The first break of the year for Beacon's students was heralded by a sudden change in the weather. Average temperatures plummeted, even on clear days, and there had even been some hints of snow. For team RWBY, the week or so leading up to the holidays matched the outside world; frequently frosty.
Whilst Weiss had upheld her word and hadn't tried to kill Blake, it was readily apparent that she was far from happy to have to share a space with her. Conversations between the two ranged from carefully polite small talk to bitter, spiteful barbs on the part of Weiss. Blake had taken most of them silently, but had fired back after some, resulting in at least one renewed shouting match. As winter break got closer and closer, the two spent more and more time apart.
Dinner after the last day of school before break found both teams RWBY and JNPR in Beacon's dining hall. "So we're all staying here for winter break?" Yang asked, looking around.
"Seems like it!" Nora said cheerfully. "Ren and I literally have nowhere else to go, so…"
"Right, got it," Yang said, nodding. "So, anyone got any plans for the break?" she asked.
"Nothing in particular," Weiss replied. "I have some appointments, but nothing beyond that. Some of my time will be spent training and studying, naturally." The other responses were mostly the same.
"Sounds like we've got lots of time for some fun, then!" Yang declared, grinning. "I hope we get a lot of snow, I want to have snowball fights!" Weiss looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"Challenging an Atlas native to a snowball fight?" she asked. "Brave." The word was delivered like a gauntlet being dropped, and Yang rose to the challenge.
"You're on, Ice Queen," Yang said, her grin broadening.
"So be it," she responded, nodding once. "Regardless, I'm hoping for some snow as well. It's supposed to get cold enough for the lake to freeze, and I'd like to get some ice skating in."
"Oh that sounds fun. I used to skate every winter back in Argus," Pyrrha said, perking up. "Sometimes the harbour froze over and we'd all go down there before the icebreakers arrived."
"Sounds like a good date for you and Weiss," Yang said teasingly. For her trouble she got a bread roll bounced off her head courtesy of Pyrrha and an elbow in the side from Weiss, both flushing, Weiss the more indignant of the two.
"Brute," Weiss huffed. "And I was going to offer to teach you, but if you're going to be a pest, then maybe I won't," she said, lifting her nose and looking away from her.
"Okay, okay, I won't be a pest I promise," Yang apologised. Weiss looked back at her, narrowing her eyes before nodding.
"Very well, the offer still stands then." Yang grinned.
"Awesome, when were you thinking?" she asked.
"Well, whenever the lake happens to freeze over," Weiss said. "I'm not about to use that amount of ice dust just for a ski rink."
"That reminds me, there's something I've been meaning to ask, if it's alright?" Pyrrha started. Weiss nodded cautiously, looking at her and raising an eyebrow. "I've noticed quite a few times that you seemed to use dust even when disarmed? I was just curious how you did that, is it part of your semblance?" she asked. Weiss blinked at the question.
"Ah, that. No, nothing to do with my semblance," she said, shaking her head. "I… I have dust storage built into my prosthetics," she explained. "I usually only keep hard-light and ice dust there. Hard-light is safe to store like that, it doesn't explode like other types of dust, and I have stores of ice dust anyway."
"Why's that?" Ruby asked innocently, tilting her head. Weiss looked at her, silent for a second before deciding to answer.
"I suppose there's no harm in telling you, you all already know about my prosthetics," Weiss said quietly, clearing her throat. "Unlike the rest of you, I don't exactly have many good ways of getting rid of excess heat. Prosthetics don't sweat, and radiating heat is not terribly efficient. So ice dust gets used in my coolant system, keeping my torso and prosthetics at acceptable temperatures."
"Wait, your torso?" Nora asked, lifting her head from her food.
"Yes, I still have a torso under all this," she said, gesturing to herself. "What, did you think I was all prosthetics from the neck down?" she asked sarcastically. Most of the table shook their heads, but Jaune, Ruby, and Nora shared awkward glances. "Really?" Weiss asked in exasperation. "Ruby, I know I've explicitly told you that I lost my limbs, not my entire body," she huffed.
