Chapter 13: Memories of loved-ones
The situation couldn't have gotten worse. It really couldn't. Not for Weiss at least. Beacon was under full-scale martial law, Pyrrha had been missing for a few days now and the Grimm were hammering at Beacon's borders harder than ever. And to top it all off her father had arrived to pick her up.
And Yang's gone That thought alone had been hammering into Weiss' head for the past 24 hours now. After her escape from Beacon custody, Yang had disappeared, vanished without a trace. Atlas personnel had attributed it to a Grimm attack towards the end of their pursuit. To them Yang was dead.
Weiss didn't buy that. Couldn't buy that. Bloody, injured and on her last legs no Grimm was going to take down Yang Xiao Long without at least some evidence of a fight present. Yang had a habit of making a mess of a situation and Weiss knew that the blonde would never go out with a whimper. Unlike herself, it seemed.
Jacques Schnee had arrived in the fortress that was once Beacon academy a mere 18 hours after Weiss's 'protective custody' was announced. He flew in on a private ship of course and the Atlas forces had all but bowed to him when he came for her. Weiss watched him as he paced around the now barren dorm room, she struggled to keep her eyes on her father as he ranted to her and off memento moris strewn throughout the dorm. Yang's empty bunk was like a void in the room and her gauntlets sat on her pillow mocking Weiss with their presence.
"No returned calls whatsoever" his voice was pure Atlesian upper class and he only ever talked down to people, his own daughter included. "and I find out that you've been working alongside a violent sociopath this entire time"
"Yang's not…" Weiss started to say before her father cut her off with a simple glare. The man might not have a utilized aura but he certainly had a presence that would stamp down anyone around him.
"The tabloids will have a field day with this" he continued as if Weiss hadn't interrupted. Dust sometimes Weiss wondered if she had. "My daughter either a damned accomplice to this maniac or too stupid to spot her in time"
Weiss felt the pull to defend Yang once again but like most things regarding her father she didn't have the will to counter him. He snapped his fingers and Weiss knew it was time for them to leave and a part of her was glad to. She hated Atlas, it was cold and she was under her father's near constant supervision while there but lately Beacon had been corrupted as well. The school was a military barracks, the students were regularly sent out to try and lessen the Grimm threat and… and…
And everything reminds me of Yang and how she's… gone. Dust she couldn't even entertain the possibility in her own head. She followed after her father as they headed towards the Beacon docks. It was crowded with both Atlas and Vale military forces and all were marching in step with one another. It was all rather drab barring the few huntsmen and huntresses amongst the soldiers who were brightly dressed.
The kinship Weiss once felt for those huntresses had died in the last few days. Hearing them mock her behind her back and mock Yang had hurt and even after Yang's… disappearance, they'd only gotten worse. To them, she and Team RWBY were partly responsible for this current situation. She turned away from the group of huntsmen, who were giving her looks of either mockery or accusation. She knew she wouldn't miss that when she'd left beacon. Everywhere her gaze went she was met with either pity, mockery or accusation so eventually she just let her eyes slowly scan the docks not focusing on any one thing. Then she saw her, walking in slow dragging footsteps across the docks to one of the waiting military transports, face devoid of care or passion.
Ruby
She couldn't tell what force pulled her away from her father and towards her partner. Jacques Schnee even gripped her shoulder to hold her back but Weiss merely twisted out of his grasp, compelled by some unstoppable force to get to her leader. Ruby's head turned as she saw Weiss approach and only the faintest glimmer of recognition appeared on her face. Weiss enclosed the red girl in an embrace and held her tightly.
Ruby didn't move, she didn't even seem to register that Weiss had hugged her, she just stared off into empty space.
"Weiss…" her voice came out hollow as if disconnected from reality, Weiss held her tighter. This was the first time the Atlesian had seen Ruby since she ran off after Yang and she was worried about what her leader must have seen in that pursuit.
"Yeah Ruby it's me" she struggled in her mind to find something to say to ease Ruby's worries. I can barely keep myself together how am I supposed to encourage her? So she settled on telling Ruby what she thought Yang would say. "I was so worried about you, I'm just glad you're safe."
The reaction was instant Ruby finally took hold of her partner and Weiss could feel the younger girl shake as she cried. She just stood there trembling for an instant before speaking through her tears.
