The road that went from the castle to Hastia Village could be better taken care of, and Weiss realized she needed to hire someone to fix all the bumps in it as soon as she got back. The chariot that was transporting her and Ozpin was brand new, but still kept bouncing up and down every once in a while because of stones and wholes in it.
"Make a note, Ozpin, to fix this road as quick as possible." Weiss's voice came out funny because of the bouncing, and she crossed her arms. "This is unacceptable."
"Note taken, Your Majesty. Now, let's go through what we discussed again," He flipped his notes, anxiously. "The chariot will stop a few meters before the village's entrance, so you can enter by foot. We will leave as soon as possible to avoid anyone seeing us. In your basket there is enough food for a day, some money in case you wish to buy something, and instructions on how to approach the people with a few conversation topics that you can discuss to gather the most information about your ruling without giving away who you really are."
Weiss nodded, grabbing the list and checking everything written on it. How do you feel about the Royal Festival? If you were Queen/King, what would you do to make this village a better place? I wonder if they sell apple pie around here.
"Apple pie?" Weiss looked up, confused.
"Yes. Talking about food is very important to maintain the casual tone of the conversation."
The Queen was going to argue, but she realized it was probably commoner courtesy. "Alright, go on."
"Once you enter the village, most people will stare at you confused. Hastia Village is very small, and chances are most people know who the familiar faces are. Strangers are normally noticed quickly, so you will have to make a first good impression." The advisor grabbed another notebook and flipped some pages. "I don't recall having complaints about violence in this specific village, but it's always important to keep an eye open. If you see anyone acting strange around you, I beg you turn away and go as far away from that person as possible, Your Majesty. Try to make a friend, you will be much safer walking around together with someone."
"A friend, huh…" Weiss looked down, trying to remember when was the last time she'd ever made a friend. She wasn't so surprised to realize there wasn't one. Her only friends were Ozpin and maybe Glynda. Her grandfather was also a good man, and they had fun together, but Weiss doubted playing chess while listening to a symphony was how commoners befriended one another. This would be tricky. "Sure. I can do that."
Ozpin noticed the hesitation in the Queen's voice and carefully put a hand on her shoulder, making Weiss look up. "You will do absolutely great. I know it, Miss Schnee."
He could've sworn there was a trace of a smile after those words, but she soon shrugged his hand off. "Of course I will. I am destined for greatness, Ozpin, don't forget it."
"We'll be arriving at Hastia Village in five minutes, Your Majesty." The coachman yelled from the front of the chariot, and Weiss's heart skipped a beat.
"Thank you, Cardin." Answered Ozpin, putting away his notes. "We are almost there. I will ask you once more, are you sure you don't want me keeping an eye on you out there, Miss Schnee?"
Weiss grabbed her basket. "Positive. You said so yourself, strangers are easily recognized. I need to do this on my own."
"Fair enough. Remember your story?"
Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "My name is Winter, I've been traveling for some time now and ended up in this village. Since I noticed today is the Royal Festival, I decided to stay and enjoy the food and games, but I will be on my way by sunset."
"Good. Just go with the conversations and remember, if anyone mentions bad things about the Queen and the Schnee family, keep you calm. You are to agree with them and then try to understand such discontent."
"I know my rules, Ozpin, stop fretting."
"I understand that you do Your Majesty, but your pride might want to speak louder. Just remember you are a new person. Winter is not Weiss."
Winter is not Weiss. The Queen kept this motto on repeat on her head. She was to become another person, this Winter character, and she didn't quite know what to make of her yet. Was she going to be timid? Loud? Knowledgeable? Stupid? No, definitely not stupid. Weiss refused to pass as an idiot for amusement. Winter was going to be a commoner, but an intellectual and proud one. …Alright, maybe not so proud.
The chariot finally stopped on its tracks, at an isolated part of the woods. The coachman got down and checked around for bandits or any type of danger, and after making sure everything was in order, opened de chariot's door. "Right this way, Your Majesty. Watch your step."
Weiss stepped out and allowed herself to take a deep breath. The clean air of the woods was really refreshing, she realized. A bit cold, maybe, but the castle's huge empty rooms were even colder, so she wasn't bothered in the least. Her clothes were prepared for any type of weather as well, with a coat made of sheep wool that could easily be removed if it got warmer, to reveal a brown dress and boots; nothing fancy in the least, but very comfortable. Weiss pulled her basket closer to her body, and exhaled.
"Alright. I'm ready."
Ozpin stood beside her and nodded. "Well, then. Meet us back here at sunset. We will be waiting for you, Miss Schnee."
For some reason Ozpin's tone calmed her down and a warm feeling came over her. Hearing someone saying they would be waiting for her return was new, and a very good feeling. Before she could stop herself, Weiss turned around and hugged the advisor very quickly and awkwardly. Ozpin was taken completely by surprise, but didn't exactly have the time to return the hug.
"For luck." Weiss mumbled, before turning her backs on the chariot and marching for the village in quick steps.
