Chapter 7- Return (Part 2)
The cab stopped in front of the magnificent manor in which Weiss' family called home. She brought out some lien and gave it to the driver. The driver nodded in thanks and drove off. Weiss was happy to return to her home after quite some time and she was also excited for her first board meeting. She knocked on the door and their doorman opened it.
"Ms. Schnee?" the doorman asked in surprise, "What are you doing here at a time like this?"
"Hello, Richard," Weiss greeted, "I'm here to see my father for a board meeting. You know where he is?"
"Mr. Schnee allowed you attend a board meeting?" Richard asked. Weiss simply nodded. "Well, that seems odd." Richard remarked.
"I know it is, Richard." Weiss said respectfully, "So, have you seen dad lately?"
"I think he went over to White Castle which is just next to the house." Richard replied. He then pointed over to the huge castle about a few blocks away from the manor, next to the concert grounds were Weiss would normally perform at. "All of the Schnee Dust Company board meetings are held there, but I'm sure you already know that."
"Of course I do, Richard." Weiss said, "Anyways, thanks."
Richard nodded and closed the door. Weiss walked towards the huge white castle that stood not so far from the Schnne Manor. The castle was a historical family monument in which Weiss was very familiar with. She had spent a lot of time in the interior of the castle when she was young, often going there to either spar, sing or just marvel at the interior design of the castle. Weiss always treated the castle so much like a second home and always tried to spend as much time in there as possible.
But, something happened in that castle that made Weiss so fearful of things inside there and forced her to stay away from the castle the older she got. Seeing that Weiss stopped spending time there has caused her father to turn the castle into the company's personal conference hall. Now, Weiss seemed to be glad that she's returning to the castle after a long time and glad as well for getting over her fears of what happened inside. All she just hoped was that she could enjoy her first board meeting.
...
It moved quietly behind the castle, making sure its footsteps don't attract any attention. It carefully observed the girl enter the castle.
"Target has been spotted."
"Well, don't just stand there," a voice coming from its communicator said, "Take her by surprise and just kill her. You cannot fail."
"I was programmed not to fail."
"Whatever. Just kill her now!"
It shut off its communicator and quietly entered the castle.
...
Weiss felt that something was up. She couldn't hear the sounds of any big business talk and the only sound she could hear was silence. She looked around the room of the castle. It was just a large empty hall; each side of the room was surrounded by various armors in different poses. A large round table rested in the end of the room where the board members would normally have their meetings at. She looked around the room, desperately trying to find out what was going on.
"Dad!" Weiss called.
There was no response. She bit her lip and tried again.
"DAD!" Weiss called again.
Again, her call was only met by silence. She thought that something was up. Maybe this was a trap or the board members were just running late. Whatever the reason, she needed to find it. She walked around the room, studying the armors that were just standing there. She then stopped at one of the armors. It was colored metallic grey, bringing Weiss back to a memory about this before.
The armor stood up in front of the heiress. It brought out a large broadsword and readied itself in a battle pose. Weiss felt shocked by these events but she quickly shook it off. The armor brought down it sword in one thundering strike but Weiss just dodged out of the way. She quickly drew out Myrtenaster and darted forward, striking the armor in its midsection before landing safely on the other side. The armor brought down its sword behind it but Weiss just dashed away. She landed a few fierce strikes at the armor before it swung its sword at her. She guarded it but the force of the strike dragged her across the room.
Weiss stopped the memory. It wasn't going to happen again and she knows it, but sometimes she couldn't shake off the feeling that one of them will return to life and try to kill her. She had no idea how it happened. The armor just suddenly came to life in front of her and that traumatized her a little bit. She won that fight, but she had doubts that there might be more than one of them. She took a step back and continued to walk around the hall.
Suddenly, she heard a footstep behind her, a metallic footstep. She was suddenly struck with fear. Did another suit of armor come to life again? Or was it just her imagination? She turned to see a large black figure behind her. The figure was about the same height as the suits of armor in the room. It held a shield which bore the White Fang's symbol and a large one-handed battle axe that was designed robotically. Weiss just stood in fear, unsure of what to do next.
"I didn't expect to see you here so soon." The figure said, its robotic voice echoing the room.
Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster and readied herself in a battle ready pose. "Who are you?" she asked angrily.
