter had to consult her scroll for that.
Whitley typed it in.
Not many people were in here right now, since it was midday and hot outside. Anyone who was was minding their own business.
"Well, here's something," Whitley said. "A number. And an account... Victoria Aakil Kanap. Status: Single... Well, to read any further records, you need higher clearance."
"She never worked for the SDC?" Willow said.
"It doesn't appear so," Whitley said. "All I can find is records of her making purchases. That's nothing unusual; everyone does that."
"She's not a huntsman," Qrow said. "Why did she need so much electric dust and fire dust?"
"I suppose that's a little odd," Whitley said. "But you said she's some kind of technician, right?... Let me try the news."
This was a bit more helpful.
"This is an archive from over 10 years ago..." Whitley clicked on it,and some news byte played.
"Today marks a celebration in the..." The news caster was talking about Vacuo's only school for scientists...which was really run by the Atlas business in it but correlated with Vacuo's own government for research purposes in the area.
"...An award for ground breaking discoveries in the use of dust in new and innovative ways is being given to a team of rising stars in the science department," the caster said.
Some names were listed, but only one stood out to them--Victoria Kanap.
"Didn't you say this woman has a son?" Willow asked.
"That was what Miss Likstar told me earlier today," Whitley said.
"Then perhaps Kanap isn't her maiden name," Willow pointed out. "She must have been a student at the science division of Vacuo's schools once, or Atlas's, if you go into their records. It's all on the web, isn't it?"
"Yes." Winter was surprised her mother made such a good suggestion. "Here, let me sign in with my clearance." She pushed Whitley aside, to his annoyance.
She logged onto the Atlas's records that were stored in Vacuo to make transferring students easier...thank goodness.
"Victoria..." she mused. "There's a few different Victorias in the records of the last 20 years... Before that, we'd need the hard copy archives. They don't keep it on the internet forever."
"She looked older than that," Qrow said.
"Try staff," Whitley suggested, rubbing his shoulder where Winter had shoved him. "Who knows? She could have worked as one."
"That seems far fetched..." Winter said, clicking on to that page.
But there was a Victoria on the staff of the school..
"Well, it says she was a lab technician at the school," Winter said. "The students and teachers and researchers all work in the same building, don't they?"
"You're asking me?" Qrow said. "I don't know about this stuff."
"I think so," Willow said. "The non-combat based schools are so much smaller, they share all their space usually. When your father was in business, there was only a class of about 10 people. He thought it was an accomplishment to still be the head of it with so little competition."
Whitley raised an eyebrow. "Well, so was she a teacher or just working there?"
"She must have at least been an assistant teacher if she's listed here," Winter mused.
She clicked on her name.
A short profile appeared.
"Victoria Franklin," Winter read aloud. "Loves tea and old books. When she's not in the lab she's making air runs in the air ships... Her aspiration is to show people what they are truly capable of... Not an unworthy aspiration for a teacher."
The picture of Victoria made her look very much the same as the ones Neo took...only younger, and she didn't have the scar along her cheek that she did now. Her hair was a darker purple, but other than that, she'd not aged ungracefully.
"She sounds normal," Qrow said. "But that doesn't prove anything."
"I wonder what project they were working on," Whitley mused. "Perhaps that would be useful."
"Robotics has always been more of Atlas's department than Vacuo's," Winter said. "Let me check our labs instead."
This yielded more results.
Victoria Franklin, and then later Kanap at some point, had worked briefly in Atlas also, as part of the research department in technological advancement... Finally Winter hit pay dirt.
"Look," she said suddenly, moving her mouse to one archived list of workers. "Arthur Watts... I think we have our connection."
"That was 8 years ago." Qrow squinted at it. "That kid was older than that."
"When did she come back to Vacuo?" Willow mused.
"Not long after that, she's not on any more records after..." Winter looked down. "Wait..." She looked at the listing.
"Hmm...she's not here," she said. "But Arthur Watts moved to Polendina's department's team not long after working with her. Could be nothing, but..."
"Could be something," Qrow said. "Polendina didn't seem to know her, but that kid definitely knew him. Something tells me she knew what they were going to work on."
