wanderer's lullaby

It was about three when a knock came on the door. Winter blinked and looked up. She had finished the book on GRSM identities and was now looking at the various school materials to try to start studying for her GED. She had found a few mock tests online, though she hadn’t taken them yet. She wassupposed to be resting, after all. But not doing anything was driving her nuts. Qrow greeted her with a smile. “Hey, snowy. Sorry to interrupt you but I thought you might wanna meet someone.” She tilted her head. Who would he possibly want to meet at this point? He did have his contacts in Vale, of course. Maybe one of them? But who? Why would he think shewanted to meet one of his contacts? This didn’t make any sense. “Who would that be?” She was so confused. One of Raven’s portals opened and Raven poked her head out. Winter jumped. Holy Father, she would never get used to this. She knew it would be fine, but the portal was still intimidating. “Come on over.” Winter hesitated but followed Qrow through the portal. It was the property that they were putting an offer in on, though they were away from the house. They were by the barn where a few horses grazed in one of the fields. The gates to all the pastures remained open and Winter tilted her head to the side. “Aren’t you worried about them running away?” The way the Branwen tribe handled things was so strange. They left their falcons to be completely free in the forest. And now they weren’t having their horses behind gates. This was so very odd. “Nah. Our horses are partially wild like our falcons. They go up into the mountains during the cold months for the most part. They’ll come back when it starts getting warm. There’s no real point in keeping them behind gates when they naturally free roam.” Raven smiled. And they didn’t get themselves killed? That was crazy to think about. But she did suppose it made sense when she thought about it… There were wild populations of horses all over. She had only seen truly domesticated horses, kept below the likes of the city of Atlas. “I see. So why did you bring me here…” She didn’t really see the point of dragging her hair. She had regained a fair amount of energy, but she certainly did nothave the energy to ride a horse. She would probably barely have the energy to work that night… “Hunara.” One of the horses raised its head and trotted over. It bumped its head against Winter’s shoulder. Oh. She ran her hand along the horse’s nose and a small smile came to her lips. “Her name means to search or to see since she’s so good at picking up on animal trails. She’ll be missed by the tribe, but we have plenty more trained like her.” “So she’s a good falconry horse, then.” That made some level of sense . They had animals to help pick up where Winter lacked any and all skill. She hoped she wouldn’t let Kiyay down. She would do her best but it would take many years for her skills to come even close to passable. She’d been completely divorced from the natural world her entire life. She had thought luscious forests like these were a complete fantasy until setting foot into this one. The cold sterility of Atlas was so hard for her to escape. “Yup. And I brought you a dog too.” A beautiful brown striped dog padded over. Even to her eye, it looked pretty young. It was broad and muscular and clearly built for hunting. This was not a purely companion dog like most people had. “This is Pechicha. He’s still yet to be a proven falconry dog as he was only born this year, but you’ll be hunting with Qrow. He’ll gain the experience he needs through his mentor.” “What does his name mean?” WInter patted Hundra’s nose again before bending down and trying to wave Pechicha over. The dog looked nervously up at Raven who nodded . He padded over and Winter petted his ears. This really was so strange. The only interactions she’d really had with animals when Gelé had tried to teach her sidesaddle. That hadn’t gone over well since Winter had tried to escape each time. Since then, she hadn’t really interacted much with animals at all… Well, at least until Kiyay. “Puddles of water. He loves his water so…” Raven chuckled and Winter nodded. “Why pair me with an inexperienced dog, though? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a dog that can make up for my lacks?” She had an experienced horse and falcon, so wouldn’t it also make sense to fully cover her with a good dog? Unless there was something she was missing… “It’s not something we can really afford to do unfortunately. Most people only have one, maybe two falconry dogs. That, and most aura breeds bond only to one person unless trained specifically. I was training Pechicha for my daughter, Coya, but now that I’ve more or less left the tribe, I’ll give him to you. Just be patient with him. He’ll need time to warm up to you unlike Mono and Kiyay. He was fairly bonded to Coya.” Winter nodded. She could be patient. It had taken a fair amount of time for Weiss to warm up