Chapter 35

"Miss Schnee, I believe you are the most pressing concern so we will start with you" spoke the General as he approached Weiss, arms folded behind his back. His sharp blue eyes glanced to the window at the far end of the room. For the first time in hours there were two or three rays of light breaking through the thinning rain clouds. The lightning had halted its repeated strikes too. He looked back down to Weiss who moved to stand up to her feet in a polite manner but the General raised a hand to her. "Please, don't stand on my account" he spoke as he gestured for her to sit back down. She nodded hesitantly before doing so. "I would first like to ask you, do you have any intention of returning home? Any desire to do so at all?" he asked with a firm voice. It quickly became apparent to Blake who watched the two that most of Winter's habits and the way she acted may have actually come from the General's influence.

Weiss looked uncomfortable with the topic as she replied, "I..." she began.

The General softened his expression towards her, "You don't need to worry about your father finding out. We're business partners, not friends" he spoke.

The young heiress looked to her sister who slept in the bed besides her. "I... don't want to go back" admitted Weiss.

"Then you won't. At least, I won't force you to. Your father doesn't even know that you're here yet, and he won't unless you want him to. As far as I'm concerned it's a family matter and I'm going to stay out of it as much as I can" answered the General as he turned to Winter, taking a step towards the bed as he looked down to where her left hand used to be. "That brings me to another subject, a rather... sensitive one" he spoke as he looked back to Weiss who returned his gaze.

"Something to do with my sister I presume?" asked Weiss.

Ironwood nodded at her as he looked back to her sister. "Winter is an exceptional soldier, one of my best. To lose her... well, Atlas would surely notice the void left behind. Now, we can fix her and we have the technology. What I propose is an artificial hand. The quality will be the finest Atlas can produce and we'll have every intent to make it as comfortable and efficient as we can manage" he spoke, glancing towards Weiss from the corner of his eye for her reaction.

Weiss narrowed her eyes slightly in thought as she glanced to Winter's arm. Across from the other side of the room Blake's ears had perked up at the hearing of such a proposition, her own eyes trailing down to Yang in thought. Finally the heiress looked back to the General, "You believe that's something she would want?" she asked.

"You tell me" replied the General.

Her eyes glanced down to the floor, once more in thought. "She... She never gives up. She always wants to keep going. Losing a hand... it would force her to stop..." she spoke quietly.

"As I said, we have the means. All we need is consent" said the General. "Of course, it won't just be the hand. She'll need a chip" he added, pointing to the silver plated device above his right brow, "Like mine, to assist in controlling the artificial limb" he finished.

Weiss turned her attention back to the man as she raised a brow, "You... have one too?" she asked.

To this the General held out his right arm towards her and slowly removed the glove upon his hand to reveal an artificial one, silver like the chip upon his forehead. "My additions are far more extensive than the one Winter will receive, so you can believe me when I tell you that it works" he replied before pulling the glove back over his hand.

She pondered the thought a final time before placing one of her hands upon Winter's arm. She gave a slight nod of her head. "Then... Yes... I- I think that's what she would want" answered Weiss.

The General watched in silence for a second before speaking. "Thank you Miss Schnee. We'll begin fabricating and preparing the hand shortly. It will take some time though and I would have liked to have asked Winter herself but there's no telling when she'll wake up. At least this way we can have it ready for her when she comes to and if she decides differently... we can just take it away" he answered with a smile.

Weiss returned the expression in kind as she watched the General glance over towards Blake. The Faunus lowered her head slightly but kept her gaze upon him. "Blake Belladonna" said the General, turning to walk around the beds as he approached her. Blake tracked his movements with golden eyes as he came to a halt in front of her. She watched as his stare glanced to Yang in the bed besides her. "I'm sure you just heard most of what I said to Miss Schnee" he began, blue eyes glancing up to the black bow upon Blake's head before looking down towards her face.

"A bit" answered Blake, though she had heard every word.

"Well believe it or not, I would like to extend a similar proposition to you. But there are some inconveniences this time around" spoke the General.

"Inconveniences?" repeated Blake as she looked upon the man with confusion.

