As the raven-haired woman looked at the younger woman of the same hair color, she couldn't help but wonder what was easier: holding the chin-up bar or doing the chin-ups. Blake Belladonna's fingers were gingerly wrapped around the metal pole stuck between the two protruding bits of gray wall, occasionally drumming along it as if she was exerting no effort at all. Every time she pulled herself up, the slender muscles on her arms hardly moved at all, and her chin went a good six inches above the bar. And she was doing all this with her feet crossed and her knees bent, not to mention that her focus wasn't even on her exercise. Blake was staring at a small, cracked television hanging from the center of the gray room.
"Weiss Schnee fled the battle, leaving her own teammates to fend for themselves. I thought that, as such a strong warrior, she would stand her ground...but it seems that she was more concerned with preservation than protection," a man in a smooth and expensive black tuxedo said to a woman holding a microphone to his lips. Blake snarled at him, letting herself fall, blocking out what the female reported said after the brief video feed.
"That had to be at least two thousand," Cinder Fall said, sounding impressed, although whether her awe was real or mocking was up to debate. She got up off of a chair sitting near the chin-up bar, dropping a two hundred pound weight from her hand onto the floor. It made a dull thumping noise, but both Cinder and Blake ignored it.
"Thank you for giving me your chair," Blake said, dashing into Cinder's chair before she could sit back down and protect her claim to it. Even with the standard-issue Dust chip that inhibited Aura and Semblance usage, Blake was ridiculously fast. Cinder chuckled and flicked a playful spark of flame at her. She didn't even flinch. She also couldn't help but be impressed at how, even with the chip, Cinder could still conjure fire. It might have been harmless fire, but it was still tangible.
"It's a shame what happened to the Schnee girl. I suppose she turned from white to yellow," she said, her voice calm and humorous. Blake answered in a far less amused tone.
"You know full well that Weiss didn't flee from anything. Don't try to get a rise out of me. It won't work."
"Oh my, you're touchy today." Blake said nothing in response. She stared at her black and gray prison uniform, the silver rectangle on her uniform proudly displaying her prisoner number, that number being 1337. It was obvious that Weiss had angered the man in the video feed, Sylvester Bard. She could see his face twitch when he mentioned the name Weiss Schnee. Whatever she had truly done, he was angered by it. Or perhaps it was what she hadn't done that had made him so furious. Blake sighed, knowing that for all of her talent in the way of buttering people up, Weiss' rebellious nature couldn't be contained. When she snapped, she was like a wildfire, growing so large and terrifying, asserting herself over everything around her. In that respect, she reminded Blake of herself.
"You know, I really don't enjoy having to carry these conversations myself," Cinder said, pretending to pout. Blake was still thinking. Cinder sighed with mock annoyance, coming up to the faunus woman and grabbing her nose between her thumb and index finger and pulling away swiftly but gently.
"Got your nose," she said. Blake looked up and stared at her blankly, glancing at her prisoner number, 2001.
"Oh well. At least I can't smell that disgusting cafeteria food now," she said, walking away after giving a last parting quip. Blake exited the room as Cinder chuckled, trying her hand at the chin-up bar. She and Blake had shared a cell for a while now, and while Blake hadn't forgiven Cinder for the destruction she caused and the things she tried to do to her friends, she found herself enjoying her former enemy's banter, and although reluctantly at first, she played along. Before, on their second day in the prison, Blake had tried to maim and possibly kill Cinder. Now they were exchanging in verbal jousts daily. Sometimes, they even had real conversations, and she learned that Cinder could be kind when she wanted to be. In fact, as Blake had learned when the flame Huntress had unveiled her master plan, she was actually a sympathizer with the faunus and even the Grimm, although her reasons for doing so were a little complex. But in the back of her mind, Blake knew one thing. If Cinder ever tried to harm her loved ones ever again, she'd be her enemy once again. Nowadays, Blake didn't show mercy to her enemies.
Weiss sat in her new quarters, using her fortune to make them as pleasant as possible. She had a large television attached to the wall of her small living room, walls that were dark blue and covered with small designs of snowflakes. Beneath her, Weiss could feel the warmth of a white rug, its fibers caressing her bare feet. In front of the television was a light blue couch with small, snowflake-shaped cushions resting on the sides. Behind that was a smooth wooden table with legs that looked like leafless trees, and on that was a large lamp with Weiss' Scroll resting against it and her cellphone resting against that. Aside from her living room, Weiss also had a white kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, all of which were small. Sylvester could ruin her career and force her to work in the most dangerous unit of the Eastern Vale Hunting Branch with criminals for teammates, but she had the money to at least ensure that her living space was nice. She sat on the couch, rubbing her feet into the soft carpet as she stared blankly at the television, her eyes fixed on Sylvester make false claims about her and defame her. As her mouth curled into a frightening snarl and she reached for the remote with which to change the channel, her cellphone rang. Weiss picked it up from its place on the table behind her and looked at the number, her hands practically scrambling over each other to answer.
