THIS IS JUST A LITTLE NON-CANON SCENARIO THAT I THOUGHT MIGHT BE NICE.
WARNING: I MADE MY OWN BACKSTORIES FOR ADAM, WEISS, AND BLAKE TO SUIT THE PLOT OF THIS STORY.
Lucille Braun was the last mercenary. Her family had worked as mercenaries for a long time, and she was the last to do so. Her time as a mercenary ended at age 15, when her last job went wrong and she was slain. She fought with the Dual Functioning Gun Blades, or the DFGB for short. She worked for the Schnee Dust Company as a personal mercenary after stopping a shipment of Schnee Company Dust from being destroyed. She was well-known and well-respected. She had, at age 14, left her school, Signal. She always had power beyond her years. She fought like a seasoned warrior, and had the power of one. She started her mercenary career earlier than expected. However, she made a good reputation, in the span of a year no less, which was a rather small amount of time for someone to do so much. However, after her death, she faded into obscurity. Other affairs plagued the land, and the Schnee Dust Company had more important things to do than remember their fallen mercenary, and her family died soon after she did. However, her memory was kept alive on a plaque. It was a plaque commissioned by none other than Weiss Schnee, who had befriended Lucille before her death. It commemorated all of her victories, and had a personal lament from each of her surviving family members. However, she also lived on through the memory of one who aided in her death, Blake Belladonna. She had watched Lucille die by the hands of the man she was hired to kill. That man was named Adam.
Lucille walked calmly towards the conference room of the Schnee mansion. She shrugged her arms, feeling the red and black metal plates that were connected to them. The weapons comforted her, and she needed comfort. Despite her calm and fearless demeanor, she was never fully at ease around the manipulative Mr. and Mrs. Schnee. She pushed open the large door, decorated with the Schnee family symbol, and walked to the long table that lay ahead. She sat and found a large case of Lien in front of her. The Schnees got right down to business.
"This job is not your usual escort mission. We are hiring you for an assassination," Mr. Schnee said plainly.
"Who do you want dead?" Lucille asked.
"The vigilante known as Adam," Mrs. Schnee answered, matching her husband's plain tone. Lucille hid her nervousness. Adam was known by many and feared by even more.
"Shall I bring you his head as proof?"
"That is the standard deal."
"How much is in the case?"
"Exactly what we offered. Nothing more, nothing less." Lucille stood and bowed, holding the case.
"Thank you for your employment," she said stiffly but politely. She then walked away.
As Lucille exited the mansion, she heard a grunting noise coming from the frozen courtyard. She kept walking, but the grunting grew louder, and an explosion suddenly echoed across the yard. Lucille heard, and took it upon herself to investigate. She didn't know why. It was most likely their daughter, Weiss Schnee, training. But Lucille had always admired Weiss ever since she saw her baby picture in a stray magazine. She knew meeting one's heroes would always end in disappointment, but it was better than not knowing the truth.
"Hello," Lucille said calmly. Weiss turned, panting heavily. Behind her, flames flickered, melting the ice. The two girls walked towards each other, and Weiss waved her rapier as the barrel spun to light blue. A blizzard of ice engulfed the fire and turned it into a statue of embers in the center of the courtyard.
"Who are you?" Weiss asked.
"Lucille Braun. I'm the Schnee family mercenary." Weiss looked surprised.
"Really? You look the same age as me."
"I'm 15, but I fight like I'm older."
"I see," Weiss said calmly. Then, there was silence. Lucille examined Weiss' lovely skirt and elegant boots. Her symmetrical appearance was offset by her lopsided ponytail. Then, her gaze fell to the deadly rapier in the heiress' hands.
"What's your rapier called?" She asked.
"Myrtenaster," was the answer.
"My weapons are known as Apollo and Artemis. No use telling which is which, they both look and function exactly the same," Lucille replied.
"Why are you here? I know you didn't come to meet me to discuss weaponry," Weiss said, getting to the point.
"I didn't. I simply wanted to meet a childhood hero." This comment surprised her even more than Lucille's inquiry about her rapier.
"Hero? I haven't done anything to warrant such a title."
