A/N:
- If ya'll want to see the fight between Qrow and Winter, I suggest that you should try and look it up. I'm cutting the fight from this chapter since narratively it is unnecessary and only acts as a fanservice for the RWBY fandom side of things.
- Also, I'm cutting this into a two-parter interlude, since the total wordcount will just be too long lmao.
Weiss and Ruby ran across the courtyard, heading for the landing pads, one that houses a recently landing Atlesian Airship. The little rose was panting, confused as to what's going on with her friend as she chased after her. Weiss hadn't been this excited for ages in her eyes. She's always seemingly like the total Ice Queen that she is, or as Subaru called her, a 'Tsundere'. Again, it confuses her to no end.
"Weiss! What's the big deal!? Who is it!? Who is she!?" She yelled before taking a breath from all that running, finally catching up to her as Weiss slowed down to a full stop.
Weiss could only look on, smiling as she looked on to the figure exiting the airship in front of her. One that she always recognized as her sister's personal ship, one that she always used to visit and go to far off places for her missions. "Winter…" She uttered softly.
"Wait...your sister?" Ruby asked for confirmation, looking at the said figure in front of her too.
Winter was a tall and fair-skinned young woman with slate-blue eyes, dark eyebrows, and long white hair reminiscent of the iconic Schnee Family look from what the little rose had guessed. Her hair was tied back in a bun that is high on the left side of the back of her head, along with bangs along the right side of her face and a small curled lock of hair down the left just above her shoulder.
"Winter!" Weiss screamed.
The figure turned around to check what was going on behind her, though in a typical fashion of that for a Specialist such as her, orderly, but still holding grace due to her aristocratic background and lifestyle.
Both of the girls slowed down, and the little rose could finally see the full appearance of her friend's older sister. Her outfit consists of a white long-sleeved coat with a single dark blue clasp around the center waist holding it shut alongside a red jeweled brooch on the collar. The coat's length runs down to her ankles and the sleeves are split from shoulder to elbow. She wears a white pleated sleeveless blouse with a dark blue waistcoat. A pair of white trousers with dark blue garters alongside a pair of gray thigh boots with black detailing around the knees. She also wears a pair of black forearm length gloves with gray trimmed cuffs.
If Ruby were to comment on it, she would be like if Weiss were to wear a military uniform instead of a combat dress. It looks like it was built for ceremonial purposes. But the material of it is sturdy, and it is light enough to be used in combat, typical of that for a Schnee. It also looks as if it was worth more than the average middle-class life savings too.
Winter was guarded by a pair of Atlesian Knights, combat androids that are purposely built for basic military actions and replacement of the common infantry. She looked at the two girls, judging their posture and appearances before being interrupted by the voice of her younger sister.
"Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" Weiss yelled in glee, before quickly realizing her lack of manners greeting her fellow sibling, "Oh. Your presence honours us." She said, gently bowing at her sister.
Ruby was quite shocked at the sight, though chooses to look on and watch instead, not even bothering to greet the figure in front of her.
"Beacon.." Winter started, looking at her surroundings as she stepped forward in front of her guards, "It's been a long time. The air feels...different."
"I mean it is fall, so...it's probably colder" Ruby replied, placing her hand at the back of her head, a bit anxious.
Weiss looked at her with a raised eyebrow, confused at her reply. Though it would make some sense in a literal standpoint, she still hits her in the back to punish her for the sudden awkwardness, catching her off guard. "So! What are you doing here?" She said to her sister.
"Classified." Winter responded, looking away.
"Oh! Well, right. How long are you staying?" She asked her again, her posture changing into something more polite.
"Classified." She replied to her, this time emphasizing it.
"Of course." Weiss responded back.
Ruby looked at both of them, realizing the apparent awkwardness developed between them, even without her intervention. "Oohhh, this is nice…" she interjected, "I think?" She continued. She was not sure about the statement she had made, putting her arms on her back, a bit nervous and confused.
