Chapter 9: Concerned Citizens
Summer Schnee
I dream of a place where it snows red and orange, where a field lay before me with muddy earth churned up by charging horses and tugged chariots. I dream I'm not me, wearing not my armor, carrying two swords that are not mine. With not my eyes I see a figure dressed in plates of steel and bamboo, hair of rich crimson reaching in untamed frays from the top of its curled horns to sandaled feet. The figure's mask made from a white wood has been shaped into the bone plates of a nevermore and obscures any distinguishing traits.
The figure wields a sword-spear with a blade that looks like a lightning bolt frozen into steel. It's pointed down, a straight diagonal line from the hill of wreckage towards my hearts that is not mine.
"Friendships may begin in cursed places between cursed bloods. Histories and carnage often makes the mortar of high walls. Do you believe in high walls sweet huntress?" I hear her with my ears, the lady in my dreams, the one with tusks.
"No," I think and thought rings like sound in here, "It's not our legacy." The Schnee's took the largest stretch of uninterrupted fortifications in the world, our wall, the Roseland wall, and we turned it into a train rail. Mother said that was our legacy.
"Then run to her sweet huntress, run to her and grow comfortable in that bed of thorns they've made."
The memory-tasting dream plays, and I charge in not my body, swords raised.
"Of course all of Roseland mourns for the victims, families, and nation struck by this unwarranted terrorist attack," her mother's voice sounded faintly distant on VNN, detached in a way she practiced for camera, "My vice governor is currently leading an investigation hoping to find any signs of White Fang activity, but Roseland has always and will always be a prime example of an equitable society. Faunus will not be profiled or prioritized, and do to the trust formed by building such a just society we know our people's reaction will be unified. Roseland will never be host to terrorists."
VNN cut the recording of Weiss' public broadcast to focus on their own host, mornings own Sapphire Vertas. A tragically unpopular faunus anchor known for her unwillingness to editorialize or sensationalize the news. Mrs. Long's class was canceled, her aunt apparently answering an emergency hunter request out in the settlements giving Summer the rare opportunity to dive headlong into the reports on what was now known as the Autumn Plaza Massacre.
"Roseland's governor continued," Sapphire started on her own, "stressing her commitment to the current relationship with Vale and partnership between all kingdoms. Meanwhile all three women running for council were touched on their thoughts about the attack. Admiral Coco Adel suggested the need for expanding military intelligence networks and allowing the Department of Naval Intelligence's involvement in the investigation, Pyrite Valeswood commented that and I quote 'Faunus terrorism can not be tackled in a world where the government won't even acknowledge it for what it is,' she continued on to stress the blame on what she called a 'losing Police force'. Meanwhile Police chief Blake Belladonna had the shortest policy briefing stating only 'While the others play politics, I have an investigation to lead.' Her campaign office would later comment that she is temporarily off of the campaign trail to focus on the case."
"I should have been there too."
"You can't be blamed. I know you're very strong, but I don't believe the strongest swordswoman in the continent, even a teleporter, could have stopped the tower from collapsing," Vermillion noted, as she whittled away at her carving project..
Summer stayed back in their dorm room to wait for Azura. She hoped largely in vain to find her sibling and be any kind of emotional support. Not that Azura would ever take it. The young huntress was… solitary even when they weren't upset. Left Summer aware of just how abysmally inadequate she was was as a sister.
Why Vermillion join her instead of being off with friends or going to class now that they were skirting by the edge of late, was a bit of a mystery.
"That almost makes it worse," Summer admitted, "I'd rather make mistakes than be useless."
Vermillion paused her carving and caught Summer's eye. The faunus just stared at that weird dented oval of solid white wood, still quite a ways from being anything really. It wasn't odd to find her carving, nor her bed outlined in home made, wooden trinkets of varying shapes and sizes. Lots of little animals, a few painted hanging disks to let light pass through. Summer had even caught her carving something into her bunk. It was in some faunus script, so reading it was beyond her.
"We're going to be late for class." Vermillion started again, clearing a hefty chunk in one slice.
Summer groans, but her feet hit the floor.
They doesn't make it in time for the first hit, but Summer gets a perfect view of the final bout of the Arc-Nikos twin duel. From the outer seats of Professor Nikos' classroom and Beacon's micro-amphitheater. The stages white marble floors were already cracked from violent impacts, likely from Rouge' literal, semblance powered, steel fists.
"Summer, who do you think is gonna win, me and Hera are too bias," Antimony asked from the seat below Vermilion and herself. This strange girl with stranger eyes had managed to steal Odyssia's partner slot right from under Summer's nose. Not that she would replace a single member of her team now. "Hera says Rouge's stronger and Odyssia can't do damage, but I got faith in my home girl."
"He is stronger," Vermillion entered, "but…"
"He's arrogant and Odyssia's a through and through trickster. I've known them all my life, I'm with Odyssia, but it's still a toss up to be honest."
