Location: Schnee Manor, Atlas
Date: Oct.15th
I should be free now
I should be fine
But the life I fought for
Still isn't mine
Some believe in fairy stories
And the ghosts that they can't see
I know that I could do so much
If I could just believe in me
[-Flashback-]
Weiss lays on her back with her hands neatly folded over her stomach, her nightgown slightly rolled up as her left leg is pulled up into an arch position. She stares blankly up at the wooden ceiling, watching the fan rotate rapidly and attempting to focus on one blade and quickly losing focus as her head begins to spin.
Closing her eyes to give her throbbing head a break, she lets out a heavy sigh as a tense weight slowly begins to settle upon her shoulders. She's suddenly uncomfortable, "The bed feels too big…"
A quiet hum sounds from next to her, she glances over as her fiancee pushes herself up tiredly. Ruby rolls over on her other side, snuggling into Weiss' side and draping an arm across her stomach. "Not used to a queen-sized bed anymore?" She murmurs, just a little bit amused.
Weiss rolls her eyes.
"Well, we slept on a twin bed at your father's place," Weiss reminds her, lifting one hand and delicately interlocking her fingers with Ruby's, "there were also the beds at Beacon when you wanted to cuddle."
"Excuse me for wanting to love my girlfriend."The brunette lets out a soft laugh, Weiss' heart skips several beats, and a tiny smile forms on her lips. "Do you want me to see if I can find a smaller-"
Weiss interrupts instantly, "Gods, no!" She exclaims, prompting another giggle out of her partner, "You can spread out and sleep as messily as you wish, just don't kick me."
Ruby lifts her head and a playful smirk forms on her matured features, her brows furrowed and her lip curled mischievously.
"You sleep in strange positions, Sweet, you know this." Weiss gently says, extending her index finger and sweetly tapping Ruby's nose.
"Princess, you wound me." The younger woman answers, still sounding slightly groggy.
Ruby moves again, resting her weight forward and tucking her head beneath her fiancee's chin. Weiss circles her arms around the brunette's back, embracing her tightly.
She glances towards the window upon hearing a loud clap of thunder echoing outside of the house, sounding far away, yet coming closer by the minute. Weiss closes her eyes as the sound of rain pelting against the roof and windows replace the numbing silence in the room.
"Weather didn't call for a storm, did it?" Ruby asks without sitting up, her breath is hot against Weiss' collarbone. Shivers race up her spine, sending images rushing through her mind as longing sparks within her.
Weiss forces the feeling back down and pulls herself back together, tilting her head back against the pillows and closing her eyes. Ruby's hand slides under her nightgown, calloused fingertips brushing along her thigh.
Oh, good gods.
"It did," she answers bluntly, ignoring the calloused fingers tracing soothing circles across her cold warm skin.
Ruby's voice turns mischievous, "Well," she whispers, angling her head so that her mouth is positioned below Weiss' sensitive ear, "you know what a storm calls for, don't you?"
'Ignore her.'
Weiss keeps her words as blank as possible, "Sleep, I'm hoping."
" Damn , what a rejection." Ruby scoffs, pushing herself up to hover over the heiress, who meets her eyes with a stoic expression. "Princess, you disappoint me."
Weiss rolls her eyes, detecting the playful tone behind her feigned hurt. "Good, I'm your fiancee, that's my job."
Ruby just giggles and lays back down, resting her body to the side of Weiss and draping her arm across her midsection. She lets out an affectionate hum, "I love you."
-Present Time-
Weiss barely slept at all the first night she'd returned to her room in the Schnee manor, her heart ached too badly for her to be able to focus on anything else. She felt terrible, nauseated, and boiling with rage, while simultaneously being riddled with grief so heavy it almost rendered her immovable.
Strangely, her stomach feels hollow, like a bottomless pit that slowly spreads to consume her entire body.
Additionally, The bed felt cold and empty, her old bedroom was far too spacious, too lifeless, and it lacked the warmth and comfort that being at home provided. The sound of the wind outside, the light tapping of the tree branches against the windows, the aggravating morning light that would shine through as the sun begins to rise.
