There we are. This chapter was an enormous pain to write because I didn't really know what direction to take it in, and it ended up twice as long as the last one. I really hope I can keep it down a bit for the next chapter, if only to make my updates quicker. Nevertheless, I hope you still enjoy it. Please Read and Review, because I always seek to better myself.
To the people who reviewed the previous chapter: thank you! Your feedback is very welcome. I'd especially like to thank the person who made the remark about Ozpin giving Ruby the choice to accept the mission or not. My intention was to convey that Ozpin knew Ruby would never accept without consulting her friends, but upon re-reading it I noticed that didn't come across too well. So thank you for pointing that out! Now, without further ado, enjoy!
Chapter Two: The Crow and the Rose
When I woke up it was still dark outside. I guess I could've stayed in my bed and slept in, but I decided to get up. Dressing myself as quietly as I could, I made my way to the cafeteria to get an early breakfast. I was pretty sure my teammates would give me all sorts of grief about that decision, but at that moment I didn't care much.
I'm not really sure why I get like that sometimes. I really like my team, although all of them seem tailored to annoy me in some way. Yang's much too boisterous for my tastes. Sure, it's all part of her act of obfuscating stupidity, but she's doing an annoyingly good job at it a lot of the time.
Blake keeps to herself, but even though she's my friend, I worry about her past…although I guess I'm not really one to talk about keep one's past to oneself.
Then, of course, there's Ruby. Throughout the time I've known her she's influenced me most out of all of my teammates. She's so immature and naïve sometimes and her optimism honestly grinds my gears now and then…but there is something else to her. There's another person underneath that seemingly unending cheerfulness and immaturity. I've only really seen a very small part of it, back when she and I had just been partnered up in the Emerald Forest. She interrupted my attack on a Grimm, and I nearly hit her with it. When I told her I could have killed her, her reply was just, "You'll have to try a lot harder than that…"
The way she said that stuck with me ever since, and for the life of me I don't know why. Maybe the fact that she seems more enigmatic than even Blake gets to me. Maybe I'm just overthinking that moment. Maybe I'll never know. Not the most cheerful of ways to start up a Saturday morning, is it? Don't misunderstand me, though. I'm not depressed, or anything of the sort.
But on mornings like these, when everyone's still asleep and I'm in the big cafeteria all by myself, I get a bit philosophical. Ruby is just one of the subjects I mull over during such times. Another subject I often revisit is my family. My father is actually a rather kind man, but years of business have made him hard and cold. All the trouble the White Fang causes for him doesn't help his disposition much. Even before they became complete terrorists they sought to antagonize my family. Strikes and acts of sabotage were rife in the Dust mines and processing plants.
The worst part is that I agreed with them, back then. Much like Ruby is, or seems to be, now, I was once quite idealistic. What my father did to the Faunus workers didn't sit right with me, either, and I really did feel the White Fang was doing everything they could to protect their own. I never told him that, of course. It's not like he ever got violent. Not physically, anyway. But his anger, day in day out, made him very prone to snapping at my sister or me.
She always stood up for me whenever his anger was directed at me. I don't know how she managed to do that, but I'm eternally grateful for it. That was before the shift in White Fang policy, of course. When they became the monsters they are today, it was like my family had a target painted on them. So many people I knew died because of them. My sister became almost as hard and cold as my father, though she never got angry at me.
My musings were disturbed when someone else entered the cafeteria. Ruby. She gave me a happy wave and went to grab a tray of food before walking over and sitting down next to me.
"Morning, Weiss," she said with a big smile on her face. "You're up early."
"I couldn't sleep anymore, so I thought I'd get an early breakfast," I said. "What about you?"
Ruby grinned at me. "One of my teammates was gone, so I thought something might be wrong," she said. "So, Weiss, is there something wrong?"
Her eyes seemed to look straight into my soul, but somehow she managed to look playful even when doing that. Aside from that, it surprised me that she was actually being responsible. She was really maturing into a good leader, and I must admit I felt quite proud of her because of it.
"No, I'm fine. Very attentive of you to ask, though."
Her smile got even wider than it already was at my compliment. Right now, there was no trace of that darker side of her that had been in my mind mere minutes earlier.
"Oh, by the way, do you have plans for this weekend?" Ruby asked me.
