AN: Welp. The plot bunnies strike again. This time, much less happy bunnies it seems. Regardless, they have been beaten back (Not really, send help!) and you get to …enjoy?... the fruits of my labors? For anyone curious, next chapter of Petals is undergoing a 1000% rewrite because halfway before posting it, I realized it sucked, and was doing all the wrong things. So that got junked, and then autosave ate about 3k words of the written version. Apologies. Should be here soonish. As soon as this goes live, I'm going into writing that. (Or not. I'm promising nothing, it's being a bear to write).
Tell me who's the loneliest of all
With a start, Weiss Schnee shot upright, biting hard at the inside of her check to contain the scream, and the desire to leap from bed, her fingers grasping for Myrtenaster. In an instant they found the hilt of the weapon, grasping so tightly had Weiss be thinking more, she might have worried about her knuckles bleeding.
"Another dream." Experience had taught her that she wasn't going to fall back asleep, even fitfully. Glancing across the room to verifying that the room's other occupant was asleep, Weiss got out of bed, padding from the room as quietly as possible, rapier still in hand. Despite her best efforts, and knowing that she was safe, the familiar, and painful weight of the blade never left her side these days. She could barely even walk a dozen feet away from the sword without a rising panic in her chest, a feeling of exposure and weakness that was overbearing even to consider.
It was harder to avoid creaking stairs here, being that these were wooden, instead of well-polished marble, but Weiss managed, her footsteps muffled by the carpet runners. With only moonlight for illumination, she moved carefully across the simple living room, into the kitchen.
"Can't sleep?" The voice was soft, graveled with tiredness, coming from the darkened corner. Whirling, Weiss brought her blade up, already forming the thoughts required to attack. "Easy Princess." Leaning out of the shadows, Qrow Branwen could barely even manage his usual leer. He too, was different that last time Weiss had seen him. Unshaven, and far more raggedy than normal.
"No." Offering his question only a curt reply, Weiss her attention to making coffee. If she wasn't going to sleep, she might as well be fully awake for it. While the drink brewed, she glanced towards Qrow again. While everything she knew about the man suggested that he was a drunk, there was no sign of his usual flask, or any kind of drink for that matter.
"Gonna share that coffee?" One of his eyebrows arched. Weiss didn't reply, but did pour him a cup, after taking a minute to find them, in near pitch darkness. He gave a grunt of thanks as she passed it to him, before returning to her own, and adding sugar. The scalding hot liquid burned, a sensation Weiss couldn't help welcoming. The warmth didn't fill the void, but it did manage to at least mask most of it, for a little while.
Qrow, again to her surprise, didn't say anything, just sipping at his own coffee, and glaring at the floor, or maybe the slowly moving spot of moonlight upon it. His own weapon leaned against the wall next to him, within instant arms reach. Dropping into a kitchen chair, Weiss at last released her grip on Myrtenaster, although her hand hovered close to the blade.
Minutes passed, the moonlight slowly shifting across the floor. Something glinted from the corner, light off of metal, which wasn't quite retracted hastily enough.
Calmly setting her coffee down, Weiss spoke. "Who are you?" Her finger's curled around the hilt of her blade once more, head turning to glare the corner near where Qrow sat. The man just grunted, shooting the darkness and angry look, and returning to brooding.
From that shadow stepped the woman who Yang had described as saving her from Torchwick's henchwoman on the train. For a moment, the two locked eyes, through the slits of her mask.
"You have my condolences." Her voice was silken, causing the hair on Weiss's neck to stand on end. Before the Schnee heiress could mount a reply however, the woman turned, and stepped out the door, where Weiss caught the tail end of some kind of portal vanishing behind her.
"Cheery, ain't she?" Qrow growled. There was little to say in response to that, as Weiss forced herself to let go of her weapon, the cold already seeping back.
"I've met more personable people." Qrow snorted out a laugh at the manner in which she avoided insulting the woman.
"Just say it. My sister's a bitch." A bitter smile crossed his face. "Still thinks I'm gonna come back." He shook his head. "Not sure why, told her no enough times." Head lolling back, he gave Weiss a piercing stare. "World's a damn awful place."
That went without saying. She didn't have to look farther than her own Father, or the White Fang to know that. Plenty of terrible things existed in the world, just as plenty of good had been there too. Even if now there was a little less… Weiss gave a violent shake of her head, trying to avoid thinking about that.
