Chapter 14
The Headmaster had an unintelligible accent, but other than that, he seemed like a nice person. He welcomed Glynda and RWWY to Haven and invited them to enjoy themselves, as if they were on holiday.
"He's a weird old man," Yang yawned, closing the door of Delacroix's office behind her. "Ozpin's funky, but at least I know what he's saying most of the time."
"One more comment like that about authority figures and I'll have you sent straight home," Glynda informed her.
"Is it time for lunch now?" Ruby asked with trepidation, fingering Crescent Rose. She itched to get it out and work out her nervousness with a good half-hour of training, but she knew it wasn't appropriate when she didn't even know the first thing about the school yet. Maybe they had a rule that said you could only train between midnight and 3am.
Glynda reached for the thin black briefcase slung over her shoulder and took out her tablet. "Yes, it's almost noon. I didn't realise we sat with Delacroix for that long."
Yang opened her mouth, but thought better and closed it again.
"What did you want to say?" Ruby whispered to her when Glynda was busy putting away her tablet again.
"Careful, that woman has owl hearing," Yang whispered back. "I'm not saying it until she's a mile away."
"I think two miles would be more appropriate," Glynda said dryly. "Follow me."
Weiss fell into step beside Ruby, and Yang ended up walking with Winter, who kept stumbling over her feet as if the floor was made of rocks, not smooth linoleum. "Are you asleep or something?" Yang asked her. "Delacroix wasn't that boring, just impossible to understand…"
"I'm f-f-fiiiiine," Winter replied, opening her mouth in a huge yawn. "I just had a hard time falling asleep last night."
"Oh." Yang nodded knowingly. "Well, keep it up. You're a lot nicer when you're dead tired."
"Well –" an expletive followed –"you." Winter smiled nicely, as if she had made a comment on the weather.
"Winter!" Weiss gasped, grabbing Ruby to steady herself. "How dare you?!"
"If I hear that again, I'm throwing you into the ocean," Glynda said tonelessly without looking around.
Yang just shook her head. "I take back my comment. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're just playing the role of an evil bi– witch. Nobody just curses after someone calls them nice."
"Well, I do!" Winter stumbled again.
"She's acting drunk," Ruby muttered to Weiss. "Isn't that a problem? I mean, reputation and everything?"
"Huh." Weiss gave her an appraising look. "You're right. They must know the Schnee Dust Company here, too. Winter! Stop blundering around like a hungover donkey."
"I'm not hungover and I'm not a donkey," Winter said, giggling. "You're funny."
Weiss calmly took out Myrtenaster and touched its tip between Winter's shoulder blades. There was a small white spark.
"Ow!" Winter jumped practically a foot in the air and spun around to glare at Weiss. "Watch it, you moron!"
"Much better," Weiss said, putting away Myrtenaster with a self-satisfied expression. "See, Ruby? That's how it's done. When someone isn't behaving appropriately, a little shock brings them to order."
"Isn't it better to just talk things out?" Ruby said uncertainly. "I mean, I can't just shock you guys every time I disagree with you. And Crescent Rose doesn't even have lightning Dust in it."
"You're so adorable Ruby. I'm glad you're not a dictator team leader," Weiss said unexpectedly, giving Ruby a quick one-armed hug. "Even if you make stupid comments about me sometimes." Her face hardened again. "Which I still haven't forgiven you for."
"Huh? When did I make stupid comments?" Ruby thought for a moment. "Oh! Neptune! That wasn't stupid though, I was just being nice! Lighten up, Weissy!"
"Did you just call me –" Weiss cut off herself off abruptly when they turned a corner and emerged into a large glass pavilion, packed with people. Instead of Beacon's long rows of tables and benches, Haven had elegant black tables for 8-10 people, each filled with chattering students in grey and white uniforms.
Ruby gulped. "Um."
"Well, I'll leave you to your food," Glynda said, smiling wryly. "Good luck, and Winter especially, watch your tongue. You have a tendency to speak without thinking."
