Location: Outside Vale, Ripperscrest

June 12th-13th

[Rest]

It began drizzling; the raindrops few and scarce as dark grey clouds blanket the once beautiful blue skies above them, signaling yet another incoming rainstorm.

Well, the day started off pretty…

She pulls the silky red hood up over her head and steps out of the alleyway, carrying a lightweight backpack containing her remaining belongings across her shoulder.

She ignores the curious glances she receives walking down the street, a few people stopping to whisper about her appearance as though she couldn't hear them. Weiss felt disgusting, she hadn't had a shower since she'd left the manor. It didn't help that during her first day on the run she'd tripped and rolled into a small, thankfully empty, swamp of mud.

That night, Weiss was forced to seek shelter beneath the porch roof of a restaurant when it began raining. Thankfully, the place had been long abandoned. Reluctantly, she spent the night there to wait out the storm. She'd received weird looks and disgusted glares, but she kept her hood up over her head as an attempt to conceal her identity and she refused to look people in the eye.

The second night she was chased by someone's loose dog, which seemed to be very territorial. The rest of the day was spent scavenging for food, she resulted in caving and using a bit of her lien to purchase something. The third day wasn't any better and she refused to use the last bit of lien she had left. Needless to say, she was still very hungry.

But, she was a huntress. She could handle this. Licensed huntresses endured more than this and went possibly weeks without a shower. During last night's rainshower, she was fortunate enough to have had the chance to at least rinse off in the pouring rain. So, she looked decent enough. Or at least she hoped.

Her eyes glance up towards the first hotel building she'd seen since her escape, and she lets out a sigh, reaching into the pocket of the red hood to retrieve the little bit of lien she had left. Just enough for one night in a room… That'll do.

She quietly enters the building and she avoids eye contact with bypassers, brushing off their whispered insults and approaching the counter. Without saying anything, hiding her eyes, she sets the lien on the flat surface. The man at the desk conceals a disgusted scowl, "How long?" He asks, his voice sharp and cold. Weiss lifts one finger and the man slides her a keycard, "Room 213." She takes the card and leaves without a word.

Weiss takes the elevator to prevent running into anybody who would possibly recognize her, she pulls the hood closer to her face to shield her eyes as she steps out of the elevator, glancing at the numbers on the doors for her room and finding hers on the left. She lifts the card up to the scanner and the red light turns green, a soft click comes from the other side of the door and Weiss pushes it open with her palm.

She needed a shower.

Weiss steps inside and closes the door behind her, leaning against the wood and releasing a heavy sigh of exhaustion. She should be used to the lack of sleep with all of those training missions Ozpin sent them on…

She pushes herself up off the door and searches the room for a small, hidden camera; satisfied that the room lacked one, she slides the cloak off of her shoulders and momentarily basks in the cool air that instantly met her pale skin. Not wanting the filthy clothing item on the bed she drops the cloak next to the wall and enters the small, pristine white bathroom.

Thankfully, hotels kept a room stocked with much needed shower products, along with a fresh bottle of hand soap and a hairdryer. The clean smell was welcoming…

Weiss had her clothes off in under a minute and she was standing under the cool shower water, letting it rain down on her head and efficiently wash away all of her worries and stress… Only temporarily, unfortunately. Although it did feel strange considering she didn't have her bracelet on at the moment. It needed to be cleaned too, but not in the shower.

Tiredly, she searches for the small bottle of shampoo she knew was somewhere inside the shower. Gods, whatever kind of filth was sticking to her scalp was bothering the hell out of her. It felt like she could reach up and swat it off, but it also made her want to shave all of her hair off just to remove it.

"Maybe a haircut would be a good thing…" Weiss murmurs, having finally found the fruit-scented shampoo. She could cut it to a certain length to preserve the shampoo, and she could dye it to hide her distinctive white hair. She would also need an alternate identity if she wanted to pull it off…

Weiss' eyes travel down to the water dripping from her hair and an empty feeling rolls throughout her body, noticing the brown liquid pooling around the showerdrain. She hadn't even bothered to look at herself in the mirror… Was her hair even white when she came in? She highly doubted it.

