Psst! Have you been paying attention to the chapter titles? (It works better on Ao3 because the word limit is bigger lol)
Weiss didn't want to move the next morning. All she wanted to do was spend the rest of the day on the ground. If it weren't for the fact that she was almost at the nearest village, Weiss would've happily remained on the same spot for the remainder of the day.
The prospect of sulking on a soft bed was enough motivation for her to keep walking.
She arrived at the small settlement at around noon. The village was bigger than the all-Faunus village, with both humans and Faunus going about their business. Unlike the previous village, however, the folks here appeared a bit rough around the edges. Both human and Faunus looked like they would try to hold her at knife-point to rob her-though most of the hostility came from the Faunus.
Weiss was aware of the glares she was getting from the Faunus villagers as she walked by. It was similar to the looks she was getting back in the other village, but this time there was an added threat of violence that made her feel even more displaced.
After reluctantly approaching the less intimidating locals, she was directed to the single lodge for guests. She found the building relatively quickly. It looked like an old tavern, just barely held together by weathered wood.
The inside smelled of cigar smoke and alcohol. Weiss couldn't find anything resembling a checkout counter, save for the bar at the far end of the building. It was busy, with patrons eating lunch or catching an afternoon drink. She noticed the human and Faunus patrons took over opposite halves of the room. The human patrons didn't spare her a single glance while the Faunus ones glared daggers at her and whispered fervently to each other.
With great hesitancy, she walked inside the smelly building and towards the bar.
A pair of human bartenders were running the frontlines. One was shamelessly smoking next to the bottles of alcohol while the other was busy cleaning a glass cup. Weiss decided to approach the latter.
"Excuse me, but is this the inn?" She asked politely.
"It is." The man answered shortly. "You want a room, girlie?"
"Yes please."
He gestured to the smoking man to deal with her. The other man grunted and regarded Weiss with disgust.
"You want a room with a bathroom or not?"
"Erm…bathroom please."
After paying for their service and retrieving her key, she was guided to the second level by a meek lizard Faunus who seemed utterly terrified to be left alone with her–his colleagues didn't seem to blink an eye at his visible distress.
Unlike the bartenders, he was dressed in what could only be described as rags. His uniform was much too big for him, with dozens of mismatching patches mending tears in the fabric, and his arms were abnormally bony. She tried making small talk with him but stopped when it only seemed to rile his nerves up more.
She quietly followed him up the rickety stairs at the very back of the building near the kitchens. The second floor consisted of a tiny hallway with three doors on either side of the wall.
"Thank you." She smiled once he led her to her room at the very end of the cramped hall.
The employee visibly jumped when she regarded him. "I-is there a-anything e-else I can d-do for you?" He murmured, looking down at his feet. Even his runners were riddled with holes.
She eyed his miserable uniform with a frown. If they were giving him the worst set of clothes to wear for work, she couldn't imagine what his paycheck looked like.
'It's just like our company.' She realized coldly. 'I wonder how his colleagues treat him behind closed doors.'
"Here." She dug into her cash stash and handed him a generous tip.
The man stared at the roll of cash in complete awe. He looked up at her and then back to the money she held out.
"F-for me?" He asked quietly.
"Of course. I always tip fairly." Though she's never tipped a whole roll of bills up until now.
The man hesitated for a moment before taking the money. Even once he was holding the roll in his hand, he flinched, as if waiting for her to demand it back.
"I hope you have a nice day." She assured him with a polite smile.
The man stared at her like she grew a second head. "T-thank you, M-Miss. T-thank you!"
After the man left, she unlocked her door and was pleasantly surprised to see the state of the room.
It was cramped, with a single twin bed, a nightstand, and a tiny closet. The fact that nothing stunk of alcohol or smoke was an added plus. She almost cried out in joy when she saw a square television sitting on top of an old shelf across her bed.
'First things first, I need to freshen up.'
She dropped her briefcase onto the bed, fished out the casual long robe she wore back at Violet's home, and headed straight to the bathroom.
