Question: How does everyone like the every other day posting schedule for this story? I'd like to know for I MIGHT try to update daily instead, but that's a big might.
Here's chapter 4, everyone.
Summer was sighing to herself when she wiped off some sweat from her forehead, glancing over at her scroll. "Hmm." She put her tools down for a moment, but before she reached for the scroll, she looked over at the blueprint design Willow left her. "No, no, I have to get this done first."
The blacksmith grinned and put her goggles on, grabbing the silver colored material she had and started getting to work on it.
"It'll be better to get this started now. I'll give them a call in a few hours."
Summer said to herself in mind, but she did wish she had made the decision to go back to Patch much sooner. As she was thinking though, she heard the door to her workshop open, so she looked up and smiled when she saw who it was. "Soooo, what took you so long this time? You missed Willow you know."
"Might be for the best." The woman with dark black hair said as she set her sword down on the table, looking annoyed at something. "The hunt didn't go so well this time."
"You can't have a perfect hunt every time, Raven." Summer said, pulling her goggles up as she walked over to her. "Come on. Don't beat yourself up over this."
"Eh, it's not that." Raven replied, looking at the blade she placed on the table. "It's more of what I saw during my hunt."
Summer was a bit curious, so she pulled up the chair and sat down. "Okay, well you know me. I don't mind hearing a good story."
"Honestly it feels more like a fairy tale come to life." Raven explained, earning a confused look from the blacksmith. "You've heard of the stories where animals can turn into people, right? We talked about it once."
"Hmm, oh yeah! I remember now. What about it?" Summer inquired.
Raven looked up at the ceiling, contemplating whether she really did see what she saw. "Faunus are people with animal traits. Humans, well, are humans, but that story we read… The animals were born as such. Animals, but they have aura, and can become human. Something no one believed, but what I saw… It may not be a story after all, Summer."
Summer's eyes widened. "Are you telling me you saw an animal become a human?" When Raven nodded, Summer thought for a moment. "Hold on. Maybe it was just their semblance. You know, a person becoming an animal. They just turned back is all."
"I don't think it's as simple as that. No one in recorded history has a semblance like that, and not only that, but the woman I saw… didn't exactly have anything on when she changed." Raven had a bit of a blush on.
"O-Oh… Uh, well hey, we can't be certain it has anything to do with that story. I mean, did you even try to approach this woman?" Summer asked.
Raven shook her head. "Noises scared her off. Not my own, but something else. I couldn't tell what it was, but when I tried to give chase, the moment I had lost sight of her, she was gone."
Summer frowned in response. "It sounds like she was afraid of something, or someone."
"Maybe, but what really made me think about that story was the size of her when she was a wolf. She wasn't just a plain old adult wolf, Summer. She was massive." Raven stated.
"Like… A house?" When Raven nodded, Summer whistled in amazement. "Wow, okay, maybe those stories were telling the truth."
"Could be, but it's honestly distracted me a lot more than it should." Raven sighed and watched as Summer ran over, so she raised an eyebrow.
After a few minutes, the blacksmith ran back with a cup of coffee. "I made one for Willow, so I can't not make you one too. Wouldn't be fair, y'know." She chuckled and placed the hot cup on the table, earning a bit of a smile from Raven.
"Thanks. But… Uh, look, Qrow was with me during the hunt and mentioned something about Yang… Um, how is she?" Raven looked at her cup, avoiding looking at Summer when she asked.
Summer knew the divorce between Raven and Tai put a wedge in their family, so she sat back down and rubbed her back. "Hey, don't worry. Yang is doing just fine. She still asks for you too by the way."
Raven lifted her head up, surprised by that. "S-She does? But-."
"The fight was shitty. I can't lie, but even still, she cares about you. I know you visit… Not as much as I feel you should," Summer sighed. "Sorry for being honest there… But I really do think that you should see her again real soon."
Raven looked down at her coffee, and then at her blade, closing her eyes to take a breath. "Maybe…"
"I won't force you to, Raven. But I will at least suggest a call. That much you owe her." Summer said in a more serious tone. "I've watched her grow, Raven. She does take after you in some regard." The blacksmith stood up and walked over to her desk. "I need to work on this weapon for Willow, but you're welcome to stay as long as you want."
"Yeah… Wait, a weapon for Willow? What for?" Raven questioned.
"You remember Weiss? Her youngest daughter." Summer looked over to see Raven nod. "Well she's shown interest in what we do, so Willow asked me to make her a weapon she can use in the future."
Raven was surprised by that, since the one time she saw Weiss was when she was only three. "I never thought Willow would even consider letting her kids use weapons when they're older."
