Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with RWBY, that belongs to Rooster Teeth. This chapter also gets a warning, there are mentions to child abuse and sexuality shaming.
"The fight will go until either one side's aura is depleted or cedes. There is no time limit, there are no forced tapouts. Please, try not to do any permanent damage to your yearmates." Goodwitch snapped her crop and released the students to change for sparring. Eight o'clock., hand-to-hand sparring; a great way to end a monday. Ruby was practically vibrating as she sprinted into the locker room.
She and Yang were changed before most of the students had even entered the room. Since today was a purely hand-to-hand combat session none of the students were allowed to wear their full armor or dust weave clothes, the extra protection wasn't necessary; instead each of the first year teams were given shorts and tank tops, each team discernible by the color of their shorts. To keep the combat exercises a reasonable length, only three or four teams would be present in any given class. Team JNPR were given teal trunks, CRDL bright red, and RWBY black. Like cage fighters, most of the boys decided to go topless though Ren notably chose to keep his tank top. The girls, for obvious reasons, were not allowed to go completely topless; though Yang, Nora, and Blake wore only their sports bras.
"How is that fair?" Weiss sudden question brought Ruby back to the locker room. She glanced around, gaze settling over team CRDL. Cardin and his allies had outfitted themselves with steel shin guards and forearm plates. "Is Goodwitch seriously going to let them wear those?"
"She doesn't have a choice, they're within Beacon's regulations." All but Blake jumped at Tera's appearance behind them. "Only dust weave clothing, gauntlets, boots, and legitimate weapons are forbidden in hand-to-hand sparring. We're huntsmen after all, not every fight will be fair."
"But-" Weiss jerked away from the finger Tera raised to her lips.
"Shut up Icee, that's the first tip. Second, Blondie?" Yang raised an eyebrow at the face masked girl "Semblance are still allowed, encouraged even."
Tera was gone just as fast as she'd appeared. Ruby's head whipped around, when had team SLTE gotten here? After identifying them in the back corner, Ruby also had to ask why they were dressed so much differently than the other students. Instead of loose trunks and tank tops they wore cargo pants and, besides the shorter boy, fitted long sleeve shirts. The shorter boy forwent a top entirely, though a wide black ribbon covered the majority of his left bicep. The nameless girl also still had her armor on her arms, covering her entire left arm and the right from the elbow down. All four of them also wore opaque face masks. If Ruby was honest they were a bit unnerving. What were they that no one could be allowed to see their faces? Why had Tera given them tips?
She had no answers, they were complete unknowns. Ruby had barely even seen them in class. Team SLTE had shown up to half a dozen of Port's lectures and, since the third week had begun, sparring. They had hidden their skills and true weapons in the initiation, constantly hid their faces, and barely showed up to class. Truly interesting people. They scared her a little.
"Ay, princess, you know you can't fight in your uniform right?" Yang raised an eyebrow to the still not dressed Weiss. Ruby jumped again, she needed to focus for the fights. The heiress huffed and crossed her arms.
"I'm waiting for the crowd to thin, it's not like matters when we go back in anyway." The sisters both looked at her oddly but didn't pry. Yang chalked it up to the ice queen not wanting the "riff raff" see her change. Ruby just thought she was nervous, Weiss was always one of the last to change. Now that she thought about it, Ruby realized Weiss never changed with the class. She had shown up to the initiation fully dressed; she was the first one awake in their dorm every morning. Ruby couldn't even remember Weiss using the communal showers(which to Ruby's relief were separated by gender), she always used the small one in the dorm. The ever cloaked girl shrugged, so what if she didn't like to change around other people. Ruby had her cloak, Weiss had her aversion to public nudity.
True to her habit, Weiss waited until most of other students had left to wave her team away. They left her to change with no argument, Yang and Ruby had been ready to get back to the stage since they changed. By the time Weiss made it into the stands and found her team, Ruby was literally bouncing. Her partner's long sleeve shirt barely registered as odd to the excited girl. Over two weeks of schoolwork, boring papers and notes, a fight was just what she needed. She clasped her hands, a manic grin spreading across her face, as Goodwitch snapped her riding crop.
"As stated before, this is the first round for rankings. Each round will test individual skill, partner skill, and team skill. As such, all matches will be randomized using this," All eyes went to the back wall. A digital screen flared to life roughly halfway up the wall, eight blank boxes glowed in two columns. "Any combination is possible, from one on one to one on four."
Ruby and Yang grinned wider, Beacon knew how to stage a show. Murmurs spread through the gathered first years; even the masked team seemed excited, or at least apprehensive.
"Please, do not cause any permanent damage to your yearmates." With that the matchmaker hummed and spun the boxes, twelve faces and four question marks blurred by. Three boxes turned up blank, Blake's ribbon clad head appeared in the fourth. Blake Belladonna and an aura gauge filling in the empty space on her side. A single question mark appeared in the second column, Eurig Leone. The two combatants made their way to the stage, the edges lowing into a ramp to let them down.
