Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters.
AN: I finally finished it! After much blood, sweat and tears, i managed to write this extremely strange one shot! I wanted to get this up on the last day of 2014 but the story wasn't really done yet. Boy was I right, it somehow morphed into this monster. This is now officially the longest thing i ever written (for a oneshot that is) and i hope you all enjoy it! Some parts of it seem really really weird but just go with it, because i have no idea what i was thinking when i wrote this. I think this would be considered a modern AU, though with some 'fantasy elements'. Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy this weird thing.
Warning as it contains a slight drowning scene.
Two Souls.
One of Land,
The other of Sea.
The Schnee Fishing Company started out humbly. The man had just become a father. Everything he owned and earned was bet on the business. Failure meant death and the stakes were high. With support from his first child and newly pregnant wife, he focused his time and energy on the company. Endless days and nights were spent lost at sea, the back breaking work wearing him down to nothing but skin and bones as he struggled to make everything fall into place.
With patience, and a bit of luck, the Schnee Company grew. The man went from broke father to business magnate. His enterprising nature and ability to make money by selling his goods in whatever the season showed; especially when their family needed three more bank accounts to keep their lien from thieving, oily hands. He was proud of his success, and as the money began pouring in; the humble man soon started to forget his roots.
The memories of his father cautioning him to only take what he needed from the ocean soon became just that. A memory.
Fish were being captured without being given the time to produce their young. Nets were dragged across the ocean floor, killing most sea fauna. Predators and prey alike were slaughtered without mercy and without hesitation. All in the name of success and money.
His first daughter, Weiss, went from wearing old tattered baby clothes to smooth silky ones. The small engagement ring for his wife became a new mansion which sat on the cliff of Vale, overlooking the majestic sea. The humble tugboat he once called his own was replaced by a shiny new trawler which could decimate schools of fishes with just pull of a lever.
Truly, it was a story of rags to riches.
But, while the man had forgotten how the ocean supplied him with everything he needed when he needed it, the ocean had not.
When his boats dumped waste into it, the ocean forgave.
When it was ravaged by numerous boats, all with the Schnee logo on them, the ocean tried to forget.
But, when the man who gained everything from the ocean betrayed it by collaborating with illegal fishermen however, the ocean raged. It churned in fury, waves crashing angrily on the beaches near his home. The man would be taught a lesson that you should never bite the hand that feeds you.
Weiss Schnee was fourteen when it happened.
Their family of four was taking a short break on the private beach just below their home. The snowy haired child always had a voracious appetite for learning, having been taught to learn everything and anything related to her father's business, namely the ocean. Having seen the brilliance of underwater creatures, she craved to see one in the flesh; only ever seeing them behind the barrier of thick glass at her aquarium; or when her father showed her what went under the family's private boat during their past vacations.
Weiss wandered off to an isolated part of the beach when her father got a call from one of his workers. The salty tang of the sea air combined with the soft rays of the bright sun made her smile. She had little to no friends, always wary of people trying to get closer to her due to her last name. It was sad that a child had such a cynical view of the world, but Weiss was thankful that she was a fast learner. Of course, after what she had been through, it would be a wonder if she hadn't learnt anything.
A sigh escaped her lips as she slid off her sandals, her feet gingerly sinking into the cold grainy sand of the beach. She began to walk towards the water, careful of any sharp rocks that jutted out from below. The faint tickle of warm water curling around her pale, white feet made her giggle. Wading out further into the sea, Weiss stopped when the water reached her knees. Electric blue eyes scanned the surrounding waters, clear as crystal under the morning sun, hoping to catch a sight of any water bound creature going about its day.
And then all of a sudden, the burst of warm sea air made her look up in alarm as her white locks began fluttering wildly, terrified eyes taking in the humongous tidal wave coming towards her. Not even giving her the chance to blink, the water swallowed her whole.
Bubbles floating towards the surface.
Harsh currents tossing her around like a ragdoll.
The loss of precious oxygen as she sank deeper, deep into the dark depths of the unknown. Her rapier was lost somewhere amidst the churning waves but Weiss was more worried about dying then trying to rescue a piece of finely shaped metal. The cold ocean water seeped into her skin, chilling her to the bone. She opened her mouth when something slimy wrapped around her legs, but not a single sound escaped. Liquid rushed into her lungs forcefully, and Weiss slowly felt her consciousness seep away and the feather light touch of death seize her.
