Big Issues
AN: Weiss' turn to have a dedicated chapter! And thanks to trickedearth5 for the fave and follow of this series. I've been enjoying the reviews I've been getting over the weeks and I hope to keep up the quality and maintain a regular schedule again. As always, I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter.
Sisters
"Weiss? What is it like to have a sister?" Penny asks as she sits on a chair in the lab. She wore a simple green robe compared to Weiss' usual clothes for missions.
"What do you mean?" Weiss was caught off guard by the question.
"It's just that…" The android hung her head. "I have very few close connections with people. I've been getting lonely."
"Well… let's make a list of those you know well, not just something you might know from their records."
"Umm… now that I'm thinking about it, that makes my list much shorter." That made both girls laugh nervously.
"But for those I'm close to… There's my father."
"That's obvious by how much you care for each other." Weiss smiled as it was Penny who often reminded the doctor to take his medicine.
"There's Ruby."
"She's good to be friends with." Weiss recalled how often in fights the pair watched each other's backs and bonded a bit over having older sisters that they looked up to. There was also the innocence that Ruby had that Weiss once thought was childish but turned out to be what drew her and Blake in as someone they could trust. But there was also someone dangerous under that fluff, if the giant scythe that could shoot high caliber rounds that she carried around and used with ease wasn't enough of a warning.
"And there's you."
"Me?" Penny responded to the simple question with a nod. "But we haven't done much to be considered friends… have we?"
The heiress remembered how long it took her to trust the girls on her team to call them friends. At first, they were simply teammates that she was stuck with. Then people she could work well with. Then… it was Ruby openly calling her a friend.
"Don't friends make time to be with others when they can? Share their feelings because they trust each other?"
"I… um…" Weiss went silent as she thought about WHAT a friend is to her. "There's a bit more to it than that but those are important."
"But what about sisters? I know you and Winter are sisters because you have the same parents but you've said Yang is your sister too. How can that be? You never even met before Beacon or have relations that I could trace. And how does Blake become your sister too when you're different species?"
Weiss dropped her face into her hands at the onslaught of questions, reminding her of how Ruby could get at times. A notable example was when they had a team 'trust training' exercise where they introduced themselves… through their weapons.
"There's actually a few different aura sensitive buttons inside to work with the locks manipulated by a few turns of my wrists so I can choose when to shoot and when to reload or to turn them on and off." Yang explains as she shows off her gauntlets, one being passed between Weiss and Blake to examine while the other is still on her wrist.
"And you made this yourself?" Blake asks as she tosses the weapon back to its owner.
"I wouldn't have thought that you'd use such technology in something so brutal." Weiss scoffed. She was secretly impressed at the craftsmanship of what almost seemed to be a simple gun in an armored glove, only to find that there was much more under the plating. Not to mention the amount of training it must have taken to use nothing but aura to control the various aspects of Ember Celica.
"C'mon Weiss! I'm more than a pretty face!" The boisterous and busty blonde laughed. "Besides, it's your turn."
Indeed it was, having decided to go youngest to oldest. It was a bit of a surprise to find that Yang wasn't the eldest among them but Blake was. Meaning that the reclusive girl went last. And Ruby had gone on for nearly an hour about 'her baby'.
Weiss sighed before taking a deep breath and straightened up even more, drawing her sword from her belt. "This is Myrtenaster. It is a multi-action Dust rapier where I am able to use the Dust within the chambers to enhance my attacks, normally in combination with my Glyphs."
"Wait… is that all?" Ruby asks, expecting that her teammate would have said more.
"This is my weapon, it is simple, elegant, and finely crafted by the best swordsmiths in Atlas."
"But what is it made of? Did you design it? Did you help forge it? What degree did you grind the cutting edge? How often do you lubricate the joints? What do you use for the lubrication?" Ruby said in rapid fire succession, making some question how much coffee and sugar she had today. Though Yang took it in stride, almost as if she were completely used to it and letting her sister loose on her teammates was a fun way to pass the time.
