Chapter 10

"That was a pretty wild fight," Pyrrha commented. "It's a shame we didn't get to fight that Nevermore, though. I'd like to get revenge on Blake too."

"All of us have a lot of pent-up anger right now," Ren said, gently pulling Nora away from the cafeteria doors. "It's not dinner yet, Nora."

"But I can smell cookies," Nora complained, staring intently through the crack in the doors. "I bet one of the older teams snuck in and got the cooks to make them food! Why can't we do that too? Oh, it's probably because we're not old enough. But we deserve cookies! Professor Port just unleashed a Grimm on us and I need my energy back. Hey, has anyone seen my pink pen? I think I dropped it somewhere when we were walking from the dorms…"

As usual, by the third sentence Ren was the only one listening to her chatter. Pyrrha and Ruby let their one-sided conversation fade into the background.

"Anyway, so how are you feeling?" Pyrrha asked. "I know it must be hard, facing a Nevermore. Does it bring back painful memories?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, casting her gaze on the ground. "I don't really want to talk about it, sorry."

"That's alright," Pyrrha sympathized, clapping a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "It's always hard when you're faced with the circumstances. I'm lucky – I've never encountered snow Dust since it killed my mum. And anyway, all I remember is the cold."

Ruby nodded. "I don't remember when I lost my mum. Yang always says I was really upset, but I didn't remember what was happening."

Pyrrha didn't say anything for a few moments. "Still, Yang shouldn't have gone into a rage like that. All she did was get herself into trouble. She should've been more reasonable."

For some reason, this stung Ruby, and she felt the need to defend her sister. "We've all been through a really traumatic experience! I don't think I'll ever be able to even look at a Nevermore without wanting to kill it. They won't punish her for something like that."

"But Beacon teaches us restraint," Pyrrha argued. "We have to be able to control our emotions, not let them splash all over the place, on other things and other people."

"Not everyone is as controlled as you, though," Ruby said, trying to sound reasonable. Somehow, she doubted Pyrrha really understood how much Blake's death had really affected Yang, and Ruby and Weiss to a lesser extent. JNPR was still happily together, and they'd only known Blake distantly – of course they wouldn't understand, no matter how much empathy they tried to show.

"I know. But that's the point of attending Beacon, right? Learning to control ourselves, and focus our skills into good Hunting and grace, not just raging all over the place."

"Yes. But it's also about learning how to cope with loss, and Yang's fight was a part of that," Ruby replied, spreading her hands. "Wait, where are Ren and Nora?"

"Probably went to get cookies," Pyrrha said, turning back to look for them. The hallway was empty except for someone reading at the far end, and Ruby's heart jolted painfully for a moment before she realised the person was wearing a black hat, not a bow.

Ruby was about to change the conversation topic, but Pyrrha turned back to her again, a serious glint in her eye. "But coping with loss shouldn't involve violence. Living a life of fighting has taught me that violence is almost never the answer."

"Then why are you Hunting?" Ruby challenged. She didn't understand why Pyrrha's philosophies were rubbing her the wrong way today, but as usual, her mouth blabbed on before she could censor her words. "Maybe you should be a model for cereal boxes for a living instead. I heard Jaune really likes your cereal."

"What?" Pyrrha said, raising her eyebrows.

"Jaune, you know Jaune, right? If you were as reasonable as you said, maybe you'd see that you two are completely pining after each other! Sometimes you need to stop trying to solve other people's problems and just think about your own for a second!" Ruby burst out, her voice trembling a little. She immediately clapped her hand to her mouth, feeling horrified, but the damage was done – Pyrrha's green eyes were watering.

"I thought you were a nice, level-headed person," she choked out. "I guess I was wrong."

"Wait, Pyrrha, I'm –" She stopped, because as much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't sorry. Pyrrha could be so stubborn sometimes, refusing to see something that was plain to everyone around her because she thought it was other people's problems she was supposed to fix.

But Pyrrha was already striding off, her blood-red hair whipping Ruby violently on the nose.

Ruby fingered her nose miserably, kicking the wall with her toe (and immediately wincing with pain). First Winter, now this. She tried to be nice to everyone, but all she ended up doing was ruining relationships. She wouldn't be surprised if Pyrrha never spoke to her again.

-x-

Weiss almost never felt cold anymore. Her hair could turn into ice Dust for all she cared, and she would still be alive. She would not be surprised if the doctors declared that her body was an anomaly and maintained homeostasis at the freezing point of water.

She never felt warmth, either. She could probably step into an oven and only notice the heat when her skin began flaking off her flesh.

