A Snowy Promise
Winter placed her hands on her mother's stomach just in time to feel the kick from the baby inside of it. She looked up at her mother in wonder and fascination, "Is that her? Is that going to be my baby sister?"
April smiled down at her daughter, her eyes glistening with joy as her husband supported her with a hand on her shoulder, "Yes dear. That's her. That's Weiss."
The eight year old placed her ear against her mother's stomach as if to hear her little sister's response to the vow that followed, "I promise you, Weiss, I'm going to be the best sister ever." Winter waited for a moment and then grinned with glee as she picked her head up from it's place on her mother's abdomen, "She heard me, Momma! She heard me!"
April's already wide smile, widened even further, "Did she? How do you know?"
Winter looked at her with the type of utmost certainty that only an eight year old is capable of, "She kicked me. That's how."
Winter paced back and forth in the hallway with barely contained joy under the watchful gaze of the housekeeper. Today was the day, everyone said so. Momma had screamed Papa's name and when her and Pappa had come running from where they were playing a game of Jenga, they'd found Momma standing holding herself in a puddle of water at which point she told Papa that the "contractions" - whatever those were - were starting.
Papa had shouted with joy and started running around getting things in order. The next two hours that followed were a jumble and confusing for the eight year old. Everyone had been running around and shouting and screaming and Winter had been placed under the care of their housekeeper, Isolda, even though she desperately wanted to be with her Momma and Papa.
Isolda patted the chair beside the one she was sitting in, "Winter, why don't you come sit beside me?"
Doing as she was told, Winter went and sat beside the housekeeper...until her excited energy reached such a point that she couldn't remain still anymore and she jumped to her feet once more.
For the next few hours, things were remarkably calm in the hallway. Eventually night fell, and Winter's seemingly endless energy found that it did in fact have limits and she fell asleep leaning her head against Isolda's shoulder.
Winter was startled awake by shouting and people rushing around. The rush was too much for Winter's young sleep-addled mind, and she found herself huddling in the shelter of the housekeeper's arms. Eventually things calmed down and she looked up from where she had been hiding her face in Isolda's shirt, "Mrs. Clearwater?"
The housekeeper looked down at Winter in consternation, hoping she hadn't caught on to what likely happened, "Yes dear?"
"What was going on? Why was everyone shouting?"
"It was nothing dear. Everything's fine," was the only thing Isolda could say in response as she patted the eight year old on the back. "Everything will be fine."
Things changed after that day. April didn't make it and everything changed because of that. Winter's "Papa" became cold and hard, throwing himself into work and nothing else. He turned the funds that he once used to support the Faunus and ensure safe workplaces for them to company profit saying that they were nothing but a "drain on the company's profits". He took so much away that places where there had been no accidents in years were having accidents weekly. Veteran faunus employees were let off under bogus terms. Their replacements were either given very little training or none at all. They were also paid so little that most of them had to take a second or third job to make it through the week. In reality it was all his payback at the "faunus bastard doctor who didn't try hard enough to save his wife".
Winter, who had at one time enjoyed a close relationship with her father, was now ignored entirely by him. Weiss? Well, at first she might as well have never been born as far as he was concerned. That lasted for just under a year...
Winter crouched at one end of the hall and Isolda crouched five feet away from her helping Weiss to stand on her own.
The older Schnee sister's brow furrowed, "Are you sure we should really be this far apart?"
"Yes dear it'll be fine. As soon as you see her start to wobble you can run to catch her but we have to let her at least try, alright?" Isolda consoled the worried sister while still distracting the younger one.
With a lack of any parental figure in Weiss' life, Winter had made it her duty to take care of her sister with the assistance of Isolda. She insisted on being awoken any time Weiss cried at night, she insisted on being the one to give Weiss the formula when she no longer needed to be breast fed, she insisted on being the one to feed Weiss real food for every meal after six months, she was the one to clean her after she went potty. She did everything she could, of course Isolda didn't let on that there was much that Winter didn't do or know about.
The ten year old puffed out her cheeks, "Alright, so what should I do?"
"Just call her name, and when she looks at you, clap your hands and tell her to come to you."
"Hey, Weiss. Weiss." Winter clapped her hands together trying to get the attention of her sibling.
Weiss' head spun around and her cherubic face lit up with a joy-filled smile as she gazed upon her favorite person in her entire world.
"That's right come here Weiss," Winter clapped again smiling as she looked into her little sister's face. "Come here, you can do it. I know you can."
