Life returned to Weiss in an instant. She woke to the feeling of sand filling her lungs and coughed violently.
Where… am I? Thought Weiss as she regained control of her body. She laid on an old mattress with springs sticking out at random places. The room she was in was small; a flap, leading to what Weiss assumed to be the outside, was directly opposite of where she lay. The walls were made of some leather-like material, and she could see it flapping against the wind. A tent? Weiss guessed as she pieced together her surroundings.
On the floor, which was nothing more than sand, laid Weiss' rapier, Myrtenaster. She eyed it for a moment. It was obviously hers, as it lay at the foot of her bed, but why couldn't she recall anything about it? As the coughing stopped, she sat up, using the headboard as support.
A sharp pain shot up Weiss' back as she did. She winced as she used one hand to try and feel what it was. Her fingers touched something warm and wet. She pulled them back to see the dark reddish black droplets of blood dripping off her fingertips. It was only then she considered examining her current state. Whatever it was she was wearing prior was completely ruined. Gauze tape was wrapped around her chest and stomach. Her long flowing hair was a mess. Her skirt, dress (whatever it was), was dotted with tears, burns, and blood, and she was completely barefoot.
Although she had clearly seen better days, the thing that perplexed Weiss the most is her lack of memory. Alone and with amnesia. Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Regardless, sitting around waiting for something to happen wasn't exactly a solid plan, so Weiss tried to stand. Her legs wobbled, and her vision blurred as she made it on both feet. She tried to take a single step, but instead lost her balance, and fell face-first into the sand. Managing to lift herself back up, Weiss grabbed Myrtenaster and stuck it into the ground. Using it as an anchor, Weiss managed once again to stand, this time much less stable than before. The other factor making this worse is how much energy it seemed to take just to do it. By the time Weiss was back on both of her feet, she was struggling to catch her breath. She clearly wasn't going to get far like this. That's when the tent flap opened, shining an enormous beam of light directly into Weiss' eyes. She covered them with one hand and tried to look forwards. A humanoid figure walked into the tent, stopped, and seemed to study Weiss. There was a brief moment of silence before the person began to speak.
"Ah, the princess is finally up," spoke a younger female voice. "You feel rested? Good, because you've been out for the last day and a half."
Weiss didn't say anything, but just watched as the figure moved closer to her. The girl sighed as she examined Weiss. "I was hoping that you'd be a little more stable, but it looks like you really need more rest."
Weiss wanted to respond, or give any sort of indication that she disagreed, but her body was too drained to even give that little of a response. The girl slowly and steadily helped Weiss back onto the bed. She felt a bit better sitting down, though her body still felt woozy with all the pain she was feeling.
"Tell me," the girls voice started again. "What was one of the most famous huntresses in Remnant doing unconscious in the middle of the desert?"
"Des…Desert?" Weiss managed to squeeze out.
"Yeah," responded the girl. "You're lucky I happened to be flying by. Any longer out there, and you be some Deathstalker's lunch."
Deathstalker… The word rang in Weiss' ears for a moment, as if her body was trying to tell her something. Then, a flash of memory jolted through her head. Grimm, a battle, something… She shut her eyes tightly and tried to focus on the memory running through her head. She managed to get two things. Her name was Weiss Schnee, and she was on some sort of mission.
She must have had some strange look on her face, because she quickly saw the girl snapping her fingers in front of Weiss' face.
"Hello? Earth to heiress? Do you know who you are?" She said. Heiress? That's right! She was the daughter of Willow Schnee and Jacques né Gelè.
"My name is Weiss Schnee," Weiss said.
"Good! So you're at least partly here." Said the girl in response. She stood up and closed the tent flaps, cutting off the blinding light from entering the room. Finally, with a balanced amount of light, Weiss could make out the features of the girl.
She wasn't super tall. Her hair was cut half shaved with a braided pony tail running down the back of her head. She had two rabbit-like ears sprouting from the base of her scalp and drooped on either side of her face. She had one brown and one black eye, and a diagonal scar in the center of her face.
"The name's Seinna by the way," She said, reaching out to shake Weiss' hand, to which, Weiss cautiously accepted.
"Where am I?" Weiss asked. Seinna took a seat in the sand before answering. She crossed her legs and looked up at Weiss.
"A village just south of Vacuo." Basic memories slowly crept back into Weiss' head. First, the map of the world, then a little history, then some general politics. Vacuo… something didn't seem right about that. She shouldn't be here, right?
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you don't remember how you got here, don't you?" Seinna asked, lifting up one knee and resting her arm on it. Weiss didn't need to say anything to confirm that. Just the look on her face said it all. Seinna nodded to herself and looked down. "Well let me see," she started. "You're from Atlas, so my best guess would be that you should probably head there first."
"Do you know me?" asked Weiss, knitting her eyebrows.
