I guarantee no expertise in codes of nobility, sibling rivalry, love, communist pedagogy, or (in Ruby's case) how to write natural dialogue.

-OOO-

OMAKE:

Weiss was crying, on the ground, clutching Blake.

Mum Schnee scurried over and kneeled before her daughter. "Oh, Weiss, Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Weiss sniffled. "Winter- Winter said- -"

Mum Schnee frowned. "What did she do? I'm sure we can have a little talk with her and discuss some austerity measures, if her behavior was worse than usual."

"W-winter said," Weiss managed to say. She wiped her nose on her sleeve and hugged Blake closer. "She said that the only reason you're letting me keep Blake is because you're going to make me execute her when I come of age to teach me a lesson about ruthlessness and the folly of growing sentimental."

"Oh, oh sweetie," Mum Schnee held her arms out, "We wouldn't do that to you. Never. (Especially after we legally took responsibility for Blake)." Mum Schnee hugged her daughter, and by extension, Blake's head. "No, you can keep your little pet for as long as you like, and when you grow tired of her, you won't need to dispose of her yourself."

Blake blinked.

"So I can keep Blake forever?" Weiss said. Blake blinked from under the adult's elbow.

"Yes, sweetie." Weiss's mother patted her daughter's head, awkwardly. "We just publicly discredited a major abolitionist, setting the emancipation movement back several years, so there should be no problem with you keeping Blake for the foreseeable future."

Weiss's face lit up. "Yay!" She said. She bounced where she sat. "Thanks mom! I love you!"

Blake scrunched her mouth.

-PRESENT DAY-

Blake made sure to always position herself between Weiss and Winter, for protection. They were in the study room where Weiss's mom seemed to always reside. Winter and Weiss had procured their respective swords, Blake noticed, but Blake hadn't had the opportunity to grab her own weapons.

The surprise of Winter's announcement had been numbed through the long, uneventful aftermath of Winter explaining what she was doing, and the three of them telling the nearest adult Schnee about it.

The accountant flashed a timid glance to Winter, before addressing mum Schnee. "It's very well researched-"

"Irrelevant," mum Schnee said. "I want to know if it's valid."

"Most of the citations are from the middle ages, but yes; her claim is legitimate," said the accountant after looking over Winter's stack of papers. "There's grounds for an eligible noble becoming an heir by defeating the current heir in single combat."

"Those are archaic rules," mum Schnee said.

Winter frowned. "But- but they're the rules."

"We're rich, Winter. The rules do not apply to us. That is the point of being rich."

"But-"

"You didn't really think I'd let my daughters duel each other to see which one will inherit the company. It would be very fiscally irresponsible." Mum schnee pontificated at the wall, with her right hand, "And it'd personally irresponsible, yadda yadda. The answer is no."

"But-"

"Winter, you know full well why you're not the heiress. We have discussed this at length."

"I know, but-"

"There is already a system in place to redress whatever wrongs you have with your sister. It could be seen as admirable that you went to all this extra work to do so through the outdated codes of Nobility, but frankly, that you wasted so much time and effort reflects poorly on your decision-making skills."

"But-

"So I trust you to remain civil," Mum Schnee looked back down to her desk to sort papers, "And I expect to hear no more of this. You are dismissed."

"No!" Winter said. Her eyes betrayed madness. "You- after all the work I've don't you can't- you can't take this away from me!"

Winter lunged at Weiss, with her sword.

Weiss immediately threw Blake behind her, stepping forward and bringing her own sword up to parry the thrust.

The adults tried to move, but Winter threw something blue and shiny on the ground, and a wall of ice and several ice golems appeared between the children and the adults. Blake then noticed that Winter and Weiss were the only two people with weapons.

"Winter!" Mum Schnee yelled. She offhandly shattered an ice golem as she strained to look over the ice wall. "Desist this immediately! What is this about?"

"You know what this is about!" Winter yelled. She paused her barrage and stared her mother in the eyes, her own wet with tears. "You always loved Weiss more than me" Winter threw an arm to the side, pointing at Weiss, "Always always always!"

Weiss's eye went wide. "Winter...-"

Mum Schnee looked, for a moment, at a loss for words. "Winter, sweetie, that's- that's not true-"

"I've bent over backwards doing everything you've asked of me, and it's never been enough! You never look at me like you look at her!" Winter continued her assault, gaining ground, "I have to eat someone in order to get the same amount of attention you give her for brushing her teeth."

