Location: Vacuo
February 8th
[Uncharted Waters]
Weiss was irritated.
Seven hours trapped on a train with a crying baby and people hollering at her to 'shut the child up', despite her many attempts to do so, had drained any sliver of excitement from her and instead filled her gut with resentment. Not towards Iris, of course, but due to the fact she was thoroughly unable to comfort her crying newborn. What kind of mother was she if she couldn't soothe her baby when they were upset?!
Weiss stands with the rest of the crowd as the train comes to a stop, faintly hearing annoyed whispers of 'finally's from bypassing people. Guilt chews at her gut and she breathes out a strangled sigh, Iris' cries had softened down to frustrated whimpers. Although, the wailing still rings like a broken record inside Weiss' head, making her wonder if the baby had truly quieted down.
Cool air meets her skin and she shudders a bit, taking a moment to readjust her body temperature before moving the stroller off and out of the station, the cold chill that had grasped her body melts away when she steps out into the warm Vacuo sun. She reaches down to lift the stroller veil as she leaves the station in search of a restaurant or grocery store.
Iris lets out another wail and Weiss flinches, "Okay, okay," she mutters in irritation as she shakes the ringing out of her ears, "you're hungry, I get it, no need to scream." She searches for the nearest, most private place, and her stomach drops upon realizing the most private area she could find would be the train station bathroom.
Weiss sighs and swallows her pride, reluctantly turning the stroller and heading in that direction. She'd traveled on a train illegally, slept out in the woods alone, she'd had her baby in a filthy hotel, and she had little to nothing to her name. A dirty train station bathroom couldn't be all that bad.
She stops at the door and pulls the stroller to the side, hesitating as she retrieves her bag, swinging it over her shoulder. She was afraid that if she left the stroller out here it would be stolen. She needed this thing, but she couldn't take it in the bathroom with her… Iris grumbles in annoyance as the bathroom door opens, "Shh, shh," Weiss murmurs to her, "I know, I'm working on it." She unbuckles the strap from Iris and a voice grabs her attention.
"You must be Violet."
She lifts her head and she side-eyes the tanned woman who had addressed her, annoyance pooling in her stomach and mixing with the pangs of hunger. Iris was still hungry, too. The last thing she needed was a distraction. "Who wants to know?" She asks darkly, irked that the lady had distracted her.
The bleach-haired woman chuckles, "I'm a friend," Weiss scowls at her and she raises a brow in amusement, "can I call you Weiss?"
Weiss' entire being becomes numb with fear and her eyes become wide, but they dart to the small form of her daughter. She moves upon instinct to stand in front of the stroller, despite every muscle in her body tensing up and screaming at her to flee. Another voice told her to fight.
Her words escape her mouth before she can even think, "I'm tired, I'm hot, I'm hungry, and my daughter won't quit crying," her hand gestures towards the newborn whimpering inside the stroller, "so whatever the fuck you want, spit it out and get it over with so I can kick your ass and be on my way."
The woman attempts to silence her with a nonchalant wave of her hand, "Cool it, Tiny Winter," Weiss' brow twitches hearing the mention of her sister, "your sister sent me to find you."
Weiss narrows her brows in suspicion and the bleach-haired lady rolls her eyes, probably having expected her reaction. She removes a little note from seemingly nowhere and offers it to her, "She told me that if I managed to locate you, to give you this."
Weiss moves forward cautiously, gripping at her weapon attached to her side with one hand while taking the paper from the older huntress. She unfolds it carefully and her eyes grow wide, recognizing the handwriting as her sister's. She scoffs and retrieves the little bit of lien folded inside, covering the 'use this wisely' written on the paper. The other woman hums in surprise. Weiss looks at her, "Fine," she mutters with mild annoyance, "what do you want? Who are you? How did you find me?"
She was quick with her response, there was a perceptive look in her eyes. "The name's Robyn Hill." She gestures to the bag hanging from Weiss' shoulder, "That there you're carrying was Winter Schnee's old training bag."
Iris cries again and Weiss glares at Robyn, she lifts Iris in her arms and readjusts the bag on her shoulder. "So you're a friend of Winter's?" She asks stoically, Robyn simply smiles a little bit and Weiss turns away before she can say anything. "Nice. Thanks for the money. Goodbye." She says, entering the bathroom without so much as a look over her shoulder.
The newborn whimpers against her shoulder and Weiss' heart twist, "It's okay, sweetheart." She murmurs to her softly. 'I'm a terrible mother… She must be starving…'
Quietly, she steps into the first stall and locks the door.
