Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY

PROLOGUE / ADAM

"Good, boy! You're a natural at this, Adam. In only a year too! Soon, you'll be just like your good ol' pops!"

Adam beamed. It was a sunny day in the small patch of land the Taurus family owned in Mistral, and the rays shone down like steaming hot golden lances. Adam held his wooden practice sword in a loose stance, once again charging forwards as his father gestured for him to do so. Bursting into a sprint, the two bokkens clacking with a satisfying sound. Much to his dismay however, Adam's father was still far stronger than him. Before he could realize his mistake of getting into a sword lock, he found himself being nearly pressed to the ground.

As the spar ended, Adam huffed out in mock indignation. "No fair! You're a grown up, so of course you'll be stronger than me!" he said, making his father chuckle. In response, the older Taurus merely looked at him and gave a warm smile.

"You have to be prepared for someone like me, Adam. Remember. No matter how good you are, there will always be someone better than you." he said. "And besides, you'll be getting stronger in no time with someone like me to fight with! You wanted to do this, remember?"

Adam only huffed in response, and his father bent down. "But most importantly, strength isn't everything Adam, remember that. Wisdom, intelligence. The knowledge of how to use your power is just as important as the power you have."

Adam nodded in understanding, feeling himself agree with his father. He's right.

From that day onwards, Adam had started training harder and harder.

...

"John-"

"I know, Heather. I know what you're going to say, and-"

"John, this is serious! You can't just dodge around this stuff forever."

"I know, sweetheart. I know. But right now, Adam needs this. He needs us."

"John... I-"

"I know what I'm doing. I promise. It's not as bad as everyone else says, Heather!"

"John, wake up! This is a company that brands us as their property! There is nothing worse than it!"

"I know, dammit! But it's still the only chance we have for-"

Adam bolted upwards and shut the door tight. Tears threatened to leak out of his eyes as he curled up behind the door and listened to the murmurs of his parents' arguments.

...

Adam ran. He knew that his parents were dead. Starved and violated by the SDC. He also knew that the same thing was going to happen to him soon if he didn't get out of those wretched mines. Those things were no better than death traps for faunus. His kind were no better than slaves here, and the SDC made sure that they knew that.

Adam hated it. So, he did the only thing he could do. He ran. Ran away from the mines, the guards, and his dead, buried past.

How did things turn out this way?

WEISS

Weiss ran, wiping the tears from her eyes as her feet softly pushed against the snowy ground below. Her coat fluttered backwards against the harsh, cold wind. Her boots sunk deeply inside the snow that covered the surface, leaving behind heavy footsteps. She didn't care. She was way past that point now anyways, and was better off completely gone.

Memories surfaced to her mind. Memories of her father, of her sister, of her mother. Memories of a childhood long gone that had happier times than now. Or... she thought bitterly, I'm completely mistaken about that part too. Maybe I confused my father's indifference for love, like a foolish child.

Weiss cursed. She cursed her father for becoming the man that he had become. She cursed her mother for leaving Weiss and Winter and Whitley alone, and pushing her father further into his pit of despair and hate. She cursed Winter for leaving, and making Weiss the gods damn heiress. She cursed Whitley for being whatever in the world Whitley was supposed to be.

She cursed her grandfather for making such a wretched company. One that did nothing but give her grief and frustration and had taken any semblance of a normal life ahead. No, that isn't fair, her mind scolded, but Weiss shoved her thoughts away with indignation. Curse this stupid family name. This company, this responsibility.

"Being a Schnee is a great honor," her father had said. Repeated to the point where Weiss had fought back the urge to groan every time he mentioned it. Screw honor, Weiss thought resentfully. What's the point of being part of the Schnee family if we aren't even a family?

What were they anymore? A contractual obligation? A group of business partners? Weiss didn't know anything about her family members anymore. Whitley was an isolated brat who refused to talk, and her father cared for nothing but money and more money. Her only real friend was her butler, Klein.

