Willow's Wine, You're Mine
Chapter 1
Uptown Vale 10:00 PM
Third Person POV
"Now, where do I go? I should have thought this through better." A figure said as she kept walking through the streets.
While most wouldn't think twice about seeing a lady roaming the streets alone at night, they would do a double take once they realize who the lady is. The lady is Willow Schnee, the daughter of Nicholas Schnee and the current head of the SDC. But it wasn't always like this. In fact, if someone were to check hours ago, they would have seen Jacques Schnee labeled as the CEO on the company's website. However, that was before the 'incident' today.
Due to her husband's deception and knowledge of how to work the media in his favor, nearly everyone in Remnant thought they were the perfect couple and had an ideal marriage. But, in reality, it was the exact opposite. Every single day was pure hell for Willow. She had gone through mental and physical abuse for years. Willow initially tried to find ways out of the marriage but failed. Only years later, she learned that Jacques had covered all his bases so he could remain in power of the SDC. Eventually, Willow turned to alcohol to try and numb the pain while also trying to escape her reality momentarily. But this only backfired. She quickly became an alcoholic, which created a rift between Willow and her children. She tried to repair it on several occasions, but each time it only made their relationship worse.
However, recently, she came across something that could change everything. While Willow was unsure if it could ever entirely repair the damage, it would undoubtedly improve multiple aspects of her life and her children's lives. It was a legal loophole that would, at best, expose Jacques to everyone. And at worst, it would free her from her marriage and make her head of the SDC. But before she could carry out her plan, the unexpected happened. Jacques Schnee suffered a massive heart attack and stroke simultaneously. And before anyone could attempt to get help, he died. His death was so sudden that it shocked everyone as they knew he was a healthy man. But after the doctors examined Jacques's body, they discovered that a ruptured artery caused by his poor diet was what led to Jacque's sudden demise.
But, as much as Willow was relieved that she was now free from her abusive marriage, she knew she could not celebrate just yet. There were plenty of things she had left to do. First was the paperwork, so the COO could seamlessly transfer the position of CEO of the SDC to her. The second was dealing with all the media, as Willow suddenly becoming CEO would undoubtedly raise questions. It was no secret Jacques made numerous partnerships as well as multiple enemies. And his sudden death will raise suspicion from everyone despite having medical records showing the cause of his death. Lastly, Willow would need to start devising plans on how to restore SDC's image, as Jacques ruined it beyond comprehension.
However, all of this was only on the business side of things. But as far as Willow was concerned, they were on the lower end of her priority list. Thankfully, Ironwood finally decided to do something. He always knew about Willow's abusive marriage yet never did anything, and Willow would never forgive him for that. And it would take a lot more than him offering to handle all the paperwork for Willow to pardon him. Either way, with Ironwood handling the paperwork, Willow could focus on what was more important. And that was getting her life together and mending her relationship with her children.
While it would be a challenging road, Willow was determined to make everything right between her children and herself. But Willow was also determined to fix her life, and she knew the first step would be to stop drinking. With her priorities set, Willow had Klein Sieben, the Schnee family's butler, throw out all her alcohol while she organized a trip to Vale. Typically, Willow wouldn't need to go far to see her Winter or Whitley. However, Whitley was away on a school trip while Winter visited Weiss at Beacon. But the distance wouldn't stop her. Unfortunately, when she arrived in Vale, she learned that Weiss and her teammates were out on a supervised mission, with Winter acting as the supervisor, and they wouldn't be back for a while. And since the airstrip was closed due to emergency repairs, Willow was now stuck in Vale.
"At least the night is cool." Willow said with a sigh. She knew it would be a good idea to head to a hotel to get some sleep. But Willow didn't, as the chances of getting any sleep were infinitesimal while the probability of ordering alcohol was high. And despite being only a few hours since she gave up drinking, Willow did not want to back peddle on any progress she made, despite how small. "What can I do to pass the time?"
Sighing, Willow continued walking through the empty streets of Vale in hopes of finding something to occupy her mind. While in most kingdoms, the stores would be closed at this time. But Vale, especially uptown Vale, was different. There were multiple stores still operating. The reason was primarily due to the decrease in Grimm and robberies as of late, allowing store owners to stay open without worry. However, none of them caught her eye or interested her enough to head inside. That is until a couple of blocks down.