"Well I dunno!" she protested. Weiss sighed loudly.
"Alright, just to clarify so I don't have to explain this again. The only parts actually missing are my limbs and my left eye. My torso is inside this body. That's why I'm so tall, it had to fit what was left. Is that now clear?" she asked, receiving a chorus of nods in response. "Good. Now can we talk about literally anything else?"
"Oh, how did your qualifiers for Vytal go?" Pyrrha asked, the first to come up with a new topic.
"Good!" Ruby replied, beaming. "Team RWBY is officially competing. What about you?"
"Same with us. Jaune's actually got a good head for tactics," Pyrrha said, looking at her team's leader.
"I'm as surprised as you are," he said sheepishly. "It just… I dunno, it just comes naturally."
"Hm. Looks like your instincts were right then, Pyrrha," Weiss said. "You still need to work on your fighting skills though," she pointed out.
"I know, I know," Jaune said, sighing. "I'm getting better, though!"
"You have gotten better. But the rest of your team is counting on you to be the best you can be," Weiss said, returning to her food.
After dinner, Pyrrha caught up with Weiss as she left the dining hall. "Weiss!" she called, jogging after her. Weiss blinked, turning to look at her.
"Pyrrha, how can I help you?" she asked, smiling.
"I just wanted to thank you for being supportive of Jaune," she said, returning her smile.
"Ah, well…" Weiss awkwardly started, fidgeting a little before straightening her posture. "Recent events have highlighted how… Difficult I can be at times," she said, stressing the word. "I'm trying to be better at that."
"That's good!" Pyrrha said, smiling wider and causing Weiss' cheeks to colour slightly. "I know it's difficult for you, but I think you are making progress."
"Thank you Pyrrha…" Weiss said quietly, swallowing. Pyrrha's expression then turned hesitant.
"I don't mean to spoil the mood, but… How are things with you and Blake?" she asked carefully. Weiss closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before slowly releasing it.
"They're… Not good," she admitted. "It's very difficult to not be angry with her. I know she had nothing to do with the attack. I know she's not to blame for anything that happened to me. But none of that changes how I feel. I want things to be better but there's this bitter voice in my head that wants to hate her. I know better than to listen to it, but it's still there," she said with a huff. Pyrrha slowly reached out, gently patting Weiss on the arm. She flinched a little at the contact before relaxing.
"That sounds very difficult," Pyrrha said, avoiding the words 'I'm sorry'. "But it's good that you're trying. Is there anything the rest of us can do to help?" she asked. Weiss thought in silence.
"I think the biggest problem is that Blake and I aren't talking. Neither of us are about to start the conversation. I'm still too angry for that, and Blake's probably still scared of me." Pyrrha nodded along with her, humming in thought.
"Maybe if we had you talk with some people to mediate things?" Pyrrha asked. Weiss blinked before nodding.
"That could work I suppose… At least it's something. I don't want our issues to interfere with the Vytal tournament." Pyrrha nodded, smiling at her again.
"Alright then. I'll talk to Yang and Blake, see if we can work something out, alright?" she asked. Weiss nodded, returning her smile.
Later that evening, Weiss, Yang, Pyrrha, and Blake were gathered in team RWBY's dorm. Weiss and Blake were sat on their respective beds, Pyrrha sat next to Weiss whilst Yang sat next to Blake, both there to mediate and provide emotional support as needed. "Alright then. Weiss, did you want to start?" Pyrrha asked, turning to look at her. Weiss was slouched over, far from her normally-perfect posture, and she already looked stressed despite not having even started. Weiss nodded, taking a breath to steady herself as she lifted her head to look at Blake.
"Blake, I want to first say that I know you're not to blame for what happened to me, and I know you had your reasons to remain in the White Fang. But I can't change how I feel that quickly. It's going to take time, a lot of time, to do anything about that," she said. Blake nodded, swallowing.
