Disclaimer: Macdutton does not own RWBY or Frozen. They belong to Rooster Teeth and Disney respectively.
"Elsa!"
The high pitched greeting woke me from a troubled sleep. Blearily, I turned to my left to find…
Ruby. Just like I did every morning. I could swear she didn't sleep at all. Or I would, if I hadn't spent enough nights awake to know that her snoring sounded like a chainsaw.
Dropping my head back onto the pillow I groaned. Another bad night. "Morning Ruby," I mumbled, not yet ready to face the day. "Are you ready?"
"Yep!" she yipped, almost disgustingly happy. "But we're going to be late to see Qrow if you don't get up soon." That drew another sigh. Qrow. The dusty old man who had been assigned as our tutor.
Dragging myself out of bed, I showered and dressed, quickly disguising the bags under my eyes with some makeup, before deciding to try something new. Purely on a whim, I'd bought some purple eyeshadow. May as well use it…
After dragging my hair into a sloppy braid, I left the bathroom and dressed, pulling on a blue long-sleeved shirt and asymmetrical, pale blue skirt. Satisfied, I told Ruby I was ready and we set off, the young girl flitting around me using her semblance. Her actions seemed to leave a trail of rose petals falling to the floor in my wake, an effect I loved, though to tell her would probably result in her following me around doing it even more than she usually did. I got the feeling that the novelty would wear thin rather quickly.
"So," the man rasped. "You girls are my latest project? Interesting, very interesting." He moved around the small office, seemingly to regard us from every angle he could.
Ruby and I stood in the middle of the room, a few feet apart. We were both nervous, but I felt that the dark haired girl was much more excited than myself. Although, that was a given. She was altogether too enthusiastic, regardless of the situation.
"Now, I shall warn you ahead of time. I have never been a broadly skilled hunter. My skill lay in a single weapon, and a rather eclectic one at that." He looked at us beadily as he moved to sit behind his desk. Seemingly out of nowhere he pulled out a black object that rapidly unfolded into a large scythe, which he hammered into the floor between us. "I was the only one of my generation to choose to wield this form of weapon, as they have always been frowned upon."
At our confused looks he elaborated. "In battle, scythes, and their wielders, tend to be dangerous. Powerful, and capable of killing Grimm with an ease that few other weapons could replicate. Yet the price, is the risks posed to your teammates. Weapons this unwieldy, and with this large a cutting edge make you something of a hazard to be anywhere near." A pause. He seemed to be considering. "I will offer to teach you to use this weapon," the words seemed forced. "It is against my better judgement to teach any my skills, but I believe you two may be capable."
The beady eyes seemed to bore into me as he asked, "Do you accept?"
"Relax. You can't force this, just let it flow." The instruction was barked, seemingly in exasperation. I gritted my teeth, but slowly relaxed, letting the tension drain from me.
Moving quickly forward, I wove the simple farming tool through the complex forms I had been taught. For once they felt… smooth. I slid through the stances and moves carefully at first, but as the feeling became more natural I allowed myself to speed up.
Soon, I was tearing through the techniques, my mind seeing a Grimm torn to shreds with each strike, every step bringing me within reach of another enemy.
As I drew to the end of my forms, Qrow began to clap slowly.
"I think you're ready Elsa. I think you're ready to forge your own weapon." The solemn mood was broken after a few seconds by Ruby glomping me. Trust her…
I moved rapidly through the kata, my scythe seeming to shear through the air, as though begging to cut something real, but settling for empty atmosphere. My motions were relaxed, letting the huge weapon propel itself, I was simply guiding it.
I sped up to a point faster than Ruby could manage without her semblance, carving swathes of death through the imaginary hordes of Beowolves and Ursi. Nearby, Ruby practiced her own, more acrobatic techniques, both of us under the careful watch of Qrow, leaning on his own weapon.
Calling us both to a stop, he bid us to sit down in front of him. We had been studying under the man for almost six months, and in that time both Ruby and I had learned much. Not just how to wield a scythe, but tactics, tracking, Grimm anatomy and various other topics that a Huntress may find useful.
We had finished forging our weapons almost two weeks ago and had done nothing but drill with them since. It had been exhausting at first, but the training had begun to show. We could both continue to fight for almost an hour straight now, an impressive feat given the weight of our weapons.
Speaking of the scythes, I considered my own. It was large, bigger even than Ruby's insanely complex monstrosity, yet it was far simpler. In the end, we had both settled on fitting our weapons with long barrels and high calibre rounds, in essentials creating sniper rifles. Past that, the weapons differed somewhat. My own was white, with an icy blue blade almost the length of Ruby's entire weapon. Although initially unwieldy, I had learned to use the added reach and mass to drive my strikes in with more force, as well as to chain them together, spinning rapidly to avoid over-balancing.
"I told you that I would ask you an important question once you were both comfortable with your new weapons. Do you remember?" Qrow asked us looking pointedly at Ruby. Her blank look really said it all. "Anyway," he sighed. "That question is simple. What are their names?"
I looked at him, nonplussed. Name? Why was naming my scythe important? A chuckle escaped him as he looked at me, seemingly reading my mind. "Naming your weapon is important Elsa. That weapon will remain with you for many years. It is an extension of yourself, but more than that. Your weapon must become the closest thing to your heart. More than any friend, teammate or even lover. That weapon is your life."
I looked down at the blade resting across my lap, considering. Slowly, a name came to mind. It seemed… fitting.
"I see you have both come to a decision. Ruby, would you like to share?" Qrow was looking interested now.
The small girl was staring at her weapon, seemingly lost in it's shape. "Crescent Rose." She looked up. "Because she's beautiful, but deadly. She has gorgeous petals and painful thorns." Ruby paused, seemingly embarrassed, but she ploughed on, "And if she's going to be so close, then she should have my name too, right?"
Qrow smiled at his young protégé, his eyes distant. "Yes. She should at that." He turned towards me, not bothering to voice the question.
I stood and turned away, beginning to walk back to the Signal dormitories. Casting a look over me shoulder I told him, "White Lady."
A/N: There you have it, Elsa and Ruby training under Qrow. I actually struggled quite a bit in choosing Elsa's weapon. I could see her as being most likely to wield something like a rapier, but that really would make her too much like Weiss, a major risk. Probably OOC, but hey, I make no bones about my piss-poor writing. Anyway, can you not see Elsa with a frickin' great scythe that makes CR look like a little hand tool?
On the name, look up the White Lady. She was a Celtic goddess of death, found in most Celtic mythologies. I was looking at Norse names, but I kept coming back to the White Lady, so I decided I might as well go with my instinct.
Something I forgot to mention last chapter. I'm messing with timelines and ages. Elsa is 15 when she goes to Signal, and the age gap between her and Anna is only going to be one year in this story, not three. If it was that large, the idea I'm working with just wouldn't be feasible. I was actually considering making them non-identical twins, but decided to keep Anna younger. It should work out better that way anyway.
If you notice any issues, please tell me so I can sort them.
Anyway, That's it for now. Tune in next time for some death, pain, and probably a bit more of Elsa's fracturing mental stability.