After feeding, Weiss changed the newborn into the lightest outfit in their bag and stored it away from the dirty onesie in another compartment. She would need to find a way to wash their clothes, it also looked like she'll need to make some money somehow considering Iris was already growing pretty quickly.
She sighs and starts for the door as fatigue slowly rolls through her body, she pushes the door open and her eyes snap up to see Robyn standing against the wall next to her. Weiss glares at her and Robyn's violet gaze glances down at her, she smiles sweetly and Weiss scowls. "Why are you still here?" She asks darkly.
"Well, I don't think you wanted the stroller stolen, did you?" Robyn raises a brow as Weiss sneers and steps around her to rest the sleeping Iris down into the stroller, covering her up with the diluted rose-colored blanket. The tips of her fingers caress the newborn's cheek. "She's beautiful," Robyn says and Weiss bristles a little bit, still irked by her presence and her knowledge of the situation. "Who's the dad?"
Weiss rolls her eyes at this and looks at her, her response dripping sarcasm. "You mean Winter didn't tell you everything?" The older woman shakes her head once. "I am shocked." She was still upset with her sister over telling someone Weiss didn't even know, but she would save that lecture for when she sees Winter again.
Her stomach rumbles and she moves around behind the stroller, scanning her surroundings for a map of Vacuo. She could head to the city, find a way to make some extra lien, purchase some more clothes and food, and perhaps have some left for a stay in a hotel. She looks back at the woman watching her, "Do you know where a grocery store or something similar would be?"
Robyn shrugs. "Not a clue," she answers as she strolls past her, "I've never been outside of Mantle before now. We can ask Winter once we arrive-"
She cuts her off. "Winter's here?"
'Excellent.'
Her sister was here in Vacuo on vacation…
Why Vacuo of all places? It was hot, sandy, the community was questionable and sketchy, and the kingdom wasn't exactly one of the grandest places to visit. The one time she and her team had been sent here on a training mission with one of their professors, they were attacked by some sort of sand Grimm upon the first meet.
The villages were never peaceful and moved around far too often for their liking. They were overheating and when they returned to Vale, it took weeks to get the never-ending sand out of their clothes.
The only reason Weiss could think of that made even the slightest bit of sense was that Winter couldn't grasp the definition of 'vacation', and instead, she remains in work mode, overseeing military transportations.
It was dark, but the heat from the day still lingers while growing considerably cooler. During these times, Weiss was thankful for her strong aura preventing her from falling victim to the sudden change of weather.
Weiss and Robyn stop outside an old-fashioned two-story wooden cabin, Weiss' brow twitches in irritation seeing the sand covering the porch and leading inside. Robyn heads on inside and Weiss scoffs, taking the ramp on the far end of the porch to approach the door. The stroller's wheels were momentarily stuck in the sand but jerked out when Weiss gave it a rough push onto the ramp, startling the newborn inside awake. Iris begins whimpering again and Weiss sighs, whispering curses under her breath as she follows Robyn inside, leaving trail marks behind her in the sand.
"The lady who owns this building informed us that this is a permanent settlement," Robyn says to her as she walks in with the stroller, "they've had huntresses from all over come to stay here." She smirks a little bit. "The woman herself will tell you that Vacuo is a terrible place to live and it's not worth visiting." Weiss hums a little bit in agreement.
Robyn looks up at someone else entering from a back room. "She's with us." She tells a tanned woman dressed in an old ratty skirt and a beige dress shirt. "Room 6," Robyn tells her as she brushes her light-colored hair out of her face, letting out a tired, overheated sigh. "I'm heading out to get food."
The woman leaves. Weiss avoids eye contact with the lady watching her from the counter; she's been scrubbing one section of the table free from sand since Weiss walked into the building, watching Weiss suspiciously and eyeing the stroller. She would need to keep an eye out here… Vacuo's community wasn't exactly trustworthy.
She starts for the room, checking the key again and looking down to Iris, whose baby blue eyes are staring up at her in curiosity. Weiss' heart flutters a bit.
"That child is gonna die here." A broken male voice mutters from behind her, causing chills of resentment to crawl up Weiss' spine. She glares over her shoulder to see a man sitting in the far corner of the room. She hadn't noticed him when she walked in. "I hope ya have its casket built," a nasty grin crossed his face, revealing his ugly yellow teeth, "or yer plannin' to feed it to the Grimm?"
