Welcome back everyone. Sorry about the cliffhanger ending last week, but I couldn't resist.
This week I'd like to shine the spotlight on "A World Divided" by kenoi131. It's set in a low fantasy AU, so don't expect any robots, mechs or firearms. If you have the chance, give it a read and let kenoi know what you think.
One point of clarification before we get to the chapter. You will notice that the first sentence of this week's chapter is also the last sentence of last week's chapter. No, Ruby is not repeating herself, I rewound time a couple of seconds. Last week I showed what she was doing just prior to her wail, this week I'm giving you her thoughts after the wail.
Chapter 9
"Weiss, Weiss, don't leave me. NOOOO." Ruby realizes she's said these exact words before, mostly in jest, during the food fight with team JNPR at the beginning of the semester. This time her words are deadly serious.
She activates her comm unit, "Glynda, Shadow, have you been monitoring the situation?"
"Yes," comes Cinder's reply.
"Indeed I have, Miss Rose." Ruby winces at Professor Goodwitch's reply. Ruby knows she's angry.
"I'm sorry, Professor. I need both you and Shadow here now to move Blake, Yang and Velvet into more comfortable positions. They'll be out for between 5 and 10 minutes. Professor, could you also alert Dust-off 223 that they may be needed for an emergency evac. I'm going to try something first, but if that doesn't work, we're going to need to get Weiss to a hospital ASAP."
"What, exactly, are you going to attempt, Miss Rose?"
"I'm going to do an Aura Dive, and I want you and Shadow here watching over both me and my friends." She knows Professor Goodwitch is going to argue against such a procedure, but she's going to do it no matter what.
"Are you insane? How do you even know that term? Most fourth year students have never even heard of that technique. It's too dangerous for someone without the proper training to even attempt. You'd need to attune your two auras, and we don't have time for a novice such as yourself to blunder her way through the process." The professor sounds dead set against Ruby's plan, but Ruby's not in the mood to argue.
Ruby props Weiss up so that she's leaning against the fallen tree with her left shoulder, and then walks over to where Blake lies unconscious, moving her into a more comfortable position and taking the ribbon she normally uses for her bow from her pocket. Looping one end around her left wrist, she quickly ties a slip knot and snugs it down. As she's walking back to Weiss, she finally answers the professor. "Look, I'm not going to argue with you. No, I'm not insane, I learned about Aura Diving in my training with my uncle. I'm also not a novice when it comes to attuning my aura to someone else's. If I were going into this cold, I could attune my aura in about two minutes, but Weiss and I already have our auras attuned. I had to do an Aura Transfusion to her yesterday, so my aura is still mingling with hers. The way I see it, you have two choices in this situation. You can either get here and help me, or I initiate the dive right now unprotected."
"Very well Miss Rose, I will assist you in this, but only because I can see you've already started the preparations for the Aura Dive, and I'm not close enough to stop you." Frustration obvious in her tone.
Ruby continues her preparations, clasping Weiss's right hand in her left, and securing their hands together with the ribbon. Remaining in physical contact during an Aura Dive is critical and Ruby doesn't want to take any chances. "I'm sorry, Professor, but I have to try this. It was my training scenario that sent her into a state of fear induced catatonia. Weiss has never said anything to me, but is there anything in her file about an attempted kidnapping or something. I think I triggered a PTSD episode."
"There's nothing in her file that I've seen, had there been, I would have informed you previously. I watched your preparations for this ambush, and it wasn't hard to determine the type of scenario you had in mind." Ruby can hear the concern in the professors voice, and knows she would have told Ruby to prevent this type of thing happening.
"Alright, thank you Professor. Once I go under I won't be able to see or hear anything going on around me. If something happens and you need me to surface, just tap my left shoulder two times. Also, if I'm under for more than 45 minutes, tap my shoulder three times. I'll surface at that point, unless I'm close to getting Weiss back." Ruby is kneeling in front of Weiss, straddling her outstretched legs, and looking into her eyes. There is nothing there, no recognition of Ruby, not even an awareness of her surroundings.
Ruby can hear Professor Goodwitch speaking with Dust-off 223, alerting them to the situation, and that they may be required for an emergency med-evac. She notices the professor enter the small clearing, and can hear rustling from the other side of the log.
"What, exactly are you doing Miss Shadow?" That is the last thing Ruby hears as she leans her right shoulder against the log and allows her consciousness to slip away initiating the Aura Dive.
"What, exactly are you doing Miss Shadow?" Glynda asks with an annoyed expression on her face.