"You're part of the most famous family on Remnant. It's practically common knowledge." Before Weiss had a chance to say anything, Seinna kept talking. "I also know you're on team RWBY. I remember watching your fights in the Vytal Festival three years ago." Weiss nodded.
Her team… Ruby, Blake, Yang.
"Is my team here?" Seinna shook her head.
"Just you, I looked around town and in Vacuo, no sign of them." Weiss gritted her teeth, this is wrong.
With one fluid motion, Weiss attempted to stand again. She was shaky, but with Myrtenaster supporting her, she was able to stand up straight.
"Woah woah," Seinna looked startled as she got back on her feet.
"You look like shit. Seriously, lay back down and let your Aura do its job."
"I… have to get back to them…" Weiss mumbled trying to walk. She still felt woozy with every step, but with each one she felt more and more stable. She was nearly out of the tent before Seinna put her hand on Weiss' shoulder.
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Weiss turned to see Seinna with a serious look on her face. "All four kingdoms shut down their borders. We have a hot war going on between Atlas and Vacuo, and you think your broken ass can make it to wherever the hell your team is?"
"War?" Weiss put all of her weight on Myrtenaster, which dug deeper and deeper into the shifting sand. Seinna sighed.
"Yeah, war. Beacon and Haven are missing both their headmasters and most of their Huntsmen. Vacuo wants to take advantage of that, and Atlas has been trying to maintain the world order."
Weiss purses her lips and took another step.
"Weiss," Seinna tightened her grip on Weiss' shoulder. "You really need your rest. You're not going to get anywhere in your current shape." Seinna pulled backwards, making Weiss fall back onto the bed with a thud. Seinna pulled Myrtenaster from Weiss and straps it to her belt buckle. "I promise I'll let you leave, but not now. Trust me."
All the exhaustion from trying to fight against Seinna drained Weiss. She could feel her entire body aching. Quietly, Weiss nodded, falling back onto the bed. She could see Seinna smile.
"Thank God. Now, go to bed, I'll be here," Weiss watched as Seinna turned and walked out of the tent, closing the flap behind her.
It only felt like seconds before Weiss woke again. This time, it was dark, as the whole world was tinted with dark black and blue colors. Again, Myrtensater was at the foot of her bed. Seinna was also there, laying curled up in the sand in the center of the tent. There was a commotion in the air: people screaming, the sound of guns, and the crackle of fire. There was only a moment between Weiss waking up, and when Seinna's rabbit ears shot up. She sprung up and looked outside.
"Weiss, we need to go, now." Weiss, still partially asleep, didn't respond. Seinna turned back into the tent and sprinted to Weiss. "Get. Up. Now!" She handed Weiss Myrtenaster. Seinna scooted back and looked outside. Weiss sat herself up, surprisingly feeling no pain. Seinna turned to Weiss again and used a hand gesture to tell her to come. Then, in a flash, something tackled Seinna from outside the tent, knocking it down on top of Weiss. Disoriented and confused, Weiss struggled to free herself. It took her a few moments to use Myrtensater to cut a hole for her to escape.
The village was on fire. They must have been set up on the outskirts out town, as Weiss could see almost the whole thing. She could make out the shapes of Grimm tearing up everything in sight, and the townspeople frantically running around and trying to fend for themselves. Over to her right, Weiss could see Seinna struggling against one. She was pinned to the ground with a Beowulf trying to go for her face.
A rush of adrenaline pulsed through her as her memories of combat experience sifted back into her.
Perfect form.
Weiss charged forwards and impaled the Grimm in the back. He could feel its body stiffen around her blade before it faded into black mist. That felt so familiar. Her body felt normal again. No pain, no disorientation, but still amnesia. Seinna pulled her legs towards her chest, before using it as momentum to shoot herself back up.
"Looks like you're feeling better now," Seinna stated brushing sand off her body.
"Just needed some time to compose myself I guess."
"Your memory come back?"
"N…no," Weiss started. "At least, not the important ones."
"Fantastic," Seinna looked out towards the ensuing chaos. "Alright, we need to go."
"But what…"
"They had their chance to escape, and they didn't take it Weiss," Seinna turned and stared directly into Weiss. "And no matter what you may think, the two of us won't be able to take all those Grimm alone." Weiss turned, and started moving forwards. She felt Seinna grab her arm, gripping it tightly. Weiss looked to Seinna, who was biting her lip. "Look, I know what you're feeling. We're Huntresses, it's our job. But at the same time, we can't help anyone if we throw ourselves into a suicide mission." Weiss tightened her grip on Myrtenaster. She knew deep down that Seinna was right, but how can she just let all these people die?
"I'm sorry," Weiss softly spoke before beginning to walk in the opposite direction.
"Thank God," Seinna sighed as she started following. "You came to your senses." Weiss looked backwards one more time, as three more Deathstalkers, four Nevermores, and hundreds of smaller Grimm closed in on the village.