Team RWBY was spending the winter holiday at a Schnee resort home, an idea presented by Ruby as a team building exercise and later approved by Weiss.
Currently they were enjoying a round of one of their favorite board games in the living room.
"Heheheh! I win again!" Ruby celebrated by tossing her cards into the air, falling backwards with her arms and legs splayed out.
"Ack! Hey, watch what you're doing you dolt!" Weiss scolded her young leader, batting away her foot as it got too close for comfort.
"Heh, sorry Weiss." Ruby sat up immediately, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Wow sis, you're on a roll today. Are you sure you don't have something up your sleeve?" Yang eyed her suspiciously, wiggling her eyebrows for comedic effect.
"How can I do that when I'm wearing my tank top?" Ruby giggled at her sister's antics.
"I don't know Ruby, Yang might be right. Could you be…cheating?" Blake added feigning shock at the insinuation.
"All of you are dolts." Weiss muttered, though her smile belied her spite.
"Awww Weiss don't be a grouch." Yang teased.
"Yeah Weiss, I'm sure you can be silly too if you put your mind to it." Blake stated casually.
"But she already does silly things like talk to herself in the mirror." Ruby said.
"Wait, really?" Yang looked skeptic.
"I wasn't aware of this." Blake smirked.
Meanwhile Weiss was sporting a blush that grew redder the more they spoke.
"I-I don't do that. Ruby is just making things up." Weiss weakly argued.
"Pfft- pahahahahah! Oh man that's so adorable Weiss." Yang couldn't contain her laughter, rolling over on the floor.
"Now Yang, it's not nice to tease her so much." Blake scolded, but the statement was lost to her own stifled laughs she tried to hide behind her hand.
"I'm sorry Weiss, I didn't think it was a secret." Ruby apologized, poking her forefingers together.
Weiss sighed tiredly. "It's alright Ruby, you didn't know, and I guess I could stop the habit of thinking out loud." Weiss gave Ruby a reassuring smile that ceased her fidgeting.
"Well who's up for another game?" Yang asked as she gathered up the cards and pieces.
"How about we play something different now, after all Ruby's been wiping the floor with us for the last three games." Weiss suggested.
"It would be refreshing to change it up a bit." Blake agreed.
"Alrighty then, we'll have a vote. Who's up for-" Yang was cut off by a couple of loud poundings at the door.
All four girls looked to one another with surprise. Another few weaker knocks drew their attentions toward the direction of the door.
"I suppose I'll get it." Weiss stood up heading towards the hallway.
"Ooh Wait for me, I'll go with you!" Ruby hopped up from her spot latching on to Weiss' arm.
"Don't touch me you dolt, you're too close." Weiss mumbled to her, but there was no real malice to her voice. Ruby smiled at her and continued to hold on.
When they reached the door Ruby removed herself and Weiss opened the door. The two were greeted by the bite of cold winter air, some snowfall floating into the threshold.
The two girls were dumbfounded when they didn't immediately see anyone on the other side, but a muffled groan coming from below alerted them to a man collapsed on the ground.
"Oh my gosh, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed worriedly.
"Help me get him inside Ruby." Weiss commanded.
The two girls managed to lift the man up enough to drape his arms across their shoulders, trudging into the living room with him.
Blake and Yang leapt into action as soon as they saw them, Yang replacing Weiss in getting the man comfortable by setting him in a recliner by the fireplace. Weiss headed deeper into the house after saying a few words to Blake, who nodded and disappeared briefly.
Weiss returned to the living room with a first aid kit and some large fluffy towels. The man was more alert now, though still groggy, accepting the towels and allowing the girls to remove the cumbersome red trench coat soaked by the melted snow. Blake had appeared shortly after carrying a steaming mug and a bowl of soup.
"I noticed the door was still open so I dealt with it." Blake informed Weiss as she handed over the items.
Weiss nodded, giving the mug to the man and placing the bowl on a small table nearby.
The man coughed a few times before taking small sips of the hot coco. He gave a pleased hum as he drank.
Now that they could get a better look at him, they realized he was much older than they initially thought. A large silvery beard covered the bottom half of his face as well as small tufts on the top of his head.
Clearing his throat after having his fill of coco he spoke.
"Thank you, ladies, for your hospitality. I was so exhausted that I hadn't realized I even made it to the door." His voice was baritone, deep and rumbling like an ocean, but it wasn't at all intimidating, rather it was surprisingly soothing to hear.
The girls looked anxiously to each other, all of them were still concerned for the man's health.
"Are you feeling alright now? Perhaps we should call a hospital to take you in tonight." Weiss said, ready to walk to where her scroll was and make the call, but the man waved her to stop.