"I win Hera~" Antimony sings to her team leader, the rabbit faunus that Summer discovered in a short time has one rather mean streak.
"She's her best friend, what the hell do you think she's going to pick?"
Summer grinned, guilty as charged. She was about to call Dawn over to back her up, but Dawn was missing. So was Azura for that matter. Not even in the lower, crowded seats.
Biting her lip, Summer tried to rationalize it so she could smile again. Neither of them we're known for perfect attendance, and if Azura was taking some alone time that meant their cousin was likely watching over them. Right?
Her thoughts were broken up by one of the most painful thuds Summer had ever heard in this hall. Rouge kneed his sister with enough kinetic energy she was sent into the wall. The shimmering of blue and bronze energy around her body crackled and faded into nothing while her body slouched down, head tilted in defeat.
"Odyssia's good, but against a man who can turn his body into steel, idiot or not, you have no good options," Hera summarized as Rouge took a step toward his sister. Everyone could see the metal scales of his knee turn back into flesh , allowing him to regain movement in his joints.
"If it makes you feel better sister, without my semblance, this would probably be an even fight." Rouge practically danced the way to her, his own aura dropping. That's when Summer saw Odyssia's arm twitch.
A click and a bang. The metal thud of Odyssia's shotgun firing dust infused training slugs into thick hunter's armor. Rouge deflated, letting a single cough out of his lungs as he just dropped to the floor. Training slugs will take the wind out of a man, especially one dumb enough to drop his defenses.
"Well brother, I'm sure if we just stood here trading right hooks, that'd be very true," Odyssia's turn for theatrics as her aura snapped back at near full strength. She slide an arrow into the back of her shotgun and the weapon morphed into a spear, one she pointed at his neck. God the twins are ostentatious little shits . Summer rolled her eyes and tried not to gag.
"Bitch," he coughed out on his third try, he had so much trouble catching his breath Summer though he might start spitting up the rounds. Odyssia just mouthed 'I love you too'.
"Match called, Ms. Nikos wins," Professor Nikos clapped her hands and decided the match before it devolved into bad wrestling, something that made up at least 40% of their three way childhood friendship Summer recalled. "Mr. Arc, remember in dueling to always check your scroll before dropping your aura. If you had you would have seen your opponent was still well into the green." It was so strange to Summer to hear their mother call the twins mister and miss. Weird in general to be taught by the lady that use to bake Summer muffins when she'd come visit over school break.
"An excellent fight, both of you, I want to more volunteers. Maybe someone from RUST and SVLR?"
Shu jumped out of her seat, her hands quickly shuffling to even out her fraying mix of white and pink hair. She tossed a glance at Summer, and SVLR's leader sighed. Vermillion must have noticed the reluctance judging from the grin as she began to stand.
"I'm sorry Professor, but the headmaster needs to borrow Vermillion if you don't mind."
Summer's head shot back and right behind her dressed in her uniform, Dawn casually stood like she'd be there all morning, those long locks of black and gold might as well have been tickling Summer's nose. Her ability to sneak around was… disconcerting.
"Of course, another team then?" The professor called as the two other members of SVLR glanced at each other.
"Why?" Vermillion asked, her hands scrunching defensively on the hem of her skirt. This was unfair. First Mrs. Belladonna, now headmaster Arc. Summer wanted to scream, or at least hit something very breakable.
"If you think my mom was done with you, you definitely don't know the woman. Come on Vermillion." Dawn shakes her head with a grin like she thinks this is funny. Maybe she does. Vermillion doesn't, her shoulders drop, dignity sloughing off her
Vermillion starts walking, but this time, so does Summer.
Ruby Rose
"Not a word, no one has anything to say about Vermillion Taurus, or even about Adam. All my former White Fang contacts are just...tired." The holographic projection of Ilia's shoulders drooped with a weight old and long undesired. For years, she wanted to be done with it, they all did, but Ilia still had contacts, people in the large wild stretches of White Fang "controlled" territory. "But, as always I'm just as much a traitor in their eyes as Blake, I'm just a little lower profile."
"Thank you Ilia, I know that was difficult. Please give me a call sometime soon?" Blake asked. Ruby believe it was genuine, and hoped Ilia could see it in her pleading eyes. Blake missed having her old best friend in her life.
"The last thing you need for your campaign is hanging out with a former terrorist. When you've won maybe we can meet up?" Ilia laughs and gives a small grin, the same way she does when she talked about her happier days in Atlas, or about her parents. It's a mournful kind of joy. She doesn't believe Blake will find the time.
"Thank you Ilia," Jaune concludes as the hologram fades completely, leaving just Blake, Jaune, Ruby herself and the projection of her sister, still on assignment. Grimm attacks had increased since the bombing, Ruby planned to go on a hunt this weekend as well. "We've done our due diligence on this. I think we can leave Vermillion alone now."
