Here's chapter 7, everyone.
"Wait what?! You got accepted into Beacon?!" Weiss yelled over her scroll, astonished by the news her friend had given her. "You're… You're still fifteen though. How did you-?" Before she could continue, she heard a giggle from her friend.
"Calm down, Weiss. I just got tangled in a hunt that I sort of… Accidentally ended up on. You know how it is." Ruby gave her a nervous chuckle, Weiss seeing through her lie with no issue.
"Uh huh. So you snuck onto a hunt somehow and instead of being punished, you were praised for it." Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ruby, I don't know where to begin on how dangerous that is."
Weiss heard Ruby groan over the scroll. "Ugh, I know, okay. Mom scolded me about it and dad was… a bit annoyed that I'd even think about doing something so reckless, but when they saw that I was accepted into Beacon because of it, they were really happy… So… Are you happy for me?"
"You dunce." Weiss let out a small smile. "Of course I am. I just don't want you being so reckless, though now it looks like you, Yang and I will be able to go to Beacon together."
"Yeah! It's gonna be awesome! Oh, did I tell you that my uncle Qrow helped me make my new scythe? It's called Crescent Rose." Ruby clearly was excited to talk about her weapon.
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "A new one already? I thought you made one a few months ago."
"I did, but it was just a test model. This one's the real deal. I was gonna tell you about it when I got to Beacon… In two years, buuuuut, since I was pushed up a couple of years, I thought it be best to tell you now. Wanna see a picture of it?!" Ruby exclaimed.
Weiss let out a chuckle in response. "Sure, Ruby." She waited a few moments, and after she heard the new message sound pop up, she swiped the screen and looked at the picture. "Whoa, um, Ruby that looks really heavy."
"Hehe. Trust me, Weiss. I can swing it around so easily. You'll see." Ruby grinned after Weiss swapped back over to the video call. "Oh, I wanted to ask, did you change how you wear your ponytail? It looks different."
The white haired girl smiled a bit at that, nodding as she was proud of the way her hair looked. "I felt it would be a bit different from the usual ponytail look. Does it fit well?"
"Yup!" Ruby gave her a thumbs up, smiling at her friend. "You pull it off really well, Weiss. I sometimes wish I had long hair… But then I think about how obsessed Yang gets about hers."
Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "She needs to work on that, and those ridiculous jokes."
"You know she won't." Ruby stretched a bit and looked behind her when Yang walked in. "Hey, Yang. Come say hi to Weiss." Weiss watched in the video call as the blonde girl walked over, grinning as she waved to her.
"Sup, Weiss. You ready for Beacon?" Yang asked, she herself clearly pumped to start training at the academy.
"As ready as I'll ever be. What about you? Wait, don't answer that," Weiss grinned back. "I can already see it in your face."
"You know it. And did Ruby tell you yet?" Yang asked, getting a nod from Weiss. "Man, I wanted to knock some sense into her on why she shouldn't stow away on an airship," That earned a groan from Ruby. "But once she told me she's going to Beacon, I couldn't stay mad."
Weiss saw the annoyed look on Ruby's face get replaced with a happier one, so she nodded again. "Yes, we did speak about how everyone she's told has had similar reactions. If anything, this does make it easier for us." She turned around when she heard a glass shattering, so she gasped a little.
"What was that?" Ruby asked, Yang showing a little concern for their friend.
"I-I think Klein may have dropped a glass or something." Weiss knew she was lying to herself, so she had to come up with something. "Um, I'll go make sure he's okay. I'll talk with you both later."
"O-Okay, Weiss. See ya later." Ruby and Yang waved her off, the video call ending then and there as Weiss looked at her door, nervous about the noise she heard.
Weiss brought her hand up, gently holding her wolf pendant as she sighed to herself. She got up from her bed and walked to the door, hesitating to even open it. She shook her head, not wanting to be afraid, so she opened the door and walked out into the hallway, looking down both sides of it as she spotted Whitley's door was open, so she started taking steps towards it.
She gulped as she got closer, and when she reached the doorway, she slowly peeked in and she saw her brother with his head in his hands, broken glass from what looked to be a cup that had been thrown scattered on the floor. "W-Whitley? Are you okay?"
Her brother snapped his attention to her almost instantly, looking like he didn't want her to even say a word to him. "What are you doing here, sister? I don't remember asking Klein to fetch you."
"H-He didn't. I just heard some glass shattering and-." Weiss stopped when she saw Whitley stand up from his bed and fix up his tie.