"I uh…" She was truely at a loss for words as she tried to process what Ruby had said, it simply came almost too fast. "I-it's made of a titanium alloy, I had very little to do with the actual designs, I left the crafting to the masters, I simply maintain the edge at what it was given to me, I do know how to maintain my own sword and I use the finest oils made by Atlas Tech every week to keep the joints clean and smooth."
"Anything else, Ice Queen?" Yang teased, beating her sister to the punch.
"I believe that is all I need to say." Weiss turned her nose up and away from the blonde, though doing so gave her a good view of Ruby examining every detail she could see without actually holding Myrtenaster.
Then they moved onto Blake and Gambol Shroud…
"Penny, sometimes family can be people you chose to be with. They may not be someone that you have romantic feelings towards but you still want them in your life and trust them completely."
Penny blinked as she processed the explanation that Weiss gave her. Honestly, the heiress tended away from emotional speech and actions if she could help it, even if her time at Beacon had loosened that a lot.
"And you trust Yang completely?"
"Yes. When she was disqualified from the Vytal Tournament, I was in full support of her from the beginning. That and ever since I… mellowed out… Yang has always acted like the big sister to our team. Trying to settle tensions but letting things play out so we can understand each other, ready to help but let us figure things out for ourselves with a little guidance. And someone you'd always want to have on your side when things get tough."
"I suppose that is because she has experience because she is an elder sister to Ruby already."
Weiss pursed her lips for a second, remembering that Yang had given her an abridged version of her family history. How she felt her heart go out to the taller girl and the strife that she went through over the years. How her own pain was always being pushed to the side to make room for the love of her family, not letting it consume her anymore. How Yang's fractured family made Weiss regret bringing the subject up, knowing that her family was whole… if distant.
"Is Blake considered a sister to you as well?"
At that, Weiss couldn't stop the smirk that formed. "If you would have asked me that this time last year, I would have said no without hesitation. But now… I do. I understand some of the problems she's had with her family and I'll do what I can to help."
She recalled how the cat girl was when she gave a brief history of her own family issues, the running away to chase after an ambition, something that they had worked so hard to achieve that she thought that it was best left to her to complete in some way. The parting that she continued to berate herself for. How she regretted her time with the White Fang as it grew more violent from mere protests to terrorists, even if the Faunus were often left with little options to make their voices heard.
"I've learned that Blake is someone who needs a lot of support from those around her, to help her with her goals and keep her head on straight. Also to keep her from getting into too much trouble."
"Doesn't Mr. Wukong do that already?"
"Ha! He does what he can and she listens to him… eventually. But we're also her teammates and count on her to watch our backs and we watch hers in turn, no matter what."
"So… Blake is the little sister in this situation?"
"I guess you could say that." Weiss laughed at the thought of the eldest in the team being treated as if she were the youngest, with her big sisters Yang and Weiss looking out for her.
"But… how do you see Ruby?"
That question made Weiss' breath hitch. In retrospect, she should have seen it coming since Penny and Ruby were friends and she was talking to the artificial girl about her team.
"Ruby is… the best friend I've ever had. Granted, my list of friends is small but my time at Beacon expanded that immensely." Weiss recalled with a smile.
"Much like your hip measurements!"
And Weiss' smile vanished at that comparison, even if she admitted to herself that it was true. Still, Penny sounded far too happy to point that out.
"Yes Penny, like that." She managed to admit with some strain.
"But how is Ruby your best friend to you?"
"Well… we had a rough start. I thought of her as just a brat who didn't take anything seriously."
"Then?"
"I had a little talk with Professor Port and found Ruby staying up late to study subjects she'd need to catch up." Weiss smiled. "Of course, Yang and myself tutored her enough to help in classes so she wasn't too far behind."
"That's very nice of you, Weiss!" Penny gleefully clapped with the praise. "I can tell you are very fond of her."
"We do work very well with each other."
—-
"Doctor?"
"Yes Weiss?"
"I was wondering, if Penny is capable of generating her own aura and using it, why didn't it prevent her… injuries… that night?"
Pietro paused on the minor repairs on Penny's open chest, a few other parts meant for upgrades sitting on a tray nearby.