The door was opening.

Weiss' head snapped towards the shower curtain and she frowns, both fear and rage pooling in the pit of her stomach. She was naked and without a weapon, she was alone. 'I knew I should've checked behind me before I walked in!'

"Weiss?"

Her eyes widen and she swings the shower curtain open enough to see out, finding her sister entering the bathroom with a bag of supplies. The woman's gaze was blank. Just when did she get here?! Had she been here the whole time?! Did she follow her? "Winter? What are you- How did you-"

Winter sets the bag on the counter, "I have my ways." She says without emotion as Weiss ducks back behind the curtain to continue rinsing her hair. She focuses her attention on her sister's voice; "I did some research on my way over here," of course she did, "I discovered that a woman needs to take great care of her hygiene during pregnancy, so I have brought over some supplies that I expect should last you until our next encounter."

Irritation pricks at Weiss' chest and her brow twitches as she flips her, hopefully, now clean white hair to her back. She wipes the water from her eyes and glares at the curtain while simultaneously reaching for the conditioner.

"You mean until the next time you follow me in somewhere without alerting me of your presence?" She shakes her head, "No, I have a better idea. If I want to survive out here, I'll need an alternate identity. That way I can purchase my own stuff and won't have to rely on you."

Winter chuckles. "Yeah, I figured you might say that. I'll begin working on it as soon as I can, I promise."

"Mhm." Weiss answers from the shower, now rinsing out the conditioner and relishing in the freshly clean feeling practically radiating from her scalp. "Did you bring a sponge?" She asks, opening the curtain just in time to barely catch the purple sponge being tossed at her. She scowls at the woman exiting the bathroom, thankful that she'd had a good balance and footing when she caught the object.

"Thanks." She growls under breath.

After a bath and a few minutes standing under the water to relax her tensed muscles, Weiss cautiously steps out of the shower and grabs the towel Winter had apparently hung up for her. She wraps it around her body and resists the urge to lean back as drowsiness swept over her like a wave, she braces herself against the wall and makes her way over to the door, knowing that her sister had already laid out clothes on the bed for her.

Exiting the bathroom and approaching the bed, she finds that the older woman is gone. Just as she'd predicted, a brand new outfit lay perfectly out on the bed. Weiss' lip curls in disgust; there was a long sleeved black blouse sitting carefully on the sheets, and beside it was a folded pair of blue-grey jeggings. At the foot of the bed sat a pair of leather boots.

A little warm to wear in the Vale heat during the summer. "I'll have to fix the sleeves…" She whispers under her breath, removing the clothing from her bed and setting them on the nightstand-

Her heart stops. The cloak was gone. Her pulse picks up rapidly and she frantically glances around, hoping that it was somewhere nearby. She couldn't lose it… It was right there! Not seeing it anywhere, she kneels down to check under the bed, which was a few inches up off the floor. "No!" Weiss bites back a cry and spins around to search in the bathroom. It has to be here somewhere!

Upon opening the bathroom door, she notices a note she hadn't seen before laying next to the hairdryer. She grabs the edge of it, recognizing her sister's handwriting on the paper. She lets out a sigh of relief. The cloak was fine… Winter was only taking it to be cleaned…

Her stomach drops again and she holds the paper close to her chest as realization settles in; being washed would permanently erase the sweet smell of roses from it. She slowly sinks to the floor and carelessly lets the paper slip from her fingers.

The scent had become her source of comfort within the last few days. "It's okay," she tells herself, "it's okay if the smell is gone… It was going to fade eventually…" Although, she did hope that it would've stayed forever... She shakes her head and shakily lifts herself from the floor and returns to the bed, leaving the note in the bathroom and retrieving her nightgown from her bag.

She puts it on and climbs onto the soft, warm mattress; she's instantly met by a sense of relief, as if a ton of weight had lifted from her shoulders. It wasn't as comforting as the cloak, but at least it could provide her with some emotional relaxation.