The General nodded, "You see... Winter is an essential part of the Atlesian military. Yang Xiao Long is a Huntress in training from Beacon. I hope you understand where I'm going with this?" he asked to which he only received silence in response. He softly sighed, "I'd like to think I'm a charitable person, I really do. But not even I can give a young girl one of the best in prosthetic technology and then send her on her way to never see her again. The cold hard truth is that Winter contributes, Xiao Long does not" he said.

"So there's a catch?" asked Blake.

Once more the General nodded, "Yes. There's a catch" he turned to look out of the window on the furthest side of the room. "The way I see it there are two ways we can offer this procedure to your friend. The first option would be to pay for it, but the top line products of science are hardly cheap. Of course Winter could see to the expenses if she's feeling especially charitable, but that would be all that she owns. Her father has likely already cut off her remaining funds, the same would no doubt go for young Weiss" he said, Weiss kept her attention upon her sister as she didn't hear clearly what the General said.

"And the other option?" asked Blake once more.

The General turned around, "The other option... Would be to contribute. I could see to it that a soldier of Atlas, and one with huntress training especially, would receive such a procedure upon the grounds of keeping them... active in the field. Of course joining the military, especially a foreign one, is not a decision that can be lightly made. She would be bound by strict regulations and be pushed through rigorous training, and even after that she'll have a full-time job. Her days of adventuring of her own choice will be at an end" he answered.

Blake frowned at the thought. It could certainly solve a lot of Yang's problems but in its place it would only create more. That is if they went with the second option, but they couldn't count on Winter's kind heart. This was assuming Yang still even wanted an artificial limb. "I think I know what she'd want but... You want to hear it from her, right?" she asked.

The General nodded, "Yes. With such a large procedure I'd need confirmation before even thinking about starting production on anything. It will also be more difficult for her to adjust to it than with Winter. For Xiao Long who has already adjusted to her disability, re-adjusting to suddenly having weight on that side of her body again and learning to control it... It will come slow to her. Where as Winter who has yet to experience even being without her hand? She'll quickly get the hang of it" he spoke as he gestured a hand back towards Winter behind him. "I'm just letting you know that if she really wants it, it's there. All that's left is a matter of how far she's willing to go" he said.

"Thanks" said Blake as she nodded once towards the General. As he was about to leave her voice spoke out, "I have a question though" she said as he paused, looking over his shoulder towards her. "When Winter recovers what are you going to do with her?" she asked.

The General paused and turned to face her once more, "You're worried we'll take her back into the military and post her some place like Vale again?" he asked. He didn't need a response to see that he was right. Once more he looked over to Winter, "Officially she is still AWOL... When you find out where you're heading next tell me and we'll see what we can do. There might be a need for her elsewhere after all" he answered.

To this Blake smiled gently, "I appreciate it" she answered.

The General chuckled to himself lightly, "Don't mention it" he said before turning around. "I'll be by later to check up on their progress. A speedy recovery to all three" he answered before waving a hand behind his back as he left through the door. Blake looked over Neo's bed towards Weiss who looked back at her.

"He's nice" admitted Blake.

"You'd think the high ranking military officials would be a little more strict" replied Weiss.

Blake looked back down to Yang as she spoke, "I'm not complaining" she said as she watched the blonde sleep.

The window had darkened as the night rolled over Atlas. The pitter patter of rain was still heard but it was much lighter now than the day before. Finally the storm seemed to be passing away. Blake was sat in her chair, body slumped forward as her head rested atop her arms on Yang's bed, she was fast asleep. Weiss on the other hand was sat leaning back against her own chair, eyes barely open as she watched the clock opposite her in the room. Each tick seemed louder than the last as the minutes went by. She hadn't been able to sleep, even after being offered a different bed in another empty room she had declined. The last thing she wanted right now was to leave her sister's side.

She looked once more over to Yang and Blake. To think that they had entered themselves into a loving relationship. She wasn't sure how far their feelings extended for one another but they had always gotten along back in Beacon. But what an odd couple they seemed to make, they were almost complete opposites in behaviour. Though maybe that only completed them as a whole, one being things that the other wasn't. Even their race was different. She smiled though, if anything she was happy that two of her friends had been able to find comfort in one another, it came to her thoughts that it may get a little awkward at times however. But at least during those times Yang would be awake and well.