The figure came out of the darkness and stepped into the light and revealed itself to be a large suit of armor. It looked very similar to the same suit of armor that attacked her before in these very halls except it was designed robotically. The design was also similar to the droids that her father had ordered to protect their delivery trains and ships.
"Are you Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company?"
"Yeah! Again, who the hell are you?" Weiss said, her tone managing to stay the same.
"I am unit number 7929 of the DX series of Grimm Droids, but you can just call me Armor Droid." The armor answered.
"What the hell are you doing in my family castle?" Weiss asked again.
"I've been sent here by orders from the White Fang leader himself." The armor answered, "I was given instructions to kill you immediately."
"So, he was the one who sent the note. This was all a trap wasn't it?" Weiss said, sudden realization hitting her quickly.
"Affirmative," the armor said, "Using your father's reputation as the Schnee Dust Company owner, he was able to devise this brilliant plan in order to get you here and kill you."
"Why does the leader want me dead so badly?" Weiss asked, her tone still managing to stay hostile.
"You were the last thing he needs to eliminate before the White Fang completely collapses." The armor answered simply, "Taking your head would be a symbol for him that the White Fang is still undefeatable, even if they're on the verge on collapsing."
Weiss gave off a smug grin. "Then I'll just have to a stop to that." She said. Don't worry, Weiss, she thought, this will just be like that you had with the suit of armor. You can take it.
Weiss darted forward, the tip of her weapon aimed straight at the armor's front. In a surprise move, the armor parries her attack like it was nothing. Weiss was sent sailing from the force of the armor's strike, crashing into the large round table. She got up and dusted off her jacket, noticing that she had some slight bruises on her legs and on her arms.
"Don't even think about using those moves on me," The armor said, "I've personally studied your fight with the possessed armor and memorized all of your tactics against such fights."
Weiss glared angrily at the droid and readied Myrtenaster. She tried the same attack again, only this time, to sides of the armor. She lands a few strikes, but didn't do any damage to the armor's tough exterior. The armor swings his axe at her only to have it stopped midway by a glyph shield then shot at by a Dust fireball. The armor flinched and tried to attack her again but was caught off guard when Weiss casted a Dust glyph under the armor, launching it a few feet into the air. The armor saw through her next move and quickly counterattacked with a strike from its metallic foot, landing the blow on Weiss' cheek. Weiss was lucky that she was able to use her aura to guard the attack and save her form a killing blow, but she still took the hit, which sent her flying towards the wall and crashing into an immobile suit of armor.
Weiss coughed out some blood and looked at the armor droid. It stood ready to fight and was laughing at Weiss' injuries. Weiss stood up but she grunted and almost fell over.
"Give it up!" the armor told her, "Continue this and you die slowly or admit defeat so you can die quickly."
"Never!" Weiss spat.
The armor responded by rushing towards her and swings its axe at her. Weiss tumbled away and used her weapons Dust abilities to shoot another Dust fireball at the armor's back. The armor arched forward and placed its gaze back on Weiss. She took her time by setting her weapon's revolver to the blue Dust cylinder and shot a bolt of lightning at the droid. The lightning enveloped the armor's body and it began to shudder and twitch, the electricity making its way into its circuits. Weiss grinned having found the droid's weakness and she charged forward at it, her weapon set to the purple Dust cylinder. Before she could land the strike, the armor regained its composure and swung the side of its axe at Weiss, effectively sending her crashing into another empty suit of armor. Weiss felt her back crack on impact as well as a few bones.
She lay down on the clear marble floor and looked at herself. Her dress, jacket and combat skirt were all decorated with stains of blood, her blood. Blood was also dripping down from her lip and she saw several bruises were planted on her. The pain was increasing inside her, forcing her to grunt and exhaust out because of the pain. Before she could get up, the droid kicked her like a tin can, smashing her to the wall nearby. She was on her back on the marble floor, bleeding excessively from the wounds. The armor then rose up a foot and prepared to step on her. She quickly casted a Dust glyph to block the large metallic foot above her, but the droid continued to ferociously step on the glyph. Weiss saw the glyph cracking every time the droid began to step on it. Weiss was afraid, the glyph was about to break and, for once, she had no idea what to do. All she could do was wait for the glyph to break and crush her into a pulp. She let her shoulders relax and closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.