The old man let out a sigh as he looked at his daughters 'sleeping' face. "I'll admit that part of it was oversight on my part. Another part is due to the difficulty of managing the task." He sat down his tools and faced the pear shaped heiress.
"You see, a lot of it comes down to exactly how her aura works… and why she has aura in the first place." Pietro took a deep breath and let his green aura pulse over himself briefly before it broke and faded.
"It… it's your aura?"
"Yes, yes it is. You see, about a decade ago I was tasked with leading a team of Atlas's best experts in studying aura. To find out what it is made of, how it works, how it is generated. Even to find out why Semblances form from an aura.
That led to us finally building a way to siphon off and store aura for study away from the one that produced it. Needless to say, we were rather successful in that endeavor." He paused to chuckle at the memories.
"We even found a way to transfer aura from one person to another and built the machines to do so but we stopped before it came to human testing. One among our task force grew irritated that we refused to go further but General Hickory put his foot down. That project had been very useful but we weren't going to break ethics rules."
Pietro turned back to Penny and stroked her hair. "But General Ironwood soon took over after Hickory retired and asked us to use what we had learned in our aura experiments to create something new that could run on aura. Many plans were made from gunships to simply upgrading the Knights to a massive walking weapons platform.
But it was the P.E.N.N.Y. Project that was given the approval in the end. And there came my ability to split my aura, and put it into the generator within her chest to make what was once little more than a robot into the first artificial life form.
I had made sure that there was a backup system in place, a small aura battery of sorts, in her head in case her body would fail in some way. That way, if her head could be recovered quickly enough and she had the opportunity to put her systems in hibernation mode, I could attach her battery to a new generator.
Thankfully, I have a little fox to thank for helping to not only recovering Penny, but for sealing her systems as well. James made sure that she was on the first airship out of Vale to meet with mine so that I could patch her up before bringing her home."
"Would have splitting your aura for Penny again hurt you? If it came down to it, I mean."
"It wouldn't kill me, if that's what you were thinking, but I am getting old and aura does help with the healing quite a bit. Another transfer probably would have shortened my life by a few years… but I would have done it again anyway to bring my daughter back."
Weiss couldn't help but long for that sort of care from her parents. Her father having told everyone that he only married her mother for the company and wealth it had. 'Best birthday present ever!' She thought to herself sarcastically, as she tended to do when that memory came to her. And that was among the better memories she had of him.
And her mother had been driven into drinking her woes away, stuck in a loveless marriage and too afraid to retaliate against him. Her distancing from her children was a side effect of the alcoholism though the visit from her daughters gave her a weekend of sobriety that she enjoyed. They had managed to catch up on many things, even if Willow had poked both girls for their weights; physically and jokingly, during that time. They hoped that they could have another few days to do more together.
"But the systems designed for her aura to power her movements and to react to the world and learn, they are meant to keep her aura in her." Pietro begins the true explanation. "Her aura storage and generator can only handle so much before she shows signs of fatigue due to overuse. The ability to create a defensive barrier around her would rapidly deplete her reserves, even with as large as they are compared to most. I've yet to create a way to do so efficiently."
"Don't her swords shoot lasers powered by her aura?"
"Ah, the Floating Array. One of my creations that combine art, technology, and combat in an elegant package." The old man smiles. "It wasn't made with Penny in mind, but for Huntsmen and Huntresses wanting to compete but having frail or failing bodies."
He points to the small backpack that contained the weapons that his daughter used. "A largely self contained system that uses a neural link, hand gestures, and aura feed and conversion system for low physical demands but high efficiency battle power."
"Wow."
"Yes, and with Penny, I was able to largely skip over the neural link meant for organic beings and integrate it right into her own systems through her back. She's been able to take the Floating Array further than I ever dreamed of."
Weiss felt a twinge of jealousy in hearing the pride the father had in his daughter but she let it pass. "And how does she control them? I'm assuming it has to do with the wires that … hurt her."
"Ah, yes… that. Nanotubes to carry aura and give them great strength and durability, those wires have a direct connection between Penny and her swords. Each sword has its own bit of a mind along with the aura sensitive controls, a bit of Dust, and the shifting components of the weapons. A little brain in each so that they can coordinate between blades without the user having to control each individually, allowing them to focus on the actual targets.
