"Dad, we're home!" Yang called into the relatively small house that she and Ruby had lived in all their lives.
She was tired after a long day of classes and training, and there were few things Yang wanted more than her father's home cooking and to go to bed and just relax. After all, she needed to be rested before she went to Beacon come morning. Everyone that went through those doors did.
"Yeah!" Ruby called in, trailing after her older sister before she closed the door behind her. There was a quiet barking sound, which meant that the family dog Zwei had picked up on their presence, at the very least.
Yang didn't think much of it, as the dog came up, jumping at her and Ruby's legs only to get scooped up into Ruby's arms.
The blonde could hear the sound of something being moved around in the kitchen, and the scent of chicken wafted on the air. That meant that they had gotten home just in time for dinner, Yang figured. She took the moment at the door to slip out of her boots, leaning against the wall with an outstretched right arm.
"In the kitchen!" Taiyang called back to them. He didn't bother to leave the kitchen.
Ruby was out of her shoes first and she rushed back to the kitchen to follow through a sort of routine that they'd built over the course of their entire lives. Ruby was going to go back to the kitchen to see dad, then she was going to get to enjoy a chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk, and then once Yang joined them the three of them would sit down and just talk.
Normal family stuff.
Yang treasured it, despite the fact that sometimes it felt like there was something missing. That wasn't a coincidence. Yang knew for a fact that there was something missing, but that was just their family. What was missing didn't matter that much, though. Yang still loved her sister and her father, regardless of everything, and when their often transient uncle Qrow dropped in, he was usually welcomed with open arms.
All in all, aside from a missing piece or two, things worked out.
When she was finally out of her boots, Yang made her way back to the kitchen, tying her hair up into a high ponytail on the way back so that she could finally relax. When she got there, she saw that Ruby had taken her seat and was waiting on a glass of milk which Taiyang was taking his time to pour.
Yang hopped up into her own seat and leaned forward and rested her hands on the table. "Hey dad."
Taiyang turned around, with a glass of milk in hand which he set in front of Ruby before looking Yang up and down really quick- old habit, Yang knew. He'd started doing it when he and Ruby were kids, always to make sure that neither of the came home injured, and old habits died hard.
"Hey." He said, smiling widely. "Dinner's going to be ready soon." Taiyang shrugged slightly and smiled widely at the two of them. "You want something to drink?"
"Hot chocolate sounds nice." Yang answered, grinning across at her father. "You know how I like it."
Sure enough, Taiyang let out a quiet laugh and turned to the cabinets so that he could get some of the hot chocolate mix and a small jar of powdered pepper. That was one of the things that she'd inherited from their father, she liked all things spicy and they both took a lot of pride in it.
In a way, Yang loved her father just as much as she resented him at times. She knew that things tended to be hard on him, and they had been for a long time, ever since she and Ruby were really young.
Their uncle Qrow had stepped in for a little while, just to keep things functioning while Taiyang had shut down.
It had made their childhoods hard, but now Yang was mostly just glad to have her father there again and actually taking care of her and Ruby. The fact that they were teenages and could mostly care for themselves didn't matter that much. It was about the act, less about whether they needed him.
"So,' Taiyang said, smiling back at her and Ruby over his shoulder as he began to heat up some milk so that he could make Yang's hot chocolate. "Why don't you two tell me about how things were up at the academy. Your uncle get fired yet?"
Yang blinked and looked down at the counter in front of her, hoping to find a good answer that was actually interesting. Nothing came to mind. "Pretty normal day today." She said, leaning forward and shrugging slightly. "Didn't really see uncle Qrow at all. You know he doesn't actually work there, right?"
"Yeah, but he was in a meeting with Professor Ozpin or something." Ruby piped up, her eyes all bright as she broke apart her cookie and offered Yang part of it. "Professor Goodwitch was busy so we didn't have combat class today."
"Well, that's no good." Taiyang answered quietly. "Yard's open if you guys feel the need."
"I think we're fine with a day off." Yang mumbled. "We ended up taking two history classes today to make up for it."
"I'm sure Bart loved that." Taiyang laughed quietly as he stirred the pot beside him, watching the liquid inside carefully. "Either way, I'm glad that you two are doing okay." He smiled softly across at them, and it reminded Yang again of how happy she was to have her family so close. She knew plenty of people up at the academy that didn't have that luxury. "I made chicken for dinner."
