Author's note: It's that time again. As always many thanks go out to everyone for reading and reviewing. Every time I think to myself, "I've probably reached my ceiling for how many people will favorite or follow this", you guys outdo yourselves and even more people decide that they like this story. And my words here truly cannot express just how awesome all of this makes me feel. So thank you so much for making me, some nobody with a single RWBY story in his profile, feel so appreciated.
I hope you enjoy the chapter.
The airship ride had been painless enough. Ruby of course had grabbed the window seat of their row at the first opportunity and spent much of the staring outside. From what little Weiss could see from the head-obstructed view there were a plethora of tall buildings and busy streets below them. Part of her wished that she could have looked, but she was content with the fact that Ruby was at least partially distracted with the sights. It seemed to make her happy as well as Weiss noticed her partner gently kicking her legs, which barely reached down to the floor, in the air like a small child would. So she supposed it wasn't too bad having the middle seat and nothing to do but look down at her scroll.
A train ride later they had arrived at their destination. It was nearly noon by the time they had reached the middle of downtown Vale and there was still so much to do. Luckily all of the time on her scroll had not been wasted. She had been searching for popular stores and shops of all sizes for things which looked interesting. There were a few ideas in the back of her mind but nothing concrete as of yet. She still wondered what Ruby had in mind. This had been her idea after all. But so far the girl had been uncharacteristically quiet.
As it turned out Ruby had not been to the city very often. She came from the small island of Patch and had only travelled to the mainland a handful of times. One such instance had turned out to be the same night she was recruited into Beacon Academy by Ozpin after a run-in with Roman Torchwick and his hired thugs. But if Ruby had any familiarity or knowledge of the city she did not show it. She continuously looked around seemingly in awe of the size and grandeur of the place.
However it was Weiss' first experience with Vale. It was far bigger than she had expected it would be. Coming from Atlas she was more used to civilization than Ruby, but the kingdom of the north did not produce cities of this scale. The cold and unforgiving north forged a tough and hardy people who had to adapt to survive. That made them tremendous soldiers as well as scientists. But they lagged behind when it came to establishing settlements the size of Vale. And geography was the key.
Unlike Atlas' home continent of Solitas, Vale's own Sanus had a wide variety of climates. Here the seasons changed. Winter was cold but summer was warm. Crops could be planted in the spring and harvested in the fall. The temperate months also made it far easier to construct buildings, roads and other infrastructure. Meanwhile in Atlas the months of winter were cold and summer was just slightly less cold. As a result most projects were limited to what was practical and necessary.
Satisfied with her sightseeing for the moment Weiss took her scroll out and began thumbing up and down the screen looking for the names and locations of stores she had shown interest in. A glance over at Ruby showed that she was still trailing slightly behind as she took in the sights and sounds all around her. Did she even have a destination in mind? There was only one way to find out.
"Ruby," Weiss said, gaining the red-cloaked girl's attention.
Naturally Ruby was wearing what had quickly become her trademark red hooded cloak. She rarely left their dorm without it, and would even wear it along with her school uniform at times. How the girl got away with such a blatant violation of the school dress code was a question for another day. All she knew at the moment was that it was a fashion disaster.
"Yeah?" she answered.
Weiss took a deep breath fearing that she already knew the answer to the question she was about to ask. "What is the first destination on our trip?"
She rubbed her chin in thought at the question. "I dunno," she said. "I just kinda figured we'd do whatever."
Do. Whatever. Not only did it make no sense grammatically, but was sure to be a waste of their time. How appropriately Rubyish of Ruby.
It did make sense now that Weiss thought about it. Despite the trip having been Ruby's idea she clearly had little idea of what she was doing or where she was going. The entire time she had been following Weiss' lead as they walked. Luckily she had a plan, even if at the time of making it the intent of the plan had not been to compensate for her partner's shortsightedness.
The heiress sighed as she closed her eyes. "Of course that's what you had in mind."
The first thing that greeted her vision upon opening her eyes was a slightly frowning Ruby. "Oh yeah?" she asked. "And what do you have in mind then, Ms. Plansy McPlan-Plan?"
How anyone could try and turn being prepared and having a plan into a pejorative nickname baffled Weiss. Was there something wrong with having a goal in mind rather than wandering around aimlessly? Then again this was Ruby she was thinking about. The girl probably didn't think beyond what her next sugar-packed meal would be.
"I have created a list of possible locations of interest," she said a little prouder than she probably should have. "In fact we're already approaching the first one on the list."
Ruby waved her hands in front of her mockingly. "Ooh look at me, I'm Weiss Schnee. I organize stores I want to go to by the shortest distance from me to the furthest." She brought her hands up to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the giggle which followed her taunting behavior.
"How did you k-" Weiss stopped herself when Ruby's eyes widened with glee.
"No way, you actually did?" Ruby's laugh intensified and she made no effort to hide it this time. It earned her a glowering glare from her partner. "That is so you!"
Weiss huffed an irritated breath out as she looked straight ahead. "There is nothing wrong with being efficient," she said defensively. "And it is not 'so me'," she added with air quotations.
"Nope," she said in that annoying tone of hers when she said that one specific word. "Totally you. Wanna know how I know?"
"Not r-"
She never finished sharing her disinterest with Ruby before being interrupted. "Because we're partners!" she shouted, arms raised in the air and earning the attention of passersby.
