The Treasure of Snow
A/N: And here is Christmas. This time, we look at the precious things that Weiss has lost in her dreaded past (non-canon of course).
(Disclaimer: Monty Oum and Roosterteeth owns RWBY while everybody else owns whatever I use as reference. I only own the OC's and unofficial story parts.)
Every human being must have had something that they cherished
Otherwise, how could they have felt like they've lost something in their past?
Snow. It was a part of her name. That is what 'Schnee' stands for in German. Weiss hated the name for many reasons, but her situation right now made her hate it more than usual.
"But why? Why do I feel so much hatred for it now than ever before?"
As this question plagued her mind, Weiss looked around to see snow everywhere fall from the dark sky and onto ground that she was standing on. Strangely, nothing felt cold, even as the snowflakes fell onto her skin. The only place where Weiss could feel cold was inside her heart.
Trying to ignore the chill in her chest, Weiss walked down one direction of the snowy plain, unsure of how she was even outside in the first place. All she knew was that there was something she needed to find, something precious that she had lost long ago.
After what felt like hours of walking, Weiss saw someone standing in the far distance. When she got closer, she saw that it was a girl with messy silver hair, wearing a ragged black sweater coupled with a matching skirt. When the child looked up from the ground and at Weiss, she smiled and suddenly jumped up from the snow with her black boots, obviously happy to see the heiress before her.
"Hi Weiss. It's good to see you again. Did you miss me?" asked the girl in a cheerful voice.
Weiss didn't know how to respond, because she had no memory of this girl. Knowing that she had to give some kind of a reply, she reluctantly asked, "I'm sorry, but do I know you?"
The girl's smile disappeared when she heard this and sadness started to creep onto her face.
"Don't you remember me? It's _, your best friend. Remember how we used to play in the snow together? We had so much fun, even if your dad didn't really like me."
Weiss blinked her eyes, now more confused because she had no recollection of ever playing with someone who looked like the child before her. The girl seemed to understand this when she saw Weiss's shocked face, and looked down at the ground in disappointment.
"Do you…do you not remember me? How could you not remember your best friend?"
Those words stung Weiss's cold heart harder than she expected. As the feeling became worse, her eyes started to fill with warm tears that threatened to overflow down her cheeks. While she struggled to keep the tears in, the girl sadly kicked away a part of the snow that gathered at her feet.
"Oh, that's why. We're just that different. After all these years, growing up in your dad's company would make you forget, and I don't blame you. I never really did like the place."
Looking back up with determined eyes, the girl continued, "But you know what? That's fine, because I never forgot about you. I can never forget you, even when I'm gone. Even if today is the same day when I was no longer able to be there as your friend."
Right as Weiss realized who she was, the girl's body became transparent and soon, it almost disappeared entirely from Weiss's eyes. Weiss moved forward and tried to grab onto the girl, but her shaking hand ran through the transparent shoulder.
Letting out a sad smile, the girl said, "Please, don't make it hard on yourself Weiss. I'm already gone, but I'm glad to know that you sort of remember me. And we'll always be friends Weiss. We'll always be friends for-."
The girl abruptly disappeared, leaving Weiss, who was on both of her knees, alone in the darkness. Soon, her surroundings suddenly shifted to a large room with a floor made entirely out of marble. Weiss heard a door open and looked up to see a familiar sturdy figure stand in the light of the doorway.
"Is that brat gone? Good riddance, all she did was make you run in that dreaded cold. Clean yourself up and go back to your studies; time is money and this company can't afford to lose any more money after what those rats from the White Fang have done to our investments."
The door slammed shut and once again, Weiss was left alone in the darkness. Soon, tears fell down her face as she could no longer bear the pain of being alone. And worst of all, one question plagued her mind, right as she woke up from the dream that she was in.
"I know who you are. I remember almost everything, but…why? Why can't I remember your name?"
"Weiss?! Weiss! What are you doing?! Hurry and give me the star before I fall off!"
The voice made Weiss lose focus on the thoughts of her dream and look up to see that Ruby was teetering back and forth on a huge, unstable pile of random objects. Suddenly remembering why she was there, Weiss immediately threw the star ornament she had in her hand to Ruby, hoping that she made it in time.
Ruby managed to grab the star and place it on top of a pine tree in front of her before the pile of random objects collapsed into a puddle of mess. Weiss watched in horror as she saw the pile take Ruby down with it into the ground. After falling into the pile, Ruby's head popped out with a smile and looked up at the Christmas tree, satisfied to see the star is up there.
"That was close, but we are now finished. And it's the…the…okay, not the best, but we did the best we can to make it something."
Weiss could only put a hand over her face as she heard this while trying to calm the panic in her heart. After she calmed down, she looked back at the Christmas tree, unimpressed by their attempts with putting up its decorations.
"Well, if you retrieved a ladder like a sane person, then we wouldn't have had to decorate the Christmas tree in such a rough manner, you dunce! In fact, I don't know why we're using this Christmas tree in the first place!"
Weiss pointed at the messy Christmas tree and regretted that her team was one of the few that has volunteered to do the Christmas decorations in the main ballroom and hallways. Tomorrow was Christmas and since preparations for the Vytal Festival takes precedence, only a few people were available for the task.