"Hello?" Weiss said, her outer calm hiding her inner excitement. The number that had called her was none other than the number of the former Schnee Dust Company research department head. He had started his own company which was dedicated to researching and fighting diseases. The company had grown quite famous, partly due to the fact that Weiss funded it. She had gotten it off of the ground, and had given it the necessary Lien to grow and thrive in the business and research worlds. It was known as Snow White, Inc, commonly known as Snow, Inc for short.
"Ms. Schnee, hello. I would like to offer my condolences as to your new job. However, I have some...unfortunate news to bring you on top of what has already happened," a calm male voice said. Weiss' eyes widened, and she clenched her teeth, preparing for the worst.
"Is...is the no cure for Ruby?" She felt as if she was about to cry just by saying the worlds out loud.
"No, nothing like that. But I'm afraid that we will not be looking into her affliction any longer; at least, not for a while. You see, since your publicity from the news, people have begun to wonder if you're falling into your mother and father's old habits. While I am sure that you are doing no such thing, it is clear that people will look unkindly upon us, yet another company associated with a Schnee. Everyone remembers the first one, after all. So, in order for us to maintain our other sources of funding and and keep ourselves from going under, Snow White, Inc is no longer accepting funding from you. We are also forgoing all projects requested by you, and are no longer considered partners with you. I am truly sorry, but we cannot allow ourselves to lose our funding. You have allowed us to get as far as we have today, and I am grateful. We all are. But we are still a small company, and we need to do everything we can to grow. Perhaps when we can afford to, or if the misunderstanding regarding you actions on the field of battle is cleared up, we can allow you to provide funding for us and continue our research into your friend's affliction," the man said. He waited patiently for Weiss' response. At first, she was silent, and he considered hanging up. She sat on the couch, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging agape. And so, for the second time in less than a week, Weiss snapped.
"You...you would cast me aside like that? You and your stupid, shitty company would dare to cease your association with me, the woman who gave you everything you needed to become what you are today? I made this company! Without me, there would be no Snow White, Inc! There would simply be a group of men and women, stupidly trying to make something of their worthless lives! But your audacity and tactlessness and idiocy doesn't stop there, no! You would abandon Ruby Rose, the Ruby Rose who fought Cinder Fall and triumphed, who rallied Hunters and Huntresses from around Vytal in an effort to stand against the Grimm army, simply because I requested that you aid her? She is a damned legend, you moronic, heartless, pathetic bastards! You will try to find a cure for her whether I'm part of this company or not, do you hear me? She...I...she needs this...I need this. Don't you dare..." Weiss trailed off, the anger in her voice giving way to the sadness that lurked within. Her screeching stopped as her voice cracked, and she held her free hand to her eyes, wiping them, and scowling at the liquid she saw on them. Her scowl wavered as her lips trembled, and she found herself holding back sobs.
"Don't..."
"Goodbye, Ms. Schnee. We offer are sincerest condolences, and cannot express enough how much we regret this decision." With that, the man hung up, internally rattled by Weiss' abuse, and even more so by her breakdown at the end.
Weiss dropped her phone and it fell to the floor. Her hands fell to her sides, and, like a rag doll, she collapsed on the couch, her body lying parallel to the floor. She grabbed for a snowflake cushion, buried her head in it, and began to cry, sobbing so loudly and violently that her body shook.
As Weiss cried, she thought about what she would tell Ruby. She thought about how she would tell her friend that she had failed, that she had destroyed Ruby's one chance at regaining her legs, however slim that chance was. It hurt so much. Weiss hated failure. She couldn't stand it. She hated failing herself and, more importantly, her loved ones. She hated knowing just how unpredictable life was, and she hated knowing that she couldn't control it. She couldn't defy it, take it into her own hands. No matter how strong her grip was, life would always slip through the cracks in her fingers. But she knew, despite her desire not to. She knew that life was unfair. She knew that no one was entitled to anything; she had learned that the hard way. She knew that good people didn't necessarily have good things happen to them, but for her, this was too much. While all of team RWBY were lauded as heroes, it was Ruby who truly deserved the title. She had fought and hoped and dreamed, more so than anyone. She dared to think the impossible, to fight the unbeatable. She wasn't supposed to be weak. She wasn't supposed to be helpless. Ruby Rose fought when others would flee. She had no limit. She would go beyond even the sky, and that was what truly hurt Weiss. Her possibilities were crippled along with her legs. She always ran ahead, always led others. Now, she couldn't even walk. And since the project was done for, the chance she had at being able to do so again was gone.
