Arc I; Meetings

Chapter 2

Xiao Long/Rose Household

Still, doesn't work! Ruby scolded, ripping off the page from her sketchbook, crumpling it and throwing it on the floor, where it joined a small army of similarly discarded ideas and frustratingly improbable designs.

She had been doing that for the better part of 4 hours now, after taking an afternoon nap and her sketchbook was wearing a bit thin by this point. Worst of all she wasn't anywhere near figuring out the design she needed.

Still, at least her day at school hadn't been as horrendous as she expected it to be. As usual Penny had been a great source of laughter and ideas and having Physics with Doctor Oobleck for the last class of the week was a blast…. Right up to the point the fire department got involved.

Lunch with Yang and her friends was nice, though having to console Yang on a D+ was something she could have done without. She did however notice that Mercury looked a bit more withdrawn than usual for some reason.

Ruby shook her head, banishing the distracting thoughts.

She glanced at the laptop next to her and saw that the program had only finished running about halfway through, meaning that she had a lot more time to kill before she could actually test out if Crescent Rose's latest upgrade was actually an upgrade or just unnecessary scrap.

With that checkup done, Ruby's silver eyes drifted toward the lower right edge of the screen, which proclaimed that it was only about an hour or so before Yang's fight was scheduled to start. The ring being only a block or so away from the girl's apartment was a plus, but even so, Ruby knew her sister loved to get ready beforehand, so she would be getting ready to leave about now.

Ruby quickly shut off the laptop's screen and swept the crumpled designs away as best she could as her trash bin was also overflowing.

I need to clean up, the brunette thought miserably. She hated cleaning, unless it was a weapon. Everything else just seemed tedious.

Ruby shook her head clear of the dread that she associated with cleaning and started putting together the usual things she always took to one of Yang's matches; a few icepacks in a sealed container, disinfectants for any cuts, cookies, for her own nerves, earplugs, several hundred Lien in case she had to bail Yang out of jail during the after party and two homemade flash bang grenades for said party.

Once the backpack was ready, Ruby walked toward the desk, where Crescent Rose was mounted and patted the rifle

"Goodbye, Sweetheart," she cooed.

With the preparations done, Ruby grabbed her red hoodie and started toward the door.

As she opened the door a crack though, she stopped as she saw Yang standing in front of the shelf in their living room, where they kept family pictures.

Puzzled, Ruby remained silent and watched.

Yang was already wearing her boxing clothes, yellow shorts and an orange tank top and her yellow gloves were in hand. Her hair wasn't tied down like most other girls Ruby has seen in Yang's gym, but she knew her sister well enough to know that any attempt to tie down her mane would be met with a lethal response.

Ruby watched as Yang picked up a picture from the shelf.

"Hey mom," Yang spoke and Ruby realized that it was probably the picture of their father's wedding. "Going to another fight," the brawler continued. "You are probably worrying, but please don't. You know me! I always win with a knock-out. After all… I'm a knock-out!"

Ruby actually had to suppress her laughter as she realized Yang made puns like that with everyone, even her mom.

It was funny… And very sad, once Ruby thought about it for a moment. After all, their mom's body was never found after she disappeared, shortly after Ruby's birth. As far as the girls knew her grave in their hometown of Patch was still empty.

Conversing with the picture probably meant more to Yang than anything in the world.

Respecting her sister's privacy Ruby gently moved backwards… And promptly slipped on an empty shell casing that was lying on the floor.

"AAAA!" Ruby yelped as she fell backward, her head hitting the floor of her room.

I sooooooo need to clean… the young girl thought miserably as she started to pick herself up.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Yang asked as she burst into the room, panic written on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," the younger sibling assured Yang and quickly jumped to her feet. "I'm fine Yang. Just slipped on a shell I was refitting." She lied. There was no need to tell her sister that she saw her talking to a picture of their mother.

"Don't scare me like that!" Yang scolded her, making Ruby duck her head. "I thought one of your crazy experiments blew up!" the blonde sighed.

"Sorry," Ruby muttered sheepishly. "I just got a bit excited and didn't see the blasted thing."