And those 'lasers'? Those are actually blasts of pure aura that each sword has a small generator to amplify before firing out. She even found that when rotating the generators quickly in a tight formation, they amplify the total power, granting her those massive blasts that she could destroy entire Bullheads with ease."
"For someone with so much power, she does come off as innocent."
"I may have some hand in that with her initial programming and her relative isolation from the rest of the world." Pietro admits with a guilty grin and chuckle as he scratched his head.
Weiss laughed with him until another question came to mind. "Doctor? What happened to the rest of the team from the projects?"
"Well… let's see. If memory serves me right, Scarlatina is still making advances in hard light technology in a lab not too far from mine. We talk every now and then to share ideas and get new viewpoints.
Bitters and Lemon retired last year but still do some consulting work as well as running minor experiments in home labs. Pretty sure that Aspin is helping out in the academy with weapon development. And Watts… there was an accident in his lab a few years ago… such a shame that a brilliant mind like his to be snuffed out, even if he lacked humility most of the time."
—-
Somewhere in the massive area known as rural Mistral, better known as the middle of nowhere, a young teen worked on his aunt's farm. They didn't have too much in the way of money or supplies and so he had to plow fields by hand with a hoe and a few other tools.
A simple compost heap filled with scraps from meals and other vegetation from the property served as fertilizer beyond the unused parts of the crops that were plowed under after harvest. Compost consisting of grass trimmings, raked leaves, uneaten or spoiled fruit and vegetables, bones, some meats, and whatever else blew or fell in made for some very dark soil after a few years of building up and turning so it could be broken down. A handy door at the bottom of the large bins allowing the farmhand to gain access to the oldest and best.
It wasn't very often that the farm cleaned out the outhouse but when they did, the solids were tossed into the compost. As much as it stank, they couldn't deny the results of the fertilizer in the end. And the young man was very glad that the other farmhands had been tasked with that and not him.
Once the small plots of the land were turned over during the course of the day, he pumped water from the well and added it to the large mixing barrel already loaded with the fertilizer. Once mixed, he'd add that mixture to every hole he'd deposit the seeds for the crop in that particular plot. More fertilizer would be added later once the plants sprouted; a trick that his aunt insisted on using all the time with great success.
"Peas… carrots… radishes… lettuce, celery… where's the cabbages?" He looked around for the sack of seeds only to find them being played with by one of the cats his aunt kept around to hunt mice. "Not again." He groans, that cat never allowed him to be near without at least scratching him once. "Not my cabbages."
—-
"I've been afraid, never standing on my own
I let you be the keeper of my pride
Believed you when you told me I was nothing on my own
Listen when I say, I swear it here today
I will not surrender, this life is mine!"
Weiss was singing in the bar that the Happy Huntresses frequented, the heiress becoming a common sight with the other girls over the months. And right now, they were performing in a very packed room with the doors and windows opened to allow those closest to the establishment to hear. Not to mention the many scrolls that were recording the performance for later viewing and sharing with their friends and family.
The song had started out hauntingly beautiful and the rhythm picked up as it went on with each verse. And this next one was no different, yet what nobody could deny was the emotions behind the lyrics, how they came from deep within.
"Amazing how you conquered me
Chained me in servility and made me see
The world the way you told me to
But I was young and didn't have a way to know the truth"
The song went on, detailing the life of a woman desperate to break out from her fathers shadow and influence. How he controlled every aspect of her life and she refused to bend to his will any longer.
"I WILL NOT SURRENDER
THIS LIFE IS MINE!"
The entire style of the music changed to that of a rock and roll concert, complete with the girls playing the instruments banging their heads with the increased pace and May shredding on her guitar. "Sing it girl!" The blue haired woman yelled encouragingly as she played and her friend continued to pour out her heart in song.
"I guess your training failed, you're not in charge I'm free
Your patriarchal prison won't hold me!"
Between the words and the music backing her, Weiss had plenty of fans in the crowd tonight. Maybe some of that was due to her losing herself in the music and when the real shift in the song hit, she had pulled off her tiara-like hairpiece and tossed it to the side -thankfully where Robyn caught it- and let her knee length silvery-white hair flow free of all restraints.
