Author's note: Chapter 2. Some trigger warnings in the notes at the bottom, in case there are things you're uncomfortable with.
Weiss Schnee looked up at the Boarbatusk she had accidentally summoned, and watched it charge towards a woman wearing a black dress. The woman stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, watching the white and light blue monster jump to strike her down. She covered her face with her left arm and screamed. In the last moment, a man dashed forward and caught the Grimm, turning it to ice. He wore a dark red tailcoat with a frilled, dark gray shirt underneath, black pants with dark gray patches on the knees, and tabi with black steel plates under the soles. The frozen Grimm rested on the man's bat wings, and he held one tusk in his left hand, extending the other to help the woman up.
"Keep your hands off of me, you filthy faunus," the woman said, slapped the man's hand away and got back up.
"Hey, he saved you, didn't he?" Weiss asked, walking towards the woman while the bat faunus walked away.
"It is quite fine, Miss Schnee," the faunus said with a very formal voice, "I am certain she has her reason to show such disrespect to the Vampire of Vale." The woman froze in shock, and the man put the frozen summon on a table, in front of an ice sculpture of Jacques.
"James, what is a faunus doing here?" Jacques asked with a lowered voice, still drawing a lot of attention due to the crowd being unusually quiet.
"His name is Niob Bolt, and he is here as my guest," James answered, looked at Niob and said, "Under the condition that he keeps a low profile."
"We will talk about this later," Jacques said, and the party mostly continued normally.
~o~
After the party, Jacques and James were in the former's office, discussing the events at the party.
"Who is this man?" Jacques asked, "And why did you allow him to attend my party?"
"As I said, the man is Niob Bolt, the Vampire of Vale," James answered, "He is a skilled huntsman with an unknown, yet undoubtedly powerful, semblance. He never once failed a single mission."
"Quite flattering, I must admit," Niob said as he opened the door and entered the room, with Weiss following him.
"Weiss, what are you doing here?" Jacques asked as Weiss and Niob took a seat opposite of him.
"Niob had something to discuss with you, and I want to hear it," Weiss answered.
"I have nothing to discuss with a faunus, and you should be in your room," Jacques said, "Your actions during the party were -"
"Quite admirable, were they not?" Niob asked, cutting Jacques off and said, "Your daughter has shown that she takes action against any who she deems deserve it. I can see why you chose her to be your heir, and even went out of your way to ensure she would make a good leader for the company."
"What do you mean?" Jacques asked.
"Your plan to send her to Beacon, where she would befriend a few faunus," Niob answered, "Those faunus could then help her negotiate with the faunus workers, allowing her to improve working conditions and, as a result, reduce White Fang attacks. In short, your plan sending her to Beacon will save the company billions in annual defense funds. And I have taken the liberty to inform the media of this matter as well."
"You did what?!" Jacques asked, getting up from his chair and slamming his hands on his desk.
"Now, about why I am here," Niob said, unfazed by the man yelling at him.
"No, nothing like this," Jacques said, "I will go speak with the media tomorrow, you too Weiss, and we will clear up this misunderstanding before the damage is too big."
"Jacques, please reconsider," James said, "Right now the media thinks you talked to him about this, and told him it was true. If it ever turns out he's wrong, people will assume you lied to him, and the SDC will vanish from the face of Remnant. You saw how people reacted to his presence. If he is upset with you, he will not only destroy you, but also everyone who has a connection to you. People know this. They will shun you, cut all ties and pretend you never existed. You have to keep up appearances, or the SDC will be replaced by another company, like the Coal Mining Industries." Jacques huffed at the last sentence.
"Those fools?" he asked, "I bought them years ago. They can't do anything."
"One week," James said, and Jacques' confident smile faded when he saw the general's expression, "Maximum."
"Alright, let's say I don't speak out against you," Jacques said and asked, "What do you want here in the first place?"
"Your daughter is in danger," Niob said, "Her team leader is the target of a powerful enemy, who will do anything to keep the team apart. I came here to train her, and to ensure she can survive whatever that enemy throws at her."
"Are you sure?" Jacques asked.
"Yes," Niob answered, "My team's second in command returned from her self-imposed exile and requested our help in the matter."
"Sirena is back?!" James asked, and his breathing got faster for a moment.
"Who?" Weiss asked.
"A skilled huntress, but with questionable morals," James answered, "She can definitely keep anyone safe from just about any threat, but I don't think she and Ruby will get along."
"Come on, Ruby gets along with anyone," Weiss said.
"She won't with Sirena," James said.
"Why not?" Weiss asked.
"Sirena tends to eliminate threats more… permanently," James answered, "And she usually sends a message as well. Not only do people die when they try to kill whoever Sirena is protecting, they do so slowly and painfully."
"Yeah, Ruby doesn't like when people get hurt," Weiss said, "One time, back at Beacon, she even yelled at me for trying to kill a spider in our dorm room."
"Anyway, Niob," James said and asked, "Who even hired Sirena this time, and how did they get in touch with her?"
"Noone hired her," Niob answered, "She has returned on her own accord."
"What?!" James asked, clearly shocked at this revelation.
"What's wrong?" Weiss asked, "Is this bad?"
"No, probably not," James answered, "It's just, so far there are only a hand full reports on when Sirena did something out of personal interest, and those times, things went horrible for her enemies. I don't think I could harm Ruby if I wanted, even if I used my entire military towards that goal."
"Ruby wouldn't even notice your efforts," Niob said and asked, "Now Weiss, shall we go?" He got up and turned to leave.
"I won't allow it," Jacques said and got up from his chair. Niob stopped and turned around.
