By the time that Weiss and Yang found their way to the docks, the fighting had already ceased, leaving utter destruction in its wake. Roughly thirty minutes after the fight had broken out, police had swarmed the area and most of the White Fang associates still in the area had quickly attempted to escape with their stolen bullheads, most of which hadn't been loaded with Schnee company cargo.
Most may be a little too generous of a phrase to describe the carnage that had occurred. There were a high number of White Fang that had been knocked unconscious in the fighting or were otherwise disabled enough for the VPD to make a great many arrests that night. Weapons fire from the battle had spread concerns of a potential explosive risk through the emergency services grapevine, leading to both the Vale Fire Safety Service and the VPD bomb squad also being called in to run damage control.
The power had been knocked out following a wayward hit to a nearby powerline. The power to the nearby areas was only beginning to come back online now, with most of the area currently still being lit by multiple floodlights stationed throughout the area, brought in by the various emergency services as they arrived on site.
Many civilians had overheard the firefight and ensuing police sirens and came running to see what was going on. Whilst there weren't any news reports that were visible in the masses, many people had already brought their scrolls out and were recording the scene. It was only a matter of time until the actual reporters came.
Weiss marched forward through the crowd alongside Yang, levelling a fleeting disdainful gaze towards the barricade tape that had sectioned off the civilians from the crime scene before abruptly pulling it up and over herself and walking though before anyone could stop her. Yang barely had time to gape at her abrupt behaviour before the heiress grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her forward before anyone noticed the duo.
"Phew, Weiss-cream. Didn't know you had it in you." the blonde brawler teased as she pantomimed fanning herself off in a mock scandalised expression, although inwardly she was pretty damn surprised by the severity of the situation. She'd heard the explosion before, yes, but she hadn't expected something this bad. She was more than a little worried that her baby sister had been seriously injured. It was the wagon incident all over again.
So, to see the snooty princess showing a complete disregard for formality during such an intense time was more than a little disconcerting to witness, even for her.
Weiss levelled a frosty (hah!) scowl her way for a brief second as she pulled her towards the docks, her blue eyes glancing this way and that as she tried to make sense of the carnage around her.
"Don't you dare call me such a disgraceful name. That was horrible even by your... standards, Yang." she gave a noncommittal shrug at the heiress' ire, trying and failing to hide the grin blossoming on her face. It was a pretty good name, at least in her own private (public) opinion. Hopefully the it'd grow on her in a few years. If not she had a dozen more where that came from.
"...But seriously. Isn't this a bit much?" Yang decided to drop to humour for a moment, looking around uncomfortably at all the flashing lights of various emergency services and trying to tune out the yelling civilians.
Weiss was about to respond, only for one of the VPD officials to come running up towards them with a flashlight aimed their way.
He… well. Suffice to say, he did not look like the most cheerful of fellows. More 'one less coffee away from slumping in exhaustion'. He was, also, gripping his holstered sidearm rather tightly.
"You two! What do you both think you're doing? Get back behind the line! This is an active crime scene, not a-"
"...Sir." Weiss interrupted with all the forceful grace of a true Schnee executive. "We're students at Beacon Academy. We have reason to believe our teammates may have been near the docks and possibly involved in ensuing firefight that subsequently occurred."
The officer blinked. Paused.
"Just one moment." he stated, taking a moment to use his shoulder-mounted radio and belay whatever question was being sent his way by his superiors, before barking back a few choice words of his own. He glanced their way. "You two must be the other ones from their team. Come this way."
Weiss nodded curtly, shooting a superior look over at Yang, whom had been about three seconds away from flaring her aura by the looks of things. The blonde brawler pouted slightly, before giving a friendly smile towards the heiress.
"Looks like you have some talent after all, Weiss. Good work." Yang admitted. Weiss assumed it was as close to a compliment as she was going to get.
The heiress rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was too apparent to miss. "Come on." she whispered back to her teammate as they chased after the officer, falling in tow as he walked towards a nearby tend. "Officer. What precisely has occurred here?"
"...Your teammates have been taken in for questioning alongside several others following a severe firefight that occurred in this area. Don't worry." he stated, adding on the last phrase when Yang looked ready to interject. "It's merely standard procedure for situations like this. We are well aware that your two teammates were clearly there to assist in fending off the White Fang incursion."
