The sun had been rising over Atlas for an hour before it was high enough to shine into the windows of the Schnee family estate. People were beginning to fill the streets below; on their way to work, or out to run errands. Airships could be seen in the air above the city walls, flying in and around the city. Atlas was too big to be patrolled by men on foot alone. There were still men on the walls surrounding the city, but the airships' speed and ability to safely stray outside the walls made them a necessary addition.
Weiss flinched as the sun shone directly through her window and onto her face. Her eyes flickered and cracked open. Raising a hand to shield her eyes, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table and, seeing what time it was, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.
Just as she was beginning to drift into a pleasant state of half-sleep, a knock at the door dragged her back to consciousness. Weiss grumbled under her breath as she rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the door. Whoever was knocking had better have a damn good reason for waking her up.
They knocked again.
Weiss' upper lip twitched in irritation.
"Miss Weiss? Are you awake?" a quiet female voice asked.
Weiss sighed. Coral, why you? She could never bring herself to me mad at Coral; the girl always looked so… vulnerable. And Weiss really wanted to yell at someone. Why couldn't she, on this day of all days, sleep in for an hour or two?
Weiss swung the door open and forced a small smile onto her face. "Good morning, Coral."
Coral smiled at Weiss. She stood half a head shorter than Weiss, with short-cut, strawberry blonde hair and pale grey eyes, and wore simple Schnee maid livery.
"I am now, Coral," Weiss sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "What's the matter?"
"There's… someone who wants to speak to you."
That piqued Weiss' interest and she perked up. "Thank you, Coral," Weiss smiled more genuinely this time. "I'll get dressed and be right there."
Coral bowed with another smile and left. Weiss watched her walk for a second, thinking. About damn time. She closed the door and hurried into the bathroom. After taking a hurried shower, tying a rough ponytail and dressing into a plain—for her tastes—outfit, Weiss stepped out of her chamber and hurried down the hall.
Servants bowed as she passed, and Weiss almost made a point of at least nodding back. Some of them—the ones who worked directly for her, or those she'd known since she was a child—she stopped to talk to. They all seemed grateful for her care and concern; their polite smiles widened into grins when she greeted them by name.
A few minutes later, Weiss opened the door to her office and slipped inside. It wasn't a big room; no larger than her bedroom. There was a desk with a high-backed chair behind it, and two soft chairs positioned in front of it. There was a window along the length of the left wall and smaller one behind her chair. The walls were decorated with detailed paintings and the floor was covered in a well-kept Ursa Major skin rug.
Weiss rounded her desk in a flash and thumped into her chair. She opened her scroll and placed it on a small receiver set into the desk. The screen of the scroll lit up, displaying a keyboard, and a holographic screen appeared in the air above the desk. Weiss' fingers danced across the keyboard and the screen's display blinked on.
Welcome, Weiss.
Weiss glanced out the window as she waited the home screen to load. An airship caught her attention. It was smaller than the others and looked like it was heading towards the estate's landing pad. Weiss couldn't quite tell from where she sat but… it looked like a Vale ship. Vale's and Atlas' ships had similar designs—thanks to Ozpin and Ironwood's constant collaboration—but there were slight differences.
A cheerful tone rang out from her scroll. Weiss dismissed the airship—it didn't matter—and turned back to her desk. The home screen had appeared on the hologram in front of her, and a blue light was blinking in the corner.
Weiss tapped at a few keys and the blue blip grew to engulf the entire screen, then it went black. Colour reappeared a second later and showed Weiss' caller, wearing an amused smile.
Weiss took a breath. "Neptune."
"Weiss." Neptune's grin widened almost imperceptibly before shrinking again almost instantly. Weiss noticed. "Did I wake you up?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow. She'd inspected herself in the mirror before leaving her room; she didn't look that bad. Certainly not of her usual standard, she'd willingly admit, but she'd thought this call was going to be important.
"Any news?"
Neptune snickered into his hand. Weiss gave him a bland look that brought him up short. He cleared his throat and took a breath.
"You were right." As soon as he got started, Neptune was suddenly all business. "There's definitely something going on here. I couldn't get any details—Schnee Company officials are keeping everything locked up tight—but there's definitely a surplus of Dust coming into the city."