Cinder looks up from where she is crouched over Yang. "I'm trying to turn this lummox over, but she's solid muscle, and a bit heavier than I expected. Reaper did say she wanted us to make them more comfortable, and I don't think she wants her sister to smother with her face in the dirt." She grunts as she finally is able to roll Yang onto her back, exposing a Yellow crystal beneath her.
Picking it up, she thinks 'I could use this', but shakes her head. While she certainly can channel Nature's Wrath, it isn't what she excels at. She much prefers using Dust in its powdered form, her semblance allows her to shape and energize the dust to her will, while solid crystals like this one are less malleable and harder to control. Getting an evil grin on her face, she decides to have some fun with the professor. Standing up and turning towards Goodwitch she shouts, "Heads up Professor," and tosses the crystal underhand, lofting it towards the older woman.
Glynda looks up, her eyes widening as she sees the yellow crystal flying towards her. Instinctively she forms a protective glyph, and grabs the crystal with her semblance, expecting it to detonate. When nothing happens, she looks over at Shadow, who is smirking at her reaction.
"Do you really think I would warn you before I tried to destroy you?" Cinder asks, not even trying to hide her mirth.
"You'll forgive me if my instincts take over when someone, such as yourself, throws a Dust crystal at me," Glynda says, annoyed with both the other woman, and herself for reacting in that manner.
"I believe it belongs to the rabbit Faunus girl. What's her name... Velvet?" Cinder asks, looking back down at Yang, trying to figure out how to move the girl. Suddenly, a purple haze surrounds Yang, as she is lifted from the ground, and begins floating towards the professor. Looking over towards the professor, she sees Velvet also being levitated to land next to Blake.
"I think you'll agree, my semblance is useful in this situation," Glynda says with a smug expression on her face.
Cinder sniffs, then looks over to where Weiss and Ruby are. "So, what exactly is going on there? I heard Reaper say something about Aura Diving and Aura Transfusion, but I have to admit to being completely in the dark as to what those terms mean."
Professor Goodwitch looks appraisingly at Cinder, thinking. After some deliberation, she responds, "Very well, I'm not sure how much formal education you've received, so I'll ask. Do you know about attuning your aura to another's?"
Cinder nods her head, "I know about attuning auras, I'm just not practiced at it as it's not something I need for what I do for a living."
Glynda huffs in disapproval, "It may not be necessary for your work, but it is the cornerstone for several, very useful abilities, two of which you've asked me about. Once you attune your aura to that of someone else, you are capable of manipulating both auras. An Aura Transfusion is, just as it sounds, a technique where one person donates a portion of their aura to another. This can be done to assist in healing by channeling one's aura to the injured location, it can also be done to ensure that someone who's been aura compromised, is protected from further harm. As Miss Rose said, she performed an Aura Transfusion with Miss Schnee yesterday, in this instance, she performed both functions simultaneously. Miss Schnee and Miss Xiao Long had gotten into an altercation, and Miss Schnee was injured and had her aura depleted."
Cinder looks at the professor, confused. "If you knew this already, why'd you imply you thought Reaper wouldn't know the proper techniques to perform this Aura Dive thing?"
The corner of Glynda's mouth quirks up into a grin, as she replies, "The headmaster shares a great deal of information with me. He prefers that Miss Rose not be made aware that he has shared much of her training with me. It will make her that much more determined to prove her abilities, thus, giving us a much better measure of her exact abilities. While her training is extensive, it is incomplete and making her prove her abilities shows us where we need to concentrate our efforts."
"So he's being as manipulative as ever. It's gotten him into trouble before, when he plays his cards too close to his chest." The bitterness in her statement is clear.
"It is true, he has made mistakes of that sort in the past, but that is why he employs me as his conscience in such matters." Glynda's gaze is steady and confident. "He wishes to avoid making those mistakes in the future, as much as possible, anyway, and he listens to my council in many instances. In this case, I agree that revealing my prior knowledge of Miss Rose's training would be a mistake. In any case, back to your questions. After the altercation yesterday, Miss Rose layered her aura over Miss Schnee, and showed considerable control as well. She healed her injuries, replenished her aura to acceptable levels, and was able to keep her unconscious during the process to prevent any mishaps. All in all, a remarkable display, but I must question her when she returns if she is aware of the side effects of the techniques she is using." She looks over at her two brightest students with concern.
"What do you mean by side effects?" Cinder questions with some interest.