"Don't burn it." Ruby said, leaning forward in her seat as well, almost like she was mirroring Yang. Her silver eyes stared down at the counter in front of her for a moment before she spoke up. "Hey, so dad?"
Yang blinked. She had a feeling that she knew what Ruby was about to ask about, but she didn't think that it was going to mean much. It probably had to do with that Grimm that the two of them had been watching from Beacon tower, but Yang doubted that Taiyang was going to have much to say about it. Of course, there was always a goliath in the room when it came to the monsters, but nobody wanted to breach it, and with good reason.
"What is it, kiddo?"
"Did you notice that Grimm?" Ruby looked to the window, knowing that they would probably be able to see it out the kitchen window. Taiyang furrowed his brow for a moment before stepping away from the stove so that he could go to the window and look.
He watched something outside for a moment before looking back over at Ruby and Yang. "Yeah," he answered. "Noticed when I took Zwei out earlier. What about it?"
"Well," Ruby shifted uneasily in her seat, and Yang almost wanted to roll her eyes over everything, but she didn't want to bring it up and make things weird or more awkward. After all, they all had to worry about that sort of thing, that was true for everyone at the academy and everyone that had ever been to the academy. Even their father, having retired, still had to worry about that sort of thing. "It looks like it got closer to the city."
"Yeah, it does." Taiyang answered. "I figure you're going to have a lot of lessons about how to take that thing down pretty soon." Another shrug. "Your uncle might swing by wanting me to help him out. Depends on what Ozpin wants."
"Do you think we're going to be able to go out and fight it?" Yang spoke up now, figuring that it was probably for the best if she joined in on the conversation, since she was theoretically going to be involved in taking the grimm down when the time came. If the time came. If Ozpin thought that students were worth having involved in it.
Taiyang shrugged, picking up the pot once he was sure that the hot chocolate inside was ready before pouring it into Yang's favorite mug and sliding it to her. Yang smiled and picked it up, taking a sip from the drink and letting the warmth sink down into her bones and relaxing. It was wonderful, an old comfort that always seemed to be there once she got to come home.
Taiyang spoke up finally. "I think you might have a chance at it." He said looking between the two of them. "You're both talented huntresses, I hear it from your teachers all the time." All at once, Yang watched the way that there was some sadness that washed over his face. She swallowed hard, hoping that nobody was going to go ahead and try to question it too deeply.
If Taiyang didn't notice that she knew what was going through his head, it meant that they were going to have less to worry about in the long run.
At least, that was what Yang hoped.
"I'm proud of you both." Taiyang spoke up, putting on a forced smile that Yang was able to see through all too easily. "No matter what, I'm proud of both of you."
"I mean," Ruby grinned a little bit too widely. "We're pretty much the best."
"You are the best." Taiyang laughed, turning around so that he could get something out of the oven so that the three of them would have something to have for dinner that night. "And I wouldn't trade either of you for the world. I just hope that if you two end up going out on that mission-" Taiyang set a glass dish down on the stovetop in front of him before closing the oven and turning it off. "You both come back to me safe and sound."
Yang smirked and shook her head. "We'll do our best."
"I know." Taiyang answered, smiling at her with his eyes all soft and all of the gentleness seeming to flow back into his body all at once. "You two have never let me down before."
Ruby shifted in a way that spoke to pure excitement running throughout her entire body. "Well, if we get to go out there and fight it, me and Yang are going to take it down!" She mimicked holding Crescent Rose in front of her before making a mock gunshot noise. "It won't stand a chance."'
"Yeah, well." Taiyang laughed, shaking his head and smiling widely. "I'm sure that you'll do great and all, but you two aren't quite ready yet."
Ruby leaned forward and stood up in her seat to get close to their father, and Yang was tempted to reach out and push her back into her seat for a moment. "I'm going to be the greatest."
Taiyang reached out though, and he ruffled Ruby's hair for a moment before she finally sat back down. He looked between his two daughters, and when Yang watched him she could see the pride welled up in his blue eyes. He just smiled gently and turned around so that he could get their dinner ready for the night ahead.