"I was tasked with safely escorting your daughter to Mistral," Niob said, "Which means I cannot force her to follow me. However, if she chooses to meet with her friends again, I will eliminate anyone who tries to keep her from that goal. Now, before you continue down this path, be aware that nothing would bring me more pleasure than seeing you in my way, so I could let you experience suffering like what I had to endure at your hands." Niob remained completely calm, and everyone in the room tensed up and looked at Niob.
"What do you mean?" Jacques asked, shaking a little.
"Ask the General about my home village, Windblock," Niob answered, then left the room, while James was frozen in shock. Weiss followed him, but once Niob disappeared from her line of sight, she couldn't find him anywhere.
~o~
A little later, Weiss returned to her room to go to bed, but saw a figure outside her bedroom window. She grabbed her rapier and used a glyph to open the door before charging towards the person. Niob stopped her rapier with the edge of one of his twin short swords, and Weiss sheathed her weapon again.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"As I mentioned before, it is my task to make sure you reunite with your friends," Niob answered, "However, there are dangerous people lurking on our way, and many will try to keep your team divided. Our enemy is dangerous, more so than anything you have encountered."
"How dangerous?" Weiss asked, "And how can I prepare for it?"
"I will show you," Niob answered, came into the room and closed the door, "Come here. I have a special technique that allows me to enter your dreams, or pull you into mine. One hour in the waking world is one week in the dream world, so we have plenty of time to practice." The two sat down on the ground in front of one another, and Weiss took Niob's hands. They both closed their eyes and began taking deep breaths, and as Weiss sunk into a deep slumber, she felt like she was floating. The world around her faded into nothingness.
~o~
When Weiss opened her eyes again, she found herself on a large clearing, with a stone figure of her father respectfully kneeling beside her and holding her sword for her.
"Thanks," she said as she took the sword from the statue. She then heard the unmistakable growl of a Beowolf, turned around and cut the Grimm down with a single strike. Instead of disappearing, however, the black smoke cloud split into two and turned into two Grimm elsewhere on the clearing.
"So that is how we're playing," she said and cut the Grimm down again several times, until she remembered what the point of this dream was. She jumped onto a glyph and focused to summon an Arma Gigas, which quickly disposed of the Grimm. She closed her eyes again and focused, summoning a Boarbatusk with relative ease. When Weiss looked around again, she saw that there was an opening in the undergrowth, sat on her Boarbatusk and let it carry her along the path, after summoning a second Arma Gigas and two more Boarbatusk. She shrunk the Arma Gigas to the size of a normal human and had them ride the Boarbatusk, smiling a little at her personal heavy cavalry.
~o~
She traveled along the forest path a little more, until she reached a plateau and looked around. In the distances, she swore she saw the shore of northern Vale, except that the city was missing. Suddenly, a minor rock slide cut off the way back, and Weiss suddenly felt very tired. She had her summons check the area for dangers, then carved a small cave into the mountainside and went to sleep on the cold, hard ground, but not before trying to crush the stone into sand for a somewhat soft ground.
~o~
Weiss was woken up by thunder and lightning, and looked outside her little cave. She had no idea how she got to where she was, but didn't really care either. All she knew was that she was there now, and that the weather was awful. As soon as she stepped out of the cave, she was hit with heavy rain and the sound of lightning exploding right above her, deafening and blinding her shortly like a natural flash grenade. In that brief flash of light, she saw that the sky was filled with Griffons, which now attacked her. Their pitch-black bodies made them practically invisible in front of the black clouds, and Weiss had to fight enemies who were clearly at an advantage. She shot fireballs at random directions, hoping to hit anything. When she hit a Grimm and set its feathers on fire, she started to get hope that she could turn the tide, but the rain and wind extinguished that flame almost immediately.
"Alright then, new plan," Weiss thought. She jammed her blade into the ground and used earth-dust to create a protective barrier of stone pillars around her, before using fire-dust and summoning six Arma Gigas on top of it. The summons had fiery bodies and gave off light and heat, but also steam due to evaporating the rain hitting them. Weiss could not only see the summons, but also the Grimm near them, which were now forced to attack her from above. One of the Griffons tackled one of her summons off the pillar and into the pillar across from it, causing the cold stone to heat up rapidly and practically explode. The other Grimm repeated the process, easily eliminating the pillars and surrounding Weiss.
"Something out there must really hate me," she thought, and one of the Grimm swiped at her and sent her flying backwards. She held onto something with her right hand, but lost her sword on the plateau. Weiss felt something warm run down her arm and looked up, seeing that she was clutching a bright red rose with her hand, and its thorns were digging into her skin and flesh.
"A rose?" Weiss thought, "Wait, what would Ruby do in this situation? Actually, I think I know the answer. I don't like it, and I'm pretty sure it will kill me, but the same could be said about holding on to a Giant Nevermore for transport, and that worked well enough." She pulled herself up, used time dilation to get past the attacking Grimm, and grabbed her sword. Using air-dust, she created a cyclone around herself, lifting the water off the ground and creating a powerful water tornado around herself. She then used a glyph to hurl herself upwards and dropped the water, forcing the Grimm to take to the skies. At her highest point, Weiss used lightning-dust to send a small lightning into the clouds and used her rapier as a lightning rod for the returning bolt of pure electricity. She channeled the bolt through her body and into a glyph, feeling her aura decrease rapidly. As the Grimm got close enough, she unleashed the electricity in the glyph, wiping out all the Grimm around her in a brutal display of power. She fell to the ground, exhausted, beaten, but victorious, and fell to her knees.
"Do you see this, Whitley?!" she called out to the sky, "This is what a single huntress can do! What army of yours commands the forces of nature like I do?!" She started laughing hysterically, fell over sideways and passed out.