"At the moment, that isn't important. If you are really interested, you can be there when I question both Miss Rose and Miss Schnee. As for Aura Diving, what you are seeing here is Miss Rose channeling her consciousness into Miss Schnee's mind. By linking both their auras and their physical bodies," she indicates the two girls' hands joined and bound together, "Miss Rose is able to send her mind into that of Miss Schnee, the reason she bound their hands together is to ensure that the physical contact isn't broken. Were that to happen, Miss Rose's mind would likely be lost within that of Miss Schnee, until another person capable of performing an Aura Dive enters Miss Schnee's mind, locating her and allowing her to return to her own body. While her mind is within Miss Schnee's body, Miss Rose will have full access to all of Miss Schnee's memories. She is most likely looking for a specific memory that could have triggered this episode, as well as attempting to bring Miss Schnee back to consciousness. She has given herself a time limit of 45 minutes in the real world, but time will likely be skewed within Miss Schnee's mind."
"I've noticed you've gone back to calling Reaper by her last name. Any particular reason?"
"I am most displeased with the turn of events that has transpired here. Miss Rose should have been more perceptive to the situation as it evolved. I know she expected Miss Schnee to be thrown off her game plan with this ambush, but she should have realized something more was going on when Miss Schnee continued to be unresponsive to the situation." Exasperation evident in her words.
Cinder shrugs her shoulders with indifference, "Not that it's anything to me, but I highly doubt Reaper had a line of sight to the heiress. I was watching her from my position, and her eye was glued to her scope, I doubt she even glanced at her scroll to check the drones."
"Her lack of situational awareness is exactly why I'm displeased. She should have used the drones to keep an eye on anyone she didn't have line of sight to. Although, this is what training exercises are for. It appears that Miss Rose is going to be learning a few lessons on this mission as well."
Blake is beginning to stir, and Professor Goodwitch moves to her side. "Miss Shadow, I believe I need to ask you to make yourself scarce for a bit, until the girls can be brought up to speed."
"Very well, I will remain out of sight, but nearby. Just let me know when you want to introduce me." With that, she nods to Glynda and walks into the woods.
Glynda returns her attention to Blake, as the student's eyes open, looking around in a moment of panic. "Welcome back Miss Belladonna, let's get you cleaned up a bit, I'm going to require your assistance in restraining your partner in a moment." She hands the girl a moist towelette and indicates her forehead.
Blake rubs the towelette on her forehead, when it comes away stained red, a look of concern crosses her face, but Professor Goodwitch reassures her. "It's just a paint round with some knockout gas thrown in for effect. Miss Rose was running you through a training scenario. Now if you'll come over here, next to Miss Xiao Long, so that she can see you're alright, she should be much easier to restrain when she wakes up. Speak of the devil, it appears she's coming to. Hurry over here please, I'll be holding her with my semblance, but I don't want her to injure herself struggling, the last thing she saw clearly was you getting shot and falling down, apparently dead."
Glynda encases Yang with her semblance, propping the girl up so she's looking at Blake and waits while consciousness returns to the brawler.
Consciousness returns in an instant, Yang's eyes fly open and instantly flash to red. She flares her semblance and struggles against the bonds she feels restraining her movements, throwing all her strength into every surge. Suddenly, amber eyes fill her vision, and a calming voice reaches her ears. "Yang, Yang, snap out of it. I'm right here and I'm fine. It was a training exercise cooked up by our wonderful leader. Calm down Yang, you'll hurt yourself."
As the voice settles into her brain, Yang's struggles begin to subside. Looking into Blake's eyes, she asks, "You're okay? Ruby set this up?"
Seeing that Yang has calmed down, Glynda eases the girl down and releases her hold before walking into Yang's field of vision. "Yes Miss Xiao Long, Miss Belladonna is fine. This was a training exercise that Miss Rose set up with permission from the Headmaster."
"I'm going to have to have a serious talk with that precious little sister of mine. Where is she, by the way?" Yang asks, still a bit groggy, now that she's calmed down.
"Miss Rose is currently with Miss Schnee, who, apparently, had a panic attack triggered by this scenario. We believe Miss Schnee may be suffering from PTSD caused by an event from her past, and this encounter triggered some sort of flashback, which caused Miss Schnee to regress into a catatonic state. Any talks you wish to have with Miss Rose must wait until after she finishes what she is doing at present. Now, if you'll excuse me, it appears that Miss Scarlatina is coming around." With that, Glynda hands Yang a towelette, and moves over next to the final member of the group.
"So, my sister set us up, and with the blessing of the headmaster no less. I wonder what got under her skin and made her doubt our abilities?" Yang ponders aloud.