Then, she saw something around the darkness of her closed eyes. She saw someone she cared for deeply, someone she was proud to call her teammate and someone she felt that she couldn't live without. Weiss then realized what the future would look like if she died right now. The one she cared for will never know how she feels and she will continue to curse herself for giving up the day she died. She wouldn't want to see the one she cared for cry on her grave if this happened nor did she want to see her grieve about this. She just couldn't stand it and she didn't want to leave her.
Weiss opened her eyes and saw the glyph reaching the point of breaking. She already knew what needed to be done to save herself and keep the person she cared for deeply from slipping away from her. In an instant, she tumbled out of the trap just before the foot of the armor droid crashed through the glyph. Weiss stood up and drew Myrtenaster. She ignored the pain gnawing on her and just kept her ground that way she could defeat this thing. The armor looked at her in surprise and just readied itself.
"Refuse to give up, huh?" the armor said.
"If it forsakes the one I care for, then yes." Weiss responded.
The armor leaped into the air and slammed its sword at Weiss' position. Weiss dodged the attack and creates another Dust glyph. She then starts spinning the glyph around before throwing it like a discus at the armor droid. The droid guarded with its shield but was quickly cut into two as soon as the glyph sliced it. The armor looked at the remains of its destroyed shield and glared at the heiress, which she returned with a smirk. Weiss jumped, twirled around in the air and landed several strikes on the armor's head before landing safely on the ground behind the armor. Weiss then began bombarding the armor with Dust fireballs, something the armor couldn't guard anymore since its shield was destroyed. The armor swung its axe Weiss but instead of guarding it, she somersaulted back, grunting from the pain she could still feel. The armor swung more strikes at the heiress but she dodged them all, making the armor growl in anger. The armor activated two cannons mounted on its shoulders and began firing dozens of shots at Weiss, but she danced away from them, agitating the armor even more. Weiss ran towards the armor, still managing to dodge all of its shots before clinging to the armor using Myrtenaster. The armor tried to punch her off but she quickly leaps onto the armor's head, making the armor punch its own chest.
Weiss jabbed Myrtenaster into the armor's head and activated the blue lightning Dust concealed in her weapon. The armor started to spasm again with the lightning penetrating into its main circuits. The armor swung its own axe towards its neck and towards Weiss, but was foiled when the heiress simply hopped off the armor's head and the axe created a terribly large cut on the armor's neck. Weiss took a look at the wound; if enough power was thrown into the wound, the armor would explode. Weiss planned her strategy quickly and charged at the armor.
Weiss hoped onto the armor's head again and shoved her sword into its eye sockets, piercing its optics and blinding it in an instant. She froze the armor's head in place using her rapier's teal Dust ability. The armor swung its axe at the heiress, attempting what it failed to so awhile ago, but instead of cutting the heiress, it sliced off its frozen head. The armor was dead stopped, the half of it broken head began tumbling to the marble floor. It dropped its axe and crumpled to the ground, exploding in a fury of bolts and fire. Its orders to kill Weiss have ended in a failure and the White Fang would finally realize that the Schnee heiress would never look forward to dying.
Weiss smiled upon seeing the armor's destroyed body, she overcame her fear of that event and that just relived her completely. That person Weiss thought of before she was crushed to a pulp was the person that Weiss wanted to stay with and that motivation drove her to fighting and, eventually, destroying this monster. Suddenly, something sharp was felt in Weiss' chest. She remembered that her fight with the armor had brought back some old scars and bore new ones as well. She felt blood flowing out of her quickly and she was already on the verge of fainting. She needed to get out of the castle quickly before the blood loss could overtake her, otherwise she might die here. She found her way to the entrance and sunk to the floor, heart aching from the loss of blood. She suddenly remembered what Yang told her and pulled out her scroll, hoping that Yang was still in Beacon and not doing something stupid.
...
Ruby paced around the dorm, a nervous expression plainly exposed on her face. It's been two hours since Weiss left for Schnee Manor and she began to worry what happened to her partner. Yang and Blake looked a little less concerned, but they also had the same nervous expression on their face.
"I'm going to Schnee Manor to look for Weiss." Ruby said suddenly, picking up Crescent Rose from her bed.
"No can do, little sis," Yang said, grabbing hold of Ruby's arm, "Weiss is fine. There's nothing to worry about. She must be having some very important business to attend to after the meeting."
