Here's chapter 39, everyone.
After her disagreement with Yang, the raven haired huntress could only lean up against the statue outside of Beacon, arms crossed and head tilted up as she examined the school. "It really wasn't the same to me as to her. I don't see why she was so damn surprised." She shook her head, finding her ideals on strength to be sound.
"It's not like I lied to her. She should know what happens to those who continue to rely on people too much. They grow soft."
Raven sighed to herself and pushed off of the statue, but when she felt her scroll vibrate, she checked it to find a surprisingly alarmed message from Summer. "What? How… Lost control of her semblance?" She was confused, but since it was Summer begging her to come over, she chose not to stand around and question it too long.
The black haired huntress quickly made her way inside the school and bolted to the training hall.
Once she got there, she was welcomed by the sight of Willow crying softly while holding her daughter, who was still in her wolf form, while Raven herself had noticed she had gotten a bit bigger. It brought back memories of the woman she met back in Atlas.
"No, there's… Similarities, but this is simply just the kid's semblance."
Raven shook her head and ran over, seeing that Summer was also sat down with Ruby, speaking soft words of comfort to her. "What happened here?"
Summer lifted her head up, concern clearly showing on her face. "I couldn't fully explain it if I tried." She looked over at Willow and Weiss. "One moment the girls were sparring together, and the next, Weiss dropped her weapon and… Just grew a bit. Then she jumped on Ruby and…"
"She lost control of herself." Raven finished her sentence, glancing over at the white wolf, who continued to look distressed, but Willow kept her forehead pressed against her daughter's, not letting her go. "It's not that hard to understand. Some people do lose control of their semblances as they continue to evolve."
Ruby bit her lip and shook her head, looking up at Raven. "Weiss was able to hear her mom easily… She didn't lose control."
Raven continued to examine the white wolf, more questions entering her mind that simply started giving her a headache. "Whether it was for five minutes, or five seconds, she lost control of it. Nothing else to explain."
"It's not her fault..." Ruby sniffled a bit.
Weiss whimpered a bit as she pulled away from her mother. "I-I want to change back…"
Willow looked up, seeing her daughter's aura was at one percent, so she couldn't. "Sweetie, look at mommy." Weiss whimpered again, knowing that tone. "You can't right now because your aura is low." That made Weiss' heart speed up a bit. "But you're going to be okay, and when you rest up and restore your aura, you can change right back."
"I-I don't want to be like this… I don't." Weiss lowered her head, wishing she could change back there and then, but no matter what she did, there was no way to. "I don't want to use my s-semblance anymore…"
"Sweetie, no, you can't say that." Willow tried reaching out to her, but Weiss backed away. "Weiss, don't…" She was afraid her daughter would try to run off, but when the white wolf's ears drooped and she laid back down, Willow breathed a sigh of relief and scooted back over to hold her. "Let me take you back to your dorm, please."
The white wolf was shaking slightly, but she nodded and slowly got on her paws. She said nothing as Willow got to her feet and grabbed Myrtenaster for her, but when she looked over at Ruby, she instantly looked down.
There wasn't any way Ruby could have missed that, so she got out of her mother's grasp and stood up. "Weiss." She called out to her partner, getting no response, so she tried to walk over. "Why won't you look at me…"
"Because I almost hurt you…" Weiss' words were soft, and even then, Ruby still heard them. "Just… I need some space." She walked right passed her partner, Willow giving Ruby an apologetic look as she caught up with Weiss.
Summer got up and placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder after walking up to her. "I know it hurts you to see her so upset, but just give her some time, little rose."
Ruby nodded slowly, thinking about what Weiss said to her.
"It wasn't because she grew… It was because she attacked me… But I would never blame her for that! It's not her fault!"
A few tears fell down Ruby's face as she clenched her fists, wishing she could be there for her partner in the time she needs her most.
Raven noticed how Ruby reacted and sighed. "There's no sense in beating yourself up about this, Ruby." Her voice surprised the rose girl, making her turn to face her. "When she's calm, then you can talk to her, otherwise you're doing nobody good by sulking."
Summer wanted to speak up, but Ruby beat her to it. "You didn't see how she was. She was scared, and crying more than I've ever seen her cry."
