A/N. Alright, so I decided to jump onto the future selves travel back bandwagon just because I can and I like this particular group of characters heading back to the past from the future. Although, since this is me, I'm inserting some headcanon and if future volumes, books, manga prove me wrong, I won't give a fuck and just roll with what is already in the story.
Chapter 1: A Heiress, An Android, A Thief, A Nomad and A Lizard
Weiss Schnee was livid as she sat at her desk as she read the paper. On the front cover was the smiling face of Whitley as the headline praised him for finding a Dust reserve near Schnee Manor no one even knew about. Truth was, he was using the Dust Weiss had placed in reserve for the increasing Grimm attacks. She was about throw something when a knock came to her door. She sighed and spoke through strained teeth. "Come in."
The door opened shortly after and a kind face poked through the door. The face of her team leader, Ruby Rose. The years had not been as kind to Ruby than they were to Weiss, the thirty-two year old Huntress already had grey in her hair and had lost her eye after Cinder re-emerged. Still, the face of Ruby Rose was enough to calm the Schnee down. "You okay Weiss? You angry with your brother?"
Weiss hung her head as she heard Ruby say that. She gave a weak nod as she looked at the paper, that smug shit's face smiling at her. "You do know he is lying about this being a Dust reserve, right? He's getting it from the family vault, and using it to flaunt about just because he owns most of the company. Its only a matter of time before the vault runs out and we are back to a Dust shortage."
Ruby looked down before she sat on the desk and placed her hand on the paper to cover Whitley's face. "We'll find a way to win. I-I know we've lost Pyrrha... Jaune, Ren, Nora... Blake a-and Yang... But we'll find a way to win. I-I know if Oscar th-thinks we can win, we will."
Weiss was unconvinced as she looked at her hands. Losing their friends had been tough for them. The only people they had left from Beacon that they hadn't lost contact with was Velvet and Professor Oobleck. Weiss clenched her fists as she remembered how they lost Jaune, Ren, Nora, Sun, Neptune, Sage, Scarlet Blake and Yang. For all they knew, Coco, Fox, Yatsu, even CRDL and Professor Port were dead. She remembered when they found Professor Goodwitch, torn from limb to limb by a pack of Beowolves. Her face a look of relief. Weiss was brought out of her thoughts by Ruby holding her hand.
"I know we lost a lot Weiss... but we'll avenge them, no matter what" Ruby whispered, bringing a small smile to the older girl's face before they heard the whirling of the alarm. "Something's happening. Weiss, let's find out what it is."
Weiss gave her a nod before standing, taking Myrtenaster and Winter's sword, Blizzard, with her. Weiss had a look of determination on her scarred face as she ran after her leader... to the courtyard.
Patrolling the walls of what remained of the great kingdom of Atlas was Emerald Sustrai and a pair of former students from Atlas Academy, Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil. The three watched the outside of the wall cautiously as they feared the Grimm would come. Emerald had changed the most out of the three, now sporting a long green and beige coat that had its sleeves cut off right after her elbows, showing off her tattoos and burns on her left and right arms respectively. Her pants were virtually the same, if only a little modified for the colder climate of Atlas. She wore a white button up shirt with green trim. She had burn scars all up the right side of her face, something she tried to hide with her long hair and beige and green half face mask. Her red eyes pierced the dark snow covered grounds for movement.
Penny's new body was heavily based around her old. Obvious differences between the two bodies is that this one had a slightly more tanned look to it and had longer hair. All in all, it was like the new Penny was just old Penny with Blake's hair length and a tanned complexion. Her clothing was a little different. This Penny took a cue from Pyrrha's main combat outfit design and wore a brown armoured corset, a green sash and orange and black lined opera gloves. However, Penny did wear combat pants in exchange for Pyrrha's skirt. She also wore boots that were heavily armoured.
Ciel hadn't changed her look much outside of growing her hair out. The girl did add a pocket-watch to her outfit though, to fit with her obsession with time. She was distrustful of Emerald ever since it came out that she had helped caused the Vytal Festival incident. Penny had forgiven her, but she had not.
As the three patrolled the wall, they were silent. Not because they wanted to be, but because they had to be. They had to be silent so that no Grimm or allies to Salem could hear them. They didn't get why this had to be so when A) they had a giant wall, and B) the lights behind them were the brightest things outside of the sun. Emerald swallowed as she walked further along the wall, Ciel and Penny following closely behind her. The trio missing the black shapes running across the snow silently behind them. The three stopped when they saw somebody sitting down, back against the wall.