"I do not!" Winter said with outrage, but Glynda strolled away without answering.
"So!" Yang clapped her hands together and leaned in conspiringly. "Let's join the nicest group of people we see, then we'll send one of us to get food for everyone while the rest of us schmooze. That way we'll maximize social contact. Got it?"
"Um… can I be the food-getter?" Ruby volunteered.
Yang sighed impatiently. "Sure, sure, yeah, whatever. Come on, let's do this! And don't forget to introduce yourselves as Huntresses from Beacon."
Strutting confidently, she led the way to the maze of tables and dove in. Ruby and the others followed her with difficulty as she navigated between the chattering students; Ruby tried to hide behind Winter's willowy frame, but Winter didn't have a bulky cloak that kept getting caught on chairs and scarves. Ruby kept muttering "sorry" and "excuse me", feeling her embarrassment grow as more and more people noticed that they weren't wearing Haven uniforms.
"Can we just sit down?" she pleaded to Yang.
"Yeah, sure… hang on a sec… yep, over there!" Yang pointed to a table of only four or five, sitting close to the exit opposite of the one RWWY had used to come in. They looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, and their faces were friendly enough, if a little guarded.
Once they reached the table, Yang said, "Hello! We're students from Beacon. Can we sit with you guys?"
"Are you transfers?" one of the girls, a brunette, asked. "Because if you are, they all sit over there." She pointed at a miserably overcrowded table next to the trash bin in the corner.
Ruby felt queasy. What if they were labeled as outcasts too, and forced to sit there? Her stomach churned, and she wished she could run away and eat in peace, preferably with Yang or Weiss by her side. Or Blake. Blake was often at her side when she needed to be away from people.
Lost in her thoughts, she missed Yang's response, but the Mistralians' faces brightened, and they all scooted over to allow RWWY to take the four remaining chairs. Ruby sat between Winter and Yang, with Weiss on Winter's other side for once. The chair was made of curved black metal like the table, but it had a relatively soft seat, and it moved almost soundlessly when Ruby pulled it closer to the table.
"Ruby, the food?" Yang muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
"Right! Um, I'm getting food. I'll be back!" Ruby stood up so quickly that she almost knocked over the chair, and she hastily caught it and put it back into balance, her cheeks flaring with embarrassment. Great, now all they would see was an overly excited, clumsy puppy. At least Yang can be the leader here, instead of me. That was one comfort.
Ruby gave an awkward wave, and once the Mistralians focused on Yang again, she scooted away and began manoeuvring her way to the kitchen, where a short line of students waited to fill their trays with food. She quickly grabbed a few plates and loaded them with a salad for Weiss, a hamburger with pickles for Yang, and baked potatoes and chicken for herself. After a moment of hesitation, she got Winter a plate identical to hers, although she added cup of fruit because she remembered seeing Winter eat one once back in Beacon. She nodded to the serving lady to be polite, then balanced the tray carefully in her arms and began weaving a path back to Yang's table.
"…and I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company," Weiss was saying in lofty tones. "You've heard of us, correct?"
The Haven students exchanged glances. "Yeah, we have," a blonde boy said, twirling his fork on his plate. "Not a lot of good things, mind you, but…"
"What do you mean?" Weiss demanded. "There aren't many fauni in Mistral! Surely they haven't been feeding your country lies about the SDC, like they do in Vale?"
"So you've been cheating the fauni too, huh?" the brunette girl who had first spoken to Yang asked coldly. "We don't like fauni much, but I guess we have something in common with them. We all know how the SDC tried to steal wind Dust from us eight years ago. I heard the Schnees had a real drop in fortune after that. I'm surprised you have enough money to attend school."
"We got in on talent, not because our father is still rich," Winter interjected angrily.
But you got in almost on pure chance, Ruby thought to herself. However, she didn't voice her thought aloud, and placed her tray on the table to conveniently interrupt the conversation before it overheated. "Here's our food! Excuse us, sorry, while we eat for a bit."