Mum Schnee pushed an ice golem away from her face (without looking) and held up a finger, "To be fair, she's been having trouble with that, a bit."

"And she's useless," Winter pointed, "COMPLETELY USELESS! A simpering idiot! There's nothing special about her at all! How do you like her better than me?"

Winter was crying, now, as she tried to maintaining her veneer of anger. "Why, mom?" The hatred in Winter's voice waned. "Why was I never worthy of you?"

Mum Schnee opened her mouth, and closed her mouth, without saying anything.

"Winter-" Weiss began-

Bad move, it turned out, because Winter then remembered she was supposed to be dueling Weiss, and she resumed doing so.

"And you!" Winter spat. She swung wildly, and Weiss parried, but she had to take a step back from the force of the blow.

"Winter, please stop-"

"No!" Winter yelled, "No, I refuse to let you be better than me!"

Winter swings became more wild and seemingly haphazard than Blake thought a rapier duel was supposed to be.

But Weiss held her own, even with the lack of depth perception. Then there was a thunk as Weiss landed a blow, lodging her blade into the cloth at Winter's shoulder. That meant Weiss won, right?

Winter stepped forward. Weiss's eye widened, in terror, or perhaps bewilderment, and Winter took that opportunity to grab Weiss's sword, around the blade. Red blotches blossomed around Winter's glove.

Weiss yelled, and Winter manged to yank the younger Schnee's weapon away. A few flecks of blood splattered off the sword as it was flung through the air.

Blake saw the world in slow motion, as Winter raised her sword again, and Weiss fell onto her back and tried to shield herself-

Blake ran forward, even though she was unarmed.

Winter lowered her sword before Blake got there, but it was too late for Blake to change course, so she ended up grappling Winter.

She lost the grapple three times before eventually ending up pinning Winter's arm against her torso by wrapping her arms around the teenager's waist. It might have looked like Blake was hugging her.

"No! Get off me!" Winter yelled. She struggled and elbowed Blake in the stomach.

Weiss ran forward, her arms outstretched. "Winter!"

Weiss hugged her sister as well, "Winter, I'm sorry. Please don't be this way."

Winter squirmed, but she didn't try to throw Weiss off of her. "GET OFF ME-"

And by this point, mum Schnee had broken through Winter's ice wall. After some brief hesitation, She awkwardly wrapped her arms around Winter, as well.

"Winter, I love you," mum Schnee said. It sounded just a little forced, like her smile.

"No-you'd don't- you can't just say you love me and pretend your last decade of- of everything didn't happen- you can't-"

"Winter," mum Schnee said. She stepped back and put her hands on Winter's shoulders, turning the teenager towards her. "I am sorry. And I do love you. It's my fault if you didn't know that."

Mum Schnee pulled her elder daughter into her arms, awkardly.

Winter was crying even more now. "Mom- you- you can't, just-"

"I love you too, sis," Weiss added. She rejoined the hug. Blake shrugged, and figured she should dogpile on. (The accountant opted not to join the hug, and simply left to get pa Schnee.)

Winter stopped managing words, and she let out a long sob. And another, and another, each a little softer than before, until it seemed like she calmed down.

"I hate you all. So much."

- A POSSIBLE FUTURE -

"YOU!" Nora says. She sits down across from Weiss at the lunch table. "Are very slothful."

Weiss blinks. She finishes chewing her food. "What?"

"You are in love with your best friend, but you think your doomed affection noble, or your struggle a symbol of martyrdom, thus you take no steps to alleviate your heartache."

"What? No! I hate feeling like this!"

"Do you?"

"Of course I do!"

"DO YOU?!" Nora leans in a little too close. Weiss ignores the personal space intrusion.

Weiss bites her lip. "I'm trying to get over it. Yang's helping me out, and I'm seeing professional help." Weiss takes a breath and looks Nora in the eyes. "I'm doing stuff for it."

"Slothfullness is not the lack of motion. It is deliberately not seeking accomplishment. In fact, it is quite easy to convince yourself of your diligence, if you're spinning your wheels," Nora puts her arms out and twirls. "But digging and filling in the same ditch does not accomplish anything. THAT is SLOTHFULNESS!"

Weiss had stopped flinching at Nora's explosive outbursts a while ago, so she doesn't this time.

Nora pontificates. "It is like how Ruby studies; she reads, she highlights, she begs the teacher to explain what she missed," Nora pantomimes that last motion. It involves some sort of prayer. "But she doesn't want to put into effort into actually learning the material; That's why she's always in detention, and that's why she's always behind in class."