"The White Fang was here?!" Weiss blurted out in surprise, she glanced over at Yang who seemed equally distressed with the news. "...The dust shipment..."
"Shit. Wasn't meant to say that part." The officer muttered gravely. "Look. Don't tell my superiors. But suffice to say a lot of nasty shit went down here, yet it could have been far worse if not for them stepping in when they did. In my opinion, your fellow students are heroes. If I could do anything to speed up this process and get you all out of this crime scene and back to Beacon, I would have."
It was a silent trip after that.
"...Weiss. Yang. Oh, oum." she muttered softly, "I'm so sorry for everything that I've caused."
She was swiftly pulled into a hug by her blonde-haired teammate. Blake could feel the strong arms wrapping around her smaller frame and, to be quite frank, she melted into the embrace with all the grace that her exhausted body could muster.
Blake had been the last to be interrogated by the VPD, having only finished questioning mere moments before her teammates had been led over to her location. With her bow still being 'processed' her faunus features were in full view of her teammates. She had certainly considered bolting the first moment she got, but had ruthlessly crushed the thought.
She owed her team that much.
The heiress looked away from the display, frowning slightly. She held herself, looking more than a little uncomfortable.
"Psh! It's fine." Yang said with a soft tone and a forced chuckle. "Where's Ruby?" she asked curiously, separating from her friend. "It's not like her to, well, not be here. Is she still in questioning or something?"
Blake shook her head ruefully, smiling at the memory. Ruby had been the first to be interrogate when the VPD arrived, bouncing this way and that as she babbled about helping stop the bad guys once again. She almost felt sorry for the poor interrogator that had to attempt to follow her speech patterns. The look on his face was probably the one thing that kept her spirits up after this horrid disaster.
Ruby's interrogation had been followed shortly by her own. After-which, it was time for the strange doppelganger of her leader. The woman hadn't said a word to her or even glanced her way as they passed by eachother, instead remaining laser-focussed on young Ruby. She was more than glad about that, to be frank. The woman gave off a rather unsettling feeling, especially after watching her tear through Blake's own former companions with a nought but smile on her face.
There had been no remorse. No hesitation. Blake had realised, right then and there in the heat of battle, that the White Fang hadn't stood a chance against the woman. They were nothing but sport to a woman like her.
The way that woman moved, however... It was unnatural.
She still shivered at the memory.
...Penny and Sun had been interrogated shortly after that.
"She was the first to be interrogated, Yang. By the time it was my turn to explain things, Ruby was just finishing up. She said she was going to wait for me at the pier… You should be able to catch up with her if you want." she offered, slumping as the exhaustion began to set in. "I'm… I'm done for the day. I'm going to head back to Beacon and-"
"No."
Yang frowned at the heiress' sudden voice. She didn't exactly like the tone that Weiss had used. It was far too similar to the tone of voice that Weiss had used right before Blake had inadvertently revealed her past.
"Weiss… don't you think she's had enough?"
Blake gave a bitter chuckle at the thought, half-formed memories flickering to the surface of her mind uncaring of her desires. "No, Yang, it's... it's alright. It needs to be said. I-"
"No. We're not doing this here in the middle of a crime scene. Yang can look for Ruby. You've clearly been trapped in this place for far too long. We're going somewhere private." Weiss interjects, a fierce glare held within her ice-blue eyes as she locked eyes with her.
Blake knew it was coming. Their talk had been long overdue. If it hadn't been for the severity of the attack by the White Fang, she'd half expected the heiress to just interrogate her right then and there. But it seemed the surroundings were too much for the heiress. A sentiment which she shared.
"Are you sure that now's really the best time, though?" Yang tried to interject again, frowning as she glanced between the two with worried eyes. After just getting Blake back, she didn't want another argument to occur and ruin things.
Blake almost felt sorry for the blonde. She'd explain everything to her once she could get away from Weiss. Impending rejection or not. Yang had been there for her, but… this was something that needed the heiress clearly needed to do without Yang or Ruby.
Weiss didn't bother to dignify Yang's question with a response, merely marching away from the girl with Blake in tow, uncaring of the crowd of bystanders or the VPD officials that watched their departure with frowns on their faces. The faunus could only level a solemn look at her blonde teammate as she was marched away.