Weiss wanted to shrink in embarrassment at the antics of her partner. But seeing how there was nothing that could be done to get away from this situation she decided to just play along with Ruby.
"Fine, you've got me," she said sardonically. There was about a fifty-fifty chance that the younger girl would not pick up on the sarcasm. "You know me so well."
"Yup," she agreed, indeed oblivious to her partner's sarcasm. Weiss considered that maybe she was getting to know Ruby too well. "Next you'll tell me that you downloaded all the train and airship schedules to try and coordinate the fastest trip back to Beacon!"
She had. But she was not about to confirm that little bit of knowledge to her partner. Silence would all but tell Ruby that she was correct. So Weiss quickly changed the subject.
"There," she said pointing down the sidewalk to a storefront about half a block away. "That's our first stop."
"Okay!" Ruby said happily.
Weiss was thankful that the remaining distance was covered without further incidents from her partner. As they stepped through the doors of the shop the scents of fabric and leather filled her nose. It has been such a long time since she had stepped foot in a clothing store. It was a rather large place with it being a chain store with multiple locations scattered around Vale and perhaps even all of Remnant. Weiss didn't know. But this was not the time to concern herself with the question.
The floor was divided into two halves. To her right was the women's section while the men's was on the left. Weiss strolled down the large center aisle casually looking around her as she went, her eagle-like eyes scanning for anything which looked appealing. Ruby as usual followed behind her a couple of steps being unusually quiet. It did not last for long however.
"This is so cool," she gushed. "A real live clothes shopping thingy with my bestie just like on TV!"
Weiss rolled her eyes at the comment. "You really need to get out more," she told her. "Didn't Yang ever do any of this with you? She seems like the type who would enjoy shopping despite her... questionable taste in fashion."
The mismatched and hodgepodge attire which Yang frequently wore spoke volumes to what she thought was stylish and attractive. Maybe that was why she flashed so much of her bare skin. To compensate for the fact that it looked like a half-witted Boarbatusk dressed her in the morning.
"Well, no..." Ruby said softly. "Like I said, there weren't a lot of malls or fancy places like this in Patch."
Weiss shrugged. "Well then you're lucky that I'm here," she said proudly. "Because I'm going to teach you how to be a proper young woman when it comes to this sort of thing." She pointed over to their right. "Now go and find something that you think suits you and bring it back to me for my opinion."
Ruby halted which caused Weiss to do the same. Turning to see what the problem was she saw the girl looking down at her outfit. "What's wrong with what I have now?" Ruby asked.
What was wrong with it? A black corset and skirt with a red cloak may have been passable for going out and slaying Grimm, but it was the last thing which Weiss would call fashionable.
"Too many things to list in the limited time that we have," Weiss answered. "Now go," she said, flicking her wrist in a shooing motion toward the girl. "Shop."
Weiss turned around and headed in the other direction but was stopped when Ruby spoke again. "Uh, Weiss? You're going to the guy's section. I don't think anything there will fit you."
She met the girl's eyes before replying. "I know, Ruby. I just have something I need to take care of."
"Oh, uh. Okay."
Without another word Weiss resumed her journey to the other side of the store. It was not about getting away from Ruby. It was about what she had told herself earlier in the morning. Back in the Emerald Forest.
Weiss remembered the sight Jaune's ruined clothes in the forest. And she had been reminded of them in her brief visit to his hospital room. She had made the decision to replace the outfit that he had lost. Only she would be replacing it with an upgrade. Blue jeans were nice for casual occasions but they could not be the only thing in any good man's wardrobe. He needed something nice. And she doubted that outside of his school uniform that he possessed anything that anyone with an ounce of class would consider nice. Luckily she was just the girl to solve such a problem.
Weiss approached a sharply-dressed man with a name badge on his chest pointing him out as a staff member. If she needed an opinion she was sure that she would be able to trust him far more than Ruby. He clearly understood his job not only because of his clothes, but because of the finely styled short black hair he wore and the small mustache that he was able to pull off without looking like a creep.
He looked up as she approached him and met her with a welcoming smile. "Good afternoon, miss," he said. "May I help you?"
Finally, someone with manners. It had been a while, being at Beacon for over two months now. She smiled back at him. "Yes, thank you. I'm wondering if you could recommend a size range for a young man I'm shopping for today. A little bit over six feet tall and a slightly above average build. Thin but with some muscle tone."
The conversation had been a brief one and Weiss was soon on her way with an answer. Walking amongst the middle of the many racks and shelves her head was on a swivel as she sought out something that looked nice. There were plenty of options for sure, but there were simply too many things that she thought that Jaune would not be able to pull off. He wasn't classically handsome, but not bad looking either. That scraggly blonde hair of his was one of the biggest offenders in her mind. Maybe she would need to take him to Vale next week and forcibly get him a haircut. That in itself would be worth the cost of a pair of airship and train tickets. She smirked to herself in silent amusement at the thought.
He was a relatively simple boy in every facet she could think of. Temperament, clothing, fighting... intelligence. Weiss shook her head at the last thought. Now was not the time to be insulting him, even if it was only in her mind. She was out to do something nice for him to make amends for her own screw up. She decided that she needed to focus on the task at hand.
But her first instinct on him being simply-dressed was correct. And there was nothing wrong with that on its own. One could dress plainly but still look nice. That would be her goal.