"And all this ties back into that machine that can affect Aura." Winter lowered her voice. "But we don't know how much of that Watts was involved in. One would think if he knew about it more, he'd have replicated it."
"I don't know, but it wasn't long after this that Amber got attacked." Qrow frowned. "Funny how Salem figured this out with her magic not long after they started working on this crap."
"You're suggesting there's a connection?" Winter looked up, alarmed.
"I have no idea if magic could work at all like this," Qrow said, "or how long Watts could have been in cahoots with Salem."
"I'm not following," Willow said. "Watts and this woman might be working together, but for what purpose? And why would Jacques of all people know Watts, then?"
"Money," Qrow said. "That's all. Your husband is an idiot."
Willow didn't argue.
"We at least have proof that they've know each other for quite some time," Winter mused. "But can we use this?"
"Perhaps you could use this." Whitley had logged into the SDC on a different computer while he was waiting. "While her orders of dust have been sporadic at times, she has ordered a lot of it recently, and she orders it online."
"So?" Qrow said.
"So," Whitley said, like he was stupid, "when you do that you have to have a pick-up location. Usually the SDC outlet in your area. And wouldn't you know it, there's currently an order in the queue for Kanap that needs to be picked up by the end of this week at..." He clicked something. "There's a processing plant with a drop off just 2 miles from Shade academy...probably so they could have huntsmen nearby in case it was robbed. I'm sure that's a weekly occurrence in this nasty, little kingdom."
The adults were all stared at him.
"And you're supposed to be the useless one?" was Qrow's way of saying he was impressed.
Whitley scowled at him. "You are so uncouth."
"Hard as it may be to believe, I think that was Qrow's attempt at a compliment." Winter rolled her eyes. "The point is...I suppose this is...sufficiently...useful..."
"Oh, and what I said was an attempt at a compliment?" Qrow scoffed.
"Both of you are trying to say that Whitley has done well," Willow said, faintly. "Well...I suppose...but can we set a trap like that, in broad daylight?"
"Somehow, I doubt she comes out in broad daylight," Qrow said. "How late is this thing open, pipsqueak?"
"It's Whitley," Whitley said. "And I think they are all open until 10 pm."
"We could surprise her," Winter said. "But we have no proof of any crime. We couldn't arrest her, at least if we did, and Theodore heard about it, we'd be exposed."
"No." Qrow shook his head. "No way we can do this by the book...but it's something. I guess we'll have to run it by Likstar, since apparently she's the master planner now. If she got something out of the mustached man, maybe we can use it."
"We shouldn't linger around here, should we?" Whitley hissed. "I mean, what if someone sees us? We got what we wanted."
He had a point.
They all left.
"Whitley and I will just go back to Shade," Willow said.
"No, Mother, I want to check in with the dust distribution that Miss Likstar has set up," Whitley said. "If the people don't squabble over it is more than I can expect. The tower will need its gravity dust."
"Oh," Willow said. "Well...I'll go with you. In case I need to sign anything."
She glanced at Qrow and Winter. "We shouldn't be seen together too much, right? You should probably go a different way."
"I suppose..." Winter didn't realize that would stick her with Qrow yet again until it was too late... It hit her as they were walking away.
Oops.
"Your mom is better at this than I expected, after so many years off the field," Qrow remarked. "She used to be pretty good in a fight though. According to Oz."
"Yes...in her day she was," Winter said distantly. "But she gave it up to be a mother. I wonder if she has ever regretted that decision."
"Most huntsmen don't stop working just because they have a family," Qrow said. "Maybe she just didn't like it."
"Perhaps." Winter didn't want to think about it. She wondered if the reason was her father hadn't liked his wife being out doing anything that stole his thunder. Just wasn't respectable, or some nonsense like that.
"I guess Nicholas' spirit of adventure didn't totally die out in the next generation," Qrow mused. "It's almost a shame he didn't have more kids. Maybe one of them would have gotten the company instead of that schmuck."
Winter sighed.
"Though, I dunno, that stunt with the planes wasn't so bad." Qrow was thinking out loud. "Maybe the pipsqueak has more of his granddad than I thought. Sounds just like something Nicholas would have done, if you heard the stories."