Her attention turned to Winter as she lay sleeping, her expression as soft as ever in her slumber. Now and then her eyelids twitched but that was about as much movement that came from her, excluding her breathing. Weiss still despised herself for daring to have believed Winter had anything but the best intentions for her, maybe that was why she felt the need to be by her side constantly now. As a way to atone for such thoughts. Of course she knew that Winter would hand-wave her worries away and claim it was no fault of hers, but still...

She heard something shift against fabric behind her as she turned to look upon the disturbance of the silence. It was Neo, her movements were sluggish but it seemed like she was softly tugging at her restraints, her eyes twitching. Weiss stood to her feet and approached her, it looked although she may be waking up. In response she turned to look at the door, if she was in fact waking up she would no doubt need to call members of staff to check on her or some such.

Neo tugged harshly against her restraints this time, she held her eyes closed shut as she tugged again. Her heart started to beat faster upon realising she was restrained. The last time she had woke up she was surrounded by masked men and strangers, she didn't know where she was or where the others were. That thought alone frightened her. Over her time with the group she had grown used to what she wanted to call her friends, even though she was unlikely to be viewed in the same light. One thing was clear to her however, she had to find Weiss. She thrashed against her bindings once more, and again. Repeatedly she tried to break free from the restraints, the longer she was kept here the more chance there was she would be left behind and lose her friends.

Hands placed firmly against her shoulders, the strangers again? She opened her eyes with a glare to see a familiar face. The girl Winter told her to stand by, Weiss. "Calm down, you're okay" she spoke to her, a look of worry upon her face. What was this unconditional concern she was experiencing? Neo's expression softened as she stared up at Weiss, her thrashing and tugging having stopped as her breathing steadied. Did this mean she was safe? That she hadn't been captured or left behind? "Can you hear me?" asked Weiss after Neo paused for far too long. At her words she nodded slowly as her eyes remained locked upon her. She looked like Winter only... softer, younger. She lacked the sharper features and her scar distinguished her.

Neo's eyes glanced down to her wrists with the leather binding around them, Weiss seemed to follow her gaze and caught on.

"Do they hurt? I can take them off, you just need to promise not to do anything... rash, okay?" spoke Weiss. Neo didn't understand why but her gentle voice seemed to grant her comfort as she nodded once more in response. With that Weiss began to undo the restraints and freed her. Immediately Neo rubbed her wrists with her hands, they were marked red. Weiss looked down upon her once more as she paused to return the stare. "I wanted to thank you by the way, for... saving me. Even though I was stubborn" answered Weiss.

Neo's eyes widened at the words, she was being thanked by someone she barely knew? Someone who didn't want anything from her in return? Truth be told the mere concept seemed a little alien to the girl, she didn't know quite how to respond to it. Slowly she reached out her hand towards Weiss who paused to look upon it before smiling gently and extending her own hand to clasp it in a shake. As usual, Neo's hand felt as delicate as ever. The girl in the bed smiled at the interaction, Weiss' hand in her own felt soft and smooth. After she released her hand she glanced left to see a sleeping Blake and Yang. She was happy to see they were here, despite the fact that she still held a grudge on Blake for reasons clear to her. Looking right she saw Winter and her smile only widened to see her friend was okay. Her eyes caught sight of her hand however as her expression was quickly replaced with worry. She attempted to sit up in her bed but Weiss kept her shoulders pinned down.

"Ah, she's... going to be okay. They're doing their best for her but you need to rest too" said Weiss softly, she had no desire to wake Blake. Neo kept her concerned gaze upon Winter as she frowned before looking back up to Weiss. "They're getting her a new hand" added Weiss. Those words only seemed to confuse Neo slightly. "But... I'm getting tired now, you should try and get some more sleep, it's late" said Weiss as she turned to sit back in her chair. She was halted as something grabbed the fabric of her skirt. She turned to see Neo looking at her, her finger and thumb pinching her clothes. Weiss looked at her with uncertainty before Neo released her and looked up towards the ceiling instead. Weiss only smiled unsure in response before sitting back down in her chair and looking upon Winter.

Behind her Neo turned her attention back to Weiss, her eyes both coloured a deep magenta.