A Once Pure Snowfall
Pt. II
To say space was an issue would be putting it mildly. Rosy was busy stitching up yet another wound on the floor of the hangar bay. The massive room that was usually filled with Bullheads was now filled with people where ever they could fit. Filled survivors from the city that was left behind hours ago with whoever they could save. The air was filled with people crying, moaning in pain and chatter as everyone tried to give each other enough space to just exist.
With medical supplies stretched to their limit, Rosy could only put three stitches into this man's arm and covered it. With a warning not to move it around too much before moving onto the next person she saw. All the severe injuries were moved to the medical wing, with everything else pushed aside for the time being. Rosy never thought that this was what she would be doing when she signed up for the army.
Tending to soldiers, sure. But these were just regular people, nothing to do with the military life. But as the General said, the war was over, and all efforts will now be turned to humanitarian efforts. The more she looked, the more disheartened she became. Children with no parents were huddled together, strangely silent with a few adults looking over them. People walking around with pictures of loved ones, asking if anyone knew if they had seen them. A long, vacant stare of a little girl holding onto a picture frame, tears clearing tracks down her dirty face.
Using the last of her supply of burn gel, Rosy went back to the med-bay for resupply and decided to check up on a few people she had on her roster in the meantime. A man with shrapnel pulled from his leg seemed like he could be released and a bed freed up for someone who needed it. An amputee would need a little while longer, and someone who lost their eye was released just an hour ago. Finally, she checked up on everyone's special guest.
Clearing her ID with the guards outside, Rosy went inside one of the few rooms that were left clear, save for one person. Ruby Rose, Specialist Schnee's personal favourite, got her own room even though they could fit three more beds in the room instead of having them clogging up the already tight hallways. Rosy knew the young woman by a different name, one she learned from treating some of the soldiers who were lucky enough to keep their lives when coming across the mythical "Red Death" of Vale.
Despite all the stories she had heard, Rosy had never expected such a young woman to be the subject of such horrific tales. She looked so tired, too, like she never had a good night's sleep in years. Heavy bags under her bruised eyes, wrapped head to toe in bandages after a horrible fight, from what Rosy could tell.
Checking the IV bag, she made a note to change it in a few hours when she took one more look at the woman in the bed to see a pair of silver eyes open and looking at her. "Oh my god," Rosy said as she saw the patient starting to move. "No no no, lay down. You just got out of a coma; I'll get the doctor," She gently urged the woman back onto the bed and radioed for Doctor Bleu, saying that his patent was finally awake.
While she was waiting, asking Ruby questions but got silence in return, Rosy heard a commotion went to the door and looked down the halls and saw what was happening. Two people were throwing fists at each other; both were wearing the uniforms of the White Fang. One of them had three streaks of red across their face and was currently winning the engagement. Rosy had heard about the infighting of the terrorist organization, but that was the last thing anyone needed right now, on the Mantle of Responsibility.
With the two Faunus being separated by armed soldiers, Rosy turned to Ruby, only to see the young woman in front of her. In her hands was the pole that had her IV bag hanging off it. With a furious look on her bloody face, Ruby swung the pole with all her might, and the last thing Rosy saw was the base coming towards her face before being lost in darkness.
The hanger was filled with people; invisible borders had been made from where Weiss was standing. The different kingdoms were all bunched together; even the White Fang members they saved had been divided into several sub-factions. Many did not want to be associated with the others between the Faunus saved from Mistal, Feiyan and the White Fang. But of the hundreds of people in this hanger bay, Weiss was looking for one person.
Walking onto the pathways that wrap around the hanger walls above the floor, Weiss found Velvet leaning against the railing, staring out over the people they had saved. Weiss had only seen the Faunus woman a few times before, always forgetting how different she had looked since she had last properly met her. One of her rabbit ears had been cut in half at some point, while the other had been bent down permanently. The worst of the changes, however, was the three long scars that marred her face.
Weiss stayed back and watched her. Of everything that had happened during the war, the thing that had been eating away at Weiss was the fact that Velvet had no idea what happened to the rest of her team, and it was all Weiss's fault. Collecting her thoughts, Weiss took a deep breath and approached the other woman and called out to her.
Velvet flinched for a moment and turned to Weiss. "Hey," Her voice was almost lost over the general chatter of everyone below them. "How are you doing?"
"I've had better days," Weiss said honestly as she stood next to Velvet overlooking the mass of people. She could feel the tension in the air. All it took was one person to make one mistake, and there would be complete chaos onboard the Dreadnaught. "You're looking much better though, glad to see you walking around," She remembered when Blake dragged Velvet from an alleyway back in Mistral. Something that felt like months, but it had only been a few days.
