And here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay, busy with school and work, and my medication leaves me really tired and dry eyed. This episode is also mainly light hearted fluff, which isn't my strong suit.
Ivory got up from her table, holding onto her tea as she went down the hallway.
"Ruby? Are you okay?" she called out. She had heard Ruby's voice and then a voice she didn't recognize and then nothing a moment prior.
She stepped into the living room, stopping and cocking her head to the side.
Ruby was crying, her arms wrapped around a tall blonde woman dressed in brown, and a short, white-haired woman dressed in a grimy Dustist blue dress. Ruby sniffled, and seemed to notice her, breaking out of the hug. She wiped at her eyes, smiling.
"Are these friends of yours?" Ivory asked. Ruby nodded. The blonde one looked Ivory over, her eyebrow cocked, and confusion in her purple eyes as she looked at her hair and eyes.
"Aunt Ivory, this is Yang," Ruby motioned to the blonde "She's my sister, the one I told you about." Ivory waved meekly at Yang, Yang returning the wave, still looking confused. Ruby motioned over to her, looking up at Yang. "She raised mom, and we've been staying with her since we got here in Mistral." Ruby turned, looking at the white-haired girl. "And this is Weiss, she's my best friend."
"A pleasure to meet you," Weiss said, doing a curtsy. Ivory inhaled sharply. That short white-hair, those icy blue eyes, that scar.
"Weiss as in… Weiss Schnee?"
"Mhm!" Ruby said with a nod.
Ivory stood there, gripping her tea. She hadn't swept since Ruby and her friends had arrived, her nose wrinkled as she noticed the smell of the catbox in the nearby closet; oh, those bookshelves and picture frames hadn't been dusted in so long! Her cats, Dostoevsky, Camus, and Kafka, jumped onto the red couch, meowing at Ruby and her friends. She gripped her tea tighter, her lip becoming a thin line. Oh Dust, what if she was allergic! She couldn't pay the Schnee's back if something happened to their daughter!
She set her tea down on a nearby bookshelf, offering Weiss and Yang a polite smile.
"If I had known you would be bringing company over, I would have prepared a nice dinner, or gotten this place cleaned up a little bit. Please excuse the mess," she said.
"Mess? This place is a lot cleaner than I'd thought it'd be with Ruby living here," Yang said with a smirk. Ruby frowned, and playfully punched her sister's shoulder. Weiss went over to the couch, smiling as she petted the cats. Ivory exhaled; not allergic, good. Weiss looked over at her.
"I didn't have any pets growing up, I always wanted to get a cat, or a dog, or a snake, or even a fish, but my parents never allowed it." Animal person, good. Ivory motioned to the three cats.
"They're very friendly, so feel free to play with them as much as you want." She said. Weiss kneeled down, cooing as she scratched the cat's ears, and rubbed their backs. Ivory looked over at the staircase as Qrow called for Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren to come down. She heard the floorboards creek, and saw the trio appear, rounding the corner leading to the second level. Pyrrha's mouth fell open, Ren's eyes grew wide, Nor-
Yang let out a cry as she was tackled to the ground by Nora.
"Sparring buddy!" Nora exclaimed. She nuzzled her face against Yang's chest, Yang grunting in annoyance as she tried to get Nora off of her. Pyrrha laughed, stepping down the stairs, Ren following her. Weiss stood up, stepping away from the cats, and embracing Pyrrha and Ren.
"You kids must want to get all caught up. Ivory," Ivory looked over at Qrow. She saw his hand twitch a bit, raising up before being lowered back down. "Can you take them all out somewhere?" he asked. She hesitated, looking over the group of teenagers, before nodding.
"Do you not want to go, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked. He shook his head.
"I got business to take care of, kiddo." Ruby pouted before looking over at Ivory. Ivory smiled weakly as the others looked at her as well.
"I think I know a resteraunt that could fit us all."
And will hopefully be good enough for a Schnee.
Ivory went to the door, grabbing her scroll and keys off her nightstand before opening it, Ruby and her friends voices trailing behind her.
Qrow's smile fell as the door closed. He turned, leaving the living room and going to the stairs, climbing them. He went to Oscar's door, knocking on it, and waiting a moment before Oscar opened it. Oscar cocked his head to the side.
"Is everything alright? I heard you shout for Pyrrha and the others."