"It's okay Rubs," Yang sighed, smile returning to her face slowly. "Ready to come see me kick Cardin's ass all the way back to his house?"

"Yep!" Ruby nodded, glad that her sister was back to her boisterous self. "I even got the fireworks for the party." The teen informed Yang, patting her backpack.

"In that case," Yang said, heading toward the door. "Onward to victory!" he boxer cheered pumping her fist in the air.

"Aye, aye sis!" Ruby laughed and followed Yang, silently saying a prayer of her own at the assembled pictures as they passed them.

Schnee Manor, Training Room

Weiss pulled down her mask with her left hand, right one holding the foil she was going to wield during the practice.

"En garde!" the referee, in reality a servant versed in the sport, called out.

Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, the girl thought and observed her opponent.

The man standing against her was one of the top 5 fencers in Remnant and the reason she managed to get to the Remnant International Championship, even if she did lose it by a hair, much to her Father's charging.

"Pret!" the call rang through the room and Weiss brought her left foot* forward and bringing her foil in a proper defensive stance.

"Allez!"

Before the final sound of the command had time to die out, Weiss' opponent lunged forward , foil extended, aiming to take a point at the start. Not to be outdone, Weiss parried the hit, moving the tip of the foil from its course and off the side of her lame**. Defense attended to, Weiss moved her own foil. Scraping it against that of her opponent and angled it for a riposte, but a flicker of movement caught her eye and before she could react, her teacher's foil scored a point off her mask in a flawless disengage***.

"Touch! Arret!" the announcer called and Weiss scowl deepened under her mask. While true that Maestro Piter was one of, if not the greatest fencer of his generation, but the ease with which he scored reminded her bitterly of her defeat at the last tournament.

"Too predictable Miss Schnee," her instructor chastised. "Flawlessly executed, but still predictable and stiff for someone as nimble as you. Again!" he called, pulling down his mask and readying his weapon.

"Allez!"

The moment the second bout was underway, Weiss found herself on the defensive again, to the point she actually moved back two steps, before recovering and attempting an attack of her own, which was easily parried by her teacher, who responded with a riposte of his own which Weiss blocked, but just barely.

Not again! The white haired heiress promised herself and moved forward, angling her foil toward the Maestro's leg and managed to score, just as his response reached her.

"Touch! Arret!" the announcer stopped the fight. "2:1 in favor of Maestro Piter!"

"One for one exchanges I not a winning strategy Miss Schnee," he reprimanded in a tone that bitterly reminded Weiss of her Father's, making her blood boil.

The girl quickly shook the anger off though as she knew she had to keep a calm head if she hoped to score again. One thing she had learned after so many years was that as soon as she improved Piter stepped up his game to force her to improve.

"Allez!"

Weiss' suspicions were proved correct as the Maestro redoubled his efforts and pressed Weiss harder than before, making her retreat all the way back to the edge of the arena, before she was able to put up a proper defense, or even retaliate.

As soon as she did manage to get a hit in, Piter moved backwards, leaving his foil extended as an invitation for her to continue.

Cautiously, Weiss tapped the foil with her own, testing to see what her opponent would do, but to no avail, forcing her to move forward for an effective attack.

The game of cat and mouse continued all the way back to the center of the arena, where Weiss finally made a mistake by overextending, allowing Piter to once again catch her unaware with another disengage.

Not wanting to fall for the same trick twice, Weiss twisted her body out of the way of the tip foil's tip and managed to hit the Maestro's side, but promptly fell from her lack of balance.

"Arret! Score tied at two a piece!" he announced as Weiss picked herself up.

"Very good, if a bit clumsy," Piter complimented. "Using you natural agility is admirable. Very few of my students could have pulled off something like that. And even fewer would have actually scored."

The praise didn't quite register with Weiss as she picked herself up from her unceremonious fall.

"And how many would have not made a fool of themselves, Maestro?" she asked in a cold tone.

"Perhaps two of them at most," the older man admitted and removed his head protection. "What you attempted was commendable Miss Schnee. I fail to see the reason for your anger."

"You know very well that I can't do something like this in a regulation match Maestro," Weiss bit back, pulling off the protective helmet, allowing herself to be able to see more clearly. She wasn't angry at the man for the praise, but she was angry at herself for making such a stupid, amateurish mistake.

