{1.} You're welcome for this new chapter! This story is not abandoned!
{2.} Thank you to all the people who didn't just automatically jump onto the hate train when I said I didn't like Mikasa. Especially those who have her as their favourite character. And I just want to say that even though I still don't like Mikasa, I do see why she is your favourite character in AoT, and there is a part of me that does still see the good in Mikasa's character and the way she is portrayed throughout the series. Anyway, I just wanted to say that for those of you who probably felt hurt by my remarks about Mikasa. I apologise if I upset you with my opinion on her. I don't know if I said this before, but after watching season 2 of Attack on Titan, I just feel that she is partially the reason why we don't get much on character development and the progression of other characters. Eren is quite similar in that aspect, too.
{3.} If anyone has any ideas for some fanart for specific scenes in this story, then I encourage you to follow through with those ideas. Seriously, I'd love to see some fanart for this story.
{4.} Speaking of fanart, this is an optional request from me {I assume I'm allowed to make these}. If you can, can you try and create some fanart for the AoT characters when their Semblances are revealed? Or if you can't, you can still help out with the story: I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'm not necessarily a creative person, and I have a hard time using my imagination for Semblances or coming up with creative but still logical attacks for things like this, so if you have any ideas, I'd be genuinely grateful for the assistance. And also: I'm still trying to work my way around this whole Beta reader thing, so if you have any advice for that and want to become one for this story, it'd be more than appreciated!
{5.} The reason I was encouraged to get my muse back with this is because I started watching season 2 of AoT/SnK. To be honest, if you're curious, my train of thought as I was watching it was basically just this:
"I wonder what it would be like if Team RWBY and more characters from the RWBY-verse were with the cast of AoT during these times. Oh, wait, I still have that one fanfic that probably over 10,000 (over 15,000 now!) people are waiting for me to update. I can actually put my ideas somewhere."
And that was how I became motivated again. You're welcome.
{6.} Some names of the characters are the anime rendition of the original ones. Some names don't change in the anime version of AoT/SnK, but some names do. Like Nile Dok, or Nile 'Dawk' as it is in the anime.
{7.} Final thing. Okay, so since this story is being updated, and by the time this updated chapter and the future ones come out, the first chapter or two of two of my newer fanfics, Series 1 — Z and Series 2 — X, would have been published, and Series 3 — N is in the works at the moment, but that may or may not also be out as well by the time this is published. And so, I'd like to ask if anyone would like to see references to those fanfics in this one. Like, for instance, the RWBY girls talking about some moments that happened over the course of either of the three fanfics, or talking to the AoT characters about the characters they met in the other fanfics. I'm not sure if you'd want to see this, but let me know what you think!
Eren Jaeger
Eren gasped when he awoke, shocked, shaken, and sweating. The lighting in the room he woke up to was quite dark, and he didn't need to see the walls to know that candles were the sole source of the dim light, which seemed to cut off outside the room he was in. He sat up in the bed, trying to remember what had happened prior to waking up. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting and the new surroundings he found himself in, but when his vision cleared, he found the Commander of the Scout Regiment, Erwin Smith, sat on a chair outside of the... wait, the bars of a jail cell? So Eren was a prisoner now? Great; just what he needed!
Coming out of those thoughts, Eren's eyes glanced to the person standing beside the chair Commander Erwin was sitting on. Stood there, leaning with his back on the wall and his arms folded over his chest, was Captain Levi, also known as Humanity's Strongest. Rumour had it he had as much power as an entire brigade, which meant that he, as a soldier, was worth three or more battalions, and from 1500 to 3500 soldiers. Eren assumed it just depended on the day. Still, no one had doubted the rumours.
It was common knowledge that Mikasa was worth only 100 soldiers, yet still people managed to fear her, and sometimes, this included Eren and Armin too. So, if people feared Mikasa, Eren could only dare to imagine what level of fear those same people would feel if they crossed paths with Captain Levi and knew how many more soldiers he was worth than Mikasa.
Eren blinked those thoughts away – he was tense as he was with the Commander and the Captain staring at him expectantly. He didn't need to think like that: it was only going to make him more afraid. So, he focused on the most important questions he could think of.
Why were they here?
Why was he locked up, presumably in a dungeon, and in chains?
And where was Ruby and Weiss and Blake and Yang?
Motivated by that last question, Eren decided to let his eyes scour the room, and he found the diminutive girl herself on the floor directly beside his bed, wrapped in her own red cloak and sleeping contently, her head laid on Blake's shoulder. Unlike Ruby, Blake was awake, but she was leaning against the wall with her back and the back of her head, her eyes on the ceiling. She must've heard Eren getting up, because she moved her head away from the wall and returned his eye contact. Though, from the looks of it, Blake's eyes were blank, and she squinted her eyes at him, as if it was difficult to see him. Then again, the room was quite dark.
"Was she that tired from what happened in Trost?" Eren asked first, his eyes trailing over to Ruby.