Willow POV
"Dr. Monty's Aether Dimension." I said, gazing upon the mysterious building.
While it seemed like any ordinary store at first glance, the longer I looked at it, the more I knew it wasn't. Yet it didn't seem like it held any nefarious or used for any illegal activities. Figuring I had nothing to lose and it seemed like a decent way to take my mind off everything I needed to do, I might as well check it out.
"Might as well."
Going to the entrance, I entered the building and was confused when I saw no one else around. Thinking it might have been closed, I turned to check the store times and noticed it should still be open.
"Hello? Is anyone still here?"
Still not receiving an answer, I decided to explore the building a bit. After all, there was no harm in it since the place was still open. However, as I looked over some of the books in the room, a bright flash of red and orange lights caught my attention. Turning to where it came from, I noticed it was coming from behind some doors on the other side of the room. Deciding to check it out, I went over the peered inside the adjacent room through the glass doors. And what I saw piqued my curiosity. Inside were four men staring out an observation window. But due to the lights being off, I couldn't make out any other details. Yet a moment later, the lights I saw a few moments ago reappeared, followed by what sounded like some creature moaning.
'What could this place be, and what are they looking at?' I wondered. Stepping away from the door, I decided to announce my presence so that I could get some answers. While I still doubted this place had any nefarious purposes, there was no harm in asking a few questions. At the very least, I will find out what this place is for, as the name gave no indications. Clearing my throat, I knocked on the door several times before stepping back. However, I became slightly concerned when the four figures visibly tensed at the sound of me knocking. They then turned around and calmed down when they noticed me. The figure second to the right then motioned to another figure to go open the door. But this seemed to cause a bit of bickering among the figures before the one on the far left came to open the door.
"да? Can I help you?" The figure, a man, asked after opening the door.
'Where could he be from? I never heard that accent before?' I wondered before snapping to attention. "Yes. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."
"For?" The man asked, crossing his arms.
"Well, I was walking through Vale to clear my mind when I stumbled upon this place. But the name, while interesting, doesn't tell me anything. I would just like to know what this place is for."
"Ah, why didn't you say so? Come. I'll show you." The man said before motioning for me to enter.
"Thank you, Mr..." I began before silently motioning for him to answer.
"This drunk's name is Nikolai." One of the other figures answered. While the room was still dark, I could now make out some more details. For starters, they were all male that appeared to be in their early to mid-thirties. However, I could not tell what their nationality was. While I knew they were not from Vale, I could quickly tell they were not from any of the other kingdoms.
"Nikolai?" I asked, turning to the man who let me into the room. He nodded in answer. "And what are your names?"
"I'm Dempsey." The figure on the far right answered before pointing to the other figures. "This psychopath is Richtofen."
"Oh, you flatter me, Dempsy. Remind me to gouge you in the eyes with my hammer." Richtofen warned in a sickly sweet voice before turning to me. "Yes, my name is Richtofen. But you can call me Doc if you find it hard to pronounce."
"Thank you, Doc." I carefully said I was not used to such informalities. I then turned to the last member of the group. "And what is your name?"
"I am Takeo Masaki." The man answered before giving a bow.
"And what's your name?" Dempsy asked, looking me up and down. Typically, I would feel disgusted at someone checking me out like this. But I could tell he wasn't being some pervert like Jacques or other men I came across during balls. He was assessing to see if I was some kind of threat or would attack him. It seemed eerily reminded me of Ozpin or Raven Branwen.
"I am Willow Schnee." I answered before giving a light bow.
"No need for formalities here, lady. We're not about there here nor really got the point of it."
"Which would explain your lack of honor." Takeo commented, earning a smirk and middle finger from Dempsey.
"Anyway, what can we do for you, Fräulein?" Richtofen asked, confusing me.
"Fräulein? What does that mean?"
"Oh, apologies-"
"Wow. Doc is apologizing. We must have entered a different timeline." Dempsey said, causing him and Nickolai to chuckle while Takeo rolled his eyes.
