Here's chapter 122, everyone.
"Finally, you decided to come back. Seemed like you were out longer for just a walk, dontcha think, Ice… Whoa..." Yang asked when she heard the door opening, seeing the now larger sized white wolf.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Can you seriously not make a big deal out of this. I didn't want to change outside where people could see me, you oaf."
Yang blinked a few times, unsure of how to respond to one of her best friends being large enough to carry her around on her back. "Uhhhhh, I'll just let Blake handle this one."
"There's nothing to handle here." Blake chimed in, looking over at the white wolf. "You just grew a little more is all. It's kind of expected with how much we've learned recently."
The white wolf nodded, asking the others to politely look away. She then used her power and changed into her human form, grabbing the clothes from the bed where Ruby left them and got dressed within minutes.
"You're good to turn around." Weiss said to her three teammates, while Ruby had on a light blush, since she always worried about walking in on Weiss using her shapeshifting power. "Ruby, seriously?"
"W-What? I wasn't looking, I swear!" Ruby cried out, while her older sister snickered at her embarrassment. "Shut up, Yang!"
Weiss groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "My goodness, can you try to act your age for just a day?"
Yang sat back on her bed, grinning at her little sister. "Ruby acting her age? Only way you'd get her to do that is with a promise of the next cover of the Remnant's Armory magazine."
"Can we all just start focusing on more important matters?" Blake suggested, looking to Weiss after saying that. "We're back at Beacon, but after last night, I was wondering what you'd want to do."
"What I'd want to do?" Weiss was clearly unsure of what she meant.
"Are we just going to ignore this Hidden and Relentless situation? It doesn't seem that different from the White Fang if I'm being honest… And… You know about that." Blake reminded.
Weiss never liked remembering Blake was part of the White Fang. It was just after learning she wasn't born a Schnee that Blake even told her. The amount of hidden truths she had to learn, well, it was taking a huge toll on her. "Yes, I do, but Blake, I honestly don't know how to answer your question." Blake's ears perked up. "What am I really suppose to do? It's not like we should go looking for a fight with The Relentless, though, if the worst happens, I'm not going to let them make the first move."
Ruby winced a bit, not wanting that to be brought up so soon.
"I'm sorry," Blake's ears drooped. "I was just wondering how we should approach things."
Yang cut in at that point. "Hey, come on now, we don't need to worry about anything. Weiss will be able to keep herself from being found out by those jerks. So we don't have to get involved at all here."
"You know that's not what I meant." Blake replied, sighing a bit. "Weiss, do you even want to know more about your Mother?"
"Blake," Ruby warned.
Weiss held one arm, nodding at her question. "I do, yes, but I can't just forget about why I'm here at Beacon. Dropping everything just to search for one person on the planet, who I don't even know is alive or not… I can't, Blake."
The blonde brawler was a bit confused on why Blake of all people brought it up. "Where's this coming from, Blake?"
Blake's ears twitched again, as she brought out her scroll, going through the small list of contacts she had, right until she got to her Mother's number, and showed it to Weiss. "It was because of you that I made contact with my parents again… I just wanted to show you that I'll help you find a way to contact your own Mother too."
Ruby and Yang were surprised by that, while Weiss felt her heart skip a beat at the real possibility of her friends helping her find her birth Mother. "Blake," Weiss let out a few light chuckles, confusing the other three girls. "I really do appreciate the sentiment, and I'm glad you spoke with your parents, but… This is a bit of a different situation, and it's okay that we just try and focus on Beacon."
"Even if it's different, don't you at least want to try?" Blake questioned.
"Maybe one day, but not now, not when it gets in the way of our time here. Because I know you dolts will end up skipping out on school to help me… Which I truly am grateful for, but if I can be realistic, that just can't happen all the time." Weiss explained, and while it hurt to say, she herself would rather not commit her life to finding one person over the dreams she's strived for.
Ruby placed her hand on her partner's shoulder. "Maybe we can ask someone else to look for her instead? That way we won't have to skip out on school."
"I guess that can be an option," Weiss then flailed her arms a bit, trying to get back on track. "Ugh, that's beside the point. Look, let's just drop it okay… Please?"