She recalled that sometimes people called her condition numb, but she preferred to think of herself as impenetrable by weather.

Thus, the November chill did not bother her, and she dispassionately trod on every frosted leaf that dared to lie in her path on the cobbled road. The school grounds were crisp, every landmark outlined in a thin thread of white; Beacon looked like a fairy tale castle as the first ray of sunlight hit the spire of its uppermost tower.

Of course, Weiss had left fairy tales behind long ago, in a very different castle that had witnessed countless shouting matches between her and Winter. She blinked to dispel the images, and rubbed her ears absently to get rid of the echoes of their raised voices. She was strong now. When her sister won their verbal battles with a well-timed scream for assistance, she did not hide in the black room of the White Castle to avoid punishment. When the White Fang attacked, she did not run to her mother to hide from her father's rages.

With a shake of her head, making her ponytail quiver, she returned to the present. In the distance, she spied a figure in white and grey clothing, and immediately assumed the worst. Of course, she was correct. It was Winter.

After a moment of consideration, Weiss continued walking unhurriedly back towards the school. If Winter wanted to speak, she would approach. She was always direct when it came to confrontations.

Weiss braced herself as Winter's features became visible, meaning she was close enough to speak. To her surprise, Winter was not even looking forward; she was walking at a brisk pace, mouthing something while her eyes roamed distractedly over the ground.

"Excuse me," Weiss said coldly. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh what –" Winter stopped abruptly, almost tripping over a loose stone as she brought her eyes to her sister's face. "Oh. It's you."

"Yes." Weiss stopped and crossed her arms. "Now answer my question."

"What question?"

She peered at Winter suspiciously. If it were anyone else, she would think that Winter was being cheeky, but this was uncharacteristic of her oh-so-prissy sister. It seemed that Winter really had not heard the question. "I asked what you are doing here."

"I'm… going for a walk." Winter adopted a pose that mirrored Weiss's and tilted her chin up defiantly. "Is that a crime?"

"It is when you have not taken a walk outside since I last saw you several months ago."

"Well, if you'd paid any attention to me then you would've noticed that I've been taking walks almost every day! But of course, how I could I expect you to pay any attention to me? All you ever did was yell at me to get out of your way!"

Weiss took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and unclenched them. "I recall that you were always the one who instigated our arguments. You are a nasty, attention-seeking liar and I still have not forgotten how I was always punished for you raising your voice."

It was Winter's turn to take the deep breath. "Whatever," she muttered. "I – I'm – I'm sorry for that, alright? Now, if you'll excuse me." She tried to step past Weiss, but the latter blocked her way.

"Wait." She peered closely at Winter, trying to search for a hint of deception. "Do you really mean your apology?"

"I don't apologise to just anyone!"

That was something she'd learnt from Weiss herself. But her words lacked their usual venom. Ever since arriving at Beacon, Winter had seemed oddly withdrawn, usually going on the defensive instead of attacking Weiss like she had at home. Weiss felt a strange surge of concern.

"Is anything wrong?" she ventured.

Winter brushed her hair out of her face. "Wrong? Nothing. Just a team who hates me."

"There is no need for dramatics."

"Fine. Then I'll be on my way." She attempted to push past again.

"Wait!" Weiss grabbed Winter's shoulders. "Er – how are you settling in at Beacon? I never got to ask. And anyway, why did you agree to come here? Do you really want to be a Huntress? I didn't think you liked fighting."

Winter shook her off and stepped back a little, her eyes widening with surprise. "Are you okay?"

"Yes! I'm fine!" Weiss snapped. "Am I not allowed to ask questions anymore?"

"Um… I guess you are?" Winter looked away. "I'm okay… I didn't agree to come here, I was sent. And no, I don't want to be a Huntress, but I guess I have to."

Weiss bit back a sneering comment on how if she really did not want to come, she could have just complained to her precious daddy. "Are you afraid of Grimm?" she asked instead.

"I… no! No. I just… you're right, I don't like fighting. But… can I go, please? I kind of have to be somewhere…"

Weiss watched suspiciously as Winter shifted nervously, combing her fingers through her hair. "It is alright to be scared, you know."

"I'm not scared!" Winter snapped. "Now, if you'll really excuse me –" This time, she pushed past so forcefully that Weiss could not have stopped her. But she did not try. Her patience with her sister was exhausted again, and she watched Winter stalk away for a moment before heading back to the castle with a sigh. She had wasted her morning walk on a pointless conversation with Winter; now it was time to devote another day to making the Schnee family proud.