A/N: Have fun and please, let us know what you think! :D
~Angel and Hel
Chapter Four: Rest and Reload
-.-.-
She looked so peaceful. So much like Weiss.
They'd finished scanning and x-raying her not five minutes ago. Winter huffed. She should have spent the time cleaning up - looking at herself now, in the light, she was coated in dirt. Not that it really mattered, she supposed. Dirt was just - cosmetic. It wasn't real damage.
Not like Helia's wing.
She looked so peaceful, lying there on her back, her wings draped down her sides. Even her mangled wing looked relatively intact with the way they'd positioned it for scanning. Her chest rose and fell evenly in her sleep.
Her agonised screaming apparently convinced them to give her the good stuff. She was asleep, completely and utterly. Away from the hurt.
She even slept with an arm half curled round her face like Weiss did.
Enough. She - looked similar but was not the same. She was a blind faunus, not her sister. This - obsession with noticing similarities was not acceptable.
W- Helia let out a small, adorable squeak, turning her head slightly. Just like Weiss did when she was having a nice dream.
Winter put her head in her hands. Weiss was at home. Weiss was at home, hopefully safe. Weiss wouldn't disguise herself as a half-starved faunus - somehow - then flirt with her. She wouldn't have access to strange jetpack blade technology - actually, she might.
No, no. Winter was not entertaining that thought. That was silly.
But then again… No! Bad Winter!
She let out a strangled groan. There was no possible way Helia could be Weiss in disguise.
But it would explain how she knew Winter's name…
No. There was one way to absolutely guarantee they were different little balls of love and adorableness and that was to call Weiss. If she answered, then she obviously wasn't Helia. She'd have to make sure father didn't pick up, and not use her scroll - wait, there was a comms terminal just there.
Two minutes later, she was still calling Weiss, biting her lip and desperately hoping she'd answer. Between the several failed calls and the constant glances she was shooting at Helia, she was going to do herself in with worry.
"Hello, it looks like whoever you're trying to call cannot answer at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone for -" and then Weiss' voice, trying to sound more adult than it was "- Weiss Schnee, Heiress."
That little brat. If she had to listen to her call herself heiress one more time -
She bit her lip. It was stupid. There was no way Helia was Weiss. Right? To get such a thorough disguise, and fool medical professionals and - and disguising herself as a faunus wouldn't be Weiss' style, anyway. She was reading too much into this.
But then again… Winter herself was here, completely going against her own style. Weiss had always looked up to her and it wouldn't take much for her to try follow in her big sister's footsteps… would it?
"Hhhnnn…" Winter's attention was brought back to W- Helia again as she moaned out a small yawn, her arm flopping against her bed as she tried to stretch a little. "Hmmrgle…" she smiled and scrunched up her nose in the most adorable way, her eyes barely cracking open. That- that was something Winter had only ever seen Weiss do, and that was when she woke up in a really cuddly mood.
Only one way to know for sure. "Weissy." She did her best not to blush. If she was wrong... "Weissy wake up." She only did this singsong voice for her sister when she was very ill, she'd better appreciate it -
Weiss giggled and smiled, seeing Winter and reaching out to her. It was her own way of asking for cuddles. When she was still too sleepy to think straight, she got very snuggly, very touchy-feely.
Winter's eyes narrowed. "Weiss. What. Are. You. Doing?!" Somehow the last word had come out as an unco-ordinated shriek of rage. "You could have been killed! You could be killed! Your combat training is minimal at best - no, even if father drags me from here I'm calling him to drag you away too."
Weiss whimpered and shrunk away, her lips trembling, her baby blue eyes filling with unshed tears. No words came out, just a quiet whine of confusion and hurt.
"Weiss, I just don't understand why. Or how you found out, either. You know how dangerous the Academy is." She leaned forward, rested a hand on her shoulder. "Why - just - why?"
Weiss's eyes went wide for a moment, before she closed them and happily started nuzzling Winter's hand with the goofiest smile on her face, bringing her arms up and trapping Winter in what was honestly the weakest grip she'd ever felt. "Mmmm b-best big sisterrr…" Weiss mumbled, trailing off into a sleepy purr.
"Weiss. Weiss, now is not the time for hugs." She still wrapped her arms round her. "Weiss. I need to talk to you."
Weiss stiffened slightly in her grip as she bumped the broken wing. "Ah-hh!" she gasped, clinging on and grabbing little handfuls of Winter's jacket.
Wait, what? The wing wasn't real, right? It shouldn't hurt Weiss -
The incoming message chime from the terminal filled the room.
For several agonising moments, Winter worked to untangle herself from Weiss's grip without hurting her more, while still being quick enough to answer the call. On the second to last chime, she finally dashed over and pressed the accept call button before she slipped and landed with a painful thump.