"Not that you'd know, talking to that one." He snorted, draining the rest of the coffee in one go. "You make a mean coffee, Princess." Weiss rolled her eyes, not having the energy to bother arguing that she had a name.
They drifted back into companionable silence again, until the sun started to rise, and Weiss drifted back upstairs again, to crawl into bed, and pretend to have been sleeping. She wasn't convinced the ruse fooled anyone, but at least they gave the appearance thereof.
"You're up early." Blake's words were unusually toneless, even for the Faunus girl. Weiss shrugged, padding into the room, setting Myrtenaster on the bed before grabbing her clothes.
"Wanted coffee." Blake nodded, accepting the answer. "There should be some left is you want any." Had she known Blake was up, Weiss might have had breakfast of some sort made, although she wasn't sure what. Cooking was not a skill she'd ever needed, and now that she did, Weiss found that lack of knowledge unbelievably frustrating.
Blake, she knew, was an okay cook, not amazing. Yang, on the other hand, was a terrible cook. Letting that girl near a stove or oven was asking for food poisoning if you were lucky, death if you weren't. The only one of the four of them that was a good cook was Ruby.
Except it wasn't four, now was it, the little voice in her head snapped. It's only three of you now. Fist balling, Weiss slumped against the wall of the shower, as days and days of unshed tears tried to fight their way out, and scalding water pounded her back. Every droplet burned, and on any other day she would have turned the heat down. Today, however, Weiss just stood, and shook, softly whimpering as the feelings surged and died.
Something banged on the door. "People here to see you lot!" Qrow. Weiss spared the door a withering glare, before clamping down on the rollercoaster emotions, shoving them aside.
Making a point to ignore the mirror, she stepped from the room, hand resting on her weapon. It wasn't hard to guess who she'd find in the living room; Tiayang Xiao Long was probably still at the school here on the island. Qrow would disappear from dealing with anyone else from the moment she knew that people were about. Blake would be hiding, Yang wasn't awake. That of course, left her as the person to deal with their school friends.
True to expectations, the remaining members of Team JNPR as well as Team CFVY were milling around the living room. Velvet saw her coming first, waving shyly from the far side of the room.
"Weiss!" Nora bounced up, before dropping back down again, seeming to consider what Weiss suspected was a flying hug. Probably a good thing, as Weiss's hand curled around her weapon, muscles twitching at the expectation of a threat. She wasn't sure that she'd have caught the strike before hurting Nora had it come to that.
"What are you doing here?" Her gaze swept across the room. Since the Fall of Beacon, everyone had been so busy, no one had really had time to figure out where Team RWBY had vanished too, and once she'd been certain Blake wasn't going to up and disappear, Weiss had taken pains to ensure that their tracks were proverbially covered. Neither of the other two were in any shape to deal with mobs of people, and…well, it left Weiss the one to play interference, and she was hardly any better off.
"Looking for you lot." Coco's stare was surprisingly piercing over the top of her sunglasses. "You just disappeared, and nobody has a clue where any of you went. Wanted to make sure you were okay." Wanted to make sure none of you did anything stupid now that Ruby's dead. That was the undertone. It took considerable effort for Weiss not to snap back.
"We're fine." Fine enough without anyone else at least. To her surprise, it was Jaune who snorted. For a boy normally so oblivious to the feeling so f those around him, Weiss thought he didn't' really have room to talk.
"Yeah, nope." Elbows on his knees, the blonde's head turned, giving Weiss a stare that was surprisingly chilling, from one who was usually so dense. "You're not fine Weiss, none of you are." Her mouth opened to retort, but he kept going, harsh gaze killing her words as they formed. "You're all holed up here, without any contact with anyone else. When's the last time you stepped out that door?" He gestured towards the front door, before slumping down again.
"Two days ago." Leaning back against the wall, Weiss fixed Jaune with a glare of her own. The others, whether by agreement or wisdom remained silent. "And what does that have to do with anything?" She knew that perhaps it was unfair, to lash out at Jaune. He meant well, and of everyone, he was in the best position to understand; having lost someone he loved.
He didn't look up from the ground. "You're going to just crack eventually. All three of you are." His fists balled. "Sitting inside, doing nothing but stewing on your thoughts, and blaming yourselves for what happened?" Her heart skipped, twisting painfully with those words, although none of that made its way to her face. "I…" Word at last failed the young man, head dropping further. "We've already lost two friends; we don't want to lose more."
