wanderer's lullaby

Which came much sooner than she would've liked. The alarm blared at four thirty and she yawned, sighing. She ran through her normal morning routine and got Ein to take her to the bakery, then did the tasks assigned to her. Customer service was not at all her strength, but the people put up with it for the time that she was there. Afterward, she returned to the house which, by that time, everyone had left for school. The entire house was silent. She did find a note on the freezer from Qrow that said she'd be picked up about ten that morning by the woman he'd referenced the night before. She'd be in a blue car. He listed the make and model which held no significance for Winter. She knew nothing about cars. Cars, trucks, vans, SUVs... That was about all she knew. She heated her breakfast up and sat at the table, staring out the window with a sigh. She really had no idea what to do... She felt so utterly trapped in this house. Nobody was abusing her, but she definitely felt trapped. In some regards, this really wasn't much if any different than Schnee manor or her apartment... She was completely, utterly trapped. And she wouldn't have her driver's license for who knew how long. There was public transit, but she needed to figure out how it worked first... She needed to practice on the bike to hopefully get used to it and biking around the city. No matter what, she'd face bad weather though it wouldn't be as bad as Atlas. She went upstairs after finishing her breakfast and set about studying for the GED for a bit until she heard the doorbell ring. She headed downstairs and was met by a redheaded woman. "Oh, are you Winter? Qrow told me to pick somebody up here around now..." She nodded. "I am Winter Schnee, yes." Beck frowned a little and Winter sighed internally. She was too stiff to function in normal life. She'd fail to be a teacher or anything of the like... She just... She couldn't change it. Such formal speech had been drilled into her from a young age. Any deviation from that had resulted in severe punishment. She couldn't shake just how ingrained it was in her. The people at the bakery obviously noticed. She wouldn't have survived in customer service very long if she had a job like that... She wasn't good with people. "You said the craft store, then the bank, right?" Winter nodded at the question. "Come on then." They headed out to the craft store where Winter picked up some embroidery supplies quickly, then they headed to the bank. As usual, it was a slow, involved, tedious process to get her accounts shifted over to Valian ones. She transferred her money over to the accounts after it was all set up. She did keep her Atlassian account open, though. The general was out in the field and he didn't have any access to her new account or ability to shift where he made transfers to. So she would just have to transfer his stipends over whenever he made a deposit into her account. It was stupid and annoying, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She eventually returned to the house where she sat down in Summer's room and tapped her chin. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do now... She knew she needed to study for her GED but even so... She felt trapped and wanted to get away. "Could you contact Raven for me?" She still felt terrified of the woman, but she really needed to get away from the Patch house for more than just business. She heard a clicking noise from Summer and, within a couple of minutes, a portal opened and Raven stood there. Winter felt herself shudder internally, but she really needed to get over this. The best way to handle that was truly to just face things head on. She knew no other way to handle things. She was afraid of fighting? Fight anyway. Afraid of men? Face them anyway. Will power was the only thing she really knew and her only asset in the end... She wasn't talented or a genius like Weiss was. All she had was her determination and grit which would push her through damn near anything. Well. She still feared men, but that was understandable. They were absolute vultures that would take advantage of any woman they saw if they thought they could overpower her… "So what's up? What do you want, Winter?" Raven smiled at her. "I was wondering if we could do a little bit of exploration... I need to get out for a bit." She knew Raven was exploring the lay of the land around the house but she hoped that she could explore with her today... And maybe get some lure swinging in. She knew she needed to feed Kiyay off the fist as well. Maybe she could start feeding the birds in the morning as well. Qrow had shown her how to break down a quail, but even so, practice would make perfect. She hadn't expected it to be alongside Raven, though… "Sure, we can do that. Just don't stray too far from me. Trying to find someone lost in a forest is really damn hard. But you're smart; you wouldn't do that." Winter shook her head. "No, absolutely not. I know better than to go off wandering by myself." She'd been on training missions in the Atlassian evergreen forests before, so she knew better than to