"Is he supposed to be there?" Emerald asked as she looked at the motionless soldier.
Ciel frowned as she looked at man before approaching him cautiously. "Sir, are you alright?"
"I'm not picking up a heart beat" Penny stated with a frown, just as Ciel shook the man's shoulder, him falling over to reveal the deep gashes in his back.
Before Ciel had the time to scream, the three heard a growl coming from the way they came. They turned to see an Alpha Beowolf towering over them, the dead body of the fearful Velvet Scarlatina in it's mouth. It growled as it bit down, a loud wet crunch echoing from it's mouth. They were all stunned silent. This proved fatal for Ciel as she took a step back from her fear and bumped into something. She turned only to find several claws dig into her chest and throat. Her wet gurgle gained Emerald's attention, allowing her to see another Alpha Beowolf toss Ciel's limp body off the wall and into the courtyard.
"Penny... We need to warn the others. Think you can fly us down?" The Thief asked her android companion.
Penny glanced back at her before speaking. "I'm not built like the former me. I can possibly jump and get us down that way, but flying is impossible for me."
"You get us off here, I'll call for backup" Emerald ordered, grabbing her Scroll and entering a code. Almost instantly an alarm blared from the manor. Penny grabbed Emerald's hand and jumped from the wall. Emerald smirked as she pocketed her Scroll and flipped the Grimm off with her free hand. "Fuck you~!"
Nebula Violette was cleaning her crossbow as Ilia walked up to her. The lizard Faunus sat down next to the only known surviving student from Shade and gave her a soft smile. Nebula gave her an apathic glance before she went back to polishing the gears for her weapon's transformation function. "What do you want Amitola?"
"Can't I talk to the great Nebula Violette?" Ilia purred as she crossed her leg over the other and gave the purple haired Huntress a flirty smile.
Over the seventeen years since Nebula first travelled outside of Vacuo, she had changed very little. She had grown an inch taller than she previously was and had a scar on her cheek which she hid with a gauze and medical tape. She often had an irritated right eye, such as now, being bloodshot. Her hair had been kept the same over the years, although the stress of being among the last defenders of Remnant had left her with a grey strip of hair. Her outfit had stayed close to her original combat uniform, if only with the additions of things from her former team's combat uniforms. Gwen's knives, Dew's shoulder guard and Octavia's belt, which held Gwen's knives. While none of this made sense in fashion, it reminded Nebula of what she had lost.
Ilia on the other hand... Had changed less. Her only difference between her former self and her now was her confidence... and her height. There wasn't much difference between her past self and her now self outside of those two factors. The Faunus girl had also been one of the first to willing head out into the Grimm overrun world for supplies when they started running low. She was about to leave Nebula be when she saw Nebula sigh and put the gears down.
"There's always a catch to when you talk to me. What is it this time?" Nebula stretched her arms out as she asked this.
Ilia blinked before she replied. "I... I just want to talk to somebody, less Atlas."
"So less... Bigot? Got it" Nebula rolled her eyes before she started to work more on her gears.
"Yeah..." Ilia looked down dejected.
Nebula started to put her crossbow back together before she spoke. "Alright, bore me."
The smile on Ilia's face was enough to bring a smile to Nebula as the Faunus started to talk to her about whatever random topics came up. All the while, the Vacuoian girl put her crossbow back together. Once she was done, she put a pause to their conversation as she tested the firing mechanism of her crossbow... the bolt sinking into the skull of a Faunus running by. The two stared in horror at what had just happened. There, pinned to the wall by Nebula's crossbow bolt, was Kali Belladonna. Then they saw what she was running from enter through the door. A large, muscular Beringle.
"Oh shit..." was all either of them could say before they were forced to dodge an attack from the large gorilla Grimm.
"How the fuck did that thing get in here?!" Ilia shouted as she rolled back and popped to her feet, drawing her weapon.
"I was about to ask the same thing!" Nebula responded from across the room before jumping to the side to avoid the corpse of Kali Belladonna being thrown at her. "We need to so-"
Before she could finish, alarms were blaring in a pattern they recognised... Breach. "Shit."