When Yang brought up the idea of taking a tree from the Emerald Forest, it sounded great and the whole team went out there to get one. Several hours later, everybody came back with the Christmas Tree, along with some scratches and bruises from their numerous encounters with the Grimm.
Unfortunately, they retrieved one that had burns and scratches at the trunk, evident that a certain brawler thought the best way to take it down was by force. That might also explain the burnt line that ran all the way up one part of the Christmas tree.
"Thankfully, nobody is around to criticize the appearance…at least until people exchange presents during tomorrow's Christmas party. Oh no, we'll be the laughing stock of the school for this."
While Weiss hung her head in shame, Ruby got out of the mess and said, "We can't ask for more than this, so we might as well be happy with what we have. That reminds me, Yang and Blake should be done with the wreaths right about…"
Yang and Blake came around the corner of a hallway, with pieces of wreathe shavings hanging onto their hair and clothes.
"…now."
While the two older girls shook off the shavings, Yang said, "Whew, we're almost done here. Now all we need to do is wait for Jaune's team to finish up with the lights. After that, we can just relax; I am so happy that classes are canceled for the rest of today!"
While Yang stretched her arms out in excitement, Weiss only huffed from this piece of news and complained, "I don't see why they should cancel classes today. Just because Professor Horoscope simply 'predicted' what the weather will be doesn't mean we should take him by his word."
"But he never missed a forecast ever since he started teaching here. Besides, we should take the day to relax and enjoy the holiday," replied Blake as she dusted away the final piece of wreathe shaving sticking out from her shoulder.
Ruby and Yang smiled at Blake, happy to see that their teammate didn't have any bad impression on this holiday as she did during Thanksgiving. However, Weiss was still in a sour mood, and most of it came from the her feelings about the canceled classes.
"Oh well, if we're all going to listen to a former rapscallion like him, then all of you might as well jump off a cliff when he gives the order. I'll be off somewhere else, trying not to make such a silly mistake."
As every member of Team RWBY looked at Weiss, their eyes suddenly widened at another sight occurring outside a nearby window. Pointing at the window, Yang said, "Um Weiss, I hope he never tells us to do something like that, but the thing happening behind you might persuade us to consider it."
Weiss turned around and lightly gasped as she saw large amounts of snowflakes fall onto the snow-covered ground. As everybody walked up to the window to see the sight of the winter wonderland in the sun-lit area, Weiss stood back and felt uneasy from the sight.
"It's snowing…it's snowing today of all days that it can snow. And it looks just the same as the time when it happened."
"Look, it's snowing! Wow, no wonder they wanted to cancel classes; it's too cold for them to give us any lessons!" exclaimed Ruby. Yang merely chuckled from hearing such a naive statement and said, "Ruby, we're here in a school where they teach us how to fight monsters. Do you think that they'll really cancel training just to have us avoid getting a cold?"
Ruby groaned as she heard this and whispered, "Well, you're the only one who could wear your clothes and not feel a thing. It's probably the same reason why Dad doesn't let you ice skate where the boys could see you."
Reaching over and giving Ruby a noogie, Yang exclaimed, "Hey, I heard that! And thanks for reminding me, I still didn't pay you back for that time you tattled on Dad about me sneaking out for that ice-skating party!"
While Ruby and Yang were fooling around, Blake noticed that Weiss didn't seem too excited about the snow as they were. Concerned for her friend, Blake asked, "Weiss, are you okay? Does the snow bother you a lot?"
That question seemed to throw Weiss off as she replied, "W-what? That's preposterous. I came from a Kingdom that is famous for having more snow than this. How can I possibly be unnerved by the sight of it?!"
Blake didn't buy the explanation, but she knew that if it was something that Weiss didn't want to talk about, then it's probably best to leave it alone. They've already had one argument before, and the undesired result made her leave several days before they made up.
"You just don't seem excited as we are. I just wanted to make sure that you're fine."
"Not excited?! Who would be excited about a little snow?. It's just frozen water that …but okay, it's nice of Blake to ask me. It's just not her problem to be worried about it."
Before Weiss could reassert that she was, Ruby got out of Yang's hold and proclaimed, "It's really snowy out there. We should go out and do stuff, like have a snowball fight, before Jaune and the others get back. Ooh, we come back later and warm up with some hot chocolate!"
"That sounds great; I call dibs on teaming up with Blake, cause, let's face it Ruby, you and Weiss can't throw a snowball that can knock out a Beowolf, even for your life."
While Ruby exclaimed, "That's not true," to Yang, Blake gave her own response with a silent smile and followed Ruby and Yang back to their room to retrieve their winter clothes. However, Weiss stood where she was, panicking from the thought of going out in the snow.
"No! We shouldn't go out today! I'll…they'll…I have to stop them!"
"No! Let's not go out, um, I'm sure that we can find a more satisfying activity than get ourselves cold and wet from the snow."
While all three girls turned to look at Weiss, Weiss realized that she spoke without thinking of an explanation for her random outburst. After putting herself on the spot like that, Weiss decided to just speak the first words that came to mind.