"Ah," the old man's brows furrowed, green eyes full of sympathy. "You loss in the last tournament is still bothering you I see."

"Of course it is!" the young heiress exploded. "It was a humiliating loss!"

"I hardly call 14 to 15 a humiliation Miss Schnee," Piter corrected. "You are after all not perfect."

"No… I'm not,…" Weiss muttered.

Not yet!

"And you might very well never be," the Maestro finished, much to Weiss' surprise. "You are after all, only human."

Tell that to my Father! Weiss scoffed mentally, but kept a smile on her face as she donned her mask again.

"Thank you Maestro," she lied, hoping her voice wouldn't betray her feelings.

"Very well," the Maestro sighed, oblivious to Weiss' thoughts. "Another bout then?"

Before Weiss could put her mask back in place though, a sunny voice cut through the room.

"Not tonight, I'm afraid, Maestro," Willow Schnee announced as she entered the room holding two dinner plates and utensils.

"Mother," Weiss spoke up dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you, it's 'mom'," Willow corrected her again and then turned toward Piter. "Pardon the interruption Maestro, but my husband decided that he was working late tonight and I hate eating alone. Mind if we cut this lesson short?"

Weiss had to actually resist the urge to groan. Trust her own mother to sabotage her training.

As the young girl searched for the right way to tell her mother to leave though, Maestro Piter took the decision out of her hands entirely.

"By all means," the old man invited with a smile. "It's rare for family to have time to enjoy a meal together in today's world. We shall pick up where we left off next time. Miss Schnee, Mrs. Schnee." the Maestro bowed and headed toward the door.

"Well?" Willow prompted with a smile completely oblivious to her daughter's misgivings about the situation. "Take that mask and gloves off and let's have something to eat."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"How do you like it?"

That was the first word either woman had spoken since they sat down on the bench to eat the two omelets Willow brought.

"It's fine Mother," Weiss answered slowly.

"'Mom'!" the brunette sighed. "Really, one would think that a smart girl like you could remember 3 letters."

While the young girl knew that her mother meant no malice with her words (Weiss honestly had a hard time imagining her Mother even knowing what malice was!) they still stung.

"I can remember them," she replied, choosing her words carefully, her coached smile returning unbidden to her features. "But I find them disrespectful."

"Hm," Willow smiled. "And your father says you two are nothing alike!"

At the mention of her Father, Weiss' grip tightened involuntarily, but fortunately her mother didn't notice it as she was too busy being herself.

"Though, thankfully you aren't as much of a copy as Winter is," Willow continued. "Remnant knows what I would have done with the three of you!"

"Mother," Weiss interrupted Willow's ramblings. "Why did you come here tonight?"

"I told you," the older woman smiled. "I hate dining alone, and I hate it even more when my daughter ignores me." she added waving a piece of omelet accusingly at Weiss.

"I,… I am not ignoring you Mother. I've been busy, is all." Weiss muttered more to herself than anyone else.

"And that is precisely what I mean," Willow sighed. "Between school, your training and your friends from school," Weiss tried not to flinch as her Mother mentioned her so called 'friends'. "You've barely come by to talk to me. At first I thought that perhaps a boy caught you eye,…"

"Mother!" Weiss shrieked and felt her face heating up.

"I'm just teasing, little snowflake!" Willow laughed at her daughter's expression. "But really, you should at least meet up with your friends outside school! Go to a club, let your hair down once in a while!"

"My hair is already down," Weiss observed exasperated.

"It's an expression dear," Willow patted her head. "You don't need to take everything so seriously. You're a young woman after all. You need to do things you want, once in a while.

Tell that to Father, Weiss thought bitterly, but smiled back and hugged her mother.

"Thank you for the advice, Mother."

"Oh in that case here's another bit of advice," Willow began and pulled away from Weiss. "Take a bath! You stink from all that fencing!"

"Mother!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

By the time Weiss was done with her bath, coupled with her late practice and meal with her mother, it was already nearing nine in the evening.

As Weiss dried her hair he thought a bit toward tomorrow.

