Snowbird Week 2025

okay this one doesn't involve birds lol

***

Winter sighed as she sat by the pool. As usual, they had their vacation at this beautiful resort in central Mistral. It was beautiful, but it was still a prison nonetheless. She hatedthese so-called vacations something awful. They were a break from the usual humdrum life in Schnee manor, but she was still controlled. All she wanted was freedom, freedom away from that man and his controlling ways. She had free rein of the resort, but she still couldn’t fully get away from him. She didn’t even like swimming. She’d never been taught. It was just because the pool was the easiest place to avoid detection and to stay away from the lecherous men that eyed her up. She was in a full outfit, completely covered up as normal, so she did stand out, but she just didn’t want to stay locked up in her room all the time either… Honestly, she was right next to the forest. She peered around and saw no security guards or anything like that. This was probably certain death for her, but she didn’t really care. She slipped out of her chair and started heading toward the forest. She came to a fence, but it wasn’t very high either. She wore a full skirt and tights and she knew that someone stumbling across her would be scandalous,but she needed to get away. Hiking herself up, she started climbing the fence. It was maybe six feet high which, for an aura user, wasn’t very much. Her superhuman strength helped her scale the fence and make it down the other side. She did notice her tights had ripped, but that wasn’t her prime concern right now. After getting to the bottom, she started walking aimlessly. She wouldn’t be surprised if security would be sent out to find her. If they didn’t find her, then this would be certain death for her. Even death would be preferable to continuing to live under Gelé’s thumb. She wanted to get away from him for good. She wasn’t suicidal, but she just couldn’t stand his rule any longer. She knew she’d be leaving behind Weiss, but she just… She couldn’t deal with it anymore. All she wanted was to get away and be free of Gelé for good. How long she wandered, she wasn’t certain, but she eventually heard what sounded like hooves and tensed, hiding behind a tree. She couldn’t risk being found. In this place, horses would probably be more effective than off-road vehicles. The rugged terrain and dense underbrush would make even off-road vehicles tough to use properly. She had run into a fair few dense walls of underbrush and had been forced to find a separate way. She heard the hoofsteps stop and she remained still, trying to make whoever it was go away. But she heard someone speak to her in a strange, lilting language. She remained tense and still. Would they leave? Had they found her? That definitely wasn’t any language she’d ever heard before. Again, the person spoke but fizzled out. “Hey, can you understand me now?” A male voice, thick accent she couldn’t quite understand, but in Valian. Winter sighed. She’d been found out. She came around the tree and saw a tall man on what looked like a pony. Couldn’t have more than 14 hands tall or so. And he was tall, but he was also lanky. He wore strange clothes. They were long sleeved and robe like with thick, white lines applied to the main body. They were veryunusual clothes. His were a pinkish-purple color aside from the thick, white lines which obscured the main color. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Um, yes.” She wasn’t the most confident in her Valian, but she did understand him. “What are you doing out here by yourself? Don’t you know there are Grimm out here?” “I’m aware, yes.” “And you don’t have a weapon.” “No.” “That’s stupid. Why are you out here when you know there are Grimm and you aren’t armed?” “I’m not trained in combat.” She knew it was stupid but she didn’t want to confess to the fact that she was ready to die just to get away from her abusive father. She really just wanted to get away from him even if it meant losing her life. He shook his head. “Are you from the fancy…place a few miles away?” Fancy place…? “Do you mean the resort?” “The place with the fences and the weird pond people swim in with weird outfits on that barely cover anything… And the incredibly tall building that’s unnaturally tall.” “That would be the resort, yes. I’m from there.” “I’d ask why you left, but I already know. Your aura gave it away.” Winter’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean my aura gave it away?” “I’m an advanced aura user. You wanted to get away from your abusive father even if it meant dying.” She was silent. Those had been her thoughts. What was ‘advanced aura’? She had never heard thatterm before. But, then again, there was a lot she didn’t know about the world. Maybe there was a such thing. “I can help you get away.” He patted the spot behind him. “You know how to ride?” “Sidesaddle, yes. Not astride though.” “I don’t know what any of that means. But get on. I’ll take you back to my tribe.” She was silent again. This could easily be an ambush of some sort, but it wasn’t like this random person would know that she’d have randomly made the decision to leave the resort. He didn’t even know the word for resort… All she knew was that she wanted to get away. She nodded slowly and approached him. He was armed with a sword. Very stock, standard blade from ancient times. “Very well.” He helped her up onto the horse. “What’s your name?” “Winter.” “Qrow Branwen. Now let’s get you out of here.”