"What are you doing?"
In front of her, Yang was on the floor fiddling with a machine that'd seen better days. Upon closer inspection, it was a radio. Briefly, Yang stopped fiddling with the radio to reply to Weiss' question.
"Not making out with my sister, that's for sure- ow!"
Before she could finish, Weiss slapped the back of her head.
"Hush, will you?" Weiss said sassily and whispered. "Don't say that with them around, you brute."
From that, Yang smirked and not-so-subtly murmured. "They already know."
That caused a fierce blush to flash across Weiss' cheeks. To think her and Ruby were so close to…
"Yaaaang," Ruby whined. "Hurry up."
"I'm workin' on it!"
The entire crew stood around Yang as she worked. Nothing but static emitted from the box. Only two knobs protruded while a small screen displayed numbers below. Most of the radio was the speaker.
"Come on, Juniper…" the blonde mumbled.
To gain more merchandise without directly stealing, sometimes the Thorns and met up with their pirate friends who called themselves Juniper. They'd meet to exchange items, mainly for recreational purposes.
The time was approaching for their next meeting. The Thorns were excited to see their friends again. Not to mention, they were even more excited to introduce their newest member to them.
"I can't wait to get more books," Blake said with a small smile.
Eagerly, Ruby sent her sparkling eyes. "Do you think they'll have cookies again?!"
"Maybe," the faunus shrugged, not wanting to get her hopes up.
Qrow crossed his arms with a smirk. "How a group of kids supervises themselves is beyond me."
"We'd be oh-so lost without you," the faunus smirked back.
That elicited a feigned scoff.
"Juniper is the crew Pyrrha is on, yes?" Weiss asked.
"Yep!" Ruby beamed. "She's super nice. You'll get along great."
That caused Weiss to perk a white eyebrow. "Does she act like a normal person?"
"Yeah, she's the most normal one out of them," Ruby informed with a smile. "Besides Ren. He's pretty chill. I don't know if you'd consider Jaune and Nora 'normal.'"
"What does that mean?" Weiss asked.
Blake only smirked, looking forward to her first impressions of them. "You'll see. You need to interact with them to get a feel for them. It took me a while to get used to Nora."
A few random beeps sounded on the radio. Lots of static noise ensued, but ultimately, they were able to hear a familiar voice on the other line. This meant their crew's ships must be close.
"Guys?"
"Jaune!" Ruby recognized and grabbed the attached microphone from her sister. "How're ya doing?!"
"Great!" Jaune replied happily. "Where do you guys wanna meet? Pyr pointed out this really cool spot. I think it's called Verde. It's our halfway point, so I think it's our best bet."
From the information, Qrow nodded. "Tell 'em we heard him loud and clear."
"We'll be there," Ruby said. "Seeya in a few days."
Conversations over the radio always had to be short. Strong signals never lasted long due to being on the ocean in the middle of nowhere. They had a meeting spot and a date. That was all they needed before hanging up.
"Hold-"
Nothing but static engulfed the signal. The occasional word slipped through, but it was no longer coherent. His voice was a mix of random syllables.
"Jaune?" Ruby leaned into the microphone like that would fix the problem. "Can you hear me? Did you have something else to say?"
"I got it," the blonde said.
To fix it, Yang twisted a knob. When that didn't work, Qrow whacked the top of it.
"We're tryin' to fix it, not break it!" Yang chided.
Suddenly, the static ceased.
"You were saying?" Qrow said knowingly.
That seemed to do the trick. There was silence. At least there was no static now. The crew waited for Jaune to continue, but a random man's voice reached their ears instead. It sounded like an announcement.
"... the search continues for the missing Schnee heiress. The reward for her return has been raised to one million lien."
"One mill?!" Ruby yelped.
From that, Weiss' eyes went wide. Everything until now had been like a fairy tale. She almost completely forgot that she was technically on the run and that people would be looking for her. If she was found, she'd be dragged and forced back to Atlas.
On instinct, her body shuffled back to the door.
Her adrenaline began pumping like she was in fight or flight mode as the world drew in on her. She stood by the door, almost debating if she should run or not.
Silently, Qrow watched her. He wondered if she would stay for the entire announcement.
Being with her crew… it was like a dream come true. Now they were going to find out the truth. Her heart thundered into her ribcage from the thought. Reality couldn't be harsher as it crashed on top of her.
"Weiss Schnee was last seen in the garden of her backyard. If you have any information, please call…."
