wanderer's lullaby

Hey, so the actual falconry stuff is going to start coming into more focus from here. If you’re sensitive to animal butchering and death, be aware that will be present more from here on out. It’s not going to be graphic or gory or anything though. It’ll be a couple vague sentences at worst.

***

Winter found her eyes slitting, the room filled with light. The clock read eight thirty. How had she slept so long? Then again, was it really so late? She’d been up until about three thirty, so she had only slept about five hours. It wasn’t a lot of sleep but it was better than nothing. She was going to have to try to sleep earlier. Then again, she’d tried to sleep about nine, so it wasn’t like she’d waited until two to try. She ran through her normal morning routine then headed downstairs. Qrow was talking on his scroll to somebody while Raven was nowhere to be seen. She slipped into the kitchen and heated her breakfast. As usual, it was pretty good. Yang’s cooking was more than competent for her age, but it was no surprise. She’d been cooking ever since Summer had died. She was surprised she could handle so much food at once… Enough for four aura users… Though she and Ruby wereyounger than she and Taiyang were… So they probably didn’t need quite as much as she and Taiyang did… By time she finished, Qrow came into the kitchen. He sighed and flopped into one of the chairs. “Sorry about ignorin’ ya, snowy. I was on call with my agent ‘bout what Rae suggested. The owners of the house agreed so she can move in asap.” He stroked his chin. “Aside from that, a though hit me: you know how to swim?” Winter blinked and shook her head. “I was never taught. In Atlas, we’re taught water is death. It’s best to avoid it whenever possible. You’ll get cold and die to hypothermia.” It was too cold to swim in Atlas, really. Even in the summer, it wasn’t enough. It was one thing if it was an indoor pool, but the overwhelming mindset in Altas it was best to just avoid water. She knew some upper-class families had them, but Schnee manor wasn’t one of those houses. At least to her knowledge. It wasn’t like she really had a chance to explore the manor. She had been risking enough going to see Weiss at night once a week. “Huh, thought the Special Operatives would have taught you to swim. Well, it might not be a bad way to kill a day. We’re on an island, so it’s a good chance to learn. We’d need to get you a suit, though.” Winter canted her head to the side. A suit? She didn’t know there were specific clothes for swimming. All she could picture was a man’s suit… Qrow slid his scroll across the table and she felt her entire face heat up. “W-What?!” she choked out. That was little better than underwear! How could anybody seriously wear that?! “P-Please tell me there’s something better than that!” SHe wouldn’t be caught dead in something like thatin public! People would get the wrong idea about her. He took his scroll back and fussed for a few minutes before showing her something else. “This work?” It went wrist to ankle and even had a little skirt attached to it. She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. “Yeah. It’s still a little too form fitting for my tastes, but that’s farsuperior to what you suggested before.” She didn’t understand how any woman could wear anything less than full-body covering. Yang flagrantly wore shirts with thin straps and shorts well above the knee. She was still a child; shouldn’t she have learned to keep herself covered at such an age? Men would think terrible thoughts about women and girls no matter their age. Whose fault would it be if she got hurt or assaulted? She really ought to protect herself better. “Swimsuits need to cut down on cloth so you won’t get dragged down. Making them form fitting helps to do that.” That did make sense. THey were taught about the dangers of cold water and how extra cloth caused a person to sink down. At least her whole body would be covered with the last one he showed her. It would still be a scandal in Atlas if it ever got back. Her husband allowing her to run wild and her being a loose woman for being allowed to wear something like that. Even mermaid-style dresses were considered scandalous due to how fitted they were. She remembered the talk at events for women wearing necklines below their collarbones and anything too form fitted… Winter quickly checked her account and found that 2500 lien had been transferred into it a few days before. She didn’t doubt the general would hold up his promise, but it was nice to have the reassurance of that money. “About how much are those swimsuits?” Hopefully it wouldn’t be horribly expensive. She was trying to avoid spending too much until she could get a job. But without rent and such, the money would go quite a lot further. Qrow fell silent for a few minutes as he scrolled through the site. “Looks like about thirty-five to forty-five.” That wasn’t too bad… Plus, if it lasted a while, it would be a lasting investment like the bike and mattress. Although… “Didn’t you say something about feeding the birds?” They hadn’t eaten in quite some time by the sound of it. Qrow nodded. “Yeah, we should probably take care of them before we get too into anything else.” He