The decorators had decked out the courtyard in flower wreaths and ribbons, according to Weiss' taste--with some debate from Yang.
[Couldn't quite find what I was looking for, but this Etsy image conveys kind of the idea.]
Weiss, the maid of honor, naturally, looked more composed than the bride.
Whitley had gotten to be ring bearer.
Qrow hadn't elected to have a best man but instead had Ruby be best girl, defying tradition.
Ruby was fine with that.
Though the only official guests were all people they knew, some onlookers did peer over their heads from a distance.
Mercury heard one of them say, "I thought those two had a thing when I saw their fight."
Well, he thought that was funny.
"How many more of these do you think we'll be invited to?" Emerald asked him. She wasn't in the wedding party this time; Winter had kept it more short on the list of participants--not being as unwilling to leave people out as Pyrrha, perhaps.
"I have no idea. Dozens at the rate we're going." Mercury looked annoyed.
"Still, doesn't it make you kind of want more?" Emerald ventured to say.
"No," Mercury said.
Emerald cast him a look.
"I'm pretty happy where I am, I guess," Mercury shrugged. "For me. Why jinx it?"
"I mean, you have to keep hoping for the next thing," Emerald said. "I think that's what keeps us growing, not just stuck in one place."
"Nothing wrong with being in a good place either," Mercury pointed out.
Emerald shrugged.
"Maybe it's a bit of both," Pyrrha spoke up, glancing at them sideways. "It's moving and being in the same place. I mean...to think of it, we're all moving forward, but somehow, I think we're the same too. Winter and Qrow aren't exactly changing, they're...expanding, I think."
"I don't know--don't you think getting married just limits you more?" Mercury said.
"I wouldn't say that at all." Jaune looked at him. "It just opens up a different range of possibilities. I don't see how staying stuck in a weird dating pattern forever would have made us have any more options."
"I wouldn't call it limiting at all," Pyrrha said. "And since you're not, maybe you're making snap judgments. You're looking at it from the outside, Mercury. It's different."
"Says the girl who had her first anniversary not that long ago. You guys are barely married," Mercury said.
"Longer than you," Jaune muttered.
"Shh," Oscar hissed. "I can't hear."
They lapsed into silence.
The ceremony went similar to before.
Winter and Qrow didn't give any speeches though. Winter was too shy to possibly have made it through hers if she had one--and Qrow was afraid he'd have cried or forgotten what to say if he did.
And no one really thought it was necessary. The way they said their vows was already pretty sweet.
"Qrow's not taking his eyes off her for a second," Raven noted to Robyn, who was there, of course. "He's so obviously head over heels."
"I know. It's so sweet..." Robyn was emotional, even.
"I was counting on you to be the one person who'd keep it together," Raven said. "I've never seen you cry."
"I only cry at happy stuff," Robyn sniffled. "It's a thing about me." [Same, girl, mostly.]
"Tissue?" Shine passed her one.
"When Qrow gets married before you do..." Tai muttered to Theo.
Theo thought that was funny. "I got married before you did, too."
Tai looked put out.
But no one paid the negativity any mind.
If Winter and Qrow had learned one thing since the crazy adventures of the last few years had started, it was that there were always going to be people who say you couldn't do a thing, or that you shouldn't, or that it's risky, and who would be anxious not to have hope or fun.
And that had been them, once.
But it wasn't now.
And so they didn't listen to it anymore.
[Sleeping at last--"Sun"]
After the ceremony part, the reception was in the school.
They couldn't keep some curious students from sneaking in, even if they weren't invited, but no one really cared about that.
It had been almost 2 years now, and spirits were even higher than last time.
Theo and Vara also livened up any gathering--for better or worse.
In this case, they were all pretty tame for them. Theo didn't blow anything up except fireworks outside, and Vara didn't start any fights. Though she did regale some people with tales of Vacuo...and Weiss' adjustment period in it, to Weiss' annoyance.
Meridian, though, negated it by hyping her up also, which worked well.
Vara also hung out with Kip, who also asked about his mother.
"She's...well, she's still working," Vara told him. She rubbed her arms. "You might want to visit though. She's...well, her health isn't really getting better."
"Oh..." Kip said somberly.
"Oh, she's okay," Vara said, trying not to put a damper on the mood. "Just...weak. But her mind is as active as ever. She is generous.... I mean, we have to veto her more dangerous ideas, but for redesigning machines and stuff, she's still the best in the business. And she's working on the dust-tracking devices that will work even better than the old ones. You know...so people can find it faster once they start exploring again."