Ozpin smiled. "Good luck, Miss Schnee."
There were a few things Weiss was imagining were going to happen once she got to the village. One of them was a crowd of people staring directly at her with confused looks as soon as she set foot on the entrance, and she was already prepared to deal with that; being the Queen and all, she was accustomed with being the center of attention. Another thing she was picturing was seeing her face everywhere because of the Royal Festival. Embroideries, plates, vases, even candies decorated with Weiss Schnee's elegant expressions, followed by people celebrating this joyful holiday in her honor.
Neither of these things happened.
Hastia Village was in a celebrating mood, that was true. Holidays were always welcomed anywhere in the world – spending working days with the family was always reason for smiles. Maybe that was also the motive nobody bothered approaching Weiss even for a second; they were too busy playing games at the fair and singing funny songs to notice a random stranger infiltrating the place. Men and women drank while speaking loudly, children ran around tables playing tag, and sellers tried to make the most profit they could manage selling Royal Festival goods, such as…
"Buy your Ice Queen, Cold-Hearted Tyrant, and Spoiled Little Girl t-shirts, now with discount!" A man yelled from his stand, waving in the air blue shirts with Weiss's face drawn poorly in cartoon shape. At his side another man called for people, his stand full of plates with the Queen's different expressions and some rocks that could get thrown at them. The one who broke more plates in the fastest time got a prize. That wasn't all; Weiss noticed that every single game in the fair was somehow related to destroying her image – burning the castle with matches, punching bags with her relatives painted on them, shooting arrows at a life-sized Weiss doll. And the people were having so much fun doing all those horrible things; Weiss couldn't stop her mouth from hanging open.
At the far back of the fair, where most people were gathered, a puppet theater was about to begin. Children were sitting in the front row and the adults stood up, waiting in the back for the show to start while drinking and chatting. Weiss was already horrified by all of that, but she felt like she needed to see what the skit was going to be about.
"Laaaaaadies and gentlemeeeeen!" The narrator suddenly showed up, a man in his thirties, who stood out in the middle of the circle formed by the crowd and spoke through a megaphone. "Boooooooys and giiiirls! Please step right in, the show's about to begin! Let us venture safely in this village, a place safe from violence and pillage! But are we safe from royal eyes, and the guards that'd bring us to our demise? Ruthless tyrants, that's what they are! Thank the gods we are very far. Far away, the size of a bean, so we can't be seen by the evil Ice Queen."
The man bowed and the public went wild, applauding furiously. Weiss had a terrible feeling about watching the show, and it got worse when she realized there was a member of the theater's crew handing over tomatoes to the people. She knew where this was going.
The curtains rose. A white puppet wearing a dress and a crown seemed angry, and yelled at two other puppets, wearing normal clothes.
"This is absurd! How dare you not bow to me in my royal presence. Do you even know how long it took for me to be this powerful and important? Absolutely zero years! I was born into power and I demand to be treated like the perfect ruler I am! Guards! Execute these two insolents!"
Two more puppets appeared, holding swords, and seemed to slay the normal puppets. The white doll started to laugh maniacally, and the public booed and threw tomatoes at it. The white puppet dodged most of them, but one hit her, staining her red.
"Kill the evil Ice Queen!" A woman yelled.
"Paint this kingdom red!" Another man shouted. Even the children were saying violent things and throwing stuff at the puppet Queen. The narrator showed up once again, and Weiss was confident he would tell the people to cease with that wild and ridiculous behavior. That wasn't the case, however.
"With the execution of two brave men, the kingdom started to rise again! Riots and destruction, that's what we wanted, but that was all fiction, and we'd just be haunted. The royal guards, supposed to protect us, would pick up shards, and throw them at us. When everything was grim and the people lost hope… When children were slim and some on the rope… That's when she arrived, in a crimson hood! Our savior, our heroine, the Good from the woods." He bowed once again, and the curtains rose, showing the puppet of a girl in a red hood. The people started to applaud and cheer louder than before.
Weiss was simply confused now. "Heroine…?"
"The reign of terror of the evil Ice Queen stops today!" The puppet yelled, holding a scythe. "I cannot allow more innocent people to be murdered in spite of her pride and vanity! People are living in poverty because of such an irresponsible tyrant! I will make my life's mission to help them however I can, and when I gather enough volunteers for my army of justice, we will finally take down the Queen! And I shall rule in her place, with honesty, bravery and love for this kingdom!"
Once again the crowd started to clap and say words of encouragement to the red puppet such as 'Long live Red!' and 'Queen Red, my heart is yours!'. Weiss could not believe what she was watching. Who was this Red girl? How come she never heard of someone who was gathering an army to try to dethrone her? She would have a serious conversation with Ozpin when she got back, and the first thing she would was to send her guards to every nook and cranny of the kingdom to arrest this rioter.
At the theater, Red and some villagers were infiltrating the castle stealthily. They climbed some imaginary stairs to get to the royal chamber and apparently kill the Queen in her sleep. Weiss clenched her teeth, nervous. When the assassin group arrived, Red brought her scythe up, and the public bent forward, anxious for the result.