Weiss, in her glee and excitement then decided to speak to her sister, fully eager to tell her everything. "You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! Vale too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it I-"
"I'm more than familiar with how this Kingdom handles its bureaucracy, that is not why I came." She said, interrupting her sister's rambling.
"Right! I'm sorry" Weiss replied
"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears that I have no choice in the matter." She said once more.
"But, we won!"
"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed." She continued, emphasizing on the quantity of the mistakes of her own younger sibling's doing.
Weiss was a bit upset at her sister's critique, closing her eyes while looking down, surrendering to the barrage of words her sister fired. She knows that it is for her own good, but she just wishes that Winter would at least compliment her and her team's accomplishment.
Winter immediately gestured to her android guards to give an order. "Leave us." She commanded, the two knights backing off a few steps as a response.
She sighed, deciding to be a bit nicer towards the younger Schnee, "How have you been?"
Weiss widened her eyes in surprise before responding, "Oh! Splendid! Thank you for asking. I'm actually at the very top of sparring class, even if the competition is a bit tough now, but the rest of my studies are going wonderfully too-" only to be met with a smack to the head by her sister.
"Silence you boob! I didn't recall asking your ranking, I asked how you've been. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?" She said, a small smile forming on her face while still in her militaristic posture.
"Well, there's Ruby," Weiss said, gesturing to the girl beside her.
"Pfft, boob" Ruby replied, pushing the bulge from the head smack back into Weiss's head, irritating her friend.
"I see." Winter replied before looking at the little red, immediately judging the young girl's appearance, "So this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately...underwhelming."
"Uhh, thank you…" Ruby responded, not sure of herself on what to do.
"Greetings Ruby Rose, I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister."
"Oh uhh...Of course! It's my pleasure as well to receive a compliment from you, Ma'dam Schnee." She replied, bowing at her in a style that Winter was not familiar with, though not for Ruby and Weiss for sure.
It's something that the young girl had learned from Subaru and Beatrice when they told the story of their life back in Lugunica, working as a personal spirit knight, with Beatrice being a great spirit contracted to him, under his liege and love of his life Emilia. His tale starting from his arrival at the fantastical capital city, meeting the silver haired girl for the first time, alongside his adventures, achievements, and triumphs over his enemies excited both her and the younger Schnee.
But apparently, even though the title of spirit knight is appropriate for Subaru, the public who celebrated his name had called him the title of Sage Knight. It was due to his apparent ability to see the future and gain vast amounts of knowledge of his opponents even before they fought him. They tried to ask if that's true, but Subaru does not confirm nor deny it weirdly enough, earning a couple of confused girls looking at him.
Winter raised an eyebrow in confusion, and decided to ask the girl instead of speculating it herself, "Perhaps you're not so underwhelming afterall. Where did you learn to do this, Ruby Rose?" She asked her.
"Oh! I learned it from Natsuki Subaru, Ma'dam Schnee!" She replied before being cut off.
"Please, drop the formalities, just call me Ms. Winter, I don't want to confuse my sister here on the name calling. And Natsuki Subaru you say? I recognize that name." She hummed a bit, "I've seen and heard of the rumors of him possessing a little girl as a weapon, and surely had the apparent ability to see or gain information that he shouldn't be capable of. His tales are not that hard to come by, he holds a pretty visible presence and following on the web just from his postings of bullwhip and parkour training videos."
Ruby scratched the back of her head, "Uh well...yeah! I guess so? He is pretty social, and quick witted, and charismatic...and his face and body does look pretty-OOF!" She was quickly interrupted by a hit to her back again from Weiss, who glared at her angrily.
"Stop it! You're embarrassing yourself in front of my sister!" Weiss said to her.
"Right! Right! Sorry, now where was I? Oh! Right, yeah, it was him who taught me and Weiss some of the stuff he knows, and his adventures! A good and close friend! And ally in arms! Hehe…" Ruby continued, recovering from the hit while being flushed with red on her face. Weiss facepalmed at her actions.