Dead silence. More words poured out of the radio, but Weiss wasn't paying attention anymore. She was too lost in her own mind.
Of course father wouldn't want the public to know I escaped him, Weiss thought. He reported me missing instead. He'd never go to the press. He must be desperate.
Despite the unexpected revelation, Weiss smirked. At least she was causing him turmoil. She could see his angry face now and almost scoffed from the sight. Like she cared.
Recalling her father caused the vivid memories of living with him to muffle her mind. The physical, emotional, and psychological wounds were too much to remember. Too painful to bear. The scar over her eye throbbed.
When she snapped out of it, she noticed her entire crew staring at her.
They know her last name.
They know her last name.
"Weiss?" Ruby called in a worried voice.
"You're Weiss Schnee?" Yang asked, genuinely curious.
Blake remained silent, examining her body language. It looked like she was about to run.
"I- I-"
Weiss tried to speak, but no sentence could come out.
When she was with her crew, all her worries disappeared and faded away like they were never there. The things she worried about back in Atlas were trivial. She didn't have to remember her past. She could choose to move on when she was with them.
Now that her past caught up to her, her mind was racing.
"I-I'm sorry!"
The former heiress whirled around to bolt away, but Ruby grabbed her arm before she could. To the captain's surprise, she was shaking like a leaf.
Desperately, Weiss tried to pry the hand off her forearm. "Let go!"
"Hey, it's alright!" Ruby exclaimed confidently to ease her. "Please don't run. Look around, do we look upset?"
Rather than be shocked, the crew looked concerned. Maybe even like they were sad for her. Overwhelmingly so.
"I guess this makes more sense," the blonde spoke calmly. "You always had money. The Schnee heiress would have a lotta money, huh?"
All Weiss did was lower her head. She didn't care about that. She cared about what they thought of her last name. What entailed with it. It was a disgrace.
From the revelation, Blake was conflicted. She despised Jacques Schnee and everything he stood for. The man was responsible for so much pain all around the world. But Weiss wasn't her father. She'd proved that when she accepted her, a faunus, with open arms. The former heiress accepted her without thought and had even shown interest in her life.
"Damn," Yang mumbled with a slight grin. "Here I thought you were exaggerating about how important you are."
In reassurance, Ruby held her hand. The hand that had reached out for her all those months ago. The hand that saved her from herself.
"I'm sorry for keeping this from you," Weiss apologized, locking eyes with all of the crew. "I- I didn't think you'd want me on board if you found out-"
"Shut up," Yang said softly. "Just- shut up."
"Pardon?"
"How many times do we have to tell you?" Yang said, annoyed. "We don't want you, we need you."
"I should've known that. I'm sorry," Weiss replied, feeling ashamed of herself. "I don't like talking about him."
"Then don't," Ruby said easily, giving her hand a squeeze. "When you're ready, or if you're ever ready to, we'll be here."
Multiple nods and wide smiles.
"That's right," Blake chimed, taking note that Weiss might've been particularly apologetic to her when she shouldn't have been. "We love you."
Those three words…
It'd been so long since she heard them. Much less, have them be directed to her.
After Weiss sniffled once, a few tears had slipped down her cheeks. She wiped them away, trying to hide the fact that she was crying.
Knowing how to stop the crying, Yang held out her arms. "I think someone needs a hug."
Instead of arguing, Weiss stood there. Ruby embraced her fully, nuzzling into the crook of her neck. Feeling the fondness in the contact, Weiss hugged her back. It didn't take long for the rest of the crew to join the group hug.
It was an embrace filled with warmth and trust.
Full of love.
She'd found her purpose.
"Thank you," Weiss whispered.
"No need to thank us," Ruby murmured. "You're home, Weiss. You're not going anywhere."
Weiss hadn't smiled that widely in a long time. When they finally separated, it was silent.
"Wait," Yang broke the silence with a joyful expression. "You helped us rob a dust store?"
Blake crossed her arms, amused. "She suggested it."
"I wanted to get back at him somehow," the former heiress said softly, not looking proud of it.
"Weiss, you rascally devil!" Yang beamed joyously. "That's sly. You're learnin' too much from Blake."
That earned a playful shove.
The Thorns finally know who she escaped. A greater power they could imagine muahahaha. Lyrics involved: "What're we livin' for? I live. For. This. Shit" - Strike Back by Amalee.
Stay dandy
~Toto
