In a Land Far, Far Away
A/N: And another chapter goes live! Whoo!
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Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.
Summary: It started with music. Then, came the chase. And now, resolution. Maybe she was not as alone as she thought she was. Weiss & ?
*** ~ Resonance of the Heart ~ ***
~ Mirror... ~
White glyphs silently materialized on the floor, sending platformed, booted feet flying down the hallway at super human speeds.
~ Tell me something... ~
The corner of the hallway was fast approaching, but that was easily rectified with the motion of a pale hand. A light blue glyph formed in the air, vertical and off the ground, angled at forty-five degrees covering up the sharp corner. The glyph immediately turned black, only turning light blue again seconds later when a blur of white jumped onto it. The blur was propelled down the adjoining hallway, one ninety degrees to the previous hallway, continuing on their soundless journey, only lit up by the white glyphs under their feet.
~ Tell me who's the loneliest of all... ~
It was night time at Beacon Academy. Classes were done for the day, all of the school's students dispersing throughout campus. With the weekend upon them, many students left the school grounds in search of more exciting night time activities, only a sparse few actually remaining on site.
Weiss Schnee was one of those students.
~ Mirror, tell me something... ~
Weiss had no reason to leave campus on this Friday night. There was nothing home worth going back to. Her mother was dead. And her father, well, he was probably sleeping over at the Schnee Dust Company's main building. Since her mother died, that's all he ever did.
Work. Work. Work.
There was no more time for the simple pleasures in life.
There was no more time for Weiss.
~ Tell me who's the loneliest of all... ~
So Weiss carried on in life without him. She studied hard, learning everything she could about the world around her. From politics to etiquette, from combat to art, Weiss wanted to know it all. And because of that, she was accepted into Beacon Academy.
~ Mirror, what's inside me? ~
While her first day at the prestigious school lacked many things, Weiss Schnee made the most of what she had. Initiation went off without a hitch, mostly, and soon teams were decided and rooms assigned. The weak were rooted out, and the rest got to work, learning to become the best hunters and huntresses they could be.
~ Tell me can a HEART be turned to STONE? ~
Another corner was fast approaching.
Weiss quickly repeated her earlier actions, creating another aerial glyph which spring boarded her down yet another hallway without losing momentum. The white haired girl's heart beat rapidly in her chest, keen ears honed in on a specific sound. This was a sound she had been tracking for all of ten minutes now.
~ Mirror, Mirror, what's behind you? ~
Now, a month into the semester, Weiss had grown accustomed to her teammates, and the overall craziness that was Beacon Academy. For the most part. While accustomed she may be to them, she was not yet comfortable.
Something was missing.
For a long time now, an ache ate away at her chest. It started the day her mother died, and over the years, had only grown larger.
~ Save me from the things I see... ~
Weiss buried herself in her studies, as a means to deal with this black void inside of her. Yet, no matter how well she did in class, no matter how proper and pristine she was, the pain from within was always there, a bitter reminder that not all was right in her life.
~ I can keep it from the world... ~
In a last ditch effort to save herself, Weiss took up singing. She was a natural at it apparently, the Schnee heiress quickly mastering the lessons, jumping levels at a time in the art of song. While she no longer had need of a singing tutor, Weiss never failed to practice the art, even here at Beacon. And that's why she was here, in the massive music wing of Beacon Academy, on this lonely Friday night.
That is, until it started.
~ Why won't you let me hide from me? ~
It started two weeks ago, on a night very much like this one. Weiss had come to the empty music wing of Beacon Academy, alone, making herself at home in one of the many rooms housed on this side of campus. The room was massive, large floor to ceiling windows dividing up blemish free pearl white walls. There was even a large circular skylight overhead, one showing a nearly full moon at the time. Taking up the spot just under the skylight, with the gentle moonlight shining down upon her, Weiss closed her eyes and started to sing.
Halfway through her song, the music started.
~ Mirror... ~
It was a tune she had never heard before, one both soothing and sorrowful at the same time. At first, Weiss thought she was imagining things, that her mind was playing tricks on her. The heiress was the only one in this wing after all. She'd never seen anyone else come by this way, in all the times she'd been here before. Even the professors. This was a ghost wing.
But the music didn't stop. It just kept going and going, a wistful melody, one with no end.
It haunted her.