"I will shoot you in the face, bitch." Richtofen growled before turning back to me. "Fräulein is a title used by the people from where I grew up. We give it to unmarried women."
"Oh. Well, I guess I fit the description." I said as technically, I am unmarried but probably not in the way he meant.
"Anyway. What can we do for you?"
"She came here for answers about what this place is. And she says the title didn't help." Nikolai answered for me.
"I told you the name could have been better." Richtofen said, annoyed.
"Come on, Doc. It was only to give that crazy man a shout-out for giving us one hell of a ride." Dempsey said.
"Don't speak of hell so lightly." Takeo warned.
"Easy, Tak. I wasn't speaking about the real thing."
"While these two idiots bicker away, I'll tell you. You ever see a movie where people fight against waves of the undead?" Nikolai asked.
"Well, those are more mutants but still." Richtofen commented.
"No. I haven't seen any movies like that. But I have seen and occasionally played zombie games at any arcades during the few times I traveled outside of Atlas." During the times Jacques took me outside Atlas for important business meetings, I had to find a way to occupy my time after he no longer needed me present. At one point, while in Mistral, I stumbled upon an arcade shop where I found myself playing a few games to pass the time. And while I wouldn't admit it at the time, I did enjoy the games where you shoot the zombies. There was something about them that made me feel relaxed and allowed me to destress. Although, that could be because I replaced the zombies with Jacques in my mind.
"Exactly like that. Just replace the character with yourself." Richtofen said.
"Yeah. Instead of having some random character, you control shooting the zombies. You go down there and shoot the undead gut bags until you get overrun." Dempsey added.
"But I take it there are rules and guidelines as to how to play, right?" I asked.
"Yes. We have rules." Takeo answered.
'This might be good to pass the time and keep my mind occupied on something other than paperwork and alcohol.' I thought. "It seems interesting. But what is the price?"
"We got a few options. But the one we recommend, at least the one I would choose, is the annual package. Six hundred lien for the entire year. It includes everything, and you can come here as much as you want." Dempsey answered.
'Not too expensive for what they are offering.' I thought, mulling it over. "All right. Do you take credit card?"
"Of course." Nikolai answered.
"Here you go." I said, handing him my personal credit card.
"да. I'll be right back." Nikolai said before exiting the room.
"Welcome to the club, Willow. Now, before we begin, do you have any questions?" Takeo asked.
"Yes, a few."
"What are they?" Richtofen asked.
"First, can you teach me how to shoot? While I know how to fight with a rapier, I have never fired a gun in my life."
"Sure, let-" Dempsey began but stopped when we heard a massive explosion.
*BOOM*
"What was that?" I asked, slightly worried.
"One sec." Dempsey said before going to the console and pressing a button. "Hey, kid. You alright? What happened?"
Ten Minutes Ago
Jaune POV
'Die, you freaking excuse for a prison guard!' I mentally shouted as I fired my Titan at the Warden's head.
Typically, I would try and stab the towering rotting corpse with the Golden Spork to severely injure or kill it. Unfortunately, I didn't have it yet. I was in the process of getting it by shooting zombies with the Acid Gat gun. But the Warden appearing interrupted my progress. The Warden generally appears at random. Unfortunately, my luck was crap today, as he appeared in the last five rounds. And since I didn't have any Pack-A-Punch weapons, The Golden Spork, or Overkill, I only managed to defeat him without going down barely.
"YOUR FATE IS SEALED!" Brutus roared out as twenty more zombies crawled into the room after tearing down the barricades.
"Damn it." I muttered as I ran back up the stairs to the prison's roof, thus losing all the progress I made trying to head to the basement. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I pulled out the Hell's Retriever and let it charge while waiting for Brutus and the other zombies to catch up. And once they were in sight, I threw it at them. Unfortunately, while the Hell's Retriever killed five regular zombies, it didn't harm Brutus. But it did allow me to put more distance between myself and them. However, it wasn't much as I quickly reached the top, where an incomplete Icarus was waiting for me to finish building it.