"Okay. And… How do you feel?" she asked carefully, hands gripping her blankets as she perched nervously on the edge of her mattress.
"I feel angry. I've felt angry for the last four and a half years and I barely know how to feel anything else now," Weiss replied. "At the White Fang, at my family, at myself for being angry. I don't know how to stop, and I'm scared if I do then all I'll feel is sad and empty," she admitted, head dropping again, taking another deep breath. The other three were quiet for a while after that.
"Blake? How do you feel?" Yang asked, looking at her partner.
"Scared. And guilty. I'm scared of what will happen if other people find out I used to be in the Fang. I'm scared of what will happen if the Fang finds me. And I feel guilty for all of it. And… And I'm still scared of you," she finished. Weiss nodded sadly at that, gripping her own bedsheets.
"I suppose that's fair, I haven't exactly given you much reason not to be," Weiss conceded. "I don't want you to be scared of me, but that's not fair to ask if I can't stop being angry at you."
"It sounds like," Yang began, "that you two need a reason to trust each other?" As the two of them looked at Yang, she continued. "I mean, Weiss, you're angry at Blake because she used to be affiliated with the White Fang, right?" Weiss nodded. "So, you need to be able to trust that she's done with them for good, and is sorry for being part of them?"
"That… Makes a lot of sense, yes," Weiss acknowledged. Yang nodded.
"And Blake, you're scared of Weiss because you're scared Weiss is going to attack or hurt you somehow, right?" Blake gave a small nod. "So, you need to be able to trust that Weiss isn't out to get you."
"Ok, but how do we do that?" Blake asked. "I can't just… Get rid of all those emotions."
"And I feel like a trust fall wouldn't be fair to Blake," Weiss added, only half-joking.
"Maybe spending more time with each other would help?" Pyrrha suggested. "I think Yang has a point about trust, but I also think you two are working off of what you think of the other person. Spending more time together would help with that, I think."
"Those aren't bad suggestions," Weiss granted. "But I have no idea how to make us trust each other. And it might be a good idea to have someone else there if we're going to spend more time together in case we get into another fight."
"Well, we just established over dinner that none of us have any particular plans, so that should be doable. Right, Pyrrha?" Yang asked. Pyrrha nodded, giving a small smile in response. "Alright then. Blake, you okay with this idea?"
"Alright, sure," she said, nodding.
The next day at lunch, Nora was the first to announce an idea for a group activity over the winter break. "Jaune and I found a karaoke club! Well, less a club and more a karaoke box place like they have in Mistral!" she excitedly announced, grinning broadly.
"Oh that sounds fun!" Yang said excitedly, matching Nora's grin. The rest of the assembled students had similar reactions, save for Weiss and Pyrrha.
"Are you sure you want to hear me sing?" Pyrrha asked uncertainly.
"Sorry, what's karaoke?" Weiss asked, tilting her head.
"Whaaat?! You've never heard of it?" Nora asked in disbelief. Weiss looked blankly at Nora.
"Unless it's an activity common in Atlas or Atlas' upper class, it's unlikely father or my tutors would have mentioned it," she said flatly, causing Nora's enthusiasm to deflate slightly. Only briefly, however, as she became even more excited a moment later.
"Oh then we have to take you! It's so much fun!" she cheered.
"You still haven't explained what it is. I assume it involves singing, based on what Pyrrha said," Weiss said, bristling a little.
"So, basically," Yang started. "We basically rent out a booth with a sound system, a microphone, and a screen. You pick a song you want to sing, the lyrics go on the screen, and the song plays but without the actual singing."
"So an instrumental version?" Weiss asked.
"Is that what it's called? Then yeah," Yang said, nodding. Weiss frowned, looking uncertain. "Aw come on, it'll be fun! What, are you as bad a singer as Pyrrha is?" Yang asked. Weiss flushed in indignation.