Weiss turned and started to slowly walk her way to Winter, her almost constant wobbling having her older sister on the verge of dashing across the distance between them and scooping the toddler up in her arms the entire way. Finally, the almost one year old made her way to Winter.
Scooping her up, Winter spun around in a circle playing with Weiss's hand as she did so. "Look at you! Aren't you the smartest! Before we know it you'll be walking around here getting into all kinds of trouble. And just in time too! We'll be able to show everyone at your birth-"
"There won't be one." The cold hard voice that had cut her off, made Winter spin around, instinctively clutching her sister to her chest.
"Wh-what do you mean there won't be one? Of course she'll be having a birthday party, she can't not have one!" Winter's voice only rose in pitch and volume as she spoke to her father. The father she had seen neither hide nor hair of since her mother's funeral.
Aldrich Schnee tucked the papers clutched in his hand into their respective slots in the folder he was carrying, paying no further attention to those in the hallway with him.
The housekeeper glanced between the now furious Winter and the man whom she had once viewed as a son and now viewed as a very dangerous and volatile man. Isolda stepped forward, "Winter maybe we should just-"
The sound of a study door slamming shut cut her off. The voice that followed however gave no indication of the anger hinted at in such an action though, "No, Isolda. I'll deal with this myself thank you." He turned back to Winter, his face giving away no emotion until his eyes came to a stop on Weiss at which point they hardened considerably. "That day and the week before and after will be spent in mourning for the life lost on that day. Is that clear? I will have NO celebration occurring under my roof on that day. Do you understand me?!" Aldrich's voice cracked on the "no" in his statement, the only indication of his anger until his fist snapped out and punched a hole through the wall accompanying the clear threat made by both his tone and actions during his final question.
Winter stepped back, holding Weiss tightly to her. For the first time in her life she truly feared the man she called her father. "Ye-yessir. I understand completely sir."
"Good." Aldrich brushed off his jacket, and straightened his tie before walking past the sibling duo. He stopped just before turning down the hallway, "Besides, she doesn't deserve a birthday party if she's only just started walking. You were taking your first steps by the time you were ten months, she's what a month and a half behind? Pathetic." With that Aldrich disappeared around the corner out of sight.
Nothing Weiss did after that was good enough for Aldrich. As the years went by Aldrich's hatred of Weiss grew every time he saw her. When she reached the age of four, if she didn't meet his standards however abstract and random that they were constantly changing to justify his anger, he would demand she be punished. Of course the punishments were never the same, one day he would demand she only be given bread and water for a day, another day he would order her beaten for spilling a bit of milk in his presence. Of course, the one time he could be counted on to be consistent in his involvement in Weiss's life, was when he was making sure her punishments were being carried out. The only time joy could be found on his face was on those occasions when the White Fang attacked and he was allowed to legally spill the blood of "those faunus bastards".
After that first birthday, Isolda and Winter took to holding small private celebrations for birthdays and holidays just between the three of them and always making sure to do it after the "Weeks of Black" as they became known in the household for being the one time that the otherwise white house was another color.
It was shortly after one of these weeks, and the day after Isolda and Winter had celebrated Weiss' fifth birthday that Winter came storming into her father's study to find him watching snow fall on the other side of the window he was standing at. "Winter was always your mother's favorite time of year. It's actually why we wound up naming you Winter." Aldrich turned to find an irate Winter holding an envelope. "Oh, I see you got my packet." Aldrich sat down at his desk, making sure to flick away some offending debris that Winter was unable to make out on his desk. "I take it you are having Sierra prepare Weiss as we speak?"
"NO! I AM NOT!" Winter slammed the packet down on the desk before her. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! Firing Isolda? Replacing her with some air-headed bimbo unfit to take care of herself? Sending Weiss to a Combat Boarding School and from there to Atlas Academy? She would never make it! They would break her, and ruin the very things that make her who she is!"
Aldrich looked up from his cuticles seemingly uninterested in the discussion, "Why do you think that would concern me? They might actually make her into something decent. Dust knows she's unworthy of the Schnee name as she is."
Winter's already hate filled eyes lit with a fire only ever seen when dealing with her father, "Weiss is perfect just the way she is! You take that back!"
Smoothly coming to his feet, Aldrich rose to his full height of six-two. "Who exactly do you think you are to speak to me in such a manner, girl? I've allowed you and that sad excuse for a housekeeper to continue having your pitiful little parties and play House all these years. I've required nothing of you other than to do as I've asked. I could just as easily throw you out on the streets and be done with you and that sniveling snot-nosed brat of a child!" For the first time since that incident in the hallway all those years ago, Winter saw her father lose his temper. Aldrich once again straightened his tie, something Winter now recognized as a tell thanks to her Psychology tutor, and sat down, "But I suppose I am a businessman, and you may be able to convince me to bargain with you."
