Gamer4 in. Well, we're starting off on the right foot- nice long hiatus right off the bat! Hurrah! (Sarcasm self-check complete.) Yeah, sorry... leave it to me to pull something like this... but let's dive right back in like we never left off! Before we get started, a quick thanks to my beta reader, (or tactician, as he likes to refer to himself,) GeorgeKYST, for putting up with me spitballing ideas in the middle of the night, and to Breenut for once more providing me with a fantastic cover image! You two are as awesome as ever. To ensure your efforts don't go to waste, let's get going!
Disclaimer: For the first of one songs on Disclaimer Radio, we present a Queen classic- ahem. Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time! I feel alive!
Chapter II
Prelude
It didn't take long at all for Weiss to return with Dr. Peach in tow, and even less time for Ruby to be given a clean bill of health. The first place the two went upon leaving the infirmary was the library, where, sure enough, they found Sun and Yang rushing around the shelves in search of the perfect reading material to present to Blake.
"This looks good!" Yang called out, ignoring the steady glare of the librarian as she waved around a tome roughly the size of a phone book. "Oughtta keep her occupied for a while!"
"It ain't the size, Yangey, it's what's inside!" Sun countered as he picked up a marginally thinner book.
"You would say that, wouldn't you?" Yang smirked.
Any retort Sun might have offered was cut off as Weiss appeared at Yang's side and pulled her away by her ear. "You two are unbelievable!" she growled as she dragged her away, blushing furiously. "You're in a library, for Dust's sake!"
"Ow- ow- Weiss- ear!" Yang objected weakly as Weiss forced her away. Sun allowed himself a brief smile before trotting after them, Ruby bringing up the rear with a confused expression on her face. The librarian watched them go with a look of heavy exasperation on his face.
"Why are you so upset with her, Weiss?" Ruby asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Yeah, Weiss- why?" Yang followed up with a smirk. "I was only teasing Sun over the size of his- ow!"
"Talking in the library!" Weiss hissed evasively as she delivered another sharp tug to Yang's ear. "That's all! Nothing else!"
"But-"
"Will Weiss Schnee come to my office, please? Will Weiss Schnee please come to my office? Thank you."
The unmistakable sound of Professor Ozpin's voice rang over the intercom, causing Weiss to look up and finally release her grip on Yang. "What? Ozpin's office? What could he want?"
"Ohh, Weissy!" Yang returned to her taunting. "Have you been a naughty girl?"
Weiss fixed Yang with a death glare. "Yang Xiao Long, I've been pulling on your ear out of mercy. Keep going like this, and next time, it'll be your hair."
"You wouldn't!" Yang gasped dramatically, pulling away and running some comforting hands through her golden locks.
"Try me. I dare you."
Weiss turned and strutted down the hallway in the direction of Ozpin's office, leaving Yang to glance from Ruby's mild concern to Sun's barely-repressed smirk. "Well, if you wanna call her bluff, I'll be right here as your witness."
"Shut up," she finally muttered, looking at the ground in defeat. "Let's go see what Old Man Oz wants her for."
XXXX
Despite her frustrations, Weiss permitted her friends to catch up with her outside Ozpin's door before reaching out to knock. "Enter," came Ozpin's characteristically calm voice.
Weiss sighed as she pushed the door open. "With all due respect, I'd appreciate it if we could- Klein?"
Two people were already in the office- one was its owner, Ozpin, smiling gently behind his desk as he sipped from a coffee mug. On the other side of the desk was a short, portly man in a dark suit. His hair was brown, outside the large bald patch atop his head, and when he looked at Weiss, his eyes lit up, his large moustache twitching upwards in a smile.
"Oh, my little snowflake!" he greeted her, moving forward and pulling her into a hug, heedless to the large blush this brought to her cheeks. "When Ozpin told me you were in the infirmary, I was so worried!"
When he finally released her, Weiss did her best not to look in Yang's direction, but she could hear the grin on her face nonetheless. "So... this is your father, Weiss? Doesn't seem all that bad to me."
"Not her father, I'm afraid," the man denied, turning his gaze towards Ruby, Yang, and Sun. "Merely her butler. Klein Sieben, pleased to meet you."
Yang looked as though Christmas had come early. "Her... her butler?" she asked, struggling to keep her laughter under control.
"One of many, I'm sure," Sun couldn't help butting in, a near-identical smirk on his face.
"You're very perceptive, young man," Klein chortled as he offered his hand to Sun as well.
"So you... you do things for Weiss? Like clean her house, and bring her cakes and stuff?" Ruby asked, silver eyes lighting up.
"Among other things," Klein conceded. "And you must be Weiss's team leader, Ms. Rose, correct?"
Ruby laughed nervously. "Well, yeah... yeah, I am..."
"She speaks very highly of you, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear," Klein assured her with a warm smile not unlike what he'd given to Weiss herself.