This project had been Ruby's only hope after she lost the use of her legs. She had saved Jaune on that one mission, and the Grimm's strike hit her instead. But her wounds were far from ordinary. If she had been crippled any other way, Ruby would have been cured by now. But the Grimm released some kind of chemical into her legs. They could no longer work, not responding to her body at all. No doctor could give their use back to her. Weiss had no choice but to turn to the company she had helped get off the ground, and asked them to look into Ruby's legs and what exactly had been secreted in them. They found that it couldn't be extracted out, nor could it be seen on any sort of scan. It wasn't like it disappeared, though. The chemical had to be there somewhere, and there had to be a way to get rid of it. But if there was, no one would know.
"Alright, Shun!" Yang threw her hand over the blonde faunus, Sun Wukong, and he chuckled awkwardly. He had seen Yang at the bar and walked over to her. He aimed to have a drink to calm his nerves, and he decided that there would be no better way to do it than to drink with a friend. So he walked over to Yang, clapped her on the shoulder, and ordered them both a drink. As it turns out, she was far more drunk than he thought.
"Hey there, Yang. You, uh, feeling okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine! Don't you worry about li'l ol' me!" She finished her drink with a powerful gulp, and Sun could see that she'd spilled a good amount of beer on herself. She smashed her glass into the ground and it broke. One of the shards almost hit a poor man in the foot.
"I don't know...you seem pretty damn drunk."
"C'mon! I'm sho shober itsh ridiculoush!"
"That's not what it looks like from here," Sun said. He saw that there was a man walking over to Yang with a drunken grin on his face, and he gave the man a dirty look, which was enough to make him back off. While he knew that taking advantage of Yang would only end badly for anyone stupid enough to try, Sun didn't want her getting into any sticky situations. Even so, he was probably doing the man more of a favor than he was Yang by scaring him off.
"Wassha lookin' at, buddy? Shee shomethin' you like?" Yang moved her face into Sun's shoulder, rubbing her cheek against it clumsily.
"Hey, how long has she been here? And how many drinks has she had?" He asked the bartender.
"How the hell should I know? I don't keep count. She did paid for ten, though. I think you made it eleven," was the reply.
"Great. Hey, Yang-" Sun was interrupted when Yang moved her hand to his face, her index and middle fingers going in his nostrils.
"I really know how to pick 'em!" She chuckled, snorting on Sun's shoulder. The faunus tried to speak again, pulling her hand from his face, but Yang rambled on.
"Friggin flying donkiesh, always messhin' up my hair...hey, Shun! Gimme yer shtaff!" Suddenly, she jammed her fingers into his mouth and her head fell from his shoulder and onto his lap. She turned her face towards the area between his legs, and Sun quickly ripped her head and fingers away from him.
"Guess she doesn't mean my weapon...shit..." He sighed.
"Wash the big idea, Shun?" Yang asked, trying to grab Sun's face again. He pushed her hand away gently, and frowned. Now he had to get serious with her.
"Yang, what the hell are you doing?"
"I wash gonna make-" This time, she was interrupted by Sun.
"You are a drunken mess, lady, and I think it's time you left."
"Left? I'd rather right. Hehehehehe..." Yang muttered, her head falling down onto the bar table before Sun could catch it. Her hair got into Sun's almost finished drink, and he pulled it out.
"Come on, Yang. You're going home." Sun grabbed his drink, finished it off, and put some Lien on the table.
"Does she come here often?" Sun asked the bartender angrily. He nodded, and Sun's angry expression turned even darker.
"Cum...heheheheh..." Yang muttered, absentmindedly playing with her wet hair.
"Don't let her. If I find her in here again, drunk off her ass, I swear that I will break this entire fucking building. Do you understand me, asshole? I will rip your entire establishment to the ground," Sun snarled, reaching with the hand he wasn't using to support Yang to grab the bartender by the scruff of his shirt, who sighed.
"Ladies? This guy's giving me trouble," he said. As soon as he spoke, two girls, one in red and the other in white, stalked up behind Sun. He turned to see their faces, coated with make-up and plastered with unpleasant expressions. He would gladly fight them any other day, but today he had far better things to do, and also had a drunken Yang to take care of.