"I killed her Weiss" Ruby sobbed into Weiss' shoulder. Weiss didn't need to ask who Ruby was talking about and a part inside her began to die as Ruby spoke. "I shot her and the Grimm took advantage" Ruby's finger's dug into the back of Weiss' dress. "She was so upset because of me and they killed her because of me!"
And with that Ruby broke down in Weiss's arms, her sobbing became wails and she collapsed to her knees gripping the Heiress for support. Weiss knelt to keep a hold on her emotionally damaged leader, the more Ruby broke down the tighter Weiss held her.
"I-I-I Ki-Killed Mu-my s-sister" Ruby confessed before burying her face into Weiss's shoulder and shrieking. Weiss could feel the emotions building up inside herself as well as she rocked her partner back and forth. Weiss felt like breaking down along with her but then a voice whispered into her ear.
Promise me you'll look after Ruby
Weiss felt like turning into a sobbing blubbering mess right there, but she'd promised Yang she'd be there for Ruby and Weiss was a woman of her word dammit. So she held back her tears and whispered soothing words to her younger partner.
"It's ok Ruby, It'll be alright" it was a lie but it was the lie Ruby needed to hear right now. For a second Ruby's crying lessened and she just gripped Weiss as they both sat on the ground in silence.
Until a shadow eclipsed them both. Weiss looked up to see the visage of her father glaring down on her and Ruby. In an instant that look on his face drained Weiss of the resolve Yang's promise had granted her.
"You're making a scene Weiss" Jacques Schnee nodded towards a group of huntresses who were staring and whispering amongst themselves. A few were even giggling. "This type of charity is good for press-ops but leave the lunatic! We have a flight to catch"
Reaching down Weiss's father took hold of Weiss and began pulling her up, Weiss jerked away from his pull.
"No," she said mustering what little defiance she could as a shield against her father.
"What?"
"I can't leave her, she needs my help"
"What she needs is a padded cell, now do as I say" and with that, he pulled Weiss forcefully upwards. Before Weiss could be dragged further Ruby's hand shot out and gripped her partner's wrist, silver tear stained eyes locked with Jacque Schnee's.
"W-Weiss S-stays," she said still stuttering with tears but still remaining strong. It happened in a flash and Weiss could almost see it coming, the back of Jacque Schnee's hand struck the redhead across the face knocking her back. As Ruby fell to the ground the elder Schnee spat a curse at her.
"Trash"
Weiss could never bring herself to confront her father, for any reason whatsoever, it was utterly ridiculous really. There she was a well-trained huntress with a powerful familial semblance against an aging industrialist who'd never worked a day in his life and yet she feared him like all the other Schnees did. That fear was built up by a cycle of abuse, neglect, and isolation, back in Atlas Weiss couldn't find the strength to defend herself from her father nor could she find the strength to defend her siblings from him. Or her mother. So great and all-encompassing was his control that what happened next truly shocked the Heiress.
A Blue Glyph appeared above Weiss's head, spinning faster as her rage began to build, Weiss could smell iron in her nose and taste the Ozone of Aura in the air as the glyph worked almost subconsciously. Her father gazed up in time to see a Giant gauntleted fist back-hand him 30 feet across the docks. Jacque Schnee hit the ground hard and his perfectly pristine suit became quickly tarnished by dirt and mud as he slid from concrete to grass. Weiss stalked towards where her father had landed, completely oblivious to all watching.
"Don't you ever touch her!" she screamed at her father unsure where her confidence had come from Maybe it was from her care for her leader and partner, maybe she'd grown a backbone in the time she spent at Beacon. Maybe it came from the promise she'd made to Yang to keep Ruby safe. Her father struggled to his feet on shaking legs, glaring at his daughter the whole time, this insolence only fueled Weiss' rage. "You don't get to call HER trash!"
"Weiss you're causing a scene." He whisperer shouted to her through clenched teeth, trying to regain control, Weiss looked around her and saw that her actions had indeed drawn a crowd, military personnel and huntsmen alike were staring at the 3 figures.
"Now cease this nonsense and return to the ship" he snapped his fingers as he spoke and for an instant, his control fought for a foothold in Weiss' mind.
