Here's chapter 8, everyone.
Weiss was in her wolf form, holding Myrtenaster tightly in her teeth as she swung at a dummy, growling as she sliced its head clean off. She didn't feel satisfied though, slashing down in a vertical angle at the dummy's chest, cutting it in two, yet even that wasn't enough, so she did a quick spin, cleanly cutting off its legs next.
The white wolf dropped her weapon and looked at the cut apart dummy, letting a few tears fall as she saw the damage she had done. It wasn't the reason she cried though. All she thought about for a week was what her brother had called her, and just how she just acted made her believe she really was just proving his point.
Willow couldn't be there for her at the moment since she was called upon by Summer, who was in Atlas for a job she was called for, but Klein was still there as he walked over when he saw her dropping Myrtenaster on the ground. "Snowflake, are you tired?"
Weiss shook her head, her wolf ears flattened against her head as she let her tears fall. "Whitley was right… I am a mutt…"
Klein kneeled down and placed his hand on her back, shaking his head. He knew about what her brother said to her since Willow informed him of it. "No, you are not, snowflake. You have an amazing gift, a semblance that broke out from the hereditary line of your family's semblance. What Master Whitley said was out of line, and will never be true."
"Look what I just did!" Weiss shouted, pointing her snout at the training dummy. "What do you call that?!"
He didn't need to look at the dummy to know what had happened. "I call that showing emotion. You were upset with what your brother said to you, so you responded with anger. Anyone, not just you can do this."
Weiss knew he was right, but her heart still hurt at how her brother's words would replay in her mind over and over again. "I-I want to go inside…"
The butler nodded, walking over to the table to grab her clothes as he and the white wolf headed inside. Once they got upstairs and into Weiss' room, Klein placed her clothes on her bed and stepped out, closing the door behind him after she walked inside.
A few minutes passed and Weiss opened the door, back in her human form with her huntress attire on. "If it's okay, I'd like to be alone for a bit, Klein…"
"I understand, snowflake, but please don't hesitate to call for me if you need any-." He stopped when she hugged him, so he patted her back and waited on when she wanted to pull away.
After a few moments, Weiss sniffled and pulled away. "I will. Thank you, Klein." Weiss walked back into her room and slowly closed her door. She sat on her bed and pulled her scroll out from the bag she kept on her back.
"Maybe I should call Ruby."
She thought to herself as she pulled up her contact list, but frowned at how small it was. It only had her mother, her sister, Klein, Ruby and Yang. Even her 'father' wasn't on there, and Whitley hadn't gotten a scroll for personal use, only business.
Weiss felt that she relied heavily on people too much, so she placed her scroll down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling, watching the fan above her slowly spinning. "Hmm." She laid back, holding her arms above her head as she simply kept staring up at the fan.
"It's still… Moving. Continuing without stopping… But if I turn it off, then it will stop…"
She closed her eyes, thinking about the fan stopping, but after a few moments, her blue eyes shined up after opening them and she saw the fan still spinning. It brought a smile to her face as she sat up and looked over at Myrtenaster.
The white haired teen nodded and got out of bed, grabbing her weapon as she moved her hand to her wolf pendant, clutching it close as she swapped the sharp edge form of Myrtenaster to its rapier form.
"Are you absolutely sure I'm not intruding on your work?" Willow asked as she set her purse down, quickly dusting off the chair she was about to sit on. Her question was met with a playful eye roll, so she sighed and sat down once she felt enough dust was cleaned off. "I'm being serious, Summer. I don't want to get in the way."
"Sheesh, relax, Willow. One, I got all week to work on this one, and two, I'm on break. So let me chill with my overly worrisome friend." The blacksmith said as she walked over with two cups of tea. "Gotcha tea this time."
Willow let out a small smile as she accepted the cup. "I didn't know you'd be okay drinking tea too." She took a sip and found it to taste a lot better than what she'd usually get if she went out for tea.
"Only a select few, but yeah, I can drink more than coffee, y'know." Summer chuckled and took a sip of her own. "Soooo, how did Weiss take the news of Ruby being accepted into Beacon?"
"I didn't get her initial reaction, but when I spoke with her about it, she seemed happy." Willow said, but something was bothering her, so she sighed, earning an eyebrow raise from the blacksmith, so Willow decided to not avoid it. "Weiss has been a little… Down recently."
"Oh. What's bugging her?" Summer asked, moving her cup to the side to hear what her friend had to say.
"She had a bit of an argument with her brother and he said some things she didn't like to hear." Willow held her cup with both hands, shaking her head sadly. "I should've done better to keep Jacques from influencing him so much."
Summer reached over and placed her hand over Willow's. "Hey, come on now. Don't start saying stuff like that. Even after all these years, you're still an amazing mother with three wonderful children." When she noticed that Willow wasn't budging, she continued. "Siblings argue a lot, Willow. Ruby and Yang are the same way, trust me."
"It's not the same." Willow stated, lifting her head back up. "Whitley has become so distant, but I know he still cares about them. It's just… He's slowly becoming more and more like his father. I can see it in him, and it terrifies me, Summer." She tightened her grip on the cup. "It terrifies me that I won't be able to stop it."