Weiss grimaced when she finally looked at herself in the tiny circular mirror. She looked like she just rose from the dead, with heavy bags sitting under her swollen eyes and sunken pale cheeks. The miserable state of her ponytail only added to her decrepit look. Her clothes didn't fare any better with bits of dirt and grass sticking to her tunic and leggings.
It was a miracle the owners of the inn even let her rent a room when she looked so bad.
Weiss quickly freshened up with a shower before proceeding to wash her combat clothes in the tub. Admittedly, washing her clothes was a lot harder than she initially thought it'd be, but after an hour of struggling she managed to wash all the grime off the fabrics and hung the clothes dry in the closet.
Satisfied with her fresh new look and attire, she headed downstairs to order something to eat. The building was even busier than it was before, leaving only a few spots open in the Faunus half of the room.
This time she managed to turn heads from the human patrons when she made herself comfortable in the Faunus section of the room. If she felt watched in Violet's village, she now felt like she was sitting beneath the world's biggest spotlight.
For a village consisting of both groups, she was surprised to find so much hostility between them.
"Your order, M-Miss." The man who showed her to her room earlier smiled as he placed her plate down. "I-I also brought you extra napkins."
He handed her a folded white napkin before she could object before quickly taking his leave.
Weiss was ready to dig into the hot meal when she unfolded her napkin and found a hastily written message in the corner.
Eat in your room. We have many White Fang supporters here.
Weiss watched the news as she finished off the last of her meal in the privacy of her room. The terror she'd felt when she first saw the man's warning was long gone with the warmth of freshly made food.
There wasn't anything significant to report. It was the usual reports of White Fang attacks and sightings of dangerous Grimm around more urban areas. Weiss relaxed when she didn't see any of her friends' faces on any of the reports.
'I wonder how the others are doing.' She thought worryingly.
She wondered how Yang was faring with her new condition, last time she heard from Ruby it sounded like she'd lost all her fighting spirit. It was difficult to imagine Yang of all people losing her explosive energy.
She also worried about Ruby's journey to Haven Academy. Was she experiencing the same growing pains as Weiss? Was it a bit better when she had Jaune's team accompanying her?
And then there was Blake.
Weiss grimaced when she thought of Blake and quickly turned off the screen. In the silence of her room, she found herself hurling back to the horrible conversation she had with Adam.
She knew Blake committed crimes before leaving the White Fang, but she was just always under the impression it was petty crimes like vandalism or robbery. She never would've imagined Blake ever taking part in more extreme forms of violence.
'I never would've found out if Adam didn't say anything.' She balled her hands into fists at the horrible realization.
How long was Blake planning to keep it a secret from her? Did she ever plan to tell her? Weiss would never know unless Blake decided to come out of hiding and find them all again—that's if she was even open to reuniting with them.
It all left a bitter taste in her mouth.
'She's still one of my closest friends. She's turned her entire life around to fight for the right thing.
But she never came clean to me about her crimes.'
Weiss grabbed her pillow and chucked it as hard as she could against the wall. It did little to satisfy the frustration building up from all her lies.
'He cut Yang's arm off. She murdered my aunt. He helped terrorize Beacon. She lied about her acts of terrorism. He was once my closest friend. She's still one of my closest friends. They both have blood on their hands.'
The more she thought about it the angrier she became. It was difficult not to hurl her innocent plate into the wall next. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine throwing the plate against her wall instead, picturing the white porcelain shattering into thousands of tiny shards.
'What's so different between them anyway?'
That final thought made her headache unbearable.
She hated that Adam was right to call her a hypocrite.
She hated that she couldn't bring herself to completely despise Blake even after hearing what she did from Adam.
Most of all, she hated that she still couldn't hate Adam with all her heart without experiencing that awful pain deep in her chest.
'What's wrong with me?!' Her headache was only growing worse with each conflicting thought.
She promptly returned her dish downstairs before returning to her room and collapsing on the soft bed.
It took her seconds to fall into a dreamless slumber.
Weiss jolted awake to a dark room. Her heart was beating out of her chest and her eyes wide open. At first, she wasn't sure what woke her up so abruptly, but then she heard the voices just outside her door.
"Sienna will reward us generously for her capture." A deep voice sounded just outside in the hall.