"What makes you think she doubts us, Yang?" Blake looks at her partner, confused at her reasoning.
"I know my sister, she did something like this when we were younger. She was in her first year at Signal when I did something rather stupid, I came out of it alright, but my darling sister decided I needed to learn something more than what I got from our dad's lecture. So, instead of talking to me about it, she set up this silly scenario and tricked me into making the same mistake as before. Needless to say, I learned more from Ruby rubbing my nose in my mistake than I did from dad. We never did explain to him how we got all those bruises, just said we went a little overboard with our sparring." Yang grins in memory. "That was the first time Rubes and I actually went all out against each other, and also where I learned she was destined to be a great huntress. Here she was, just starting to learn how to wield her chosen weapon, and barely able to control her semblance and she gave me as many lumps as I gave her, and I had two years of training already under my belt."
"Care to elaborate on your mistake, and Ruby's trick?" Blake is now very curious.
"Maybe later, when there aren't so many ears around." Yang indicates the air around them. Blake nods in understanding.
While the Bumbleby duo are discussing their leader, Glynda is crouched next to Velvet as she wakes from her forced nap. As the Faunus girl's eyes open and she looks around, she catches the green eyes of her professor. A wry grin crosses Velvets face as she says, "I guess I didn't do so well on my first day. I should have gone for Ruby first and accepted a few hits from the guns."
Shaking her head, Glynda gets to her feet, and offers the girl her hand to help her up from the ground. "Don't be so hard on yourself, not many of my students would have been able to maintain as much focus as you did when you were tackled. You dropped this by the way." She hands the yellow crystal to Velvet.
Velvet hums in response, accepting the crystal, and slipping it into one of her pouches. "I'd forgotten what it was like to be on a team that wasn't used to people who called upon Nature's Wrath, and forgot to warn them not to disrupt my channeling." Her ears droop as she hangs her head in guilt. "I could have killed us because of that mistake."
"Don't beat yourself up too much. Your group wasn't supposed to win the day today. I'm sure Miss Rose will have more to say once she finishes what she's doing. Just so you know, Miss Schnee is currently catatonic. We currently believe that she suffers from PTSD, and today's exercise triggered a reaction." Glynda motions to where Weiss and Ruby are.
Velvet narrows her eyes as she takes in the situation, focusing her aura. "Am I going crazy, of is she Aura Diving? Where did she even hear of that?"
Glynda nods her head and lets out an exasperated huff. "No, you're not crazy. Apparently, her uncle deemed it necessary for Miss Rose to learn some high level aura techniques. The only reason you, as a Third Year student, were allowed to learn the technique was because of your exceptional aura control. Miss Rose gave me a 45 minute time limit for this dive, she's got about another 30 minutes before I wake her. The evac bullhead is on standby in case Miss Rose can't wake Miss Schnee. I sincerely hope that Miss Rose succeeds. If she can't wake Miss Schnee, and we have to evac, this incident will be a black mark on Miss Rose's permanent record, and Miss Schnee will most likely be unable to continue as a student at Beacon."
"Why would Weiss be kicked out of Beacon? Granted, she suffers from PTSD, but there are ways to overcome even so severe a reaction. Aura therapy can allow someone to lessen the effects almost to the point of non-existence. Granted, she'll never be put in charge of her own team now, but that doesn't mean she can't become a great huntress in her own rights." Velvet's concern for the younger woman obvious.
Glynda nods her head. "Yes, aura therapy would definitely allow Miss Schnee to become a huntress, but only if it's successful. It relies on a number of factors, most notably, someone strong in aura manipulation that you trust to know your deepest secrets, and a strong will. If Miss Rose can snap Miss Schnee out of her catatonia, it will definitely show that Miss Schnee has the will, but I'm not sure if she has anyone she would trust with her deepest secrets. None of team RWBY seemed to be aware that there could be a reaction to this scenario, so it would seem that Miss Schnee has not trusted even her teammates with her past."
Ruby is completely unaware of anything happening in the world outside her consciousness. As soon as she initiated the Aura Dive, she had lost almost all sensation from her physical body. She could still feely the physical weight of her cloak on her left shoulder, and her mind would only register sensations from that one location in the real world. Ruby is currently traveling along a blindingly bright white tunnel. She can sense motion, but can't determine how fast she is going, the complete featurelessness of the tunnel gives her no reference points against which to judge speed.