Weiss and Ruby ran down the hall to the courtyard, avoiding the few scared civilians that populated their stronghold. Both girls ran out the large oak doors to see the sirens and floodlights were all active. The two ran forward to the entrance to the manor with soldiers and civilians running through the gates. The two looked at each other before they exited the safety of the manor's courtyard, in time to see a Nuckelavee screech at a fleeing Oscar. The boy looked at them with fear in his eyes before both girls watched in horror as he was impaled in the back by one of the Grimm's long fingers.
"This is bad... If there's that thing, the manor's walls won't hold. And if they fall, than the-" Weiss began before getting cut off by a loud crash from behind and the sound of Ilia's shout.
"They're fucking inside! Evacuate everybody! NOW!" She screeched as she ducked to dodge the flying form of Nebula, the Vacuoian girl bouncing off the ground with a pained grunt before she rolled to a stop a few metres in front of the duo.
"Shit..." The girl hissed as she pushed herself back to her feet, only to have her leg give out beneath her, forcing her to her knee.
"Nebula, you okay?" Ruby asked as she crouched next to the girl in purple, Weiss running up to their side to cover them.
Nebula gave Ruby a small smile before she looked back at the hole in the wall, the Beringle that had alerted her and Ilia to the Grimm slowly walking through it. "Would be better if I had better use of my leg. Also to have some Aura left. That thing caused the death of Kali. I need to make sure it pays for that shit."
Ruby forced Nebula to stay on her knee before she looked at Weiss. "You go help Ilia, I'll do what I can for Nebula... I hope Penny and the rest of the wall teams are alive."
Weiss gave a grim nod before she rushed over to Ilia's side, striking at the Beringle. Ruby calmed herself down and started to push her Aura into Nebula to help speed up her healing and give her some protection in battle. Before she could finish the transfer, Ruby was hit in the back by some stones. She looked back, her Aura still attached to Nebula, forgetting to disconnect from her. There, behind the two was the corpse of Ciel, her eyes glazed over, hand on her pocket watch and... The sight of Ciel's missing bottom half made Ruby sick. She looked up to see what had thrown her, only to see the eyes of a large Alpha Beowolf, larger than any she saw before. Before it could strike her, Ruby felt movement from her hand. In a flash, Nebula decapitated the Grimm. There was a moment silence before Ruby was screaming in pain. Nebula, Weiss and Ilia looked at her, only for their blood to run cold. Ruby's hand was bleeding heavily and her face was twisted in pain and torture. None of the girls knew what to do. Weiss was distracted long enough to be flung away from Ilia by the Beringle. The Faunus was fortunate enough to see this and dodged the attack aimed at her. She joined Nebula next to Ruby. Weiss got to her feet and immediately forced herself to run to the trio. The three capable girls stood around Ruby as she hissed and cried in pain.
"What the hell happened to Ruby?" Weiss asked with heavy breaths, looking around the entrance to the courtyard to see it quickly fill with Grimm, and they were funneling into the courtyard and by extension the manor.
Screams from within what was supposed to be their safest building chorused into the air as Nebula answered the question. "I don't think she properly detached her Aura from me and my sudden attack on the Alpha caused a sudden and dangerous break in our connection. Her Aura didn't know what to do and snapped, causing extensive damage to her hand."
"And how the hell do you come to that conclusion?!" Ilia shouted as she whipped a Grimm that got too close to them.
"How do you think Dew and Octavia fucking died?! If we don't get out of here and give Ruby some rest, she'll be joining them!" Nebula snapped, rather too angrily before she holstered her crossbow and picked up Ruby. "We need to move now!"
Nebula was about to take a step towards the wall when Emerald rolled to the ground. The thief popped up to her feet and brushed off her shoulder before giving the four an innocent smile. "Good to see somebody else alive other than myself and Penny."
"What happened to friend Ruby?" The voice of Penny asked as she calmly walked up to the group, her puppet blades cutting anything that got near her up into tiny pieces.
"Mishap in Aura transfer on both mine and her parts" Nebula answered quickly, holding the younger girl in her arms.
"Oh? That's no good. Why haven't you tried healing her?" Penny questioned, slicing a leaping Beowolf in half.
Weiss was the one to answer this as quickly as she could. "Because injuries like this are caused by Aura, therefor Aura can't heal them."
