A/N: Finally got to a computer to write this chapter. Man, it actually feels good to be typing all this. I might go back to the first two chapters and fix'em later since I had to do those from the tiny Iphone screen. Still gotta shake off all this rust first though. Can't write fights, or anything else, to save my life! Not writing anything creative for almost 10 years can do that. (I was even worse back then, though I'm still bad now.) Ah well, just gotta practice. Anyway, enjoy!
FlyingMintBunny579: Thanks! I heard a lot of good things about Volume 3 and with Volume 4 coming soon, I'm really thinking of starting over from the beginning. Only problem is making time, but I'll find a way since I absolutely love almost everything about this series.
Weiss awoke the next morning to the sight of a note lying at her bedside. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she picked up the note. As she did she noticed her window was left slightly open, giving her a pretty good hint as to who had left the note.
"What does he want now?" She muttered to herself as she opened the note.
'Come to the garden after breakfast. And bring Myrtenaster' Was what the note had said. The heiress let out an annoyed sigh and proceeded with her morning routines. With a morning bath, a bit of touching up, and a clean set of clothing brought by the maids, she was ready to start the day.
After finishing her morning meal and thanking the help for their usual services, Weiss made way for the garden, Myrtenaster at hand. Upon exiting the manor she was greeted by the familiar sight the various flora of the gardens. Even though it had snowed the night before and much of the garden was covered by a light blanket, it was a sight she loved. Honestly, one would say she liked it better with the snow. Of course...
"Finally made it out, Princess?" Her peace was quickly shattered when a certain boy appeared beside her. With a grin, he greeted the heiress. "Good morning."
"What do you want?" She said, shooting a sharp glare at the young man.
"No need to be so hostile." Sable said, throwing his hands up.
"You broke into my room to leave a note."
"Well, you did kinda leave the window unlock- Ow!" A swift chop promptly shut Sable up.
"Dunce."
"I deserve that." Sable said, rubbing his forehead. He motioned for Weiss to follow him as he began walking towards the garden, adjusting his red scarf as he moved. "Nice necklace by the way."
"Just shut up and keep walking." With a slight blush, she started following behind.
The two walked together in silence, the crunching of the snow beneath their feet being the only sounds coming from them. Since Sable was still quiet, Weiss decided to take in the surroundings.
Although she loved seeing the the garden as it was currently, she began to grow irritated when she remembered that the guy with her still hasn't said a word. So she decided to speak up.
"Did you really just bring me out here for this? And I brought Myrtenaster out here for nothing?"
"Oh yeah. Heh, almost forgot." Feeling an outburst of anger coming his way, Sable quickly put his hands up again. "Just a joke."
"Sable..." Weiss reached for her weapon, causing the boy to step back.
"Okay, calm down. We're at the spot I wanted, anyway. No need to try to kill me yet." He said as he walked over to the center of clearing that they had arrived in. Walking over to the other end he pulled out his sword. Putting two and two together, Weiss spoke.
"So you just brought me here for training?"
Sable nodded in response, which annoyed the heiress again.
"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"
"'Cause it's not fun that way." He said as he tightly gripped the handle of his weapon with his left hand. With a quiet beeping noise, the opening of the sheath widened to allow Sable to remove his blade, revealing a particularly lengthy broadsword.
"You said you're going to a school for Huntsman and Huntresses, right?"
Weiss said nothing, but nodded. Sable smiled and stepped towards her.
"Then how about I give you a quick refresher. You're gonna need to be in top shape to make it at the school, right?"
"It's not like I need your help to do that." Weiss scoffed and tilted her head away.
"I know. I just want to." Sable tightened his glove. "How about this? If you can land a hit on me, I'll do whatever it is you want for rest of the day. Anything."
After a brief silence, Weiss sighed and held up her weapon.
"Fine. Deal." She answered. "Really though, the fact that I have to win a bet to get you to do your job isn't a good trait for a bodyguard to have."
"Guess I'm a bad bodyguard then." He joked, chuckling to himself. He quickly stopped though when he saw that Weiss was not amused. "Okay, no-fun... Nothing too crazy. Just show me what you can do with a sword." Throwing his sheath to the side he took up his stance. Turning his body so his side faced Weiss, he readied his blade, the tip pointed down at an angle. With his right hand he gestured for Weiss to act first.
Without hesitation, the heiress assumed her stance. In an instant, she lunged forward. Thrusting her rapier at her opponent's chest area. She missed as Sable stepped back. Quickly pulling back, she began stabbing at him in rapid succession.