"Then you have no reason to be here. Go on back to your room and leave me be. I am capable enough to clean up glass you know." Whitley glared, making Weiss frown.
"I didn't say you weren't." Weiss softly replied, grasping her pendant again. "I was just worried."
Whitley rolled his eyes. "Well don't be. I never asked you to be, so like I said before, you can go back to your room and leave me alone."
Weiss' heart hurt from that and she thought about taking a step forward, but she didn't want to upset her brother. Instead she stood at his doorway. "Can I at least know why you threw that cup?"
"None of your business." Whitley stated as he started moving the glass carefully with his hands, trying not to look like he needed a maid in front of his sister, so she gasped and ran over. "W-What did I say about being in my room?!"
Weiss stopped in her tracks when he raised his voice. "Y-You're not supposed to clean glass up with your hands! You'll cut yourself and-."
Whitley stood up and stomped his right foot on the ground to get her to stop speaking, making her gasp as she took a step back. "I don't need a mutt like you telling me what I can and can't do!"
That was it. It was all he needed to say that would break Weiss' heart, and he saw it in her eyes. She took a few more steps back, tears falling from her eyes as she turned around and ran out of his room. Whitley stood there for a few moments, thinking about what he said and how Weiss reacted. His right hand was shaking, so he grabbed it with his left and looked down at the shattered glass.
"S-She already knew I didn't want her help… She had to know that."
Whitley bit his lip and kept his head down, saying nothing more as he wished he never said what he said to his sister.
Weiss was crying, harder than she's ever cried before. Once she moved passed her door, she slammed it and jumped on her bed, crying into the sheets. Nothing hurt more than her own family saying such a thing to her.
All she could do was cry, not even think about Beacon, or her friends. Tears were all Weiss knew for about ten minutes before she heard a knock on her door, so she lifted her head up, looking at the doorway. "Leave me alone!"
The person knocking gasped at what she said and tried to open the door, but found it was locked. "Weiss? Weiss, sweetie, what's wrong?" It was her mother, and she sounded distressed.
Weiss hiccuped as more tears fell, but she didn't want to ignore her mom, so she got up and slowly walked to the door, hearing her mom pleading her to open the door for her. Once she did, Willow was shocked at how much Weiss had been crying.
"S-Snowflake." Willow instantly hugged her, feeling her daughter falling to her knees as she cried into her mother's shoulders when she too got on her knees. "W-What happened? Snowflake, why are you crying?" Willow felt like she was about to cry as well, but she needed to be strong for her daughter.
"N-Nothing… I just…" Weiss hiccuped again and sniffled, wishing she could get the words out faster. "I wanna see W-Winter." Family was what she needed. Loving family members, but Weiss knew that wasn't just all she needed.
"Sweetie, your sister is very busy, but I'm sure if you video call her, then-." Willow tensed up when her daughter buried her face into her collarbone. "This, this isn't just about your sister, is it?" Weiss shook her head, so Willow rubbed her back, letting her cry. "Please, tell me what happened, sweetie."
After taking a few breaths, Weiss pulled away, sniffling and wiping a few tears away. "I-I heard some glass break, so I went to go check." She stopped for a moment, but her mother would wait as long as she needed. "When I saw it was from… W-Whitley's room, I saw that he threw a glass against the wall."
Willow sighed sadly, wishing that she was able to catch onto how stressed her son must've been, but ever since he got more distant, it was harder to tell with each passing day. "Would you like me to talk with him abo-."
"No!" Weiss gasped. "I-I don't want you to, mom." Her reaction worried Willow, and negative thoughts of how their conversation may have went filled her mind.
"Weiss, what exactly happened when you spoke with your brother?" Willow questioned, holding her daughter's arms gently.
She shook her head, Weiss didn't want to think about it. "H-He didn't want to talk."
"Snowflake, look at me." Willow gently spoke, trying not to stress her daughter out more than she already was. As Weiss looked up, she still had tears falling down her cheeks. "What did your brother say to you?"
That tone of voice. It was her protective nature kicking in, and Weiss knew she couldn't get away with lying. "H-He got upset when I tried to go in his room… A-And he called me a mutt…" She shook a little, hiccuping once as her mother's eyes widened. Willow slowly stood up, Weiss looking up as she saw the anger in her mother's eyes, but she soon closed them and took a breath. "M-Mom?"
"Sweetie, stay here." Willow was about to walk out, but her daughter quickly got up and grabbed her arm.
"Mom, please, don't." Weiss was still shaking, but she didn't let go. "He was just… Upset. Please don't-."