wander off. To do so in Atlas was a death sentence more or less. Any aura user would die in less than two weeks due to starvation if dehydration didn't get them first. And that was assuming the cold didn't get them first as well. Even the summers weren't too pleasant in Atlas. The little bit of summer she experienced here in Vale was incredibly warm and she had no idea how people survived the heat here, let alone somewhere like Vacuo which was largely desert. It was so frustrating and she felt overwhelmed by the heat. "All right then. But will you be all right to ride? You were in pain last time we rode on the horses with tribal tack... You'll have to endure the same conditions. We should probably get you a proper saddle though... But I'm not sure how well the horses will tolerate a much heavier saddle." Winter shook her head. "If they won't tolerate it, then there's no reason to push it on them. I'll learn to endure it." There was basically nothing between her butt and the horse's spine...and the stirrups weren't great. But the horse's comfort was more important than her own. She would adapt just like with anything else. She didn't want to put the poor horse through something that was incredibly uncomfortable for it. She would adapt. The horse's comfort was far more important than her own. Learning to fight had left her sore, so she could definitely tolerate pain given enough time. Her body just needed the time to fully get used to everything. "I'd ask if you were sure, but you clearly are pretty resolute. Though it does save us money. Saddles are expensive. I know there are Atlassian and Valian style saddles, but not much else. Do you know the difference?" Raven motioned for Winter to follow her through the portal. She shuddered a bit inside but then followed the woman through. They landed in the bird room where Mono and Kiyay sat, preening. Kiyay perked up and the feathers on his head visibly raised. He chirped at her in a stuttering way, his wings trembling as he clearly held himself back from flying to her immediately. She had grabbed the falconry bag before entering the portal, so she put the glove on and walked over, picking him up. Raven fell quiet and Winter spoke to Kiyay softly."Sorry I've been gone so long... It's just hard when I have so much going on."Somehow she had both a lot and yet nothing going on. She had work, driver's ed, and studying for her GED... That was a fair amount of work to handle. She really didn't get much time with Kiyay anymore... She felt bad, but with her not having classes or anything yet, she could at least see him if she didn't mind taking time out of her GED studies. "I do miss you..."he chirped, bowing his head. She gently stroked and kissed it before turning back to Raven. "Yes, there is a marked difference between Atlassian and Valian saddles. I'm no expert, granted, but I spent just enough time around horses to understand. Valian saddles are bigger and heavier and meant for ranching work. Atlassian saddles are a bit smaller and lighter and meant for sport or hunting. I believe they're standard in dressage." She'd been forced to a few of those boring competitions over the years. She couldn't follow what was happening since she hadn't been trained in dressage, so it was just watching people ride around stadiums and pens in her mind. She did know a lot of training went into it, but she didn't have that training, so watching it was boring. "I don't even know what dressage is." Raven raised her arms. "But seriously, Winter, you need to be comfortable too... If we're gonna be doing game hawking from horseback, we'll be on horseback for several hours. That and when your siblings come..." Winter frowned at that. Oh. She hadn't even considered it. "We'll need to have a couple horses trained for their comfort." "I suppose that is true. I'm not going to leave them alone in the house." She doubted that anything major would happen. Weiss and Whitley were used to being trapped in their rooms and probably wouldn't leave them without direction. But Winter knew that at least Weiss was going to want to be near her pretty much all the time. She didn't even know Whitley, so he probably wouldn't, but even so... She didn't want to leave him alone like that. That, and getting out into nature would probably be good for them. She wasn't used to it herself, but she'd see how she reacted very shortly. "So yeah, we're gonna need to get a couple of horses and get them trained up for Atlassian saddles. If we're training up a couple horses for them, we might as well do something for you too." "I've only ever ridden side saddle before." The couple times she'd been on a horse had been side saddle. Proper ladies only rode side saddle according to Atlas. But she would definitely prefer astride especially if going out on a long ride. Raven did have good reasoning... A traditional saddle would be more comfortable for her than the Branwen saddles. It was really just a thin pad filled with cloth that didn't offer much in the way of comfort. It wasn't that much different from riding bareback. She would definitely prefer a traditional