Yang grunts as soon as he kicks his legs up victorious. Oh no.
"You're not seriously going to hand wave our concerns just like that are you?" Yang, despite being in a very private spat with Blake remains as defensive of her concerns as ever. It's cute, a good sign for this dumb argument was hopefully blowing over, but...not exactly the best for Ruby. She was backed into a corner with only Jaune's support, and he's definitely putting a foot in his mouth, with gusto for what that matter.
"It's not hand waving. I've hit up everyone I know with even the smallest connections. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get Emerald to say anything to me other than 'get fucked' turns out a lot more than a phone call," Jaune sighs, taking his feet down, resting his chin in his palms and scratching the blonde scruff with an enough force one might think he'd bleed, "No one has seen anything. Not Atlas or Vale intelligence, not Ilia, not Emerald, not Nora or Ren. The only one who has anything to say about why Vermillion is here, is Vermillion."
"No one's saying Vermillion is going to do something or planning something," Yang interrupts, tired of being strawmanned. "I don't put on my helmet when I go for a ride expecting to be hit by a car."
"What we're suggesting," Blake takes the baton, "Is not that radical. By all account she's a bright student that deserves to be here, but we should take some basic precautions. Let Vermillion switch with one of the other teams. Or at least let me bring it up to her, she's not even here yet and you want this decided."
"I think, what we're concerned with is singling out a teenage girl whose not done anything wrong," Ruby knows what side she's on, what side she's been on since she let Vermillion know she knew exactly who she was. That was enough, Ruby had to believe that. "At this point she's done nothing worse than you did Blake, and I couldn't think of a life without you in it."
"Forgive me sis, but I don't remember Ghira cutting your fucking arm off." Yang eyes shimmer with a soft sort of regret as soon as she says that. Ruby knew she didn't like shutting her sister down.
"The only reason Jaune wants this resolved immediately is because everyone here knows exactly how this conversation will go as soon as Weiss finds out the two of you we're keeping this from her." Ruby's stomach turns at Blake's suggestion, but it's not terribly inaccurate. She intended to tell Weiss, but how do you tell her 'the daughter of one of our arch-nemesis just so happens to be a teammate with our children. Bonus points, she faked her identity and no one knows a single thing about her'. Ruby would tell her, the blame for waiting would be put squarely and Ruby's feet alone. but...
"Why don't I just add her to this call Jaune," Yang added, her holographic projection pantomiming the motions of pulling her up on the scroll.
"Listen!" Jaune cut everything off with a thud as he dropped Ozpin's old cane onto the desk, the symbol of Beacon's headmaster. The one thing left of him in this world. "Qrow is dead, Ozpin is dead-dead, and if Oscar and Goodwitch want to scour the four corners of the Remnant instead of sit in this office then I can't really make them. Unless one of you want's the metal stick of authority, I'm stuck here and so long as I am Vermillion stays exactly where she is."
Making Jaune headmaster was….not ideal. No one liked it less than Jaune. Ruby had already begun the process of building her own academy in Mountain Glenn, one still under construction. Blake wanted to get onto the Vale Council before the One Vale party drifted the country into becoming just like Atlas. Weiss had to manage Roseland and the SDC. Ren and Nora prefered field work, Velvet was too close to Coco, and Pyrrha was… too sick. With Yang simply refusing to be a member of the Guardians, Headmaster was the job no member wanted. So it was the job he took.
"So much for the guardians being any different from Ozpin's secret club." The Heart of the issue and source of all this tension. Though Yang never forgave Raven, she inherited her distaste for secrecy and the maidens being subservient to one man. The Guardians were meant...to be democratic.
"Very different, because at any point any of you can take all my authority from me and I can piss off to some farm somewhere and grow turnips instead, but until that point within the limited handful full of square miles that make up Beacons grounds, I'm the final say."
Jaune doesn't nothing with his speech but infuriate Blake.
"I can't run your school for you while also trying to make a difference on the council. We're supposed to take in each others input, not pull rank and throw a tantrum," Blake spit the words back in his face and Ruby could see a cold expression on Jaune's. This fighting was just digging in heels and growing a fissure that expand a few millimeters everyday already.
"Then this must be very frustrating for you Blake," Jaune's dismissal was so full of malice Ruby nearly slapped him upside the head despite being on the same side. "However, between our vices, your paranoia and my idiocy, let me tell you stupids going to win everytime in this office."
And of course, being dismissed will never make Blake back down.
"Oh yeah, real self aware, like that makes your choices any less short sighted!"
Enough, Ruby had enough of this infighting. Gods it's like these people all forgot what they had been through together. Fought and died and saved the world together. Now they were a room full of inflated egos too use to hearing yes ma'am and yes sir.
