"So, Ruby," Maria said, pouring steaming hot water into a teacup, "You're pregnant."
The strange calmness in her voice made Ruby very confused. The whole long, grueling walk back to the house, carried by Oscar, had been strange. She had been expecting Maria to smack her with her cane or something or yell at her. But instead, she had lead the others calmly back to the house and set up tea and a snack.
Despite her mixed feelings, she felt horrible. She was still shivering uncontrollably, even though the temperature of the house was decently warm. Her whole body was flaming now, burning hot, but inside, she felt frozen. Exhausted dragged at every inch of her, and her inside her stomach she felt an occasional fluttery movement.
Why in Remnant was her baby moving so much?! Qrow's comment about twins echoed in her mind again, making her head spin. That would explain the frequent and early movement. But why had it been so abrupt, then?
"Ruby," Maria said slightly loud, alerting Ruby and jerking her mind back to the present. Everyone was looking at her, and Maria looked like she was starting to frown.
"Huh?" Ruby said, lifting her head up. Oscar glanced at Ruby, worried. She didn't seem quit here at the moment, not to mention she was shaking pretty hard and her cheeks were now a light shade of red. Either she was embarrassed, or her body was trying to warm itself now.
"Are you paying any attention?" Maria asked, cocking her head to the side, "Or are you braindead right now."
"Braindead, I'm thinking," Yang muttered, casting a glance at her younger sister. Qrow looked concerned, looking at Ruby with a questioning look. He really hoped she wasn't about to pass out or something.
"You okay, kiddo?" he asked, "You don't look so hot."
"Oh! Uh, yeah, I'm listening!" Ruby answered quickly with a wide, forced smile, "W-what's up?"
The movement of jerking her head up had made her feel mildly dizzy, and the pulsing heat and heavy exhaustion continued to wear at her. Her eyes felt heavy and threatened to shut...
"So how did it happen?" Maira continued, "Who got you pregnant, why did they, and was it your choice or discretion? And if it's none of the above, then what's the story?" She seemed thoughtful in her questions, but Ruby still felt very unenthused to tell it over again. Plus, she wasn't exactly feeling great...
"Well, uh, you see," she began, trying to look normal enough, "Um, me and Oscar-"
"Long story short," Blake cut in, "Oscar and Ruby were captured, interrogated, tortured, and then locked in a cold dungeon. Oscar was just picking up his adult masculine interests, Ruby was good friends with him, and both were feverish and severely injured. They made a baby, probably freaked out, and then have been hiding for about four months."
The group all stared at Blake, silence thick in the air. Ruby felt grateful and embarrassed. Oscar was just worried as to why Ruby was swaying lightly on her feet with a somewhat absent look on her face. Qrow was deep in thought. Yang nodded an affirmation, and then Ren and Nora also nodded.
"Yep!" Nora said, "That about sums it up."
"Well then," Maria said, setting down the china teapot she was still holding, "What do you all think about it?"
"I'm still considering smashing Oscar's face in," Yang answered, looking at Oscar with a serious and yet almost twinkling expression, "But because Qrow thought it wasn't a good idea, I stayed put."
"Uhm, well..," Nora began quickly, "We all decided not to throw them out, and we're all just kinda...gonna keep going. Normal. Like nothing happened."
"But with the exception of Ruby's condition," Ren added, holding up a finger, "Any major exertion, emotional excitement, injury, illness, or any kind of physically demanding activity is not recommended for pregnancy and could result in birth defects or complications with either mother or child."
"Great," Ruby mumbled, looking down at her somewhat blurred boots, "Didn't need to know that."
"Thank you for your concern, Ren," Oscar said, giving the man a grateful nod, "I really appreciate it." Ren nodded back in return, his hands behind his back as usual in long conversations.
"Throw them out?" Maria said, suddenly, as if disgusted, "Why in Remnant would you throw them out?! Seriously, what would that accomplish? It might help punish them, but for what?"