saddle though she felt bad for the horse… "Well, we'll have to look into some saddles sometime soon... And I'll have to find horses willing to take on some bratty kids and a different type of saddle than they're used to." She raised her arms and sighed. "For today, though, we'll have to stick with traditional Branwen tack." "That's fine." It wasn't like she knew where to go for saddles... They'd have to go to a specialty store. She'd ask the AI when she got back to the house to look up places to find saddles. Atlassian style most likely would be preferable. She was going into sport and they needed to be comfortable for long durations. Though, no matter what sort of tack she used, she was going to have to get used to riding for longer periods. She really wasn't used to riding at all to be frank. So this was going to be quite the learning experience for her... At least she wasn't torturing the horses with a bit that did seem quite unnecessary now that she had interacted with aura breeds… "All right then. Well what would you like to do today? I've been getting the lay of the land and such, and I've found some good spots for hunting. Unfortunately, the deer around here are way too big for the birds to take. Falcons normally are bird hunters, but our gyrs are powerful enough to rival golden eagles and don't mind the challenge of land-based prey. But there are ample opportunities for rabbits but also birds such as swans and geese. I mean... We're on a lake so waterfowl are abundant. They really prefer furred prey though... Getting them on rabbits is hard since most falcon feathers are pretty brittle and can break easily." "I wouldn't mind getting some lure swinging practice in today... Qrow did show me, but if we could get some hunting in or something related to it, it'd be appreciated." She was trying to learn to take care of the birds and hunt. But she really had no idea what she was doing. She was trying her best with her limited resources and knowledge. The twins were definitely a wealth of knowledge, but even so... "We should probably start with tracking honestly. You can easily see waterfowl on the lake, but there are a lot of wetlands and marshes around here. The horses will give you a decent boost up, but for furred prey, you need to learn to use clearings to your advantage when hunting with a falcon and how to track and find trails. There's a river that winds through the forest and it leads to small ponds that do have waterfowl stopping there sometimes." Winter nodded a bit. She could do that. Or, she thought she could. She would have to practice over time, of course. But if she was under Qrow and Raven's supervision, then she could learn to do it. There were some real expert trackers in the Special Operatives that she'd seen but still... She hadn't learned the skills necessary for it. Now she would. "All right then." She looked at Kiyay. "Should I bring him with us?" "I doubt he'll leave you even if we tell him to. You're gonna need to bring him with us in that case. I've already given Mono a pretty good workout for the day, so she'll stay behind." Raven glanced at the nearly pure-white bird who had her head tucked underneath her wing. She felt bad separating the pair, but Kiyay seemed to be pretty willing to come out with them. "Very well." Winter followed Raven out to the barn and got the horses tacked up. Winter sat Kiyay down for a moment and mounted up, feeling ill at ease with the minimal tack, but she had no choice. She'd feel more secure once they got proper, modern tack for the horse but still, she felt bad she was basically forcing the horse to bear more weight than it was likely comfortable with. She was fairly light so that probably wasn't a problem, but the Branwen tack couldn't be more than a couple of pounds. A proper saddle would bemuchheavier. After getting settled in, Kiyay fluttered over to her glove and she rested her arm on her knee. It was an awkward posture, but it wasn't like he was a tiny bird that could just sit on her head. He was a fairly large one and to think he was the same power grade as a golden eagle... She didn't know much about birds, obviously, but she knew eagles were powerful just from the name and cultural associations they had even in Atlas. They were seen as wise messengers from the Holy Father and she knew they had the ability to kill just about anything. They were an apex predator. Over the next several hours, Raven started teaching her how to track rabbits and other large prey. "Therearefoxes around her which, while they'd be a challenge for the birds, they could probably take on. I've heard of golden eagle hunters focusing on foxes and sometimes evenwolves.But mostly they're run on hares and smaller types of deer from what I've heard. I unfortunately didn't get to spend a lot of time around the Valian falconry community while I was in Beacon or even during the STRQ era. I had frankly planned to get a bird, but then things happened." She shook her head and sighed. She'd had Yang... She still didn't entirely understand the situation, but it was frankly none of her business. "I see. I feel like