Hello, hello, everyone! It's your favorite inconsistent author, MakaS0ul! For those of you who don't know me, I'm moving from the Bleach fandom (which I'd been all but absent from) into some new ones! My latest passion: YURI! I wanted to try my hand at writing some yuri, since that's basically what I've been into lately. By lately, I mean for the past year or so. Plus, I love RWBY dearly and have forced my roommates to watch it! (Sorry, not sorry.) Though I do love me some Bumblebee and WhiteRose, Freezerburn has been my latest pairing interest. Something about Weiss together with Yang just clicks for me. Anyway, I'll run my mouth more at the bottom, so for now, on with the story!
The white haired girl heard the howl of Beowolves closing in on her, so she did the only thing she could; she ran. Blackened trees with gnarled branches rushed past as her body kicked into overdrive, her blood and adrenaline pumping faster than ever before. The night was clear and the full moon shined down, lighting the girl's path enough so that she didn't run directly into the trunks of the many trees she dodged.
She couldn't tell where she was running to or how close the Beowolves were, but she continued to push her legs to their limits. Soon though, her speed began to exceed her ice blue eyes' ability to process her surroundings in the inky darkness and her foot caught on a root protruding from the forest floor.
As she fell, she could hear the snarling and panting of the Beowolves fast approaching, their howls signaling the other members of the pack that their next meal was close. The girl began to tumble down a large embankment, twisting, turning, and rolling through the darkness. She barely registered that the Beowolves had stopped their pursuit, likely due to the tumble she was taking, but her thoughts quickly left her when she slammed into a tree, her ribs and sternum cracking in protest.
She couldn't even cry out as she felt the oxygen leave her body with the impact before she continued her descent and felt her back smash into another tree. This too forced what little oxygen she had regained back out once more. The girl could only wonder how much longer her fall would take as she felt her ankle catch on another root and crack underneath the pressure, throwing her legs-first into another tree. She was greeted with the sound of more cracking before her left eye was slashed by a passing branch and she finally smashed her head into yet another tree and blacked out.
The girl was greeted with the sound of crackling, from what she could assume was a fire, and the sound of a stream dribbling nearby. Her eyes shot open and she attempted to sit up, only to be hit by a bout of pain and a wave of nausea, which forced her to lie back down. She shut her eyes, willing the nausea to subside before she opened them once more. Why was she alive? She had been battered by an entire forest! There was no way she could be alive!
From where she lay, she could see a semicircle of fir trees around her. The trees were cut off by a small stream that glistened in the waning moonlight and appeared to lead down to a lake. Focusing her attention back to the fire, she noticed there were some fish roasting over it, speared through with sticks and nicely browned. Out of the corner of her eye, the girl noticed a bag –more of a burlap sack—that lay atop a rough spun blanket. She was not alone, and as she registered that thought in her throbbing head, she heard the sound of footsteps along the gravel of the stream.
She stiffened. Someone was coming! From what she could see, the footsteps came from a tall, well-built woman. She stood at likely no less than 6 feet tall and seemed to purely be made of muscle. Truly, she had never seen a woman quite like the one before her.
The woman's eyes were a deep purple, like amethyst dust crystals, and she had a mane of waist-length blonde hair that seemed to glow with the firelight. She wore a ragged brown cloak that had clearly seen better days, and covering her well-endowed chest was some iron plate armor, rife with scratches from no doubt countless battles and encounters with Grimm. The rest of her body was covered with more pieces of armor, though she was far from being as covered as the knights back in the castle.
From her place on the ground, the girl's icy eyes caught a glint on the woman's wrists. Squinting, she realized that the woman had golden gauntlets that were wrapped with glowing fire dust crystals. That was not a weapon that one saw every day, even at the yearly fighter's tournaments that Atlas Castle held. Whoever this woman was, she was clearly an experienced fighter, and not someone to hastily attempt to escape from.
The woman made her way over to the fire, examining the fish before taking them away from the flames and settling on the blanket. Her lilac eyes made their way over to the girl before she rose, realizing the girl was awake, and sat next to her, resting the fish against some rocks that surrounded the fire.
Her face betrayed no emotion as she lifted the blanket that covered the injured girl and glanced her up and down; checking on the bandages and splints that covered her body. By this point, she looked like a mummy, and about the only thing that appeared unharmed was the majority of her face and neck. She then locked eyes with the girl, seemingly asking if she was ok.