I shrugged. I honestly hadn't given it much thought yet, despite the fact we probably wouldn't be at Beacon for quite some time once we'd set off.
"I guess I'll just stay here and enjoy these last days of comfort," I said.
I was curious now, though. Ruby wouldn't ask something like that unless she already had something in mind. "Why? Are you planning something?"
Ruby nodded. "Yup. Yang and I are going to visit Dad and Uncle Qrow at Signal. We won't be seeing them for a while, so we wanted to say goodbye. Blake didn't want to come, but if you want to go we'll drag her as well so we can go as a team. Or do you want to visit your own family?"
I considered that for a moment. I had no intention of going to see my father, but it would feel a bit awkward to be dragged to meet Ruby and Yang's family.
"Zwei will be there as well," Ruby said slyly.
Damn her. Zwei is possibly the cutest creature I've ever seen in my life, and whenever I'm around him I devolve into speaking in gibberish. And Ruby knows there's no way I'm missing a chance to see his wittle doggy face. Crap, it's already started.
"So you're coming?" she asked. Clearly my inner struggle was visible on my face. I sighed in resignation.
"Yes, I guess I am."
"Yes! Now I just need to convince Blake to come as well, but I'm sure Yang can help me with that."
With those words, Ruby jumped up out of her seat and ran out of the cafeteria.
"Hey! At least clean up your mess!" I yelled after her. I knew she wouldn't hear me, of course, but doing it somehow made me feel like I was doing the right thing. In the end, though, the end result was the same: I was going to be cleaning up Ruby's breakfast. Wonderful.
"We're almost there!"
I couldn't believe how excited Ruby was. She was bouncing up and down as the airship was slowly descending. I would never get this excited over going to see my family, except possibly Winter, and even then I'd be a bit more composed about it.
Still, seeing her like this made me smile a little. It was pretty cute. In the end, she'd been able to convince Blake to join this little excursion to Signal Academy, and the four of us had arranged transport there shortly after breakfast.
I don't think the pilot was very happy to have essentially been turned into a glorified bus driver, but Ruby's onslaught of reasons to go here and her big puppy dog eyes managed to convince him just the same. It made for a nice contrast to the way my father generally gets people to do what he wants: cold hard cash. I tried to imagine my father using Ruby's tactics and snorted loudly as I tried to suppress my laughter.
"Are you okay, Weiss?" Ruby asked. Her bubbly excitement had been replaced with concern so quickly I half thought she'd used her Semblance to do it.
Blushing lightly in embarrassment I straightened myself and said, "I'm fine, nothing to worry about."
Yang grinned slyly and said, "I think our Ice Queen actually thought of something funny just now. So tell us, Weiss, what were you thinking about?"
Getting even redder, I turned away from them and said, "It's nothing that concerns you."
Yang chuckled. She's so infuriating sometimes. She knows perfectly well I don't like this sort of attention...although admittedly it was my own fault for thinking such ridiculous things. I looked at Ruby, who seemed more relaxed now that she knew I was okay. It's strange how much she cares about me. Of course, she's like this with all of us, but every time she displays that caring side of hers, there's a strange flutter in my stomach.
A light jolt went through the airship when it touched down on the landing pad. Ruby immediately wanted to dash off, but Yang grabbed her hood before she could.
"Not so fast, little sis. We're all here together, so we're greeting them together."
Ruby pouted, but then she sighed and relented. The prospect of meeting Ruby's family made me feel oddly nervous. I've met so many people in my life I can hardly begin to count them and that never bothered me. Maybe it's because I never particularly cared about them, while this time I actually wanted them to like me. When did that happen?
My father has always said that a Schnee shouldn't care about what others think, since we are so far above them. I always suspected he said that as much to himself as he said it to me, but I spent my life trying to live that way just the same. After only a year with my friends, though, I've apparently changed so much that it suddenly matters to me what complete strangers think. I took deep breaths as we walked down the ramp.
"Nervous?" Yang asked me with an aside glance.
"Not really," I lied a bit too quickly.
To my surprise Yang's smile wasn't mocking but kind. "Don't worry. Our family's great. They'll like you," she said with a wink.