Blake turned her head in Ruby's direction, but Eren was convinced she could barely see Ruby even from being so close. "She was pretty exhausted, but she managed to sleep it off when the soldiers took us in with you after the gate had been sealed. She didn't know how much time had passed down here and decided to get some sleep in. Last I heard, it's been two whole days since the attack, so it was bound to happen either way." After that, Blake shrugged her shoulders and hesitantly moved her arm, not looking in Ruby's direction as she waved her arm around and eventually laid her arm over Ruby's shoulders. Once finding Ruby's shoulder, Blake pulled the girl in closer. "Anyway, would you happen to have a light? Whatever we're in has no source of light and I've practically gone blind."
"Huh?! You mean you can't see in the dark?!" Eren's eyes widened and he stared at Blake incredulously. What had happened to her eyesight while he was unconscious?
"Barely. It happens sometimes though—"
"Any questions?" Commander Erwin suddenly asked the two of them, his tone unmistakably booming and loud and authoritarian, matching his rank splendidly. Blake and Eren both tensed at his voice. Perhaps he had grown tired of listening to their conversation?
"Yes," Blake hesitantly nodded. "Who are you and who's the one you're here with?"
"I thought you were blind." responded Levi, cocking his head to the side. He gave Blake a nasty glare, probably trying to intimidate her.
"My gut's telling me you're glaring at me. Eren, is he glaring?"
Eren scratched the back of his head as his mouth hung open, his lips quivering as he felt the Captain's glare burning holes into him. "I heard that he, uh, he often glares at people."
"Oh. Not a people person. Got it." Blake attempted a thumbs-up and a small smile, but she didn't aim it at Eren. At first glance, it would have looked like she was directing it to the Commander and Captain. She dropped both the smile and her hand a second later. "Anyway, I may have temporarily lost my sight, but that doesn't mean I lost my hearing too. I heard two pairs of footsteps entering a while ago, and neither footsteps left. I knew there were two people in here either way. So, who'd you come to speak to first – Eren, or me and Ruby?"
"Well, since you ask, we might as well start with you two. The issue of you girls being here isn't as big as the unique ability Eren has, and judging by you and your team's actions during the battle of Trost, I'd say we may as well get your case out of the way first. Would you agree?" Commander Erwin asked, leaning forward in his chair.
"I would agree, actually. I'll wake Ruby up. She'll probably help you more than I can." Blake blinked and turned to Ruby, gently shaking the girl by her shoulder. "Ruby."
Ruby's body twitched and Eren could've sworn he'd heard a sleeping snort come from the girl. Ruby's eyelids fluttered open and her brows furrowed, before she wearily pushed herself off of Blake and the wall, shuffling into a seating position. She turned to Blake, then to Commander Erwin, and then to Captain Levi, and then back to Blake. "I assume you can't see them?"
"I can't even see you."
"Great." Ruby's shoulders slumped and she stuck her bottom lip out, her gaze lowering to the ground. She lifted her head again to get a good look at the Commander and Captain, before she tilted her head, raising a brow. "Weren't you the one who saved us after Eren sealed the breach in Trost?" she asked with her eyes on the Captain.
"What's it to you?" Captain Levi bluntly responded, but Eren could see that the Captain had tensed up. There were also rumours among the soldiers that Humanity's Strongest wasn't a people person. In fact, a lot of people had come forward saying that he seemed to be a rather closed-off individual that cut himself off from others. Still, what with being one of the most famous soldiers in the Scout Regiment, it probably came with a lot of horrific sights. Not to mention he was a veteran, too.
However, if Ruby noticed, she didn't let on. "How did you do that spinning attack and move so fast? Can you teach me how to do it?"
"I'll... consider it."
"Anyway, what do you want to know?" Blake lifted her head, blindly staring in the direction of Commander Erwin.
"Well, the world you came from, to start with. And while you're at it, we'd like to know what exactly you are." Commander Erwin pointed at Blake after Ruby cocked her head to the side. Ruby's eyes widened and she turned to Blake, her expression softening.
"He means me specifically, doesn't he?" Blake leant back on the wall.
"I doubt they'll think of you any differently as long as you explain your circumstance fully. You've already proven that you'll go to any length to help the soldiers." Ruby shuffled towards Blake, holding the girl by her shoulders. Ruby spun back to the Commander. "Please promise that you'll listen to whatever she has to say. I know you may be having a hard time with trust at the moment, but Blake's already proven herself as an ally, just like the rest of us. The least you could do is hear her out."
Commander Erwin didn't waste a second, and nodded his head. "That's a promise I have no problem keeping."
"I'm willing to listen," Captain Levi also piped up, surprisingly. "There's obviously some reason why you're keeping something from us."
Ruby nodded and passed a warm smile at Eren, before she gently picked Blake up off the ground and helped her stand. "You can do it, Blake."
