Chapter 25:

Two paths

Still in the early hours, before Yang woke up, inside Schnee manor.

Her eyes were set in curiosity as she watched her father's name appear on her scroll as he was calling her, instead of answering she calmly walked out of her training room back into the hallways of the Schnee household, she stared intensively into her scroll's screen all the while. A clacking sound was heard as Weiss's feet trekked the marble flooring of the long corridors within her house, she didn't have a destination but wasn't able to stand idly by as she watched her father attempt to contact her.

She let it ring until it was done, after the last ring she stopped herself from walking, still staring at her scroll with skewed eyes, thinking and hoping to not receive another call. 'It might be nothing... but if he calls again, it's serious...' Weiss thought this, as seconds of staring into an empty screen felt like obnoxiously long minutes.

However every second that passed earned her a growing feeling of security, like it may have been as simple as dialing the wrong number, or nothing important at all, perhaps her father had a menial request that could be done by someone else, after all Weiss was done with playing the part of the heiress. She continued to leer at her scroll for little while longer, just to be sure of it.

Silence was present and eagerly welcomed for a short time before another call came through, Weiss grit her teeth and cursed under her breath, she clenched her free hand and with a disappointed expression she accepted the call.

"What!?..." Weiss spoke with misplaced anger; she should not have shown that much emotion to her father, she knew she would be scolded for it. "Is that anyway to say hello to your father, Weiss?..." His voice was much calmer than Weiss expected as she heard his tone through her scroll, she was happy that it seemed like bigger things than proper manners were on his mind this morning.

Weiss replied with an apologetic tone. "No... I didn't know it was you, good morning father..." Her father resumed speaking. "Hmm... better... anyways, I will not be joining you for breakfast, something urgent has come up, I will be away for quite some time actually." Weiss knew what this meant, and her heart sank slightly, the guise of the heiress would be worn once again. She had a quick thought before speaking. 'That means... oh, please... no.'

"How... how long? Will you be present at the fundraiser? It's tomorrow night..." Weiss spoke while pinching the bridge of her nose, and squinting her eyes. "No, thus is the reason I am calling you. It falls to you to make sure everything runs smoothly, I have informed most of our staff that you will in charge until I return, I urge you not to disappoint me Weiss, important people will be there." Jacques tone was harsh, he meant what he said.

Weiss's eyes stared downwards, another weight had been placed on her shoulders, she replied. "I... understand father. When will you return ho-." Her voice was cut off by her father's. "In good time Weiss, I have to go... but I'll say it again. Do not disappoint me." After his words were spoken, a click was heard and the call was ended, Weiss let her arm fall to her side, she pocketed her scroll and took a deep breath.

On exhalation, she thought. 'Ever the heiress... I can't escape but... just one more time, once more and then it's done.' Weiss resumed her pace, reflecting on the situation at hand.

She walked with fury in her steps, shaking her head in disbelief and she deemed it unfair that just as she had begun to think for herself rather than what her father wanted her to think, that she would be once more dragged back into the fray, she would have to pretend to care and she would have to feign her emotions once again. But maybe not.

As she walked through the halls, back to her room, since her father no longer wished to meet her for breakfast, she came to the conclusion that this may be good for her. She was obligated to help the refugee's and Faunus alike, she did however turn the gears for her father's plan to rid them from the city, maybe she could make amends for it, she could cut the strings that made her a puppet to her father, so to speak.

She could play his game against him.

If enough people knew about his plan then maybe it would be delayed long enough to fizzle out, and the victims of Beacon could have a chance to find a home here or have more time to relocate on their own. In any case Weiss had power, real tangible power within the SDC, with her father gone, she could run the show on her terms, it was the last time anyway, that she would be under his thumb.

She grew closer to her room, she desired to change into something more formal for the rest of her coming day, she walked with a twisted smile, scheming against her father felt good, akin to revenge in a certain sense, she wasn't his anymore, she had her own agenda to fulfill.

Weiss turned the doorknob and entered her room, she threw Myrtenaster onto her bed and let her hair down from her ponytail, she was about to undress before she turned to look at her television, early morning Atlesian news was on and a reporter was talking about a raid on a dust shop in the city, Weiss thought. 'Nothing good ever comes from this channel, waste of time if you ask m-.' Her eyes went wide when she heard the next words come from the reports mouth.

The man on television boldly stated. "The mark of the Whitefang was left behind at the crime scene, the owner, brutally murdered. It has been years since the Whitefang was known to be inside the city of Atlas, it see-." His voice trailed off as Weiss's world became silent, she didn't require any more details, she heard all she needed.

They were here, in Atlas, a group that the Schnee's have feared for a long time, these are the people Weiss had nightmares about and they were right here on her doorstep, she thought. 'So... that's... why father left...' Weiss turned her television off and sat on her bed beside her sword.

She gripped the handle tight and shut her eyes, suddenly a sense of worry came over her, the burden of her bloodline had come to take revenge, some would say it's just one raid on a dust shop, but Weiss had experience in this, she thought. 'It's starting... it's just like Vale...' The air in her room became stagnant and colors became dull to her, once again, she felt the plight of the heiress.

'No!... not, while I live and breath... not while I can do something about it!' Weiss's brave thoughts made her open her eyes to reveal a renewed sense of determination, her ice blue eyes were sharp as she reached for her scroll again, she thought. 'There's a chance the Whitefang might try something tomorrow night, if that's the case... everything will be air tight, I'll make sure of it.' With haste she called the appropriate people to secure the event, her day had just been booked solid.

Inside Yang & Blake's room, present time.

It had been a few dozen minutes since Yang finished getting ready for the day, only just her hair needed a brushing, she sat down beside Blake on their bed whom was finishing a cup of coffee. Yang began running the bristles of her brush through her long hair, she asked.

