World/Universe: Remnant. Character POV Weiss
Ugh, Weiss thought to herself as she collapsed onto her bed.
It was only the fifth day of classes, and she was already mentally exhausted. Of course, Weiss loved school, but at times it could be … difficult. Granted, she always applied herself to the maximum and always ended up with good grades in all of her subjects, but that didn't mean she loved all the classes she was taking. And after three years at the same academy, things started to get a little old. Of course, hanging out with her friends, meeting new people, training, and getting stronger were things that she never got tired of, but going to class every day and having to work and study almost every waking moment had taken its toll over the past few years.
Sitting up, Weiss lightly slapped her cheeks. Don't be so negative, Weiss. After all, today's the day!
Following their decision to train with Weiss' father just a few days ago, Weiss had called up her dad, who had agreed to train the four girls. They were planing on meeting up today (Friday) evening, and conducting their training over the coming weekend. In fact, she and her team were set to leave any second now, but as usual, the others were running late.
Weiss eyed the clock. Dammit, where are they? she thought to herself.
Just a few seconds later, she heard a knock on her door. She swiftly rose and answered it, but to her displeasure it wasn't Blake, Yang or Ruby; rather, it was Jaune Arc and his team, JNPR.
"Hey Weiss!" Jaune exclaimed.
Weiss sighed inwardly. Her relationship with Jaune was … well .. complicated. Last year, Jaune had asked Weiss out multiple times, and while Jaune was a good kid, Weiss just didn't feel the same way about him. Not to mention, Jaune was completely oblivious to his own teammate, Pyhrra, and her feelings for Jaune. She clearly likedJaune, and was a great girl in her own right - pretty, strong, popular, etc.
And besides that, wherever Jaune went, his teammate Nora went with him. Nora also wasn't a bad person or anything, but God did she piss Weiss off sometimes. Somehow, Nora managed to be more hyperactive than even Ruby, and was at least 5 times as weird. She was strong, yes, and a great huntress in her own right, but could be downright annoying at times.
"We were just wondering, do you guys wanna train with us today? We're preparing for the tournament and were looking for some extra sparring partners …" said Jaune.
Pyrrha nodded. "I think it would be good for both of our teams if we could train together," she said. "I - "
"Yea, I'm kinda getting tired of smashing the same people over and over; it would be a good change of pace if I could smash some of your teammates instead," said Nora.
Nora's teammate, Ren, let out rolled his eyes at Nora's remark. "Nora, you can't just say things like that right to people's face. Be a little more tactful."
Nora pouted. "Well, sorrrrry!" she said. "You of all people should know that I wasn't serious, it's not like I actually wanna hurt them or anything."
Ren rolled his eyes once more, and the two looked away from each other. I swear, I will never understand that girl, Weiss thought to herself.
"Sorry to disappoint you guys, but -"
Weiss' reply to Jaune was abruptly cut off as a blur of black and red slammed into her knocking the wind out of her. Dammit Ruby, she thought to herself, not needing to look up to know who had knocked her down. Can't you be a little more careful!
"Oh, hey Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed, getting up as if nothing had happened. "Say, we were just about to go to a training session with Weiss' father. Apparently he has state of the art equipment and training facilities! On top of that he's also supposed to be super strong. Wanna tag along?"
Weiss scowled. As much as she liked Jaune and his team, she wanted this to be an RWBY only thing. Her father wouldn't be happy if she brought along extra people. The last time she had done something without permission things had not ended well ...
To her relief, however, Jaune rejected the offer:
"Ah, I see," he said. "It looks like you guys already have plans, then. Training with Weiss' father sounds awesome, but I think we'll just train amongst ourselves for today. I'd rather not infringe upon Weiss' and her father's generosity."
Ruby pouted, and Weiss let out a sigh of relief as Jaune and his team walked away. I gotta say, Jaune has really matured since he first arrived at beacon. It's hard to believe he was once that cowardly boy who couldn't even stand up to Cardin ... he's definitely gotten a lot stronger. And taller, better looking, more muscular … Weiss trailed off. Wait, what the hell am I thinking! she thought, mentally slapping herself. Now was not the time to be thinking about boys, much less Jaune.
"Ruby, where are Yang and Blake?" she asked.
"Right here," came Blake's voice from down the hall. Finally, Weiss thought to herself, as the two girls strolled up to where Ruby and Weiss were standing.
"Okay then, everyone ready to go?" Weiss asked. The other three girls nodded the heads in unison, and the quartet strode down the hallway, excited for the weekend to come.
"Whoooaaaaa!" exclaimed Ruby. "This is amazing! That building is huuuuuuge!"
They had just arrived at the Schnee Dust Company headquarters, which was just a 20 minute Bullhead ride from Beacon. Weiss' father had been nice enough to provide them with transportation from beacon to the company hub.