"A surplus?" Weiss asked. "You're sure?"
Neptune nodded. "Coming in. I don't know where it goes after that. I managed to snatch a look at a manifest while I was snooping around. It said there was ten tonnes of Dust in the last shipment, but there was definitely at least twelve coming in."
Weiss rubbed at her eyes as she sighed. "Twelve tonnes… Gods… We usually send eight."
Neptune raised an eyebrow. "So why the sudden increase?"
"I don't know." Weiss spat, frustrated. "I'd thought that a sudden increase to ten tonnes was odd, that's why I asked you to look into it. But if there's even more than the manifests say…"
"You didn't notice the deficit on your end?"
"No. That's what bothers me most. There's no record here of any Dust going missing since…" Weiss tapped at the keyboard, and a smaller screen appeared in the corner of the display. "Two years ago. We've been secure ever since the White Fang was disbanded. Who else would rob us? Who else would be able to?"
"I don't know, Weiss," Neptune said. He pursed his lips and rubbed at his chin in thought. "I don't know. I couldn't find anything here; what I do know I had to work out through observation. Hell, I might still be wrong."
Weiss sighed. Even if Neptune was wrong about the extra Dust being moved, there was definitely something going on. And she had to get to the bottom of it. No one else was paying it any attention. She wasn't sure if they just hadn't noticed, or if they were purposely ignoring it. And she wasn't sure which was more worrying. Was their security really that lax? Or did they have a traitor in their midst?
"Weiss?" Neptune sounded concerned.
Weiss looked up, faked a small smile and sat back. It didn't fool Neptune for a second. He sighed.
"We're going to sort this out, alright? We'll find out what's going on," he reassured her.
Weiss smiled again. It came a bit easier this time.
"It's all well and good to say that," she rebutted. "But I don't know how we're going to. I can't find any evidence of missing Dust here in Atlas, and I'm sure even if I went to the warehouses, there'd be no evidence there either!"
"If we don't have any evidence," Neptune said, "then we have to get some. If there really is more Dust coming into Mistral, then we're more likely to find evidence for it here. Hell, if we're lucky, we'll find the Dust."
Weiss nodded silently as she pondered his words.
"If Sun was here, I'd get him to help," Neptune continued. "But I haven't heard from him in weeks. Scarlet and Sage have been off Gods know where for almost two months now…"
Weiss smiled nostalgically as Neptune talked about his old teammates. It made Weiss think of hers. Blake, the quiet but firm warrior for justice, always willing to lend anyone a helping hand, no matter the cost; Yang, the fiery thrill seeker who fought whatever fight she could get her hands on; and Ruby…
Gods… Ruby…
Weiss shuddered and closed her eyes as she pictured Ruby's face. Her innocent, loving smile. Her sparkling, silver eyes. The untroubled, adorable face she always wore when she slept. Her cheerful, ringing laugh.
The devastated look she'd had when Weiss had pushed her away.
The tears. The screams. The sobs.
The blood.
"Weiss?" Neptune called her name again and Weiss snapped out of her memories. She dashed away the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.
"You okay?" Neptune asked.
"Yeah… I just… Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Weiss gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
"So what are we going to?" Neptune asked as if nothing had happened. She was grateful for the change of subject. Back to business, Weiss.
"I at least need to get this red tape cleared," he continued. "I can't find anything out with everything locked up and out of sight."
She shook her head. "Me suddenly giving you clearance to look through shipping manifests will look more suspicious than anything we've found on them so far. If someone is working within the company to accomplish this, then we can't afford to tip them off."
Neptune nodded. "So…"
"I'm coming to Mistral."
He blinked in surprise. "Oh… really? Are you sure? Won't that be suspicious as well?"
Weiss shook her head with a smile. "It shouldn't be. I can spread the story that I'm shipping out on a mission for a few weeks. I've done it before. Whenever I get bored around here, I take a job outside the city. No one will think twice about it."
Neptune smiled. "Well it'll be nice to have you around. I could certainly use the help. I'll finally get to see the big Schnee Heiress in action!"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. The evil Ice Queen attacks!"