"A hamburger? Thanks!" Yang snatched her plate away enthusiastically. "I know I shouldn't be eating this stuff," she added to the brunette, "but I can't help it. It's the oil."
"I know," she agreed heartily. "I just ate one of my own. Aren't they heavenly?"
Yang launched into a discussion of fast foods with the brunette girl and the two strawberry blondes who were sitting next to the blonde boy. Weiss and Winter picked at their food silently with sharp, jerky motions, as if they were still angry at the brunette and the boy for insulting their family company. Ruby noticed with relief that Winter didn't complain about her food.
Why is it so hard to be social? she wondered, watching Yang interact with these near-total strangers as if she'd known them her whole lifetime. I wish I could be like that. All I can do is show people how I can twirl a scythe that I made myself. No wonder Weiss thought I was stupid when we first met.
"Aren't you going to sit down?" one of the strawberry blondes – the one with the paler blue eyes and straight shoulder-length hair – asked, looking at her curiously. The other blonde had curly elbow-length hair.
"Oh – right, of course," Ruby said awkwardly, giving a nervous smile. The girl smiled at her in return, a little quizzically, before returning to her conversation with Yang.
With a sigh, Ruby picked up her fork and began to eat. The food was good, if a little too bland for her tastes. She wanted to ask for some kind of sauce for her chicken, but decided not to because it would sound pretentious. Hey, can I have some sauce for my chicken? Oh, you don't eat sauce in Mistral? I'm sorry, I didn't know. In Vale we had sauce whenever we wanted… she'd sound stupid.
"Excuse me, do you have any sauce for the chicken?" Winter asked, looking at the brunette. "It's too bland."
The brunette raised her eyebrows and slowly turned around to face Winter. "We had sauce," she said, enunciating clearly, "but we gave it all to the transfers from Vale. You can go ask them for some."
Winter didn't even bother looking at the overcrowded table again. Her posture was very straight, and she glared at the brunette with as much fury as she could muster. Ruby knew – they all knew – that if Winter got the sauce, it would be her own social suicide.
"Actually, I'm fine, thanks," she practically spat. "Nothing could make this chicken better anyway."
"Winter!" Weiss smacked her shoulder. "Where are your manners?"
"Do I need manners?" Winter hissed.
"When you're talking to people, yes! Quit being a witch!" Weiss said shrilly. "You're making all of us look bad!"
"Actually, we only have a problem with you two," the blonde boy said, leaning forward and folding his arms on the table. "We don't like Schnees here very much, you see. It's a family thing – nothing you'd understand."
"That is out of line!" This time it was Weiss doing the spitting; she stood up, took a nearby napkin, and threw it in front of the blonde. "I will not take your insults, peasant! If you are so concerned with family, surely you know what a duel is!"
"Are you challenging me?" the blonde asked softly. "You should know I'm hard to beat." He stood up, too, eyeing Weiss with a scowl.
"I am. Tomorrow, midday, in the courtyard where our airship landed," Weiss declared. "Yang, will you be my second?"
Yang stood up, too, looking unhappy. She gave the four Mistralians apologetic looks, but said to Weiss, "I guess. But I don't think it has to come to this."
"I challenge you," Winter said quickly, also standing up. She picked up Ruby's napkin and threw it in front of the brunette. "Right after my sister has her duel – same place. Any weapons."
The strawberry blondes tittered as the brunette eyed Winter calmly. "I think I choose the weapons," she said thoughtfully. "If I'm not mistaken. But I agree that any weapons may be used. Semblances?"
Winter blinked. "Of course."
"Oh, don't be mean, Vy," the strawberry blonde with paler blue eyes complained. "She doesn't know what your semblance is!"
Vy shrugged. "Her problem. Will you be my second, Argent?"
The blonde boy met her gaze, and smiled slightly. "Of course, Vy. And will you be mine?"
"Naturally," she agreed, blushing.
"Ugh, it's almost like an engagement," Winter muttered, shoving her near-empty plate away. "I'm going to be sick if I don't leave. Oh, Ruby, will you be my second?"