"He is your brother, Weiss." Willow said in a stern tone. "But that does not mean he can say that to you and not expect to get into trouble, so please, let me go and speak with him."
Slowly, Weiss let go of her mother's arm and watched as she left her room, so she leaned over and peeked around the doorway, watching as she walked to her brother's room.
Willow sighed on the way there, feeling disappointed, but not with Whitley, but herself.
"How could I have let them split apart this much…"
As she stepped in front of his doorway, she looked inside and saw her son sitting on his bed, looking down at the floor with the shattered glass still on the ground. "Whitley."
Her son looked over, seeing her saddened expression. "If she told you what happened… Then just give me my punishment and leave me a-."
"Do not speak to me that way." Willow got serious as she stepped inside. "I understand that you want to be alone, but I am your mother, young man. And while I do my best to make sure you and your sisters are happy, I won't tolerate you insulting them."
Whitley looked angry as he stood up from his bed. "It was her fault for sticking her nose in my business! I didn't ask her to come over and check on me, and when I told her to leave me alone, just like what you're doing, she continued to pester me."
"Because she loves you! You are her little brother, and she wants to make sure you're okay. Is that really such a bad thing? Has your father made you truly believe that?" Willow said, taking another step forward.
Whitley clenched his fist when she brought up his father. "At least father is giving me a future I can look forward to! While Weiss and Winter could very well die one day because of something as stupid as their career paths!" His voice betrayed him as Willow could hear the pain behind it.
Willow took a breath and her anger subsided. "That's what this is about? You think they'll-."
"I know they'll be hurt! Father may be harsh, but he at least knows how to keep this family safe!" Whitley yelled back.
"You should know that your father will say what you want to hear to get you to do what he wants, honey." She tried a gentler approach as she walked over, hoping he wouldn't try to move away when she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Your sisters are doing what they've dreamed to do since they were younger. Don't you want them to be happy?"
Whitley took a step back and rolled his eyes. "What is there to be happy with if they get hurt? What then, mother?"
Willow crossed her arms, needing to get serious again in defense of her daughter's life choices. "Your sisters are choosing to put others before themselves. And no matter what you think, they are happy, Whitley. That's all you should care about when you think of what they do with their lives."
"And what about what I want, mother?! What if one day I hear they had died on some news report?! What then?!" Whitley started breathing heavily, so he looked to the ground, clenching his teeth as he wasn't calming down.
Instead of saying anything, Willow walked over and wrapped her arms around her son. He started to cry, making her rub his back in response as she knew how hard it was to imagine losing his family. "Why have you never spoken up about this, honey?"
"Because they would never listen…" Whitley stated.
"They want to be free to choose what they want in their lives, honey. I won't force you to like what they do, but I can't just sit by as you insult their choices." Willow pulled away for a moment. "If this is because of your father, then you need to tell me."
Whitley looked to the side. "I have my own opinions, mother."
"And I'm happy you do, honey, but let me ask you this." Whitley was nervous about what she was going to ask him. "How do you think your sister feels right now?"
He didn't answer immediately. All he did was think about how Weiss ran out in tears, so he turned around and kept his back to his mother. "I don't want to talk about this anymore, mother. Just like I said before, if I'm being punished, then go ahead."
Willow sighed and walked to the doorway, but looked over her shoulder for a moment. "If you really care about your sister's well being, you'll apologize to her before she's off to Beacon." As she walked out and closed the door behind her, Whitley felt a tear fall down his cheek.
Looking down the hallway, Willow knew Weiss was still in pain, so she mentally prepared herself for how she'd find her daughter.
Weiss wasn't crying anymore, but she was still wiping her eyes of the tears she had shed as she was sat on the ground, not able to even make it to her bed. When she saw her mom walking back in, she looked up. "Snowflake, I just want you to know that no matter what anyone says, I am so proud of you for chasing your dream." Willow kneeled down and hugged Weiss, causing her to hug her mother back in desperation.
Sadly Jacques' influence on Whitley is strong, but I'm not making him a Jacques Jr. So don't worry about that. He isn't gonna be a boring clone of his dad since I feel he can easily be someone who can care for his family, at least in this story.
To JJ- To be honest, while thinking on how I'd have Weiss fight in her wolf form, it's closer to how Sif fights in Dark Souls. Giant wolf with a greatsword in its teeth. He was a badass, and yeah, Weiss and Winter still have a good sisterly bond here, so I'm glad you enjoyed that.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 7. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 8.