"H- hello?" Weiss's clearly confused voice came from the terminal before Winter jumped to her feet. The call- oh Dust, she'd accidentally hit video. "Winter? Is that you?"
"No?"
…
That was weak. She barely even fooled herself.
Weiss gave her a deadpan look. "You're filthy." she noted, before her expression shifted to one of concern. "And where have you been? Father has been pacing around muttering about you, nobody will tell me anything, and - wait, did you get a haircut?" Weiss looked at her incredulously.
"It's complicated. Don't tell father I called. Please?" Then - "You're at home? Safe?"
"Yeeess…" Weiss frowned, drawing out the word. "Hang on, are you this Dave Kowalski who called me nineteen times?" she asked, before sighing. "Winter, what is going on?"
"Bad connection talk to you later!" Winter hammered on the end call button frantically.
"Winter, don't you -"
The feed cut off with a cheery little blip from the terminal. "Call terminated."
Winter looked round slowly.
Helia sat on the bed, holding out her arms, pouting. "Cuddliiieees!" she said, weakly but firmly. She still had the silliest of smiles on her face.
She had just shouted at her. For being her sister. She - the resemblance wasn't even that strong, now she looked. Their noses were different, the shapes of their jaw. Slowly she moved over to hug Helia, who made some sort of jubilant noise muffled by her clothing.
Once Helia stopped being drugged, Winter was never going to live this down. If her father didn't find her and remove her.
But for now, she could enjoy it.
-.-.-
Ashlyn Krieger sat there on the couch looking broody. Her hair, her choice of outfit, hell, her appearance in general made her look like the postergirl of one of those super-emotional 'I write depressing poetry and turn it into lyrics' bands. Black, black, and more black.
The fact that her axe was also a guitar…
She sighed with a slump, putting her face in her hand.
The girl who was sat next to her looked, in her opinion, even worse. Heavy black eyeshadow, entirely black clothes with strategically placed rips revealing tattooed skin, black lipstick, pale enough to look like an old black and white movie.
Which of course was made worse by how cheery she was.
"So do you think we did ok? I mean, we were told we passed. But I don't think they'd tell us right up if we failed, right?"
"We're still alive, Aphoth," Ashlyn groaned. "That has to count for something."
Catching those occasional weirded out, disapproving glances was wearing down on her. In hindsight, black leather and belts and studs wasn't the most… sightly of choices she could have made. Even with the armour plates she'd painstakingly sewn in, she was eyeing up some of the more colourful outfits and sorely wishing she'd reconsidered.
"I dunno. I blasted a wall open, and then when I Called those Creeps I didn't know there'd been a dead Alpha there recently too." Aphoth fiddled with her necklace. "Do you - do you think they minded that?"
"Everyone minds it when Grimm suddenly fight on your side." Ash rolled her eyes. "It's kinda unnerving to those who aren't used to it."
"Aren't used to what?" Some orange-haired kid vaulted over the back of the couch next to them, flopping down lazily. He wore a stupid-looking grin that set off all the warning bells in Ashlyn's head.
Aphoth blushed, because of course she did. "N-nothing. Just my semblance bothers some people."
"Can't be any worse than that girl that makes everyone take a bad acid trip," the kid laughed. "Hi, I'm Maverick."
"Ashlyn." She scowled. "It's not polite to listen in to private conversations."
"It's ok Ash." One fishnet gloved hand gently patted her own. "People can be curious. And I'm not ashamed of my semblance. It's just - raising the dead does disconcert some people." She smiled, sunnily.
Goddamnit, Aphy, why do you do this to me?! Can't you see he's trouble?!
Maverick's eyes widened comically. "You're a necromancer?!" he exclaimed- thankfully not too loudly, although he did attract the attention of one rather grumpy-looking individual...
"Uh - I guess?" Aphoth was biting her lip. She was nervous, and when she was nervous -
A hiss from her neck as her pet uncoiled itself, smelling its owner's fear. Its little black tongue flicked the air as it turned curiously to look at the boy beside them.
"Holy shit you've got a snake?!" he grinned massively, almost bouncing up and down in his seat. "That's totally awes-"
He was cut off by a slap to the back of the head.
The grumpy boy leaned forward. "Diamond tooth taipan. The venom can kill a Borbatusk. Why the fuck would you have one as a pet?"
Aphoth scowled. It wasn't really very threatening, despite everything. "Hey! Apep's a cutie and doesn't bite anyone. Anymore."
"Because they're already dead?"
"Because we learned our lesson and so did he." Ash interrupted. "Do you really think she'd wear it like a scarf if there was a chance of him biting her?"
Maverick winced and rubbed the back of his head. "Still awesome."
Aphoth rocked back and forth a bit, Apep rocking with her. "So...you two know each other?"
Grinning that insane grin, Maverick got comfortable. "I totally saved his life in the earthquake thing."
