The group all stared at Vorst Schnee, their mouths wide open and their eyes wide with shock. Even Qrow's face, which hadn't shifted much at all from its stubborn expression, had small hints of surprise in it. The whole group was speechless and absolutely stoked. No one said a word, but just stood there staring at him.
Vorst, who was still looking down at Qrow, noticed his slight expression of surprise, and looked around himself at everyone else. He saw their shocked faces, wide eyes, open mouths, their bodies that were frozen to their spots. Then his face softened into a medium expression, one that contained no anger and no confusion.
"What about me surprises you all?" he asked abruptly, after a few more moments of silence. The group all shattered out of their confused and shocked states and began rebooting their minds again. None of them could really fathom the man in front of them right now, and it was really throwing them all off track. But they recomposed themselves enough to to talk and listen to what he said.
"What about me surprises you?" he repeated again. It wasn't until Ruby found her voice and blurted out,
"Schnee?! Like, Weiss Schnee?!"
That sentence seemed to fill in everyone's minds again, and they all relaxed themselves, still confused, but more composed. Vorst nodded his head thoughtfully, his face still holding that same medium expression. He seemed quite observant, as his eyes darted around, taking in all of the people around him.
"The heiress to the Schnee Dust Company," he said, taking a step away from Qrow, "Sister to Winter Schnee; brother to Whitley Schnee; daughter of Willow and Jacques Schnee. Yes, I am familiar with that name."
"Well, yeah!" Nora said, stepping her right foot forward and holding out her hand for emphasis, "That is your last name, right?" Ren lightly touched her arm, reminding her to not get too crazy or talkative. Although he himself was extremely curious, he had no idea who this man was. He did look capable of combat though, just from his appearance and the sword on his back.
There was no point in causing a fight not needed. Nora accepted Ren's reminder with a silly grunt, stepping back a little and rolling her eyes at him, as if saying, I wouldn't be that careless, ya know!
"If you heard me right, that is what I said when I introduced myself," Vorst answered.
Qrow narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. Leaning over, he whispered in Oscar's ear,
"Do you have any idea who this guy is?"
Oscar thought for a moment, trying to recall any memory of a Vorst Schnee. Scratching his head, he looked down in thought, going through the volumes of memories he had inherited from all fo Ozpin's past lives.
"I don't know..," he whispered back, still deep in thought, "I mean, James Ironwood mentioned something about taking in a Schnee into Atlas Academy. And I...I -Oz, think I said something congratulating or encouraging or something like that." He shook his head. "I have no idea."
"Yeah, well that could've been talk about Weiss or Winter or something," Qrow whispered, "No telling who it really was or how accurate." Oscar just shook his head again, clearly confused and unable to supply an answer.
"Wait, so are you her uncle or dad or something?" Ruby asked, trying to learn more about him. Vorst just shook his head.
"None of the above," he said simply. When he gave no answer after that, the group inwardly groaned. He certainly didn't seem that open to just sharing information about who he was. His information was scant and vague..
"Look," Yang said, gaining some of her confidence, "If you're gonna be so shady and vague about your past, why would you expect us to be so open about our business?"
Vorst just sighed and shook his head.
"Do I need to tell you about my own personal life?" he said, "Because not explaining and being hesitant to explain reasons for going into Atlas's main city and personal background and information are very different."
"Well they don't seem too different to me!" Yang said, loading her gauntlet and stepping forward.
"Yang!" Qrow growled, "Stop it."
Yang rolled her eyes and stepped back, an annoyed look on her face. Ren gave her the same warning glance he had given Nora. Yang rolled her eyes again and nodded her affirmative answer without sincerity.
"I'm simply just stopping you due to security reasons and orders," Vorst continued calmly, "I, personally, don't want to keep you from your goal. I just need to be certain none of you are invaders or trespassers, going to Atlas's rich city with plans of thievery or evil involved."
The group exchanged glances, confused and unsure of what to do next.
