Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
"Life is just a string of variables. I've based entire life around that. Guilty pleasure, dumb luck, it doesn't matter. Everything's just a gamble at the end of a day. Least, that's what it's like for a huntress, right? I mean, for a security guard working for the SDC, life is pretty much mundane. It's routine and predictable. Think about it, what do we really deal with? Mostly overly pushy press members, or the occasional jerk. Every now and then, a vigilante or a robber, I guess. We've been dealing with that kind of stuff ever since we were in Beacon. That's just kid's stuff."
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
"And I'm about as useless as ever. It's not like I do most of the paperwork. Weiss does all of the complicated stuff. When Weiss doesn't, you do. When it comes to the job, you've got more experienced. You know how to deal with insurgencies, and intrusive behavior. That's why you ran things from the background. You knew what to expect. I never had to deal with any of that grittiness. Never needed to…so, what good am I for?"
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
An agitated breath silenced the fuming woman beside her. It didn't stop the torturous clicking though. Metal scraping against metal. "Give me the lighter, Yang, before you set yourself on fire by accident."
"No." Click – whoosh – click. "Think I like it right where it is." Click – whoosh – click. "Karma's a bitch anyway." Click – whoosh – click.
"Idiot…you want to know what your job is." Blake asked as she pinned her ears back. The clicking and constant striking of the flint was beginning to grate on her ears. "Your job is uniting the security team together, keeping them cohesive. You've got a natural charismatic charm, and peppy demeanor. That kind of thing, Yang, that's invaluable."
"Bullshit." Click – whoosh – click.
"No, I'm being honest. Pardon the morbid reality, but, you make things easier on everyone." Blake said, wondering if she shouldn't just take the lighter away. "You make things easier when harsh orders are sent out. When the command to kill on sight comes from you, they know it means something. You don't bring orders like that down from me without putting up a fight. You couldn't be a killer. You could never could bring yourself to do it. To them, that means something."
"Yeah, well, they don't act like it." Yang sighed, deeply, her fingers still fidgeting. "Thankfully, the SDC's forces are built up of people who just act. Orders are orders, simple as that."
"And this bothers you?" Blake asked.
But Yang didn't answer, at least, not at first.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
"That same kind of clinical perspective could be applied to Grimm missions as well. Ruby, she never hesitates when it comes to them. She's colder, more ruthless in that way. There's an edge to her, more like you and Weiss. Then again, Jaune and Velvet are the same…just, sitting around…waiting. Honestly, dunno how I feel about that…or Zhu...I'm the fucked one out of all of us."
"No you aren't."
"Yeah, Blake, I am." Yang sighed, biting her lower lip. A hand running through her long blond hair nervously. "I don't have that same kind of cold rational thinking that keeps you all going…"
"Hmm..." Blake sounded, thinking about that. The infernal clicking continued, and she finally shook her head. "Do you see that as a bad thing?"
Yang paused. "Shouldn't I?"
"I don't…Weiss doesn't…Jaune doesn't blame you. All you did was give a voice to what we were all thinking. There's nothing wrong with that." Blake shrugged, the merciful silence from the flickering lighter allowing her ears to relax. Lilac met her own golden gaze. "Indoctrination isn't always meant out of spite, Yang. It'd be easier if you could just accept things, not fight it. But without you, what regulates our moral code?"
Yang frowned. "What are you trying to say?"
"We all want to be out there, but sooner or later, it all comes down to motivation." Blake replied darkly. "I should have let Weiss go. I should have been able to trust Ruby enough to keep her safe. When it came down to it, I didn't. In my head, if I couldn't go with Weiss, then she had to stay with me."
"But that's normal, right?" Yang refused to think otherwise. "I still don't get whatever the hell you're trying to say...sounds pretty damn convoluted, whatever it is."
"On a purely moral level, where all lives are equivalent…that was selfish as hell...and wrong. In the end, I prioritized Weiss over Ruby." Blake shrugged then, there was no defending it. "I can justify that, by saying Weiss is my mate…my family...if that's the case, I shouldn't have let Ruby go either."
"No," Yang murmured. "Don't say shit like that."
"I have to." Blake said, her voice factual and little else. "Ruby's my family too…I should have stopped her."
"Ruby was going to go into the field come hell or high water." Yang cursed under her breath. "You and I both know that. You couldn't have forced her to stay behind. She was itching to go."
"And that's exactly what I mean by motivation, Yang." Blake said softly. "We all have a place, and yours is here. If something happens to Sun and Ruby, you're the next best shot Zhu has. Ruby knows it, she's not stupid. You weren't benched because of your position at the SDC. That was an excuse…you heard Ruby."
