F3: Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 17 of Peppers story. Looks like things are returning to normal as for everyones concern. Now its time for some training and get everyone back into shape before moving on. RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth. Melyna Mahin is property of MountainKing312. Ophelia Sorrel and Audra belong to me. With that said Let's Rev It Up!
Volume 4-17 Grey: Move with the Wind.
The sun rose up in Sumire more importantly on the campsite as it was Adam that was first to stir as the sun shined on him as he opened his eyes as then grabbed his mask and put it on to cover his eyes. He then realized that he wasn't the only one in the sleep bag as he looked to his left still seeing a sleeping Weiss without her overcoat as she seemed to be sleeping quietly.
Adam got out of the sleeping bag as he stretched popping his limbs however the rustling of the sleeping bag made Weiss stir as her blue eyes opened raising herself to a sitting position. She then stretched her limbs getting herself awake as she noticed that Adam had woken up.
"Morning." Weiss greeted.
"Morning to you too." Adam greeted back. Weiss got out of the sleeping bag and reached for her overcoat and put it on as the morning air was rather chilly.
"So I take it we're going to be doing more training." Weiss said.
"Yeah. Like I said we'll need at least a week tops if we're even going to be in fighting form. The White Fang may look disorganised but their professionals." Adam added.
"How about breakfast first then training afterward?" Weiss asked. Adam agreed as he nodded. Weiss helped fold up the sleeping bag and stuffed it back into the tent and then the two of them walked back to Melyna's house.
It didn't take them long as they arrive at the house with Weiss giving a gentle knock on the door. She heard footsteps coming to the door as Pepper was on the other side when it was opened.
"Figured you two come by here. Melyna is whipping up some breakfast right now. I swear it's like she's a chief or something." Pepper said as she moved aside allowing the two of them to enter. Adams senses came in and smelled what was coming from the kitchen almost like it was luring him in.
Once they entered the kitchen Ophelia and Audra were making some small talk while Melyna had six plates out for everyone with already three of them made with happy helping of what appears to be a steak omlet and two ham and cheese omlets each with toast and bacon.
Melyna looked over her shoulder seeing the two of them as she smirked a little.
"Good timing. Breakfast is almost ready. Take a seat." Melyna said.
Pepper, Weiss, and Adam found a seat though Weiss seemed to noticed that Ophelia and Audras tails are seemingly coiled around each other.
"Did something happen with you two?" Weiss asked.
"Oh... nothing important really." Audra said but Melyna chuckled at that.
"Please when I went to wake you two up you both were cuddling all over each other. Seriously I thought it was going to take a crowbar to separate you two." Melyna said as the cat and leopard faunus blushed at that.
"That is too much information." Adam quickly stated almost reminding him what happened with him and Blake.
"So what's on the agenda today?" Melyna asked as she finished another omlet putting on a plate.
"Well I need to do some training. I haven't exactly figured out the weapons my father left me plus Weiss has been saying that I've been rather sluggish." Pepper added.
"Which you have by the way. It would be best to get back to how you used to." Weiss stated.
"Well can't train on an empty stomach now can we." Melyna said as she finished the last two plates as she placed the plate two at a time in front of everyone.
"Alright everyone. Dig in." She declared as everyong took a bite of their breakfast. Audra and Ophelia were enjoying theirs as there tails uncoiled from each other wagging happily. Even Weiss's lynx tail had twitched enjoying the meal.
"Honestly Mely this is the best that I've ever had. Who taught you to cook like this?" Weiss asked.
"My dad actually. Mom did most of the huntress work while dad taught me a lot of things. One thing was having to cook. Who'd you think kept kitten over their up and going? Even during the rough times." Melyna stated.
Adam was a little intrigued by what she meant as he took a glance at Ophelias prosthetics.
"I'm guessing those legs were the reason huh." Adam said. Everyone got quiet real quick almost like he said something wrong. Ophelia sighed as she spoke up.
"Well can't say you hit it right on the nose. It was after I graduated Signal Academy and I applied to Haven Academy. About five months in and we were going on our first mission with our professor. We were in the mountains to eliminate some grimm in an area that was near a settlement but their was a rockslide and... I pushed Melyna out of the way and I thought for sure it would be the last time I would see my teammates." Ophelia said.
