The Loneliest Of All
Weiss slowly woke and found herself on a pile of hay. She panicked at her unfamiliar surroundings and forcefully calmed herself down. After taking a few deep breaths, she began recollecting what had happened.
There was the concert. The White Fang attacked and kidnapped me. So they must have brought me here…
Weiss found Myrtenaster at her side.
Why are you here? Did they think they could sell it?
Her stomach growled loudly.
How long have I been knocked out? Ugh… I skipped lunch and threw up whatever I had for breakfast so I'm practically starving.
A guard had heard the stomach growl and checked up on her. Upon seeing the Myrtenaster in her hands, he immediately drew his sword. At which point, Weiss's training kicked in.
She sprung to her feet and darted in a zig zag towards her foe.
The thin blade pierced the guard's kneecaps, causing him to collapse forward.
Looking down at what she had done, she jumped and dropped her sword.
Oh no! I attacked him! What do I do? I didn't expect those attacks to hit!
All of Weiss's sparring partners and mentors were masters of their weapons, including Winter. It was the first time the young girl had affected real harm on another person.
Will they kill me now since I attacked him?!
The guard on the floor was yelling loudly in pain. It alerted the other sentries, and their footsteps could be heard as they rapidly approached.
Weiss desperately searched her surroundings for some sort of assistance, maybe somewhere to hide.
Other than the pile of hay and the small blanket, everything was bare stone.
She fell to her knees grasping her head.
Someone… someone… help me… Sister!
Weiss felt an odd presence and looked around again. She turned her vision upm but only found the dark night sky.
Someone… please…
Scanning the room again, her eyes fell on her Myrtenaster.
Weiss choked back her tears, and reluctantly picked up her blade. She went over to the screaming guard and prepared a downward stab.
Winter would kill him to make sure he didn't give the other sentries any relevant information.
As her small hands grasped her sword with more tension, Weiss closed her eyes as she swung down.
*TANG!*
The guard had stopped yelling.
He looked to the side of his head and saw the blade had pierced the stone floor a hair breadth's away.
Weiss's cold cheeks warmed to the tears pouring down them. She violently wiped her eyes and sniffed loudly.
This isn't the time! I have to run. If I don't have to kill him, I won't.
The heiress forced her shaking knees to carry her weight and began running. She moved through the stone maze, often running shoulder long into dead ends. Weiss could hear the other guards finding their injured comrades and became more frantic.
After finding an opening in the walls, she dove through it with all panicky haste. Her long dress caught on the jagged edges. Weiss pulled on it violently, ripping the hem. At the abrupt release, the little girl fell forward onto the cold wet grass. She was practically caked with dirt and mud.
Her relief from escaping the stone maze did not last long as White Fang members quickly caught up with her.
It wasn't so surprising considering their naturally gifted tracking skills and physique. Three of them edged closer to their prey, weapons fully brandished.
The sentries remembered their orders to kill her if anything happened. They looked to each other and nodded in nonverbal agreement.
Weiss gathered all her courage and stood up.
With the whirling body reactions of fear, adrenaline, courage, and sorrow, the young girl shakily took her fencing form.
Suddenly, everything felt like it went into slow motion.
The enemies began to rush her with axe, sword, and spear. They moved like they were trapped in tar or quick sand.
Weiss took a deep breath.
Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back. Right foot forward….
"Not that forward," commented Winter from her hiding place.
She watched as her little sister faced off against the White Fang members. Though larger and possessing more strength, they had nowhere the amount of training Weiss had.
Eventually, the three sentries were defeated. Though Weiss had incurred some injuries of he own, they were light for the most part.
The younger Schnee could have ended the fight earlier, but kept inflicting injuries that were too shallow. Whether out of lack of strength or fear of killing her adversaries, no one knew.
"If she herself doesn't fix that, it could be a real problem in the future. Hm~ There were five guards, right?"(Winter)
As soon as she commented on that, a bulky White Fang member appeared with gauntlets in the shape of dragon heads.
"That one won't be easy, Weiss…"
"This one won't be easy…"(Weiss)
The White Fang member roared and began slamming his metal gauntlets together.
Weiss dashed and strafed sharply side to side. The boxer put his hands up and eyed his prey with concentration.
Like a crooked bolt of lightning, the fencer made her move, aiming for a side hit. Unfortunately, her opponent was able to keep up and the stab only met gauntlet.
Weiss leapt out of reach and slipped to the side again, before attacking. It was a repeat of the first attempt. The younger Schnee tried attacking from all different angles, but the boxer's turtle tactic was impregnable.
Then the battle shifted in an instant.
The White Fang member had memorized Weiss's attack rhythm and rather than blocking the next assault, opted to completely dodge next the strike.