"Can we please not act like this!" Ruby shouted, and when Ruby shouts everyone remembers exactly who lead them through all of it. "We're all tired, we're all stressed and knowing all of you, my wonderful friends, this attacks brought us back to the scariest moment of our lives. I know whether it's the urge to be overly proactive or just dig in, we can't act like we're each other's enemies. We can reach consensus, there is no need for shouting, posturing and chest beating. We're all friends here."
A silence follows her. Jaune knows he was being hot headed, too embarrassed to speak. He's well aware being the first wasn't his place after playing the headmaster card. Blake's arms are crossed and expression hard, but she's not looking at anyone. She's emotional, but she knows Ruby's right, she knows RWBY will never turn their backs on each other, and in the end that includes her.
"Ruby's right.," and Yang's got the courage to vocalize it, "This mocho-chest beating is just not a pretty look for any of us."
Jaune takes a deep breath, retracting his cane. His expression liquefies into frown, at himself, his position, the nature of all this. Ruby's not sure which, or if all of them apply. "I'm sorry Blake, I just want to do this righ-"
"Excuse me, Headmaster I brought Vermillion." Dawn, she's here.
With Vermillion, the student in mention walked in and everyone, this gaggle of "adults" all looked at her with a mix of concerns unmeasurably unfair, but not undeserved. Ruby knew she had it easiest. Adam had hurt Yang, badly, but they had never really met. Everyone else saw her, they saw Adams hair, his horns, his statue, his eyes. The poor thing was branded, but not alone.
Summer came as well.
"Thank you Dawn, you and Summer can go, we need to speak with Vermillion," Jaune again waved away the concerns. Dawn drifted outside, but not Summer. Summer stood.
"With do respect. I'm going to wait with my partner," Summer's eyes lock with Ruby's. What is she hoping to see? Me on her side? I am sweetheart. I always will be.
"I understand your discomfort, but this is partially for the sake Vermillion's privacy."
"Vermillion would you prefer I leave?" The faunus looks back at her partner, and back into the room. Defeat, its in her eyes, a lot of pain, Ruby is more sure than ever she's right.
"You would rather not hear this," Vermillion replies.
"That's not what I asked, I'll deal with whatever it is, would you rather I not be here?"
She's just like Weiss, so direct.
"I," Vermillion pauses, her crimson eyes bouncing from Summer to the floor and finally to Blake. Of course, Blake Belladonna does not balk, she meets those eyes, not mad, just firm. "Rather we just get this over with. My alibi was settled, is this about… lying on my admission slip. I… I don't really have a legal name, I don't come from a legally recognized country."
"Vermillion we have no interest in kicking you out. We've know for a long time Lance isn't your real last name," Jaune started with as gentle a voice as possible, His dismissive tone might actually help with how scared she is, "I don't work for Valen immigration, the Academy isn't even technically part of Vale, bright students like you will always have a place here so long as your deeds reflect good character a name is just what we call you."
"But we would all be lying if your name, and subsequent parentage isn't part of why we asked you here," Blake cut in. Yang was notably silent, unusually contemplative. In some ways, it had to be the hardest for her, to teach Adam's kid. "Vermillion we heard from students you mentioned preferring a Faunus majority team? Would you like it if we could arrange that for you, perhaps you and shu from Rust could swap? Her and Rozen are the only humans on the team."
"I said that a long time ago…" Vermillion fists were balled at her sides, standing at attention. Her knuckles were turning pale.
"Is it still the case?"
"I-"
"Wait!" Summer shouted, she had been shockingly patient before, ignoring comments about names. Losing her partner, though… What if they had asked Weiss to drop me? "What's this about Vermillion swapping teams? What does this have to do with names? I know you're talking in ways to keep me in the dark, what is this?"
"Sweetheart," Ruby tries this time, stepping over to both her and Vermillion, "Why don't you step out with me and I explain everything."
"No, SVLR is my team, my responsibility. If you're deciding it's fate, I can't be silent about it and ignore something fishy right in front of me. I'm sorry mom, but you, Auntie Blake, neither of you are even professors, what's going on?!" Summer's hand is shaking, her whole body is, but she's keeping eye contact, she's keeping focused. Ruby knew nothing in this world scared her worse than disappointing her parents, yet here… Jaune was right to make her the leader.
"It's because of my father," Vermillion offered, her shoulders slumping. "I'm the daughter of Adam Taurus, and they don't think you're safe with me."
"What?" Summer's mouth slacks open, ready to say something, something, but nothing, she just processes there silently.
"I'm not a danger, and I'd like to rescind my comment about preferring a faunus team, I just… don't have a lot of experience with humans. I'd rather stay...unless the rest of SVLR feels uncomfortable with my presence." Vermillion doesn't look back at Summer. Blake sighs and Yang's eyes shut in frustration. They really didn't want this to be forced… especially like this.
"I can talk to Dawn and the others Vermillion, if that would make you more comfortable?" Ruby offers, her hand reaching out to give the young faunus a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, let her know she's not hated. Summer brings it all to a stop however.