"But to my surprise I survived but I couldn't feel my legs after that. I didn't know how long I was trapped but by the time they got to me apparently I was very starving and sleep deprived. Once they got me back to the academy my legs were so messed up that me and my team couldn't go on missions anymore. They thought putting me on physical therapy would help but as you can see... I had to go with a different option." Ophelia finished.
"Sorry I asked. Must've been rough for you too." Adam said as Ophelia nodded.
"Yeah but it was Melyna that kinda pretty much got me back to health." She said.
"Anytime girl. Anytime." Melyna stated. Thirty minutes past as Adam suggested it was time for the three of them to get some training in. Adam took Weiss and Pepper to the campsite which seemed to be more than wide open for them to do their training. First it was Weiss and Adam as her taught her more how to use a sword properly and mostly how to surprise her opponents in certain situation that require a little more stealth.
After three hours of them training it was Peppers turn to takeover as even without his sword Adam had was a well off sparing partner as he was even teaching her a few tricks as well and it even got Pepper back into shape as well even learning more about her new weapon. She figured out she can give her punches some extra power as the fins on her weapons can generate a jet of fire which could come in handy.
She also figured out the fins can rotate one hundred eight degress and could blast a stream of fire at her opponent giving her an offensive attack at a distance. She also mixed in a few kicks and other strikes into her arsenal just incase things really got nasty in a real fight.
Before the three of them knew it hours had past and it was evening as the sun was about to set under the horizen.
Pepper was panting trying to control her breathing as she just finished another sparring session with Adam and even he was getting tired as well. Weiss had joined in as well and she was just as worn out as the two of them were.
"Okay... I think... that's enough... for one day." Weiss panted.
"Yeah... but I think I'm getting there. Back in shape at least but I think by the end of the week will help me out." Pepper stated.
"Good but you got to be one hundred percent so that we'll be ready for anything." Adam replied.
Weiss looked up at the sky and realized just how long they've been at it.
"Whoa! It's already evening. Guess we've been at it for so long we didn't notice the time." Weiss replied.
"Alright I think that would be enough for today. We'll pick this up tomorrow." Adam stated.
"Yeah I think a nice shower would do some good. I'm guessing your staying out again tonight Weiss." Pepper said as Weiss nodded again.
"Alright just don't do anything funny okay you two." Pepper said almost teasing them as Weiss's face turned completely red.
"Would you go already!" Weiss shouted almost half tempted to use a glyph on her but Pepper was already out of sight before she could.
Adam though wasn't very amused by the teasing.
"Though she does have a point. You don't need to be smelling either if we're sleeping in the same sleeping bag again." Adam said.
"Okay then I guess I can wash here." Weiss added which got his attention.
"Are you sure that is wise?" Adam questioned.
"I'll go over to the other side of the lake and wash off. It's going to be a warm evening tonight so I'll dry off rather quickly. Just as long you don't come over to where I am." Weiss added.
"Fine. But you're going to need something first." Adam said as he went into his tent and grabbed a large red towel and past it to her.
"Use that to dry off. Bring it back when your done." He added.
"Thanks." She thanked before she began walking to the other side of the lake just as long as she was out of his line of sight. Double checking that she was safe she removed her overcoat and hanged it on the tree nearby before removing the rest of her clothing and setting it aside. Now completely naked she carefully stepped into the water and submerged her body as she gave a relaxing sigh.
She gave her body a much needing clensing as she took in a breath and took submerged her head into the water. The water was rather warm despite it almost being night time. She came up for some air her hair straightening out from the water. She looked to her right and saw Adam in the distance from what it appears to be fishing for some fish to cook up for dinner.
Though the one thing she started to notice about him were his broad shoulders that seem to give him that powerful figure. His blood red hair and black horns on his head were his dominate feature that almost made her want to rub her hands through.
She stopped herself for a moment almost trying to ponder what she was even thinking. Was she... oogling him? She shook her head wildly thinking that it must've been the training from earlier having an effect on her thinking.
After about ten minutes she decided it was best to get out of the water to dry off. After drying off with the towel Adam gave her and reclothing herself she made her way back to Adam where he had caught about ten fish as they were roasting next to the fire with skewers through them.
"Nice haul. I'm starving after all that training." She said though Adam was rather deep in thought at the moment but her speaking had got his attention.
"Yeah. Fill free to have a few." Adam said. Weiss took one and tasted it as she bit into the fish. She hummed in delight before chowing down on the fish which got a chuckle out of him in which Weiss noticed.