Losing balance after hitting nothing, the fencer was caught flush. A full weighted blow bored into her gut and Weiss rocketed across the ground. Her body slammed hard against a tree trunk and she fell limply.
Weiss coughed hard as her vision blurred and spun. She felt her organs shutting down, her consciousness fading.
Weiss felt cold...
So cold… and alone…
Just as she was going to drift off into a comfortable sleep, she stabbed the ground viciously with her Myrtenaster.
Using it as a crutch to support her, Weiss willed herself to stand up. Her world reeled and came back into focus. Her sight sharpened and at the same time, the pain set in worse than ever.
The White Fang member shrugged at the display and thought it pathetic. He bolted headlong towards the young girl with the premise of a final blow.
Come on Weiss, you've practiced this.
Weiss tightened her muscles at the inner thought.
For a brief moment, the pain subsided as she poured all her mental faculties on the task at hand. It was a maneuver she only accomplished a handful of times, and with her Glyphs that she was not so proficient at yet. But it fit the situation perfectly. Her opponent wouldn't expect an attack like it.
The White Fang member found the young Schnee within his range and swung a haymaker. Before making contact, he heard a strange sound before the young girl disappeared from his peripherals.
Weiss used her Glyph to launch her up towards another Glyph angled diagonally downwards. Propelling off the midair platform, Weiss ripped through the air and stabbed her enemy in the shoulder.
She had reasoned that the boxer had been receiving attacks from all sides, but not above. The tactic fulfilled her requirements for a perfect counter move.
The White Fang member was pinned between Myrtenaster's hilt and the cold wet earth. He yelled in pain until Weiss promptly withdrew her blade from his flesh and smacked his jaw with the edge handle.
The young girl slowly got to her feet and stared at her surroundings. There seemed to be no more enemies.
It began to rain hard, making the little heiress even more miserable. Her body groaned with pain and fatigue. Bones had been broken, some of her ribs were fractured for sure.
Her appearance was filthy. Blood and dirt had stained her once pristine white dress. Weiss's neatly tied hair was let down and completely tangled.
Without knowing for sure if it was the right way, she began limping away from the ruins. Her red tainted Myrtenaster was used as a support crutch.
…
Through the woods, she walked.
Minutes became hours as she trudged painfully on her journey back to civilization.
Weiss's mental and physical fitness was worn down to nothing. Numbness had set in and all she could understand about the world was the sound of cold rain.
A roar broke the somber atmosphere and Weiss turned around quickly.
It was a Grimm Ursai.
Possibly due to Weiss's blank mentality, she sharply switched from her limping posture, to a solid fighting stance. She placed her right foot perfectly forward and felt her long wet skirt weigh on it.
Weiss frowned and coldly cut the clothing shorter, freeing up more movement.
From her hiding place, Winter made a note to have a combat skirt made for her.
Weiss was at her nerves' end and it showed in her eyes. There was no mercy in them. They only sought a way to bring her opponent down.
Lightning cracked and Weiss rushed towards the Ursai in a crooked beeline. Myrtenaster found its mark and pierced a vital organ. As fast as it sunk in, it quickly withdrew. Before the Grimm could take a swipe at the young girl, she was already walking away.
The bear took a few steps forward, before falling to the floor and bleeding out.
Weiss didn't spare it a second look and continued limping.
It was dawn when she had finally made it to the edge of the forest. Search teams had picked her up and brought her home.
Before Weiss's arrival, Winter had returned ahead.
The Schnee sister's father was at the company, taking care of the press and other business.
Apollo had went to the residence to meet up with Winter.
"Do nottell Weiss I went after her," she said to him.
"Why?"(Apollo)
"You wouldn't understand. I'm going to sleep. It's been a long night."(Winter)
"Wait! What are you talking about?! You need to see her!"(Apollo)
"Do I? She's safe. If I see her, I might ruin all the hard work she's done. Now leave me alone."(Winter)
And with that the Ice Queen locked herself in her room. Before sleeping, she used her scroll to tell Apollo to leave the premises or she would cut him in half.
And so Weiss came home welcomed by no one…
"So that's it… just walked out of the forest and went home…"Weiss said uncomfortably.
Though it was difficult to know which was more uncomfortable. Reliving the story, or looking into all the crying or "on the verge of crying" faces that surrounded her.
""Waaaaahhhhh!""(Ruby, Jaune, and Sun)
Pyrrha Yang, Sun, and Neptune were tearing up.
"I'm not crying!" Neptune sniffed.
Ren had excused himself to the bathroom to hide his embarrassment, while Nora followed.
(In the school courtyard)
Blake projected several of her Doubles, but was unable to find an opening in Winter's defense.