rose and beckoned Winter over to the sink. He took some bagged, tiny birds out of the fridge. She followed him and he started to run through how to disembowel it. She grimaced but followed along. “It is a bit gruesome, but it’s the circle of life. They need all parts of prey: hair or feathers, organs, bones, and meat. You can’t feed a raptor chicken or beef from the store and expect it to thrive.” “Why are you removing that part if they need it all, then?” She didn’t know anatomy well enough to try to understand what parts he was taking out. It wasn’t like she was a hunter. She’d had some animal anatomy as part of biology. But it wasn’t like she’d learned to butcher animals before this point. “Large and small intestines mostly. That’s where all the nasty stuff is. Don’t want them eating that. But the heart, liver, and other organs? That’s all good stuff for them.” Ah, yes, that wouldn’t be good for them to eat. Waste was host to a ton of nasty bacteria. Letting them eat that wouldn’t be good. There were four full birds there. “That’s a lot of meat.” Would they be able to eat it all? Then again, they hadn’t eaten in quite a while. They were probably ravenous. Qrow nodded. “They haven’t eaten in a hot minute and they’re aura breeds in a warm climate. They’ll burn through a fair bit more energy than a normal raptor because of it. None of this will go to waste. I’ll toss the guts out to the fish. Normally we’d use everything in the tribe, but this is the modern world. Not much use for quail gust.” Winter grimaced at that. What could one possibly use intestines for? That she couldn’t wrap her head around. She knew a lot of primitive societies wasted little but even intestines? How? She really would not have survive even with the Branwen tribe. Disemboweling a quail made her queasy. How would she have been able to butcher and prepare a full deer? No thanks. “You wanna try, Winter?” He held up the last quail and she sighed internally. Not really, but she had promised to give Kiyay the best life possible. That meant feeding him, so she had to do this, no matter how much she wanted to turn away. “I will.” Qrow leaned against the counter and she took his previous position. He ran her through what to do. She felt a bit lightheaded as she slowly moved through his directions. Her hands shook and she slipped a few times. But his voice remained steady and gentle the whole time. He never once lost patience with her. She was…glad She made a lot of mistakes compared to his fluid, practiced movements. Her stomach did lurch, though, and she needed to sit down afterward. “Good job, snowy. Most people wouldn’t be able to do half as well as that their first time butchering something. It’ll get easier with time; I promise. Soon it’ll be like any other muscle and it’ll be so easy you won’t bat an eyelash.” “Right…” Her head spun and she leaned forward, resting against the table. How did people live like this? Qrow had done this on the daily and continued to do this on missions. She was surprised she hadn’t lost her breakfast yet. This was the most disgusting thing she’d ever done. She’d thought handling packaged meat was nasty the first time she’d done it. Cooking had been quite the adventure but she’d had the general to watch over her. This was another thing entirely… “By the way, Winter, there is an important falconry principle I should teach you about now.” “Hm?” She forced herself to look up at him. What could it be? Though she shouldn’t be learning and applying for an apprenticeship at some point? The AI had helped her learn that Vale was pretty strict about falconry. She was an immigrant breaking the law. What would happen if this was found out? Plus, shouldn’t the birds be checked by a vet and quarantined or something? She didn’t really understand how all of this worked… “You need to learn to feed off the fist. Normally it’s the first step in the manning process, but you and Kiyay kinda skipped it. My mother’s birds have always been a bit peculiar, so it’s not like you did anything wrong.”She had been about to panic. She was trying to provide the best life she could for Kiyay, so if she had missed something important… She really didn’t want to do something that would cause him harm. She was such a novice and she didn’t know what she was doing. Qrow really was her guidance at the moment. “Calm down, snowy; it’s nothing to lose your head over.” He smiled at her and she nodded a bit. He took some shears out of his falconry bag and cut the quail into smaller pieces. She still felt lightheaded from what she’d done. Watching still wasn’t easy. He filled a large plastic baggie with the pieces, then handed it to her. “Eating off the fist is usually step one in gaining a raptor’s trust. Bending their head down means they expose themselves to being attacked while eating. You may or may not get some mantling despite his trust in you.” She nodded a bit. She wanted to believe he wouldn’t mantle, but instinct would be hard to override. He might try to protect his “kill” by fanning his tail and wings out. Hopefully he wouldn’t but she couldn’t be sure. She put the baggie on the counter and retrieved her falconry bag from Summer’s room, then picked the baggie back up. She followed Qrow outside