"Kid, I'm gonna need to talk to Oz for a bit," he said.
The sun was setting, the golden orange light disappearing behind the mountains. Ivory smiled as she looked at the buildings that made up the restaurant district. The signs that hung over their entrances began to illuminate with the setting sun; turning the signs red and yellow as the Dust inside them burned. Street vendors were pressed up against each other in front of the restaurants, the air thick with the smells and smokes of their foods; their voices talking over each other. She could hear bits of Old Mistralian from some of the more ancient vendors.
She glanced over her shoulder; Ruby and her friends were still following her, none had gotten lost. She noted the crêpe stand that Weiss kept shooting glances at; she had been meaning to try that one for a while, the kids might like a nice desert.
She slowed to a stop as she neared the restaurant; she hadn't eaten at it yet, would feel odd going to it alone, but she had read that it was one of the best in the Mid-Levels. It was built into the mountain, it's entrance a simple sliding wooden door. A sign, illuminated with red Dust, sat above the door; Měinǚ.
She opened the door, stepping into the restaurant, hearing Ruby and her friends pile in after her.
Water ran throughout the building, stalactites having been carved into intricate ceiling lanterns, red Dust burning within them. The tables were of glass, the chairs a finely grained wood. Large burning pots and a multitude of bowls of food sat on each table, the other patrons chatting politely amongst each other as they ate. Servers wandered throughout, dressed in colorful Mistral robes, their hair done up in complex knots and braids.
"Welcome!" Ivory turned, looking at the counter. An ai woman stood behind it, her blue image flickering slightly. "Welcome to Měinǚ, how many are in your party?" She turned, counting.
"Seven," she said. There was a pause before the ai smiled at her.
"A server will be here momentarily to take you to your seat. Please, enjoy your meal." Ruby and her friends started to chat with each other as they waited. A moment later their server appeared, dressed in a green robe, his dark hair pulled into a tight bun. His panther ears flinched as he looked at Weiss before he smiled politely at them.
"Follow me, please." He said.
He led them into the restaurant, passing over a bamboo bridge, water gushing around them. They reached a large glass table; a booth had been carved from the stone wall around the table. Ivory stood off to the side, letting Ruby's friends take their seats before sitting at the end, next to Ruby. The server bowed his head.
"We will bring the food and tea momentarily." He turned and left. Ivory looked over the group. Yang frowned and rested her head in her hand.
"What we don't get menu's in this place?" Ivory chuckled.
"No, dear. Mistral restaurant don't really have menus. We go with what we have available that day. The people of Mistral are much more reliant upon nature than the other kingdoms. We eat what's in season, what is grown nearby on the farms, or grown and raised throughout this mountain. We don't waste anything that we create." Ivory looked over as Weiss stifled a giggle, Yang glancing over at her.
"I took you and Ruby and Blake out to that one restaurant back in our first semester. You complained about the same thing then," she laughed. Yang pouted.
"I remember you being really excited about taking us and then we got tossed out of it because of Blake," she said. Weiss' giggles faded.
"I'm kinda happy she got us thrown out. The clientele of that place was abysmal, in retrospect." She said. Yang grunted. Yang looked back over at Ivory.
"So, Aunt Ivory, what are you doing here in Mistral? Our mom lived back in Vale." Ruby looked over at her as well.
"Oh yeah! I'd been meaning to ask you that, Auntie." She felt the other's look over at her. She fiddled with her hands.
"Our family grew up in Vale, and it's where I raised Summer. A couple of years after Ruby was born, I decided to move. Summer promised that she would visit but…" her shoulders sagged "I knew in my heart she wouldn't come. I wasn't a very good caretaker; I was dealing with my own issues and I tried my best, but I know it wasn't good enough. I had always found Mistral a fascinating place and the apartment I found in the Lower Levels had cheaper rent than what I was paying in Vale."
"Your current house is gorgeous," Pyrrha said. Nora nodded.
"Yeah! It's so big and has all those cool books and cat toys! How'd you get from the Lower Levels to up here?" Nora asked.
