Present...
In rapid succession, the rapier jabbed three ghostly white beowolves. Instantly, her opponents dropped to the floor in defeat. The stabs caused the summons to howl in pain before dissipating, joining the bland ceiling.
Not quick enough, Weiss told herself. She would be quicker.
With that, the heiress thrust her rapier into the marble floor. A massive glyph spun below her feet as a few beastly arms reached out and pulled up. Five more white beowolves appeared and got on all fours.
To prepare herself, Weiss dropped to a defensive stance. Normally, her summons fought for her. Not against her. They were crucial in battle, but they were also beneficial to spar with. She didn't have a sparring partner, so her own summons would have to do.
Narrowly, Weiss dodged a lethal swipe before kicking its kneecap. Before finishing off that beowolf, she whirled around and stabbed another in the chest. It let out a soft whine before breaking off into tiny white specs.
Before the summon behind her could lash her back, Weiss used a glyph to flip over and land behind the beast. As she flew through the air, Weiss found herself almost smiling. Times like these were rare. It wasn't often that Weiss was able to spar. She loved the taste of the fight.
She missed this. She hadn't done it in so long due to her heiress responsibilities. Her Father always put becoming a huntress on the back burner. Wanting to do better, Weiss parried a swipe as she drew a sharp breath.
The last time she practiced like this, she faced Winter.
She missed Winter every single day. She'd been in the military for a few years now, only able to visit Weiss about once a year. Each time, Weiss was impressed by her combat growth. And Winter with her own.
I'm not good enough, Weiss thought. Not good enough to make her proud.
When it came to combat, she strived to match her sister's skill set. Although that felt impossible at times. Winter had spent years in military training. While Weiss only had herself and Winter if she was lucky.
The white grimm flanked all her sides.
With skill, Weiss dodged every swipe and attack.
One after one, they vanished.
She continued like this for several minutes. When she took a break, she realized her stamina had increased a bit. Normally, she could only fight like this for half an hour. It'd been a full hour since she started. This was impressive considering she hadn't eaten for a while.
In the end, the entire room was coated in glistening layers of ice from dust. This was exactly what this room was designed for, so she didn't worry about the cleanup.
Feeling a sense of pride from the workout, Weiss hunched over to catch her breath.
"Weiss."
From the authoritative voice, Weiss immediately straightened up and whirled around. Out of habit, she put her hands behind her back and met his glare.
"Yes, father?"
This was odd. Normally, her father steered clear of this room. He didn't approve of "barbaric fighting." Something was up. He wanted something. It couldn't be good.
Jacques Schnee stood in front of the door with a nasty glare. Beside him, a massive figure towered to the ceiling. It looked like a night in gray armor. In no way was it human. Weiss was left to gawk at the unique sight.
"I have your punishment."
From his voice, the armor leaped forward. When it landed, the entire mansion shook. Weiss was almost knocked off her feet.
"You want me to fight that?" Weiss asked in a monotone voice like she was unimpressed.
While it was massive, the heiress wasn't intimidated in the least. Her father caught on to this.
"Defeat it," Jacques stated. "Or I'll take away that barbaric rapier."
That would be the cruelest punishment of all.
It was true that Weiss was a little worn down from her previous work out, but she wasn't going to let him take away her prized possession. It was given to her by Winter. She faced many punishments akin to this. She was fairly confident she could beat it even if it was this massive.
"Fine, but when I win, I don't attend the next ball."
In reality, Weiss would be long gone before the next dance. Might as well act like she would be his prisoner.
"I don't negotiate with you," Jacques said.
"Right, you only negotiate when it lowers the price of faunus slaves."
Weiss could've sworn she heard an audible crack. A vein almost popped out of his head.
Since that struck a nerve, the armor pounced. Luckily, Weiss was swift and her opponent was slow. Although faster than she expected.
Several exchanges were dealt, but no firm blows. The bulky sword almost cut her several times, but she managed to glide under its legs to jab it a few times in the back to no avail. The cuts seemed to have little effect on the armor.
The giant gray sword consumed her field of vision. Barely, she flipped out of the way. The impact of the sword caused jags of the floor to spike up. While the heiress recovered, the armor landed a blow on her rapier. However, she parried in time and slid back a few feet from the force.
This thing is agile, Weiss thought.
Before she could recover, the armor jumped and slammed the sword down. But she was swifter and flipped to the side, only for the bulky sword to strike her rapier again. She flew back and skid on her back before hopping up.
Her legs felt like metal. They weighed her down. Her lungs burned and her forehead beaded with sweat. Despite such overwhelming exhaustion, her heart burned with fire.
Swiftly, she conjured a glyph to propel her forward. Several sigils surrounded the armor as she slashed it in rapid succession. When she floated on the glyph for a second, she jumped to dodge the swing of the sword. Unfortunately, the armor then sucker-punched her entire body.
When she landed, Weiss grunted in pain. Her eye had taken the brunt of the blow. A trail of liquid seeped down her face.
"Agh…" she grunted as she pushed herself up.
"Schnee's don't show weakness!" Jacques yelled from across the room.
Ignoring him, Weiss stood wobbly. She had to change tactics again, so she fueled her rapier and turned the dust canister. The thin weapon glowed red as she watched the armor charge.
Easily, she was able to counter the swing just by standing there and lifting her weapon. The armor recoiled, so she used this as her chance to make it immobile and stabbed her rapier into the floor. Jagged icy pillars emerged, trapping its feet.
With that, she was able to forcefully knock the massive sword out of its hands. The weapon clinked behind her as she summoned another glyph.