"What if we're just visiting someone?" Blake asked slowly, folding her arms. Vorst turned to face her, his icy eyes piercing into Blake's amber ones.
"Then you need to give me some sort of info regarding either your residency or social standing," Vorst answered briefly, "Such as, where you were born along with your name, or what school you attended at any point. We have all of that info on our nifty computer inside this station."
"Woah," Jaune said, "That's some technology!"
"It really is," Vorst agreed, "Atlas is known for its advancement in technology." He turned back to Blake again, making her uncomfortable with his gaze. "Who are you visiting?"
"Well, as a matter of fact," Ruby cut in, zipping in front of Blake, just as she was opening her mouth to reply, "We're visiting Weiss Schnee!"
Vorst raised a brow at her, prodding her for more information.
"Well, you see," Ruby began, talking faster and faster as her sentence progressed, "Me, Yang, and Blake over there are her teammates from our team at Beacon Academy! We're team RWBY and I'm the leader, if you could guess! The others with us are from team JNPR, and they're her friends, too! We decided to surprise visit her 'cause that's what best friends do, and I, personally am the best at it!"
She finished her sentence out of breath, and finished it by taking in a huge gasp of air, panting afterwards. Vorst turned and looked at everyone again, his face slightly satisfied.
"Is this true?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah!" Jaune said, "We can give you our information and everything!" With more nods from the groups, Vorst shrugged.
"Well okay then," he said simply, "Follow me." With that, he led all of them inside of the station, into a cozy wooden room filled with file cabinets, ticket bins, and a large computer-like machine that stood in the corner.
The group all looked at each other, puzzled out of their minds. Did he just accept what they said and act as if nothing had happened? Did he really believe them? Was it just some sort of plan to get rid of them?
"Well, that was oddly fast," Yang whispered in Ruby's ear as they watched Vorst make his way across the room. Ruby answered back with an agreeing nod. "And kinda suspicious."
Vorst walked over to the computer, pressed the power button, and waiting for a few moments for the screen to flash white and then go to some sort of menu option. Clicking various buttons and touching options on the screen, he came to a massive list of team names, categorized under the four Academies.
"Names, please, members of team RWBY," he said, clicking on a button titled, "RWBY".
"Ruby Rose," Ruby answered, unable to contain the bit of pride she had, "I'm the leader."
"Blake Belladonna."
"Yang Xiao Long."
"And Weiss Schnee is currently in her home at the Schnee Manor," Vorst finished, typing in a few more things. A large synopsis-type note popped up on the screen, along with several individual photos of each member of the team, and the he exited it. "JNPR".
"Jaune Arc."
"Nora Valkerie!"
"Lie Ren."
"And Pyrrha Nikos is deceased, due to the Fall of Beacon," Vorst finished again, bringing a sting to Jaune's heart. Just the mention of her name was enough to cause unhappy or grievous emotions to make a presence inside of him.
"Yeah," Jaune confirmed, looking down to hide the look on his face. Ruby glanced over at him, almost immediately sensing the pain in his face. Taking a step towards him, she placed a hand on his shoulder, her face also sorrowful. She smiled faintly at him, trying to comfort him without saying anything. Jaune looked painfully up at her, smiling faintly at her in return.
Another ray of hope of still having Ruby left, Jaune's grief-struck mind sighed as he looked at her, At least she knows me enough to feel my pain with me.
Vorst looked back at the group, scanning over their faces again. He looked at Qrow, then at Oscar, and then back at the screen of the computer devise. He typed a few things more on it, exited a few pages, and then went back to another page with more long lists of names.
"Who're those two guys?" he asked, still looking at the screen. Qrow rolled his eyes and stepped forwards.
"Qrow Branwen," he said, "Member of team STRQ; professional huntsman; graduated from Beacon Academy."
Vorst had Qrow's name and information up in a moment's time, the all too familiar photo of team STRQ showing up behind a picture of Qrow. Clicking several more buttons, selecting a few more options from the screen, and looking through a few maps, he finally turned to Oscar.
