"Weiss, catch!" Ruby warned as she tossed a small object at her. Weiss had just enough time to react and catch the small piece of fabric before it smacked her in the face. She was confused looking down to find that Ruby had thrown a rather thick fabric mask at her. Weiss looked up at the other girl in confusion, hoping for an explanation, but Ruby had already gone back to digging things out from beneath their makeshift bunk bed. First came a small black backpack followed by a little red plastic box with the words "First Aid" printed on the side.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked hesitantly, leaning over the girl a bit to take a look at the rest of the pile of belongings she had retrieved, "Would you mind telling me what you're doing?" Now that Weiss' attention was on the other girl, she realized just how abnormal the situation was. Not only had Ruby dug out all of these random belongings (that quite frankly, Weiss wasn't even aware she had: who needs a first aid kit when you have Aura?), but her teammate had also swapped her typical Saturday morning training attire for an entire outfit of black clothing, including a long sleeve black denim jacket that had absolutely no place seeing the light of day during the hot Valian summer.
The strangest things of all though were the pair of silver handcuffs that were half buried underneath the pile, and as Ruby's arm was pulled back out from under the bed, the scroll number (which Weiss recognized as Ruby's) written neatly in permanent ink on the inside of her arm. Ruby seemed to be oblivious to Weiss' previous question, so the heiress stepped forward so that her foot was right in Ruby's line of sight as she pulled a think dark scarf out from under the bed.
"Ruby", Weiss stated, this time more forcefully, and finally Ruby seemed aware of the other girl speaking. Ruby looked up at Weiss and flashed her a huge grin: "Weiss?"
"Dare I ask what all this is for?" Weiss asked, concerned that this was some very new, very bizarre training scheme the other girl had worked out.
"The protest!" Ruby responded with excitement, "The SDC is scheduled to break ground on that new dust factory outside the city today."
Weiss put her arms up in a confused gesture, "what protest, Ruby?"
Ruby stared at her for a second, processing, and then growled a little to herself, looking down at the ground before stating in nearly a whisper, "Yang said that she'd ask you about it," Ruby's expression made it clear though that she had realized that her sister had never quite gotten around to asking the heiress anything.
Recovering, Ruby stood up, grabbing a few of the items and shoving them into Weiss' arms before nervously looking down and straightening her jacket.
"Some of the Faunus rights groups in the city are organizing a protest at that new factory today to demand a living wage for Dust industry workers. Velvet asked us if we'd join, because … you know … the more people offer their support the more likely it is that things change…" Ruby trailed off, looking anywhere but at Weiss, "Yang said she'd ask you to come with us. JNPR and CFVY are all going to be there…"
Weiss stared blankly at the girl for a moment, processing.
"So you're telling me that you want me, an heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, to join a protest targeting" she paused, " … the Schnee Dust Company …". To be honest, Weiss was a little dumbfounded. Who in their right mind would think that was a good idea?
Ruby looked around the room, again, anywhere but at Weiss, and had no answer for the heiress except an almost imperceptible nod of her head.
Weiss shook her head in exasperation, and then looked down at the items in her arm, other questions coming to mind, "and what on Remnant do you need handcuffs for at a protest?"
Ruby finally looked up and caught Weiss' eye, "we're planning to handcuff ourselves to the construction equipment so that the work can't start", Ruby mumbled quickly, again barely raising her voice above a whisper.
Weiss couldn't contain herself, she laughed, she laughed at the most ridiculous protest technique she had ever heard of.
"Ruby, I understand the SDC's … business practices … have been atrocious, especially with my father in charge, but chaining yourself to a bulldozer isn't going to change that. The Faunus should be working through the courts, through their representatives, through the proper channels to make sure that the changes they want are permanent!".
Ruby sighed, "Weiss. You know better than anyone, the courts don't work for them. The Faunus have spent years fighting for their rights through the" and she motioned air quotes for effect, "proper channels."