"Hey, Princess?" Ruby whispers, rolling over and tapping the other woman's nose. Weiss opens her eyes tiredly to look at her girlfriend laying across from her. "Sorry, are you asleep?" The young brunette smiles slightly and Weiss hums a little bit, noticing the silent request in the girl's bright, silver eyes. "I can-"

She cuts her off, "Get on with it, Ruby…" She really wanted to sleep, but if her girlfriend was having a problem, she would at least listen.

Ruby chuckles weakly and she pushes herself to sit up a little bit, drawing Weiss' full attention to her. "If we were separated, would you search for me?"

"Why is this a genuine question?" Weiss murmurs, puzzled by her partner's sudden insecurity. She sees the sadness in the girl's eyes and she sighs, raising one hand to caress the girl's cheek lovingly with a tiny smile on her face. "Of course I would… I'd go to the end of Remnant for you."

The brunette giggled and she leans down, tucking herself up against Weiss as her chest convulses with light, silent laughter. "I love you."

Weiss drapes her arm loosely around Ruby, closing her eyes. "Yeah, love you too…"

A groan comes from the other side of the tent and Weiss hears Ruby let out a snort when Yang sat up, her hair disheveled and her lilac eyes glaring over at them through the dim light. "Yeah, you two are real mushy. Now go to sleep, please." She lays back down with an arm over her eyes, "We gotta be up'n movin' at first light."

"Sorry." Weiss whispers, concealing her amusement.

Her hand clutches the bed sheets tight as tears stream down from her eyes, squeezed closed tightly and her body trembling, "I'm sorry," her voice is broken, "I-I'm so sorry, I can't…"

What was wrong with her? Exactly how many times would she break down about this? She knew her teammates were alive, she knew Ruby had woken up, so why did she feel like all of Remnant was weighing her down whenever she thought about them? About Ruby?

She should be happy knowing they're alive, right?

The sound of something being dropped on the bed next to her startles Weiss awake, she jerks her head up and blinks several times, she rubs her eyes and notices a folded red cloak laying next to her. Nimble fingers reach out to grasp at it and she pulls it close to her chest, tears stinging at her eyes as when she confirms that the rose-scented smell was officially gone.

Another smell grabs her attention and she lifts her head to see a bag of food sitting across from her, next to the lamp. She sits up, noticing someone standing at the corner of the room, watching her. A sense of familiarity washes through her and she offers a small smile upon recognizing her sister.

"It's your favorite." The woman says, her body only slightly illuminated by the small lamp in the dark room. "I left some more clothes in your bag, along with some food that shouldn't spoil too quickly."

Weiss whispers a small thanks and panic nips at her as the woman moves towards the door. No!

"Winter! Wait!" Winter looks back at her and Weiss smiles sheepishly, not knowing where her outburst had come from. "Could you… Stay here?" She could see the specialist lift a brow and the fencer sighs, "I don't want to be alone right now…"

Winter walks back over to her and cautiously takes her seat next to Weiss, she reaches out to brush the girl's white hair back. Her voice was weary, but gentle. "I'm here."

"Thank you." Weiss murmurs happily, content with her sister's presence. It was comforting knowing that Winter wouldn't allow her to go through this alone. Even though she did feel like she would have to. She had her support, and that's really all she needed.

After a few minutes of silence, Weiss starts to drift off back into a slumber as a relaxing feeling rolls through her body like gentle waves sliding upon shore. Her eyes struggle to remain open, her vision becoming more blurry by the minute. She releases a soft sigh and closes her eyes.

"Tell me..." Winter says with a near silent hum of thought, causing Weiss to jerk awake again. She runs her palm over her eyes and turns so that she is laying on her back, waiting for Winter to continue. "Why did you two conceive a child before any sort of legal-"

She was cut off before she could finish her question; "I already told you, because we wanted to, Winter…" Weiss answers without looking at the woman, her eyes staring at the dim, dark grey-looking ceiling above her. "We wanted a family, so…" She smiles a little bit and looks at the woman. "We decided to have one."

Winter's voice is concerned. "It's not too late to think abo-"

"See to it that this abomination is taken care of."