"Anyone can be a hero to a child. I saw you in magazines and read about you in stories. I don't know why I clung to you so much. I had no idea what you'd be like. I think I was simply impressed with your status…but I remember, every start of a new school year, I imagined you'd be there. I imagined seeing you by yourself, and I'd go over and talk to you. I imagined making you smile, I imagined us becoming friends. Then I imagined myself bragging about you to everyone I knew. I made sure to dress my best. I acted my politest. I checked every class. I was so excited to meet you, but was never disappointed when I did. I assumed it would simply happen the next year. It never did. Eventually, I forgot about my childish obsessions and moved on. But knowing I could meet you…I suppose I wanted to appease the child within me." Lucille's lengthy speech made Weiss actually stagger with surprise. Not only was it a strange story, but she also found it odd that Lucille would tell someone she hardly knew such an embarrassing story, much less the one who the story revolved around.
"T-That's…flattering."
"I'm sure." Weiss frowned before asking a question she was sure would surprise the young mercenary.
"Am I what you expected?" Lucille didn't look surprised. If she was, she hid it well. Weiss hid her surprise just as skillfully. She was sure the question would catch the mercenary off-guard.
"Not quite. So far, I'm rather disappointed. You're not what I thought you'd be at all. But I'll hold off the final judgment until I ask one last question. I came here thinking I'd be let down. I assume meeting one's heroes is a disappointing experience, and so far, that's not been proven false. But it can be, if you answer my question the way I would like: Are you controlled by your family?" Weiss couldn't hide her surprise. She stared angrily at the girl, gripping Myrtenaster as if she was ready to attack. To think that this mere mercenary had the gall to come in her house and insult her in such a manner was ridiculous, but Lucille was a ridiculous person, as Weiss had realized. After a few awkward seconds, she answered the question.
"To think you'd insult me in such a way in my own home! It's unthinkable! But what's even more unthinkable is assuming I've let my parents control me. I'm my own person, and I'll follow my own path, whether they like it or not. My life is my own. I am Weiss. I am not Mrs. Schnee. I am not the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I am Weiss, and I will live as I see fit. You're quite right not to judge until you know all of the facts." Lucille grinned broadly.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Proving me wrong. I thought meeting my hero would be disappointing, as you know. It was anything but." Weiss wasn't sure how to react. In the span of a few minutes, she was respected, then insulted, then respected again.
"Ah…I'm not…quite sure what to say."
"'I'm glad' would be a start."
"I am…but it's odd, going back and forth from being complimented to insulted."
"I'm odd. And so are you, Weiss."
"Huh?"
"You train so diligently, yet you have no intention of living as your parents want you to."
"I'm going to enroll at Beacon when I turn 17. I need all the training I can get."
"Good luck with that," Lucille walked away.
"Wait." She turned back to Weiss.
"Yes?"
"What have my parents told you to do?"
"Kill Adam." Weiss paled, if she could get any paler. She knew about Adam, and she knew what he had done.
"You realize that's a suicide mission, right?" Weiss asked forcefully.
"No, I don't. Adam will die. I swear by my honor as a mercenary. I'm the last of my kind, and I'll honor that privilege."
"You make it sounds so easy, as if honor is all you need to win."
"I have to believe that it is. Faltering means death. If you lose your confidence for even a second, you give the enemy an opening. If you doubt yourself, you've already lost. Fighting isn't just about skill, Weiss. It's about belief."
"I'll keep that in mind. But if fighting's about belief, doesn't that mean that the warrior with the stronger cause would win?" Weiss asked. Lucille smiled.
"You're smart. Probably smarter than me. But I'm not just fighting for money. I'm fighting for you now." Weiss had learned to expect the unexpected from Lucille, so she hid her surprise well.
"Why?"
"Adam and the White Fang are targeting the Schnee Dust Company. They're after your parents…and you, the heiress. If I take Adam out, I deal a big blow to the White Fang. The more I damage them, the closer they come to defeat. I can make sure you get to live the life you want." Weiss frowned.
"Don't die for me. I don't want to be part of the reason you die, so live. And I'm not asking, Lucille." She said. She sounded composed but forceful, imposing but kind.
"I won't. I promise," Lucille replied. She waved and left Weiss on her own. Weiss looked at the fading figure of her new friend, and then went back to training. With a single thrust, she shattered the flame statue.