Weiss' heels echod off the vacant hallways around her, the empty space almost crushing her. Everything felt hollow and dead, though she was used to that. Constant, excruciating, emptiness. She knew this day was coming - there was only so long they could give her to herself, but she had still dreaded it. It was why she had chosen to be late on the first day of classes. She didn't want to look around and see a thousand smiling faces on all the other students. She particularly didn't want to see those smiles vanished when they noticed her.

But just being by herself was almost worse. It all seemed so dull alone, as if any meaning had been washed out. Her foot hit the ground, the heels made a sound, and that sound reached her ears, but it didn't register any purpose. It was just noise. The walls around her seemed broken, though they were exactly as they had been the thousand other times she had walked by. It was all so unreal. The world just couldn't exist.

She came to the classroom she was looking for. History seemed an ironic subject to have as her first coming back. She would have liked to forget the past, not studiously analyze it. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath, steeled herself, and twisted the handle.

The door swung open to reveal the classroom. As with many of Beacon's classes, this one had raked semi-circular seating around the small space from which the professor spoke with an aisle for the stairs coming down from the door. There was a blackboard at the bottom with a pull-down map lining its top. Next to that was the professor's desk, with papers scattered seemingly at random and various different academic instruments strewn around it.

The door clicked shut behind her and one student, a shorter girl with long, braided, auburn hair, glanced back at Weiss. Seeing who it was, the student quickly returned her attention to the lecture. They knew the story, and the students must have figured that today of all days was a bad day to cross her. Maybe they should have been right, but today Weiss hadn't the energy to be cutting or upset. All she could do was take the seat furthest from where professor Oobleck was talking and begin listening to the lecture. The seat she had chosen was separated from any other students, and that had been a deliberate choice.

"… is one of the few failed attempts at expansion the world has seen. Though humanity - and yes, that does include the faunus - has struggled in the past with attempting to colonize the wilderness, Mountain Glenn was a defining failure due to the fact that a city was indeed constructed and successfully colonized before falling." Oobleck paused for a moment, drawing a long sip from his mug before zipping to the opposite side of the floor. "It should be obvious why this must be studied. The breach of a year and a half ago came from the tram tunnels between Mountain Glenn and Vale, and though the blame has been allocated to a criminal organization operating under the recently at large Roman Torchwick," Though Weiss couldn't see the professor's eyes under the glare from the overhanging fluorescent lights, she was sure they flicked to her in that moment. Her stomach sank, and she had to lower her gaze. She tucked her arms over her stomach to try and alleviate the queasiness, but it didn't much help. "We must understand that there was some responsibility on our end for not considering the significance of Mountain Glenn. A skeleton city, once filled with living people, all of whom died tragically, inevitably drew Grimm to it like flies to a corpse. The concentration of Grimm in that area and the surrounding tunnels was much too high too close to the main city to be allowable. History, students, is not just a story. It is applicable everyday. If you turn to page 103 of your textbook, you will see a list of other massacres and sites of significant strife. Take the next few minutes to discuss potential current day ramifications of these events." Weiss drew the book from the stack she had carried with her.

"And miss Schnee, I would like a word if you please." Weiss paused, then lowered the book back onto the desk.

She stood stiffly, being sure to keep her back straight and her chin high. She walked down the stairs, feeling like she were being put on display. The general murmur of conversation of the students was cut through by hushed whispers, and Weiss knew who those were about. It made her feel sick. Her stomach was churning and Weiss could feel her legs shaking ever so slightly. There was a tremor in her fingers, so she clenched her fists as she walked. She did her best to look and act normal, but no matter how she presented herself, the students all knew. No amount of confidence or composure could shake the undeniable truth. She had briefly thought that going back to school might mean getting back to normal, perhaps abolish that gaping abyss in her stomach, but it was becoming quite clear that that would never happen.

It had been a fool's hope anyhow.

There were perhaps twenty rows of seating in the class, each separated by enough height for a sitting student to see over his or her peers' heads. About sixty steps, and every single one of them was accompanied by a furtive glance from someone Weiss knew. Some held pity, others just intrigue, and a few were guarded glares. She hadn't expected to be blamed by them, but it appeared they were finding her as guilty as she found herself.

She reached the bottom of the staircase, where Oobleck was patiently waiting for her. Half of his shirt was untucked, and he held his usual disheveled air, but despite his outward shabbiness, his eyes glimmered with a keen intellect behind his small, circular glasses.