"Hey, your words, not mine." Neptune gave her an amused grin.
Weiss rolled her eyes again and decided to move the conversation along. "I'll leave Atlas tonight. I should be there within a day or so."
He nodded. "I'll meet you at the landing pad. Let me know when you're an hour out."
Weiss nodded and reached out to end the call.
"Actually, before you go!" Neptune interjected.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes?"
"Have you… uh… talked to Blake recently?"
Weiss blinked in surprise. "Blake? No, I haven't. Not for a couple of weeks. Why?"
He frowned, disappointed. "I was just wondering if she'd seen Sun recently. He up and left with no warning, and I still haven't heard from him; I'm starting to get a little worried."
Weiss smiled. "I'll call her later on today, before I go, and ask her for you."
Neptune smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, Weiss. Talk to you later."
She nodded and ended the call. The screen blinked off for a second before returning to the home screen.
Weiss slumped back in her chair and started to think. What was she going to do? She had to go to Mistral, that much was obvious. But what could she and Neptune do once she got there? They didn't have anywhere to start, they had no leads, and they weren't even a hundred percent sure that anything was wrong in the first place. Weiss was convinced something was but, logically, she had to admit she was acting mostly on intuition.
She sighed and tapped a key on her scroll. She waited for a few seconds in silence, waiting for the call to go through. There was a small beep to let her know the call had been answered, and Coral's voice came through the speaker.
"Miss Weiss?"
"Coral," Weiss said, "can you pack a small suitcase for me? Combat clothes and… one formal outfit."
"Yes, Miss Weiss," Coral answered. Weiss swore she could hear her bowing. "Miss Weiss?"
"Yes, Coral?"
"Are you going on another mission?"
"Yes, Coral. I shouldn't be gone for any longer than two weeks, so a small case will do. Can you make sure all my Dust pouches are refilled as well?"
"Yes, Miss Weiss. Should I tell your father you're leaving?"
Weiss grimaced. "Wait at least until after I've gone, and then only if he asks you."
"Yes, Miss Weiss. I'll see to it at once."
"I'll be leaving tonight," Weiss said. "There's no rush just yet."
"I'll see to it at once, Ma'am." Her voice sounded a little firmer.
Weiss smiled. "Thank you, Coral." Then she ended the call. She sat back with a smirk and giggled quietly. It was the only time Coral ever showed any sign of a backbone: whenever Weiss suggested she take a rest, or take her time. The girl was quiet and shy, but she was loyal and devoted to her duties. Weiss was always grateful to have her around.
A ringing rang out of her scroll. Weiss looked at the screen and frowned slightly when she saw Coral's name. Why would she be calling back so soon? She answered the call, curious.
"Coral? What's the matter?"
"Uh… You have a… visitor, Miss Weiss." The girl sounded terrified. Weiss' frown deepened. Who would be visiting this early in the morning?
"Who is it?"
"Uh… I… I don't know, Ma'am. Apparently an old friend from Beacon."
Who the hell…
"Send them in, Coral. Thank you."
"At once, Miss Weiss."
Weiss stood up and paced her room. No one had told her they were visiting. She hadn't even spoken to anyone from Beacon in weeks. She knew Blake would call later—Blake never forgot Weiss' birthday—but hadn't expected anyone to visit. Maybe Pyrrha…
Still frowning, Weiss sat back at her desk and waited. There was a knock at the door a minute later.
"Come in," Weiss called out, getting to her feet to greet her visitor.
The doorknob turned and the door swung inwards. Weiss' eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling when she saw who walked in.
"Hey, Weiss."
"Yang… Hi."
They stood in silence, just looking at each other. Yang was wearing a small smile, while Weiss just gaped. She snapped herself out of her shock and smiled.
"It's good to see you, Yang." Weiss said, genuinely meaning it. She'd spent four years with Yang, and hadn't seen her for a year. She hadn't realised it until now, but Weiss had missed all her teammates terribly.
"What're you doing here?" Weiss continued. "Oh! Sorry! Sit down, sit down." Yang smiled and sat in a chair in front of Weiss' desk while Weiss sat behind it.