A pair of plain black slacks caught her eye. Anyone could pull off black. And black went with anything. Weiss grabbed a pair of appropriately sized pants from the rack and held them before her. She imagined in her mind what he would look like wearing them. She gave herself a tiny nod of approval. These would indeed work.
As if the store was reading her mind the employees had strategically set up another rack containing belts of all sizes and styles in the middle of its pants section. It made it easier for the customer to find the accessories that they needed to compliment their purchase whether they realized it or not. All in all an excellent marketing ploy. She grabbed a thick black leather belt from the display. It was sturdy and not likely to break should Jaune ever find himself in a combat situation while wearing it. He did have a pair of belts which fit the description she was looking for except for the fact that they were brown. How did a man own two belts and have them both be brown anyway?
Now she needed a top. But before she could get too far she heard a voice behind her.
"Weiss!" it said enthusiastically. "I found something!"
She turned to see Ruby standing there holding a black hoodie with a stylized rose on its front. The red petals of the flower covered where the wearer's heart would be while the long, thorny stem stretched down and across the body diagonally before ending just above the bottom of the clothing.
Just what was it with her and hoods? Or people and hoodies in general? Jaune wore one. Now she wanted one. Did people have zero taste in this kingdom?
"What do you think?" Ruby asked excitedly. "I think it's totally me."
Weiss' eye twitched. She wanted so desperately to berate the girl and force her to pick out something more feminine. But as she had told both Winter and Yang, she had decided to be nicer and more accepting of the girl. And she could clearly see Ruby was delighted with her choice.
"Do you like it?" Weiss asked in response to the girl's own question.
Ruby nodded vigorously. "Yeah. It'll be super useful this Autumn when it gets colder."
"If you like it then you should get it."
Her partner smiled at Weiss' "approval". But she had failed to realize that Weiss had not actually approved of it. It was a typical Schnee way with words to say something without actually saying anything at all. A valuable trick she had learned from her father.
"Okay. Any luck on your end?"
Weiss lifted her arm which had the pair of black pants draped over it to show Ruby. Afterward she resumed her search for the next piece of the outfit.
"Ooh those are nice," Ruby commented. "Maybe a nice hoodie to go with it. You know I think hoodies are really cool."
Weiss did indeed know. But getting another one of those things was out of the question.
"I'm looking for something a bit more classy," she said instead of what she was actually thinking. "Semi-formal maybe. Something you could wear out without looking like you've been invited to a gala."
"A gal-what?" her partner asked.
The heiress shook her head. "Never mind." She was about to ask Ruby to assist her in her search before thinking better of it. "This way," she chose to say instead.
A plethora of shirts hung from hangers all around her. She began sorting through them, the soft scraping noise of the metal hanger hook on the metal rack ringing in her ears with each choice she passed up. Short sleeved. Ugly color. Too big. Too small. Ugly pattern. Who wore red stripes on a green garment? Flannel? Seriously? Who approved of most of these designs to begin with?
Finally something caught her eye. She took the shirt off the rack and held it up in front of her. The long sleeve button-up shirt was a deep blue shade nearly identical to his eyes. It would help bring out the color in them. In a moment she approved of the idea and placed it on top of the pants she already carried.
"That looks nice," Ruby commented. The girl had no idea just how right she was. "So is that it then?"
"Almost," Weiss said. "There's just one or two more pieces I need first..."
A plain black sports coat completed the ensemble. It would give him the opportunity to dine out at a fancy restaurant should he ever feel so inclined to. Internally she realized just how ridiculous such an idea was. As if he would ever find a girl to do accompany him on such an activity. However Weiss was not about to purchase an incomplete outfit. Things should be done properly or not done at all.
After the jacket she grabbed one final item before looking to Ruby. "And done."
"So now we check out?"
Yes, Ruby. Now we pay for the clothes. She held back the comment and instead answered politely. "Yes."
The two girls made their way up to a counter where an older woman stood ready to complete their purchases. Weiss placed her items down before holding her hand out to Ruby.
"Let me take that," she said motioning to Ruby's hoodie.
"Huh?" Ruby asked. "Why? I thought you said you liked it?"
I said no such thing, she thought. "It's my treat," she said instead.
Ruby hesitated for a moment before handing the piece of clothing to her partner. "Really? What's the occasion?"
Armed with her trusty Schnee Company credit card she handed it to the clerk along with Ruby's hoodie. "For convincing me to come out today," she answered.
Ruby beamed with pride. "See? I knew you'd like it! Let me tell you, Weiss. It's not easy being such a great team leader and friend at the same time."
Weiss rolled her eyes at the comment. "Whatever. That idiot had better appreciate all the effort I went through for him today."
As employees are so often and annoyingly expected to do, the woman behind the counter made polite conversation. "Buying something for your boyfriend?" she asked Weiss.
Weiss' mouth opened to speak out in protest but her brain lost all train of thought by the very idea of what the woman had just said. "What? B- t- n-no!" she finally sputtered. "Of course not!"
Ruby cooed in delight at the reaction of her partner. "Weiss has a boyfriend! Weiss has a boyfriend!" she sang with the maturity of a ten year old.
There were often times where Weiss did compare Ruby to a child. Her words, ideas and mentality made it easy to do so. But to so blatantly act like someone well below her age here defied even their normal circumstances.
