Weiss was tired.

It was a different yet somehow familiar feeling of tiredness. It was far from the exhaustion that came from the strain of her usual training workout. She had long become accustomed to that. Years after years of pushing herself to excel as a fighter had made that tiredness an old companion.

Nor was it the tiredness of dealing with an annoyance. Oh, how often had she gotten headaches as a result of the actions of her wacky teammates. Blake's aloof behavior and Yang's inability to be quiet or drop some godawful pun were definitely guaranteed to make her feel the need to check them. But even those two failed to compare to the hyperactive menace that was Ruby. Her insistence on spending time with her, the need she felt not to let Weiss be alone, the way she seemed the only one to realize how amazing her Myrtenaster were all were things that pushed Weiss' buttons.

Seriously, her team was… really too good for her. They were all there for her in her moments of weakness, and she couldn't even do the same.

Blake was gone, Yang had refused to talk to her, and Ruby…

God, she didn't even know how her partner was. Her uncle had assured her that she will be fine, but the anxiety was killing her. 'I should have gone with them.' Weiss thought regretfully. She had stayed in Vale hoping to help, but she was less than useless.

Beacon was gone. The dragon, though seemingly dealt with by Ruby's mysterious new power, was still attracting Grimm in great amounts. Vale was stable, at least for now.

Jaune, Ren, and Nora were grieving the death of Pyrrha. Though she considered the red-haired girl to have been a friend, it still felt wrong to impose herself on the other three. Compared to the pain they must have felt, she might as well have been a stranger.

So, she kept her distance and left them to mourn.

Weiss was alone. She was tired in a way she hadn't since she left the Schnee manor. It was a feeling of tiredness that numbed her down to her bones. For as long as she had lived in that house, she had felt alone. Her mother was nowhere to be seen, content to spend her days drinking her regrets away. Winter never stepped a foot in the house for half a decade. Whitley always seemed to have a bone to pick with her. The fact that she was the heir and not him had always rubbed him the wrong way.

There were also the servants, maids, and house cleaners. However, despite Klein's best efforts, it just wasn't the same.

Of course, there was another person.

The great Jacques Schnee, who was neither great nor a Schnee.

The less she said about him, the better. Her father held no love for her. he only seemed to value and cared for her in the same manner a lumberjack valued his ax or a farmer cared for his cows.

From start to finish, Weiss Schnee was a tool to utilize for the fulfillment of her father's ambition.

Nothing more and nothing less. He clearly didn't love her for who she was. If he did he certainly wouldn't have forced her into a death match with Armas Giga just to allow her to go to another school.

She nearly lost an eye, and the bastard didn't even have the decency to pretend to care.

Her injured eye, her inability to express herself, and her abandonment issues were all a result of his obsessively controlling behavior.

It was funny in a sad way how every miserable occurrence in her life seemed to some way or another point back to him. If she were a betting woman, she would say that he was somehow involved in the fall of Beacon.

Okay, maybe that was a bit too much. No matter how bad her father was as a human being, he wouldn't go this far. At least, she hoped so.

Weiss was alone and tired, but she didn't stay idle.

She tried to go around the refugee sites, looking to make herself useful to any that would need help But alas, there was very little she could do. The entire city was mourning, and unless Weiss would develop the ability to resurrect the dead or clear the thousands of Grimm infesting Beacon, she was of no tangible use.

Still, she didn't give up. A huntsman, even one in training like her, was never too good to help. Every action or assistance that made a person's day better no matter how insignificant it may seem was worth the effort.

Weiss went out and did things that other huntsmen would scoff at.

She looked for lost pets.

She cleared small debris off the road.

She had no skills in the medical field, but she offered to help nonetheless by fetching bandages and moving patients.

She brought water and towels.

She tried to help those grieving and sad, offering to at least to listen to them vent.

They were little things, but Weiss felt like she was actually helping. So, she spent her days like that.

However, that soon changed. On the sixth day after the fall, she saw a bullhead present not too far from the central shelter they were staying in. Now that wasn't a rare occurrence. Ever since the fall, dozens of bullheads were coming to and leaving Vale every day.

However, the odd thing was that every single one of each of those bullheads was either affiliated with the Atlesian military or was from other kingdoms bringing in supplies to help Vale. The bullhead in front of her was far too small to be one of those.

Upon closer inspection, Weiss noticed that the design of the bullhead was a tad too familiar. It was of the same module used by the high-ranking employees of the Schnee Dust Company. Except there was no SDC logo anywhere on the aircraft, there was a far more damning sign that made her stomach drop: a white snowflake.

The crest of the Schnee family. Only one person could have possibly commanded the ship.' He's here.' Weiss realized as dread filled her.

She quickly turned and ran towards the entrance of the shelter. The guards were noticeably absent. Something was wrong and she had a hunch her father had something to do with it.

Immediately, she was hit by the noise as she entered. There was a massive crowd inside all huddled together gazing at something. Even from several dozen meters away, she could hear the sounds of a commotion.

She attempted to wriggle herself to the front, but it was difficult. People seemed adamant about not moving, too focused on whatever was happening. Slowly she trudged through the crowd, yet something was clearly wrong, she noticed. The closer and closer she got, the tenser the atmosphere seemed to become. People were getting more and more agitated as she advanced.

Finally, Weiss reached the source of the commotion. Standing in the middle of the crowd was her father. The rest of her family was not too far behind, a rare occurrence made even more bizarre by the fact that her mother was actually with them. It has been almost a decade since she saw both her of her parents stand in the same spot.