More silence.
"Well, I mean," Yang said, "As much likely as it is that I might do something as stupid as that, and possibly that very thing, she's my baby sister. She's too young for something like that, and it's a stupid thing! Stupid things need to come with punishments."
"Well, it's not quite like that," Jaune began, wary of Maria's right grip on her cane, "The fact that she's pregnant counts as a punishment. But you see, we thought that maybe Oscar was just trying to take advantage of the situation and...well, with Ozpin in his head-" He seemed to be searching for something to say, something to convey his mixed emotions.
"Oh," Maria said, a blunt expression on her face, "So you're upset that Ruby isn't into you, aren't you."
Jaune's eyes widened and he looked around, as if trying to gather the others' help, and he looked into the wide blue lenses of Maria's bionic eyes. A million words and thoughts seemed to try to exit his mouth all at once, but none of them passed.
"No, I-" he stammered, "That's not...I didn't man it like that-I just..!"
"I knew it..," Oscar mumbled, looking down, "I knew you just hate me now, just because of Ruby. What kind of stupid reason is that?! You hate Ozpin because he's lied to you, hoping you wouldn't intervene with his elaborate plan to keep us from ruining things further, and then you hate me because you wish that Ruby would love you!"
His fists had balled up tightly, his fingers beginning to turn white. His teeth were no gritted, and his anger had begun to boil up furiously inside of him. He was sick and tired of Jaune right now, and he just wanted to plant his fist perfectly into his face. He just wanted the man gone.
"Oscar," Jaune snapped, turning around and facing him, "Stop assuming things like that! I've given up on romance already; you-I mean, Ozpin should well know that." The last part of his sentence was spat bitterly out.
Ruby felt nervous, watching those two bicker like that. She especially hated it when they were quarreling about her. She lightly lay a hand on her stomach, her whole body starting to feel as if it were fading away. Her baby moved again, and now she was getting very concerned.
"Look, Jaune," Oscar jeered, "If you don't like me so much and you've already given up on romance, why don't you just quit feeling envious of me and Ruby and just leave the whole thing behind? And if you can't handle being around us and seeing us, then why don't you just leave altogether?!"
Jaune's eyes widened, and a tear slid down his cheek. Both deep blue eyes were glittering with tears, and he looked like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest and then treaded upon by a stampede of wild animals.
"Oh dear..," Ren said slowly, his eyes wide as well.
The tension in the air was very high, and nobody wanted to and didn't say anything. They all just stood there, wondering what was going to happen next. Would Jaune attack Oscar? Would Oscar attack Jaune? Would nothing happen? More argument?
Jaune sighed and closed his eyes, a look of heart-wrenching look of pain streaking across his face. Ruby wanted to cry for him right then and there, but her eyes were already half closed and she almost felt numb...but not in the cold way. She felt as if her legs were toothpicks, barely bearing her weight.
"Okay," he said simply, "If none of you think I'm needed here and I'm just...just a burden or something like that...then I'll go. I'll leave and no one has to worry about me anymore."
"That's not what he meant," Blake began, "He just said that if you couldn't handle seeing him and Ruby being together-"
"I know that!" Jaune shouted, jerking his head towards Blake, "I know that. I just needed to know if anyone still wanted me to stay here with you guys. I don't wanna hurt anyone somehow in anyway."
"You'd be hurting me..," Ruby murmured. If the room hadn't been perfectly silent, minus the crackling of the fireplace, then her voice wouldn't have been heard, or at least would have been just barely.
Jaune looked slowly behind him, a confused and sorrowful expression on his face.
"What?"
Ruby looked up at him with bleary, sparkling, silver eyes, a tear falling from them. One of her hands remained on her stomach, and the other looked as if it were trying to hold itself out to Jaune in a failed attempt.
"I said that if you left, it would be hurting me," she repeated in another barely audible whisper, "So, please don't go. I care about you, and you're one of my best friends. Seeing you leave would shatter me."