"Your match begins in," Goodwitch pointed to the match maker. A green ten glowed between the aura gauges. Both raised one hand in front of their face and one in front of their abdomen as the clock neared zero.
Buzz. They charged; Eurig flipping as he neared, a kick chambered for Blake's torso. She was just a hair shorter than her opponent though, and easily slid under his outstretched foot. Turning, she responded with a backfist. Eurig blocked and lunged with a knee, both of his hands at his sides. The hidden cat faunus let the blow brush her abs before boosting above Eurig with a doppleganger, delivering a brutal axe kick on her way down. He staggered back.
"Nice shot." Blake could barely hear Eurig, the kick had knocked his face mask forward and misaligned the microphone. It had also revealed sandy hair and a pair of folded down ears. Both were hidden once he adjusted the mask. Blake was still perplexed by the reveal as the faunus stutter stepped and delivered a right cross to her cheek. A hook both snapped her head to the side and dropped her aura by a fourth. Eurig swung again, stumbling as his fist passed through a doppelganger and stumbling back as a heel dug into his abdomen. They circled each other.
Eurig boxed Blake's hidden ears, she knelt holding her head. Why hadn't she remembered a spare ribbon for the forest? In retaliation she swung for his head, knowing he would dodge, then launched herself to the left with a doppelganger. A second replacement ensured his back fist missed and she slammed the heel of her hand into the crook of his elbow. Just like his tap to her ears, the blow did very little to drop his aura but made his bicep seize up. They disengaged again, both glancing at the aura gauges. Fifty seven, forty; Eurig had the advantage. Blake raised her hands in a more defensive stance. There was a cream smear on the inside of her left hand.
She slowed her circling, taking another glance at the make up smeared on her hand wrap. Red and purple glared from the crook of his elbow. The lion tracked her gaze and quickly covered the joint, flexing to hide it. Blake raised her hands and resumed her circling, Eurig discreetly loosened the band on his upper arm. She lashed out, he batted her away. The band slipped over the track marks. Another clash of dodges and taps and they were back on opposite ends of the stage.
Blake squinted at the boy's bicep as they inched closer again. It looked like he had tried to remove a tattoo with sandpaper. Despite the heavy scarring, she could still make out three pale lines. She knew what he was and it pissed her off. The cat bolted forward with a hiss, vaulting over Eurig's almost lazy punch. Her fist was an inch from his back when it happened. The traitor's foot swept back and Blake was falling forward, a moment later and she was nearly embedded in the wall. She wasn't the only one with a semblance. The buzzer rang as her aura dropped to sixteen, anything below twenty resulted in a loss. Ruby was a bit confused when Eurig tried to help Blake up and she swatted his hand away, but said nothing as her teammate returned to the stands. Yang clapped her on the shoulder but also stayed silent. Blake kept glaring at the traitor.
Following Blake and, the newly named, Eurig's match were Cardin Winchester and Jaune Arc. Ruby tensed as the two took the stage, this wasn't going to end well.
"Come on Jaune!" she cheered as the countdown began. Pyrrha joined as she shouted again, "You can do it!"
It became very apparent that he could not in fact "do it" when the match actually began. Cardin charged straight for the smaller boy, displaying an alarming speed for someone his size. Like a fool, or someone unfamiliar with the concept of dodging, Jaune attempted to block the hook. Ruby winced as he was knocked off balance, grimacing when Cardin followed up with another hook. Jaune's aura dropped by a third, a testament to his opponent's strength. Cardin was up there with Yang and Nora in raw physicality, he had crushed a boarbatusk's skull in a single strike during the initiation.
Still, Jaune did not give up; instead he punched back. The larger boy again displayed his disturbing agility by dodging three of the five strikes, the other two dinged off his forearm guards. The leader of JNPR staggered back, his hands curled in front of him. Even with aura, smashing your hands into steel could easily fracture bones. In a slight act of mercy Cardin batted Jaune's hands to either side before driving his knee into the boy's solar plexus instead of crushing his hands. For a moment it seemed the ill conditioned boy would recover, maybe put up a little more of a fight, but an elbow between the shoulder blades thought otherwise.
Ruby's brow furrowed as she checked the aura gauge, twenty one to ninety eight. Jaune twitched as Cardin sauntered around him, coughing and struggling to even prop himself up. Cardin placed his heel on the back of his head. Jaune whined as the larger boy slowly added more pressure, suffocating him but not putting enough pressure in to shatter his aura. Ruby's knuckles went white against the raised ramp, Jaune's muffled screams echoed around the stage. Cardin smiled. Goodwitch did nothing as Jaune's torture continued.
Ruby's eyes flashed to the professor as the match bell rang, Jaune had stopped struggling. Why didn't she stop it sooner? Cardin too stared at the professor before finally retracting his foot. Ren and Pyrrha ran to Jaune, Nora joining a second later to take him to the infirmary. The room was silent as they left.