"Klein, that's enough!" Weiss interjected, growing redder with each interaction. "Why are you here?"
"Does an old man need a reason to check on his little snow angel?" Klein asked, moustache twitching again as he looked fondly on the girl.
Staggering and spluttering as she struggled to ignore Yang and Sun cracking up behind them, Weiss finally forced herself to say, "Well, no, I suppose... but it's quite a ways to travel just to say hello, especially when a call on my scroll would have sufficed."
"You have me there," Klein chuckled, raising his hands in mock-surrender. "You always were wise beyond your years. The truth is, your whole family is here, visiting Vale's branch of the Schnee Dust Company. They wouldn't give me the details, but there's apparently something large going on at headquarters."
"That's the first I've heard of this," Weiss crossed her arms.
"Well, I'd like to tell you more," Klein shrugged, "but like I said, they didn't give me any details either."
"Everyone's here?" Weiss asked. "Father? Whitley?"
"Even Winter is here," Klein nodded. "Of course, she has no obligation to the company anymore, but General Ironwood saw fit to have her oversee... whatever's going on at headquarters."
"General Ironwood's involved?" Weiss's eyes widened. "What are they doing over there...?"
Her voice trailed off, and Klein answered simply with another shrug. "However, while we were here, I thought I'd drop by your school, pay you a visit."
Weiss tried to smile, but the wild, silent laughter coming from her comrades stymied her efforts. "Well... as you can see, everything's fine."
"Then why were you in the infirmary?"
"I... that..." Weiss glanced helplessly at the others, at a loss for how to explain the odd events of earlier that day.
"I'm curious about that myself," Ozpin spoke up, taking a sip from his mug. "All I could get from Team JNPR is that there was an accident."
"We... we were..." Yang fumbled for what to say.
"Struck by lightning!" Ruby burst out. "Er... Nora wanted to test her semblance a bit, but we lost control, and got struck too!"
"Is that so?" Ozpin quirked a brow. "She did seem somewhat guilty over what happened..."
"She wanted to experiment with lightning dust," Weiss picked up the story. "I tried to tell her how volatile it is, but you know her."
"All too well," Ozpin nodded.
"Far be it from me to tell you how to run your school, Ozpin," Klein spoke up, "but perhaps certain students could do with a little more... reigning in?"
"That's what Glynda is always telling me," Ozpin nodded in agreement.
"Is it alright if we go now?" Sun asked, stepping from behind the others. "Nothin' personal, we were just... you know... we were plannin' on payin' Blake a visit."
"I'm certain Ms. Belladonna could use the company," Ozpin nodded. "Very well. You are dismissed."
"Perhaps we will see each other again soon, Mistress Schnee," Klein suggested, bowing deeply. "I'm certain your sister will be delighted to hear that you are doing well."
Turning red again under Klein's formality, Weiss quickly hissed, "There's no need to bow, Klein! Stand up!"
"Ah, but this is treatment befitting of the Schnee name, is it not?" Klein retorted, either not noticing or actively encouraging the smirks returning to Sun and Yang's faces.
"We should get going," Weiss said quickly, turning and shooing her friends out. "Come on, let's go!"
Yang at least had the courtesy to wait until they were out of sight of Ozpin's office before breaking down in laughter. "Maybe 'princess' wasn't so far off the mark after all," she chortled. "Your own butler, huh?"
"A little more than that, thank you!" Weiss scoffed. Her voice softened noticeably. "He... he was like a father to me, growing up- he was always there for me when my actual parents weren't."
Weiss felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Ruby smiling at her- not Yang's smug smirk or Sun's laughing face, but a quiet, calm, genuine smile. "He seems like a pretty cool guy," she beamed.
Weiss felt her heart warm. "Yes... yes, that he is. I was glad to have him."
Yang pouted. "Aw, come on, Rubes, how am I supposed to tease her after that?"
"You aren't," Ruby fired, closing her eyes halfway and placing her hands on her hips. "Seriously, Yang, can't you go one day without teasing us?"
"Where would be the fun in that?" Yang asked. "Come on- let's get going. Time to let Blake decide which book she likes best!"
XXXX
It was a short airship ride down to Central Vale, and from there, only a brief walk to Vale Hospital.
A quick check-in at the front desk with people who were already very familiar with them, and they found themselves being led up to the room occupied by their missing friend.
Even Yang's face fell solemn as they entered the room to reveal a young woman laying down in bed, pitch-black hair pooling around her shoulders, eyes currently shut against the outside world. Within the privacy of her room, her bow was removed, revealing the velvety ears standing out atop her head.
The ears twitched as the door shut, and her eyelids raised, revealing pools of amber that flicked over to see them. Her face retained a haunted look, but it brightened slightly upon seeing who it was- just enough to be noticeable. "Hey, guys," she practically whispered. "How's it going?"