Jaune felt a wave of emotions smash through him, and all he wanted to do was wrap her in a hug. But he knew it would be weird, and then maybe Oscar would try to punch him back for all that Jaune had punched him before. So he stayed there, feeling very mixed up.
"I don't want you to leave, either," Nora chimed in, putting a hand on her hip, "We can't loose another member of team...uh, JNR!"
Ren nodded his agreement.
Maria sighed and shook her head.
"Did he ever say he was actually going to leave?" she asked, looking bored of what was happening, "Or did he say that he was taking a survey of anyone who was against him doing so. Just hurry up and made a decision before Ruby and Oscar catch their death!"
Ruby couldn't agree more. She felt as if she wasn't even present in the room anymore, and the corners of her vision were black, as if she was staring out of a dirty, molded window. She could hear her heat beating and her head pounding as it throbbed...
Maria's head turned slightly past Jaune, her gaze following. Her mouth opened a crack, and she suddenly reached her hand out. "Ruby!"
"Somebody catch her!" Qrow shouted, rushing for her.
Oscar jerked backwards, his arms out and his eyes wide as he saw Ruby fall suddenly backwards. He caught her just in time, standing up straight and looking concerned at her closed eyes. She lay in his arms, limp as wet paper and completely unconscious.
"Goodness, she's fainted," Maria said quickly, hurrying out of her chair and waddling over to the two of them, "Blake, get some more hot water on! Yang, grab me some blankets, and Jaune...please stay here."
Jaune sighed and looked down, worried about his friend, but also feeling emotionally ignorant and tired at the moment. For whatever reason, he didn't really care as much as he usually did, somewhat because he knew that she was probably fine, and that it was probably from all she had just been through.
Does Oscar really want me to leave? What about Blake, Qrow, and Yang? What do they think? Maybe I should leave...What purpose am I to these people anyway. I'm just that tall, blond, and scraggly guy.
Qrow was immediately at her side, following Oscar as he carried Ruby up the stairs. Yang, carrying a bundle of blanket, and Maria quickly followed, and soon enough, they were all in Ruby and Nora's room, Ruby laying on her bed and the others gathered around it.
"We'll let her shower once she wakes up," Maria said, "But right now, I'll get her some of my famous tea and medicine, Yang'll get her dressed in some dry clothes, and we'll make sure she's plenty warm. Now move, people, quickly! No frostbite or hypothermia on my watch!"
They all quickly took action, and Yang shooed them all out so she could undress her. When they had all left and Yang was putting a warm pair of her own pajamas on Ruby, she couldn't help but stare a little at her little sister's stomach.
That stomach, that she had tickled so many times as a child, rubbed during cookie-hangovers, punched so many times during training, tended to after fights, and seen whenever the two of them had gotten dressed together, now contained a live baby. It was swollen, rounded, and holding a child.
Yang felt a tear spring up in her eye for some reason, and she was confused as to why. But she simply wiped it quickly away and proceeded to finish with her task. Ruby's skin seemed to radiate with heat, and Yang assumed from that and the drops of sweat forming on her forehead that she had a fever.
"That's what you get for jumping into ice-cold rivers," Yang murmured as she picked her up and lay her back on the bed, "And please don't ever do that again." She hugged her little sister tightly during that last sentence, and the anger of before had melted completely now.
"Just get better soon," she sighed, standing back up and smiling weakly at her. A loud knock on the door a few shouts and demands from Maria and Qrow had her open the door again, and the crowd spilled in once more.
"Wrap her tightly in blankets," Maria instructed, seeing to it that her demands were followed, "Nora, make sure that Blake gets some tea going; some of that stuff I have stored away in that little red box. And quickly, you hear?"
Nora rolled her eyes. "Okay, got it." She raced away to fulfill her job, the door slamming behind her.