"What? Sometimes I can't always control my urges when it comes to fish." Weiss admitted as she took another bite.
"No it's fine. Just... reminds me when me and Blake camped out. It was the only time that I never had any worries on my shoulders and that I could relax. Never worrying about my problems when it's just me and Blake. Then they got fewer and fewer until... well you know." Adam replied.
"And I know that your not Blake but this just seems to calm me." He added.
Weiss however spoke up next "I can understand that I'm no Blake. But after getting to know her more and more I can almost feel that we're the same despite us being different. We both want to better not only ourselves but those around us. Blake reconciled with her family while the only family I had was Jacque and he wasn't much of a father. My sister wasn't around after she joined the military and well... Pepper's like a second sister to me. In fact my team... is like my family too." Weiss said.
"I guess that's why you're so adamant about finding your team." Adam replied.
"Yeah... I want to reunite with them. I just hope that they're okay and nothing worse has happened to them." Weiss added. Adam looked at her for a moment almost trying to decipher the young Schnee in front of him. To think that originally the Schnees were their target for assissinations as well as councilman, polictions and other important people. He could've only imagine just what kind of hell of a life she went through under that man.
"Hey Weiss... what exactly did you go through when you were in Atlas?" Adam asked.
Weiss looked toward him as she recalled all the hateful things that her father did to her. She shivered slightly remembering the lashes she took from the whip.
"It... wasn't a simple life. I wanted to be like my grandfather and believe the faunus were just simply people. My father however didn't see it like that and everytime I spoke out of turn... well... I'd rather not talk about it." Weiss said rubbing her arm.
"Then show me instead of telling me." Adam asked. Weiss was a little hesitant about showing him but then again she'd seen his brand on his eye so it was only fair that he saw her own scars.
So she removed her overcoat which did reveal some of her back to him. Even without removing her top he could still see a good majority of her scars. He didn't say anything that would make her uncomfortable but he gently reached out his hand and put it on the most noticable scar on her back. Weiss didn't even flinch from his touch.
"Can you tell that I'm touching it?" Adam questioned. Weiss only shook her head.
"Not really. Any pain that I would feel from their is numb. This is from all the whippings my father gave me." Weiss replied.
"He never showed in form of love to me, mother, Winter or Whitely. All he wanted was the name and what it came with." She added.
"If he has control of the SDC then what can you do?" Adam questioned.
"Take it back and restore it to how it used to be before he ruined it." Weiss stated firmly.
Adam removed his hand from her back as he sighed "Well you can't do that without getting some sleep. Now c'mon let's get some sleep." Adam stated as the two of them got out of the sleeping bag and got some sleep for tomorrow.
=RWBY=
The week came and went rather quickly but that didn't mean it wasn't wasted. The training that both Weiss and Pepper went through with Adam was brutal all the while teaching them about their weaknesses and how to prepare to counter against their opponents if deemed nessecary. Weiss has also begun training with her glyphs by the third day of training as she accidently performed a summon when a giant Nevermore appeared. Figuring that was the Schnee specialty she began training to master the summoning technique of grimm that she killed during her stay.
By the fourth day Adam was also teaching Pepper the other different styles of her boxing techniques. It took hours but Pepper has learned about the three sub categories of boxing in which she would add to her arsenal for usage in future conflicts. She also been combining her attacks with dust to further enhance her attacks that would make her opponent think twicie of coming near her.
The fifth and sixth day Weiss has been mastering the summoning techqinue but knows that she has more to go if she wishes to fully master it as she also began mastering her sword technique everytime her and Adam trained together which sometimes ends up her losing but she never took it as a loss but as a lesson and she got better with each fight they had. Pepper as been trying out different usage for her semblance to try out on herself.
When she tried to increase her gravity on just her legs she noticed that she wasn't going to get anywhere except with having sore legs for a few hours. She then tried using her semblance on her arms to decrease the gravity on them and figured that her arms would move fast everytime she threw a punch but she noticed that she moved her arms too fast she would most likely strain them. She had to figure out how to apply the correct amount of gravity to each part of her body if she was going to be useful in a fight. Something she would needed to work on.
The seventh day came and went quickly as they trained tirelessly throughout the day as Weiss actually got a victory over Adam in her sword technique during their final training session. Pepper was out getting some supplies for them to be ready the next day to depart on their long trip to Mistral as they discussed what was the best route to take. Willow warned them about grimm being around near Kuroyuri that the grimm has made it their home as seeing that would've been a more direct route toward Haven Academy.