"AND-" Nora sits down in front of Weiss, her arms folding under her chin in what is probably supposed to look like a comfortable position, "It is what you are doing with your feelings towards Blake.

Weiss looks to the side. Maybe that's true...

"Unless you confront the source of your issues, you will forever have that unshakable sense of disquiet."

Nora dances some sort of boogie.

Weiss breaths. "I already talked with Blake. We're on good terms."

"No, not that one." Nora looks serious. "You know who I mean."

Weiss does. She sighs.

Weiss takes a breath and accepts a pat on the back from Yang. "It'll be fine," Yang says, "I mean, I've been feeling more distant with her lately, but she's a good person, probably."

Weiss nods. She stakes out their dorm room and waits. She and Yang play cards and make puns, while they wait.

Eventually, Blake shows up, escorting their, ugh, fearless leader. Ruby is pretending to use her scythe as a walking stick, and Blake is saying something, as they approach.

"It's just, cookie, this is the third time your detention has derailed our plans," Blake says, her tone exasperated. She rubs Ruby's head anyway, though. "If you're having trouble in class you can always count on m-"

Ruby looks a little guilty once she comes into view, but she tries to look nonchalant once she sees Weiss and Yang there. Ruby flashes a smile with her candy-coated tombstone teeth and eyes like a distant silver abyss, and Weiss chuckles nervously.

"Oh hey, Blake, Ruby," Weiss says, leaning back, against the wall. Totally nonchalant, see?

Blake forces a smile too. It's better than Ruby's. "Did you want something?"

"Yeah, actually," Weiss rubs the back of her head, "I was wondering if Ruby was free, this afternoon, to, like, hang out or something?"

Blake blinks. Ruby chortles.

"I mean," Weiss says. She looks at Ruby, though she's talking to both of them, "We're partners, and we haven't bonded or anything, yet."

"You mean like, you want to do a team-building exercise?" Blake says.

Weiss hums for a moment and says, "Yeah, exactly."

And Yang slides next to Blake. "That sounds great! Blake, we should do that too- have you ever tried bowling?"

"Well, one time a, uh, a friend of mine had some people line up in a triangle and the, um, the friend threw giant balls at the maid- the people..."

Weiss scrunches her mouth to the side. She remembers that, with embarrassment.

"Oh, that sounds interesting," Yang says, "But Beacon students get discounts on bowling on weekdays at this one place I know..."

Yang's voice fades out of earshot, and the door to the dorm room closes.

And Weiss is alone with some sort of supersonic rose-flurried goth cookie reaper. Weiss manages a smile.

Ruby smiles her empty smile. She lays her scythe in her lap and procures a whetstone from somewhere. She also procures some licorice from somewhere, and offers some to Weiss. Weiss refuses.

Weiss clears her throat. She forgets all the openers she'd tried to practice with. "Well, I thought we should get to know each other, you know?"

Ruby starts to sharpen her scything again. tnk. "[VII:119] I have receav'd, to answer thy desire, of knowledge within bounds."

"Cool. So, you want to do something?"

tnk. Shing! "[VIII:343] I bring them to receave From thee thir Names, and pay thee fealtie with low subjection-" -shing!

"Well. Um. I have a chessboard- do you know how to play?

Ruby nods. She puts her scythe against the wall with an necessary flourish, and she pulls a table and two chairs out. "[XI:714] All now was turn'd to jollitie and game, To luxurie and riot, feast and dance-" Ruby pulls out a packet of cookies, and offers them to Weiss.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm not really into cookies," Weiss says. She starts setting up the chess-set.

Ruby frowns at that, but then she shrugs. "[VIII:327] Shun to taste, And shun the bitter consequence: for know, the day thou eat'st thereof, my sole command transgrest, inevitably thou shalt die-" Ruby popped a cookie into her maw.

"Well, at least you know they're unhealthy," Weiss says. She gives Ruby the white pieces, and Ruby begins with moving a knight. She eats more cookies, but doesn't offer more conversation. Weiss can't think of anything to say either.

After half the match passes (Weiss deliberately plays sub-optimally, to drag the game out a little longer and to spare her combat partner's feelings.

"So, um," Weiss ventures, "Did you ever find your lost pair of dice?"

Ruby got a distant look in her eyes, and she pantomimed a panorama with her left arm. "[III:493] The sport of Winds: all these upwhirld aloft Fly o're the backside of the World farr off Into a Limbo large and broad, since calld The Paradise of Fools, to few unknown-"

Weiss opens her mouth, and closes her mouth. "Oh-kaaayyyy..."

