Here's chapter 112, everyone.
"You two…" Winter spotted the two sisters she knew well enough, and while she wasn't surprised seeing them, she did find it odd that they were the only ones to greet her, having expected her little sister to be with the two. "Of course you both would be involved in something so dangerous."
Yang playfully rolled her eyes when she walked up to the Atlas Specialist. "Don't lump just us together in that pit. We got friends who jumped in on this, and don't forget your little sister."
Ruby elbowed Yang. "Ignore her. We saw your airship landing and decided to run over to meet up with you." She said with a smile to the elder Schnee sister.
"I suppose my airship isn't one that is hard to miss…" Winter trailed off as she looked towards the direction where the sisters had come from. "Tell me exactly what you're all doing here in detail."
"Oh… Well," Ruby rubbed the back of her head, not wanting to tell her everything, since Weiss was meant to, so she kept it to what the original plan was. "Two of our friends used to live over in that village, so when they saw it was trampled by a bunch of Grimm-."
"There, that right there is why I don't see why any of you thought that would be a good idea." Winter's stern tone made Ruby yelp, and Yang rolled her eyes, something the Atlas Specialist didn't ignore. "If you have something to say, Miss-."
Yang took a step forward. "Ay, don't use that Miss stuff with me. We've known each other for years, Winter."
Winter wasn't going to pretend that was a lie, but she wanted to keep herself more composed than she was when Weiss spoke with her. "Even so, you've chosen to do something so childish, that I have no choice but to respond in this way. Now, enough making excuses. Why did you feel the need to risk your lives for something so trivial?"
"It wasn't trivial." Ruby said outright. "That village means a lot to our friends, and we weren't about to go in without a plan. All of us made sure to be safe."
"Being safe and ending up facing the unexpected are two very different things. None of you could prepare for a large group of Grimm, so before you complain about my words, do remember that you're all still first year students at Beacon, not Hunters." Winter's words hurt, but it wasn't to put them down, but to keep them from doing something they can't handle.
Yang sighed and crossed her arms. "Look, it was dumb, we get it… Honestly I kinda wish we didn't come here myself, but it happened, so can we move on so you can see Weiss?"
"My sister begged me to hurry, so yes, I would like to get going," As she walked with the two sisters, she thought back to Olivia.
"The only way my sister will even let me take her back is if I tell her."
While the Atlas Specialist already planned on telling her sister everything she's learned, how to tell her was plaguing her. She didn't know how to tell someone, especially her little sister, that she wasn't born a human.
"Damn it, Mother. This all could have been avoided if you were just honest with us from the beginning!"
Ruby noticed Winter was clenching her fist, making her feel a little guilty about what she thought was making her mad. "I'm sorry if we made you angry for coming here, Winter…"
"Hmm?" Winter continued to walk, but she glanced over her shoulder, seeing Ruby's discomfort, so she sighed and turned back to face forward. "Don't concern yourself, Ruby. I have my own reasons for being a bit… Upset, but don't think I won't speak to someone about this reckless venture you all chose to go on."
Yang spoke up almost instantly. "Whoa, whoa, come on, Winter. You don't need to rat us out for this. Seriously, we might-."
"Before you overreact, I highly doubt you'll be expelled for such recklessness, but the people I shall be speaking to about this is not who you think. It's your parents, and don't think I'll simply agree to not speak. You all need to learn not to endanger yourselves, even if it was for good reason." Winter chastised.
"You're really pulling the strict approach for this… Ugh, fine, but I still don't see why you'd need to say anything. We're all fine. No Grimm in sight." Yang stated.
Winter had her arms crossed behind her back as she continued walking. "Enough complaining. You're a huntress in training, so act like it. I'm in no mood to cater to your whining, Yang."
The blonde brawler tensed up from how stern she sounded, and chose to stay quiet.
"What's gotten into her?"
The Atlas Specialist wasn't trying to be rude to one she's known for a few years, but she couldn't waste time arguing with her either.
Weiss was keeping Myrtenaster on her lap as she sat inside the airship, while Zwei was laying next to her on one of the seats. Her weapon, the one she's cherished for years was something she never thought of letting go, but even then, with so many changes in her life, she wondered if Myrtenaster was next.
"I'm not a Schnee by blood, I wasn't born a human… But this, this has always stayed the same. Ever since it was made. Can I really hope for it to be here still…"
As she spoke to herself, she shook her head and got up, Myrtenaster in hand as she patted Zwei on the head a few times. "Stay here, boy. We'll be leaving soon."
The corgi lifted his head up and wagged his tail as he stayed laying on the seat, watching the white haired teen leave the airship.
The moment she did though, her body froze when she saw her older sister standing a bit away, arms crossed with a very disappointed look on her face. "W-Winter."