foxes, let alone wolves, would be incredibly dangerous to fly any bird on. Wolves are apex predators and foxes, while not that high on the food chain, still aren't easy as far as my knowledge goes." She could see how they would be a challenge for larger birds. Both were fierce fighters to her knowledge. How an eagle could take a wolf down was beyond her. But she had also never seen an eagle up close and personal before... She wondered if Star of Hope would be able to do that. She was curious to see an eagle up close now. How much larger were they than Kiyay and Mono? "Wolves would be too risky for even a large female gyr that we've bred. Foxes would probably be pushing it, but they could probably do it. Aura breeds are much more capable than normal gyrs, but even so, they can still be vulnerable. We're at least notingolden eagle country right here. Go a few hours out more and you would be. But here? The worst we have to worry about are normal redtails and goshawks. Even a goshawk wouldn't be spirited enough to try to take down a gyr. Redtails are mostly rodent hunters when not flown by falconers." Winter nodded a bit, holding Kiyay a bit closer. She didn't want to risk him at all. But hewasa game bird, so he would want to fly and do whatever he could most likely... Aura breedsweredifferent than normal birds after all. "By the way, how do normal birds differ from aura breeds if you don't mind my asking...?" Qrow had been focusing entirely on aura breeds with her and nothing else. She had learned a bit from Ben Woodruff's videos, but a clear, concise answer would be best. "Well, a well-trained normal bird will still only want to hunt as long as it's not fat. You have to drop the weight to a certain amount to get them to fly, then drop it lower to get them to hunt. When they're fat, they don't wanna do anything. Have you ever had a meal large enough where you feel sleepy afterward?" Winter shook her head. "I really only eat what's necessary." She hadn't had large meals in Schnee manor and that continued. She had upped her portion size to account for her aura, of course, but when she had control, she kept a careful count of how many calories she ate so she didn't overdo it. She didn't have that much control now that Yang was cooking everything, but she did feel satisfied when she finished one of Yang's meals at least. "Well, you can go into a calorie overload if you eat too much. During the molt, we give the birds as much as they can eat and generally don't really fly them. If maintained, a normal bird would still fly. But considering they're molting and the way life cycles around, we just keep them fat, so they wouldn't feel like hunting. With an aura breed, you don't need to do as much weight management if any. You can tell a bird they're needed and they'll often go fly for you regardless of if they're fat or not. Sometimes we do need them to hunt, though. I mean the tribe maintains a decent level of hunting-gatherer lifestyle, so we need all of the tools in the toolbox we can get. And our birds are one. We do keep a handful of birds that fly year round, but we do just let most of them molt in peace. Does that answer your question?" "Kind of." "To put it more succinctly, where a normal bird refuses to fly when too heavy, an aura breed will know when they're needed and fly anyway. Does that make more sense?" Winter nodded. "I'm still struggling to understand weight management a bit, but I think that makes more sense." She knew about the molt and how birds needed to be put up during it. Hunting was discouraged in the warmer seasons because parents needed to take care of their babies and let the babies grow up. By time fall rolled around, the babies had grown up and left and were out on their own if that was what the species was like. Obviously, some species stayed close together just because they were herd animals. And the birds needed to grow new feathers to replace their old ones, so it all lined up perfectly as far as falconers and the falconry season was concerned. Qrow had explained weight management to her and they weren'tstarvingthe birds, it was like keeping an eye on how much a Hunter or top athlete needed to stay in shape. She definitely kept up a close eye on her calories. But Yang had prevented her from doing that... "Normal birds are instincts; aura breeds are critical thinking. A fat bird, on instinct, will not fly. A fat aura breed can instinctively not want to fly, but can be told to do so and overcome their natural inclinations. In some regards, it's better to fly an aura breed with a somewhat full crop than an empty one since they'll want less food and it'll leave more for you. Though, at this point, we're flying for sport and not survival. We can go to the store and buy what we need." Raven shrugged. That did help make sense of what Raven was trying to explain. Judgement could make an aura breed more liable to fly even if they were full. "I think I understand now." With that discussion down, they delved back into the forest and Raven started teaching her how to track again. Eventually, though, they came to some wetland