Ice and Fire
Heeled white boots clacked sharply as she strode through the grey tiled corridor. Her ice-blue eyes were glued to the holo-tablet tucked in the crook of her arm, scanning over the lines of text scrolled across its transparent surface. She cut an intimidating figure, dressed in light-grey slacks and a tailed ash vest with a crisp, high-collared, blue jacket that ended at her ribcage thrown over top. A tattered red cloth held up her hair in a high ponytail that was a far cry from how she used to wear it. It was shorter, reaching only her shoulders, and was no longer off to one side of her head.
The rapier and short-saber sheathed at her hips rattled faintly as she turned a corner without looking up, the route she was taking long since committed to subconscious memory. The few people she passed in the hallways moved out of her way without a word, bowing their heads slightly as she passed. She acknowledged none of them as she passed, fully engrossed in her reading. This didn't bother any of them, though.
After all, as Vice President of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee was an incredibly busy woman.
Weiss reached her destination after a few more twists and turns. The frosted glass doors slid open with a hiss at her approach, and the two burly men dressed in black posted to either side snapped to attention as she passed. The room she entered was large and lavish. The carpet was a dark gray, flecked with bits of blue and white. To the right side was a large, glossy black desk, behind which sat a young faunus woman in a sharply cut burgundy suit. To the left, against a wall of glass that overlooked a sprawling metropolis, were four leather-upholstered chairs surrounding a low table with a glass top. The wall opposite the door was constructed of large panels of dark wood, and there was a sleek set of double doors set almost seamlessly within it.
The faunus' large rabbit ears twitched in response to her entrance, and she looked up as Weiss walked in. "Weiss," she called to the other woman, but got no response as she continued right through to the other doors. "Weiss, you have-" she tried again, rising slightly from her seat, but her silver-haired boss was already disappearing into her office.
Velvet Scarlatina sighed exasperatedly. "Oh well," she mumbled to herself, sitting down again and turning her eyes back to the computer screen before her. She brushed back a strand of long, brown hair, and smiled slightly. "I did try and warn her."
Situated on the second-to-top floor of the Schnee Dust Company's headquarters building, Weiss' office held a spectacular view of Atlas. The city stretched for miles in every direction, a concrete and steel jungle of towering skyscrapers and dark alleys. Both the back and left walls were constructed of glass, allowing the city to be seen in its full splendor. The carpet in here was the same as that in her outer-office. There was a soft-looking couch set against the right hand wall, flanked by end-tables of the same dark wood of the doors. Beside that were a few grey filing cabinets. Immediately to the left of the entrance was a large bookcase, followed by another couch, and then some sort of potted plant in the corner that Velvet had insisted she buy. Hanging on the wall to the right of the door were various plaques, accolades, and awards, all framed and hung neatly. Weiss' desk, made in the same sleek manner as Velvet's, rested in the center of the room, toward the back wall.
Weiss stepped around its edge, and set her tablet down on top of it. The smart surface interfaced with it immediately. A holographic display appeared at eye-level, a blown up version of what had been on the device. She removed her sword belt and hung it on a hook on the side of the desk with practiced ease before sliding into the black, leather chair. A keyboard lit up beneath her fingers, and she began furiously typing a response to the document she had been reading this entire time. So engrossed she was in this action that she didn't notice there were two people in the room with her, seated on the couch in the corner.
They waited for her to notice, but upon realizing that that didn't seem a likely possibility, one of them decided to take matters into their own hands. Weiss showed no reaction as the person approached her desk, nor when they took a deep breath and raised their hands above their head.
When those hands came hurtling back down, though, loudly smacking the top of her desk, accompanied by an enthusiastically sung, "Hellooooooo!" Weiss jumped several inches out of her chair in startled surprise. The carefully constructed sentence she'd been in the midst of typing became a jumbled mess of letters as her hand spasmed across the keyboard in time with her furiously pounding heart. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she grit her teeth and raised her head, preparing to verbally eviscerate whoever it was that had interrupted her.
The scathing words died in her throat as she met wide, aquamarine eyes framed by bright ginger hair and an impossibly wide smile.
"Nora?" Weiss asked incredulously, and the other woman's smile somehow got bigger.
"Hi, Weiss!"
"Why are you-Where's…" her gaze slid behind the Huntress dancing excitedly from foot to foot to the couch behind her, seeing the woman's green-clad partner resting quietly on it. "Ren."
He nodded at her. "Weiss."
"When did you two get here?" She rotated her chair to face them fully, the computer screen forgotten for another time.
"Forever ago," Nora complained, pressing herself into one of the two lavish seats in front of Weiss' desk.
Ren sighed as he stood and walked forward to take the other. "We arrived in the city about an hour ago," he corrected. "We've been waiting here for twenty minutes."