"That's good," Kip said. "I'd be...good at that. I can sense a lot of stuff." He tapped his arm.
"Yeah, but that's a dangerous job, kiddo. Are you sure you want it?" Vara asked.
"I wouldn't mind some more adventure," Kip said. "I haven't seen that much of the world still. Penny feels the same way."
"I guess," Vara said. "You can always visit us if you're bored. We'd find something for you."
Kip didn't commit to that.
"So you're really going to keep going with this group you've started?" Weiss was talking to Emerald. "I mean, it sounds great.... I told Robyn about it, you know, after you first brought it up a few months ago, and she's been talking it up in Vacuo. Maybe they could help."
"Vacuo isn't the best environment for kids..." Emerald said. "But we can't turn down help if they want to help."
"There're some responsible people there," Weiss said, "if you look hard enough. I've been trying to, believe me.... I can look into it more. Robyn's a great hype woman, though, and so is Meridian."
"I'd appreciate it," Emerald said. "I'm not sure I'm that good at planning this kind of thing, but everyone keeps giving me support for the idea. I'm just glad Raven agreed to help me. I would be drowning otherwise."
"Are you going to try the small town idea?" Meridian asked.
"Yeah, actually," Emerald said. "I have some time away from the opps for a while. I thought I might scout while I'm on it. Mercury can come with me if he wants. I'm not sure he's really concerned about this project."
"You'd think he would be," Meridian said. "Isn't he in the same boat?"
"Sometimes he's just...I don't know, he doesn't like to believe in stuff," Emerald said.
"Hmm, you know, if he's holding you back, you could...just not have him as your partner..." Weiss said uneasily.
Emerald frowned. "But we've always said we'd have each other's backs. And we always do. Even if he's a pill about it, I can always count on him to protect me. I could trade him out for a nicer person, maybe, but would they be that committed?"
"I admire your patience," Meridian said. "Not sure I'd have it, but I admit it. But if that bugger can't see how lucky he is to have you, he doesn't deserve you."
"He doesn't deserve her, period," Weiss said.
"Guys." Emerald blushed. "I'm not this big catch, you know."
"That's what you think," Meridian said. "You're a one-woman cause these days, with a heart of gold. Weiss is my favorite, but you're on my top 10 at least of people I'd be proud to say I know."
"Really?" Emerald said.
"I mean, considering how similar our backgrounds are, are you really that surprised? You're a legend to street kids everywhere," Meridian said.
Emerald smiled.
"Okay!" Robyn was hitting her spoon on a glass. "Settle down, everyone. We're gonna get back to dancing and eating in a second, but now it's time for the speeches!"
"I thought we weren't doing those," Winter said to Qrow.
"Actually, you just said you didn't want to do one, but nothing about anyone else," Qrow shrugged. "And...well...some people were asking to."
"How bad is this going to be?" Winter mused.
"As long as Theo doesn't make a speech--" Qrow began.
Theo stood up.
Some people cheered--mostly just the ones who thought this would be funny.
"Well, it's been nice to catch up with all of you," Theo said loudly. "I really never thought this day would come. Qrow's finally going to have the old ball and chain--"
Vara hit him with a well-aimed napkin ring.
Theo rubbed his head.
"Just kidding." He grinned. "But in all seriousness, I think this is a good thing. And I'm happy for you, and I think that's all I'm going to say. You can stop giving me dirty looks now."
"Less bad than I thought," Qrow remarked.
"Well, no one else could be worse..." Winter was optimistic.
"Don't let Yang make a speech this time," Whitley winced. "I remember last time."
"Ooh, oh, me!" Ruby held up her hand.
"Well, that's not so bad," Qrow said.
Ruby got up.
"I guess I keep making these," she said. "But hey, I'll keep it short. I just want to tell you all I'm so excited to have Weiss finally be a part of our family."
"Ruby..." Weiss said, pretending to be embarrassing, but she was really flattered.
"And we'll get used to Whitley," Ruby asked.
"Excuse me?" Whitley said.
"Just kidding, we love you." Ruby waved at him. "And you replaced my scroll after I dropped it in the bay, so I'm not gonna say anything bad about you. And I'm also really happy Winter's going to be my aunt. So yeah, we love you, Winter, and welcome to our family!"
"Aww," Tai said.
"Ugh," Yang said. "That was so cheesy. Everyone's going to be all emotional about it."
"I thought it was sweet," Neptune sniffled.
"That was really nice, Ruby," Oscar said when she sat down.
"I just wanted the chance to embarrass Uncle Qrow," Ruby said.
