Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic. Thanks for the review for this story.
But now read on.
Eight
Weiss blinked as she woke up from her bed. The young woman glanced around herself in surprise at what was happening for a few moments before realizing that she had been asleep upon her bed. The young woman pulled herself up, hissing in pain as she touched her body feeling a heat right beneath her heart. It wasn't an uncomfortable heat per say but it was an unusual feeling.
The young woman glanced around the quarters she was in and her attention was drawn toward the set of clothing that were placed the table beside her. Pulling herself up, the young woman quickly crossed toward it and noticed that it was the clothing of the Huntsman. They were really similar to the ones she had seen others Huntsman wearing and it even at the sigil of the V shaped image upon the hood and the belts she could see. Quickly, dressing herself, Weiss placed the outfit upon her body and it felt strangely warm and comfortable almost like it had been seating beside a fire for hours.
With the clothes finally on, Weiss looked down upon herself taking in the outfit. The many belts had tightened the outfit upon her form so that it could be comfortable as some fur was upon the shoulder as well as some armor upon the shoulder, as she attached her sword at her waist. Everything felt very light upon her body so, she stepped outside of the room and toward the courtyard to understand what was going on.
She had gone through the Joining and was now officially a member of the Hunt.
As she stepped into the courtyard with her new outfit on, she glanced around taking notice that they were people training in the yard as they were every morning, thought they were wearing their Hunt's outfit now. It would seems that everyone was officially part of the Order now, thought what they would be doing shall be revealed in a few days. The past month now all that they were doing were training in fighting with many weapons until their trainer Master Gnis was satisfied with the training. The man was hard upon them, and Weiss hand never trained this hard in her life before. Sir Young had been hard on her but Gnis was just brutal and Weiss had blister in her hands because of it but it also toughened her up a whole lot.
Just as Pyrrha had told her, the snow was ever present this close to the Frozen North and Weiss had started to become used to it. The cold air had become something that she was used to now, and she was barely bothered by it even thought at night it had gotten colder, at least she hadn't spent many times working alongside of that.
"Weiss,"
At her name she found Master Gnis waving her forward. The young woman made her way toward the man until she was in front of him. A gruff man with startling green eyes, Gnis looked like a grizzly bear in armor which how thick his bear was but the man's face had scars upon it probably from battles he had survived. One of such scar had taken half of his left ear and Weiss had made sure to not stare at it for too long in fear of not being rude.
"You're finally up," the man said, "I have never seen someone had such a reaction to the Dragon Seed like that before."
Weiss could still remember the strange vision she had since that night at the Spire. She was afraid to think that something like that could happen and she hadn't talked about it to anyone at all, passing it off as simply a strange hallucination from the reaction she had to the Joining.
"I'm fine sir," she answered him.
"Aye you are," Gnis told her, "You're on watch duty tonight top of the Gate. Getting some experience is all that you recruits need right now…thought I doubt many of you will be staying here in Beacon."
Weiss was confused.
"Are we being assigned somewhere else?"
"Don't worry about it," Gnis told her, "You'll be told about your duties in the coming days. Just do your job for now."
Weiss give a light nod before turning her gaze toward the tall Gate that was behind her. After a month of seeing it standing there every day, she had never found herself on top of it before, as that job was only reserved for the people who actually joined the Order but then again, she had recently joined so, easy jobs like that was what they were going to be doing now that their training is basically finished.
Later that very same night, Weiss had made her way toward the mountain beside the Gate so that she could climb up the narrow hallway that had been build into the mountain so she could climb up toward the top of the Gate. She passed some other Huntsman there thought most of them were simply seating there talking but they gave her an acknowledging nod as she passed, recognizing her as one of their own. Those guys are probably seasoned Huntsman, like Ross was. Thinking of the man she had first met when she was lost in the woods outside Beacon, Weiss doesn't see him much. Most of the time, she caught glimpse of him in the mess hall when she was eating, but other than that, the man had disappeared, probably doing other jobs on the other side of the Gate, or going somewhere else.