"I hope none of my staff gave you any trouble."
"Nope," Nora commented cheerily. "Velvet got us right up here without any issues."
"Speaking of which…" Weiss reached out and pressed a small button. "Velvet-"
"I tried to tell you, Weiss," the faunus woman interrupted her through the speakers. She was perhaps the only one of Weiss's employees who would dare to do so, and probably the only one who called her by her first name. Being Weiss' teammate allotted her some special privileges. "You were too wrapped up in that merger proposal to hear me, though," she said lightly.
"Yes, well…"
"Call me if you need anything else," Velvet chuckled.
Weiss removed her finger from the button. Velvet had certainly changed from their time in Beacon. No longer the shy, timid girl who hid behind others, she was now strong, kind, and outspoken. Of course, Weiss mused to herself, coming back from vacation to find that your closest friends had been viciously slaughtered would certainly change a person. Most people would have gone the opposite direction than Velvet had, however. She honestly didn't know how the young woman did it. The members of Team RWBY had all but fallen apart after losing just one of their numbers. If it had been more, if Weiss had lost all three of her teammates like Velvet had…
No one could ever claim Velvet Scarlatina was weak. Not without Weiss divorcing their head from their shoulders, at any rate. Maybe that's why I insisted she be my assistant; I need all the strength I can get.
Her thoughts returned to the present as Nora laughed. Ren, as usual, remained quiet, his face the perpetually stoic mask it always was. Velvet wasn't the only one who had changed, Weiss thought. Ren had never been one for speaking up or expressing himself, but ever since the Siege, the young man had grown even more quiet, talking only the bare minimum or when keeping Nora's antics under control, the latter for which Weiss was eternally grateful. The hyperactive girl had developed a rather annoying game in their senior year she had enthusiastically named "Sproing!" that involved playing with Weiss' still-long hair in the most aggravating way. Ren had quickly put an end to it, thankfully.
Other than that, though, the young Huntsman kept to himself. Maybe it was different when he was with his team, but from everything Weiss saw, Ren seemed even more inaccessible than he had been when they originally met. She knew he hadn't gone the way of her onetime teammate, as she could still detect emotion when he spoke, but still, she hadn't seen him smile for years, not even for Nora.
"Well…" Weiss trailed off for a moment before allowing a small smile to pull at her mouth. "It's good to see you both." It had been months since she seen either Team JNPR or Blake, and she missed them all quite a bit.
"We missed you, too!" Nora said cheekily, as if reading her mind.
"It's good to see you as well," Ren replied. He studied her for a moment before saying, "You look tired, Weiss."
She dismissed his statement with a wave, "Nonsense. I'm perfectly fine."
Ren glanced around the room. "Where's your bodyguard? I figured he'd be her, too."
"I've sent him to investigate another possible hideout."
Ren sighed again. "I feel you've misunderstood the point of a bodyguard. You're supposed to keep them close to your body, so that they can guard it."
Weiss met his magenta eyes with narrowed, ice-blue ones while Nora laughed beside him. "I can take care of myself, Ren. Besides, he knew you two were going to be here."
He raised an eyebrow. "We didn't even know we were going to be here until this morning, Weiss. I told you we'd make it if our mission concluded timely. How exactly did he know?"
Weiss glanced away, avoiding the slightly accusing glint in Ren's eyes. "I…may have manipulated the truth a bit."
"Oh, he's not going to be happy."
Nora giggled. "Still though, I'm surprised he was willing to leave his precious Snowflake in somebody else's care."
Weiss felt her cheeks turn a bright red, and she glared at the other woman. As she opened her mouth to retort, though, a soft ding sounded from inside her vest, where she kept her personal scroll. Only friends and acquaintances had its address, and she only ever used it for non-work related conversation. "You," she pointed a finger at Nora as her other hand slid into her vest to retrieve the device. "Do not think this is finished," she warned. Nora just smirked at her. Weiss slid open the pale blue scroll, and found a small bubble insistently jumping up and down in the corner, indicating she had a new message. She pressed the icon, and was surprised to find that it was from Ozpin.
Ren and Nora watched as her face grew darker and darker with each passing second as she read. When she had finished she sat there for a moment before closing her scroll and returning it to her pocket. She pressed the button for Velvet again.
"Velvet?" Her voice was low, almost angry.
"Yes, Weiss?"
"What do I have scheduled for tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? Hmm…" a moment of silence followed while Velvet presumably pulled up the next day's itinerary. "Tomorrow you've got an inspection of mining facility #5 at nine and lunch with your father at noon."
"Good, so I won't be missing anything important. Cancel them both. We'll reschedule the inspection when next we get the chance."