Ivory opened her mouth to respond and closed it as their server came up to the table, a tray with a tea pot, bowls, and cups on it. In his other hand he carried a tray full of bowls filled with different meats and vegetables. A Faunus woman with a tiger tail followed him, carrying a large cauldron. The tiger woman set the cauldron down and igniting the red Dust that was below it as the server set their bowls and cups and the ingredient bowls across the table. He set the tea pot down before they both stepped back and bowed their heads, turning and leaving. Ruby craned her neck, trying to look into the pot as the broth inside started to bubble. She looked over the bowls of ingredients; beef, mussels, mushrooms, lotus root, dumplings, tofu, noodles, bean sprouts, bok choy, a fine selection indeed.
Ren grabbed the bowl of noodles, carefully emptying it entirely into the broth. Nora grabbed the mussels and beef, dumping them into the cauldron, the broth sizzling and a bit splashing over the sides. Weiss rolled her eyes as Nora gleefully watched the meat simmer and grabbed the tofu and dumplings, flicking seven of each into the broth before setting the the bowls back down onto the table. Pyrrha grabbed the mushrooms, eyeing them for a moment before upending the bowl into the cauldron. Ruby and Yang looked over the bean sprouts and bok choy, and then at their friends, and then at Ivory. Yang shrugged and grabbed a single bean sprout and a single strand of bok choy and tossed them into the soup.
Nora rested her hands behind her back, looking from the simmering meal to her.
"So yeah, how'd you get that big ol' nice house?" she asked. Ivory raised a hand.
"I took to writing. And my books got rather popular, so I was able to afford to move out of the Lower Levels and to somewhere a little more comfortable."
"That's so cool!" Ruby said. "What do you write? What's it called? I want to read them!" Ivory lowered the hand, giving Ruby a polite smile.
"It's um, not really a genre or a series someone your age should be reading." Ruby frowned, her lip protruding as she pouted. Pyrrha rubbed her chin.
"I haven't heard of an Ivory Rose before." Ivory shrugged.
"My pen name is Patty Berdioler. A silly name, I know." Ivory flinched as recognition flashed through Weiss' eyes.
Oh Dust, don't tell me the Schnee heiress reads smut.
The others didn't seem to recognize the name. She breathed a sigh of relief as Pyrrha asked if the other's wanted tea.
"Hang on, I'll pour it," Weiss said. She raised two fingers, a glyph appearing above them. Ivory's eyes widened as a suit of armor rose from the glyph, bowing at the waist to Weiss before leaping down from the glyph, trailing blue smoke. Nora yelped, pinning herself against her stone seat as the suit of armor ran across the table to the tea pot.
"What is that?!" Nora exclaimed.
"It's one of my summons," Weiss said. Ruby watched the suit of armor try to lift the tea pot, fail to budge it, and rest its hands on its hips, glaring at it for a moment.
"Weiss that's so cool! When did you learn to do that?" Ruby asked. Nora slid back into her normal seat as Weiss looked over at Ruby.
"While I was at home." Ivory watched as the suit of armor grew in size somewhat, being able to lift the teacup and move around the table. Ivory held out her teacup as the suit of armor went around the table pouring their drinks. Weiss patted her knight on the head, giving it a warm smile after it poured her cup. She took a sip before continuing. "It's an ability every Schnee has; we can summon anything that we kill."
"Like a necromancer." Ren stated. Weiss gave him a dead stare.
"Nothing as crass as that."
"But you're controlling something that's dead, right?" Ren asked. Weiss shook her head.
"It's not like I'm taking its soul or anything. I'm just… recreating it from my memories. It's formed from my aura and I channel the lingering spirit of it that's in my head." She raised the two fingers again, several small glyphs forming. A miniature version of a beowolf, lancer, lancer queen, and Boarbatusk climbing out of the glyphs. They leapt down from the glyphs, going about to check on each of their teacups as Weiss talked. "You know how when a person dies, a part of them lives on?" Ivory saw Pyrrha's face darken, and her look away, gripping her arms. "In memories, or in the things that they leave behind? That's what I'm channeling. I took each of my summon's lives, but I remember them, and they live on through me." She held out her teacup, her knight refilling it.
"So, necromancy." Ren said. Nora laughed as Weiss scowled at him. Ren's poker face broke and her smirked ever so slightly at Weiss. Weiss crossed her arms, turning away from him.