~o~
When Weiss opened her eyes again, she was immediately hit with the scent of disease and suffering. She looked around and saw that she was in a cage, which was barely large enough for her to sit in. Most of the cage's floor was covered in dry hay, and there were other cages next to her and on the other side of the dimly-lit room, though they were empty. She reached for her weapon, but realized that it was missing.
"So, you're finally awake, huh?" a man asked. Weiss looked up to see a man wearing tall black boots, light gray linen pants and a dirty white shirt. However, the most prominent feature about him were the elephant-like tusks protruding from his lower jaw. He put an old plate down in front of Weiss, which was filled with meat and fish, though they were most likely just leftovers from a more proper meal.
"Eat," he said with a deep and commanding voice.
"Where am I?" Weiss asked, "Who are you, and where you taking me?"
"Name's Eddie," the man answered, "You're on the Crimson Mermaid, and we're headed for Braks. Your kind may not sell as good, but at least we get to keep it all. Make sure you're still alive when we reach port, or I'm in trouble."
"Wait, what?" Weiss asked, but Eddie just ignored her, left the storage room and closed the door, shutting out most of the light. Weiss felt her stomach protest, but she didn't know if it was due to the food or because she was hungry.
"Ok Weiss, no need to panic," Weiss thought, "I mean, you're on the Crimson Mermaid, a slave trading ship that sunk over eight-hundred years ago. Definitely no need to worry. I mean, the worst that could happen would be the Grimm attack that killed everyone on board and sunk the ship. Actually, yes, I do have to get off this boat." She summoned a small Griffon and had it fly around, looking for anything she could use. The summon brought her a lockpick, which Weiss promptly tried to use and pick the lock to her cage. After fiddling around a little, and not really knowing what to do in the first place, the pick broke and she sent her summon away again to find something else.
~o~
A few hours later, Weiss was sitting in her cage, eating bits and pieces of the leftover food and waving her summon away every time it brought her another useless item, until her aura ran out and it disappeared. She then heard the door open, and assumed the most dignified posture she could achieve while being covered in food juices, and in such a small space.
"Hey, you still awake?" Eddie whispered, and the man stopped in front of her cage. The faint red light of the evening sun fell into the cargo room.
"What do you care?" Weiss asked, trying to sound as snarky as possible.
"I know who you are," Eddie answered, "Or rather, what."
"So?" Weiss asked. She had no idea what was going on, but she had to play along long enough to find out what he was talking about.
"I want to help you take down the governor of Braks," Eddie said, "And with your weapon, I mean this thing must've been quite costly to make. When we reach Braks, I'll manage the sales, and promote you as a combat slave. That way, you can keep your sword. When you get a chance, go and take down the governor, and you're free. The captain is with the governor, and she took my ship, so I can't help you too much, but I'll do what I can."
"T- thank you," Weiss said, and she suddenly realized why the cages were so small that most people had to bow their head to sit in them. Eddie left again, talked to some other pirates outside the room, and closed the door. Weiss turned her attention to the lock of her cage.
"Wait a second," she thought and waited for her aura to regenerate, then she created a glyph around the lock. She closed her eyes and focused on the resistance from the different parts of the lock. She always had a feeling of moving things herself when using her glyphs, but she never put too much thought into it. There were bolts and springs inside the lock, which she just needed to bring in the right position and it would snap open. Normally she would exert a lot of force at once, but she could also use a little force on one bolt, hold it in place with another glyph, and repeat the process until the lock was open. She created a glyph on either side of the lock to get a better feeling of the different bolts, and used those glyphs to move them up or down until they were all in the right position. Before the lock snapped open, however, Weiss' aura ran out again and all her work was undone. She laid down and eventually fell asleep on the hard wooden cage floor.
~o~
The next morning, after another disgusting breakfast, Weiss went back to work on the lock. After several attempts, she finally managed to open the lock, made sure the coast was clear and left her cage. Weiss first stretched her limbs, then stumbled around in the storage room. She went to a shelf filled with chests, none of which were open, and practiced her newly acquired skill until she heard someone open the door. She rushed back into her cage and closed the door again.
"How are you?" Eddie asked as he walked up to Weiss' cage.
"Well, I'm stuck in a cage, with no way to entertain myself," Weiss answered, "But, you know, at least I'm away from my dad, so that's good."
"Your dad sounds awful," Eddie said, "Anyway, we'll reach Braks in a week, so keep yourself alive as best as you can."
"You'd hate him," Weiss said and asked, "By the way, can I get a blanket or something like that?"
"I thought you Atlas types didn't mind cold," Eddie answered.
"I don't, not really," Weiss said, "But the ground is too hard."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Eddie said and left again. He came back shortly after with an old pile of clothes, and Weiss pretended to fall asleep on it so she could get back to practice lock-picking.
~o~
A week later, the ship arrived at Braks. It was a classic desert village in southern Sanus, with sandstone buildings supported by wooden beams. There were multiple stages where slaves were sold, all with differently colored curtains.
"What's with the curtains?" Weiss asked as she was being led to the stage with red curtains. She was in shackles, which chafed a little, but she had her sword with her again, and it was still full of dust.
"That's to show which kinds of slaves are for sale," Eddie answered, "Red for combat, blue for household, green for gardening, and white for, well, pleasure." They arrived behind the stage, and the other traders and their slaves, all of which were faunus, looked at the only human around.
"Hey Eddie, the white stage is over there," a goat faunus said, and everyone laughed at Eddie and Weiss.
"Don't take her lightly, Anne," Eddie said and asked, "Want to take this to the arena?"