"Hng–!"
The heiress spat out a mouthful of water, wincing at how salty her tongue tasted. Her head was spinning, and her body was aching. Trying to sit up, Weiss let out a cry when she the hand holding her weight slipped, allowing her body to hit the wet stone beneath her. Now in a fetal position, the girl glanced up tearfully…only to realize that she was staring at a rough, rocky ceiling. Pain forgotten, she felt fear spread through her being as she sat up to take in her surroundings.
Weiss was no fool. After some moments of observation, she deduced that she had somehow ended up stuck in a cave after the freak wave. Shivering at the memory of cold, watery tendrils, Weiss cautiously glanced around. There was no opening, not even the slightest crack. A tap on the stone revealed that it was very real and not just some hallucination. The weird thing was that without any openings, how was she getting her air? It had to be coming from somewhere.
The cave was also lit. Weiss had read that unless there was some sort of opening to let light filter into them, caves usually stayed dark, damp and cold. The strangeness of everything was starting to unnerve the girl. "What in the world…" Weiss muttered. Although she was currently standing on dry ground (most likely on the surface of a large boulder), there was a small body of water surrounding her, lapping at the edges of the rock. The entire cave was tall, taller than the ones she'd seen in pictures. There were several other pieces of flat rocks, barely bigger than hers, spread across the cave.
She took a tentative step forward.
The girl shivered when the soles of her feet felt the slimy surface of what seemed to be moss. Nose scrunched up in distaste, Weiss tried not to shiver whenever the she stepped on a particularly wet patch which created low squelching sounds that echoed through the cave.
The girl stood on the edge of the rock, centimeters away from the water. The liquid shimmered under her gaze. She had to admit that the water was absolutely mesmerizing; the clearness of it was one she had never ever seen in her entire life. And being the daughter of man who owned a industrial fishery, coming across something she had not seen which was related to her business was mind-blowing.
Wrapped up in her thoughts, the heiress didn't notice that her feet had missed their target, plunging her body into the water. The memory of the waves engulfing her and dragging her into the icy depths made her flail desperately despite being a good swimmer, her hands trying to grab onto any object capable of pulling her up. And then she saw something in the water which made her hear stop.
A sharp dorsal fin was cutting through the water, heading straight for her.
The liquid was seemingly split into two halves as the fin smoothly glided towards her; the sight making her blood freeze in her veins.
Letting out an ear splitting shriek of terror, Weiss frantically began to claw at the rock in desperation to pull herself out of the way. Unfortunately, the jerky and aimless movements gave her fingers little to no traction on the mossy surface of the rock; the girl slipping of repeatedly while trying to climb it.
Weiss floundered as the shark came closer. Accidentally swallowing a mouthful of water, she let out a gurgle as she started coughing, trying to force her lungs to expel the blockage. Images flashed through her mind, grainy pictures of mangled corpses that had been torn into nothing but miniscule pieces of flesh and bone. Legs turning into mush, the heiress sank like a stone as the water sapped what was left of her energy.
Fear was a strong strong emotion; capable of rendering even the most powerful of beasts or humans to their knees. The emotion seized her mind and throttled all common sense out of her usually calm and rational mind. Bodily movements began to cease, the girl sinking deeper and deeper to the bottom of the cave.
Weiss stared. The surface seemed like a thousand years away, the rush of adrenaline already having dissipated.
'I don't want to die!'
Her mind screamed.
'Then why aren't you moving?'
A distinctly female voice rang inside her head, albeit curious and amused.
'I thought that humans needed air to live. Was I wrong?'
Weiss turned her head slightly and came face to face with a greyish snout, beady silver eyes bored into her. Eyes rolling into the back of her head; the girl fainted dead away. Her body floated gently to the surface, bobbing up and down with the small waves.
"For the last time!"
She huffed angrily, crossing her arms.
"Leave me alone! You're a shark so start acting like one!"
'But Weissssss' the voice in her head whined. 'I'm so boreeeed. Come into the water and swim with me!'
