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video; un: harbinger
[The scruffy, middle-aged man that appears on the screen looks a bit uncomfortable. Videochat is certainly not his preferred mode of communication on these devices, but he does figure it would be helpful to see his face for what he's posting on the network to say, so.]
Uh...hey. I'm Qrow. If you don't know me from Deerington, I'm a Huntsman. Which--mostly means I've fought a lot of monsters and sh--[hm. children.]...crap like that.
So anyway, it's halfway through October, and the streets aren't overflowing with blood and corpses, and far as I know nobody's gotten eaten by monsters or lost their mind and gone on a murdering rampage. But that probably just means the town's waiting for us to let our guard down.
[Or maybe that's just paranoia. But Qrow would rather err on the side of paranoia rather than complacence, considering his last October.]
Point is, now seems like as good a time as any to learn to defend yourself if you don't already know how to fight. I uh, I used to teach teenagers in a combat school, a few years ago? So I've got some experience.
...Don't expect a lot, I quit for a reason--[that reason being, honestly, Ruby getting admitted to Beacon a full two years early, but shhh]--but you can get the basics down.
So yeah. Let me know.
Uh...hey. I'm Qrow. If you don't know me from Deerington, I'm a Huntsman. Which--mostly means I've fought a lot of monsters and sh--[hm. children.]...crap like that.
So anyway, it's halfway through October, and the streets aren't overflowing with blood and corpses, and far as I know nobody's gotten eaten by monsters or lost their mind and gone on a murdering rampage. But that probably just means the town's waiting for us to let our guard down.
[Or maybe that's just paranoia. But Qrow would rather err on the side of paranoia rather than complacence, considering his last October.]
Point is, now seems like as good a time as any to learn to defend yourself if you don't already know how to fight. I uh, I used to teach teenagers in a combat school, a few years ago? So I've got some experience.
...Don't expect a lot, I quit for a reason--[that reason being, honestly, Ruby getting admitted to Beacon a full two years early, but shhh]--but you can get the basics down.
So yeah. Let me know.
no subject
[Perhaps trying to let it be done was the best, but there are still ghosts haunting Winter and those who didn't entirely trust her for the events that transpired and her former ties to the general.]
I know. At least here we'll be able to continue fighting as well. Though it does bring up some complications.
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[He literally makes air quotes.]
And we saw how well that went for any Huntsman or Huntress that disagreed with good ol' Jimmy, didn't we? When your boss is trying to capture and arrest anyone that gets in his way, that's not exactly having options.
[It's one thing about how Atlas operated that he could never really get behind. Atlas students either joined the military or they left Atlas, honestly. Robyn's group were just about the only ones that didn't take the path of least resistance there.]
What complications?
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[Usually, if they didn't want to join the military they left before ever enrolling in the academy. Winter had always figured that's why Weiss had gone to Beacon.]
I'm not certain that I want to return, there are things here, people that I don't want to lose now. I don't think it's someone else back there, I remember everything and I did go back for a short time.
And what happens if they come here. What if we bring our problems and our war to this world? Furthermore, I've died here once, if that happens again what happens to the maiden powers?
How am I supposed to face Ruby, or Penny, or Weiss if she shows up again? Is it really alright to encourage them to find happiness here knowing what is going to happen?
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[He's Just Saying. He hasn't forgotten those "if you were one of my men I'd have you shot" remarks even back then!!]
Anyway, I think it's more complicated than that. Remember the whole freaky cocoons we'd wake up in after "going back"? Anyone who woke up for real just disappeared from Deerington, like Yang.
[He shakes his head.]
Ruby and Yang were in Deerington for months before I ever got there, but they were never missing from Remnant. Not to mention, from the beginning we were all from different times. None of it makes sense, not unless Cynthia was right--that there's other versions of us living those lives like we never left.
That dream could make us believe anything, even that we'd lived totally normal lives without Grimm or Salem in it, remember? Not exactly a stretch to show us more of the lives that we left behind like we actually experienced it, too.
[Qrow isn't sure what would have happened if he'd gone into those lighthouses in the storm, to head back home, if he would've retained anything from the dream or what, but the decision was already made by then. He didn't want to go back to a life where he'd have nothing left. There's nothing to be gained by looking back now. He actually scoffs a little, in no small part because he's already had this crisis and moved past it and he is not eager to revisit it.]
