Chapter 25: Fall Weiss

Weiss was at a loss for words. Her sister's sudden appearance as what could only be described as a turncoat came completely out of the blue. Winter was supportive, she always had been. But to deceive their father? Unheard of. The elevator reached its destination before Weiss could even begin to wrap her head around what might be in store for her next. "Winter… What are you-"

Her words were cut short by Winter's razor-like interjection. "Not now. I'll tell you more once we get back to your room." The doors opened, and they quickly disembarked. For some reason, there seemed to be more soldiers in the halls than there were before, but Weiss had little time to take note of anything else.

The walk back to the far corner of the ship seemed to take no time at all when she moved with a purpose. Compared to the casual saunter that her father had enjoyed on the trip in the opposite direction, Winter's pace seemed like a sprint. At times, Weiss actually had to bend her knees and employ something closer to a run in order to keep up. She wished she knew more about what her sister had planned for her, but soon enough, the journey ended, and they stood outside the room that had been set aside for her.

Winter entered the code to open the lock on the door, and then escorted her sister through the entryway. Once inside, the hatch was sealed behind them. Weiss's intrigue had reached its tipping point. "What's going on? Why did you drag me down here?"

Winter wrapped her arm around her younger sister, and ushered her over to the bed that had been ruffled significantly as a result of the turbulence caused by ship's evasive maneuvers earlier in the night. "Weiss, in all of the time I've spent both in training and in the field, I've learned a lot of difficult lessons. But two of them stand out above the rest. The first is that you do not, under any circumstances, give our father a reason to hold a grudge against you. Second, never force someone to violate their core values. What I just witnessed was... both of those things. I know how much you dreaded the moment that you had to speak to him, and the things you told him were quite clearly said from the heart. The way you stood up for yourself, your friends and your teammates was very noble."

Weiss buried her head in both of her palms. "But...it doesn't matter! Father was right. Once I get back to Atlas, I'm going to be stuck there. My friends are going to think I abandoned them! I promised them that I was coming back. Now? I don't even know if I'll ever see them again."

"But… you're not going back to Atlas," Winter stated stoically. Weiss lifted her head out of her hands, and gave her sister a perplexed look. "Father doesn't understand you. He never had the experiences that you have had. He grew up working for his father's company, not being sheltered from it like we were. It's all he's ever known. Maybe some day, you'll find it in yourself to reconcile your differences with him. Maybe not. I can promise you one thing, though. Being trapped in Atlas will only expand the rift between the two of you." Winter got up from the bed and stood in front of her sister. "Unfortunately, I cannot directly assist you in your escape… and under no circumstances can this be traced back to me."

Considering the things that she had seen over the last day, Weiss was having a difficult time understanding what her sister was trying to help her do. "Escape? What… how am I supposed to… Why are you helping me?"

"You're my sister, Weiss. I love you, and I don't want to see you wither away in Atlas. I can't help you personally, but I can give you a window of opportunity. This will not be easy, or without risk… and I can assure you that you will have to make difficult choices along the way. The only thing I ask of you is that you promise me that this is absolutely the path you want to forge for yourself. Once you take the next step, there is no turning back."

Weiss couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her sister was offering her a way out of this mess. She didn't know how, or even what the risks involved would be, but anything would be worth the chance to get back to her friends in Vale. She practically jumped up from the seat she had taken on the bed and hugged her sister, nearly toppling her over in the process. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" The embrace lasted for several seconds before Weiss realized that she had not acknowledged the one thing requested of her. "Winter, I swear on my life. I have never been more sure of anything. This is what I want… what I need to do, and no amount of danger is going to cause me to stray from that path."

Winter reciprocated the embrace. "Alright then." For a moment, the two sisters just shared each other's company. As time passed, they eventually separated, and stood face to face. "I believe this is where we part ways, sister," she said as she glanced down at her watch, "Shift change is in twenty five minutes. That's when you need to be ready to go. The less people you encounter, the better… so move quickly."

Although very thankful, Weiss was also very confused. "Where am I going? What do I do?"

Winter was very succinct in her speech, despite saying very few words."That will all be explained to you. I've arranged for my contact to escort you to the docking bay. I wish I could tell you more, but I'm already running the risk of being implicated in your escape. I truly hope that the next time we meet, it is under more favorable circumstances." With that, Winter began to walk towards the door, stopping just before she punched in the code to open it.

"I don't think I can ever repay you for this," Weiss said apologetically.