where the two birds waited in a tree. She followed his lead in holding her glove up and the two birds landed on their fists. She followed his lead on how to hold the meat and Kiyay started plucking ravenously at the small tidbit. He looked alarmed when he finished, but she put another out for him. She settled in one of the lawn chairs, putting tidbits out as he finished. She did feel unsettled handing meat over like this, but it would be part of her world from now on. She’d heard on Ben’s channel she would sometimes have to dispatch prey if the bird hadn’t fully killed it itself. All of this was rather upsetting but it was a responsibility. She’d accepted she would be way outside her comfort zone with this. It didn’t mean it would be easy on her, though. She was so far removed from how food was produced and this was getting her up close and personal with processing. She wouldgive Kiyay the best life possible. She wanted it to be as good as it’d been in the tribe if at all possible. Eventually, she saw his crop starting to bulge from beneath his feathers and the baggie was almost empty. He looked a lot more content and lowered his head without going for the tidbit. She lightly petted his head and smiled. “I can only imagine how much better you must feel.” Of course, he couldn’t understand her. He did seem to retain some Valian but it would take time to fully communicate with him. Hopefully they could start doing daily sessions now. Things seemed to be stabilising to some degree, so maybe she could start to rely on that… “Hey Winter.” She blinked and looked over at him. “Tomorrow’s your birthday, right?” He remembered? She hadn’t expected anything in general. Birthdays had been another excuse to earn money and show her off. They really didn’t mean anything to her. “Yes. Why do you ask?” “I just wanted to make sure I had it right. Is there anything in particular you might want? Cake, presents? Anything like that?” She shook her head. “No, not really. Birthdays never meant much in Schnee manor.” It was just another way for Gelé to exert control over her. She really didn’t know what to say about it. It was another day for her after she’d left the manor. The general had never really celebrated so she saw no reason to try to do anything for it. “If you don’t mind, I’d still ike to do something for you tomorrow. But if not, I’ll respect that. Take some time to think on it if you want.” He petted Mono’s head and she fell quiet. Birthdays really meant nothing to but he wanted to do something for her. Vale was a completely different world to Atlas and she needed to adapt.S he really did need to learn to deal with Valian society better. So if he wanted to do something for her… “I suppose.” She really didn’t know what to expect though… What would he want to do for her? Her mind went to intimacy and made her shudder. But she saw him shake his head. “Nothing like that, Winter. That will remain yourchoice if you want it. I’m thinking a nice dinner or something of the like. Maybe a bit of a day out. I still won’t lay a hand on you if I don’t want it. Okay?” He extended his free hand out to her and she hesitated. But then she took it. “Okay.” She could handle dinner or something else like that. SHe’d already been alone with him thus far and nothing had happened. Being in a public place would be fine. Still she couldn’t shake the feeling he could turn on her at any moment. Men were so liable to turn on those around them at the most opportune time. She’d seen it happen more than once. Men were fickle creatures that could be far worse monsters than even the Grimm they fought against… She would trust a Grimm over a man that wasn’t the general anyday. He lightly squeezed her hand. “Think you’d like to try some Mistrali food? It won’t be spicy or anything, I promise.” “I suppose.” She had learned to try some food outside of Atlassian, but procuring ingredients could be difficult. Most commissaries only catered to Atlassian sensibilities. She’d never really gotten to eat too far outside of her comfort zone. Even Yang’s cooking wasn’t too challenging to her pallet. She didn’t entirely mind, but at the same time, she was here to learn and grow, right? She wanted to be challenged. She would never reach a perfection if she didn’t overcome whatever was in her way. Qrow smiled and released her hand. “I’ll make a reservation at the restaurant I’m thinking about, then. It may not be Schnee upscale, but for a schmuck like me, it’s pretty nice.” “What should I wear?” “Honestly, whatever you want. But I’ll wear some nice slacks and button down since it’s a bit of a special occasion.” She nodded. So nice but still somewhat casual. She had some business casual clothes that would fit the bill. They were Atlassian, but as long as they were in air conditioning, it would probably be fine… She really needed to expand her wardrobe to include somewhat nicer pieces that were better for the Valian heat… “By the way, Mister Branwen, what exactly is lure work for?” She had put the general pieces together when watching Jodi, but she didn’t really get what it was for.She saw the aplomado going for it, but that was about it. What exactly was the purpose of the mysterious object? She saw one in her falconry