A/N:
Hi friends!
As promised, here is chapter 13 of RWBY: The Selection. This one features an exceptionally over-the-top Weiss. We stan over-the-top Weiss. (Weiss is lowkey (or maybe highkey) my favorite RWBY character).
Once again, please feel free to review with any questions/concerns/comments/anything else you want to ask or say. Be sure to catch the debate tonight if you're in the states and voting!
Without further ado, enjoy!
Chapter 13: Atlas
"Salutations! I'm Penny Polendina, and I am not a robot. What's your name?" Penny practiced in the mirror the morning that she was to leave for the Selection.
"Penny." She turned. Winter Schnee stood at the door to her room, a stern look on her face. "Are you ready?"
"Oh, yes!" Penny declared. "I've been packed for days. Are we leaving already?"
Winter nodded curtly. "The Selection has banned all use of private planes. You'll be flying with the rest of the contestants out of Atlas and into the Capital on the Isle of Tenebris. General Ironwood had a meeting, so he asked me to take you."
"O-kay!" Penny sang. She gave herself two thumbs-up in the mirror and pranced after Winter down the stairs of Atlas's strictest military compound.
Winter was silent on the drive to the airport, despite Penny's best attempts to make conversation.
"Do you think the other girls will like me?" she asked. No response. "Do you think Prince Jaune will like me?" Nothing. Penny thought for a second. "Is the reason why you're so quiet today because your sister Weiss is attending the Selection too?" Silence. "Are you happy for her or upset with her, like General Ironwood was upset with me?"
Winter sighed and gave in. "Weiss and I aren't as close as you and the General. We haven't spoken in years, after I was disowned for marrying down to a Three to become a Huntress." She glanced at Penny's shocked face through the rearview mirror. "But… happy for her, I suppose."
When they arrived at the airport, Winter came in with Penny to escort her to her gate. They had some issues with the metal detector, but other than that, found the gate came without a cinch. The problems started when they entered it.
"Give me back my luggage!" A short, pale girl with a ponytail full of long white hair cried at a cat Faunus who circled her in rollerblades, holding a white suitcase above her head.
"If you think you're so fast, why don't you come and take it, Princess?" the cat Faunus taunted, sticking out her tongue.
Winter's eye twitched.
"Give it back or I'll call security on you!" the girl whined, "honestly, I can't believe someone like you got picked for a program as prestigious as the Selection." She crossed her arms. "Prince Jaune is probably going to send you home the second he lays eyes on you."
The cat Faunus slowed to a stop, and the white-haired girl reached for her suitcase. At the last second, however, the cat Faunus pulled it away. "Ha ha! You make it too easy, Ice Queen,"
"It's Ice Heiress to you," the girl snapped, pulling out her saber.
"That's enough," Winter's voice boomed. The girl with the white hair turned, and the cat Faunus, startled, tripped over a seat and dropped into the lap of a small, dark-skinned girl wearing a blue skirt and typing on her scroll.
"Winter…" the white-haired girl whispered. Penny stared at her intently and then lit up. So this was Weiss? This was so exciting! Weiss was going to be her best friend!
"You dolt," Winter snapped at her sister. "You never draw a weapon on an unarmed girl." She glared at cat Faunus, who stood up and was dusting herself off, tossing the luggage back to a shocked Weiss. "No matter how immature she's acting,"
"Winter, why are you-?"
"Salutations!" Penny cried, sticking her head between Winter and Weiss. "My name is Penny Polendina. What's yours?"
"Weiss Schnee," Weiss replied in a lofty voice, sticking out her hand. Penny shook it vigorously. "Two, and Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company-" She stopped abruptly. That wasn't her title anymore. "Heiress and future Princess," she corrected.
"Salutations, heiress-and-future-princess Weiss Schnee," Penny greeted. "Are you here for the Selection too?"
Weiss laughed. "Obviously."
Winter gave her a sharp look. Had she been this obnoxious at Weiss's age?
"I'm Neon," the cat Faunus said as she skated past, tugging on Weiss's ponytail and giggling.
"Salutations, Neon!" Penny cried, grinning. She walked up to the girl with the scroll, who didn't glance up as she approached. "What's your name?"
"Ciel Soleil," the girl replied quietly. She and Winter exchanged a meaningful look, and when Winter nodded sharply, Ciel returned the gesture.
"Salutations, Ciel!" Penny cried, not bothering to match the girl's quiet tone.
Weiss shook her head and turned back to her sister. "Winter, why-?" but Winter had left.
"Are you excited for the Selection, Weiss?" Penny asked, from directly behind her. Weiss shrieked and jumped. "Don't do that," she scolded, "you can't go around scaring people like that…"
Penny wrung her hands as the pilot, a short, stern-looking lady with spiked grey hair, announced that they were safe to board. "Sorry…"
"Don't be sorry," Weiss glared. She grabbed her suitcase and stomped onto the plane. "Be better."