It would always be Ruby's morning alarm if she had a mission, the sun rising and casting a bright illumination into the bedroom would wake her up and she would get ready for the mission. Weiss would get up and close the blinds and curtains, cursing the world for waking her.
Her heart still aches, she'd lost her family all in under twenty-four hours…
The love of her life, and her first child. Both of them were dead. The Gods had played a cruel trick on her and lured her into a false sense of security, only to rip all of it away.
She blames herself for becoming too comfortable in her environment. Everything was just too good to be true. She'd fallen in love with her quirky brunette team leader from Beacon, she'd allowed the girl to sneak her way into her heart and change everything .
Weiss can't bring herself to move, she lay curled up in a fetal position with the blankets half-pulled over her and her arms tucked beneath her. It was a comfortable position; she feels vulnerable and fragile, like the tiniest bit of pressure would cause her to completely shatter into a million fragments.
She can't afford to lose her composure. She can't show her grief. She has an inheritance ceremony soon, an event that will require her full attention. Afterward, it would be her duty to run the SDC, she wouldn't have time to grieve and cry, and she would need to dedicate her life to purifying her family's name.
However, she seems to have lost that passion…
It'd been her goal to take over the company and cleanse the name, rid it of the damage her father has done to it, but when she reminds herself of that, it feels like a void has opened up from the floor and swallowed her alive.
Without this motivation, she doesn't have a purpose anymore.
Just like she doesn't have a family…
"Weiss!"
Light blue eyes lazily glance up as the door opens and her father walks in, his head held high and his icy eyes glaring in Weiss' direction. She doesn't move, keeping her expression neutral and uncaring as he approaches, the heels of his white shoots clicking against the cold, marbled floor.
The look on his face was unhappy, as per usual. His lip curls in disdain as he stops at the side of the bed, finding that his daughter was unwilling to sit up properly and greet him. "Sit up." He orders her, his voice firm.
Weiss remains silent and doesn't move, turning her gaze away and focusing on the dresser behind him. She frowns when her father's eyes widen in incredulity, offended by her disobedient behavior. She couldn't bring herself to care. If he wanted to yell at her, or even strike her, well then, so be it.
"I said sit up." He repeats himself warningly, fully expecting her to listen to his command this time.
"Leave me alone." She says blankly, knowing the response she would receive.
"We have guests on their way," Jacques informs her with a harsh voice, "you need to get up and make yourself presentable if you even want a chance at fully inheriting this company."
Weiss grits her teeth. Right now, she doesn't give a damn about the company, she doesn't care about making a good impression in front of guests. She just wants to be left alone .
She would not have that.
"Fine."
Her father's scowl deepens as he turns to leave, glancing over his shoulder to ensure that Weiss is getting up. He raises his head victoriously as Weiss moves to sit upright, staring at the floor in annoyance. "I will be waiting for you at the doors. if you are not there to greet our guests…" His voice darkens, Weiss meets his eyes, her expression never changing, "there will be consequences."
Weiss doesn't answer.
"Now, remove that damn ring of yours and get cleaned up.." Weiss lifts her head again and her eyes blaze with fire, rage boiling within her. She opens her mouth to retort back in defiance, unwilling to remove the precious ring from her finger. She clamps her mouth shut, choosing that it was unwise to snap at him. Reluctantly, she removes the diamond-encrusted ring and slams it down on the nightstand next to her.
Her father nods in satisfaction, he leaves the room and the door clicks shut behind him. Weiss lets out a growl-like noise, "Fuck you."
She doesn't want to. She doesn't have a choice .
Weiss changed into her formal blue and white gown, tying her long hair into its typical asymmetrical ponytail and slipping on a pair of high heels.
The sound of the heels clicking against the marbled floor as she descended the staircase was almost louder than the rage and grief thundering within her heart. Weiss joins her father in the banquet room just as the large doors open.
She can feel her father glare down at her in annoyance, irked that she'd almost been late to the greeting.
"Good morning, Mr. Schnee!" A man with dark green hair and amber eyes greets him as he approaches, his wife lingering behind him and scolding someone standing out of sight. Weiss rolls her eyes in distaste when her father lets out a jovial laugh, meeting the other man halfway and shaking his hand. "So sorry for being late," he apologizes sincerely, his accent thick and slow, "our driver got turned around on our way here…"
Jacques shakes his head, "That's alright, Mr. Greer," Weiss raises a brow upon hearing the familiar, practiced voice of politeness, "I know the struggle all too well."