Weiss stared at her, a look of disbelief and a cooked eyebrow all the response Ruby was going to get. Suddenly, Ruby grinned again, and grabbed Weiss' hand, "and besides, it'll be fun! All of our friends are going, and it's a good thing to do for the world!" She shoved another black bag into Weiss' free arm, threw one over her own shoulder, and dragged Weiss out of the dorm room, ignoring the girl's protests.
"Ruby wait!" Weiss cried as she was dragged out of Beacon.
...
"Here, put this on!" Ruby said as she shoved a black beanie into Weiss' hands. The two of them had hopped on one of the chartered airships the Faunus rights organizations had hired, and Ruby, along with a tightly packed group of other protestors, were finishing suiting up. Weiss groaned. She was already miserably overheated, and adding yet another layer on top of what Ruby had already shoved her into was likely to cause her to melt on the spot.
"Ruby, why so many layers? It's like a million degrees outside!"
Ruby pulled a beanie over her own head and glanced over at Weiss, then she shrugged.
"The SDC has a habit of using pepper spray on protestors" She said with a small smile, "First rule of protests, make sure to cover as much skin as you can, you definitely don't want any of that stuff on you".
"That's ridiculous Ruby, the company can be overzealous in leveraging local law enforcement, but they'd never be so barbaric as to use pepper spray".
It was Ruby's turn to raise an eyebrow at her partner.
"At least not when it isn't necessary," Weiss mumbled to herself. Ruby just responded by raising her other eyebrow in surprise and staring at Weiss.
Weiss stared back at the girl for another moment before giving in, "fine" was all she said as she pulled the beanie over her head.
...
The SDC workers meandered about aimlessly waiting for their backup to arrive. Their equipment was virtually useless now that students, local leaders, and citizens of the city cuffed in groups to every vehicle.
Weiss groaned to herself and muttered under her breath about what she would do to her teammates later. No one would ever find the bodies.
At least this wouldn't make it back to her father. This small factory was hardly worth his attention, and the protest likely wouldn't even make the local news. This, coupled with the black beanie and jacket hiding the bulk of her white hair meant that she was unlikely to be recognized by any of the SDC employees roaming around the site.
"Hey Ren!" a girl's raspy voice said, and Weiss shot a glance over to where the sound had come from. She was just in time to see Ren look up and see Nora, who was holding up her cuffed hand obviously so he could see, give the boy a horrifyingly devious smile. Ren looked confused for a moment before he eyes went wide, his face turned bright red, and he turned away, suddenly finding the ground beside him extremely interesting. Nora cackled to herself and went back to whistling an out of tune song. Ew. Before Weiss had time to process that new nightmare, her ears caught the sound of a voice, an unfortunately familiar voice, and her heart sank.
"Nononononono," she thought to herself, closing her eyes and trying to will herself to be literally anywhere else on the planet.
Ruby, who was seated beside her, handcuffed to the same vehicle as Weiss, noticed her partner's behavior, and reached over to grasp Weiss' free hand.
"Weiss, what's wron…oh" she said, looking up and catching sight of a familiar looking women in white and blue, her regal walk screaming of authority. Winter Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and Atlasian Military Specialist, stopped at the edge of the grounds, surveying the sight before her. The rest of her face betrayed no feelings other than mild annoyance, but the slight narrowing of her eyes upon seeing the protestors spoke to her frustration.
Noticing the distinctive Schnee arrive at the site, the protestors' chants picked back up. Weiss could see a few construction workers speaking softly to Winter, filling her in on the events of the day. Winter took the news in stride, scanning the crowd carefully until her eyes came to rest on the machine that Weiss and Ruby were cuffed to.
Weiss panicked.
"I can't believe you made me do this!" she whispered angrily to Ruby as she saw Winter start in their direction, "Winter's going to kill me! My father will pull me out of Beacon, I'll be stuck in Atlas forever, all because you just had to drag me out here!"
Ruby's mouth worked, but no sound came out.