Penny was about to ask another question but Ilia cut her off. "Don't ask another fucking question! We need to get out of here!"
"And where do you suggest we go?" Weiss shouted, impaling a Grimm in the eye.
"Doesn't Whitley have that reserve?" Ilia asked, as much as it sounded wrong to even suggest, it was their best option.
"You didn't hear? All other strongholds of your pathetic races have been wiped out" a smooth, almost seductive voice behind the six purred.
The Grimm all stopped attacking as they turned to see her. She hadn't changed much from her first assault on the four Kingdoms, same white hair, black dress, ashen skin and red eyes. Salem. Despite being one of the oldest people known, they knew very little about her. Nebula instinctively held Ruby closer as she stared at the woman before them. Ruby looked up, her face covered in sweat as she saw the woman that had taken so much from them.
"You want to know something Salem? Fuck you" the red cloaked girl muttered as she glared at the woman.
"That was rather pathetic, even for you Ruby" Salem frowned, her eyes pretty much telling Ruby she pitied her for attempting to insult her.
"Does it look like I have a fuck to give about that?" Ruby snapped, trying and failing to push herself off Nebula's shoulder.
The six girls all stared at Ruby as she glared at Salem. Nebula held her closer. Weiss, Ilia, Penny and Emerald all stepped closer to the two more socially awkward girls. Salem just raised her brow at them. She rolled her eyes before she spoke again. "Oh you humour me. Makes me almost regret doing this."
"Doing wh-" Ruby began before she was cut off by a sharp pain in her stomach.
Ruby's eye widened before she looked down. Impaling her stomach was a tentacle. She was about to scream when the tentacle left her. She collapsed, only being saved thanks to Nebula's grip on her. The purple haired girl gently lowered Ruby down to the ground before she drew her weapon and took aim at the Grimm responsible for maiming Ruby. A Seer.
"Do that and all of you will die" Salem warned with a fire to her voice.
"And that's supposed to scare me? If you attacked the other strongholds, and if you managed to defeat Whitley's forces and Dust reserves, then why should I spare the lives of myself and my friends? We are effectively the last of humanity and Faunus" Nebula hissed, her finger teasing the trigger of her crossbow.
"Because I want an audience to see me send the Grimm infection beyond Remnant" Salem laughed before the Seer went to strike at Nebula, only for the girl to suddenly fire at it, impaling it and the bolt pinning it to the ground nearly a hundred feet away. "...You, killed him... Despite what I told you..."
"He attacked me and I retaliated. Now, time for you to fucking die" Nebula snarled, already hating how cheesy that sounded.
Weiss swallowed as she took up Nebula's left defence instinctively. Ilia joined the heiress on Nebula's left. Emerald and Penny took up her right. Ruby shakily raised her head to look at the five as they prepared their last stand against Salem. She looked over at Ciel, seeing her corpse had not been disturbed and she still held her pocket watch. She waited until the five attacked Salem before she started to force herself over to Ciel. The Silver Eyed Warrior grit her teeth as she dragged herself up to the corpse of her former friend.
Salem surprised the five attacking her by using what appeared to be a form of Grimm based magic to manifest several bone blades which she used to block their attacks. She swung at Nebula, blocking Emerald's bullets. Weiss jabbed her sword, only for Salem to catch it and swing it up. The Grimm woman kicked Ilia away before she started her main assault onto Penny. She narrowed her eyes as she attacked the Android. The four other girls were about to charge when they heard a dink.
"What the fu-" Nebula began before she saw what caused the sound before she saw the look in Ruby's eyes.
Penny was kicked back into Nebula as she saw Ruby's lips move. Whatever Ruby said, it was drowned out by the sound of a loud whirling. Nebula felt something painful strike her as her vision went white then blue. She felt a couple of thin but sharp stinging cuts across her cheek and through her eyebrow. Nebula didn't dare open her eyes until she could hear again. She slowly opened them to find herself staring at the boots of somebody and Ciel's pocket watch. She looked up and widened her eyes as she saw a man staring down at her with shock as clear as day on his face. Nebula swallowed before the man reached for a weapon. Before he got a grip on the handle, he gave out a small gasp and collapsed to the ground. Behind him stood Penny, holding a wooden plank.
"Thanks."
Penny looked down at the panting girl before extending her hand down. "Don't mention it friend Nebula."