"Sorry, ladies. Just admiring the stitching on your boss' shirt. It's very nice. Or whatever," he said, stepping back and holding Yang tighter, as she began to slip.
"Stisshin? Wash 'at? Ish it sexshy? Can I-" Sun put a hand to Yang's mouth, silencing her drunken ramble.
"No talking," Sun said.
Sun, having no clue where Yang's house was and having no clue what the password to her cellphone was so that he could call Ruby, decided to let her sleep at his place. He had checked his contacts, and while Weiss, Yang and Blake were among them, Ruby was not. Having carried a now sleeping Yang to his bed, he decided that he would now go about his main order of business. He had his drink, and under his shirt he had his staff, coat, and mask. He was ready. He walked out of the dark green room, stepping over clothes and the occasional banana peel before he got to the door.
"Let's see...they should be coming by at midnight. Guess that gives me just enough time," he said, grinning. He had recovered from his unnerving experience with Yang, and was ready to make some jokes and steal some food.
Sun had heard from Nora that five members of an anti-faunus group were to come by a nearby alleyway with backpacks full of food that they had stolen from the poor faunus on the city outskirts. He was going to go over to them, beat them up, and bring back the food. He'd take it back to the faunus and consider his job done. Putting on his black ski mask, he stepped out of his hotel complex, into the alley next to it, and jumped up the walls, flipping onto the roof. He used his hands to flip his shirt back, and grabbed his staff and a small, messily folded trenchcoat. He hurled the staff into the air and slung the coat over himself, buttoning himself up so as to hide his civilian clothes before catching his staff. Sun ran across the roof and flipped, going farther than any normal human or faunus as he turned his body to the side. He landed, rolled off of his shoulder, and preformed another powerful leap as his feet hit the ground. He curled up into a ball, barely avoiding scraping the side of the building he intended to land on. It was at least twenty feet higher than the previous one, and it was a sign that he was getting into the wealthier part of the city. There, he'd find his targets. He just hoped that Nora was right about the time they'd be passing by.
"She never was good at math...or anything that required an attention span," he chuckled.
The phone was on the floor by her feet, yet she didn't want to touch it. Weiss stared at it for five minutes, which turned to ten minutes, which turned into an hour before she knew it. Her tears no longer falling, she decided that she had been waiting long enough. Ruby had to know. Weiss sniffled, rubbing her red, blotchy eyes, and picked up the phone.
"Alright, Weiss. Your time to cry is over. Time to be strong."
Chapter 2 is complete! Taking into account some helpful feedback, I tried to give readers something to anticipate in the next chapter; Sun's antics and Weiss preparing to call Ruby. I also attempted to connect the characters' stories, or at least some of them. I still have a lot of plot and world left to build up and flesh out, but I think that may take some time. As always, I'd be more than happy to receive any constructive criticism, particularly on Weiss' breakdown. I wanted to show her in a more vulnerable light to show that she's only human and there's only so much she can take before reaching the breaking point. However, I feel like the scene may have been too wordy and gone all over the place, so I'd love for any feedback on how I handled that. Dammit, there's just so much I wanted to say! Finally, expect a lot of Ruby next chapter. I can only describe her so much without her actually being in the scene, so I'm going to bring her in and have her words and actions speak for themselves.
I'm also happy that I found a way to work Sun into the story, and a way to give Nora some more spotlight. I haven't actually seen any RWBY fanfiction that featured Sun in a prominent role. Hell, I don't think I've seen him in any fanfiction at all! I'm sure there is fanfiction with him in it, though; I just haven't read any. Well, anyway, here he is, getting hit on by Yang and a little more. I'm curious to know what people think of that scene, by the way. Yang gets really inappropriate when she's drunk.
On another note, Blake's finally here, and she's bringing Cinder with her! The two both have backstories that intertwine to some extent, and through the two and their conversations, I hope to explain more about why the members of team RWBY are known as the heroes of Remnant. I used their prisoner numbers to make fun references, too!
Okay, now I know that this is probably getting tedious to read, and I wouldn't blame anyone for stopping, but I just want to appreciate some great stories like 'I'm Not Perfect' and 'Stockholm Syndrome' that show a more vulnerable side of Weiss. It's a side of her that we haven't yet seen in RWBY, but there are a lot of stories like those that do Weiss justice both in their writing and characterization. They're very inspiring to me, a rabid Weiss fan.