to her. So she could be patient while Pechicha warmed up to her. SHe felt bad, though… She was basically stealing a little girl’s dog away… How distraught must she have been and how must the dog have felt? “I’m patient with learning Kiyay’s language, so I’m certain I can be patient with him.” She petted his ears again but she saw him looking at Raven. She spoke to the dog in Branwae and he let out a whine. Poor thing. She knew what it was like to be completely ripped from one’s home and everything they knew… “That’s good. Plus, MeMe can help with speaking to them if worse comes to worst.” That…was very true. She could let Summer cohab with her to really start to understand the animals. Maybe that would be a better approach than the slow acquisition style she was using. She wished there were an easier way to do this. She wanted to coordinate with the animals better. At this rate, it may take her a year or more to fully eke out how they spoke. Plus, adding threeanimals on top of it… This was a nightmare scenario. The twins glanced at each other and spoke in Branwae for several minutes. A fair went back and forth without Winter understanding a single word of it. She really had no idea what was going on. Languages other than Valian and Atlassian simply went over her head. Qrow sighed at the end of the conversation and nodded. “All right, all right. You up for a bit of a ride, Winter?” She grimaced. Not really. But they had clearly planned something so all she could do was nod. “Very well.” She really didn’t have the energy for this. She was going to be in a bad place after this. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long. She really was extremely exhausted already. And those piss poor excuses for what they called saddles… How did they rid in those day in and day out? The short time she’d spent on Kiroro had left her incredibly stiff and sore. After getting the horses tacked and grabbing their weapons, they mounted up and headed into the forest. A mostly white gyr sat on Raven’s glove and Pechicha trotted alongside them. Things were quite for a while until Winter spoke up. “So what are we doing exactly?” They hadn’t exactly given her any insight into what was going on. She felt like she had a right to know what she was getting herself into. Hopefully, they agreed… The twins looked at each other before Qrow spoke. “We’re taking you to a magic Fountain to meet Celaecyal, the Goddess of Potential. She can gift out magic and unlock hidden potential in people.” Winter raised an eyebrow. Magic? Fountain? Goddess? How could female be divinity? There was only the Holy Father as far as she knew. The world outside of Atlas was a very strange one. “Why so?” “To give you the ability to understand the animals. We’re gaming the system a bit, but I think you can do it.” Gaming the system…? What did thatmean? Holy Father, she hated how obtuse Qrow and Raven could be at times. Why did they enjoy being so cryptic? “Do you think you could commit a few words from Hunara and Pechicha to memory between here and the Fountain? And do you have a few from Kiyay in your noggin, right?” Winter shook her head. “Committing his words to memory has been difficult.” There as definitely intelligence behind the noises and she could hear the correlation to Branwae through Summer’s translation software. But she had maybe been spreading herself too thin. Maybe she should have focused on half a dozen or so words instead of trying to build a robust vocabulary at first… Oh well, she couldn’t go back on it now. “All right, then, we’ll focus on three words before we get to the Fountain. You only need to understand a couple words for Celaecyal’s magic to work.” Winter nodded at Qrow’s words. She could probably handle three over the next little while. First, they focused on Ituren’s words since her understanding the birds was by far the most important. The weres were kind of random—nishat for daybreak, sash for leech, and karip for a hoop or ring. They cycled through all of the animals until the three words stuck. She thankfully could identify each within the hour and a half it took them to reach the Fountain. Unfortunately, they also had to start fighting Grimm. They were small and unarmored, so even the dogs could take them down without much trouble. SHe had to swipe Hylocereus more than once, but she didn’t have to dislodge from Hunara’s style. (If one could call the tiny cushion a saddle…) Eventually, they reached the clearing the Grimm spawned from. It…was surprisingly beautiful. Small flowers bloomed everywhere and lush fruit grew on tree branches, possibly out of season from what she could gather. How was this possible? It felt illogical. How could so much life grow from the seeds of devastation and negativity? “Kamuy Riya.” Qrow spoke and a woman appeared out of nowhere. She had an incredibly ethereal quality to her. Her black hair seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it with what appeared to be small