Since it was Saturday it meant she had private business classes from nine till twelve, the lunch with her Father, (If he was free.) followed by a few more hours of private tutoring and two hours of fencing.

In other words, another, boring and predictable day, capped off with a few scarce hours of enjoyment.

"You need to do things you want once in a while…"

Her Mother's words rang in her head, jarring Weiss out of her melancholy.

What did she want to do? Or more accurately what could she do?

As those thoughts crossed her mind, the heiress felt a chill run down her back and glanced to see that the window of her room was still opened.

Her first story, large near the outer wall of the estate window.

And just then Weiss realized what she wanted.

Freedom, if only for one miserable night.

Her mind made-up Weiss quickly dried herself off from her bath and started rummaging through her closet.

After putting away all of her normal clothes Weiss settled on her attire for tonight; a white thigh-length dress, a white bolero jacket with red lining and a pair of high heeled white boots.

Once she was dressed, Weiss looked herself over in the mirror, scrutinizing her appearance. It was so unlike her usual attire, which she wore for the sake of appearances that it made her a little giddy.

The one thing she didn't like in her ensemble however was her hair, which didn't really match all that well in its natural state, so she quickly pulled it into a high ponytail on the right side of her face.

Not exactly letting my hair down, the girl thought with a smirk. But I believe I like the results.

Preparations complete, Weiss turned off the lights in her room and quietly made her way toward the window, grabbing her purse along the way.

As the white-haired heiress climbed onto the window however, she felt a sudden pang of dread go through her.

After all, what if she fell to the ground? Maybe break something if she slipped? Or perhaps…

No! Weiss chastised herself. I am a Schnee, a world class athlete and I, sure as Remnant, am not afraid of some measly four foot gap!

Her nerves calmed, Weiss jumped. First onto the outer wall and then climbed down into Vale.

Luna Gym Locker Rooms

Yang sat at the bench in the woman's locker room, waiting to be called into the ring.

She hated this part. The waiting. She wasn't good with waiting. Yang always did things as straightforward and as quickly as it was humanly possible.

Still, the need for theatrics didn't escape her. After all it wasn't every day that the local champ defended her crown against a supposed arch-rival.

Once she thought that Yang nearly burst out laughing at the idea. While it was true Cardin Winchester wasn't a bad boxer, to call him an 'arch-rival' was a great exaggeration.

After all a two to zero winning record proved that much and the fact that they were both favored brawling only piled on the advantage for Yang. After all, she could take a hell of a lot more punishment than Cardin ever could.

Sighing in content, Yang began to refit the wrappings on her hands when someone knocked on the door.

"Yang," her coach called. "Showtime."

At those words, Yang quickly fixed her wrappings and slipped on her boxing gloves, giving a few experimental jabs along the way, if only to make sure that they were on properly.

As she neared the ring, Yang's ears started to pick out the familiar sound of the crowd, eagerly waiting for the match to start. It always reminded her of a pressure cooker ready to blow its lid.

She had to be honest with herself that she found it to be an addicting sound.

Once she reached the doors leaving to the ring itself, the blonde stopped, listening to the announcer.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer spoke up. "Let's greet tonight's stars!"

The roar that answered him hit Yang like a physical force, taking a while before the announcer's voice was heard again over the cheers.

"First let's meet our challenger for the night," the man continued once the noise was at manageable levels. "Standing at 6'3" and a little over 180 pounds of pure muscle, I give you… Cardin Winchester!"

The crowd's roar this time was much more subdues and Yang heard several instances of booing throughout, which made her smile. After all this was her gym!

"And now," the announcer continued once Yang presumed, Carding had reached the ring. "Presenting the undefeated champ of our humble gym, Yang Xiao Long!"

At the words, Yang pushed the doors toward the ring open and was greeted with an unanimous roar of approval which she had expected.

Smirking, the blonde teen started walking toward the ring in a slow deliberate pace, reflecting more a model that was on the catwalk during a fashion show, than someone who would be throwing punches in a few seconds.

As she made her way through the crowd, Yang noticed Ruby front and center near her corner, bag in hand and an excited smile on her face.