"And you?"
Oscar hesitated, not knowing at all what to say. Who would believe him if he said that he was the reincarnation of Professor Ozpin of Beacon? Nobody other than Ozpin's inner circle, Salem and her crew, and the other headmasters knew about Ozpin's reincarnation process. This Vorst Schnee wasn't a part of Ozpin's inner circle, as Oscar could recall, and he certainly wasn't a headmaster.
He was merely a huntsman, likely trained from Atlas Academy. What did he know?
"I, um..," he began slowly, racking his brain for something to say, "I'm a friend...of theirs." He gestured towards team RWBY, mentally facepalming as he did so.
Way to look totally unsuspicious, he sarcastically cheered to himself, Woo hoo.
Vorst's eyes squinted as he opened a new window on the screen and glanced back at Oscar, an unreadable and strange expression on his face. He stared into Oscar's eyes with his icy blue ones, making a chill go through him. His eyes were cold and almost frightening, seeming to bear down into his soul.
"Name?" he asked, still staring deeply at him. Oscar swallowed.
"Oscar Pine."
"Place of birth?"
"Zimt, Mistral."
Vorst turned around and quickly began to type into the computer, exiting pages, opening new ones, and selecting things, all in a brief, swift matter of time. He seemed to know how to operate this machine quite well, as he flew through the steps of everything with some sort of professional ease.
After a few short moments and to what seemed like an eternity to Oscar, he turned around, shut the computer off, and clapped his hands together. With some sort of a light smile, he looked at the group, nodded his head, and walked over to one of the ticket bins.
"Atlas's main city, here you go," he said, pulling out exactly nine tickets from the bin. Walking over to them, he handed each of them one, including Oscar, who was feeling very confused. The whole group was. "The next train bound there should be arriving in about 20 minutes."
Ruby exchanged a joyful glance with Jaune, and then Oscar. But it faded when she saw the confusion on their faces. Blake, Yang, and Ren all shared the look as well. Qrow just looked downright suspicious. And not just obviously, but more in the way that he did whenever he was suspicious but didn't want the person to know.
Ruby looked questioningly at Nora, who just shrugged back. Looking back at Vorst, she watched as he typed up a price on a touchscreen device on the wall nearby. "120 lien," he said as the number showed up big and bold on the screen.
Qrow rolled his eyes and walked over, pulling the money from his pocket. He always seemed to have some convenient amount somewhere on him at all times. How relevant. With a grunt, he handed the lien to Vorst, who took it, walked back to the register, and checked the tickets out.
Ruby looked down at the little red and white ticket in her hand, her gaze staring down at the large bold letters that spelled "Atlas" on it. The host of other numbers and letters went unread by her as she closed her hand with the ticket in it and walked over to Oscar. She lightly nudged him on the shoulder, catching his attention.
"Is it kinda weird how he just sort of...listened to us right away?" Ruby whispered, "I mean, he was really suspicious about us before."
"I honestly have little conception on the matter," he whispered back, the familiar tone of Ozpin's voice in his, "I suppose we'll have to let Qrow adjudicate-" he paused abruptly and cleared his throat, as if realizing something. "Have Qrow decide it for us," he finished.
Shaking his head with a light chuckle, he whispered back again, "I guess Oz really wants me to develop my vocabulary." Ruby just lightly smiled back at him, but then looked down. She didn't like it when Oscar unintentionally drifted into his Ozpin side. She just wanted Oscar to be Oscar; no one else.
"Alright, kids," Qrow spoke up, catching their attention, "Time to wait for the next train. I suggest you guys just sit outside and wait for it; don't mess around." He made a little grunt and stole a glance at Vorst, who stood watching them intently. Then he gestured for them to follow him, and he stepped outside of the station building, the group following.