'Damn. What to do, what to do?' I wondered as I fired my Titan while carefully moving backward toward the Icarus.
"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM THE LAW! THE LAW NEVER RESTS! THE LAW IS NEVER DISTRACTED!"
'WAIT! THAT'S IT!' I thought as I remembered that I had received some Monkey Bombs from the Mystery Box before big ugly sealed it. It will be a long shot but should weaken Brutus enough for the Acid Gat gun to down him after a few precise shots to the head.
'HI! I'M MONKEY! WANNA PLAY?'
"Sorry, little guy." I said I finished winding Mr. Monkey up.
'WEEEE!' Mr. Monkey shouted as I threw him toward the zombies. And once he landed in between them, he started his little dance. All the zombies gathered around Mr. Monkey, including Brutus. 'I hope we meet again!'
'Richtofen is still a crazy guy for inventing this.' I thought as I fired my Acid Gat gun at the Warden's head. I then quickly reloaded and repeated this process a couple more times until Mr. Monkey exploded.
'Wow! That was a bigger explosion than normal.' Typically, Mr. Monkey's explosions only hurt the thrower if they were near him when he exploded. However, it was much more potent this time, that I struggled to stay on my feet.
"YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LAST OF ME!" Brutus declared before falling face-first on the floor and disappearing a moment later.
"I'm counting on it, big guy." I said as I caught my breath. "Alright. Time to get the Golden Spork before the Warden comes back."
'Hey, kid. Are you alright? What happened?' Dempsey asked over the intercom as I made my way to the door.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just took out the Warden." I answered, activating my comms so they could hear me.
'What was the giant explosion then?'
"I used a monkey bomb. But the explosion was unusually stronger."
'Huh. Perhaps some aether got into it.'
"Possibly. Anyway, you guys need anything 'cause I need to get the Golden Spork before the next wave starts."
'Actually, yeah. We do. Come up to the room, and we'll explain.'
"Alright. I'll be there in a minute." I said before cutting comms while the simulation ended.
Sighing, I rolled my shoulders to loosen them up as all the gear and weapons vanished. Once everything was gone, I went over to the west side of the room, where some lockers and benches were. Opening my locker, I took off and put away my protective vest before grabbing my duffle bag. I then quickly changed into some fresh clothes before zipping shut my bag, slinging it over my shoulder, and heading to the elevator.
"That was a relaxing day of shooting zombies." I said as the elevator doors closed. Feeling a little thirsty, I reached into my bag and pulled out a water bottle. But before I could take a sip, I felt my scroll vibrate. Sighing, I put away my bottle before taking out my scroll and opening it to see who messaged me. 'Great. It's Team Rwby. Again.'
'Jaune. Where are you? What happened? We haven't been able to get in contact with the others since we heard you all screaming. Please answer. We're worried. Even Weiss and Blake.' The message read.
I put the scroll away before letting out a frustrated groan while rubbing my forehead. Despite what most shows and movies might show, there was no such thing as a team never arguing with each other. And my team, Team Jnpr, was no exception. While at the beginning of the year, we did have small arguments, it was nothing more than that. And as the school year progressed, it became less frequent. However, that all changed yesterday. Yet, to be honest, I don't recall anything outside of us shouting at each other. It was all a blur. One moment we were discussing plans for our upcoming one-week vacation from Beacon. The next, we were at each other's throats as if we had committed some horrendous act against the other. It was so bad that even Nora and Ren were yelling at each other. And they had never even raised their voices at each other for years.
'Hopefully, they are okay. And hopefully, what I said wasn't too bad.' I thought as the elevator started going up to the observation room.
Typically, after an argument, we would go to the training room to blow off some steam, take a walk around the Academy, etc. It was something we came up with during the third week at Beacon to help ease the tension and settle disputes quicker. However, after this argument, the others didn't do any of that. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora had stormed off campus. I tried to get in contact with them, but either their scrolls were off or they had blocked me. Some might say to give them time to cool, and they would probably return within a day or two. But they were wrong.
The others left last week.