"Welcome back Weiss." He said, but his words held a weight as though it were more than a casual greeting. And it was.

"Thank you, sir." She responded courteously, smiling lightly at him as one would expect be done. She wondered if she would smile naturally again.

The two stood across from each other, eyes meeting for a few moments. He would study her, take measure of how he thought she was doing, and Weiss just hoped that he believed she was doing fine.

"You've missed a month of school. It is a long time, but I trust you can catch up with little problem." He turned and took a step towards his desk, picking up a stack of paper about as thick as three of Weiss' fingers. He offered it to her. "These are all the readings and homework assignments over the period you missed. I won't be collecting these for marks from you, but I trust that by the end of the semester you will have caught up."

"Very considerate, sir. Thank you." Weiss said with a nod, putting her hands on the top and bottom of the stack to accept the papers. She would have plenty of free time in which to do it. Not having to do team assignments had a few benefits in that sense. She still doubted she could bring herself to do them, or anything else for that matter, though. As she tried to pull away, Oobleck didn't release the stack. She looked at him, confused.

"There is one lesson in history that speaks above all others Weiss, so all I will say is this: don't let yourself be lost in what has already come to pass."

He released his hold on the stack of papers, and Weiss withdrew. She walked back up the stairs, feeling the looks of all her classmates burning into her back as she went. As she reached her spot, she sat down, pulling her book over and opening it to the page Oobleck had previously indicated. She didn't read a word.

The rest of the class passed quickly. Quickly enough anyhow. Given where she was seated, the other students couldn't look at her without turning away from Oobleck, and none were so daring. She didn't take a single note. Weiss was somewhat disengaged from the happenings in the room. The only thing that could exist for her was the feeling that her heart was getting skewered.

She wondered whether she would have the courage to make herself stop feeling completely. It would be much better than what her world had been reduced to. It constantly felt like she had shards of glass imbedded in her chest and someone was dragging her innards out of her. There was, of course, nothing wrong with her, but it was a physical pain so intense that Weiss wanted it to end. She could think of several ways for that to happen.

She was already a pariah at Beacon anyhow, and her family wouldn't much mind. She could maybe switch schools - move to Atlas and hope to restart there - but the story was known everywhere. Besides, the looks from the other students weren't the actual problem, and fixing that which was without could ill heal that which was marred, twisted, ruined and broken within.

Before she could continue her train of thought, the shrill tone of the bell rang out through the class. Weiss stood, grabbing her books and papers, and walked out the door. Before she made it more than a few steps though, she heard a voice call out.

"Weiss!" It was Jaune. He was a friend. She should have stopped and talked to him, but she didn't understand why she was supposed to do that. So she just kept walking. "Weiss!" He called again, this time she felt a hand on her arm. She looked down at it, feeling it touching her skin, but not quite sure why she should care.

"Huh?" She said, turning to face him.

"How are you?" He asked, his voice upbeat and joyous. Like being happy could somehow repair what had happened.

"Fine, thank you." She answered politely. She saw worry flash through his eyes.

"Weiss, if you ever need to talk, or to just be with someone, any of us would be more than willing." She looked over his shoulder, noticing Pyrrha, Ren and Nora behind their team leader. Pyrrha gave a nod as their eyes met.

"Thank you, Jaune. But we should really be getting to class." She turned on her heel and strutted away.

She arrived at Port's lecture hall shortly thereafter. This time, rather than waiting for the teacher to call her out in the middle of class, she walked down the stairs to his desk of her own accord. Professor Port noticed her as she descended the last few steps.

"Ah! Miss Schnee! My dear girl it is good to see you back!" The burly old man said, his moustache bouncing as he talked. Weiss smiled politely, as though his words could actually engage any part of her mind.

"Sir, I was wondering what homework I have missed and when you would require I have it completed by."

"Nonsense!" Weiss looked at him numbly. "We are huntsmen and huntresses. Our job is a perilous one, and we need to live with the inherent consequences. However, when that happens, there is no reason we must forsake our right to recover."

"I… Don't need to recover." Weiss said. And it was true. She didn't. She couldn't recover from this, she had spent a month trying. What she needed now was work. Something to distract her. Keep her busy. Stop her from staring at the wall and feeling absolutely nothing.

"Of course you do. It just might take longer and more effort than you might have anticipated. The heart is hardly as reasonable as the mind."

"Sir?"

"Why don't you run along now? Class is about to begin."