"There's plenty of things to do indoors. We can play cards, watch movies, and even have a study session. You've been behind on your history lessons Ruby, so now would be the perfect time for me to help you rectify your lack of progress."
Yang, who was feeling freaked out from the worried expression on Weiss's face, came up to Weiss and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Weiss, are you okay? You seem…well, I've never seen you freak out this way before."
Lightly brushing Yang's hand away, Weiss nervously replied, "Freak out? Who's freaking out?! Nobody here is freaking out, right?!"
Weiss's words didn't convince anybody that she's fine, and her nervous smile only raised their suspicions about her behavior. However, Blake didn't seem to let it bother her as much, as she said, "Well, Ruby has the right idea. We should have some fun while there's still snow to play in."
While Ruby and Yang nodded in agreement, Weiss felt her uneasiness build up as she said, "Playing in the snow is so overrated. We're not kids anymore; why do we have to lower ourselves to such immature activities?"
Frowning from hearing this, Blake replied, "I think we all want to play in the snow, regardless of whether or not it's something that kids would only do. You can stay inside if you want Weiss; we'll be back later to help finish the decorations."
As Weiss listened to Blake, her mind started to put together information that slowly planted an evil thought in her mind. Soon, Weiss felt her uneasiness reach its peak as the thought poisoned her mind to no end.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up Weiss. No, I can't blame her for that; she would've been too young to be a part of it. But, she's been with the White Fang ever since she was a child. Only those monsters would ever…"
Lacking any grip of self-control, Weiss suddenly exclaimed, "Why are you so insistent on going out?! The last time I checked, the White Fang causes the most damage when they're out there in the snow!"
Everybody felt shocked from hearing this outburst, as they never expected it to come from Weiss. Blake obviously didn't take it well the most, as shown by her eyebrows furrowing together in anger.
"Weiss, what exactly do you mean by that?"
Unwilling to back down from what she started, Weiss angrily replied, "It means exactly as I mean it. You want to go out there so you can stab us in the back as an agent of the White Fang, am I right?"
The accusation only made Blake angrier while it made Ruby and Yang panic about the repercussions. Trying to settle to settle the argument before it began, Yang interrupted with, "Weiss, I think that's a pretty wild accusation. Blake said that she's not even with the White Fang anymore, remember?"
Sadly, it only seemed to help fan the flames as Weiss replied, "Everybody in the White Fang are monsters; lying just makes it easier for them to hit us when we least expect it. I mean, did you listen to her on that day? I bet every agent was trained to recite something as ridiculous as that by memory!"
Blake, unable to stand Weiss's words any longer, angrily exclaimed, "How could you say that?! You know that I meant what I said on that day and you even told me that you didn't care! Doesn't that lie make you even worse than the people you're calling monsters?!"
Blake's rising voice surprised Ruby and Yang as they have never seen Blake so furious since the last time she was mad at Weiss.
"I said what I said because I believed that you really did cut ties with the White Fang! But you know what?! I changed my mind when I remembered that every Faunus who enjoys the snow also likes to paint it red when they're murdering innocent human beings!"
Having heard enough of this, Blake angrily finished with, "Well you know what?! You might as well have deserved whatever they did to you, because you don't deserve to have anything, you selfish, heartless hypocrite!"
With that, both Weiss and Blake angrily walked off towards different directions, leaving behind Yang and Ruby who had once again witnessed a terrible argument between their two teammates and friends. Yang sighed after watching them both disappear from her sight, realizing that she and Ruby has some work to do.
"Go…go talk to Weiss. As her leader and friend, you'll probably have more luck with her than I do," said Yang before going after Blake. Ruby slowly nodded her head and went after Weiss, knowing that she had the toughest task of bringing back their team together.
Yang tackled through the door to the rooftop, where Blake was at to watch the falling snow. While Blake turned around to see what made the noise, Yang smiled, happy to see that her first guess led her to the right place.
"Hey, here you are. And it's the same place where I found you back when I was looking for you on Thanksgiving. Maybe this could be our go-to place anytime we have an issue."
Blake smirked as she heard this and replied, "Sure, as long as you can keep the door intact."
After Yang stood beside Blake, she decided that she should probably wait to see if Blake had something to say. After watching the falling snow fall from the dimly-lit sky in silence for several minutes, Blake finally said something to break the uneasy tension.
"I'm sorry you had to hear us yell at each other like that. I tried to be reasonable, but hearing Weiss say all of that really threw me off. I thought she was a better person than that."
Understanding her situation, Yang replied, "Oh, it's no big deal. I've heard worse arguments than that. But what about you? Did her words really make you feel that bad?"
Blake didn't answer Yang's question, which means that it probably did hurt her as badly as Yang feared. While Yang was thinking of a way to cheer her up, Blake placed her gaze over the rooftop to view the ground now covered in several feet of snow.
"You know, I wish she of all people never said that to me. When she told me that she didn't care that I was in the White Fang, I was really happy to hear that; she lifted a guilt that made me feel as if I became closer with the team. To hear that she never believed me just…just makes me sad to know that our close relationship was all a lie."