With my worries partially cleared up we walked towards the end of the docking platform, where two people and a small dog were waiting for us. I saw Blake giving the dog an apprehensive look and felt a bit sorry for her. Being a cat Faunus around a dog was probably not much fun. I moved in front of her and whispered, "I'll keep him away from you."
"Thanks."
There was so much gratitude in her voice it almost sounded like she'd been given a pardon from execution. Ever since becoming a part of Team RWBY I'd learned just how much difference small things can make in life. I wasn't going to tell them, but right at that moment there was nowhere I'd rather be.
We approached the two men and as soon as we got close, Ruby ran forward to meet them.
"Dad, Uncle Qrow! It's so good to see you! And you too, Zwei," she added when her dog barked at her.
One of the men, who had blonde hair like Yang's, drew Ruby into a hug that, by the looks of it, had enough force to crush a diamond.
"Your father?" I asked Yang, as we approached as well.
"Yup," she said proudly. "See the family resemblance?"
I smiled. "I see where you get your strength from, that's for sure."
The other man, who had black hair and had to be Qrow, laughed at Ruby's futile attempts to get out of her father's bear hug, but then he said, "Alright, Taiyang. She needs to be alive for her mission."
Taiyang grinned sheepishly and let his daughter go. Ruby took a few extremely deep breaths and Taiyang now focused his attention on Yang. He drew her into a crushing embrace as well, but she was strong enough to actually return the favor. Blake and I shot each other uncertain glances. Neither of us was used to this unique style of greeting, and judging by her apprehensive look she was just as reluctant to get crushed as I was.
Ruby, meanwhile, was talking to her uncle. "I've upgraded Crescent Rose, look!"
She expanded her scythe and began to rattle about high-caliber bullets and a new recoil regulating system. It meant nothing to me, but Qrow was listening to her with a very focused and proud look on his face.
That look vanished, however, when he laid his eyes on me. He raised his hand to silence Ruby and walked over to me.
"You're a Schnee, aren't you?" he asked.
The loathing in his voice was obvious, and I sighed inwardly. So much for making a good first impression. Once again, my family's name preceded me. Despite my inner conflict I showed no outward signs of distress, courtesy of lifelong training, and said, "Yes. I'm Weiss Schnee. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Qrow."
Qrow scoffed. "Save me the pleasantries. I don't like your family and that's not about to change anytime soon."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that. It wasn't a question, and the phrasing made coming up with a reply very difficult. My teammates, especially Ruby and Yang, were speechless. A glance at their faces told me that neither of them had expected this kind of welcome.
"Cat got your tongue?" Qrow mocked.
Blake's bow twitched at that remark. "Oh, sorry," Qrow said. "I didn't mean to insult you, miss," he said to Blake.
Her eyes widened in confusion. "How did you…?"
Qrow smirked and pointed at her bow. "No wind, but it moved."
Blake could only stare at him disbelievingly. Sure, the twitch of her bow had betrayed her heritage, but it was such a small movement most people wouldn't have seen it. I only noticed it because I knew what to look for.
Qrow looked at me again, this time with an expression that was more intrigued than hostile. "Since you didn't react to me revealing your friend here as a Faunus I take it you knew?"
I nodded. "Of course," I said a little more sharply than I'd intended. He might be Ruby's family, but he was incredibly rude.
"I thought you Schnee hated Faunus."
Okay, I've officially had it. Whether he's Ruby's uncle or the emperor of the universe, no one speaks to me in such a condescending manner.
"We're not all the same, although we do have a very low tolerance for asinine remarks from people we've never even met," I said angrily.
Silently I was hoping he'd get angry enough to get violent. To my utter surprise, though, Qrow reacted to my words by bursting out laughing.
"What's so funny?!" I demanded.
Qrow stopped laughing and looked at me, still wearing a huge grin, the kind that Yang would describe as a shit-eating grin. Oh, how I wanted to wipe it off his face.
"Well?!"
I was clenching and unclenching my fists now. It wasn't like me, to get so worked up, but my nerves and anger had mixed to form a very volatile mixture.
"You're definitely not like your family, that's for sure," Qrow said.
That explained absolutely nothing, so it did equally much to lighten my mood. "What the hell is that even supposed to mean?!"
Usually when I'm angry I get colder, but right now I was just white-hot.
