So, yeah another new project for the masses. This time centered around everyone's favorite Heiress Weiss Schnee
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth or else we'd know more about the Schnee family (hopefully Volume 3 fills in some blanks)
Gideon Schnee was one of the most powerful men on the planet of Remnant; his great Schnee Dust Company had its tendrils in everything: From the most superfluous of items like toothpaste and soft drinks to a joint partnership with the brilliant minds of the Atleasian military to produce the mightiest of military weapons, the Atleasian Paladin which was now on the front lines of the deserts of Vacuo assisting the Hunters in the area that were tasked with fighting off the latest swarm of Grimm that seemingly had appeared out of thin air. However the greatest of SDC's revenues came from the mining and application of the miraculous material known as Dust, it fueled their machines, powered their weapons, and made the Schnee family's influence so powerful it bordered on the precipice of Godlike.
But not even the greatest of financial titans was immune from the ills of the unseen world.
It had started with a speck of blood that was left upon his handkerchief after a rather hard coughing fit, Gideon thought nothing of it and continued on with the business of keeping his empire running on all cylinders. As the days passed into months, the coughing fits would only come harder to the point where he would have to lean against his desk to remain upright as the speck of blood turned into blots of blood.
And now here the financial titan Gideon Schnee found himself sitting in his doctor's office while his older daughter Winter was furiously typing away upon her scroll as she had been tasked with handling the day to day minutia of handling things in SDC leaving the sickened patriarch to wait upon the results of his latest round of tests.
"Father, it seems another shipment of our Paladin's have been hijacked mid-transport, from what I could glean from the statements taken from the few survivors the perpetrators appear to be the White Fang once again." Winter would sigh as she looked upon her father's withered form as her pale blue eyes grew misty with tears, what was once a man of towering stature had since been reduced to a frail shell of his past self as he sat upon an examination table awaiting news of his fate.
"Curse those blasted Faunus scum!" The frail patriarch would slam his fist upon the table, willing his body not to show any sign of pain from the motion, even as his hand screamed with the force of a thousand suns. "We give them our food, our clothing, we even tried to give them a place all to themselves with Menagerie! Yet they continue to poke and pester at everything the human race has worked hard to achieve with all this talk of equality and fairness, the animals should feel fortunate we allow them to live alongside us much less LIVE at all!" Gideon would rub his aching fist as the doctor finally came into the room, she was a rather modest looking Faunus woman with a fair complexion, an hourglass figure that was expertly hidden beneath the white coat, she could almost pass as a human if it weren't for the fox ears that twitched occasionally.
"I have your lab results Mister Schnee, it appears our last round of Dust radiation therapy seemed to only increase the growth of the disease that is ravaging your body." The woman would sigh as she looked at the man's charts, noting the further decreasing state of his body's immunities. "Are you certain there's no outside sources that in any way be responsible for you contracting this illness, have you been outside the kingdom of Vale at all recently?"
Winter could see that her father's rage was reaching his boiling point as the muscles in his face began to twitch visibly and would set down her scroll with a sigh, knowing she needed to diffuse the situation before he could go on another racist tirade.
"My father's work requires him to be hands-on at certain points, so in answer to your question yes that does indeed require us to travel quite a bit." The doctor would nod quietly as she made a note in the man's medical chart before closing it silently with a stoic look on her face as she looked from parent to child. "I regret to be the one to tell you this, but at this point nothing short of divine intervention will save your life."
Winter would cover her mouth to smother a sob as she looked to her father for some kind of reaction, the older man would just stare down at the immaculate floor as his anger threatened to cause him to consider physically harming the woman in disgust.
"Rest assured that I will be seeking a second opinion from a more reputable source, no disrespect to the military medical staff but I consider your hiring policies somewhat…lacking in standards."
Winter would shake her head silently at her father's off color remark, while she didn't enjoy the White Fang's actions in any sense but that in no way meant she despised the creatures herself.
"Far be it from me to stop you from doing so Mister Schnee but I assure you that any sane physician will agree with our lab's test results, I suggest you avoid wasting your time and money in favor of preparing your last will and testament." The doctor would get up from her seat and step outside leaving the pair of Schnee to their own devices.
"Father, should I contact the family medical team again? Perhaps this time they'll be able to come up with some sort of countermeasure to slow the disease down somewhat-"
Gideon would hold up his palm to silence his oldest born child before letting out a pained sigh as he stood up off of the exam table and proceeded to gather his suit jacket, as pale white as his withered hair was he would carefully drape it over his shoulders as Winter herself scurried to open the door for the ailing patriarch.