"Did she honestly think something bad was going to go down?"
"I don't know." Blake murmured. "But, I do know this. You know how to keep a family together. If the worst happens, you know how to get the right kind of tough. None of us really knows how to do that. None of us, except for you."
Yang didn't respond, her eyes focused back on the little flame in her grasp.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
Click – whoosh – click.
Aura was not the magical be-all, end-all of healing properties. Sun had been told time and time again to rely on defensive maneuvers. He was not the sort of person with an endless pool of regenerative properties. In fact, his pool of aura was quite low when it came to the average, able-bodied man. In return for this, he had his natural agility and grace. He was nimble when it counted, and in a fight, his adaptability was even more pronounced because of his Faunus heritage.
His leap was longer than most, his prehensile tail added leverage in a fight, and a counterweight for balance. He could hold his body up from his tail alone. Unfortunately, none of this surefootedness and acrobatic skill helped him on the ground. Not against the harsh elements and nature itself. In fact, he was quite unsuited to the types of ground battles that made up most of the northern Grimm attacks.
His only saving grace for any of it? His sight was able to direct him in harsh blizzards, and his heritage was welcomed among many towns that were fearful of humans.
In Atlas, the Faunas tended to segregated themselves by choice, choosing to live well away from the large cities. More often than not, the humans chased them away. Sun and Ruby were two people that worked well together, and were undeterred from either side of the coin. Weiss used that to her advantage to keep a firm grasp of the Grimm infestations in the mines.
When Blake was unable to accompany Ruby, Sun did...and that gave a great deal of power over the dust industry. Now that he was injured though, Weiss regretted relying on Sun at all for such dangerous missions.
To say he was out of commission was putting the matter mildly. He was more than just an injured wreck. He was a man stuck in a bed, unable to move. Green ichor oozed from his bandages, a sign of infection that had them all worried. He needed a proper hospital. The small clinic could only provide antibiotics, painkillers, and basic first aid. That was not enough, not for a man who'd crushed his insides.
Sun needed surgery, but since that wasn't an option, they put him into an induced coma and tripled his aura enhancers.
Weiss sent out a small flight crew to go get Sun, but inwardly she was cursing the fact that she was sending more people into the direct line of danger. It was a stupid order, this she knew. It was the only one she could accept. Just looking at Zhu and thinking of the ramifications made her stomach turn in the worst ways. If Sun didn't get to a proper hospital, he would eventually die a long, protracted death.
Her choice in the matter, was not one well received by the company, or her father.
"Our stock is plummeting." Wilson told Weiss carefully. "Our resources are finite, and you proceed to send help for a single hunter…"
"I'm aware of how it looks." She told him. "I'm willing to take that risk."
"The damage isn't so negligible this time, Weiss."
"I know that."
"Doubtful." Wilson replied. "You've sent aid to a faunus. A Faunus not even under your direct employ."
"I told you, I know that." Weiss was already planning on hearing an earful from her next board meeting. "I didn't have a choice."
"Favoritism is a complicated monster in and of itself." Wilson released a steady stream of smoke from between his lips, sitting at the round table of the meeting room kept at the family home. "Several backers question your loyalty to the company. They wonder if you've given thought to future. Naturally, I've nothing I can say to them."
"Sun needs medical care." Weiss bit out. "I'll take the scrutiny over his death."
"Then you are a foolish woman, Weiss. Most certainly careless of your position, if little else. My hands are tied, and you're the one that bound them." He said softly. "I don't think I need to tell you that speculation has already begun…murmurs of the future. The company knows about Blake's pregnancy, Weiss."
"Well, I haven't exactly been discreet about it." she said mildly. "With all of the trips back and forth to Vale, they'd be stupid not to hazard a guess."
"You might consider the company's view on the subject..." Wilson suggested. "Perhaps offer some sort of compensation to calm their agitated sense of propriety."
"Well thankfully, I don't give a rat's ass about that." Weiss said as she rested her elbow on the table. "Propriety be damned, all they care about is looking down their noses at me. Let them, frankly, I don't care."
"My point, Weiss, is that perhaps you should."
"I'm not going to pretend to be civil about that matter." Her chin tucked itself into her palm. She drank deeply from a glass of dry red wine. "The SDC prides itself with some level of ruthlessness. I'm not about to pretend that I don't see the value in such measures." She considered the red liquid, how close to blood it looked. "The difference is in the way that you and I think. It comes down to the fact that I'm quite indiscriminate about my goals."