"Shut up, Ruby," she growled. "It's for Jaune. Because of what happened to his clothes in the Emerald Forest this morning."
"Weiss and Jauney sitting in a tree. K-"
"So help me if you finish that childish little song I will find a new partner."
What would normally be a heart-stopping threat only emboldened Ruby in the current situation. "Going to ditch me for your boyfriend?"
The frustrated scream gained the attention of nearly every other customer in the store. After the transaction was completed Weiss stormed out with a giddy Ruby skipping behind her.
Jaune was slamming his head back against the pillow. He was thankful that both this day and this experience were nearly over. The doctor had finally cleared him to be released. She had said something about his Aura level being near completely recharged. Whether or not that was supposed to be an impressive feat in a matter of a few hours he did not know. But what he did know was that the sooner he got out the better.
Even now a staff member had gone to fetch some clothes for him. It would not do for him to march back to his student dorms in nothing but a hospital gown. And his filthy, dented armor did not cover nearly enough of him to make that a viable option. Not that he ever truly believed it was one. But when there was nothing but trash TV on all day it gave a person a lot of time to think.
Looking out the window he saw the sun beginning to set in the late afternoon sky. He wondered what his team was up to right now. Everyone for that matter. They had all come at least once today, including his own teammates again at lunch. Nora had once more taken it upon herself to raid the cafeteria. But with no pancakes available the meal had been a lot less dramatic than before. That was both good and bad. Because while the unnecessary insanity of the redhead could get dangerous at times, it was always amusing. And being stuck in this room all day had taught him the value of good entertainment.
Suddenly the door burst open to reveal a black and red-clad girl jumping in flailing her arms wildly in the air. Jaune could only assume she was trying and failing to mimic the mannerisms of a gymnast who had just stuck her landing.
"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby greeted him happily.
A scolding voice came from behind the girl. "Ruby, what did I tell you before about knocking?" Moments later Weiss stepped around the other girl to stand behind her. "Hello, Jaune."
He smiled at the pair of girls and raised a hand. "Hey, what's up?"
Unsurprisingly it was Ruby who stepped forward first and made her way to his bed. "We didn't get to see you this morning because of some stupid tests or something," she said excitedly. "But we were here first. Even before your team. Wanna know why?"
"Because you convinced me to ditch classes today?" Weiss answered.
Jaune's eyes widened. What kind of world was he living in? Ruby and Weiss were here together? And the younger girl had convinced the other to break some sort of rule? Had his injury caused some sort of brain damage and he was hearing things incorrectly? But before he could even ponder the flurry of questions racing in his mind Ruby continued speaking.
"Because we're awesome friends, that's why" she said proudly. She reached around Weiss' neck with her arm and pulled the girl close to her. "Not just me and my partner here," she said, oblivious to the struggling girl stuck in her grip. "But we're your awesome friends too. Even though we're on different teams it's like we're on the same team! Like one huge eight-person team!"
There was no denying that statement. While it was to be expected that the members of a team would all grow close during their time together at Beacon, and that those bonds of friendship would last long after graduation, it was far less common for multiple teams to forge similar bonds. But Teams RWBY and JNPR had done exactly that. They had been nearly inseparable since initiation. Even before that in fact. Jaune had come to the aid of Ruby on their first day at the school. And he and Yang had formed a friendship as a result. Weiss on the other hand...
Speaking of the girl she finally pried Ruby's arm from her neck and took a step away from her diminutive partner. "Please don't do that again," she said with a hint of agitation in her voice.
That surprised Jaune as well. Normally such a blatant violation of Weiss' personal space would result in severe verbal backlash. This was tame in comparison.
Finally Jaune got a chance to speak with his chatty friend. "Yeah, I heard you guys this morning. Thanks for coming by, and sorry I was a little, uh, busy."
Ruby waved dismissively at his apology. "Pfft it's not your fault. Besides, it gave us time to go out and do something while you were busy."
"I told you it would take more than two hours," Weiss said cryptically.
"Well how was I supposed to know?" Ruby answered back defensively. "I told you I hadn't done stuff like that before."
All sorts of questions were being raised in Jaune's imagination about what they had spent hours doing together for the first time. But before his mind could linger on such thoughts he saw a third female enter the room behind the two oblivious girls. His eyes widened once more, this time in fear, by the expression on her face.
A single long, powerful arm wrapped itself around Ruby's throat from behind the girl. "Hello, wayward sister of mine," Yang said, smiling through gritted teeth. "Did you enjoy your day off?"
Ruby began to sputter and gag as she tried to pull her older sister off of her. She was not being choked as far as Jaune could tell. But it was still quite an uncomfortable position to be in.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was this morning?" she asked. Ruby responded with a few broken words as she continued to squirm in the blonde's grip. "But that fear quickly turned to anger when I realized that nothing bad had happened. You just decided to ditch school. And you want to know the worst part?" Jaune could see the very real fear in Ruby's eyes and held his breath for the answer. "You didn't even invite me!"
Yang finally released the girl who began taking deep breaths with her new-found freedom. She turned to Jaune who looked at them like he was about to witness a murder. "Hello, vomit boy," she said cheerfully, putting what looked like a genuine smile on her face. "Feeling better?"
"Much," he said. "But if you keep this up then Ruby will be the next one of us in a hospital bed."