"Weiss…" Ruby said softly.
"Not now, Ruby. This is between me and him," I said, without taking my eyes off Qrow. "You've never even met me before today, and yet you presume to know me because of my name, and then you suddenly declare I'm different from my family and that amuses you?!"
Qrow was still smirking when that outburst ended. "Yes," he replied, still refusing to be helpful.
I was just about to tell him off again, but Taiyang stepped in. "Qrow, enough. I'd appreciate it if you could show some courtesy to Ruby and Yang's friends."
Qrow shot him a glance and his smirk disappeared. Then he sighed. "Fine."
He turned back to me. His red eyes looked into my blue ones. "I'm sorry for the hostility," he said eventually. "It's just that I have had some…rather unpleasant dealings with your family before."
"You wouldn't be the first," I muttered. I was still angry, but not enough to reopen the hostilities. A silence fell over our group.
"So…who's up for lunch?" Ruby asked with a shaky smile. Yang and Blake immediately agreed, and Taiyang wasn't far behind. They all looked expectantly at Qrow and me.
I sighed. "Sure," I said. "But I'm not sitting next to him," I added with a glance at Qrow.
Lunch, fortunately, passed without incident. Qrow and I were seated at diagonally opposed corners, so were as far apart as we possibly could be, and because of that we could actually hold a decent conversation during the meal.
Both Taiyang and Qrow were teachers at Signal, and when they themselves had been in training they'd been on the same team. Qrow wasn't Taiyang's brother, but rather Raven's, who was Yang's mother but not Ruby's. That explained their different last names, at least, since Ruby had her mother's name while Yang had the same name as her father.
Ruby and Yang told Taiyang and Qrow all about the missions we'd done together as a team, including our encounters with Torchwick and the White Fang. The only thing they omitted was Blake's history as a member, for which she was very grateful, judging by her expression. Blake and I chimed in from time to time to tell our own contributions. Every time we did, I noticed Qrow paying just a little more attention to the conversation. He was clearly trying to find something out, and that was bothering me.
It was easy to see how much Ruby idolized him, though. She just kept discussing weapons with him as though nothing had happened earlier. Taiyang saw me looking at them and leaned across the table.
"Qrow taught Ruby how to fight. He's just as much of a weapon nut as she is, and probably the best scythe wielder in the world," he said.
I nodded slowly, but I wasn't feeling any more comfortable. How could Ruby, easily the kindest person I know, get along so well with that rude vulgarian? Taiyang clearly noticed my feelings, because he went on, "Qrow's not a bad man, really. He's just been through a lot."
"That's no excuse," I huffed.
"No," Taiyang agreed earnestly, "It isn't."
He fell silent after that, and I kept looking at Qrow's animated conversation with Ruby with a frown.
After lunch, we intended to go explore Patch, but before we did I had something to sort out. I walked over to Qrow and said, "We need to talk."
He raised an eyebrow, but he nodded his affirmation anyway. He turned to Taiyang.
"You guys go ahead. We'll catch up later. Don't worry," he added when he saw Ruby's concerned look, "We'll keep it civil this time."
It caught me off guard to hear him say that, and it actually annoyed me quite badly. The way he said seemed to imply that I had been the cause of the problems last time. I bit my scathing remarks back, however, and simply nodded in agreement. When the others had moved out of earshot, I turned to Qrow.
"I want to know what your problem is," I said bluntly.
"Your family is my problem," Qrow replied equally bluntly.
Again I had to bite my tongue not to snap at him.
"The things my family does have nothing to do with me as a person," I said stonily.
"No, they don't," Qrow agreed. "Besides, you're different from them."
Again with that line. "What do you mean by that?" It took all my control to keep my voice neutral.
"Not that, that's for sure," he replied.
Oh, for the love of… "Don't give me that nonsense again!" I exploded. Staying civil had gone out the window.
"That's what I'm talking about," Qrow said.
"What is?! All you're doing is talking in circles!" I yelled at him. People were turning their heads to look at me, but I didn't care. "Why can't you just give me a straight answer for once?"
Qrow nodded. "Alright. You're different from your family because unlike them, you're not stone cold. You're just as fiery as Yang and Ruby, even. Every other Schnee I've ever dealt with remained cold and collected. Not even passive aggressive remarks, nothing. No emotions. You, though, wanted to slug me one and that bloodthirst was almost solid. I respect that, although I can imagine you might not see it that way," he said.
