Monty Oum is the Creator of RWBY and everything that is RWBY is his! Well, I guess Rooster teeth owns parts of it too. However, my OC's are my mine and mine only. Sadly they are worth nothing, oh well.

By the way my friend, InTheMoonsShadow has written this excellent story that goes by the name, Check. You should definitely check it out!


Chapter Eight

A Cruel Thesis


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"Hello Eis…"

I uttered to him as I entered the fray.

In an instance his crystal blue eyes harden dangerously and my brother leapt towards the side. With a twirl that was a result of countless hours of practice, I turned to face him in an instant as he stood.

I then ducked just in time; as a couple of bolts from his cursed Königliche Löwenmäulchen flew into the airspace I just decreed in my dodge.

You have to do better than adequate my dear brother.

I sprang from my crouched position and focused my soul to manifest upon reality. The cold familiar crystal blue of my Aura started to flicker into the world. I smiled as I deflected a bolt from my brother's weapon.

Now, Weiss focus you sembla-

BOOOM

With a tremendous force, my lithe body was flung into the air.

How did my brother?!

The smell of brimstone filled my nostrils; I knew this smell from anywhere. How could I call myself the heir to my father name if I didn't? It was Burn Dust…

That trickster!

With a snare and a flick of my wrist, my semblance properly came into being this time. I used the gravity portion of my Glyphs to steadfast myself into a proper position for a counter-attack.

It was just in time.

The first strike from Eis hit me like a hammer. My sylphlike arms nearly buckled from the sheer strength of the blow. I knew that you should never block an attack head on especially from melee fighters, but this was simply ridiculous.

What have they been feeding you the last two years Eis!?

Ahem, regaining my composure I disengaged from my brother to launch a volley of my own attacks. Myrtenaster became a blur of steel as I tried to skewer my brother. He simply just smiled at me as he used his naturally narrow fame to simply dodge my barrage like it was nothing.

The nerve of him! Does he know that he should just let me impale him with my beloved Myrtenaster?

Apparently my brother knew exactly what I was thinking as he smirks at my direction. I withheld the urge to inflict my justice upon his skull like I used to do in the olden days.

My brother was truly an annoyance to deal with.

I twirled to the right and deflected a blow that almost grazed my precious blue bolero jacket. I switched Myrtenaster into 'Quarte' position and used the inside guard to parry my brother's incoming attack. The barbarian glaive of Königliche Löwenmäulchen scraped against my elegant weapon. The sound of their clash was very unpleasant to my ears.

I did not expect the punch he threw into my face.

With my Aura taking the blunt of damage, I was still dazed by my brother's underhanded move. I forgot that he took a shining to Mister Boyle's melee lesions when we were younger.

I will not make the same mistake again.

The symbol of my dreams appeared beneath me and launched away from my brother and narrowly avoided that haymaker he tried to strike me with.

From my observation, it seems that my brother prefers to mix hand to hand with his glaive. What a troublesome opponent and a problematic fighting style. Only Eis could craft such a devious way of engagement.

However, as his blood twin I knew how his mind tinkers and the dark places it explores.

I jumped into the air to dodge another bolt, throwing an ice Glyph below me. The sound of forming ice was replaced with the hiss of steam as one of my brother's fire bolts detonated.

He truly does like his Burn Dust doesn't he?

It fits with his obtuse personality definitely.

I hopped into the air and started to 'pounce' closer to my target with the use of my semblance. Eis merely stared as I approached him once more.

Now Weiss remember your training and focus on your next attack. I needed to strike my brother before he could go on the offense again. I was barely able to retreat the first time. I would not desire to test my mettle against him again in close quarters.

My soul responded to my wishes as my Aura manifested around Myrtenaster's edge. Right, now Weiss, remember what Master Mayer taught you. Feel the coldness of the winter nights, embrace the savagery of Atlas during the legendary snow tornadoes, and focus on this one blow…

Myrtenaster's steel color edge started to transform into an icy tinge. I could feel the temperature in the vicinity plummet rapidly. The hawkish coldness my beloved blade was emitting did not disturb me in the slightest. The nature of winter would never harm its lord.