"Mr. Winchester we will be having words after class," Goodwitch cleared the match maker, obviously disturbed by the ginger brute's display. "On to our next match."
Ruby's smiling face was the first to appear, followed by Weiss. Who would they fight? Ruby hoped it was someone from CRDL. Weiss looked terrified, how was Cardin's way of fighting allowed?
An empty box rolled into the second column. Goodwitch raised her crop to get the students' attention.
"I forgot to mention, a blank box means you can choose your opponent." Ruby almost answered before Goodwitch closed her mouth.
"Cardin Winchester." Goodwitch shook her head.
"Mr. Winchester has already-" The professor glared as the boy cleared his throat.
"Nah, I want to fight them," Cardin motioned to the aura display, all were full save the sliver Jaune's attempted assault had stolen, "Jauney boy and two little girls, which can hurt more?"
Ruby rolled on impact with the stage, raising her hands in a defensive stance. She wanted revenge for Jaune but had no illusions that she could take Cardin in a straight punch up. It was good she was used to sparring Yang. Weiss was even more cautious, marching down the ramp and setting up behind Ruby. Without Myrtenaster, and her dust cartridges, her glyphs were rather limited.
The trio glanced at each other all through the countdown, lunging as one the second the count ended. Ruby blurred behind Cardin in a shower of petals as he crashed into a weak repulsion glyph, the partners struck. The caster shoved her hand forward, shifting the glyph and Cardin backward, the sprinter delivered a kick to the back of his head. The partners broke away on either side of Cardin, he glared at them. Keeping to the strategy, Weiss charged and raised a glyph at the last moment while Ruby bolted around to strike him. Another success. Cardin roared as they came forward for the third time, both Ruby and Weiss ended up in front of him. A purple splotch had on his cheek.
A quick glance at the match maker showed the duo were making progress, having dealt twenty five points of damage, but had not made it through unscathed. Though Cardin had yet to land a blow, Weiss aura had dropped to almost sixty. With no dust, casting glyphs was a significant drain on her. Likewise, Ruby had dropped to seventy from constantly bolting around the arena. They shared a glance, they needed a new trick.
"We have to hit him fast," Weiss caught the hint as Ruby ran towards their opponent without her semblance. A trail of acceleration glyphs glowed to life along the arena wall, rose petals littered the floor. The strike would have at least doubled the damage to Cardin, a drop kick to the head at that speed may have even taken him out of the match. Instead, Ruby's aura dropped by ten points. Cardin leered at her through his translucent shield, her purpling heels lashed out the second it dropped. With her semblance active, Ruby could dodge a shotgun at point blank; without it she was just a very fit, small, teenager. Cardin caught her foot and skipped her into the wall like a stone across a pond.
In his fervor to pay back the cloak clad girl, he lost track of her partner; an elbow to the gut reminded him. Weiss followed up with a front kick and palm strike to the sternum, Cardin's back met the raised ramp. A glancing blow and Weiss was knocked back, a hand trailing over the floor. A black glyph flared under the seething bully. His eyes widened, comically slow, as he realized just what he was standing in. Ruby roared and activated her semblance to beat down the trapped boy. Petals tracked her limbs as she bent and kicked and punched the nearly immobile boy. His aura dropped to forty within ten seconds. Ruby's dropped lower than that.
They however had the aura to spare, Weiss went to one knee. The glyph faltered and Cardin's fingers clenched around her hood, Ruby was brought to a choking stop. The glyph failed entirely as the bruiser spun her by the throat and tossed her towards Weiss. Both of their aura's dropped by ten points as they tumbled across the stage. Weiss was eliminated from the match. Ruby propped herself on her hands and knees, panting. Her head swiveled as she searched for Cardin, he had moved from across the arena. Fingers threaded through her hair and yanked back, of course he was behind her.
Aura kept her hair from snapping from the stress or tearing out of her scalp, which left her at Cardin's mercy. Merciful he was not, being forced into a wall by a little girl did not sit well with the bruiser. Ruby's aura plummeted as Cardin wrenched back her arm and slammed her face into the wall once. The match bell rang. On the second strike her aura flickered, her shoulder gave more than it should. On the third her aura failed and blood blossomed from her broken nose. On the fourth, Cardin let the bloody girl go limp. Before her horrified teammates could collect her however, the ginger bully buried his foot in her gut and skipped her across the ring. Ruby stayed still. Weiss hurried to her side. Heat pulsed from the middle of the stands.
"Winchester, in my off-" Goodwitch was cut off by Yang diving into the ring, fists raised and eyes crimson. "Xiao Long, off the stage." Neither of the students backed down. She opened her mouth to punish them both but paused. In all reality, the Winchester boy wouldn't care if he was yelled at or made to serve detention. Having the Xiao Long girl beat him down on the other hand...Goodwitch sighed and tossed a blue tablet to Cardin. His aura instantly replenished itself. "Combatants take your places."
Ten; Yang growled, Cardin smirked.