However, each attack missed as Sable moved his body each time to dodge. After another miss, Weiss pulled back to ready another thrust. Seeing his chance, Sable planted his feet firmly onto the ground and swung his sword upwards to parry the upcoming attack.
This failed though, as he swung at nothing. He quickly noticed Weiss had used a glyph to jump high above him. With another glyph set in the air she shot forward at a blinding speed. With no time to parry or block, Sable rolled to the side to avoid it.
The two fighters stood opposite of each other, both perfectly calm and sizing up one another.
"Heh, you're getting better with those glyphs." Sable said. "Guess my teachings are paying off."
"Like you could teach." Weiss scoffed.
"Hey, I'm sure I can teach." With a quick stretch, Sable took up his stance. "It's my turn."
Weiss readied herself as she watched his movements. Almost missing it she was just able to make out a small, white glyph under Sable's foot.
"Stay on your guard." Sable said as he used the glyph under his left foot to move out of sight.
Stopping at Weiss's right flank, he created two individual glyphs under his feet. With this he lunged forward and swung his sword. His attack was promptly guarded, surprising him. Stopping at Weiss's left side, he spoke.
"So you could finally keep up."
"Hmph. Or maybe you're just getting slower."
"You might be right about that." Both Sable and Weiss couldn't help, but laugh for this brief moment before getting back to the fight. Sable smiled.
"Then let's test that out."
Using both glyphs again, he shot forward attempting the same attack, which yielded the same results. Seeing this, he decided to continue the speedy onslaught. Racing around in an attempt to confuse his opponent, but each attack failed as Weiss was able to guard each and every attack.
Soon, he began to grow exhausted from using his glyphs. His exhaustion coupled with the fact that Weiss was perfectly fine prompted him to try to end the match. His final move began as he jumped into the air and, with more use of his glyphs, he bounced himself around as fast as he can.
Weiss stood still, her nerves on edge as she tried to determine his next strike. Watching as Sable's figure sped through the air like a blur, she readied her weapon once more, her stance unchanging.
After a few more seconds, Sable used one more glyph to throw himself directly behind Weiss. Immediately after touching the ground, he used another glyph to propel forward. Once he was within range, he thrusted his weapon, his left arm extended as much as it can be.
However, he ended up missing as Weiss stepped to the right of him to dodge perfectly. Before he could react he felt five quick pokes to his side and chest.
"I win."
"Looks like you did." Sable said. With a heavy sigh he sat down. "Guess Beacon's gonna be a cakewalk for you." He looked up at Weiss who stood beside him, dusting off her clothes. "So, how did you know?"
"You're always sneaking up on me so I figured you would try that here too."
"I'm really that easy to read, huh?"
"Yeah... and the crunch of the snow behind me gave away your position."
"...You and your logic." Sable mumbled to himself as he got up. He walked over to retrieve his sheath. After putting his weapon away, Sable noticed Weiss looking at him. "Is something wrong?"
Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Our deal?"
"Ah, right." Running a hand through his hair, Sable walked over to Weiss. "Yeah, a deal's a deal. I'll have to actually do my job as your bodyguard for the rest of the day."
"Good that you're so accepting of it." She began making her way out. "I was going to drag you along regardless, but this makes it easier. Now hurry it up. I'm leaving for Beacon at noon and I need to pick up a couple of things."
"Are you sure it's just 'a couple of things'?" Sable said as he followed closely behind. "Because last time you dragged me along, I was literally buried under a pile of bags by the end of the day."
"Just shut up and follow me."
And with two hours remaining until Weiss's departure, the two headed for the city. With Weiss leading the way and Sable following obediently behind, they headed for their destination at a Dust shop bearing the name and logo of Weiss's family's company. Of course, as it belonged to the SDC, the shop was quite grand and every product inside was the top of the line.
"There's something I need to pick up here. Just wait out here, got it?" Weiss ordered. Sable nodded and proceeded to lean against the wall as his master headed inside the building.
In an attempt to kill time, he scanned his surroundings hoping to find something interesting. Watching as people wandered about into and out of the surrounding buildings of the shopping district. Finally, as he glanced at on of the many monitors floating around, something caught his attention.
It was a news report currently discussing the White Fang, the terrorist group made up entirely of Faunus. These individuals have become a concerning enemy of the world. More specifically, Weiss and her family, which in turn, meant that they were Sable's enemy as well. Watching intently as they program went on, Sable failed to notice Weiss exiting the building.