Ivory giggled, and grabbed her chopsticks, leaning forward, peering into the cauldron. Meat, mushroom, dumpling, ooh, the bean sprout and the bok choy! She grabbed them, humming with delight as she ate them; the broth was peppered and spiced to just the right amount, the flavors of the vegetables enhanced by it. Weiss' summons fading away like snowflakes on a wind as the others grabbed their chopsticks, sorting through the soup to grab their own morsels.
"So, how was the trip here?" Yang asked before plopping a piece of beef into her mouth. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Nora exchanged glances as Yang chewed. Ruby laughed nervously.
"It uh… it was okay. Lotta Grimm." She said. Yang cocked an eyebrow and opened her mouth-
Nora bolted up, ripping her shirt up, pointing at a large scar covering her abdomen.
"Hell yeah there was! Check out this sick scar I got when we killed the Demon of Anima!" Ivory bit her lip as the other customers shot glances at them. She tried to sink into the stone both as one of the customers pulled out their scroll, the camera flashing. Maybe taking them to a nice restaurant like this wasn't the brightest idea.
Ren grabbed the ends of Nora's shirt, lowering it back down.
"Nora, you're flashing us." He said. Nora sat down, waving a hand dismissively.
"What? It's not like all of you haven't seen them before."
"No, but the other people in the restaurant don't need to see them." he said. Nora shrugged, and went back to the hot pot, nabbing some noodles and slurping them up.
Pyrrha chuckled as Nora slurped on her noodles. Pyrrha looked over at Weiss and pointed at her with her chopsticks.
"How about you, Weiss? What did you do back in Atlas?" Weiss was quiet for a moment. Ivory frowned as Weiss rubbed at her stomach before shaking her head. Weiss smiled.
"I reconnected with my mother, and she helped train me in some more of my glyphs. I performed at a charity concert to help raise some money for Beacon as well." Pyrrha smiled.
"I wish I could have been there. I think I told you before, but I've been to some of your concerts before. Your voice is very lovely." Weiss blushed before laughing sheepishly, running a hand through her short hair.
"Yes, well, this wasn't really a normal performance from me." She cleared her throat, looking over at Ruby, who was busy trying to eat a piece of tofu. "Ruby, do you remember that one song that you would play while we were studying, and I would get upset about?" Ruby looked up thoughtfully as she managed to get the tofu from her chopsticks to her mouth. She chewed for a moment before nodding.
"I think so?" Weiss nodded.
"I might have…taken some inspiration from it during that performance." Pyrrha cocked her head, looking at Weiss and Ruby.
"What song is it?" she asked. Weiss smiled mischievously and looked at Ruby. Ruby saluted, pulling out her scroll, and scrolling through it for a moment before pressing the screen.
Ivory flinched, her hands shooting up to cover her ears as a cacophony of guitars and shrieking female voices rang out. Nora whooped, smiling, Ren covered his ears, Yang laughed, and Pyrrha sat looking confused.
She lowered her hands as Ruby stopped the music. She bit her lip as some of the servers shot odd glances at them, a few looking annoyed.
"That's quite different from your usual songs, Weiss." Pyrrha said. Weiss nodded, nibbling on a dumpling.
"I did want to raise money for Vale, but I also wanted to let my father know I was done being his puppet. And as it turns out, operatic singers also happen to be rather good at the type of music Ruby likes to annoy me with."
The group laughed, and Ivory laughed nervously with them before drinking from her tea. The laughter quitted after a moment, going back to eating from the hot pot.
"Yang." Yang looked over at Ren, who was cradling his tea in his hand. "How about you? How did things go for you during our time apart?" he asked.
Yang was silent for a moment, a hand going to her stump, rubbing it before Yang smirked at them. Ivory's eyes widened as flames came from the end of the stump, taking the form of an arm. Yang flexed the fingers of the flaming arm, moving it around, her smirk growing at the looks of awe on their faces.
"I learned how to do this with my aura." She interlaced her fingers, stretching her arms, yellow embers falling and dissipating from the aura arm. "It's made fighting a little more tricky though, I have to use all of my aura to make the arm, can't use it to take my punches like before." She said. Nora whistled, watching the fire arm as Yang showed it off. Pyrrha leaned forward, watching the arm.
"How did you make it?" Pyrrha asked. Yang paused before shrugging.