Winter only half-turned her head back towards her sister, but she did not even attempt to hide her sarcastic smile. "You'll figure something out. Just take care of yourself out there. And good luck." Having said her goodbyes, Winter left the room, closing the door behind her.

With the little information she had, Weiss began to try to think of things she could do to assist in her escape. There was not much to go over. Literally the only things she had brought aboard were her weapon, her clothes and her self. A few minutes passed before a quick vibration in her pocket drew her attention. Reaching her hand in to tend to it, Weiss found that the number from which the message had come was unfamiliar to her. It simply displayed as a number on the screen of her scroll, with no name attached to it. Upon opening the scroll, she was met with the words, "Left nightstand, bottom drawer. Fifteen minutes."

Winter, what in the world are you planning, she thought. The lengths her sister must have gone to in orchestrating this were significant. Evidently, she had a partner who was not only in support of helping her escape, but willing to take the risk of being an accomplice in it. In any case, Weiss looked to the nightstand on the left side of the bed. There were military boots in front of it that she hadn't noticed before. Who would have left their boots in my room…

Weiss knelt down to move the boots out of the way so that she might open the drawer. When she pulled on the handle, the small storage area revealed a full set of Atlesian Military Attire, and a note that had no name on it, only a brief, almost enigmatic, line of text. "I hope you haven't grown up too much to play dress-up..."

You have got to be kidding me. She carefully lifted the uniform out of the drawer and sprawled it out on her bed. There was no connecting bathroom on her side of the securely locked door, so Weiss would have to change her clothes right in the room. She considered the incredibly awkward option of wrapping herself in the bed sheets, in case someone entered the room while she was only partially dressed, before deciding to just bite the bullet and go for it.

She quickly kicked her heeled boots into the now empty drawer, and then removed her jacket. Some minor fiddling with her cloth belt saw it loosened, and lightly tossed onto the bed alongside her other discarded garments. Finally, she climbed out of her combat skirt, which was then carefully folded and placed on top of her boots inside the nightstand. Weiss Schnee, soon to be disavowed heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, now stood alone in her room wearing nothing more than undergarments and a pair of socks.

Proceeding from this point was very unfamiliar territory for Weiss. She put on the black undershirt first, finding it to be uncomfortably form fitting, and she couldn't even remember the last time she had been forced to wear actual pants. The long white trousers were a far cry from the dresses and skirts that she incorporated into every one of her wardrobes. Still, the clock was ticking, so she quickly pulled them on. She tucked the black shirt in and turned around to look in the mirror that was on the wall.

I look positively ridiculous, she thought. How do these officers accomplish anything in such restrictive clothing? She faced back to her bed, and inspected the last major piece of her disguise, the coat. It was a very simple design. A high-collared white coat with dark grey trim running around both cuffs, the neckline and along the bottom, which Weiss estimated would only fall to her waist. The trim then traveled up the front of the uniform in an 'A' pattern until it met and formed a single line where the jacket overlapped, covering the buttons that secured it. Well, here goes…

She ran her arms through both sleeves, and pulled the jacket tight to her form, before fastening the buttons up the front, and folding over the grey trim that covered them. She ran the thick, black leather belt through the single loop on the back of her coat, and buckled it in the front. Two solid black ornamental shoulder pads with grey trim, connected by a metallic band in the front and in the back were placed over her head. A quick glance back into the mirror made Weiss reconsider the contempt that she held for her new wardrobe. It was by no means comfortable, but she decided that it was acceptably fashionable, for a military uniform.

All that was left were the boots and gloves, so Weiss folded all of her old clothes, and hastily stuffed them all into the nightstand. She took a seat on the bed, and pulled on the shin-high combat boots and tucked her trousers into them, before pulling the laces tight. Finally finished, save for her white gloves, she stood up, and nearly fell straight back down. Similarly to her reliance on dresses and skirts to make up the entirety of her wardrobe, high-heeled shoes and boots shared the same role for her footwear. The flat soles of the military-issue combat boots made her not only significantly shorter in stature, but also far less comfortable walking.

As she pulled the white gloves on, she tried to walk around the room to get used to the unfamiliar movements associated with wearing what would be widely considered normal footwear. Several laps around the room were completed before she felt comfortable enough to pass as an officer enlisted in the military of Atlas.