marshes. "We should get some waders or something if we plan on hunting out here. We'll have to walk instead of relying on the horses. They're heavy animals, so they'll sink into the mud and mire." "Ah." She wasn't enthused about that. She would need some clothes specifically for hunting because her current wardrobe wouldn't be good for it. Even sitting on the saddle in a dress wasn't horribly comfortable... Guh, she would need pants. She had never been fond of them since she'd grown up in dresses. But she could recognise how pants would be beneficial in cases like this. They at least weren't doing anything crazy intense, so her dress was fine but once they started hunting... Yeah, she would need hunting-specific clothes. Guh. So annoying. But there were thrift stores for that. She could just pick up some clothes that were meant to get dirty and muddy. She wasn't particularly fond of the mud that would come from all of this though... Raven shrugged. "You want to take up falconry. If mud and dirt are going to stop you, you might as well just hang things up here. It's not going to get any better." Winter sighed. "I can deal with it. I just need to learn to do so..." She had camped out a few times during her training and trained in the rain, but none of that was as intense as what the falconry was. She hadn't expected to trudge through tall marshland grasses and be knee deep in mud. Well, that was probably an exaggeration, but she could just see how intense the mud was going to be once they crossed the threshold into the marshlands. Atlas wasn't big on mud since the ground was so frozen most of the time. She didn't need to worry about it most of the time. What she needed to worry about more was the smog and smoke from factories... "All right then. We'll definitely want to get waders at some point. But, for right now, we're just exploring the area. This is the area we'll want to hunt mostly... Though we can get the birds to hunt fur. I'm still learning the lay of the land, though. I can eventually build up a mental map of the area since, well, I need to learn how to deal with deer trails and such. For now, though, it might be best to head back. We've already been out for a little while." Winter nodded at Raven's words and hopped back on her horse. They wound their way through the forest, Kiyay still sitting on her fist. She didn't even really need to keep a hand on the reins since her horse knew how to follow the one in front of her. Though the little pony did feel small compared to the large saddlebreds she was used to. They arrived back at the house and she put Kiyay down. He tilted his head at her."Sorry. I need to head back to Vale... It's getting close to the time I need to do something."She wasn't sure how to say 'driver's ed' in Branwae. Though the term 'Chiri-itak' popped into her head. It was their native word for the language. Interesting. She wasn't sure if there was even a term for driver's ed, considering how they didn't use cars but horses and it wasn't like one needed to go through an extensive course to get certified to ride a horse. Kiyay bobbed his head but then lowered it."I'll be back soon; I promise."She patted his head gently and smiled at him. She would be back soon enough... Getting out like this did feel nice... Though it was strange being out in nature... It wasn't something she was really used to. Seeing such greenery even though the days were cooling off was still beyond strange... She barely felt like it was real. She could see the evergreen trees in Atlas, sure, but all of the little flowers and so many shrubs... It was mind boggling just how much life flourished in these more temperate biomes. Kiyay bobbed his head again and Winter turned to Raven. They headed through a portal to where they met up with Qrow for driver's ed. The hour passed agonisingly slow and they returned to the patch house. She felt more than a little peckish by time they got back... Qrow motioned to her to have her head into the kitchen with her and he heated up their meals, then he motioned for her to sit at the table. "So how was today? Your aura feels a bit lighter than it's been in quite a while. Or, well, since I've met you. You feel a bit more relaxed than normal. Somethin' up?" "I went out with your sister into the field for the first time today. We looked at the area around the house a bit. It just felt nice to get out." She wished she was more adept at nature, but she wasn't a tracker or anything like that. She definitely would've gotten lost had she set out on her own into the forest. She wouldn't be able to be away from the Branwen twins when they were out in the field. It was frustrating, but there wasn't a lot she could do about it. Not unless they really buckled down and started teaching her how to navigate in the forest. Maybe she ought to head out into the city by herself tomorrow... Shedidhave her bike. Though...she could begin to feel the soreness from riding with barely anything between her butt and the horse's spine start to set in. "Need some help with your pain? I was never a huge healer, but I learned a bit. You should probably