"But don't you think Weiss would've let us know?" Ruby protested.
As if on cue, Yang's scroll began ringing.
"Speak of the devil," Yang mumbled. She turned to the ringing scroll and picked it up. The moment Yang picked up the call; Weiss' voice filled the room.
"Yang!" Weiss said over the other line, her voice filled with fear.
"Weiss? What's going on?" Yang asked, concern lining her voice.
"I can't explain! You have to get me at White Castle, now!"
"Where's that?"
"Near the m-manor..." The other end then became dead stopped.
"Weiss?" Yang asked.
No response.
"Weiss?!" Yang yelled. She turned to Ruby, who was now face was now filled with both tears and concern. Blake also looked concerned on what was going on with Weiss. What on Earth happened? Yang thought.
Yang then ran outside and hopped onto Bumblebee, hoping to see if Weiss was still alive.
...
Weiss slowly opened her eyes and looked around. The last place she was in awhile ago was near the entrance of White Castle and now, she was resting on a bed in the infirmary in Beacon. She tried to remember what happened awhile ago, but couldn't. All she remembered was her fight with the Armor Droid and that was it, nothing else, but she started to wonder who brought her to Beacon.
"Oh, thank God! You're awake!" someone called out from behind.
Weiss lifted her head up and turned. She saw that teams RWBY and SMG were sitting and waiting for Weiss to wake up. Ruby then wrapped Weiss in a hug, something which Weiss couldn't return since her arms were bandaged. In fact, almost half of her body was bandaged, covering up all of the scars that the armor gave her.
"I feel like crap," Weiss mumbled, "What the hell happened?"
"I found you lying near death at the entrance of your castle." Yang said, her voice showing some concern, "What happened?"
"It was all a set-up." Weiss replied, "The White Fang sent in some droid to kill me, but I destroyed it first. Because of that, I now have new scars that need to be tended." Weiss then remembered something and looked at her bedside. There was an IV stand nearby, with a pouch of blood attached to it.
"Who gave me blood?" she asked.
"I did," Ruby said, a heart warming smile clearly planted on her face.
"Really?" Weiss asked. Ruby nodded and rolled up her sleeve, revealing that a band-aid was placed on her wrist.
Weiss smiled, the thought that her friends and teammates were actually looking out for her, something that she had never experienced before. For once, she was happy that these people were standing out for her.
"Thanks guys..." Weiss said, shedding a small tear. The others smiled and approached Weiss for a hug, but she stopped them. "Sorry, still bruised."
"You know, the nurses don't get back until evening," Stephen said, "Which one of you guys is gonna stay with her?"
They all traded glances but Ruby suddenly stepped forward.
"I'll do it." She said.
The others looked wide-eyed, especially Weiss, who was trying to hide her crimson face. But soon, everyone nodded.
"Okay, sis," Yang said, ruffling her sister's hair, "I'll see you later."
The others waved goodbye to Weiss and Ruby and then, left the infirmary. Weiss looked at Ruby, still trying to hide her blushing face. She never expected that Ruby would be the only one to stay with her, she expected her entire team or even SMG to stay but why did Ruby willingly insist to stay?
"Why, Ruby?" Weiss asked.
"Huh?"
"I mean, why'd you stay? Don't you have something to do?"
"Not really. But, you're my partner. I have to look out for you, you know."
"You know I can take care of myself."
Ruby smiled. "I know that, but you always seemed so lonely every time I look at you. So, I figured that, as a best friend, I should be sticking by your side."
Weiss smiled then held Ruby's hand with one of her hands that wasn't bandged. Ruby began to blush a little but Weiss pretended not to notice.
"Thank you, Ruby." Weiss said.
"No problem, Weiss." Ruby said softly.
Weiss smiled. It seems that her life was becoming happier every moment. She didn't care anymore about her past and just wants to spend the remainder of her years with her by her side. Thing were looking well also for Ruby, but what will come next will be something she might have to think about or not.
End of Chapter 7 (Part 2)
a/n: Sorry if this came very late. I have a ton of schoolwork to do and it might take awhile before I update this story again or JRSC (my other story) for that matter. Also, thanks for the helpful improvements Aquadrop, I'll try to improve a little bit on the action. And expect White Rose in this story. So, as always, reviews, follows, favs and other questions are appreciated.