"I see...I would like to invite him to a small tea party to know more about him personally if he does have the time. Would he mind?" She asked the two.
"Oh! No! He would love to! In fact, I would love to brew some special tea he had suggested to bring him over, originating from his old friend Ram. I even have the leaves packed and ready in our dorm!" Weiss responded eagerly.
"How peculiar...anyways, I have business with the General and your Headmaster. But, seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?" Winter suggested.
"Really!?" Weiss half-yelled.
"Yes, I wish to inspect them to see if they're up to my personal standards." She said, now proceeding to walk alongside her sister, the Atlesian Knights following from behind.
Ruby was left behind, but happy, bowing at Winter again before leaving to go elsewhere. Perhaps she would try and meet up with Yang to see if she has anything interesting with Blake.
"Of course. Just so you're aware, the bunk beds only look unstable," Weiss warned her.
"Bunk...beds?" Winter raised an eyebrow at that, not confused as to what she just mentioned, but as to how her sister got bunk beds in the first place.
The situation inside the elevator, at least for Indigo, is a bit awkward. There are two other people beside her, one of them is Penny Polendina, the android girl made by Atlas, which honestly is the only aspect of the Atlas Military that she likes. The other is the general himself, James Ironwood. The android girl stood beside her while Ironwood was at the front, waiting to greet his specialist Ice Queen, Winter Schnee.
They also expect the arrival of Qrow Branwen too, someone that Indigo came to respect over the years, the man can be fun to hang around with if you know what he likes. It turns out, having a few rounds of alcohol with him can bring up the mood of the conversation. Of course Indigo does not drink that much, only on special occasions, and even then she rarely gets drunk enough to do stuff she would regret the next morning, but loosening up with someone you consider as a friend can really be something else. Qrow is the only aspect of Ozpin's faction that she genuinely liked, and still is.
Suddenly, Penny turned to face her, or more accurately, staring up at her face. The android is around a head shorter than her after all. She's full of curiosity, scanning Indigo's entire body secretly before she starts to speak. "Salutations! Shiro Indigo of team NBSS wasn't it?" Penny said beside her.
She does not expect her to greet her so suddenly. But alas, Ironwood did grant the girl the permission to freely talk with her to form a bond outside of her team. Indigo speculated that it's probably his way of apologizing for spying on her secretly a year ago too.
"What?" Indigo replied monotonically.
"As you may know I'm Penny Polendina! The android sent by Atlas Academy to fight you! May I ask you a few questions? I really want to know more about you!" She said, "You seem so interesting the more I look at your records, Ms. Indigo"
"...Right, what is it that you want to ask of me?" She internally cursed Ironwood for allowing Penny to look at her records like that, a breach of privacy is something that everyone dislikes.
"Can I be your friend?"
Indigo looked at her for a moment, contemplating the decision that she's about to make. On one hand, having an extra friend that is also part of the Atlesian Military may not be so bad, she can teach her stuff that Ironwood wouldn't really allow in secret. On the other hand, she's an opponent, Indigo would feel bad that she has to fight her in their round. But after a short moment, she sighed. "Sure, why not."
Penny internally squealed in happiness, feeling excited that she gets to have a new friend, "Ohhhh we're going to be best friends! Talking about cute boys while painting our fingernails! And also buying the latest school supplies that are on sale! I'm so happy! Do you have a cute boy that you like, Indigo?"
"Hmm, no...wait, actually yeah. He's in Mistral right now, we're a long distance couple currently, planned to visit him again after this tournament is over"
"What is he like?" Penny said with glee, doing small jumps that shook the entire elevator, making Ironwood panic a little.
"He always tries to act cool and badass, and is good at doing it, but he's ultimately a dork and easily teased around by me. We met each other years ago when we're children." Indigo explained, smiling a little as she reminded herself of him, "But aside from that, anything that you want to ask other than my love life?"