"Yeah right!" Weiss snapped. "So you can use my bones as toothpicks? Dream on Ruby! You have a better chance of eating a sea urchin then getting me to come into the water with you."
She said, feeling her head throb with annoyance. Weiss wished with all her heart that she was dreaming. But nope. She was still here in some weird cave with a shark which could communicate with her using its mind.
Yikes, that sounded even crazier out loud.
If she wasn't dreaming, then Weiss wasn't sure how she could explain the situation she was in. How else would she be conversing, nay, arguing with a goddamn shark? It was already bad enough she woke up soaking wet with a bad headache, but now she had to deal with the whole shark talking in her mind thing. The heiress was sure that her head was going to implode with all the pressure it was feeling right now.
'I won't eat you.' The shark responded in exasperation. Weiss could almost imagine the thing rolling its eyes underwater. 'Didn't I already tell you just now? The big 'O' told me that I can't eat you cuz' you're my–'
"You better stop right there, you sharp toothed fiend!" She screeched, throwing a pebble at the dorsal fin poking out of the water. It bounced off the shark harmlessly; though she heard it giggle in her mind. "Don't you even dare say that word while I'm still–"
'–Soulmate!' Ruby finished the sentence in glee. She began to swim around the large boulder excitedly, splashing the human with a particularly big movement of her tail. 'We're soulmates, Weiss! It's true and you know it. How else can we talk like this?' The shark huffed. Honestly, this human was just so stubborn. Why couldn't she just accept the fact that they were meant to be?
"I am NOT your soulmate." Weiss reiterated once more, scowling in irritation. She shook her head in annoyance though the shark could not see it. "If you haven't noticed you dolt, I'm obviously not a shark."
'Don't you humans say that 'love comes in all shapes and sizes' or some other stuff?' Ruby shot back. 'Practice what you preach, princess!'
"I give up!" The girl said, finally tired of the non-stop arguing. It was apparent that no matter how much they shoved their own opinions in the others' face, each respective creature would still stand by what they said.
This shark was the most stubborn shark that she ever had the (dis)pleasure of meeting. Actually, it was the only shark she had ever met this up close and personal. The girl leant against the cold wall of the cave and sank down with a weak sigh, the tiredness suddenly washing over her after it was forgotten amidst the new discoveries. She didn't know where she was, she was beginning to get cold and there was a biting worry that her parents were deathly worried about her.
"Let's just find a way out of this place, okay?" Weiss murmured. "We can worry about that thing later. For now I just…want to get home."
"…Fine." Ruby huffed, though her tone was soft. "I'll try to find a way out from my end. Hang tight, princess."
She grimaced at the nickname, watching as the grey dorsal fin submerged into the water and disappeared in a flurry of bubbles. After the shark disappeared, Weiss let herself frown slightly. Why did her words send such a warm, tingly feeling through her? Though the words were spoken somewhat roughly, there was an undertone of warmness which the heiress just couldn't identify.
Letting her arms hang loosely by her sides, the girl took in a deep breath to calm herself. Her eyelids were already fluttering erratically, a telltale sign of how exhausted she was feeling. Making a silent promise to shut her eyes for a few minutes, Weiss began to doze off. Minutes slipped past, and finally, Ruby returned with a set of good news, swimming to the surface with excitement. Cutting through the salt water like a speeding bullet; she resurfaced and called her partner's name.
'Weiss!' She cheered. 'I found a way out of here!'
"W-What?" Weiss stuttered, her mind clouded with drowsiness. Shaking herself to clear the small haze in her mind, she zoomed in on the shark's dorsal fin swimming around the boulder in what seemed to be excitement. "That's great. Great job Ruby." She said with a small smile.
A noise of excitement echoed through her head, causing the smile to grow bigger. 'It's a pretty decent fit, and the tunnel's not that long. I took a quick swim out there; it looked like there some small islands near us. Plus this really huge cliff.'
Weiss perked up at that. "Huge cliff? How far are we from it?" She asked, hope beginning to pump through her. 'Not sure, I couldn't tell. Maybe about fifteen minutes away?'
"Thank dust." She breathed. "Well then, let's get going. But…how are we going to get there?"
If Ruby were human, she would've shrugged. 'Swim of course.'
