Issue 6

Vermilion didn't know what, exactly, to make of her newfound friend who was currently pacing a hole in the carpet while staring at her scroll. Her first impression of the girl, Willa, had been one of rigid discipline that only a high class upbringing could instill. However that had all changed yesterday when the girl had received a scroll message from her mother stating she was going to be arriving the next day. Now she was currently freaking in the middle of the team Bisque's dorm as the hour of her mother's arrival drew near.

"Oh for the love of..l. Willa will you sit the hell down? You're stressing me out!" An exasperated Noel grumbled from her bed.

The girl in question sat down on her bed with a huff and shot a glare at her childhood friend, "It's not your mother coming to visit."

"You're right about that. Wonder what you did wrong?"

The girl visibly paled, "I've done nothing." However there was no denying that the thought was foremost in her mind. Instead of getting back up and pacing the young girl started fidgeting with her scroll. It was a morbid fascination that kept Vermilion watching all the way up to when Willa's scroll chimed, causing the girl to nearly leap out of her own skin. The brunette had to admit, the Schnee seemed pretty high strung. All the while Noel snickered from her bed, taking joy in her partner's suffering.

"She's here!" Willa practically shouted, "Let's go! Up, up up!" The white haired girl raised her hands in a huff.

"Look out, Willa, your Schnee is showing." Noel teased as she got up and moved out the door.

"I will freeze you to the ceiling!" The girl called out after Noel with a red face. Before she could whirl on the rest of them Vermilion was rushing out the door as well, strapping her temporary sword to her hip as she did so. The weight felt uncomfortable as yet but Jaune had told her to wear it as much as she could in order to get used to the weight. It was just a simple sword from the store rooms of Beacon and she had yet to learn much swordsmanship, just a long lesson with her father the previous day.

She was still excited, however, at the prospect of getting her own weapon. Most students who attended a preparatory combat school like Signal built their own weapons in classes there but since she had no prior knowledge Jaune had decided to go to a professional. The shop had said three weeks until her weapon was built as the materials were rare and had to be ordered specially. Vermilion had nearly choked when she saw the price tag but her father, and that was still taking some getting used to, had paid it without batting an eyelid, his reasoning being that you got what you paid for when it came to craftsmanship. When it came to the difference between life and death, no expense is spared.

Silvia followed soon after, her staff collapsed down into a shortened version she attached to her belt. She let the green haired girl lead the way, still not confident in navigating the labyrinthine corridors of the school by herself yet.

Professor Xiao-Long was waiting at the airship docks when the girls arrived. On one air-pad was a gorgeous, white airship decorated with the Schnee logo on the side. The engines were winding down as the systems were shut off and the embarkation ramp was lowered to the ground. One figure stepped off onto the ramp alone after having a short word with someone they assumed was the pilot of the craft.

The woman was beautiful, Vermilion found, she had snow white hair like her daughter and pale blue eyes. She wasn't as tall as she expected however but still held a regal, imposing air about her. She wore a white suit with a red dress shirt. Her hair was done up in a bun and Vermilion caught sight of a scar running vertically down over her left eye. An elegant rapier was strapped to her hip.

Her eyes scanned over the five people present until they settles on the woman's daughter, "Willa," The girl in question stiffened, "Come here please."

She took several wooden steps until she was within a few feet of her mother, "Hello Mother. It's wonderful to see you." She performed a curtsy to which the older woman actually rolled her eyes. This elicited a snicker from the professor standing off to the side.

Grabbing her daughter by the shoulder the woman pulled her into an embrace, "It's wonderful to see you too." She pushed back to arms length, her hands still on Willa's shoulders and checked her up and down as if expecting to find some mysterious injury.

"Mother, please. My team is right here!" Willa whined with her cheeks taking on a dusting of pink from embarrassment.

"Oh no, I'm showing affection for my daughter. Whatever shall I do?" The white haired woman rolled her eyes again yet straightened up and stepped away from Willa. She fixed a stern glare on the professor who was only just now getting herself under control, "Yang you had better have a good reason for pulling me away from work."

The blonde merely smiled in the face of the withering stare and draped her mechanical arm around Vermilion's shoulders, "Let me introduce you two. Vermilion this is Weiss, the W in team RWBY. Weiss this is Vermilion, Ruby and Jaune's daughter."

Weiss' breath hitched, her eyes going wide as she focused in on the brunette, no doubt comparing her with her mother. She shuffled uncomfortably underneath the blue eyed gaze but couldn't move due to her aunt having a firm hold of her.