Eventually, a dark spot appears in the distance and quickly begins to expand towards her. Ruby is nervous in anticipation. Entering that darkened area will mean she has arrived within Weiss's mind. Ruby braces herself, not entirely sure what to expect. She has performed Aura Dives before, back when she was being trained, but has never performed a full dive with someone in a semi-conscious state like Weiss. Each person's mindscape is different, at least that's what she'd been told, and Uncle Qrow's mindscape had been quite different from that of Kijibato-sensei.
Suddenly, Ruby is no longer in the tunnel. She's standing in a hallway, behind her is a window that looks out onto a beautiful garden filled with all manner of flowers and shrubs. Though the peace and tranquility the garden represents calls to Ruby, she instinctively knows that Weiss is not there. In her state, Weiss has likely hidden herself in a dark, secluded place, hoping to remain hidden.
Ruby senses a presence appear behind her, and she spins into a defensive crouch, hand going to the small of her back and withdrawing Crescent Rose. Standing before her is a mountain of a man, Ruby recognizes him from Weiss's description. This is the White Fang Enforcer that confronted Weiss on the train, although he appears even more massive than Ruby remembers Weiss describing him. This representation stands roughly eight feet tall, and is massively muscled, there are no obvious Faunus features that Ruby can detect, but the full face grimm mask ensures that he must be some form of Faunus to have risen within the ranks of White Fang. The massive chainsaw he wields buzzes ominously, and he revs the engine, causing it to scream as the RPMs increase.
After several tense moments of just staring at each other, Ruby relaxes, standing up from her crouch and returns Crescent Rose to the carrier at the small of her back.
Taking a menacing step forward, the Enforcer swings the chainsaw at Ruby's head. Ruby puts her right hand up, blocking the buzzing blade with her open palm. She watches as the muscles on the enforcer's arms strain, trying in vain to force the blade forward.
"I know who, and what you are." Ruby says with contempt. "You have no power over me, as I have none over you. I am not a construct of Weiss's mind and therefore cannot be harmed by you or anyone else I may meet in here. You are the manifestation of her fears, and she has given you far too much power over her."
After a few more moments, the enforcer withdraws his chainsaw, and says in a heavy Altesian accent "It would seem you are indeed not one of the little princess's constructs. Be warned, Ruby Rose, I will find where she has hidden herself, and when I do, I will shatter what little control she still maintains and then she will be gone forever."
"A bit self-destructive, don't you think. Without her, you wouldn't exist." Ruby ponders for a moment, then continues. "I actually don't plan on preventing you from confronting Weiss. She needs to face you to overcome her fears, I just need to find her first." With that, Ruby smiles broadly and brushes past the manifestation of Weiss's fears.
"I will find her, and I will crush what's left of her spirit," the manifestation growls and vanishes from sight.
Ruby wanders the hallway of Weiss's mind, trying different doors here and there. Most are locked, but a few are open, and Ruby catches the occasional glimpse of her girlfriend at different times in her life. Although she is curious, and would like nothing more than to watch as the memories play out, she's looking for a specific memory that could explain Weiss's reaction to the training scenario.
Eventually, one of the doors she opens has the sounds of gunfire, shouting and muffled explosions. 'Could this be the memory I'm looking for?' she thinks to herself. Almost as if in answer she hears a gruff male voice say in a thick Altesian accent, "Commere ya little brat."
Her mind made up, Ruby knows that as soon as she crosses the threshold she will relive this memory in its entirety, and from the perspective of Weiss. Taking a deep breath as if she were about to dive underwater, she enters the room.
Eleven years earlier
Weiss races down the hallway to the railing looking down onto the first floor. "Come on Win, hurry up. They're here, they're here, they're here." She says, bouncing up and down in excitement. Looking back the way she came she watches her twin sister laugh at her antics.
"Honestly Weiss, we're turning six, but you're acting as if you're three." While there is a small grain of rebuke in her tone, Winter Schnee, the more serious of the twins, has a broad smile and a mischievous glint in her eye.
Weiss huffs at her sister and retaliates with, "Since I'm the older sister here, if I'm three then so are you." She sticks her tongue out and hops onto the railing, riding it down to the first floor and leaping off before she hits the finial at the base of the stairs.
"Weiss, mom and dad are going to be upset with you for sliding down the railing. How many times are they going to have to scold you for doing that?" Winter asks, trying for a stern expression, but the giggles she's failing to completely suppress ruin the effect.
"Hmmm... probably about ten times as many times as they've already done. It's just too much fun to resist." Weiss grins back up to her sister, who is descending the stair in a more dignified manner.
"What is this?" A man's voice calls out from a hallway just off the bottom of the staircase. "Sliding down the handrail again? What have I told you about that, young lady?"
