It was Saturday.
That was the first thought Yang had as consciousness returned to her. With a contented sigh she tightened her grip on Ruby, pulling her older sister tight. The pair were sleeping in Ruby's bed, though ever since they had been assigned a room it had more or less been their bed. Opposite them, beside Blake, was a mattress that hadn't been used since the semester started. All it did now was slowly collect dust.
But who could blame Yang? The girl had been forced to consider that Ruby might never return years ago. One day she was just snatched away in front of her, and since then it had merely been a dream. A dream that was now very much so in her arms, even if Yang had imagined things slightly different. As her face was pressed into Ruby's chest she could feel the older woman's form. She was muscular, yes, built like a body builder who loves cardio. Most of that was hidden beneath her clothing, but what was more concerning, and what Yang hadn't asked about yet, were the myriad scars she had. While the worst were the lash-like ones on her back, she also had them on her hips and legs. Yang could barely remember when the two of them were younger, but when she thought back she sort of remembered Ruby being clumsy. But clumsy didn't explain why she looked like she habitually got in fights with lawn mowers.
"Morning sis." Ruby whispered, and Yang could feel a hand patting her on the head.
"Morning Rubes." Yang replied. She shifted her head and looked up to see Ruby staring at something on her scroll, flicking through pictures Tai sent more likely than not. She seemed to be doing that more often recently, trying to jog memories Yang hoped. The younger sister slipped her hands under the back of Ruby's pajama shirt and gently scratched her back. Ruby sighed audibly, closing her eyes for a moment before returning to her scroll.
"Do they itch?" Yang asked.
"Hm." Ruby took a moment to think of an answer. "Less than you'd think, honestly. When they're fresh they're the worst, since you can't scratch without hurting yourself. Then over time it sort of just fades. That said you can still feel it, and it's never quite an itch you can scratch."
"How'd you get them?"
"Grimm, mostly." Ruby answered, reaching over and putting her scroll on her bedside table. "There's only so much good your aura can do you sometimes."
"I'm amazed you're alive." Yang whispered.
Ruby stifled a bark of laughter. "Yeah, well, me too sometimes. Thankfully for you and the rest of our team my time getting my ass kicked in the woods has made me a peerless fighting machine."
"Oh yeah?"
"I'm an unstoppable juggernaut on the battlefield Yang, just look at me. I look like a five-ten Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson if he was a teenage girl, pale, and had hair." Ruby's boisterous tone forced a bark of laughter out of Yang, who couldn't help but imagine it.
"Is that how you picture yourself?" Yang snorted, pulling herself upright and turning to get out of bed. She stretched as she did so, relieving some of the tension in her arms and back.
"A drop-dead gorgeous action-hero in his late forties with a killer smile?" Ruby drawled. "Of course I tick all those boxes, like I said."
Yang just shook her head, scanning the room. Blake had already left, which wasn't surprising since the light streaming in the window made it look like it must be well into breakfast time. Turning she could see Weiss seated on her bed staring down at a page in her book. Surprisingly, she hadn't complained that Yang and Ruby were making noise, which she normally did when any of the other three girls so much as breathed. Not that it bothered anyone, Weiss was just a bit, as Ruby called it, sandpaper. Ignore and move on.
"What do you wanna do for our weekend?" Ruby asked as she stood and walked to the dresser, pulling a drawer open to go through some of her clothes. "I'm up for whatever. I haven't reserved us any slots in the training grounds so there's no real time crunch. We could go into town, or train for several grueling hours just to prove how dedicated and powerful we are."
Not having considered her options that much, the younger sibling shrugged. "Not sure."
"Yeah, well, think of something. We'll decide over breakfast." Ruby said with a shrug, standing and cradling a stack of red and black clothes in her arm. "That goes for you too Weiss."
The heiress started, her head raising to look at Ruby who held her gaze for a moment "You've tagged along for the past few weeks but haven't made any input on where you'd like to go. Maybe we can stop by a bookstore to see if there's some more historical fiction for you to leaf through."