Next to her sister was a girl with light red hair and turquoise eyes, that appeared to barely be able to stay in her sit, fidgeting constantly. Yang immediately recognized her as Nora Valkyrie, the daughter of their neighborhood's bakery. While not exactly a close friend, Nora's personality and fondness for things that exploded meant that she was a fixture of Ruby's very limited circle of friends.

The one thing that did dampen Yang's spirits was the fact that she didn't see Emerald or Mercury anywhere in crowd. While they did say they wouldn't make it, Yang had secretly hoped Em's mom would let them off the hook at least for tonight.

Once Yang climbed into the ring however, she started tuning everything out; her friends not being here, the roar of the crowd, even her sister's cheers. She had to focus if she was going to win this.

"Done prancing around Xiao Long?" Cardin asked smugly, but Yang only scoffed at the red-headed teen.

"If that was prancing, what do you call your boxing Winchester?" she retaliated, making Cardin' blue eyes narrow.

"Enough you two," the ref, scolded. "Come here!"

Yang obeyed the man and stepped toward the center of the ring, putting her mouthpiece as she did.

"Okay," the referee began. "I want a clean fight, both of you! Obey my commands at all times and most importantly, protect yourselves at all time. Now touch 'em up and good luck to both of you."

Yang raised her gloves for a greeting, which Cardin returned a bit too forcefully in her opinion, but that was just another advantage for her. After all, if Cardin fought angry, she was going to have an easier time dropping him.

Yang returned to her corner and moments later the bell for the first round rang through the now subdued crowd.

Not wasting any time, both boxers began to circle one another, waiting to see who would make the first move, each one of them trying to bait the other.

Yang kept her distance for the moment. With both her and Cardin preferring the up-close and personal style of boxing, she could allow herself to be a bit more relaxed and wait for him to move up first, giving her an advantage.

Which is why the first hit caught her unprepared!

Completely against his normal style, Cardin threw a jab at Yang's head, forcing both her hands up to block in which time Cardin followed with another jab, straight into Yang's side.

The second hit connected, slightly below Yang's ribs, sending a jolt through her left side.

Yang quickly moved forward, to retaliate, but only managed to graze Cardin as he moved backwards as she slung, followed by a cross on his end, making use of his superior reach. This time Yang was prepared for the hit and actually managed to move pass it, ignoring the pain and delivered a vicious hook into Cardin's unprotected right side.

The hit connected, sending the boy staggering away and allowing Yang a moment to catch her breath, realization slowly dawning on her.

Cardin had drastically switched up his game to the point of near unrecognizability, putting Yang in a very big disadvantage. All the training she had done for the match relied on Cardin and her having a similar fighting style and her managing to capitalize on her greater endurance and punching power, while keeping Cardin on the defensive.

With Cardin's jabs however, getting close meant she would eat at least one or two hits on the way in and judging by his stance, Cardin could easily move back, forcing her to either miss or simply deliver a glancing hit.

Cardin, having recovered from the last blow, came out swinging left, then followed up with a right jab into Yang's stomach, before moving out of range of her own right swing, which nearly send her spinning.

Once she recovered however, she found herself facing a rapid succession of right and left hits, until she was in the corner and the bell rang, signaling the end of the first round.

As soon as the referee ushered both fighters into their respective corners, Yang heard her coach calling out to her.

"What in Remnant's name is going on in there Yang?"

"He's switched up his game, Miles," Yang gasped as she removed her mouthpiece. "Endurance or not, those jabs are gonna do me in sooner or later."

"Son of a Faunus!" Miles cursed.

"You know how I feel about that saying Miles," Yang reprimanded as she put in her mouthpiece back.

"Just make sure you end this quickly!" he shot back. Yang was also sure she heard something about 'insufferable' and 'life-shortening' attached to her name, but couldn't be sure.

As soon as the bell rang, Yang again found herself being the subject of Cardin's cheap jabs since he was obviously not going to be playing around anymore. This time, prepared, Yang managed to duck under most of the fast hits, but a few connected, mainly along the stomach and one to her chin, while she only scored two glancing hits onto Cardin's raised arms.

As much as the blonde hated to admit it, her opponent had thought this through for the most part. While it was impossible to escape without taking a hit in this sport, this tactic did minimize that number.