Weiss looked at her teacher, then turned back to the stairs. She scaled them, other students descending them to find their seats. Weiss bowed her head and hid her face behind her hand, avoiding their haunting looks. Someone's shoulder knocked against her own, sent her spinning. Weiss dropped her books, her homework from Oobleck's class scattering. She stared at it for a second, a catch forming in her throat. Whoever had bumped her was long gone, so Weiss kneeled down and began picking up her papers.

Class ended soon enough, and Weiss walked towards the library. She was accustomed to studying in her room, but today there was no way she could go there. Not yet. So she made her way into the large room that housed the vast collection of books, tomes, and essays belonging to the academy. She found an isolated corner and sat down, pulling her stack of homework forward. She looked at it for a moment, trying to work up the courage to do something, anything, and finally pulled a pencil out and laid the first sheet in front of her.

Weiss heard a hint of a whisper, and her eyes flicked up, catching the auburn haired girl's look before she was able to duck her head. Weiss' eyes trained after her as she briskly walked away with her friend, shushed whispered passing between the pair. Weiss felt the gaping hole in her stomach open up further, and when she tried to turn back to her work, she found she couldn't make sense of any of the text on the page. It was just a garbled mess of useless nonsense. Nothing mattered. Nothing else mattered but what had happened.

Hours passed as Weiss just stared at the paper in front of her, her mind caught in one moment. She couldn't forget it. She could never forget it. No amount of time, no amount of work, would ever change that. No matter how hard she tried to get back to normal, she never, ever, could.

The haunting realization hurt, like someone had a vice around her stomach and was squeezing, tighter and tighter, crushing everything inside her. She needed it to end. Dust, she needed it to stop.

The lights overhead flicked off, and Weiss registered it a moment later. It must have been midnight then. In the hazy glow of the moonlight coming through the window, she picked up her things and began walking. It was the last walk of her day; it would end at her room. There she would go to bed, and likely wouldn't sleep at all. She hadn't slept more than a few scraps for over a month.

The walk through Beacon late at night was somber. An eerie blue tinted everything from the moon, and the large arches and spacious interior made Weiss feel like an insignificant spec of dust. The world was so very, very large, and she was just one little, little girl. How could she ever possibly do anything?

She reached the dorms, and her footsteps slowed with dread. She suddenly felt very heavy and lethargic. Tired and fatigued - but not in a way that promoted sleep. The kind of bone-deep weariness that could only come from a terrible tragedy. The kind that immobilized her in her bed for a month, unable to work up the strength just to move the sheets off her body. The stairs seemed to stretch onwards forever before her until she finally managed to reach her floor. She stepped out from the landing into the hallway. It was shorter than she remembered. Only six doors to her room. She took a step, then paused.

She looked behind her at the door to the stairs. The dorms weren't as tall as Beacon, but there was a door onto the roof…

Weiss shook her head. She couldn't afford to think like that. She took the next step, her foot feeling like it was picking its way through sludge. Each step took forever, but happened way too quickly, and then she was standing in front of her door. She looked behind her, at JNPR's room. Jaune had said that if she ever wanted to talk… But no. He was just being polite. If they actually knew the thoughts in her mind, knew how she felt, they wouldn't want anything to do with her.

So she pulled out her scroll and tapped the door. The lock flashed yellow, then green. She pushed down on the handle, feeling the latch give. The door was open, all she had to do was push. She took a deep breath, her heart wrenching in her chest as her innards writhed, and pushed.

The room was actually quite plain. A few suitcases with clothes or dust in them in one corner. All the other decorations had belonged to the others. All that was left was Weiss'. There were also white walls and red curtains, one of which had been stitched back together. Weiss' legs almost gave out when she saw that one.

And the one, lone, singular bed on the side. Weiss walked over and sat on it, her vision blurring as she looked around the room. Never again would there be bunks hanging from the ceiling, no more posters lining the walls, no more annoying whistle waking her up in the morning.

She was alone now.

And she would always be alone now.

Guess who's back!

...

Well kind of.

Basically, I got really busy really fast. I haven't had any time to sit down and write lately, so this is my attempt to getting back to a point where I can get words down on a page and have them mean something. Updates on my other stories will be coming shortly, I promise. I just didn't want to get back to writing those without first getting something else out.

That said... I'm not sure what this is. Moncon submission for back to school... I just got thinking about why you'd be getting back to school other than after summer break. Hope you liked it, but as I said, it's just a getting back to it work. Not my best.

Cheers,

Unjax