Penny's tone switched from one that seemed to be excited, to a more curious one, "Why do you hate Ironwood? Your records and history with him seems….rocky from what I see, and you still hate him after all this time…"
"...That is something you should not ask when the man I hate is in front of us right now, Penny," Indigo said with a sigh, "but alright, I'll explain it to you if you want. I really want to move on from it, but Ironwood keeps coming back and tries to annoy me whenever I try to live in peace." Indigo turned to glare at him. Ironwood was visibly shaken, internally apologizing for his actions towards her.
"Anyways...I don't hate him as a person, at least not by much, and I do respect his position in the world. But ultimately we are different, I'm a former criminal as you have guessed, while he's a figure of authority. I dislike the things that he had done to me and my comrades in the past, and I do resent his ideals and view on the world, it's too imperialistic to say the least. Though that last part could be blamed on the teachings my Godfather gave me, he too hates imperialists in the end. But overall, we're different, we're born to always at least somewhat dislike each other in some shape or form," she continued.
Ironwood looked back at her secretly, subtly nodding, understanding the situation she's in whenever it comes to between him and her. Indigo looked at him for a moment, he was obviously eavesdropping, but she shrugged it off.
"What about your insults towards him? You seem to always do that whenever you have the opportunity" Penny said.
"It's called 'friendly' banter, my android friend. Derived from the history we shared together as enemies in the past. You should try it sometimes, your naivety would ultimately be your demise if you do not pay attention to it."
"Indigo, I suggest that you should stop trying to influence her. We all know what would happen if she loses her innocence," Ironwood interjected.
"Pfft, says the one who wanted her to bond with me in the first place." Indigo replied.
Soon the elevator's doors opened and the alarm rang. The three exited the elevator and Ironwood was about to be escorted by his personal squad of Atlesian Knights by the Academy's opened doors. But, as he went with Penny following suit alongside the Atlesian Knights, Indigo had suddenly bumped into another person instead.
A boy with grey hair and armored, almost robotic legs. Indigo can feel the metal inside that resides with him, and she's quite angry that he bumped into her. She stumbled a bit, glaring at the boy with almost murderous intent, earning an intimidated look from him as he ran away in fear and panic.
"Mercury…" She uttered, before looking back at the two exiting Beacon and heading for the courtyard. She soon followed, and what she saw was something that was expected, but still managed to surprise her nonetheless.
A brawl was happening as almost hundreds of people gathered to watch it, it was a brawl between the people she all knew too well. Winter Schnee, and Qrow Branwen. The speed was comparable to the fight between her and Hyena a year ago, but this was much more destructive.
Winter was about to charge towards the scraggly 40 year old man, who had suddenly turned off and sheathed his weapon. Indigo knew what would come next as Ironwood, Penny, and her stopped their walk.
The older schnee bursts forth with great speed with the help of her glyphs, baited by the older opponent, completely exceeding the speed of sound just with the initial velocity. Her aim is right at Qrow's neck, but before her blade could even barely graze it-
"Schnee!"
Winter froze in place, and Qrow slyly smiled at her as she immediately backed off and turned towards her boss, panicking a little, "General Ironwood, sir."
"What in the world do you think you're doing?" He asked.
Indigo looked at Penny, who was visibly worried. She pitied her, so she decided to pat her in the head to calm her down. The android was a bit confused, but accepted it.
Winter stood fast and immediately replied. "He started the altercation, sir!"
Qrow, with his hands at the back of his head fully relaxed as if he was not at fault, interrupted, "That's actually not true, she attacked first."
Ironwood was skeptical at first as he looked at him. He turned towards Winter and asked her for confirmation, "Is that right?"
Winter couldn't say anything, fully knowing that the drunken man was right. She surrendered and looked down, admitting to her mistake.