"Really?" Anne asked mockingly, "You want to send that into the arena, against this?" She pointed at a slave wearing a blindfold, who had patches of scales around his eyes. He wielded two broadswords, and wore ragged clothes. His black hair was dirty and messy, and loosely tied into a wolf's tail.
~o~
Weiss was standing in the arena, where combat slaves were often pitched against each other, wild animals, or Grimm, to test their combat skill. The arena was covered in ankle-high sand, but had a wooden floor. Her opponent, a horned lizard faunus, was standing opposite of her. Both were behind steel gates, and as soon as the gates dropped to the ground, the rushed into the arena. Weiss didn't want to kill someone, but she also didn't want to die. The other slave attacked with his two broadswords, and Weiss blocked the attack easily, deflecting the first blow to stop the second one. She pushed the man back and went on the attack, landing a hit to his shoulder. The man hissed in pain, and Weiss stood there for a moment, realizing the man had no aura to protect him. He swung his swords at her, trying to hit from above, but Weiss blocked both strikes with ease. Suddenly, the man shot a dark red liquid from his eyes, blinding Weiss. He kicked her in the chest and knocked her down, before rushing in for another attack. The crowd went wild, and Weiss could hear several anti-human slurs among the cheers.
"Well, if they want to play dirty," Weiss thought and rolled aside. She used one of her glyphs, hidden under the sand, to make it look like she caused a pillar of sand to shoot up with a simple wave of her hand. The crowd gasped and Weiss wiped the blood out of her eyes, looking for her sword. Using another glyph, this time hidden in her slightly torn sleeves, she pulled the sword to herself. As soon as she held her weapon again, she used air-dust to kick up a massive cloud of sand, and summoned two Arma Gigas. As the cloud settled, the crowd went quiet and the other slave dropped to his knees and forfeited.
~o~
About an hour later, back at the auction, noone wanted to offer any money for Weiss, knowing she'd be too expensive, and too dangerous to keep in line. Just before the auction was over, a dalmatian faunus raised his hand.
"The governor wants to buy her," he said, and the crowd turned towards him and a short man wearing a light beige hooded cloak, completely hiding his identity.
~o~
In the evening, that same dalmatian faunus led Weiss into a small room, which included a bed for one, a small clothing cabinet, and a stool and chair.
"This is your room," he said, "But our master wishes to speak with you first, please follow me." He showed Weiss the way through the largest building in the village, until they reached a large double door. The dalmatian faunus opened it and gestured Weiss to enter. After she walked through the door, the faunus closed it again. The room was about as large as Weiss' back home, had a window looking over the village behind a large wooden desk, and a map of the area on a wall. The governor rose from his chair and closed the curtains, before reaching up to take off his hood. Weiss was ready to skewer the man as soon as he let his guard down, but was shocked when the hood came off.
"Weiss, finally a familiar face," Whitley said and ran over to Weiss, hugging her, with tears in his eyes. Weiss relaxed and slowly hugged her brother back.
"Whitley, what are you doing here?" Weiss asked, and both broke their hug.
"I was in the desert," Whitley answered and wiped away his tears, "A Grimm attacked some people and killed them all. I was the only survivor. I took the clothes of their leader and went to where they had come from. Over the past week I had to pretend I was that governor, and he's an awful person, but if they knew the truth I'd be hanged, or worse."
"You're… oddly calm about this," Weiss said.
"I had an entire week to get used to it," Whitley explained and asked, "Still, can you get me out of here?" He went to his chair and reached under the seat.
"Sure," Weiss answered and asked, "But, what are you doing?"
"Just getting something out of here," Whitley answered, pulled out a small drawer hidden in the seat of his chair, took a key to unlock the drawer in his desk, and showed Weiss a stash of papers.
"What's that?" Weiss asked.
"The deed to this village," Whitley answered, "I want you to burn it with the rest of this place."
"Alright," Weiss said, locked the door and summoned two Arma Gigas to make it look like there had been a big fight. She then made them disappear again and summoned a Griffon. She sat down on the summon, pulled Whitley onto its back as well, fired a fireball into the ceiling to create a hole and had the Griffon take off into the night sky before firing a fireball into the office.
~o~
After flying for a while, Whitley looked around and noticed that he could no longer see the fire from the village.
"Are we far enough away now?" Whitley asked.
"For what?" Weiss asked.
"So they can't hear us when we scream," Whitley answered.
"I think so, yes," Weiss answered and asked, "Why?"
"Nothing, really," Whitley answered, took a deep breath and screamed, holding onto his sister even tighter.
"Whitley, what's wrong?" Weiss asked, trying to keep her summon under control.
"We're flying!" Whitley answered, still screaming.
"It's alright," Weiss said, "Just take slow and deep breaths, count to ten, and stop squeezing me like this."
"Sorry," Whitley said, loosened his grip again, and began breathing more slowly until he calmed down again.
"It's fine," Weiss said and asked, "Now, where did that Grimm come from, where did it go, what did it do, and what did it look like?"
"It was somewhere over there," Whitley answered and pointed towards a mountain, "They called it a Poltergeist, and it looked like a pile of rocks."
"Alright," Weiss said and directed her summon to fly towards the mountain.
"Weiss?" Whitley asked and said, "I think there's a misunderstanding, that's where the Grimm is. We have to fly in the other direction."
"No, I heard you loud and clear," Weiss said, "But I'm a huntress, so I can't ignore a Grimm trying to kill people." The Griffon landed in front of a small patch of rocks, arranged by size and type, as well as a garden of cacti. After the summon disappeared, Weiss drew her rapier and headed towards the cave in the mountain behind the garden.
"What do you think this is?" Whitley asked.