Blake nodded, uneasily, and she raised her hands to her bow. She untied the ribbon and when her ribbon fell into her palm, Eren saw she had black cat ears on the top of her head, which twitched once she let them free. Eren's mouth hung open in shock. He knew there was something she was hiding, but the ears of an animal? Really?
"The world we come from is called Remnant, and there are two main races of people that inhabit that world. There are Humans, and then there are people who look like humans but have the characteristics and traits of animals. The latter, like me, are called Faunus. Faunus traits vary. For example, I am a cat-type Faunus, as evidenced by my cat ears, proof of my Faunus heritage. The reason why I hide my identity from normal humans is because the Faunus were and sometimes still are subject to discrimination and hate by them, and some humans even go out of our way to use Faunus for working labour forces, believing that since we are second-class citizens, they can do what they want with us. While there are the few that are accepting of Faunus, the Humans, as a whole, are not. I hide my heritage because I'd rather people see me for who I am, not what I am. And besides," Blake paused and Ruby glanced back at Eren, "what with Eren's situation, I didn't want to stir up any more trouble. And if you're wondering, cats go practically blind when there's little to no light. Hence this." Blake pointed up at her blank yellow eyes.
"I see. It's a shame your experiences have forced you to hide away like that." The Commander sounded... sorry, almost. His glanced down at the floor, then back up at Blake again. "Is there nothing more you would rather get off your chest now?"
"I would tell you more, if you're willing to listen, but my teammates and I are willing to teach anyone interested about Remnant and its history anyway. If given permission to do so, we can explain more then and give you some clarity about where we come from. It would also help you understand and learn how to fight more like we do." Blake suggested as she proceeded to tie her ribbon back over her cat ears, covering them up with the bow.
"I'm sure we'll be able to get that sorted for you." The Commander gave a soft, almost fatherly smile. He turned to Ruby next, and she tensed up beside Blake. "And what about you, Miss Rose?"
"Call me Ruby. And there is something I can help out with, actually." Ruby approached the bars of the cell and took a seat. "When I was first put in here, the MPs took my sweetheart Crescent Rose away along with Blake's weapon. See, I created that weapon myself, under the instruction of my Uncle Qrow, who took me under his wing when I was little and taught me how to use a scythe. I've always had a fascination with weaponry, or really any sort of machinery that can be used for an arsenal. If given the opportunity, I'm sure my knowledge and creativity could improve the quality of the cannons. Or, or, with the Dust that Weiss found, I'm sure I could come up with some upgrades to the swords for your ODM Gear, and use some of it to increase the damage inflicted from the cannons, or even—"
"Calm down," Captain Levi told her, though not as stern as Eren expected, "you're getting ahead of yourself a bit there. One project at a time."
Ruby scratched the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. "Right, sorry. I tend to go overboard when I think of ideas involving weapons."
"Um, by the way, sir," Eren called out, tilting his head a bit. "Where are we?" Eren took a moment to spare glances at Ruby, whose eyes were now fixed on him, that is until she turned back towards Commander Erwin. The Commander's expression had gone back to being as stoic as it almost always was.
"I think its obvious. Let's just call it a dungeon." Commander Erwin dully answered; straight to the point, as expected. Ruby nodded, and then cocked her head to the side. When the Commander saw her reaction, he added: "You're all currently in the custody of the Military Police. We were granted permission to see you only just now."
Eren took the time to inspect the chains that were bound to his wrists and ankles. He even noticed that Ruby and Blake had their wrists and ankles bound with chains, which were attached to pulling machines. They basically let anyone bound in them roam free around their cell, but the shackles were tightened and pulled the person back if the guards thought they were trying to escape their captivity. He'd heard rumours of previous prisoners having their wrists or ankles dislocated or broken or fractured by the force of the shackles when they pulled them back.
However, Eren's thoughts of the horrors of being imprisoned were cut short when Commander Erwin then held up the key that had once hung around Eren's neck before he'd woken up in this cell, in this dungeon.
"Where'd you get that?" Eren hastily asked. If he was taken into custody by the Military Police, how did the Commander of the Scouts manage to gain possession of his key, when the MPs probably would have taken it themselves when they took Eren in?"
"Off of you. Don't worry; you'll get it back." the Commander told him, his eyes meeting Eren's as Eren himself inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's talk home. Specifically, the good Doctor's cellar back in Shiganshina. Pretty big secret in there, right? About the Titans?"
"Yeah. I think so." Eren replied, nodding his head at the Commander. "That's what Dad said, anyway."
"Must suck having your dad and your memory M.I.A at the same time. Unless, of course, that's just a cover story." Captain Levi stated, his earlier softened demeanour he'd shown towards Ruby gone and now back with the glares and curt, blunt attitude. The sudden change made Eren tense, and he knew, he just knew that the Captain could sense it.
"Enough. We've been over this already; we know he has no reason to lie." Commander Erwin turning his head towards the Captain. His gaze returned to Eren as he continued on: "And that's all we know. How about you shed a little light on us by telling us your intentions?" he inquired, leaning forward in his chair.