It took me a moment to process that. I was different because I showed emotions? I wanted to argue with him, because I'd seen my father furious so often it was all but his normal state of being. But then I realized that he only ever showed that side of him at home. In business, no matter with whom, he never showed anger, or joy, or anything else. His mask of indifference was absolute. No matter what happened before his eyes, he would not respond to it.
I, on the other hand, had always gone for snide remarks at every opportunity. Reflecting on it, I realized that I was indeed the only one in my family to do so. Unlike my off-center ponytail which was my small resistance against the rigid life my family wanted for me and which was something I did on purpose, my attitude had actually been a subconscious way of rebelling against my parents.
Despite my annoyance, I smiled. It's not every day you learn something new about yourself from an insufferable brute.
"Why are you smiling?" Qrow asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
"I have my reasons," I told him, taking some warped pleasure in leaving him in the dark for once, however small this might be.
"You think it's funny you're nothing like your family?"
I shrugged. "Who knows what I'm thinking? It's certainly none of your business," I said sweetly. Oh yes, I can be petty when I want to be.
Qrow stared at me for a moment, then he burst out laughing. "I think you and I will get along just fine, little Miss Schnee," he said, holding out his hand.
I smirked at him and extended mine as well. "Just Weiss will do," I said. "And please don't call me little. I'm still considering punching you for the insolence earlier," I added.
Qrow's grin widened. "Fine with me. Now, let's go find those other idiots, shall we? They might get eaten by a Beowolf if we aren't there to protect them."
Shaking my head at Qrow's warped sense of humor, I followed him outside.
Patch was a rather forested island, with an even higher concentration of Grimm than the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall Forest in Vale. As we walked, I could hear the noises of hungry Grimm all around me. I had my hand on Myrtenaster's hilt in case we suddenly came under attack, but Qrow didn't seem to care at all.
"Nervous?" he asked me.
I scoffed. "Cautious, yes," I corrected him. I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of thinking I was afraid.
Qrow made a derisive sound. "Even that would give these Grimm too much credit." He looked at me. "The Grimm on this island aren't like the ones you may have seen on the mainland. They're much more numerous, yes, but also incredibly weak. Ruby could slice an entire pack of them to ribbons when she was thirteen…although she did have a great teacher," he finished with a proud look.
"Oh, so you were the one who taught her that reckless style. I should've guessed that would be your influence," I said mockingly.
In truth, I admired Ruby's fighting style. The way she moves while twirling that massive scythe…yes, it looks incredibly inefficient and wasteful, but it's undeniably mesmerizing to behold. There was no way, though, that I would give a compliment to Qrow. Though we buried the hatchet I was still not going to stroke his ego.
"You know nothing about art…" Qrow muttered angrily.
"Excuse me? I have studied the exquisite art of fencing, thank you very much," I said indignantly.
"Heh, so you can stab with what amounts to a little needle. Big deal," Qrow retorted.
"Fencing is an elegant and noble art. I wouldn't expect you to understand it," I said flippantly.
Although my words might suggest otherwise, I was actually enjoying the banter. Trading insults like this seemed to take the edge off all the Grimm noises around us. Weak or not, so many Grimm would have to be dangerous. Qrow's claim that Ruby could fight off an entire horde of these at thirteen was one I took with an enormous pile of salt. After all, the man seemed to love boasting about the skills he imparted upon her.
"Okay, then let me ask you this. Do you have the same utterly retarded on guard position your sister has? Because that…what is it, prime, quarte, in quartata, even? Whatever it is, it hardly looks like a closed line. Why not just a sixte line like anyone with a brain? Those other moves are brilliant counters but honestly, who leads with them?"
My mouth fell open. I don't know what surprised me more, the fact that this brute knew the fencing lines or the fact the he knew my sister's, and by extension my, style. The truth was that I didn't know the answer to it. When I was younger I did actually use the sixte line, but since my sister didn't and I idolized her, I began to emulate her stance, using my Semblance to increase my speed, and my Dust to make the blade actions themselves less important.