Winter had covered the distance, and now stood in front of the two girls, the slightest hint of a frown on her face as she looked down at the two of them. Weiss had looked away, trying to hide from her sister, but for just a moment Ruby had caught Winter's eye, and that was enough.
"Ms. Rose" Winter said calmly, "I'm surprised to find you out in the middle of this mess. I would have thought my sister's team lead would have more sense than to disrupt a city approved construction project. The SDC could request your arrest for this, and I don't think Ozpin would like having students with a criminal record in his student body."
A thick tension grew between the two girls, and Weiss did her best to stay motionless. To Ruby's credit, she didn't back down, and instead glared directly into Winter's eyes, not dropping her gaze for even a beat.
"The SDC needs to be held accountable for their treatment of the Faunus, and everyone else that they exploit for profit. If that means I get expelled from Beacon, fine." She said quietly, but with an intensity that surprised Weiss.
Ruby's resolve would be convincing to others, but Weiss did notice the small inflections that gave her away. She was afraid, and she should be, as much as Ozpin liked her, if the SDC pursued action against her (or any other students at the protest) there was a very real possibility that the pressure on him and the school would be too much to keep them enrolled. Ruby would be back in Patch, no longer in line to be a huntress, or worse, in jail (although it seemed unlikely it would come to that).
The tension in the air continued to thicken as Winter sized the girl up. Finally, Winter spoke again.
"That's very admirable, Ms. Rose" Winter said as her eyes moved slowly to Weiss, who did her best to keep her face from being visible. Maybe she wouldn't suspect.
"And you, sister?" Winter asked, and Weiss' heart stopped. She heard Ruby gulp next to her. Her breathing became labored, and slowly she raised her eyes to meet her sister's. Winter's cold blue eyes broke any confidence she had left, seemingly reaching into her heart and dragging her courage away kicking and screaming.
This was it, this was the end for her. Her sister would hate her for betraying the family, her father would pull her from Beacon, if not disown her entirely, she'd never see Ruby again, or Yang or Blake, and she'd certainly never be a huntress. Weiss mind spun in circles for those few moments, until Winter spoke again.
"Weiss." Was all she said, with the same edge as before. The chants and jeers from the other protestors continued around them, primarily targeted at the older Schnee sister, but she didn't seem to notice them, her attention squarely on her cowering sister.
"I…" Weiss started, "I agree with Ruby" she all but whispered, her eyes falling to the ground in defeat. She braced herself for what would come next. Weiss wondered to herself if she'd even get a chance to collect her things from Beacon or if Winter would put her on a shuttle back to Atlas right then and there.
A few moments passed in silence.
"Very well." Winter stated quietly, and the tiniest, most imperceptible smirk appeared at the corners of her mouth, "I'll tell father that something unexpected has come up, and that I recommend that in order to proceed with construction, we work to address the concerns put forward by your … friends. We have few enough friends in Vale as it is. It would be wise for us to tread carefully here. Ms. Rose, if you would please tell me who organized this particular event. I would appreciate the chance to speak with them."
Ruby's jaw had dropped well before this point, and after Winter finished, she remained slack-jawed temporarily, finally recovering long enough to respond.
"Wint… I mean Specialist Schnee" Ruby stumbled over her words before continuing, "Velvet will know who to talk to, we just offered to come with her."
Winter nodded slightly, and the hint of a smirk disappeared.
"Thank you, Ms. Rose. I'll do my best to wrap this up quickly. In the meantime, sister, I do hope that you all planned for someone to bring you lunch, "Winter looked to Weiss again, "you know how long it can take to convince father of anything. You all may be here for quite some time." The smirk flashed again for a moment, and Winter turned to leave before turning back around, "and Weiss?" Weiss looked up and caught her sister's eyes again, and Winter continued quiet enough that only she could hear, "I'm proud of you."
Winter turned and left the two girls still cuffed to the vehicle behind them. Weiss stared after her as she left wondering what had just happened. This must be a joke, it had to be.
Weiss looked over to Ruby, who just giggled at her.