fragments of starlight growing in it. Small studs of crystal woven into the fabric of her dress and shawl made the cloth shimmer and almost seem to move. That and her colors seemed more saturated than even the brightest shades she’d ever seen. She looked almost unliving with how her colors showed up in the world. “Good afternoon, Qrow, Raven. Who is this?” The woman tilted her head at Winter who dismounted. “Winter Schnee, ma’am.” She had to fight the instinct to salute. She wasn’t military anymore and this woman wasn’t her commanding officer. Even so, she gave off an incredible air of importance and authority. Her body language was soft, but Winter could sense that air. Winter knew she was of incredible importance. “Ah, Nicholas’ granddaughter. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Celaecyal, the Goddess of Potential. What have the little birds got in store for me today?” She chuckled softly, her eyes dancing. This woman was something else, wasn’t she? WInter got the feeling that she would not really get along with her if they spent a lot of time together. “We need you to make it so Winter can understand Branwen horses, falcons, and dogs,” Qrow said. The woman tilted her head and looked at Winter then waved her over. Hesitantly, Winter approached and Celaecyal held her hand out. “Would you mind putting your hand in mine?” Winter obliged and the woman sighed. “You’re really pushing what I can do, you two. Her having such a small vocabulary is less than ideal. Do you want me to give her Chiri-itak too?” Qrow and Raven discussed for a few minutes before Qrow sighed. “It would probably be best. It’ll save us further trips with the animals.” Winter got the distinct feeling they didn’t want her to know Chiri-itak for some reason. Why, she couldn’t really pin down… Wait… Was it Branwae? That would make sense. It allowed them to keep conversations private from her. But if she understood their native language, they would lose that ability. But if it would make working with the animals much easier… “All right, then.” Celaecyal looked at Winter and squeezed her hand. “You’ll be granted the ability to understand Branwen animals and speaks the tribe’s language. Do you accept these gifts?” Winter hesitated. “Must I do anything in return?” Usually, there was some sort of catch here. There always was. Nothing in life was free. She’d learned that a very long time ago. Gelé would give her something and she’d be required to do something in return. She had learned even as a child that gifts meant manipulation of some sort. She never got anything for free. “My only price is that you use these gifts well. But I can see your heart his true. You wish to see Kiyay have the best life possible and this will help aid you in that endeavor. I have faith you will use them to the best extent possible.” She squeezed Winter’s again and it felt like a little switch clicked in her mind. Celaecyal smiled and then vanished into nothingness. Was that really all it took? There was nothing major or life shattering. It didn’t feel like anything had changed in her. It really felt like it should’ve been more impactful…but it felt entirely anticlimactic. Hunara snorted. “Are you sure that worked? It really didn’t seem like much.” Winter started before hesitantly replying in Branwae. Yes, it did work… I can understand you perfectly well.”This…was insane. She really didn’t know how the language worked but she could speak it. It felt as natural as speaking Atlassian. This truly was the power of a god. It felt so surreal to speak a language she had never practiced a day in her life. Yet it came seamlessly and naturally. Hunara blinked then looked at Pechicha. “Well, I’ll be. It really did work.” “It’ll make working with her a lot easier at least…”Pechicha’s reply came as more of a whine than a full reply. He was definitely nervous and Winter could understand why. She was an outsider and not the person Pechicha was bonded with. Hopefully, they would be able to overcome their differences and eventually work together. She wanted to work as a team and make the best life she could for Pechicha, Hunara, and Kiyay. This was just one step in moving toward that hopefully. “Let’s get back to Patch,” Qrow pointed out. Raven nodded and opened a portal. They herded the animals through, winding up in the pasture they’d started in. With another hop, they landed back outside the Patch house where Mono and Kiyay sat on their perches. Kiyay looked big and poofy and had one foot drawn up into his feathers. “That’s one content bird.” Qrow chuckled and Winter nodded a bit. “Kiyay.” Winter spoke and he opened his eyes. “I can understand you now.”His feathers laid against his body a bit and he looked at her in mild alarm. “What? How? But I thought you didn't speak Chiri-itak! How can you now?!” He spoke quickly but Winter could still catch it thankfully. This was an incredibly strange circumstance. It was so surreal to understand a birdwhen a lot