"I will not surrender
This life is mine!"
The song finally ended and the cheers were nearly deafening, many being sure that half of Mantle could hear the uproar and many who were watching the video live only made sure the noise spread.
If Weiss Schnee wasn't a respected figure in the old capital before, she certainly was one now. Many who listened to her songs could match some of the rumors to the girl thanks to the music and tell that she sang of her own experiences, making it little wonder why there was so much passion behind the words. And it resonated with the people.
Many knew that the young Schnee had become a supporter of Robyn Hill in her bid to be elected into a seat on the Atlas Council, giving Mantle a true voice in the running of the kingdom. There were more than a few who remained skeptical simply because of her family name and company practices, even though she had no control over either.
Still, minds and hearts were won over by her voice.
—-
Jacques Schnee sat in his office, having just watched the video on his own scroll. Normally he would have ignored something as trivial as someone singing in a bar but when it came to his daughter, all he could think about was how she was refusing to follow his orders and how she was dirtying herself down in Mantle. As if the public image wasn't bad enough with her coming back to Atlas roughly three times bigger than when she left for Beacon, she refused to return to the manor and flatly ignored all of his attempts to speak to her.
"Perhaps I should use Klein's scroll to reach her next time." He mused to himself.
He had failed so far to persuade his wayward daughter to come home. Cutting off her access to the family fortune hadn't deterred her when she was at Beacon, he hadn't bothered to reverse that since Beacon fell. Going through his connections in the military was like pushing himself against an iron wall in an attempt to pass through it. James was blocking any attempts to call or meet with either of his daughters under his control.
He was beginning to consider looking into which officers might be 'morally loose' to help him bring his daughter home.
The fact that the Council had considered an embargo on everything and everyone going in and out of Atlas was bad enough but he should count himself lucky that they settled for restrictions and inspections instead. There were those people who instigated the attack at Beacon still unaccounted for and many of the White Fang had slipped away in the confusion.
"Damn animals." The old man scoffed before turning to his computer to find his contacts.
—-
"Hyah!" Weiss yelled as she stabbed Myrtenaster through the skull of a Sabyr.
She had been sent on a mission to clear Grimm with Clover, Vine, and Harriet and most things were going well. They had found the concentration of beasts hiding in a valley and caused an avalanche to bury most of them. The problem came when it was time to finish off the rest of them, the snow having not settled and there were loose drifts and air pockets along with other debris to worry about.
Summer in Atlas was always short and as far as anyone knew, only the southern reaches of the continent ever thawed. In the northern area where their mission took them, snow often lay nearly year round. Few plants were hardy enough to withstand the freezing temperatures beyond the conifers and what did grow had to grow fast before the next frost and snow.
Instead of going into the danger zone to fight in unstable conditions, the team had allowed the Grimm to come to them. By the time the beasts reached them, they were tired and injured, only driven by their bloodlust.
Weiss had her sword, and Clover a modified fishing pole, Harriet had her power suit arms, and Vine made extensive use of his semblance. With everything they had to bring against the Grimm, it didn't take them too long to wrap things up, even if they weren't going to try digging in the snow to check that all of the Grimm had been killed when they were buried.
"How have you been doing, Weiss?" Clover asked out of nowhere as they sat in the transport on their way back home.
"What do you mean? We accomplished our mission without injuries to ourselves and there were no civilians to worry about." The youngest in the truck responded.
"Not the mission, you. You've been finding yourself getting pulled all over the place with no real chance to rest." The leader of the Ace Ops actually sounded concerned for her well-being. Then again, the young man was unusually relaxed for someone in his position, taking the job and leading the team more like they were all siblings rather than soldiers. At the same time, they were all professionals and knew their strengths and weaknesses and the rest of their teams, allowing them to cover for each other as needed.
"Yeah, where do you keep going in Mantle anyway?" Harriet sounded suspicious. The shortest on the official team was easy to anger, something that was unique to her but she also kept her focus enough to push through obstacles to complete her missions and roles. And her rolls didn't slow her down too much either, though Weiss was fond of the memory where she sparred the woman and raised two pillars of ice to trap her hips that even her speed couldn't get her out of.