Qrow chuckled. "No worries. I'm not one to talk about defense considering the momentum of my scythe. Grimm are generally too stupid to do it, but if a human opponent interrupts a combo attack, well, I might actually be in trouble…of course at that point I'd likely just shoot them because in a fight between life and death, honor comes last."
That remark troubled me, but I knew he was right. I'd prefer to fight fair and head on, but if the situation called for it I would fall back to dirty tactics to save my life, I was quite certain of that.
"Oh, look at that. I think we've found the others," Qrow said with a gesture of his head.
Slightly ahead of us and surrounded by decaying Grimm, were my friends and Taiyang. Several more Grimm were attacking them from between the trees, but something was strange. They lacked the distinctive white masks and bony spikes regular Grimm had. These looked more like bipedal wolves, with glowing red eyes and red teeth.
"What's with those Grimm?"
"Like I said, these Grimm are very numerous but very weak. They're young, you might even call them newborns. We still don't know why there are so many here…that's one of the things you might want to look into on your 'mission'," Qrow said.
"How do you…?"
"Later. Now, we have some Beowolves to slay."
I nodded. Qrow was right. Questions could wait until later. I drew Myrtenaster and assumed my battle stance, a little self-conscious as I turned inward with my palm facing me, but I wasn't about to change my entire style over one remark. Without further ado, I launched myself at the Grimm.
"Finally, I thought we'd never get through them," Yang said, lazily stretching out. We'd slaughtered an amazing number of Grimm, and though I found it hard to believe it had been exceptionally boring. Without their bony armor we'd cut through the Beowolves like butter, and they'd even seemed quite slow and weak as well.
"Why are we here in the middle of these Grimm infested woods anyway?" I asked.
"We're going to visit my Mom," Ruby said softly.
I didn't respond immediately, but now I felt like a complete jerk for asking. Ruby didn't say much about her mother usually, and all I knew was that she had died on a mission many years ago when Ruby was still little. Ruby, however, didn't seem sad at all.
"I know it's stupid, but I think she'd like to meet all of you. Besides, the view from the cliff is amazing," she said.
It stung a little to hear Ruby say 'I know it's stupid', because I was quite certain she said that to prevent me from commenting on it. I know I'm not the most sensitive of people sometimes, but I'm not that callous.
We began walking again, and I guess I still looked a little hurt, because Ruby came up to me and asked, "Are you okay, Weiss?"
I nodded and managed a small smile, and replied, "I'm fine."
I didn't even convince myself with that, and quite frankly I didn't even really know why it had bothered me so much. "It's just…I don't think it's stupid you want us to meet your Mom," I said, softly enough that no one else could hear me. "And…well…"
I didn't dare to finish my sentence. Why? Why do I have such difficulty admitting to any emotion aside from anger?
Ruby touched my arm and I looked into her eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Weiss. I'm sorry," she said, giving my arm a small squeeze.
Sometimes Ruby really amazes me. She seems so dense and naïve, but she picks up things like this faster than I've ever seen someone do.
I shook my head, "It's not your fault." My faint smile became slightly rueful when I said, "I guess I'm just an Ice Queen."
Now it was Ruby's turn to shake her head. "You're not. You've changed, we both have. And I think it was for the better for both of us."
She let go of my arm and gestured ahead. The trees began to thin out and I thought I could see beyond them now.
"We're almost there," Ruby said, now addressing the whole group, but mostly Blake and me since the others were obviously familiar with the area.
As we passed the last trees, I gasped in amazement at the scenery. A part of the cliff extended into a point well into the ocean. At the very tip, I spotted a headstone. Silently, we walked over to it. When I got close enough I could read the inscription. 'Summer Rose. Thus kindly I scatter.'
"Hey Mom," Ruby said. "I'm not alone today. I brought Yang, and Dad, and Uncle Qrow...and I'd like you to meet my teammates, Weiss and Blake."
She gestured at Blake and me, and I bowed my head slightly in the direction of the headstone. For some reason that felt like the right thing to do.
"I won't be able to talk to you for a while," Ruby said. "My teammates and I are going on an important mission and we'll probably be away from the kingdom for a long time."
She turned around and looked at Blake and me. "I, um, since you've never been here before…why don't you introduce yourselves?"