of sources would say this should be impossible. “Kamuy Riya,” Qrow put in. Kiyay glanced up at him then bobbed his head. “We should be able to start hunting within the next week or so. I’ll start my job on Monday and it’ll give Raven a bit of time to start scoping out the land.”Kiyay bobbed his head again and Qrow looked at Winter. “You learn longwings can’t fly in forests yet?” Winter nodded. “Falcons and buteos for open country and accipiters for forests.” Qrow grinned. “Atta girl. Keep brushing up and you’ll be a pro falconer in no time.” These were basic principles anybody could learn through books and videos. Her real tests would come once she got out into the field. She wouldn’t stop learning, though. She wouldgive Kiyay his best life possible. “When will we go hunting if you start a job on Monday?” When had that happened in the first place? What could he possibly do outside of being a Huntsman? “In the evenings after school lets out. I used to be a combat teacher a Signal, so I called around to see if anyone needed help. Ain’t nobody better at combat than a Branwen.” Winter nodded a bit. It made sense, she supposed. Plus, he would need to replenish his bank account. He had been dropping money left and right as of late… Food for the falcons, the freezer, her bike, her bed, and a lot more… “Well, all right. Is there anything outside of the lure I can do to help them with their fitness?” If they were what one put in, then they’d lose a lot of fitness sitting around for the next week. She really didn’t want them to wither and not be able to hunt once they started going out. “Not really unfortunately. I would suggest focusing on the lure. If you need some tips, you can call Raven. She can also come by during the day to exercise the birds in lieu of you not being able to.” Winter nodded a bit. She wanted to learn and give Kiyay the best life possible, but her skills were so far from par. She hoped she would be better by the end of the season. She would give it her all. The butchering would be hard on her, but she wanted to do good by the birds. How could she do that if she shrank away from providing them sustenance? “Very well. I’ll do my best to learn from her.” She didn’t particularly want to, though. Raven still scared her beyond words. The colors and the way she carried herself was intimidating. How Qrow felt comfortable around her, she really didn’t understand. Either one of the siblings would easily be able to take Winter down in combat. Facing off against either one of them would definitely make for a verybad day. However, she found herself yawning a minute later. The long horseback ride in the humidity was finally catching up to her. “I think I’m going to go rinse off then rest before work.” She might even nap. Something like that was so unbecoming of somebody of her status. Naps were for children and senior citizens, not a Schnee. She saw Qrow hesitate and he opened his arms. “Wanna hug before you go? I’ll wake you up ‘round six to head to work, okay?” Winter hesitated but nodded and wrapped her arms around him. Once again, she felt the warmth well up in her again. What was this alluring feeling that came up whenever she hugged him? Not even the general offered her this same feeling… He ran a hand over her head before letting go. “I’ll talk to you later.” She looked at Pechicha. “Want to come with me?”Honestly, she could probably use some beds for him and a collar probably would be good. She didn’t see him running away, but in case something happened… It was always best to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Pechicha’s ears flattened but he nodded and started following her. However, he stopped at the stairs and whined. “What are these things?”Had he seriously never encountered stairs before? She wanted to get upset with him but that wouldn’t do anything. She got on his level and petted his ears. “They’re called stairs. They allow you to go between different levels in houses. Do your houses not have them?”It was strange to think of a world where stairs didn’t exist… Schnee manor had so many staircases they were completely natural to her. Pechicha shook his head. “They’re all at ground level. These are weird to me.”He put one paw on the bottom step then looked up at Winter. She walked up a few steps and he slowly, timidly, followed her up. Winter smiled at him when they reached the top. “Good job. You’ll have to get used to them because the house we’ll be moving to has them.”No reason to get angry at him. He would probably resent her if she did. It was no different than working with her little sister or more nervous men. She really needed to cultivate a positive relationship with him so they could work together. She led the way into Summer’s room and he looked around. He was obviously confused but didn’t say anything. He settled in the corner and Winter went to the dresser, grabbing some clothes. She did a quick rinse-off. It was about three when a knock came on the