Blake was just glad that it was Weiss that was taking the initiative. She didn't know how she could look someone like Ruby Rose in the eyes and tell her she'd once been a high ranking member of an extremist group that was now seemingly hell-bent on subjugating humanity. If she was placed on a podium, she hoped that she wouldn't be able to see the look in her leader's innocent silver eyes.
They passed a small dust shop. The same one that had been hit by the White Fang several days ago, where the group had encountered Kira for the first time, along with Sun and the detectives. There was still crime scene tape around the area. It had only just occurred to her how unusual the detectives had been acting at the time with Kirakishou, handing over a complete unknown entity to the first bunch of students they saw. To take to their headmaster of all people.
She was certain that wasn't proper procedure.
"...This will do." she heard Weiss mutter lowly, the heiress turning to face her. "...I am going to repeat a list of names to you, Blake. Before we get started explaining the past few days events, I would like it if you can tell me whether or not the names have any significant meaning to you. Okay?"
Baffled by the odd question, Blake could only nod wearily. She could feel a pit of unease sinking in her stomach. She just wanted everything to go back to what it was before. Before all of this happened.
She also desperately craved a bed. She was beyond tired at this point.
Yet what in the world could the heiress even be on about? Blake had been about three seconds away from spilling her guts about her past and everything, especially after-
Weiss coughed. It was less of one born out of actual need than a call for attention. Evidently the heiress wanted her full attention. After everything that had happened, she owed her that much in the very least, provided she could even stay awake.
"...Kali Belladonna. Ghira Belladonna. Sienna Khan. Adam Taurus. Ilia Amitola."
Each name felt like a knife in her gut.
"Kali and Ghira. They're, well..."
How does one explain things like this?
"...They're your parents." Weiss interjected softly, glancing off into the distance as if recalling some past memory. "Ghira was the former High Leader of the White Fang, before Sienna Khan took over when you were three years old. You had a plush tiger toy that you named Sie-sie in honour of her. The first time you told your father its name he laughed for what felt like an hour to you."
"Y-Yes." Blake stammered, eyes wide as saucers as she stared disbelievingly at the girl infront of her. She hadn't expected Weiss Schnee of all people to have such an in-depth knowledge of the White Fang. But after her childhood experiences, she shouldn't have been so surprised as she was.
Something in the heiress' gaze told her that Blake's response had been the last thing that Weiss had wanted to hear.
"Which means," Weiss spoke up once more, face less certain. She had paused a touch longer as she glanced away, giving Blake the impression that the heiress wasn't entirely sure if she even wished to continue her line of thought, "Adam Taurus was your… partner, in the White Fang. You loved him. Ilia Amitola was a childhood friend who followed you into the White Fang. Adam is a bull faunus, whilst Ilia is a chameleon faunus. You cared for them like they were family. They cared for you far more than that."
Blake looked down at her feet, unwilling to meet the heiress' gaze. Having her past thrown in her face like this right after finding out how low her former partners had sunk was simply too much for her to handle.
"...So you had it too, huh?" Blake could only mutter, despondent and more than a little lost.
Of course it had been too good to be true. Too terrible to be a simple coincidence.
"Excuse you?"
"You dreamed of my childhood. Whilst I dreamed of yours." Blake clarified immediately, giving a hollow broken chuckle at not realising it sooner. "…And here I had reasoned it up as a fluke of sorts. I'd assumed it was just information I'd seen before but simply forgotten over time. But it was all true, wasn't it?"
She turned her gaze upwards. The heiress had backed away, eyes wide and face a few shades paler than it had been prior to her reveal as Weiss pieced together what she was implying. She doubted that Weiss had expected the conversation to turn against her so quickly.
Blake took a step forward. "Winter Schnee. Your elder sister. Whitley Schnee. Your younger brother. Jacques Schnee. Your horrific excuse for a father. And finally…"
Weiss found her back hitting a nearby wall, unable to step back any further.
"Please don't say it. Please."
She soldiered on. It needed to be said.