Ruby blinked. "Um…" She gazed at Yang, hoping for advice, but her sister only shrugged helplessly. The gathering crowd of onlookers who were drawn by the raised voices didn't have any suggestions either, so after a moment of internal debate, she turned to Winter and chose to be loyal to her team rather than her feelings on the debated subject. "I will," she said solemnly.
"Good! Then let's go train. And then class." Winter grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip and dragged her from her seat.
"Hey! But my chicken!" Ruby protested.
"Too late," Winter muttered. "Move it! Move!" She pushed her way through the onlookers, who parted like the Red Sea before Moshe's blue Dust.
"Don't worry, I'll finish your food!" Yang called after her.
-x-
Unfortunately, the next day was freezing cold. Ruby put on as many layers as possible, but her fingers were shaking in her gloves despite the death grip she had on Crescent Rose.
"My poor, little weapon," she murmured to it, cradling it close. "You must be freezing. I'm sorry I can't wrap you in my cloak. I promise I'll make hot chocolate for both of us as soon as we get back to the dorm – I mean, I'll ask the maid to make it. And I'll drink it for both of us, too."
"Um, what are you doing?" Winter asked, trotting over. "Did I just hear you promising your weapon hot chocolate?"
"It's just a form of affection!" Ruby defended herself. "Crescent has saved my life countless times – the least I could do is promise her hot chocolate, even if she can't drink it yet!"
"'Yet'?" Winter repeated. "Dust, I don't even want to know. Have you seen Argent? He was supposed to be here early to mark out the fighting ground."
"Hey, Winter! Is ten by ten enough, with the fountain in one corner?" Yang called from the other side of the small cobbled courtyard. The airship was gone, of course, and the space was ringed by grass, with a few bushes aligned decoratively along the neat stone paths that crisscrossed the wide Haven grounds. There were about five more small courtyards with fountains next to the northwest wing alone, where they were now; there were seven wings (there was no east wing because Mistral considered the east unlucky, since there was nothing in that direction but Grimm-infested ocean).
"Yeah – I mean yes, it's acceptable," Winter yelled back, her voice loud and clear in the cold air.
"Great! Then we're done." Yang brushed the chalk dust off her palms, tossed the discarded chalk aside, and stepped back to admire the carefully marked square. "Pshh, I'm great at geometry! Mr. Volt should see me now. I don't understand why he failed me last year."
"Drawing squares is a little different from understanding them," Ruby pointed out.
"You don't even know the first thing about geometry," Yang scoffed. She walked over to Winter and Ruby, and crossed her arms over her chest. "We don't even study squares. It's all about the triangles."
"Oh, yeah, sine and cosine and all that!" Winter interrupted. "I learned that a couple years ago. I finished calculus last year. It was pretty easy. I liked integrals."
"Shut up," Yang said carelessly. "You don't even know how to spell 'social existence', let alone recognize it if it bit you on the bum."
"S-o-c-i-a-l e-x-i-s-t-e-n-c-e," Winter said confidently. "I passed English last year too, not just math."
"What's cellular respiration?" Yang challenged her.
"One glucose molecule combines with six oxygen molecules to produce water, carbon dioxide, and 36 ATP through glycolysis, the link reaction –"
"Alright, enough, enough!" Ruby exclaimed, stepping backwards and putting her hands over her ears (Crescent Rose was safely slung over her back, protected from the demonic science talk Yang and Winter were spouting). "I get it, you're all smart. And then there's me. But I think Weiss, Argent, and Vy are here – look!"
Thankfully, Winter and Yang were distracted enough by the newcomers that they forgot about biology completely. "Finally!" Winter said sharply, stalking over to meet the trio. "It's 11:58! You were supposed to be here to help mark out the field!"
"Yeah, whatever," Argent drawled. One of his arms was slung around Vy's shoulder, and Vy was smirking as if she had won her duel already.
Yang took Ruby by the hand and steered her away from the battle square. "Let's be spectators!" she said. "And look out for teachers. I don't think this is what Glynda had in mind for our 'educational experience'."
