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Clover dodges one slash of Harbinger and crouches in the snow with Kingfisher at the ready. He doesn’t get the chance to use his weapon as Qrow spins again and brings his scythe down towards Clover’s head.
He dodges it almost effortlessly, but as they spin to attack each other again, he can’t help but wonder what got them here. Flashes of memories appear and disappear before he can pick through them, reminding him of Robyn’s attack and how Qrow joined in.
This can’t be the right thing to do, can it? Even as he thinks it, he knows the answer. Of course it isn’t, not if it means Mantle dies. Clover slows down his next strike, and maybe Qrow sees the hesitation in his eyes, because Harbinger halts inches from his face.
Qrow opens his mouth to say something, and that’s when Tyrian erupts from the wreckage of the airship. Clover shoots one agonized glance at the crash site because Robyn is there and he’ll never forgive himself if he’s just let Tyrian kill her.
Another piece falls off the airship with a loud clunk, revealing what Clover thinks is a flash of Robyn’s light hair. He doesn’t have time to confirm it as Tyrian lunges at him, blades outstretched.
Raising Kingfisher to block the blade, Clover is mostly unprepared for Tyrian to dive down and to the side, his tail reaching up to stab him under his weapon. He lifts his other hand in a clumsy attempt to deflect it, but he knows it’s not enough.
Qrow bends over nearly backwards and drives Harbinger into the snow between Tyrian’s stinger and Clover before he uses the momentum to flip over it.
The scorpion Faunus pauses in surprise, the wicked amusement on his face momentarily being replaced by a growl. While he crouches, mostly still, Qrow jerks Harbinger to the side and smacks Tyrian’s tail away.
The three of them move at once, but Clover’s the first one to get hit back by one of Tyrian’s kicks. He goes flying, barely avoiding the Faunus’s whipping tail. As he lands in the snow, Qrow pauses in his attack.
The break lasts only for a second before Qrow moves for Tyrian again. “Me and you have a score to settle.” Clover remembers something about Tyrian’s old stinger on the journey to Haven, but the memory seems hard to grasp in the haze of the battle.
“Oh, I agree,” Tyrian responds in that eerily light voice of his. It’s one thing when a serial killer is shadowed and menacing, and it’s another when that same serial killer acts like this. Whatever it is about Tyrian that makes him like this, he seems a lot scarier because of it. “So what’s say we put the kid to bed and then finish it?”
Qrow’s scythe stops spinning as Tyrian slides away. His eyes narrow as they slide between Tyrian and Clover, and then he’s moving for both of them.
Clover doesn’t know why he does it, but the next thing he knows, he casts Kingfisher towards Qrow instead of Tyrian. It’s stupid, so stupid, and he knows it, but something about the look in Qrow’s eyes was too hostile to ignore.
Red eyes light with surprise, telling Clover that he’s just misjudged the situation. Just like he misjudged the situation on their night off, and that night’s conversation alone had made Clover want to die. If only he’d just stopped to think before he’d made that last comment. If only he had realized that that might have been a line that he shouldn’t have crossed, not yet. Clover shakes his head. He can’t dwell on what went wrong that night. He has bigger problems to deal with. Now it’s serious, infinitely more serious, and his life is on the line-
Clover wants to stop, but there’s no going back now. Qrow whirls on Clover, Harbinger already moving to slash across his gut. Clover blocks it with Kingfisher, but Tyrian kicks him forwards.
There’s no time to explain as he tries to hold both of them off at once, the opportunity to fix things long gone. Blow after blow lands on him, and although Qrow’s are slightly softer, he’s not completely holding back.
It’s ironic really. That one night where he’d made the wrong call, he’d thought that they were friends enough for that. For the hint of a real invitation to be something more. He had been wrong then. And now, here in the snow around Mantle, he’s managed to think that they weren’t friends enough. Great.
Harbinger goes flying, but Qrow doesn’t hesitate, not for long. He punches Clover hard in the side, and as he staggers backward, Tyrian’s bullets slam into him.
Three shots. Three shots are all it takes for his Aura to break. Clover falls to the ground, gasping. There’s no luck to save him now.
Qrow sees the teal ripples spread over Clover’s skin and stops, indecision clear in his eyes. They remember Harbinger too late as a dark blur streaks by both of them with a glint of metal too big to be from Tyrian’s own weapons.
Clover spins too slowly, but as Harbinger moves towards him, a sense of ease passes through him like his body knows the massive sword can’t hurt him. This is a terrible time to be testing theories, but Clover has little choice as his instinct makes him stop the movement.
Harbinger stabs into his side, cutting through the cloth of his uniform- and then stops. Clover’s brain starts screaming almost immediately, and he nearly groans out loud. This is not the time for this, but it slips out anyway.