"Looks like an arsenal or armory of sorts," Weiss answered, "If this really is an advanced version of the Geist, it can possess things in its environment, and Grimm become more dangerous and intelligent with age, meaning this one could very well have gotten to a point where it collects materials to possess, and prepares its body based on what it wants to do."
"Wait, I thought Grimm were mindless monsters," Whitley said.
"That's what the common folk is told, yes," Weiss explained, "It keeps them from panicking, because knowing Grimm can strategize like we do would freak out anyone not trained to combat Grimm. And, as you know, fear attracts Grimm. A core aspect of a huntsman's job is to make sure people don't attract Grimm in the first place. Makes it easier to protect them, you know."
"I can see why people would freak out if they knew that," Whitley said, shaking a little.
"Don't worry, though," Weiss said, "Only some Grimm live long enough to become this intelligent. Most really are mindless monsters."
~o~
After the siblings entered the cave, with Whitley staying close behind his sister, they encountered a snake made up of rocks, with a white and red mask for a face. Whitley swallowed nervously and took a step back, and Weiss got ready to fight. The Grimm charged at Weiss, but left its body and sent the stones flying towards her while it flew away. The monster had long, skeletal black arms with bony claws for hands, bone spikes protruding from its spine and light bone plate armor. Two red eyes were visible on its bone face mask, which was connected to its armor, and a single red line ran across its entire body. Suddenly, one of the eyes moved to the back of the body and fixated Weiss, allowing the Grimm to dodge her icicle attacks. As Weiss ran after the Grimm, it disappeared into the walls, floor or ceiling and hurled rocks and debris at her. After blocking some of the debris with her right arm, she suddenly felt the ground underneath her disappear.
"Weiss!" Whitley called out, and Weiss landed on something solid. Her brother was about five meters above her, reaching down into a chasm filled with magma, and the Poltergeist flew down the chasm and into a tunnel. She looked down and noticed a white glyph underneath her. Using her own glyphs, she got back up to her brother.
"Thanks, Whitley," she said as she dusted off her already dirty clothes.
"For what?" Whitley asked.
"For saving me," Weiss answered.
"Wait, that was me?" Whitley asked and looked at his hands.
"It was," Weiss answered and said, "Now, lets get that Grimm."
"How are we going to follow it?" Whitley asked, looked to the tunnel and said, "It's too small for your Griffons, and I can't exactly walk on magma." Weiss thought about it and looked around.
"What would Ruby do?" she thought, "Well, she'd probably ask us for ideas, which means we'd have to come up with something. And the only one with a plan would be… Yang. Damn it."
"Well, I have an idea," Weiss said, "But you won't like it."
"You won't find anything worse than what I went through," Whitley said, "Let's do your plan."
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you," Weiss said. She looked at the magma-fall feeding into the river, and fixated a rock spike sticking out of the side of the chasm with her eyes.
~o~
Whitley held onto his sister for dear life as both rode a wave of magma through the tunnel, using a rock as surf board. The Poltergeist was still in front of them, but they were catching up, despite slowing down. Weiss fired a lightning bolt at the Grimm, but did dodged the attack. She kept firing lightnings at the enemy, but never managed to hit it, due to its swiftness and the ability to see in two directions at once. Weiss noticed her brother slowly moving his right hand forward for a short time, before he held onto her again, and heard him trying to focus, letting out exhausted gasps every time before he pulled his hand back.
"What is he doing?" Weiss thought, "Wait, don't tell me he's trying to stop the Grimm from dodging." She waited until Whitley tried again, then created a glyph next to the Poltergeist and shot a lightning bolt at it. The Grimm tried to dodge the attack, but crashed into the glyph and was impaled by Weiss' sword. The siblings stopped on a small platform by the side of the magma river.
"Weiss, you did it," Whitley cheered.
"No, we did it," Weiss said.
"What do you mean?" Whitley asked and said, "You killed it."
"True, but I couldn't have done this without your help," Weiss said, "You kept that thing from evading my attacks, after all."
"I did?" Whitley asked, looked at his hands again and said, "Yes, I did. I really helped kill a Grimm."
"You sure did," Weiss said, "Now, let's get out of here and back home." The siblings left the volcanic cave through a tunnel, and Whitley kept trying to move a small rock in his hand with his glyphs, though he had little success. He eventually stopped trying and dropped the pebble.
~o~
When the siblings left the cave, they found themselves on a black beach with a basalt stone cliff overlooking it. After they had walked a little, and realized they were to the south-east of Mountain Glenn, the black head of a King Taijitu appeared in front of Weiss, and she stopped her brother.
"Watch out, its other head could be anywhere," Weiss said and got ready to fight.
"Weiss..." Whitley said.
"Not now, I need to focus," Weiss said, "Its other head is nearby, but if I get careless, they'll attack."
"Weiss, listen," Whitley said.
"Later," Weiss said, "Right now we need to survive."
"Weiss," Whitley called out, grabbed his sister's shoulder and spun her around so she could see the white head looming above them. Suddenly, both heads attacked, and Weiss couldn't tell which one to block first. Whitley threw up his hands and blocked both attacks with glyphs, throwing the heads aside to make them impale each other with their fangs. After both heads evaporated, Whitley dropped to his knees and let out an exhausted sigh.
"Whitley, are you alright?" Weiss asked.
"Weiss, I..." Whitley began, then hugged her and started crying.
"Whitley..." Weiss said softly, hugging her brother back.
"I don't know how you do this," Whitley sobbed, "These things, they're terrifying. I watched people die, and I had to do horrible things just to stay alive. I'm sorry I thought this was easy, it's not. How do you handle all of this?"
