Here's chapter 120, everyone.
"Is this what you wanted to with your life upon learning of your heritage? Do you feel this is the right way to move forward with your new knowledge? If there is no questioning it, then make your choice before it's too late."
Weiss could hear the voice of Torn asking her those questions. Making her feel the anger of what others can say or do, which was only brought upon by Cardin. It hurt at first, but then she simply felt anger.
Her own voice joined Torn's, as it felt like another her was trying to speak, but only then when things were calm in her mind was she able to hear herself.
"The Relentless have reasons for why they want to hunt us down. It happened once before, showing this anger, towards the girl you've wanted to wake up to. It's time to let go of the idea of becoming something you can't control."
With the images of Torn and Nel in her mind, she also pictured The Relentless member, and how she wanted to so badly kill both Torn and Nel. If she lost control, she would be giving them actual reasons for hunting them down.
As that last thought left her mind, she opened her eyes, those blue orbs looking around as she could see the shock in Cardin and his team's eyes. "If you have something to say about me being a mutt, Cardin Winchester… Then say it to my real face."
Cardin took a step back, looking directly at the white wolf, who stood taller than he had last seen her use that form. Even Weiss was a bit surprised that she was taller in her wolf form, being just as tall as Cardin at that point. "W-What the hell… How did you grow…" His hands were shaking and his team felt the same amount of fear.
"There's something called growing as a person, Cardin." Weiss took a few steps toward the boy, as he himself began to back up even more so. "Something you will never understand for yourself, because you are a self-centered moron!" She growled, and Cardin felt a bit of anger boiling back up, so he raised his mace up in defense. "Are you going to strike me down? Well… Go on then. Show me what the great Cardin Winchester can do."
His team looked back and forth between each other, until they all looked to their leader, wondering what they should do. Cardin took a moment to decide, but lowered his arms and grinned. "Leave this to me, boys… The mutt thinks she can scare me, but I know it's all talk and no bite."
"Oh, trust me, I would bite, but I don't want to dirty my teeth with your blood, Winchester." Weiss said in response, and the rest of the team were shocked at the thought of being practically mauled by a wolf.
"Shut the hell up! Your threats are empty!" Cardin let his anger get the better of him, as he tried to swing his mace at Weiss, but it didn't connect, as he could only slam his mace into a glyph that formed next to Weiss, shocking him. "T-The hell is this?!"
Weiss closed her eyes for just a moment, lifting her head up to howl, as several glyphs appeared around Cardin and his team, startling them as they lifted their own weapons up in defense, since they didn't know the capabilities of the glyphs, seeing that it was the first time they saw Weiss casting them.
"I don't care about you or your team, Cardin." Weiss simply stated as she turned around to walk away, glancing at the other three members of his team, as they were too nervous about what the glyphs could do, so she moved to her clothes and tried to reach down to bite at the pile so she could bring it back with her.
"Stop standing still, you idiots! They're just stupid runes!" Cardin slammed his mace against the glyph, shattering it when he used enough strength. "They don't do anything! Now get her!"
Weiss sighed, jumping away from her clothes when Sky, Dove and Russel tried to attack her. Due to the fact that she had gotten bigger, it was a bit difficult to get used to the slower movement. Still, they weren't giving her a chance to rest, as Russel moved in with his two daggers, slashing at the white wolf, mostly going for breaking her aura, but Weiss just kept jumping back.
Cardin was the furthest away, so he figured she wouldn't focus on him. He took that chance to run in for a swing, starting from the ground and moving into an uppercut motion. With only a glimpse of seeing him charging, Weiss had to take the attack, getting hit back against a tree.
When she slammed into it from the power attack, she panted a bit, since she had used a lot of energy the night before. Still, the white wolf didn't want to rely on losing control to fight them.
Sky moved in next, bringing his halberd down for a strike, but Weiss howled again, blocking the attack with her glyph. Cardin was annoyed by her use of blocking with this unknown power.
"How the hell are you even making those?! Your semblance is being a stupid dog!" Cardin yelled, while Weiss pushed Sky back into Russel, knocking them both down, as Cardin and Dove began to move slowly against her.