After a few rushed minutes of action, yelling, and a whole lot of stress, the room was emptied, and only Ruby and Qrow remained. It was a sudden and abrupt event, coming and going as quickly as the other had occurred.
Ruby was bundled in blankets and laying on the bed, a steaming cup of very strong tea sitting on the dresser beside her. Qrow sat on the chair that Jaune had first been sitting on, looking with worry at his niece. He was very concerned, and if anything were to happen to her...
His fingers gripped the arms of the chair tighter at the thought, and he felt his heart pound a little harder and faster. He was tired of loosing people, friends, family, and even people he didn't know. And all of it was always because of his semblance. Always because of him.
That whole ship crew who tried to arrest me because they thought I was a thief...Ruby almost died more than once...My buddy from Beacon when we went out to meet with some friends...My parents, just because of their selfish desire to flea from bad luck...
"Summer..," he sighed aloud, not even realizing that he had said that part out of his thoughts. He shook his head, jerking his head from the horrifying memories that had begun to show themselves to him again, every time he heard that precious name.
He looked again at Ruby, feeling his heart aching. If he lost her too, he would have no more reason to live. His whole life would officially be a hopeless, purposeless mess.
"I completely destroyed a Queen Lancer," Weiss continued proudly, beaming at the memory, "And then, I managed to summon it later when we were fight at Haven Academy."
She and Winter sat in the dining room, tea and pastries set out elegantly on the table. The two sisters sat opposite of each other
She smiled with pride and eagerness. "And now I can summon a lot of things with decent ease. Isn't that great! And after all that practice and such...I can't believe how much use it is, and it's gotten me out of so many difficult situations-"
"You can summon now," Winter cut in, taking a sip from the teacup she held, "How unamusing and underwhelming."
Weiss blinked and didn't say anything, her excitement dying instantly at her sister's scornful words. Confusion, sadness, and anger all mingled together and tried to pop out of her mouth in words somehow, and she finally composed herself enough to talk.
"Wait, what?" she blurted, "B-but I thought you'd be proud! You've been pressuring and nagging me about summoning ever since I'd started training, and now, after like, forever, I've finally got it!"
Winter grinned from behind her cup, and she down at her sister with the same sly smirk.
"Of course I'm proud of you," she said, standing up and stepping over to her sister, "I'm very happy for you." She hugged her younger sister, and Weiss almost felt like crying from it. It was just so good to see her again, especially here and at this time.
"But I still think that you should've succeeded in that area of your semblance earlier and hadn't complained so constantly about it," Winter snapped as they unembraced, "It really is not as complicated as you make it sound."
Weiss scratched the back of her head. "Well, um, I guess not. I suppose I was just too used to glyphs."
"You aren't ignoring them altogether now, are you?" Winter asked almost immediately after the words had left Weiss' mouth. Weiss thought for a moment, trying to recall her more recent battles and such.
"I mean, I haven't exactly been laying off of them completely..," Weiss answered tentatively, her mind still swarmed in thought, "I use them plenty of times in combat. You've seen me; I beat you by using an awful lot of them, and it's still my main style of fighting."
"Good," her older sister said with a somewhat relieved sigh, "Often times, I had found that after I mastered summoning, I had taken far too much time training it, despite how much I really needed to. I would regretfully spend that training time during battles I should've have been training on. And that lead to losses I am ashamed to bring up."
Weiss looked down.
"You've...lost before?" she asked timidly, curious. Winter frowned.
"Of course I have, you boob!" she chided, "I'm far from flawless, just as anyone else who walks this land is. Although, I can say that I am far closer to perfection than many who like to think that highly of themselves...like someone I know." She locked eyes with Weiss.
"Hey!" Weiss said, annoyed, "I never thought that I was perfect...exactly. Just that I was much better than-"
"You acted like a spoiled little princess when you were a child," Winter interrupted, "And even after you grew up you were looking down on those with less or little standards than you. You often forgot who you were and how fortunate you were to have the training you had."