"Don't really know. I was in Ruby's room thinking about how much I wanted to protect her and then bam, felt like my entire body was on fire, like I was dying, and then all of my aura rushed out and made this. I trained with my dad for couple months to get the hang of fighting with it." She said. Ruby smiled, and hugged Yang's side, her voice a mumble Ivory couldn't hear. Pyrrha rubbed her chin, watching the flames.
"That's really impressive, Yang. There are a multitude of different ways to control your aura. Most people just use it to Shield; protecting them from physical harm, and with even more training, from the effects of the environment. I've never seen it, but I've even heard of people funneling all of their aura onto one part of their body just to Shield that one area." Pyrrha reached into the hotpot, pulling out a dumpling, and biting into it, chewing, and swallowing before continuing.
"Some, like myself, can use their aura to Quick Heal. Everyone's aura has healing properties, but a person who uses it to Quick Heal only uses it to heal injuries as they receive them in battle, and we get to decide what we heal. Instead of every hit draining our aura reserves, we push through minor discomforts, so we have more of our aura available for our semblance." She finished off the dumpling. She rested her hand in her chin, motioning with her other hand as she spoke, the shocked faces on the group slowly fading as she spoke.
"Others can Channel their aura into their weapons to boost its damage. But Manipulation? Creating a new limb? That is so rare, Yang. Can you make other shapes besides an arm? How long can you make it?" Pyrrha asked. Yang scratched the back of her head.
"I…I don't know? Never really tried making anything other than an arm before. I guess I could make something else if I wanted to though." She said. Pyrrha smiled at her.
"Maybe I can help you train with it? Awakening a new part of your aura without any type of aid is so uncommon, you must have an exceptionally strong soul." Yang chuckled sheepishly as Pyrrha continued to look at her. Ivory cleared her throat, causing them to look at her.
"You seem to know a lot about aura, Pyrrha. Is that something that interested you outside of athleticism?" Pyrrha nodded.
"My mother was always fascinated by our souls. She got her doctorate in aura studies at Deniz Meltemi University over in Argus, but she always told me she wanted to be an athlete more than anything else. She taught me a lot about aura and even taught me how to Unlock people's auras for them. It… is interesting, thinking about how our souls function." Pyrrha smiled. "My mother and I would sometimes get into debates about how parts of our souls worked when we weren't training." Nora cocked an eyebrow, pointing a piece of beef at Pyrrha.
"If you know so much then why did you have a D in Azura's class?" Pyrrha whirled in her seat, facing Nora.
"That woman didn't know the first thing about aura!" she exclaimed. Ren stroked his chin.
"I seem to recall her saying she was a graduate of Atlas Academy, aren't they really advanced in soul studies?" Pyrrha turned to Ren, Ivory giggled as Ren sipped from his tea, his sly smile almost masked by the cup.
"Transferring a person's soul into someone else isn't the same thing as understanding the actual nature of the soul; what makes it the way it is. We only gauge our understanding of souls based off our knowledge of semblances and aura, and how 'strong' they are when we measure a person's aura levels. But what if there's more? Parts of the soul that we can't measure? The parts that make us, us? What if the Grimm have souls; we would never know it if we just stuck to arbitrary numbers and-"
Ivory jumped in her seat as Nora's arm slammed against the table, a loud bang ringing out. Nora stared at Yang, holding out her arm.
"This is boring. Yang. Arm wrestle. Now." Pyrrha pouted, mumbling something as Yang laughed, and reached for Nora's hand. Nora shook her head and nodded toward Yang's aura arm. "The new one. I wanna see if it's just as strong as your old one." The flaming hand wrapped around Nora's. Nora bit her lip, swallowing. Ivory cocked her head to the side; what was that sound? Something sizzling?
"Go," Yang said. Nora grunted, her arms bulging, veins popping as she strained to move Yang's arm. Yang's arm didn't budge. Yang stifled a yawn with her other hand; Ruby and Weiss giggling as Nora struggled harder. Yang looked at Nora and smiled.
"My turn."
Nora screamed as she was flung aside; Ivory yelped as the hot pot was flew off the table alongside Nora, crashing onto the ground, the broth and food seeping out all over the stone floor. Nora lay on the ground, groaning before holding up a hand weakly and coughing.
"Yep, still strong."
The group laughed; Ivory bit her lip as a server headed toward their table, their expression neutral but anger flashing through their eyes.