"Peter Tarkus." she spat out the name, glaring angrily at the trembling heiress. "I've spent my entire life thinking he was some twisted sociopath with no care for life and yet no, he was like a father to you! An actual, caring father. He did everything he could to ensure you grew up happy. I had to watch through your own damn eyes as the man responsible for twisting Adam into the depraved beast that he is today just… give you a cupcake for your birthday. I watched him sing you songs and comfort you when Winter left! I watched him act more like a father than your actual father ever did. I don't-"
Weiss sniffled, the sound making Blake's eyes dart up in shock. She trailed off, the fight leaving her almost as quickly as it had came. She wiped her eyes of the tears had that threatened to gather amidst her tirade. Her throat was sore and she desperately needed some sleep. She suspected that the heiress was feeling much the same if she'd been forced through a similar night to her.
Damn it all.
"...He was, like you said, more of a father to me than my actual father could ever hope to be." Weiss muttered lowly, staring at the ground as if it would give her the answers she craved. "I had no idea that he was even a warden of that horrid place, let alone such a twisted man. He had seemed so nice. So friendly. I-I was always told he was a councillor who conducted his business outside Atlas, up until the day he died."
Blake remained silent, trying to ignore the memories that weren't hers which continued to assault her mind.
"When I was told it was the White Fang who responsible for his death, I couldn't understand why they would want such a man dead. But now, I can understand why they did it. And I hate that I understand. But I do."
Weiss looked at her, tears in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Blake. Oh oum. I can't believe it's actually true. I-I'd known that some people can be rather harsh towards faunus at times but I'd always assumed… Oum. What a mess. I don't know what to do."
Despite herself, Blake snorted rather loudly. She knew it was in poor taste, but she didn't care. It was all just so utterly ludicrous of a situation to be in. Especially with her. Weiss levelled an indignant glare her way and she felt a sudden rush of regret wash over her.
"Sorry." Blake muttered reflexively. "I just never thought something like this would happen. All over a couple of weird dreams and a slip of the tongue in the heat of an argument. I came to Beacon to get away from my past, not have it thrown back in my face in such a horrific manner. But, in a weird sort of way, I'm almost glad it happened."
The heiress' furious expression softened almost immediately. "I understand what you mean. Were it not for the dream, I'd likely have given it no second thought. After all, your words and position at Beacon had implied you had already departed from the White Fang. Enough time had passed in close proximity to you where if you had hostile intentions towards me you'd likely have acted upon them. If anything, I respected you too much to simply pass you off because of your past."
"...Glad to know I once held your respect." Blake muttered sarcastically, inwardly wondering how in the world she'd managed to get the heiress to actually feel that way towards her. She'd barely spoken to Weiss after their orientation at Beacon.
"Oh, shush you. You still do. Oum knows you do, after everything that's happened." the heiress admonished, though there was a hint of embarrassment on her cheeks at the (likely inadvertent) slip up. "But I am glad that things have transpired the way they did. For what it's worth, you do have my apologies for the choice phrases I used to describe the faunus. It's been made abundantly clear to me that there is quite a lot about the current state of affairs than what Father has told me."
That was an understatement of the century, she mused. But it was likely the best she was going to get out of the heiress, especially after the dream had apparently shattered the poor girl's worldview. Hell, Blake herself felt like she was running on fumes at this point.
"We, ah, we should probably get back to Beacon." Blake managed. "I've cause enough of a hassle in running away. I would like nothing more than to put this all behind me."
Weiss gave a broken imitation of a curt nod. It was not that impressive. "Y-Yes. O-Of course."
"...I have no idea how we're going to explain all of this to Ruby." Blake muttered absently, shuddering at the very thought. "Because you know she's going to be asking about it. Either that or she'll sic Yang on us."
The heiress groaned in despair, mumbling something vaguely akin to annoyance at the idea of how that particular confrontation would play out. Blake smiled at the sound.
She wondered how long it had been since she last smiled.
The door slid open for her.
Kirakishou's room seemed… well, barren for a lack of words. There wasn't any posters or paintings on the walls to be seen. Nothing at all. The bookshelf was empty. There was nothing in the way of furniture excluding four beds all neatly arranged. All in all, it looked like a carbon copy of team RWBY's own dorm room, before they had added their own personalised touches.
Resting within one of the four beds, however, was Kirakishou.
She lay atop the bed-sheets, resting in a sleeveless white nightgown as she lay asleep on her side, curled up with a serene expression on her face. Moonlight shone brightly throughout the room, crawling inside without any curtains to curb its momentum. Her porcelain skin was illuminated before Ruby's silver eyes. Her ball-jointed limbs were on full display.