"My... my what...? What do you mean...?" Eren asked in response, dumbfounded as to why the Commander would ask such a question. Sure, Eren knew he could transform into a Titan, and that alone would cause some issues within the military; but after he sealed the breach in Trost, Eren thought he would be considered an ally to humans and a beacon of hope for humanity. Not the enemy of mankind. He helped them in reclaiming Trost and made that day the day of humanity's first true victory against the Titans.
Shouldn't he be some sort of hero?
And if that was the case, then why was he being treated like a villain? Was it because he could transform into a Titan, of all things?
In fact, now that he thought about it, the military did have issues with trust.
"Here's the lay of the land, my friend. If we wanna pay your Dad's cellar a visit, we have to venture back into Shiganshina. Sealing the breach there as we did in Trost would be the smart way to go about it, don't you think? Naturally, we'll need your special powers." Commander Erwin glanced at Ruby and Blake for a moment, causing Ruby to turn her head towards Blake and raise a brow, while Blake remained where she was, still stood there silently and looking at the ground. The Commander's eyes met Eren's once again. "Either way you slice it, a Titan's deciding our fate. It's been conjectured that the Colossal and the Armoured Titan are more or less the same as you. It's why I ask your intentions. They could be the key to turning the tide forever. You could save us."
Erwin held up the key to the cellar, emphasizing his point.
Eren could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he thought of what to say. More than anything, he wanted to be a beacon of hope for humanity. But how would he go about that? He didn't have the slightest clue of what exactly he was, nor what was going to happen to him now that he discovered he'd had this power to transform into a Titan within him.
So... what would he say to the Scouts? What would he say to... well, anyone?
What could he say to them?
"I... I don't know what I am..." Eren muttered, lowering his head to spare a moment to think. His vision flashed with images of his father holding the key in front of him. Then, a flashback of his mother being picked up and eaten right in front of him. And after that, another flashback, this time of his father injecting a needle into him.
Confusion arose in his gut when he thought about that last flashback. He didn't remember that happening. When had that happened?
"Come on. It's an easy question, so answer it. What the hell is it you want to do?" Captain Levi cut in, the pressure on Eren's shoulders increasing as it snapped him out of his previous train of thought.
Still, though – now he had an idea of what he wanted to do.
Eren's body started to twitch, and his breathing became erratic. He lifted his head to reveal a terrifying grin and eyes that held an intimidating and probably psychotic glint of excitement.
"I wanna become a member of the Scouts, and slaughter every Titan that crosses my path."
Eren could see the Captain's eyes gain a spark in them. To see that from the Captain honestly surprised him, to say the least.
"Huh. Well played." Captain Levi remarked, finally pushing himself from the wall he was leaning on. "Alright then. I'll take responsibility for him. Let the higher-ups know what's going on. Not that I implicitly trust him, of course. It's more a matter of me trusting myself to deal with him; kill him if I have to. The big wigs aren't likely to raise a stake. My record more than speaks for itself, I'm pretty sure." he said, gripping the metal bars of the cell.
Eren tensed up at his words, his shoulders hunching as his previous expression was replaced with one full of fear and worry. Ruby stared at Captain Levi, her eyes wide and curious. Blake folded her arms under her chest.
"Good news, Jaeger. You're now officially a member of the Scouts."
Weiss Schnee
It had been two days since the Trost gate was sealed, thanks to Eren's efforts to move the boulder into place. Weiss had no idea what exactly had gone down, but apparently Commander Pixis had sacrificed another hundred – or thousand – soldiers to ensure that Eren and Yang sealed the breached gate to the Trost District with a giant boulder that was sat in a ditch near the gate. The Garrison Regiment and the Scouts that had come back from their recent expedition outside the walls had spent the last day cleaning the District of the remaining Titans. It was the first victory for humanity, the first piece of land reclaimed from the Titans, and more than enough of the population hoped that it would be the first of many victories to come.
However, that was only the good news. The bad news was that there had been a few complications during the operation. The gist of it was that Eren suddenly turned hostile and reportedly tried to attack Mikasa, and Ruby had ended up in the middle of it. It was unintentional harm done to Ruby, of course – according to Mikasa, Ruby had tried to protect her from Eren's brief rampage, but ended up getting hurt in the process and was left temporarily vulnerable when Eren had decided to nest Ruby under his tongue. Mikasa and Armin both had their own theories about why Eren would do such a thing.
Tomorrow, Eren was supposedly due for a court hearing about whether he should be handed over to the Scout Regiment or the Military Police.
Moreover, now the fight against the Titans was over – for now, at least – the Military Police was fully able to seize its authority over the population within the walls, and they wanted information that they thought Team RWBY had, as well as the majority of Dust that Weiss had gone through the trouble of securing a deal over.
Greedy pigs.
"I had no idea the situation could get this bad over only two days." Weiss remarked, taking a sip of water from the glass in front of her.