"You heard what she asked of you. Give her some space." Raven repeated.
Ruby didn't want to argue about it, as she did want to respect her partner's wishes. Still, just the image of how Weiss looked when she backed away from her the first time, hurt Ruby. "I'm… I'm gonna go to the cafeteria." She ignored the calls of her mother, taking Crescent Rose with her.
Summer frowned as she watched her daughter go. "This isn't right… What just happened?"
"I barely just got here, so I wouldn't know myself." Raven added.
"Nothing was wrong, and… Suddenly that happened." Summer rubbed her arm, feeling bad for Ruby, Weiss and Willow. "First she has to deal with Jacques on monday, now this."
Raven sighed. "The fact that she's still not broken down at least shows she's strong enough to handle herself well enough." She said in reference to Willow, earning a look from Summer. "I'm not trying to downplay this, Summer."
"It's not that," Summer looked down at her feet for a moment before giving a saddened expression. "What if she does break eventually? What can we do?"
"I don't know." Raven answered honestly. "Look, let them have their time they need. You, focus on how you have a job here now. Okay?"
Summer knew Raven wasn't heartless, and her ways were more of a tough love kind of thing, but she still wished there was more to be done. "I'll try." She walked off on her own, leaving the Raven haired huntress in the training room.
All Raven could do was run her hand through her hair. "Left and right, more and more problems. I don't even know where to start." As she said that, she received another message from her scroll. "Ugh! Really… Right now?!" It was from Qrow.
Willow was getting her daughter back to her dorm, making sure anyone on the way would keep their mouths shut about a wolf walking through the halls, sending them death glares whenever they would glance at Weiss in shock or curiousity. "I-I can't change back…"
Weiss' words stung her heart. "Sweetie, we talked about this. You'll get some rest and change back after." Willow did her best to comfort her daughter, but she knew the best she was able to do at that point was get her to stop having a meltdown earlier.
As they reached the hall to the dorm, they were greeted by the sight of Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren, who both were surprised to see Weiss using her 'semblance' in school. "Weiss?" Pyrrha said as she and Ren walked over, but the white wolf said nothing when they reached them. "What's going on here? Why are you-." She stopped herself when she realized Willow was glaring.
"Leave my daughter alone." Willow's tone was a bit intimidating, but when she heard Weiss whimper, her attention was back on her.
"Mom, please… These are my friends." Weiss explained, not looking up still as her voice sounded somber.
Ren noticed that and spoke up. "Something happened, clearly. Is there a reason why you needed to use your semblance?"
Willow didn't like the questions being asked, but her daughter did assure they were her friends, so she answered. "Ruby… And I were sparring. Can we please leave it at that."
Pyrrha never really saw Weiss like that, so she did her best to nod. "Well, if that's what you want, but Weiss, are you okay? I know it's another question, but-."
Ren cut her off when he walked in front of Weiss. "I can try to help you calm down, Weiss." He hesitated for just a moment to think of what to say next. "That is, if you're okay with me helping."
Weiss looked up at the boy dressed in green, not sure how he could even help. "How would you…"
"My semblance." Ren spoke in a calm tone, seeing as he out of everyone in the group was the most calm. "Overall, it masks negative emotions."
"Masking negative emotions? I don't… I don't think that will help me one bit." Weiss' ears drooped as she lowered her head, not feeling like hiding her emotions would be the best course of action.
"It's more to it. It helps calm you down, and I don't know exactly what happened to you, or why you're upset, but I can at least help you stay calm." Ren said, causing the white wolf to sigh.
"O-Okay." Weiss closed her eyes and allowed the boy to use his semblance, getting Pyrrha to smile, while Willow looked a little nervous.
Pyrrha noticed that. "Don't worry. Ren is part of the team I'm on and I know his semblance will help her here."
Willow said nothing, but did feel a little less worried with Pyrrha's words. Ren took a breath and focused on his aura as he knelt down. He figured Weiss wouldn't want to be touched, so he placed his hand on the ground, as a line of his semblance seemed to reach the white wolf, making her look gray for a few moments.