Yang was listening intently the whole time, understanding that Blake just explained to her the huge amount of pain that came from Weiss's words. But even if she understood, Yang knew that she needed to place an explanation for Weiss in order to mend the relationship between them.
"C'mon, you know Weiss. She's had a lot of issues with the White Fang. It's probably because of that why she told you all of that stuff. She was seemed to be freaked out about something; I noticed that her eyes seem to almost pop out when she saw the snow outside the window."
Raising her eyebrows in surprise as she heard Yang's words, Blake said, "Yang, that's a surprisingly deep analysis. It's kind of different from your usual direct methods."
"Hey, just because I prefer to use my fists doesn't mean that I can't use my head in situations like this. How else can I be the older sis of this team?"
Blake smiled as she heard this and looked at the sky, as if she was lost in thought, probably thinking over what Yang has just said. Thinking back on what else she could cover during their time together, Yang remembered something interesting that Blake never gave an answer for.
"You know, you never answered Weiss's question and now I'm curious about it. Why do you want to go out in the snow so much? Was Christmas time not a popular thing back at your place too?"
Shaking her head, Blake replied, "We had plenty of Christmas holidays, but it rarely snowed back at where I used to live at. In fact, this is the first time I've seen this much snow in one place. It's a beautiful sight, even more beautiful than I've ever read about in the books."
Placing a hand out to catch a couple of snowflakes in her hand, Blake continued, "I've read that no two snowflakes are the same, but they're so small that I can barely tell the difference. They also melt away the moment they touch your skin, and…well, it's just a wonder that I never got to experience until now."
Yang was lightly smiling as she listened to Blake, never having to see and hear so much curiosity aside from her baby sister.
"And this might sound childish, but I guess…after all of you helped me enjoy Thanksgiving, I wanted to enjoy my first snow activities with all of you again."
Shaking off the small amount of snow that gathered on her head, Blake continued, "But perhaps it was too selfish of me, and I guess it was a bit much calling her a hypocrite, even if I already knew that she was off today. I just- I wanted us to get along and hope that she could join with the rest of us if we were to play out in the snow later."
Saddened to be reminded of the argument, Yang placed a hand on Blake's shoulder and declared, "Look, it's not really yours or even her fault to begin with. Arguments happen between good friends, which is why you two need to be able to make up with each other in time to celebrate a good Christmas together."
Blake looked at Yang and saw that her lilac eyes have turned battle-ready red. However, Blake didn't see an angry Yang, but rather a determined one who wanted to see her and Weiss get back together. And strangely, Blake wanted to make up with her as well and at least enjoy the first time she spent Christmas with her first, non-Faunus friends.
Nodding her head, Blake said, "Alright, then let's go find her. I'm still not comfortable with the way things are, but I want us to end this argument before it gets any worse."
Happy to see that her friend agreed with her, Yang said, "Alright, then let's go find her. Ruby should be done talking to her by now, so who knows. Maybe you two will just end up making up on the spot."
"Remember your training; take up a stance, aim your sword, and thrust it into the heart of any White Fang scum who would dare come after me."
Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster into the tree in front of her and tried to dig it deeper into the tough layer of wood. When she felt that it wouldn't go any deeper, she pulled out the blade and took up another stance while releasing a hot breath visible in the cold, dark air.
"Always remember that they never strike alone; be prepared to unleash everything against those monsters."
Weiss let out several swings at the tree and was successful in leaving several deep gashes into the wood.
"The same monsters that would dare come after me and everybody I care about. I'll never let them touch them, not as long as I hold the power to do so."
"Weiss, what are you doing?"
Weiss looked over her shoulder to see a concerned Ruby slowly approach her as she treaded through the snow.
Weiss looked back at the tree with her blade poised to strike and replied, "I'm trying to think of something more fun that we can do. What do you think about playing Monopoly? It has to be more fun than throwing balls of ice at each other."
Amused to hear this statement, Ruby said, "Out here in the cold? We might as well do something now while we're outside rather than go through the trouble of going back inside."
With eyes never leaving the tree, Weiss replied, "No, there's no need to think that way. I'm out here for just a moment; training was canceled today, so I need to make up for it by doing some practice. Just go back inside and I'll be back with a great idea. You'll see."
After taking one more swing at the tree full of gashes from the previous strikes, Weiss turned to see that Ruby was still there, with the entirety of her cloak wrapped around her body for warmth.
Deciding to go straight to the point, Ruby asked, "Weiss, is there something that Blake did that might have made you angry? I'm sure that she didn't mean to make you feel bad since she just wanted to play out here in the snow with us."
Weiss sighed from hearing the question and replied, "No, she didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't thinking clearly when I said all of those terrible things to her."
Slightly relieved to hear that it wasn't really about Blake, Ruby asked, "Well, do you mind talking about it? I can probably help you better than that tree can."
Ruby waited for an answer, but all she saw was Weiss staring at the snowy ground with her angry features slowly evaporating away. A moment later, Weiss suddenly raised her head and looked at Ruby with a sad expression on her face.
"I'm scared Ruby, scared of how I can lose all of you again. It was eating away at me all day, and…and…and it's probably the reason why I said those harsh words to Blake."