Nebula stared at Penny's hand for a moment before she took it and struggled back to her feet, although she scooped up the pocket watch and pocketed it. "Do I look as shit as I feel?"
"If by looking like faecal matter means you have five deep cuts on the left side of your face, then yes you do" Penny answered autonomously before she wrapped her arm around Nebula's back and the crossbow wielder's arm around her shoulders.
Nebula smiled before coughing into her hand. "So... Where are the others?"
Penny gave her a look as they made their way away from where the guard was. "Weiss is currently attaining clothes for us. Ilia is doing her best to stabilise Emerald's wound and we are here."
"What about Ruby?" Nebula quickly asked, earning nothing but silence as her answer. She swallowed and grimly nodded her head. She was silent for the rest of the trip until they reached a small home. A light was on inside and Nebula could make out the silhouette of Ilia sitting in a chair. The two walked up to the door before Penny knocked on it in a very peculiar pattern.
Rat-rat-rat-a-tat-tat-rat-rat-tat-tat-tat.
The door slowly opened and Nebula was greeted by the sight of Emerald. The thief had certainly looked better. The woman before her had scarring across her face, half her hair was shaved off, exposing the healing gash on the side of her head. She was missing her ring finger on her left hand. Nebula could see that Emerald was paler, likely from illness caused by infection or blood loss. The thief's eyes had bags under them, but even that couldn't hold back the shock and excitement on her face. Emerald suddenly hugged Nebula, pushing Penny to the side.
"I'm so glad you're alive" Emerald cried into her shoulder, causing Nebula to gulp before she shyly returned the embrace, shaking a little before Emerald broke the hug and practically dragged Nebula inside.
Penny followed them in, closing the door behind her before she spoke. "Since you're likely wondering how we managed to attain this home, Ilia and myself showed up with Emerald several nights ago and the man whom owns the place told us we could stay here for as long as we need to, to ensure Emerald's survival. I informed him that we were part of a small team hired by the Atlas Military to help track down S Grade Grimm and we were ambushed by the beast. I told him that we had three others and that I would be heading out to find them, dead or alive."
"And where is our host?" Nebula asked as she was lead into a small bedroom, where Ilia slept in a chair, blood covering her hands and her stealth suit. She seemed to be the lease wounded of the four. The only notable wound being the shallow cuts along her upper arms.
"He has left for the next month. Said he had to go speak with a business partner" Penny replied with a small chipper smile.
Nebula frowned before she looked at her android friend. "What, is his name?"
"He told us his given name, Arthur. Although, judging from some of the items in this home, his surname begins with a 'W'. Why do you wish to know Nebula?" Penny questioned with a tilt to her head, looking at Nebula.
Nebula frowned as she thought about the name. It seemed familiar to her. Before she could ask about their host some more, Nebula looked at Emerald as she dropped the glass of water she had been drinking. "Arthur? As in Doctor Arthur Watts?"
"He did say he was a doctor..." Penny frowned as Nebula and Emerald looked at each other.
"How the fuck didn't you recognise him?!" Nebula snapped, placing her hands on Emerald's shoulders and shaking her.
Emerald let her shake her before she could answer. "Kind of hard to recognise somebody when you're suffering from delirium, Nebula."
"As soon as Weiss gets back, we'll pack our shit up and get out of here!" Nebula ordered, waking Ilia up.
The Faunus yawned and smacked her lips before she saw the trio in the room with her. "Morning Nebula."
Weiss pouted as she looked around the stores for clothes that she knew the others would wear. She had already got herself some new clothes. Unlike her previous pale blue combat dress and heeled combat boots, her new outfit was more, practical. She was now wearing a baby blue jacket alongside a white button-up shirt, a pair of white combat jeans. Her heeled combat boots remained a stable, but were now repaired and more fortified for treks. She had also opted to buy a hairdressing kit, mostly so that neither she or the others would get their hair too long while on long missions.
As she looked around, she noticed something she was sure Emerald would appreciate to wear while out in the field. It was a light green crop top, a light brown leather jacket, mocha jeans and heeled boots emsemble in a display case. The former Heiress looked at the price and smirked at it. She gestured for an employee of the store over to her. The employee in question was a young male, although what caught Weiss' attention was his lizard tail just raised above the ground.