"You have not seen?" Vine asked his teammate. The stoic man was practically a monk from stories, rarely showing any emotions beyond being weary of the clashes of attitudes that inevitably occurred when the team was together and not distracted by their mission.
"Seen what?" Harriet huffed irritatedly as she leaned back in her seat.
"A bit out of touch, aren't we Hare?" Clover laughed as he opened his scroll and a few taps later, he made Harriet's ring with a new message.
"Alright, what is it?" The rotund speedster drew her scroll from a pocket and opened the message. And the truck was soon filled with the sound of music and a certain young woman singing.
Several songs filled the cabin of their transportation, making the time pass quickly as they sat in silence. When the final song played and cheers were the only thing that could be heard, Harriet turned off the video.
"So she's got a nice set of pipes on her, am I supposed to be impressed?"
"Really? That's all you have to say?" Clover was dumbfounded at the dismissal. "Your teammate has as much talent behind the microphone as she does on the battlefield and you're not impressed?"
"I find that her music can be quite relaxing… and I have found myself meditating on the meaning behind the lyrics. You can feel the emotions within every word." Vine defended the girl that was getting flustered from the praise.
"Ha! I really liked it in that last one when she really cut loose and let her hair out!" Their leader laughed, missing that Weiss had dropped her face into her hands.
"Ah, is that sweet? You have a couple fans here." Harriet smirks. "Good thing we're back at base so I can get out of here."
The short woman opened the door as soon as the truck parked and squeezed her way out the exit. Behind her, the other three stood up to get out themselves.
"She really needs to find a way to relax, she's stressing me out with her attitude." Clover sighs as he rubs the heel of his hand into his forehead before following his subordinate.
"I do hope that you are not letting her upset you." Vine says as Weiss stepped towards the door ahead of him.
"Honestly, I've learned to let that roll off of me a while ago. I had plenty of practice with my father."
Vine pursed his lips, trying to not to voice his thoughts on the man. He tried to always remain impartial on most things but the man that ran the SDC… he never heard anything good about the man without sarcasm being used. And his position gave him more access to various aspects of Atlas than what most would expect, allowing him to see many of the things that go on behind the curtains.
But his exit had to wait because Weiss had gotten her hips wedged in the door… again. Normally she'd turn for these narrower doors but the conversation must have made that slip her mind or she misjudged how far from the door she was.
"Can…can I have a hand here?" The heiress was rightly embarrassed but at least with Vine available, she didn't have to worry about a boot the her rump like a certain speedster has done before.
"Of course." From his hands, constructs of his own aura came into existence and extended his reach drastically. It also helped that he didn't need to touch her directly, reducing the awkwardness as he slipped the large aura hands around her and gave the girl a slight squeeze and twist so she could escape her confines.
"Thanks."
"We really need to ask for larger doors." Vine muttered, remembering when Elm was having a bad day and her bulk got her stuck. She was cautious before at her normal weight but at her current size… just because she didn't use her weapon it didn't mean that she couldn't rip the bumper off. Or the door. Or the back wall. And the bench seats…
Needless to say that the motor pool crew were wary of her around vehicles and the team let her ride in the front.
—-
"Winter, you're late." Weiss was irritated at her sister. The woman was someone who was a stickler for the rules and regulations… to a large extent, and especially so when it came to showing up on time to meet with someone.
"My apologies. I was occupied with a task from General Ironwood and lost track of time. It was also a long walk to get here." The elder Schnee made her excuse as she sat down more heavily than she intended, the chair groaned but little else.
"What were you doing?" Weiss was curious but they were going to have another visit with their mother. The fact that it was close to her nineteenth birthday made it extra special for her since they've reconnected.
Winter closed her eyes and took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. "There's an old friend of General Ironwood's who's getting up in age and her memory is getting away from her. She's not faring very well overall either, the stresses of her years as a Huntress are catching up with her now that she's nearly ninety."
"Is this a personal favor for Ironwood?"
"Partially. Call it a fine line between favor, duty, and being a fan for helping her be as comfortable as possible in her final days."