This glyph propelled the armor violently into the air, where she was able to effectively trap it with a bunch of mini glyphs. Now that it was a doll, she leaped above to attack her prey. With precision, she sliced it in the torso where there was a crack in its armor. Before her opponent hit the ground, it dissipated in midair.
With a sense of pride, she defiantly faced her father.
Who wasn't there.
"Agh…"
In a heap, she collapsed to her knees.
She was so focused on defeating it that she forgot about her eye injury. Now that her adrenaline was fading, the cut throbbed.
A sigh lingered.
"I wonder how Weiss is doing."
In her mind, Ruby thought about her all the time. This was the first time today she voiced it out loud. The mention of their friend caused her crewmates to perk up. Until now, it had been relatively quiet with only the tide reaching their ears.
Leisurely, Yang placed her hands behind her head with the widest smile. "I'm sure she's fine. We only have to wait one more day."
Since they only had one day left before they picked up the new crewmember, the ship remained anchored near shore. There was no point in sailing away if they were going to come back to the same spot. Besides, they had some money to spare so they didn't need to go on another run.
"Tomorrow at this time, she'll be eating dinner with us," Blake pointed out as she sipped on her water.
From the mere thought, Ruby's heart fluttered. She glanced at the empty chair next to her and imagined Weiss sitting there. It was a soothing thought. She couldn't wait.
Outside, it was calm. Normally, the crew would be inside at this time, but it was warmer tonight. On the other side of Ruby sat Qrow. The man hadn't met Weiss yet, but he trusted his nieces' judgment.
"You guys sure this is what you want to do?" Qrow wanted to clarify. "You're pretty picky with choosing crewmates."
Without hesitation, Ruby slammed her fists on the table as she stood.
"The Thorns will have a new member! And her name is Weiss!"
Yang raised her glass in celebration. "Yeah! We'll have another Thorn on our side!"
"Another pain in the ass," Qrow lightheartedly joked.
Blake leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, her lips quirking a small smile.
"We do owe her, I guess," Qrow added.
The faunus scoffed from his comment. "You guess? We got new gear and food because of her. We even made some long-overdue repairs for our ship."
Qrow lightly sighed as he leaned forward, taking a swig of whiskey. "We owe her a ton. Happy now?"
Ruby nodded, glad her uncle and them were on the same page. "The least we can do is help her escape that jerk."
From the mention of him, Qrow grit his teeth. His nieces had told him about the large bruise on the child's cheek. Just thinking about a fully grown adult hitting a kid made his blood boil.
"What kind of an asshole treats his own flesh and blood so terribly? Absolute jackass."
Normally, Yang was chipper and that flowed in her voice. Her tone was solemn and serious as she narrowed her eyes. "Scum."
Since they were lingering on the negatives and wanted to change that, Ruby chirped.
"I can't wait to see her! She's going to love it here. Iwonderhowshe'lladjusttopiratelifethoughIdon'tthinkshe'sfamiliarwiththislifestyle- oomph."
A few days ago, Weiss had shut Ruby's mouth by closing it with her fingers. Yang mimicked that and perked an amused brow.
"Huh, so it does work."
Playfully, Ruby slapped her hand away.
Blake set her cup of water down as her ears flicked wildly from the rambling. "Oh no. She's not used to our lifestyle at all."
Intrigued, Yang pointed at her. "You heard all that?"
Blake simply pointed to the cat ears on her head.
"Right, whoops."
Curious from what the faunus said, Ruby tilted her head like a puppy. "What makes you say that?"
The faunus gazed at her like the answer was obvious.
"Her hands are pristine like she hasn't worked a day in her life. She's pale, so she's never worked in the fields. Her clothes are made from the finest material, and she's always giving us money. She even talks like an elite. She'll be leaving a lavish lifestyle. It won't be an easy adjustment for her."
Ruby only waved her off. Truthfully, she didn't care what kind of upbringing Weiss hailed from. She did care that she'd be sparing her a lot of heartache by bringing her on board.
"We'll show her the ropes," the captain said happily. "She's gonna be fine."
Yang had known for a while, but this conversation definitely confirmed it in her eyes. "Sounds like you got a little crush, Rubes."
"Wha- I don't!" Ruby retorted as her cheeks turned red. "I'm just excited to show her around!"
From how flustered her sister became, Yang knew she was correct. "Suuuuuure. Tell me, how many times have you thought of her today?"
"Shut up!"
A few giggles popped in the atmosphere. When the laughter faded, Qrow stood and pushed his chair in.
"I'm hittin' the hay. Ruby, don't forget to check the anchor."
"I always check it, uncle Qrow."
"I remind you in case."
With that, Qrow headed to his room while Ruby bolted to the other side of the ship. Yang and Blake were left alone with nothing but the shattered moon beaming down on them.
Happily, Yang leaned in to get a better view of Blake. "Somethin' tells me it'll be a lot louder when Weiss joins."
"Good," Blake said, which caught Yang off guard. "I'm not used to silence. I do live with you, after all."
"Oh?" Yang said in amusement, flattered by the half-compliment. "What does that mean, my dear kitten? Are you implying you love my boisterous personality?"
Easily, Blake leaned in and grasped her hand on top of the table. "What if I am?"
The faunus had never seen Yang's face turn red so quickly. That caused her to smirk.
"You're so mean!" Yang playfully shoved her.
All the faunus did was grin.
You'll learn about Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Qrow's backgrounds soon enough. It'll make much more sense later!
The chapter title is based on the song Strike Back by Amalee. "Pushin' past the limit I'm still burnin' with fire and for the future I am fighting." This references Weiss not giving up for a future with her friends.
Stay dandy,
~Toto