"I know that you dunce." Weiss snapped. "I don't think I can even swim for more than five minutes. Especially not when the water is so cold."
'I guess you can grab on to me?' The shark seemed to be pleased at the revelation. The heiress rolled her eyes when the tone suddenly turned chipper. 'I'll be able to get there in no time.' Ruby replied confidently.
Weiss didn't want to grab onto a shark and be carried back to the beach. But the alternate was trying to swim though (likely) shark infested waters, so it wasn't as if she had much of a choice. It was funny how one could feel both excited and terrified at the same time. Steeling herself for the 'swim', the girl replied shakily.
"F-Fine. But you'd better make sure that I don't g-get hurt…" She mumbled. Ruby did an internal jig and swam to a stop next to the heiress, her grey back becoming visible as she surfaced, almost beckoning Weiss to grab on to her. 'I promise. Now let's get going! The faster we get outta here, the sooner we can talk about that whole soulmates thing, which for the record, we totally are.' The shark whistled cheerily.
"Oh joy. I can't wait."
Water rushed around her, pressing into her at all sides. Her hands were slowly becoming sore, but Weiss clung onto the shark with all her energy; refusing to let up for even a second as they headed towards the beach.
The human and shark had gotten out of the cave (which had been relatively easy to escape) and the heiress was surprised to discover that her home was only a little ways off from their location. What boggled her though, was that she had no idea that an underwater cave even existed so near her home. The Schnee's regularly went scuba diving near their beach, so to find out that something like that being right under her nose was…shocking to say the least.
'Oh shit.' Ruby suddenly mumbled. Weiss felt the shark abruptly change course, the turn making her hands even more painful. Unable to say anything underwater, she let out a gurgle and pinched the damn thing, thereby forcing them both to resurface while still swimming. To the heiress' dismay, the figure of the beach looked much further away than before, and the orange glow of the setting sun did nothing but alleviate her panic.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She cursed loudly, hitting the cold, grey flesh. A hiss echoed in her mind as the shark bared her teeth at the sudden biting pain. "My home is that way!"
'I know that! But we may have a slight problem…'
"I'm not a fish you dunce! I can't survive in this freezing water!" The statement was punctuated by a sudden shiver. "What's more important than not dying from hypothermia?"
'Cinder is tailing us.' Ruby replied somberly as she began speeding up. Trying to adhere to Weiss's wishes, she shifted her course slightly despite being pursued; trying to head back to the beach. Maybe if she could get Weiss to safety, she could get away unharmed. But she had almost barely escaped the Cinder when she was alone, so there was no chance of her doing so with Weiss holding on to her.
"White who? You're a shark for dust sake! What is a shark even afraid of–?"
Weiss let out a sudden shriek the shark suddenly veered to the left, the sound of flesh on flesh loud and jarring. The girl was flung into the water, away from Ruby. The scream tapered off into a gurgle as liquid seeped into her lungs. Arms swinging wildly, she quickly swam back to the surface and was met with a terrifying sight.
The new arrival was humongous, easily dwarfing Ruby; who was already plenty big for her age. From the way the bigger shark observed them both, she could tell that it was more cunning; most likely having learned from years of experience. While Ruby's entire skin was dull grey, the larger shark's was the colour of rust, like the embers of a brightly burning fire. Weiss deduced that was where it must have gotten its nickname from.
It would have been a beautiful creature. Had its body not been marred with dozens of scars.
With glowing embers for eyes, Cinder grinned in the only way a shark could; mouth widening to display a set of razor sharp teeth lining its jaws. It reminded the heiress of the horror movie her family had seen before, but seeing it in the flesh sent shivers down her spine.
The blood froze in her veins when predatory eyes turned and focused on her.
She blinked. Cinder charged forward at the speed of a bullet, jaws open wide; ready to crush the puny human which had been unfortunate enough to encounter the feared giant. Unfortunately for the hungry shark, Ruby was much faster. Teeth sank into its soft leathery flesh, the blood spurting out of the wound like a dark red cloud. Ruby drew back as quick as she attacked. With deadly precision, the small shark shot forward and bit into her soul mate's dress, careful not to mar her lovely marble skin.