"The opposite, actually," she countered.
"Oh yeah? And how do I know you aren't lying?" Yang asked, grinning. "I'm not a bad singer myself, bet I'm better than you," she said. Pride flared in Weiss' chest at the challenge.
"Very well, I accept," she said. "What are your terms?" she asked.
"'Terms'. You make it sound like I challenged you to a duel, do people even still do that?" Yang asked, chuckling, joined by a couple of other students. Those chuckles faded as they registered Weiss' flat expression. "Wait, people don't actually still do that, right?" she asked.
"Technically speaking I'm the champion for the Schnee family," Weiss said. "I've fought four duels. Well, one of them hardly counts, I'm amazed he knew which part of the sword was the hilt." The table stared at her for a moment until Yang cleared her throat.
"Okaaay, weird Atlas customs aside… How about this? You pick a song for me to sing, I pick one for you to sing. The rest of you decide who's the winner?" Yang suggested, receiving nods in reply.
"That sounds acceptable," Weiss said, nodding. Pyrrha leant into her to whisper.
"Are you okay with this? I know you don't like singing in front of others," she asked.
"Hmm. Well, I can hardly back down from a challenge like that," Weiss said. "And I think I'm okay with this lot knowing. I'll explain afterwards that I don't sing on request." Pyrrha nodded, leaning back.
"How's tonight sound?" Jaune asked. "I can call ahead and book a room."
"This one of the places that does food?" Yang asked.
"Yep!" Nora confirmed, nodding her head rapidly.
"I'm game. Tonight work for everyone else?"
As it turned out, it did work for both teams, and so the eight of them, sans Weiss, were waiting at Beacon's airship dock after nightfall for the absent heiress. "Is Weiss alright? It's unusual for her to be late," Pyrrha asked, wearing fur-lined boots, jeans, and a sleeveless grey sweater that showed off her arms, hair in its usual messy ponytail.
"She's just getting ready," Yang assured her. "Also, aren't you cold in that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. For her part, she was wearing black combat boots, a pair of sturdy grey trousers and a black aviator bomber jacket, her normal scarf still around her neck.
"I'm from Argus, it gets much colder up there," Pyrrha said. "Plus aura helps," she added after a moment. She glanced around the rest of her friends, all bundled up warmer than her. Nora had elected to wear a skirt as usual, but long leg-warmers helped to keep the cold away. Her attention was drawn away by the sound of Weiss' voice.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!" Weiss called as she approached the group. It was fair to say that she had slightly overdone it, wearing a full-length blue gown that started the same colour as her eyes and gradianted to midnight blue by her feet. Cream heels covered said feet whilst a matching bolero covered her arms and shoulders.
A jewelled necklace ran around her throat, the ensemble cleverly designed to show some 'skin' around Weiss' upper chest without exposing any of the seams of her prosthetics. Her hair was pulled up into a thick braid, and some makeup and earrings completed the look, even wearing some nail varnish.
"Damn Weiss," Yang said with an appreciative whistle. Weiss flushed a little at that, clasping her clutch-purse in front of her as she looked over the rest of the group, noting their much more casual attire.
"Oh, I've overdressed haven't I?" she asked. "When you said it was a private booth I assumed something…" she tailed off as she searched for a word.
"Super fancy?" Yang supplied for her, grinning. Weiss nodded.
"I suppose, yes," she said, shuffling a little awkwardly.
"Do you want to go change?" Pyrrha asked, offering her an escape. "We don't mind waiting."
"No no, it's fine, I've made you wait long enough apparently," she said, stepping forwards to join the group properly, heels clacking loudly against the paved ground as she tried not to think about how good Pyrrha's arms looked in that sweater.
"If you're sure," Pyrrha said, unconsciously adjusting her hair slightly and finding herself wishing she'd put on a little more jewellery beyond a simple necklace.