He emerges from the hallway, a stern look on his face. His 6'3" frame topped with stark white hair, parted on the right, his icy blue eyes stare at his elder daughter. He is impeccably dressed, his black dress shoes have a mirror-like shine on them, his black dress pants perfectly creased, a white dress shirt whose cuffs are held closed by diamond cufflinks in the shape of the Schnee family crest is under a black suit coat, and a pale blue necktie secured by a diamond tie pin, also in the shape of the Schnee family crest. The only other spot of color on his outfit is the yellow center of a common daisy he wears on his lapel.
The woman who steps out with him, her left hand resting lightly on his forearm which he holds crooked at the appropriate angle, also has a stern look on her face. She stands a mere 5'4" in her black dress shoes with the 3" heels, and her jet black hair is up in a formal bun. Her jade green eyes note the slight flush on her elder daughter's face, and the smug 'I told you so.' look the younger twin is giving her sister. The hem of her pure white strapless gown just brushes the tops of her ankles. Her shoulders are covered by a bolero jacket that gradates from pale blue to stark white, the sleeves flaring out at the cuffs, and the red lining visible in the upturned collar. The front of the jacket is left open, revealing a diamond pendant in the shape of the Schnee family crest.
Weiss toes the floor with her right foot while she looks down guiltily and holds her hands behind her back. "You said a proper lady does not slide down the handrail and that if you caught me doing so again you would severely punish me."
He turns to his wife and asks, "What shall we do with our recalcitrant young Weiss?"
She looks up at her husband thinking, "Shall we lock her in her room for the duration of the party and warn our guests that she's not to be disturbed?"
Weiss begins to get nervous, if she's not allowed to attend the party then she will miss the chance to see some of her favorite people in the world, but her horror deepens as her father speaks again.
"Hmmm... that may work, but didn't my brother Gustoff say he would be coming and bringing his son as well? Let us have her punishment be that she must sit with and escort her cousin for the duration of the party."
"NO, please daddy. Don't make me stay with cousin Gustoff. Anything but that, please. I'll eat nothing but yucky broccoli for a week, I'll help the maids scrub the floors, anything, just don't make me be with him." The panic in her voice obvious, and her eyes shimmer with unshed tears. Her head snaps up and she glares at her parents as she hears the hearty roar of laughter from her father and the titters of laughter from her mother.
"My darling daughter Weiss, do you think us so cruel as to force you to spend time with that ill mannered oaf?" Her father asks once he composes himself somewhat. "Were he not my younger brother's eldest son, he would not be allowed to set foot in this house. I think, as today is your birthday, we shall overlook your transgression this one time."
Weiss's smile lit up the room, and the joy radiating from her was almost a physical force. "Thank you, daddy. Thank you, mommy. I promise not to slide down the railing anymore."
Her father's face falls into a stern frown as he says, "Weiss Schnee, do not make promises you can't keep. A broken promise is the same as a lie, and you know I will not tolerate anyone lying to me."
Weiss gulps at her father's words. She hangs her head apologetically saying, "I'm sorry daddy. I will try really hard to remember not to slide down the railing, no matter how fun it is."
"Very well, Weiss." her father says, the smile back on his face. "I accept your apology. Now let's greet our guests, I believe I hear your nana haranguing the guards outside the door."
At this both girls' faces light up. Nana Schnee is their favorite person in the world, after their parents of course. They begin to run towards the door, but they pull up short when their father clears his throat. The two girls stand, hands clasped demurely in front of them, Weiss on the left and Winter on the right. Their father stands slightly behind and to the left of Weiss, while their mother stands to Winter's right.
As soon as they are all in position, somehow, magically, the guards outside know to let the guests start to enter. The first one through the door, of course, is the matriarch of the Schnee family, Weiss's nana. As she begins to walk toward the family, she throws a glance over her shoulder, ensuring that none of the others waiting outside have dared cross the threshold yet.
"Mother, you're looking beautiful as ever," her father says as he hugs his mother, a broad smile on his face.
"I've already given you the company, you can stop with the flattery now Schwarz," her nana says as she slaps him on the arm with a grin on her face.
Nana next turns her attention to their mother, who says, "A pleasure as always Mrs. Schnee." While the wording is formal, the tone and warm smile indicate that it is indeed a pleasure.
Nana scowls at their mother replying, "Since I've handed the reins of the company over to my son, you are now Mrs. Schnee. Just call me Lavendel, or if that's too informal for you, you can always call me mom." Nana hugs Weiss's mother with warmth and affection.
