The Song of Crows and Snow

Chapter 1

    It was a strange situation, Jaucqes Schnee had invited the four academy headmasters to his manor, without much reason other than that he simply wished to get to know them better. Each headmaster had brought an additional guest. 'The more the merrier' as Jaucqes put it in his invitation. Ozpin had brought Qrow along in hopes of keeping him out of the bars for at least one night. Ironwood had brought Winter, in his mind Winter would be able to read Jaucqes better than anyone else. At first the room was uncomfortably silent, the tension in the room was high and everyone seemed to be just a bit on edge. The tension eased a bit when Jaucqes began talking.

"Thank you for taking the time to come here this evening. I wish to get to know you all better as well as discuss future partnerships with academies and the SDC." He spoke calmly and with confidence. Winter wasn't surprised that he was trying to make business deals over dinner like this. Money was all he ever cared about and he had made that very apparent in the past. If being stuck in her childhood home wasn't bad enough, Qrow just had to be there. For once he was sober, and not a complete mess. It was obvious from a glance that Qrow could care less about what Jauqces was saying, his gaze was more focused on Winter who had been agitated since she got there. He knew she hated her father but he had no idea just how upset this whole dinner was making her. "Our cooks have prepared food that I hope is up to your liking" Jaucqes said as servers came out and started placing food in front of them as well as glasses of fine wine. Everyone had begun eating except for Winter, who didn't touch her food or the wine. She seemed completely disinterested in any of it. This of course caught the attention of her father, he was enjoying having her back under his roof. She was under his control for at least this evening. "Winter, if you don't start eating, your food will get cold. You always liked this dish as child" Jauqces said with a slight smirk on his face. Winter had to use every bit of self control in her body to prevent herself from launching her plate at him. He knew exactly what to say to push her buttons.

"I'm not very hungry, in fact I'm feeling a bit unwell. Please excuse me" Winter said calmly as she stood up and left the room. She was relieved to finally be out of the room, if it weren't for the fact that she had promised General Ironwood that she would stay the entire time, she would have been long gone. Winter walked through the manor, memories that were long suppressed were coming back with every picture she saw. She stopped in front of a pair of doors, on the other side was her room. She was surprised to see that the room had been unchanged from when she had left. It was neat and orderly, everything in the room was a reminder of something from her past, a mix of good and bad memories.

"Never thought I'd get to see this side of you" Winter quickly turned around to see Qrow leaning against the door, a playful smirk on his face.

"What do you want Qrow?" She glared at him. She was not in the mood to deal with his smartass comments.

"I just wanted to check up on you...you know since you were 'feeling a bit unwell'" He was almost mocking her. He glanced around the room, it was almost like it had been frozen in time.

"I'm fine. You can return to dinner now" She said dismissively, she wasn't going to waste her energy on him. Winter gaze fell to picture, it was of her and her siblings nearly a decade ago. She could help but frown at the picture, she had spoken to either of them in years. Her military duties had taken up most of her time recently.

"I don't think so. Not until you do. And since I know that won't happen, why don't you tell me what's got you so upset about this place" Qrow took a step towards her.

"As if that's any of your concern. I'd rather not speak about it" Winter shook her head. Even if she were to talk about her childhood, she wouldn't know where to begin.

"Come on Ice Queen, it can't be that bad" Qrow spoke, not anticipating Winter's reaction to his words.

"Not that bad?! You have no business chasing me down, demanding I explain my feelings and then assuming that they aren't that bad!" She pushed past him and stormed down the hall. Qrow stood there a moment, he wasn't expecting Winter to get so upset over his half hearted comment. Now he was more curious than before to find out just what was going on in Winter's mind and just how bad her past must have been....