Weiss herself was sat in a dimly lit room with a sickly Yang wrapped in a thick blanket, Armin, Jean, and Mikasa. Ruby, Blake, and Eren were in the custody of the MPs. Weiss knew why the MPs wanted Eren, but why they took Ruby and Blake along with him was anyone's call. She had a couple of theories, but none amounted to a satisfying answer. However, there was rumour among the Scout and the Garrison Regiments that Blake was hiding something under her bow. Needless to say, it made Weiss anxious to think that someone knew about Blake's Faunus heritage. And how did that person even know? She hadn't taken her bow off at all since they'd ended up here. Perhaps more people than she'd anticipated had seen Blake's bow twitch?
And what about Ruby? Was it because she carried a scythe? Was it because Ruby used one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?
Weiss shook her head, trying to think of the positive aspect of the situation.
There was something good that came out of the two days of relative peace and quiet. Weiss was able to start planning the set-up of a Dust storage unit in the Scout Regiment Headquarters, and was able to find some new clothes for herself in the meantime, since her usual fancy attire needed a wash. She wore a white button-up shirt, a pair of white shorts, a pair of white stockings, a shiny pair of silver leather boots, some beautifully silky silver fingerless gloves that stopped only midway up her forearm, and a grey belt. She was also allowed to keep some grey straps and blade boxes, for future needs.
"I don't think anyone could have predicted it. We knew the MPs would come back into action sooner or later, but we didn't think they would do anything like this." Armin revelled. He seemed like he was trying to make eye contact, but was too afraid to do so.
For the past two days, Armin was rather secretive, as if he had something on his mind. It was a surprise to Weiss, because usually Armin's head looked like it was spinning out of control on the inside. Moreover, it was beginning to get suspicious. No one was telling her what was causing Armin to act like he was, and Weiss became determined to find out what was up with him. The matter of the Military Police could probably wait for her. What the MPs wanted to do with them wasn't as much of a problem as the heiress being unaware of what was making the blond intellectual practically put an invisible wall up between them.
"It's obvious to me that all they want is a piece of the pie. After the situation in Trost was resolved, they most likely saw it as an opportunity to seize their disgusting authority over the population again." Weiss stated with a grimace. As she took another sip of her water, she glanced at Armin, who shifted slightly in his seat every time Weiss' eyes met his.
"And us." Yang added, only coughing once.
"Throat still burning?" Weiss turned to her teammate.
"A little bit. I think it was because I threw up so much, and it hurt my throat. The screaming didn't help, either." Yang nodded, grabbing her cup of milk and taking a swig.
"Why do you think they took Ruby and Blake?" Jean inquired, leaning on the table.
That was another thing. Apparently, Marco, who'd been a good friend of Jean's, was found half-eaten in one of the streets of Trost this morning. The fact that he was dead scarred Jean, but Weiss had been shocked when he told her the state of his corpse. After all, who wouldn't be traumatised seeing one of their friends dead on the ground, with only half of their body and face remaining? And what's worse, no one recalled seeing Marco die. The unanswered questions only added to the pain of the loss.
"We've been through many different theories about that, but something in my gut is telling me it has to do with those rumours we heard about." Yang answered. Everyone was silent as she gulped down the milk in her cup. "The ones about Blake." she reminded them.
"Oh, you mean how people keep saying that Blake is hiding something under her bow?" Armin responded with a tilt of his head. His input sparked the others to look incredulously between Yang and Weiss.
"Where do you think someone would come up with something like that?" Weiss questioned as she turned to Mikasa and Jean for assistance.
"I think a lot of us saw the bow on her head twitch occasionally." Mikasa admitted, tilting her head. "I think I heard someone say that she was probably hiding a mutation or another pair of ears under the ribbon."
"If you know anything about it, you can tell us, you know." Armin suggested upon seeing the knowing look Yang and Weiss passed each other. "Blake's a kind person, and she's saved a lot of us, including Mikasa and Jean. It's only right we have her back in return, even if it's off the battlefield."
Yang sighed and placed her cup down, before glancing between Mikasa, Armin, and Jean. "Promise us you won't freak out. Blake should be telling you this herself, but it was probably bound to come out eventually. So just in case, I need to know you won't think differently of her."
"We promise." Mikasa nodded her head, and Armin and Jean followed suit. "You can tell us."
"Blake... isn't classed as human." Yang looked down.
"What do you mean? Is there some type of species on your world where people can look like humans but aren't?" Armin cocked his head. The boy had one fantastic imagination, Weiss had to give him credit.
"I guess you could say that." Weiss shrugged her shoulders. "In Remnant, there are people that look human but have the characteristics and traits of animals. These people are called Faunus. Blake is one of them. Usually, characteristics include cat ears, monkey tails, and bunny ears, and there are more. Under Blake's bow are cat ears."
"So, is she self-conscious about her cat ears, or...?"
