"a safe place to stay"
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
18+ - unrelated
"You're a branch I should hold / following the coming winter storm / I need you / does it burn you too?""
When Ruby's tavern server Penny needs her basket of goods delivered to her parents in the middle of the woods, Ruby takes it upon herself to play hero and deliver the basket. There is a Beast lurking in those woods, and a handsome reward for anyone who can slay it. Ruby Rose has been away from home too long, and needs gold for passage... ...which means she is in the middle of the woods, hellbent on slaying the Beast and delivering the basket, when the winter storm hits. She is rescued by Qrow, a fellow Huntsman, but now they're snowed in until spring. As the weeks pass, Ruby realizes that the bloodthirsty tales that drew her to the woods may not be all they seem...
“‘If there is a Beast that must be slayed, then slay I must.’” Ruby quotes, then clears her throat. “Really, the sooner, the better for all involved.” And not just for gold’s sake, she thinks with grit teeth. Fool.
“All?” Qrow hums. “Do you include the Beast in your number?”
“W-well, no,” She stutters, flummoxed. “And why should I?”
He smiles then, eyes caught on hers. “Right enough. Well, for this one in particular… they say he steals children from their beds. That he plucks the finest animals from their keeps. They say you shouldn’t go wandering at night, and especially not alone. They say he’s got a taste for maidens too. Be wary, careless traveler,” He intones. "Watch how you step, else you'll meet your end in fang and claw. Watch how you go, lest you become blood and bone."
“Tsk. A convenient scapegoat.” She shakes her head. “Every missing creature falls under a Beast’s purview, as does any ill that befalls a village. Oh, a pox? It must be the Beast. Ah, a house has been stolen from, there in the middle of town? Surely it was the Beast that did it! Never mind its lack of dexterity. Never mind that it would be shot instantly upon setting foot within town limits…”
He's amused. Fingers pressing down on a stray thread. "Mm. But don't forget, in every tale there is a grain of truth. He has consumed all that have come after him. I’ve found the remnants. Hardly anything left but bits and scrap. No flesh to speak of. Nothing left to bury.”
“Mm.”
His fingers spread wide. "I collect the weaponry and their possessions, meager as they are. The gold I give to Calaveras if there is no way to send it to their kin. I have no need of it myself. The towns won’t take it, even if it would be for their betterment.” He huffs. “What else is there to do?"
Her fingers tighten in her lap, gaze locked on his. “It has a taste for human flesh?”
He nods, searching her.
“Oh…” She breathes, straightening. “No. That won’t stand. I must kill it.”
“You are welcome to try.” He rises smoothly, running a hand through his silvering hair and nudging the chair back. “Many have come before him, and that same number has failed. He is a fearsome creature.”
“If it bleeds,” She murmurs as he turns away. “Then it can die. And I’ll strike the finishing blow.”
He chuckles heartily at that, taking her cup over to the other table and refilling it with the pitcher. Then he turns. “What makes you so certain?”
“Because I have never failed before,” She states with a nod. Just he see.
And Qrow smiles at her, eyes as deepdark as heart's blood, canines flashing. "See that you don't, Little Red."