Directly facing her father were the professors of the fallen Beacon academy, accompanied by several other huntsmen she didn't recognize. Professor Glynda was noticeably absent. However, if the people around them seemed frustrated, then her father and the huntsmen appeared outright murderous. It seemed as if the smallest action would lead them to blows.

"I understand your frustrations, ." Professor Oobleck spoke curtly. The doctor's voice was far colder than she had remembered. "However, I will have to ask you to take back what you've said."

"Take it back? I refuse! Nothing of what I've said was wrong." Her father scoffed as he looked down at the assembled huntsmen. "None of this would have happened if you incompetent morons had done your jobs properly. The sole reason huntsmen exist is to exterminate the Grimm and protect the kingdoms. That is the only thing we expect of you, and you've failed. What part of what I've said was a lie?!"

"There is a time and place for this, ! But now is not the time for pointing fingers. The only thing we need to focus on is making sure that the situation doesn't get worse." Professor Port stepped forward, his hand raised in a placating manner. "People are still grieving."

"And whose fault do you think that is?! All these people here relied on the huntsmen to protect them. Yet, when they needed them most, most of you weren't event inside the fucking kingdom! How many thousands do you think have you died? Men, women, and children, both human and Faunus died wondering where their so-called Heroes were. " Jacques yelled while sweeping his hand in front of him. With every word he said, the people around him seemed to get even more furious until they reached their boiling point. "THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR GRIEVING! THIS IS THE TIME YOU ANSWER FOR YOUR SINS!

As soon as her father finished his declaration, a barrage of insults descended upon the huntsmen. Voices of all kinds of people made themselves heard.

"This is your fault!"

"Who the fuck do you think pays for your salaries!"

"You fucking failures!"

"We trusted you!"

"We are living in a hell of your making!"

The tightly restrained anger, frustration, and anguish were released at once against the scapegoats they were presented. It broke Weiss's heart to see them just stand there and take it. No one has fought as hard as her professors have during the fall.

Her father raised his hand and the crowd gradually calmed down. Jacques seemed to consider the huntsmen before him for a second before he spoke again. "Though I guess blaming you would not be fitting. In the end, you were nothing more than glorified pawns. The lion's share of the fault must fall on Ozpin. It is his ineptitude that brought this calamity upon us." Jacques shook his head dramatically.

"You're crossing a red line, Jacques. Insults against us are one thing, but I wouldn't stand by and let you slander a dead comrade." Professor Port threatened. The burly man's face was red and his eyes were uncharacteristically open.

"Slander? I do not intend to debase myself to that level. I am merely stating facts. The headmaster of the Beacon Academy has made several decisions prior to the Grimm invasion that leaves me baffled." Jacques said. No, he was not merely saying. Her father was performing to the pissed-off civilians. He was manipulating their feelings. "Accepting students with falsified records who didn't have the slightest idea about being a huntsman, and not only that but making him a leader? It's a miracle that only one member of the team died. "

H-how could her father possibly have known about Jaune!?

"Not to mention all the information and secrets he withheld from the authorities. Information, that I might add, would have been very vital in protecting Vale from such an attack." Jacques said, before stopping and cupping his chin. "But now that I think about it, didn't he have a fight with the council a few days prior to the attack. Add to that the fact that he knowingly approved of a student with ties to the despicable White Fang. Perhaps, his actions were not of incompetence but of malicious intent?" Her father said as he turned to face the crowd. "Doesn't anyone else find it suspicious that he was the first to make contact with the enemy and then disappeared right after?"

"That's enough, Jacques!" Port yelled as he advanced toward her father.

However, it seemed that her father still had more to say. "If you ask me, I don't think he's even dead. If anything, he was working together with the-!"

Her father's words were cut off abruptly as a fist made contact with his cheek. Her father was launched off his feet and slumped several feet away on the ground.

In the place he was before, stood Doctor Oobleck with a murderous expression on his face as he glared at the fallen Jacques. Winter and Professor tried to hold him, but they didn't make it in time.

Jacques raised his head and observed the man for a second. He smiled as blood droplets fell from his injured lip. "If only you showed the same anger when the Grimm were killing the innocents."

Her father's words traveled in the silent and shocked shelter. A second later, all hell broke loose.

At once, dozens of the civilians rushed at huntsmen yelling obscenities and with their fists raised. The huntsmen and guards present tried to maintain order but it was to no avail. The people were too many and too angry to subdue without resorting to force.

"ENOUGH!" A scream cut through the place freezing everyone. It took Weiss a second to recognize her own voice. Every pair of eyes was on her, but she focused on meeting her father.

He had gone too far, and she had to make him stop.

Weiss opened her mouth to dispute her father's lies. To let the people know about how bravely the professors had fought, how Jaune was a great huntsman and even greater leader, and to tell the world how professor Ozpin laid his life against the enemy.

She opened her mouth to talk.

But no voice came out.

Weiss didn't have the time to register what happened before she was tackled by her father. The man held her in a bear-crushing hug. She tried to break free, but her breath was cut off.

"Weiss! My daughter! It warms my heart to see well! " Her father said with a cracking voice. "I was afraid I lost you."

Weiss tried to talk, but the air wouldn't enter her lungs. Her voice wouldn't come out. She felt tears stream down her face as she struggled to breathe. Soon, her legs gave out, and she fell to the ground.

As the darkness started to take hold of her vision, Weiss saw several things.

She saw the looks of pity the people around her gave her.

She saw her mother hugging Whitley close to her to protect him.

And she saw her father's shit-eating grin hidden from others as he looked down on her.

"Don't worry, my love. Daddy's here."