"Willow is overly loving, yes, but she wants her kids to be happy, Raven." Summer said, beginning work on the material. "And if that means hearing what THEY want to do with their lives, then she's an even better mom for that."
While hearing the sounds of tools being used, Raven sighed to herself and took a sip of her coffee, thinking about what Summer said. As she looked down at her reflection in the coffee, she could picture what Yang would look like when she was older.
"What can I do at this point? She asks for me, but what if she just wants to tell me how mad she is?"
Raven shook her head and stood up, grabbing her sword as she sheathed it. "I'm going upstairs." She said to Summer, not even waiting on a response as she walked up the wooden staircase.
Summer lifted her goggles up for just a few minutes, sighing to herself when she saw Raven go into her room. "Damn it, Raven… I'll need to talk to Qrow about getting through that thick skull of yours." She put her goggles back on and went back to work.
A black limo parked up next to Willow's car, and the driver quickly got out, walking over to the back door as he opened it, bowing. Jacques stepped out and waited, watching as the driver closed the door behind him.
Jacques looked over to see Willow's car was parked and rolled his eyes, feeling she had no use of a car in the first place, but her argument to own one was too much for him to care to fight back. The CEO brushed it off and walked to the front door, pressing his finger on the scanner and walking in once the light flashed green
As he walked in, the servants present near the front door wasted no time and bowed to him, hoping he wouldn't stop to berate them on how they bowed. The CEO paid them no mind and walked up the stairs, one thought in mind as he looked down the hall when he made it to the second floor. What he saw made him groan in annoyance. It was the room Winter and Weiss shared, its door opened slightly as he could hear Weiss laughing happily.
Jacques knew what he promised, but to him she wasn't at the top of his priority list, so he turned around and made his way to Whitley's room. Once he walked inside, he saw his son sleeping in his bed.
"Sleeping through the day. I can only blame Willow for babying you so damn much."
"Whitley!" Jacques raised his voice and the four year old grumbled in his sleep before opening his eyes, looking over at his father who had his arms behind his back. Sadly the boy wasn't allowed to respond as Jacques cut him off. "If you are going to be my heir, then you are not to laze about sleeping all day. Get changed. You are to come with me so we can discuss the next business trip I'll take you on."
The boy nodded, not wanting to make his dad mad, so he started changing. Jacques walked out of his room and waited, but he glared down the hallway, taking note of the opened door again.
"Ugh, may as well get this over with to shut that woman up."
He knew his son would take time to change, so he walked down the hall until he reached Winter and Weiss' room. "Mama, can we play knight? Pretty please." Jacques heard Weiss plead, rolling his eyes as the next voice was his wife.
"Of course we can, snowflake." Jacques growled at how his wife just says yes so easily, so he walked in, glaring at his wife as Weiss gasped when she saw him walking in.
"Daddy!" Weiss jumped off of her mom's lap and was about to run over, but she stopped halfway since she remembered her 'dad' didn't like her running around the house. "O-Oh, I'm sorry for running… But you're here, daddy." She did her best to smile up at the man she believed was her father.
Willow saw the glare he gave her and gave an equally annoyed glare back, but motioned her eyes down at Weiss to tell him to stop being an ass, so the CEO rolled his eyes and put on a fake smile. "Yes, I am. I still have much more business to attend to today, mostly with Whitley."
Hearing that made Willow's heart drop. "What? No, he's still asleep and I was planning to have him join us for dinner."
"One, he is not asleep. I woke him. Two, I specifically told you that our son is to learn the family business that gives this family a home and food on the table." Jacques fired back, making Weiss frown.
Winter decided not to stay quiet. "Father, you don't need Whitley all day. He can at least have dinner with us. Please."
Willow was thankful her eldest daughter was also trying to help, and Jacques crossed his arms. "And why should I jeopardize my son's future on a simple din-."
"Please, daddy… I wanna see Whitley." Weiss softly spoke, holding her 'dad's' leg with one hand, looking up at him with saddened eyes. "P-Please."
Jacques sighed in annoyance. "Fine, but this is the only time I will allow this." He pulled away from Weiss, making her tense up a bit since he made her get off. Once he turned around, he spoke again. "I only came here to say this once. Happy birthday." With that he walked off, hoping that after that, Willow would leave him alone.
Weiss stood there, looking at the doorway where Jacques had walked through, looking like she was about to cry, but she didn't because her mom knelt down next to her and wrapped her arms around her. "Don't worry, snowflake. I'll make sure your brother gets to spend time with you today. It's your special day after all, and what you want, I'll always make happen."