He reached their table, standing off to the side, shooting an annoyed look at the spilled hot pot and Nora laying on the ground.
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you and your party to leave," he said. Ivory nodded solemnly.
"I understand."
She stood up, motioning for Ruby and her friends to follow her. She resisted the urge to hide her face with her hand as she led the group of teens out of the restaurant. The ai at the entrance flickered to life, smiling and waving at Ivory.
"Thank you for you patronage. We hope that you enjoyed your meal and return soon."
Ivory slid the door shut, Ruby and her friends standing next to the entrance. The streets had grown darker, the sun must have set. Ruby played with her hands, looking at anything but Ivory as she turned toward the group.
"Aunt Ivory, sorr-"
Ivory held up a hand.
No fancy dinners in the future.
She clasped her hands together, smiling at them.
"Who wants to go get desert? I saw a nice crêpe stand on the way here."
Miltia tapped her foot, watching the departure times on the screen. Their train would be leaving soon. She watched the people around her as they hurried to their trains or chatted on their scrolls. She looked on in disgust as a woman bought something from one of the food kiosks, some type of sausage or hot dog or one of those other types of vile meat links.
She heard Junior grunting and turned. He was winded, sweat drenching his face as he lugged Melanie's trunk like suitcase. Melanie walked beside him, looking at her scroll, a bored expression on her face. Miltia shifted her duffle bag, going over to Junior and taking the heavy trunk from him.
"Jeez you kids have a lotta shit to take with you," he wheezed, wiping his brow. Melanie rolled her eyes, still looking at her scroll as she walked over to Miltia's side. Miltia set her duffle bag and the trunk down, crossing her arms, chewing on her lip.
"So, like…" She caught Melanie's eye. Melanie closed her scroll, crossing her arms, not looking at Junior. "We, like, really appreciate. Everything that you've done for us."
"And we'll hopefully be back soon," Melanie said.
"We know you can't run that place without us," Miltia finished. Miltia looked over at Junior. Junior smiled and rested a hand on his hip.
"It's hard to think you two are the same scared little girls I found." He held out his arms. She saw Melanie flinch, and look over at Miltia. She nodded at her sister, and went to hug Junior, feeling her sister do the same a moment later. Junior hugged them both, resting his head on top of theirs. "Be safe out there, girls." He broke the hug, crouching down, and resting his hands on their shoulders. "I know I'll need you two to save my ass encase Yang ever shows up again," he said with a wink.
Miltia felt her cheeks get hot as Melanie giggled. Miltia shoved Junior's hand away, stepping away and crossing her arms.
"Whatever!" she huffed. Junior chuckled as Melanie giggled again.
The clock on the wall ticked and ticked as the seconds dragged by. Yang crossed her arms, glaring at Ozpin and Qrow. Weiss shifted in the cushion next to her, running a hand through her hair. Yang glanced at Ruby from the corner of her eye before looking back at Qrow and Ozpin.
You can't trust anything they tell you
"The Maidens. Salem. The Grimm. Magic. Being able to turn into a bird. It's… it's all real?" Weiss asked. Ozpin nodded.
"They are." Weiss rubbed the Dustist sapphire at her throat.
"And the god who cursed you? Was it Dust? The Brothers? Mother Devi?" Ozpin shook his head.
"I can't tell you. It was so long ago, and it was difficult even comprehending what I was looking at when it happened." He said. Weiss rubbed at her sapphire for another moment before sighing, resting her hands in her lap. "Ms. Xiao Long, is this all about the same as what your mother told you?"
Qrow is the reason why Summer is dead, and Ruby is not really your sister
Yang sneered.
"You forgot something." She glanced at Ruby again. Ruby seemed to catch her look, cocking her head as she looked at her. Yang looked away. "She told me you're the reason why my mom is dead, Uncle Qrow." She heard Ruby inhale sharply and saw Qrow frown.
"Ms. Xiao Long, I-"
"Shut your fucking mouth." Ozpin stepped back, glancing over at Qrow. Yang narrowed her eyes at him. "So. What happened, Uncle Qrow? You were a spy for Oz, right? Working under Salem? How did my mom die?"
"I can't tell you that." Yang's scowl deepened.
"And why not?"