"But, that's impossible. There's no way… " She continued to stare after trailing off, her skin becoming even paler, a feat that Vermilion had thought impossible. Weiss just continued to stare and silver eyes narrowed in on shaking hands. A quick glance showed a worried Willa beside her.

"Oh it's very possible, Ice-Queen. Boy do I have a story for you."

Jaune arrived back in Beacon to an unexpected visitor when he dropped by the cafeteria to grab some food to take back to his room. Weiss Schnee sat having tea with his daughter and Yang. The president of the SDC kept glancing at Vermilion as though to check that she really existed and it was during one of these glances that she noticed Jaune's approach out of the corner of her eye.

The huntsman noticed her eyes widen just a little but and her posture straightened. They had not parted on the best of terms and had not seen each other in quite a long time. Jaune had let his anger over that go years ago, however, realizing that he'd been in the wrong. He'd never apologized but he didn't blame her either.

Weiss didn't seem to have forgotten, or forgiven, him. He caught the narrowing though she did look away immediately deciding to go with ignoring his existence. That didn't last long when Yang started waving him over. With a put upon sigh he made his way over and sat down next to Vermilion, his tray clacking down as he did so.

"It's… good to see you again Jaune." The words sounded like they had physically hurt the white haired woman. He looked up at her and considered her for a moment. It was clear, so painfully clear, that she was still angry about last time but was pushing past her pride to extend an olive branch.

"You too Weiss." After a moment he thought to add, "How's your sister?"

Finding comfort in the easy topic Weiss let a small, proud smile over her features, "She's doing well ever since Ironwood retired."

"Oh yeah. Winter's headmaster now. Can't say I'd seen that coming." Yang struck her fist into her palm as if only just remembering.

"You're one to talk Xiao-Long." Weiss gave the woman a playful glare that she simply laughed off. Ignoring her teammate she turned to him, "I must say Jaune, it's rather miraculous to find your daughter after so many years." Her eyes flicked over to Vermilion who was busy pretending she wasn't hanging off of very word.

"It is. I'm… lucky to have found her." Out of the corner of his eye he saw her back straighten but he couldn't tell how she felt. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Jaune had never been there throughout her life and now he'd suddenly come barging in. Did she hate or resent him?

Either way it was Yang who changed to subject, "How was Patch?"

Jaune looked up, "Pleasant. I made sure to leave flowers."

"Of course." A trademark Yang grin flashed across the table.

"You were visiting Ruby's grave?" The question came from Weiss.

Jaune nodded.

"He visits every year. But this one was because…" Yang's sentence trailed off as her eyes wandered over to Vermilion and Weiss quickly got the hint as she realized why he'd felt the need to visit the grave when it wasn't the anniversary of her death.

"Anyways, Vermilion. Are you ready for more training?" Jaune changed the subject and he could still feel Weiss' eyes on him, the last thing he needed was more of her pity, especially after the last time.

The young woman quickly stood up, nodding. She was eager to become stronger and Jaune couldn't stop the small streak of pride he felt in her, not that he was responsible for anything she had done or become, that credit belonged to Ruby. Jaune could almost hear her declaring loudly how proud she was of her daughter, too.

"Come on Weiss-cream. Let's watch."

"I haven't finished my drink yet." The president whined as she was dragged out of the cafeteria by the blonde.

Jaune and Vermilion marched to the field they had taken to training in. In a single breath Crocea Mors was drawn and he looked to see that the brunette had done the same with her temporary, unnamed blade.

"Alright first we'll go through forms and then move on to some light sparring." He didn't really need to say it, because it was the same routine they had adopted since she'd chosen her weapon, but he added the repetition for their new audience.

He left his sheath at hi side and gripped Crocea Mors in his right hand, left held in front of him. Vermilion copied his stance save for the shield held in her left hand. Jaune had already explained that she needed to get used to both aspects of her weapon.

She followed through with him as he flowed from strike to strike. Thrust, step, cut, step, parry, step, slash. Like that they moved across the field, some hundred yards, and made their way back again and at the end of it Vermilion was out of breath, a light sheen of sweat on her brow. Her stamina had grown much but it had been too little time to make a huge difference. Letting her have a few moments he looked over to see Yang talking to Weiss, the latter having retrieved a mug of coffee from somewhere. The two sat on a bench nearby with Yang talking animatedly and Weiss simply nodding along politely. Jaune felt like he could almost see thirty years into the past, when they had last attended Beacon.

He blamed the school for that. It was easy to forget here, little had changed since the rebuild. Were it not for the absence of certain people Jaune would probably lose himself in nostalgia. He'd even caught himself looking for a bobbing red hood among the students. The realization crushed him every time.