Blake hesitated for a moment, so I stepped forward first. I walked over to the headstone and knelt down, placing my hand on top of it.
"I'm Weiss Schnee, and I'm Ruby's partner at Beacon. I'll make sure to keep her safe while we're away, so please don't worry about her. She's in good hands," I said.
I got up, bowed my head once again and turned around…but I couldn't take a single step before Ruby had wrapped her arms around me.
"Thank you," she whispered, and I could hear she was on the verge of tears. I awkwardly held her for a moment. She smelled like roses, and I felt my heartbeat go up slightly. She let me go and smiled, wiping her eyes with one finger as I stepped farther back, and Blake walked up to the headstone.
I couldn't make out what she said, but Ruby hugged her afterwards as well. Something within me stirred at the sight, but I couldn't quite place it.
Yang leaned in close. "I didn't hear what you said, but Ruby doesn't get teary-eyed easily. I'm impressed," she said.
"Didn't Blake do the same?" I asked.
Yang shook her head. "Look closer."
I did, and I saw that she was right. While Ruby did hug Blake, her eyes were dry this time. For some reason that made me feel slightly triumphant. What was with me today? So many foreign emotions in such a short time, something was going on with me and I was going to find out what it was.
It wasn't going to happen now, however. Ruby said her goodbyes to her mother and walked back towards the main group. I found it kind of odd that Taiyang hadn't gone over to the headstone, but perhaps he came here more often. I decided that when we got back from our mission, I'd come back here, just to tell Ruby's mother that I had kept my promise. For some reason I considered the opinion of this one dead person more important than those of most living people. I must be going nuts.
Thinking about the mission reminded me of something else, however, and I turned to Qrow. "You said earlier you knew about our mission. How do you know?" I asked him.
Qrow seemed to consider the question for a moment, but when Taiyang gave him a small nod, he relented. He gestured for everyone else to come closer and began talking. "I've been working with Professor Ozpin for quite some time, to discover what forces are working against the peace we've been living in since the Great War. I have been supplying him with information, and he, in turn entrusted you with the mission to act on that info."
He grinned at Ruby.
"I'm incredibly proud of you and your friends that you are willing to forego the Vytal Festival to protect this world. That attitude alone makes you great Huntresses." He looked at me in particular now. "I will admit I wasn't happy when I found out that a Schnee was going on this mission because of my own experiences with them, but throughout this day you have proven that you are loyal to your friends and a capable fighter. So, without jokes this time, I'm sorry for the grief I've been giving you, but I wanted to know for absolute certain my nieces would be in good hands."
I wasn't sure how to react, because my mind was still reeling from his earlier revelation about working with Ozpin, so I merely said, "Thank you."
Qrow now faced Blake. "I may not have interacted with you as much as I did with Weiss, here, but that's because I already knew who you were. The White Fang, before they turned into the mockery they are now, were good people. The moment I saw you I knew. It pains me to tell you this, but your partner Adam is involved very deeply in all of this."
Blake's expression hardened. "I know. It's precisely because of that that I left." A small crack appeared in her façade when she continued. "Although I still hope that he can be made to see that what he and the others are doing isn't the right way."
Qrow looked at her solemnly, but then he nodded. "I hope your endeavor will not be in vain," he said.
He looked at the sky. "We should start heading back to Signal. When it gets dark the Grimm come out in even greater numbers, and I'm assuming you'll want to get back to Beacon at a reasonable time. You should use tomorrow to rest up, because if there's one thing I've learned in the field it's that restful sleep will be hard to come by."
Without further ado, he turned around and began walking back. I glanced at my teammates, my friends, and I saw in their eyes that they had the same resolve I did. No one was going to break the peace in Remnant, not while we could help it.
And there we are, at the end of a long chapter. Just a bit of background info, I included the small bit about fencing lines because I'm a fencer myself and while Weiss's style looks awesome, it's really a pretty awkward stance to be in, and I honestly don't know which line it resembles most. If I had to choose I would probably go with in quartata, which isn't so much an on guard line but rather a sort of counter whereby one twists one's body out of the way, while deflecting the opponent's blade and essentially making them run onto yours, one that I very much like to use. It doesn't quite fit the bill, but then neither do prime or quarte…oh well, Rule of Cool, I guess. Anyway, see you next time!