Seeing that made Willow reach her hand out for just a moment, but when she saw Weiss was starting to have a steadier breathing pattern, she pulled her hand away and watched as the boy continued to use his semblance.
"W-Will she be okay?" Willow asked, hoping the boy's semblance really would help her daughter more so than just calming her down.
"Ren is able to help a person reach a certain point, but only Weiss can get herself to really feel better." Pyrrha explained.
After a couple of more moments, Ren lifted his hand away from the ground, and the white wolf opened her eyes. "That… That was… I don't know what to say."
"I'm sorry if it wasn't enough." Ren said, frowning a little.
Weiss blinked a few times, taking in what his semblance had done. "No, it… It helped. T-Thank you." She walked passed the boy, her mind a bit at ease. "Ruby… I'm so sorry…"
Even then, she still couldn't forgive herself for almost biting her partner's neck. Willow silently thanked the boy as she ran over to catch up to her daughter, the two getting to the dorm room as Pyrrha and Ren could only watch from afar.
Pyrrha heard her friend sigh, so she placed her hand on his shoulder. "You did what you could, Ren. Don't feel like you didn't help."
"It's not that." Ren replied. "With my semblance, I can feel what the other feels, and Weiss was in clear distress."
The scarlet haired huntress in training felt bad for her friend. "She mentioned that she and Ruby were sparring, so maybe we could ask her what happened."
"Maybe." Ren responded, but when he remembered what Weiss requested, he sighed again. "I'm not sure though to be fully honest. Her distress was higher than I normally can feel from people, and she wasn't fond about how many questions were asked."
"I… Suppose we should wait till they're ready to talk about it." Pyrrha said, earning a nod from the boy in green.
Yang was listening to music at the moment, still not wanting to wake her partner up, but not a moment later she saw the door to the dorm open. Willow was the first to enter, then her daughter, which surprised Yang since she didn't expect Weiss to be walking around using her semblance like that. "Ice Wolf? Willow? What's up? Everything okay?" She only asked because she noticed Weiss looking depressed.
Willow sighed and gave her a saddened expression, which was pleading her to wait till she helped her daughter. "Come on, sweetie. Lay down." She coaxed her daughter onto laying on her belly, and when she did, she sat next to her and sadly rubbed her back.
The blonde brawler was started to get worried, but after examining Weiss for a moment, she gasped. "W-Whoa, Weiss is, uh… She's a bit bigger as a wolf now."
Weiss whimpered at that, and Willow quickly looked to Yang, giving her a look. "Yang, not now."
"O-Oh." Yang frowned, feeling a little bad as she got off of her bed and sat next to Willow. "Um, can I… Uh, help?" Willow kept rubbing her daughter's back, nodding a bit as she knew Yang was one of the few people Weiss would let touch her fur. Hearing her whimpering a bit more broke Yang's heart, so she rubbed Weiss' fur a few times. "Ice wolf…"
Willow moved her hand away, taking a breath as she chose to let Yang know at least. "She's having a bit of… Trouble with her semblance. She needs her rest."
Yang nodded, choosing not to ask anymore questions. "I got it." She remembered times when Ruby was depressed, so she did what she would then. Yang leaned down and kissed the top of the white wolf's head. "I'm here, Weiss."
Weiss was thankful for that, but she couldn't get herself to speak, so she closed her eyes and hoped sleep would be granted for her that day.
Sorry for the sad, but this is a moment in her life that won't simply just go away. As for the use of Ren's semblance, I felt it fit, and it gave me more of a reason to involve him and hopefully the rest of his team later on.
To JJ- A step forward in her true past, though it was a sad way to do it. Even so, she won't know for some time still, and with Ruby, I can at least say she'll do what she can to help Weiss through this. With Blake and Yang, it's a slow pace for sure, and even where I'm at in the story on my end of things (as in what I've written so far), I still haven't decided to have them as a romantic pairing. We'll see.
To the guest on chapter 38- I get that. A platonic relationship for those two is what I want in the show, since they're more friends to me there than anything, but in this story it really falls on how it's written. I don't decide the pairings for this story until I write it out, letting the story tell itself and what interactions would prove to end up as a romantic pairing or not.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 39. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 40.