Reaching the top of the Gate, Weiss opened the door in front of her and glanced around herself. They were small tents visible upon the top of the gate with small fire burning to keep the cold away. The young woman walked forward, the wind brushing against her hair the clothes she was wearing dancing against her skin. It wasn't as cold as she expected it to have been considering that it was already nighttime but she didn't say anything, walking forward passing the tents until she came across another Huntsman.
"Aye," the man grunted at her.
"Gnis told me to come here tonight," she said looking at the man.
He was young with dark hair dancing on top of his head. He had a small bear under his chin but his face was not scared like Gnis was. A sword was in his hand as he was seating there as he was probably cleaning the weapon. He then turned his attention behind him and called.
"Hey Ross," he called out, "Your recruit is here."
Weiss blinked at the familiar name and soon enough, the familiar man appeared on from the darkness around them. His hood was still on his head, but Weiss could see his eyes looking at her. The man nodded before indicating her to follow him. She did as well.
"Thanks for the call Raze," he said.
The man, Raze, only waved him off as he returned to his sword. Weiss followed after the man through the darkness around them thought it was lit up by the many fire were on the ground and as they passed, Weiss took notice of other Huntsman by the edge probably doing their guard duties as well. They come to a stop besides an opening which revealed the empty frozen land in front of them as it was the first time Weiss had laid eyes upon the Frozen North.
Under the moonlight, the snow looked like it was glowing thought they were many dark spots as well among them. Ross had taken a seat upon a chair as they was a small fire burning as he gazed outward toward the empty lands in front of them and Weiss was now standing beside the opening staring outward toward the distance in front of her.
"It's really quiet," she said.
"It usually is on most nights," Ross answered her, "You'll be taking my place here in the foreseen future. With you new recruits, we'll have more people to man the Gate…thought some of you will be sent out there to be Rangers."
Weiss stared down at him.
"They're sending us out there?" she said surprised.
"Aye," Ross told her, "We have two Forts out there, along with two of our Generals. They have been asking for more Huntsman over the years but with you recruits there, maybe that'll shut them up for a few months before they start asking again."
"Then you've seen both of these Forts?" Weiss asked.
Ross nodded.
"I have been out there more times than I could count," he said.
"What's its like then?" Weiss asked.
Ross chuckled, "It's the same as it is when you're out in the wild…the only thing is that, they are more likely to be animals that wants to kill you, as well as the Faunus that lives out there."
Weiss nodded lightly turning her gaze toward the empty lands in front of her again. The chilling wind danced through her hair as she stared out toward it. So this is what she is going to be doing for the rest of her life now that she had fully joined the Order. She will be going out in the Frozen North to be able to protect the rest of the lands from whatever people say that lived in the old stories. In the legends of the world, the Gate had been build to block passage from the Frozen North to the Cold Haven…as the Pale King destroyed the Darkness, they retreated into this Frozen wasteland and hadn't been seen for thousands of years. Now no one believed they exist in the first place…thought Weiss didn't know what to think really.
"I've heard you've got a weird reaction to the Dragon Seed," Ross started.
"From what they said it seems that I had," Weiss told him turning her gaze toward him, "Has something like that ever happened before?"
Ross shook his head, "No, as far as I know. So is that magic blood your family supposedly have could be the cause?"
Weiss stared at him raising her eyebrows.
"I hardly doubt that," she told him.
Ross laughed, "Yeah that'll be pretty convenient."
Weiss cracked a smile.
"Say Ross," she started, "What is Aura exactly? Ozpin said that the Dragon Seed will unlock it but, I don't feel all that different, except feeling oddly warm under my chest."
Ross raised his hand and placed it into the fire in front of him. Weiss stared at him shocked but when the man removed his hand from it, his hand was completely unscathed causing the young woman to widen her eyes even more at what he had just done.