"Because I wasn't there for it. Raven blames me for not saving Summer. She went to go fight Salem, and I was off on a mission. I came back to Salem's castle and found Summer dead and her body being turned into one of Salem's sick trophies. I could only get her cloak, necklace, and sword out of that castle." He grabbed his flask from his pocket and took a long swig from it. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, before motioning with the flask. "Did Raven tell you she loved Summer? That she hated Tai for being the one to get with her? That he hates Ruby and doesn't accept her as she is because she's jealous someone else had a family with Summer? She tell you all that, Yang?"
Ruby is not really your sister
Yang opened and closed her mouth, glancing at Ruby for a brief moment before sighing. She nodded at Qrow.
"She told me she was in love with Summer, yeah. But not the other stuff."
"And you're going to believe the woman who left you, and hates your sister, over me? Your uncle who was there for you growing up?"
Yang was quiet. She felt Weiss place her hand over her own, gripping it and squeezing.
"Ms. Xiao Long, if you will allow me to speak." Yang looked over at Ozpin. She sighed again and nodded. "If anyone can be blamed for the death of your mother, it's me. I informed her of where Salem's fortress was when she asked me. I should have turned her down. I apologize for causing all of the misfortune that followed."
Yang looked over at Ruby again. Ruby was looking at their uncle, appearing deep in thought. Yang hung her head, her shoulders sagging. Weiss' grip tightened.
"You guys swear that you're not lying?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"We have nothing to hide from you, Yang." Yang chortled, and stood up, pulling her hand free of Weiss'. Her aura arm began to form as she strode toward Ozpin. Qrow pocketed his flask, his hand resting near his hip, his finger's twitching near Harbinger's handle. Ozpin said nothing, and simple watched Yang as she approached. She grabbed him by his collar, lifting him so he was eye level.
"I want to get something clear. I'm only here for Ruby and Weiss. As long as they're with you, I'm with you. But if I find out that you or Qrow are lying about anything, well, your gonna have to start looking for a new body, because I'm gonna beat you out of Oscar. Got it?"
There was a flash of green through Ozpin's hazel eyes, and he yelped, looking around the room. Yang lowered Oscar back down, and shot a glance at Qrow before turning and leaving.
Weiss shut the door to the room Ruby's aunt was lending her. It was small, a plain looking bed resting against the wall, a mirror hanging on the other wall. She eyed the mirror before sighing.
"Of course," she said.
She went to the bed, sitting down on it. Not terrible hard, but not as soft as she liked it.
"Are we going to believe them?" Mirror asked. Weiss looked over at the mirror, at her reflection as it stared back at her. She ran her hands over the sheets.
"I don't know. The stuff about Ruby's mom, and her uncle… It's not really my place to pry into that. But her uncle helped take care of Ruby and Yang, and Professor Ozpin has never really given me a reason to doubt him before. They aren't serial killers or kidnappers like Raven." Mirror tapped her finger against her chin, the jagged scar over her eye silver in the light.
"Yang thinks they're hiding something," she said.
"Yang… doesn't seem to be in a good place right now. I trust her, and I love her like a sister but… I'm worried about her." Mirror giggled, a coy smile creeping up her face.
"And I'm sure she's worried about you." Weiss frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. Mirror giggled again, waving her hand dismissively.
"Nothing, nothing. I'm sure you'll notice eventually." Weiss let go of the sheets, standing up from the bed.
"If you're quite done, I was wanting to pray."
"Fine, fine, go pray to that god that cursed Ozpin." Weiss narrowed her eyes, and opened her mouth before closing it, turning away from the mirror. She wasn't going to get dragged into a theological debate with her reflection.
She pulled the blue gem at her throat free, gripping it in her palm as she got to her knees.
Ruby hesitated at the door before knocking on it.
"Weiss?" There was silence from Weiss' room for a moment before Weiss called out
"It's open." Ruby opened the door, stepping in.
Weiss was on her knees on the floor, her hands clasped together, saying something in a low voice. Ruby cocked her head to the side as Weiss finished whatever she was saying before getting to her feet.
"Did you need something, Ruby?" Weiss asked as she placed a blue gem into an empty space at the throat of her dress. Ruby nodded.
"Yang's not really in a good mood right now, so I figured she might like to be alone and be able to cool off." She sat down on the bed, kicking her legs a bit. "And I wanted to check in on how you were doing, Weiss."
Weiss sat down on the bed next to her, resting her hands in her lap.