Weiss bites back a retort of annoyance, instead, her body tenses and she pushes the stroller out of sight of the man, turning it to head towards the room just down the hall. "Lotsa kids have died here in Vacuo, y'know!" He calls her once she is out of sight.
Weiss scowls at the air and quiet hiss of disdain escape from between gritted teeth. "Bastard." She whispers as she comes to stop in front of the door. She gives the hardwood a light knock and steps back, putting herself between the stroller and the door in case the person behind the door wasn't her sister.
Weiss looks up as the hotel door opens, revealing her proud sister behind it. She lets out a sigh of relief upon recognition and fatigue washes over her again, knowing that she was perfectly safe within her sister's presence. For a moment, there's a flicker of confusion behind Winter's eyes, glancing between Weiss and Iris, before it seemed to click that the exhausted mess before her was, in fact, her younger sister.
"You look severely underweight, Weiss," she comments as Weiss pushes the stroller inside and she shuts the door behind her, her brows creasing into a foreign look of concern, "When was the last time you ate a real meal?"
Weiss docks the stroller in the corner of the room and picks her daughter up, moving towards the bed to lay Iris down. "Your definition of a 'real meal'?" Weiss glances back at her, setting the cushions around the newborn. "A few months, most likely. Our ideas of a good meal likely differ greatly nowadays."
"Hmm…" Winter gestures towards the sleeping newborn with a stoic expression. "What is that?"
The younger woman raises a brow in utter disbelief. "...A baby?"
"That is not what I meant, Weiss." Winter pauses for a moment. "You know what? It doesn't matter." She quietly approaches her sister's side and peers over her shoulder to look at the sleeping infant, Winter's brows furrow, and Weiss glances back at her.
"...She's not going to bite."
She could see the concern in her elder sister's eyes, and she offered a tiny smile in reassurance.
She knew she looked horrendous, three days of travel and birth wasn't exactly elegantly beautiful, despite the fact she did have a shower before she left Steelthorne… She probably needs a shower, but only after a quick nap. "What is her name?" The older Schnee asks as Weiss gingerly lays down on the bed next to her daughter and lets out a weary sigh. She felt a weight lift off her shoulders. "When was she born?"
Tired blue eyes look at the specialist and Weiss smiles. "I suppose you could say almost four days ago," she murmurs in response, "her name is Iris Rose…"
Winter sighs, the disdain in her voice evident. "You look-"
Weiss cuts her off. "Terrible? I'm well aware." She closes her eyes, fatigue slowly washing over her. "I'll freshen up in a little while, I need to rest first..." She feels a gentle hand pat her back briefly and footsteps fading away in the opposite direction.
She was safe for now, she could rest. Winter would protect them if anything happened.
"What are you going to do now?"
Weiss' brows furrow and her fists clench against the sheets, pressing her face into her pillow as an attempt to drown out the irritating voice. 'Ugh, shut up!' She could smell something sweet, but bitter brewing.
"I'm not sure. Vacuo can be a dangerous place… Even more so than Mistral."
There is a quiet cooing noise that Weiss could barely register over Winter's voice. Her eyes blurrily blink open and she lifts her head, rubbing her eye with the back of her palm as the sheets slip down to her lower back. Once her vision clears, she looks over to see her sister and Robyn sitting in the corner of the room. Orange morning light flickers through the curtains behind them, casting a welcoming glow through the wooden room.
"You're not going to let her wander, are you?"
Winter had her hair down and was dressed in surprisingly loose clothing, she was seated in a rocking chair with one leg crossed and the other tilting the chair back and forth at a slow, steady pace. She was holding a sleeping Iris in her arms.
"Of course not. It's evident she came here to Vacuo for the cold seasons… The cold can be brutal further up Sanus and in Mistral."
Robyn wore a sleeveless green shirt and beige cargo shorts, she sat comfortably cross-legged in a chair across from Winter. She held a cup of steaming coffee in her hands.
"I can venture around Vacuo. There are some traveling tribes around, and she is a huntress, correct? She could be of help to them, and in return, they can keep her safe."
"You do that." Winter answers. She turns her head to look at Weiss and she stands to her feet, the old rocking chair creaking behind her. "Good morning." Winter greets her as the younger woman sits up, extending her arms to take Iris from her sister, she cradles the infant close and leans back against the pillows with a tired sigh.
Noticing the change, Iris' brows wrinkle together and her nose scrunches up. Weiss' fingers brush a strand of loose ivory hair from her face and the newborn relaxes, drifting off back to sleep. "It's eight in the morning, it's about time you got up."