That, as it happened, was the best way to twist the knife Jaune had already buried in the still raw wounds. Mentally, Weiss cursed the blonde haired man, although none of that sentiment made its way onto her face. "Fine." Pushing off the wall, she exhaled, drawing on years of practice to push back to rising guilt and anguish. "I'll get Blake and Yang." She had no doubt they intended to drag the three of them into Vale for something, although what that something was, the heiress didn't know.
That was a detail she would keep to herself, no doubt it would complicate the already fraught matter that getting the others to leave their rooms would be. Halfway up the stairs, she decided to start with Yang. Dragging the blonde from the dark would be difficult.
"Just go away." Yang was already glaring before Weiss had even opened her mouth, the same reaction she gave every morning, when the door creaked open. Masking surprise, at the fact the other girl was even awake, Weiss stepped inside. "Tell them I'm not interested in whatever they want."
"They aren't going to go away." Light flooded the room as the curtains parted. "And I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to fight seven people at once." A spark of something appeared in Yang's eyes, before dying as her gaze shifted to her arm again, as it always did when the idea of combat came up. "Come on." The Blonde glared, but didn't move. "Yang."
Not for the first time, Weiss grumbled that depressed Yang was even harder to handle than an angry one. At least when Yang was angry, she'd react, or give a measure of something with which to react too. As she was now, it was impossible to say for sure what was going on in Yang's head. "What do they want?" Slowly, the blonde sat up, eyes shifted away from where her arm had been.
"I assume they're dragging us into Vale." Weiss shrugged, allowing herself and expression of moderate frustration. No doubt, in a different time and place, Yang might have seen through it, now, early in the morning, overwhelmed with loathing and grief, she didn't. "Someone has it in their head that we've been cooped up too long, and need to get outside. It seems easier to humor them for a short while, then to argue." And less emotionally stressful. Whoever had decided to get Jaune to be the one to argue their case had suffered a fit of accidental brilliance, and deep inside, Weiss could at least respect that a small degree. Despite his idiotic exterior, he had found the exact right way to drive the emotional knife in, and then, not content to leave it there, she had twisted that blade ripping and tearing.
Blake met them outside the door, Weiss having long since accepted the realities of her teammates enhanced senses, and together the three trooped down the stairs, to bright, if cautious smiles. Neither of her teammates were going to be inclined to talk, so Weiss gestured for the others to lead on. As they did, so noted that while Jaune's group lead the way, Coco's team followed behind, keeping them from slipping away. Her finger's twitched towards her rapier, not enjoying the feeling of being caged in, even if their friends meant well.
An hour later, Weiss found herself seriously regretting the choice to not pick a fight over this. While Blake had said a few words, and Yang perked up, by some fluke of Nora, Weiss herself was reaching the end of her rope, with stares, and whispers. Apparently word of her very public fight with her Father had gotten out, either that, or someone had gone and started rumors about…
"Now that we've managed to sit down somewhere, what do you want?" Perhaps more demanding that normal, but Weiss had lost the ability to be patient; indeed, patience was furthest from her thoughts. She wanted to be done with this entire affair, and back somewhere, preferably alone. It had been years since she desired to just break something, seeking the emotional catharsis that logically she knew wouldn't come.
At once, every head at the table turned to Jaune, who sighed, flushing under the sudden scrutiny. "Come on guys, why do I have to explain it?" A low growl slipped past Weiss's control. "Alright alright!" Taking a deep breath, the blonde dropping his Scroll on the table, the projector whirring to life, and the map of Remnant rising a few inches into the air. "We think that whoever attacked Beacon is going to after Mistral next."
"What?" Genuine shock allowed one of Weiss's eyebrows to shoot up, before her control reasserted itself, expression falling back upon cool disinterest. While she hadn't been exactly keeping up on what happened in the outside world, nothing had, to her knowledge, suggested the attack on Beacon had been part of a larger pattern.
"Cinder's team was from Haven, right?" Coco stabbed a finger at the offending school on the map. "And her two teammates," The word spit out, almost like a curse, "are still out there."
"Beacon's a mess, and isn't going to be starting back up any time soon." Jaune picked up. "And if Haven's anything like here, they aren't ready for that."
"So you're going to warn them." A slow nod was her only answer. It wasn't a bad plan, really. "How does this involve us?" There was no way they were going to ask them to tag along.
"We want you to come, of course!" Velvet, eyes wide with earnest innocence. Weiss closed her eyes, taking a long breath. She could feel both Yang and Blake's stares, as they wondered what her answer might be; the stares of the others, who seemed to have figured out she was the voice of Team RWBY.