"If we are going to be informal then I insist you call me Margerite, mom." Weiss's mother returns the hug.
"Now, for these two precious little angels. Happy birthday to you Weiss," she says, kissing Winter on the forehead, "and you as well, Winter," now giving Weiss a kiss on the forehead.
"Nana! I'm Weiss and she's Winter." Weiss says, a playful whine in her voice. This is an old game they always play. Nana has always been able to tell the two girls apart, even when they intentionally tried to fool people.
"Oh, my goodness me. How will I ever be able to tell you two apart?" Nana asks in mock despair.
Without even looking at each other, Weiss holds up her right arm at the same time Winter holds up her left. "You gave these bracelets to us last year so you could tell us apart." This time it's Winter speaking to their Nana. On their arms are bracelets, Winter's is yellow gold with her name inlaid in white gold, while Weiss's is white gold with her name inlaid in yellow gold.
"Dear me, I must be getting senile. I forgot to check your bracelets." Nana kneels down and stretches her arms out to encompass the two girls, who rush in and plant kisses on her cheeks. Weiss on her nana's right cheek and Winter on the left cheek.
After her nana has greeted them, the rest of the family is allowed to enter and greet the family and extend their birthday well wishes to the twins.
Several hours later, after a sumptuous luncheon where Weiss deliberately avoided sitting anywhere near cousin Gustoff, the family is gathered in the sitting room waiting for the servants to bring in the cakes for the girls. As the servants enter the room, the entire family begins singing Happy Birthday to the twins, and a cake is set in front of each of them. Winter's is a chocolate cake with bright yellow frosting, black piping and green lettering, while Weiss's is a lemon cake with white frosting, light blue piping and red lettering.
Just as the singing dies down, and the girls are about to blow out their candles, a muffled thump is heard from outside. Shortly thereafter, one of the guards rushes in and moves over to her father. After a hushed exchange Schwarz stands up saying "Everyone listen up. An unknown hostile force has breached the perimeter wall and have entered the grounds." Tapping the guard on the shoulder, he continues, "Get the children to the safe room. Everyone else, ready your weapons. Those of you who didn't bring their weapons, follow me to the armory." With that, he storms off followed by his wife and several others who've left their weapons at home, not expecting to need them on this happy occasion.
As the children are on the way to the safe room, cousin Gustoff shoves one of the other children out of his way. The commotion distracts their escort and Weiss pulls Winter into a nearby coat closet.
"Weiss, what are you doing?" hisses Winter.
"We're hiding in here. I'm not being locked in the safe room with Gustoff." Weiss states with finality.
Winter huffs and starts making a seat out of the coats, "Fine, you're impossible to reason with when you get like this, but so help me, when we get in trouble for this, I'm making sure mom and dad both know it was your idea."
"Whatever, just be quiet or they'll find us and lock us in the safe room." Weiss says layering a few coats on the floor and then lying on top of them.
Soon the sisters can hear the sounds of fighting getting closer, gunfire, clashing metal, breaking glass, people screaming. By this time the girls are in each other's arms and when there is a thump against the door to the closet, they both jumped, and Weiss let out a small shriek.
From the other side of the door comes a gruff voice. "Did you hear that?"
"Yea, sounded like it came from that door there," comes a second voice.
"Let's check it out, we might have found us some cornered rats," the first voice says.
The door to the closet bursts open and in the doorway is a large figure, the most prominent features of which were a rack of antlers and a white mask that appears to be made of bone and has red markings painted on it. A second figure is behind the first, this one appears to have hound dog ears and is also wearing the bone mask.
"Looks like we've found ourselves a pair of Schneelings," the first voice says, coming from the deer Faunus.
The second figure looks in and starts to laugh, "Not just any Schneelings, those look like the princesses. Their deaths will make for a great example."
"Hey, I've got an idea," the first one says. "Why don't we kill one and leave it here and take the other one with us. Then we can send video footage, along with random parts to the media outlets to show what happens to people who oppress the Faunus."
The second figure just laughs at this idea, and the first one reaches in towards the girls, looking to grab Weiss saying "Commere ya little brat."
Just as the figure is about to grab Weiss, the second one makes a gurgling scream as he's hit by a flash of metal and a figure in a black suit with white hair rushes past the door. The first figure straightens up, just in time for a saber, wielded by one of the guards to be thrust through his body, piercing his heart. As he dies, the man's arm flinches and his sword scores a line up Weiss's face from her left cheek to her forehead, just missing her eye.