Confused, Ruby asked, "Again? Did something happen to us? Oh, if it's about what happened in the past few months, then I can kind of understand. We were almost in bad shape when we went out to the Emerald Forest today."
"No you dunce! I…I mean…" said Weiss before she let out a noise of frustration.
Taking a deep breath, Weiss contemplated on whether or not she wanted to tell Ruby about today's meaning to her. When she saw that Ruby still had that concerned look on her face, she realized that she might as well owe her an explanation. At least, as much as she's willing to share.
"Listen, it's not about all of you, well, you see…"
Weiss momentarily paused as her mind couldn't form the coherent words to express her feelings. Weiss has never been straightforward with her feelings, and now seems to be the time that lack of experience is making her struggle like this.
Trying to find the right words to start with, Weiss decided to take a deep breath and start over from the beginning.
"Okay, maybe this is a little harder than I thought it was going to be. Relax, it's just Ruby…or maybe it can only be Ruby who I can talk to."
In a slow voice, she began, "I used to have a friend who lived in a place that was close to where I lived at. We happened to have met by chance and strangely, we became good friends after that. It was awkward at first too, because we would keep seeing each other in the forest we played in after we had a fight about what kind of families we came from."
Mindlessly walking back and forth across the ground, Weiss continued, "You kind of remind me of her; she was kind and strong at a really young age. It's amazing how we were friends, because we were complete opposites at the time, as if we were two sides of a coin that can never meet each other."
"Yet, we were still on the same coin, who saw value in each other as friends. Yeah, really good friends."
As Weiss continued to speak, Ruby saw something unusual form on Weiss's face. It was a smile, but it wasn't like the smile she had when she was trying to be polite or asking for a favor. It was genuine, and Ruby only saw that when Weiss was hanging out with her and everybody else who became a close friend.
"She also showed me what most people didn't teach me, like how to have a snowball fight and make a snowman out of the snow from the ground. Compared to the things I learned from books and strict teachers, those lessons have given me the best experiences of my life."
Right as Weiss finished her sentence, her smile slowly disappeared and was soon replaced by a frown forming along with an angry expression.
"Today is the day when that friend passed away a long time ago. No, she was murdered. Murdered by the White Fang, just because her family was working for the company they absolutely hated!"
As her voice rose in anger, Weiss suddenly took out Myrtenaster and swung at the tree again. While she let out several more strikes, Weiss continued, "One day, I was told that he village was attacked by the White Fang! There were no survivors there, but I didn't believe that! That's why I had to go there and see it for myself!"
After hitting the tree in an incessant fury, she finally stopped as she placed her weapon down in exhaustion.
"It was my first time too, going to a place that my dad would never allow me to visit. I even remembered the details about it because I was hoping that I could visit that place one day. Gosh, it was so stupid of me to do that; I wish I never found the place!"
Weiss suddenly stopped there, making it seem as if she was no longer willing to continue her story. Ruby decided to let it remain unspoken, already dreading from knowing what the result was.
"So…so is that why you were angry at Blake today? Do you hate the White Fang so much that you took it out on someone who used to be a part of it?" asked Ruby, who did it more out of curiosity than malice.
"No, that's only half the reason. When I see all this snow, it reminds me of what I hate. All of this snow falling around me."
Looking around, Weiss placed her weapon to her side before turning around to face Ruby.
"Snow…ha ha, that's why I hate it so much," laughed Weiss while she brought a hand up to her face. "I finally remembered that my friend's name was Snow. It's fitting too, because she was so pure, so kind. She's even the one who asked me to forgive her for that stupid fight we had when we first met each other."
With fists balled in anger, Weiss continued, "Thinking about it makes me so sad…so mad…so furious at the White Fang. Those abominations that would take one more precious person away from me!"
Weiss raised Myrtenaster and angrily swung at the tree next to her, leaving behind a gash so deep that it looked as if it could have toppled the tree over. When Weiss turned to face Ruby, Ruby felt shocked to see the tears that started to come out of Weiss's eyes.
"But you know what I hate the most?! I hate how I didn't do anything about it! I was more scared of the company, of my father's opinion rather than the well-being of my best friend…of what would happen to her when I knew the White Fang was out there…ready to take away one more person I cared about."
By the time Weiss finished her sentence, tears started to fall down her face while her knees gave out and forced her body to kneel into the snow.
"I could have done something when I knew that she was in danger, but I let the fear of my family's expectations stop me from doing anything about it! I should have done something to save her; I should have been a better person than that!"
While Weiss tried to stop the flowing tears with the sleeves of her jacket, Ruby finally realized the true pain in Weiss's heart. Most of it wasn't there because of the White Fang that committed the murder or her father who would have scolded her for any action that she could have taken.
Weiss shouldered the major part of the blame onto herself. For she was the only one who even bothered to remember another victim of a long feud that ruined the lives of many other people, including Weiss's own.
As Ruby took this revelation into mind, she realized that she perhaps holds the answer to end this suffering, even if it was just a bit of it. All she had to do now was share it, just as Weiss had done for the past few minutes.
"Weiss, you shouldn't do this to yourself; you can't blame yourself for your friend's death."