Weiss got back to her paws and glared at the two boys. "I don't have to explain myself to you…"
Dove looked back at Russel and Sky, who were both getting back to their feet, while Cardin showed that his mace had an earth dust crystal in it at the moment. "Doesn't matter, cause I'm about to make sure every bone in your body breaks, so you can never come back to Beacon."
"W-Whoa, Cardin, I thought you said we'd just rough her up a bit… If we do that, we can get expelled, man." Russel expressed his concern, while Sky and Dove both looked equally worried about the possibility.
"Shut it. This bitch got on my nerves, so either step back or get ready to beat this mutt down." Cardin focused on the dust in his mace and slammed it down with both hands, aiming it right at Weiss.
The rocks and damaged ground began to spiral towards her, and the rest of the team backed up, watching the attack reach its target. Cardin smirked when he believed the attack knocked her into the ground, but when the dust settled, he saw a large pillar of rock, and on top was the white wolf, who had used a glyph to hop up top to it.
"How the hell… Ugh! You would need two semblances to even stand a chance against me!" Cardin yelled, while Weiss shook her head, confusing the boy, while the other members of his team were basically not trying to get involved, fearing expulsion.
"You really think I'm going to fight you? After everything you've done? No, I won't sink to your level… The level of a coward." Weiss said with a death glare, as Cardin just wasn't worth it to her. Of course that brought more anger in Cardin, and when he was about to bring his mace down again, Weiss casted a glyph around his mace, holding it still as Cardin was shocked by this. "Why do you hate me so much… Tell me."
Cardin struggled in trying to free his mace, but when he realized he couldn't, he glared up at her. "Cause you can't fight back! Gotta rely on your team to protect you!"
"Get over it." Weiss simply said, letting go of his weapon with her glyph, as Cardin almost dropped it from the abrupt dispel. "You acted like an idiot, and got dealt with for it. Your team seems smarter than you as well, not getting involved in this stunt of yours."
Hearing that, Cardin looked over, seeing his team had indeed backed away from the altercation, so he rolled his eyes and looked back up at Weiss. "I don't care if they act like a bunch of-." Suddenly he was pinned down by the white wolf, and with her new size, there was no way he could struggle free, having even dropped his mace as he yelled out in pain. "Gah! Get the hell off me, ya fucking mutt!"
Weiss growled at him, getting him to shut his mouth at that point, while his team stood there, fear paralyzing them as the white wolf stared right at Cardin. "You can continue calling me a mutt for however long you please, but it won't bother me anymore… Because you're just not worth the effort, Cardin."
Cardin could see the sharp teeth, as she'd growl at times, making him almost wet himself. His arms were pinned, so all he could do was look over at his team. "The hell are you waiting for?! Get her off of me! I'm your leader, so-."
Pushing a paw against his arm, Weiss growled again. "You are not a leader! A leader has to set an example for their team! Bring them together for a greater cause, but here you are, trying to abuse your leadership role, just for your own personal vendetta!" Weiss looked towards the other three. "Well? Will you follow your leader or not?"
Realizing the lengths Cardin would go, physically harming another to the point of breaking their bones, they just couldn't do it. All three put their weapons on their backs and backed away, as Cardin's eyes went wide.
Weiss sighed and started getting off of the boy, looking at his hurt expression, since he felt like his team betrayed him. "Do you still want to hurt me? Just because I'm a Schnee?"
Cardin was still on his back as he realized that she remembered the reason why he had an issue with her in the first place. "You… You don't deserve to just waltz in here thinking you're better than us!"
"Is that what you truly think? That I'd look down on people?" Weiss shook her head in disappointment. "Maybe… If the man who was to be a Father raised me, but he didn't, and I didn't end up like him, so stop trying to make me out to be someone I'm not."
"Ugh…" Cardin stood up, grabbing his mace as he had a stare down with the wolf, no team to back him up now. "Doesn't change the fact that you probably just bought your way in."
"I trained, Cardin. I may not fully understand my semblance yet, but I put in the work. And even if I were to buy my way in, as you believe, why would it bother you? You of all people who seems to do more ridiculing than anyone at Beacon." Weiss said, knowing that Cardin was a bully.
Cardin rolled his eyes. "Not my fault everyone in this school is a wimp. If they can't handle a bit of roughhousing, then they shouldn't have applied to be a hunter. You fall into that category well, mutt, seeing as you still can't actually fight me."