Even Blake and Yang were impressed at the size of the structure that stood before them. Upon entering the building, the four girls were caught up in a bustling mess of bodies. Hundreds of people and employees were arguing over various issues, ranging from dust mining to weapons manufacturing and other issues. "This way," said Weiss over the multitude of voices, directing them to the nearest elevator.
The four girls filed into the elevator, and Weiss pressed the button to go to the topmost floor.
"Wow Weiss, I was expecting this place to be busy, but I had no idea it would be this crazy. Your father must be a busy man. I gotta say, I'm impressed," said Yang.
Weiss smirked. She couldn't help but be flattered - her plan to show off the Schnee Dust Company to her teammates was going even better than planned.
"Yea, this place is so cool!" Ruby exclaimed. "Where is your father's office?"
"Lucky for us, it's on the top floor," said Weiss. "And let me tell ya, the view from up top is amazing. This building is the second tallest in Remnant, according to Dad, and is by far the tallest non - government owned building. You guys are gonna love it!"
The elevator ride took a good 2 or 3 more minutes, for despite the speed of the elevator, Weiss' father's office was on the very last floor of the building, The team said little to nothing during this time, as they were so excited that none of them, not even Ruby, were in the mood for conversation.
When the elevator reached the top, the four girls exited and immediately gasped at the sight they beheld. To their surprise, Weiss' father's office was less of an office, and more of a … well, a weapons storage facility. The back portion of the room was in darkness, but in the front section alone there were weapons lined all across the walls, odd scrolls with distinct runes lying everywhere, and glowing dust crystals on display in various places. The girls also beheld a collection of elaborate swords that gave off a tremendous amount of energy and a set of unsettling horned masks that appeared to be made of bone. Most notably, however, near the center lay a small, glowing object that seemed to emanate a peculiar aura that drew the four girls towards it. Even Weiss, who had been up to her father's office before, had never seen the orb, and was curious to find out what it was.
In short, the entire group was at a loss for words. Except Ruby, of course.
"This is sooo cool Weiss! Seriously, who knew your father's office would be this … awesome. I can't wait to meet Mr. Schnee!" she said.
Weiss snapped out of her trance, taking her eyes off the blue orb at the center of the room. "Yea … he's looking forward to meeting you guys as well," she said. "Just make sure to be polite and grateful. Dad can be a little … strict at times."
The other three girls shivered, not knowing what to expect.
"Oh, and I almost forgot! Please don't call him Mr. Schnee. For one, he doesn't like being called Mr, and on top of that his last name isn't actually Schnee, like mine is," Weiss said.
Blake shot Weiss a confused look. "Wait, why is that? You two don't have the same last name? How does that work?"
Weiss sighed. It was a long story - one she hadn't told her teammates before, and was reluctant to tell now. However, she didn't have much choice at this point. Her team deserved to know, given that they were going to be interacting with her father.
"Well, you see, Schnee is actually my mother's last name. When I was born, my father insisted my name be Weiss Schnee, using my mom's last name instead of his. This way it would be clearer to everyone that I was heiress to the Schnee company."
Blake nodded. "Okay, I suppose that makes sense, but then why is your father's company called the Schnee dust company?"
"It's … complicated. Basically, my Grandfather, who founded the Schnee dust company, was supposed to pass the reigns to my mother (his daughter) upon retiring. However, for a multitude of reasons, my Grandfather deemed my mother unfit to take over his company; he felt that she wasn't aggressive enough nor clever enough to succeed him. As a result, Grandpa had my mother married to someone he deemed fit to take over - my father - and passed ownership to him."
"Does that mean your Mom was forced into marrying your Dad?" asked Ruby, a sad look on her face.
Weiss was silent for a few seconds, before replying, "She was certainly not forced into marrying Dad; Grandpa may be a tough man, but he isn't cruel. It's difficult to say for sure, but I think that my mother truly does love my father."
That said, I can't say the same about Dad. He's always so calm, and hides his emotions so well that even I have no idea how he feels about Mom, she said to herself. It's so strange, I've known Dad my entire life, and yet I still don't feel like I really understand him all that well. At times he does things that don't make sense to me … It's almost like I'm close to him but don't really know him.
Weiss paused and closed her eyes for a few seconds, deep in thought. Then, shaking herself, she continued, "Anyways, that's the story behind my last name and the Schnee Dust Company's name."
"Okay, I get that," said Yang. "But what exactly do you want us to call him, then?"
Weiss paused for a second. "You should call him - "
She stopped mid-sentence as a deep and inhumanely calm voice sounded from the dark section of the room. "Please," it said, causing the four girls to turn towards its source. Footsteps echoed through the room as a figure approached from the darkness.
"Address me simply as Sosuke."
"Sosuke Aizen."