When Weiss woke up that morning, it was snowing. Well, it was a little bit of an overstatement to say she 'woke up'. She'd barely gotten to sleep when the alarm rang. She'd been tossing and turning all night, her mind running all over the place. She couldn't quite place the feeling, but it was something close to a giant, impending sense of dread.
If she were home, the snow would have been a welcome change of seasons. Weiss had always liked the cold. In a physical sense. There was nothing quite like bundling up, or finding warmth and shelter behind closed doors and burning fireplaces. If she were lucky, Winter would join her by the fire, her company a little warmth itself. If she were really lucky, her mother would come, cognizant of her surroundings, with a small, tired smile on her face.
But she was far from home now. She was in Vale. Not Atlas. Not anymore. Not after what had happened with her father. With the White Fang.
Schnee Manor's west wing was a smouldering pile of rubble and ash now. Weiss' room was obliterated. And home wasn't safe anymore. So off to Vale went Weiss, and the Schnees all scattered around. Her heart twisted itself into a little ball as she sat and mulled about it. It was for the best that she had landed herself in Vale. Going to a normal school. Beacon High School.
She'd been assured that it was the best school in Vale, and it was really for her own safety. She'd been assured a lot of things in the weeks after the bomb had gone off. It hadn't made it any less difficult to adjust. She'd gone from being safe at home, going to school and having a routine, to having her room blown up with an entire section of her house and shuttered off to the other side of the world.
Weiss sighed, turning her alarm clock off. She walked over to her closet, and paused. They'd managed to replace a fair amount of her belongings, and what they couldn't, Weiss could get whatever was to her taste. That wasn't her largest concern.
She debated with herself, deciding what kind of impression she had to give to people in a normal, suburban high school. She finally picked out an outfit, double checking to confirm her decision.
Gods, this was far more difficult than she had anticipated it being. Not that she thought it was going to be easy in the first place.
Weiss never had to impress anybody in Atlas Academy. She didn't have to do anything to work towards her social standing in school, actually. She was Weiss Schnee. Emphasis on the 'Schnee'. The Academy was full of aristocrats and blue bloods, but in Atlas, the name Schnee meant more than anybody else's. So everyone gravitated towards her. And respected her. She was never alone, never wrong, never isolated from the rest of the student body.
And now, Weiss going to have to go into Beacon blind. She wasn't exactly looking to get in and start impressing everybody... but she just didn't know what it was going to be like. She lived in a whole different world, far apart from those living here. Weiss was under no impression that people here were looking to bend to her every whim, but...
Weiss sighed, for what felt like the millionth time that morning (night?). She headed into the bathroom, pulling her toothbrush out. She took a good look at herself. There were slight eyebags underneath her eyes, and her mouth was set in a hard line. Weiss breathed in deep, and attempted to unclench the points of tension she held in her body. A little trick she'd taught herself, years and years ago, when she'd caught onto the fact that it was better to not show emotion. A blank slate invited less questions, invited less pain.
The scar over her left eye was healing up nicely. It had dulled significantly from it's angry, puckered red from a few weeks ago. Weiss took another deep breath, quickly and pointedly pulling her thoughts away from the scar, grounding herself back in the present.
She brushed her teeth, put her outfit on, and headed downstairs.
Perhaps the one plus side about this whole thing was that now didn't have to live with her family in Schnee Manor anymore. Not that they 'lived' together much anyways. Winter was off doing secret military stuff, her mother and father were... not anywhere she was, that much was sure, and Whitley was- Whitley. Now she was in this smaller house in Vale, alone except for her helper, Klein.
She smiled a little bit. Klein was always her favourite. He was kind to her, when nobody else was. He was good at making her laugh and knowing how to help, the best that he could, in any case. He was as good a friend as she could ask for, growing up. Maybe that was a little sad, but she wouldn't question the things that made her life a little bit brighter.
The smell of pancakes wafted through the air as she descended the staircase.
"Ahah! Awake and on time, as always, Ms. Schnee!" Klein beamed bright at her through the well groomed mustache he kept on his upper lip. He gracefully flipped a pancake onto a plate, serving it to Weiss as she seated. He took a flourished little bow after pouring her a coffee. "I've made everything as best as I could to your liking. I do hope you find it sufficient," he bristled his mustache with pleasure. Weiss smiled at him as she sipped the coffee. Ah. Nothing quite like Klein's coffee.
"Klein, please," she replied. "It's more than enough, thank you."
He beamed at her once more, then cleared his throat. "If you don't mind my asking, how are you feeling, dear?"
Weiss measured her response. "I'm... okay. Maybe a little anxious to get started with school," she offered with a little tilt of her head, a sheepish look on her face. Klein gave a little 'hmm' and rubbed his mustache.
"Well, I'm certain it's nothing you can't handle, Miss Schnee. You've a bright mind," Klein assured her. She nodded along in absent agreement, forking delicious pancakes into her mouth.
"I hope so, Klein," Weiss said quietly.
He dropped her off in the parking lot, and Weiss waved him farewell as she stood there, watching the people and snow drift all around her. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck, heading towards the direction she thought the administrative office must have been. She swallowed the small lump of nerves that had gathered in her throat, walking as confidently as she was taught. She was a Schnee after all. And Schnees didn't show weakness. Not for anything.