"Your father-"
"Can go fuck himself, and I'll tell him as much to his face if he says anything. I'm taking a temporary leave of absence. Ms. Spektra will be taking over all my duties until I return. Understood?"
There was no reply from the intercom, but a moment later the door to Weiss' office opened, Velvet leaning against the doorframe. "I understand, Weiss, but what's going on?" It had been a long time since Velvet had seen her friend this worked up. Nora leaned in and Ren watched closely, his own interest piqued.
"I got a message from Ozpin," Weiss said quietly.
"A mission?" Ren asked.
"More of an…operation. Roman's here."
That simple statement had a massive impact. Time in the room seemed to halt, the occupants frozen as those words sunk in.
"He's here?" Ren asked in a voice barely above a whisper. Beside him, Nora's smile was gone, her eyes hard. "In Atlas?"
Weiss nodded. "According to Ozpin."
"How? Why?"
"I don't know, but Ozpin's requesting my help, since I'm already here. I suppose its luck that you are both here too." She looked at them. "Asking you to help out with the crime problem we're having appears to have been one of my better decisions."
"Seems that way." Ren's face was serious, his voice cold and hard. "When do we move?"
"Tomorrow." Weiss looked up at her teammate, whose head was bowed. She noticed that the young faunus was trembling. "Velvet..." she said gently.
"I'm fine, Weiss," came the tremulous reply. "Don't worry, I'll stay here, keep the company running, keep Spektra in line." She swallowed. "I'll get my network out too, see if I can't pick anything up that will help you guys."
Weiss smiled gently at her. "Thank you." She knew how much it must be tearing at the Huntresses' heart, learning that the man partially responsible for the death of her teammates was so close. She wasn't going to question why the other woman didn't want to join the operation, because quite frankly she herself felt like running away. She felt that familiar, hollow ache in her chest as thoughts of her leader flitted through her mind. Weiss pulled herself from her chair before she could sink any further into her thoughts, though. She had been down that road far too many times in the past four years. "I promise I'll keep you informed, Velvet."
"And I'll let you know if anything pops."
Weiss nodded and strapped her sword back around her waist, adjusting it until her weapons rested just where she liked them. "Come," she spoke as she moved to the door, "we've got preparations to make."
"Preparations?" Nora asked with a small tilt of her head and both she and Ren rose from their seats.
"Yes," Weiss said tersely through gritted teeth, remembering the other part of Ozpin's message. "It appears we're going to have some visitors."
Yang was frozen, her wide eyes fixed unblinkingly to the dark stone statue towering over her. Blake didn't realize she had stopped for a few steps. When she did, she looked over her shoulder.
"Yang?" She rotated the rest of her body around when she got no response. She noticed her partner's gaze, and followed it back. "Ah, shit," she murmured quietly when she saw what exactly it was that had grabbed Yang's attention. She had seen it so many times that she honestly hadn't thought about it. It was a large boulder whose front was a flat, glossy surface, upon which several neat columns of names were inscribed. The whole thing was set in the center of a ring of paved stones and a circle of dirt that in the summer would be filled with various types of flowers. Atop the rock, carved delicately from marble, stood probably the last thing Yang wanted to see. Cloak swirling about her as she held her scythe diagonally across her back, the blade curving up behind her, Ruby Rose stood forever immortalized in exquisite detail.
Yang was having trouble breathing. It felt like something was resting heavily on her chest, crushing all the air from her lungs. It was one thing to have nightmares about her sister's death, to replay the scene over and over in her had. It was quite another entirely to be met with a likeness of Ruby so life-like she felt like she could reach out and grab her hand. Her little sister smiled gently down at her, and Yang felt her stomach retch and her legs tremble. Even if it wasn't really Ruby, she didn't deserve that smile. She had failed her. A hand slid onto her shoulder, but she didn't react.
"It's the memorial for the Siege," Blake said quietly from beside her.
Yang swallowed. "Why-" Her voice seized up.
"Because she led us through it. Without her, Beacon would have fallen, and there would be a lot more than fifty-three names on that list." Blake met the blank eyes of her friend and leader. "From here, she can do what she always wanted to; inspire and give hope to everyone who sees her." Blake's hand slid down her arm until she grabbed Yang's own, interlacing their fingers. "C'mon," she said gently, pulling Yang away from the memorial.
The blonde gave the statue one last, lingering look, before turning and bowing her head. They set off once more toward their destination, Yang squeezing Blake's hand tightly. She didn't mind.