The others backed off, not wanting to bring on an argument that wasn't needed. Weiss got back into bed after that, letting the others know that she'd try to get some actual rest. Ruby was a bit hesitant on whether she should say anything, while Blake and Yang decided that they themselves should try to catch up on the sleep they missed.
When Ruby looked around the room to see her team was attempting to sleep, she quietly sighed and got into her own bed, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
"Maybe Mom can help find Weiss' mom. I gotta ask her without Weiss knowing so she doesn't get stressed out."
"Are you ready to go, Miss Winter?" Klein inquired, as he and the Atlas Specialist were finished packing up what little they had with them.
"I will be, once I speak with Weiss." Winter pulled her scroll out of her pocket and began contacting her little sister. After a few moments of ringing, Winter was met with a groaning whine. "Good morning to you too, little sister."
Another groan was heard from the other line, as Weiss spoke. "I was this close to finally getting some sleep… This close, Winter."
Winter couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "I apologize for waking you, but I wanted you to know that I will be leaving here in a moment. My mission is still active, and I plan on returning to Mistral."
It took a few moments, with Winter hearing a bit of movement from the other line. "Should I meet you by your airship?"
"There's no need. I have a feeling I'll be back here in the coming weeks. There's a lot I can't say about, but I can at least suggest you prepare to speak with Mother about this, Weiss. I know you're trying to become a huntress, and focusing on your studies is what I expect of you, but this can't be left alone." Winter stated.
"I know… I'll send word to Mother about coming over to Beacon so we can properly talk things out." Weiss assured.
"Good. I promise, everything will start getting better again." Winter vowed, not wanting her little sister to continue going through identity crisis after identity crisis.
While Winter couldn't see her do it, Weiss moved her hand up to her wolf pendant, holding it tight. "Thank you, Winter. I love you, and have a safe flight."
"I love you too, little sister. Oh, and before I forget, don't think I'm just letting you off easy with sneaking your way all the way to Mistral." When Winter said that, she could hear her sister gulp in response. "The next sparring match you and I have, I expect you to slay at least thirty of my summons, or I'll have to train you even harder than I thought."
The thought of that drained a bit of color from Weiss' face, as sometimes at home, Winter's training was grueling, and overall not a fun time. "Y-Yes, Ma'am."
With that, Winter ended the call with a smirk, while Klein looked a bit concerned. "Do you really believe that was fair of you to bring on a punishment like that, Miss Winter? If anything, I should be the one taking responsibility for flying her there."
"Klein, Weiss asked you for help because she knows you care deeply, and no that doesn't mean she wanted to use you. She simply wanted to help her friends, but that does not mean she can go across Kingdoms for that." Winter explained.
"Hmm…" Klein felt guilty about it, but he knew Winter wouldn't punish her sister that badly, at least he hoped she wouldn't.
"Huh?" Willow opened her eyes, waking up with a yawn and a stretch of her arm, as she sat up in bed and looked around the cabin. "Raven? Where did she go?" Getting out of bed, the white haired woman walked up to the fridge kept in the cabin.
It seemed even more stocked than it was the night before. Willow figured that Raven must have woken up earlier and went into town to bring back supplies. She closed the fridge and looked out one of the windows, seeing Raven sitting on a tree stump, as she had a small fire for warmth.
Seeing her like that, Willow decided on joining her, so she got her coat, pants and boots on. Once she closed the door behind her, Raven looked over her shoulder. "Finally awake, huh?"
Willow rolled her eyes playfully and sat on a log across from Raven. "How many hours ago did you go into town? And why didn't you wake me?"
"It's only been about two hours, and with the night you had, I'm pretty sure you should be thanking me for letting you get more sleep." Raven said while keeping her blade over her legs in a horizontal position.
"Do you always have to sound like an ass when trying to be nice?" Willow questioned as she gave her a glare.
Raven shrugged while setting her sheathed blade on the snow. "You've been around me long enough to not complain much about the little things." She then sighed. "Still, how are you holding up?"
"No one died, Raven… I just… I needed to get away for a bit is all. So yes, I am thankful that you let me rest a bit longer." Willow dropped her arms, thinking about her children, both situations taking huge tolls on her.
"You can talk about it if you'd like. You said it before yourself. We're not teenagers." Raven said in a serious tone.