"Can I help you ma'am?" He questioned, bowing his head a little to look Weiss in the eyes.
Weiss smiled softly before she spoke. "Yes you can, good sir. I would like to purchase this outfit for a good friend of mine. Is this particular one able to be purchased or is there outfits in the back of the store I can purchase?"
The Faunus glanced at the outfit before nodding to himself. "I believe this one is up for sale. Unless, of course, it's not in your friend's size."
Weiss looked at the Faunus before looking at the outfit. "Tell me, what size is this one? I do not wish to purchase it only to find it to be a size or two too big or small."
The Faunus smiled as he looked at the outfit of display. He returned with a small smile of his own as he answered. "The outfit itself is classified as an extra small. Is this too small for her?"
"Just a little. Could you please check in storage for a size larger?" Weiss politely questioned before the Faunus gave her a gentle nod and left.
As she waited, Weiss looked around the store for other outfits her friends would like. She found several casual clothes for them all, Emerald included, but she had yet to find new combat uniforms for Ilia, Penny and Nebula. As she wandered a little around the jeans area, the Faunus returned with a box for her, with Emerald's new combat outfit inside.
"Thank you. If I need any more help, I'll be sure to come to you... Assuming you're still working when I need it" Weiss chuckled a little as she put the box in one of her many... many bags.
As she put the box away, Weiss noticed something. She looked up at it again before walking towards the thing that had caught her interest. The Faunus watched her with a slight head tilt before he looked at what had captured Weiss' attention. He walked up to her and spoke.
"I see you have noticed the latest by Wolfgang Adel. He has named it after his granddaughter, Coco Adel. He calls it the Cocoa" The Faunus informed her as Weiss stared at the outfit.
In her honest opinion, it was the perfect outfit for Ilia. The way light reflected off it to give off the illusion of being invisible, the soft, rounded edges to the cuffs and collar, the elaborate keyholes scattered artistically across the sleeves, collar, upper chest and abdomen, the crisscross stitching visible and on the knees, the heeled boots and most importantly... That belt with the utility pouches. Weiss would never, ever, admit it to any of them when she would think about how adorable she found Ilia's obsession with pockets and pouches after the battle they lost Blake in. She knew it was just an excuse for Ilia to obsess over something and not let Blake's death consume her like it did for Sun, Ghira and... Yang. She shook her head of those thoughts, not wishing to dwell on them and break down in public.
"I'll buy it. But I'm going to need it in an extra small size for the friend I'm buying this one for" the Heiress said, glancing at the Faunus with a slight smile.
"Of course ma'am. Please, if you wish to find other assembled outfits for your friends, have a look around" the Faunus nodded before he left her side once again to find the outfit.
Weiss sighed before she began her quest for Penny's new outfit and Nebula's. She ended up not finding anything she would assume they would like. There were a couple of close calls for finding the ones they might like, only to fall into disgust at one point or two. Weiss knew how much Nebula loved her coat and the things she kept of her friends, so she had to work around them. Weiss just had no idea what Penny would be into. She sighed to herself when the Faunus returned to her with the outfit for Ilia. Weiss thanked him before she walked over to the cashier... Only to stop mid-step to see a display. It was, almost perfect for Nebula, the only thing that was ruining it, was the suit jacket on it.
"Excuse me... But, that suit? Is it, combat tested?" Weiss asked the Faunus that had become her current companion.
"Le Pourpre? It has been ma'am. I'm assuming the friend you wish to purchase it for is a Huntress?" The Faunus answered as he looked at the display.
It was a violet suit jacket over a lavender dress shirt and violet, almost black, dress pants. The display also showed off a pair of slightly heeled boots, having a spur at the heel. Weiss and the Faunus both saw the lilac, pinch cowboy hat, which had one side slightly dipped and a lavender band around the crown. Weiss figured Nebula would appreciate the hat as a reminder of her upbringing in Vacuo.
"I'll take it. I'm sure she'll love it" Weiss smiled, looking at the size of the outfit on display and smirking. "And it's just her size, perfect."
"Will that be all, ma'am?" The Faunus questioned, packing the display for Weiss while another employee noticed and swiftly replaced it with another.
"For now, yes. I still do have one last friend I wish to buy a new outfit for, but she is proving to be difficult to find something for. Thank you for your services today Mister... I'm sorry, I don't believe I caught your name" Weiss smiled, hoping to thank the Faunus proper.