Pushing down her silent hiccups, Weiss angrily asked, "What are you talking about?! I don't ever recall blaming myself. And what would you know?! You're just a child; how could you understand what I'm feeling right now?!"
Taking one step forward, Ruby replied, "Because I lost someone, Weiss. I lost someone who also gave me something important in my life."
Weiss raised her tear-stricken face to look at Ruby, surprised to hear an unusual sadness come from her jovial leader. When Ruby saw that she had Weiss's attention, she looked up to see the dimly-lit gray clouds grow darker with the setting sun.
"I'm not going to say that I fully understand you Weiss, because I lost my precious person in a different way. But I think it's fair to say that I know your loss and I want you to listen to what I have to say."
Weiss remained silent after hearing this, which encouraged Ruby to take several more steps. When she reached where Weiss was at, she bent her knees low enough to where she could make eye contact with the kneeling heiress.
"You were a child, Weiss. There was really nothing you can do. I can speak from experience, you know. I wasn't always able to use the scythe like I can today, and I wish I could have had this power to prevent losing the person I cherished."
Taking one warm hand and lightly brushing away a teary trail from Weiss's cheek, Ruby placed her other hand over Weiss's calloused and cold ones.
"It hurts…yeah, it can really hurt when you lose someone important. The world isn't always nice; it can take something irreplaceable away and never give anything back to help make up that feeling of loss."
"But you need to remember that she was your friend, Weiss. If she was still alive today, then she'll never allow you to have this guilt in the first place. That's why you need to be able to forgive yourself, for yours and her sake."
Even if she was feeling better from the warmth that came from Ruby's hand and words, Weiss asked in a shaky voice, "How can you be sure that she'll forgive me? I was the only one who had any chance of being safe from the White Fang, not her. It feels like I abandoned her when I could have done something more for her."
Ruby let out a sad smile, happy to hear Weiss opening up to her while sad to hear more of the guilt that continued to plague her.
"If there was a bad group of people like the White Fang out there, terrorizing everything related to your company, would anybody still want to see you in that forest? Yeah, it sounds strange when you think about it, but that didn't stop her from seeing you Weiss. She still came to see you in such a scary time because she wanted to spend that time being happy with you."
"Even if she did meet a cruel end, I'm sure that she's happy that you remained her friend to the end. You've already done all that you can, so the only thing you can do is honor what she did by moving forward. She would want that for you, just as you would have wanted that for her."
Weiss could only listen and not say a word because she was too amazed by what she had heard. Nobody, not even herself, seemed able to say these words to her…that is, until she heard it come from Ruby.
However, Weiss knew better than to think that her friend would have had such a thought in mind. After losing many people she cared about to the White Fang's cruel methods, how could her friend's ending be any different?
Yet, Weiss wanted to believe that it was true. Despite her guilt that came with the passing of her friend, she wanted to think that her friendship is the best that she offered to Snow before her untimely end.
In a small voice, Weiss said, "Thank you Ruby. I don't if that is true…but…I'm at least hoping that she didn't regret the time we spent together. I know that I didn't."
Ruby smiled as she heard this, finally relieved to hear the pain in Weiss's words disappear. Taking Weiss's hands into her own, Ruby helped her from her kneeling position and made a bigger smile to display her happiness to Weiss.
"Alright, let's go see Blake now. It's important that you keep the friendships that you have today, or how would you continue the happiness that you shared with Snow?"
As Weiss felt her voice go back to normal, she replied, "Oh…you're right. I guess we should go find her. I hope she's not running around town again in this chilly weather.
"Well, you don't have to look too far, cause she's right here."
Ruby and Weiss turned towards the voice to see Yang waving a hand at them while Blake stood beside her with crossed arms. Slowly walking up to the duo, Ruby felt anxious as she watched the interaction between Weiss and Blake unfold before her.
Weiss, who showed no sign of the sadness she displayed to Ruby, said, "Were you here the entire time I was with Ruby? Because if you were, then I hope that might explain my behavior today."
Shrugging her shoulders, Blake replied, "We came right as you started crying. It was surprising because I never knew that someone as heartless as you could ever shed tears."
Weiss felt the words sting from Blake's slightly bitter tone. It seemed unnecessary, but Weiss couldn't blame Blake since she was the one who started the dilemma between them in the first place.
"So…can I go first or do you have something else that you need to get out of your system?"
Rubbing her cold hands together, Weiss looked intensely at Blake, which Ruby and Yang took as a sign that things might not turn out well again.
"I'm sorry Blake. There's no excuse for what I said to you earlier. Will you forgive me for saying something so heartless and irresponsible to you?"
Yang and Ruby were surprised to hear this apology come out from nowhere. Their shock turned to joy when they saw Blake slowly nod her head, accepting at least some part of Weiss's apology.
"Honestly, I feel that I should be much angrier for what you said Weiss. But, after hearing your story, it makes sense. Next time, we'll just stay in and enjoy our time together, is that alright?"
Weiss felt relief as she heard these words, happy to know that Blake showed that she understood her. But when she heard the last part of Blake's statement, she remembered a question that Blake hasn't answered yet.