"Alright, let's go, the airship's leaving in a minute!" Ruby called, jumping up to appear over the heads of the group, wearing a much larger winter coat. She dashed into the ship, followed shortly by the rest of them.
The trip into Vale was short, and it didn't take long for the eight of them to make it from the main airship dock to where Jaune and Nora found the karaoke box. They drew some attention, not all of it savoury and much of it was directed at Weiss, standing out thanks to her height and her accidental overdressing. Wolf-whistles and shouted 'compliments' became more common the closer they got.
"I now wish I'd brought Lilie," Weiss said after giving yet another death-glare to a drunk stranger.
"It'll be fine when we get to the place," Nora reassured her. "Like I said, private booth!" Weiss nodded, looking forward to being out of the public eye again. Thankfully, they soon arrived, and were shown to the rented room by one of the attendants. A long cushioned bench ran around the soundproof walls in a horseshoe, with a clear stage to the right of the door with a microphone and screen. A table sat in the middle of the horseshoe.
"Just press the button there if you want to order food or drink, or need anything else," the attendant told them, smiling brightly. "Is there anything I can get you to start with?" she asked. A quick order of soft drinks and snacks was made, and the attendant ducked out of the room.
"So, who's going first?" Pyrrha asked, settling back into the bench.
"Nora and Jaune found the place, I say they go first," Yang suggested, grinning.
"You're on! Come on, Vomit Boy!" Nora cheered, grabbing Jaune by the arm and pulling him up to the stage, ignoring his protests. The song Nora chose for the pair to massacre was some bubbly pop song that Weiss had never heard of. Nora, as with everything she did, delivered her lyrics with far too much energy for the by comparison mellow track, whilst Jaune was an uncertain mess for the first half of the song. Still, in the company of friends their showing got a round of cheers and applause, everyone taking a quick break as the first set of food and drinks arrived.
"Definitely not an Atlas high-society function," Weiss joked as she daintily picked away at her order of curly fries. "It would be social suicide to serve anything like this as hors d'oeuvres."
"So what do they have for party food up there, then?" Ruby asked, her mouth full of food.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Weiss scolded her briefly. "Typically, one would expect canapés, oysters, that sort of thing," she explained. "... I think I prefer this, however," she added, dipping another fry in ketchup.
"Maybe you should try introducing them," Yang joked. Weiss huffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes.
"Please. Most of the women there are allergic to the idea of exercise and maintain their figures through careful diets and practically starving themselves and would rather die than touch anything deep fried. Same with most of the men, but since they're men they can get away with being overweight, socially at least," she explained, causing Yang to grimace.
"Ew. Atlas sounds like the exact opposite of fun," she commented.
"There are good parts of it," Weiss countered. "Whilst I've found I prefer this sort of food for appetisers and snacks, the actual meals themselves are to die for. The Atlas culinary academies have produced absolute geniuses in the field. I'd like to take you all to a proper Atlesian restaurant someday, actually. My treat," she offered.
"Maybe, I think we'll all probably need some suitable attire for it," Pyrrha said. "It's been a while since I attended a formal dinner."
"Something to think about, then," Weiss said, nodding. "So, Yang, are you ready?" she asked, suddenly swivelling to look at her blonde teammate.
"Oh, am I going first?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You issued the challenge, only fair for you to begin," Weiss countered, standing and walking over to the stage, cycling through the available songs. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected any arias…" she mused, frowning.
"You were gonna make me sing an aria? That's cruel," Yang protested, still grinning.
"I assume you're going to try and pick something equally out of character for me," Weiss countered, eventually settling on a classic ballad. "Here we go, try this," she said, offering the microphone to Yang. She rolled her eyes, took to the stage, and began to sing. Weiss had to admit within the first few bars, Yang was good. Untrained, unrefined, but naturally talented.