"She's not a dog" a weak voice spoke up, Weiss' eyes traveled to the source of the voice and saw Ruby struggling to stand back up, eyes still stained with tears as she glared at Jacques Schnee. "And I said she's not going anywhere"
And like that the spell was broken, Jacque snapped his fingers again and Weiss heard herself say what she'd always wished she'd said when she was a small girl in Atlas. "If you snap those fingers one more time I'll break them"
"Did you just threaten me!" he said in an incredulous voice with only the barest hint of fear. "You've already made a public embarrassment of the family and you've assaulted your own father!" his mustache bristled as he struggled to keep from screaming at her in front of the crowds, the man had to keep up his public image in spite of the dirt. "If you don't apologize right now and get on that ship I will cut you off, you will be disowned from the Schnee name. You'll end up a poor nameless nobody"
"nobody, Nobody? NOBODY!" as Weiss pointed her finger towards her father the Gauntleted hand mirrored her action, she could feel the pent-up anger flowing back to her. But it was more than that she was angry with the whole damn situation and she was sick of everything from Atlas, her father included. "It's MY name Father, you're the nobody who married into it"
This is very inappropriate, we can't survive without his funds. All we'd have is the name. The thoughts raced through Weiss' head as she glared down at her father, the urge to run hide and be obedient niggled in the back of her mind but she beat them down. I regret a lotta thing's I did this past week but this… this I won't regret.
Jacque Schnee opened his mouth to say something back to Weiss, but Weiss instead chose to show him her back and walk away, she didn't have time for lesser men anymore, she had a promise to keep to a departed friend. Again she held Ruby in an embrace.
"Don't worry, I've got you" she whispered in the younger girl's ear. "Nothing will ever harm you. I'm close by, I'll stay here"
Hell or high water Weiss would keep the last promise she'd made to Yang, she'd keep Ruby safe.
Present
R: Blake is in danger Yang is here!
For a full minute Weiss could do nothing except stare at the message on her scroll, the only thing she could move were her eyes as they scanned over the GPS coordinates. She wanted to move but couldn't.
Move dammit, this is an improper response. Her inner voice struggled to gain control over her body, to get her moving even a little bit. Your teammate is in danger and Yang's nearby
"What the hell" came a voice that seemed far off from Weiss all she could hear is a ringing in her ears and all she could feel is a great pulling tension in her chest. "When'd it get so cold"
Weiss' face felt like it was burning with heat. She needed to focus, to get the job done, to bring Yang home. She hammered herself in the head trying to straighten her thoughts but the miasma of the situation held strong.
"What the heck's going on!?"
"What the hell is that?!"
"SCHNEE!" the shouting of her name snapped her out of her turmoil and she saw that she'd made an accidental summons and a chimera at that. It was a hideous amalgamation of a Boarbatusk and an alpha Beowulf and it was stalking around her on half hoofs and half claws. She looked towards the one who shouted being sure to not give away an ounce of her inner turmoil, it was Flynt Coal who'd spoken. He simply glared at her "What are you doing?"
Weiss flicked her hand and her creation dissipated, she gave Coal a haughty smirk, better than showing weakness to him or anyone else from atlas for that matter.
"Just practicing my summoning" she answered her voice chilly. And without another word, she turned on her heel and exited the warehouse. He was shrieking at her back, questions about 'where she was going and 'what the heck that was' pointless questions that needed answering some other time.
Stepping out into the sunlight Weiss looked north towards the specified location and Glyphed her way up to the warehouse roof.
Two Years ago
Crack!
The creature's neck broke beneath Yang's grip, it was a small little woodland creature maybe a bunny or something like that, it didn't matter what it was, all that mattered was the fact that it was small and quick. That requirement was an element of the training, of course, everything she'd done in the last month had been in service of Raven's training regimen. In the last month, after her shoulder had fully healed, Raven had put her through one of the strangest training of her life, she'd spar without Aura, focus on using her aura to muffle her footsteps and strangest of all she'd been told to try and assassinate Raven herself. The hunting was just another strange task within her strange list of training.
She threw the bunny/rat/whatever-rodent carcass into the satchel at her hip and tried again to focus her aura. That's what the point of this training was, to master focusing her Aura to her senses. It took her a while to even get her aura solely to her eyes, ears, and nose and when she'd first succeeded Yang had thrown up from sensory overload. Now though, now she was using it without even really trying. The scent of the prey hit her nose first, she looked towards where the scent had come from, then listened for the noise of its tiny heartbeat and finally her eyes could pick out the creature peering out from a far off bush.
Found you!
Crack!
Yang threw down the satchel filled with what would be the night's dinner in front of Raven, who was busy sharpening one of a dozen Dust blades. Her mother looked down at the bulging package then back up at Yang, eyes giving away nothing.