"What…" Weiss began to ask, but before she could finish Ruby was through the bathroom door. Yang watched as the girl's mouth gaped for a moment before closing with a click. She covered for her surprise by offering a half-hearted cough as if clearing her throat.
"Nice." Yang teased.
"Whatever." Weiss grumbled. "You do know her explanation for those scars is pretty fishy, right?"
"What do you mean?" Yang asked, confused.
Weiss pointedly glanced towards the door to the bathroom and waited until the shower could be heard running. Once small whisps of steam could be seen escaping out from the room she continued, "If your aura fails you and you're getting mauled by a Grimm you're pretty much guaranteed to be dead. With the scars she has she'd probably have bled out unless she managed to somehow kill all the Grimm around her sans-Aura. Even then, she'd need medical help. There aren't exactly hospitals out in the wilds of Mistral."
"Maybe she was just treated in a village she was staying at?" Yang guessed. "If she was fighting that many Grimm, they probably looked after her for keeping the village safe."
"That might explain why her wounds healed so poorly." Weiss conceded."It's still weird."
"So…" There was a pregnant pause as Yang visibly considered her words. "Just how closely are you inspecting my sister's scars?"
Weiss grimaced at the comment, her expression souring as her ears tinged red. "Very funny."
"You don't have to be embarrassed the ladies in our family are just like that." Yang sing-songed, lifting her arms and flexing. She could see Weiss' eyes trace her abs, but the heiress managed to keep her composure.
"I thought the women in your family were known for abandoning their families." Weiss retorted, acid in her voice. Yang saw red for a moment, her teeth gritting as she took a threatening step towards Weiss. A flash of panic showed on Weiss' face, and the blond halted in her tracks. She knew her semblance was flaring up, and given how much Weiss had curled in on herself the girl probably wasn't trying to incite an actual fistfight.
"I have no idea what the fuck your problem is Weiss," Yang began, her voice hoarse with emotion, "but you have no idea of the hell I've lived. Losing people I've loved over and over, do you have any fucking idea what that's like?" Her words were a harsh hiss, tears of frustration shining in her eyes. "I just got my happiness back, and I will not stand for you shitting all over it." Yang took a halting breath, quickly rubbing the tears from her eyes as she straightened herself out. "If you want to be a vampire sucking the joy out of everyone around you I can't stop you, but I'm done trying to make friends with you."
Yang left without a word more, not wanting to listen to whatever mealymouthed excuse Weiss would have. When she slammed the door shut behind her the noise drowned out the rambling beginnings of Weiss' apology. Thus, Weiss was left alone in the room, still seated on her bed, her place in her book lost when she'd closed the cover in fear. It was the first time she'd really seen Yang's semblance up close, the girl hadn't quite needed it during the trip in the Emerald Forest and during their hand-to-hand training Ruby had expressly forbidden Yang from using it.
Weiss knew that being embarrassed didn't forgive her barb. She knew that she could be mean, a bit of a 'bitch' as Ruby very candidly put it. She liked being mean, getting a rise out of people. In part she justified it to herself because she genuinely believed she was better than them in some fundamental way. But punching below the belt… Weiss scowled. That's something Dad would have said. The mere thought made bile rise in her throat. She had to apologize now.
She was partway through dressing when Ruby exited the bathroom, the young woman toweling her hair off with such wild abandon that it made sense her hair was a perpetual mess. While her view was obscured Weiss took in the rare sight of Ruby in a crop top. The brunette was wearing black sweats with red piping down the right leg, the pants ending with a cuff midway up her calf. Slung as low as they were they exposed her hips, and the expanse-
Weiss looked away, quickly straightening her sun dress so the faint paisley pattern wasn't messy, and busily started braiding her hair, staring into the mirror that sat over their dresser as she worked swiftly. Unfortunately her attempts at courtesy are foiled when Ruby walks up behind her, making eye contact through the reflection.