I caught my brother's eyes mid-jump, his normally crystal blue eyes were now transformed into mirrors. It was similar to a looking glass from my youth…so, you think that your semblance can save you now brother?

Eis you have always been a fool!

With a swing that was the hammer of the Atlasian gods of old, my blade struck down. The crystallized essence of a blizzard ripped into reality and slammed into my brother. The howling winds of winter devoured everything around it; the mere ground that was around my kin was desecrated with gorges as thick as man's body.

"Hammer of the Ice God!" I yelled to the heavens. It seems that the dust spell I just unleashed has hit my brother directly. Hmph, it seems like all those painful years with the "Maiden of Tears" finally delivered the victory I needed. Then again I was a prodigy when it came to dust spells.

Eis truly did not even have the slightest hope in wining this wage between us.

Maybe now I could truly learn the answers to his charlatan ways.

Normally the peasantry would consider the spell I just casted to be…what is the word? Yes, 'overkill' but my brother deserves such a fate if he thinks he can lie to me about something as essential as our father's actions towards us.

Revenge does feel good in the end after all. I knew that Master Mayer was jesting with me about the possibility of me being too 'arrogant and selfish'. How is it selfish in wishing to deliver punishment to one that swore to be forever loyal?

Now let's contact fathe-

The force of a dragon slammed into my solar plexus, the sheer blow caused all the air to evacuate my lungs. I hunched over from the pain that was immobilizing my body. Forcing my orbs to look down I saw grey pommel drilling into my solar plexus. My eyes slowly but surely raised itself towards the heavens and I saw…

Königliche Löwenmäulchen the weapon of my brother being wielded by him.

How in Dust name did I miss?!

He forced his barbaric weapon out of my poor body, my body started to collapse to the ground as a result. However, a savage roundhouse kick sent me airborne once more.

My senses went haywire due to the punishment that was handed to me.

All I saw was a navy blue flash as I slammed into the ground. Saliva spat out of my mouth at the force. My Aura was getting dangerously low and I had to get away somehow. I spun the revolver of Myrtenaster to yellow and prayed my Aura could activate it in time.

The vanguard of my dreams resonated with the yellow Dust and everything felt slow.

I could never get use to the effects of Sonic Dust when I used it. Then again I doubt that anyone could truly be comfortable when reality itself seemed to slow down before you. Throwing my Glyphs in a straight line behind me, I activated my semblance and swiftly left before my brother could finish his combo.

I felt the abilities of the Sonic Dust wear off halfway through that was still enough. With the grace of a Valean ballerina I flipped into the air and landed. I forced my battered body back into my standard guard position.

My brother just simply raised one of his eyebrows at my maneuver. His face still stoned in a serious manner.

I glanced at my scroll that was adorned on the right side of my dress. It hanged thankfully undamaged on the ribbon that acted like a belt. My Aura was already at sixty-two percent?!

How could my brother hit so hard? His semblance was not superior in strength nor should the few blows that he hit me with have mattered as much. Only a dust-enchanted weapon could…

That's when I noticed the unnatural hue of his Königliche Löwenmäulchen.

That filthy trickster!

A Frost blade was not a part of the original plans of Königliche Löwenmäulchen! When did he have the time to drably look into such archaic arts? Better yet, why didn't he tell me about this? Was it during the time we started to split apart?

"Hey Snowy wouldn't you think it would be cool if we had matching weapons?"

The memories of my past slowly entered my thoughts. I shook my head in annoyance of my brother's old high pitch voice. Our pre-teenager years were quite the nuisance to survive through.

If it wasn't for my Sharky and the other plushes…

Ahem, back to our wager. I stared at my brother as happier times threatened to drown my reality. I fought against the urge to embrace such lighter days. I was in the middle to the most important battle in my life and I could not afford to get distracted.

"Nice Dust spell earlier Snowy, you almost hit me with it." A much older and deeper version of my brother's voice reached my ears. I was surprised to see him speak to me, is he trying to distract me from the duel?

"It was not even an adequate spell if it couldn't hit a barbarian like you."