Walking over to the boy, she quickly noticed his full attention was on the screen above. Taking one look she quickly turned away after seeing what it was. The current piece of discussion was centered around the Fang's opposition toward's the Schnee Dust Corporation and the family themselves.
"Ugh, those brutes." Weiss scoffed, a tone of disgust clear in her voice. Hearing this, Sable diverted his gaze away from the screen. "Let's get going. I don't want to hear anything else about these people." Sable watched as Weiss stomped off.
"Yeah..." Looking back one last time to the monitor, he noticed familiar face appear on the screen. "General Ironwood, huh?" Reading the headline that followed, he scoffed. "Looks like the military's going to get fully involved." He finally turned away and ran off to find Weiss.
Catching up, he slowed down to match her pace. Once he was beside her he immediately felt how tensed up she was feeling. And, as if on instinct, he spoke up.
"So what's our next stop? 'Cause, uh, we're looking a little light on baggage at the moment." He jokingly pointed to the two suitcases the heiress had acquired from the shop. Knowing exactly what he was doing, Weiss replied.
"You don't need to try to lighten the mood or anything. I'm fine. I just... I just don't want to think about any of that right now. But..." She stopped abruptly, causing Sable to do the same. Tilting her head up at him, she smiled. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better." Looking away, a slight blush on his face, Sable cleared his throat.
"Haha, yeah. Sure thing... But, isn't a bodyguard supposed to make sure their boss is happy?" Weiss couldn't help, but laugh at the statement.
"Oh, so now you're going to do your job?"
"I can only try."
He chuckled softly to himself. Wondering why she even expected any other typed of response from him, Weiss just ignored him and returned to walking.
While they went on, Sable began lagging behind, thinking to himself as he watched Weiss. Thoughts of the White Fang and their animosity towards her and her family flooded his mind.
"...I just don't like seeing you troubled." Thinking she heard something, Weiss looked back to Sable, quickly getting his attention. "It's nothing. Let's go." Weiss just shrugged and the the two resumed their walk back.
Arriving back at the manor, Weiss walked on inside to get ready. Sable, not wanting to be a hindrance, chose to wait outside. Pulling out his Scroll, he checked the time.
"Weiss's ship leaves in 30 minutes..." Just as he was about to put away his Scroll, he saw that he had received a message telling him that he has received new instructions. Only one person ever sends him these types of messages, Weiss's father.
After confirming that nobody was around, he slightly rolled up his right sleeve to check the device on his wrist. His face darkened as he read what appeared on the small screen. It was coordinates for him to input on a map and a time.
"Tonight, huh?" Fixing his sleeve, tilted his head back. "At least she'll be away by then." He said as he leaned back against the wall.
Sounds of opening doors brought Sable back to reality as he watched Weiss walking out accompanied by two butlers handling her luggage. Taking a moment to stretch, Sable went to join Weiss.
Letting out a sharp whistle, Sable watched several Airships arriving and departing from the port, as well as the various types of people coming and going. Beside him stood Weiss with her luggage, both of them waiting for Weiss's ship to arrive. Soon enough they spotted the craft, thanks to the Vale symbol on its side, as it slowly docked. It then proceeded to open up, allowing arriving passengers to depart and new passengers to board.
"Well, there it is." Sable said, nodding his head in its direction. "Pretty big one, too." He turned to Weiss and smiled. "So it's goodbye from here, huh?"
"And I couldn't be any happier about it." She replied, returning the smile with laughter.
"And there goes the mood."
"Just kidding. I actually wouldn't be lying if I said things might get to be a little boring without you." Weiss said, a light blush forming on her face.
"Right..." With a small smirk, Sable patted her on the head. "Still killing the mood, here." Weiss quickly shoved his hand away in a flustered manner, which he couldn't help, but find amusement in. "But you're right. It's gonna be a lot less fun without you to mess with."
"Of course." Weiss said, rolling her eyes at the joke. "Anyway, I better get going." She grabbed her luggage and started heading toward the ship. Before she stepped onto the craft she quickly turned around and waved to Sable. "Goodbye."
Saying nothing, Sable simply smiled and waved back. Once she was on-board and out of sight, he turned around to leave. Making his way through the crowds he looked back once more to witness the airship that Weiss boarded ascend into the air.
"Goodbye, Weiss." He watched as the ship got further and further away until it barely be seen. Once it was gone, he sighed. It was time to make preparations for tonight.