The blond shook his head to dispel the dreary thoughts and turned his attention back to his daughter once more. They face each other and he tightened his grip around the azure hilt of Crocea Mors. She would learn how to use her weapon even if he had to beat it into her. There was no teacher like experience. Taking a moment to salute with his sword she replied in kind and they stood stock still for a moment.

Jaune could almost see the thoughts inside her head. She was thinking, trying to work out an angle of attack and a way through his guard. There wasn't one but she didn't know that. Nevertheless he made some intentional gaps in his defense. There was no reason to develop bad habits in her by being unnecessarily harsh.

But he wasn't going to be nice either. Nice wouldn't let her survive and he kept that in mind as Crocea Mors batted aside her sword, his pommel following up to strike her cheek. Stumbling back she brought up her shield and Jaune felt a small amount of pleasure at the fact she was learning quickly. He brought his sword down onto her shield in a powerful strike that forced her knees into the ground. Jaune's left hand snaked out, grabbing her shield, and pried it away from her.

Vermilion's eyes widened as his knee drove into her stomach, sending her flying across the grass until she rolled to a stop. It took her a moment to regain her breath as she struggled to stand. Aura masy have protected her from serious damage but one still felt the impacts. It was important to get used to such things.

"Get up! Do you think your enemies will wait for you to catch your breath?"

He stalked forward and noticed her eyes as she stood back up. They still burned with determination. Good. Those silver eyes reminded him of Ruby and the more he trained her the more the similarities became apparent.

Weiss watched the training with a critical eye, occasionally wincing when Jaune landed a particularly brutal blow. She couldn't say she particularly agreed with the method but it was effective. Pain was a good teacher but just because she could take it didn't mean she should have to.

However Jaune did have a vested interest in keeping Vermilion safe, which was about all she could take comfort in. She could already see that changes since the last time they had seen one another. The memory sparked a familiar anger in her that burned into a sense of guilt as well. Weiss knew she had over reacted but Jaune seemed to still just blame himself, which was part of why she was so angry at him. That attitude of taking everything on his own shoulders like that when he had people he could rely on just rubbed her the wrong way.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself and turned to her old friend, "Are you sure this is the best way to train her?"

Yang sighed, "Maybe, maybe not. This is Jaune's way and he was the only option of trust-able people to train her up. I would but I don't have the time to give her the attention she deserves, not with my duties as a teacher."

Weiss hummed, "But does he have to be so…."

"I know how you feel Weiss but the Salemites found her once. At this point we have no idea if or when they will try again."

Salemites. The word made her blood boil. The repulsive cult that worshiped Salem as a goddess that would bring equality to the masses. More like death and destruction. She and Blake had done their best to eradicate the cult but to no avail, it had sunk it's claws in so deep not even the combined might of the SDC and New Faunus Collaborative could touch it, though they had hindered it greatly.

The cult was something of a state secret, though not a very well kept one. The average person didn't know of it and it wasn't like anyone was keeping the secret anyways, the Salemites were just good at covering their tracks. A settlement burns to the ground and people assume Grimm, it was the way things were on the frontier.

As Weiss watched the two continue the training she was at least pleased to see the young girl actually learning. Whenever Jaune poked a hole in her defense, she covered it. Sometimes it took a few good hits but she was remembering, maybe there was some merit to his training style after all, even if it was crude. From the sounds of it they didn't have the time to be nice and methodical about the girl's training.

"Blake's gonna be here in a few days, too. You gonna be able to stay for a reunion?" Yang snapped her old teammate's attention back to her.

"Well, Whitley has been pushing me to take a break, and give him more responsibility. I suppose I could make time for it."

The blonde pumper her robotic fist into the air, "Hell yeah, Team RWBY is back in action!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, she didn't know if it was being around the adult child or being in Beacon again but something was bringing her back to her past. Besides, maybe it was time to see how much Willa had improved.

Personally.

A/N: First off there is a poll on my profile for the nexty story to replay Lithium Rose once I complete that story, for any who are interested.

Welp, this chapter was actually pretty fun to write and once I sat down to come up with Vermilion's training regime I realized just how much she has to do. She needs muscle and stamina training, weapon training, and training to utilize her silver eye powers. So obviously this chapter only covers a small part of what she has to do though I don't think I will describe it all. After all I don't think writing about her doing pushups and suicides would be very interesting. So instead here you get a taste of how Jaune is hammering in combat technique into her. I just kind of considered what a huntsman could do with something like aura. I mean with how fast you can heal you'd be able to push yourself far harder than a normal person leading to way faster development if you pushed all the time, like what Jaune is doing with Vermilion.

For now just assume the strength and stamina portions to be happening out of scene but are still there.