door. Winter blinked and looked up. She had finished the book on GRSM identities and was now looking at the various school materials to try to start studying for her GED. She had found a few mock tests online, though she hadn’t taken them yet. She wassupposed to be resting, after all. But not doing anything was driving her nuts. Qrow greeted her with a smile. “Hey, snowy. Sorry to interrupt you but I thought you might wanna meet someone.” She tilted her head. Who would he possibly want to meet at this point? He did have his contacts in Vale, of course. Maybe one of them? But who? Why would he think shewanted to meet one of his contacts? This didn’t make any sense. “Who would that be?” She was so confused. One of Raven’s portals opened and Raven poked her head out. Winter jumped. Holy Father, she would never get used to this. She knew it would be fine, but the portal was still intimidating. “Come on over.” Winter hesitated but followed Qrow through the portal. It was the property that they were putting an offer in on, though they were away from the house. They were by the barn where a few horses grazed in one of the fields. The gates to all the pastures remained open and Winter tilted her head to the side. “Aren’t you worried about them running away?” The way the Branwen tribe handled things was so strange. They left their falcons to be completely free in the forest. And now they weren’t having their horses behind gates. This was so very odd. “Nah. Our horses are partially wild like our falcons. They go up into the mountains during the cold months for the most part. They’ll come back when it starts getting warm. There’s no real point in keeping them behind gates when they naturally free roam.” Raven smiled. And they didn’t get themselves killed? That was crazy to think about. But she did suppose it made sense when she thought about it… There were wild populations of horses all over. She had only seen truly domesticated horses, kept below the likes of the city of Atlas. “I see. So why did you bring me here…” She didn’t really see the point of dragging her hair. She had regained a fair amount of energy, but she certainly did nothave the energy to ride a horse. She would probably barely have the energy to work that night… “Hunara.” One of the horses raised its head and trotted over. It bumped its head against Winter’s shoulder. Oh. She ran her hand along the horse’s nose and a small smile came to her lips. “Her name means to search or to see since she’s so good at picking up on animal trails. She’ll be missed by the tribe, but we have plenty more trained like her.” “So she’s a good falconry horse, then.” That made some level of sense . They had animals to help pick up where Winter lacked any and all skill. She hoped she wouldn’t let Kiyay down. She would do her best but it would take many years for her skills to come even close to passable. She’d been completely divorced from the natural world her entire life. She had thought luscious forests like these were a complete fantasy until setting foot into this one. The cold sterility of Atlas was so hard for her to escape. “Yup. And I brought you a dog too.” A beautiful brown striped dog padded over. Even to her eye, it looked pretty young. It was broad and muscular and clearly built for hunting. This was not a purely companion dog like most people had. “This is Pechicha. He’s still yet to be a proven falconry dog as he was only born this year, but you’ll be hunting with Qrow. He’ll gain the experience he needs through his mentor.” “What does his name mean?” WInter patted Hundra’s nose again before bending down and trying to wave Pechicha over. The dog looked nervously up at Raven who nodded . He padded over and Winter petted his ears. This really was so strange. The only interactions she’d really had with animals when Gelé had tried to teach her sidesaddle. That hadn’t gone over well since Winter had tried to escape each time. Since then, she hadn’t really interacted much with animals at all… Well, at least until Kiyay. “Puddles of water. He loves his water so…” Raven chuckled and Winter nodded. “Why pair me with an inexperienced dog, though? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a dog that can make up for my lacks?” She had an experienced horse and falcon, so wouldn’t it also make sense to fully cover her with a good dog? Unless there was something she was missing… “It’s not something we can really afford to do unfortunately. Most people only have one, maybe two falconry dogs. That, and most aura breeds bond only to one person unless trained specifically. I was training Pechicha for my daughter, Coya, but now that I’ve more or less left the tribe, I’ll give him to you. Just be patient with him. He’ll need time to warm up to you unlike Mono and Kiyay. He was fairly bonded to Coya.” Winter nodded. She could be patient. It had taken a fair amount of time for Weiss to warm up to her. So she could be patient while Pechicha warmed up to her. SHe