Winter walked over and knelt down as well, but in front of her sister, moving her hand to the top of her head and gently patting it a few times. "You know mom always tells the truth, little sister." That finally got Weiss to smile, so Winter smiled back, ruffling her hair. "There's the smile."
Willow picked Weiss up, making her yelp cutely, but something Winter had said got to her.
"I haven't told the truth always, Winter… I wish I could, but I can't.
Her thoughts were only there for a moment, since Willow's dedication to her children was stronger. "How about we start playing knight, snowflake? What do you say?"
Weiss turned in her mom's arms and hugged her neck, nodding happily. "Yeah!"
Whitley was changed in his dress shoes and buttoned, collared shirt as he walked next to his father. "F-Father, where is mommy at?" He asked since she was usually the one who woke him.
"Nowhere important, son. Now don't ask any more questions. I'll be assigning you a tutor come your fifth birthday to get an early start on your studies." Jacques explained, hearing his son sigh, so he stopped in his tracks. "Is there a problem with that?"
"N-No, father." Whitley didn't frown since his father was looking directly at him, so he kept his posture up and heard his father hum in response, so he followed him again when he started walking again.
As they walked down the hall, Whitley noticed his sisters' door was open and heard Weiss yelling happily as Willow and Winter were making monster noises. He had stopped for just a moment, his father not noticing as he slowly walked over, peeking in and seeing Weiss swing her toy sword at both Willow and Winter, who both pretended to fall in pain to show she won.
He let out a happy gasp and was about to walk in, but felt his father grab his arm. "Huh?"
Jacques looked down at him in anger. "Do not walk off from me." He dragged him away from the room and kept his grip on his arm, though not enough to hurt him. "What they're doing in there is a waste of time and I don't want you falling in line with their antics. Do I make myself clear?"
Whitley almost didn't answer, well more as he felt he couldn't answer since seeing his family playing around and having fun made him feel happier than he's been on any business trip. Still, he knew staying quiet wasn't an option. "Y-Yes, father."
"Good." Jacques said nothing else, keeping his grip on his son's arm as he walked him to his office.
As Weiss was gently swinging her toy sword at her mom and sister, she giggled happily and sat down, satisfied at her little game of knight. "Hehe! I beat you and Winter, mama."
Willow rolled onto her back and sat up, nodding at her daughter. "Yes you did, snowflake, or should I say shining knight?" Weiss blushed when she said that, not knowing her mom heard her call herself that. "Don't be embarrassed, sweetie. I think it's a wonderful title."
Weiss was still blushing lightly, but she had a smile on her face, but pouted when Winter was smirking at her in a teasing manner. "Wiiinnnter! Stop making those faces at me! Mama says it's a great title."
"And I did say mom always tells the truth." Those words stung Willow again. "So yes, it is a great title, but don't think I won't tease you to no end on your performance in front of the mirror when you announced yourself as the shining knight for the first time." Her smirk stayed and she saw Weiss grumbling. "Don't be so pouty. One day you could actually have a whole crowd watching you slay monsters as the shining knight you want to be."
Hearing that made Weiss' pout fade, as her face looked more shocked. "R-Really? People would watch me fight as the shining knight?"
"I don't see why not, little sister." Winter knew how much Weiss wanted to become a huntress, so she always encouraged her to keep chasing her dream.
Weiss had a huge grin on her face and grabbed her toy sword, holding it up high. "Yeah! I'll do it, Winter! I'll grow up and be the shining knight!"
Winter walked over, hugging her as she was happy and proud of her little sister, while Willow took her scroll out, wanting to save this moment forever. She snapped a picture of the sisters and wiped away a tear, feeling like she was truly honoring the promise she made to Lazuria.
And this continues the change in the history of characters. Fanfiction is fun for that reason of course. Raven is still avoiding her family, though not as heavily as canon. And Summer just wants her to connect with them again.
As for the Schnee family, well, Jacques is more or less still a jerk. Whitley is a child here, so don't expect what he is like in canon, well, at least not now. And Weiss gets to have a loving mother, a sister who just like in canon cares for her, and a brother she wants to spend time with. So again, expect differences on characters here.
To JJ- Yeah, I love it. And while I do find writing Jacques a chore, he does bring in conflict to the story, which is needed, since this kind of story can't just be easy going in every aspect. And at least in canon she has Winter and Klein. Here, I'm happy to give her much more.
To GoldElite245- Jacques Schnee is a character everyone in the fandom hates, or at least a majority of the fandom. And that's technically a good thing, since a villain is supposed to be hated, so you'll see more on his bs soon enough.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 4. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 5.