That left Yang and Ruby to their drinks, for just that little while ahead of them. Yang closed her eyes and tried to relax, for just that little bit of time. Things were going to change, and things were going to be different in the future, but Yang was glad to have her family there and so happy together.
She loved them both, more than anything. Yang feared what could happen if that grimm got too close to home, but for now, she was going to just enjoy herself at home while she was still able to.
Weiss followed closely after her father, with Whitley at her side behind him as the three of them made their way up to the office where they were supposed to be meeting with the General of the Atlesian Military, a James Ironwood that her father apparently knew rather closely.
Not much had been divulged about the specifics of this meeting, but that was normal. Weiss was sure that she knew what she and Whitley were there for, regardless.
Her father stared back at her over his shoulder, and his eyes flickered to Whitley for just a moment he faced back forward. The three of them reached an office, and waited as her father took the first step forward to knock on the door.
Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was going to come. She'd heard stories from her father about this man that they were meeting with. According to him, he was forceful, and a little bit foolish. He was cruel, he was the monster that had taken Winter away from them.
Of course, Weiss had heard several deeply conflicting opinions on the General. Winter had always spoken of the man in a way that always came off as admiration, with a touch of something else that Weiss had never been able to identify. She'd learned to stop reading into it long ago.
"Weiss, Whitley." Their father spoke up as they waited there, just outside of the general's office. "You two best mind yourselves. I don't want to hear a word from either of you unless you have been directly addressed, am I understood?"
"Yes, father." The two spoke, nearly in unison. Whitley sounded more confident than Weiss did. She knew that their father had noticed it.
"Good, now you two-"
The door to the office finally opened, and General Ironwood peered out at them with his eyes looking a little bit more tired than Weiss had been expecting. He looked between the three of them before focusing in on Jacques.
"Jacques," the General greeted her father first. "Bringing children to a business meeting?"
Jacques smiled and took a step forward towards the General, offering an outstretched hand so that the two of them would be able to shake hands in greeting. "General Ironwood," Jacques smiled that smile that Weiss recognized as the one that he liked to put on when there was work to be done. It was how he would go ahead and try to get under their skin and tried to pick them apart from the inside out. It was how he faked being a good person. "What a pleasure to see you."
"Jacques." James replied, stepping forward slightly before taking his hand and the two of them shaking hands for a moment. "Care to explain the children?"
"I figured it would be prudent to introduce my heirs to one of their most important business partners for the foreseeable future." Jacques replied, pulling his hand away and almost falling into parade rest, as he had a number of times before. "Is that so wrong?"
The general sighed heavily and looked between Weiss and Whitley and then spoke up. "I suppose you would be Weiss and Whitley." He smiled between the two of them before bowing low before them, something that Weiss never would have expected from a man of his stature or position. Maybe a servant would bow, but not someone as powerful as the general. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Well met, General." Whitley responded, his smile crossing his face and straightening up slightly.
Weiss looked at her father for just a moment and then lowered herself into a curtsey. "The pleasure is mine."
The general looked down at her with a certain sort of softness that Weiss hadn't expected and nodded to her, giving her permission to stand back up, though he didn't really need to do so. Weiss stood back up straight and waited for a moment, unsure of herself.
"Well, since introductions are out of the way." General Ironwood said, pushing the door open to his office to give entrance. "Jacques, I would prefer that we speak privately." His eyes flicked over to Weiss and Whitley. "I assure you it's nothing personal."
Weiss didn't miss the way that her father grimaced and his eyes narrowed dangerously at the suggestion that Whitley and Weiss leave. She figured that her father had been expecting to use her and Whitley as bargaining chips in some way- not in the sense that he would trade them to the general, but more as a way of strong arming him into doing what he wanted.
But it seemed like the General was wise to her father's tricks, much more than most were.
"Very well." Her father finally spoke up, checking the time on his watch before looking between Weiss and Whitley with that same disapproving scowl that they were both used to. "You two are to wait here. It would be best if you didn't make a disturbance while the General and myself meet."
His eyes locked onto Weiss rather than Whitley, and it was enough to make her almost want to shrink away at the realization of what was happening. "You best not make embarrassments of yourselves unless you want to suffer the consequences."
With that, he and the General slipped into the office, and Weiss was left alone with her brother, just outside of the General's office and without anything to do other than sit still and look pretty. Weiss figured they would have been doing the same thing should they have been let into the meeting, but that wasn't such a big deal. She let out a quiet sigh, figuring that it was for the best not to stray.