'Sorry about the dress Weiss.' She apologized, leaving behind a trail of bubbles as she forged forward with frightening speed. The murderous aura radiated from behind her started to catch up at an alarmingly fast pace. Ruby cursed again. She couldn't swim as fast as she usually did.
The beach was now in sight, the orange beams of the setting sun making the sand glitter like diamonds. Weiss would've appreciated the sight on a day other than this, the girl feeling her dress fabric tearing apart at the seams as Ruby tried to outswim their attacker. But disaster struck. Moments away from the beach, Cinder knew that she only had one shot. The youngling would not hesitate to protect the human; it would undoubtedly be its downfall.
With a burst of energy, the large shark dived beneath Ruby and shot up just as quickly, targeting the small, branch shaped legs floundering under the shark's body. Zoning in on the girl, Cinder surged forward to crush those petite legs…only to end up with a mouthful of shark meat. Nevertheless, glee began to fill her scarred body when she tasted a slight tinge of oh so sweet blood, the taste standing out from the usual bland meat she devoured.
Weiss felt her eyelid burn in pain. Ruby had suddenly dived downwards, as if trying to avoid something coming at them, which resulted in the larger shark's teeth to graze her already tender flesh. The sting of the cut was not crippling, so the heiress forced her eyes to open up as she held on to Ruby.
She gasped internally when she saw a large cloud of blood flowing out from the ugly wound of the small shark's fin. The fin was absolutely mangled, bits and pieces of flesh floating away as it was detached by the strong evening currents.
'I'm fine, Weiss.' Ruby's voice said softly in her head. 'Don't worry about me. Just concentrate on getting to safety okay?'
'Don't you dare die on me, Ruby!' Her mind screamed.
The shark let out a morose chuckle as they began nearing the beach. Weiss could see the ground coming towards them, and felt her grip being gently shaken loose. Mouth opening in horror, the girl felt herself being pushed forward as Ruby used her snout to move the girl in the direction of the beach, the blood loss beginning to weaken her.
'As if. Now quickly Weiss, swim–"
The heiress watched in horror as Cinder approached Ruby from behind, the jaw snapping shut on the smaller shark's tail. Both sharks thrash wildly, one trying to escape the iron grip while the other tried to rip its enemy's tail clean off.
The chaos was cut short when something long and silver shot through the water, impaling Cinder. Ruby was freed, the poor shark twisting its body weakly as it tried to swim away from the scene. Silver eyes met blue ones as Ruby threw one last look at Weiss before disappearing into the abyss. For some reason, the girl felt her heart grow heavy; a painful twisting feeling engulfing her chest. The moment was cut short when she felt a large hand encase her own small ones, pulling her towards the surface.
Weiss took in the sight of her worried father before everything faded to black.
Three years later
"And this–" The boy revealed with a huge wave of his hand as the door swung open weakly. "Is my dad's private aquarium. Isn't it gorgeous?" He said, winking at her flirtatiously as he escorted her inside. Weiss deadpanned, taking in the 'oh so special' room with unimpressed eyes.
"Wow. Truly sublime." She responded dryly.
The blue-haired boy must have perceived her annoyance as excitement, dragging her all over the large room and explaining which shiny buttons did what and how much each individual fish were as they passed by numerous exotic looking fish tanks. She zoned out his impertinent blabbering, instead choosing to nod at correct intervals and throw in a few 'hmm's and 'wow's here and there. Truthfully speaking, she didn't care for any of this stuff. And her father didn't too.
After her rescue, the man seemed to have wizened up. He had completely cut off all ties with the illegal fishing company by the name of The White Fang, the Schnee Company suffering from some severe money losses after that.
Thankfully, his new insistence for marine rights and regularly donating to eco-green projects had in turn boosted his public appeal. Although their sales had dipped considerably, they had a steady income and were still able to retain their mostly extravagant lifestyle. Sure they had to sell a few of their fancy cars, but the company was still flourishing and was slowly recovering from their losses, so Weiss still took it as a sign of improvement. The Schnee Fishing Company was still a big name in the business, which lead to several uncomfortable situations such as the one she was in now.