felt bad, though… She was basically stealing a little girl’s dog away… How distraught must she have been and how must the dog have felt? “I’m patient with learning Kiyay’s language, so I’m certain I can be patient with him.” She petted his ears again but she saw him looking at Raven. She spoke to the dog in Branwae and he let out a whine. Poor thing. She knew what it was like to be completely ripped from one’s home and everything they knew… “That’s good. Plus, MeMe can help with speaking to them if worse comes to worst.” That…was very true. She could let Summer cohab with her to really start to understand the animals. Maybe that would be a better approach than the slow acquisition style she was using. She wished there were an easier way to do this. She wanted to coordinate with the animals better. At this rate, it may take her a year or more to fully eke out how they spoke. Plus, adding threeanimals on top of it… This was a nightmare scenario. The twins glanced at each other and spoke in Branwae for several minutes. A fair went back and forth without Winter understanding a single word of it. She really had no idea what was going on. Languages other than Valian and Atlassian simply went over her head. Qrow sighed at the end of the conversation and nodded. “All right, all right. You up for a bit of a ride, Winter?” She grimaced. Not really. But they had clearly planned something so all she could do was nod. “Very well.” She really didn’t have the energy for this. She was going to be in a bad place after this. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long. She really was extremely exhausted already. And those piss poor excuses for what they called saddles… How did they rid in those day in and day out? The short time she’d spent on Kiroro had left her incredibly stiff and sore. After getting the horses tacked and grabbing their weapons, they mounted up and headed into the forest. A mostly white gyr sat on Raven’s glove and Pechicha trotted alongside them. Things were quite for a while until Winter spoke up. “So what are we doing exactly?” They hadn’t exactly given her any insight into what was going on. She felt like she had a right to know what she was getting herself into. Hopefully, they agreed… The twins looked at each other before Qrow spoke. “We’re taking you to a magic Fountain to meet Celaecyal, the Goddess of Potential. She can gift out magic and unlock hidden potential in people.” Winter raised an eyebrow. Magic? Fountain? Goddess? How could female be divinity? There was only the Holy Father as far as she knew. The world outside of Atlas was a very strange one. “Why so?” “To give you the ability to understand the animals. We’re gaming the system a bit, but I think you can do it.” Gaming the system…? What did thatmean? Holy Father, she hated how obtuse Qrow and Raven could be at times. Why did they enjoy being so cryptic? “Do you think you could commit a few words from Hunara and Pechicha to memory between here and the Fountain? And do you have a few from Kiyay in your noggin, right?” Winter shook her head. “Committing his words to memory has been difficult.” There as definitely intelligence behind the noises and she could hear the correlation to Branwae through Summer’s translation software. But she had maybe been spreading herself too thin. Maybe she should have focused on half a dozen or so words instead of trying to build a robust vocabulary at first… Oh well, she couldn’t go back on it now. “All right, then, we’ll focus on three words before we get to the Fountain. You only need to understand a couple words for Celaecyal’s magic to work.” Winter nodded at Qrow’s words. She could probably handle three over the next little while. First, they focused on Ituren’s words since her understanding the birds was by far the most important. The weres were kind of random—nishat for daybreak, sash for leech, and karip for a hoop or ring. They cycled through all of the animals until the three words stuck. She thankfully could identify each within the hour and a half it took them to reach the Fountain. Unfortunately, they also had to start fighting Grimm. They were small and unarmored, so even the dogs could take them down without much trouble. SHe had to swipe Hylocereus more than once, but she didn’t have to dislodge from Hunara’s style. (If one could call the tiny cushion a saddle…) Eventually, they reached the clearing the Grimm spawned from. It…was surprisingly beautiful. Small flowers bloomed everywhere and lush fruit grew on tree branches, possibly out of season from what she could gather. How was this possible? It felt illogical. How could so much life grow from the seeds of devastation and negativity? “Kamuy Riya.” Qrow spoke and a woman appeared out of nowhere. She had an incredibly ethereal quality to her. Her black hair seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it with what appeared to be small fragments of starlight growing in it. Small studs of crystal woven into the fabric of her dress and shawl made the cloth shimmer and almost seem to move. That and her colors seemed more saturated than even the brightest shades she’d ever seen. She looked almost unliving with how her colors showed up in the world. “Good afternoon, Qrow, Raven. Who is this?” The woman tilted her head at Winter who dismounted. “Winter Schnee, ma’am.” She had to fight the instinct to salute. She wasn’t military anymore and this woman wasn’t her commanding officer. Even so, she gave off an incredible air of importance and authority. Her body language was soft, but Winter could sense that air. Winter knew she was of incredible importance. “Ah, Nicholas’ granddaughter. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Celaecyal, the Goddess of Potential. What have the little birds got in store for me today?” She chuckled softly, her eyes dancing. This woman was something else, wasn’t she? WInter got the feeling that she would not really get along with her if they spent a lot of time together. “We need you to make it so Winter can understand Branwen horses, falcons, and dogs,” Qrow said. The woman tilted her head and looked at Winter then waved her over. Hesitantly, Winter approached and Celaecyal held her hand out. “Would you mind putting your hand in mine?” Winter obliged and the woman sighed. “You’re really pushing what I can do, you two. Her having such a small vocabulary is less than ideal. Do you want me to give her Chiri-itak too?” Qrow and Raven discussed for a few minutes before Qrow sighed. “It would probably be best. It’ll save us further trips with the animals.” Winter got the distinct feeling they didn’t want her to know Chiri-itak for some reason. Why, she couldn’t really pin down… Wait… Was it Branwae? That would make sense. It allowed them to keep conversations private from her. But if she understood their native language, they would lose that ability. But if it would make working with the animals much easier… “All right, then.” Celaecyal looked at Winter and squeezed her hand. “You’ll be granted the ability to understand Branwen animals and speaks the tribe’s language. Do you accept these gifts?” Winter hesitated. “Must I do anything in return?” Usually, there was some sort of catch here. There always was. Nothing in life was free. She’d learned that a very long time ago. Gelé would give her something and she’d be required to do something in return. She had learned even as a child that gifts meant manipulation of some sort. She never got anything for free. “My only price is that you use these gifts well. But I can see your heart his true. You wish to see Kiyay have the best life possible and this will help aid you in that endeavor. I have faith you will use them to the best extent possible.” She squeezed Winter’s again and it felt like a little switch clicked in her mind. Celaecyal smiled and then vanished into nothingness. Was that really all it took? There was nothing major or life shattering. It didn’t feel like anything had changed in her. It really felt like it should’ve been more impactful…but it felt entirely anticlimactic. Hunara snorted. “Are you sure that worked? It really didn’t seem like much.” Winter started before hesitantly replying in Branwae. Yes, it did work… I can understand you perfectly well.”This…was insane. She really didn’t know how the language worked but she could speak it. It felt as natural as speaking Atlassian. This truly was the power of a god. It felt so surreal to speak a language she had never practiced a day in her life. Yet it came seamlessly and naturally. Hunara blinked then looked at Pechicha. “Well, I’ll be. It really did work.” “It’ll make working with her a lot easier at least…”Pechicha’s reply came as more of a whine than a full reply. He was definitely nervous and Winter could understand why. She was an outsider and not the person Pechicha was bonded with. Hopefully, they would be able to overcome their differences and eventually work together. She wanted to work as a team and make the best life she could for Pechicha, Hunara, and Kiyay. This was just one step in moving toward that hopefully. “Let’s get back to Patch,” Qrow pointed out. Raven nodded and opened a portal. They herded the animals through, winding up in the pasture they’d started in. With another hop, they landed back outside the Patch house where Mono and Kiyay sat on their perches. Kiyay looked big and poofy and had one foot drawn up into his feathers. “That’s one content bird.” Qrow chuckled and Winter nodded a bit. “Kiyay.” Winter spoke and he opened his eyes. “I can understand you now.”His feathers laid against his body a bit and he looked at her in mild alarm. “What? How? But I thought you didn't speak Chiri-itak! How can you now?!” He spoke quickly but Winter could still catch it thankfully. This was an incredibly strange circumstance. It was so surreal to understand a birdwhen a lot of sources would say this should be impossible. “Kamuy Riya,” Qrow