Here's chapter 5 everyone.
"Has Weiss has been acting a little different lately, or am I just imagining things?" Ruby asked while changing into her combat outfit.
Yang frowned at that, since she actually knew why the heiress was acting different from her usual princess self. "Um, not sure, maybe she's just trying to study more. You know how she is with that."
Ruby shook her head. "She hasn't even been taking notes in class. I'm worried about her."
"How has she been acting?" Blake asked, thinking about what she had talked to Weiss about the other day when the heiress was crying.
Ruby finished changing into her combat outfit and said. "She doesn't pay attention in the classes we were in since two days ago. And she always comes back here in between classes."
"Then where is she now?" Blake inquired.
"Professor Port asked her to stay behind to talk to her. I think he noticed how she's been in class too." Ruby answered.
"Ugh, I hate that we got this crazy schedule. We get classes with each other, and then other days we're in different ones. Why don't they just stick us in one group in the same class, you know, as a team? The kind we're on." Yang expressed her annoyance with the way the class scheduling was handled.
"I don't know. Anyways, about Weiss, do you think Port will be able to snap her out of this?" Ruby asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"I could go talk to her if you want." Yang offered, though it was more that she was trying to make up for being involved in the problem itself.
Ruby looked down and shook her head. "No, I should do it." She lifted her head back up. "Ozpin made me the leader and I need to make sure that my team is always in a good place, whether it's fighting Grimm, or just here in school."
Yang smiled at hearing that and nodded. "Alright, Ruby. I hope you can at least break her out of this." She then muttered the next thing she said. "I'd probably make it worse anyway." Blake's bow twitched at that, but she said nothing.
"So Miss Schnee, do you know why I held you back here?" Professor Port asked as he stood a bit from the heiress. Weiss shrugged and Port sighed. "Miss Schnee, you haven't paid attention in class and when I ask a question, I never see your hand raised. You almost always raised your hand when I asked a question."
Weiss' stare didn't change. "I'm sorry, sir. Is there anything else that we need to speak about?"
Professor Port was taken aback by that. "How exactly has your…issue with Miss Rose been? I remember that you and I spoke about that, so is this the reason you're not yourself?"
"No. I haven't changed, sir. I only wish to do what I have to do here and nothing more." Weiss sounded robotic at that point.
Port walked over to his desk and picked up a few papers and brought the over. "Miss Schnee, I have here the notes that show exactly what I have talked about today. Read them and tell me if you remember even one thing about the class." He placed them on the table in front of the heiress.
Weiss looked down and took one of the papers in her hand. She looked it over for a few moments and shook her head. "I don't remember any of these, sir. I'm sorry."
"You said how you wanted to do what you had to do here and nothing more. Is this doing what you need to do, Miss Schnee?" Port questioned.
"I suppose not. I'll try to do better, sir." Weiss responded.
Port couldn't believe he was talking to the same girl he gave advice to not so long ago. "I know you have other things you may need to do, but for now, I need you to stay here. I want you to speak with someone. Is that okay?"
Weiss nodded and laid her head on the table. "I apologize if I've caused any problems, sir."
Port walked over to his desk and pulled his scroll out. The portly professor looked through his scroll and sent a message to Ruby about coming over. "She'll be over hopefully within the next five minutes, Miss Schnee."
"Okay." Weiss replied with almost no emotion.
Is this what you wanted, Father? I know about it all…How you didn't want me to even come here…
Port sat down and looked over at the heiress. He couldn't understand a single thing about her predicament. All he thought was that Ruby was involved, due to her being the talk he had with her about her discomfort on Ruby being the leader of her team.
Ruby checked her scroll when she heard it go off. "Huh?" She began reading the message and frowned. "Guys, about that thing I mentioned about making sure my team will always be in a good place. That needs to happen now. Professor Port just messaged me that he wants me to talk to Weiss while she's in his classroom."
"It's that bad?" Yang asked.
"I don't know exactly, but I can't waste any more time." Ruby opened the door and felt Blake grab her shoulder to keep her from running. "What are you doing, Blake?"