"Why?" Opening her eyes, Weiss settled on a neutral expression, putting more effort than strictly needed into keeping her fingers from tapping. Myrtenaster grew leaden across her lap, the fingers of her left hand curling about the hilt of the rapier,
This time, to my surprise, heads turned to Ren, who sighed, speaking slowly. "Because, of our group, you know the enemy we face the best." She guessed the fact she was the Schnee Heiress would help as well. "The more people we have to back our story up; the better chance we stand of being taken seriously."
For a long time, Weiss didn't speak. She could feel the weight of Blake and Yang's stares on her back, the pressure of the attention from the others. The bursting feelings in her own chest, the wild incoherent monster that stalked her dreams some nights, telling her to turn, to run, to hide. She could feel the weight of Ren's logic, the cool reasoning pressing back against those other forces.
"We'll talk about it." She replied at last.
-One More Star-
"Gonna share that?" Qrow again. Weiss jabbed a finger towards a still steaming coffee cup, not even shifting from glaring at the moon. "Had some interesting visitors today." A chair creaked as he sat down, cloth. "Bunch of kids. Seem to think that Cinder's lackey's are gonna take a swipe at Haven." Weiss didn't move. She wasn't surprised that they'd gone to Qrow, probably an attempt to sway opinions. While nobody knew exactly how, he knew Ruby and Yang from before Beacon, so someone probably figured if they could talk Qrow into things, he would convince Yang, and then Blake and Weiss. "Said they asked you three to tag along."
A grunt was the only answer that deserved. Weiss might have been impressed with the level of thinking involved, but at this point, she couldn't muster the effort. That, and it was a tactic that was a little too close to something her Father might have done, before their very public falling out. Qrow snorted.
"Not even going to dignify that with a response?" Wood and ceramic clinked.
"What is there to say?" At long last, Weiss turned, fixing the man with a calculating stare. "They try and get you to convince us to go?" She didn't have the patience to play this game. A flicker of amusement crossed his face. So they had. "You can tell them no."
Qrow chuckled. "I already did." Weiss's eyes widened, not having seen that coming. While she had shared more than a few cups of coffee with the former drunk, she didn't consider herself to have much of a relationship with Qrow. "You're not quite as good at keeping it under wraps as you think you are Princess." The man sighed. "You do a good job of running interference, but it isn't that hard to see that you're slowly cracking under the strain of keeping it all bottled up inside. Adding in traveling?" He snorted. "Not going to be something you're on board with, unless the other two want to go already."
Weiss sighed, giving a slow nod. Nothing Qrow said was wrong. "Then why are you here?"
He sighed himself, gesturing. "Someone's gotta keep you kids outta trouble, and Tai is in no shape to do it." A lopsided smirk crossed his face. "Besides, you do make a mean cup of coffee."
"I had though you partial to whiskey." The taunt slipped out before Weiss could stop herself, and drew a quiet laugh from the man. She allowed herself a tight smile for a moment, the strange sense of camaraderie between them for a moment.
"Uncle Qrow?" Yang's hoarse whisper came from the door, both heads snapping to her. "What are you doing here?" Even for Yang, her hair was a mess, bags more visible than normal under her eyes.
"Coffee is you want any." He gestured to the pot. "Princess made it, so I promise it's drinkable." Weiss suppressed a wince. She'd had the sludge Qrow claimed was coffee once, and then never again.
"I have a name." Weiss growled, prompting Yang to chuckle a bit. "You two are impossible." Pulling Myrtenaster from the table so Yang had a place to sit Weiss lapsed back into silence.
"Weiss?" It was ten minutes at least, before Yang spoke. The Schnee heiress turned her head exactly enough to meet her teammates eyes, but no more. "Blake and I were talking." Worry twisted into her gut at those words. It couldn't mean a single thing good. "Ren does have a point, about us knowing…" Her voice trailed off, still unwilling to acknowledge that Ruby wasn't around anymore. "I'm not saying we should go, but maybe we really should think about it?" it was hesitant, a question, which was really asking if Weiss would refuse because of Yang and Blake, or if she didn't want to go.
For a long time, Weiss didn't speak, rolling her fingers over Myrtenaster. "We don't even know for sure if they're right." A long pause. "And, is this something any of the three of us are really ready for Yang?"
The blonde was silent for a long time before answering.
-One More Star-
Beacon Academy was a mockery of its former self. Most of the Grimm had been hunted down by soldiers, and the few Huntsmen and Huntresses in the city. Ironwood had covertly approached Weiss about helping, but she had refused. He had however, informed her of when they had considered the school mostly cleared of monsters.