So, it doesn't start out well. Weiss tries to talk about Hunting, but Weiss was a duelist with a focus on team support, while Ruby's fighting style was more 'murder ball berserker'. Weiss enjoyed more mature, adult things while Ruby enjoyed the opposite. And Ruby talked with her mouth full- gross.

But at some point, Weiss mentions that her mom is dead, and Ruby latches on to that. She delves into her past and her feelings and her insecurities and her self-perception, and of failure and success. They abandon their chess games to lie on the floor and muse, forlornly, about life and Dust and death and feeling failure (Weiss resolved to admonish Nora for implying that that was something they could bond over- but it was almost a complete non-starter), and food and the performative aspects of intelligence, not making eye contact the whole time. (which, Weiss supposed, allows them to speak more candidly- Ruby seemed to have trouble with eye contact, and honestly, Weiss had learned at an early age to just stare at people's eyebrows when she spoke to them (bar one fluffy exception, of course)). But Ruby did have a lot to say about mothers and motherhood in general.

There's a pause in their conversation on the ground, and Ruby puts her hand up against the ceiling. "Mother is our first love affair. Her arms. Her eyes. Her breast. Her body. If we hate her later, we take that rage with us. And if we lose her, where do we find her again?" Ruby retracts her arm. "Why is the measure of love loss?"

Weiss blinks. "Um."

Ruby makes a smile and turns to Weiss- that doesn't quite reach her eyes, and maybe it's that Ruby's smiles never reached her eyes, but Weiss just never made enough eye contact to notice- but then Ruby waves the air. "[XIII:588] In loving thou dost well, in passion not, wherein true Love consists not; love refines the thoughts, and heart enlarges, hath his seat in Reason, and is judicious, is the scale-"

And they talk about love, for a while. Turned out, Ruby was quite the romantic. (And, honestly, Weiss was a bit of one as well.)

"So," Weiss said. Now she had made the emotional connection, she could satisfy her curiosity, right? "How are you and Blake?

Ruby shrugs. "[XIII:590] The thoughts, and heart enlarges, hath his seat in Reason, and is judicious, is the scale by which to heav'nly Love thou maist ascend, not sunk in carnal pleasure, for which cause Among the Beasts no Mate for thee was found-"

"Ok, ok, that's cool," Weiss interjects. She promptly changes the subject, and it's with some relief natural.

And by the time Yang and Blake return from bowling, Weiss feels like she's not mad at Ruby anymore, and she's more convinced that Blake is happy.

"So," Yang says, at the back of the group, with her hands behind her head. "I noticed at the place we went to, there was this karaoke place, right? So we should go there sometime. It'll be fun!"

Ruby sings- or chortles, depending on what your standards for singing are, as they walk into the hallway.

And Weiss tells Yang that that sounds good. She tries not to notice Blake's lack of eye contact, and figety looks of begrudging approval.

"So, you and Ruby are friends again?" Blake says.

Again? "Well, sure," Weiss says. She shrugs, "We have a lot in common, actually."

Blake smiles and rubs the back of her head. "Okay, cool. That's good."

Weiss smiles. "She's really bad at chess, though."

"Heh heh, I'll have to remember that. Maybe I can make a bet over a chess game..."

Ruby's walking ahead, chanting something about demons, and she turns a corner, and immediately falls on her back.

Weiss rushes forward, but Ruby's already being bodily helped to her feet by someone.

"Watch where you're going, little dood," says a woman. An adult woman, with flowing black tresses and eyes like an amber forest-fire, wearing her school uniform a lot better than any of the teenagers did. She's patting Ruby's shoulders down, and Ruby's looking embarrassed.

"Therein enjoy'd were worthy to subdue-"

"Aren't you, like, super old to be here?" Weiss asks. Ruby smacks her arm and chucks nervously, apologetically, at the new arrival.

"Hey, you're never too old to start learning, dood," says the woman. "Honestly, the idea that you're supposed to spend your teenage years learning little pieces of a broad array of knowledge, then spending four years studying a very narrow field that you've picked when you're 18 that you're gonna be doing your whole life? That's all bunk, dood. The traditional education system is outdated, and continually fails a population of students."

Weiss smushes her mouth to the side.

"And furthermore, education is tied to wealth in systemic and institutional levels, and wealth is stratified on racial lines, so it's just another way to keep Faunus down, dood."

"Exactly!" Blake says, and she excitedly pumps her hands. "Intelligence is only a set of learn-able traits common to the powerful to add legitimacy to discounting those that fail the metric."