Once they made it back outside, they all stood there, in front of the station, and waited. A single train was in the process of being loaded when they stepped out, and it left a few minutes afterwards, filled to the limits with people. It had begun to snow, and the flakes were thick and fluffy, adding to the already heavy covering of snow outside.
The air was a little chillier, and the breeze had picked up some, sending goosebumps up their skin. Blake, who still hadn't gotten a substitute for the coat that Adam had sliced off, wished even more that she had one, as she was the most uncovered of the group.
Hugging her arms around her body, she shivered, hoping she wouldn't draw too much attention on herself from the group. In that moment of cold chilliness, she suddenly had the image and thought of Sun standing beside her, his muscular, warm arms around her, protecting her from the breeze. She was feeling her heart beat a bit faster when she snapped out of her trance, Ruby standing in front of her.
"You okay, Blake?" she asked, mild concern in her high pitched voice. Blake's ears twitched slightly as she refocused onto her team leader.
"Huh?" she began, just noticing her, "Oh, yeah. Just a little chilly. Kind of wish Adam hadn't cut my coat off." She smiled lightly but felt another ping of sadness. She still felt horrible about Adam. His last angry shouts at her and Yang before they had killed him still stung her and engrossed her in more thought. It was not a fun thing to do.
"Okay." Ruby nodded and carefully pulled off her hood, holding it like a blanket in her arms. "Here," she said, wrapping it warmly around Blake's shoulders, "This'll help."
"Oh, Ruby, I didn't-" Blake began to protest, knowing how much Ruby seemed to like her hood, "You don't need to...but you love to wear this, and-"
"Blake." Ruby turned her head to look at her, her back facing Blake.
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll take it back once the train arrives." She smiled faintly and walked next to Oscar. Glancing around her, she saw Jaune, talking to Qrow, and the others, who seemed either engrossed in their scrolls, or watching the railroad intently for the train to arrive.
Carefully and gingerly, she snuggled into Oscar's arm, smiling at his warmth and touch. Oscar, slightly surprised and very cautious, looked alertly around, wondering if Ruby had lost her mind. Seeing that no one was watching at all, he sighed and lightly snuggled her back, smiling softly. But both of the were refraining from snuggling and hugging each other as much as they really wanted to.
Ruby wanted to bury herself deep into his side, wanting his arms to go comfortingly around her and his head to rest against hers, his large, callused hands to rub her slightly enlarged belly...Oscar just wanted to hold her snugly in a long, warm hug, not letting go, and almost wanted to cry into her shoulder or something.
This whole mess with the baby and Ozpin and Salem and keeping Ruby safe...it was all a horrible thing that haunted him every day and night. The weight of the responsibility of fixing all of it, of being the hero when he didn't want to, of cleaning up his past reincarnate's mistakes. It was always there in his mind, constantly nagging at him, pulling, snarling.
He often just tossed it to the back of his mind, knowing it was there and knowing thoroughly knowing its purpose. He almost never went all emotional about it, and never had the need to. It was all just heaped up in there, and if he wanted to, he could dump it all out in tears. But now wasn't the time, and he didn't need to do it. He was fine. Numb to its scorning, and fine with it at the moment.
The breeze began to blow a little colder, making Ruby start to shiver, and the snowfall increased, heavier and faster. Oscar felt her shivering and, after glancing around again, pulled her a little closer to him, carefully opening his olive green coat and pulling her partially into its warmth and protection. Ruby almost automatically snuggled a little deeper into it, breathing in Oscar's scent.
"Looks like we're in for a storm," Qrow finally said, leaning against one of the posts, "Good thing we aren't going to be walking for a while."
Jaune nodded his head in agreement, his thoughts all tangled together with the plan and the general status of everything. He glanced at Nora and Ren, who were both contributing some of their warmth to each other. Nora was leaned up agains't Ren's chest, and Ren's arms were around her.