still take some painkiller though. I imagine that you're not used to our tack so yeah, it's definitely gonna be difficult to adapt to... We need to get you some tack that you'd be more used to. Though I don't know much about modern-day tack." Qrow rubbed his chin. "Raven said the same thing. Modern tack would definitely be far more comfortable for me, even if I've only ridden a few times and all of that was side saddle..." Repugnant, absolutely repugnant... She had abhorred side saddle and wanted to ride astride. Of course, Gele had forbidden it. It wasn't 'ladylike' to ride astride. She'd even had a ridiculous getup, a riding habit. A multi-layered dress just for riding. Absolutely asinine. It was stupid. All of it was so stupid. This was her first time riding astride, but it was definitely better than side saddle. It had been comfortable enough, but she felt unbalanced and at risk of falling. Qrow rose and put a hand on her shoulder. She felt warmth rush into her and some of the pain dissolved. He then walked over to the cabinet and took out a battle and handed her some painkiller. "Here ya go, snowdrop." He smiled at her though she felt her cheeks heat up once again at the nickname. She couldn't get past it no matter how much he used it. Snowy was fine, but this still felt like a step past it. It wasn't bad... She was just so unused to terms of endearment like that. Yes, he legitimately cared about her, but still... It was just beyond strange to her. "Thank you." Her voice was a bit quieter than intended, but it wasn't like she could exactly hide her emotions from him either... She sighed. There was no way around any of it. Even her last bastion was no longer her own. She knew he couldn't turn it off, but it was frustrating to not have her own mind be the private space it had been once... Guh, she really hated this. She tried to put it out of her mind and took the painkiller, hoping it would kick in before she went to bed. "I might try to head into the city tomorrow." Qrow nodded. "That's fine. I'm not gonna stop you. Obviously, just try to be back by time driver's ed hits. You don't wanna miss that. And it's not like Rae has a connection to you yet." She quieted at that and she saw Qrow quiet too. There wasoneway around that and it was easy. She wasn't sure where Summer usually was, but if Summer hung around her, Raven could easily pick her up. Qrow sighed and rested his head in his hand. She felt a spike nearby and Qrow glanced over, but he said nothing. This had to beincrediblydifficult on him... She was so close, but she could never touch him again... He still loved her so deeply, but he had chosen Winter. She still wasn't sure if she should feel touched or what... He was obviously incredibly loyal to those he held dear. The rest of dinner was quiet and Qrow picked up their dishes to put them in the dishwasher. Winter retreated up to Summer's room and sighed, falling on the bed. She wasn't sure how to help him...if there was even anything she could dotohelp him. She looked over to the desk. "I know you're somewhere in here." She couldn't tell when Summer was around but she just had an inkling suspicion. She felt Summer sigh, a drop in the room.Unfortunately, you're right. There's nothing you can really do to help him. He'll probably never get over my death. But with his loyalty, I'm not surprised he chose you over me. He would give anything to be with me, but he can't be, so he's focusing on those that need him now.She wished she could be surprised by that, but she was very easily seeing how loyal he was to those around him. He really was a sweet man... He was nothing like the Atlassian men she had grown up around, the men ten or more years her senior that were checking her out when she was still underage... Disgusting. Yes, he'd brought up the sex talk once or twice, but it was just to enforce the fact that he wouldn't force himself on her. She could at least see that he wouldn't do that... It didn't stop her from fearing it, though. But he hadn't touched her the one time she'd fallen asleep against him... If there was a time he would take advantage of her, it would've been then, but he hadn't. "I wish I could do more to help him." He was already doing so much to helpherthat it wasn't fair. He was still so alone in the world. He didn't really need help, though... What could she even offer to him? She was just stupid, silly little girl that didn't know anything about how to operate in the real world, let alone Vale. She hadn't gotten out to the city at all by herself. She felt like she got the hang of riding a bike, so she could go out there... As long as it wasn't windy and rainy, she could easily get out... It was just learning the city and how different public transit routes worked. Maybe you can in due time.As usual, Summer was beyond cryptic and she tried to ignore the warning. She picked up the tablet and started studying for her GED again until she spotted the time. Yeah, it was definitely late. She yawned and went through her nightly routine, then turned in. She snuggled down into the bed, hoping for a good night's sleep.