She looked rather-
...Wait. What?
'Your friend sent me here, my little jewel.'
Her mind recalled her mother's words in her ear. Oum, she could almost hear them.
"...You… You're a doll too..." Ruby blurted in shock.
She wondered how she hadn't guessed it before. Kirakishou's regular dress had sleeves that were short enough to have easily revealed the ball-joints on her wrists. She'd been in close proximity to her enough times in order to have at least chanced a glance at them.
Yet she hadn't even noticed something as mindblowing as this. Not even once. And here Ruby thought was finally getting good at studying people.
There was something different with Kirakishou's doll form, compared to her mother's. With Summer, it had seemed almost uncanny. Like it wasn't meant to be. Yet Kirakishou held an almost otherworldly allure to her. Entrancing yet subdued. Yet there was an intensity that Ruby could not deny.
Kirakishou shifted suddenly and her single eye slid open, snapping towards Ruby's direction. Ruby was at her bedside in an instant, rose petals trailing in wake of her sudden burst of her semblance. Part of her blushed when she realised their close proximity, but she was far too concerned with her friend's condition to care about her silly thoughts for now.
The doll pushed herself up into a sitting position with a slow mechanical movement. Considering the way her limbs twitched, Ruby could see that whatever Kirakishou had done, it had clearly weakened her physically. She could her the girl's limbs creaking, for oum's sake.
"...You came." she breathed, her voice a whisper as her lips curled into a weak smile. Ruby had to strain to hear her words. "I knew you would come. But I feared you wouldn't."
Despite everything that had happened in the past few hours, Ruby felt her gaze softening immensely. It hurt something fierce to see her friend in such a fragile state.
"Of course I'd come check up on you, you goof. I promised I'd be there for you, didn't I?" she retorted with as much humour as she could. The doll merely smiled at her. "But..." Ruby forced herself to continue. She had to know. "You're a… You're a..."
One of Kirakishou's hand weakly reached up to grab one of her own hands. It was cold to the touch. Yet perfectly smooth. Ruby could see the ball-joint in her wrist.
"Rozen Maiden #7. Kirakishou." she finished for her. "...The last time I revealed myself, I was attacked and sent back to the N-Field. When I awoke, I hid my true appearance. But when I wanted to give you a gift, Father's craft was the only way She could be made manifest."
Ruby sure as Oum didn't know what in the world the 'N-Field' was, but she doubted it had been where Kirakishou was intending to wind up in. But she could understand it slightly. Apart from the whole 'talking doll' thing, it was likely similar to how some people had acted towards the faunus in the past. Mistrusting them, sending them away.
So Kirakishou hid who she was in fear of what people would think of her. After the whole ordeal with Blake, she owed it to herself to keep an open mind about such things.
Even if such things were talking dolls hiding away in cargo ships.
Kirakishou may be different, yes, but all in all she was still a lonely, broken girl. Ruby could relate to that.
She wondered what could have happened with the last person she-
Oh. So that was it.
"...Jun." Ruby whispered. She felt, rather than saw, Kirakishou's reaction to the name. "You revealed yourself to him, didn't you? Your sisters helped him send you away, because he chose them over you. They all turned against you, no matter what you did..."
Oum. No wonder why she hadn't told anybody about her appearance. She wasn't just doing it out of fear of discovery or something like that. She was doing it out of grief. Ruby almost couldn't believe that Kirakishou, her friend, the one whom she had vowed to care for, had been suffering under such agony and she hadn't even realised.
The girl always put on such a dopey smile and was always so… grabby with her. With everything that had been going on with Blake, the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, she hadn't thought that maybe her friend's reactions were more than just being overly friendly. Perhaps they were hiding something.
That perhaps it was the efforts of a lonely girl trying to reach out to others.
Ruby wasn't stupid. She read books and watched movies. She could tell, from the brief times Kirakishou had spoken of Jun, that the man had been someone Kirakishou had greatly cared for. She'd loved him. Possibly that boyfriend-girlfriend love, or something similar. Either that or it had been heading that way. Then, Jun had chosen her sisters (plural, which was all manner of weird) over her and sent her away. Kirakishou had done… something. Offered him something. But he'd still chosen them over her.
It had torn the girl up in more ways than one.