Weiss scowls at her sister, "I'm only awake because you two don't know how to be quiet."
A bag is placed next to Weiss, "Bon appetit." Robyn smirks when Weiss glares up at her. "It would've been warm had you not fallen asleep last night."
Weiss sighs and takes the bag with one hand as she shifts Iris to her other, she opens it and removes what looks to be a wrapped burger; she scowls in disgust at the sight of the toppings. "That's revolting." She sighs and sits up out of the bed, her eyes immediately finding the microwave in the corner of the room atop a mini-fridge.
There was a trash can below.
Strolling over to it, she sets the bag down quietly inside the trash can, trying not to draw any attention. Her gaze shifts over to Robyn and Winter and she watches them in silence, she notices that Winter's gaze was fixed on something outside.
The newborn whines and her brows furrowed together, her little hands turning into fists as her face slowly turns red. Weiss sighs and stands to her feet, glancing over to the other two women. Winter met her gaze and her brows pulled together, "Where are you going?"
Weiss looks at her, puzzled. "To feed Iris…?"
Winter stands up and approaches Weiss' bag in the corner of the room, "I don't know what you're going to feed her with, use a bottle…" She unzips it and the younger Schnee remains quiet, wearing a deadpan expression as Winter searches the bag. She pauses for a moment. Winter abruptly jerks back, "Oh!" She exclaims in realization, humiliation is written all over her face.
Weiss just chuckles and quietly steps into the bathroom, she closes the door. "You are a lot of trouble, you know that?" She remarks in slight annoyance, the corner of her lips quirking up into a smirk when baby blue eyes met hers. "You are very lucky that I love you."
Fifteen minutes pass and Weiss opens the door again, dimly aware of the quiet conversation happening at the window. She grabs her bag as she shifts Iris to one shoulder, the newborn's eyes were droopy and drowsy. Casting a glance back to Winter, she met her stoic gaze.
"Need me to hold her?" Winter asks, catching her by surprise.
"Um…" Weiss mumbles, looking down at the sleepy baby in her arms. She didn't want to be away from her as her instincts screamed at her to keep Iris as close as possible. Although, she did need a shower and she didn't know what she would do with Iris... She hesitantly moves across the room towards her sister, "Let me know if she starts crying…" She tells her as Winter carefully takes Iris from her, "Also, could you see about washing the clothes…? I can pay-"
Winter interrupts her. "There is no need to pay me back, Weiss. Save the lien for yourself and," she pauses for a moment, "Irides."
"Iris." Weiss corrects her, Winter raises a questioning brow. "But, thank you…" She is reluctant to leave the newborn, her fingers twitching to take her baby back from her sister. She swallows hard and forces herself to turn around with a heavy step, reminding herself that Winter wouldn't harm her daughter.
Weiss exited the shower nearly thirty minutes later, taking the time to relish in the warm water and contemplate what she was going to do next. Winter had stepped in to say that she was taking the clothes to be washed, she was bringing Iris with her, which Weiss was a little worried about.
Thankfully, the woman had already returned when Weiss finally left the shower.
"Thanks." She murmurs as she takes the baby from her sister, Winter hums her response and quickly returns to the window. Weiss noticed that she'd been passing by and checking every few minutes since she'd arrived.
"Still watching him?" Robyn's voice is soft.
Weiss looks over at them curiously, listening intently. She switches Iris over to her other arm and turns back to the bed, placing her daughter down gently and tucking the blankets around her. The newborn's fists ball up and her brows twitch in annoyance, Weiss stifles a quiet laugh.
"We were told that he is illegally transporting Atlas Military equipment, we need to catch him in the act," Winter answers Robyn briefly.
Robyn sounds annoyed, catching Weiss' attention almost instantly. "Winter, you're supposed to be on leave! Even then, you feel required to work!" She quiets down to a concerned whisper. Weiss' eyes flickering between Robyn and Winter. "Why don't you just return home and relax?" Winter visibly tenses and Robyn reaches over to touch her hand. "You're hurt, Winter, you only just healed from a fractured rib. You don't need to be working."
Weiss quickly moves to stand between the two of them, forcing Robyn to put some distance away from Winter. She sends her a sharp glare before turning to her sister. "What?" She asks, Winter looks at her dully, "What do you mean you're hurt?! What happened?!"
Behind her, Robyn puts a hand on her hip and Weiss can practically see her smirking. "Yeah, Winter, what happened?"