"Should we view the Academy Grounds, sister?" Whitley asked, focusing his eyes onto her and leaving Weiss to sigh again. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if the two of them were to take a look around...
"If we can get back before father's done with his meeting, then I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
Whitley grimaced, the same sort of grimace that she'd seen a thousand times on their father. Whitley took after their father in a lot of ways, not all of them good. That wasn't to say that Weiss didn't care for her brother or love him, it was just that there were some frustrating side effects of their relationship.
It was no secret that their father favored Whitley over her and Winter.
"I hear that Beacon has an extensive library." Whitley spoke up, beginning to lead the way, which Weiss couldn't help but worry about. "I doubt that it's anywhere near as complete as the one in Atlas-"
"Well," Weiss spoke up, following after her brother and holding her head high as she took in the building properly for the first time since arriving. "Beacon has only been rebuilt for a few years, I'd expect that everything they had from before was destroyed."
"Either way," Whitley started, smiling that mischievous smile of his that Weiss hated seeing. "I want to see it."
He walked ahead, and Weiss couldn't help but to roll her eyes before following after him through the academy halls in search of something to hold her interest for a while. Weiss didn't know what that would end up being. She didn't know what she was going to find there- in a way, she was just doing her best to enjoy the little time that she had there.
After all, she'd heard so many things about the academy and most of them were good- being here was a dream of hers.
If she wanted to, she was sure that she could have passed the entrance exams to attend the Academy, but the problem was with her father. He would never allow it, especially if she didn't want to end up completely pushed away from her family like Winter was.
She hugged herself slightly, wondering about where her sister was for a moment. Surely in her training to be a Huntress, Winter had come here at some point. Maybe there was even the chance that her sister was nearby and Weiss didn't even know it.
After all, Winter was known to work closely with the General.
"Sister," Whitley spoke up again. "How long do you think we have before father and the General's meeting concludes?"
Weiss paused, unsure. This was her first time following after her father to go all the way to Vale for the purposes of company business. She knew that the General tended to stay home in Atlas most of the year, but she didn't know much about it besides that. What he was doing in Vale was beyond Weiss.
She'd heard him and her father once before, but that had been in what had appeared to be a private meeting in her father's study.
This was different- it was on the General's territory, and so her father felt the need for the upper hand. It seemed he was willing to do just about anything to get that, too.
"I don't know." She finally admitted. "I would assume that we have at least an hour."
Whitley nodded and looked around the area before walking off on his own and leaving Weiss to follow after him. She needed to be able to stay close to her brother, just in case they didn't get back to the General's office in time.
Even if they were late, she didn't want to be showing up without Whitley with her. She knew better than to think that she wasn't going to end up being the one that saw the most punishment for it. Whitley could do no wrong in her father's eyes, after all.
So Weiss did her absolute best that she could to keep up with her brother, following as closely after him as she could manage before they ended up on a stairwell, heading up it on the way to a library when Weiss twisted her ankle, falling on the last step and landing hard on the cold floor.
Whitley was gone.
Weiss closed her eyes, trying to block any pain out of her mind as she tried to just massage the injured ankle before finally rising back up to her feet.
With Whitley gone, Weiss knew that the best thing that she could do was to do her best to find him and try to catch up with him before he got himself into too much trouble. She smoothed down her dress and winced as she took the first step forward before following after Whitley's path on her own.
Weiss hugged hugged herself as she walked through the halls of Beacon, deeply unsure of what she was going to find. Weiss found herself at a split in the hall and decided to take the right path, which led her towards an arena.
Currently, it was being occupied by a pair of fighters, and Weiss stepped forward to just watch them as they fought in the pit down below. The two of them probably couldn't have been any more different. The taller of the two was a man with a sword that was much larger than Weiss was, and the second was a girl with long red hair that was tied into a ponytail and still seemed to flare out behind her like fire.
The two of them fought around each other like a dance, and they were beautiful.
Weiss knew that she shouldn't have kept on watching them, all things considered, but she couldn't quite pull her eyes away. She needed to go off and find Whitley so that they could later avoid their father's wrath, but...