"This is unacceptable!" Everyone glances at Summer, her jaw is clenched so tight as she tries to catch her breath and find the words you'd think it might snap at the hinges. Her wide silver eyes glare at all of us dancing between the adults. Even Ruby, even if she's scared to. "I don't care who her dad is she's my partner. Unless she wants to leave, she's not leaving my team." Jaune shifts in his seat, but Summer never lets him get a word out, "I know you're all worried about me, but with all due respect, if Beacon is the type of school to punish my teammates for crimes they never commited, I'll be applying to Atlas Academy come the fall opening."
Damn.
"That's checkmate," Yang breaks a moment of stunned silence and calls it shrugging with a smile, "I think my part in this mess done. I'll see you both in class next week." Nothing more and the projection of yang vanishes from the office.
"Well," Jaune opens up, turning to Blake, "Anything else?"
"I tried. Who's telling Weiss?" Blake dusts off her jacket, trying to swipe off the stress more likely than actual dirt.
"I will, I know how to handle her." Ruby adds a wink earning an eye roll from a very red faced Summer. After that outburst she became a solid block of embarrassed, nerve wracked, and now a little mortified. "Don't be like that Summer, no one should treat their spouse like their dead just because you have kids!"
"Just stop," Summer finally spoke holding her face in her hands like it could shield her from any and all mental images. Blake approaches to leave, stopping at Summer. "I'm sorry Auntie," Summer mumbles. Blake shakes her head.
"Never apologize for having a good heart, even if it makes poor decisions, don't, not to anyone." Blake ruffles the snowy top of Summer's head before she passes and walks out the door, alerting Dawn on the other side. It doesn't take much for her to piece it together.
"You're staying on Vermillion?" She asks. Vermillion, who has not moved, spoken, or Ruby dare say even breathe, nods to assure her. Dawn shrugs. "Understood. Welcome back." She then gets close and whispers to Summer, Ruby barely making it out, she can only help Vermillion didn't. "Well boss, If Azura gets hurt it's on you now." And just like that, Dawn is gone.
She's angry, Ruby notes, too angry… Perhaps it was time to spend a day with her niece. Blake and Yang's fight might be-
"Everyone's free to go," Jaune politely notes, asking us to leave without asking. He has collapsed in his chair, head tilted back, ready for a nap. Fighting Blake will take it right out of you.
"So uh," Summer clears her throat, and shifts on and off the front and back of her feet. She's red, "Are you ready to go back to class Vermillion?"
Vermillion brings her eyes off the floor and to her Partner, finally free of the inquisition, for now at least within the halls of Beacon. She looked at Summer with a soft exhausted expression, a smile that struggled against the weakness of them muscles after all that stress just to show how happy she is. "Yes."
Ruby has seen that expression before, on all of them. She was sure, they'd be alright.
If not , Ruby supposed, It's not like Vermillion can survive me.
Summer Schnee
Trigger Warning: This section contains depictions of child abuse
It was last class, a early evening fieldtrip before they got to speak again. Professor Scarlatina's class they spent in the Emerald Forest collecting samples. Ten toxic specimens and ten edible ones. Bonus points for nutritional value and how applicable they could be in weapons.
A messy couple of hours in the dirt if you're not willing to pay off Hera. A girl with semblance control over plantlife is useful to have and as straight laced as she was, a few lien can be convincing. Was that an abuse of her fiscal advantage? Absolutely, but Summer considered looking after her team was more important than a little assignment. The scales would balance out in the end right?
There was Azura too, but Summer knew better than to get in the way of their fun when it came to the wilds. It was comfort enough to see them show up to class. Summer strolled up to the little trouble maker, ruffled that mess of black and blue hair and left it at a "You're late." Azura beamed at her, and it didn't seem fake. Nature, getting their hands dirty, finding shrubs or grimm, that made them excited. Better excited than hurt.
Dawn after all that headed out with Antimony and blew off Summer. She was mad, really mad, and it showed. This was how her cousin handled fury, she didn't really yell beyond the first bout, get upset, or call you names. She just blew you off like you don't matter. Like you're dust in your wind, like she predicted you were going to hurt her all along and she was ready. Summer hated that.
"I think I'm going to make everyone cookies." Snickerdoodles, Summer knew Dawn liked those the best, she was always so pumped when her mom would make them for her and Auntie Yang and Blake. "Do you need them to be sugar free?"
"No," Vermillion laughed, they were leaning on each other for support while sitting on top a rocky perch halfway up the Beacon cliffside. It gave them quite a view of the forest and the setting sun. "Only my grandparents are diabetic. Maybe my father, I wouldn't know." There was a pause as the wind blew a unseasonably cold gust passed them. "Wait, Don't we still have cookies from your mother?"
Another pause, another gust.