"Did you save me?" the white haired girl croaked out, her voice rough and raw.
The woman simply nodded, then gestured to the bandages, indicating that she took the liberty of patching her up.
"Who are you? Where am I?" she managed before coughing roughly.
At this, the woman reached over and steadied her shoulders as her body was wracked by the coughs. When her body settled, she opened her mouth and said softly, "Yang Xiao Long. 2 day's ride from Atlas capital." It seemed she could speak when necessary.
A moment later, she reached for a stick and began to draw in the dirt. From what the practically mummified girl could see, it appeared to be a body. When the woman finished, she gestured to the head, back, shoulders, collarbone, ribs, sternum, arms, legs, the right ankle, the left eye, and both feet before looking at her.
"Is that everything that I hurt?" the icy eyed girl breathed out. Her head throbbed and her entire body ached, as if it was signaling the affirmative. Yang nodded. "Wonderful," the injured girl said bitterly.
Yang then reached over and grabbed a stick with a thoroughly roasted fish and gestured towards Weiss. She seemed to be asking if the smaller girl was hungry. The girl's stomach rumbled at the sight of the fish before she tried to reach for it.
She hissed at the newfound pain that shot from her arm and immediately brought it back down. Clearly, moving was going to be a challenge.
Seeing this, Yang began to tear small pieces of the fish off and brought her hand to the girl's mouth. She was going to feed her!
The white haired girl was reluctant, but sighed, realizing that there was no way she was going to be able to eat by herself in her condition, and resigned herself before opening her mouth hesitantly.
Yang gently slid the fish into the girl's waiting mouth. She seemed to sigh happily at the taste of the fish hitting her tongue; a reassuring gesture towards Yang's untested cooking skills. More pieces were torn off and slid into the girl's mouth until the fish was nothing but bones.
"Thank you for… well… everything you've done," she said, a small smile making its way onto her face. "I thought I was going to die when those Beowolves came after me. Honestly, I'm surprised I survived my fall down the embankment." The girl seemed to have adopted a rather blunt attitude toward her brush with death. "Yang?" she queried, her voice not much more than a whisper.
Yang nodded, signaling the girl to proceed with whatever she wanted to say. Her eyes conveyed warmth, but the rest of her face remained unreadable.
"What do you plan to do with me? You're under no obligation to take care of me, though I appreciate what you've done for me so far. If you wanted, you could leave me here to die, much like that damned wagon driver did when we were attacked by an Ursa." Her voice was full of venom with the recollection of the man who left her to die in the woods in the dead of night. "When I find him…"
"I will not leave you," Yang said, snapping Weiss's attention back to the golden haired girl. "I have no destination, no goal, no purpose." Lilac eyes met wide icy ones to ensure the nearly-mummified girl could see her sincerity. "I will be with you until you no longer need or want me."
The girl's eyes widened further at the bold declaration; she did not know this woman, so she could not fathom why she would be so keen to help her, a stranger. "So if I decided that I wanted to find some holy sword across the world and become a knight of the round, you'd follow me?" she asked, her voice full of skepticism.
Yang nodded. "If that is what you wish to do, then I will follow."
"And if I wanted to become a dictator and wipe out village after village in some mad quest for power?"
"I would follow you." She looked at her large, calloused hands a moment before meeting the injured girl's eyes again. "As I said, I have nothing to live or work for. I am nothing but a wandering sword."
"So what you seek is an employer? A master? I have little coin, so I can't afford to employ you."
Yang remained silent for a moment and looked away before opening her mouth once more. "I seek… a purpose; whether that be as a sell-sword, a soldier, a guard, or a traveling companion. I need not be paid."
The white haired girl released a breath, almost laughing as she tilted her head slightly. "I get it, but I don't really have a purpose myself. I have no aspirations for power, for knowledge, or for some kind of destiny. All I've been doing is running away from home." She scrunched her face, clearly displeased with the thought. "Honestly, I haven't thought about what to do after escaping that hell. I don't think I can offer you the purpose you desire."
"Why did you run away? Is someone after your life?" the blonde asked, her voice gentle yet slightly hopeful at the prospect of a job.
The icy eyed girl paused, debating whether or not she should share her story. She hardly knew the blonde. Still, Yang had saved her life; perhaps she should trust the woman. She glanced at the blonde's eyes briefly before relenting.