Team JNPR felt the awkwardness of the situation, so they chose to step inside the airship to give them privacy, while Yang walked over to Weiss. "She's a bit on the peeved side," She whispered. "But don't worry, we'll be right here with ya."
Winter tapped her boot against the dirt floor, as Ruby and Blake walked over to their teammates' sides. "I'm not happy seeing you out here, Weiss. Not one bit."
Weiss looked to the ground, ashamed of herself as Ruby took her hand to give her some support. It helped her a bit, as Weiss lifted her head back up. "I know, and I don't expect you to forgive us for coming out here."
The Atlas Specialist uncrossed her arms and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not here to berate you all for this," She looked over her sister's teammates. "If you three could, I'd like to talk to my sister."
They took the hint, but Ruby didn't want to let go of Weiss' hand. "Hold on. Look, if there's someone to blame-."
"Ruby, this isn't about that. Now please," Winter made a hand motion towards their airship. "Get Klein for me and let us speak in private."
Weiss slowly let go of Ruby's hand, making the rose girl frown. "It's okay, Ruby… Honestly we do need to speak about some things alone." As she said that, Weiss turned her attention to Winter. "We can walk a bit away if you'd rather-."
"Yes that will do." Winter said, interrupting her little sister.
The younger Schnee sibling nodded. "Ruby, my sister did ask for Klein, so if you could, tell him we'll be over there," She pointed a bit away from the airship, showing where to send Klein.
Yang wanted to argue when she saw her little sister giving Weiss an okay, but as the rose girl walked over to the airship, she gave her older sister a pleading look. While she wasn't happy about it, she wasn't going to make a scene, choosing to follow Ruby, with Blake joining them.
Weiss breathed a sigh of relief, and as her sister began to walk in the direction they had agreed to speak towards, she wondered why Winter seemed to act a bit different than usual.
"How long have you been out here?" Winter questioned when they got far enough from the airship.
"O-Oh, um, a few hours. Most of the time we spent on fixing up the town as much as we could." Weiss explained, continuing a moment later. "We didn't want to leave it just as it was."
Winter wasn't one to really understand why anyone would really spend the time fixing up a town that had been abandoned. "Do not take this the wrong way, but thinking about it, I just would rather you not take risks for such trivial endeavors."
Weiss didn't want to speak out against her sister, but she also knew how important the town meant to Ren and Nora. "Just don't say that to them. It's not like everyone shares the same views."
"I'm not a child, little sister, but being smart over doing something morally right won't always be a choice so easy to make. Your life is not to be played with." Winter sternly noted.
"What is this really about, Winter? You don't usually speak like this…" Weiss remarked, and Winter cursed herself for making it obvious.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Weiss. You're here in a dangerous-."
"I know where I'm at. I made a choice to come out here, and I get you're upset… I do." Weiss said with a nervous expression clearly on her face. "But why are you talking to me like how you'd talk to Father?"
Winter's eyes lit up, realizing she was sounding a lot more disdained than she should with her younger sister. "Do you really feel that way?"
"Only this one time…" Weiss admitted, and she sighed, shaking her head. "Winter, I have a lot I need to say, but if you're upset this much with me for coming here… Then maybe it's best we talk about it another time."
"No. I'm not about to stand here and let you make another big mistake like this one." Winter said a bit louder than she needed to, partially startling her little sister. "You need to understand that you're-."
"Miss Winter." Klein's voice caught the sisters' attention, as they glanced over at the man, seeing that he wasn't looking overly joyed as he usually was, seeing as he knew they were arguing. "Whatever is going on here, I don't want it to continue. You both know what negative emotions can do."
Winter was a little surprised he knew that about Grimm, since she knew that was what he was implying. "Maybe so, but this area was already marked as overrun, so to be here in the first place-."
"Enough with that!" Weiss yelled, making Klein grow tense, while Winter was unphased. "Winter, there's a lot more than Grimm out here… Okay… And yes, I know what we did was stupid, but it's done. I can't change what happened…"
The Atlas Specialist had wondered what her sister meant, so she pushed on. "What do you mean by more than Grimm? Is there something you aren't telling me?"
Klein bit his lip, while Weiss looked down at her feet. "Winter… What can I tell you that would make you not look at me as your sister… Just tell me."
"Excuse me?" Winter was taken aback, and Weiss wanted to just slap herself for even trying to tell her sister about what she's learned in such a way.
"I-I, ugh, forget what I said… Winter, you know about my semb… How I can turn into a wolf." Weiss started, and Winter tensed up. "It's not what I thought it was… Not a semblance, but-."
"Stop," Winter couldn't believe how she was saying exactly what she was going to tell her. "Klein, explain what happened here. Right now!"
Weiss gasped, while Klein was startled, confused by why Winter suddenly grew so angry. "D-Don't yell at Klein like that! Winter, I was going to tell you-."