No sooner had she declared herself effectively disguised, a series of beeps could be heard from outside the room, followed by a solid tone. The door to her room slid open, and a familiar young officer stepped into the room, holding his index finger over his lips. He quickly stepped to the other keypad, and locked the door again. When he had finished, he moved very close to Weiss, inspecting her uniform closely, then stepped back, satisfied.

Lieutenant Nutt spoke very softly, but made no attempt to filter his words. "Weiss, let me just start by saying that I'm sorry. I wanted to come clean earlier. I knew that this was a contingency plan before I ever even met you. When I was going through my junior officer training, a select group of officers at the academy were chosen to shadow a Specialist. It's almost like how training huntsmen and huntresses learn from professionals. As it turns out, that was your sister. Her training as a huntress meant that her abilities far exceeded our own, but her decision making skills in the field were inspirational. I tried to learn as much as I could from her. Every chance I got, I picked her brain, and I think she appreciated my efforts to better myself. When I graduated from the academy, this mission was my first assignment. I met Winter again just after coming aboard. She must have assumed that she could trust me, or else had no choice. Before leaving the ship yesterday to go to Vale, she pulled me aside and told me that she might need me for something very important, but top secret. And so... here I am."

She took a moment to let the story sink in, before beginning what she assumed would be her own long-winded apology. "I'm sorry for the things I said to you before too," Weiss began. "I was out of line to question your character in light of my own personal problems. You seem like a good pers… What is that for?" Her apology was cut short by the sight of Walnut removing a large pair of shears from his pocket.

He held the scissors in front of him, and both he and Weiss stared at them apprehensively. "I'm just going to stop you before you get too far into apologizing to me, because you'll more likely desire to murder me after I tell you what the next step in our plan is."

"Oh God. No." She didn't even have time to think before the words came out of her mouth. Weiss could stomach a change of clothes, but that was more or less temporary.

From Walnut's perspective, it looked like she wanted to cry. "I'm really sorry Weiss. There aren't any officers in Atlas with white hair that runs down to their waist. It just isn't allowed. It's not as if there's a manhunt going on for you, but every person on this ship knows who you are, and where you're supposed to be. They have to because your father is in charge here. Even in disguise, the halls are still crawling with soldiers and officers, they would pick you out in a second with hair like yours."

As far as she was concerned, this had to be one of the 'difficult choices' that Winter had said she would have to make. She knew there wasn't much of an argument to be made, this would have to be done. The only reaction she gave was an exasperated sigh. "No, you're right. It's fine. Let's just get this over with." Weiss removed the clip that held her signature ponytail in place, and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it as much as possible. She looked at her new barber with a nervous, but still sarcastic smile, "Do your worst."

Walnut knew he was not a barber, and that by laying hands on Weiss, he was probably treading on ground that few men could ever hope to. He quickly straightened out the few imperfections that he could immediately detect in her hair, before cutting directly across, approximately midway down her neck. He took hold of the hair that was cut loose, and pulled it away from his patient, so as not to get her uniform covered in the long strands. The surgery only took a few seconds. "Done," he said flatly. When she turned around to face him, he held up the locks in his hands, trying to lighten the mood. "Do you want to keep it? Maybe... put it under your pillow?"

Weiss squinted angrily. "Don't do that. This is already a traumatic experience for me. Having to strangle you with my own hair won't do much to help that."

"Noted," was his response as he packed the hair into a small disposal bag and sealed it. He reached into his other pocket, and removed an official, Atlas Military issued hair clip, and handed it to her. "I'm not going to tell you how to do your hair, but most of the girls I knew back at the academy took whatever liberties they could with what they had to work with."

She did her best to pull her short hair into a high bun, leaving only a small section of her bangs to hang down on the right and left side of her head. Looking into the mirror caused her realize that this new hairstyle looked like some strange amalgamation of Winter and Ruby. "This… will take some time to get used to," she admitted.

Walnut glanced at his watch, "Well, you have… two minutes."

"And then what? I still have no idea what the plan is. Winter only mentioned something about the docking bay."

He didn't have time to think about how to explain everything in the greatest detail, so Walnut just started to rattle off everything he knew about the plan. "Shift change is in two minutes. At that time, most of the personnel on the ship will be switching to either on duty or off duty. That means there are going to be a lot of people moving around in the halls, making it our best chance to get you to the dock without drawing any attention. I'll take the lead, you just follow me." He noticed Myrtenaster laid near the edge of the bed. "You can secure your rapier through your belt in the front. If you stay close enough to me, nobody's even going to notice it."

She followed his recommendation, and tucked the weapon under her belt. "What happens if we make it to the docks?"