"Winter; I fear that this disease may be the result of corporate sabotage, as such our family physicians may be corrupted by the lure of greed and since the military has such shoddy hiring standards we have but one option: Vorbei an der Mantel."
Winter would gasp audibly at the mention of the family's secret ritual of succession, her father had never seen fit to mention the specifics of the Vorbei himself but apparently the fallout was bad enough for his brother, her uncle Sigurd Schnee to completely dissociate himself from the family name entirely.
"Father, you can't be serious about invoking the Vorbei! Weiss is nowhere near ready to assume the perils of the business world while I have been by your side for the last three years, I know EXACTLY how things need to be run in your absence unlike my coward of a sister!"
The ailing businessman would reward her indignant behavior with a vicious backhand slap to the face which left his daughter stunned at his response, those passing by would pause momentarily until his icy glare sent them scurrying along out of terror.
"You shall NOT speak ill of your sister while you are in my presence, being a Huntress is a noble profession that only the truly brave dare to tread. It is a path that I myself once walked before your grandfather invoked the Vorbei upon me!" Gideon would begin the slow walk back to the Schnee family's private Bullwark with a contemplative scowl upon his face, but his progress would be halted by yet another coughing fit that sent him to his knees before reaching for his handkerchief while waving away the security officers who would rush forward to help him back up to his feet.
"Weiss, Weiss, Weiss! Everything always come back to your precious little Weiss doesn't it father?!" Winter would ball her free hand into a fast as she watched her father being helped onto the Bullwark, thus allowing her own anger to remain unseen as she made her way on board to begin the long flight back to Vale.
The flight home to the palatial Schnee Manor, while uneventful had done little to bring peace to either father or daughter and time was no longer on the side of one Gideon Schnee if what that blasted Faunus woman said about his lab results were any indication of the situation. He had to act fast if he were to live long enough to see the Vorbei through to its full conclusion, and the stress caused by this latest round of setbacks would do little to help the older man in that department.
"Blasted Faunus, as if they aren't busy enough trying to tamper with my business through mindless guerilla tactics they have their ilk lying to me about my health with the help of an obviously fraudulent medical degree!" The Schnee family patriarch would be busy inform his closest and most trusted associates with the news of his impending demise as well as what that meant for the SDC going forward, there was no need to discuss any terms of succession as he intended to deal with that particular issue with his daughters. Unfortunately that meant trying to get in contact with his youngest, Weiss, who had lately been insistent upon not returning any of his calls, messages, or in one desperate attempt at communication, handwritten letters.
"Hmm, I doubt that Ozpin fellow would just allow me to remove my daughter from Academy grounds without a legitimate reason. However if I were to cleverly disguise this as a Schnee Company event that required my family to be present, then there's no way that man would dare to refuse my request!" Allowing himself only the most fleeting of confident smiles, Gideon would set upon the task of orchestrating his most daring plan to reunite himself with his estranged daughter and if he happened to drum up some good publicity for the SDC then that would prove to be a worthwhile bonus for a savvy businessman like himself now wouldn't it?
"If this so-called event were to succeed why not only would I know that the company would be left in the proper hands, it might also spark the unification of my family once again!" The ailing businessman would pause briefly in his task to look at the only portrait of his wife with their two daughters, for the woman would die the following night due to the rigors of childbirth.
"Ahh, my darling Krystal, if only you were still with us today. You would be immensely proud of both our little angels. Sadly, I fear it may not be much longer before I am to join you in the realm of eternal slumber. And even then I am unsure if the heavens will deem me worthy to fly alongside you, for not all that I've done would be considered humane."
His one way conversation with the late Lady Schnee would be interrupted as another coughing fit overtook him, but this time rather then stopping to smother the blood that was now dribbling down his chin he would continue drawing up his plans for the company-wide ruse that would also double as the test that would determine not only the future president of the Schnee Dust Company but also which of his two daughters would prove a worthy successor to the title "Matriarch."
I know it's a lot shorter then most of what I give you in a multi-chapter fic but I want this to build up slowly (meaning not AS long as Conversations but nowhere near as short as Roses & Moonlight. Next chapter we really get this ball rolling as this would be considered a Prologue.
Review if you want, PM if you must, but always ALWAYS enjoy yourself