"Weiss!"
The Schnee heiress whirled around at the call of her name, her eyes wide with fear. That voice...it was stricken with distraught and concern. And it belonged to Winter. Scanning the area around her, Weiss stared at an endless corridor of what looked like her home in Atlas. The familiar blue decorated walls brought back flashes of memories from her childhood, one of the best of times and the worst. As Weiss hesitantly took steps forward, she paused when she saw a figure ahead, her eyes widening in a panic.
"Winter!" Weiss screamed when she saw the figure of her sister struggling against something.
Weiss sprinted forward, moving as fast as her legs could take her while Winter appeared to be being held back by swirling shadows. The closer Weiss thought she was, the further it turned out to be. Realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Weiss paused to grab her rapier and focused her aura to the soles of her feet. With the temporary enhancement of speed, Weiss shot towards her sister.
"Weiss...you need to leave!" Winter grounded out as she was pulled to her knees, the shadows of whatever was restraining her enveloping her form. Weiss shook her head furiously as she grabbed for her sister's arms, trying to lift her on her own.
"I'm not leaving you, Winter!" Weiss yelled as she pulled, her jaw clenched.
"You have to, Weiss! You have to leave!" As Winter shouted, a blast of air shoved Weiss away from her sister. Falling to the ground, Weiss looked up to see Winter gradually disappearing into the shadows.
"No! Winter!" Weiss exclaimed as she rushed to her feet with an arm outstretched, tears running down her face.
As her hand reached for nothing, Winter jolted awake in bed gasping. She shoved the covers back, aware of how loud her breathing was in the shared room of her team. Weiss pressed her hands to her face as she attempted to calm down when she felt wetness on her hands. Had she woken up crying? What was that dream?
"Weiss?" A soft, high-pitched voice called to her from above, laced with concern. Weiss heard them gasp and then the follow of a thump to the floor. When she felt a hand gently touch her shoulder she looked up from her hands to see Ruby's worried gaze.
"Are you okay, Weiss?" Ruby whispered as she noticed the streak of tears down her friend's cheeks. Weiss sniffled as she wiped her face, nodding silently as she let out a soft sigh.
"It was just a bad dream, Ruby." The Schnee replied quietly, her expression downcast as she looked down at her hands.
Ruby seemed to notice the worried undertone in Weiss' voice for she leaned forward and pulled her friend into a tight hug. At the sudden gesture, Weiss sighed and returned her teammate's hug, lightly wrapping her arm around her waist.
"Thanks, Ruby."
"Of course, Weiss."
"Is Weiss okay?" Came the sound from the other bunk bed over. Weiss and Ruby glanced over to see Blake and Yang up and alert at the sight of their friend looking distraught.
"I-I'm okay. It was just a bad dream...about my sister." Weiss softened her voice towards the end, unsure herself of what she had just seen.
"About your sister?" Yang inquired as she jumped down from her bed, Blake standing up to go to Weiss' side as well.
"Maybe you should give her a call. You've been writing her letters haven't you? Has she responded to any of them yet?" Blake offered as she leaned against the bed frame of Ruby and Weiss' bunk. At the suggestion, Weiss looked at her teammates in bewilderment before shaking her head slowly.
"No...she hasn't replied to them. But she usually doesn't...besides, I'm sure she's too busy to even take my calls." Weiss hesitantly said, her gaze wandered over to her desk of lined paper where she wrote her letters to Winter.
"No sister doesn't have time for her sibling!" Ruby countered with a bright cherry grin, Weiss meeting her gaze for a moment before returning her smile with a small one.
"Winter is...always busy though."
"Well, after having a bad dream like you did, wouldn't you want to hear your sister's voice?" Yang asked as she tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms.
Weiss remained silent in contemplation before she glanced at the window to see the rays of the sunrise beginning to streak in. For a moment, Team RWBY basked in the sunrise for a while, feeling comfort in the light of a new day.
Winter stood at one of the many fountains near her living quarters, staring down into it with a frown. The water was a vibrant orange red - the sunrise reflected inside it. She had her hands by her sides, Weiss' letter from before held by her fingertips. She prayed that her younger sister was well. Having woken up earlier that morning with a feeling of unease had kept her mind worried, resulting in Winter taking a stroll outside to breathe.