"Well, we're learning dueling etiquette. It seems pretty important around here," Ruby said.
"Ah yes, dueling etiquette." Argent smiled coolly. "I believe Miss Weiss Schnee was the first challenger, so we will duel first. Do you have your weapon?"
Weiss scoffed and took out Myrtenaster, twirling it a few times. "I believe I take north here?" She eyed the weakly shining sun.
"That is correct." Argent pecked Vy on the cheek and strutted to the south edge of the square, to the left of the fountain. Weiss took her position directly opposite, and Winter settled next to the fountain.
"I summon you to duel for the insults you dealt to my family," Weiss said loudly and clearly. "Do you accept my challenge?"
"I do," Argent said equally firmly. He took out a dark grey metal stick, about an arm-length long; with a tap to the ground, the stick expanded into a six-foot-long pike with a black arrow-shaped blade at the end. The pike was slightly thicker near the centre, where Argent's hands held it, and several dots glowed with dark blue, white, grey, and red light; evidently, those were Dust compartments.
"Ooooh, I wonder what kind of weapon that is," Ruby whispered excitedly to Yang. "If I had to guess, I'd say it's a Multi-Action Dust Pike, but I'm not sure that's a category –"
"Yeah, you're right," Vy interrupted, wandering over and sitting next to them. "Argent got it from the same company that supplies Schnee, except one that doesn't engage in fraud, blackmail, and the like. It's a nice pike, isn't it?" She giggled lightly.
Ruby completely lost her train of thought for a moment. "Um…yeah," she managed. "What kind of weapon do you have?"
"Oh, it's – look!" Vy sat up straighter, her eyes suddenly fixed on Argent. Ruby flicked her gaze to Weiss, who had sprung into action. She regretted missing the start – they'd probably bowed, and performed some cue to begin the battle. But it was too late now. Within a few seconds, dozens of blows were exchanged as Argent's longer pike prodded and swung at Weiss. Its blade glowed alternately with red, grey, white, grey, blue, black, white, red – with each use of Dust, his attacks subtly changed form. Ruby thought the weapon looked unwieldy with its length, but Argent used it with impossible grace. It was obvious that he was using some kind of Semblance, perhaps one that enhanced agility. No one could move like that, not even Ruby with her super-speed or Weiss with her yellow glyphs.
Whether by unspoken agreement or not, Weiss had begun using her Semblance as well, though Ruby didn't remember them agreeing that Semblances were allowed in their duel. She created several suspended, rotating white glyphs in the air, and used them as platforms to jump on as she wove around Argent, trying to find his weak point with Myrtenaster's slender blade.
However, Argent was difficult to pin down. He actually jumped on one of the glyphs, and both of them seemed startled that he didn't tumble right off. After that, he and Weiss began to play a jumping game; her creating glyphs and destroying them, trying to knock him off-balance so she could finally disarm him, and him using his pike to keep himself steady while he jumped around unpredictably, trying to get at Weiss. It was a dance, and Ruby forgot about herself being cold as she watched the glittering weapons clash and rebound, over and over again…
Her trance was broken only when Weiss suddenly conjured a blue glyph right in front of Argent. He was so close that he didn't have time to spin out of the way, and the blue glyph through him backwards out of the square. He crashed next to the fountain, his upper half outside the line while his feet remained in the square, but he had undoubtedly lost.
Weiss sprang down from her white glyph, and cancelled the rest of them out. "I claim victory," she said formally, pointing Myrtenaster at Argent. "Do you say Pax?"
"Pax," he muttered. He stood up, brushed his pants off, and condensed his pike into its stick again. "Well fought, Miss Schnee."
"Just call me Weiss," she said politely, though without any friendliness. She stepped forward, and they shook hands awkwardly. "And do not insult my family again. I have won the right to your silence."
"Yeah, yeah," Argent said ungraciously, walking over to where Ruby, Yang, and Vy were sitting. "Vy, your turn. Knock her dead." He gave Winter a glance full of dislike.