A dark, cold feeling settles inside of Weiss' stomach as rage spreads through her like a wildfire. She was not going to allow her to finish that sentence. "I am not…" She sits upright to look at her better, her eyes like ice. "...Getting rid of my baby." She couldn't. She loved her baby, underneath all of her stress, she knew she would do absolutely anything for them… And what if Ruby finds her? How would she explain that she'd killed their child…? "How could you ever even consider that?"

"Weiss…" The older Schnee lets out a breath, "That is not what I meant at all… You jumped to conclusions before I could finish." Swallowing the humiliation she felt, Weiss stays quiet and looks at the older woman, who readjusted her sitting position. "I was going to say that it's not too late to consider a legal fake identity, like you suggested earlier." Weiss raises a brow, "I can get you a legalized identity, but you're going to have to avoid bloodwork and DNA tests the best you can."

"So basically, avoid hospitals."

Winter chuckles, obviously thankful that the mood had lightened. "Yeah." She pushes herself up off the bed, "My flight leaves in an hour," she tells Weiss remorsefully, "I need to be going. We'll meet up in Whisper Blossom, Vale. I'll have your alternate identity ready to be put to use upon our next encounter."

Weiss lifts her head, "Can I choose the name?"

A nod.

"Well, I'd like to go by the name Violet Rose."

Weiss awoke at nearly six in the morning and she immediately got to work, searching for the hair dye she knew Winter had placed in her bag while she was asleep and heading to the bathroom, she took a pair of scissors and watched her reflection in the mirror as she cut her hair to just above her shoulders, making sure that it was even before moving on to her hair dye.

When she was done, she didn't even recognize herself as she stared into the mirror. Her hair was a dark violet purple, contrasting her light blue eyes in an odd, yet interesting way; she'd colored her hair right down to the roots, making sure that not even a speck of white was to be found underneath. With a strange feeling in her stomach, Weiss bagged the remains of her white hair, laying discarded in the sink, and disposed of it.

Dressing herself with the outfit she'd lay next to the bed last night, she double checks her reflection and lets out a relaxed sigh. Nobody would recognize her unless they looked closely… Her hand lifts and two fingers caress the jagged scar across her left eye, she would need to cover that up somehow. It could be yet another possible defining trait to locate her.

It was eight in the morning… Time to get going. Clipping on her bracelet again, she grabs her stuff.

As Weiss exits the hotel room door, she feels a part of her disappear, leaving a cold chill in its wake. Resisting the urge to look over her shoulder, she continued down the staircase, anxiety pooling in the pit of her stomach as she grew nearer to the crowds below. She draws in a deep breath and takes the last step off the staircase.

She wasn't even spared a single glance, it was like she wasn't even there. She was safe. Feeling a sense of relief roll through her, she approaches the counter, she leaves her card at the desk and heads out the door.

Now that she could walk freely without being recognized, she shifts her bag to her shoulder and counts the lien Winter left for her. "I can spend some on a concealer, right?" She mutters under her breath, sliding the lien back into her bag and moving it to hang off one shoulder.

'Now where would a cosmetics-'

A loud crash sounds somewhere around her and a man slams into her shoulder at full speed, snapping the young woman out of her thoughts and sending fury coursing through her body. "Look where you're-"

"Grimm!" He shouts loudly in warning, his voice laced with complete, utter fear, before running on past her. It takes Weiss a moment to process what happened and she turns around, noticing several people screaming and running in her direction in terror; she hears doors slamming as people lock themselves safely inside their homes and the sound of metal clashing somewhere behind the towering buildings.

She reaches behind her to remove Myrtenaster, checking to see if her weapon was fully stocked with dust before she moves towards the sound of chaos. A siren went blaring, red lights flashing from the side of the buildings as she ran by, alerting the town of the arrival of Grimm, loud shrieks drown the siren out almost immediately. 'A Griffon?' She wonders in bewilderment.

A Grimm skids around the corner sharply, its jaws open wide and its large white beak snapping down as the creature attempts to grab a fleeing woman. It screeches when the woman just barely manages to escape its crushing bite; Weiss quickens her speed and she grips her weapon tight. She shouldn't summon her glyphs, so she'd have to rely on her dust and her blade.