He corrected her, "When… we make it there, we head to the large bay door. The mechanics usually keep it opened unless we're under attack. It helps to circulate fresh air in there. Since they always have the ships running for testing and maintenance, the exhaust fumes tend to build up."

When he stopped talking, the silence in the room caused her to wonder if that was the end of the plan. As far as she could tell, there was no part of what had just been explained that involved her escaping the ship. "Is… there something else that I might need to know?"

Walnut formed a puzzled expression on his face. "Yes, but I'm not entirely sure what it means. Your sister just gave me two words to tell you." Weiss started at him blankly, as if to ask what the words were. "Landing strategy."

She threw her hands in the air, "Oh for the love of… And all this time, I thought someone was going to take me out of here on a ship."

"Sorry Weiss, I don't think that would have been very discreet."

"I understand, it's fine. It just looks like I've got some walking in my future, though. We've been underway for a couple of hours, so we're probably a long way from Vale."

Another check of his watch revealed that it was time to get moving. "Let's go. The night shift ends any second." Walnut opened the door with the keypad, and the two Atlesian officers cautiously stepped into the hallway, just as the low buzz played over the public address system, officially indicating the end of watch for the night crew.

Weiss was nervous, but not prohibitively so. Despite the risks that she knew existed, the payoff to all of it would be the chance to rejoin her teammates, and separate herself from her controlling father for what she could only hope would be a very long time. Their pace was in line with everyone else moving through the hall, and most of the crew paid no attention to them at all. Generally, it seemed like most of the personnel aboard the ship were young, likely fresh out of the military academy, like Walnut.

Around what Weiss guessed was the halfway point of their journey, she began to hear shouting from down the hall. As they drew nearer, the source of it was revealed to have come from the adjacent hallway that led to the elevator she had been on twice previously. A few more steps, and Weiss was able to identify the voice. His voice. After the night she had, it was practically burned into her brain. It flared up again, "I don't care who she is! No one talks to me like that!"

Weiss saw him as they passed across the junction between the two hallways. Her father had his back to her, thankfully. The poor soul who was the focus of his aggression in this particular instance shot back, "She just needs time, she'll come around. You can't keep treating her like she's a kid!" She saw her sister's eyes briefly catch a glimpse of her, and immediately resume their focus on the abrasive man in front of her.

She could only assume that her father had decided that he wanted to continue their argument, and Winter was doing her best to stall him. Weiss smiled at her sister, even though Winter was no longer paying attention to her, lest she run the risk of her father turning around.

Realizing that she had fallen several strides behind Walnut, she hurried to catch up to him, and they continued on down the hall as the shouting behind them faded back into obscurity. The rest of their journey was reasonably uneventful, but the intensity of the situation was not lost on Weiss. Her partner handled it with an unwavering steadiness that made her wonder if he wasn't some sort of half robot person from Atlas, like Penny.

The automated doors slid open in front of them as they entered the docking bay. Most of the crew inside were gathered around a table in the corner of the room that had doughnuts and a pot of coffee for the incoming day shift. As expected, the bay door was fully open, and the rising sun shined a bright morning light directly into the large room.

As they neared the opening, Weiss found herself staring down at the land below her. While she inspected the terrain, she heard a click come from behind her. She snapped her head up to see that Walnut held his scroll up, and had taken a photograph of her. "You don't even know how cool you look right now with the sunlight creating a backdrop like that." Her own scroll vibrated. "I sent you the picture." He lowered his voice, even though he realistically didn't have to, considering the sound of the wind created by the open bay doors. "In case you hadn't guessed, that was me who told you about the uniform in the nightstand. Your sister gave me your number. If they ever figure out the CCTS, let me know that you made it back to Vale safely, okay?"

Weiss nodded, "I will. And thank you. Again." She panned around the room to make sure that no one had become suddenly interested in two nondescript young officers standing in the docking bay. Although she wasn't familiar with proper form, Weiss did her best to offer a salute to Lieutenant Nutt.

He let a slight cringe form at the sight of such an improperly executed gesture, but realizing that Weiss wasn't really an officer, he decided to let it slide, just this once. "Close enough," he joked as he returned a proper salute to her. "And you're very much welcome... Good luck."

Weiss smiled, and turned once more to face great expanse of sky. Well, I guess this is one story that… does… have a neat and tidy ending, she thought. Then she stepped off of the ship, and disappeared into the wall of sunlight.