Obviously that kind of awful experience would have traumatised the poor girl beyond belief. Ruby of all people could understand this. She herself had been much the same when her mother had disappeared. Whilst she'd been too young to realise what had actually happened at the time, the pain of losing the one person she cared about more than anything in the world… it had broken some fundamental part of her. She'd never been the same since that time. Yang had tried to pick up the pieces, her and dad, but they hadn't quite understood how she'd felt. They'd just tried to move on, each in their own ways.
'Just keep moving forward, Rubes. One step at a time.' was what Yang always used to say to her whenever Ruby would have a bad day. She wondered how long it had been since her sister had said those words to her. How long had it been since she'd needed to hear them?
Kirakishou hadn't said a word since her revelation and her eye had darted away from her the moment she said it. There were tears flowing down the left side of her face. She was trembling. Ruby could hear the minuscule sound of Kira's artificial body creaking as the doll shook in her spot.
In that very moment her friend was at her weakest point, she could tell. It was a painful sight to witness.
She looked very much like one of those broken toys you would find in the trash. Unloved and unwanted.
"...Is that why you did it?" Ruby prodded as gently as she could. She had to know. "Is that why you brought my mom back? You thought that if you gave me my mom, I wouldn't abandon you?"
The blonde's eye had snapped to stare at her again, widened in surprise. In an instant, she turned away and looked down, cheeks burning brilliantly.
Inwardly Ruby wondered how in Oum's name a doll could even blush in the first place. But for once she was just glad she wasn't the one with reddened cheeks.
But the flustered response from the blonde had certainly confirmed what Ruby had been suspecting all along. Even if r-resurrecting her mother would weaken her and possibly reveal her status as a doll, Kirakishou had done it anyway. Just to secure Ruby's friendship. She'd decided that the risks were worth it, just to have Ruby there with her. Even after everything that had happened in Kira's past to scar her, she had still pushed forward and done something so, so…
Monumentally impossible. Just for her. She'd sacrificed her chance at being a normal girl, just for her.
Steeling herself, the red-clad reaper pulled her hands free of Kirakishou's grasp and moved to cup the girls cheeks, absentmindedly wiping away her tears as she forced the doll to look at her. Against her cold porcelain skin, feeling the warmth of her tears was beyond weird. But she chalked it up to yet another unique feature about the girl in front of her. One of her hands brushed against the petals of the flower that covered her right eye. It was also quite warm and abundantly soft again her skin. Full of life. A sharp contrast to the rest of her.
She tried not to flinch at all the weird thoughts running through her head. Doll anatomy was rather different to what she was used to, Ruby decided.
"You're more of a goof than I am sometimes, you know that?" Ruby giggled at the blonde's befuddled expression, shaking her head in dismay. "You do remember what I said to you at the garden in front of Beacon on the day that you came here, don't you? I said that you're not going to do this alone." she reaffirmed, trying not to choke from the sheer emotion that was rippling through her. Her body was trembling. "I'm not going to leave you, Kira. I'm not going to choose anyone else. I'm here. Right now in this very moment. With you and you alone. And I wouldn't ever want to be anywhere else."
There was a sudden silence at the blonde seemed to process her words, her lone slit amber eye staring deep into her own eyes. There was an expression on her face that Ruby couldn't quite place. Something right between fragility and disbelief, if she had to guess.
Ruby didn't precisely know how things progressed after that.
She felt herself tentatively pulling Kirakishou closer and tilting her head ever so slightly, watching idly as her long blonde hair bobbed to the side. She felt her eyes slowly close. She felt soft cold lips against her own and she felt herself push forward. It was an odd feeling, really. It was almost as if she was both floating above the clouds and drowning in a deep ocean. She could feel her heart beating a hundred miles an hour, but in that precise moment it was as if the world was completely still. It was just them. Her and Kirakishou. Together.
She wondered if what she was feeling was her first kiss.
Ball-jointed arms shakily wrapped around her frame, tentatively pulling her closer.
That was odd. There was this strange metallic taste-
Her vision flared a brilliant white.
A/N:
It's finally happened. Ten chapters building to this single moment in time.
We're nearing the end of the first volume, but we're not done yet. There are still many plans in motion.
Please, let me know what you all think of current events.
I hope you all enjoy. I look forward to publishing more.