"How many?" she asked without ceremony or inflection. Yang was used to this, only the very impressive feats would stir Raven even slightly.
"30 none bigger than a breadbox" Raven's mouth twitched only slightly upwards, Raven's trademark non-smirk smile.
"Good Yang," she said returning to sharpening her blade. Yang couldn't help but beam at the praise her mother had just given her. Every time Yang took a large step forward in her Aura training Raven would give her a simple 'good job' Yang always felt great hearing her mother say that.
Raven's praise was never pandering or purposely withheld, either Yang reached the point of the training or she didn't, there was no middle ground. Raven only praised Yang stealth skills when she'd successfully stolen food in the middle of the night. Her non-aura sparring was only noteworthy when she accidentally dislocated her shoulder and still slammed an ax-kick into her mother's collar-bone. She was only counted as a successful assassin when she cut Raven in the face with a broken chopstick in the middle of dinner.
With each trial, she worked through her anger towards her mother and more and more she found herself striving to meet Raven's approval. And with each success came another answer.
"So Daughter mine, what's today's question?" Raven plucked a hare from the satchel and set to work preparing it with blind efficiency. Raven's blade moved quickly and almost mechanically tearing apart the creature and preparing it for consumption later that night. Yang was quiet for a second as she began skinning alongside her mother. "Do you need to phone a friend?" Yang gave a low snort, Raven's jokes were exceedingly rare and were usually relegated to biting sarcasm.
"I wouldn't have anyone to call even if I could" Yang chuckled trying to bury the pain deeper down inside herself, where it could slowly fester into a rage. Raven gave Yang a look, it wasn't a pitying or judgmental look, Yang honestly couldn't read her mother when it came down to it. "When was the last time you saw dad?"
"Last time I visited Summer, so right before I invaded your dream" Yang froze in the middle of gutting some sorta weasel beast. Had Dad lied to her, had he been in contact with Raven for years? Raven seemed to pick up on Yang's confusion and dismissed it with a wave of the hand and a mocking smirk. "So much like your father. I saw him, Yang. He didn't see me"
Now that made more sense to Yang, Raven was the type of person to spy on her 'loved ones' instead of interacting with them like a healthy person.
Will I end up doing that? She thought of her father Taiyang alone in his cabin worrying about his daughter's arrest, constantly worried whether or not she was still alive. Then almost unbidden she thought of Weiss standing in a mansion in Atlas being watched by Yang hiding among the shrubbery like some perverse fairytale. Yang shook her head desperately trying to banish the image of Weiss from her head. No one else knew about the clearing of Single fall. She burned me!
But no matter how much Yang repeated those words in her head she couldn't make herself hate the Heiress. Sighing she grabbed the pelt of the rabbit in her hands and ripped it clear off the flesh in a single swift motion.
"Do you ever get the urge to talk with him?" that question gave Raven pause and she had a look on her face that suggested she was mulling over whether or not to answer. Sticking her flaying knife into the table between them Raven turned away from her daughter and looked towards what seemed to be a random horizon.
"Every time I see him" there was longing in her words and regret. "But I hurt him worse than anyone. I doubt that conversation would go anywhere" her eyes shifted back to Yang locking to her. "That way Daughter"
Lifting her hand Raven pointed to some other far-off horizon. Yang gave her mother a confused look.
"That way what?" she asked not bothering to hide the confusion in her voice. Raven smirked at her and pointed her finger back towards where she'd been gazing a minute ago.
"That way leads to patch" her finger returned to its original point "and that way is Beacon, If you're going to space out over a lost love Daughter mine then do it properly"
Yang could feel her face turn bright red and she turned away from her mother's penetrating gaze. Raven had read her like a book and guessed what she'd be thinking, it left Yang feeling uncomfortable.
"She sold you out Yang" Raven said in a reproving tone. Yang flinched from that, her mother was right but that didn't change the situation, despite that betrayal some part of Yang still loved her. Yang wanted to gut that part like the rabbit's she'd captured.
"I know mom!" she answered more aggressively than she'd originally intended, Raven seemed only slightly bemused by the Yang's aggressive response. That lack of response only made Yang more annoyed than before and she could feel herself starting to twitch in angry spasms all over again. She clenched and unclenched her fists in an effort to stymie her anger. Raven's eyes caught it all.