"With how things have been with Weiss, you may want to avoid a few things, namely her family." Blake suggested.
"What are you talking about? Why would her family be a problem?" Ruby asked.
Blake looked away for a moment. "I…May have brought that up one day and she wasn't happy that I did. Honestly I feel a little bad for telling you both this, but Weiss didn't take it well when I tried talking to her about Velvet. She even cried a bit."
Yang bit her lip at hearing that. "Ugh, damn it. If you're admitting that, then I have to admit something else too."
Ruby was a little shocked at hearing how Weiss cried and looked to her sister. "Yang, did…did something else happen with Weiss?"
Yang sighed and sat on Blake's bed. "The other day I tried getting her and Velvet to talk out their problems they've been having and-."
"What problems?" Ruby cut in.
"Let me get there, Ruby." Yang said. "Anyways, Weiss has been a bit…distant when it comes to Velvet. I tried helping them out by…um…well I kinda locked them in the room together."
"You did what?!" Ruby shouted.
Yang covered her ears. "Okay, loud, Ruby. Look, I only locked them in because I thought they'd settle their differences…I didn't think she'd cry." Yang frowned.
"She cried then too?" Blake asked.
Yang sighed. "Yeah, but this is the one time I'll ever beg. Please don't mention this to her. I already messed up so much with this. I don't want her to hate me even more."
Ruby walked over and tapped Yang's head. The blonde looked up at her sister and Ruby said. "I know you wouldn't want me to bring it up, but I can't just ignore how she feels."
Yang nodded. "I get it…I just hope this isn't gonna bite me in the ass later."
"It won't, Yang." Ruby stepped away and turned to Blake. "Is there anything else you and Weiss talked about the other day when she cried?"
"It was just the mention of her acting like how a Schnee would and her issues with Velvet." Blake explained. "Honestly, I probably shouldn't have even spoken to her about it."
"What's done is done. Right now I need to make sure Weiss is going to be okay." Ruby said as she walked out of the dorm.
Yang looked over at her partner and noticed her look of shame. "You feel pretty bad too, huh?"
Blake took a breath. "I personally don't like the Schnee Dust Company, Yang. Weiss' father runs it in the worst way and it just gets me angry, but still. Taking it out on Weiss might not be the best thing to do…sinking to that level."
Yang gets up from Blake's bed and grabs her combat clothes from the closet. "No, taking it out on Weiss isn't a good thing to do. Yeah, she can be hard to talk to…most of the time, but just seeing her break down like that the other day…heck, even back in initiation when she saved Ruby…She proved she isn't the princess we've been living with for the past few weeks."
"I suppose not." Blake walked over to the door and looked back at Yang. "If she does come back to the dorm, let Weiss know I would like to talk to her."
"I will if she'll even listen to me in the first place." Yang said.
"I'm sure she won't ignore you forever. You are a pretty hard person to ignore. I should know since we're partners." Blake joked.
Yang chuckled. "Thanks…I needed a laugh today."
"Glad to help." Blake said as she left the room.
Yang changed into her combat clothes and sighed as she sat back down on Blake's bed. "That was such a stupid mistake."
Port was still sat down watching the heiress who was keeping her head down on the desk. "Miss Schnee, are you still not going to tell me about what has caused you to feel this way?"
Weiss slowly lifted her head. "Hmm?"
"I asked you if you can tell me why you feel the way you are feeling?" Port repeated.
"Oh, I don't really have a problem, sir. I may just need some rest is all." Weiss answered.
Port knew the heiress was lying, so he sighed and looked over at the door, hoping Ruby would show up soon. "I see, well I suppose some rest may be in order. Just speak to the person I called over and you'll be able to do just that." Weiss nodded and went back to resting on the desk.
A few minutes passed and Port heard a knock on the door. "Ah, very good. She's here." He got up and answered the door, revealing the leader of Team RWBY. "Miss Rose, she's just sitting over there."
Ruby looked over at her partner and frowned. "H-How long has she been like that?"