The napkin's warning barreled into the forefront of her mind. Weiss cursed and quietly slipped out of her bed.
"We just need to break open one of these doors and drag the bitch out!" Another man added.
She gingerly patted underneath the bed until she wrapped her hands around her sword. As gently as she could, she eased the weapon out.
"I told you two already, I've been here for hours and haven't seen a sign of her." Adam's voice made her freeze.
At this point, she shouldn't have been surprised he followed her to the village, but having him so close didn't ease her lingering anger from the previous night. She glared furiously at her locked door as if that alone would burn him.
"I saw her check-in with my own eyes! She's here!"
"With your shouting, I'm sure she's already awake and planning her escape." Adam countered coolly. One of the men cursed in response. "Go downstairs before the owners find out you're here. I'll take a look around in case she's still here."
"Are you sure that's okay, sir?" The man sounded apprehensive. "Sienna's given us strict orders to uh…keep you from making contact with the Schnee girl. She wants you back at headquarters, immediately."
Weiss didn't expect to hear that. She gripped onto her sword nervously as the prospect of the infamous White Fang leader knowing she was in her territory.
"These are special circumstances," Adam answered without hesitation. "Go. You're wasting time."
"But Sienna—"
"I'll deal with Sienna on my own."
"Fine. Just be careful, sir. She's...she's not happy. And the younger troops might not let you go as easily."
"I will, thank you. Don't tell her you saw me. It'll save you trouble."
"Y-yes, sir. Stay safe."
Heavy footsteps stomped away from her door. She didn't dare make a sound until she heard them disappear down the stairs.
"Let me in," Adam whispered sharply.
Weiss tightened her hold on her sword. She wondered if he'd leave her alone if she pretended to be asleep.
"I know you're awake. Even someone like you can't sleep through that."
Weiss huffed with annoyance and gingerly cracked open her door. She was half-expecting to see a dozen White Fang members waiting for her on the other side, but only saw Adam alone.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to thank him for protecting her from the other two men or punch him in the face for all the things he said to her last night. Or both.
"Get dressed. We're leaving." He barreled into her room.
She definitely wanted to punch him, but she knew now was not the time to get into a fistfight.
"Why are you helping me?" She blurted, quickly locking the door behind her.
Even in the darkness, she saw him tense. She bit her lip, remembering the last conversation they had when she brought up his heroic act for her.
"Do you want me to change my mind?"
"N-no. But-"
"Then don't ask questions."
"How do I know this isn't some trap? You haven't exactly been civil towards me."
"I could've easily broken down your door and dragged you out with my men, Schnee. It would've saved me trouble." He reminded her bluntly.
'Why didn't you?'
"You're free to try and slip past the Faunus without me. Good luck running out there in the dark."
'I'm not letting this go, jerk.'
"I'll need a minute to get ready." She took her combat clothes out of the closet, relieved they were dry and hurried into the bathroom.
After changing into fresh clean clothes and fixing her ponytail, she hurried out of the bathroom to find her briefcase already out and waiting for her on the bed.
"You just had to choose a village full of White Fang supporters." Adam chided as he peered out the window.
"I didn't think that was the case." She snapped, quickly stuffing her casual robes into her briefcase. "It's a village of humans and Faunus. I thought everyone would be more accepting."
"You need to get out more."
The two of them went deathly quiet when a small knock sounded against her door.
"M-Miss?"
Weiss recognized the voice immediately. Against Adam's quiet protests, she cracked open the door to the familiar Faunus employee who helped her out earlier in the day. He looked as pale as snow. Weiss was surprised he could stay up on his feet with how badly he was shaking.
"M-Miss, y-you need to go."
"I know." She whispered. "Do you know if it's safe outside?"
"T-the White Fang h-have the exits guarded. T-they're patrolling around the side of the building now."
She heard Adam swear.
"I have a...friend with me." She quickly explained when the man almost fainted at the sound of Adam's voice. "Is there any way to distract the patrols?"
"I-I can distract them. B-but you need to go quickly, o-our village has many White Fang supporters."
"Thank you. I appreciate what you did earlier as well." Weiss held out her hand to him. "I'm Weiss."
