A/N: If anyone would get that impression, no, I do not own RWBY nor warhammer, I would like to though.
This is the first chapter of my first fanfiction so it's a bit daunting to publish it. This chapter takes place entirely within the RWBY-verse, so no drop-pods through the roof of Beacon's dining hall, yet.
This would be the last time she made the trip to Vale, her final anniversary ceremony, Weiss realized, as her Bullhead approached Beacon Academy's landing pad. Anyone who would dare suggest that she looked old would receive a specially reserved Schnee-family glare, but she could feel that her body got weaker by the month.
"Weiss, snap out of it, you are forty-eight, not eighty", she said to herself, trying, but failing to convince herself that what she felt was indeed nothing. The scars had never truly healed, despite years spent with Atlas' foremost psychologists, she still needed to use her specially built Bullhead, since the engine-roar of the regular ones took her right back to that day, when her semi-conscious body had been flown from the remains of Salem's castle.
She knew that there had been a full medical team around her, screaming to make themselves heard, but the only sound she could recall was the roar of the craft's engines, struggling to bring her back in time to receive medical care. Just remembering the sound made the blood rush in her veins and her breathing rapid and shallow.
Calm yourself, this is not the time for another breakdown, she took a deep breath and looked out the window, her pulse returning to its normal level. As the craft approached Beacon's landing pad, she could see three figures waiting for her, the three having traveled ahead while Weiss rested. She could see Ruby looking at the craft in anticipation, Yang standing next to her, with Blake's hand firmly clutched in hers, as to protect her from being blown away from the craft's down-wash.
Seeing Blake, a slight grin found its way onto her face as it thought about her own daughter's escapades."It might be my final trip but at least it will be remembered," she huffed to herself, her grin widening slightly. The tabloids in Atlas had come close to meltdown when a daughter of Weiss Schnee had returned from a three-year assignment, developing the SDC's dust mines in Menagerie, engaged to a faunus. This was the first public appearance of her granddaughter and the thought of seeing her tiny ears twitch to the slightest sound, as she would try to take in everything around her transformed her grin into a genuine smile.
Once the Bullhead had landed, Weiss called one of her attendants over to help her to its elevator. Once there, she shooed the young man away with a hand gesture, he looked decidedly worried about her, but Weiss gave him a slight glare as the elevator started to descend, not one to scare him but just enough to explain to him that he was clearly in the wrong. I might not be able to make an entrance down a grand flight of stairs, but I will not be seen leaning on someone just to stand, she thought to herself.
Walking, however, that is a different matter, she thought as the elevator came to a halt. She met the eyes of the trio waiting for her, no words were necessary, no "How are you"s or "you look good"s. All those words had been said long ago.
Ruby came up to her and she put her hand on the other woman's shoulder for support and was rewarded with a slight smile. Together the four of them made their way towards the large open space in front of Beacon tower, where a platform with seating had been erected, Weiss leaning on Ruby and Blake's hand in Yang's.
She would most definitely have a word with whoever planned this event, she thought when seeing the steps that she would have to climb to get on to the platform. Leaning heavily on the shoulder next to her she clenched her teeth and forced her body to begin the ascent.
Taking her seat next to Ruby and Yang, who protectively draped her arm over Blake's lite shoulders, Weiss smiled, se felt sure she made the right decision when naming her daughters after her closest friends. She had fought to rebuild Remnant every day since she was well enough to stand again, and she had done a lot to improve the business practices of the SDC. But the wounds she carried, the nausea, the nightmares and the constant pain had only allowed her to do so much. Seeing the ferocity of her two daughters in carrying on the legacy made her proud that they carried the names they did.
Weiss was pulled from her thoughts by a familiar sight in the crowd ahead of her. One and a half bunny ears, and next to them a beret, it could only be…
"You've grown some new wrinkles, Snowflake," the voice of Coco Adel reached her. Her faunus companion giving her a light elbow to the side.
Weiss stood and prepared her fiercest glare.
"And you have taken a liking to potato-sacks, I see" she calmly said, eyeing the speaker.
The two women walked up to Weiss and for a second the three just stood in silence.
"It's good to see you," Weiss said and brought the two in to an embrace. "Hearing some of the stories from when you hunted down the remaining Grimm made me wonder if you would make it to retirement". Weiss pulled back from the embrace and smiled at her friends.
"Well, most of us did anyway…" The ever-cheerful Velvet Scarlatina chimed in whit a meaningful glance towards her half left-ear. "It serves as a good reminder for the kids at Flare never to get cocky", she added.
Weiss smiled and nodded, "Speaking of that, how does life running a combat-prep school suit the two of you?"
"Oh, you know, our graduates are the best trained and the best dressed huntresses and hunters to be in all of Remnant. They have a certain… Flare", Coco stated while winking at Weiss over her glasses.
Weiss groaned and looked to the woman sitting close by, hoping she wouldn't get inspired, but she seemed occupied with Blake's hair, the faunus' ears twitching when Yang's hand brushed over them.
"Well, I'm happy that at least one institution of learning upholds the strictest of standards when it comes to training… And language," she smiled at the two women.
From hidden speakers, music started playing, announcing that the ceremony was about to begin.
"It was good to see you Weiss, we will find you at the reception," Velvet said with a smile, while steering Coco towards their assigned seating.
Weiss sat back down and let out a sigh, so it begins once again, she thought.
The doors of Beacon's great hall slowly opened, and Weiss could see the first figures making their way outside. She took a deep breath as the first four freed themselves from the deep shadows inside, after them another four and another, and another…
Four abreast they came, the team of Beacon, marching towards the platform seating Weiss and the other veterans and visiting dignitaries. One by one they lined up in front of the podium from where the many speeches would soon be delivered to all assembled.
The speeches I can handle, but what absolute DOLT thought it was a good idea to line up the students at the same way we were, Weiss thought tears burning in her eyes. I will Not cry, I fought Salem and came out alive, I can handle this!
Weiss closed her eyes and tried to fight her emotions but nothing she could do could prevent her mind from picturing that day, thirty years ago when she had stood on the cobblestones in front of her, listening to headmaster Ozpin talk about how the war was over and now was a time to mourn what was lost, rebuild and look forward.
Easy for you to say! She could hear her eighteen-year-old-self thinking furiously, what did you lose in this war, what was your stake? She remembered looking to her left and seeing team CVFY looking at her with tears in their eyes.
She couldn't handle their pity and turned away desperate to rest her gaze at something else, anything, only to see the empty space to her right where JNPR should have stood. She hadn't been able to handle that either, so she had closed her eyes and covered her ears to block out the words assaulting her.
Her legs had not been able to keep her standing and she had fallen, knowing that no one was there to catch her. To her right, only the empty space where Blake and Yang should have been, and to her left, the huge void that should have been filled by a tiny girl in a red cape.
"Mother?"
The voice snapped her back to reality. Tears now flowing freely, she opened her eyes and turned to meet the blue gaze of the woman to her left, the deep blue eyes of her daughter, Ruby Schnee.
End