"She's been like this ever since I asked her why she hasn't been paying attention in class. Do you know why she's been like this?" Port inquired.
"I…I have an idea." Ruby said as she walked in.
"Would you like some privacy?" Port offered.
Ruby nodded. "Thank you, Professor Port." She watched him nod and leave the classroom. Ruby walked over and stood in front of her partner. "Weiss? Hey, it's me, Ruby."
Weiss slowly lifted her head and saw her partner standing over her. "Oh, hi, Ruby. I guess you're the person Professor Port called over."
"Yeah." She walked over and sat next to the heiress. "Um, so how are you feeling?"
"I'm okay." Weiss replied.
"Are you sure? Y-You've…been sitting here like this for a bit…And Professor Port looked a little worried when I walked in." Ruby said. Weiss didn't respond and laid her head back down. "Weiss?"
"I promise to do whatever I have to do, Ruby…Okay." Weiss said.
Ruby frowned and placed her hand on Weiss'. "Weiss…I wanna help. Please don't close yourself away from us."
"Ruby, I promise I'm okay. I won't cause any more problems." Weiss assured in her own way.
"This isn't about causing problems, Weiss. And even then, you aren't causing any problems. We're all worried about how you've been." Ruby said.
Weiss took a breath. "I don't want to."
"You don't want to what?" Ruby asked.
"I don't want to think about him…No more, Ruby. Blake, Yang…Velvet…All that ever comes from speaking to people just reminds me of him…Please stop." Weiss begged.
"Stop…Do you mean trying to talk to you? Weiss, I never want to make you feel worse. I just want to know what's bothering you so much…Blake…told me about what happened the other day." Ruby stated.
Weiss groaned at that. "I guess this is the part where I can't leave, huh?"
"No…Do you want me to leave?" Ruby asked.
Weiss felt Ruby disappear from her thoughts as she had her eyes closed. All Weiss could think about was her father and a certain day that made her change.
An eight year old Weiss walked up to her father while he was busy doing paper work at home. "D-Daddy? W-Winter told me that you wanted me to come over."
Weiss' father stopped looking through his papers and turned his attention to his eight year old daughter. "Weiss…Yes, you were told to be here. Do you know why?"
"I-Is it about the people yelling outside our home?" The eight year old asked.
"Yes, it is. Let me ask you, how do you feel about this?" Weiss father inquired.
"I-I don't like it. They keep yelling outside and they have signs. W-Why are they out there, daddy?" Weiss asked in a scared tone.
"Those…animals outside are very foolish. I need you to understand something. This is not a day I want you to forget, Weiss. Do you remember the day your mother was…hurt?" Lawine questioned.
Weiss felt her heart drop at the mention of her mother, since it only hurt when she would think about her condition. "Y-Yes."
"She asked me to not tell you about how it happened…but I can't allow you to live in these times without knowing of the dangers you may face." Lawine said.
"W-What do you mean, daddy? What's dangerous?" Weiss continued feeling fear of what she was dealing with.
"Those animals out there are called Faunus. I know you know about them from your studies and seeing them around the castle. As far as you know, they may seem like normal people like you or I, but do not allow yourself to be fooled. They are trouble. It was a Faunus that hurt your mother, many in fact." Lawine admitted to his daughter.
Weiss' eyes widened. "B-But you said mommy was in a car accident."
Lawine sighed. "No, your mother was attacked on her way home one day by Faunus. They do not like our family name, so expect those animals to be ruthless."
Weiss could feel her heart beating at an incredible pace and shook a little. "Y-You'll protect me…right, daddy?"
Lawine took a breath. "I won't be around you all the time, Weiss. This is why I am having you train."
"Huh? What do you mean, daddy?" Weiss asked.
"Just like your sister, you will be learning how to defend yourself. And no, I will not have you trying to become some kind of huntress. This is only to ensure you can handle yourself if any of those animals take an attempt at your life." Lawine explained.
"I-I can't train…I'm not good enough." Weiss muttered.