"Sorry, I was just… surprised to see you," Weiss stammered. "How are you? How's Blake?"
Yang smiled. "I'm good; Blake as well. She'd be here too, no doubt, but she was busy back home. Lots of students to deal with, lots to do—you remember how we were at Beacon. It keeps her on her toes."
"That's great," Weiss said with a smile. "So what's going on? What're you doing in Atlas?
Golden hair shimmered in the light as Yang shrugged. "I was in the area, on a job. Thought I'd stop by and say hello."
Weiss laughed. "Sure you were. A job? Around here? What job could bring you near Atlas?"
Yang shrugged again. "I was chasing down some small-time thugs from Vale. They apparently got well-funded and smart all of a sudden, killed some innocent people and bolted."
Weiss frowned. "Killed people? We got a report a little while ago that two employees at the Vale branch of the company had been murdered."
Yang nodded. "That was them. They both worked for the Schnee Dust Company, but there was no apparent motive behind the killings. They were… random."
Lines formed on Weiss forehead as her frown deepened.. "So you caught them?"
"Yeah, they're locked up on an airship, ready to go back to Vale."
"Good," Weiss nodded. "I'd be interested to hear what they have to say."
"Me too," Yang said, cracking her knuckles menacingly. "Believe me."
Weiss smiled. Yang hadn't changed at all.
"So anyway," Yang said. "How about you?"
Weiss waved a hand dismissively. "Oh nothing much. Helping around the company, going on jobs. Nothing that exciting."
"Jobs, huh?" Yang asked.
Weiss nodded.
"Alone?"
Weiss' heart sank. I should've known… "Sometimes," Weiss said, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Neptune visits from time to time. Pyrrha sometimes stops by with Jaune. But… Yes. Mostly alone." She couldn't stop the hint of regret that slipped into her voice.
Yang nodded, all traces of a smile gone.
"You didn't come to wish me a happy birthday, did you, Yang?" Weiss asked.
Yang hesitated, then shook her head. "I honestly didn't know it was today."
Weiss nodded and sighed. "So what did you come to talk about?"
"Do I really need to say it?"
Weiss felt her heart creeping up into her throat. She'd been dreading this conversation for over a year now.
"Ruby," Weiss said. Her voice broke slightly. Yang didn't seem to notice.
"Ruby," Yang agreed. She met Weiss' eyes, locking Weiss in place with the force of her gaze.
Weiss swallowed. "What's there to talk about?"
Yang raised an eyebrow. "You know, Weiss, I'm trying to stay as calm about this as I can. I told you a long time ago that if you ever hurt her, I'd hurt you, but out of respect for the years we spent together, I'm doing my best here to avoid that. I'd like to think of you as a friend Weiss, I really would. After all we've been through, I could even say I love you—in an almost sisterly way. So I'm doing all I can to stay calm, but—as you're my friend—I think it's only fair to warn you: don't push me."
Anger swelled in Weiss' chest. Who does she think she is? Coming into my house and threatening me? She opened her mouth to say something sharp and cutting, but her inner guilt stopped her.
She's right though, the guilty voice said. You did hurt Ruby. She's not in the wrong here. Just see what she has to say.
Screw that! the anger seemed to shout. She's threatening you in your own damn house! Let her know who's boss.
Yang watched in silence throughout Weiss' internal conflict. After a few seconds of inner debate, Weiss opened her mouth again.
"What do you want, Yang?"
Yang eyed her for a moment, then nodded. "I want an explanation. Not whatever load of crap you fed Ruby to make her feel better. I want to know why you broke my baby sister's heart."
Weiss seized up. Her arms and legs stiffened. Her fingers squeezed the arms of her chair so hard her knuckles turned white.
She didn't even know where to start. What could she say that would make sense? What could she say that wouldn't sound… cruel? Nothing, the guilty voice whispered. It was cruel, you know that.
"I…" Weiss hesitated. "There's nothing I can say that will make it better, Yang. I just… I couldn't deal with it."
Yang's voice was almost a whisper. "Deal with what?"
Weiss felt guilty—horrible—just thinking about it, but she forced herself to choke out the words. "I couldn't deal with Ruby. She was… is… childish."