"That was nice," Winter told Qrow.
"Yeah..." Qrow was trying not to cry.
Winter had hoped that Ruby would be the last person, but her mother also stood up.
"Well, I want to second Ruby's welcome to our family, only in reverse," she said, earning a few chuckles. "As some of you know, my father, Nicholas Schnee, was an explorer as well as a businessman. And one thing he always expressed to me was that we can't be content with the same old things all the time. We have to keep pushing the limits of what we think is possible. I can't think of a better way to do that then combining our families, and I'm happy that we're making some new beginnings here today. I wish you both happiness." She smiled.
People clapped.
"You're going to go, right?" Wally said to Shine. "It's tradition by now."
"By now as in I've done it one time?" Shine said.
"Everyone liked it before," Wally said.
"Yeah, you go," Sun said.
"It's not a party till you've done your song and speech routine," Neptune added.
"Yeah, you should," Blake agreed.
"Yeah, come on. Shine, Shine!" Ruby started to cheer.
The others joined in.
Shine looked ready to die of embarrassment.
"You might as well just give the people what they want," Wally said.
"Yeah, you go too," Sun said.
"Oh yeah, that ought to be pretty good," Meridian said.
"But I'm not a speech person..." Wally said.
"Waly, Wally, Wally," they cheered.
"Let's just go together." Shine tugged his arm and stood up.
"Oh, you really don't have to if you don't want to," Winter said.
"If you don't want, we can sit back down," Shine shrugged.
"Oh, let's hear what you got." Qrow knew it was always entertaining with them.
Winter shrugged. "I don't object if you want to make an address."
"Well, I guess the people have spoken," Wally said.
He looked around. "I don't have a whole lot of words, but, congrats to you two. I hope you'll have a really long time."
"What can I add to that?" Shine shrugged. "From the moment I saw you tear up that courtyard out there, I thought you'd be good together, and I was so proven right."
Winter and Qrow both gave her looks of confusion but also amusement--they were in a good mood.
Other people thought it was funny.
"You could say Shine is part of the reason they got together," Wally said. "That and Raven."
Raven winked at him.
"That's not really true," Winter said.
"We're just messing with you," Wally said. "But really, congratulations and good night, right?"
"Yeah, but you gotta do the song," Ruby said.
"Why?" Shine asked.
"It's tradition," Pyrrha said.
"Yeah, we got one," Jaune said.
"For all of you?" Shine looked a little overwhelmed. "That's going to be interesting..."
"Pick something funny," Yang called.
"Yeah, something that sums them up," Mercury agreed.
"Hey, let's not be mean, guys," Wally said. "Happy thoughts."
"Then pick a happy song," Emerald said.
"Please, I need to add to my list anyway." Weiss had her scroll out.
"Is she planning to use all this later?" Wally asked Shine.
"I guess she's thinking she'll be doing the wedding personally in the future--she might not be wrong," Shine mused. "I guess I should give her some good material.... My mind is going blank."
"You have a ton of these," Wally said.
"Yes...oh..." Shine suddenly looked up. "I think I've got one." She looked at them. "I remember, Winter, a long time ago now, we talked about love and life and risk and a lot of other things. I mean, we do love to talk."
People laughed.
Winter smiled and nodded.
"And we talked about how things aren't guaranteed," Shine reflected. "But some things are worth the risk anyway. In fact, it's that risk that makes them real. That's something I think we've talked about to you both, and to all of you, a lot. I mean, everyone here has had to take immense risks."
She thought. "And marriage, like anything else, is a risk. But it's one worth taking. You both know already that life is not easy or simple, but you decided it was worth it. And against all odds and fortune--" with a nod at Qrow, "--you've come this far." She smiled. "And I don't know what's in the future, but I do know that it doesn't matter. It's the choices we make now that matter. And so, with that in mind, I think I do have a little song that I personally like to sing when I need to remember that..."
She began:
"We said our promises by candlelight. You held my hand. I was dressed in white. We were young.
"I knew I wanted you and no one else,. I told my Mama that I found myself in your eyes.
...
"The same sun that melts the wax, can harden clay.
"And the same rain that drowns the rat, will grow the hay.
"And the mighty wind that knocks us down, if we'll lean into it, will drive our fears away."
["How Can we See that Far?"--Amy Grant.]
Willow teared up a little, and she wasn't the only one.
Everyone applauded.
Shine was just glad she'd thought of something.
"You got to stop making me do that," she said after sitting down.
"Next time we'll ask ahead of time," Pyrrha said.