"No," the air grows stale as Vermillion waits for an explanation. "I'm a stress eater and there was a terror attack! I was going to buy more okay, don't look at me like that."
Vermillion wasn't looking at her. Just felt like it. Summer found you can look at people very intensely without looking at you at all and she could feel that gaze in the sound of Vermillions deep sigh.
"I look forward to your treats then, I might not be diabetic but you definitely will be."
So, unsurprisingly, focus was on Vermillion right now, which was both easier and harder for Summer. Vermillion was agreeable, maybe too much. She never shot Summer down, humiliated her, she was kind, if aloof. The flip side was, she was closed. Being there for her was like trying to pass through a maze, one that always left you right at the entrance.
She wasn't easy to talk to, just simple to talk at. I have to show her….I have to show her nothing's changed. I trust her, she can trust me.
"So, Vermillion Lance," Summer leaned in, let her muscles go slack, her eyes shut. Let her body show just how at ease she was with her partner. It was easy during such a beautiful dusk, with someone warm on a windy day. "Is Lance your mother's name, she where you get your world class charm and looks?" Too casual, too thick, roll back.
"No," Vermillion coughs, free hand scratching at her collar, "No, on both accounts, I made it up, but it's my name. It's real to me, even if it's silly, but-" Hearing that made Summer nostalgic, another time another place, another friend. Though she hoped they could be just as good a friend.
"No I understand. Sometimes the name you give yourself is a far more meaningful reflection."
"I had thought Schnee put a lot of stock into family names, I'm surprised you'd say that."
The reflective mirror cracked and just a bit of ugliness came out. Not undeserved and almost more irritating in its inevitability.
"Schnee's," Summer squeezed her fingers into air quotes, "are individuals of varied opinions. As for the name, I may not want to change mine, but a dear friend of mine did. It suits her better and contains a lot more of her own identity." This conversation didn't need to be about her though. Vermillion knew Summer, who she was didn't haunt Vermillion as much as Summer knowing who Vermillion was. "May I ask, why Lance?"
"It's a weapon popularized by humans durin-" Summer cut her off with a soft jab with her elbow and a chuckle.
"I know what a lance is dofus, I'm asking why Lance?" Summer turned her neck to give Vermillion a warm enough smile and encourage her more. Didn't really matter to her how close that put their faces. Vermillion blushed, making a little o with her mouth. Despite the walls, she was easy to embarrass.
"I like them," Summer hummed in surprise, and Vermillion seemed to catch it, "Not using them, they're absolutely not my way of fighting, but in the idea. The lance has one avenue of attack. To move forward, charge into the opposition. A lance is separate from a spear in its single mindedness. I want to move forward, always forward."
"Away from your father?"
"Yes," Summer took her hand hand as it rested on the edge, gripping the cliff. Some part of her wanted to squeeze it and let Vermillion know it was safe, another wanted to make she she wouldn't push off and drift, drift down into the valley of endless green, the wilds. "I met the first human I ever knew when I was eleven"
"My village," she continued, "is almost only my tribe, Bull faunus, some others, mostly older veterans from the war who followed my father home, but mostly faunus just like me. I knew you were the enemy before I knew what you even looked like.
"The first human, I saw her come into my village on a horse dragging a wagon of goods. She was a huntress and merchant, or smuggler, the first of many. I'd never seen anything like her before. She had skin darker than any of the villagers, her hair was long and simmering green and she would smile at us. The other kids and I flocked to her amazed at her lack of...ears, horns, a tail. Anything.
"She was a huntress she told me, studied at Haven and Beacon long ago, had scars and a unique pair of guns to prove it. She seemed to know the villagers, she was trading us dust and some guns to help against the grimm. She smuggled it past the Vale military with the help of the second and fattest human I had ever seen. The happiest too, the old man. He smiled so bright you'd think you might go blind.
"He on the other hand didn't just trade guns. He gave away little things, extra food, candy to all the kids. He was the first person to ever give me a doll." At eleven Summer had stuffed toys bursting out of chests, she had any toy she wanted, many she didn't. At eleven… "The doll was of a woman, a knight with a lance. A famous huntress, I thought her name was Pucelle, it was just an old Valen word for girl. It's what he called me. I thought he was calling me a hero.
"Adam saw that doll, me with it, him giving it to me and the children. When I was playing with it, trying to comb out he stringy orange clothe hair it had, it was so ugly Summer, you'd have laughed at me, while I was doing that, on the other side of our tent Adam drank.
"He drank and stole that doll right from my hands. He had his old sword, the symbol of the chief and split it in two right before me, the hero huntress, Pucelle, was dead. I cried so hard his anger only got worse. He told me he'd kill the man, kill him for perverting his child with gifts. I was so scared. I latched onto his leg trying to stop him, and he just… he kept kicking me, trying to get me off."