As she sang, Weiss began to imagine Yang crooning into the microphone, not in a karaoke box but on the stage in some swanky jazz lounge, dressed up in a slinky red dress. The song would be some desperate outpouring of love, and her hair would glow under the soft lights of the stage. Her half-hooded eyes would scan the crowd and find Weiss sitting there, and suddenly the song would be about her, sung only for her and no one else in the room…
Weiss bit her tongue as her face began to warm, desperately trying to dispel the idle fantasy. Stop being so utterly ridiculous, Weiss, she scolded herself. She returned her attention to Yang's performance, focusing on the sound of her voice instead of the images her mind continued to conjure of Yang's incredible figure in various different slinky dresses.
By the time the song came to an end, Weiss was thoroughly impressed, giving her genuine applause. "Well, you certainly weren't exaggerating," Weiss congratulated her as she sat back down, scooping a handful of food into her mouth. "Have you ever thought about singing lessons? You've got natural talent already," she said. Yang shook her head, swallowing her mouthful before speaking.
"Nah, never really had the time. 'Sides, singing isn't exactly my career choice," she said.
"Still, that was very good Yang," Pyrrha said with a touch of envy.
"Aww, thanks Pyr-Pyr," Yang said, grinning at her nickname for Pyrrha. "Already got your song lined up, by the way Weiss. Couldn't find you any screamo, but I reckon I found something 'appropriately out of character'," Yang challenged her, grinning, parroting Weiss' tone at the end. Weiss rolled her eyes, unfolding herself from her seat again.
"Let's see what you've decided to torment me with," she said melodramatically, peering at the screen. She paused and blinked, before grinning as she saw the song and the artist. "Halestorm? Oh, Yang, you shouldn't have," she said, picking up the microphone and turning back to the group.
"Wait, you know Halestorm?" she asked, eyes widening.
"I don't even need the lyrics for this one," Weiss responded, starting the music. As soon as she sang the first line, six jaws hit the floor, and even Ren looked surprised. Lungs long-trained for opera belted out the harsh vocals, and it was Yang's turn to imagine Weiss in a club or a mosh pit, hair down and dancing without a care.
Oh. Oh fuck, Yang thought, eyes wide. Oh fuck Weiss is hot. Of course, she already knew that, on an intellectual level at least. But she never internalised it until now. Watching Weiss dressed up like she was going to see an opera, but instead standing in a karaoke box and singing her heart out to a heavy metal track Yang had never expected Weiss to have heard of, let alone know the lyrics to by heart.
Yang swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, eyes locked on Weiss' performance as the heiress kept her eyes closed. Eventually the song came to a close, and Weiss opened her eyes again, panting slightly. She was greeted by the sight of the other seven students staring in shock. She stood in silence for a few seconds, before clearing her throat.
"So, how was that?" she asked. The question broke the spell.
"Holy shit!" Nora all-but screamed. "That was incredible!"
"Yeah, no, okay, yeah," Yang stammered out. "Yeah, you win, hands down," she said, conceding the contest. "Since when did you sing heavy metal?" she asked, good-natured despite her loss. Weiss blushed a little, putting the microphone back.
"Father was adamant that when I started taking singing lessons I would learn arias, opera, and classical pieces. I wanted to do more, so Klein and Winter managed to sneak in a broader instruction. I'm actually a very big fan of heavier music," she explained, sitting back down.
"Well, I'm certainly very impressed," Pyrrha said, smiling at her.
"Thank you," Weiss replied, returning the smile. "Don't expect me to sing on request, however," she explained to the rest of the group. "That said… I wouldn't mind doing this again, this is fun!" she said, more enthusiastically than she'd been for her whole time at Beacon.
"Sounds good!" Ruby chirped, matching Weiss' grin.
"Don't be too quick to agree," Ren said. "You haven't heard Pyrrha sing yet."
"Oh please, it can't be that bad," Ruby said dismissively.
"Well, if you're giving me your vote of confidence," Pyrrha said, smirking as she stood and approached the stage. "Who am I to refuse you a performance?"