"Are you sure noodles are ok? We could have gotten something better, like steak!" Yu complained as they walked down the sidewalk, their main source of light being the various signs that lined the buildings, as well as outdoor food stalls that seemed to be common here. The sun was starting to disappear, with the moon slowly taking its place in the sky. Wearing pants felt weird, but she was getting used to it.

"I'm sure." Weiss said. While steak did sound nice, keeping up with her training meant that she needed to measure her calorie intake, and she needed a lot of them. Her fighting style relied on all of her muscles as she danced around the battlefield, and she needed the energy in order to pull them off. The noodles were cheaper, and they would be more filling. They could go eat steak once Weiss made money.

"If you say so. You scared the waiter when you asked for that fourth bowl." Yu laughed as she patted her stomach. "For such a small girl, you do eat a lot."

"Where I'm from, that's a normal portion!" Weiss fired back. While it wasn't the complete truth for the average person back home, for huntsmen and huntresses, it was very true. Fighting hordes of Grimm and dealing with bandits took a lot out of a person. That and Weiss planned on repaying Yu anyways. Eating well was ingrained into Weiss' mind after Winter found out that she skipped meals often to focus on training. Thankfully, she never found out that Weiss used to purge the food from her system afterwards to maintain her body figure. That habit stopped after arriving at Beacon, after meeting her friends.

"Uhuh." Yu smirked as she placed an arm around Weiss' smaller shoulders as they walked. Yu left her car back at Mt. Agency, claiming that she wanted Weiss to explore the neighborhood, and the area surrounding it, since she had locked herself in Mt. Agency ever since she arrived. "Don't worry, I know you're a growing girl."

Weiss only sighed in response as her eyes analyzed the street signs that caught her attention. No matter how many times she thought about it, the fact that Japanese and Mistralian script was practically identical amazed her. It was the same way with Valish, Atlassian, Vacuan and their respective languages in this world. There was so much to learn, thousands of years of history to read up on, new books! Blake would have loved those. A yellow taxi drove past them, honking as it did so, with a motorcycle attempting to go around it. Yang would have loved looking at the various styles, comparing them to her Bumblebee.

"-helllo? Earth to Weiss?" Yu's voice sliced Weiss' current train of thought. "Weiss, are you ok?"

"Hm? I'm fine, sorry. Were you saying something?" Weiss said, carefully escaping Yu's arms with help from her aura. She forced a smile on her face, showing pristine white teeth.

Yu frowned, but shook her head. "Nah, I was just checking on you. You seemed to have zoned out for a bit."

"Oh-"

"And we're almost at the music store according to the map." Yu held up her phone, her frown turning into a grin rather quickly. "Still, I kinda want to know why you want to go to one when you have the internet. Is there an instrument you're interested in?"

As nice as that sounded, Weiss would rather wait for her own money to buy instruments instead of further causing Yu to waste money on her, like she had during dinner. That was already starting to make Weiss feel guilty. Still, she couldn't tell Yu that she actually wanted to see what music trends were popular these days, Yu would get suspicious and likely try to prevent her plan.

"Sure. I think it would be interesting to compare instruments, see the difference in craftsmanship." Weiss said. "Maybe see if there are any instruments I'm not familiar with or don't exist-"

The words died on Weiss' lips as she stopped walking. Being stuck in a world that wasn't her own was a thought she was getting used to, but it wasn't easy. Thinking it was one thing, but saying it out loud was a completely different matter. While the wound in her side had been healed, her mind and emotions were still raw and bloody.

Whenever Weiss went to sleep she dreamt of red, black, and yellow colors.

Yu grabbed her shaking hand. "I'm here for you, Weiss."

"I'm fine." Weiss choked out, moving out of Yu's grip. She started walking again. "How much farther is the music store?"

Yu's frown was back Weiss noticed, but she pressed onwards as she took a left at the next intersection.

"It's in the opposite direction."

"I knew that!"

The music store was relatively easy to spot since they had several guitars hanging against the window, allowing passerbyers to see their merchandise. The musical note that sat right in the middle of their sign also confirmed that.

"The only thing I know about music is that musicians make it." Yu said as she opened the door for Weiss. That was the dumbest thing Weiss had ever heard, which Yu seemed to notice as they stared at each other at the entrance. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, yes you did." Weiss smirked, being the first to break eye contact as she walked in. Various instruments lined the wall, ranging from violins to guitars, with different styles on each one of them. From where she stood, she could make out a few pianos as well as drums. The shelf set up in the middle was lined with various CDs with pictures of random people or objects on the cover. A few people were already inside, spread out all over the store.