"I suppose..."
"Even still, you have come a long way, advancing during that time. I can tell that every part of you has matured, and it makes me proud to see someone in this family carry on the dignity that our family name deserves."
Weiss felt herself blush, pride and love for her sister bubbling up inside her and making her smile. Winter was the best older sister anyone could ever want; she was just amazing.
"Matured in every part indeed," a smooth male voice said, interrupting the tender moment, "And here I was thinking your chest would always stay flat as a board."
Now the blush in Weiss' cheeks turned a bright crimson as complete and total anger replaced the pride she was feeling. She looked furiously in the direction of the voice and saw Whitley standing at the entrance of the dining room, leaning back against the marble wall.
"Whitley!" she shouted angrily, "Why would you say something like that?! That's just-that's just-"
"Unacceptable?" Whitley finished for her, "Sure. But then again, it is the truth."
"You pervert," Winter spat harshly, "It appears you haven't matured in the slightest for the past years I haven't been home or seen you. I'm not surprised either; you were always Father's pet, spoiled and ingrowing..."
"Sister," Whitley said, pretending to look offended, "I am hurt! I cannot believe that someone so sophisticated and controlled as yourself would say such a barbaric and rude thing to their younger brother." He shook his head as if ashamed.
Winter bared her teeth and then sighed, as if cooling herself down.
"Whitely," she said, sounding more formal now, "It has been quite a while since we have last met. And in case you were not alerted, my stay is temporary."
"Oh, what a delight," he said, obviously sarcastic, "How temporarily? A few days? A couple of weeks? Forty years?"
Winter glared at him with her sky blue eyes. "Very temporarily," she growled, "And just long enough for me to escape this place without returning to General Ironwood in a coffin."
Whitely uncrossed his arms and stood up straight, taking his back off of the wall and staring hard at his oldest sister. He walked down the four small steps that lead to the dining room floor and approached his siblings, looking much more serious now.
"Why are you here," he said, his words sounding like a cold, controlled demand, "Why not just stay with all of your military friends, away from Father just like you wanted to be."
Weiss was a little surprised at Whitleys assertiveness, seeing as he never seemed to demand things from even her. Standing up to Winter like that had never been in her list of actions most likely to be performed by her brother.
"None of it is of any business to you," Winter answered coldly. Whitely's expression did not change.
"Um, Whitely?" Weiss said, not in the mood for any arguments. That morning had been hard enough, and with the phone call from Ruby and the visit from Winter, the day couldn't take anymore bad turns. It needed to stay a good day.
He turned and looked at his second oldest sister. "What."
"Stop talking to Winter like you're more important than her and leave us alone. We want to spend this time together since we never get to. She's my sister, and sisters need to talk sometimes."
Whitely rolled his eyes again.
"As if me and Father weren't your family," he mumbled, "I'm sure we just love the ignorance you two give us so generously. I'll be sure to tell Father."
He turned around and began walking up the four steps, his arms folded behind his back in a formal manner. Weiss looked at Winter, who just stared coldly at the wall, and then looked back at Whitely, who was beginning to walk out of view.
"Wait, tell Father what?" she asked quickly, annoyed at his consistency to falsely snitch on her and Winter. Whitely didn't stop walking, but his voice could be heard fairy close and clear enough to understand.
"That you two are spending time with each other," he called back, his voice echoing through the many halls and rooms connected to where he was, "I'm sure he'll love to hear that you won't let your little brother play with you."
Weiss clenched her teeth and let out a frustrated grunt.
"Ugh," she said, "Whatever. What kind of problem is that for him to even interrupt Father for? It isn't even a problem, anyway."
"Finally that rat is gone," Winter muttered, looking back up at Weiss, "Now where were we?"
Weiss blinked and then shook her head, trying to recall their previous subject before Whitely had so rudely interrupted. And the way he had interrupted...Weiss looked down at herself, wondering if what he had said had been true.