Weiss and Winter stay huddled in the closet for a while longer, as the noises of battle recede. Finally Weiss, whose curiosity has gotten the better of her, moves to exit the closet, but Winter grabs her arm saying, "Don't go out there, those bad people could come back."
Weiss can see the fear in Winter's eyes, but she has to find out what's happened and she removes her sister's hand from her arm gently, saying, "Stay here Win, I'll go see if I can find a guard or somebody to help us get away from here." She edges out of the closet, carefully avoiding the blood that has seeped from the two dead Faunus.
The hallway was a shambles. Broken furniture litters the area and she sees a few more bodies as she heads towards the sitting room, hoping to find someone to help her and Winter. As she enters the sitting room she sees several more bodies, but one in particular draws her eye. An older woman, with silvering hair, a gaping wound across her chest seeping blood.
"Nana," Weiss cries, rushing to the woman, shaking her. "Nana wake up. Nana please get up, please nana."
Just then her father walks in with one of the guards and sees Weiss kneeling next to his mother's body. "Weiss, what are you doing here? Why aren't you in the safe room? You," he points to the guard with him, "get her away from there." He strides over to the intercom and punches in the code for the safe room. "Whoever's in the safe room answer me now. This is Schwarz Schnee, why is Weiss out her and not in there?"
"Sir," a guard's voice comes through on the intercom, "it wasn't until we had locked down the room that it was discovered that neither Weiss nor Winter was with the group. I'm sorry sir, but young Gustoff shoved the door shut and locked the system down before we could do a head count."
Turning back toward Weiss, who has latched onto the body of her nana, and is refusing to let go despite the best efforts of the guard, he asks "Weiss, where's Winter? Weiss, look at me. Where's Winter?"
"I've got her," their mother says, she spies the body that Weiss is kneeling next to and quickly ushers Winter out of the room. "I'm taking her up to her room and staying with her for a bit. Bring Weiss up as quickly as you can."
He nods his head, and tries to get his elder daughter to release her hold but to no avail, until two more guards enter through the broken glass dragging a semi-conscious rabbit Faunus with them saying, "Sir, we've found a survivor. Do you want to question him before we turn him over to the law enforcement officers?"
Before he can say anything, Weiss screams, "NO." and grabs her nana's sword, Myrtenaster, in both hands and lunges at the faunus, impaling him through the chest. "Kill them, daddy. Kill them all for what they did to nana. Make them pay, daddy."
"I will honey. I'll get rid of them all and make them pay for what they did to our family. Now come away from here." He gently leads his daughter from the room saying to one of the guards, "Inform the staff that effective immediately every Faunus on the payroll is terminated and they have until sundown to leave the premises. Any of those filthy animals that remain past sundown will be forcibly expelled and if they resist, well... use your discretion, but I want every one of them gone."
Present
As the memory fades, Ruby finds herself, once again, in the hallway. She leans against the wall and slowly lowers herself down, sitting on the floor and wrapping her arms around her knees as she cries. "Why didn't you tell me, Weiss. I could have helped you, and I definitely wouldn't have used the scenario I did."
Ruby replays the memory in her head trying to commit it to her own memory, and she notices something. The bolero jacket her mother wore, she's almost positive it's exactly like the one Weiss wears constantly. 'Does she wear that jacket for the same reason I wear my cloak, and if she does, does that mean her mother's gone?'
Ruby had come here looking for an answer to why Weiss had gone catatonic, but she has found much more than just that. She now believes that this memory she'd just relived, was the origin of Weiss's hatred towards the Faunus, and it also, likely, represented Weiss's first kill. She knows the weapon in the memory was Myrtenaster, and the strike Weiss had delivered, while not well aimed, was almost certainly fatal.
After a few minutes crying for Weiss, Ruby gets up, wiping the last few tears from her cheeks and checks her surroundings. With fury in her eyes and determination in her stride, she heads off in the same direction she had been going. She knows what she's looking for now. A specific door which will lead to a coat closet, it had protected and yet trapped her before and would be the perfect location for her lost consciousness to retreat to.
Well, I'm sorry if it feels that this chapter cut off rather abruptly, but I needed to break this chapter up. As it stands, this chapter's word count is just over 7500, prior to my splitting the chapter the word count was approaching 12K and it still wasn't finished. When I originally decided to split the chapter up, I looked at ending this chapter with the closet door bursting open, but then realized, if I did that there would be more than one High-Impact Sniper Rifle pointed my way. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the glimpse at a happy and fun loving Weiss surrounded by loving family. I hope to see you all back next week. Comments and reviews are always welcome, and Keep Moving Forward.