"Could've fooled me," Willow quietly remarked, but shook her head right after. "No, no, you're right. It's just not easy having to speak about it. About my friend…"
Raven stayed silent, hoping Willow would catch on that she was ready to listen.
"Would… Would you be able to find someone? I mean, you're a huntress, and I know you hunt Grimm, but… Maybe you can find a missing person too?" Willow asked, as the question was always on her mind.
The black haired huntress tensed up at that. She wasn't an idiot, she knew Willow meant Lazuria. "I'm, well, I'm not exactly sure it would be as easy as you think it is. There's a lot of people on this planet, and-."
"Not a lot of people fit the bill of having white hair and blue eyes. You can even leave out any of my family, since she's not a Schnee… Please, Raven… There has to be some chance at finding-."
"Willow," Raven interrupted, sighing to herself. "I can't promise you I'd be able to find this person, even with those distinctive traits. And you need to remember that I'm a huntress. I have missions that come up."
Hearing the tone Raven was using caused Willow to lower her head in defeat. "W-What about other hunters? If not you, then maybe-."
Raven had gotten up and knelt next to Willow in the time she was speaking, keeping her hand on her shoulder. "It's not needed. If this is something you really want, then I'll take it up as a mission, then at least it can be considered official huntress business."
Willow's eyes widened, perking up as she lifted her head to meet Raven's eyes. "Are you serious?"
"When am I not?" Raven patted her shoulder a few times and stood up. "But, I do have to warn you, I don't come cheap, and seeing as you're the wife of the biggest dust company's CEO… I expect more than a few lien between friends."
Hearing that made the white haired instantly shoot out of her seat. "Are you trying to extort me, Branwen? And friends?"
Raven realized her mistake, taking a step back as she saw the woman seething. "H-Hey, hold on now, I was just joking… Look, you don't have to pay me anything, and-."
Willow slapped the back of Raven's head, and watched as the usually calm huntress went to grab at where she was hit, groaning a bit, and while she was distracted, Willow nonchalantly pulled out from her pocket a starting fee.
"Here, an incentive for the ever so gracious Raven Branwen." Willow said as she pushed about one thousand lien into Raven's chest, startling her as she moved her hands down to see what it was.
"W-What, I was just joking about the money, Willow… This is a bit more than I expected," Raven blinked a few times, then a thought came to her. "Wait, why do you have this much money on you… In bills?"
Willow rolled her eyes. "It's called having money set aside for a rainy day. Besides, that's just some of the money I took from Jacques' card."
Raven looked at the bills, shrugging as she pocketed the lien."Keep that up and maybe I'll speed up the process of getting you away from that moron myself."
"What? Pay you? I am no cheap whore, Raven Branwen." Willow said with her trademark death glare that most Schnees had.
"Sheesh, will you stop saying stupid crap, Schnee. I meant not giving a shit about whether he'd be pissed about you stealing from him or not." Raven reiterated.
"Ha! Steal from him? That man stole my Father's company. If anything, those bills I gave you are strictly mine. I simply withdrew what is mine." Willow grinned.
Raven felt a bit proud of the woman, nodding to her words. "Well if that's the case, we'll have to reclaim that manor of yours back one day too, since it is yours after all."
"One day… Yes, but… Raven, will you really try to look for her… Lazuria?" Willow had gotten back to a more serious tone.
There was no hesitation. "Yes. I won't make an empty promise by saying I will find her, but I can at least tell you that I'll try. So try to understand the possibility of me not being able to find her."
Willow raised her hand to her heart, taking a deep breath as she nodded. "I understand," She walked up to Raven, leaning on her as the black haired huntress wrapped an arm around her. "Thank you."
Raven moved her hand to the back of Willow's head, holding it softly as she thought of how she could keep that promise.
"I guess I have made my choice."
I missed going back and forth between the character scenes, especially with Willow's side of things.
To JJ- I don't want to make promises on keeping up a schedule, but at the moment I am enjoying writing this again. Glad you enjoyed the little back and forth with Klein and Winter. As for Ruby, well, yeah, she is younger than the others, and while age can't always be the reason for ignorance, she does try to look at things like Summer, where you can solve a problem without taking a life.
To Dom- Thank you. I'm just glad those continuing to read this story are still enjoying it. That's one of the reasons I try to keep writing.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 122. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 123.