He merely chuckle at my barb. "Huh, barbarian is a new one. I guess you are still as Weiss cold as before, sister." His weapon mecha-shifted into its corpulent rifle mode; I glared at him for daring to use my name as a pun. Eis ran his pale hand through his mangy hair and sighed at my antics.

"You are still uptight as always my dear sister, then again that just your nature as a person."

"Why Eis are you trying to insult me?"

"No, just commenting on your rather deficient aiming skills." He smirked at me; I had to resist the urge to charge him. But following such a rash decision would lead to my downfall.

"You are much cheekier then I remember brother."

"Meh, age changes you in ways you don't expect it to Weiss."

"…You sound like an old man now. What happen to my vibrant brother?" Giving him a small frown I continued. "I prefer wasting my time chatting with him than some cocksure teenager."

I was not expecting his answer.

"Between the two of us, you're always the rash one. I forgot how many times I had to save you from the fire."

"Enough! I will not let you slander me anymore!" I casted a small Dust spell that launched a handful of Frost arrows at him. He merely pointed his bulky rifle and shot them with his bolts. My face was flushed from his comment; I was not bullhead at all!

Stop smirking already you foolish brother!

I sent several more dust spells and he merely countered them with more bolts from his primitive rifle. However, my plan was not to even hit him in the first place…if he changed the blade of Königliche Löwenmäulchen without my knowledge, what else was changed from the original plans?

The last ice arrow from my recent barraged zoomed ever closer to my brother, he pressed the trigger and a satisfied sound reached my ear.

So, Eis has fifteen shots per magazine? That is five more than I remember; you truly have changed Königliche Löwenmäulchen to something else. My brother rolled to the left to dodge my strike, this gave me the chance I was looking for.

My semblance roared to life and like a railgun I was rocketed towards my brother with frightening speed. I gathered my Aura into my right hand and started to form it to my wishes.

I was readying an Aura spell that would cost me about ten percent of my current reserve but if I could hit Eis with it…It could give me the opportunity to strike back.

I was right upon my brother and I hurled myself in a lunge straight for his torso. After dodging my attack, my brother turned around and looked surprised by my aggressive charge. With speed fitting to his slender frame, he deflected my attack with the "true" edge of his weapon. (To all you peasants, the true edge of a blade is the part that is sharpened while the false edge is the opposite side.) Königliche Löwenmäulchen massive blade forced the smaller and more elegant Myrtenaster away. My brother's neat parry nearly caused Myrtenaster to escape my noble grasp, but I held steadfast to my weapon of choice.

Eis completely deflected my attack without any issue.

Too bad that was not the objective of my charge in the first place.

The Aura spell in my hand unleashed its pent-up energy into my brother's surprised face. The force of my soul lifted him off the ground and flew him across the room. Forming a glyph behind my brother's flight forced him to slam into it quite painfully.

With a twirl of my wrist another semblance ripped into reality and once more I was in the air. This time my lunge impaled my brother successfully and to his credit he did not cry out in pain. I swiftly abandoned the avenue of attack and barraged Eis with a multiple of thrusts.

His colorless Aura rose from his dreams to shield my attacks. It unnerved me to see an Aura without a color. But the strangeness of my brother's Aura is something that can be pondered later on. I swiftly delivered cuts to the forearm on both sides and jumped back to perform another lunge.

His Aura reserves must be low now and one more strike should finish this duel.

Before I could return to the offensives my brother charged. The first blow I was able to dodge, the second one I parried with an inside guard, the third came overhead and I shifted my Myrtenaster into a "Forte" position and deflected the attack.

I whipped into a slash and my brother somehow blocked and transformed the situation into a "Prise de fer ". (A Prise de fer is a delicate maneuver in fencing that takes the opponent's blade into a line and holds it there in preparation to attack.)

When did Eis learn fencing?

My surprise at his retort allowed Eis to regain momentum. Like the dragons he favors, Eis rushed me with the savagery of a beast. This time I was forced back.

A couple of times Eis' barbaric weapon gazed against my Aura. I could feel the sheer coldness that radiated from the glaive. Unlike the coldness produced by my semblance, Königliche Löwenmäulchen froze me with a sense of wrongness.

Something was not natural with my twin's blade.

No matter, this trickery of his will not win him this duel!