"Is it that bad?" Hearing the expected time of life this woman saddened her but at the same time, she was curious as to who her sister was assisting.
"Between her age making her frail, and her memory making it difficult for her to recognise half of the people who spend the most time around her or even where she is… she's largely confined to her room and even then she spends most of that in bed."
"Oh." Weiss was silent as they waited for Klein to pick them up, he insisted. "Would I know her?"
"Perhaps. But Freia had retired before I was born. Sometime when her first grandchild was born is when she decided that she should leave things to the next generation and help raise her family. She does have a few great grandchildren now, though it's only on good days that she remembers their names anymore. There is a large photo album she has and spends lots of time looking through."
"Does… does she remember what happened in the pictures?"
"Many of them, yes. Some of those memories are deeply ingrained and she can recall those moments with surprising detail. Others… not so much."
"I'm sorry." Weiss hung her head.
"Don't be." Winter insisted, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder, making her look up in slight confusion. "Freia lived a long life with a distinguished career as a Huntress and has a large and loving family with friends to help them and her. There is little for her to regret and it's best to help her finish life as comfortably as possible."
Weiss stared at her sister speaking so softly and sincerely, a display that she only kept a mask of indifference for the public but was more than willing to take it off for her and few others to show that she trusts them immensely.
BEEP BEEP
A white car pulled up to the curb nearby the lobby they sat in, Klein in the driver's seat and waving to them with a smile.
"We best not keep mother waiting."
"No, we shouldn't."
—-
"Schnee, glad you could make it." James Ironwood greets Weiss and Winter as they walk into his office. Farkas was already standing nearby.
"Sir!" The sisters saluted their commanding officer.
"At ease." James returned the salute and sat down in his chair, a holographic screen popping up almost immediately. "Now, I have a mission for the three of you."
He paused as he saw them straighten up just a little more. It was always something he found equally amusing and gratifying.
"This mission will primarily be to test Farkas' skills to be inducted into the Ace Ops. Specialist Schnee will be evaluating your performance for the duration of the mission. Cadet Schnee will be along to assist… and because this pertains to her personally as well."
That last part garnered heightened attention and the pride of those in the room was replaced with concerns.
"Why is that, sir?" Weiss asks hesitantly.
The General took a deep breath through his nose before answering, getting up and pacing behind his desk to show his agitation. "One of our informants in Mistral reported that bounties have been placed on certain Atlas personnel. You are one of them." He directly looked at the youngest in the room.
"Why me?" While it was sad to say that Weiss was used to having a target on her back, it was mostly because of the White Fang. They had been known to kidnap and ransom board members and friends of the Schnee Dust Company, some of them ending in executions. It was no secret that they'd love to get their hands on the Schnee family in particular, which Jacques being their primary goal
"We're not sure. That's part of the reason you'll be investigating this as the mission. The only things we do know about these bounties so far, pertaining to you, is that you are to be unharmed and worth five million lien."
"That seems a bit low. Ow!" Weiss' comment was interrupted by her sister's elbow in her ribs.
The men in the room glanced at each other about the sisters but there was some amusement shared in spite of the situation.
"So… Weiss is the bait for this mission?" Farkas asks, getting them back on topic.
"Sadly, yes. But she is also not a helpless woman. I'll leave it to you to find a way to lure out anyone who would be trying to cash in on the bounty. From there, you should be able to turn the tables on them, interrogate, and find out where the bounty is being issued from. Once we have that information, we will investigate who and why they are targeting Atlas citizens." Ironwood declares.
"When do we begin?" Farkas asks.
"You leave in three days. Prepare yourselves for anything and begin making your plans. I'll send all of the details we have so far to your scrolls." With a few buttons pressed on his desk, the three heard their scrolls chime from their pockets, causing them to pull them out and verify that they did receive the information. The file wasn't large, the limitations of the disabled CCT system causing the worst of the problems and the Ace Ops were among the few that were on the very limited access. Any information they collected could be sent straight to the General from Mistral, unlike the informants.
"You are dismissed, and good luck to you all." Ironwood salutes them.