The older Schnee glares at the woman behind Weiss and she sighs, looking away from them and refocusing her attention on the man outside the window. "Two weeks ago, I continued to fight even after my aura was shattered, and I refused to call for back-up." Her hands turn into fists and her teeth clench tightly, "Had I been just a little stronger, I could have killed that one-eyed bitch. The Winter Maiden is dead, and she got away…" She sighs heavily and Robyn places a hand on her shoulder from behind, "Thankfully, she didn't manage to steal any of the Maiden's powers…"
"The Winter Maiden…?" Weiss murmurs in bewilderment.
Realization sparks through her sister's eyes and she shook her head, she spares one last glance at the man waiting down below and she turns back to Weiss, narrowing her brows seriously. "Robyn will take you to meet one of the traveling Vacuo Tribes," she informs her with a voice that told her Weiss shouldn't interrupt, "try to create some sort of deal with them so that you may travel with them."
"Unless they try to kill me first," Weiss says rather quickly, matching her sister's glare, much to the older woman's surprise. "Robyn is right. You need to rest."
Realization crystalizes inside her mind and she clicks herself to reality, glaring over her shoulder at the woman she'd just mentioned. Robyn… She'd completely forgotten Robyn knew everything.
Annoyance pools in the pit of her stomach, her eyes darting between the older two women. She needs an explanation. Now. Her hands turn to fists and she lets out a growl. "But first, let's not delay the inevitable," she faces Robyn and gestures to the door, "get out. I need to speak with my sister in private."
Violet eyes glance up to Winter and the specialist shrugs, Robyn sighs and makes to leave the room; Weiss watches her in silence and approaches the door when it shuts, she locks it using the holographic screen on the wall next to it and spins back around to Winter.
"You told her?!" She yells, anger evident in her words. Winter opens her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by another shout. Weiss' voice is loud and high-pitched, practically overflowing with rage; she was seething. "I can't even tell my girlfriend about our baby and then you proceed to tell someone I don't even know?! What the hell?!"
"Weiss-"
"Do you know how badly I want to track down my teammates?!" Weiss shouts again, Winter sighs heavily. "I've had several opportunities to approach them and to ask for their help, Winter!" The older woman tries to say something again. "Don't even say it! They would support me! I know they would because I would do the same for them!"
Winter finally manages to get a word in, her voice more collected than Weiss' own. "Weiss, I told you. The more people who know about your true identity, the more probable it is for you to be found."
"Then why did you tell someone I don't even know?!" Weiss answers. Iris cries from the bed and sends an inner turmoil rolling through the woman. She needed to calm her down, but she also had not finished with what she wanted to say to her sister. Clearly, she hasn't gotten her point across.
Her baby needed her…
The room starts moving around her and Weiss finds herself approaching the bed, the rage flowing through her system cooling down as she takes the wailing newborn into her arms.
Winter walks up behind her as Weiss seats herself on the bed, cooing to her daughter in an attempt to get back to sleep. "We required more help, Weiss." Her voice is delicate, utilizing Weiss' current situation to her advantage. The younger Schnee glares up at her through purple strands of hair, unwilling to meet her eyes. "Who would help you when I am not able to?"
Weiss scowls at her. "I don't know. My friends?"
The specialist sits next to her. "I know what I am doing, Weiss, I simply need you to trust me… Robyn can keep a secret. If your friends knew, word would get out before long." She sounds honest, but Weiss was still burning with rage. "I know they can keep a secret also, but… Weiss, they have friends they can't lie to. Once such a large number of individuals know, someone will inevitably forget and spill the beans, and you will be found."
Weiss' brow twitches in disgust. "Please never say 'spill the beans' again, it doesn't sound like you." Winter chuckles and Weiss finally looks her in the eyes, hesitant to confide in her sister. Deep down, she knew that Winter was right. Her team was trustworthy, but if her team knew, then the rest of their friends would need to know as well. She would be found. She breathes a shaky sigh, letting it out slowly as her nerves cooled down, leaving her stomach rather hollow and cold.
"Fine… I'll ask Robyn to help me find a Tribe after I get my clothes back." She mutters.
"Thank you, Weiss." Winter smiles. "I'm not trying to keep you from them, I promise… If you truly want to reach out to them, then I will not stop you. I'll help in every way I can. It's up to you if you want to do this…" She sighs, "But if you choose to do so, be cautious. They have changed, and so have you."
Hi, I'm heading out on vacation!
Before anyone complains, Weiss' reasons for not hunting her teammates down will be explained in later chapters! I promise this isn't all for no reason. Here's a hint: Third time's the charm!