Qrow's Moving Castle (A Fair Game AU)

Chapter 1

Clover Ebi sat at his workbench, working in silence as he made fishing tackle. The other workers in the store chatted and joked around as they worked, but Clover kept to himself in his separate work room. 

"Guys, come here!" Someone in the other room shouted. Everyone dropped their work to gather around the window and look out.

"Is that the moving castle?" One girl asked. 

"It is! That's Qrow's moving castle!" They all seemed fearful. 

Clover looked out the window, watching the castle make it's way across the hills. 

"Let's hope he doesn't come into town, or he just might eat your hearts." One of the male workers teased, sending all the ladies into a fit of shrieks and giggles. 

The castle moved out of view, and Clover went back to his work. He was finishing up when one of his coworkers came to his door.

"Hey Clover, we're all headed into town for the festival. Want to join us?" He asked.

"No thanks, I'll finish up here and then go visit my sister." The guy rolled his eyes, but said okay and went to join the others. Clover heard them leave the building and he got up to lock up the store. 

Clover locked the door behind him and headed down the street. He looked at the piece of paper in his hands, directions written on it. 

He turned a corner into a side sheet and looked down at the paper again. As he continued to walk, he bumped into someone, nearly knocking them over. 

"I'm so sorry-" he started, looking up to meet eyes with a young lady. She and her friend were just standing there, staring at him.

"No worries!" She said, bubbly and smiling. "My aren't you good looking? Want to come and get drinks with my friend and me?"

She reached like she wanted to touch his bicep, but he pulled away.

"No, sorry," he mumbled. "I have somewhere to be and my sister is expecting me." 

"Oh, but it's a party!" The second girl whined. "Just a few drinks wouldn't hurt." 

"There you are, I've been looking for you everywhere." A new voice appeared at Clover's shoulder. Clover looked over, startled. There stood a man, with dark black hair and bright red eyes. He had a smirk that told Clover that he was up to something. 

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are?"  The girl Clover had bumped into asked.

"Who I am doesn't matter. Now, if you excuse me, my friend and I were just going, and so were you." The red eyed man flicked his wrist and the two ladies stiffly walked away, confused and shouting that they couldn't control where they were moving.

The red eyed man grabbed Clover's hand, and Clover could help but noticing the many rings on his hand. "Come with me, act natural." The red eyed man said. 

The man pulled Clover along, focusing on walking forward. Out of the corner of his eye, Clover saw strange blob figures coming out of the shadows, making their way towards Clover and the man.

"Pay no attention to them, focus on me." The man said. He picked up speed, and the two of them were soon running. The blobs had picked up speed to and were chasing them down the deserted side street. 

The red eyed man grabbed onto Clover's other hand and yelled, "hold on!" Before Clover knew what was happening, the two of them were flying through the air, running on absolutely nothing. 

"Oh my god!" Clover gasped.

"Calm down, worrying won't help you. Relax your body and start walking." The red eyed man coached. Clover did as he said, and it didn't take long to get used to walking on the air. He could see the festivities down below, people drinking and dancing and being loud. 

He also saw the sweet shop that his sister looked in and he pointed it out to the red eyed man. The man changed directions and took Clover to the building, landing on a balcony on the top floor. 

"I'd wait a while before going back out, just for safety reasons. Take care of yourself." The red eyed man winked at Clover and then jumped off the railing. Clover rushed to the edge to see where the man had fallen, but we was nowhere to be seen.

Clover heard footsteps pounding in my direction. He turned and saw his younger sister running towards him. 

"Hey Lettie." he said, hugging his sister. She was short, but quite pretty. She had lots of blonde hair and large blue eyes. If the two of them stood next to each other, no one would guess that they are siblings, but they were super close non the less. 

"Someone told me that you floated to the balcony! And that you were with a someone. Clover, what if it was a wizard, what if it was the Wizard Qrow! He could have stolen your heart." 

"Nonsense Lettie." He said. "He only steals the hearts of attractive people. I'm totally safe." 

Lettie made a face, but didn't say anything.

"Lettie, they need you back down in the shop." Lettie's boss called.

"Go, I'm going to head back home." Clover told her. 

"Are you sure?" his sister asked. Clover nodded and the two of them hugged. 

Lettie walked Clover to the door. "I don't understand why you continue to work in Father's old tackle shop. Do something for yourself for once and find a job that you enjoy doing."

"I do enjoy it. I want to keep Father's legacy alive."

Lettie sighed. "If that's what you truly want. I love you dear brother. Take care of yourself." She gave Clover one last hug before heading back into the shop.

By now most of the festivities had moved indoors, so Clover had no trouble getting back home.

He unlocked the tackle shop doors and locked them again behind him. He was tidying up a bit when he heard the door open.

He turned and saw a woman standing there. She was tall and thin, dressed in all black, which matched her dark hair. Her eyes were covered by her hat,  but by  the way she stood, Clover could tell that she was judging the shop.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we're closed." Clover called out. "I could have sworn I locked that door." He muttered to himself.

"What a tacky little shop." The woman said, ignoring Clover. She turned and faced Clover. Her eyes were red, similar to the man's from earlier. "But you are by far the tackiest thing in this shop." 

Clover ignored the insult and walked towards the door, holding it open for the lady. 

"I said that we're closed. Please come again a different time." 

The woman glared at Clover. "Standing up to the Witch of the Waste, now that's plucky." 

She seemed to turn into a shadow and glided through the door. Clover felt a sweeping cold pass through him, and he bent over in pain. 

"The best part about that spell is you can't tell anyone about it." The Witch of the Waste said.

The door to the shop closed shut, leaving Clover alone in the dark. He walked over to a mirror and looked into the face of a old man. Clover realized instantly, that he was staring at himself.

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A/N: yay, chapter 1 is complete and ready to share! I hope you guys enjoy it, especially since I understand that some of you haven't watched Howl's Moving Castle. If you haven't, I do encourage you to watch it, but I completely understand if you don't.