Yang's voice was ice cold. "You broke her heart because she was 'childish'?"
Weiss shook her head. "It's not that simple… I just… She became very… dependant on me. And there's nothing wrong with that!" she added quickly as Yang's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "But… she was meant to be our leader. She's meant to be a leader, even you know that."
Yang nodded, though she seemed a little uncertain.
"Exactly," Weiss continued. "I just… She needed to be… more. She needs to be able to stand on her own two feet, and not depend on me. She's the kind of person that other people need to depend on and I was afraid that, if I stayed with her, she'd never be able to become that. You saw how overly dependent she was on me; it wasn't going to help her become who she needed to be—who we both know she wanted to be."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "So you did it for her?"
Weiss hesitated. Did I? Really? She shook her head. "Not entirely. I felt like… I felt like I was holding her back. We all saw how she progressed over the years. We all saw the potential she had. All I ever saw was what she could be if she wasn't using me as a crutch. I didn't want to be the thing that kept her from that. I couldn't stand living everyday thinking I was holding her back. So… guilt, I guess. And insecurity. I couldn't handle the pressure of being her… whatever I was."
Yang looked at her feet in silence, thinking. Weiss sat back and waited, looking out the window. They sat in silence for what felt like an hour.
"It didn't work," Yang finally whispered.
Weiss' head snapped around, meeting Yang's suddenly tearful gaze. "W-what?"
"I don't know what you thought would happen if you left," Yang said. "But it didn't work."
"What do you mean?"
"She's miserable, Weiss. She's absolutely miserable. I've never seen her so miserable for so long. Ever since the day you left, she hasn't gotten any better. She stares off into the distance all the time, randomly starts crying. She goes out on missions for the distraction. She throws herself headlong into danger, knowing that a fight for her life will get you out of her head for a few minutes."
Weiss went limp.
Yang just shook her head. "I don't even know what to do. I don't know if anything can make it any better now."
Weiss met Yang's eyes. "I'll come back," she whispered. As guilt-ridden and miserable as Weiss felt knowing the state Ruby was in, a part of her was happy for it: it meant she could go back—and that feeling of happiness made her feel even more guilty.
Yang shook her head. "I don't know what that would do to her. With the state she's in, it might just make things worse."
"Yang, I'll come back!" Weiss got to her feet as her voice rose.
Yang just looked up at her, emotionless. Then she nodded. "Well, if you do, don't make it sudden. She doesn't need anything to rock the boat too hard at the moment. Ease your way back in."
Weiss nodded. It made sense. She slumped back into her seat with a sigh. She couldn't even begin to tell what she was feeling. Misery, relief, love, joy, guilt… All of it blended into a big… mess.
Yang stood. "I'd better go. I've got to get these guys back to Vale."
Weiss nodded. "Yang!" she called out as Yang turned to leave. "How… How did I do?"
Yang met her eyes and hesitated. Then she gave Weiss a small smile. "I'll let it slide this time. See you around, Snow Angel."
Weiss smiled back, and Yang left.
Weiss looked down and reached towards her throat. She grabbed the delicate chain that hung around her neck and pulled it out of her shirt. Dangling gently on the chain was a silver rose; Ruby's symbol. Weiss looked at it, as she often did, and thought of Ruby. Remembered the smile on her face, and the touch of her lips…
Weiss' head was spinning. She hadn't had a birthday this eventful… ever. She'd resigned herself to being hated by Yang, and probably Ruby, forever and yet… Now she had hope. Maybe she could go back to Vale. Maybe she and Ruby could…
After this business in Mistral is dealt with.
Weiss nodded. She couldn't afford to get side-tracked yet. As glad as she was for the chance to be with Ruby again, Weiss knew she still had a job to do. Neptune was waiting in Mistral, and he needed her help to solve this mystery. Yang had told Weiss to ease her way back; she could do that from Mistral.
Maybe I'll call Ruby later tonight… See how she's doing…
Weiss kissed the silver rose and tucked it back under her shirt, then got out of her seat and left the office. She walked through the corridors of the Schnee Estate, towards her bedroom, greeting servants along the way. Coral was probably done with the bag by now; Weiss was ready to leave.