bag… “Ah, right. I didn’t really explain it to you after Jodi showed you a few days ago.” He sat Mono on the chair arm and took the lure out of his bag. “It has a lot of uses like exercising the bird. You’ll want to do this in an open area like the beach, otherwise the birds won’t have room to fly. Longwings need to be flown in open country.” Winter nodded. She knew that much at least. She just hadn’t gotten to the lure in Ben’s videos. He stood up and started swinging the lure with practiced ease. “Big falcons like peregrines and gyrs get what you give. Their fitness can fal pretty fast if you let ‘em sit around too long. We’ll want to get these guys hunting asap.” The homeowners had agreed so they could hopefully start soon enough. She was both excited and dreading it… Excited to see the birds in action, dreading the actual hunting part. But she would do it. She wouldn’t let Dove down and let her previous bird wither away to nothingness from lack of hunting… She wouldgive him a good life. “I’ll see if my friend Opal can be a bit of a chauffeur for us tomorrow. I have a bit more in mind for tomorrow than just dinner if that’s okay.” More than dinner? What could he be planning? But it didn’t seem negative… Benefit fo the doubt. Plus, she wouldn’t mind getting away from the house for a little while. She’d been here for a week with very little reprieve. Though something did hit her which made her frown. “What about the tabloids?” If anybody saw them out and about, it would get back to Atlas and she would never live it down. She really wouldn’t be able to escape it. She was a married woman. How could she ever get past any of this? No company would want to hire her if she was all over the tabloids! Getting out sounded nice in principle, but now that she thought about it…it would be a living nightmare to actually do. Qrow shook his head. “This ain’t Atlas, Winter. Most Valian people aren’t gonna care about seeing us together. I know our marriage is front-page news in Atlas, but not here.” He took a minute to pull something up on his scroll then handed it to her. It was the day after they they got married. She had to scroll to the verybottom of the tabloid section to see anything about it. She swiped through the next few days and saw nothing. Vale really didn’t care about their marriage… She went to an Atlassian news site and saw it was still front-page news even after two weeks. People would probably get paid handsomely if they reported anything to the Atlassian media. People were reallyhungry for gossip in Atlas. Not that they weren’t in Vale, but they cared more about Valian gossip than Atlassian. That really did surprise her. She was the disinherited Schnee heiress, married at an age just over being legal to a man twenty years her senior. She was surprised they didn’t care more. At least she didn’t have to worry too much here in Vale though… “All right…” She handed his scroll back. “Aren’t there dedicated tabloid sites and papers, though…?” She’d seen them in Atlas before at store checkouts. She’d seen absolutely ludicrous accusations. Those sorts of publications would probably pay a tonof money for pictures of them. “There are, but most people don’t pay attention to ‘em. They’re trash and not worth the paper they’re printed on. Small minds need small entertainment.” He snorted and she nodded. That was true. She’d never really cared about her public image to some degree. She still did need to be careful, though… If one thing went wrong between now and when she took over the SDC, it would never be forgotten. She couldn’t handle it if things came crashing down. She had worked to cultivate a good image for the public to look good for being president. This was all such a balancing act… “All right. We can go out then.” She wondered what all he had planned. She didn’t really like surprises though. She didn’t like changes to her schedule. But she didn’t have a schedule here yet… Nothing would be the same as Atlas. She probably wouldn’t really get a schedule until she got a job or into school… That…was really upsetting. She preferred the predictability of a stringent schedule. There was too much uncertainty in this sort of life for her liking. “There won’t be alcohol involved, right?” She was surprised she hadn’t seen him touch anything yet. Had he really sworn off aside from the date around Summer’s death? He shook his head. “Nah. The dinner place serves alcohol, but I won’t order any. I promise.” He took his flask out and handed it to her. The liquid was brownish and she sniffed it. Some sort of tea? “Only water or tea. I promise you that. I just can’t break the habit of going for my flasks. But I’ve given up the bottle as best I can. I don’t want to trigger you.” She did feel a little warmth in her chest at that. “Plus, I gotta be clean for the girls. Courts won’t look kindly on a drunk trying to take two neglected little girls.” That…was fair, she supposed… “Anyway, wanna learn to swing the lure? It’ll take daily practice but you can get it in time.” He smiled at her and she nodded. Jodi had mentioned using lures for shows, so she would learn it. She sat Kiyay on the chair arm. Over the next little while, he started showing her the ropes of swinging the lure. It was a lot more