~ Tell me something... ~
It wasn't coming through the vents, Weiss knew that to be a fact. The vents had a way of distorting sound, garbling it at times, and none of that was present in the tune right now. It wasn't a recording either. Just like the vents, recordings never quite captured the clarity of the moment when music was played live. Having the keen ear that she did, Weiss knew this was happening now. In real time.
Enraptured by the melody, Weiss' balled fist came up to her chest, the white haired girl closing her eyes. The music was shaking her to the core, resonating with her entire being, making her tremble. It was as if the pain she felt inside, the one eating away at her heart for so many years, was coming to life in the very form of this lonely song. From the crescendos to the glissandos, it was all there, her heart poured out in front of her.
Someone else understood it.
Someone else understood the terror of the void.
Blue eyes snapped open, Weiss tearing out of the practice room like a bat out of hell.
She had to find them.
~ Who's the loneliest of ALL? ~
There! She could see it! She was nearly there!
At the end of the hallway, many hallways later, a single room spilled light into the corridor, through a half inch crack between the door and the wall. Weiss skidded to a halt near the door, frantically trying to calm the loud, panting breaths escaping her throat.
She couldn't let them get away again!
Not again.
Previous times before now, when Weiss sought out the source of the haunting melody, she'd always get there too late. Whether by seconds or minutes, Weiss never knew. All she knew was that the person always heard her coming, and took off before she could confront them. Every single time that happened, Weiss felt her heart break even more. But this time would be different.
This time she remembered to bring Myrtenaster.
Taking one final calming breath, Weiss replaced her rapier on her belt, before creeping up towards the slightly ajar door. With trembling hands, the white haired girl pushed opened the door and faced the music.
~ I'm the loneliest of ALL... ~
"R-Ruby?" Weiss said in a gasping whisper.
The melody immediately stopped in a cacophony of wrong notes, small hands fumbling with the black and white keys of the piano. The pianist, startled by the Schnee heiress, quickly turned to face her intruder.
Similar to the room Weiss practiced in, this room was also substantially large. It was arranged auditorium style, with multiple rows of seats sloping downwards towards a wooden stage at the opposite end of the room. In the middle of the stage was a baby grand piano, the instrument positioned sideways, allowing the audience to see the pianist's right side. Behind the stage was a massive floor to ceiling window overlooking the city of Vale. It spanned the entirety of back wall of the room, the moonlight bathing both the player and the instrument in a soft glow on this particular night. Wide silver eyes stared at Weiss as the white haired girl shakily descended towards the stage.
Weiss was having a hard time believing what she was obviously seeing. Her eyes told her one thing, but her brain just couldn't seem to process it.
"It was you... all along...?"
Ruby Rose sat stock still on the black bench in front of the piano, her hands still resting on the instrument's white and black keys. The leader of Team RWBY watched in silence as her teammate walked onto the stage, coming to a stop next to her.
Weiss was shaking.
So was Ruby.
"H-Hey Weiss..." Ruby said softly.
Ruby's expression mirrored that of Weiss'. Uncertainty. Surprise. Disbelief. It was very clear she didn't expect to see Weiss here, nor did Ruby expect to see the same lonely and heartbreaking expression she wore to be on Weiss' face either.
Ruby swallowed thickly. "W-What are you doing here?"
Looking into the younger girl's eyes, Weiss confirmed what her heart already knew. This was the person. Ruby Rose was the one who understood her pain. Her sorrow. How the scythe wielder hid it, all the pain and sadness clearly showing through her eyes now, Weiss didn't know. But Weiss did know that feeling of vulnerability, that fear, that loneliness. Tears rolled down Weiss' cheeks, making silver coloured eyes widen in surprise.
"Weiss, I-"
"You dunce!" Weiss said, her voice muffling when she lurched at her leader and captured her in a tight hug. The heiress quickly buried her face in Ruby's shoulder, earning her a squeak.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Ruby remained silent as the white haired girl sobbed into her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she brought up her arms and wrapped the Schnee heiress in a hug.
"I thought I was the only one," Ruby said, her voice sounding so small.
Weiss gripped her teammate and leader tighter, still sobbing. "You're not," came a shuddering whisper.
Ruby smiled, cuddling against her companion. "Yeah," she said, stroking Weiss' hair.
"Not anymore."
A/N: For those of you not familiar with musical terms, I have defined them below.
Crescendo: A gradual increase in loudness in a piece of music.
Glissando: A sliding effect achieved by sounding a series of adjacent tones in rapid succession, as by running a finger over the white keys of a piano.
The practice room Weiss was in was designed after the White Castle from her trailer.