Thankfully, the week's work had been relatively light, with the teachers not assigning any team assignments. And because Team Cfvy was out on a mission with Glynda supervising them, we had no combat classes. Which I'm grateful for, honestly, as I don't think I would have been able to focus on anything important with how stressed I was and how worried I was for my teammates. That's the reason I came to Dr. Monty's Aether Dimension so I could blow off some steam and calm my mind. And it worked as I felt so much better. Unfortunately, all the stress and worry returned with a vengeance when Team Rwby messaged me and asked what had happened. I'm not entirely sure how they learned about what happened, but I wish they stop asking as I need some space.
'Thank, Oum; my family stills own this apartment here in Uptown Vale.' What most didn't know was that Beacon students are allowed to live off campus. However, nearly no one actually does, as it only makes traveling more challenging. But I'm grateful for it as it allowed me to have some alone time from my Beacon friends and studies. And since it was Friday and my vacation would start on Monday, I did not need to worry about making it to class on time. Hearing a ding, I shook my head as the elevator doors opened. Stepping out, I smiled at my friends. Hey, despite what some rumors at Beacon might say, I do have friends. They were just not your typical friends or the ones you might expect. "Hey, guys."
"Hey, kid." They said.
"So, what did you all want to tell me?"
"We got a new member." Nikolai answered before motioning to the lady next to him.
"Hello." She said, smiling.
"Hello." I greeted back. Although, I had to try my best not to stare at her. 'Why does she look so familiar?' "What's your name?"
"I am Willow. And yours?"
"The name is Jaune Arc."
"Not going to give your 'special introduction,' kid?" Nikolai asked, chuckling.
"No, not really. I gave up on that a few weeks ago."
"What special introduction?" Willow asked, curious. And the smirk Dempsey gave me sent shivers down my spine.
"This kid. His father gave him the most horrible advice on how to flirt with women we had ever heard. And one piece of advice was to give a little 'special description' of his name." He explained.
"What was it?" Willow asked, smirking.
'Seriously, she looks so familiar?' I wondered.
"What was it, Doc?" Dempsey asked.
"What was it? Ah, yes. Here it is. Name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it." Richtofen answered, causing everyone to laugh while I groaned in embarrassment.
"I know it was terrible advice. That's why I stopped."
"It really is. But I think there is a hidden charm in it. And it's much better than how some others would flirt." Willow said, showing a genuine smile while lightly chuckling.
"You think so?" I asked, surprised, earning a nod from her.
"Anyway." Takeo said after he composed himself. "We called you here to ask for a request. Mrs. Willow here became a member but told us she has no knowledge about weapons outside of a rapier. What we want to know is if you are willing to teach her."
"Just the weapons or-"
"Everything. Tell Willow how everything works." Nikolai answered.
"Alright." I said, seeing no harm. And it would be nice to help someone experience the joy of shooting zombies. We could even team up at one point as it's always more fun as a team.
"Wait. Jaune." Willow interjected.
"Yes?"
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"Shouldn't you be getting ready to sleep since it's late, and you probably have school tomorrow?" Willow asked, with her face becoming serious a moment later. "Or did you drop out?"
"I didn't drop out. Tomorrow is Saturday, and I have a week's vacation next week."
"Oh, right. Sorry."
"It's fine." I said with a shrug. "Anyway. Are you ready?"
"Yes. Lead the way." She answered, smiling.
"Okay. Follow me, and I'll get you set up with everything you need. And then I can start teaching you the ropes." I said before heading toward the elevator with Willow following right behind me.
But as we entered the elevator with its door closing a second later, I couldn't help but continue wondering why she looked familiar. She honestly reminded me of a much friendlier version of Weiss. Shaking my head, I decided to push those thoughts away and focused on teaching Willow what she needed to know. Although, I did have to contain my excitement at the possibility of having someone else to shoot zombies with when we came here. While I could have asked my Beacon friends to join, I knew they wouldn't be interested, and that's fine. And while I do occasionally team up with the Primis crew, it would be nice to have someone else by my side.
Note:
This story is using the Primis version of Richtofen, Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo.
A random idea that came to mind after reading some Jaune/Willow stories while listening to the Perk-A-Cola jingles. (Specifically, Window's Wine Jingle).
One-Shot.