That's father's fault too, Weiss mused, letting out a dry laugh. If her father wasn't so intent on homeschooling her, she would have made friends. She was sure of it. Friends that didn't go after her soley for her money and status. Friends that didn't want to take advantage of her. Those aren't friends, those are nothing but father's subordinates.

For the love of god, she was just a child. Weiss had read of children in storybooks. Children laughed and smiled and played tag with their friends in the playground, singing songs and living without a single care in this world. And at night, their parents would tuck them in, read them a bedtime story, and give them a good night kiss and an "I love you."

Weiss was not a child. At least, not by that definition. Where children played with their friends, Weiss was beaten down by instructors, all grown professionals. While children sang songs and played tag, Weiss was assessed by an elderly woman who trained her to sing ballads and symphonies. While children were tucked into their beds and were read bedtime stories, Weiss slept alone in a cold room filled with nothing but her own loneliness. Why did you leave, Winter? Why did you leave me alone?

She immediately felt guilty for the insult, her mind suddenly recoiling at the sentiment that Winter probably experienced the same things as her. Of course she would go away... Would my choice be any different? Weiss immediately knew the answer, and cursed herself. Not for having the same, obvious choice, but for cursing her sister regardless.

For the first time in her entire life, she cursed her family name. After all, without the Schnee name, would father be like this? Would mother have left the way she did? Weiss knew the answer immediately, and shoved her head down in frustration. The worst part is... I can't do anything about this. I'm stuck in this fate no matter how hard I try.

She wasn't Winter. She wasn't the perfect daughter who was naturally talented at everything she did. Winter had been father's burning passion, and Weiss was nothing but a disappointment. Bitterly, Weiss cursed her sister once more. Gods damn it Winter... Why did you leave...

"Worthless! And you dare call yourself a Schnee!?" her father's voice echoed in the background. "We strive for nothing less than perfection, Weiss. Remember that when you try again."

"You need to be better, Weiss. Jacques would expect nothing less from his own daughter." reminded her instructor. "I'm sorry, but that's just how it is."

"Weiss honey... I'm leaving."

Something inside her snapped.

As her mind and heart started to crack, so did her body. With an accidental misstep, the heiress fell to the ground with a soft yell. Groaning, she clutched her twisted ankle in pain, the physical pressure overwhelming her emotional one for a brief moment. It hurts. It hurts so much. Suddenly, she had the powerful urge to cry. She didn't give in. Schnees didn't cry. They were strong. They fought through the challenges life threw at them. Even if it's their own family, she once again reminded herself.

Weiss fought back a sniffle, looking back momentarily to the Schnee manor behind her. Looking at the giant, gloomy mansion, she suddenly felt the powerful urge to punch something. Immediately her father's voice echoed inside her head once more, telling her not to do something undignified of her position of Heiress. She stomped the thought down in frustration, scowling at the manor.

I hate this. I hate father, I hate Whitley and Winter and mother and everyone that left me alone. With a sudden wave of rebelliousness escaping from the back of her mind to the forefront, she rose up from the ground, wiped away her tears, and marched forwards, thinking, I don't need them! I don't need any of them. I'll run away from that stupid house and-

That was when she slammed into someone headfirst.

The pain registered clearly in her face and she plopped down to the ground and rubbed her aching nose with a heavy frown. Once her sight had readjusted, she was finally able to gain sight of the person who she had rammed into. Only his left side was visible, but as far as she could see, he was a boy who's most distinctive feature lied in the contrast between his flaming red hair and his brilliant blue eyes. The features were also accompanied by... twin bull horns. Weiss cringed.

A faunus.

Weiss's surprise and interest immediately turned into distaste, and she found herself scowling at the boy, her mouth opening to scold him. A nagging feeling in the back of her head screamed at her to stop, but Weiss refused to hesitate. I will not be put down by a single faunus. These... these animals are the cause of so much-

Before she could finish her thoughts, the boy turned around, and Weiss felt her entire world flip upside down. Gasping, she quickly took a step backwards, cringing at the sight of his full face. There was an abnormally large scar that covered the area around his right eye, the eye itself having lost the brilliant ocean blue color of the other eye. Instead, it was a charred, burnt looking brown.