Blake was standing there, looking a little odd with Ruby's hood wrapped around her shoulders, the wind blowing her thick black hair around. Yang was leaning against one of the posts opposite to Qrow, her arms folded across her chest as the wind blew her mop of golden hair to the side and past her face.
Ruby was...well, standing next to Oscar. Looking down, Jaune felt another wave of disappointment wash over him. He crossed his arms and ignored the cold chill of the wind and the thick white flakes that were blowing past his face. Ruby was either standing a little in front of Oscar, or a little too close to him.
"What am I even wanting," Jaune mumbled to himself, looking down at the snow that was building up a little by his shoe, "For Ruby to somehow like me, despite the fact that she's around Oscar all the time?" He sighed. "Pathetic, Jaune."
Qrow, who was still leaning up against one of the posts, looked out at the slowly growing storm. It was getting thicker and thicker, and all he could do was hope that the tracks wouldn't get all clogged. That would be a disaster.
Glancing briefly behind him again, he saw Vorst, still sitting patiently in his booth and staring at his scroll. The light from it lit up his face and his icy blue eyes, and reflected light off the shiny plastic covering of each of the tickets in the bucket beside him. He looked so calm, so patient, but for some reason, he looked like something else, too.
For a little while, Qrow almost thought he saw some sort of sadness, or longingness. But a real word for it, he didn't know. It was just some sort of feeling that didn't look evil or suspicious, and didn't look happy or anything. It was soft, too.
Weird.
A shrill train whistle sounded, startling many of them, and it sounded closer and closer at it repeated, the twin bright lights of a train nearing. The sounds of the train's wheels on the tracks came closer and closer, and soon enough, the train hissed to a stop in front of them, steam pouring out and then slowly fading from view.
"It's finally here!" Nora exclaimed excitedly with relief, "Thank goodness!" She wiped her hand dramatically across her brow and sighed. Ren smiled softly and gently took Nora's hand. Then the two approached the train.
Jaune sighed, watching the snowflakes fall by his face, and then looked up, glad to see the train, but otherwise emotionless. He just wanted to get out of the cold and inside the train. Ruby, who was just about asleep, despite the fact that she was standing, was woken up by Oscar, who gestured to the train in front of them. She straightened up and quickly stepped into the now open doors, sighing with relief at the warmth of the interior.
"Not a bad lookin' train," Yang commented as the group had just about finished filling into it, "Needs more seats per row, though."
A single long bench on each side of the car provided enough space for the group to all sit. Blake yawned and walked over to Ruby, who had eagerly sat down. Pulling the hood from her shoulders, she handed it over to her team leader, a grateful look on her face.
"Thanks, Ruby," Blake said, holding the bright red cloak to Ruby. Ruby smiled lightly, nodded, and grabbed it, putting it on as soon as she had possession of it again. It felt so good to have it on her shoulders again, the bright red visible out of the corner of her eye.
"Hey, where's Qrow?" Jaune asked as he looked over the group. Indeed, Qrow wasn't yet in the car, and the group all exchanged glances of confusion. Ruby laid down on the firm wooden bench, her hood acting partially as a blanket. Curling up, she snuggled into her hood.
"He's still looking at that Vorst guy," came her muffled response. Jaune looked out and saw that Qrow was still standing here, looking suspiciously at Vorst. Holding his hands up to his mouth to amplify his call, Jaune shouted out,
"Hey! We're gonna be leaving soon! Get on!"
Qrow rolled his eyes, mumbled something darkly under his breath, and uncrossed his arms, walking over to the ramp that led up into the train. Stepping inside, he brushed the snow off off of his arms and looked back. Vorst was gone.
"Oh, gosh..," Qrow muttered, shaking his head and closing his eyes. He sighed and looked around at the group, and then at the car they were in. He saw Ruby, curled up like a cat, wrapped snugly with her hood with her eyes closed, a peaceful, tired look on her face.