Nine. Flames licked their way down the brawler's arms.
Cardin lowered his hands as eight flashed on the screen.
Murmurs spread through the crowd and the clock hit seven.
Five. What's he doing?
Goodwitch scoffed as Cardin unclipped his hand wraps. Four.
At three the boy turned his back and took a step towards the edge of the ring.
At two he raised his hand.
"I concede." One.
Yang lunged only for something dark to tackle her, Cardin gave a lopsided smile and sauntered down from the stage. Goodwitch's threat towards the bully was drowned out of Yang's head by her own pulse. It hammered in her ears, crying for blood like a fire cried for fuel. Everything had a red tint as she struggled against the weight on her back. Dull echoes bounced around her ears. The weight jerked her around, dragging her face along the ground to Ruby. Sound returned with a howl, Yang stopped fighting. Ruby was slowly rising from the ground with Weiss' help. A glance at Goodwitch and the duo were making their way out of the room, no doubt to get Ruby's head checked in the infirmary. Blake helped her partner to her feet and set off after the other pair.
Silence ruled the room. Goodwitch seethed on the stage, her crop gripped in a white knuckled fist. Cardin smiled at the back of the room, content to weather Goodwitch's admonishment. Tera studied him under her mask, baring her teeth at the pride flowing off him. Carmine grabbed her shoulder before she could take a step, she settled back beside him. Goodwitch finally sighed and clicked off the match maker.
"Class dismissed. Winchester, in the office." Team SLTE were among the last to leave. Tera and Eurig both studied the thin streak of blood Ruby had smeared across the arena. Carmine eyed them, knowing their pasts and their gut reactions. They were reactions the squad could not afford, their employer was already displeased with them for their performance in a previous job. Repeatedly displeasing squads did not last long in their organization. Carmine planned to live at least a bit longer; as such he ushered the two, no doubt scowling, soldiers out of the room and towards the hub. Goodwitch's combat class was both their only mandatory class and the last class of the day, the early end gave them plenty of time to do some much needed organizing. Organizing and talking; while the Beacon students had their uses, there was no need for his squad to get attached to them.
"Yang!" her voice was hoarse from Cardin's second throw. Weiss flinched when Ruby turned to glare at her sister. So much blood. The congealing liquid covered her partner from her nose to her breasts, giving the top of her shirt a sickly sheen.
"It'll only take a minute, we need to get your head checked." Yang did not seem to be fazed by the blood, she just seemed annoyed. Ruby wouldn't budge though, she was rooted to her spot in the middle of the hall.
"It's been like half a year since-I'm fine," The petite girl pulled out her scroll as proof, "see? I'm already back to ten." All three of her teammates looked skeptical, rising from three to ten percent aura was not a great improvement. In fact it still meant her aura was practically useless, anything below twenty percent meant only the most basic boost to healing could be felt. Yang especially was not convinced.
"Just come on, you need an aura boost," Ruby ducked under her sister's grab, "Quit acting like a little kid. This is-"
"Just drop it Yang," Weiss stepped between the sisters, "if Ruby doesn't want to go, just let her stay." Despite her worry for the little scythe wielder, Weiss was tired of hearing them argue. It had almost been a fifteen minutes since class ended and they hadn't stopped. Plus, why not let Ruby do what she wanted and be happy? It was Weiss fault she was beaten so badly anyway; if she had been braver and resigned herself to fight Cardin alone, Ruby wouldn't have been bashed into a wall. Yang turned towards the heiress and opened her mouth but Blake's hand on her shoulder kept the words from coming out.
"How about we go get some snacks and just bring an aura boost to the dorm?" the faunus discreetly pushed her partner towards the end of the hall as she spoke. "I need something for these burns anyway." Yang folded her arms and sighed as Blake raised her blistered hands, she hadn't wanted to burn her partner. It was only right she go with her to the infirmary to explain how Blake was burned. The brawler wasn't happy about it, fixing Weiss and Ruby with a red eyed glare to make sure they knew too, but marched off with her partner. The white and red haired duo entered their dorm, Ruby was careful not to drip blood on anything.
"We need to get you cleaned up." Weiss ushered Ruby to sit on her bed while she wet a cloth in the dorm's bathroom. Obediently, she sat down and swiped at her nose every few seconds. It had really stopped bleeding but Ruby really didn't want to get blood on Weiss bed. The heiress, and her belongings, were always very clean; she wasn't going to mess that up. She wanted to please Weiss. Why?
She almost shook her head at the thought but thought better of it. All Ruby had to do was look at Weiss to answer herself. Even with her brow furrowed in worry and eyes shining with concern, the heiress was beautiful. Ruby smiled at her when she sat down.
The silence of the room was comforting to the duo as Weiss set her work, first scrubbing the blood from the back of Ruby's hand. It came off easily enough. The blood around her nose and mouth was a bit tougher, she was gentle but still almost ended up rubbing Ruby's lips raw.