...Winter, Ruby doesn't even hate Neo. You'll be fine. As for the war...[he lets out a tired exhale] the relics aren't here. This place has its own gods, that the Brothers've got no power over. The old stakes don't matter, anymore. Salem wasn't immortal in the dream, and I'd be willing to bet she won't be if she ever comes crawling out of the ocean. We'll handle it, like we did before.
Until then, the war's over and done, at least for the rest of us. You've got to find a way to bury it, too, or the what-ifs'll eat you alive.
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[As for just letting go of the war, or the complications and the guilt of everything back home. It was a lot easier said than done, though Winter had promised she would try, she'd made a promise and even had a ceremony to bury the past with Rei. But right now, that particular flower wasn't blooming well.]
I don't think Ruby could hate anyone, neither would Penny. But Weiss, I should have listened to her from the beginning. I should have been there for her more. She wasn't ready, none of them were. I won't let those who aren't prepared make the same sacrifices or pay the same prices here. That's the only way that I can bury it.
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[He shrugs.]
Like...how Oz can't go back to old hosts, maybe. He's different each time, but he's still Oz, right?
[Qrow's not even sure if that makes sense. He just has to have faith that Cynthia was telling the truth when she told them they had the opportunity to be something new, without guilt. Damned if he understands how these dimensions work, but nothing else lines up with all they've experienced so far.]
But hey, don't sell those kids short. They're the whole reason we were able to get as far as we did, after Haven. Your sister's tough, I've seen her in action.
[He refuses to say "was". It's too much, too heavy to speak into the world.]
Still, it's a good step. Being too ready to make sacrifices for "the greater good" made so much go wrong before.
[He's not even just talking about Ironwood, here. It's the whole war. It's Pyrrha, the Fall of Beacon, Yang's arm. Summer. No, Qrow thinks he's rather had enough of sacrifices.]
There's better ways to do things.
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We can never be the same then.
[Winter nodded once more.]
It was a bit premature, but they truly did earn their licenses. With a little more training, there was so much they would accomplish.
[And they already had the experience of huntress on the job twice as long. As for sacrifices, Winter had only promised not to let others who should never have to make them. She fully intended to continue putting herself in front of any enemy that appeared no matter the danger.]
Like working together for a change. A not trying to hide it when something's wrong.
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[A beat. Lest he appear too overly sappy, he adds:]
--Well, maybe not me. [;)]
[As for that last part...he's not sure if that's meant to be a jab or not, but --]
Honestly? I'm real done with secrets for a lifetime or ten.
[So, so done.]
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[The quip came second nature, and Qrow had set himself up for it. Though Winter wasn't entirely certain that he wasn't baiting her.]
As am I.
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[Come on and put your lien where your mouth is, Winter!!! He hasn't had a good spar in ages.]
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[She wouldn't be against going up against someone else of a high caliber for a bit of practice. Though it did beg a matter of where would an appropriate venue.]
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[Does he sound like he maybe wants to involve them in bets. Okay, maybe, just a little bit. But he still wants to fight more than rope them into questionable life choices, at least, so there's that.]
The beach is a pretty wide-open area. It's not new-arrival time, so we won't be bothered if we pick a spot far enough from the boardwalk.
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[Was she actually going to give in and spar with this idiot that kept antagonizing her? Besides having a clear answer to what would have happened back in beacon had she not been called off what other point was there.]
What are the rules?
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[The point is fun, Winter. He knows that's a difficult concept for you but pls!!!]
How about we go to Aura break?
[He is maybe not quite so ready to go first-blood with an Atlesian with what happened to Clover still so fresh in his mind.]
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[The point is training and remaining in peak condition. Nothing about this was supposed to be fun.]
Agreed. Anything else?
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(He remembers the farmhouse. Never again, he swore to himself, leaving Argus. Never, ever again)]
Oh, I never had etiquette in the first place. And I think you and I both know my morals would never take a vacation to Atlas, of all places.
[Still a jab, but it remains a light one. Part of something that can remain like a game. He doesn't think Winter of all people has the right to condescend to him about morals, but this isn't for her. This is about his family. If this is all he has now, then he won't spend it chasing ghosts of Atlas should-haves.]
Good enough for me, Ice Queen. Let's dance.
no subject
Alright, I'll see you there.