"Oh she'll be fine," Yang said as she tousled her sister's hair. Ruby swatted at her hand angrily in response. "I've done way worse back home."
"I'm surprised she turned out as well as she has."
The blonde girl chuckled. "Anyway, we'll catch up later. Right now I need to have a talk with my dear sister."
Before Ruby could protest she was grabbed by the collar and found herself being dragged from the room. A few seconds later the sisters were out the door leaving him and Weiss alone.
"This is my life now," the heiress said with a dejected sigh.
Jaune smiled. "Hey, it could be worse. You could have Nora on your team."
He didn't mean anything bad by it. But when it came to levels of crazy Nora was on a completely different level from the Team RWBY siblings.
"Well at least there's only one of them," she said. "You're fortunate enough to have Pyrrha and Ren on your team. The boy keeps Nora in check."
True enough. Having the boy who grew up as Nora's best friend on their team certainly made things easier.
"Yeah," he agreed. "But you have Yang to help keep Ruby in line."
"Are you kidding me?" she asked. "Yang only makes her worse."
He smiled. "I guess that's true."
An awkward silence quickly fell over the room. Now that their conversation had finished they did not know where to go from there. Because there was only one place to go. And neither wanted to broach the subject.
"So..." Jaune started. It was feeling eerily like his conversation with Pyrrha from earlier in the morning.
Luckily Weiss was not nearly as awkward as him or his partner. She quickly and gracefully took over the conversation. "It's good to see you feeling better," she stated.
He nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I'm going to be released soon. Some nurse is just getting some clothes for me to change into."
Weiss' eyes suddenly narrowed as she looked down at him. Though her short height made doing so easier for her than many others. "No."
He gave her a confused look. "No?"
"Here," she said, presenting a large handled bag in front of her. "Take this."
He did so, accepting the bag and setting it down on his lap. He had been wondering what it was that she had brought in with her. Looking inside he saw that it contained a number of folded items of clothing. When he returned his gaze to Weiss there was an expression on her face that he could not pinpoint the emotion of.
"What's this for?" he asked.
Her eyes quickly shifted focus from him down to the floor. "I..." she said hesitantly. Weiss never hesitated. "I felt bad about this morning. Your clothes got ruined. So... Ruby and I went out earlier and I got this for you."
Jaune was taken aback. Was this Weiss speaking to him? Did she have a twin sister who was kind and caring? This was not the Ice Queen he was familiar with.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked jokingly. "Are you sure I'm the only one who got hurt this morning?"
An angry scowl overtook her face in an instant. "Look are you going to accept the gift or not?"
Sometimes it still amazed him how the girl's mood could shift so suddenly. He clutched the bag in his hands and nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Weiss. This is really thoughtful of you."
The rage subsided as quickly as it had come. "I'm glad you like it," she said neutrally. She would not meet his eyes as she said so.
And that troubled Jaune deeply. Because for as long as he had known her she would always look him or anyone else in the eye when speaking to them. He always assumed it was some sort of etiquette thing coming from a wealthy and prestigious family. For her not to look at him right now spoke louder than words.
"Try them on," she suddenly all but demanded.
"What? Now? Here?"
"Yes."
"But, uh..." he said as he ran a hand through his hair. "You're kinda in the room."
Weiss let out an exasperated sigh. "Do I have to do everything around here?" She grabbed the edge of the privacy curtain that would shield the view of his bed from the rest of the room. "Here, are you satisfied?" she asked as she pulled it across the room to separate them.
Jaune Arc did not know much about women. That much had already been made clear to him in his limited time at Beacon. But if there was one thing he had learned from his mother and seven sisters it was this. If a woman bought you a gift and told you to use it, or in this case wear it, you did not disobey that order.
"Yeah," he said uneasily as he slid the thin sheet off of him and sat up. "Much better."
The crumpling sounds of the paper bag being handled and clothes being removed from it permeated the silence which had otherwise engulfed the room. Yes, this was quite an awkward situation. The only time Weiss had ever been this close to a member of the opposite sex in a state of undress was initiation day in the co-ed locker room. But this was important to her. She had put a lot of effort into picking out these clothes. She had spent an entire afternoon alone with Ruby. That in itself should have been penance enough for the guilt she felt.
She didn't quite know what to say at this point. It was a most uncommon and unpleasant feeling for the young heiress. Weiss was normally never short when it came to comments and criticism of her peers. But here and now? What could she possibly say? The truth? Or maybe just half the truth. When it came to her family the latter was usually the best route.
She looked over to one of the empty seats in the room but declined the option to sit down. "Jaune," she started uneasily. She couldn't believe she was actually going through with this. "You did... well out there."
From behind the curtain came his voice. "Uh, thanks," he said hesitantly.
She frowned. Should that be enough? It really didn't touch on the key issue here. She pushed forward to continue the conversation.
"It's my fault," she admitted. "For what happened this morning. I'm..." she paused and swallowed hard. Admitting fault was a lot harder than she expected it to be. "I'm sorry."
For long seconds the silence returned to the room. Only the sounds of Jaune putting on his newly-bought clothes could be heard.
Weiss began to move and pivot her feet on the floor unconsciously for a few moments before she realized what she was doing. In an instant she stopped and mentally chastised herself. Was this what it was like to be Ruby? To be nervous in a social situation to the point where you fidgeted around like an awkward fool?