Tsk, tsk; the heiress turned her head to wipe away the blood smeared on her cheek. Ruby winced as Weiss' thumb pressed into the bridge of her nose, the offending hand was jerked away.
"Sorry." Weiss touch was light as a feather.
"It's fine." Ruby grinned to reassure her. My nose gets broken and I'm trying to keep her spirits up. Ruby would have laughed if her ribs didn't ache every other breath. She raised her chin so her neck could be cleaned. Weiss even smiled when Ruby giggled at the cloth's tickling. She giggled again when Weiss gripped her side to wipe the blood from her chest, the partners smiled at each other. "All done?"
"Uh..yea-erm, yes." Weiss blushed as she realized just how close they were sitting; her hand still on Ruby's side and their legs touching. A Schnee does not- Weiss stood up. Maybe she didn't want to act like a Schnee. "Would you like to go to the library? We can work on the paper due next week," her voice faltered slightly, "or just...go for a walk?"
To her relief Ruby jumped up, nodding and clapping her hands. Then her eyes glazed over. It was only for a second but Weiss noticed, her partner stuttered in her clapping.
"I just need to change out of this." Her voice had an odd lilt to it and her hands shook as she motioned to the blood stained top. Weiss watched Ruby with some suspicion, the petite girl opened her drawer. Weiss turned around as her partner changed shirts; maybe it was just a side effect of her aura being low. That could have all kinds of odd effects on people, though Weiss was lucky to only suffer a bit of a headache. Her worry returned however as a silent minute passed, then another. Ruby still didn't make a sound.
"Ruby?" the girl was staring at the tank top she had just changed out of. A tiny thread of relief wove its way through Weiss as she noticed Ruby had actually put on another shirt. Weiss stepped closer as Ruby's face twisted in confusion. "Ruby?"
"Yea...just when did I change?" Weiss pressed her lips together. Was it a concussion? Worse? "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Ruby, changed a few minutes ago." Weiss began to reach towards her partner but stopped halfway. Ruby had started running her hands through her hair and mumbling to herself.
"I don't...I don't remember," Her eyes cleared and focused on Weiss. The heiress sighed just before Ruby raised a hand to her own neck, seemingly checking her pulse. "Oh no."
"What is it?" Ruby paled, Weiss reached towards her arm but stopped short.
"Yang!" Weiss opened her mouth to find out what was happening and snapped it shut. Ruby stumbled towards the bed, turned towards her partner, and her eyes rolled back in her head.
The cry of breaking glass echoed down the hall as Ruby convulsed on the bed, sliding off and checking her shoulder on one of the bed's legs in the process. In her panic Weiss dove to Ruby and tried to pry her jaw open, some half remembered fact convincing her that her partner might swallow her own tongue. She managed to force her mouth open a sliver before Yang ran into the room.
"Keep that up and you'll lose a finger." Weiss released her partner's jaw; partly from shock partly from Yang pushing her back. Yang cradled her sister's head in her lap and gently held her still, minimizing the bruises. A knot formed in the heiress' stomach as she glanced at the fresh, purple finger marks all along Ruby's jaw.
"This has happened before?" Blake asked, discreetly pushing Weiss further away from the sisters. She knew her partner well enough to be worried when she got calm. Yang raised her right hand in response, a thin scar stretched between her index and ring fingers. Ruby slowly stilled, Yang set her on Weiss bed once she was sure the episode was over. Ruby did not open her eyes and her breathing was a bit ragged, but she was otherwise alright. For a moment Yang paid particular attention to her sister's eyelids, tracking the movements of her eyes through them. They were still. The worst was over.
"Blake," the faunus nodded to her exhausted sounding partner, "I need a glass of water for her." Yang didn't look up from her sister to watch Blake leave. She brushed a few strands of red and black hair out of Ruby's face before turning to Weiss.
"What was that?" The heiress' voice was shaky but demanding. To anyone else she would have sounded desperate and concerned, to an already annoyed Yang she was just petulant.
"A seizure; you know, convulsions and jaws locking and all that you just saw," the blonde stood, "Most people can identify them easy enough. Did daddy not buy a good enough tutor?"
"You know what I meant." Yang was in Weiss face in an instant.
"This is what happens when Ruby takes a shot to the head, uses her semblance, and runs out of aura. This is why I wanted her to go get a aura boost." Weiss refused to meet Yang's mauve eyes but did not back away. The brawler's fingers cracked as she clenched and unclenched her fists, would knocking the Schnee on her ass help? Probably.
"I didn't know," Yang balked down at her, hitting was too nice. "I'm-"
"You're what, sorry?" Weiss took a step back, Yang pulled her back by the collar her of shirt, "Of course you didn't know, how would you? One week you're a complete asshole, the next you just up and become miss helpful. Now, you're all about having fun and shit like my sister is your date." Weiss fixed her gaze on the floor. Yang grabbed her chin and forced her to look in her eyes. Yang sneered down at her, "Is that it Ice Queen, do you want to be Ruby's girlfriend? Who am I kidding, how could you? You can't protect her. You don't know anything about her."