"So... what kinda' plan did you think of Blakey?" Yang whipped her hair in front of her to get at it with her left hand, her locks brushed past Blake's face in a deliberate, teasing way, Blake groaned and replied as she sipped her coffee.

"I'm going back outside the city, or at least to a place where there's refugee's, I need to know how strong the Whitefang is here, how many soldiers and who's leading them." Blake lowered her cup into her lap, where she held it with two hands and a lowered head.

Yang responded. "Alone? You wanna' go by yourself?" She stopped brushing her hair, her full attention now on Blake, whom replied. "Yes... depending on what information I can get... we may be here in Atlas for a little longer than anticipated, If... Adam... is here, then... there's no point in leaving with Weiss, we'll kill him here." Blake's tone was serious, her face expressionless, it seemed she was on board with Yang's desire to confront him, if given the chance of course.

"I... see, well... what am I supposed to do then? I don't wanna' sit here while you're out there." Yang shuffled on the bed to face Blake, and look into her eyes, Blake took a deep breath before speaking. "You... will locate Weiss, or at least find out where she's going to be, in her home or somewhere else, it doesn't matter we need to find her, we can cover more ground if we split up." Yang raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ok... how's a girl supposed to do that then?" Yang asked. "Well... I don't know, but then again... I'm not so certain on how I'm going to get information on the Whitefang, we're taking a risk here, both of us." Blake got up off the bed to place her mug in the small kitchenette's sink, she turned around to face Yang's response.

"Jumping in blind, good plan... just... promise me one thing?" Yang met Blake's eyes across the room to address her, Blake nodded for her to keep talking. "If things get... crazy and you end up finding... him, don't attack him, don't do it alone..." Yang fiddled with her hair as she spoke, nervous at Blake's response.

"Couldn't beat him on my own... I'm smart enough to know that, I promise I'll avoid him at all cost." Blake moved back over to Yang, who stood up to be face to face with her girlfriend, she asked. "When do you leave? Soon?" Blake smiled and spoke.

"Same time as you, right now... if you're ready that is, we have a long day ahead of us." Yang smirked and scoffed, speaking afterwards. "Course' I'm ready."

Both girls equipped their weapons and what they would need for the day, they exited their room and entered the hallway, Blake asked. "By the way, how's the hand? Feel better?" Yang's expression was that of confusion and she peered at her left palm. "Yeah... hey! The bandage is gone, did you?" Yang looked at her partner with a surprised face.

Blake giggled as they walked slowly down the hallway. "Yeah, I took the bandage off while you were sleeping, you sleep like a log Yang." Yang blushed and looked down in response. "It feel's stiff, but better... hey, promise me another thing?" Blake nodded once and said. "Shoot." Yang replied. "Don't get all crazy if someone talks shit about the Faunus, keep your cool... actually, now that I think about it, I would probably be the one to freak out first."

Blake smiled and spoke. "I'll be ok. Don't worry about me, let's meet back here before the sun goes down alright?" Yang nodded, agreeing to the terms, she looked forward as they were coming into the lobby.

Yang waved to the attendant without speaking, offering a fake smile as they passed by quickly to get outside into the city once again.

The hotel doors closed behind them and they stood outside in the cold, Yang still wasn't wearing any winter clothing, Blake took note and commented. "Maybe your first stop should be a clothing store, we have money now, no need for you to freeze."

Yang rubbed her shoulder, then blew hot air into her balled fist, she glanced at Blake and spoke. "Yeah, sounds like a plan to me, guess I'll just ask people wherever I am where Weiss Schnee lives, might get some weird looks but... oh well." Yang shuddered then Blake spoke.

"Well... I guess I'll see you later tonight then, be careful... it's a big city Yang." Blake spoke, then was about to turn around before her shoulder was caught by Yang, who pulled her back closer.

"Hey! Where's my kiss goodbye! Didn't think I'd let you go without one did you?" Yang pulled Blake close enough to have her face be inches away from her own, Blake blushed and replied. "...My mistake."

Yang grasped Blake tight as she leaned into her, forcing her lips into her girlfriends, in response Blake wrapped her hands around Yang to let her know she wanted this as much as she did. The kiss lasted a little longer than it needed to, but it was going to be the last one for awhile, their lips parted and Blake offered a wink to Yang as she backed away in silence and turned around, walking down the street.

Yang bit her lip as she watched Blake walk away from her, she then turned around herself to head deeper into the city of Atlas, she was no longer cold at all as a fire had been lit in her heart. It wasn't snowing anymore, and there was barely anyone else walking the streets, her view was filled with buildings on her left and right, the sun was pale as it was hiding behind white clouds in the sky. The scenery was awfully dull but it was the least worry of Yang's, she had a job to do, she had to find Weiss.

Blake walked one way, and Yang the other, one went left and the other right as they exited their hotel each girl following a path they set out for themselves, two paths, and two objectives. A complete shot in the dark for both of them, without a certainty of success things were quite stressful, they only had today and tomorrow to stay in their hotel and put their plans into action.

As Yang walked down the street, it felt weird not having Blake by her side, she had worked so hard for her to be with her and now she was gone, off doing something possibly dangerous. That feeling irked her, but she wasn't going to let it hinder her in her objective.

She thought as her feet took her further down the road. 'Find Weiss, don't worry about Blake, Weiss comes first today... she's part of my life too... might be easy, she's kinda' famous around these parts.' Yang reassured herself of her goal, trying to let go of any worry she had for Blake.

She looked up at a crosswalk that was in front of her and saw past it, a sign for a shop, and this place would be her first stop of the day, she read the words in her head. 'Second hand clothing, books and records... gotta' love thrift shops...' Yang picked up her pace as she headed closer to find some warm clothes, and maybe a lead on Weiss.