"Kind of. You see, Faunus are almost always constantly being harassed by the Humans. They're subject to bullying and discrimination and hate. A friend of ours, Velvet, who's a Faunus with bunny ears, used to be bullied at our school. Most lunchtimes we'd see the leader of another team we won't name pulling on her ears while his teammates called her a freak and other names along those lines. Blake conceals her Faunus identity because she would rather not suffer what many other Faunus, including herself, have. She'd rather live without the harassment and hate." Yang took a gulp of milk from her cup.
"Well, that and she wants to be seen more for who she is and not what she is, in her words." Weiss drank the last bit of water from her glass and sighed, putting her head on the table. She paused for a moment, briefly savouring the chance she had to collect her thoughts, until she turned to Yang. "Did you get any sleep since Trost?"
"Barely. I've been taking naps during the day, but I can't sleep at night. Being alone just gives me more chance to dwell on the experience." Yang told her with half-lidded eyes. Weiss blinked and her eyes widened when she noticed the formation of bags under Yang's eyes.
"I suppose even you're still suffering from the brutality of the attack." Armin remarked as he turned his head toward Weiss, a clear trace of cautiousness and concern laced in his tone. "You and Blake were the only ones who didn't seem to be as shaken as some of the cadets, and even Yang and Ruby to an extent. I was wondering how you managed to continue to get up and get on with what you wanted to do without being hindered."
Weiss lifted the side of her head from the table and her eyes met Armin's. Her eyebrows slanted. "To be honest, early in my life I just came to learn that death and tragedy were a part of life, regardless of the reason and the way it happened, and you just had to deal with it in your own way. The only thing that even remotely shook me up was the brutality of the cadets – some no older than either of the four of us – getting eaten." Weiss shrugged and planted her elbows on the table, folding her arms and letting her hands settle on her upper arms. "It's actually kind of surprising, considering a lot of the creatures of Grimm are known to eat people too."
"O-Oh, that's right," Yang stuttered and delved into another coughing fit, prompting Weiss to rub her back gently. Yang looked between Mikasa, Armin, and Jean. "I went to visit Blake and Ruby yesterday while most of the MPs were out for lunch aside from the guards in the dungeon. She'd had a few ideas about us legitimately teaching you guys and giving you classes on our world of Remnant and its history, since most of you are bound to be curious about the world we come from."
"I think that's a great idea. Knowing more about your world might also help us to learn more about your fighting styles, and how to use the Dust you discovered. I only hope the higher-ups also realise that taking classes would assist in developing our skills as soldiers. If they know it could help us defeat more Titans and better our chances of survival out there, they'd have to be crazy or paranoid to deny the idea." Armin nodded his head, finally braving a sweet small smile.
Weiss tilted her head. Now was her chance to find out what was up with him! "Is that all you'd like to say?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Weiss got up from her seat, walked around the table, and latched onto Armin's arm with her hand. The corners of her lips curled up into a flat but sublime smile. "I was wondering if you had any ideas for specifically what we could use the Dust for first, strategically speaking. Besides, we've barely talked since the retaking of the Trost District. I'm sure we have a few things to catch up on too."
Out of her peripheral view, Weiss noticed Yang narrow her eyes, as if to say, "what are you up to?".
"O-Oh... uh..." Armin averted his eyes for a split second. "...Sure."
With only a happy nod to show her response, Weiss softly pulled Armin up from his chair, and led him out of the room. The door slammed shut before Weiss stopped only a few feet away from it. Once she came to a halt, she released Armin's arm from her grasp and twirled around to face him.
"Alright. Armin, I'm gonna need you to be completely honest with me now."
"Huh? O-Okay." Armin nodded, although he sounded a bit uncertain. "What do you want to know?"
"Is everything alright?" Weiss responded with a question of her own.
"What do you mean?"
"I can tell you've... not been as open with me about certain things lately. Specifically, from when I got back from the mines just after the hole in the Trost gate was sealed." Weiss pointed out. Armin's shoulders flinched for a second, so fast that Weiss had to question whether or not she'd really seen it happen. But, nevertheless, she continued: "It just makes me wonder if something happened during the operation that I should know about. Believe it or not, I worry too."
Armin stared at Weiss for around a second or two, until he nervously nodded his head and took a nervous gulp. "Well, I was debating on whether or not to tell anyone, but since you're asking... I guess it would be okay." Armin paused for a moment. He deeply inhaled and exhaled, before looking straight into Weiss' eyes. "It's not about the operation to reclaim Trost, in fact. In all honesty, I've been considering this since I overheard Yang telling Reiner, Connie, and Annie that you and your teammates could teach us how you four fight. I was hoping that, since I'm not particularly strong enough or have any defining abilities that might allow me to help others or help myself or assist in killing Titans, you could train me specifically."
The corners of Weiss' mouth twitched, and she had to use every last bit of her self-control to not laugh out loud. "That's all it was? You had me worried there." Weiss stated, letting a few giggles slip. She patted Armin's shoulder, and he began getting shy, hunching his shoulders as if he thought he had said something wrong. "Armin," Weiss gave him a reassuring smile, "I understand where you're coming from. Believe me, I do. You feel useless on your own, don't you?"