"No need to do that miss, I'm feeling quite rejuvenated by the warmth, and I'm sure a little bit of food is all I need to carry me on my way."
Weiss looked skeptically at the man, not sure if she should trust that his health was indeed recovered. However, after heartily consuming the soup and the rest of the coco, they found him to be in much brighter spirits.
He laughed loudly, a sound that seemed to jingle despite his booming voice.
"Ah, I feel much better now with food in my stomach. I must say, you girls sure were a blessing on an old man like me." He grinned at each of them in turn, his enthusiasm infectious as they returned a smile of their own.
"We're just glad you're not dead." Yang said bluntly, earning her an elbow jab from Blake. "I mean, it was nice to help someone out during such harsh conditions."
"Well, young ladies, I must be off now. I can't leave the missus worrying about me."
Before any of them could protest he was already headed for the door, putting on his trench coat on his way. All four girls followed him to the threshold and watched him prepare to leave, Weiss stood at the door awaiting his exit.
"Ah. One more thing before I go; a bit of wisdom for you to keep in mind in exchange for your generosity."
The girls gazed curiously at him, wondering what he had to say that would be so enlightening.
"Do you really believe, that what you believe, is really real?"
The question struck them dumb, no immediate answer coming to mind. It seemed the man expected this as he left without another word, vanishing into the winter landscape.
Returning to the den they all pondered over his words, racking their brains for an answer.
They began to recall a time when one of their own professors asked them a similar question. One that made them think twice about their identity and roles as Huntresses.
Weiss's brow was furrowed in frustration at not being able to figure out a simple answer.
What I believe… What is it that I believe in?
She did believe in upholding her duty to the Schnee family name. Her upbringing a clear sign that she would bring great promises for the future of the Schnee Company. That wasn't really the case though, was it? Weiss knew there was much more behind that than simple duty.
In fact, she didn't solely believe her duty to be only to her family, rather to those affiliated with being a Huntress. The students, professors, and even the civilians she was sworn to protect fell under her obligation as a Huntress and as fellow human beings. It wasn't solely that duty that tied her to these people, though, but the bonds they created with one another.
She believed that through their connections everyone would be able to work together towards a brighter future.
Blake herself was also lost to her thoughts as she considered the man's parting message.
She believed in doing what was right and serving justice to those who opposed it. However justice was a vague term, an idea with varying definitions according to each individual. There was really no linear sense of justice, and perhaps that was what made the White Fang so blind to their wrong doing.
Perhaps serving justice was not the way to go about it, but maybe starting with an attempt at equality. That's really what the White Fang movement used to be about, educating humans that Faunus were not freaks of nature and were just as human as anyone else.
Animal appendages and traits are not what define them, for Faunus have just as much personality as any other person.
Yang idly hummed to herself, laying on her back with her hands behind her head as she contemplated the question.
Yang thought that a person could still have fun while doing their job, she figured it was one of the perks of being a Huntress, the promise of travel and meeting new people. That didn't sit right in her mind though, the idea seeming sour the more she considered it. No, there was much more to it than that.
Enjoying your line of work is one thing, but trying to have fun when the world is in constant peril wasn't the way to go about it. Yang genuinely liked helping people solve their troubles and have them go on to continue living their days happily. It wasn't the perks that Yang looked forward to, that idea was always a complete façade she would automatically fall behind due to her appearance and personality.
Whether she had fun or not wasn't an important factor, it was to see the smiles on people's faces as they lived a life without worrying about their lives perpetually being threatened.
Ruby had her legs crossed, her elbow propped on her knees as she leaned her face to rest on the palms of her hands.
She never had reason to think about such a philosophical question before, often trying to avoid getting into deep conversations of the like. Ruby was positive in what she believed in though, and she stood by it. She believed in granting people to live happily like in the fairytales Yang used to read her. However Ruby has learned that the Grimm aren't the only adversary to defend the innocents from.
The real world isn't like a fairytale, as she recalled Blake telling her once, but Ruby felt that she could make it one. Make the Grimm into a fairytale for future generations to come and create a peaceful union among the people themselves. She believes that there is strength in numbers, and by changing the views of people to work together rather than against each other, she could help that unity become a reality.
People were more difficult to handle than Grimm, but Ruby believed in striving against all odds together in order to ensure a better future.
The girls seemed to reach their conclusions at the same time, each of them blurting out bits of their answers all at once. They stared at each other with some surprise, laughing at how ironic it was they all had something to say.
They took turns spilling their thoughts to each other, learning a bit more from them and changing the way they looked at the world.
When they settled into their beds that night, they found sleep to come easily. It was like a weight was lifted off their bodies, and they relaxed into a fitful slumber.
Tomorrow they would wake to the world with brand new perspectives.