"Go get Torchwick you two," Weiss says. "Let me handle her."
Weiss beckoned Blake and Yang forward, earning some questioning looks from the pair. The woman under the parasol frowned at the scene.
"Don't get too cocky Ice Queen. I won't be here to bring the heat you know," Yang said. Weiss grimaces at her joke, gesturing to the pair to move forward. Yang and Blake rush on ahead, and the woman makes a move to stop them.
"Now, now, your fight is with me."
Weiss unleashes her glyphs, letting some projectiles fly towards her target. The short woman furrows her brow, and moves her parasol into a defensive position. The projectiles exipre harmlessly against the fabric of the rib. She puts down her parasol and gives Weiss a smirk.
Weiss's eyes narrow. The fight is already on, and her hands start to waver a bit. She had oft battled with human opponents, but not against one who would likely kill her should the opportunity arise. She takes a deep breath with her eyes shut, and regains her composure. She opens them to see her opponent rolling her own. Weiss makes her move.
- And Weiss set the pace.
She initiates with a quick rush. The woman, her eyes flickering between colors, sighs and readies her parasol to parry the strike.
Newbies are always so eager to get into the heat of things, in her experience. She had more hope for an entertaining fight with the fiery blonde, rather than this spoiled princess. Rushing in is a good way to get killed after all, especially without power to back up the pace that rushing tends to set. At the very least, she'll be a good toy, even if she doesn't last that long.
The colorful fighter enters into her stance for her counterattack and begins a kick. Though she is ready to parry, Weiss's rapier never meets her parasol. Her kick continues upwards, where it finds Weiss's weapon. The collision pushes the two combatants back a couple of feet. The fighters look shifts into surprise, as Weiss takes her turn being smug. Their eyes connect and her surprise shifts into a predatory smile.
Maybe this princess will be more fun than she thought?
Weiss, on the other hand, was elated. Although she didn't inflict harm on her opponent, having her small gambit pay off gave her confidence. Her hands have stopped shaking, her heart rate has increased, and she was definitely feeling the heat of battle. She had never really been one to enjoy spars, unlike Pyrrha, but she was starting to see why Pyrrha might use it to release stress. Using her new-found bravado, she taunts with her right hand.
- And the woman returned the pace.
Her opponent walks forward, accepting the taunt. She delivers an overhead strike with her parasol, which Weiss parries, attempting a counter and slashing at the woman's stomach. Her blade meets the parasol, and the fight is again reset.
With her heart rate steadily rising, Weiss can feel the adrenaline running through her body, and she basks in it. Its been long since she's fought an opponent who has finesse. Keeping in mind how much danger she is in, she can already tell this fight will be one to savor, for as long as she is alive.
The woman, similarly, was brimming with excitement at the prospect of a more intelligent toy, the kind that will give her a mental challenge, rather than a physical one. Most of those she ended up fighting relied on their strength, rather than more complex mind games. Even still, she did have to up the pace, as this was one gear to low for her to truly take pleasure in. Weiss had showed some promise, and she hoped Weiss would meet it.
- And the pace increased.
Weiss starts up again, and the two trade blows. Slash. Parry. Stab. Dodge. The sounds of metal and cloth colliding fill the air, neither person giving way to the other, matching blows, and returning them. The rythym is set by the pink and brown haired girl, looking for an opening in Weiss's defense. Weiss follows her pace, returning every strike with equal force, giving no ground. Weiss's movements start taking on a certain grace, as only a student trained by private tutors could have.
The fight waltzes around the train car. Feints and double feints weave themselves into the dance, each dancer showing themselves adept at their usage.
Weiss could get used to this, this combination of fear and excitement. The butterflies that resided in her stomach are long gone. Every slash feels like a step in their tango, and with every parry, like a trill in their song. What was the sound of blades clashing, now resonates as a tantalizing melody, bringing out emotions she's never truly felt, and it is no surprise to her that her smile has not left the entire time.
The eyes watching Weiss switched colors, roaming across Weiss's body. Even though she was taking it easy, she wasn't used to the entertainment in contesting her current partner. Her role was usually the cat, and her mice were merely ways to pass the time. This mouse, who was not content with being toyed with, instead was matching her own game. How far she could push the girl in white before she broke?