It wasn't a mystery to Summer that Willow hated how Jacques was, and through the years she had always wished Willow would get away from the man, but she knew that her resolve on keeping her family together was stronger than her own wants.
"He won't be like that man, Willow. I promise you that." Summer curled her hand around Willow's right hand after pulling it away from the cup, earning a surprised look from the white haired woman. "Sure, he might be troubled, but he isn't a lost cause, and I know how strong you are Willow Schnee. You'll be able to keep him from becoming that man."
Willow's heart was racing as she thought about her family. Winter was already living her dream, Weiss was about to start hers, and Whitley, she didn't know whether his dream was truly his.
"Summer… I… Thank you." Willow let a tear fall and as it hit the table, Summer tightened her grip.
"Don't mention it." The blacksmith smiled, trying her best to get her friend to feel better. "Hey, if you want, you can rest upstairs. You know I don't mind."
Willow shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. I'd like not to waste the time I have here so we can spend time together." The smile Summer wanted to see appeared.
"Ey! There's the smile!" Summer grinned and lifted her cup up in triumph. "I was so gonna drag you out shopping if that didn't work."
Willow couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "Summer, you hate shopping."
"Well yeah, but I like helping my friend feel better." Summer fired back as she drank some of her tea, yelping at how hot it was. "Ow!"
"You dolt. You're the one who made the tea in the first place. It was obviously going to be too hot to do more than sip." Willow said as she showed her by sipping her tea. "I swear, I can't tell if you're actually an adult sometimes." She smirked at the blacksmith.
Summer grumbled and stuck her burnt tongue out at her friend, yelping again since it was still super hot, so she brought it back in and watched as Willow started to giggle, so she herself smiled instead of pouting about it.
"I'll get you some milk." Willow wiped away a tear of joy that was shed and she walked up the wooden stairs, knowing Summer kept her fridge up there whenever she was set up in her workshop in Atlas.
After a minute, Summer was treated with a glass of milk set on the table, so she quickly grabbed it and drank. "Mmm, oh man… Now you see there, that is why I stick to coffee."
Willow rolled her eyes as she sat back down. "Drinking a hot coffee too fast would still warrant the same issue, you dolt." After she saw Summer reach that conclusion in her mind, the two shared a laugh together. "Ah, I've missed this…" Willow said as she held her cup.
"Same here, Willow." Summer looked over at the door to her workshop when she heard the door open, seeing who it was immediately. "Didn't know you were out in Atlas, Raven." Willow tensed up when she heard the name, so she turned in her chair, seeing the dark haired huntress walk over.
Raven groaned. "I was literally talking to you yesterday about this." She looked over at Willow. "You however, I didn't think I'd be seeing today. Why didn't you tell me she was going to be here?" She asked Summer.
Willow scowled at her. "And what is that tone you're using, Raven Branwen?" The two glared at each other for a moment before Summer got up and stood between them.
"Hey, hey, come on now. You two need to just relax, sit and enjoy the tea I made. Can we do that without wanting to bite each other's heads off. Please?" Summer begged.
Raven crossed her arms, red eyes meeting blue. "As long as she keeps her comments to herself, then I'm all good."
"I never say it to degrade you! I'm trying to help you!" Willow yelled.
Summer sighed as they started going back and forth, so she walked over to her hammer and slammed it against metal, making the two gasp and look over. "Hey! If you two are gonna argue, do it outside of my workshop… Or you can quit having a shouting match with each other, sit your butts down and drink. My. Tea."
Willow was taken aback by that, so she grumbled a bit and looked over at Raven, who simply shrugged and sat down at the table. "Fine… Well, I kinda need a cup if you're going to offer me tea." Raven said, waiting on Summer.
The blacksmith didn't move until she got Willow's response, so the white haired woman sighed and sat back down as well, waving her off, so Summer smiled and went upstairs to work on Raven's tea.
"You know I really don't mean anything by it when I say those things…" Willow trailed off for a moment. "I honestly only want to help."
Raven crossed her leg over the other and looked to the side. "I don't exactly need all that much help as I used to. I see her… Not as much as Summer or you say I should, but I still see her."
"Hmm." Willow mumbled and took a sip of her tea. "I suppose I can't say much on that." When she noticed the unimpressed look on Raven's face, she groaned and set her cup down. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry."
"Ugh, I don't need an apology. Just stop lecturing me about how I should behave like an actual mother." Raven kept her arms crossed.
"I already agreed not to, so can you drop the attitude, if not for me, then for us not getting kicked out of here." Willow said, offering a handshake to the huntress.
Raven didn't shake her hand immediately, but after realizing Summer would be upset if they kept arguing, she shrugged and shook her hand. "Alright." The two nodded and pulled away from their handshake. "Anyways, Summer keeps telling me you're still with dickhead of the year. So, is that off-limits on discussions or what?"
Willow sighed. "It's a simple answer. I stay with him because I don't want to tear my family apart. I'd rather not speak any further on that if you don't mind."
Raven held up her arms in defense, showing she'd back off. "Not another word from me on it." She heard the door upstairs open and watched as Summer walked down.