"Blake, I'm not asking to accuse you of something ridiculous again, but why did you want to go play in the snow so much?"
Blake's smile suddenly disappeared only to be replaced by a sheepish expression.
"I wanted to go out because, well, I never saw this much snow before. And when we were going to do something outside together…well, experiencing my first snow activities with my friends seemed…exciting. I know, it's childish, but after what you did for me on Thanksgiving, I guess I just wanted to have another good experience with all of you. I mean, I guess I was being too selfish; it's kind of what led us into our argument into the first place."
This confession made Weiss remember her own first experience with her own snow activities. Even if it was long ago, it was a precious moment for her because she experienced it with a good friend.
"And Snow…she showed just how fun it was when you're not trying to do everything by yourself trying to, figure it out after seeing the other kids do it. Oh Blake, you were just like me when I was little, weren't you?"
"It's not selfish, you can…no, you have the right to enjoy it as much as we all did when we first did it."
Surprised to hear this compared to what Weiss told her back at the ballroom, Blake asked, "Do you really mean that? Didn't you say that it was something too immature for us to do?"
"Of course it's not!" exclaimed Weiss. "Forget what I said! You should have some kind of experience like that at least once in your life, especially when you have friends who are willing to support you!"
Weiss's declaration and Blake's momentary silence made Ruby's mouth curl into a wide smile. Jumping up and down, Ruby declared "Alright, then that settles it! Team RWBY is back together to enjoy our time in the snow together!"
Although Yang rolled her eyes from hearing this, yet she couldn't agree more as she happily replied, "Yeesh, we really should calm down and just stick together rather than stick to all this drama. But should we go inside first and check to see if Jaune and his team are done with their work?"
Weiss suddenly felt an evil grin form on her lips from an idea. She turned around and dropped to her knees before picking up some snow in her hands.
While she made rotating motions with her hands, she said, "Our leader here already said that we should just stay outside rather than go through the trouble of going back and forth. Besides, there is one part of business that needs to be settled right now."
Everybody looked at Weiss, confused by the statement, with Yang being the one who asked, "Hm? What's that?"
Weiss picked up the snowball she formed in her hands and threw it straight into Yang's face.
"That is a snowball and I just declared an all-out snowball fight to determine who is going to clean up the mess that we left under the Christmas tree. It's 2-on-2 and I'm on Blake's team!"
While Yang stood in shock by the sudden turn of events, Weiss and Blake ran in a different direction and stood behind a group of trees for cover. When Yang finally gathered her bearings together, she shoveled a huge amount of snow out of the ground and prepared to make a snowball the size of a small boulder.
"Okay, you are so going to get it. C'mon baby sis, let's show them what we're made of!"
When she looked at Blake and Weiss's cover, Yang went silent when she saw a huge pile of snowballs form rapidly behind them. Looking closer past the trees, Yang saw Weiss use Myrtenaster to create the balls of snow. Next to her, Blake tied her ribbon between two trees, transforming it into what looked like a launcher of some sort.
"Hey, that's cheating! We never said that we could use our weapons!"
Before Yang could continue her protest, she felt a snowball slam into the back of her head. Turning around, Yang was horrified to see Ruby as the culprit, who threw the snowball behind the cover of several bushes.
"Ruby! What was that for?! Weren't we supposed to be on the same team?!"
While Ruby threw another snowball at Yang, she replied, "I dunno, I thought my arms were too scrawny to help you in this fight. And I don't really care if we lose; this is the perfect time to show you what I'm made of, sis."
"Hey, you know that I didn't mean it like that! Ow, that is so unfair; I call friendly fire!"
As Ruby, Weiss, and Blake combined their efforts on taking down Yang, none of them noticed that Ozpin was watching them through his office window while drinking a hot cup of coffee(?) in his hand. Enjoying the sight of the snowball fight take place, he continued to watch even as Goodwitch came up behind him with a stack of papers in hand.
"Here we are sir, all of the requests for assistance from the Schnee Dust Company is now in order. The White Fang is continuing their relentless assault on their distribution centers and in my opinion, it seems to be worse this year than the last."
"Hm," said Ozpin, who never let his sight turn away from the window. Goodwitch continued to head to his desk before slamming the pile onto the top. Knowing that she can talk about the contents later, Goodwitch came up behind Ozpin to also see Team RWBY enjoying their activity.
"By the way sir, why did you cancel classes today? We usually teach our students to engage monsters in any type of environment, so why is today special?"
Letting out a throaty chuckle, Ozpin replied, "Is it terrible to cancel classes because I simply didn't want to teach out in the cold today?" That statement almost made Goodwitch leave her mouth gaping open as she could not believe that Ozpin would ever do something like this for such an irresponsible reason.
"Oh, and make sure you're ready to teach class on Monday. Professor Horoscope predicted that it's going to stop snowing on Sunday, so it will be your turn to teach after that day."
Goodwitch felt even more horrified as she watched Ozpin walk away with a smug grin on his face, seemingly happy to have an extended break for himself. Not willing to let this go without a proper explanation, Goodwitch started to go after Ozpin.
"Sir, is it really fair to use your authority for such a reason? Professor Ozpin. Professor Ozpin?!"
