"Look Blake, I know you hate this assignment. You have every right to. I can't really understand what it feels like but… This is our job. We have to do this. We're Huntresses - well, huntresses in training! This is just another step in that process. As Huntresses, we're sworn to protect anyone and everyone…" Ruby said, her voice strong over the quiet whir of the maglev train as it glided along.
"Plus, she's just some sick kid. I know her father is racist trash, but you saw her. Wheelchair, wrapped up in blankets, shawl, pale as a ghost. We're not even supposed to go into the room with her because being around us could make her sick." Yang said from where she leaned against one of the train car tables, her eyes staring past Blake, watching the terrain pass outside.
"Yeah, thats gotta suck…" Ruby chimed in, though her voice faded when she saw Blake's face.
"Sorry if I don't have a lot of sympathy to spare." Blake spat, her arms crossed from where she was seated. "I'll do my job. Her father commits Faunus genocide and she does what? Nothing. Sure maybe she's sick now, but we've seen the photos of her at events and stuff when she wasn't sick. She could be doing something, anything."
"I guess…" Yang exhaled.
An uncomfortable silence fell between the three women, and time seemed to pass slow.
Blake sat straight up, "Did you hear that?" Gambol Shroud was in her hand in the next moment. Crescent Rose and Ember Celica soon followed. "Next do-" There was a loud bang before Blake could finish her warning.
All three of them moved. Yang threw open the door to the train car, and then looked into the next. A man crashed against the window, blood sliding from gashes across his chest. "They've got Grimm!" Yang yelled and threw open the car door. "Ruby, get him back!" She said, handing off the injured servant to Ruby, who nodded and began to drag the injured away. Yang could see another two servants lying in pools of blood, large Grimm birds standing over them. Air was rushing from a hole in the roof.
"Why here?" Blake yelled over the wind. "Doesn't matter!" Yang responded and charged in first. Blake followed on her heels. Explosions and Grimm screams rang out as the melee began. Ruby continued to evacuate the servants. "We've got to get the VIP!" She reminded them.
A few minutes later, the Grimm had faded away, the battle won. "I'll check on the girl." Blake said, steeling herself. She stepped over to the small sleeping quarters at the end of the train car. The door was still closed, thankfully. It had deep scratches against it, almost like the Grimm had been trying to get in, targeting the room specifically. Blake ran her hand against the deep marks, frowning.
"Miss Schnee, I'm Blake Belladonna. One of the huntresses assigned to protect you. I need to know that you're okay." She said through the door.
A dozen heartbeats.
"I'm fine, but my servant, he… he's injured. There's a lot of blood." The voice was quiet. The girl really was sick.
"I'm coming i-"
"No, you can't!"
"I have to, I'm sorry. I'll take responsibility." Blake said, and slid her keycard against the door. The light blinked red. Blake swiped it again. Had the lock been broken? Or… did the cards never work in the first place? It didn't matter. Someone was injured in there. "Yang!"
Yang walked over, and after a small exchanged, slammed her shoulder into the door after giving a small warning.
There was a hole in the top of the train here, too. Glass was everywhere. Weiss was on the floor, possibly knocked out of her wheelchair. She was still wrapped in blankets, including that shawl. She was doing her best to kneel next to the manservant, who was bleeding from a large wound across his chest.
Yang went to his side, kneeling down and taking a quick assessment. "We need something to staunch the blood flow, asap." She said, pressing her hands to the wound to staunch the bleeding as the man groaned.
"I'll look!" Ruby said from the doorway, but Blake shook her head. "No, I've got it." She stepped forward and yanked the shawl off Weiss, a bit harder than necessary. There was a small squeak of fear, but Blake ignored it and handed it to Yang, who quickly began to repurpose it.
"Blake…" Ruby said quietly, and as Blake glanced at her team leader, saw her pointing back to where Weiss was. Blake turned her gaze back to Weiss, and she gasped.
This was not the Schnee daughter Blake had seen on magazines. She had a scar over one eye. Bruises on her cheeks. Her hair had been shove off, just a soft white fuzz. Two small bony protuberances sat on her head, at slight angles. The skin around them was bruised and red. Blake knew what they were, or at least should've been. They should've been antlers.
"What the hell?" Blake said, almost breathless. Weiss didn't answer. She was sniffling and trying to hide herself, tears welling at her eyes.
"We can deal with that later. We've got to get this man on a stretcher. Ruby, help me break off a table top or something." Yang said, standing up from the injured manservant. "Blake, stay with him. Keep pressure on the wound. Don't let him move."
Blake nodded silently, not able to take her gaze off the Schnee girl. She reached over and absent-mindedly put her hands on the bloodsoaked shawl, not even reacting to the warmth against her fingers. Yang and Ruby stepped out of the cabin.
"You're… faunus?!" Blake finally exclaimed. "What the hell is going on, Miss Schnee?" she asked.
"I…" Weiss hesitated. "My father didn't know my mother was a faunus."
"Willow Schnee is a faunus?" Blake felt like her head was swimming.
"No… My father had an… indiscretion. I'm a bastard." Despite her voice quavering and being barely above a whisper, there was a dignified, put-together air that worried Blake more than reassured her. This was a girl who'd been schooled to speak well, too well. "My biological mother left me on the doorstep and leaked to the press another Schnee daughter was on the way. My father couldn't put me in home, so he kindly took me in, despite what my biological mother did to him."
"Did you do that to your antlers?" Blake said, trying to process the pain the Schnee girl could be going through. It felt like her whole world had been flipped upside-down. One thing at a time, she kept repeating to herself mentally.
"It's a winter routine. The servants do it. It's so my father's important business empire doesn't suffer any complications." Too calm. Too damn calm. Blake hated how calm the pale girl was.
"Doesn't it hurt..?" Blake slowly reached out a hand, wanting to touch the bruised and angry skin on the girl. Not just around her antlers, but the bruises on her cheeks, the scar across her eye. She stopped herself though.
"Antlers don't have nerve endings." Weiss said perfunctorily.
"That's not what I-" Blake froze when something cold pressed against her waist. Her eyes slid over to the manservant, who was now holding a handgun to her ribcage.
"I'm sorry, Huntress. Mr. Schnee's order. No one can know."
There was a blur of white just as he squeezed the trigger. Weiss had thrown herself into the servant, pushing his arm up. Blake reached out and grabbed her, a shadow clone of the two of them disappearing as the bullet ricocheted around the small room.
They reappeared a foot away. Ruby appeared as a cloud of rose petals, having reacted to the gunshot. The man was knocked out before he could fire a second round.
"What did you do that for?" Blake asked, looking surprised as the girl next to her. She quickly pulled her hand back.
"I… I don't know."
"Thanks. And Miss Schnee - Weiss, isn't it? We're going to get you help. I promise. Its our job as Huntresses."
Over her shoulder, Ruby and Yang nodded. Blake gave her a reassuring smile, and then placed a hand next to Weiss, comforting without touching. "I promise."