The general looked at the surrounding crowd, observing for any damage, before looking at the man behind his specialist and second-in-command. "And you…"
Qrow stood straight, acting confused as he pointed to himself, he had graying black, spiky hair, faded red eyes, and slight stubble along his jawline. Along with a red, tattered cloak, he wears a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and black dress shoes.
Ironwood walked towards him and asked, "You know that you shouldn't cause a scene in the first place, what are you, drunk?"
"Well ya know that I'm always drunk right? So in your logic, it's completely justified that I will destroy your sentient garbage and embarrass your Ice Queen in combat," He replied.
"I-"
"Now, now everyone, there's a sanctioned fight happening right around the corner at the colosseum, that I assure you has better seats, and popcorn." Ozpin interjected, suddenly appearing behind them with Glynda by his side.
"Break it up everyone! We will take care of this mess." Glynda said, gesturing to the crowd to disperse.
"Again with your dramatic entrances, you should really announce your arrival next time, Ozpin," Indigo said to him, Penny observing from the sidelines next to her.
"Right now is not the time for banter, you clearly know that." He replied.
"Tch."
Ironwood looked towards his escorts, and Penny, straightening his tie before ordering them, "Let's go."
Indigo switched her focus on to Qrow as Ironwood left the scene with Penny, who was seen waving to Ruby who was in the background. Indigo was only observing from the sidelines before hearing someone approaching fast near her.
Suddenly, Ruby crashed into Qrow's arm, hugging it with all her might. The little rose was full of excitement. "Uncle Qrow! Hi," she said, "Ohhhh It's good to see you! Did you miss me, did you miss me!?" She yelled.
Qrow smirked, "nope."
He dropped her into the ground, giving her a head pat that messed up her hair. He gave a glance on the disappointed Glynda and Ozpin who was fixing up the courtyard,
"A word, please," Ozpin said.
Qrow then proceeded to lean towards Ruby's ears, "I think I got into trouble," he remarked.
"Well you did kinda tear up our courtyard,'' said Ruby with a giggle.
"Yeah, I did," Qrow shortly after gave his niece a fist bump, "catch you later kid."
He walked off and left the scene, Indigo proceeded to join him, Qrow smiled as she gave a look with a sense of familiarity at him, "So, where have you been after V sent you off into Vale?"
Indigo smiled a little, reminding herself of her Godfather, known simply as V to most people that are willing to search for him, Qrow is one of those people for sure. "Not much, just trying to live life as a student," she said.
Qrow chuckled, patting her in the back, "study hard, even if you would destroy most of these kids in a fight, that's advice both me and my sister would give you."
"Thanks," Indigo replied.
"How's Scarlet now? Heard that you've got her back thanks to your teammates' help on pinning her and freeing her from her brainwash, or something, I don't know, memory stuff is weird for me," he asked.
Indigo sighed, preparing herself for another long explanation, "Scarlet's condition could be easily explained as someone with amnesia watching a record of their memories. She can recall past events just like anyone else with no major issues, but she cannot relate to what her old self feels during those events. It's like watching an event happening through the screen, or in third person, you know what the characters feel as you see and watch them, but you cannot fully relate to them even if you try." She said to him, "Pretty complicated I must say, it's thanks to Beatrice's constant lectures that I finally understood what she meant by it."
Qrow somberly nodded, "Is she still the same in her prowess with all of those gimmicky problems?"
"As for her prowess prior to and after her new mental condition, the best explanation would be akin to getting back into a sport that you haven't practiced in years; Your mind doesn't remember, but your body remembers the hours of practice you have put into mastering the craft long ago and moves subconsciously with muscle memory." She continued.
"I see...I'd like to talk with her and you more after your round, if you don't mind," he said.
"It would be my pleasure, Qrow." Indigo replied with a smile.
Meanwhile, Weiss approached her friend who was looking at the two people catching up as they walked off. "And suddenly your recklessness makes sense," she remarked.
Ruby nudged at her shoulder. "You're just mad because he whooped butt," she replied.
"That was a draw at best!" Weiss countered.