"Theodore Katt, ma'am. And it was my pleasure. If you believe you haven't found a display that showcases an outfit for your last friend would love, I may suggest heading down the road for a store by the name of Sustrai's Tailoring. I believe the owner would love to create a new outfit for your friend, just for her" the Faunus smiled softly.
"Thank you Mister Katt. I'll be sure to see the owner of Sustrai's Tailoring. And thank you again, I would be lost without your help today" Weiss smiled, giving the Faunus a small curtsy.
"It was my pleasure ma'am. Be sure to tell your friends that I hope they love their new outfits" Theodore Bowes before he left Weiss to go help other customers.
Weiss smiled before she walked over to the cashier with all the clothes she wished to purchase. She was thankful her card could be used, otherwise she new she would be screwed. As she left, she decided to leave Penny's new outfit until after she had given the others their own outfits. As she took a taxi back to the household of the man that had given them shelter, she sighed and started to think. If their theory was correct and that thanks to Ciel and Ruby, they had travelled back in time, they had the advantage of knowledge, especially Penny. She knew they could attack Salem now and be done with this war... But her thoughts went back to the attack that had caused this. Salem was supposed to be weaker, but she still defeated them easily.
Before this train of thought could spiral out of control, Weiss and the cab had arrived at the house. Weiss climbed out and started to unpack when Ilia walked out. The Faunus looked at her before she started to bring the bags inside. Weiss looked into the house to see Nebula pacing back and forth, her face scarred. She took a deep breath before entering the building with Ilia with the bags. She dropped the bags and quickly brought Nebula in for a hug.
"I'm glad you're safe" she whispered before she pulled away.
"Weiss... We need to get out of here as soon as possible" Nebula quickly told the Heiress before she looked through the bags. "... Once we change though."
"Why do we need to leave?" Weiss couldn't help but question before Emerald answered her.
"Turns out, we are the good doctor's house. We have to leave before he has Salem send the Grimm after us" the thief stated as she looked through the bags and found the outfit Weiss got her. "By the way, nice pick."
"Dammit... How did none of us recognise him?" Weiss asked under her breath before she saw Emerald leave the room to change.
"Weiss... This will do nicely" Ilia smirked as she looked at her new outfit.
"No problem Ilia" Weiss smiled before she reached for her new outfit when Nebula stopped her.
The two stared at each other before Nebula spoke. "Weiss... Thanks for the new outfit... But you couldn't get rid of the jacket?"
"Kind of came with the outfit" Weiss smiled back, finding the thank you a little odd from the normally reserved woman.
"Guess I have formal wear as well as the combat outfit" Nebula smirked with a teasing tone to her voice before she left the Heiress and Ilia.
Weiss turned around... just in time to see Ilia putting the last of her new outfit on. The Heiress blushed brightly before she grabbed Penny's hand and entered a secluded room.
"Okay, Penny? First off, I'm sorry for not getting you a new combat outfit, but I couldn't find something that screamed Penny" Weiss apologised before Penny pat her head.
"It's fine friend Weiss. I know you tried" Penny encouraged.
"But, I did get a tip for another store that may be able to design an outfit that fits you perfectly" Weiss smiled before she was met with a bone crushing hug from the Android. "Note to self... Penny gets clingy when happy."
"Sorry" Penny apologised sheepishly as she let go of the white haired woman.
"It's fine Penny. When we leave, we head to that store that'll make you a personalised outfit" Weiss replied before she heard Nebula and Emerald shout out for them to leave. "Guess we have to go, huh?"
"Yes, we do, friend Weiss" the Android nodded before she and Weiss returned to the others.
"Everybody ready?" Weiss asked as she saw the three other women in their new outfits... Although she did note that Nebula wore her coat, Emerald wore her old belt and Ilia wore her own coat.
With a series of nods, Weiss smirked before she packed their clothes into whatever bags she could find and then led them outside. The five started to trek away from the house, in time to see a pack of Grimm to arrive and start to break in. They watched for a moment before they started to walk through the snow, heading towards the city... Towards safety.
A/N. And that, is chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed this little take on this trope. Anyway, next chapter should be out soon...ish. If you have any critiques, suggestions, questions, whatever, just send them to the either the reviews or to my PMs. Ciao.