"Yes sir!" They return the salute and leave the office, heading straight to their usual briefing room to go over the information they were given and what they knew about Mistral that could help them.
—-
Weiss sat in her seat in the Manta that was carrying her to Mistral. The team had been provided one airship for each of them along with a pilot and copilot to get them there and provide support as needed.
But the flight was a long one and they flew separately, giving Weiss plenty of time to think to herself without distraction. She enjoyed watching the early summer greenery as they passed it by, it was a drastic difference from the white and grey of home or the blue of the ocean between the continents.
She couldn't help but remember the last visit to her mother. The woman had been able to stay away from the harder drinks while she was around, thanks to Klein choosing her drinks as he provided their refreshments. And the cake they shared was as divine as she knew the cook could make from her childhood, the four of them ensuring that there wasn't a trace left for Jacques or Whitley to question.
But it was easily the best birthday celebration Weiss had since her childhood… if she didn't count on the one at Beacon when the sisters found out and threw an impromptu party for her.
Getting JNPR involved only added to that and Sun had heard about it from Blake when she tried to use him as an excuse to get away from the noise of setting things up to surprise Weiss when she came back from the library. The monkey boy had managed to sweet talk her into helping… though the sushi he had helped to pay for may have been the real persuasion. Nobody but Blake remembered tasting it at all once the party started.
Granted, this was before the Issue had ever even been thought of as a possibility and they stuffed themselves on all kinds of foods that had been hastily gathered or made in that afternoon. Nora had pulled a bunch of streamers and balloons from… somewhere while Ren, Yang, and Jaune proved themselves to be adept in the kitchen. Pyrrha, Ruby decorated while Sun kept Blake away from the sushi proving that it was a full time job to keep her from giving into her temptations.
Weiss remembered that she nearly drew Myrtenaster and froze the room when she opened her dorm room and was greeted with "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEISS!"
Presents were nonexistent that day, unless one counted the 'Official BFF of Ruby Rose' card that Ruby had made up for her at some point. The gifts that her friends gave her later weren't much either, unable to think of what to give to a girl who had nearly everything and had the money to buy what she wanted when she wanted it. They had settled on taking her to restaurants and treating her over two weekends, one per team.
Looking back, maybe she shouldn't have taken advantage of their generosity as much as she did, even if they didn't take her to places that she would have normally eaten at. Though it had proven to be a good thing that RWBY had dragged Sun along with them because of that, he had to pitch in on the bill since Blake didn't have too much to begin with and the sisters didn't exactly have deep pockets.
Pyrrha was a different case, having the money to easily make up for what Ren and Nora lacked. Jaune made his own generous contribution, and she had found out that day that he has seven sisters of his own.
Weiss watched the scenery pass by, the near endless sea of trees broken up by the occasional river, lake, or clearing filled with grassland, mountains being passed over and around. From her wallet, she slipped the card that Ruby had made for her last year. It was slightly worn from before it was laminated but the red paper with white writing in her hand was still as vibrant as when it was gifted to her.
Then there was the hug back in the hospital room in Vale where Blake and Yang had both declared her to be a sister to them and her in turn. Three girls who bonded and chose to be a family by their own choice, who refused to let the world tear them apart even as they took different paths.
"I really hope that we can get back together again." She mutters as she takes one last look at the card as she slipped it back into her wallet, stashing that back into its pocket and withdrawing her scroll, the playlist of pictures and short videos of her time at Beacon playing once again. She had lost track of how many times she had watched it, only that she had nearly memorized every detail by now, but she found it soothing to see her friends again. Her sisters. Even if only in pictures.
AN: And there we have it! Weiss' highlights for roughly during the course of February to June. Fun talks that go deep, fond memories, a bit of action. A certain farmer butting in with a meme.
Next time, we'll be following Team RNNJR for a bit on their adventures and what they've been up to since we left off with them. Largely will be covering the same timeframe as we just did with Weiss here. And you all may guess that Blake will have a focus in chapter 60 based on that pattern. After that... we'll likely be back to jumping from one group to another. And we do have a certain group that has been neglected as of late. We'll get to them later.
As always, reviews are always welcome! See you all next time!