"We oughtta be askin' you that," Yang teased lightly as she approached. "Any signs of improvement?"
Blake closed her eyes as she looked down towards her legs- covered by the blanket, but ultimately immobile- useless. "It looks... as unlikely as ever."
The atmosphere in the room continued to descend as memories coursed through the four girls' minds- memories of their last true mission together as a team- the night Blake had suffered a near-fatal blow, leaving her crippled- perhaps permanently.
Yang bit her lip. "It's... it's my fault. You took that blow for me-"
"And I'd do it again," Blake objected, firmly as she could muster. "I'm not going to stand by and let my friends get hurt- not when..." Her voice trailed off.
"Not when...?" Yang prompted gently.
Blake shook her head. "Never mind. The point is, if I have to stay in this hospital for a few more months while they figure out what to do, it's still a small price to pay for saving you."
"I hope they've been treating you well," Weiss spoke up.
Blake smiled wanly. "Looks like the Schnee name carries as much weight as ever." She chuckled humorlessly. "Who'd have thought? A Schnee paying the bills for a faunus."
"We're going to find a way to make this better, Blake," Ruby piped up, earnest determination filling her silver eyes. "We're going to make this right."
Blake bowed her head slightly. Yang took the opportunity to change the subject.
"Hey, Blakey, long as we're here, why not help me'n Sun settle a bet!"
"This sounds dangerous already," Blake commented, turning her attention towards the blond.
Yang grinned as she produced the two books- the thick one she'd discovered, and the thinner one Sun had checked out. "Two books for ya- take your pick!"
Blake glanced from one to the other. "Stephen Greene," she noted, observing the thinner one. "One of my favorite authors. And... Lovecraft," she continued, taking in the thicker one. "A collection of Lovecraft stories." She smiled slightly. "You really know how to put me on the spot- those are two of my favorite authors."
"I think I've heard of Lovecraft before," Weiss commented. "Didn't he hate faunus?"
"Yes," Blake nodded. "He did, but... that doesn't take away the quality of his writing. He inspired an entire generation of literature- including Greene, in fact. Do I really have to choose?"
Yang pouted slightly. "You're no fun, you know that?"
"Come on, Yang," Sun butted in. "Let the lady have her books."
Yang conceded, plopping them both down on Blake's lap. She quickly picked them up and hugged them to her chest. "Thank you- all of you. You don't know how much this... this..."
"Blake?" Ruby asked concernedly.
Blake was starting to double over, her eyes widening, gasping and wheezing. She fell back on the bed, convulsing, and began to scream.
Within a minute, a doctor and nurse had stormed in and carried her off to Intensive Care, leaving her visitors to wait outside, looking nervously from one face to the other.
"What was that about?" Sun asked, pacing restlessly.
"She's never been the same since that mission," Ruby explained mournfully. "That's the biggest reason they keep her here- she keeps having these... these random seizures... heart attacks... I don't know..." She lowered her head into her hands helplessly.
Yang was at her side almost immediately, brushing a hand through her short black hair. "It's okay, Rubes- it's gonna be okay. It's like you said, remember? She's going to get better, right?"
Ruby pressed her face into Yang's shoulder as she had so many times when she was younger. "I... I guess so..."
Weiss sat down next to them, holding onto Ruby's opposite shoulder, while Sun leaned against the opposite wall, gazing silently at the door separating them from Blake. "We... we didn't even get to tell her about what happened in the classroom..."
Abruptly, his head snapped up. "Something's wrong."
"What? What do you mean?" Weiss asked, rising to her feet. "With Blake?"
"No... something else," Sun shook his head fervently.
Ruby and Yang both stood up as well- just in time to be nearly thrown off their feet as the entire building began to tremble. "Earthquake?" Yang gasped as she fell back onto the bench, Ruby not far behind.
"There shouldn't be- there was no warning!" Weiss squeaked as she instinctively grabbed onto Sun to keep from falling to the ground herself.
The trembling increased in intensity, before finally dying off. Yang immediately leapt back to her feet. "Blake!" she called, rushing towards the door to Intensive Care.
"Yang, wait, you oaf!" Weiss called after her, leaping to her feet and giving chase. "You can't just- just..."
Sun and Ruby had risen to pursue their companions down the short stretch of hallway, and they all screeched to a halt as one upon seeing the impossible before them.
They had seen Blake rushed through those doors on a gurny to be given the finest treatment for her condition Weiss could pay for. Nevertheless, behind the doors now was nothing but a stretch of unyielding wall.
XXXX
The chapters of this story are likely to be significantly shorter than my usual chapters- given Mario Mario and especially after coming off of The Ice Cream Lady. Love it? Hate it? Feel free to let me know- please R&R, constructive criticism embraced, Gamer4 out.