"Huh!" Winter scoffed, standing up and smoothing her dress down. "I take north, then."
"Very well," Vy said coolly, standing up as well. She took Argent's position, while Winter stepped into Weiss's starting place. Winter took out her dagger and held it in front of her face, the thin side aligning with her nose. At Ruby's request, she had considered names for it, and she was currently deliberating between Luctus and Hiems.
"I summon you to duel for the insults you dealt to myself, my family, and my sister," Winter announced. A slight breeze had picked up, and it blew her hair gently around her face, making it look a little like a halo.
"I accept your challenge," Vy declared. She took a pair of curved scimitars from a sheath hanging from her belt, and held their blades in front of her face as well. "Then on –"
"Wait," Winter interrupted. "May we abstain from Semblances for this duel?"
Ruby heard Argent whisper, "Hah. She got cold feet. I bet someone told her."
"Of course not," Vy said, smiling wickedly. "You asked for it, missy. Now, we begin!"
Before Winter could protest, Vy pointed her scimitars straight at her. A beam of light flashed across the blades, and a small white orb of energy hurtled itself at Winter. She barely brought out her dagger in time, and the orb dissipated against it; her arms shook slightly, and she almost stumbled back.
"Wow. That's a strong semblance," Ruby murmured. "It's like a Dust gun, but she doesn't need Dust…"
"Vy's one of the best duellers in Haven," Argent told her with a smirk. "Weiss might be able to beat me, but she's nothing compared to Vy."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Don't let Weiss hear you say that. She might challenge Vy to a duel, and then we'll have to go through this mess all over again."
Argent laughed, and Ruby was surprised to hear only genuine humour – no mocking. "We'll call it an honorary draw for now."
"Don't let either of them hear you say that," Ruby added a little uncertainly, unsure what response she'd get. "They'll duel each other, and then duel you too."
Argent gave her a small smile. "You're right, Little Red. I'll keep my lips shut." He mimed zipping up his lips and throwing away the key, then turned back to watch the battle. Ruby noticed he'd gone back to sneering at Winter.
Little Red? She thought. Well, it wasn't the first time she'd gotten that nickname, but somehow hearting it out of the mouth of a near-total stranger made it seem unfamiliar, alien. She didn't feel that she liked it.
While they were talking, Winter and Vy had rotated so that they stood east-west, with Winter on the east side. Vy was attacking Winter with her scimitars, and Winter's short blade couldn't reach Vy; Winter was completely on the defensive, frantically blocking Vy's blows. Vy brought her blades together for a moment and fired another orb point-blank at Winter, and she had to duck and roll to avoid it, springing to her feet again with difficulty (she was still clumsy in battle, despite Ruby's help during team training).
"Why doesn't she use her semblance?" Ruby whispered to Yang. "She's really having trouble…"
"Oh, no. She did not." Yang groaned and buried her head in her hands. "I bet she forgot her body somewhere. I can't watch this. She wouldn't hurt a baby Boarbatusk the way she's fighting, let alone Vy."
Ruby frowned. Would Winter really do that, if she knew she was having a duel for her family honour? Maybe she had no choice, but then why would her real body be so far away that she had to put her illusion into place? It made no sense – Winter didn't have any reason to disappear.
Vy sent another orb at Winter. Beads of sweat were starting to show on her face, but she looked confident and determined. In contrast, Winter looked nothing like the haughty, intimidating princess she'd been before the battle. Her attacks were weak, her defenses barely held up, and in a few moments she simultaneously dropped her dagger and stepped out of the fight boundary.
"I claim victory!" Vy declared. "Declare Pax!"
Winter quickly stooped to pick up her weapon, then straightened up to face Vy. "Pax," she said quietly.
"Then I reserve the right to call you and your family any names I like," Vy said. "And I call you pathetic! Do you even know what fighting is? Or Hunting? You're worthless. I'm surprised they even let you into Beacon. Then again, it must be the money."