Vermillion's hand, the one outside of Summer's reach sparked with the faintest rush of yellow light. Bolts, almost invisible, jumped between fingers. Electrons. "I didn't notice I had unlocked my semblance until after he stopped. I didn't understand I was electrocuting him, but whatever it was it made him stop. I was eleven and I could make him stop. He groaned in pain, muscles locking up. I knew if I'd stop he'd keep kicking me, he'd kill that man.
"I don't know when I fell asleep from the strain, but when I woke up, the bruises screamed all over my body. I could barely walk, but I could hear something outside, at the dead of night. When I crawled outside my worst fears were realized. There was no hiding what my father did. He still had the bloody sword. When the huntress, the one who worked with the old man, had found him dead, she had gone into a rage. She fought brilliantly and humiliated Adam who seemed drunk, tired, barely seemed aware she was even there half the time, he howled seeing ghosts, striking wildy with his sword. Once the huntress knocked his sword away he came to his senses. None of the village was coming to save him. We all watched from our tents and houses. Even his most loyal, no one wanted him anymore.
"He left the sword behind, he ran from his crime. Stole a horse on the way and my village just let him glad he was gone. That huntress, she saw me, I must have been black and blue from head to toe, I was just holding half my doll, even with the guts split open. She looked at me, she must have been so tired, so sad, so much heartbreak, but she smirked at me and told me 'Don't worry, I'm a huntress, I catch the bad guys.' My father was running away, but she moved forward right at him. Right then and there, I wanted to be just like her, not like my father."
Vermillion turned, red eyes were a little pink, though she didn't let tears fall. The wind blew out her hair, wicked lengths of red. She was deadly pretty, and Summer found nothing of a terrorist in her, she saw a little girl with a doll who was going to be a hero one day.
"Why are you crying," Vermillion started to chuckle seeing Summer, now she was crying. Ugly crying. Stupid crying.
"Shut up okay! That story was really sad!" Summer had no recourse but to wipe all the snot, tears and running mascara on her uniform sleeve. God she must have looked disgusting and it would just not stop. It got so much worse when Vermillion started laughing, hard. "Why are you laughing, there is no way you're going to tell me that stories bullshit, I will throw you off this cliff!"
"No, I just, it's shocking how big an event you're making it. Always felt like, to me, a silly story."
"It's not to me," Summer whined, trying not to blow her nose all over herself, "I might sound dumb from me, but it's all so foreign. I don't understand any of it. I may be human, but I grew up surrounded my faunus who never made me feel different. I was born into opportunity, an heiress to a company and almost a country. My mothers never laid a hand on me, the worst thing that ever happened was Mother, uh Weiss, she might yell if I did something super bad, but god. I couldn't picture either of them, gods no."
"Adam is a bad man, you parents…" Vermillions swished a words in her mouth around, before finally settling "They absolutely love you."
"They do. I grew up with so little pain. I almost feel like I somehow stole happiness from you."
" You didn't." Summer didn't think Vermillion meant to put an asterisk on that, but she could feel it there.
"I know," Summer whispered, "but I'd still give some of it back if I could have."
This time Vermillion squeezed her hand.
"I'm sure you had your own childhood traumas."
"I didn't," Summer admitted, "I was raised with so much love, so much advantage. The only thing painful about it, is knowing…."
"What?"
That in the end, I won't be worthy of any of it.
Ruby Rose
"What are you toiling on now?" Weiss didn't look up from her scroll, didling away at her work, trying to keep things in order. They had grown accustomed to multitasking, doing things together while doing things seperate. Ruby as normal would lay on the couch with her, head resting in Weiss' lap as she fiddled with weapons designs or messaging potential professors for Mountain Glenn Academy. Today, she drew mock ups of gun barrels.
"Something small for Ren and Nora. Ren's always struggled with getting enough penetration with his weapon, and Blake's worried they'll be more of those mechs in the hands of the White Fang, I've got an idea," Ruby tilted her scroll up so Weiss could look, with a near psychic link, Weiss shifted just enough to see. "I've been studying drill bit designs and thought maybe if we used special projectiles rounds instead of dust, with enough rifling, spin and maybe a gutter on the rounds, the things could drill through the armor a little more directly. I'm hoping to get these small arms rounds might get through. I know steel cores a little archaic for you-"
"It's clever love," Weiss goes back to her work, but her right free hand drifts down to play with Ruby's mess of hair. It felt great to feel those digits dance against her scalp. "I worry though that if it's so simple why has no one done it, I can't help but think it's a little more complicated than that."
"Yep, and I bet even more so once I start testing the design, but you know me, when I hit the next problem I'll design right through that like said bullet." Ruby wasn't new to engineering, the first prototype was expected to fail.
"I know you will, you're an exceedingly brilliant idiot." Weiss punctuated with a quick kiss to the forehead, a reminder she far from serious, "That brain of yours will find a way."
"And yourself?" Ruby asked. She had a plan for today, but a plan required Weiss to be free of the worst distractions, but some were too important for her to whisk Weiss away for a few hours, as frustrating as that was.