put in. Kiyay glanced up at him then bobbed his head. “We should be able to start hunting within the next week or so. I’ll start my job on Monday and it’ll give Raven a bit of time to start scoping out the land.”Kiyay bobbed his head again and Qrow looked at Winter. “You learn longwings can’t fly in forests yet?” Winter nodded. “Falcons and buteos for open country and accipiters for forests.” Qrow grinned. “Atta girl. Keep brushing up and you’ll be a pro falconer in no time.” These were basic principles anybody could learn through books and videos. Her real tests would come once she got out into the field. She wouldn’t stop learning, though. She wouldgive Kiyay his best life possible. “When will we go hunting if you start a job on Monday?” When had that happened in the first place? What could he possibly do outside of being a Huntsman? “In the evenings after school lets out. I used to be a combat teacher a Signal, so I called around to see if anyone needed help. Ain’t nobody better at combat than a Branwen.” Winter nodded a bit. It made sense, she supposed. Plus, he would need to replenish his bank account. He had been dropping money left and right as of late… Food for the falcons, the freezer, her bike, her bed, and a lot more… “Well, all right. Is there anything outside of the lure I can do to help them with their fitness?” If they were what one put in, then they’d lose a lot of fitness sitting around for the next week. She really didn’t want them to wither and not be able to hunt once they started going out. “Not really unfortunately. I would suggest focusing on the lure. If you need some tips, you can call Raven. She can also come by during the day to exercise the birds in lieu of you not being able to.” Winter nodded a bit. She wanted to learn and give Kiyay the best life possible, but her skills were so far from par. She hoped she would be better by the end of the season. She would give it her all. The butchering would be hard on her, but she wanted to do good by the birds. How could she do that if she shrank away from providing them sustenance? “Very well. I’ll do my best to learn from her.” She didn’t particularly want to, though. Raven still scared her beyond words. The colors and the way she carried herself was intimidating. How Qrow felt comfortable around her, she really didn’t understand. Either one of the siblings would easily be able to take Winter down in combat. Facing off against either one of them would definitely make for a verybad day. However, she found herself yawning a minute later. The long horseback ride in the humidity was finally catching up to her. “I think I’m going to go rinse off then rest before work.” She might even nap. Something like that was so unbecoming of somebody of her status. Naps were for children and senior citizens, not a Schnee. She saw Qrow hesitate and he opened his arms. “Wanna hug before you go? I’ll wake you up ‘round six to head to work, okay?” Winter hesitated but nodded and wrapped her arms around him. Once again, she felt the warmth well up in her again. What was this alluring feeling that came up whenever she hugged him? Not even the general offered her this same feeling… He ran a hand over her head before letting go. “I’ll talk to you later.” She looked at Pechicha. “Want to come with me?”Honestly, she could probably use some beds for him and a collar probably would be good. She didn’t see him running away, but in case something happened… It was always best to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Pechicha’s ears flattened but he nodded and started following her. However, he stopped at the stairs and whined. “What are these things?”Had he seriously never encountered stairs before? She wanted to get upset with him but that wouldn’t do anything. She got on his level and petted his ears. “They’re called stairs. They allow you to go between different levels in houses. Do your houses not have them?”It was strange to think of a world where stairs didn’t exist… Schnee manor had so many staircases they were completely natural to her. Pechicha shook his head. “They’re all at ground level. These are weird to me.”He put one paw on the bottom step then looked up at Winter. She walked up a few steps and he slowly, timidly, followed her up. Winter smiled at him when they reached the top. “Good job. You’ll have to get used to them because the house we’ll be moving to has them.”No reason to get angry at him. He would probably resent her if she did. It was no different than working with her little sister or more nervous men. She really needed to cultivate a positive relationship with him so they could work together. She led the way into Summer’s room and he looked around. He was obviously confused but didn’t say anything. He settled in the corner and Winter went to the dresser, grabbing some clothes. She did a quick rinse-off shower then laid down on the bed. Darkness claimed her almost immediately despite the discomfort of the mattress