Blake returned with the water, freezing in the doorway at the stand off.
Yang's anger was expected, really the cat was surprised half the room wasn't on fire. Still, her partner's red eyes were unnerving. Weiss' withdrawal on the other hand was a real shock; the Schnee hadn't backed away from the living furnace, but had locked her gaze on her feet and locked her jaw. Looking closer, Blake could tell she was shaking the tiniest bit. Was it anger? Disgust at being berated by someone like Yang? Irritation at being wrong? Blake cleared her throat. All eyes went to her.
Fear. Fear was all she saw in the heiress red rimmed eyes. The sweet scent mixed with her perfume as Weiss bolted for the door, Blake let her pass. Yang glared at her partner but accepted the water without a word. Only after the pill had been coaxed down the unconscious girl's throat, and the remaining water placed on the desk above her, did Yang return her eyes to her partner.
"What was that?" Blake was all for knocking a Schnee down a peg, hell she'd done more than that. Whatever had been done to Weiss wasn't that. Blake had seen all kinds of people react all kinds of ways to being put in their place, none of them had been that scared. The fact she could smell the terror said it all, something was wrong.
"A rich bitch-" Yang's eyes narrowed when Blake shook her head. The faunus suppressed a shiver, it was like a demon was staring her down.
"She was terrified Yang," Blake sat on her bed, "to the point she ran the first chance she got." The brawler had the decency to look at least slightly ashamed. "Anything you said or did that could have set her off like that?"
"I don't know...uh, I asked if she wanted to date Ruby." the brawler shrugged and yawned, it had been a very long day. Blake sighed and buried her face in her hands, so the rumors were true. She smiled into her palms, the White Fang's quartermaster owed her fifty lien. Well he would have if she was still a member. "Does she have an issue with that kinda thing?"
Blake glanced up at her partner. The brawler just looked tired. All the fight had left her; eyes dark rimmed and lilac and full of concern for the girl she had been ready to pummel through the floor not four minutes before. Blake would never understand the oddly named sisters. "Is she alright?"
"I'll find her, we just need to...talk to her. Explain a few things maybe." Blake rose and made it to the doorway before a hoarse voice called from Weiss' bed.
"Find who?" Oh, aura boost worked fast. Why can't anything just be easy with these two?
"This isn't a place I would have thought to find you, Red or the kitten, but not you." Weiss crossed her ankles over the edge of the tower.
"How did you get up here?" She sighed as Tera sat beside her, full armor once again obscuring her form. She reminded Weiss more of the robots that bolstered Atlas' defenses than a person in all of her armor. The way her helmet distorted her voice only added to the comparison.
"How did you?" Weiss jumped as Tera's mask hissed, the gas mask seal releasing, and it soon joined the girls on the ledge. Twinkling blue eyes bored into Weiss. "Out with it Schnee, what's wrong?"
"Why do you think something's wrong?" Weiss was caught off guard by the girl's appearance. She was young, as young as the rest of them, but there was something off about her expression. It was too rigid; Tera was obviously concerned but she didn't seem to know how to show it. Was Weiss right to compare her to a robot?
"No one scales a tower like this when they feel great." the odd girl leaned back, raising her chin slightly. A tan scar glowered across her throat in stark contrast to her otherwise milky flesh. Androids didn't scar.
"I didn't...I didn't like seeing Cardin beat Ruby." Weiss crossed her ankles and hunched her shoulders slightly, as if she was trying to fold into herself. A Schnee does not lie. Well, what was a Schnee to do when the primarch's edicts contradicted each other? Weiss took a deep breath. Now was not the time to juggle her father's rules around in her head.
"It is a rare soldier who enjoys watching their comrades be beaten to a pulp." Tera ran her hands through her hair, loosening the meager binds. Weiss was momentarily surprised by the length of the girl's hair, it was as longer than Ruby's. An ember of anger seared her chest as the morning's fight blurred through her head.
"That's not...I didn't want to see Yang or Blake get hit either but, it was different." Tera looked at her out of the corners of her eyes. "And she had a-...I wanted to tear Cardin apart when he kicked her." Tera didn't know about that. Weiss wouldn't embarrass her by spreading around that she had a seizure, especially not if it could happen again. Why hadn't she just raised a glyph and stayed in the fight?
"I think Blondie did too." Weiss scowled at Tera. The surprisingly young and pretty girl just smiled. Weiss in turn tried to push her away, knock that prying grin into the night. Tera laughed, tipping back to keep from slipping into the open air. The soldier kept laughing too.
"Excuse me, what's so funny?" Weiss turned to glare at the helmetless Specialist, blue burning into blue. Tera just smiled back, rolling backward and popping up on her feet. "Well?"