"I just do," Weiss answered, "Being a huntress means protecting those who can't protect themselves, and to be a symbol of hope in a cruel and unforgiving world. It means having power, but using this power to help those who can't help themselves. I chose this life for myself, and I'm sticking with that choice."
"But I never chose any of this," Whitley cried, "I just woke up in this nightmare and had to fight for my life ever since!"
"It's going to be alright," Weiss said, "We'll just get back home, and then you can forget about all of this."
"Can we… can we stay here a little longer?" Whitley asked, still sobbing.
"Sure," Weiss answered, and both sat down in the sand. Whitley hugged his sister again and began crying for several minutes, allowing Whitley to just let out all the fear and confusion of the past week.
~o~
After Whitley was done crying, and the siblings got back up, they reached a path cutting through the cliff. The siblings went down the path, hoping to reach civilization at its end.
~o~
The siblings walked for a while, until they began seeing thick, dark green spider webs on the walls. The webs became more and more prominent, and eventually thick fog covered the passage as well. Looking around, Weiss thought she saw someone.
"Hello?" Weiss called out, but noone answered.
"Weiss, I'm scared," Whitley said.
"Don't worry, I'm here," Weiss said, drew her rapier and summoned two Arma Gigas, just in case they were attacked. Suddenly, Weiss heard Ruby's voice.
"Weiss? Is that you?" Ruby called out from the fog, and Weiss stopped.
"Ruby? Where are you?" Weiss asked and looked around.
"Over here, hurry!" Ruby called back, and Weiss and Whitley followed her voice through a small opening in the wall. They came into an open area, which was mostly free of webs and fog.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked, "Where are you?" She looked around, but couldn't find her team leader anywhere.
"I'm sorry," Ruby's voice said, now behind Weiss, "But your friend isn't here." Weiss turned around and a large, spider-like Grimm became visible on the wall above the only way out. It had two large fangs, eight legs, and bone plates on its body, with red markings on its abdomen.
"Weiss, what is that?" Whitley asked, clinging to his sister.
"You humans call us Life-Stealers," the Grimm answered, still speaking with Ruby's voice, "I just figured, as newest members to our swarm, you should know." The Grimm shot two bolts of energy from the markings on its abdomen, paralyzing Weiss and Whitley.
~o~
After waking up, Weiss found herself in a cocoon, with only her face being free. She managed to look around a little, and saw that she was back at Beacon, except that the academy was covered in spider webs, and she was hanging above the ocean. Life-Stealers were crawling around in the webs around her, and she saw a figure approach her through the fog. As the figure came closer it turned out to be a Life-Stealer carrying a woman with pale white skin and red and black eyes, who wore a black robe.
"Weiss Schnee," the woman said in a calm tone, "My name is Salem."
"What have you done to my brother?" Weiss asked.
"I simply gave him the power to protect himself," Salem answered, "And he chose to stay with me in return. You too can have that power. All I ask in return is your loyalty. You could rule this land, do whatever you want, and all you had to do was accept my gift."
"I'll never join you," Weiss said, "And I know my brother won't either. Where is he?"
"Looks like you have a lot to learn," Salem said and turned to the Grimm, "Drop her. She'll learn." The Grimm carrying her turned around, while other Life-Stealers went and jammed their fangs into the cocoon holding Weiss. The red markings on their fangs began glowing, and Weiss felt a warm liquid seep into the cocoon. As soon as it made contact with her skin, she felt a burning pain as her entire body contorted and twisted. She screamed in pain, and passed out shortly after.
~o~
When Weiss woke up, her head was spinning, and her entire body felt strangely disproportionate. Her muscles and bones felt much stronger and denser, and she had a weird weight pulling her backwards when she tried to sit.
"So, you're finally awake," a familiar voice said near her. Weiss turned her head, which felt off-balance as well, and saw a vaguely humanoid Ursa, with bone plating resembling actual armor humans would wear, with the red markings on the chest armor resembling a bird. Weiss instinctively jumped up and reached for her weapon, but couldn't find it. When she looked down, she saw that her entire body was covered in black feathers, her feet had turned into razor-sharp talons, and her fingers had claws protruding from them. She let out an ear-piercing screech, and the humanoid Grimm covered his ears. She was on a small island off the northern coast of Vale, with a small campfire burning next to her.
"What is going on?" Weiss asked after she stopped screeching, "What happened to me? What is this? What are you? Why is this happening?" As she frantically walked around, her talons dug themselves into the stone floor and she tripped, covering her head with a big black wing.
"I'm Cardin," the humanoid Grimm responded, "And it's those Life-Stealers. They can mutate just about anything. Five years after Beacon fell, they swooped in and made the city their home. Noone who went in came out ever since they showed up. Once you're in their territory, they turn you into a half Grimm, and then you join their swarm, whether you want to or not. It's only a matter of time. The other already succumbed to the darkness, I'm just waiting for it to happen to me, too." Weiss spread her wings in surprise and jumped back onto her talons.
"Why am I a bird?!" Weiss asked, half shouting.
"Harpy, more accurately," Cardin answered, "But I don't know. It seems random, or based on something like cosmic justice or whatever. My team and I almost got our butts handed to use by a Big Ursa once, and now we're all part Ursa. If you find any of them, be kind to them, and end it quickly."
"Where is my brother?" Weiss asked.
"You have a brother?" Cardin responded, and Weiss nodded.
"Yes, I do, and that woman told me he joined her or something," Weiss said.
"That means he's at Beacon," Cardin explained, "Or rather, what used to be Beacon. It's their hideout now." Weiss looked up at the tower, which served as support for a massive spider web, and determination filled her eyes. She took a few steps back, then started running and flapping her wings, until the ground underneath her disappeared and she was flying towards the academy.