So they had to take the long way around which meant going to Argus and taking the train to Mistral.
By the start of the next day it was time for them to leave.
"You sure you'll be alright heading to Mistral?" Melyna asked.
"Yeah we'll be fine. With the training we've been doing I'm if we come across any grimm we'll be sure to take care of them." Weiss added confidently.
"You all make sure to be carefull out their. Mistral is not a safe place if you don't know where you're going." Ophelia warned.
"We understand the risks that we're taking but this is the chance for us to get ahead of the White Fang and stop them before they make anything worse." Pepper replied.
"Very well you all just watch each others backs out their. Avoid any places that you don't know and be very careful of bandits out their. Especially the Branwen Tribe." Melyna warned.
That name rang a bell between both Pepper and Weiss as they wondered if Raven had any relation with them.
"We'll avoid them as best we can. But if they attack us we'll have to defend ourselves and get away from them quickly." Adam added. He may a strong swordsman but even he wasn't dumb enough to fight against an entire tribe of bandits.
"Guess we better get moving then. I don't think I properly thanked you Audra. If it wasn't for you then me and Pepper here would probably be dead by now." Weiss thanked.
"Ah don't swet it. Just glad to help out." Audra replied.
"Also would you tell my sisters bye for me. I know they wanted to tell me themselves but they have another concert planned for tonight." Pepper said.
"We will." Ophelia added.
"Well... this is so long for now. Let's get a move on." Weiss added as the three of them turned and walked onward toward the exit of the town.
However on their way out Weiss noticed Willow and Whitely outside the clinic almost like they were waiting for them.
"Mother, Whitely I didn't think you two would be up already?" Weiss questioned.
"Just wanted to see you off and to give you something." Willow said holding out a small box in her hands.
"What's this?" Weiss asked.
"It... belonged to the my father. I thought it would be apprioate to pass it on to you." Willow said as she handed it to Weiss. She opened it to find a pair of silver earrings in them that would seem to fit around her ears. The loops seemed to have embedded runes on them.
"What are these mother?" Weiss asked again.
"Those earrings are what my father called them Rings of Atlas. From what he told me long ago that it gives the weariers semblance an extra boost without damaging their aura. I never used them myself but since you'll be out their I thought... you would find a better use for them." Willow said.
Weiss closed the box and put it away in her overcoat before embracing her mother.
"Thank you." She simply said. Willow held her for a minute before letting her daughter go.
"Now you three best be on your way. The coastal town is a long walk from here if you want to catch a ferry. All of you be safe out their." Willow said.
"We will. This is what we trained for." Pepper added and with that the three of them left the two Schnees as they made their way toward the exit of the town as they knew exactly what they were getting themselves into.
Two and a half hours have past since they left Sumire and the small town was finally out of sight. However Adam stopped a moment in their walk which got the others attention.
"Adam? You okay?" Pepper asked.
"Yeah. Just one more thing." Adam replied before placing a hand on his mask and then removing it from his face allowing his scarred eye to be shown. He then placed the mask down on the ground and did something that not even Weiss saw coming. With a roar Adam stomped on his mask breaking it completely before he stomped on it a few more times for good measure. Now in front of his feet was his former mask that would hide him as he let out a sigh.
He seemed relieved... free from the chains that was his former life. Though he took out something from his pocket and it appeared to be an eyepatch and placed on around his eye.
"Alright... now we can go." Adam said at last as he moved past the two in front of him.
Weiss let out a smirk almost like she was glad that he finally let that mask go as she quickly followed with Pepper trailing behind with their goal to make it to Mistral, stop the White Fang, and for Weiss and Pepper to reunite with their teammates. And if any grimm got in the way they would defeat it and move onward hopefully to a happier future.
F3: And that is that! The end of Peppers story. Adam, Pepper, and Weiss are now moving onward toward Mistral to stop the White Fang. This was to me a good story to write out and with my take on Adam as a character given his treatment from Volume 6. Before I finish I would like to give a huge shout out to MountainKing312 for letting me use his character in this story also check out this guys stories as well as he would very much appreciate it, along with Decode9 who helps me edit. Also let me know in the comments of how you like this story. Don't forget to follow and/or favorite as well. With that said this is Fireuser3 and I'll see you next time.