"Admittedly, too much." Armin's gaze fell to the ground. "If I don't try to improve my skills for when I'm out there, then what good will I be to the others aside from simply being the strategist?"
"You make a good point. You came up with brilliant ideas in Trost, ideas that worked spectacularly well too; but if you can't save yourself especially when no one else is there to save you, we'll be out of those linchpin strategies and life-saving ideas." Weiss considered the possibility, tapping her chin with her index finger, looking up at the ceiling. She did not want to entertain the idea of having to come up with damned plans in the case of Armin's death, and it was only a second, but she shook her head to rid herself of the thought immediately after a shiver travelled down her spine and littered her skin with goosebumps. "Alright, I'll take you on as my protégé and teach you what I know. Of course, that would be limited depending on what your Semblance is, but if you're aiming to specialise in Dust anyway, you've come to the right place nonetheless."
"Really?" Armin's jaw hung open, though Weiss could clearly see the edges of his mouth turned upwards, a sign that he was happy. She didn't remember there being an open window in the building, though, so it was a bit of a surprise when his coconut-shaped hair fluttered with the breeze that swept into the room. Or maybe that was from his small hop in place. "When do we start?"
Weiss took a moment to ponder the question, cupping her chin between her thumb and index fingers, wondering when an appropriate time to train Armin would be.
"Why not today?"
Weiss gasped and swivelled as fast as possible, her eyes meeting someone's chest. She raised her head and was met with the same blue eyes as Armin's, accompanied with a set of eyebrows that were tall in height but shorter than average in length.
"Commander Erwin!" Armin straightened his back and performed the military salute, clenching his fist and holding it over his heart whilst he held his arm behind his back.
Weiss blinked and stepped back a bit. She was too close to the man. Just as she did, she noticed a shorter man with his hands folded over his chest, his eyes with colourless bags under them, but from the looks of his eyes, he lacked a healthy sleep schedule, and she found it likely he suffered from insomnia. His hair was black and he sported an undercut, and he wasn't any taller than Weiss: it seemed they were the same height, actually.
"I assume you're the Scout Regiment?" Weiss looked back up at the tall blond man, noting a pendant with a green circle in the centre of a golden ring hanging around his neck and settling on his chest.
"You assume?" asked the smaller man, prompting Weiss to lower her head and match his glare with a level one of her own.
"Over the past two days I've been busy in that old castle that was formerly the Scout Regiment Headquarters, setting up the place for my teammates and I to stay, so forgive me if the only badge I recognise are the roses of the Garrison Regiment." Weiss crossed over her own arms and shot him a deadpan expression whilst raising a brow. If he wanted to challenge her to a battle of who could intimidate the other first, he was going to have to try harder than he was. "Take it as an educated guess if it'll help you sleep at night; for once."
He bit the inside of his lip and scoffed, both eyebrows raising for a second as he stopped glaring. "Well, aren't you observant."
"Now, now, Levi. This is Ruby's team partner, Weiss Schnee. She's the one who found the Dust and secured a deal with the mine to supply us with it. You might want to be nice, it's the least she deserves for her efforts." the blond man, Erwin, told him as he turned to the shorter man. So, the man her height was called Levi. She was glad she didn't need a formal introduction. Erwin turned back to Weiss. "We overheard your conversation with cadet Arlert. I was in fact coming to see you myself after Ruby and Blake told us you were essentially an expert on Dust."
"An expert? How humble." Weiss waved her hand dismissively. "If you must know, I'm the heiress of a company that my grandfather started, which revolves around the manufacturing and distribution of Dust. It's a requirement of the family to be well-versed in business deals and the knowledge, use, and properties of Dust itself." She lowered her hand and lifted her head, her eyes boring into Erwin's. "I assume you want to get a headstart and learn about Dust from the best source of knowledge you have?"
"Was it that easy?" Erwin gave a slight smile.
"Too easy." Weiss narrowed her eyes at the Commander. She turned her head and her eyes landed on Levi. "What about you?"
"It's just Erwin. Until Eren's trial tomorrow, I'm going to pick up Ruby and Blake from the MPs. You said you and your team were staying in the old HQ?" Levi unfolded his arms.
"I didn't clean out and rearrange some of the offices on the ground floor for nothing."
"Oh, so you've cleaned the place up a bit? I'll be sure to check that it's spotless when I get there."
"Before I start you both off, I'm going to ensure that you learn the basics of Dust, at least before Eren's trial. And to learn the basics, you'll need these."
Weiss reached into her leather satchel and pulled out two 'Dust for Dummies' leaflet. Carrying one in each hand, she planted one down in front of Armin and the other in front of Erwin. They both picked up the leaflets and placed inspected the front cover.