Everyone nods at that. Weiss adds, "Morality is a lie constructed by the powerful to justify their cruelty."

The woman smiles and emulates Blake's hand motion. "Exactly! You doods can call me Cinder." She holds her hand out to eveyone. Ruby squeaks when it's her turn.

Cinder pontificates. "Anyway, the traditional model of education is completely messed up. We're trying to, like, deposit information intuitive students heads when really the student and teacher should be working together to createn knowledge. Like, teachers are always asking 'do you know the answer', when they should be asking, 'can you find the answer.' Someone should really just overrun the whole system- and not just schools, mind..."

And Ruby hangs on every word, even though she can't seem to say anything and doesn't make eye contact.

- PRESENT DAY -

Weiss awoke. Blakey was there, in her arms. Weiss couldn't resist a smile. Blake was so sweet and soft and fluffy...

Blakey Blakey Blakey

Snuggly, cuddley kitty...

Guess who's the best Blake?

Hint; it's you!

Snuggly, and Cuddly, and super cute, too!

And, luckily, Blakey's breathing was steady, which meant she was asleep, like a little kitty angel...

But Weiss had something to do. She adjusted her eyepatch and signaled the relevant parties.

The creepy maid showed up with one of the dolls. Weiss gave one last gentle squeeze to her snuggly Blakey before extracting herself and replacing herself with the doll. She wouldn't want Blakey to get cold, or lonely. She should hurry back, though.

Weiss crept away, to Winter's room. She took one last breath to steady her nerves and her resolve and possibly to savor the taste of isolation but actually, just to procrastinate a little bit more.

But Weiss knew she had to do this. So she opened the door, quiet enough not to echo through the halls but not quietly enough that Winter wouldn't hear it. It wasn't any sort of sneak attack, so it would do to make some noise.

Winter was awake, staring out the window, open to a lonely moonlit city-scape. She didn't turn to look at Weiss when she entered.

Weiss stepped in and closed the door. "Winter," said Weiss.

"Weiss," said Winter.

There was a lot to say. There was a lot she had to say, and a lot she didn't think she could, and a lot of stuff winter probably needed to hear...

Weiss inhaled, and she exhaled. "You were right," Weiss said. "I'm not special."

Winter turned her head and looked apologetic. It reached her eyes, which meant that Winter either really meant it or she had gotten better at pretending at controlling her facial expressions. "I was just talking smack-"

"Doesn't mean it's not true," Weiss said. "I don't know why I'm the heir, or why I get all the special treatment- Why I don't have to go to school except on fridays or why Mom looks the other way when I mess up and honestly I'm still surprised they let me keep Blake-"

Weiss took a breath. She was starting to lose control of her tearducts, and this was supposed to be a Confession of Vulnerability to Engender Trust, not an unforced display of weakness. "I'm sorry that mom treats me better than you, but it's never made me feel special."

Winter chortled, once, "Oh? So what are you saying, that being mom and dad's favorite isn't all that great?"

"Y-yeah. I don't think it's all that great, really."

"It's better than being practically disowned."

"But you're not disowned! Mommy still takes the time to send you Santamas cards, every year! And when important people come by, she always talks about how proud of you she is, for serving your country. "

Winter smiled, gently and laughed. "Yeah? She said as much- glad to know it's actually true."

"Yeah." Weiss said.

Weiss kicked her foot a little, as the silence loomed.

Weiss took a breath. "So your talk with mom went well?"

Winter took her own breath, condensing a puff of fog below her chin. "It- it was okay. We talked a lot about- everything, really. Feelings and stuff. It helped. A lot. She said she'd try to write more often."

Weiss brightened. That was good.

"And-" Weiss bit her lip. There was a danger of divulging too much- if you tried to be more honest with someone, by revealing a past untruth, it might do the opposite of building trust, as now they have history of dishonesty. "And I do actually know how to write, so I can do that to," Weiss braced for recrimination.

"Yeah," Winter said. She doesn't turn her head. "I knew you weren't as dumb as you act, sis."

Weiss froze. She sighed. "Sometimes it doesn't feel like an act."

"Maybe it's because you keep acting dumb." Winter smirked.

Weiss appreciated that Winter feels familiar enough to tease her. "I mean- I'm actually not doing so well in school. I'm trying, but, just, you know. I think maybe I'm not cut out for the regular schooling system."