Pretty soon the round turned completely one-sided again, as Cardin's more distanced hits drove the Yang back into the corner, where she couldn't dodge them as effectively.

Just as Yang was ready to resign this round to Cardin, he made a mistake.

While he could have continued to dance around her throughout the round, he moved closer, years of training, obviously overruling a few weeks' worth of preparation, forcing him to come closer for a more powerful blow.

Capitalizing on that, Yang immediately punched him in the stomach, slowing him down and lowering his hands just enough to allow her to throw a left hook to his temple, sending him reeling backwards, disoriented, but the bell rang before she could follow up.

As soon as she reached her corner, Yang dropped on to the stool panting. While she made taking a beating look easy, it was far from it. Her stomach hurt, her arms were getting heavy, she was almost sure that last jab to the face broke her nose and her left eye felt a bit swollen.

"What's wrong with you?" Miles shouted in her ear, so to be heard over the roar of the crowd. "This guy is tenderizing you like a steak!"

"Oh, you know I don't actually need that mu…"

"No puns!" Miles stopped her and gave her some water.

"Fine," she conceded as she spat. "I think I've got an idea. That last bout he made a mistake and I think I can make him repeat it."

"Saw that one too," her coach nodded. "And if you're planning to do what I think you are, I'm going to kill you!"

"Better you than dad," Yang replied and got up for Round 3.

The bell rang again and this time Yang wasted no time, backing into the corner baiting Carding to follow her, landing blow after blow, with the blonde occasionally, answering with her own lumbering swings. While one of her rights connected in Cardin's ribs, she knew she couldn't keep this up and that she needed to force the red-head would blunder again, into her range.

Their little dance continued for the better part of a minute, when after a particularly nasty jab to Yang's nose (Definitely broken this time!), Cardin finally closed the distance between them. Not waiting for his next body shot to connect, she delivered a left hook into Cardin's unprotected right temple, nearly flooring him. She followed that up with a right uppercut, directly into Cardin's jaw.

That obviously proved too much for the teen as he stumbled backwards and fell on his back.

Panting from the latest beating she took, Yang waited for the ref to count down to ten, taking the time to catch her own breath as that last swing nearly sent her down right alongside Cardin.

A brief flash of worry hit her as Cardin started to move when the ref reached '6', since she really doubted she could pull the same stunt again with the beating she took.

Her fears proved for naught though as Cardin had barely begun to get up when the ref shouted the final number.

"Ten! You're out!" he proclaimed.

"And winner and still, undefeated champ of the ring… Yang Xiao Long!"

While she would have absolutely loved to revel in the screams and cheers of the crowd, Yang stumbled back to her corner where she saw Miles looking like he might throw a fit and Ruby holding an empty bag in one hand and an icepack in the other.

"Xiao Long," Miles began to scream. "That was the single most reckless and stupid move I've seen in all my…"

"Hold this to your eye!" Ruby quickly moved pass Yang's coach and pressed the pack to her face.

"Thank Ru…" Yang smiled, but was cut off by her sister.

"Do you know that this was the most nerve-wrecking match of yours I've seen thus far?" Ruby asked waving her hands exasperatedly into the air. "I ran out of cookies for my nerves at round 2! I thought you were going to get yourself killed!"

"Nah!" Yang waved off her sister's concerns, but never the less pressed the soothing icepack to her eyes. "Winchester never stood a chance once I got my hooks into him!" she joked, miming a hook with her left hand.

"At least there's no brain damage," Ruby sighed at the pun.

"How can you tell?" Miles grumbled.

"Oh, lighten up coach!" Yang laughed. "It's time we go and party!"

"Just let me get my first aid kit," Miles relented. "Unless you want to go partying with a broken nose and split lip?"

"Fine, fine!" Yang sighed in resignation. "But after that we are going to the "Nevermore" and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Ruby's face fell at the announcement and Yang knew her sister would have much rather the blonde get back home and stay in bed, but Yang simply had too much adrenaline in her to ignore it. Even though she took a beating, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep.

"Look, we'll go see Ren tomorrow, have him look me over," Yang promised. "Deal?"

"Deal,"