"I… am Princess Weiss Schnee, heir to the Atlesian throne," she breathed; her voice quiet and hesitant. Yang's eyes went wide before she calmed and gestured for Weiss to continue.
"I left the castle because… I didn't want to live under my father. Day after day, my father drained my childhood from my elder sister and I. We weren't allowed to be children, nor were we allowed to be ourselves. My sister was perfect in his eyes; the ideal of elegance and regality, and better yet, she followed his every command to the letter. To him, I was nothing more than an eyesore; an imperfection that did nothing but embarrass him on a consistent basis."
Weiss's eyes began to water as she recalled the hellish days in the castle. Yang noticed this and rested a calloused hand on Weiss's forehead. The smaller girl sighed into the contact; Yang's hand was warm, almost burning hot, as if her entire body was made of fire, yet Weiss felt that the heat could never burn anyone. Instead, it felt like it would envelop you, like the warmth of a blanket on a freezing winter night.
"Thanks," Weiss breathed, her eyes still shut. Yang nodded and softly stroked a thumb across Weiss's brow. Her thumb then brushed against Weiss's left eye, sliding over a newly formed scar. The pink skin traced a line from above Weiss's brow to the top of the girl's pale cheek; a memento from her fall down the embankment.
"Can you… see out of your left eye?" Yang asked, her voice soft and hesitant.
Weiss's eyes fluttered open after Yang's ministrations stopped. "Yes, why?" Her brow furrowed at the question. Why would Yang ask something like that? Especially after the revelation of her heritage…
Yang paused, glancing away briefly before meeting the smaller girl's gaze. "You… have a scar over it. It's not very big though."
Weiss's icy eyes widened for a second, but returned to their normal state just as quickly. A slight grin split Weiss's face; it didn't matter whether she was perfect anymore! She didn't have to be perfect for her father anymore! Good riddance! A soft giggle escaped Weiss's mouth, surprising Yang.
"Why are you laughing?" Yang asked, surprised at the former princess's cheerful demeanor. She'd expected the girl to cry, to become angered, or really to react in any other way besides laughter.
"Well… my father had always stressed perfection. Everything we did had to be done gracefully, swiftly, and perfectly. Even regarding our personalities and appearances: perfection was the only option." Weiss stopped for a minute to laugh a bit. "As I said before, my father had always thought I was imperfect, and now," Weiss grinned again, her eyes crinkling at the corners, "I'm finally 'truly imperfect.' Now, he no longer has to imagine imperfections to criticize me for; I now have an actual, tangible imperfection."
At this point, Yang was completely lost. What was this girl talking about? As if sensing the blonde's confusion, Weiss spoke up again.
"Basically, I can piss my father off by showing him this scar. He will condemn me for trying to bring shame upon the glorious Schnee name by being anything less than perfect." The sarcasm dripping off of the word "glorious" was almost tangible. Clearly, Weiss wasn't upset about the scar. If anything, she was proud of it.
Yang couldn't suppress a giggle at this. Truly, the former princess was an interesting girl. "Well… what were you planning to do once you left the castle?" Yang tilted her head, interested to hear the answer.
Weiss's face was tinged with a slight pink before she looked away. "Well… the thing is… I hadn't really gotten that far…"
Yang chuckled; she'd expected something like that. "Surely you must have some idea."
Weiss looked up to the sky that was getting brighter by the minute; it would be dawn soon. "I suppose I want to see the world. There are so many different people and cultures, and I would like to explore them." She let out a small, slightly bitter laugh. "All I've seen so far is this accursed forest though."
The blonde chuckled. "And? What is your impression of the forest so far?"
"Dreadful. I think I'd rather sit through an extended lecture from Mr. Port, one of my former tutors, than spend any longer in these woods."
The two women shared a laugh before Yang glanced at the sky. "It should be dawn soon, which means many of the Grimm will disappear soon." The smaller girl shivered at the mention of the creatures which put her in her current state.
"I thought Grimm were around no matter the time of day. Are they nocturnal?"
Yang shook her head, her mass of blonde hair swaying with each shake. "You're right; Grimm are around at all times. During the day, the amount simply lessens. Nobody knows where they disappear to during the day, but it is a well-known fact that more of them appear at night."
Weiss paused for a moment. "Do they have an aversion to light?"
The blonde nodded. "That's what many think. That's why it's important to build a large fire if you're in an area with Grimm at night; they tend to avoid those who've done so."