Weiss stood, her hands curling into fists at her sides. Giggles nearly drove her to swing at Tera's pale jaw before she lunged forward. Weiss' eyes shot wide as Tera gripped both sides of her head and leaned close, placing her lips a mere inch from the heiress' own and placing the heiress on the very edge of the ledge.
"It's nothing, that was just the slowest," she leaned a hair closer, Weiss breath caught, "most roundabout way you could have admitted to fancying Red." Tera's giggles started up again as her captive turned bright red. With a twirl, Weiss was free and sinking to her knees; gulping down air to slow her hammering heart. Snap. Snap.
"I do not fancy, my team leader." The bands across her back crawled, sending shivers through her. Weiss stayed perfectly still, do not give him the satisfaction. Tera didn't bother turning around before countering.
"Aw, admit it. You might not be disappointed in what you find." Weiss nails dug into her shoulders, the tingling got worse. Her lungs struggled to take in air as she bent.
"What's the issue, why so-Weiss? Weiss, look at me." Snap. Snap. The belt's sides cracked together. Tera slipped her fingers around Weiss' wrists. Tear filled eyes snapped to her. Tera gently unwound her arms, she didn't let go of her wrists. Blood stained nails shone in the moonlight.
"I-I can't like my team leader. I like my team leader but I can't. Not like that." Tera ushered the girl against her, poorly comforting the Schnee heiress. She held onto her as the sobs started and rubbed her back as the tremors threatened to break her apart. She carried Weiss down the tower and decided to take her back to the hub. Tera knew what it was like to show up to a team of strangers in the middle of a breakdown, she didn't want Weiss to experience that. Although, she also realized most teammates wouldn't react like Carmine. She hoped he wouldn't react too badly to her bringing the girl in. After another moment of thought, Tera also decided that she would go with Weiss back to her team in the morning. She could have a word with Yang and make sure she knew about the collapse at least, maybe convince her to make a few offhand remarks in favor of so called "alternative lifestyles".
All through that process though, one little voice wouldn't leave her alone. One little whisper. Why do you care?
"Why don't you care?" Ruby's voice was shrill.
"I do, just-" Yang glared down at her little sister, struggling to find the words to dissuade her.
"Then let me find her," Ruby staggered forward, Yang's palm stopped her. The bruised student nearly fell to the ground, Weiss' bedpost was luckily at hand. "Let me through."
"You can barely stand. Your aura is barely at 30%." Blake stepped between the two, her scroll outstretched. "Rest. Yang will stay with you, I'll go look for her."
Blake didn't leave until both of the sisters were sitting on the lower beds. She nodded to Yang and took one last glance at Ruby before setting off down the hall. Ruby's dark eyelids had already begun to droop, Blake was willing to wager she would be asleep within the hour. The faunus had no real want to search for Weiss, why would she? All the Schnee had done at first was bitch at all of them, then she had suddenly started tutoring Ruby and attempted be at least friendly with everyone. Blake did not consider Weiss a friend just because she was a teammate either, fighting together and socializing were very different.
Still, Blake did consider Yang and Ruby friends. They hadn't so much as flinched at the fact that she was a faunus, unlike Weiss who had practically scowled at her until she put on the ribbon, and had not questioned why she hid her heritage. They were genuinely nice people and the cat had met precious few like them in her years with the White Fang. No matter her own thoughts on the Schnee, Ruby wouldn't agree to take it easy until her partner was found and Blake couldn't have one of her new friends running herself ragged. It just wasn't the friendly thing to do.
As she reached the end of the hall, ears twitching and nose crinkling, Blake couldn't help but think it was good Ruby had worked herself up so badly before she agreed to help. With her aura still so low, the scythe wielder would be out in an hour at most. Blake sniffed once more before taking the stairs up, the slightest hint of Weiss' perfume leading her out to the roof. May as well see which way Weiss had gone.
Blake was shocked when quiet sobs reached her ears, she scanned the roof. With her night vision she could see every inch of the rooftop clear as day, she turned her ears to listen more closely. The crying was faint, not because the distressed was trying to be discreet but because they were far away. Blake's gaze snapped up to the top of the tower, Weiss was visible near the edge. A twinge of sympathy ran through the cat as she studied to distant heiress; she hadn't bothered to change out of her sparring outfit and, even from the rooftop, Blake could see how badly she was shaking. Blake managed to almost reach the base of the tower before she noticed the second figure. A hiss started to rise in her throat, black armor encompassed her teammate like an animate shadow.
Blake made her way away from the door, and light, before continuing her observation. Weiss actually seemed to be clinging to the killer, Blake sniffed. Tera, Tera was the death trooper with Weiss. Why is she there? Blake had no idea. She watched in shock as the soldier attempted to comfort Weiss. Blake didn't like the situation. Why was a death trooper cradling her teammate? What did the killer expect in return for this? None of the answers presented themselves as the two on the tower seemed to gather themselves.