"I heard you and Yang fighting." Ruby said, wearing a frown. Her upper body was obscured by a black sleeveless shirt that covered her arms, but ended somewhere above her navel. A new red tartan shawl (though really it was more of a large scarf) hung off her shoulders with the point in the front hanging a few inches below her shirt.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Weiss grumbled, focusing once more on her hair.
"Right because Yang flashes her semblance all the time in civil discussion." Ruby mused, motioning to a lightly scorched mark on the floor while tossing her towel into a clothes hamper in the corner of the room. "You know it'd break my heart if my sister and my partner couldn't get along." Ruby put a hand on Weiss' shoulder, the grip supportive. "One of my best friends isn't exactly the nicest person in the world either. But she and I are like family, and if I was willing to put up with her for so long I'm willing to try with you."
The heiress didn't risk meeting Ruby's eyes, instead letting her gaze drop to her lap. Confused emotion bubbled in her gut, the combination of embarrassment at what she'd said to Yang, the awareness of that if Ruby knew what she'd said she'd be just as pissed. Weiss swallowed thickly, realizing that this was the same shame Winter was able to instill in her.
"I'm meeting up with the others for breakfast, don't take too long." Ruby finally said, squeezing Weiss' shoulder. As she walked to the door and laced up her black sneakers Weiss kept her gaze studiously down. Somehow, it felt like that last day in Atlas all over again.
A truly under-appreciated struggle of the faunus, and there were many, was the fact that animal ears got way too hot in the sun. That was prime on Blake's list of injustices against her fellow kind as an otherwise bearable sun did its best to roast her poor ears. She was seriously starting to consider putting some white bows into rotation in order to mitigate some of the damn sunlight Vale seemed to enjoy so much. Menagerie was tropical of course, but at least there she could let her ears breathe.
As Blake fanned herself she trailed beside Weiss, who had surprised team RWBY by actually insisting they do something this weekend as opposed to complaining about training or shopping or whatnot. Things had been, to put it in Yang's terms, 'hella' awkward at breakfast to say the least. Weiss had been more or less silent, which was uncharacteristic, and Yang was very clearly pissed. Blake had considered asking, but left it to Ruby to sort it out. Raising a Schnee's spirits wasn't any of her business. They might be teammates, but thank god she wasn't partnered with her.
As the trio turned a corner, Ruby stopped in her tracks, going stiff as a board. The rest of the group slowed too in response though Blake couldn't exactly see why. There was nothing in their path, yet Ruby seemed quite… displeased. After a moment she turned and glared up towards one of the rooftops nearby. Following her gaze Blake could very nearly see a shadow disappear behind the edge of the roof, but with the bright light behind it there was no way to know for sure it wasn't just a trick of the light.
"Ruby?" Yang hazarded, looking just as confused as Blake felt.
"It's fine," Ruby's voice sounded tight as she stepped forward, visibly shivering as she stepped through the air in front of her. "Just a mirage."
Yang paused before falling back into step, turning slightly to share a look with Blake. The faunus shrugged, not knowing what to say. Ruby was a little weird sometimes.
If Weiss was being honest, she'd say she wasn't that big of a bookworm, but now she felt like she had to act the part.
She, and the rest of team RWBY, were currently in the largest bookstore in Vale. The Next Chapter had three levels connected by escalators, each floor lined with row upon row of stuffed bookcases. Each level was shaped like a donut, the hollow center blocked off with a glass railing creating a huge atrium in the middle. The light that streamed down from the windows mounted on the ceiling had to pass through four alder trees that for some inexplicable reason were suspended from said ceiling. Weiss couldn't help but feel it was a bit too out there, even for a trendy book store, but she was starting to understand why Vale was the kitsch capital of Remnant. Or was it camp? The Heiress' brows drew down in contemplation. Perhaps instead of using some platitude she should use Ruby's preferred verbiage and call it 'fucking stupid'. Trees on a ceiling are fucking stupid.
Why was she here again?
Realizing that she was just staring at a wall full of book spines without actually looking she shook herself out of her meandering thoughts and glanced sideways to see Ruby regarding her… Charitably. The black-haired woman was carrying a pair of books under her arm and holding a novelty mug set with her free hand. Said mugs seemed to be covered in different patterns of snowflakes. Very tacky. Very kitsch.