complicated than he made it look. It would definitely take her time to learn things. But she would learn it. She had to keep Kiyay fit so he could hunt. If big falcons were what one gave, then she had given nothing. He would lose fitness and possibly an entire hunting season. She couldn’t do that to him. She would give him the best life possible. She really wanted to see him through the rest of his life well. It was a big responsibility and she knew it. “By the way, Qrow, shouldn’t there be regulations about birds from other countries…? I know Vale is pretty stringent about falconry regulations.” She didn’t know what all it included. All she knew was that she should be studying for the apprentice exam. She shouldn’t be flying a bird yet, let alone something as large as a gyrfalcon. They were highly complex birds and hard to train compared to a kestrel, red tail, or Harris hawk. Qrow snorted. “I’ll talk to Fish and Wildlife about all of this. I’m not a licensed falconer, but I know the art inside and out. Plus, I know my birds are healthy, though I will still have them vaccinated. Not really required but best to talk to the department ‘bout me and Raven. We’re master-class falconers, not know-nothings who have only seen raptors from a distance. And I’ll see if they’ll bend the rules for you.” Winter nodded a bit. He was Qrow Branwen, so she doubted the government would stand up to him too much. He kept the kingdoms safe. Angering somebody as influential as Qrow Branwen (and even Raven Branwen) was a verybad idea. It wasn’t as bad as angering Gelé, but it wasn’t too far behind. Though would it effect her immigration standing? She hoped not.She needed to be able to get her Valian citizenship and bring Weiss (and hopefully Whitley) to Vale. She couldn’t leave her little sister to languish in Atlas. She couldn’t let WEiss be sold off to the highest bidder. And she couldn’t let Whitley be fully molded into what Gelé wanted him to be. She could make a case for Weiss for all the physical abuse but she’d never seen him lay a hand on Whitley. Coco had combed through the files and saw nothing. Then again, Kali and Sienna might be able to do something… She wiped her brow. “How ‘bout we head inside, snowy? It’s gotta be getting hot for you.” She nodded. “I would appreciate a cold glass of ice water.” She patted Kiyay’s head and followed Qrow inside. “By the way, you like tea?” “I have a blend I like, yes. Why do you ask?” This was a rather random turn of events. Why was he so keen on her drinking tastes all of a sudden? They headed into the kitchen and he pulled a pitcher from the cabinet. She tilted her head. “Ever heard of cold brew?” She shook her head. “Basically, you leave tea in cold water in the fridge, then you water it down a bit. Thought you would enjoy it in the Valian heat. Do you want to ry it?” “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” She went up and retrieved her couple packs of tea from her suitcase. She handed the chocolate-orange teabags to him and he dropped about half a box’s worth of bags into the pitcher. “Wait until tomorrow morning and it’ll be good to go. Do you like your tea strong?” “Sometimes, yes. It’s caffeine free, so I don’t have to worry about overload.” Plus, he said she could water it down. She had a whole pitcher to play with. She just hoped that the specific brand was easily available in Vale or there was some equivalent. She really enjoyed the chocolate-orange blend. “Do you know if this brand is available in Vale…?” “I don’t, but I can try to find some loose-leaf equivalent for you if it’s not. I’ll get some for ya if I can’t find the brand.” Winter nodded a bit. She’d never tried loose leaf before… Maybe it was worth a shot… “Anyway, snowy, why don’t you go rest a bit more? I can sense you’re still tired. Even if it’s just reading or something, why not try to spend the day quietly?” Winter tapped her chin then nodded a bit. Yeah, she was still pretty tired. She could spend the day reading those books Qrow had given her and then browse Summer’s collection. One thing did hit her, though. “By the way, when do you think I could meet your friend Raye?” Now that things were quieting down a bit, she needed to focus on expanding her horizons. She wanted to meet these friends of Harriet’s eventually. But the first step in doing that was meeting Qrow’s friend. He blinked at the question then nodded. “Well, Opal is Raye’s partner, so I guess tomorrow morning would work. I wasn’t planning on heading out till about noon, but we could leave earlier than that if you want to.” Winter nodded. “I want to meet…him? Her?” Qrow hadn’t really mentioned that… “Raye’s pronouns are they/them.” “Them, then.” That…was so strange. She didn’t know that a singular person could use plural pronouns. Valian was a strange language. Atlas did have neuter but she’d never seen or heard it used like this before. But it was Raye’s identity so she would do her best to respect it. Just because she didn’t understand didn’t mean she had to be an ass about it. “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.” “See ya later, snowy. Rest well.” Qrow smiled at her and she withdrew to Summer’s room. She had a lot of reading to do before she met Raye tomorrow…