The doors behind him slowly closed, and team RWBY, ORNJ, and Qrow were all left alone to themselves, safe and warm. Walking over to her, he sat down next to her, smiling lightly. She looked so young like that, reminding him of the time when she had been nothing more than a toddler, and had fallen asleep, curled up in a similar fashion, on the counter at Tai's house.
Her face had been covered in cookie dough and smeared chocolate, her hands in cookie dough, chocolate, and sprinkles, and the counter she was sleeping on had been equally messy. Summer had come in to an unpleasant surprise an hour later, scolding Qrow for not watching her while she and Tai were away.
Smirking, Qrow lightly fuzzed the top of her partially covered hair and sighed. She was still a child. She was still his little Short Stack. She was just doing adult work; dealing with adult matters. And now she was exhausted from it. Poor kid.
"So, what are we doing after we get to Atlas's main city or whatever?" Yang asked, picking her nails.
"We're finding Maria and checking on the Relic of Knowledge," Ren answered, "And then we will find the Relic of Creation, with some guidance from Oscar."
"And then?"
"And then we take both Relics and leave to find the Relic of Destruction and the Relic of Choice."
"Okay."
Nora looked irritatedly at Ren, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground. After a few moments of silence, Nora grunted in frustration, unfolding her arms and swatting Ren lightly on his arm, catching his attention.
"Uhm, please speak English!" she said. Ren looked confused as he recalled his previous answer.
"I was speaking English."
"Uh, I mean clearly! Just say like, the Atlas Relic and he Beacon Relic of whatever. Nobody remembers which are which."
"Um, but Ren just did," Yang said with a chuckle, "Do I need do bring you a dictionary? I have one right here." She pointed to Ren and giggled.
Ren sighed and shook his head. Qrow rolled his eyes and stared at Ruby. Oscar also stared at her, wondering what Qrow was thinking about. Was he suspicious of anything? Well, anything about Ruby and the baby? He sure seemed suspicious about that Vorst guy, even though they had just left him behind. Maybe he was just making sure that Ruby was safe. She was pretty tired.
A low, tired feeling began to weigh on his eyes, even though he hadn't even felt tired before. Yawning, he stretched and leaned his head back against the window pane and the back of the bench he was sitting, closing his eyes. The thoughts and memories of everything going on and everything that had been going on slowly went through his mind as sleep began to claim him.
Meanwhile, Nora flopped down where Ren was sitting, curling up next to him and laying her head on his shoulder. Ren smiled lightly and rest his head against hers, closing his eyes as she did. The two of them looked like they were asleep, so with Ruby and Oscar added to the list, the others became a little more quiet.
Blake, who was still standing by the door, sighed and pulled out her scroll, going to her photo gallery. Scrolling through, she found some older photos of team RWBY back who;e Beacon still stood. A picture of their bunks, a picture of Zwei, who was a blurry, fuzzy blotch on the screen with a pair of eyes, apparently rushing at her.
Blake smirked, continuing to go through her pictures. A silly one with all of them making a strange face; a picture Ruby had taken of Yang giving her a ball of yarn as a "gift"; a beautiful plate of breakfast that she had made herself; a zoomed in fuzzy picture of a dead fish stranded on a rock by the docks.
And then, the smile on her face slowly melting, she saw a picture she had taken of Sun, his arms flexed and his tail blurry from waving wildly around during the taking of the picture. His bright, silly smile and his crazy yellow hair made some kind of sadness go through her. She missed him badly, and wished he hadn't left with Neptune like he had.
He had claimed that he went where he was needed, and that they didn't need him anymore. Of course, he said that they'd probably see him again eventually, and Blake had agreed. But right now, she really agreed, saying the words, "I certainly hope not," over and over again in her head. And then the memory of her kissing him on the cheek...
Swallowing the urge to cry, she sniffed and wiped at her slightly teary eyes. She would not go all emotional for some reason, and especially not in front of all the others. Closing her scroll, she tucked it back into her pocket and sat down by Nora, leaving enough room for her and Ren to have some space.