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I greedily gasped air back into my lungs, as I stared ahead. My body burned with tiredness and I was running low on Dust.

I quickly glanced at my scroll and saw how much of my Aura reserve I had left on the shattered screen. One of my brother's punches smashed into my scroll during a dodge. Thankfully it was still functioning enough to give me a proper reading of what I had left.

Fifteen percent of Aura and two crystals left of nature's wraith was all I had left in my reserves. The support Dust that filled Myrtenaster's chambers was all empty, except for the chamber that was filled with white Dust.

I would prefer not to waste the most expensive Dust in the world on a duel between siblings.

My scroll had also alerted me that I have been struggling against my brother for the last hour.

This fight has been the longest battle I have ever waged. My brother and I danced to each other's attacks like a song of old. My civilized charges against his primitive barrages clashed against each other. I do not doubt that my brother could defeat me hands down when it came to martial techniques.

It was only my esoteric knowledge of Dustcraft has kept me from falling to his glaive.

However, at the same time this conflict has benefited me. I think I understand how my brother's semblance works. If I am right about what it truly is…

I can only conclude that he's been playing around with me for the entire duel! This sacred duel that was agreed upon us Dust knows how many years and he toys with me like I am some sort of mutt!

I refuse to be treated like those vermin in the White Fang!

I am a Schnee! I have the blood of knights and dukes in my veins! My family is one of the most ancient and most noble of all of Atlas and Remnant. We are pure in blood and righteous in our actions, we're not some sort of mongrel filth you find in the streets!

I took a deep breath and calmed the raging sea that was my emotions. I could be completely wrong about my brother's semblance or the details behind it.

To think his soul can create illusions…

I duck to dodge a horizontal attack from my brother.

With a swift jab forward I forced my brother to back-flip into the air and land away from me.

Shamefully I have to admit I was quite jealous and peeved by my brother's physical capability and how they outclass my own. Maybe my master was right and I should have focused on swordplay before Dust spells?

No matter, I had to figure out a way to strike back against Eis!

I blocked his next attack to only see his arm…shattered into icy glass?

That troglodyte!

Another mirage, where did he go?!

An axe kick from above provided me with the rather painful answer.

Snarling, I grasped my second to last Frost Dust crystal and slammed into the ground. Pain blossomed into my senses as Eis and I were flung from ground zero. My body pitifully fell to the ground as I tried to get up.

I looked to see where my brother had landed and saw him looking back at me.

Crystal blue met crystal blue and I had an outlandish feeling that Eis was putting all his effort to defeat me and at the same time…

Why do I feel like this whole skirmish is to my benefit?

No, that is false Weiss…remember he's nothing more than a charlatan that needs you.

…I wonder…

I wonder who truly needs who?

With that thought I remember the incident two years ago in my brother's chamber. How I was caught with his diary…I didn't gain too much knowledge from it, I had to admit.

The diary was written in some sort of gibberish that held no relation to Remnantian. I concluded that it was sort of childish version of cryptography; Eis always did have a fondness for those old encryption books that I got him during our tenth year.

However, there were a couple of songs that were written in the vernacular. I have to admit they were odd and at the same time familiar to me. I did write them down before returning the diary back to my brother.

Maybe I should sing one to him and distract him?

That sounds like a ridiculous plan Weiss and you know that. However, we're in stalemate right now and I need a plan to end this.

Out of the two of us…Eis would outlast me.

Fine, it looks like this is my only option.

I stood in the middle of the battle with my aim to the side in a non-aggressive manor.

"Surrendering already Snowy? That seems out of character for you."

I will not listen to your useless banter brother. I have to focus and remember the lyrics. But which song should I sing? Which song would have the biggest impact on my brother?

Mirror Mirror

A title of a song was whispered into my mind. I paused for a second; I don't remember that song exactly from the diary. I did write down more than five songs, it's not like I remember them all vividly. However, this is the only song that I can recall to the forefront. It's strange like I have heard this song before, but where?

"Well if you are not going to attack or surrender, I'm just going to take a swing at you Snowy."

I sang

Only if I had known…what this would cause


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Mirror, tell me something,

"?!"

Tell me who's the loneliest of all?