"You gave me a hand after I'd injured myself chasing after your worthless hide at best." Despite the words, grumpy grinned.
Ash managed to crack a small smile. "I agree. With the worthless hide part." she said, gently nudging Aphoth with her elbow. Take the hint and stop drooling, Aphy.
"It was interesting though, because I heard it coming. Sort of. The Alpha did, anyway, which is how we survived." Aphoth smiled. "It gave its life again to shelter ours. Which was lovely of it."
"Yes. Lovely." Ash rolled her eyes.
"It was lovely. It saw us as its pack. Or something. Really, their minds are really interesting. Grimm, I mean. They feel so funny to Call, mostly because their bodies don't exist any more."
"This is terrifying and intriguing." Maverick said, a plain expression on his face. "Tell us more."
Seeing Aphoth practically salivate at the chance to go in-depth, Ash internally grimaced and tried to direct the conversation elsewhere. "Hey, have you heard what the TSO's have been muttering about? Something about a Deathstalker cave in the East Wing."
"That'd explain the one we fought. And helped kill." Grumpy casually stroked his chin - wait, they'd what?!
"You what?!" Ash exclaimed before quickly shutting up and clamping her hands over her mouth.
"We killed a Deathstalker." Maverick confirmed. "Well, actually we just shot at it a bunch, cut off it's stinger, pinned it, and then the Ice Queen shoved the ceiling through it's skull."
Aphoth froze. "Ice Queen?" Her voice was very careful. "The girl with the white hair, right?"
Ash had seen Aphy watch her from across the changing room. Like - like she was starving. It was the closest to real, genuine anger Ash had ever seen her display. She thought she knew why - Aphoth had never said, but she'd said enough clues. Enough things to fill in the blanks.
"Yeah. Had that tiny little angel Faunus clinging to her the entire time she shouted orders at us." Maverick said off-handedly, obviously failing to catch Aphoth's distress.
"Mmm." Aphoth petted her snake, eyes half closed. "A Faunus. That's surprising."
Ash let her eyes wander for a moment, crisis hopefully averted… though she doubted it and- oh wow, Grumpy Guy was pretty buff. He had that air of strength about him, that kind of firm toughness she'd expect from someone who'd never back down, never give up -
Aphoth's elbow and smirk were very irritating. She most definitely hadn't been drooling. She'd just been - appreciating.
"So, what's your name…?" she asked, looking back at Hotty McHot. Err, Grumpy.
"Slade. Slade Coal." He smiled.
Ash nearly melted on the spot. Such a strong name for a strong man and that smile~
"Ahem." Aphoth was struggling not to laugh. She knew that bow-lipped smile. If she laughed, she would hit her with her guitar - her axe - and damn the consequences.
"Herm," Ash coughed. "Yeah. Hi, Slade, I'm Ashlyn," she said, biting her lip a little. "But you can call me Ash~" she struggled not to add a seductive purr to her words.
Maverick raised an eyebrow and leaned back, glancing up at Slade. "How did you do that. Seriously."
Slade shrugged. "Natural talent. Some have it, some don't."
"What are you talking about?" Ash frowned, tilting her head curiously.
Aphoth snorted. "Flirting with you, dumbass." Her grin was otherworldly wide.
Ash glared at her and wrapped a hand around her axe.
-.-.-
Winter fiddled with her hair as she walked. It still felt so - odd, so weightless. And, of course, it distracted her from recent events with Helia.
That - that darn Faunus. She'd been so clingy and there'd been the misunderstanding, and Winter just wanted to curl up in a hole and for it to all go away. She was a pleasant, useful girl but her mannerisms were -
- no worse than Weiss' when she was tiny.
She wasn't going there again. Helia was not her sister, not even like her sister. Weiss had some semblance of dignity - apart from that time she'd danced on the table, and that time with the teddy bear, or the time at the piano recital…
Ok, maybe she didn't have that much dignity.
A crash from ahead of her. Probably some clumsy fellow would-be student knocking something - ok, that was gunfire.
She burst into a jog, hand dropping to her sabre again. Launched into a glyph assisted sprint to hit the door, drawing her weapon to find -
Pandemonium.
The Atrium was… broken wasn't right, but it wasn't wrong. Half the stream were forming a loose ring around the center, occasionally dodging a burst of gunfire or sparks or even combatants as a fight carried on in the middle.
The second floor balconies had other academy hopefuls cheering and shouting support for their chosen bets.
Bets. And how did Winter know this?
"Yo, Ice Queen!" Maverick slid to a stop in front of her, taking in her glowering face without so much as a flinch. "You're a bit late to the party but we're still taking bets!"
She punched him the face as hard as she could, and kept walking. Shouldered her way through the crowd and into the ring.
"Or you could join in, that's cool too!" Maverick quipped, back on his feet surprisingly quick, throwing his arms around a couple of friends he seemed to have made as he watched.