Finally Jaune responded. "It's not your fault," he told her. Another pause, this time from him. "It's mine."
She had not been expecting that answer. But this was her moment to make amends. And she would not have it be taken from her. "No," she insisted. "I made you go out there when you felt you weren't ready," she explained. "I'm your teacher. The blame falls on me."
It was the truth. She even remembered what he had said to her jokingly when they were on their way back from the Emerald Forest. There were no idiot students. Only idiot teachers. Is that what she was? An idiot of a teacher? A week ago she would have bragged about turning a fool into a halfway decent warrior. Now she didn't know anymore.
"Well... you can't teach everyone. No matter how good of a teacher you are."
Even if that was true it didn't make what she did right. "I left you on your own," she said. "Your first instinct was to work together. " Keen warrior intellect. "And I split us up to go after the Alpha on my own."
She heard a soft chuckle from the obscured bed. "How about we agree that we both suck?"
Another frown formed on her lips. "Excuse me?"
A moment later the curtain was pulled back to reveal the tall blonde clad in his new clothes. Truth be told he looked sharp. While his hair was still a disaster in her mind the clothes suited him. Her keen eyes along with the helpful advice received from the store staff had ensured that they fit him properly. Not too loose but not hugging his figure either. The black accentuated his height favorably. And the blue shirt really did do wonders for his eyes.
He smiled when he caught a glimpse of what must have looked like satisfaction on her face. "I take it you approve?"
Weiss was shaken from her thoughts by his words. "Of course I approve. I picked them out myself."
He shrugged. "I guess," he said as he adjusted the waistband of his pants as he spoke. "But like I was saying. I'm not that great at fighting and you messed up. So how about we call it even?"
Could that be a fair compromise? Not in her mind. To Weiss the responsibility fell solely on her shoulders. And as the heiress to a company she was not used to shifting the blame or forcing others to take responsibility for her errors. Board members wouldn't be so understanding. Nor would investors.
But she could see that there would be no convincing the young man that she was to blame for their predicament. "Only if you allocate seventy percent of the blame on me," she argued.
He gave her a strange look as he adjusted his pants again. She hoped the two actions were unrelated. "Fifty five," he countered.
"Sixty."
With a roll of his eyes he gave up. "Fine. Sixty percent your fault."
She was just about to voice her approval for his concession when she saw him adjust his pants for a third time in the span of a minute. "What." she said.
"Huh?"
"If you're about to complain that your pants are too tight it's your own fault for gaining weight," she told him bluntly. "I told you how unhealthy that beef jerky was for you."
He rubbed the back of his neck at her words. "It's... it's not that."
"Then why do you keep grabbing at your... your..." she didn't want to mention the area that his hands were dangerously close to every time he adjusted his pants.
Jaune bit his lower lip as he looked away from her. "I'm, uh... well. I'm not exactly wearing any underwear. It's kinda uncomfortable."
Weiss inhaled through her nose. "What?" she asked sharply. "Why not?"
"You didn't buy me any," he said sheepishly. His words were accompanied by an apologetic smile.
She glared at him in disbelief. "What am I? Your mother? Of course I didn't buy you- ugh never mind."
Jaune threw his hands up in frustration. "Well it's not like they washed mine and gave them back to me after I changed into my hospital gown," he said pointing at the piece of clothing which now sat on the empty bed. "Honestly I wish you would have bought me something instead of going commando right now."
The latest reminder of only a single thin piece of fabric separating her from Jaune's manhood was the final straw for the heiress. "Shut up, Jaune." she spat angrily. "Just shut up."
"Okay!" he said with his hands out in surrender. "Sorry!"
Weiss took a deep breath as she tried to recollect her thoughts. The apology was done. The situation was resolved. Wasn't it? What was there left to do?
That seemed to be the case as Jaune spoke once more. "So what's next?"
Caught off-guard in her thoughts Weiss' attention snapped back to the other person in the room. "What?" she asked.
"Training," he clarified. "My armor is going to need to be repaired at Beacon's forge so sparring is probably a bad idea for the next few days. What will we do instead?"
Unreal. Even after everything that had happened he still wanted to train? He still trusted her even after her admission of fault? He was either the most trusting or the most foolish person she had ever met in her life. Honestly she wouldn't put it past him to be both.
"Maybe we should take a break," she told him. "You should spend a few days recovering."
It was a half truth. What she failed to mention was how her own confidence had been shaken. Apparently to a greater degree than his had been. In fact it appeared that he was even more eager to get back into his training than before.
"I'm fine," he smiled. "The doc says my Aura is nearly fully recharged or whatever. No lasting injuries."
A girl should be so lucky to find a man with Aura levels and... stamina as high as his.
Stupid Winter for saying such an obscene line. And stupid Ruby for being the one to remind her of ideas like that with her childish taunting.
Shaking the thought from her head she came up with an idea. "Okay. We don't have to do any physical training tomorrow."
He nodded in understanding. "Okay. So what did you have in mind?"
"Do you remember watching the fight between Ruby and Yang a while back?"
After a moment of thought he nodded once more. "Yeah. That time they tore up the sparring room?"
"Indeed," she confirmed. "We'll do that again. Only with different people this time. People who aren't quite as..." she said as she sought to find a suitable word to describe her teammates. "Exceptional."