Velvet gently pressed a hand to her side and grimaced a bit. "I'm still a bit sore, but I'm alive thanks to you," She smiled before taking a breath and looking back over everything. A silence stretched between the two of them before Velvet sighed, and her gaze dropped. "Is this the part where you arrest me?" She asked, finally.
Weiss understood where Velvet was coming from. On the surface, while Velvet was a member of Black Fang, she still participated in activities that went against Atlas, even going so far as to killing Atlas soldiers on several of these engagements. One of them is when they attacked an Atlesian compound to kill Gift, right in front of Weiss. Even though all the operations were against Watt's faction inside the Atlesian government, Velvet still organized everything. However, Weiss was here for something else.
"No," She said as she pulled a large scroll out and handed it to the other woman. "Quite the opposite, actually," Velvet took the scroll and began to read its contents. Weiss watched as her brows pinched in confusion the further she got into the files until she finally looked up at Weiss.
"What is this? I don't understand,"
"As of O-seven hundred this morning, General Ironwood declassified military documents per certain laws. One of them is "Operation: Black Fang," Weiss explained since she had already read through the file in detail earlier. "Originally, Black Fang was a covert op who was made to root out White Fang cells inside Atlas and Mantle. However, it was repurposed during the war to have complete autonomy to pursue any and every avenue they deemed necessary to destroy the White Fang without risk of compromise by constantly reporting back to the military. Including recruiting and acquiring assists outside of Atlas. During deployment, the original leader was killed, and leadership fell onto you, where you accomplished its original mission to the best of your abilities."
Velvet just stared at her and shook her head. "That isn't how any of it happened though, I was the one who created it; I didn't even name it. Someone else did! Adam escaped, and I nearly died!"
"Well, history is written by the victors, and we won, in a way," Weiss said gently. "With Atlas claiming the creation of the Black Fang, it gives all its operators the protection of the Atlesian kingdom, and it's laws. This includes wartime pensions and medical aid, which also means everyone who is associated with the Black Fang is guaranteed citizenship in the kingdom of Atlas, even if they choose not to continue in the military,"
Velvet just looked at Weiss before looking back over at the people sitting below them. "We're giving your people a home, Velvet. Someplace they can finally rest while the world gets rebuilt."
"You have no idea what this means to us, Weiss," Velvet's voice was strained. "So many of us lost everything because of this damn war. Friends, Family, our homes, and you're just giving it back to us even though we never destroyed the White Fang, Adam escaped in Mistral, and I have no idea where he is,"
"You shattered the White Fang, every day, we're getting reports of what the White Fang had done from interrogations of the White Fang we saved. So many of them are testifying against Adam and want nothing to do with them anymore. Every White Fang we save or arrest is one more person that Adam doesn't have at his disposal, and it's thanks to you and your group."
Velvet nodded and took a deep breath, and Weiss saw a sense of ease came over the Faunus woman. "Thank you, Weiss; you have no idea what this means to us,"
"Don't thank me, thank the General when you see him. Which should be in a few hours for a new assignment, Specialist Scarlatina," Velvet just laughed and gave a half-hearted salute.
"Thank you, Specialist Schnee," Weiss returned the salute and laughed with her and leaned on the rail next to her friend. A comfortable silence fell on them, but Weiss's stomach was anything but calm now. Images of Velvet's team kept playing in her mind, of the old theatre and how Weiss had killed them years ago.
"Velvet, there is something I need to talk to you about," Weiss began as she turned to Velvet. She waited for Weiss to get her thoughts together, but before Weiss could say anything else, Velvet's ears twitched, and she quickly looked over the crowd and began to focus on something in the mass. Weiss tried to see what she was focusing on but could not see anything specific.
"Sorry, I'll be right back," Velvet said absently as she handed the scroll tablet back to Weiss and began to quickly walk along the walkways towards where a group of people were amassed. That was where people could go and hand in the paperwork for Atlesian citizenship. Concerned, Weiss followed Velvet to where a commotion was beginning to form in the area. Someone was yelling at one of the officers, but Weiss could not make out what was being said. Only when Velvet stopped right above it and leaned over the railing did she realize who it was.
"COCO!" Velvet yelled. From below, Coco stopped shouting and scanned the walkways above her until she spotted whoever had called their name. The two stared at each other for a moment before Coco all but threw her purse at the officer and pushed her way past the others. Sprinting down towards the stairs, dodging and shoving people aside. Velvet doing the same thing, running towards the stairs and breaking out into a sprint to get to her friend when she hit bottom.
Weiss followed behind and waved the soldiers away, who began to get concerned at the sudden movements. She watched as the two women all but crashed into each other, falling to their knees, their arms wrapped tightly around and crying into one another. Weiss stood by and watched the reunion with a small smile on her lips. They examined each other, and Weiss felt a pit form in her stomach when she saw Coco's face. Velvet removed her glasses, and she saw a face scarred and an eye missing. "What happened to you?" Coco asked as her fingers traced Velvet's facial scars.