"Welcome to Haruto's music store." A man with a treble clef for a head said. "Feel free to let me know if you need any help."

"Thank you!" Yu said with a big smile, while Weiss only gave him the smallest of nods.

"I'm going to see what albums they have." Weiss announced.

"I'll be over there when you're ready to leave." Yu pointed her thumb toward the area where people could try out different instruments.

The two parted ways after that, with Weiss walking towards the shelf with the CDs, her eyes scanning each cover, especially the ones that seemed like they were almost sold out.

"Let's see, Lisa, SID, Adele Dazeem, Mad Hatters, Feathers…" Weiss whispered several names to herself. Japanese music seemed to vary in different styles, ranging from ballads to hard rock. This should be useful once she chose a song to debut with. Perhaps she should use one of her classic hits? Father was quite angry when she branched out into heavier hitting music.

Weiss' smile ended when she heard someone playing piano badly, each note sounding like a screech to her ears. Turning her head, she found the culprit. Sighing softly, Weiss walked over to Yu who seemed to be banging on an electric piano's keys.

"That's not how you play that." Weiss said as she grabbed Yu's hands gently to stop her from butchering another note.

"Oh really? Mind showing me how it's done then?" Yu fired back with a knowing smile. Weiss glared at her for a few seconds.

"Move out of the way." Weiss lightly bumped Yu's hip with her own. Hovering her hands over the piano's keys, Weiss pressed a note. Yup, just like back home. Now what should she play? The perfect song came into mind.

Her fingers started slowly dancing over the keys, a soft melody emerging from the back and white tiles.

"One life is not a long time." Weiss sang as she allowed muscle memory to take over.

"When you're waiting…" Weiss wrote this song on her way back to Atlas, after Beacon fell. "For a small sign."

"Patience." Weiss held the note a bit longer. "Is hard to find."

"Shadows, seem to fill your life." Weiss closed her eyes as the words left her lips and as her fingers did a slow dance.

"Don't be disappointed. Don't let your heart break. Don't spend another minute…" Weiss slowed down for a few seconds. "It's okay."

"Dry your eyes now, baby. Broken wings won't hold you down." Weiss compensated for the lack of other instruments by playing the piano loudly, each finger expertly hitting each key she needed.

"You'll take flight soon, baby. You'll be lifted up…" Weiss held her eyes shut to stop any potential tears from falling.

"And you'll be there…"

Weiss held the note as she sang, her fingers hitting the last keys she needed.

When she opened her eyes, Weiss' eyes widened as a crowd gathered around her. Was she that immersed into the music? Yu stared at her with eyes just as large, and she clapped. Like dominos falling, the crowd started to clap, with the treble clef man clapping as loud as he could.

"You sound just like an idol!"

"You're so pretty!"

"Are you a trainee somewhere?"

Questions started to bombard Weiss, who did a curtsey with an imaginary skirt. Suddenly, a girl with foreign features forced herself through the crowd, her black and yellow eyes contrasting against her pink skin.

"Oh, my God! You're amazing!" The alien-bug girl said as she ran up to Weiss, which caused her to take a few steps back.

"Uh, thank you." Weiss said with the forced smile she always used at concerts. The girl took Weiss' hands into her own, causing Yu's mouth to drop.

"Do you wanna be friends?" The girl smiled, her two little horns sticking out of her pink hair. She slapped herself on the forehead. "I'm such a dummy, I almost forgot to introduce myself."

She posed dramatically, using her fingers to form a V over one of her eyes.

"I'm Ashido Mina! A pleasure to meet you!"

Weiss froze as her lips suddenly felt dry.

Silver eyes stared back at her.

A/N

No updates yesterday, but I have an excuse! I'm currently writing a webtoon with two very talented artists, so I took a small break.

We hit Number 1 on RWBY Wattpad stories for about two days! Thank you to all of my readers from whatever site you're using to read this. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Song used is Wings from the RWBY soundtrack.

And, I brought in Mina to spite everyone and challenge your expectations. MUAHAHAHA.

I received the final drawing for Weiss' hero costume. I have no words. She's gorgeous, and I hope everyone likes it when I decide to post it.

Question of the day

Do you think RWBY volume 9 will be an improvement?

Till next time on Schnee: Hero or Huntress.