Blake's breath caught as Weiss stumbled along the edge, had Tera convinced her to jump? Her claws scraped along the base of the tower, she would have to get Weiss down before she did something they would all regret. The faunus was stopped a mere five feet off the ground by Tera ushering the unstable Schnee onto her back. What the hell is going on? Blake darted back into the shadows and readied herself to tail the duo. Weiss, still on Tera's back, passed through the dormitory door and Blake lunged forward to follow.
She was stopped by both the door closing and another black clad figure stepping in front of it. Even with the scent blocker, she knew it was Eurig. Crouched in the tower's shadow, Blake wished she had brought Gambol Shroud. A quick shot and swing kick and the death trooper would be out of her way. Gambol Shroud was stashed in her locker, safe from her plots.
"Come on out kitkat, I don't always bite." his visor zeroed in on her. Blake huffed and stood upright. "Toupe always has been a bit oblivious."
"What's she doing with my teammate?" Blake stayed out of the light, Eurig pawed at the top of his helmet. Is he nervous?
"My guess would be bringing her back to our hub for Esme to sort out, maybe you should keep the heiress on a tighter leash." Eurig took a step closer. "I'm sure she'll be brought back in the morning."
"And if we want her now?" The masked faunus laughed. Blake crossed her arms.
"At least pretend to be serious." Blake sighed at the soldier. "Nothing bad will happen to her. With Tera shepherding her around, the little Schnee'll be safer than her sister after the Sonarus incident." Blake narrowed her eyes. She could almost hear Eurig's eyes roll.
"How do you know about that?" Again the soldier took a step closer. Blake stayed put.
"I was part of the clean up crew, how about you?" Blake leant against the tower. "Come on, cat got your tongue?"
"No one on that crew ever came back." Eurig tilted his head up.
"Let's use our heads Belladonna; if none of the idiots sent to finish off Winter returned, and the SDC didn't skin us and leave them for you all to find, and I have a new job; what happened?" Blake narrowed her eyes in response. "All that matters is we both got out. Two former White Fang assassins slumming it at Beacon."
"Then stop asking, it's over." Blake pushed off the stonework. Eurig caught her arm as she tried to pass.
"It will never be over. Keep that in mind Blake, a lot of us envied you. Now that you've left, all of them are free to hate you," he leaned close, "I'm dead or brainwashed. You're just a Schnee guarding traitor." She let Eurig disappear into the shadows and across the rooftops. She braced her forearms against the door, calming herself, before slowly returning to the dorm.
Just as she had thought, Ruby was dead asleep in Weiss' bed. Yang was still sitting on her bed, watching Ruby's chest rise and fall. Blake didn't bother shutting the door.
"So?" for once Yang sounded completely serious.
"Mystery students have her, one of them tried to keep me from following." Blake glanced into the hall, JNPR's door stayed shut. Though after a second of thought, Blake realized they were all probably still in the infirmary with Jaune. No one else lived on their floor despite there being a third room. Yang stood, she had donned her combat jacket and gauntlets.
"Can you find her?" Blake smiled as her partner stepped into the hall, she flicked off the light and shut the door behind her.
"Weiss isn't wearing scent blocker like them." The black and yellow pair set off down the hall, inching their way closer to the source of the scent.
Carmine paced the long sealed hangar, spartan desks and cots lining the far wall. He drummed his fingers over the evidence tables as he passed, briefly glancing at the assorted files and spreads to make sure they were all closed to the girl sitting on his cot. He did not spare her, or his irritating subordinate, a glance as he passed by for the thirteenth time. Likewise, neither Tera nor Weiss attempted to speak to him. His dreadlocks swung when he suddenly stopped, just to the left of Tera. He took a deep breath.
Crash. He exhaled through his nose and turned to face the black and yellow forms in his doorway. Cold silver eyes met amber and lilac, Carmine swept his arm out before him.
"Seats are over here, sorry I wasn't expecting guests. I would have gotten more chairs." No one moved. Carmine drew the billhook from the plate across the small of his back. Belladonna tensed as he stepped a hair closer and buried the hooked blade in the table. The specialist noted Xiao Long's subtle nod, it was a steel table. He gave them a wide berth to join their distraught teammate. Carmine resumed his pacing, taking a deep breath as he marched right and expelling it as he marched left.
Eventually he stopped, once again just past Tera. Tension rolled off the cat, he made sure to grin at her. Xiao Long was, predictably, unfazed by the waiting or joyless smile painted across her host.
"It seems we all have something quite...personal to discuss." Tera made her first noise in half an hour, a long suffering sigh. Carmine's gaze shifted to her. It had been one hell of a day and the night wasn't looking much better.
Author's Note: Now we're getting somewhere! Alright, from this point forward the chapters should be between 5k and 7k(like this one). In accordance with that, I will also try to update this story once a week or week and a half at most. As always, reviews are always welcome. If you find any errors, have any questions, or just want to comment on how the story is progressing, please feel free to PM me or write a review. I would really like to hear from anybody reading this, especially if you think I'm doing something wrong; that way I can fix it early or (attmept) to assure you I have a plan for the issue.