- So she doubled the pace.
With the speed of her movements increasing, Weiss's next strike surprised herself. It landed. Though she was not expecting her opponent to be made of glass. The image of the women shattered, and the sound of glass breaking put her in a state of shock, leaving her wide open to the woman's kick.
Weiss skids across the floor, halting as she hits the wall. Picking herself up and looking back, an innocent smile peers back at her, blowing her a kiss.
Your move sweetheart.
Though left unsaid, Weiss could feel the arrogance in the air. She grimaces, dusting herself off, and prepares her next move, a glyph appearing beneath her feet. If that is the way the woman wanted to play it, she could pull out some tricks of her own.
- And Weiss took control.
Though unable to speak, her taunts were just as effective without the vocalizations that commonly accompanied them. Many of her battles were won on the rash decisions made by her foes when she employed her silent provocation. Contrary to her hope in most encounters, the idea that the princess across from her would not succumb to the unheard jeers was on the forefront of her thoughts. The princess was showing quite a head for battle. But as Weiss took her stance, her smile dropped, waiting for what looks to be a repeat of how the battle had started. If all it took to disrupt Weiss's emotional stablity was this, then the fun had run out.
But she was wrong.
Weiss's glyph flashes, propelling herself at the source of the taunts. The parasol and her owner jump backwards, allowing her barely enough time to raise her weapon in anticipation of whatever attack was on its way.
But she wasn't ready.
At the last second, Weiss's form phases out, and with no time to turn around, the woman is knocked forward from a slash to the back. She hits the floor, twisting and landing on her back. Looking up, she sees Weiss polishing her blade. Removing her eyes from her blade, their gazes meet.
Try me.
Two can play at that game.
A toothy grin appears below her mismatched eyes. Maybe it was a good thing she didn't get to play with the blonde, her expectations of the princess being defied at every turn. But as much as she would love to continue this, her time is almost up. The train is about to reach the city, and she needed to get out before that.
- And the woman took back control.
Getting up and walking towards Weiss, she telegraphs an overhead strike with her parasol. Weiss's rapier glides into a position to parry, but the parasol and the rapier never meet. Clattering to the side of the train, Weiss's rapier is twisted out of her hand by the heel of foe's boots. Weiss's instincts try to take over, pulling her back, but she isn't fast enough. The woman spins, introducing Weiss's face to her parasol, and Weiss's consciousness leaves her for a brief moment.
As Weiss recovers her bearings, she feels heat on top of her stomach. Her vision returns to the sight of a body clad in white and brown straddling her. She draws her eyes slowly up the girls body, locking eyes with the one straddling her. The flame she sees in the eyes staring back at her brings Weiss's body to a chill.
Weiss is no stranger to being looked at. Her father had paraded her around many parties, treating her as just a doll in under his control. And as such, she was no stranger to the looks of the young men and women who wanted nothing but to take her body, and brag about it later. No stranger to the looks of old perverts who wanted to corrupt her and to break her, consuming her purity and poisoning her thoughts and memories. At first it had scared her, taking hold in her dreams and creating nightmares, but it never became reality. She grew accustomed and had long since learned to pay no heed to those glances.
And then she had become familiar with another type of look. The frustrated look of other children, seeing a child who had anything she wanted, acting like she was above them. The jealous look of businessman, seeing a girl who would inherit the company, one who they thought would run it into the ground. The disgusted look of spouses, seeing the beauty their partners lusted after, a homewrecker with her purity. These too, she eventually ignored as she had no choice, lest the hate take hold of her life.
But what Weiss saw here was different. It held a hint of lewdness, but it was a lust that just slowly drips into the atmosphere. It contained a bit of jealousy, but not at anything Weiss had recognized in the moment. Something vastly more dangerous bled out of it. Domination. Victory. Conquest. This too, was familiar. How could it not be? Her father took no prisoners in his quest to grow the largest company in all of Remnant. Companies don't go from a small local chain to an international powerhouse otherwise. And thats where the chill froze her over.