"Weiss," Winter said calmly, "Are you thinking about what Whitely said?"
"What?! Um, no!" Weiss said, jerking her gaze from her bosom back to her sister, "Not at all; who cares about that? I, um, was just making sure that I didn't spill anything on my skirt."
Winter rolled her eyes. "Of course you were," she sighed, "Is this why you haven't pursued any relationships at all? Turned down any man who offered you out or tried to have a relationship with you?"
Weiss felt her cheeks color again.
"What? No! Everyone who has pursued me has either been someone who wasn't my type, or a complete dolt." She crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest and looked away.
"And that is every man alive in this world..?" Winter said, raising a brow. Weiss glared at her sister and rolled her eyes. All she could think about was Jaune, and how stupid he had been at Beacon. How pathetic and weak and lame...But now, he was a completely different person.
"There's something on your mind," Winter said, squinting at Weiss, "Are you...thinking about someone?"
Weiss felt herself gasp as if surprised. Winter was always so uptight and seemed to care nothing about these things. So why was she talking about them right now, and with such persistence? Well, persistent for Winter, anyway.
"Well...maybe," she said slowly, "I mean, I mentioned him to you before, but...Well, he's kind of-"
"Unqualified?" Winter finished for her, just as Whitley had earlier, "Yes, I think I understand who you are referencing. Jaune Arc, was it? The 'tall, blond, and scraggly' one you spoke about."
Weiss nodded.
"Yeah..." She sounded ashamed. "Well, thing really changed, like, a lot. He's improved a great deal on his combat, and his scraggliness sort of...uhm, reversed?" She looked down momentarily at her plate as if trying to process what she just said and think things through.
"So you've taken an interest in him," Winter stated flatly, sipping more of her tea.
"Well, yes," Weiss answered, "And to be honest, I think it was a little sudden. Even to me."
Winter raised a brow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well...It's a little complicated."
"Then explain. According to you, we have quite some time."
Weiss nodded and sighed. "Of course."
She looked into her murky reflection on the surface of her tea and stared into her dim eyes. The dark brown liquid really made her look sad. She took a deep breath and recalled the events that had lead up to her liking Jaune, and she cleared her throat, ready to tell the story.
"It started after our team reunited in Haven," she began, "After I ran away from here and got to Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Nora, and Ren. Now, of course I didn't just like him right then and there. He was still that annoying blond guy who hit on girls like me. But he had really matured since I had last seen him, and well, it grew on me a little.
"I didn't realize how much I really missed him after all those months, but when I finally saw him again, it was strangely wholesome. Sure, it was more heatwarming and wonderful to see Ruby and Yang again. I actually cried and hugged Yang really tightly when I saw her again. I missed her...so much. And the same went with the others.
"Well, he was now really my friend, and we were almost like one happy family, working together as huntsmen and huntresses to save Remnant. But at Haven, well, I kind of got...impaled."
Winter's eyes widened a little, but she remained silent. Weiss continued on.
"I don't really remember much during the time, but I got ran through by a spear, and then everything kind of just...faded away. But a few moments later, I could feel someone holding my hand and something hurting really bad on my side. But I also felt strange. I could feel my aura healing me, and it was incredible.
"But when I opened my eyes, I saw that I was glowing. And not just that, but Jaune was kneeling next to me, and his hands were glowing, too. Nora mentioned something about him unlocking his semblance and healing me, but then he said that he was actually using his aura to amplify mine.
"So basically...Jaune saved my life. And right after that, I felt almost as if I owed him something for doing that. But then, of course, I didn't really believe that I needed to give him anything in return, considering that I had technically helped him unlock his semblance. But there was always this thought and feeling of...'He saved my life.'