"Stop this at once, or -"
A green lance of light smacked her in the face - it hurt, burnt even through her aura, sent her smashing to the floor. Distantly she saw Bastion charge the firer - a girl in black with some sort of strangely shaped spear surrounded by shadowy figures of half-dismembered Atlesian soldiers who tried to fend the walking giant off.
Winter shook her head, stood. Triggered her sword's compartment to release the dagger.
If they wanted a fight, she was going to fucking bring one.
The first combatant who noticed her standing was a boy with red hair and a hooked staff. He spun into a kick that she ducked under, dagger taking the bladed whip that sprang from the staff and blocking it while she administered a thorough drubbing with her sabre.
"HEYOOO, AND THE ICE QUEEN ENTERS THE FRAY! TWENTY TO ONE AGAINST OUR COLDEST COMPETITOR YET! LAST CHANCE!" Maverick announced, his weedy little body producing a surprisingly clear yell over the roar of the crowd.
A whistle and she was struck from the side by Watcher's chain dagger as she swung an arc through the crowd, sending would-be hunters flying. Winter grimaced, caught the dagger blade in the disarming gap of her sword before it could withdraw, and hauled on the chain, trying to reel the tall girl in.
She didn't move, but she did haul on the chain herself, sending Winter sprawling for an instant until she rolled to her feet, leaping over an axe strike from a hideously poorly dressed girl, foot snapping out to kick her in the face.
Winter held onto the chain, other hand fumbling a vial of gravity dust from her pouch. She ducked two more swipes from axe girl, let herself be launched forward by another tug on the chain, then slammed the vial into the metal links.
Weightless she span through the air, wrapping the chain around that red-headed irritating girl's neck and Watcher's own throat. Red struggled feebly, but that greatsword's hilt extended into a sweeping spear, lashing round in a poke that she felt through her aura, knocking her away from the chain and allowing the tall girl to retract it.
"OH, THAT HAS GOT TO HURT!" Maverick winced in sympathy, seemingly giving a running commentary on the fight.
Another ray of green light blasted across the fight, deflected from Bastion's massive shield. The shadowy Atlesians were gone, cut apart by her massive sword, and now she held the struggling girl in one massive hand.
Winter was too busy dealing with Watcher's attack to see any more. The girl had lunged, following the stab with a sweeping strike that looked almost powerful enough to shatter bone even through aura, and Winter had to frantically backstep to get away. Another sweeping slash and she flipped backwards - wait, maybe she could -
The next strike she flipped forward, onto the blade, then back into a kick, landed, lunged, recovered, lunged again and launched into a spinning strike with the dagger. Watcher's own offhanded strike caught her arm, but she was well inside the guard of that ridiculous greatsword.
Winter barely caught a glance of Bastion - repeatedly slamming the laser-girl's head into her shield, almost exactly like she'd slammed her sword into it to attract the Deathstalker's attention. She couldn't help but spare a thought of praise for the manoeuvre; whittle down your opponent while making sure they were severely disorientated.
"OW. OW. OW. OW." Maverick laughed with each meaty thwack of the girl's head on Bastion's shield.
"GET YOUR STUPID HANDS OFF HER!" Axe-girl shrieked, flipping her axe around and… holding it like a guitar? Winter would have blinked in surprise. Not a second later the girl swept her arm down across the strings- where did they come from?!- and an explosive wave of noise staggered everyone.
But not Watcher, because of course not.
Bastion, on the other hand, was nearly thrown off her feet, her arms windmilling as she lost her balance and chucking the stunned laser-girl away. She roared in pain, dropping her shield to put her hands over her helmet, obviously deafened.
"OUCH, AND THAT IS NECRO-CUTIE OUT OF THE FIGHT!" Maverick broke off from the regrouping crowd to check on her. And probably collect bets.
Axe-girl was keeping up her assault, grinning and headbanging as she tapped her foot, sending out a pulse to her music. Bastion twisted and almost slipped as she started charging at axe-girl ignoring the sonic assault through sheer ferocity or deafness, tackling her mid-riff and slamming the surprised girl into the nearest pillar, cracking it ominously. She barely had time to yelp before Bastion's hand clamped over her face, pulling back and shoving her head through the weakened pillar, much to the crowd's roaring delight.
Without a pause, the giantess grabbed the axe, letting the unconscious girl's body fly into the wall as she spun around and threw it at Winter and the Watcher. It was almost like she'd completely forgotten the sword on her back in her rage.
Rage!
Winter ducked as best she could, her eyes going wide as the axe blade passed millimeters over her face. "BERSERKER!" she shouted, and the crowd slowly stopped cheering as several of them instantly backed up and reached for their weapons.
"ALL BETS ARE OFF!" Maverick declared, "SOMEONE CALL SECURITY!"
-.-.-
A/N: R&R? :P