Weiss took a breath. This time, she was being more candid, and that's a dangerous line to cross, but maybe Winter would understand? "And, being capable of seeming intelligent doesn't mean I actually am, or that I feel intelligent. Sometimes I think, pretending to be smart is just fighting my impulses. And the worst part is, everyone except me pretends to buy it, too, even when I've obviously failed." Weiss bit her lip, real quick. "And I figure, there's got to be a point where I've failed hard enough that Mom and Dad will do something about it, but it's like, they never do. Don't they care enough to want to make me better?"

Winter sighed. "That's probably my fault. Mom and dad always pushed me to be better and better, no matter how good I did. Eventually, I thought, maybe, joining the military would shape me into the person I wanted to be. I mean, there was no way I'd be better than mom and dad at business, right? So I thought I'd make a name for myself, and make a bunch of connections and the training would finally do what I was never able to."

Winter looked out the window. "But it turns out I was ahead of the curve with my aura, and my combat skills, and my semblance was more useful than most people's. So I didn't have to try at all. And that just made me feel worse, because if I was already good, why do I always feel so inadequate?"

"And everyone avoided me because I was a Schnee. They didn't want to get on my bad side, and, honestly, I'm no good with people at all. But eventually, I finally made some companions, you know? But- I was always a little worried, like, that they didn't really like me, that they were only putting up with me."

Weiss knew that feeling. But she frowned in concern, "So, are you still friends with them, even after you ate one of them on that failed training exercise?"

"We only ate her legs. She's got robot ones, now, and she loves them." Winter waved the air. "But the point was, I know what it's like to feel like a failure. And it sucks. I'm sorry."

Weiss walked up and held her arms out. "I- I know you said you didn't need hugs, but..."

"It's fine," Winter said. She stood up from the windowstill and creaked her back and held her arms out. "I- um. I did kinda- you know what nevermind, It's fine."

And they hug. It's nice.

"I see why you're always hugging Blake. This is ... nice."

Weiss reflexively brightened, as she did when her thoughts strayed to her kitty. "Oh! Yeah, Blakey's just the best! And she doesn't care if I'm smart or not, or if I'm strong, or how many times I mess up-"

Winter started looking politely bored, so Weiss skipped to the end.

"And she doesn't correct me when I'm wrong!" Weiss frowned. "Well, maybe sometimes, but she loves me for who I am, and that's- that's something I never realized was so important."

"Because you feed her."

"Noooo~" Weiss said. "That's- that's not the only reason, right?"

"I jest," Winter chuckled. "And you shouldn't worry; she does love you. You know how I know?"

Weiss's entire being paused in anticipation. Winter continued, "Because yesterday, she offered to let me play with her on the condition that I'd leave you alone if she entertained me instead. To protect you, she said."

Weiss's heart skiped a beat. She had always, secretly, worried about how Blake felt about her. But Blake had to love her, right? She just had to. And hearing that she did- that was wonderful. Weiss's heart went aflutter. "Oh, Blakey..."

"I'm glad you've found someone, at least," Winter said. She stepped out of the hug and resumed lounging at the window still. "Really. I- I'm sorry I was such a jerk, these last two weeks."

"I forgive you. And- I'll always love you, did. No matter what."

Winter smiled, out the window. "Aww, stop that."

And afterwards, they talked some more, about their mother, and about life and Dust and death and their favorite Corporate Mouse franchises, and food and chess. And when Weiss finally snuck back to her room (and Blake!), she's happy she has a sister.

And Winter left the next morning, a little more wordless and a lot more subdued than Blake remembered her being, like, ever. Though Blake had only known her like two weeks.

Winter hugged Weiss. And then she awkwardly hugged Mum Schnee, and then pa Schnee, and she held out her hand to Blake. "Take care of my sister, k, ya little monster?"

Blake decided she should hug Winter as well, so she ignored the hand and did so. Winter tense, but returned the hug.

And after Blake stepped back, Winter picked Blake up. "Well, it looks like Blake likes me now, so I'm going to have to take her back with me."

"Wiiinnn~teeerrr~" Weiss whined.

Winter looked at Blake and managed to smile. "You'll join me with the legionaires, Blake, doomed eternally to forlorn foreign shores. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Weiss ran up and tried to pry Blake away. "Noooooooo~." Weiss shook Blake. "Don't listen, Blake! That's not fun! That's not fun at all!" Weiss turned to her sister, "and besides, Blake's too fluffy for that!"

Winter laughed. Blake laughed. The adult Schnees made some polite chuckles. Winter put Blake down and gave one last salute, before heading out.