"Maybe we should duet," Weiss mused. "I have some songs I've been learning, different styles, lately."
"That would be fun," Shine agreed.
* * *
After that wedding, Shine and Wally again left, with promises to return at another occasion.
A few months passed. Winter and Qrow settled into their new routine.
Raven suspected it was not seamless for them, but they never complained about any difficulties, and they seemed so happy, despite the many challenges of the job that were still ongoing, that she really was kind of jealous.
Robyn was a little envious herself. But she had lots of distractions with work.
Emerald had enlisted her help with the ongoing problem of housing orphans and other needy individuals--they were still working on a name for it that was catchier than that.
As autumn was beginning, and summer break was over for Ruby, she was going to get sent on more missions, now she was in her last year of Beacon.
She called Qrow to beg to go on a mission with him.
"At my level, I only have to go with one other person," she pleaded. "Come on, we haven't fought any monsters together in a long time."
"Ruby, I live in another kingdom," Qrow said.
"So?" Ruby said.
Well...it wasn't like it was impossible.
"What kind of mission?" Qrow asked.
"I didn't get that far yet.... Let me check." Ruby hung up.
"Ruby?" Winter looked at Qrow from across the room.
"Yeah, she wants to go fight monsters together," Qrow said. "I guess we haven't had any quality time in a while."
"Well, that sounds nice." Winter looked at her computer.
"You don't mind?" Qrow said.
"No, I'm sure Miss Rose will take care of you." Winter was savage.
"You could act a little more sorry to see me go," Qrow said.
"But you'll be only gone for one day." Winter looked up. "At least it better only be one day.... Actually, come to think of it, there is a project we're finally trying to start up again, if you're interested."
"Which one?" Qrow asked, coming over to look.
Winter found this distracting, but she clicked open a file.
"Theodore had been messaging me and Raven for months about starting expeditions to try to find more dust again and partially clear more Grimm out of the edges of the kingdoms," Winter said. "It's hard to say if there's any natural dust deposits left that we're not already mining. But with lots of Atlas resources still...I suppose they think it's worth a shot, but we couldn't spare enough people to make the idea worth it. However, Kanap has been working on some devices to make it safer and to reduce the strain on our manpower. And her son and Miss Polendina have both offered to be part of it. They can go places most people can't go easily."
"That's not a bad idea, but that's not the work of a few days," Qrow said.
"No, but there are a lot of Grimm in this area. We've been getting some requests for help from some of the smaller towns." Winter pointed to a map. "Miss Rose could easily clear out most of them single handedly, but if you go together, even better. Give the other huntsmen a bit of a break before they have to fight. I wouldn't want them to spend too much time doing smaller jobs."
"I guess that works," Qrow said. [Get you a girl who will assign you the right dangerous mission to do for family bonding.]
"Raven is sending Sustrai and Black's team out that way also to take care of some potential Mind Grimm," Winter said. "You can all fly out together and save on fuel, if you wish."
"This is in Mistral?"
"Yes, to the west."
"Then Raven better just portal Ruby here using Tai, but yeah, we can take care of this," Qrow said. "Be home in time for dinner--maybe."
Winter smiled dryly.
* * *
Ruby was stoked to not only be teaming up with her uncle, but with her other friends also--at least for a short time.
Tai begged her not to go off for too long and leave him alone with his new charge, and she cheerfully told him it wouldn't be too long.
"Just be careful out there," Oscar said, when she was packing up. "I mean, I know you and Qrow can handle it, but you know, Mind Grimm and stuff, it's still...pretty weird to think about."
"We've got it." Ruby held up her scroll. "I have the playlist for killing Grimm right there. We've got the book." She pointed to her bag. "We'll be back in no time. I'm kinda hoping to visit Yang too, if she's around.... Anyway you'll be fine."
"Oh, it's not that," Oscar said. "Me and my friends are going to be studying and stuff together."
"Oscar...you're not going to basically help them pass their tests by letting them copy your answers again, are you?" Ruby said.
Oscar rubbed his head. "I didn't try to do that--they just ask me questions about the material and I answer."
[I had the same thing happen to me in my classes.]
"It's okay to say no," Ruby pointed out.
"I say no!" Oscar was a little ruffled. "I think I have a lot of practice saying no to stuff actually."
"Yeah, okay." Ruby stopped teasing him. "Anyway, I'll see you later."
"Yeah, good--uh, Godspeed." Oscar had adopted Winter's habit of censoring the word "luck".
* * *
"Road trip!" Ruby told Emerald and Mercury when they were all on the ship.