“This is blatant homophobia, you know,” Clover smirks, and kicks Tyrian in the face.
Tyrian goes down with a cry of pain and surprise, his Aura shattering. Faster than he should be able to, Qrow appears at Clover’s side in- are those feathers?
The scorpion Faunus rolls away from Qrow’s first kick and scrambles to his feet, turning and running in the opposite direction. As he leaves, Clover swears he can hear a mutter about necessary changes to the plan. He wonders briefly if he should go after him, but his lack of Aura tells him it might not be a good idea. Qrow doesn’t move either, so Clover stays put as Tyrian rushes farther and farther into the tundra.
Qrow turns to Clover, uncertainty shining in his beautiful red eyes. “Lucky dodge?” His tone holds a hint of hope that Clover prays isn’t because Qrow doesn’t want him for a soulmate.
“Not at all,” Clover murmurs, turning to show him the long line on his side where Harbinger cut into his uniform. “It just didn’t…”
“Oh,” Qrow says, eyes the size of moons. Harbinger crashes into the snow as its owner turns to Clover. “Soulmates?”
Clover nods. He collapses Kingfisher back into its portable form and returns it to his belt. “I’m sorry.”
It’s a good thing he says it the way he does, because any other tone might make it sound like he’s about to arrest Qrow anyway. He takes a tentative step towards Qrow, and then another.
Qrow reaches out and intertwines his fingers with Clover’s before he can. Clover pauses, surprised, and then pulls Qrow closer to him.
They might have an escaped serial killer on their hands, but Clover doesn’t particularly care. He doesn’t even mind what kind of soulmate Qrow wants- platonic, romantic, either is fine with him.
“So… what now?” Qrow rasps, snapping him out of the moment.
Clover meets his eyes and sees the question hidden there. Will he go with Qrow, or will he stay loyal to Ironwood? For a second, it hurts that Qrow doesn’t trust him enough, but he has a right. At least Clover knows his answer.
He thinks he’s always known the answer, deep down. Clover bends down and hands Qrow Harbinger as an airship lands thirty feet away from them. “I’m coming with you.”
Qrow smiles and takes his sword. “Then that’s what matters, isn’t it?” He glances at the two soldiers from the first airship now running for them. “...We might want to go.”
“No real time for that now,” Clover says.
“...For the record, I feel bad about this.”
“About what-”
His soulmate spins and punches the first soldier in the face, his other first taking out his partner a second later. Before Clover can blink, Qrow lifts them both up and starts dragging them towards the airship.
“Can you get Robyn?” Qrow asks as he pulls the unconscious soldiers towards the ship. “I think she’s waking up anyway.”
Clover stares for a second before he nods and runs for the airship. Before he gets there, Robyn emerges from the wreckage.
“So, you and… Qrow, was it?” Robyn smirks. “I never would have guessed I’d get to see the day when you got a boyfriend after Team CHRY split up.”
“He’s not my boyfriend yet, Robyn.”
“Yeah, but he’s your soul- did you say yet?”
Clover gives her a faint grin. “You heard me.”
Robyn looks about three seconds from jumping for joy as she follows him towards Qrow’s airship. “Are you going to ask?”
“Not now,” Clover replies, casting a glance towards the dark storm on the horizon. “I think we might have bigger problems.”
Robyn follows his gaze. “Ah.” As they step into the ship, she says, “Well, anyway, when you do, you have to let me know. I want to be there.”
“Nosy.”
“Hey, you were there when I asked Fiona out.”
“You stammered for five minutes until I asked her for you.”
Waving a hand to dismiss his words, Robyn replies, “Whatever. So are you going to let me be there, or…?”
“I don’t know. I’m full of spite, after all.”
“No you’re not,” Robyn snorts. “You’re a cinnamon roll.”
“I’m not-”
Qrow leans over from the pilot’s seat as Clover and Robyn sit down next to the unconscious bodies of the soldiers. “You are, at least by our standards.”
“Traitor!”
Robyn barks a laugh. “You know, we’re all traitors by now.”
“That’s a fair point,” Clover concedes. “Actually, Ironwood might not know about me yet.”
“Lucky us,” Qrow deadpans, and Robyn groans. After four years of being on Team CHRY, she’s far past laughing at any luck jokes.
Finally, she leans over to Clover. “...So are you going to ask him?”
“No, I was thinking about waiting.”
“Adorable, but I think this is my revenge.”
“Your wha-”
Robyn stands up and taps Qrow on the shoulder. “Hey, Qrow, Clover wants to ask you something.”
“ROBYN, NO.”
“ROBYN, YES.”