She wanted to be down in that arena. These fighters were training to become the protectors of humanity- they would inevitably end up in an occupation that made them among some of the most noble people in all of Remnant, like her mother, and her grandfather.
Weiss belonged there.
"Excuse me?" A voice came up and Weiss looked back over her shoulder to see a too-stern looking woman standing there, with her long blonde hair tied into a bun and a serious expression reading across her face. The first thing that Weiss thought was that this woman was much scarier than the General had been, in her own way.
Weiss looked down, curtseying slightly. "Weiss Schnee," She introduced herself before standing up properly and lacing her fingers together behind her back. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm afraid so." The woman answered. "You're intruding on a closed practice." She paused, watching Weiss closely. "And you don't appear to be a student here, Miss Schnee."
"That... is correct, Ma'am." Weiss answered. Despite the fact that she was wearing the Schnee snowflake on her back, the identification by name left Weiss feeling a little uneasy. "I'm here with my father for business and my brother and I-" She wanted to stop herself, since the fact that Whitley was missing didn't help her argument at all. "We decided to take a tour of the grounds while our father met with General Ironwood."
"I see." The woman said, frowning. "I will escort you back to your father." She looked at Weiss. "Where is your brother?"
"I don't know." Weiss admitted, her gaze dropping away from the woman slightly. "I twisted my ankle on the stairs and lost track of him. I ended up here while I was trying to find him." She knew that it probably wasn't going to much. In fact, she was sure that she was going to end up being scolded for failing to track her brother. Finally, she spoke up again, making a quiet plea. "Please don't tell my father."
The woman sighed a too-heavy sigh that reminded of her mother when she ended up arguing with her father too much. Finally, she spoke. "I'll aid you in finding your brother Miss Schnee." The woman spoke, "my name is Glynda Goodwitch and I am the Vice Headmistress of this Academy."
Weiss blinked. She was sure that she'd heard Winter mention this woman at some point, but she didn't know all that much about the woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She said finally. "I'm really sorry to be-"
"Don't be." Glynda spoke up, waving a riding crop that she'd had holstered on her calf to open the door so that the two of them could walk through. Weiss couldn't help but wonder whether or not she would be able to do something similar with her own glyphs. "So you are here with your father."
"I am," Weiss explained. "He wanted to introduce Whitley and I to some business associates of his."
"He always was a shrewd man." Glynda said, frowning. "I suspect that you're wandering because James had no interest in his tricks?"
"That's correct." Weiss answered. "You know my father?"
"I know James." Glynda replied. "And as a result I have heard things about your father." She paused and looked over at Weiss, looking her up and down. "Where did you say your brother was heading?"
"He wanted to see the library." Weiss said almost immediately. "I don't know if we were on the right way though, he more or less began taking random turns once we were away from the General's office."
Glynda's frown somehow managed to deepen and grow more severe. She holstered her crop before flicking her blonde hair out of her face and giving another sigh that almost sounded defeated. "We'll find him, miss Schnee."
"Thank you, Professor Goodwitch."
After those words, the two of them fell into a deeply uncomfortable silence that Weiss wasn't quite able to ignore for any reason. Weiss followed closely after Professor Glynda Goodwitch, who she quickly learned was a renowned Huntress before being escorted along with her brother back to the space outside of General Ironwood's office.
Glynda sat with them the entire time, making small talk over the sounds of yelling and anger from inside of the office, and when the door finally opened, she was polite enough not to say anything to Jacques, though Weiss caught her and the General exchange a knowing glance that told her that they both knew that something was wrong.
Neither said anything other than some polite goodbyes, and so Weiss, Whitley, and Jacques Schnee of the prestigious Schnee Family were off to their living quarters that they were supposed to occupy during their stay in Vale.
Nightfall was quickly approaching, and Cinder needed to find shelter. It was clear that the storm was probably going to be coming in the next hour, based on the way that the world had seemed to go completely quiet in the last little while. She didn't want to be caught out for it, but a quick check on her map told her that she was supposed to be finally coming up on Hinagiku rather quickly.
So Cinder did what she could. She sped up her walking, tried to ignore the feeling of dread that seemed to be overtaking her, and she followed the path before her as closely as she could.
Soon, she would have a safe place to rest for a night.
At least, when she looked up to the sky above her, that was what she told herself.