It wasn't much longer before they reached the alumni dorms. Set along the northern edge of Beacon's campus, the grey brick, two-story buildings served as temporary housing for any visiting graduates and their teammates, if they had any; not every team stayed together after leaving Beacon. Each floor had a maximum capacity of two four-man cells, meaning between the five buildings, Beacon had the ability to house up to twenty full alumni teams at once. The layout was simple enough, one large living space with an attached kitchen and a bathroom on either side behind the kitchen. On both sides, across from the bathrooms, were rooms that were slightly larger than those found in the main dorms for current students, each with two bunk beds. There was plenty of space, and since there was never a large amount of returning alumni at once, most teams or individuals got entire floors to themselves.
If Blake remembered correctly, which wasn't really much of an 'if', then JNPR had been assigned to Dorm #2's first floor. She moved to the door and rapped lightly on the wood.
"Coming!" somebody called from within, and Yang let go of Blake's hand quickly. The faunus didn't say anything, though she immediately missed the warmth. A moment later the door opened, revealing a casually dressed Pyrrha Nikos. She was still in as good a shape as ever, Yang noted. And still as beautiful. She was wearing a maroon, slim-fitting cowl neck sweater and dark-washed jeans, and her crimson hair was gathered in a loose ponytail. Emerald eyes lit up in excitement when she noticed who was there. "Blake!" she exclaimed, pulling the other woman in for a tight hug.
"Hello, Pyrrha," Blake smiled as she returned the embrace. "It's good to see you."
"Likewise!" She pulled back. "It's been how long now?"
"A month or two, I think. How's the leg?"
Pyrrha snorted. "Still a pain in my ass," she reached down and tapped her left thigh with the back of her knuckles, and the muffled sound of metal responded. "Probably gonna have to switch in the Winter core soon; cold's been making it stiff lately. Speaking of which, what am I doing? Sorry! Come in!" She stepped back and opened the door wider. Blake stepped through first, letting out a small sigh of relief at the cozy warmth that filled the room.
That was when Pyrrha saw Yang.
Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth fell open a little in surprise. "Yang?" she whispered, unbelieving.
The brawler didn't respond. She found she was unable to meet the Huntresses' gaze, and kept her head down. She nervously shifted her weight from foot to foot, not at all sure what to do with this situation. She hadn't thought of what meeting her old friends would be like.
Blake glanced between the two of them, anxiously chewing the inside of her cheek. She hadn't been sure how this was going to play out, to be honest. She was preparing to step in and suggest that maybe she should just come back herself later, when Pyrrha moved. She approached Yang slowly, before gently wrapped her arms around her shoulders. The blonde's head shot up in surprise, but Pyrrha took no note.
"P-Pyrrha?" Yang stuttered, completely caught off guard by her friend's actions.
"We missed you," Pyrrha said quietly, still holding onto her tightly. Those words struck Yang, and there was a sharp stab in her chest.
"I…um…"
Pyrrha pulled away and held Yang out at arm's length, a kind smile on her face. "It's good to see you, Yang."
"I…y-you too…" The funny thing was, as much as she was saying it so that Pyrrha would just let her go, she found that she actually meant it. It was…good to see Pyrrha. Hugging notwithstanding. She could see Blake watching the two women with a smile.
Pyrrha nodded before dropping her hands heading back into the room, towards the kitchen. "I was just about to have some hot spiced cider," she said over her shoulder. "Would you guys like some?"
Blake followed after her. "That sounds wonderful, Pyrrha, thank you."
Yang stood on the doorstep in silence, still hesitant, still unsure. "Yang," Pyrrha called, and her lilac eyes focused on her, "what are you still doing out there? Get in here!"
She stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her. Blake motioned for her, and Yang walked toward her.
The warmth spreading through her chest had nothing to do with the temperature.
A/N: See? Not all pain! Not all the time!
Whew, so that was a chapter. Lookit, everyone's coming back! whoooo!
Writing Weiss, Pyrrha, and the rest was really refreshing, I must admit. I love Blake and Yang, but everybody else is fun too, and this really opens up the character side of this story.
As for the chapter itself, I won't lie, it was initially supposed to be very different. Weiss' part was supposed to be the smaller section, but she really just went ahead and stole the show there, didn't she? I'll save the rest of the Yang/Blake/Pyrrha for next chapter.
So, little hints about some more stuff. Poor Velvet, huh? I was surprised no one wondered why Ozpin mentioned her during the whole revenge thing last chapter. Anyway, you now know why I designed Weiss the way I did. professional clothes and all that jazz. The real question, though, is what she's done while she's been VP. Weiss' got plenty of stuff left that we'll be finding out, like the deal with her father
Okay, I think that's enough ranting and shit on my end. Please, review and let me know what you guys thought of this chapter. I still love you (despite many of you claiming I don't)
Oh, 'fore I forget. Jaune's design is finished and up over on my DA account, same username as my one here
Until next time, my friends!