Granted, it was still a secured area, and Weiss knew she really wasn't supposed to be there. Not that she was going to leave. Leaping the final few feet up the cliff side, she hit the metal of the landing pad with a muffled clang.
Moonlight cast the ruined arches, and fountains in sharp relief, stretching outwards. Rising, from her crouch, Weiss allowed herself a single moment to take in the site, before she started walking.
Four months had passed since the Battle of Beacon, but Weiss still found herself glancing at every shadow, double checking that no one was behind her. Every little sound made her jump, already forming plans to defend herself. Most of the time, it was just leaves, or small animals. Others, she just imagined the noises.
With every step, she could feel the weight about her shoulders growing. A cold wind hissed, it's deepening the bit of the memories that Weiss wandered through. The trees that Blake liked to read under. A half hidden little clearing that Team RWBY used to practice. That spot where Pyrrha and Jaune could usually be found sparring, high up on the roof. Another span of open roof, that had an unobstructed view of the stars, one that, on long nights without sleep, Weiss would wander up to and watch the sky from.
Beacon Tower, it's peak shattered, pieces sent flying across the campus still managed to dominating presence. Weiss bowed her head, unable to look up at that beak, instead stepping carefully through the debris field around the entrance and ducking inside.
Myrtenaster hummed a bit as she focused Aura into the blade, faint runes gathering the life, and throwing a meager portion fo light over the lobby, which was just as she had left it. A few bloodstains littered the floor, most of those, Weiss knew, were her own. The rest of the lobby, however, was largely intact, save the mangled elevator doors, and the scorch marks surrounding them.
Taking care to avoid her heels click overly much, Weiss started towards the charred and blasted stone.
-One More Star-
A day later, Weiss stared down at the collected things on the bed. Dozens of Dust vials, carefully packed in shock absorbing foam. Assorted other useful supplies. Coffee. Myrtenaster. All of that, arrayed on the only she had retrieved from Beacon: a red hooded cloak.
A soft knock against the doorframe made her jump, hand flying to her weapon, before relaxing at the sight of the somewhat familiar face of Taiyang Xaio Long. "Surprised you're not packed already." It was a dull observation, just like everything else the man had said since Weiss first met him. Not that the Schnee Heiress could fault him for that, it had taken her months to manage much emotion in the wake of those events.
"Just making sure." Returning to her work, Weiss considered her next words for a long while.
Before she could speak however, he did. "Miss Schnee. I…" A rattling breath, as she slid the Dust vials into the pouch at her hip. "We haven't spoken much so I'm not really sure how to ask this...but…please keep them safe?" A pleading note entered his voice. Blake and Yang. It was painfully obvious that were one went the other would follow, these days. Something in Weiss's chest twisted, staring down at the cloak on the bed. The shade was lighter than blood, just only just, meaning one had to look closely in order to see the stains on it from…that. "I…I can't lose anyone else." He sounded every bit as broken as Weiss knew he looked. The horrific thought that it took the idea of losing Yang to drag emotions from his flitted through Weiss.
The last of her things packed, Weiss reached down, lifting that cloak, pulling it close to her chest. Strawberries, gunpowder, and a multitude of other scents had long since entwined themselves in the fabric. "You won't." Face buried in the Fabric, Weiss didn't know what kept her voice from cracking. All her energy went into keeping her shoulders from shaking, tears from breaking out.
A strangled thank you came from the doorway, then footsteps, fading away slowly.
With a soft thump, Weiss's knee's gave way, and she collapsed face first into the bed, sobbing quietly.
AN: So….welcome to a thingie. I have no idea what the impetus for this thing was, it just…happened. Most of it in a giant rush, that I'm regretting heavily as it enters the editing phase. Still, it's a thing. Should be Four? releases total... Five releases now. I just made an executive change literally minutes before posting to make chapter length a little more event. Nice and quick like. Or not. Who knows. Editing is revealing some weird stuff that I did that needs…help… but it's moving apace. So...yay rah for that. For anyone that reads my fire emblem stuff, the style here is similar to From the Pages of History, although written far less adeptly, I think. Next releases should be shorter, this one ended up this long by necessity.
Reviews, feedback, general thoughts are always appreciated. This ends up in a very unusual style for me, despite having used it before, so any thoughts are welcome. Feel free to shoot thoughts about the plot my way as well.