As the woman rushes past her and the Griffon charges again, its attention immersed solely at the Schnee running in its direction. It shrieks again and sends a ringing through Weiss' ears, every muscle in her body vibrating. She slides to a stop and clicks the barrel, she slams the tip of her blade down into the concrete and ice shoots out in front of her, coating the ground and causing the Grimm to slip. Its white claws scramble desperately to regain its balance as Weiss moves again, the creature loses its footing and its heavy body collides with a nearby house, cracking the walls and busting out the glass windows.

It screeches, rising to its full height as its large wings spread for take off. Weiss knew exactly what the demon had in mind; take its opponent out from the skies by coming down at full speed. She'd seen one of its own species do the same during one her team's training missions, its beak just barely having missed Blake when it crashed into the forest ground.

"I know what you're doing." Without thought, a white glyph appears under her feet and she launches herself at the creature, her blade cuts through its feather wing and it lets out a shriek as Myrtenaster is embedded into the Grimm's side. The creature flails in the air for a moment or two, its injured wing flapping desperately as the other struggles to right them. "Ah, hell. I didn't think this through." She murmurs, realizing she couldn't move and she didn't have anything to grab a hold of. These things were much easier to kill when she had help and could use her glyphs.

The injured wing lifts up and Weiss barely has a second to comprehend what was happening before the Grimm's head whipped around at her. It's bone beak snaps down on Myrtenaster with a loud crack and snatches the blade from its side with a loud, painful shriek. The world spins around for a moment before coming to a stop, Weiss looks up at the creature and its red eyes glare down at Weiss, who was hanging onto the weapon for dear life.

Hissing, the Grimm swings its large head and releases the blade in its beak, causing Weiss to lose her grip on the sword as she's thrown through the air. She yelps as her back collides with a building behind her, her sight turns black for only a moment before realization catches up to her.

She was falling.

In a panic, she quickly summons her Arma Gigas to rescue her, sighing in relief when the glowing hand swoops down to catch her and carefully places her back on her feet next to her weapon.

She grunts and her knees buckle beneath her, she drops down and grabs Myrtenaster again, watching through a blurred vision as the Griffon slowly approaches the downed woman, a hissing noise coming from its beak, which hangs agape.

'Move!' The voice in her head yells in terror. She shakes her head and her eyes clear up, she lifts her head and her eyes widen upon seeing an old woman with a fox's tail and a couple of kids watching her from around the corner.

The woman's eyes were wide with fear, while the kids watched in awe and wonder.

These people were depending on her. Weiss rises to her feet and she clicks the barrel to red dust, getting herself into position and breathing heavily as she watches the Griffon's body language closely. As its leg moves to charge at her, Weiss allows a white glyph to appear beneath her feet again and she mimics the creature's attack, giving it the impression that she would attack head on. The Griffon whirls around and swings its bladed tail in Weiss' direction.

She swiftly jumps over, barely missing the sharpened bones, in a swift movement, as soon as her feet touch the ground she launches herself towards the Grimm, her feet sliding on the ice. With a quick movement she stabs the creature's stomach and cuts down through its body, towards the neck.

It shrieks in pain and swings its head down as a last attempted attack, it's red eyes landing on its opponent; Weiss quickly twist Myrtenaster from the Grimm's belly and towards its neck, in a swift motion, she cast a last glyph under her feet and launches herself up, past the head, her blade slicing through its feathered throat, decapitating the beast just she manages to land on her feet.

Weiss' knees shake and she drops down again, her back and stomach aching. She groans and holds her stomach with one hand, praying she hadn't injured her unborn with her recklessness.

"Miss, are you all right?" She looks up to see the old faunus lady approaching her as the children rush back to their parents. Now that she had a better look at them, these people looked homeless, just like her. The ruins of the city, where Grimm lurked, was all they had. "You're' bleedin'! Come," Weiss looks back towards the elder, who smiles sweetly at her, "I got medicine back at my hut! We'll get ya all patched up."

"Ehm…" Weiss clears her throat, staggering to her feet to follow the woman. She seemed nice enough. "What's your name?"

The woman smiles. "Eden."