Wilson gave Weiss something of a look. "They'll try to clean house of any little vermin they believe to be a threat."
"Oh, I'm counting on that." Weiss said slowly. "They won't take matters sitting down, I don't expect them to. This next generation will be stronger than the last. My children will hold more power financially than I ever could. With Vale adding amendments to the Faunus rights acts left and right, Atlas will be forced to scrutinize our own form of government. Outdated ideals will be put to the test. Given the changes made within the SDC in recent years, we'll be under that looking-glass with a fine toothed comb."
"I don't believe you realize the inherent danger in that."
"I was in Vale when it sat on the verge of civil war. I know better than you think." She poured more wine into her glass then, doing the same for her father. "Putting people into political power means considering who holds that power in the first place."
"That's too simple a view to take." He retorted.
"Is it?" Weiss asked. "Or is it merely the facts?"
"I'd not risk the matter..." Wilson grumbled.
"I would." Weiss replied. "Our company has always backed conservatives, but that's going to change. We're only a few decades away from forcing Atlas's hand into submission. If they don't follow the rest of Remnant into the new age of equality, they face the prospect of war…something that not even Ironwood is dumb enough to provoke. Face it, Father, the Faunus rights act will be striking Atlas, and once it does, the rest of this company will face a long over due overhaul in every policy ever set forth."
Wilson bristled at this. "It's still arguable that if things remain in such bad distaste, that the Faunus could simply move."
"They could debate that, but they won't." Weiss murmured. "Following a large industry, one with solid foundation, is ultimately where political power rests. Without sponsorship, there's no weight to the words people say. Nothing to keep their promises afloat. I'm not saying my methodology is easy, only that the SDC could survive a corporate mutiny. It might even be better for it."
"The answer for all of this is much simpler than you give it credit for." Wilson sighed. "It would be best, I think, to have a human child to be raised as a proper heir. That is all the company truly desires. It's what your backers hope for. Is it truly so impossible to give them that?"
Weiss dodged Wilson's line of thinking. "Isn't it a little rude to discuss a woman's condition, even if you are her father?"
The man rubbed his forehead. "I'm merely asking if your adamancy in Faunus offspring comes from your own ill-health. You were severely injured in the past. A severed spinal cord, you were nearly run through. Huntresses have been told not to carry children for lesser injuries than your own. I've wondered this for a while, what with the strain an unborn child can place on a woman's back…the kind of scar tissue you surely carry on your person is also a factor."
"You won't let that go, will you?" Weiss let out a bitter laugh. "You want the truth? Fine…you're not wrong."After my injuries began to heal, I spoke with Midori about the matter. It's dangerous for me to try."
"How dangerous, Weiss?" Wilson pressed.
"I'm able to get pregnant, but to carry to term? I'd never be able to carry children if the use of dust was involved. Aura inhibitors are too dangerous to use. Chances are good, my lower spine would shatter all over again without my aura. If not resulting in at least paralysis, it could be fatal…"
"I see..." The man sighed deeply.
Weiss only nodded. "For those same reasons, even with an aura, it's ill-advised. Putting that kind of strain on my back for such a long period of time, well, it's a risky proposition. One I simply decided not to take."
"And that doesn't bother you, at all?" He asked.
"At first." Weiss admitted.
"And now?" Wilson's soft words of yanked another long sigh from his daughter.
This conversation was long overdue. Yet, it seemed so final. Saying the words, coming to terms with it, those were not easy things to do. Weiss looked over to Wilson, considering his question. Did it bother her now? No, not as much as it used to. Even so, there were just some things easier not to say. Her injuries made her feel weak, and this was just another nail in the coffin. The proof that Weiss Schnee was not the indomitable force of will that she pretended herself to be.
"I never told Blake, because at that time, we weren't ready to discuss children. We weren't even married yet, so I found the topic off limits. I had larger concerns with therapy and recovery to contend with." Weiss shrugged. "Even back then, I realized how much she wanted to be a mother. She never said it clearly, but I could tell. My condition became moot. I decided right then, I would sire any offspring we had."
"That's hardly what I'm asking..."
"It doesn't bother me." Weiss said concisely. "Being the paternal figure suits me on every level. Even if I were able to do so without complications, I just have no interest in carrying a child...but, therein rests my own sense of self. I'm proud to say that as the head of this family, I'm able to provide an heir...even if that heir isn't in the image that the company desires. Furthermore, I could never tolerate someone taking over that wasn't my own flesh and blood. Doing so would be admitting our bloodline's defeat, and I won't stand for that..."