Yang stood leaned up against the wall, looking around at all the sleeping people. Ruby was curled up in her hood, fast asleep, with Qrow sitting beside her and looking down thoughtfully at her. Oscar was sleeping deeply with his head leaned back against the seat so that his noise pointed straight up into the air. Nora and Ren looked like they were sleepy, both of their heads resting on each other.
Jaune just stood by the door, looking down at the wooden boards that served as the floor. His arms folded across his chest, he sighed, the continuous, nagging thoughts of Ruby going through his mind once again. He loved her, that was settled. But weather she loved him too, or if she loved Oscar? He still didn't know.
But one thing was for sure. If things didn't turn our with Ruby, he'd never love anyone else again. His first love had died, and his second one...well, that story was still being told, and he could only hope that it would end happily ever after, like most hero's stories. But then again...
Was he a hero?
Weiss sat on the couch, an open book in her lap. The warm, blazing fireplace in front of her radiated with heat and bright golden and orange light, making her feel warm and cozy. The barely audible sounds of a nearby maid dusting the shelves of books blended in with the crackling of the fire and the soft sounds of the blizzard outside.
Turning the page, she sighed, wondering if this book could get any duller. She had just grabbed a random one from the shelf about an hour ago, trying to pass time, and ended up with a cheesy book about a dog's journey back to his home or something like that. Her concert was tonight, and she had rehearsed it plenty of times without the piano accompaniment, and she knew full well that she was ready.
Rather than a song about how lonely, angry, and ticked off she was about Jacques, she had written a brief song about how nice a home is to have in the winter. Of course, it was more than that, but she knew her father would likely be watching, and he knew most of how her songs went, as well as the meanings. She was going to need to really convince him that she was "in" now, and so she had strongly disguised this one.
So it sounded more like some sort of gratefulness of having a home during the cold weather of Atlas, a family, and all the care and love anyone could ever need. But in reality, it was talking about how she, Weiss, wanted a home and family like the one she had described. But it was really something only she knew, and surely Jacques wouldn't figure it out.
Looking up from her book, which she had miraculously finished nearly a half of it, she watched the light feathers of the maid's duster go back and forth, collecting any possible dust. It was a white duster, of course, and each speck of dust was visible. It looked about ready to be cleaned soon.
Glancing at the large white painted grandfather clock in the corner, she realized that there was only an hour until her performance started. Standing quickly to her feet, she shut the book and walked over the one of the finished shelves, sliding it neatly in its place. Then she quickly left the room, her dress's skirt swaying back and forth as she did so.
She was nearly out of breath once she reached her room again, bursting in through the doors and rushing to the closet, which was packed full of dresses, shoes, and various head adornments. Grabbing a random white dress, she quickly changed, zipping up the silver side zipper that went up her right side and tying the deep blue sash that went tightly round her waist.
Grabbing the matching glass slippers, she slid them on, checking briefly to make sure they were on the right feet. Then she ran to the mirror, letting down her bun and her ponytail and taking out her tiara. Then she grabbed her large brush and began roughly brushing her hair. Once she had finished, she carefully did her hair up in the same, tight bun and then added a silver tiara on top.
Weiss looked at herself in the mirror, admiring her hasty work. The white dress with the silver zipper going up her right side and the deep blue sash across her waist, went down to her ankles, like her other performance dress from a few weeks ago. The silky layers of the dress shimmered ever so sightly in the light of the chandelier that hung in the center of the ceiling, and the fuzzy fluff underneath was sparkly and silver.
Smiling and nodding confidently at herself, she hurried to the auditorium, walking carefully on her glass slippers, which clicked and clacked through the halls as she did so. When she was almost there, she heard another pair of footsteps, perfectly in sync with hers.
Looking to her left, she saw Klein, his hands behind his back and his eyes staring directly into hers. Slightly startled, she jumped, but quickly composed herself, clearing her throat and smiling at him. He happily nodded his greeting.