Weiss only needed to hear that once more, knowing full well she wasn't going to get through to the boy. "All I wanted, was to at least try to help you understand… Maybe I'm just not as good as getting to people like Ruby…" The last part she muttered to herself.
"Understand what? That you're just a weak Schnee? That you can't fight me like a real huntress?" Cardin smirked, and Weiss readied herself, surprising the boy since she had originally said she didn't wish to fight him.
"I didn't want to fight you, Cardin, but if you won't back off, then I will defend myself. And I don't just mean blocking your attacks." Weiss said with a growl, remembering the forms Torn and Nel had.
"It's not about letting go."
Cardin was a lost cause, someone who was a hypocrite, and the exact kind of person Weiss didn't want to become. The person who would let anger drive them to the point of having no self control, so when Cardin ran at her to try and swing his mace, Weiss charged right at him as well, biting down on the mace and ripping it from his grip, shocking both him and his team as Weiss flung the mace away.
The white wolf stared at the startled Winchester. "This is your last chance…"
With that, Cardin tried to punch at her, even managing to hit her in the face, but his punch felt weak, as her aura was still up, and took most of the damage. Weiss knew from that day, there truly were people who couldn't be reasoned with.
"The Relentless… Thank you, Cardin. I now know why they are called that."
Weiss responded by clawing at the boy's chest, knowing his armor would tank most of the attack, and Cardin was pushed back, but the white wolf wasn't letting him off that easy, as she slammed her entire body against him, knowing him against a tree, as she charged at the boy again, readying her teeth, as she tried to bite at him, but he yelled in fear, only for her to bite the tree he slammed into.
It only took a second to remove her teeth from the tree, as she growled, not letting up, and sprinting at the boy, since she was truly in control, and choosing to defend herself from a person who chose to be relentless.
"L-Leave me alone!" Cardin tried to run, and when he tripped, he cowered in fear, as Weiss was running right at him, but as her teeth were inches from his neck, she stopped, seeing how he couldn't defend himself anymore.
Weiss slowly backed away, as Cardin realized she wasn't attacking him, so he moved his arms from his face to see Weiss sitting. "It's over, Cardin. I'm not going to let you hurt me anymore, but I'm not going to hurt you either… So I'm done trying to reason with you. It's either continue to try hurting me, and I will fight back. Or get over yourself and finish these four years of Beacon, with both of us staying far away from each other."
Cardin didn't want to show it, but he pissed his pants in fear of Weiss actually biting down or even clawing him. "W-What the hell are you…"
"I'm a person that doesn't want someone to continue trying to hurt her. Nothing more, nothing less. I defended myself just like you would if a Grimm attacked you… So in my case, you were just as bad as a Grimm, Winchester." Weiss sighed, knowing that The Relentless would be even worse than Cardin, and if she compared the boy to the Grimm, it meant The Relentless were truly too dangerous.
"A-A Grimm? You think you can compare me to those freaks?!" Cardin yelled, but he didn't notice his team trying to help him up.
"Cardin, that's enough, man. You gotta let this crap go." Sky tried to reason with him, but all that was met was Cardin slapping his hand away and getting up.
Weiss waited to see what he'd do, as the team leader picked up his mace. The white wolf was still sitting, showing she had no plans to attack him now that he was armed, but would fight back if he made the first move.
"This doesn't change anything, Schnee… You're still a mutt, and one who just bought her way in with daddy's money." Cardin scowled.
"I don't care, Cardin." Weiss simply replied.
Cardin almost wanted to strike her, but even he knew it would result in her almost mauling him, so he put his mace on his back and pushed past his team, not wanting to hear a word from them as he stomped over to the school.
Weiss looked to the other members of his team, not saying a word, as they gave her silent apologies, hoping she wouldn't rat them out.
Russel himself even spoke up. "L-Look, we were just following orders… Cardin's our leader and all, so-."
"He may be your assigned leader, but he doesn't act like one. It's not just on a leader… It's on the team as well, so figure out how to get that meathead you call a leader to start acting like a huntsman should." Weiss suggested as she walked over to her clothes, taking a moment to decide what she wanted to even do.