"Flint." He shakily shook her hand. "Y-you're different for a Schnee."
"I'm just doing what's right." She smiled. "Be careful, Flint. Don't take unnecessary risks."
"T-that should be my line, M-Miss Weiss. S-safe travels." With that, he shakily stumbled back down the stairs.
"You're always this civil towards the Faunus?" Adam asked when she closed the door. She was surprised by the lack of hostility in his voice.
"Only recently." She admitted honestly as she joined him by the window. She could see a couple of dark figures patrolling just below them.
"What changed?"
"I learned to listen."
They both retreated back from the window when one of the patrols looked up at their room. Weiss mentally counted up to 30 seconds before gingerly peeking out the window again, relieved to see the dark figures had lost interest in her room.
"Erm...this Sienna person." She began tentatively. "Is she going after me?"
"I don't know." He joined her by the window once more. "Next time, try to put in some effort to disguise yourself. You might as well be asking the White Fang to kidnap you walking around like this."
"If there is a next time..." She nervously played with her sword as more dark figures appeared beneath their window.
"This Sienna person doesn't sound too happy with you," Weiss looked over at him nervously. "What happens if she's upset?"
"That's none of your concern." The tightness in his voice did not make her feel any better.
'Violet said Sienna wasn't fit to look after Adam.' Weiss remembered with a cold shiver. 'She sounded just as violent back then as she is today.'
Just who exactly was the woman that trained and raised Adam?
Their conversation was cut short when they saw Flint running up to the dark figures, pointing adamantly to the other side of the village. The group quickly followed Flint away, with their weapons drawn.
"Let's move." Adam cracked open the window, letting in a blast of cold air.
"Let me help." She summoned a line of black glyphs down from the window and towards the ground. "It'll cushion our fall."
She hoisted up her briefcase and leapt out first, followed shortly by Adam.
"I need to get to Mistral City." She whispered to him once they safely landed on the ground.
He nodded and gestured to her to follow. They kept themselves low, ducking beneath windows and behind boxes whenever they heard someone moving towards them. When they finally reached the forest, he took her by the wrist and began running. It was terrifying to run blindly into the darkness with no sense of direction. The only thing she could see was his red hair and the crimson rose on the back of his jacket.
He came to an abrupt halt, making her crash right into his back. Before she could ask what was wrong, a dangerous growl sounded right in front of them. She peered over his shoulder and was met with two glowing red eyes
"Dammit." He let go of her hand and unsheathed his sword.
"What kind of Grimm is it?" She asked, readying her own sword.
"Bear."
The Grimm was on them within seconds. Adam, being the only one who could clearly see what was happening, took to the offensive. Weiss stayed back, only using the occasional Dust powered attack when she had a clear shot of the Grimm's position.
From the little that she could see, the Grimm didn't seem that big. She guessed it was still a relatively young monster. While nothing like the Wold Grimm she fought, it would still pack a punch if they were hit by it.
She was tempted to use a bit of her Red Dust to help light up the battlefield, but the risk of catching the White Fang's attention kept her from going through with it.
At some point during the frenzy, she managed to hit the Grimm square in its skull with a well-aimed ice shard. Her attack irritated the monster as changed gears and stumbled towards her, snarling furiously.
Weiss panicked as the pair of red eyes grew bigger and bigger with every second. She called on her white glyphs and shot icicles right towards the beast, her projectiles slowed the beast for a bit, but it did little to deter it from attacking her.
She stumbled frantically back away, screaming as the back of her foot caught onto a tree root and fell painfully onto the ground. The Grimm was close enough for her to just barely make out its massive paw raised above its head. She braced herself for the hit but it never came.
Adam leapt in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack.
The Grimm's hit threw him somewhere into the depths of the shadows.
"No!" She gasped when she saw his red aura flicker in the darkness.
As quickly as she thought he was defeated, his hair and his blade burst to life in blazing red light and he shot forward, cutting the Grimm cleanly in half. The ferocity of his attack left an angry torrent of wind ruffling through her hair.
She heard him collapse as soon as the threat was eliminated.