"Hey, Klein," she said, feeling a little more sunny than a moment ago, "How are you doing? And why are you right here right now?"
"Oh, Ms. Schnee," he said, a smile below his mustache, "I just heard you are performing tonight, and I simply couldn't miss out. You look lovely tonight."
"Thank you! Wait, you mean you're watching me?"
"I will be trying, especially considering how your father is going to be watching you instead of barking at me!"
Weiss laughed, and Klein's eyes turned yellow as he watched her, his face softening. He patted her on the shoulder and nodded.
"I wish you the very best," he said. Weiss smiled and nodded back.
"Thank you, Klein," she answered. With another brief nod, he left, departing into the hallway on her left, his quick, light footsteps trailing off until they couldn't be heard anymore. Then all was silent again, and Weiss was by herself.
Sighing, she continued on her way to the auditorium, hoping that Klein could watch. It was only a few minutes later when she arrived at the large back door to the auditorium, the sounds of a talking crowd audible as she stepped in.
The backstage's familiar darkness, as the lights were not on, the few instruments organized neatly in their places by the back wall, and the large, glossy black grand piano were all there, bringing back many memories, recent and old. A few people were walking around here and there, checking lights and setup, while the slightly visible silhouette of someone stood off by the piano, looking out at the massive crowd.
Taking a deep breath, Weiss passed the few workers, receiving the usual ignorance of them. They acted as she wasn't there and simply continued with her work as she silently walked past. Her hands clasped together, she neared the man by the piano, assuming him to be the pianist.
But when she walked over to him and he turned around, she gasped when she saw his face, recognition and surprise mingling together and mixing her head up. He cocked his head to the side, smirked and then nodded, his light brown eyes glinting in the dim light behind him.
"Hey," he said, leaning casually up against the piano, "Fancy meeting you here."
"Henry?!" Weiss squeaked, gasping and then quickly composing herself. Yes, Henry Marigold was standing right in front of her; the man who had tried to woo her at the charity party a few weeks ago and had failed miserably. Of course, she wouldn't be able to get him away if she acted all surprised and such. She would need to get all straight with him again...
"It's...a pleasure to meet you here," she said, clearing her throat, "Again."
"Well, I do have a reputation of reappearing here and there," Henry answered with a chuckled. He clearly seemed to be trying at her again. "Reconsidering our last argument? I mean, I still don't understand why you wanted me kicked outa that room."
"Well, it was a little...personal."
"Of course it was. Most random outbursts are caused by personal shenanigans."
Weiss crossed her arms stubbornly. "What are you doing here?"
Henry smirked again and lightly patted the top of the piano he was leaning on. "I'm your piano accompaniment, of course." He smiled smugly at Weiss reatction.
"You play piano?"
"Well, it is a quality a fine gentleman should have."
"I'm not so certain that's the case."
"Well, I didn't learn it just for you." He winked and smirked again. "Or did I."
Weiss groaned with frustration and unfolded her arms, letting them rest at her sides. "Fine. Just please don't mess up."
"How could I? I can play straight off sheet music without even practicing it at all, which I did."
Weiss shook her head and sighed, turning around and facing the crowd, barely visible behind the deep blue certain concealing them. Walking towards the doorway to the main stage, she stood there and waited for her name to be announced.
In the midst of the crowd talking and the other noises that could be heard before and behind her, a single thought suddenly slipped through her head, reminding her again what was really going on.
Where are the others at right now?
And I'm back! Thank you all for waiting so patiently! This chapter was fun to write, and hopefully you all enjoyed it. :)
Yes, I brought Henry back, just because it made sense and because so many people want him back. He's a little fun to write. And it looks like Jaune is starting to really notice the whole Rosegarden thing happening! Poor Jaune. Poor Ruby and Oscar. Poor everyone. And JUST to keep you guys a little excited and look like I'm not ditching him, this isn't the last you'll see of Vorst Schnee. XD
Thanks for reading and tune in for more chapters!