Tuning out the men, Weiss glances up as a woman dressed in maroon and green clothes walks over to stand next to her husband, her hair is a light blonde and her eyes are heterochromia green and blue. She smiles kindly at the young woman, who feels a slithering sensation crawling up her spine, "You must be Weiss," she greets with a toothy smile, "my name is Basilia Greer, this is my husband, Jasper."
Basilia pats her husband's arm, only to be shrugged off and purposely ignored. A twinge of annoyance pricks at Weiss' chest, but the woman doesn't seem to be fazed. Basilia turns around and beckons two young men, seemingly brothers, standing outside to approach, Weiss' stomach plummets as Jasper excuses himself from Jacques and walks over to the older one of the brothers and pulls him to the group.
A heavy pat on her back pulls her to her senses and she looks back at her father and Mr. Greer. "Weiss!" Her father says with a sharp tone, she can hear the false happiness behind it. "This is Liam," a cold feeling settles in the pit of her stomach, "he will be your husband."
The word causes her brain to come screeching to a stop, it requires all of her willpower not to shout. "My what?" She asks, keeping her voice as cool as she possibly could.
Liam is a tall young man with dark brown hair and bright lime green eyes, his complexion is dark, making his dark green uniform stand out against his skin. He seems nervous, judging by his tense stance, but his expression remains unreadable.
Jasper takes a step towards Weiss and she feels every nerve in her body grow cold with rage, keeping her eyes locked on the man as though he were a malicious predator preparing his gruesome attack. He circles her, eyeing her curiously. Nausea forms in the pit of Weiss' body and rolls through her being like a thunderous wave.
'Why are you circling me?' She wants to ask, but she bites her tongue, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep herself from sounding harsh. 'What the hell were you? A vulture in another life?'
"She's perfect," Jasper announces, but his face expresses otherwise, "however, her physique is… Well, I do hope my grandchildren inherit the Greer family genes."
'Well, I do hope you take your inflated ego and-'
Jacques only bows his head, "It sounds like an excellent mixture to me." Weiss can hear the venom in his tone, but it wasn't because Jasper had insulted his daughter, it was because he insulted his own genes.
"Yes!" Jasper confirms happily, stepping behind his much taller son and giving him a rough push towards Weiss, "Why don't you show Liam around, hm? Get to know each other a little."
Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss notices her father and Liam's parents, and his brother, departing from them. Her father is talking with a smile on his face, while Jasper keenly listens with suspicious interest. She suspects this betrothal is more than just her father wanting to marry her off, especially from the Greer's side of the deal.
Weiss frowns, turning back to Liam with a displeased scowl on her face. His posture seems to slacken just a bit as his parents disappear around the corner, out of earshot and out of sight. He lifts his hand shyly and waves, Weiss raises a brow in mild confusion.
"Sorry about my parents," he apologizes nervously, "they can be a bit much, but they do mean well!" Liam rushes the last part of his explanation, "I tried to tell them that I didn't want to be betrothed, but they didn't care because my brother is too young and they said you were a huntress so-"
She doesn't care.
Weiss cuts him off rudely, "I'm not marrying you." She faces away from the man and briskly walks away. "Stay away from me, or you'll know just how dangerous a huntress I am."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Ouch!"
Ruby grimaces, wagging her finger and hissing in pain. She'd pinched the skin between the prongs of the tool, attempting to tighten the bolts on her new weapon. She didn't draw blood this time, thankfully.
Her shoulder hurts like hell from overuse and lack of rest, she hasn't precisely tended to the wound properly either, but she couldn't keep stopping to tend to a minor wound. Her shoulder wasn't broken, it was only severely bruised. She doesn't have time to let it heal correctly, she has to get this weapon finished so she can head to Atlas.
Something was happening, she could feel it in her gut and she just had to get up there soon . She can't afford to lose too much more time. What if Jacques has gone through what he was initially planning, and betrothed her to some jackass man?