Her father liked to invest in small, family run businesses to gain more connections within the business world. And thus, as his daughter, she had to pay visit to the many of these companies to judge whether they would benefit from investing in them or not. Most of the small time companies were a pleasure to work with, such as the Belladonna Tuna factory, but others such as the one she was at now; simply boggled her mind with their extravagant spending and risky business techniques.
The head of the Vasilias seafood was an okay sort of man. But unfortunately, he was a horrible business owner and apparently, loved spoiling his only child. The states of the worker's working conditions were still safe, but the fish breeding grounds were utterly appalling. The family seemed to put more lien into looking good and pampering themselves than trying to grow their company.
"–and that's how we got them." Whats-his-name wrapped up his monologue, back straightened with pride as he finally finished the tour of their amazing aquarium. "Fantastic." Weiss replied with an eyeroll. This boy was as boring as a rock. She would prefer staring at mollusks than put herself up to this torture again. "Well, I'm afraid I must be going. I have to get back before my sister tries to learn how to swim again."
"Erm- wait a minute, Weiss!" The boy scrambled after her as she headed towards the exit. She scowled when he placed a hand on her shoulder casually, and shrugged it off when he tried to loop it over her shoulders. No one touched a Schnee without their permission, thank you very much.
"There's still something I want you to see." He said with a smile. Using his hand to push back his blue hair, whats-his-name pointed to a heavy iron door which read 'DANGER'. "One of our workers managed to catch a shark today. Would you like to see it…?"
Interest peaked, Weiss nodded stiffly.
"Great! Let's go!" He said gleefully. As he began to unlock the door, the girl of seventeen felt her mind wander to when she had first met Ruby. After being saved, she had searched the nearby waters but found no signs of any sharks whatsoever. Winter said that the shark probably got bored and went on vacation, and Weiss hoped it was sincerely so. She never really managed to forget about the dorky shark, no matter how much she wanted to.
She wanted to know that Ruby was alive. Alive and happily swimming somewhere out there in the wide open waters. Cinder was dead and gone, that much she knew. Weiss sighed. What she wouldn't give to see Ruby again…
"Here it is!"
The smallish tank was hideous. Moss was growing on the glass, bits of algae floating around in the water. The heiress felt her blood boil as she took in the disgusting sight before her. The oblivious boy grinned widely as he watched the tired fish float about in the small tank, barely having enough space to turn its body. It was a real find, he thought to himself, to find a shark on the cusp of maturity. Small scars littered its body, a testament to its survival. One of its side fins had been shredded completely, but the wound looked extremely old. He doubted it bothered the shark at this point.
"A beauty ain't it." He said with admiration. "We've never seen a shark with silver eyes before."
Weiss felt her head snap up in shock. Silver eyes? That could only mean that it was…
Not trusting his words, she concentrated on the large shark bobbing about in the horrendous tank and gasped. Her fingers flew up to her eye and lightly traced the pink scar, travelling down her eyelid to the top half of her cheek. Memories flooded her head, the girl tearing up slightly as she recalled the devastation she felt when she was unable to find her.
Blue eyes met silver ones.
Ruby swam closer to the window of the tank, snout slightly pressing against the cool glass.
'Hey there, Weiss. Did ya miss me?'
Weiss felt her throat tighten as she smiled up at the shark tearily. "You dunce…" She muttered, hands covering her mouth to hide her smile. "I-I missed you. Why didn't you look for me?"
'I wanted heal up first. Nobody likes a battered old thing dirtying up the water.' Ruby chuckled. 'And besides, I wanted to grow up a little before meeting you again. So…are you willing to talk about that whole soul mates thing now?'
The heiress glared at her weakly. "Stop ruining the moment, Ruby."
The reply was drowned up when the annoying occupant of the room turned to her with a large grin on his tanned face. "Can you imagine what this shark will look like on room wall?" He said cheerily, absolutely salivating at the prospect of such a fearsome specimen hanging next to his favourite posters.
Ruby winced; for once glad to be in a tank; far away from the Weiss's incoming fury.
'Hoo boy is he in for it now.' The shark smirked as she watched her soul mate start yelling at the top of her lungs. The boy cowered in the face of her fury and backed away as she stomped towards him. Ruby watched the scene unfold in amusement. 'Hah, who's the dead one now idiottttt!'