"Aura is kind of like a shield," he explained, "It protects you from harm like fire and the cold…thought a sword or arrow will still kill you if you get hit. From what I understand, it's from the old magic at least when the world actually had magic within it."
Weiss stared at him silently.
"They are stories of people being able to do many things with their Aura," Ross told her looking up toward her, "Like Venum Enelaros, they said she could fly with wings and rain death from above. Or Caius, the Dragon Kings who could communicate with Dragons at least during the time they actually existed."
"Do you believe these stories?" Weiss asked him.
Ross chuckled, "It's hard to separate truth from fiction but considering what you've just noticed with my hand and how Aura act like some sort of magical barrier…but it's not infinite, just like any muscle in our body it get tired…however, if I believe or not, I truly don't know with how long ago these events happened."
Weiss looked at her hand and then back toward the crackling fire for a few seconds before turning her gaze out toward the distance. A gentle silence settled in between the two of them as the time passed with her leaving against the wall behind her, and Ross seating down here by the fire with a cloak around his shoulders to protect him from the cold.
"Let me see your sword," Ross suddenly asked.
Weiss glanced at him surprised at the request as she noticed his hand raised toward her. The young woman did as he asked, unfastening the belt which held the weapon before extending it toward him. Ross took hold of the scabbard as he looked at the handle. He was examining it closely.
"A Dragon pommel," he said, "Not something you see these days."
"My father said that it was created by an ancestor of the Schnee family, Darius Schnee," Weiss told him, "If the tales are to be believed, he lived at the end of the Age of Dragons."
"Aye," Ross said, glancing at her, "So The King gave you this blade?"
"As a blessing so that I could come here," Weiss said, "As a bastard, I would never have anything to my name…even with the blood of the king running in my veins. Coming here was having purpose to do something…here I can only be Weiss, the Huntress of the Order."
"Does the sword has a name?"
"If it had, my father failed to mention it…and I haven't thought of one yet."
Ross looked at her for a few moments as his gaze turned upon the sword. He pulled it out of the scabbard and let out a yelp before dropping the sword down upon the ground. Weiss looked at him noticing that the man was flexing his fingers as if burned.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked him.
"Yea…felt like it burned against my hand for a moment," he said.
Weiss picked up her sword and the blue color of the blade seems to almost glow in the night around them, the reflection of the flames causing soft blue tinges to glow around her. Ross was looking at the weapon with a careful look upon his face as if he was wondering how he got hurt in the first place. Weiss simply took the scabbard before replacing the sword into it.
"Curious sword," he said.
"Yes," Weiss said looking at him, "What of you Ross? What did you do before you came here?"
"I was a young lord in Vale," he told her, "Spend my entire life there, enjoying my life…of course, being a young lord means that they are certain exception that you have to meet…and I didn't meet those expectations. So, my father denounced me of all my titles and sent me here. I have been here ever since...that was ten years ago now that I think about it. My brother is probably the lord of the House now unlike me, he isn't the failure."
"Ten years?" Weiss whispered, "And you haven't seen them since."
Ross laughed, "They'll probably kill me if I even went back to Vale…I get letters every now and then from my brother but even those stopped coming after a while. That's the kind of life you should expect from this place Weiss. Sooner or later, they'll be nothing to tied you to your family. Since you're a bastard, they'll probably do everything they can to make people think you're dead or something, Less of an embarrassment for all."
Weiss stayed silent and there was no more conversation throughout the entire night.
That's how Weiss's week went.
Every night she will come up here and keep the watch on the Gate along with Ross as they shared conversation about many things. Weiss told him about her childhood back in Atlas and about Winter, while Ross himself will tell some stories about his own adventures during his youths. The two had become friends during the time they had spent there every night on the top of the Gate, keeping watch at least in the forth night when Ross told her that he'd been reassigned to another job.
"Don't worry," he told her after the news, "You already know what to do when you come here. The only thing you'd have to worry about is to keep the fire burning through the night so that the cold don't get to you and if you ran out of woods, you can ask Raze for some."
