Elegant. Radiant. Refined. Perfect. Swans.
Clumsy. Ignorant. Immature. Flawed. Weiss Schnee.
Her parents had been nothing but unsupportive.
They forced her wear long dresses to be elegant when she wanted nothing but to play with the other children. They forced her to attend singing classes so she could "shine" on stage and have a large presence when Weiss wanted nothing but to stay hidden. They forced her to take up responsibility and patch up her own problems when she wanted nothing but a shoulder to cry on. They forced her to be perfect.
A perfect daughter to become the perfect heiress to their company.
"Weiss, go make yourself useful and feed the swans." The cold voice of her father never seemed to change. "At least you can manage that."
By now, this sort of treatment normal for her. After ten years living with such distant parenting, usually just talking face to face was a good sign. But Weiss would be lying if she said she enjoyed her parent's presence.
"Of course," she willed her voice not to crack as she looked at the familiar sight of her father's back. "Should I use the spoiled bread or perhaps the leftovers from breakfast?" Weiss did her best to keep up with his brisk pace but it was difficult with the small steps she took.
The man didn't reply for a moment. "Does it really matter? Just go do something instead of following me around." His tone grew even harsher than before. "I have better things to do than to babysit you."
That shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. Weiss stopped in her tracks, looked down and simply turned around. For a moment, she looked at her feet before quickly raising her chin back to a proud posture despite feeling quite the opposite.
Within the large garden of their home, or rather, mansion, Weiss sat on her usual smooth stone. Her hand outstretched and sprinkled some bread crumbs over the surface of the water. Once the food had caught the swans' attention, they all slowly swam towards her.
Weiss couldn't help but smile at their calm and gentle aura. They were always so graceful in everything they did. Even the way they plucked and cleaned their feathers was a joy to watch. Yet at the same time, Weiss felt a bit envious of them. She knew for a fact that she could never obtain the qualities that swans possessed. If she ever would, it would be by abandoning her nature and forcing herself to change.
But… if it could finally earn her parent's approval. Weiss was more than willing to do so.
She continued to stay lost in her thoughts as she absentmindedly tossed some bread to the white birds. Weiss watched the way they moved their necks and beaks to retrieve the crumbs.
Until she noticed another swan right at the back of the pond.
It didn't seem to move that much, instead if just drifted on it's own without an attempt to wedge between the others for a chance at food. On closer inspection, Weiss could make out that it was slightly smaller and thinner than the others, most likely the runt.
Without even processing the thought fully in her mind, Weiss stood up and threw a large handful of breadcrumbs at the runt. The small swan looked a bit startled when some of them hit her head, shaking its head in confusion before it noticed the food. When it did, it took the chance to gulp down as many as it could.
Slowly, the faint smile on Weiss' face grew wider and wider until it was a large grin. Watching the smaller swan somehow made her feel a lot better.
"If I were a swan, I would be you," she softly whispered under her breath. "Hopefully we'll grow up big and strong like our parents."