"Then make yourself good enough. I will not change my mind on this, so you better be prepared this weekend. I already called for a trainer." Lawine said.
Weiss looked to the ground. "Y-Yes, sir."
"Good. Now go on and return to your room. I have to deal with some paperwork, and then I'll have to deal with those animals outside our home." Lawine looked out of the window in anger.
Weiss slowly backed away, since she knew her father was getting angry. "O-Okay…I love you, daddy."
Lawine said nothing and continued working on his paperwork. Weiss frowned and left her father's room, closing the door behind her. She thought about what her father said about not being there all the time. It made her imagine being alone with the kinds of Faunus that hurt her mother.
D-Daddy's right…I need to learn how to fight.
Weiss continued to walk to her room, but ran into her big sister, who was standing outside Weiss' room.
"Weiss, how'd it go?" Winter asked.
All Weiss could do was shake and hug her sister. "W-Winter, is it true? D-Did a Faunus hurt mommy?"
The sixteen year old Schnee could only take a breath and nod. "Yes, Weiss, but I wanted you to know that while it was a Faunus, it wasn't one the ones you see out there. The ones who hurt mother were acting out of anger and hate, so you can't think of them all as bad people."
"B-But…they hurt mommy." Weiss pulled away and clenched her little fist. "And daddy told me I have to train…I…I don't know if I can…but if it means to keep the bad people from hurting me, then I'll do it."
Winter frowned at that. "No…You can't be trained this early. Look, I'll talk to father and-."
"No! I want to do this…I need to…So mommy won't get hurt again." Weiss sniffled at the thought of someone hurting her mother again.
"Mom won't get hurt like that again, Weiss. Please, let me speak with father about this. I'm sure he can have you trained when you're older." Winter offered.
Weiss shook her head and grabbed her sister's hand while feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "D-Don't talk to daddy…I wanna learn to fight. Like you. Please."
Winter looked down the hall and back to her sister. "I can't, Weiss…I just can't watch you do this to yourself. Father did the same to me and it wasn't something I want you to have to go through."
"Y-You don't think I can handle it?" Weiss asked with a sad tone.
Winter pulled her little sister into a hug. "This isn't about handling the training…You're eight, Weiss…You don't deserve to have to go through this in the first place!" Winter felt her heart racing at the thought of her sister having to go through the hell she went through.
Weiss tried to pull away, but Winter wouldn't let up. "Let go!"
"Only if you promise to not let father do this to you!" Winter hugged her tighter.
"Daddy won't always be there to protect me! And neither will you…or mommy…or anyone! I have to learn, Winter!" Weiss shouted.
Winter felt a tear drop and let go of her little sister. "I only want what's best for you."
Weiss sniffled. "T-Then let me train…Please."
"I…I will…but only if I am there to make sure you'll be okay." Winter said.
"Okay…Thank you, Winter." Weiss leaned in and hugged her sister again.
Winter wrapped her arms around Weiss and felt another tear fall.
I failed you.
Back to the present day, Weiss felt Ruby hug her. "H-Huh?" Weiss looked over and saw Ruby was hugging her. "W-What are you doing?"
Ruby held the heiress tighter. "You weren't saying a word…I was scared. Weiss…Please tell me what's wrong with everything…Your family…Velvet…Please tell me."
Weiss tried to pull away and heard the door open. When she looked over, she was shocked to see Velvet and Coco walking in. "N-no…Not again."
Ruby looked over when Weiss said that and asked. "Coco, Velvet? What are you two doing here?"
Velvet walked over. "I need to make things right."
The name of Weiss' father is Avalanche in German by the way.
To WOWierdness- The set amount of words for this story is at least 3k at the moment. I find that I can write a good amount for certain stories, but only when I'm in the mood for it. At the moment of writing this, I've been very happy to write this one, which is why I'm posting it frequently. Also, I almost always write replies to guest reviews here.
To JJ- Thanks. I honestly don't like making her go through something like that, but like the other things I've done, it lets me learn how to write this kind of situation. And this chapter even showed more on how that breakdown really affected her.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 5. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 6.