~o~
After flying for about a minute, and somewhat enjoying the wind in her feathers, Weiss heard a familiar voice in her head.
"Look who decided to join me after all," Salem's voice said, "A good choice. All your friends are with me, and even if they weren't, who would want to be friends with a monster? They trained all their lives to kill the likes of you."
"You never had many friends, did you?" Weiss asked, "I know Ruby. She'd know it was me immediately, and she would accept me just the way I am."
"She won't," Salem said, "She hates Grimm, and she will hate you as well. There is nothing you can do to change that."
"Just be quiet already, you're not fooling anyone," Weiss said, "It's true, there was a time in my life where I wouldn't have dared to go back to my friends like this, but that is behind me. We may be separated, but we're not divided. And once we're back together, there is nothing we can't do." Suddenly, a beam of energy shot towards Weiss, and she rolled aside to dodge it. The attack hit the water underneath her, causing a fine mist. She dodged several other attacks, then flew a looping and dove beneath the waves. She shot up right in front of the cliff and dug her talons into the nearest Life-Stealer. The Grimm screeched as she squeezed it with all her might.
"Want to turn this into a screech-off?" Weiss asked as the Grimm's armor plating began to crack, and let out a high-pitched screech, perfectly mimicking that of the Grimm, except several times louder. Other Life-Stealers came to the two, and attacked with their energy projectiles just as Weiss killed the one in her talons. She pushed herself away from the stone wall, and the differently colored projectiles hit the rocky cliff side. The resulting explosion destabilized some of the cliff, causing over a dozen Grimm to plummet into the ocean beneath, while the rest fled higher up. Weiss flew as fast as her wings could carry her, and occasionally kicked a Life-Stealer into the rocks, causing the Grimm to fall down and take several others with it. After she landed on top of the cliff, and made her way towards Beacon, Weiss heard Salem's voice again.
"Do you see it now?" Salem asked, "The power I can give you. And this is only the beginning. You have so much potential. Join me, and you can have whatever you want."
"Can I also have my friends, family, home, and a world free of Grimm?" Weiss asked sarcastically. As she made her way to the academy, she kicked and punched through hordes of Grimm that tried to stop her, slicing off their heads with her talons, punching through their torsos, or just breaking their necks.
"Who needs friends?" Salem asked, "All they do is hold you back."
"I take it that means no," Weiss said, "You know what? I'm done talking to you." She kicked down the front door of Beacon Academy and found herself face to face with Salem, with Whitley to her right, and a jellyfish-like Grimm to her left. Whitley had mutated into a serpentine form, with pale white skin, slit pupils, a snake tail instead of legs, and venomous fangs.
"Weiss, you're here," Whitley said, "Salem said she can turn us back into humans if we help her find something first."
"And you believe that?" Weiss asked, and her brother's smile faded.
"Don't listen to her," Salem said, "I can easily revert this mutation if I so choose."
"Whitley, listen to me," Weiss said and started walking towards her brother, "It doesn't matter what we look like. What matters is who we are on the inside." Suddenly, the jellyfish-like Grimm wrapped one of its red tentacles around her neck and began strangling her.
"What are you doing?" Whitley asked, "I thought we needed her."
"I lied," Salem answered, "She would have helped, but she is not essential. So, since she refuses to see reason, she must be eliminated."
"I see," Whitley said, and turned his look back to his sister, "Can I do it?"
"Of course," Salem answered. Whitley slithered over to Weiss, and raised his right hand. Light purple claws protruded from the white finger tips, and he got ready to attack his sister. Suddenly, he turned around and stretched his arm, slashing Salem across the face. She stumbled back and screamed in pain and surprise. Weiss bit through the tentacle holding her, and Whitley grabbed the Grimm's other tentacles with his tail.
"What is the meaning of this?" Salem hissed, still holding her face.
"There is only one person who can treat my sister like that," Whitley said, "And that is me." He slammed the Grimm on the ground and Weiss crushed it under her talons. As the Grimm evaporated, the building started to collapse, and rubble blocked the only exist. Both siblings looked around, trying to find another way out, but the ceiling came down almost entirely and crushed them both.
~o~
Weiss woke up, still sitting in her bedroom, with Niob holding both her hands. It was just before sunrise. Weiss jumped up and pinned the bat faunus against the wall with a glyph, before an Arma Gigas held his sword to the man's throat.
"What was that all about?" Weiss asked, "Why didn't you just train me like you said you would?"
"I did," Niob answered and looked around, focusing on the two Poltergeist floating behind Weiss, ready to attack.
"Why did you put my brother in there?" Weiss asked and let Niob go again.
"I didn't," Niob answered, "Your mental state, close proximity and both of you having the same semblance drew him into the dream at some point."
"Wait, what?" Weiss asked, made her summons disappear and ran out of the room to look how Whitley was doing.
~o~
In Whitley's room, Weiss found her brother sitting on his bed, looking at the floor in shock. When the door opened, he looked up, but calmed down again when he saw his sister.
"Weiss, hello," Whitley said in a monotone voice.
"Whitley, how are you?" Weiss asked and sat down next to him.
"I… had a nightmare..." Whitley answered, "It was awful. You were there. That was less awful. We almost died. I'm glad it's over."
"I… was there," Weiss said, and her brother looked up at her, "It was my fault you got dragged into this, I'm sorry. But, if it weren't for you, I'm sure I would've lost my way. Thank you."
"You mean, that was real?!" Whitley asked, starting to panic.
"It was a more intense version of my life as a huntress," Weiss answered, "You did pretty good, actually. If I didn't have my training, I'm sure I wouldn't have made it as far as you did."