"Yeah." Emerald high-fived her. "Just like old times, right? Hey. you could stick around a little longer. Two Silver-Eyed Warriors would finish off any Mind Grimm we find like nothing."
"I wouldn't want to make it too easy for you," Ruby said. "Besides, Uncle Qrow and I have to kick Grimm tail with the others."
"I'm delighted that you're going to help us." Penny put her hands together. "I could handle the Grimm of course, but you'll save us time getting started."
"Yeah...I hope it's not too soon for this," Kip said. He'd been training to fight the last year now, but he wasn't sure how ready he was--though he could use weapons so easily, especially if they used dust the way his mom's had, that he really had nothing to worry about.
"You're going to do fine, Kip," Penny said enthusiastically.
In the last few years Penny had adopted more and more human mannerisms, and you almost couldn't tell she was a robot now--except that she could still fly. And scan things with her eyes...and plug into computers.
Her soul seemed to grow stronger with time and with more exposure to other humans.
Kip had grown a bit, though he still looked very much like a young teen.
Most of the huntsmen in Argus called them the "odd ducks" because they were always together and always little socially challenged compared to other people, but with hearts of gold, and no one really disliked them for being odd.
They had some more team members with them, who the others didn't know, except by sight for Emerald and Mercury, and a lot of tools.
"Are we sure we can trust anything that crazy Kanap woman invented?" Mercury tapped one.
"That's a rocket launcher. You might not want to jiggle it," Kip said.
Mercury stepped back.
"My mother has turned over a new leaf," Kip said. "Mostly because magic is no longer a thing. And Theodore put a ban on her purchasing dust outside of what she uses at their labs.... From what I've heard, though, she's still the most popular weapons designer in Vacuo."
"Things work out so weirdly," Emerald said. "I guess Watts would say it's because skill speaks more than your record does.... Watts...how's he doing anyway?"
"Still working on devices," Kip shrugged. "He seems happy enough, for him."
"Everyone ready?" the pilot, who was Zapato, asked them.
"Yeah. By the way, this ship is cool," Ruby said. "Is it yours?"
"Oh, no," Emerald said. "We're just lucky. The Argus manufacturers were finally able to make 2 of these. We need more, but even that many was huge, according to Winter. We needed one that could handle heavy cargo...and we're picking up some material for Argus merchants also. Everyone has to pull double duty."
"As long as we don't have to load the cargo, I couldn't care less," Mercury said.
"You could help," Royal said from the pilot's seat. "You might have some time to kill in Eurus."
"Where's Eurus?" Ruby asked.
"It's where we're going," Emerald said. "The Mind Grimm...at least we think that's what's going on."
[Eurus means "east wind" in Greek. Going with the Mistral theme of winds.]
"Everyone, sit down," Qrow said.
"And be boring?" Ruby said.
"Ruby," Qrow said.
Ruby sat down and rolled her eyes.
"Look what married life has done to you," Mercury said to Qrow. "I'm surprised you could tear yourself away for this long."
"It's just suppose to be a day," Qrow said. Then he frowned. "Coming from the guy who never leaves his partner."
"That's what you do with a partner, duh," Mercury said. "Don't read into it."
Emerald cast him a look and then said, "Did we introduce you guys to the rest of our squad?"
"No," Ruby said.
She was wondering who the grumpy-looking pair of Atlas huntsmen were.
Claw and Piper weren't enthused about hunting down Mind Grimm, as they'd heard plenty of stories about them from the heroes and people who'd heard hearsay about it.
"Ruby, Qrow, Penny, Kip." Emerald gestured. "Pedro Piper, our Grimm restrainer, and Sergeant (formally) Barbara or 'Babs' Claw. Our tracker."
They nodded.
"It's an honor to meet more of the heroes of Remnant," Claw said.
"Oh sure, greet them that way," Mercury said. "Give us a hard time."
"I thought you were going to let that go," Piper said dryly.
In the last several months, he'd warmed up to them a bit. Claw remained pretty cold--but they concluded that was just how she was. She wasn't that different to her other coworkers.
"And you're forgetting me," Royal said, offended.
"Oh yeah, Royal Zapato, our pilot," Emerald said. "He's not really on our team."
"Might as well be. I'm always the one assigned to fly you," Royal said.
"I think that's because Raven knows he's competent." Emerald lowered her voice. "She said she'd promote him if he wanted it, but he seemed okay with just flying people around."
"I'd introduce our team, but they seemed to have gone to the back," Penny said.
Apparently they weren't interested in socializing.