"I'm… I'm doing fine." She looked over at the door and then back at Ruby. "I didn't want to ask during dinner but… where is Jaune?" Ruby gripped the bedsheets, squeezing her eyes shut. The flames, Pyrrha's screams. She opened her eyes, tightening her grip.
"He didn't make it," she said quietly. Weiss frowned.
"He didn't make it? Like, he didn't make it to Mistral? Is he back home with his family or in Vale?" Ruby shook her head.
"H-he's dead, Weiss. Cinder killed him." She sniffled. "And so is Coco. And Fox. And people keep telling me Blake is dead too." She felt her body shudder. She looked at Weiss, forcing that smile, the one she had been having to wear for so many months. "And I nearly got killed by one of Salem's henchmen." She laughed, her voice choked, tears dripping down her cheeks. "And I saw Ren and Nora and Pyrrha all nearly get killed by a Grimm, and my uncle Qrow nearly got killed by that crazy lady who attacked me."
"Ruby-"
"And I left my sister all alone when she needed me the most. And I thought the entire time that you were in Atlas that you were going to kill yourself." She laughed again, her trembling worsening, Weiss becoming a fuzzy blue and white blob. "And you always rub the places you hurt yourself when your anxious, Weiss, and-and I saw you rubbing your stomach, right here." She rubbed a part of her abdomen, a little above her stomach. "D-did. W-Weiss,"
Weiss' hand trailed up, resting on her stomach. She looked away, nodding.
"I thought you were all dead. That I would never see any of you again. That I would never escape my father's torment; death was the only option I saw."
Ruby let that damned smile fall, and embraced Weiss, nuzzling against her, hiccupping as she sobbed into her shoulder, an occasional laugh intermingling with the hiccupping.
"It's… it's going to be okay, Ruby. I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm doing better." She felt Weiss embrace her, resting her head on her own. "Yang isn't mad at you. And Blake… I know she's alive. I can feel it."
Ruby couldn't say anything, her voice gone, the months of tears and anguish flooding out as they held each other.
Sage groaned as he stretched his legs, his bastard sword shifting against his back. He saw Scarlet stretching his arms from the corner of his eye; he must be just as bored as he was.
Raven had tried sending word to Clan Comhachag that the tradeoff of that Schnee girl wasn't going to be happening but due to how sudden the change was, she wanted them to be the ones to greet Chief Bán and his group if they did arrive at the expected time.
He lowered his leg, beginning to stretch his arm before stopping, squinting. A large man stalked down the dirt trail, his white braided hair falling past his shoulders and onto the tan feathered cloak that concealed most of his body. His face was hidden by a Nevermore mask, his tartan black and gray.
Sage smiled and waved at Chief Bán. The Chief waved back, quickening their pace.
"Chief Raven wants to talk with you, there's been a-" Scarlet's voice cut out, becoming a gurgle. Sage's head snapped over at where Scarlet stood, his hand flying up to his sword.
A woman with mint green hair stood behind Scarlet, scowling, sickles embedded in Scarlet's throat.
Sage drew his sword, yelling as he ran toward Scarlet.
He screamed, a shotgun blast filling his ears, his leg blowing out beneath him. He fell to the dirt, his sword falling aside as he writhed, screaming. His face slammed into the dirt, blood filling his mouth as he bit his tongue. He struggled to lift his head, a boot pressing down on it.
Scarlet's body slumped to the dirt, blood pooling, his glazed over eyes staring at him. He whimpered, his body growing cold, the dirt around his knee sticky and warm.
"Bán!" He cried. "What is the meaning of this?!"
He saw the tan feathers stop in front of him. The boot on his head moved, a rough hand grabbing his hair and dragging his head up, staring up at the Chief's masked face. The Chief's hand went to the beak of the mask.
"You can tell the Valravn," The Chief said. Sage's face contorted with confusion at the scratchy female voice. The Chief pulled the mask free, letting it fall aside. The tartan and cloak faded away, replaced with a red dress. A woman with short black hair stared down at him, half of her face obscured by a black mask, her orange eyes sadistic. She smiled at him. "That we've come for the Spring Maiden."
Fun bit of trivia, I got the idea for Ivory from the aunt in Happy Sugar Life and from listening to the soundtracks to Silent Hill 3/4.