"I could ask the same thing!" She cried as she shook her head. She then suddenly began to look around at everyone. "Where's Yatsu and Fox?" She asked. Coco was silent and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Velvs," Coco quietly cried as she squeezed Velvet's shoulders. Velvet only cried and held Coco close.
"I still have you," She said as she pressed her forehead to Coco's, and Weiss could feel even more guilt pour over her. "What happened?" Coco was about to answer, but Weiss saw her one hazel eye latch onto Weiss, and all sorrow was replaced with anger as she shot to her feet and pointed at Weiss.
"YOU!" Coco shouted and stormed towards her. Again, the soldiers nearby began to intercept, but Weiss waved them down, even after Coco grabbed her by her chest plate and slammed her against the wall. "YOU KILLED THEM!" Weiss came face to face with her choices in this war, and there was only one thing she could do.
"I'm sorry, Coco,"
"SORRY DOESN'T BRING THEM BACK!" She yelled, even as Velvet tried to pull her back. "THEY WERE MY FAMILY! OUR FAMILY!" She continued to scream at Weiss.
"It was war! You would have killed me without hesitation back then too!"
Coco pushed and gritted her teeth. "I know, but fuck does it still hurt. Give me one reason not to end you right now,"
"She saved my life!" Velvet pulled Coco again, dislodging one of her hands. "If it wasn't for Weiss, I would be dead in Mistral." Coco paused and thought about it before finally releasing Weiss. Before Weiss could do anything, a finger was thrust into her face, and Coco leaned in.
"We're not done talking yet." She said as she walked away. Weiss knew that was going to be a horrible conversation. Looking over at Velvet, she could see how hurt she was, looking back at Coco then back at Weiss.
"I'm sorry, Velvet," Was the only thing Weiss could say to her. The only thing Velvet could do was give a slight nod and chase after Coco. While the whole interaction went better than Weiss could ever have hoped, it still stung.
"Specialist Schee, Specialist Belladonna, Specialist Xiao Long, to the infirmary immediately,"
The announcement cut through the chatter, and there was only one reason all three of them would be called.
Ruby finally woke up.
Weiss quickly made her way through the halls towards the infirmary, passing some injured and others off to do their own duties. Arriving at Ruby's room, however, the girl was missing. Sitting on the bed was a nurse who was getting their head stitched by someone else. A streak of blood on the wall and apparent signs of a struggle in the room. Weiss hurried down the halls and found the doctor who was in charge of Ruby.
"Where is she?" Weiss asked immediately.
"There's been a slight problem," He said as he began to lead her down the halls.
"What kind of problem?" Weiss asked when they arrived at a corridor filled with large glass windows and heavy doors. In front of one of the windows was Yang and Blake, staring wide-eyed at something inside one of the rooms. When she stood next to them, she shared in their shock at the sight before her.
Strapped to a bed was Ruby. Thrashing against her bonds that held her down. Blood dripping down her face from where she tore open her stitches on her head. Weiss could faintly hear her screaming as she continued to fight against the bed, trying every angle to release herself.
"When she woke up, she attacked one of the nurses, and it took five armed soldiers to subdue her; two are currently in critical condition," Doctor Bleu said as he stood next to her. "We put her in this isolation cell and injected Aura suppressers into her so she couldn't use her Semblance on anyone. As you can see, she's extremely aggressive right now,"
All three of them just stared in horror as Ruby continued to fight against her bonds. "What can we do?" Yang finally asked, not taking her eyes away from the glass.
"For now, we wait until she calms down; I'm not risking any of my staff while she's like this," Bleu said as he pulled out a tablet and looked down the hall. "Excuse me, I've got other patients to tend to; I've already talked to Ironwood and Ozpin about this," With that, the doctor left, and the three women were left alone.
Weiss knew this was a possibility. After seeing what Ruby was capable of doing, she just hoped there was a way to get through to her before something could happen to her. Blake placed her hand on Yang's shoulder and squeezed it. "We'll get through to her; I know we will."
"Yeah…" Her voice was broken as she just stared at her younger sister. "Whatever it takes, we'll save her." Blake turned and started at Weiss. She knew what Weiss was thinking. Ruby attacked three people as soon as she came out of a coma, topped with her role in the war and what she can do.
"Whatever it takes," Weiss placed a hand on Yang's arm in comfort, knowing full well that there was a chance that Ruby would be considered too big of a risk for Atlas. Weiss hoped she would never lose any more friends because of this war, but she knew, deep down, that there was a chance for one more.
A/N: Look, another update! Hurrah!
Beta-read by StreetAngelJ
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