"Intelligence reports about the White Fang in Roseland." Weiss ground her teeth, trying her best to hide the fraying annoyance apparent all over her. Tight shoulders, frizz popping up all over her normally perfectly sleek hair.
"Nothing?" Ruby wasn't sure which was worse.
"Nothing."
"Shouldn't you be proud, Roseland's terror free."
"I am, just scared," Weiss swiped through even more emails, her finger holding on the holographic screen, Ruby wasn't sure on what. "I'm worried we're just a leadless as when we were kids."
"We survived that if you remember," Ruby announced as she got up from Weiss' lap. Weiss needed to get away from this particular problem, Ruby needed to talk to her about another, though hopefully solved problem. So, it was time for a reprieve, a sweet distraction before more bad stuff. "So I've decided I'm going to make you dinner."
"Why?" Tonight as meticulously planned, Ruby was going to wine and dine her with the best, seduce her, enjoy a movie after, and then when they lay content, in bed, ruin the whole mood by telling her about Vermillion. Maxing out her exhaustion and contentment, creating a relaxed environment, all of these are basic Schnee handling techniques she had mastered over their years together.
"Because I absolutely am in love with every inch of your being and if I don't overly treat you from time to time I will literally die." Ruby added a lighthearted tinge to her overly dramatic call, wrapping her arms around Weiss from the side and snuggling into the pale beauty of her neck. God she smelled of such a pleasant perfume, scented with wildflower without being overbearing, Weiss was delicious.
Don't seduce yourself Ruby.
Weiss tilted her head away from the screen to deliver a sweet kiss on Ruby's cheek. "Did you break something? You can tell me if you broke something." Ruby dropped her face into the crook of her wife's neck unable to hold back the laughs. "Did you break your eye again?"
"No! One, I never broke my eye alright, I only needed to take it out and replace the artificial lense it after the flash bang went off and two, I can be physical with you and not break something."
"I know you can be physical, and you can be sickeningly sweet, but both at the same time, you broke something, and the more you hide it, the more bitchy I'm going to become about it." Weiss' tone shifted to to a cool calculated mother's, though her hand did come up to gently massage Ruby's jaw line.
"Can you let me do everything nice first? We can have a romantic dinner, be sweet on each other, it'll be way more fun. Just pretend you didn't notice my plot and we can all enjoy this way more before we get to the uncomfortable section."
"Wow, you really must have screwed up," Weiss whispered, dropping her hand to prepare herself mentally. Weiss had always had the devil's temper, but having kids, or more trying to be a good parent had taught her fantastic coping skills to control her anger. Ruby was quite proud
"I maintain that I am in the right in this situation, but circumstances led to waiting that was uncalled for. In the end I know you'll agree with me, however that does not excuse a lack of pro-action." Ruby sucked in one hell of a deep breath, stared up into Weiss' eyes and prepared her speech.
It never happened.
"Hello," A distorted voice came on from Weiss' scroll. Then Ruby's, than the TV. Each playing the same thing, audio with the faces of two Faunus and a video playing below it, recorded from some security camera, the two of them could see the old Khan age White Fang flag in the corner of the footage. "I am one of Vale's concerned citizens. To all of you listening, especially the authorities, i hope you act on what I'm about to show you."
A/N: So this chapter is a utter mess and wayyy tooo long, but more than that it took way too long to come out. It's be restructured so many times and while I never could find a right way to do this one, it needed to happen to sort of close out the Vermillion arch for now, (not that it won't come up again) This is all made worse with being down an editor, so if anyone would like to work on helping me clean Summer's Vale up let me know!
I reassure you no matter what happens I'm not dropping this fic or any of the fics I do alone, even if it feels like it. This last year or so has been one heck of a trip. I can't promise any set release schedule with Senior year being so packed, but I'll do what I can.
So I decided to do Lore bits for Summer's Vale in the A/N. The Guardians: After Qrow's passing and Ironwood's retirement, and with Glynda's searching with Oscar for Ozpin, the last of Ozpin's old cabal vanished from their positions of power. To replace them, Weiss and Jaune conceived of the Guardians. They would work in cells in each of the kingdoms and collect, maintain, and protect from misuse the last vestiges of magic in remnant as well as work for the good of all peoples, not just the four kingdoms. Without Salem, the heavy handed control was not needed. Each guardian cell could decide things by consensus, preventing the abuses of power found in Ozpin's cabal, though much authority remains effectively with the founding members: Weiss, Ruby, Blake, Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Winter. Notably, and perhaps most painfully. Yang refuses to join the Guardians officially until they changed their policy on keeping magic a secret and working from the shadows. Her choice would later convince others like Coco, and the Headmaster of Shade to follow in her protest.
Also Sorry to fans, the upload service was down so I was late on this site by a day. Thanks for reading!