Without thinking Winter blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, "I'll go in Weiss' place! Just leave Isolda here."
Aldrich smiled, and Winter's stomach plummeted as she saw him open a folder placed on his desk before sliding a document and pen across the desk, "How kind of you to offer, my dear. But since a business deal does require a bit more...hm...compromise shall we say, I've gone ahead and drawn this up. This document clearly states that you, Winter Schnee, do abdicate all of your rights as a Schnee heiress and all of the benefits thereof. You will no longer have any contact with Weiss outside of the one break between each school year provided that you meet the requirements listed herein until you graduate from Atlas academy. And no Isolda will not be staying. Sierra will remain here and will help me to assess your...sister's current level of education and what will be needed to get her up to par with the skills needed of a Schnee heiress."
She looked up from the contract at her father realizing that she held little choice in the matter. At least if Weiss remained here there was the chance, however small it might be, that she would retain at least a small part of who she was, "I-Why? Why do this?"
His features darkened before he spoke, "Because I can. I don't need to give you this choice. Remember as your legal guardian, I could command you both to attend such an academy and give the rights to the company to some random passerby if I so please. This way I get to watch as you are forced to make a decision like the adult you've been playing as for all of these years and no matter what you choose, you will know that you were the one who decided how your little family is broken up."
"Do you truly hate us so much?"
Aldrich sat back and steepled his fingers, "Truly, Winter? I held no ill will towards either you or Isolda until you consistently defied me. As for that girl you insist on calling your sister despite the fact she and that dirty faunus bastard killed your mother? I hate her with every fiber of my being and I won't stop until I've destroyed as much of her world as I can within my rights as her legal guardian. When I'm finished with her, she will be nothing but a tool used to further the Schnee name. By signing this, you'll put that off just a little bit longer. What do you say, Winter? Are you finally ready make a big girl decision?"
Winter glared at her father. She closed her eyes and thought of Weiss. I won't let them turn Weiss into an emotionless shell at one of those schools. Winter slowly opened her eyes and picked up the pen. "Where do I sign?"
Winter stared out of the window of the airship she was on, and stroked the brooch Weiss had given her a few years back as she watched Amity Colosseum approach in the distance. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to do more for you, Weiss. I just hope your time in Beacon and away from Father have helped repair at least some of his brainwashing and given you the strength you need to get away.
Author's Note: Hey guys, well, that's it. I'd like to thank ethanice, Soap916, and SantanaChampagne over on the RWBY Subreddit for looking this over and giving me feedback.
For those of you who are here because you're reading my story Down the Rabbit Hole, I decided to do this piece as part of a contest on the RWBY subreddit on Reddit and in the hopes that it'll help rejuvenate my creative juices for DtRH. Don't fret although I have a doctor's appointment in the morning when I get back I'm finishing up the next chapter of DtRH and posting that likely sometime tomorrow night. I would have done it last night but I was watching a friend of mine stream a drawing he was doing and it was also my birthday soo...yeah.
For those of you from the subreddit, you know why I did this but if you get the time and you enjoyed this you should definitely go and check out Down the Rabbit Hole while you're here.
Feel free to do the usual and favorite, and review if you think it's worth it, and review even if it's horrible. I can't improve without the feedback of you guys. I'd say you should also follow but this is just a one shot so there's not much point is there? Bye, and I'll see you guys tomorrow if you're reading DtRH.
Sorry about the title, I couldn't come up with anything else.
Edit: Sorry forgot to add line breaks before posting.
Edit2: Thanks to the guest review for pointing out a couple of inconsistencies. In regards to the first one, I thought I had replaced the ages with the correct age of eight, I missed some though it would appear. In regards to the names of the schools, I had assumed, incorrectly, that since Pyrrha was from Mistral's Sanctum that Haven was an Atlas academy, it's now fixed. When I was talking about sending them off to a combat school, I did indeed mean a preliminary combat school and from there to Atlas Academy. After Winter graduates from there then she would be able to see Weiss but since the Atlas graduates are pressured into joining the military that Winter would still be unable to see Weiss meaning that not much would really change after graduation. I didn't create a name for the preliminary school merely because there wasn't any real need for me to do so in the context of the story since it was only roughly hinted at. If none of that was particularly clear, I apologize and I'll try to do better in the future. Thank you for your review.