"Why are you going easy on me?!"(Blake)
"Oh? You could tell?"(Winter)
"I thought you said you would give me a fight if I picked one."(Blake)
"Oh my. You were picking a fight? I thought you simply desired to do some practice."(Winter)
Blake hissed angrily as she launched another offensive.
After a few parries, Winter threw a stab, which Blake froze in an Ice Double. As she came around to attack the other side of the Ice Queen, the lancer split her weapon into its twin form and the cat barely dodged the deadly twirling whirlwind.
Blake glared fire at the smiling Winter.
"Such a temper… I was just joking. Honestly, even I'm not really sure why I'm holding back."(Winter)
Blake loaded her pistol and began shooting.
Winter lifted the ice block trapped lance and used it as a shield. She dashed towards her gun wielding opponent and shield bashed her, the glacier shattering on impact.
"Hmmm… Maybe I'm going easy on you because I like cats," Winter said with a chuckle.
Blake was going to go for another assault when the twin lances set on her shoulders.
The blades gently pinched her neck.
"Or maybe, I'm just fond of you, Miss Belladonna."(Winter)
"…!"(Blake)
"It seems I've won this little match of ours. As the loser, you are obligated to do as the winner says, correct?"(Winter)
"Why do you think-?"(Blake)
Before she could finish, the lances were removed from her neck.
"Does Weiss know you used to be in the White Fang?"(Winter)
"…"(Blake)
"Come now, don't you have any pride? I beat you fair and square after all."(Winter)
"… Yes."(Blake)
"Does she know you kidnapped her before?"(Winter)
"… No."(Blake)
"Hm… Now what would she say if she found out."(Winter)
"… I don't think she would care."(Blake)
"Oh really?"(Winter)
"Yes, because she knows I…"(Blake)
Blake remembers Weiss's lecture after the incident at the docks.
"That I am who I am now, and not who I was."(Blake)
"And that would be?"(Winter)
"Her friend and teammate!" Blake declares fiercely.
Winter sank into deep thought.
"Then I don't want to kill her friend and teammate, and you don't want to kill her sister." Winter claps her hands together in a business like fashion. "Let's settle the matter with that then."
"… This isn't over," Blake said begrudgingly.
"Oh, of course not, but in the interest of our mutual ally, we should put on good airs."(Winter)
"Fine…for now."(Blake)
She calmly sheathed her sword and returned it to its mount.
"Good. Now smile, we have company."(Winter)
"Am I interrupting something?"(?)
Blake and Winter turn to the source of the voice.
"Ren?! What are you doing here?"(Blake)
"Well…Uh… Never mind. I just wanted some fresh air."(Ren)
Ren looked curiously between Blake and the ever smiling Winter.
"Is there—"(Ren)
"It's nothing. Let's go back to the dorm."(Blake)
Blake grabs Ren by the arm and begins pulling him towards the building.
…
Winter notices something strange.
"That boy… his voice…" she softly mutters with a forlorn thought.
Ren feels something unexplainable and looks behind him.
Winter is curtseyed deeply with a sad smile on her face.
"Thank you for all your hard work."
"Where's Nora?"(Blake)
"She's been in the bathroom… for about an hour now."(Ren)
"Is she alright?"(Blake)
"…She'll be fine."(Ren)
"If you say so. Also, please don't tell anyone about me meeting Winter."(Blake)
"Whoa, that was Winter?"(Ren)
"Yeah… why?"(Blake)
"Nothing. Just that Weiss told us a story about how they're kind of estranged."(Ren)
"Really? All I can tell is that Winter is a doting older sister. Though, I don't know how Weiss feels…"(Blake)
""Hmm."" They both murmured.
"Well, I suppose everyone's perspectives are different."(Ren)
"Yes… They are…"(Blake)
"By the way, have you given that project a look through?"(Ren)
"Oh….Oh!"(Blake)
Blake immediately remembered what Ren was talking about.
A few days ago, he had confronted her about a "project" he had been working on. Seeing as she read a lot of books, Ren thought it would be a good idea to ask her opinion on it.
"I thought it was great."(Blake)
"Really?"(Ren)
"I hope you don't mind, but I showed it to Ruby. She especially liked it. Something about the main character."(Blake)
"I see. I wonder if it will be received well when I put it out there…"(Ren)
Blake gave him a large smile.
"It will… I know everyone will love it…"
AUTHOR END NOTE
If anyone's wondering about the sudden emphasis on Ren at the end, Monty Oum himself voiced the character. So that's why I did that. You can probably guess what the "project" was.
I didn't know the guy personally. I only knew him through his work. And when I watched it, I could just feel how much time and effort was there. You don't create something like that without pouring a lot of your life into it.
It was noble. It was brave. And it was Amazing.
Good bye Monty Oum.
Thank you very much for all of your work. You've changed my life forever.