Winter wanted to speak to her sister, but how? They never usually called each other and Weiss only recently began sending her letters. The action to suddenly reach out to Weiss sent Winter's mind spinning. She wasn't used to being so forward. That was not how she had been raised. But lately, ever since Qrow stumbled into Winter's life and said the things he said, she could not cease her thinking of being a better sister to Weiss.
She thought about Qrow and how close his relationship to his nieces were. They bantered playfully and encouraged each other constantly. They showed the warmth and closeness that Winter saw die the moment their mother passed. The sudden remembrance of her mother sullened her mood - heart aching.
"What would Qrow do?" Winter thought aloud.
"You called?"
Unperturbed, Winter turned on her heel to see Qrow casually drinking not from his flask but from a thermos. The smell of coffee invaded her senses as Winter registered that for once, the man was drinking something other than alcohol. When Qrow noticed her peculiar stare, he lifted an eyebrow in questioning.
"Ah, this? I ran out of alcohol last night so..." Qrow explained as he eyed the thermos' contents skeptically.
"It did not occur to me that you could drink anything other than alcohol. Given your title." Winter stated as a hint of a smirk appeared.
"Oh yeah? What title?"
"An alcoholic."
Qrow choked on his coffee at the statement, Winter scoffing as he coughed.
"I am not an alcoholic! I just drink sometimes!" Qrow defended, his arms waving in emphasis.
"Please, and why do you drink so much sometimes?" Winter said with a roll of her eyes, crossing her arms.
"Forget about it. Anyway, what were you saying about me? About what I would do?" Qrow deflected, clearing his throat as he shifted his weight. His gaze wandered towards the folded letter in Winter's hand.
"It's nothing of your concern. Why you haven't left Atlas yet?" Winter asked while she stepped away from the fountain, slowly making her way back to her quarters. It surprised her when he fell into step with her, slouching as he walked.
"Jimmy offered to let me stay for a bit. So I took it and here we are. Come on Schnee, you wouldn't have said your thoughts out loud if it wasn't important."
Qrow's words made Winter gradually stop. For a moment, the fist in her gut returned and she almost gagged at how dry her throat got. The Branwen seemed to sense her shift in demeanor for he capped his thermos and turned his full attention onto the Schnee.
"Winter?" Qrow asked as he crossed his arms, an expectant expression on his face.
With a long sigh, Winter gave in.
"How exactly do you .. effectively communicate with your nieces?" Winter finally said, unable to believe she just asked her somewhat rival for assistance.
"Uh...come again?"
"...how are you so warm with your family? With Ruby and Yang?" Winter spelled out, gritting her teeth at the thought of having to repeat her question.
"What do you mean? We just...are?" Qrow said with a shrug, unable to make sense of what the Schnee was asking. Winter let out a huff of frustration, hearing Qrow's "okay okay, hold on".
"I mean...I tease them, play around with them, let them know I'm there for them..."
"I already do that with Weiss. How is my dynamic with her so different from yours?"
Qrow gaped at Winter's sentence taking in her confused expression.
"So you have been thinking about what I said!" He pointed with a laugh, Winter growling in annoyance.
"Qrow!"
"Okay, fine! Well .." He trailed off with a hand messing with his stubble. "Maybe because you grew up with a different way of showing how you feel. For us, we were always vocal about how we felt."
"I see. We..." Winter trailed off with a conflicted look in her eyes, her gaze down to the ground. "...had that once."
"Once?" Qrow echoed, catching the wall that he'd seen Winter put up all the times he'd seen her come down for a moment. It surprised him when the intensity of Winter's emotions reflected in her eyes.
Before she could say anything, her scroll began to ring causing her to pull it out. Her wall went back up too.
When she saw who it was, she glanced up at Qrow who nodded and gestured for her to shoo. A quiet "excuse me" and a couple paces away later, Winter answered the call nervously.
"...Hello?"
"Hi...Winter."
"Weiss?"
This chapter came out a bit different than what I had in my head, but I'm glad to see how it developed! And with that, I believe that I have completed the suggestion I have received to the best of my ability! (I think I'll still incorporate parts of that request in the next chapter however haha)
I hope you enjoyed the read! Drop me anything else and I'll attempt to weave it in to my writing and with the ideas I've got!
Let me know what you think.