"Those are made specifically by the SDC to explain Dust in a simplified manner for beginners. Essentially, it's mostly used to advertise Dust to families with children who have an interest in Dust usage, for whatever purposes – mostly for training to fight the Grimm and creating specialised weaponry such as my own weapon, as well as ammunition, say, for Ruby's and Yang's weapons. There are also Dust cartridges that can be inserted into weapons like Blake's to be used in coordination with the Semblance of the owner of the weapon. If given the chance to initiate classes, Blake can explain that function of Dust better, since she actually uses the cartridges." Weiss explained, leaning the back of her hip against the desk, her legs crossed and arms folded over her chest. "I would think you both have great memories and would be able to memorise certain things particularly fast and with relative ease. With that said, read over it enough times to the point where when I start asking you the relevant questions to quiz you, you won't have to look back on what you've read, since you should have it—" Weiss tapped her temple with her index finger—"all in here."
Eren Jaeger
"Blake's sleeping for now. Guess she must have been tired of not being able to see anything." Ruby carried Blake in her arms and laid her on the bed, her head on the pillow. Eren sat with his legs crossed on the bed, watching Ruby pull the bed covers up to Blake's shoulders.
"Ruby," Eren's eyes followed Ruby as she sat back down directly beside the bed, "when did you learn that Blake was a Faunus?"
Ruby lifted her head, meeting his gaze. "During our first semester at Beacon Academy. We had been going around the streets of Vale with Weiss going on about how exciting the upcoming Vytal Festival was going to be. We were at the docks because Weiss wanted to get a look at the people arriving for the tournament in order to have an advantage. Our new friend, Sun, who's an actual monkey-type Faunus, ran off the boat and Weiss came up with the idea to chase after him. We were stopped when Weiss happened to collide with our—uh, my friend Penny, and proceeded to call Sun names like 'rapscallion' and 'degenerate', and Blake got mad and she and Weiss ended up in this big argument."
"I hope it didn't get violent." Eren's eyebrows raised.
"Oh, no, no! I wouldn't have let that happen if it were going to. But it got pretty intense though."
"How so?"
"It really started when Blake said that it was because of people like Weiss that the White Fang, now essentially a Faunus terrorist group, took the drastic actions they did. When Blake called her discriminatory, Weiss called herself a victim, and started talking about how her childhood was hard because the White Fang targeted her family and their company. Then when Weiss called the Faunus a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers, Blake snapped and said something like 'we were tired of being pushed around', and then ran away after realising what she'd said."
"So it was her outburst."
"Yeah, but I don't think either me or Yang thought about it much until Penny caught up with us the next day when we went out to look for Blake, since she hadn't come back by the time I woke up. When we asked if she'd seen Blake, she called Blake the 'Faunus girl', and when we asked how she knew Blake was a Faunus, and she just said 'the cat ears', and I think that was the moment Yang and I realised that Blake had been hiding the cat ears under her bow the whole time."
He wanted to know how this ended, since from what he'd seen, Weiss and Blake currently had a good and friendly bond between them. So it seemed likely that they'd made up, but as always, his curiosity never ceased, and he wanted to know how. "What happened next?"
"Well, Yang and Weiss left me to search for Blake with Penny, and by the time we found her fighting the White Fang at the docks, we'd been searching for twelve hours. Penny helped us out with handling the White Fang. Weiss and Yang caught back up with me, Blake, Sun, and Penny and at first I thought Weiss was going to be mad at Blake so I tried to talk to her but she walked right past me, and when Blake tried to explain herself, Weiss told her that she no longer cared that Blake was a Faunus and told Blake that she didn't want her to say anything about her departure from the White Fang, essentially saying it didn't matter since Blake wasn't one of them anymore. Weiss ended up making Blake promise to confide in us next time, instead of someone else, like Sun."
"Do you think Blake would explain her affiliation with this White Fang group when the higher-ups agree to have you guys teach us in classes and give us lectures?" Eren asked with a light-hearted smile.
"That depends. I think if she knew everyone in the room was understanding enough to listen to her story, I think she might. And I also think she would probably do it if a lot of people asked for her story because they want to know what she's been through." Ruby shrugged her shoulders as she returned the smile.
"It's nice to see you lot again."
Eren jumped when he heard the voice of Captain Levi from outside the cell, and he felt himself shrink into his shirt when he saw the man at the door of the cell. Eren didn't think it would be for him, since his trial was in the morning. Or was it already the morning of his trial? Honestly, the lack of windows and therefore the ability to know what day and time it was made him frustrated and tired.
"Ruby, I'm here to pick you and Blake up. Weiss has been setting up your residency in the old castle formerly used as the Survey Corps Headquarters, which has been abandoned for quite a while. I'm taking you and Blake to where Weiss is staying."
Ruby jumped to her feet and lifted Blake out of the bed, carrying the Faunus in both of her arms. She pulled Blake close to her as she turned to the Captain. "What about Eren? We're going to see him again after his trial, right?"
"I can't promise he won't leave the courtroom unscathed, but I personally guarantee he'll be alive and well when we see you next."