"Yes, I think Grandfather would have supported the effort to save people." Winter could agree on this. "And he would be horrified by the results... Did you meet him?"
"In person? No," Qrow said. "I heard of him. Oz was a big fan. I might have met him, but by the time I started doing jobs for Oz outside of Vale--"
"He died young," Winter said. "I only remember him slightly myself. Mother said the dust mines took a toll on his health."
"That, and he never slowed down," Qrow recalled. "I mean, respect for anyone who puts that much effort into helping people, but didn't know when to quit... Apparently that runs in the family also."
Winter almost thought that was funny--almost.
"Ah, well, I suppose his only mistake was leaving the company to my father," she said, frowning. "I didn't realize the change it made until I was well over Whitley's age. Weiss always said she'd change it back... I was never sure it'd be as easy as she thought, but in the end, it's not her decision. Whitley was always just like Father...I thought. But lately I'm wondering if that was just because Father was there."
"Why doesn't he fight?" Qrow wondered.
"Whitley doesn't have a Semblance," Winter said.
"You can't just not have a Semblance," Qrow said. "Everyone has one."
"Well, he's never manifested one," Winter said. "If he has one, it seems it may not be the family one. Father's is useless enough."
"I thought all the Schnees inherited the same Semblance," Qrow said.
"There's bound to be outliers," Winter said.
"If he hasn't unlocked it yet, how do you know he doesn't just have it dormant?" Qrow asked.
"I suppose we don't, but Whitley never wanted to train enough to figure it out." Winter didn't want to talk about it.
"Well, that's stupid," Qrow said. "The world is a dangerous place. Having a Semblance that's remotely useful is a plus to anyone... Geez, Yang and Ruby unlocked theirs before they were 14."
"I unlocked mine sooner than that," Winter recalled. "Weiss and I both, and mother also...but it takes years to get enough control to summon anything, just the glyphs at first. When did you unlock yours?"
"I never unlocked it," Qrow said. "It's just always there." He scowled at himself. "I can use it on purpose sometimes, that's all... I think I figured that out when I was...I don't know, Ruby's age maybe. Training at Beacon helped, but most of the time it just always works."
"I find that hard to believe," Winter said. "It would deplete Aura if it did that."
"I can't explain it--it just does," Qrow said.
It still made no sense to Winter, but then, Clover's never had either.
"What happens when you use it on purpose?" she wanted to know.
"Same thing as the rest of the time, just faster," Qrow said. "And sometimes I can predict what will happen if I see something that's an accident waiting to happen, but that's not something you can look for in a fight too much. Standing around things that are unstable can be an advantage."
"So it increases the probability of things happening that would probably happen eventually anyway," Winter reasoned. "Which works against your enemy?"
"Something like that," Qrow shrugged.
"So that's why I couldn't beat you." Winter finally had her answer for how she missed all those strikes.
That, and she really wasn't trying that hard...
"Oh, no, you're just a bad aim," Qrow said. "I didn't use my Semblance on purpose in that fight."
"That's nonsense," Winter said. "I would have beaten you if it was a fair fight."
"Not a chance, Ice Queen," Qrow said. "You'd have a long way to go before you even got close. Besides, using my Semblance would have torn up the courtyard even more. Glynda would have had my head for that."
"A likely story," Winter said. "So you aren't actually that good, you just make other people fail more with your Semblance. I suppose I should hardly even feel bad now."
"As I recall, that fight ended because you decided not to run me through," Qrow said. "Not because you tripped or some crap like that."
"I do not trip," Winter said.
She put her foot in a rut in the street right after saying that and actually almost did pitch forward.
She caught herself, though, and brushed herself off with chagrin.
"A word of advice," Qrow said, "don't tempt fate around my Semblance."
Winter ignored that. "I'm sure that was already there."
"Not the point," Qrow said.
"Shut up." Winter huffily started walking faster.
[I never heard of Galavant, and then my sister at random started singing this song, and we realized it was perfect for Snowbird... Also, is the other name for that ship really Nightwatch? Because I don't get it.]