"Those look fucking stupid." Weiss automatically said, looking directly at the cups.
"I would say kitsch." Ruby countered, and Weiss had to bite her tongue to suppress a scream of pure frustration. "Besides these have your motif on them they're practically made for you." Grabbing the books she held them up, and Weiss could make out the name of an author whose work she'd rather liked in the past. "As for these, it took fifteen minutes of searching I found a handful books that could be described as 'a novelized operetta featuring wealthy women becoming substantially more rich and powerful'."Ruby handed the books over and Weiss quickly scanned the blurb on the inside sleeve as she kept talking. "I asked an Atlesian-looking cashier which ones were most popular with people your age and she chose these."
"Aurora Noel is one of the most prolific authors in Atlas." Weiss said with a sniff. "Her bibliography is to a library what Margret Atwood's is to a take-out receipt."
Ruby laughed, it sounded a bit confused. "Ah ha. Yeah. Margaret? More like Mar-gret better at writing."
Ruby sounded a bit pained by her pun, and Weiss was already leafing through the first few pages of one of the novels.
"For real though the fact I was able to say 'wealthy woman power fantasy' to the clerk and she pointed out an entire aisle to me really makes me feel like I have a deep understanding of what Atlas is like." Ruby mused.
"When you're expected to be silent most the time to maintain an air of restraint sometimes all the excitement you can get is an engrossing book." Weiss explained absentmindedly as she continued to scan the pages.
"I can't relate." Ruby said with a shrug.
"I don't know if you can read."
"Alright I'm putting the novelty mugs back." Ruby said with faux offense, walking away. Weiss didn't reply, just glancing up from the page to see her walk away with a bit of spring in her step. She wasn't ignoring Ruby on purpose per se, but somehow the lady had managed to grab a memorable book. The first was as Ruby said, a book for young heiresses who liked to read about princesses from long ago who lived much more adventurous — yet still quite proper — lives. The second was actually a children's book. While this may have been a joke at her expense, Weiss had vivid memories of reading this as a child with Willow. Beginning it, at least. Partway through her mother became… Unavailable. At that point Winter took over, as she often had. They finished the first book together, then the second, and by the third Weiss could, and was expected to, read them by herself.
Weiss looked up from the two books in her hands to the dry historical dramas that lined the shelves in front of her. She glanced from their dry, uniformly beige bindings to the myriad of stark and pastel in her hands. With a huff of disappointment she turned and walked away, trailing the same path that Ruby took. As she exited the aisle and looked down to the floors below she could see Ruby and Yang heckling Blake, who had been trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible in the 'adult' romance section. Blake was taking the ribbing fairly well, despite the fact she was crimson with embarrassment, her chosen novel hidden behind her back.
Weiss didn't feel apart from them necessarily, she didn't get lonely. But she did spend a moment just watching as the three other girls… Got along.
"Feeling left out, are we?" Weiss whirled around, surprised that someone had snuck up on her. She was greeted by the sight of a very tall woman. Towering over her was a woman wearing a short red dress that floated off her shoulders, her raven hair swept over her left shoulder. The cant of her body, the hand on her hip, the indulgent smirk on her face… Weiss would have paid to have the same off-putting confidence this stranger had.
"Of course not," Weiss denied, indignant, taking a step back, not nervous in the least.
The woman's smirk was predatory, enough so that the hairs on the back of Weiss' neck began to raise. With a careful sashay the woman passed Weiss and peered down to the lower floors where the rest of the team was. "So Ruby's family has found her. Interesting."
"How do you know my partner?" Weiss asked.
"Your partner?" The woman sounded almost surprised when she turned to regard Weiss once more. "How amusing. I do hope you can entertain her. She doesn't like waiting for people to catch up to her."
"Again, who exactly are you?" Weiss insisted.
"The one thing you'll never be little Schnee." The woman smirked once more. "Her equal."