"Alright. Sounds like a plan."
Everything seemed to be in order. Now she could leave and put this whole disastrous, not to mention uncomfortable day behind her. She looked down to see his feet clad in brand new black socks. She had even remembered those, but not the one item he was missing beneath the pants. Of course she hadn't remembered that. Why would she? It was absurd to even consider buying something of that nature for him. Remembering that piece of their conversation was threatening to make her face turn red in embarrassment.
Weiss decided to end this conversation before that could happen. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow then. Don't bother showing up to the sparring chamber at six either. I'll text the details for our session."
"Okay."
Without another word Weiss turned and strode out of the room. It wasn't even dark out yet and she was exhausted. All she wanted to do now was go to sleep. She wanted to forget any of this had ever happened. But she knew that tomorrow would be a busy day. Not only because of the potential wrath she would face from her professors. She would have to move forward with her plan as well.
Life was so much easier being alone.
Her hands were clasped behind her back in a professional manner as she walked down the corridor. It was how she always chose to present herself when there was no rush to be anywhere. Time was a precious commodity in the military. And it was moments like this where she did not have any pressing issues before her that she cherished most of all. Well, that was almost true. There were other things in the world she cherished far more than this life she had chosen for herself.
Winter Schnee looked to the man walking beside her. General James Ironwood was a practical man with a strategic mind, but even he was sometimes an enigma to her. After what had just taken place why was he not being more proactive? Why were their forces not out scouring the other kingdoms for answers? This was what she lived for. She was a Specialist in the Atlesian military. And as such she could go places where normal uniformed soldiers would not be permitted. She could travel all around Remnant without the risk of an international incident or diplomatic faux pas.
The halls they walked were cold but she did not care. She embraced the feeling in fact. Comfort made one complacent. And that idea was the foundation of Atlas and its success. Humanity had been forced to struggle and adapt to its environment rather than bask in the perfection of ideal living conditions. That had been the downfall of Vacuo. Even after so many centuries it had still never recovered and regained its former splendor. Winter had studied that particular piece of history thoroughly. It was a testament to what happened when people became soft. They died.
The silence shared between the two soldiers of Atlas' military was broken when James finally spoke. "You were not pleased with my decision," he said knowingly.
Winter was indeed not happy. An entire shipment of prototype Paladin Battlesuits had been stolen in transit. How could she be happy about that? It was an insult. A disgrace. A black eye to Atlas and its military. The fact that the culprits were not being actively hunted down and brought to justice vexed her more than she had let on. Apparently she did not do a good enough job of hiding that fact. That, or Ironwood was as perceptive as a man worthy of his rank. And in her eyes he was indeed worthy.
"It is not my place to question your decision," she answered diplomatically.
The man chuckled softly. "No, it is not," he confirmed. "However I would be remiss not to ask my subordinates for their opinions on military matters."
Winter frowned. He was baiting her. All but ordering her to give her opinion. But in that cruelly cunning manner of his he did not actually come out and give the order directly. This vexed her as well. She had dealt with enough intrigue and scheming growing up in the Schnee household. She thought that being in the military meant that issues would be black and white. No room for interpretation or debate. Orders were to be given and followed without question. But when Ironwood did things like this...
Winter relented. "Permission to speak freely, General?"
"Granted," he said in an almost amused tone.
"I think it's ludicrous."
He laughed again. And her eyes narrowed in annoyance as she continued to stare straight ahead down the hall.
"I do not believe it is a laughing matter either," she added.
"No," he agreed. "It is not. However I do thank you for your honest opinion of my decision."
"May I inquire as to why we are not pursuing this matter?"
She heard him sight beside her. "I will be making a trip to Vale myself in the coming months," he told her. "Even now preparations for the Vytal Festival are being made. And we cannot afford to spread our forces out too thin. Not after everything which has already happened."
And much had already happened. White Fang attacks were increasing in frequency. Guerrilla style assaults on Schnee dust mines and processing plants were costing the kingdom of Atlas precious lives both in laborers and military personnel. Time and money were being expended not only to repair the damage and hire new workers, but to station more soldiers there to protect them. For an organization which claimed to fight for faunus rights they certainly seemed to have no qualms in the lost lives of their brethren during these attacks. The indiscriminate bombings and shootings killed more than just Atlesian soldiers. They took the lives of faunus workers as well. And the White Fang would then take the news of the dead faunus and twist the statistics to portray the Schnee family as a clan of racists and murderers who did not care about the lives of their employees. It disgusted Winter at just how much damage propaganda could do.
She gave a curt nod before replying. "I understand, sir."
"Your diligence does not go unnoticed, however," he told her. "Nor does it go unappreciated. You are one of the finest soldiers under my command, Schnee."
Her expression remained unchanged as she took the compliment. "Thank you, sir."
"And you must continue to be so," he said. "Which is why I ask you not to dwell on the decision and get some rest. I know that the meeting lasted longer than anticipated and the hour is late. So please try and get some rest."
"I will, sir."
He turned to look at her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him staring at the side of her head. "That was not an order. There's no need to be so formal."
Formality was all she had ever known. It had been drilled into her since the day of her birth. As the eldest child to Jacques Schnee she had stood to inherit the family business once he had passed away. Proper speaking etiquette, attire, posture, and even cutlery use were taught from the moment she was able to speak. But that all changed when she had joined Atlas' military. The day where in one selfish and impulsive moment she had made the decision to thrust her fate onto her dear younger sister. The truth of that fact still haunted her.