"So after that, things were pretty normal..but I felt myself feeling a little closer to Jaune sometimes. Nothing radical or anything, but soon enough, I wondered if he liked me anymore, and I almost felt sad if he wouldn't told me that he didn't anymore. He dropped me after Pyrrha, but she's gone now, so...yeah.
"But then the fight in Atlas happened. We were attacked in the air and shot down on the way here, when we first tried to sneak in. And by the way, this part, only me and Jaune know about. Not even Ruby knows about this."
She swallowed and looked intently into her sister's sky blue eyes. So honest and understanding. You could put any information in there and it would stay locked tightly in there until was told otherwise.
"I got hit. Got slammed in the back by a piece of falling metal from one of the ships. I fell to the ground, tried to get up, but passed out in the process. When I woke up, Jaune was doing mouth-to-mouth. At first I thought he was kissing me or some garbage like that, but no. He was just trying to get me to breath again, because apparently, I wasn't before.
"It was a very...interesting moment for me. But after that, I kinda just felt...something for him. It was very sudden, and quite frankly, I've still wondered if I really do actually like him. But I've come to the conclusion that I do, and if anything, it's just a crush. But I felt jealous when I saw him hanging out with Ruby, and that really pushed me to that conclusion."
She sighed and looked back down at her reflection.
Winter nodded her head slowly and seemed to be drinking in what Weiss had just said. The short white portion of her hair that hung in front of the side of her face waved slighting as she nodded.
"Interesting," she said after a long moment of contemplative silence, "It seems you have finally broken almost fully from your shell."
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, confused.
"Well," Winter began, setting down her teacup, "When you first left here, you were salty, short-tempered, sloppy in your fighting, and very ignorant and resistant to anything you did not favor or like to think about pursuing."
"Hey!" Weiss complained. Winter dismissed it briefly with a wave of her hand.
"But look at you now," she continued, "You've advanced on your summoning, your fighting has gotten much neater, you're view on so many things has been altered for the best...the list goes on, really, and-"
A sweet roll of piano music suddenly erupted from Weiss' scroll, which had been tucked away for their little teatime, interrupting Winter's sentence. Weiss quickly grabbed it, ready to dismiss the caller if it was anyone but her team or friends, but it wasn't who she was expecting.
It was from Jaune.
"Um, I should probably answer this," Weiss said quietly, swiping right and holding her scroll up to her ear, "Hello? Jaune, what's the matter? Is it time to go?"
"Weiss," Jaune's voice said, sounding serious and shaky, "It's time to go. Be ready right now."
"Jaune, are you okay?" Weiss said, worried, "You sound kind of sad...is everything alright?"
"Weiss, your leader isn't coming with us; get ready to leave, now."
Weiss blinked, confused and now even more concerned. A cold claw of fear snatched her heart and squeezed it tight, threatening to shred it if Jaune said anything that would cue it to do so.
"Is she okay?!" Weiss blurted, arousing Winter's attention, "Is she-"
"No," Jaune answered, bringing a large sigh of relief from Weiss, "But she isn't coming with us. Now let's go. We're leaving soon."
"Uhm, how soon, exactly?" Weiss asked, confused and very, very worried. If Ruby wasn't dead, then was she injured? If anything at all was going bad with the plan or with Ruby, then she'd explode...Jaune's answer sounded eery as he said it, and he hung up right after, leaving Weiss confused, but in a hurry.
"We're leaving right now."
Hey guys, I'm back! I apologize a million times for the late update, but the laptop I've been using to write this was experiencing some complications, so I had a large delay. That, and the balance of school, events, housework, family, and life in general, provided you with this tardy chapter.
There you go, Weissaholics. Got you a chapter just FULL of her, as well as the whole White Knight explanation I'm sure some of you have been waiting for.
I would like to thank cbustroyer for a few concepts and hints in this chapter related to Jaune. He provided me with a story idea that I have added to my long list of story ideas I will post after I become a legal adult and will no longer write fanfics.
Thanks for reading and tune in for more chapters!