Hearing what she said, the three team members scurried off inside, honestly hoping that Cardin wouldn't be pissed off with them, but they knew he would be.
The white wolf looked down at her clothes, seeing her wolf pendant on top. It made her smile, as she did her best to grab her clothes with her teeth. She looked around for a few moments, seeing the spot she loved most, near the tree she would sit under with her partner.
Once she set the clothes down, she laid down next to them, while looking at her wolf pendant.
Dealing with Cardin opened her eyes to the kind of people who live on Remnant. People like him, just can't be reasoned with, and people like The Relentless had to be stopped. She wasn't dumb. It didn't take Cardin to know that The Relentless can't just be allowed to hunt innocent people, but it did help her see that if for any reason she ended up coming face to face with a Relentless member, she wouldn't allow herself to try and reason with them.
"I never wanted this, but now that I have it… I have to remember why she gave me up in the first place."
Ruby yawned, feeling like she just had the best night's sleep she's had in awhile, but when she noticed that Yang and Blake were awake, she spoke up. "Huh, you guys are up early."
Yang groaned, since she was trying to stuff a pillow into her face. "Ugh…"
Blake noticed Ruby looked confused, so she set her book down. "We actually never went to sleep. After last night, we all sort of ruined our sleep schedules. Well, except for you apparently." Another groan from Yang was heard.
Ruby chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of her head. "I mean, I kinda just close my eyes and poof, I fall asleep pretty easily." Ruby then gasped when a pillow was thrown at her face, sending her onto her back on the bed.
"Stop making it seem so easy…" Yang complained, having been the one to throw the pillow at her sister, as she was sprawled out on her bed.
The rose girl shot up in a sitting position on her bed, pouting at her sister for throwing a pillow at her, but when she realized Weiss wasn't in the room, she seemed a bit concerned. "Where's Weiss?"
Yang sat up and stretched a bit, with a yawn and an answer to follow. "She went out for a walk. Probably trying to just clear her head after, well, y'know." Ruby didn't need to be told twice, so she got out of bed, choosing to get changed. "Hey, I told her we'd be here for her and all, but she seemed to wanna be alone, sis."
"If she does, then I'll give her all the space she needs… But I don't want to regret later that I wasn't with her when she needed me." Ruby said as she quickly got changed.
Even though she was tired, Yang did admire her sister's commitment to Weiss. "Right, but hey, don't leave me and Blake out of this if she's having any trouble. Don't forget that we're here for Ice Wolf too, sis."
Ruby smiled, nodding to her sister. "I won't forget. Thank you, Yang." She quickly left the dorm, knowing where to go.
Blake actually felt her heart pick up in pace, as she closed her book and looked over to her blonde partner. "Yang… About yesterday-."
"Before you say anything, trust me… I know." Yang sat cross legged, as she brought her hand up to her heart. "We can tell them when we're ready, if that is you want things to… Well, continue from last night."
It took a lot to get a blush from the cat Faunus, but Yang was always one to easily get her to do that, so she looked directly at her partner. "I… I needed to know what I've wanted, Yang… I still have trust issues…"
Yang didn't take that one personally. Ever since she saw the scars on Blake's leg, who could blame her. "And I'll make sure that you can trust me no matter what, even if it takes a hundred years… Cause I do want things to continue from last night, but only if YOU do too."
Blake's ears perked up, as she let out a small smile. Yang wasn't the kind of person to try and take advantage of her, and she knew that after being close to her for months. "I think I'd like that too."
The blonde brawler felt her heart skip a beat, as she got out of bed and walked over, pulling her partner into an embrace. Ever since they met, Yang had broken the barrier Blake set up, the one that made her fear the touch of another person. Knowing that barrier was gone, Yang wasn't surprised when Blake wrapped her arms around her.
I wanted to make it seem like she was giving in, in the last chapter, but with all she's gone through, that bit of nature in her can't get through. In a more adrenaline sense, Weiss was able to cast more glyphs here, but she'll still need more practice, so keep that in mind for future fights.
To JJ- Luckily with Weiss, she was able to simply talk to herself about what she wanted to do in terms of handling that situation. As for Ironwood, I thought of how he acted in Volume 3 and seeing as he does this to protect the people, that form of history for him was used here too.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 120. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 121.