Since then there had been a different type of formality which controlled her life. But unlike before where she had dealt with a manipulative father whose only goal was to further advance the Schnee name, now she dealt with the harsh realities of life and death on a daily basis. Where before not obeying orders would get a stern lecture or punishment, here not obeying orders would get someone killed. Either herself or her comrades. However Winter was already used to treating her orders as if they were a life or death situation. The transition had been a mostly painless one.
And that cruel fact made it even harder to adjust to what most people would consider normal behavior.
Winter had to consciously suppress the urge to maintain military discipline in the presence of her commanding officer. "I'll try and get some rest."
James nodded approvingly. "Then we will reconvene in the morning. Have a good night, Winter."
"And you as well."
It was almost as if Ironwood had planned the conversation out perfectly to end right as they reached the end of the corridor. Here the path they had been walking ended and the hall split off in two directions. The General took a right turn while Winter went left.
Winter sighed as she was already internally disobeying orders. Despite the fact that it had not even been an order. Her mind focused once more on the missing Paladins. According to reports members of the White Fang in Vale had recently ambushed a train carrying the new state of the art technology. Only a handful of the crew and soldiers who had been manning the train had survived. And their cargo had been stolen. She did not like the implications which that brought.
The White Fang was already enough of a thorn in the side of not only Atlas, but the Schnee family. Many times over the course of her life had Winter dealt with the actions and subsequent consequences of the terrorist organization's attacks. She had lost friends. Family. Property. And much more personal things. They all had. Her, Weiss and Whitley. Their mother too. Winter wondered if the woman back home was drunk yet.
Perhaps she would take a page out of mother's book. Ironwood had told her to relax after all, had he not? And what better way to relax than with a glass of premium Mistrali scotch? Naturally she would never let herself get carried away like certain other people in her life did. But indulging herself every now and then did help her to relax.
Winter reached her quarters and shut the door behind her. Finally out of sight and away from prying eyes she could let her guard down. No longer was she required to be the eldest daughter of the Schnee's, even if that title held little formal meaning anymore. And no longer was she expected to be the pinnacle of military perfection in front of her soldiers. Here she could just be herself.
She let her long white hair loose to cascade down her shoulders and back. It was not quite as long as Weiss'. But on the battlefield such a thing would be a burden. And Winter was as practical as they came.
After hanging her pristine white uniform jacket on the tall coat rack in the corner she approached her desk. A pair of recently washed glasses along with a half-empty bottle of the aforementioned alcohol sat off to the side waiting for her. Winter poured herself a drink before setting the bottle down on one of the corners of the desk, as if telling herself that it was now out of reach and she would be limited to a single drink for the night. Because temperance was a virtue, she always told herself. But the drink was not the only item to occupy her workspace.
As always her secretary had placed the day's mail directly in the center of the brown wooden surface with the words facing toward the seat behind the desk. While Winter appreciated the thought behind such a detail it did not stop her from spinning the stack of letters around to face her on the other side before picking them up.
Right from the start it looked as if her work was following her home. Or at least the closest thing she had to a home in a military base. The first piece of mail was official Atlesian military business. Flipping through the letters she saw more of the same. The names and offices on each envelope were different but they all had the same basic content. There would be more people to speak to, more meetings to attend and more reports to read. A little bit of light reading before bed wouldn't hurt too bad, she thought. That was until she reached the final letter on the bottom of the stack.
The hand-written words were unique to one person and one person alone. For only one person in her life chose penmanship over the use of a machine. The letter in question had no doubt been rushed here by Schnee-employed couriers once it had reached their hands. Winter set all the other letters down into a pile atop the desk once more as she walked over to the chair and sat down.
Slicing open the top of the envelope with a small sharpened device she removed the folded piece of paper and looked at it. A perfect three fold technique. Just as Weiss always did. Winter smiled at the thought of her sister sitting down and painstakingly ensuring that every millimeter of the paper lined up properly. She would expect no less from the girl.
Finally she opened the letter up and began reading. If anyone else had been in the room with her they would have said that Winter's facial expressions had far more emotional range than they usually did. But no one was there to comment on that or the words she spoke in the silence.
"Interesting..." she commented softly.
When she had finished reading her sister's words she folded the paper once more and set it aside on her desk. She took a sip of her scotch and licked her lips afterward. There was indeed no other word she could use to describe what she had just read.
"Very interesting."
Author's note: Believe me when I say that I did not intend for the majority of the past 4 chapters to take place over the course of a single day. I just kept coming up with ideas for scenes that went way longer than I expected. This did nothing to help my worries over the pacing of the story. But hopefully there was a good amount of character development in this time.
Also just to clarify, the train attack Winter and Ironwood were discussing is not the Black Trailer. Just in case anyone was wondering.
Speaking of Winter, I've spoken to a few people over the course of this story about how I really wanted to include more of her. I was just struggling to think of ways to do so in a pre-volume 3 setting. But I've come up with several ideas. And as you can see here at the end of the chapter we're approaching the first of those ideas.
Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter. Questions or comments? Let me know. I'm always up for discussing ideas as long as they don't drift into spoiler territory.
Thanks for reading.