"That stupid driver," Weiss spat. "He had no torches on his wagon. It's no wonder we were attacked! Honestly, when I find him, he'll wish he had been caught by Grimm instead!"
Yang burst out laughing, doubling over and clutching her sides. The former princess was a fiery one for sure! Said former princess chuckled at the sight of Yang; one would have thought that the former princess had told an actual joke, not threatened a man. The woman before her had been so soft spoken before, and now she had begun to open up to a stranger in just a matter of hours.
The blonde wiped her eyes and caught her breath; she hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. Still, Yang wanted to get back to the earlier matter. After a moment, she cleared her throat, "Miss Schnee—"
"Weiss."
The blonde coughed. "Weiss, if you would allow it, I would like to accompany you on your journey to see the world. While there are many good people, there are also many dangerous people, and I would like to keep you safe from those people that would try to do you harm." Lilac eyes fixed onto icy ones.
The former princess stared at Yang before looking back to the early morning sky and sighing. "I can't pay you."
"I know that."
"I've no desire for power or anything like that."
"I know that." The blonde's voice was firmer this time.
"I'll be traveling for an indefinite period of time with no real destination."
"I know that." The blonde's voice was soft as she reached over and gently placed her hand over the white haired girl's. "I know that, but even still, I want to accompany you."
Weiss glanced back at Yang. "Why? Wouldn't anyone do? Why do you so desperately want to accompany me?" Her voice wasn't angry, but instead, rather matter-of-fact.
The wandering sword shook her head, her hand still gently holding the former princess's. "No, nobody else would do."
"And why is that?" The white haired girl's voice was patient, no hint of irritation in her voice.
Yang smiled. "Because I've grown a bit fond of you."
The former princess stared blankly at the blonde for a moment before bursting into laughter, though she quickly stopped after her ribs and sternum had protested at the action. "Ow…"
Yang reached over and wiped the tears from the corners of Weiss's eyes that had formed during her burst of laughter. A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Once Weiss had regained her composure, she tilted her head towards the wandering sword. "What an honest answer." She shook her head slightly, a grin on her face. "Well, I've told you that I have no coin to pay you and no real destination or goal, but if you're honestly fine with that, you can accompany me. I look forward to traveling with you, Yang."
The slight smile that Yang had worn before turned into a full blown face-splitting grin. "And I as well, Weiss." She'd finally have a purpose, and better yet, a companion. How long had it been since she'd traveled in the company of another?
"By the way," Weiss's voice cut through Yang's thoughts, "how long will it take for me to heal? We won't be able to start our journey until that happens."
Right. Weiss's injuries. Yang had nearly forgotten, despite the fact that a near-mummy lay before her. "For everything to completely heal, it will take about 8 weeks in total." Her voice was soft and careful, as if the rest of Weiss's bones would break if she spoke too loudly.
Weiss's jaw went slack. 8 weeks?! She'd be stuck as a glorified vegetable for 8 weeks?! "What?!" the former princess hissed.
Yang winced but her voice rang out clearly. "I can't move you from here. You injured your head severely and it would be dangerous to move you yet. Fortunately, I'm equipped enough to take care of you where we are. I have medical supplies and there's plenty of shelter and food around here. I'll keep you safe and make sure you heal properly."
The former princess stared at Yang blankly for a moment before sighing and looking up to the sky again. "Thanks."
It was going to be a long 8 weeks.
Whew! Another long-ish chapter from me. This story will be an adventure/romance slow burn, so don't expect much in the way of serious romance for a while (unless you've equipped your yuri goggles). Anyway, Yang is my favorite character from the series, and Weiss has really grown on me. Ice Queen used to be my least favorite among team RWBY, but she's slowly started to change and grow, which has really moved her up to #2 among my favorite characters from the show. On another note, if I pair up Weiss and Yang, I'm able to give Yang that much more ammo to make puns with! (Have I mentioned how much I love puns?) Also, the lack of Freezerburn on this site makes me sad, so I decided to actually do something about it and add to the pool instead of whining! My lovely beta, Lioness002, did not assist me this time, since I wanted to lighten her workload. Plus, I wanted to write something without outside assistance to see where my own abilities are at, so any mistakes or awkwardness is my own fault! Anyway, that's basically all from me this time! Until next time! –MakaS0ul :3
Side note: I have another Freezerburn project that I'm about to start. It's a bit of an experimental idea so look forward to it!