"Have you two decided not to make me kick you out or…" She walked over with the cup and placed it in front of Raven.
"Yeah, yeah, we're cool." Raven said as she lifted the cup up, taking a small sip.
Willow nodded in agreement. "Yes. We are. Um, though if you don't mind me asking. How is that you two are both here in Atlas at the same time?"
Raven groaned and reached into her pocket, grabbing a paper out as she placed it on the table. It showed a hunt request, and under it a request for a blacksmith to accompany them. "I'm not dumb, Summer. I know you had Qrow get me to accept this job so we can both be in Atlas."
Summer whistled innocently as she sat next to Willow. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Uh huh." Raven took another sip of her tea, while Willow looked back and forth between the two women.
"Um, am I missing something here or what?" Willow asked.
Raven planted her cup on the table, shaking it a bit as she glared at Summer. "This is just one of her old schemes to get us to work together again from time to time, which I need to remind her yet again, she can just ask me. I'm not a child, Summer. I won't up and ign-."
"But you do!" Summer whined. "Come on, Raven. Last time I asked to go with you on a hunt, you came up with some excuse saying you were gonna be in Vacuo, but I know you were in Vale at the time."
"And how can you prove that?" Raven asked as she crossed her arms again.
"It's called your twin brother." Summer said, also crossing her arms, making Willow a little uncomfortable.
"Okay? Um, maybe I should go. You two clearly need to talk about some things, so I'll-." Before she could get up, Summer spoke up.
"Nuh uh. Stay right where you are. I wanna see if Raven here can admit what she knows is true." Summer said as she held her glare.
Raven groaned in response. "Look, I don't need to go with you on hunts all the time. Is it so hard to understand, or is that skull of yours so thick it isn't possible for you to?"
"I just want my friend back okay!" Summer yelled, frowning at the dark haired huntress, who was surprised by her words, so instead she stood up and walked over to her work space, sitting and putting her goggles on like both Raven and Willow weren't even there.
Willow held her hand to her mouth, not seeing Summer usually like that. "Raven, I-."
"Don't." Raven got up and placed her katana on the table. "Just sit. I'll talk to her." She sighed and walked over to the blacksmith. "Hey… Are you just gonna have a small outburst in front of your friend like that and walk off? It's not exactly how Summer Rose would act."
"How would you know… You barely talk to me as much anymore." Summer replied, not stopping with her blowtorch.
Raven felt that sting and she couldn't deny how distant she got with Summer, so she placed both hands in front of the table Summer was behind. "What would I be able to do to make it up to you?"
Summer stopped and turned the blowtorch off, lifting her goggles up to look at Raven. "You can stop avoiding me… And Tai."
"You know why I do, damn it." Raven said, lifting her hands up. "He doesn't want to see me, so… Why should his wife see me either." She looked away.
"You are such an idiot." Summer got up from her chair and walked around the table, taking Raven's hand. "You're my friend, Raven. Not Tai's ex-wife. And if you think Tai doesn't want to see you, you're wrong. He wants to make amends."
Raven was surprised by that. "H-He does?"
Summer let out a smile and nodded. "It's been long enough, Raven. And while I'm proud of you for seeing Yang more often, you need to stop blacklisting yourself."
With a sigh, the dark haired huntress shook her head. "Sometimes it's better to just let people enjoy the lives they have and not get in the way of that."
"Well this isn't one of those times." Summer pleaded.
Raven pulled away from her. "I'm sorry, Summer…" She turned around and was about to leave, but was stopped when she walked right into a glyph. "What the-." Her eyes widened when she looked over, seeing Willow holding her hand up, but she was panting a bit.
Summer gasped and ran over, grabbing Willow to keep her from falling over. "Willow, you know you can't be using your semblance like that. You aren't properly trained for that."
Willow was helped onto the chair as she was taking a few breaths. "I just had to watch… Two of my children grow even further apart from each other… I will not sit by and make the same mistake again…"
"I-I…" Summer was at a loss for words, as Raven walked over, looking at the tired Schnee.
"Ugh, such an idiot." Raven pulled up a chair and sat next to Willow, rubbing her back to try and calm her down. "You really like sticking your nose in other people's business a bit too much, don't you?"
Willow let out a small chuckle, doing her best to regain her breath. "Sometimes… I learn more from my own kids than I thought I ever would." She let out a smile, both Summer and Raven looking over at each other.
The two women shared a nod, as they both knew they'd need to talk about their problems a lot more, and how to fix them, but for now they would sit by Willow and help her relax.
Having Raven like this instead of how she is in canon is more fun to work on. I really enjoy it, and I hope you all like the way she is here too. Anyways, not much else to say here.
To JJ- With Whitley, I'm trying to have more details on him in later chapters. So it may take awhile to see what he's going to do in this story, but I do promise something is coming up with him soon here. And if you can, look up a vid on Sif. It's a sad story in Dark Souls, but how he fights is badass.
To GoldElite245- Yeah a few people were able to see that, so yes, it is how I based her fighting style off of. And yes, it is a sad story indeed for Sif.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 8. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 9.