"I want to know what you meant by more than Grimm." Winter was beginning to feel her heart racing.
"W-What… I mean," Weiss took a breath. "Winter, we met people down there," She had flashes of Nel and Torn in her mind, as she shook her head, remembering what her partner told her. "They can do what I can do, and change into animals, so… I learned that-."
Winter stopped her with a hug, surprising Weiss, so she slowly wrapped her arms around her older sister.
"Winter?" Weiss could feel her sister shaking a bit. "Winter, what's wrong?"
The elder Schnee sibling pulled away, clenching her fist as she looked to Klein and walked up to him. "How did she end up learning? How could you let her find out in such a way? From some random people who flood her mind with something she doesn't need to know!"
Klein realized that Winter already knew, yet he had no idea how she even could, while Weiss was frozen in shock. "Miss Winter… How did you know?"
Winter glanced at her little sister, who was shaking a little, since she felt that her sister betrayed her trust as well, by not telling her of her past. "How? Because Mother told me hours ago…" Winter walked up to Weiss and knelt down, looking into her eyes. "You weren't supposed to find out like this… I should've called you the moment Mother told me." She pulled her into another hug, rubbing the back of her head as she heard Weiss gasp. "I'm so sorry, Weiss."
"W-What's happening? W-Winter why did Mother tell you?" Weiss needed to know.
"Because I forced her to." Winter started to explain. "I learned about, the people, people like you, who become animals," She took a breath. "Or as the person told me, animals that become human."
Klein spoke up. "Please forgive your Mother. She had to keep this from you girls, from everyone."
"I'm not done, Klein, and Mother will explain everything, and I mean everything, the next time I see her." Winter said as she looked over her shoulder, anger in her eyes when she spoke to the butler, though she wasn't completely angry with him.
"If you know, then… You know I'm not really-." Weiss tried to speak, but Winter pulled away and slapped the top of her head, making her yelp as she moved both hands to cover the spot on her head.
"Don't even think about saying what I think you're going to say." Winter said in a stern tone. "Just because we've learned of yet another lie our Mother kept from us, doesn't mean you aren't the same as you have been."
Weiss didn't need to be told again, so she sniffled and nodded, lowering her hands. "I still don't understand how you found another person like," She looked over at Kuroyuri in the distance. "Like the people I met."
"I was on a mission to investigate strange sightings of, to put it simply, larger than normal animals." Winter explained. "Instead of finding what I thought could have been Grimm, I met a bear, a woman, and she told me everything about… Hidden."
That was all she needed to hear, and Weiss hugged herself while looking away. "I guess… I guess we both learned around the same time... "
Winter placed her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "This wasn't something I expected to ever learn… It felt like I was being told a story, and yet it's not… The woman I met, she wants to speak to you, but I understand if you'd rather get back to Beacon."
Weiss' eyes widened, and the thought of speaking with yet another person that knows about her heritage. "W-What's her name?"
"Olivia, and… There's more. Weiss, I need you to promise me to not use your semblance, I mean, your glyphs while you're in-."
"My animal form," Weiss finished for her sister, and Winter bit her lip. "Something else we both learned. I," Weiss rubbed her arm, showing a hint of fear. "I know about a group of people who hunt the kind of people I relate to."
Winter was angry, angry that anyone would be a threat to her little sister in such a direct way. "Yes, I was informed of them as well, so please," She didn't need to say more.
"I won't. I swear." Weiss walked up, leaning her head on Winter's chest, as she wanted her sister's comfort, showing that she was truly afraid of The Relentless, and Winter wrapped her arms around her little sister for the third time that night, looking to Klein.
The butler knew of The Relentless as well, seeing as Willow had to tell him everything of Lazuria. Klein was mentally keeping a note to himself, to talk to Willow, to tell her that he believes it was time to tell the Schnee sisters everything.
It's been a while since I posted, and I do want to apologize for up and disappearing without a notice. Honestly, it's because of two things, one Destiny 2 Forsaken came out and I wanted to play that, and two I really needed a break. Not just from the frequent posting, but from RWBY as a whole. It's just not a source of inspiration anymore.
I hate to complain about it, but that's just how I feel. With V6 right around the corner, I'm just not looking forward to it. So I'll say this now to be fair to you all. If the volume just overall depresses the hell out of me, I won't be updating as frequent, and I may end up not wanting to work on RWBY fics. Maybe I can work on something like MHA, which at the moment, is my favorite show. Sorry for this kind of A/N.
To JJ- I took a bit longer than a week... I'm sorry, but yeah as I said above, I honestly did need a break from things. It did feel good to not worry about posting, but I am back now, so I'll still do my best to post with the quality I prefer, rather than force myself to pump out chapters.
To Obsessive Reader- Sorry for not letting you all know about the break I was taking. It was just something that happened, but I'm back now, and I'm doing better for it.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 112. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 113.