"Adam!" Without thinking, she patted his chest for signs of blood. To her relief, it didn't seem like the Grimm was powerful enough to shatter his Aura completely.
"I'll be fine." He grunted.
Her heart rate only quickened when she heard angry voices in the distance.
"Keep running straight. I'll catch up."
"No. I'm not leaving you behind like this!" She swung his arm around her shoulders and hoisted him up to his feet. He was heavier than she expected, his weight nearly dragged them both back down on the ground.
"I'm going to slow you down, idiot."
"Well, I can't see a thing in front of me. I'm going to be dead if I run off like this." She retorted. "Shut up and let's go."
It was the longest night of her life, no matter how long they walked it didn't seem like they were going anywhere in the darkness. Had Adam not been by her side, she would've walked into a tree or fallen into a ditch several times in the night. They only stopped moving to catch their breaths, but as soon as they felt rested they were on the move again. Even when the angry voices were long gone, neither of them dared to stop moving. The risk of closing their eyes for even a second felt too dangerous.
They collapsed beneath an old mossy tree when the first hints of sunlight lit the skies up, sitting side by side with their arms barely touching. Weiss felt even more exhausted than the previous night. Her shoulders ached from having to support Adam's weight for hours on end, and her feet were throbbing in pain from the long journey.
She looked over at him. Though his mask shielded the fatigue on his face, she could tell from the way he was slumped against the tree trunk that he felt equally as miserable as her.
"We should catch up on sleep." He said curtly.
"Yeah." She agreed. Even the idea of sleeping on the cold hard ground next to him sounded heavenly. She was physically too exhausted to muster up the energy to stay angry at him.
"Are you sure those two White Fang guys won't rat you out?" She questioned breathlessly.
"They won't."
"You never know." She frowned. Even the closest friends and allies aren't always truthful.
"I saved their lives in Beacon. They owe me."
That brought up more questions than answers, but the last thing she wanted was to muse over more life-changing answers after their all-night scramble to safety.
"Why did you help me?" She finally asked him.
"I thought we agreed to not ask questions." He replied almost instantly.
"We're not running from anyone anymore."
"If you value your life you'll keep your mouth shut."
"I'll take my chances."
He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, but she made no move to draw her weapon. After what felt like hours had passed by, he sighed and let his hand fall from his sword.
"I hate you, Schnee. I hate everything you represent; I hate all the torture your family inflicted on us. I took a vow to kill your family when I joined the White Fang."
"Oh." That was the only thing she could manage to say.
Her exhaustion clouded her anger and hurt towards his statement. All she wanted was to curl up on the grass and forget about the world even for a minute.
"I guess that makes sense." She closed her eyes. Almost immediately she felt the intoxicating pull of unconsciousness.
"I could've killed you back in Beacon when you lost your sword. I should've killed you the moment I ran into you in that forest. I should kill you right now when your guard is down." He added quietly. "But I can't. No matter how hard I try, I can't do it. And I hate you even more for that."
She laughed out loud at the familiarity of his words. It was unnerving how much she understood where he was coming from.
"You know, I sort of understand how you feel." She said.
She felt him shift slightly closer to her, probably out of his exhaustion. Had he been fully awake he wouldn't want to be anywhere near her.
"How so?" He finally asked after a long pause.
"Because I could never really hate you, no matter how hard I tried. You were my first real friend, the first person who cared for me outside of my sister, and I can never forget that." Her head slumped to one side, falling right onto his shoulder. "In a weird way, it did make me hate you a lot for that. For giving me so many good memories to lean back on."
'For making me care so much about you.'
"I thought I told you we don't have anything in common." He argued tiredly.
"If that's the game you want to play."
She knew she should've pulled her head away, but it felt so much more comfortable than resting on the ground.
"Well, so long for not hating me." He said half-jokingly. "Glad one of us can hate the other freely."
"I wasn't completely truthful that night. I hate you for what you did. I hate you for all the people you've hurt." She clarified. "But I don't hate you. I've tried many times, but I can't, and it's frustrating."
That was the last thing she remembered before falling asleep. She didn't realize he made no move to push her off of him until she woke up several hours later with her head still resting on his shoulder.