"Soon, it will be done!" She whisper-yelled. "No more suffering for the population of Atlas. After tonight, we will be free of tyranny and injustice, and I'll be able to take care of this kingdom like it deserves to be taken care of. Goodbye, evil witch!" Red brought down her hand, slashing the white puppet's head off.
The crowd went wild. The children got up and jumped around, the men and women clinked their cups together and music started to play.
Weiss could not hold back anymore.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Her scream was so loud that the musicians stopped playing. For the first time, people started to acknowledge her and soon enough she was the center of attention.
"Excuse me, little girl?" A bearded man asked, probably drunk from his red cheeks. In any other situation Weiss would remember Ozpin's advice and stay quiet, but she simply could not control herself at this point.
"The Queen has done absolutely everything she could to make this kingdom prosper and this is how you repay her?! With humiliation and savagery? What is wrong with you people, do you even know the things she's been through to keep it together? To… To not ruin everything the Schnee family has built in all of these years? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
The silence was crushing; not even a single bird dared to break the moment. When Weiss stopped to breathe and calmed down, she realized what she'd done. One by one, the people started to mumble, the mumbles rising in volume, and soon confused voices turned into angry complaints.
"Just who do you think you are, stranger?"
"I've never seen this girl around these parts."
"Did I hear that right? She claims the Queen is a good person?"
"She must work for the Ice Queen! Off with her head!"
This last part made Weiss realize she needed to run. And she tried, she really did, but when you are the center of attention amongst drunk blacksmiths and lumberjacks, chances are you'll just have your arm twisted in a very uncomfortable position and dragged to the center of the execution grounds.
"She dishonors this festival by bringing the name of the Queen in a positive way!" The drunk bearded man yelled to the crowd, while throwing Weiss on the ground like a sack of potatoes. She scrapped her knees and hands, and her basket was already nowhere to be found, but there was no time to regret that; she knew the trouble she was in at the moment she felt something cold close around her neck and couldn't get out of her kneeling position.
The Queen was about to be executed on her first visit to a village.
"Bring on the axe! There is no place in this kingdom for someone who believes in tyranny and oppression!"
Weiss's heart was beating like crazy and she felt like throwing up. This could not be happening, not right now, not on the Royal Festival. Who would be her heir? Who would take on the throne? She didn't even have the time to make a document specifying who would get her things once she was dead. The Queen almost laughed for a minute. There she was, about to lose her life, and the only thing she could think of was bureaucratic stuff.
She heard the metallic sound of the axe dragging on the floor, but could not see it. In seconds she'd lose her head. This was not how she planned her trip at all.
I'm such an idiot. I don't deserve the Schnee name. Well, I had a good run. Weiss closed her eyes, realizing she was crying. Who am I kidding, I didn't even make a friend in this pathetic excuse for a life. Goodbye Ozpin, I'm sorry for everything.
Suddenly there was a huge wind, followed by a grunt of pain, and the bump of a body falling on the ground. Weiss opened her eyes as she felt the metal bar being lifted from her neck and quickly got up, trying to make sense of what had happened.
"We do not execute people, guys. We talk to them first, geez." It was the voice of a girl, and Weiss turned around to see who the source of it was. The red hood and huge scythe didn't exactly make it hard to decipher the mystery.
"Is… Is that her?"
"It can't be… Why would she save the traitor?"
"The crimson heroine… Red, the traveler! She's here!"
Suddenly the anger went away, replaced by cheerful welcomes from the villagers. Red put away her scythe, folding it like magic and scratched her head, embarrassed. Weiss just stood there, unsure on what to think or feel about this girl. On one hand, she'd just saved her life. On the other, she wanted to build an army to kill her. Weiss wondered if the spell wasn't still in effect how Red would react to this irony.
"Hey, you okay?" The traveler asked her, touching her shoulder. Weiss jumped away instinctively. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to scare you. You're safe now."
"Safe? These people hate me and want to kill me! You included!" Still caught up on the moment, Weiss forgot she was undercover, and pointed a finger at Red.
"N-no, I don't! I don't want to kill anyone, I swear! And these people are just acting weird because of the festival. Trust me, they don't hate you. Tomorrow we'll all get up in the morning and laugh about all this, huh, what do you say?"
Weiss was about to give a smart answer, but she felt weak on her knees all of a sudden. Maybe almost being killed and then being saved by another person who planned to murder her didn't do well for a first-travel experience. She collapsed on the floor, and everything went black.
"Oi! Friend? Oh no, hang in there!"
Before losing all contact with the outside world, Weiss felt herself being lifted up and carried away from the noise and smell of the festival.
She'd also heard the word friend coming from someone's mouth.
And there we go, another chapter. Now the characters can start being introduced!
On another note I'll be traveling this week, so I'm not sure when I'll be posting another chapter, but hopefully you guys stick with me! Thank you for reading and following 3
- niigoki