"My training is no longer distracting enough is it?" she asked as her gaze traveled up and down Yang. Yang couldn't help but blink she'd be under the impression that all these tasks were just training her to survive and hadn't been for the purpose of distracting her from the Vytal incident. Raven, as if sensing her daughter's thoughts gave her a small smile. "There was a purpose in my training daughter mine don't doubt that. But I also needed to keep your mind off of what happened to you so you can process it more slowly" she gestured to Yang's clenching and unclenching fist. "But it appears my methods are only slowing down the breakdown"
Raven stood up and began pacing in front of Yang quietly muttering to herself. Yang never liked being talked about especially when she was in the room.
"Mom" she shouted at her mother, Raven turned towards her daughter one eyebrow raised, Yang only called her that when she had something she really needed to say. Yang could feel herself breaking down inside her own head. Her anger and love for her team were colliding together and threatening to boil over inside her skull. Looking up at her mother with pleading eyes. "What do I do mom?"
She'd put herself into Raven's hands and some part of her knew she was foolish to give Raven this much control over her. That part died when Raven reached out a hand and set it on Yang's head. The hand had a comforting weight to it and an indescribable strength as well, Yang felt like Raven could crush her skull if she wanted to but knew she wouldn't. Yang tentatively looked up at her mother.
"You need new weapons, Yang," she said with an evil grin that sent a shiver up Yang's spine. A shiver of fear and excitement. "Time for a hunt"
Present
Come on Yang think just a little Chaos before my ride shows up, what can I do to get them tripping over each other. The question had been niggling at her mind as she flew over the roofs of Vacuo creating as much distance between her and Junior's bar as possible. I'd already sent the file out but that'll take at least 2 hours to take effect.
Suddenly Yang felt a buzzing against her leg and landed on one of the many Vacuo roofs, another buzz. It was her scroll. Opening the scroll she saw that the chip she'd planted on Blake's phone was bearing fruit, she was in a group chat with the others.
R: Blake's in danger Yang is here!
Followed by a GPS image of Junior's bar, a string of confirmation texts were sent in reply from team SS_N, and JN_R. Yang couldn't help but giggle at the hilariousness of it all, their communication would be their downfall.
Better make the most of this she thought as her fingers flew over the scroll's surface.
B: Barely conscious seh headd norht.
R: Hold on Blake we're coming.
"That'll do" Yang muttered to herself as she turned away from and continued her southward sprint. "It'll keep them off my back for a bit, maybe if I can blitz some Atlas goons that'll spread conflicting reports and that'll make more chaos"
Somersaulting over a large ledge Yang's mind wandered from the job at hand to places best left alone.
The mask is hungry, maybe I'll just burn down a building or release a whole bunch of White fang nerds. She brushed those ideas away not because they were what others would deem as morally wrong but because they were impractical. I'd take priority over a random fire and the Fang doesn't exactly like me. Blitzing ATLAS is the best plan I've come up with yet.
Yang's heart beat harder in her chest as she thought of hammering into the Atlesians, ripping into them and punishing them for all they've done to her and still want to do to her. She looked at the red dust crystal in her hands and licked her lips.
It's been a while since I unleashed the dragon. Yang stopped in her sprint as she saw the remains of the warehouse ahead of her, there was an atlas flyer parked atop the building.
Oh, that's just… the thought died in her head as she saw something flashing in the sky, it was light blue and as Yang squinted to get a better look her heart stopped. A small woman jumped from the ground to the flashing light and back to another one till she was atop the warehouse. Perfect.
And she was perfect even from this distance Yang could see it, not a spec of blemish had been added to the smaller woman's skin since Yang had last seen her, she'd only grown an inch or two in the intervening years and her hair still cascaded from her slightly off the ponytail. She no longer wore her shoulder and arm garments, instead being satisfied with wearing only her dress and combat skirt. The bareness showed off her arms of pure corded muscles as well as her pristine collar bones and her lithe pale neck. Weiss Schnee looked better than ever and she was looking right at Yang.
They just stood there frozen for what felt like hours neither making a move until Yang nervously waved her hand.
"Hey" her voice came out in a croak that made it sounds almost as villainous as she looked. "Snow angel"
Author's notes
I'm sorry for again leaving on a Cliffhanger but the next chapter will be 2 weeks from now since school is starting again and that will require most of my focus, consolation this chapter is darn long. (Also I'm not writing a fast as I'd like too) thank you all for the support you've shown me, keep sending the criticisms and keep spreading this around where and when you can (Someone put it on TV tropes general recs actually). And to all the people asking I'm working on the Cinder/Salem group stuff as well.