"So, tell me dear. . ." Eden begins gently with a weary smile on her face as she approaches Weiss with a warm mug in hand. She kneels down and hands the coffee to Weiss before slowly taking her seat beside her. Eden lets out a content hum, taking a sip of her own beverage. "What has a young woman like you roamin' the streets?"

Weiss hesitates, raising the mug to her lips and considering her explanation. She could inform her of the real reason she'd run away, or she could make something up. There were two ways it could go, she could tell her the truth and Eden would turn her in, or Eden could keep her secret. The woman was fraile, but as sweet and welcoming as she could be. There wouldn't be a reason for her to spill her secret and reveal Weiss' location, right?

"If you don't wanna tell me, that is perfectly alright with me." Eden says warmly, capturing Weiss' attention again. "But since I asked you... I'm out here because I chose to be." Her voice shakes as she speaks, but it remains gentle. "The homeless 'street rats' as they have titled us have such interestin' lives to live… Since I've been out here," her head lifts to look at the starry sky above them, her dull eyes twinkle with endearment, "I have seen more of the world than I ever have in a lifetime." She chuckles. "Why spend your last days all cooped up 'n dyin' in an ol', stuffy house when you can be free?"

These faunus out here were not criminals, they did what they had to do to survive. They were happy, carefree people who just wanted to experience life.

Weiss offers the elderly woman a soft smile, setting her mug down and leaning back to focus her attention on the sky. "I suppose I could tell you," she whispers, feeling the lady's eyes on her, "it would not be fair of me to keep it a secret when you have told me."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, dear." Eden reassures her, "I don't wish to force you."

The former heiress lets out a breath and closes her eyes, she becomes dimly aware of the bracelet on her wrist. True, Eden didn't need to know why Weiss was out here, but her gut told her that she could trust the woman; she'd never been wrong before by trusting her gut.

"I'm out here because I'm pregnant." She informs the other woman, meeting her eyes and raising one hand to tenderly place it on her stomach, "My girlfriend and I wanted a family, we were supposed to graduate soon after the festival, so we figured why not try and start one early considering we'd graduate in a couple weeks. . ."

Weiss' heart grew heavy, "But, our school was attacked and we were separated. Something happened and she went unconscious. I was brought back home by my father, and a few weeks upon my return, I discovered that I was expecting..." Her fingers carefully thread through Misty's, Eden's pet cat, fur while she spoke, thankful she had something to keep her mind off of everything that had happened. "I couldn't stay there," she hesitates on this part, refusing to tell her about her father's plan, "my child wouldn't be safe there, and neither would I. . ." She trails off, her voice growing softer, "So, here I am."

"I see." Eden whispers with a soft sigh, she smiles at her again warmly. "Well, you are welcome to stay here for as long as ya need, dear."

"Thank you." Weiss smiles in response, retrieving her cloak from her bag and wrapping it around her as Eden lay down with a few soft groans of discomfort. Weiss lays back again and looks towards the sky.

Maybe street life won't be all that bad.

"Are you positive that you will be alright, honey?" Eden asks worriedly as Weiss loads her essentials into her bag, pulling the red cloak tight around her. "You're quite welcome to stay here, I wouldn't mind company."

Weiss sighs heavily as guilt gnaws away at her, Eden had offered her a place to stay, helped her restock and had even fed her simply out of the kindness of her heart. As much as she wished she could, Weiss knew she couldn't stay here, she would be located far too easily, she had to leave.

"I apologize," Weiss replies with a small smile of remorse, "but I really must go. People are trying to track me down, and I fear that if I remain in one place for too long, they'll find me…" Her demeanor changes into one of fear and hesitance, "I cannot return to that hellhole of a home, I need to protect my baby…" Weiss stands to her feet and hoists her bag up over her shoulder, "Goodbye," she bid farewell to Eden, "thank you for your hospitality."

Eden only smiled back with a look of complete understanding. "Good luck out there, Miss Schnee."

Weiss halts, her veins turning to ice upon hearing the woman speak her maiden name, she glances over her shoulder-

The woman had vanished.

Klein: You have to be careful
Weiss: how about i don't?