No. She won't have that.
Deciding to work through the pain, Ruby takes her thumb and index finger to hold the bolt steady while she twists it tightly with her spare hand, pulling the tips of her fingers away as she screws it into the metal.
"Ruby!"
The named woman resists the urge to groan when she hears the door opening, she pushes herself away from her desk and turns her attention towards the illuminated figure of her father, squinting against the bright light shining into the dark room. "Dinner's ready, I think you should take a break and join us."
"I can't," Ruby answers quickly, swiveling her chair back around to inspect the bow-and-arrow-gun she was building, "I have to finish this."
"Ruby." Her father says more firmly, his shoes tapping against the floor as he approaches the desk, placing his hand in front of the brunette to grab her attention, she glanced up through a glare. "You've been working on this all night, and your shoulder is still injured, you need to eat and rest."
She shakes her head, swatting his hand off the table and grabbing a screw gun, standing and turning the weapon with a screw between her fingers. A twinge of pain erupts through her shoulder, she flinches and the weapon drops from her hand as she reaches up quickly to grasp her wound.
"Ruby!" A bolt of irritation snaps through her when Tai casually takes the screw gun from her desk with a frown on his face, "I said you need to rest," he withholds the screw gun from her, a familiar stern expression on his face and his brows narrowed.
Ruby lifts her head, the sudden pain fading away. "Dad-"
"Weiss will be fine ."
He doesn't understand, she has to get to her. Something happened, she could feel it.
"Ruby, she's a huntress, just like you. It's only paranoia," Tai murmurs, "I got that all the time when I was separated from my teammates." He rests a hand on her uninjured shoulder, Ruby is silently fuming. "You need to rest-"
"Dad, I can't!" The words come rushing out before Ruby can stop them, Tai sighs heavily and she continues before he can interrupt her. "Do you wanna know why?! Because something will happen if I'm not there if it hasn't already!"
She still remembers the plan her partner told her about five years ago, she remembers how Weiss was expecting her father to betroth her to some man only days before the coronation.
Now, it seems like that plan has been set into motion, regardless of the woman's marital status.
Ruby shakes her head again, frustration crashing over her like a violent wave. "You don't understand!" She hollers, somewhat surprised that her father was remaining calm throughout the ordeal, "Her coronation is in a few days! If they think I'm dead, her father will marry her off to some man she doesn't even like ! That's always been the plan!"
Tai's eyes widen and his jaw falls agape. Frustration thunders through Ruby, she's unable to hear her thoughts over the sound of her own seething. "I have to get to her!" She shouts, Tai doesn't say a word in response, still processing her reveal, "So unless you miraculously know of some way I can reach Atlas before the coronation, leave me alone! I need to finish this weapon and get back to her!"
The man closes his eyes and lets out a heavy sigh as Ruby snatches the screw gun from him, he faces away and heads towards the door. "Okay, I'll save you a plate, it'll be in the fridge…"
"Thank you," Ruby murmurs as she turns and back around, sitting at her desk and clicking the tool on. A light whirring sound echoes through the room as she applies the last screw, she lifts the weapon and aims it towards the back wall.
The weapon resembles a rifle, the snout of the gun is lifted to create an opening for an arrow to speed through. Attached to the sides is a recurve, a strong piece of string attached to both ends and stretching back to the body. Just above the body rests the sight, designed to fit both the bullet gun and reeling an arrow back.
It looks decent enough.
It's time for testing. Positioning the gun at her unharmed shoulder, she places an arrow at the top and pulls it back to the flesh of her cheek.
Three… Two… One…
She releases it with minimum speed, and the body of the arrow shutters through the rod and launches into the air. Ruby already knows the design was a failure, but it doesn't prevent the surge of disappointment and frustration that bites at Ruby when the object falls short of its target, the bumping launch it'd had disrupted its velocity.
Ruby lets the weapon drop to her side, letting out a heavy sigh and seating herself back down at the desk. She sets the bow-and-arrow-gun atop the wooden surface and sits up to inspect the centerpiece. Upon moving the weapon, the recurve bow strings snap.
"Oh, great!"
Swallowing her annoyance, Ruby returns to work.