"You think so?" Whitley asked.
"I know it," Weiss answered.
"I still don't like it," Whitley answered, "And besides, someone has to stay with our father, and make sure he doesn't cause too much damage to our company."
"Well, there's more to being a huntsman than just killing Grimm," Weiss said, "For example, sometimes we have to go undercover, keep an eye out for criminals, and make sure people don't attract Grimm in the first place. How about you do that?"
"I can try," Whitley answered.
"Good," Weiss said and gave her brother a reassuring smile. She then got a message on her scroll, calling all able-bodied people to help fight off a horde of Grimm the military had trouble dealing with.
~o~
Weiss was riding a summoned Griffon, heading towards a military post in the east. As soon as the two large airships came into view, she also saw the horde of Grimm, consisting of Beowolves, Ursai and Nevermore. On the ground, Atlesian Paladins and several Spider Droids were fighting the Grimm, alongside Atlesian Knights and regular soldiers. She landed on an airship, next to General Ironwood, who was surprised to see her.
"Weiss, what are you doing here?" James asked.
"You seem to have problems, so I figured I'd help out," Weiss answered and summoned two Poltergeist. One of the summons possessed boulders, forming a regular Petra Gigas, while the other summon possessed an Atlesian Paladin. Red lightnings shot out of the machine and struck several pieces of military equipment, making them float towards the main body. Two dozen Atlesian Knights formed each arm, and two Spider Droids served as either leg for the metal monstrosity.
"What is that?" General Ironwood asked.
"Every Grimm's worst and final nightmare," Weiss answered, "The Panzer Gigas, or artillery giant." The Panzer Gigas began shooting every single firearm in its arsenal, using dark red energy projectiles that exploded on impact. The optic sensors in its arms and legs allowed it to see in every direction at once, and no mater where the Grimm came from, they would be shot to pieces. Weiss swung her sword, flinging fireballs, lightnings and icicles at the flying Grimm.
"I can't let them get to Atlas," Weiss thought, "I am a huntress in training, and I'll be damned if a single one of those monsters gets to my city. Ruby, we'll meet again, but first I have to win this. I'm sure you understand." A Giant Nevermore headed straight for the airship, and Weiss pulled herself and General Ironwood backwards with a glyph in the last moment. She spun sideways mid-air and decapitated the Grimm with an aura wave.
"What? How?" General Ironwood asked as the head landed in front of him and disintegrated along with the body.
"I'm a huntress in training, that's how," Weiss answered, without taking her eyes off of the Grimm. She shot a hard-light projectile over to the other airship and jammed her rapier into the ground, and several glyphs appeared on the underside of both airships. Dark green spider webs shot out of the glyphs and anchored to the ground, and white Life-Stealers crawled out of the glyphs, further weaving their web.
"What are those?" General Ironwood asked, looking at the summons with wide eyes.
"Life-Stealers," Weiss answered. The soldiers on the ground watched in horror as the summoned Grimm turned the battlefield into a giant spider web, and dark green smoke covered the area. When the web was finished, the Life-Stealers shot paralyzing blasts at the attacking Grimm and put them in cocoons, mutating them. The first mutated Alpha Beowolf broke free, and the soldiers on the ground stumbled backwards, and some even fainted at the sight. The Grimm was grotesquely deformed, with its right arm being much bulkier than normal, and its left one being split in two smaller ones. It had three eyes, its lower jaw split in two halves as it roared at the incoming enemies. It had more bone armor then a normal one, but it had a sickly green light coming out of numerous cracks. General Ironwood grabbed his communicator.
"Airships, stay in position. All other units, retreat," he said, and his soldiers fled the battlefield. The Life-Stealers quickly disposed of the horde of Grimm, paralyzing the attackers and either having them mutate, or letting their mutated allies kill them. A mutated Beowolf ran up to a downed Giant Nevermore, grabbed its neck with its right arm, and tore into it with its two left arms. A Big Ursa tried attacking the mutant, but the Panzer Gigas killed both with a rocket. General Ironwood looked at Weiss, to see how she was handling all of this. She looked over the battlefield with pure determination, not a hint of doubt or restraint in her eyes.
"This girl is something else," General Ironwood thought, "There is no stopping her now. I wonder how long she can keep this up." Just as he finished that thought, Weiss dropped to her knees and her aura depleted, causing all her summons to disappear, and the mutated Grimm to die. The few remaining Grimm tried to flee, but were followed by Niob Bolt, who flew over the battlefield and shot them down one by one with cold, calculating precision. After the last Grimm was killed, Niob landed in front of Weiss and helped her up.
"I expect you do deliver a message to her father," Niob said, looking at General Ironwood.
"What message?" the General asked.
"Tell him what she did here today, and that I am much stronger than her," Niob answered, "If he gets in my way, he will be eliminated." With that, he helped Weiss on his back and jumped off the airship, flying towards Mistral.
Triggers: Big spiders, human to humanoid mutation, slavery (multiple types), Whitley.
Author's note: The Life-Stealers were created by Steel-The-Gamer over on DeviantArt, who let me use them for my fanfiction.
Also, you're free to try and figure out what Niob's semblance is.
Anyway, I really love the Geist, because of how versatile it is. It can quickly get past enemy lines while the bigger Grimm distract the enemy, and then cause massive damage by possessing whatever there is.
Originally, my plan was to have Jacques call Weiss for a remote press conference, but she was fighting Grimm and being a badass, and the people loved her so much that Jacques couldn't even tell them about the misinformation. Weiss ran on pure determination near the end, which took a bit out of her because, well, she pushed herself quite a bit.