She had lost. And though she could feel the fear coursing through her body, death hanging over her head, her heart was left unaffected. She was excited. She could not bring herself to stop reliving the battle she had just been through. Is this what her father felt, was it what brought about the flame in her foes eyes? She had tasted the nectar, and she wanted more. That was incorrect, she NEEDED more. And so she made an observation.
"The debt of life from a Schnee is not something you come across everyday, now is it?"
The woman's hand pauses at the implied offer, the blade still mostly undrawn from her parasol. The predatory gaze glazes over as thoughts begin to run through her mind. A beat passes. The blade goes back into the parasol, and the colorful woman nods, agreeing to the unspoken deal. She pulls out her own scroll, indicating it, and then motions at Weiss. Weiss withdraws her scroll and puts it into the womans proffered hand. After a moment, the scrolls are synced, and she slips Weiss's scroll back into Weiss's pocket.
She stands up, lending a hand out towards Weiss. Weiss accepts the hand and lifts herself up, watching her new acquaintance begin her exit. A smile, a bow, and the woman is gone. Weiss takes her scroll out of her pocket, and swipes through to the new contact.
Neo
"Just what have I gotten myself into?"
Weiss sighs, and rushes on ahead, hoping to take her mind off of what she just gave away.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading! This is my first serious written work, and I'm really happy with how its started. I've decided to take up writing because it seems like a good way to express my love for stories in their various forms. I read a lot of books, fanfictions, and other miscellaneous written work I've always wanted to give it a try. Going from the idea in my head and putting it on paper is an experience new to me, as it's not as strict and as logical as my other pursuits (gaming/programming/math). I want to thank my editor, who requested anonymity, as they really helped me out proofing and just generally increasing the quality of this writing.
I also wanted to talk a little bit about why I chose this idea as my starting point. Neo is my favorite character in RWBY, due to a number of factors: she's mute, she's cute, and she's a bit sadistic to boot! Wordplay aside, I've got a penchant for villians/evil characters especially if you can paint them into grey rather than pigeonholing them into the dark side. A little redemption never hurt anyone, and I'm hoping that I can write her into a compelling character in my future chapters. The other side of this is Weiss, a character (at least in my opinion) who is often reduced to a small subset of traits, which are then dialed up to 11. I also don't like the way canon treats her, as she seems to have suffered very little under her father's rule disregarding her fathers prejudice. I would expect someone in such a situation to pick up more problematic flaws, but she's not been shown to have them otherwise. Being a bit haughty and a stickler for manners and the rules is not really a flaw in my opinion. I also think she's a little less respected in the combat sense than she should, though I'm not claiming she's some hidden badass.
I chose this setting, because in terms of matchups in combat, I think Weiss is a better opponent than Yang. Yang's emotional state and fighting style are almost perfectly countered by Neo's raw power and experience. Make no mistake though, Neo beats either of them easily disregarding outside intervention. We can see from the canon fight with Yang that she has massive power because she knocks Yang around with absolutely no trouble. Because Neo is one to toy with her opponent, Weiss has a chance to show her stuff, surprising Neo along the way.
The remaining problem is then the issue of Weiss's defeat. With no other factors Neo would definitely kill her, and unlike Yang there is no Raven to save her. Though that's not really an ideal outcome, in terms of a continuing story, or just attempting to remain close to canon. Thus Weiss must save herself. And so she offers herself, as that is all she has to offer at that point. It is a very good offer though, Weiss's position as the heiress is nothing to scoff at, especially considering the heists Roman has been conducting. This also comes from her father, as a ruthless businessman would do pretty much anything to get out of death. Neo's acceptance is pretty much set in stone, as the help Weiss would be to Roman and her is immense. She's not stupid, after all.
So what is the rest of this fic going to be about? It's going to be about Weiss falling a bit, and Neo rising a bit. Fast friendship, and maybe a bit of romance may come out of it. The format will rather episodic, more than a continuing plot, as I'm not too sure or familiar with making a longer arc. That doesn't mean I don't have a plan, but nothing overarching is likely to come of it. I will also warn that it's likely that the fic will end suddenly, though my writing will not.
I'd love to see any reviews, and I'm very interested in hearing what you think I did wrong, either writing wise or characterization wise (though I may just disagree with you here). Thanks again for reading, and I hope to see you all again soon!