Calm, composed, she made her way through the throngs of students, paying no mind to the one or two inquisitive turned heads. She brushed the snow off her sleeves, running a quick hand through her hair, as she entered shelter. The office was easy enough to find. Signs pointed her to a glass double doors with a large logo of the school above it. Weiss bit the inside of her cheek as she stepped in.
"Hello," Weiss started pleasantly at the woman sitting at the front counter, who didn't raise her head to look at her, merely looking up over the half circle spectacles she wore. Weiss continued, unperturbed. "My name is Weiss Schnee, I'm a new transfer student. I was told to report here," she spoke firmly, but politely. Weiss gave a small smile that she hoped was construed as friendly.
The woman typed away at her computer, the clickity-clack of her old keyboard loud against the absolute silence of the office. Weiss shifted her weight onto her other leg as the typing continued for an uncomfortably long time. Was she typing something related to her? Why was it taking so long? Her name was pretty short, it couldn't take that long to type out. And with such ferocity. Weiss almost craned her neck over the front desk to see what exactly the woman was typing.
After what Weiss assumed was the 3rd chapter in her novel, the woman finally clicked on her mouse, and the whirr of an ancient printer began sounding out. She wheeled her chair over to the printer, snagging the piece of paper she had printed out fairly quickly, and then wheeled back to hand the piece of paper to Weiss. She glanced at it briefly: it was her class schedule for the rest of the semester. Okay. There was a start.
"Okay, Ms..." the woman started, then looked back down at her computer.
"Schnee. Weiss Schnee," Weiss offered helpfully. The woman looked at her disdainfully over her spectacles, and Weiss was almost taken aback. Okay, lady.
"Schnee. Head into the office on your left. Principal Ozpin would like to talk to you first," she gestured to her right, hand barely raising off her keyboard.
"R-right. Okay, well, thank you very much," Weiss nodded. The woman snorted softly and returned to her furious typing.
Gods, what had she gotten herself into?
Weiss knocked on the door twice, then opened upon hearing a muffled 'come in'. She stood at the threshold, hands folded respectfully on front of her.
"Ah, Miss Schnee, a pleasure to finally meet you," Principal Ozpin stood up, putting a hand on his chest and bowing slightly. Weiss immediately loosened a little bit of the tension she held in her body. At least the Principal seemed... normal. In her terms, at least. She didn't really know what passed as normal around here. "Please, shut the door and take a seat," he said to her as he took his own seat. She complied, shutting the door softly, depositing her bag on the floor next to her as she took a seat in front of the intricate glass desk he had. There were what seemed like giant gears inside it, completely encased in glass. He looked at her with a smile, with little round green glasses that hung low on his nose. His grey hair was in a mess, sticking out every which way, and there was a cane leaning against the glass desk.
Okay, so maybe a little bit less normal than she thought.
"I'll start first, with my sincere condolences," he said, his mouth set in a grim line. Weiss swallowed thickly. "I hope you've sufficiently recovered from the incident, and I want to express to you that you are safe here. I give you my word. Vale is a peaceful place, and besides food fights and the occasional firecracker going off in the yard, Beacon High is no different."
"Thank you, sir," Weiss smiled, conveying her genuine gratitude towards the man. He seemed sincere, and that was already a step above most of the people in Atlas.
"Now, I suspect you're beginning to feel the first throngs of a... culture shock, shall we call it?" he shared a little chuckle with himself, taking a sip from his Beacon High mug. "I don't mean to be rude, but you've been living in Atlas your whole life, and here in Vale we can be a little... different," he tilted his head slightly. "Perhaps stranger than you're used to. A little eccentric. Why I'd bet to most students here, the people in Atlas seem so... stuffy. Wound up. Different cultures. I hope the time you've spent here so far hasn't been to abrasive for you."
"Vale seems like a perfectly fine place, sir," Weiss replied.
"Oh, it'll grow on you in time, Miss Schnee," Principal Ozpin assured her with a smile. He cleared his throat after a moment, then retrieved a slip of paper from a drawer. He looked at her, a little bit more hesitant that he'd been just moment before. "I've been told about your... living situation. I'm sure you're comfortable at home, I'd expect no less of a man like your father," he said, with a little steel in his eyes, and an emotion Weiss couldn't quite place. He stuck the piece of paper out to her. "Nonetheless. This is a way to contact me. Please, do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything. Vale is a good place, but I'd feel terribly responsible if something happened to you."
Weiss paused. This was an unexpected bit of generosity. She bit her lip, then took the paper. It had a phone number written on it. "Thank you, Principal Ozpin."
He smiled at her again, then got up, with a little bit of a start. He reached over to his cane, favouring one leg. He stood tall once he had it to support him.
"Now then, I'll escort you to your first class. I'm sure you're anxious to start the day," he walked over to the door, hobbling slightly. Weiss had about a million questions about him. A million things to do, before she started school already. An wave of emotion threatened to overtake her.
Okay. Deep breath. Relax. She stood up.
She could do this. Weiss followed him to class.
This chapter is a little bit more filler- I'm sorry! I'll be switching perspectives back and forth between Ruby and Weiss, but I'm going to try to avoid having the same events play out just from different angles, other than the next chapter. Shouldn't be too long a wait for these next couple chapters though! Thank you for reading!