"That song! Who the hell told you about that song?" A boy in white screamed at a person that could only be described as his twin.

Mirror, tell me something,

His weapon fell from his grasp and clang against the black floor. He collapsed onto his knees and held his head in pain.

Tell me who's the loneliest of all?

Hatred and agony were visible on his face, his eyes mirror in shape and design. His mouth started to foam white with madness and his veins bulged largely and inhumanly. They seemed ready to pop.

Fear of what's inside of me,

His body was on the floor, pain filled the entirety of his pitiful existence. His body started to lose its very color and turn glass in nature. Something metallic started to form around his arms. The air around the room started to shift like reality itself was being perverted and warped around the fallen snow child.

Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?

A scream echoed into the night. There were no human or Faunus word that could describe the amount of grief that filled into the night. It was only then did the snow angel stop her aria that was unknowingly birthing something wrong.

"Eis?"

our existence…

The snow angel gasped in horror at her actions and fearfully grabbed her blade.

OFF WITH YOUR HEAD

The snow angel ran away


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The castle that was once White Hall was now truly in ruins. The whole land completely destroyed and ravaged by the rage and sorrow of children. There I sat numbingly staring at the body of my brother. My eyes filled with tears and blood, I could barely see out of my left eye. Blood gushed from a wound that would surely scar.

I am okay with that…It is what I deserve after all.

How could I be so blind to what he has done for me? How could I think he was a liar and a thief?

I am a Schnee and yet I am so stupid

I should have prevented this, there had to be something I could have done to ch-

"I guess I'm just bad luck in the end, eh Snowy?"

"Eis! For Dust's shake don't joke like that!"

"Heh, you're talking like me now. I guess I really worried you in the end."

He reached out with his right hand and traced the wound that was on my left eye. I resisted the urge to flinch from the raw wound. I deserved this and more.

"I'm so sorry Weiss, you're little brother is an idiot."

"You dolt it's okay. You're my idiot and…" I paused too happy to see that he was alright despite everything.

"I guess it's a running gag that I'm the one on the ground." He chuckled painfully.

"I already contacted the medical staff with your scroll Eis."

"Eh, I must not be too bad in shape then."

He smiled at me

"It looks like you won this duel sister."

"!?'

I could not say anything to Eis' statement. I reached out hesitantly and with his encouragement touched…

Where my beloved brother left arm used to be

(Chapter Eight END)

(ARC TWO: "SHOWDOWN" COMPLETED)


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Author Note

Hello my dear readers! I am finally free from the oppression that is known as real life and post another chapter! I know some of you were disappointed that I haven't updated for a while...Well on the bright side, a month late is better than not posting anything I say!

Right, so that's the end of the second arc. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. A Cruel Thesis is the hardest chapter I have written for the story but honestly it was a lot of fun. We finally were able to see Weiss point of view and kind of understand her thought process a little bit more. She wasn't that hard to write honestly but I have a feeling that'll change in the future. Oh, right the next arc is well...it BEACON! Yeah, RWBY is actually starting now. If there one thing I can promise about the next arc, it would be much longer than this one. At least double the length of the second arc, maybe even ten chapters? I only have the next two chapters summarized though..

Don't worry too much about Eis' arm or Weiss scar, they will be explained in time my dear readers.

Reviews (I got a lot this time! ^_^)

Bladedancerxx: Thank you for the wonderful review! I am happy that you enjoyed this story so far and I hope you stick with the Snow Prince as it continues!

Goddess of Nekos: Stop it guys/girls you're making me blush! But seriously thank you for the compliment. It means a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story so much. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

GUEST (The only one): Maybe she is...I can't read her mind! _

Riverrose XV: I guess we both like the same types of books! No, the Snow Prince will not completely follow Canon. It will share some plot points, but also have events that are my invention to reflect the differences between the characters, teams, and even well...I'll keep that part secret for now.

Ou0: Well I hope this chapter was to your liking Ou0! I have to admit that guess you have of Eis' semblance is a really good one. Actually I might use it in a different story. But for the Snow Prince, it is simply not right. Do you want to guess again? ^_^

Well I hope you all have a good day and see you guys next time!