From the flurry of stomps, Winter flinched. Creeping dread swelled in the pit of her stomach. It had been a relatively quiet evening. Looks like that was about to change.

The all-too-familiar yell. As usual, it was boiling with rage. Winter knew what was coming next, so she sighed and dropped her pencil.

"Winter! Get down here this instant!"

The slamming of a door pulsed from downstairs, all the way up to her room. Winter hurried down frantically, not sure why her father used that tone of voice. It wasn't because of the typical day at work. She could tell this time, it was urgent. From the realization, her adrenaline spiked as she rounded a corner.

"Father, what's-"

Winter gasped from the unexpected, frightful sight. Jacques was holding her unconscious little sister in his arms. She looked so feeble, weak, and pale.

"Weiss!" Winter called, hoping that would make her stir as she ran up to the two.

Worried beyond comprehension, Winter examined her to check for injuries. There was no bump on her head, at least. But her sleeves were rolled up, exposing those intricate stripes.

"W-what happened?! Weiss?! I-is she okay?"

"She will be," Jacques replied, now kneeling on the cold marble floor. "Hide this abomination."

"W-what?" Winter asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"You see these," Mr. Schnee gestured to the black stripes. "Monstrosities?"

Winter didn't know what to say, so she only nodded. It was well-known that he didn't like the markings. He could never admit his own child was a faunus.

"Hide them," Jacques instructed. "Get them out of my sight."

After the failed experiment to make the stripes disappear, he didn't want to look at them for a second longer.

Winter gingerly held her sister in her arms. "Y-you want me to hide her stripes?"

"Yes!" her father yelled. "Otherwise she's an obvious abomination!"

Winter got wide-eyed and gulped as she stared down at her. Something had to go terribly wrong for her father to act this way.

"O-okay," Winter scurried away with her little sister in her arms.

When she made it to her room, she could finally properly scan her little sister for injuries. She laid her down on the bed. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Her arms looked the same, at least.

A tear escaped her eye. Seeing her sister so helpless hit a pang in her heart.

"I think they're pretty," Winter thought out loud while tenderly soothing over the stripes. "How could he? How dare he call you an abomination," her voice cracked in misery. "What'd… what'd he do to you? What the hell did he do?"

A few droplets slid down her cheeks as a frown formed. She was sad before, but now she was angry. How dare he do this to her precious little sister.

Gently, Winter held her hand and stroked the white bangs away from her face. For a moment, there was a fragile peace as she watched her sleep.

"Don't worry, sis," Winter murmured, her voice full of conviction. "I'll protect you. Whatever happened, it won't happen again. I promise."

Determined to keep that promise, Winter grabbed some medical bandages that were across the room. The best way to protect her was to hide the stripes. Winter didn't want to, but this might be the only way to thwart their father.

Sniffling, Winter wrapped the gauze around her sister's slim arm.

"He's going to pay for this. What did he do?"

At last, one arm was firmly wrapped. Cautiously, Winter gripped her other hand and held out her arm. When she was halfway done with enveloping that arm, the door opened. It was Jacques. That was unexpected, to say the least.

Suppressing a gasp, Winter held tightly to her hand. "I'm not done."

"I don't care."

Jacques blazed over to the bed, where he looked down on his daughters. Before he could get too close, Winter shielded her sister. She intended to use her body as a shield if that's what it would come down to.

"What?" Winter asked, quipping a brow. "Don't you think you've done enough?"

Rather than acknowledging her, Jacques shoved her to the side and grabbed the youngest. He was easily able to lift her with only one arm and tore her from the safety of the bed.

"W-where are you taking her?!" Winter yelled, trying to sound intimidating and she gripped his shirt.

"That's none of your concern," Jacques sneered down at her. "Be a good girl and unhand me."

"No."

From her response, he paused. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What?"

"I said no," Winter clutched him tighter and simultaneously blocked her father from the door. "Put her down."

"Such insolence!" Jacques chided, struggling to escape her grip. "You will move this instant!"

Acts of defiance by his oldest daughter were rare.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Winter seethed, frighteningly calm. Quickly, she stepped away and kept herself between him and the door. With fiery eyes, she held up and gripped her rapier. "You will put. Her. Down."

Convinced she wouldn't try anything, Jacques took a step forward. "You will stop this disobedience at once!"

That was all she needed to hear. If he wasn't going to release her helpless sister, then she was going to force him to. She made a promise. She never broke her promises. No matter the consequences.

To trap him, Winter froze his feet to the floor with some dust. This elicited a shrill shriek. Winter let out a heavy breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"Agh, fine!" Jacques relented and dropped his child.

A harsh bump resounded as her tiny body hit the floor. Winter was there in a heartbeat to scoop her into her arms. While he was still trapped, Winter tucked her sister safely into bed. She seemed okay.

When her father stopped yelling, she released him. If he made so much as one step toward them, she would freeze his feet again. But he only left the room in a rage as the door slammed shut behind him.

"Weiss, Weiss?" Winter called. "Are you okay? I need to hear it for myself."

A tiny whimper. Winter would have missed it if she wasn't intently listening.

"Weiss?"

….

A jolt.

She awoke with a gasp from the sudden movement. Her adrenaline pumping as if it was in fight or flight mode.

Frantically, azure orbs darted around the area. She was on the airship. Away from him. Away from Atlas. She was safe. Despite that, she tugged down her sleeves out of habit.

"Weiss, are you okay?"

That was a calming, yet concerned voice. Weiss glanced to her right and noticed Blake gazing at her in concern. The sight of her caused her to be flooded with overwhelming relief. Blake had a grounding presence. She was an anchor to reality.

Weiss' lips parted, but no sound came out.

"I think you had a bad dream," Blake concluded, noting her frantic heart rate. "Are you okay?"

"I didn't realize I fell asleep," Weiss sighed, gripping the edge of her skirt. "Are we close?"

Blake placed a hand on top of her's to calm her. "We land in a few minutes. What was your dream about? If you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

"I'd rather not," Weiss admitted with a frown.

That was something she wanted to forget, but could never. It was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

Blake leaned back in her seat, relaxing her hands in her lap. "I get it. I don't like talking about my nightmares, either."

Weiss almost shot up in surprise. She'd lived with her for almost a year and didn't know that. "You have them, too?"

"Often," Blake admitted, which caused Weiss to drift into silence.

She didn't know what to say. It's not like they would magically go away if they talk about it.

"I finished the book, by the way," Blake said to uplift the conversation and put her at ease. "You can read it whenever you want."

"Impressive," Weiss commented. "It will take me much longer to finish."

"Take your time."

Am I okay at monochrome or what?!

Stay dandy,

~Toto