"Stop it!" Weiss sprung to her feet and stalked over to stand beside Winter; the sisters wore matching scowls. "Winter is here because she belongs, not because Father pulled some strings! No money was exchanged!"
"Pshah, whatever you say." Vy shrugged and sheathed her scimitars. She strode over to Argent and held her hand out to him, grinning. Argent took it and pulled himself up. Ruby and Yang hurriedly stood up as well.
"Well, that was an educational experience," Yang said brightly. "Thanks for that duel, guys! We'll see you around sometime?"
"We'll see you," Vy told her with a smile. "And Ruby," she added as an afterthought. "But not those two."
Ruby opened her mouth to say she didn't want to hang out with people who insulted her teammates, but Yang squeezed her arm tightly as if she knew what Ruby wanted to say. Ruby gave a little gasp of pain, and Vy and Argent left while she was trying to recover the feeling in her arm.
"I don't want to talk to them very much," she told Yang, Weiss, and Winter. "They're mean."
"They're our friends," Yang said with a shrug.
"Well, they're not my friends." Ruby crossed her arms and turned to Weiss and Winter. "Good job, guys. But Winter, why didn't you use your illusion?"
"As you probably guessed, this is my illusion," Winter said crabbily. "I can't explain right now."
"But do you even realise what you did?" Weiss demanded, rounding on her. "We looked like complete idiots in front of those two! You humiliated the Schnee name because you could not be bothered to show up to a duel that you initiated! What sort of sister are you, anyway?"
"A horrible one, apparently!" Winter replied angrily. "And you can shut up! It's not my fault I couldn't get here in time!"
"Did you even get on the ship?" Yang asked.
"Of course! I just…"
"Well, I think the least you can do is tell us where your real body is right now," Weiss snapped. "Since you insist on letting down the Schnee name and the team, we might as well know what's so important."
"Um…" Winter faltered, and actually took a step back under the inquisitive (from Ruby) and irritated (from Weiss and Winter) gazes. "I…can't really say. And anyway, it's none of your business!"
"Then I don't think it's any of your business to be on this team, either," Weiss sniped.
"Hang on!" Ruby stepped forward, extending her hands to Weiss and Winter as if she were trying to soothe enraged animals. "I'm team leader here, and I decide whether Winter gets expelled or not. Personally, I think one mistake doesn't make her unworthy of us –"
"But this isn't the first time she's been missing Dust-knows-where and she won't tell us why!" Yang said, rounding on Ruby. Her eyes were wide with anger, but there was also concern. Ruby was startled to realise that Yang's frustration was born out of caring for Winter, not just irritation with her secret-keeping.
The same thing could not be said for Weiss, however. "Well, I am quite tired of her secrets and lies! I do not want anything to do with her right now – or ever, if I can help it." She lifted her chin and stalked back to the building with their suite, practically spitting at Winter as she passed her.
Winter made a small, strangled noise that might have been a squeak. She didn't look at anyone – she just vanished.
Ruby turned to Yang helplessly. "What can we do about Winter?" she asked.
Her sister shook her head sadly. "I don't know, duck. You're team leader. But I think we should give her a chance to work her issues out on her own. Obviously something's going on for her to use her illusion and not tell us why, and look at the way she's fighting with Weiss, too. It would be unfair to keep pressuring her too."
"That's what I was thinking, too," she said with relief. "I don't really want to confront her. I wish I could help – but her problems aren't really my business, are they?"
Yang smiled slightly and enveloped Ruby in a hug. "If you had your way, they would be – along with the problems of the rest of the world, and then you'd solve them all by yourself like a fairy tale hero."
"Yep!" Ruby hugged Yang back happily, feeling eternally grateful that she had such an understanding sister.
"Well, the world doesn't work that way, duck." Yang pulled back and tapped Ruby on the nose. "But we can solve one of Winter's problems by thinking of a cover story for her when Glynda gets back. It should be soon."
"Yeah. Okay." Ruby nodded and rubbed her nose where Yang had touched it. "Um… can you do it? I'm not very good at lying…"
Yang laughed. "Of course you're not."