Actually, now that I look at it... Weiss thought, narrowing her eyes at the boy, ...that's not a scar at all! That's way too patterned to be a scar. No, that's a branding. As soon as Weiss's mind conjured up a word, she cringed. She had heard of branding used in ancient Atlas history to label prisoners. It was something that involved a hot searing iron pressed to the skin, and sounded like a painful process. Weiss recalled the memory of her cringing when she had initially read about the technique. Never had she ever thought that she would meet someone branded with a mark in person.

Wait. That mark is familiar. It almost looks like-

Her breath hitched.

No. No, no, no. No way. That can't be. That can't be true. There's no way! There's no way!

But she couldn't deny what she was seeing.

After all, the brand belonged to her own company.

Suddenly, time around her seemed to stop. Her limbs froze of shock, her mouth struggled to twitch, and she didn't dare even breathe. Instantly, her brain conjured up a million questions, none of which she was able to answer. What... What in the world has father been doing with this company?

She didn't get time to contemplate it more, as the boy noticed her all to quickly and tackled her to the ground, his hands gripping her neck tightly. Weiss gasped, her body kicking into action as she gazed into the boy's furious eyes. Fear flooded through her veins, her neck quickly registering the pressure of the boy's grip. He's stronger than he appears, Weiss thought. I... I might die here.

Through the boy's mouth, a single word echoed.

"Schnee."

Weiss couldn't feel what emotion she was hearing. He sounded angry, but also sad and fearful.

Her thoughts were befuddled even more when she felt a drop of water on her cheek. Tears? she thought, widening her eyes. Somehow, she felt guilty for a crime she had not even committed. I- I...

That was when she stopped fighting back. Somehow, that warranted a surprise to the boy, who slightly loosened his grip.

And then, he was suddenly gone. Weiss's eyes widened as the pressure on her neck released entirely, and the boy's face all but disappeared from her line of sight. Instantly, she sat up in the snow, only to see the boy being dragged away by two guards wearing the SDC uniform. As the boy yelled and fought back with all of his strength, the guard on his left slammed a fist to the boy's face. The effect was immediate, and Weiss found herself recoiling in pity.

"Shut the fuck up, animal." snarled the guard as he turned back to her. "Sorry Ms. Schnee. This one's been particularly rebellious over the last few days." he said. "We'll be making sure that something like this doesn't happen again."

Somehow, Weiss couldn't find it in her heart to thank him. Her mind was a blizzard of questions and emotions that swirled around in ways that she didn't understand. But most of all, the biggest one she recognized was frustration. Frustration that if her suspicions were correct, her father had kept her away from a huge truth once again.

As she watched the boy being dragged away by the two guards, she could only stay completely still. After the punch, the boy's energy had receded, and the anger and rage on his face had disappeared altogether. Instead, there was only a look of pure, utter defeat upon his face.

Personally, Weiss wasn't sure what expression she pitied more.

Notes

Ay what's up y'all. I recently started watching the old seasons of RWBY again, and it suddenly hit me that I hated the fact that Weiss and Adam had no interaction. Especially after seeing his brand in Volume 6, I feel like interactions between him and Weiss were heavily lacking in the show itself. THEIR STORIES ARE CONJOINED ROOSTER TEETH! C'MON! MAKE SOMEONE FROM THE SDC AND ADAM INTERAAAAACT.

My personal rantings aside, I feel like this is genuinely an interesting idea. Weiss and Adam are completely different characters, but I see some definite chemistry with the two interacting. And by chemistry, I don't mean shipping. I mean in a completely general manner.

I'm also taking a couple creative liberties with this story regarding the society of Atlas, along with Adam's backstory and the source of his rage. I'll try not to keep the characters as OOC as possible, but just like all of my stories, this will be canon-divergent. I'm also shifting Adam's age to be slightly younger, because I need to establish the fact that both characters are extremely immature. That way, I can take extra liberties with how they develop over time.

For reference, here are the character ages so far.

Weiss - 12

Adam - 13.5

Welp, if you enjoyed this, make sure to leave a review!