As both professors walked away, a blast of fire erupted from the snowy ground and melted most of the nearby snow. After the fire died down, Yang's enflamed body came into view with her eyes already changed into a shade of red.
"Alright, if it's an all-out war you want, then you better get ready! It's going to take more than an army of snowballs to take me down!"
Right as she said this, multiple snowballs appeared out of nowhere and immediately bombarded Yang's entire body in snow again. Soon, only Yang's red eyes could be seen as her entire body became encased in a snowy prison.
While Ruby was rolling behind her cover in laughter, Weiss and Blake looked at each other and gave a high-five, celebrating their first snowball victory together.
Many people come and go as we continue to live on with our lives. Even as we lose those who we cherished, we mustn't dishonor their existence with sadness. For friendship does not only bring happiness today, but it also nurtures to help find a better tomorrow.
Somewhere, far away
A woman with long silver hair stood over the edge of a cliff, watching a building that had the Schnee Dust Company logo painted on its side. As her blue skirt fluttered against the wind, the woman reached down to adjust her black sweater to make sure it won't fall off during battle again.
After scanning the entire area, the woman saw that there wasn't much security to be concerned about. Since this building is located on the outskirts of the Kingdom, nobody would think that a place like this would be attacked by a group as notorious as the White Fang.
"Fools, every place that bears the Schnee name are the enemy. From those experienced to those who are young, we will all bear our fangs against them."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the phone beeping in her hand, indicating that it was time to start the assault. The woman knew that she had at least an hour to finish; any more will make her receive her teacher's scolding.
"Of course, Adam always wanted to get the job done quickly. He says it's to prevent any loss of life on our side, but he's never been the most trustworthy one. Only a strong one."
Looking at the large field of white snow located to her right, the woman saw distant city lights lighting the night sky. Seeing the city made her remember a fond memory of a friend from long ago.
"Weiss, I hope you're doing fine while you're away. The last thing I want is for you to ever see me like this."
Lost in her thoughts, Snow almost didn't see a White Fang member run up to her and tell her, "Snow Aquarius, we're ready to commence the assault on the building. We are ready as soon as you give the signal."
Nodding her head, Snow walked back with the man towards the other side of the cliff, where a small group of the other members were hiding behind some boulders and rocks. It's unnecessary to hide, but they were taught to think better than that. If they had been so naïve, then all of the Faunus would have been forced to live in the man-made prison of Menagerie.
Snow slowly walked to the cliff edge in front of the group and scanned the huge gate with her yellow eyes. Reaching for the bottom of her sweater, Snow took it off and revealed a white underdress that hugged her well-trained body.
Sighing from the relief of taking off the sweater, Snow felt her white wings expand out in the air, shining brightly under the moonlight dimly peeking over the edge of the clouds. Everybody who was hiding in the boulders watched this scene, mesmerized by the sight of their beautiful and strong leader.
Even as she enjoyed the feeling of freedom, Snow felt sad as her thoughts hovered back to Weiss, the one human who will always be her friend, despite their differences.
"I never want you to see me like this…I never want you to know who I am. Because if you knew who I was back when I stayed at that village …"
Spreading her white wings out, Snow reached for a brown metal shaft at her back and lifted the light-blue blade on its end into the air. Raising the blade towards her side, Snow got ready as her halberd glowed in a white light.
"…you might have not forgiven me for what I'm a part of, just as much as I can't forgive your family for what they've done to me."
Looking over her shoulder, Snow yelled out, "Follow my lead; we'll have this place cleaned out before sunrise."
Swinging the halberd down at the building, a wave of ice shot out and encased the guards at the front door in an icy prison. With the area now clear of any resistance, Snow and the White Fang forces charged, ready to destroy another part of their long hated enemy.
A/N:
Merry Christmas everybody. I hope the holidays treat all of you well and you each find someone who you can enjoy it with together.
Okay, I have some explaining to do. I said no OC's, but…after I made most of this story, I realized that I might have added some nonsense, like 'how can any reasonable person who knows the White Fang want to let a child of all people wander into the forest like that?'
I also thought that adding her survival might add a surprising element, cause I'm still a writer, training with every element that could make a story good. With that said, she really serves no other purpose aside from maybe making a future holiday chapter…unless someone has an idea that they would like for me to do.
So, I was thinking that even if Weiss said she didn't care, having a bad history doesn't mean that she'll be able to get over her feelings quickly. Losing a friend might have caused her to have the reaction in this story, but I might have overdone it.
For those of you familiar with my other stories, yes, Professor Horoscope is a reference to one of those characters. Is he going to be a regular OC, no. I only used this name because I needed someone who can fit the 'forecaster' kind of character by name, no other purpose. I'm really trying to keep to my 'no major OC' thing, although making Snow might have crossed a bit of that line.
I'm thinking of putting up another Christmas chapter, but it might be a little later after Christmas. The focus will be on Jaune and a particular Faunus. I apologize if I couldn't get that chapter out in time if that happens (as you can tell, I'm typing this as I only have that chapter halfway done.)
Also PM or leave a review behind about the chapter if you have any thoughts and thanks for reading.