"What you'll be doing?"
"Some patrolling missions around the mountains," Ross told her, "Seems that we'll be expecting more Faunus to cross over."
And so Weiss had found herself alone the next night, at the usual spot looking over the distance. The fire was already crackling as she had placed some fresh wood she had taken from Raze and carried over. The time went by slowly as she stood there, looking over the empty lands of the Frozen North. A wind was blowing through her hair but Weiss barely paid any attention to it as she was lost in her mind thinking about Winter. She had sent a letter to home, at least to Winter after all she had promised to at least write her. She missed Winter, and even missed her father, as she realized with dismay that the man had been killed. She had inquired about it to Winter in her letter but she was anxious to know exactly what will her sister say.
"Aren't you cold?"
Weiss turned her gaze toward the voice finding a girl there. The young woman had her hood up, and her cloak upon her form as she covered herself from the cold. It was one of the new recruits, Weiss realized. She had seen her enough around the training to recognize her face.
"It's not as cold near the fire," she said.
"Well, I'm bloody freezing by tits off," the girl said approaching her, "Name's Rae by the way. They sent me here to keep watch as well."
Weiss indicated the empty chair, "Well make yourself comfortable, we'll be here a while."
The girl, Rae, laughed before taking a seat letting a soft sigh as she was getting warmed by the flames. Weiss's eyes, however stayed fixed on the empty lands beyond her eyes needlessly going over the many trees she could see that were covered by snow.
"Weiss," Rae asked, "Do you see anything out there?"
"Nothing," she answered, "As it had been the past week."
"Well, can't expect the Faunus to launch a full straight assault on the Gate," Rae said, "Nothing they have could even make a dent upon it. If you believe the stories, this place is thousands of years old and even looking at it, it makes you wonder just how they were able to even build the damn thing."
Weiss gave her a glance and raised her eyebrows.
"What's your theory then?"
"Giants," Rae said simply.
"Giants?" Weiss repeated skeptical.
"What else could it be?" Rae asked, "I mean, from what I know, these Gates have never been opened. They are locked shut ever since the Pale King had it built and that's a long fucking time. Even if we could open it, how, how many men do you think it will take to push this door open with all that snow?"
Weiss chuckled, returning her gaze toward the distance, "I don't think this place was built so that it could be opened."
"I know the stories princess," Rae told her, "To keep the creature of Grimm from making their way South."
"I'm no more princess than you are," Weiss told her.
Rae chuckled, "You know, if your father had decided to give you his name, I don't think anyone would be the wiser if you were a bastard or not. While I have never seen a Schnee in person but their most common trait were the snow white hair and blue eyes something you have…to anyone else, that makes you a Schnee."
Weiss stayed silent for a long moment thinking about what the woman just said but then her attention was drawn toward something moving at the bottom. Instantly straightening up, Weiss focused her attention upon what she was seeing and realize that it was a horse and there was a rider upon it. It was too far away to tell who it was.
"There is a rider out there," she said instantly straightening up.
Rae instantly made her way toward her looking at where she was indicating. Sure enough, there was a rider out there.
"I'll warn the others," Rae said before running to tell the rest.
Weiss continued to look down at the rider who had turned to the side fixing the trees behind them making Weiss wonder why but then, something shoot out of the trees, big and black aiming straight toward the rider before colliding with it. The screams of terror she heard were more than enough.
"NOOO," Weiss yelled.
The scream of the rider had fallen silent as a new sound reached Weiss's ears. The sound of a horn blowing and then the front Gates were open but the black thing had already retreated to the forest leaving the shredded corpse of the horse as well as its rider in the snow as the other Huntsman reached him. Weiss was open mouthed at what had just happened but she knew things weren't going to be as peaceful as they had been these past few days.
So ends this chapter. Hope you have enjoyed the read.
Anyway, that is all for now.
Jacques0 out.
R&R
