Chapter Thirty-Three: Reading Between The Lines.
"Yes Ruby I'm sure." Weiss sighed as she leaned back into the headboard of her bed. She had been on strict bed rest and minimal activity since they returned to Beacon. Ruby had been glued to the Heiress' side since she had woken up in the recovery room making sure that she did nothing strenuous that could reopen the wounds. The wolf would escort her to her classes carrying her books, get her tray of food and bring it to her, there had even been an attempt at bathing her but Weiss had shot that down quickly stating she was wounded not invalid, though she had allowed Ruby to help change her bandages.
"I'm sure she won't mind if I don't go." Ruby frowned slightly as she fidgeted with her skirt.
Weiss sighed as she shook her head, "No Ruby. You promised you'd spar with Nora, you can't just drop everything because of me. You have to do things with our other friends as well." Reaching out her hand she moved some of the crimson locks out of her silver eyes, "Besides I'm going to be the reason your skills get rusty, we have a combat test next week and if I'm not allowed back in the arena by then you're going to have to be on your best game to make up for it." She was sure that Velvet was going to clear her by then but with how cautious the rabbit was being because of possible residual venom she wasn't quite sure.
With a small nod Ruby leaned over and gave Weiss a quick peck on her lips before standing, "Alright. But promise you'll call if you need anything?"
Weiss smiled and nodded, "Of course, now go, Nora won't wait forever." The Heiress made a shooing motion with her hands getting a small chuckle from her wolf.
Once the door was shut and Weiss was left alone in the dorm she let out a heavy sigh as a wince of pain crossed her face. It wasn't all the time but every once and a while there would be a sharp tug on her back that made the wounds ache. She had asked Velvet about it a few days ago after making the older girl promise not to tell Ruby. "Taijitu venom is very annoying," Velvet had sighed as she replaced the bandages, "It keeps wounds from healing properly, causes residual pain if not fully flushed from the system, and since each taijitu creates different venoms there's no proper anti-venom. The best anti-venom we've developed still has a twenty percent chance that it won't be effective, so we use a combination of the anti-venom and Aura boost to reduce that chance even lower. But with your wounds you had those bone needles imbedded in them so there's a possibility that it's going to take even longer to flush from you system."
"Could there still be a needle still embedded in them?" Weiss asked trying to keep the sudden fear from her voice.
Velvet shook her head, "No. The needles caused your Aura to gather around them so I would be able to sense if there were any left. But let me know if the pain persists."
Weiss sighed as she shook her head, the wounds were healing nicely and the pain was most likely the venom fading and allowing them to close. She would tell Velvet if it lasted into the weekend. Picking up her scroll the Heiress brought up the files that she had downloaded to it. It had taken some doing but she had finally managed to get the majority of the files redacted sections back to being readable. Now she was going through each of them to find out what was really going on. The first file she had finished was FEAR.
The project had been a biological virus that was suppose to induce a rage in Grimm causing them to fight each other while leaving the surrounding wildlife alone. From the chemical equations she had worked through she had learned that the virus was a combination of several deadly diseases as well as Dust. The idea was to fly over areas with high Grimm populations dispersing the virus through the air and them come back and reclaim the area once they were dead. In theory it was a sound idea however the virus not only Grimm but people as well. The bodies that they had found at the research facility had been the team that had been working on FEAR. An accident that had caused the release of the virus inside the facility had exposed everyone and the protocols had locked them inside to kill each other. Weiss shuddered at the idea of being locked in to that building while people tired to kill each other in insane rages.
The next had been HAMMERFALL. This project had both fascinated and frighten the Heiress. The idea was to put weaponized platforms in to orbit around the planet being able to strike anywhere with the press of a button. The weapons were to be high-density metal rods that would drop from the platforms striking the planet at extremely high velocities leveling an area and killing anything with in a hundred miles. While the damage to the area would have been great it did leave it still inhabitable after a strike. The main problem that this project had run into was that they could not get a platform into orbit. Dust would stop working after reaching a certain height and every other fuel source they had tried failed as well, either it didn't have enough thrust to lift the platform or it was to volatile and cause an explosion upon ignition. While Weiss had been fascinated about the idea she soon realized the repercussions of this project. If one Kingdom had full control of the platforms then if a war broke out between Kingdoms there would be a distinct advantage on one side. If a side could destroy an entire city with a press of a button they could essentially hold the planet hostage to their whims. Even worse would be if the platforms fell into the hands of people who only wanted to do harm. Such power was too great for anyone.
The current file she was reading through was JUPITER. From a cursory read through it seemed as if the project was an electrical based weapon meant to be attached to bullheads or Paladins. She had found several schematics that showed several design ideas but really couldn't make heads or tails of them, maybe if she showed Ruby them the wolf could decipher them. The Heiress paused, did she really want to give an overly excitable weapons enthusiast like Ruby, who had made a high powered sniper scythe, schematics for a possibly dangerous electrical based weapon? Probably not but if the crimson wolf could figure out why it hadn't worked then maybe they could start equipping them onto bullheads to and help Hunters out in the field. She wouldn't want the plans falling into the hands of her father, if he got ahold of these plans then who knew what he'd do with them.
The Heiress thoughts were interrupted as the door to the dorm opened and Blake walked in. The panther nodded to Weiss as she made her way to her bed and slumped down on the mattress. "I hate Thursday's." Her pillow muffled the panther's moan and Weiss gave a small chuckle at her teammate. "Seriously why did I think taking two Port classes back to back followed by Peach was ever a good idea?" Weiss continued to chuckle, Port was bad in his usual Grimm studies class she could only imagine how bad he must be in his literature and mythology classes. Professor Peach wasn't as bad as the older man but having her for Valiction was probably a snore fest.
"I thought you enjoyed literature and mythology." Weiss teased as she set her scroll down on her lap.
"Usually yes." Blake responded, her face still in her pillow, "But Port makes even the most exciting myths into boring, dull, sleep inducing lectures. And his taste in literature is horrendous, I mean honestly how does anyone even read half the crap he does without dying of boredom?" Weiss nodded in agreement, she had read a passage from one of the panther's assigned books and had nearly fallen asleep from it. Blake turned her head and amber eyes flashed at the Heiress, "Your back okay?"
Weiss gave another nod, she knew her team was just looking out for her but the same questions were getting slightly annoying. "Yes it's feeling very good today."
Blake nodded and slowly propped herself up on her elbows and undid her bow. With a sigh the panther twitched her ears letting them feel the cool air, keeping them still and cover all day tended to make them feel stiff. "Good to hear."
"So where's Yang?" Weiss asked as she watched her teammate.
"She's sparing with Yatsu." Blake responded as she stood up and started to stretch, several small pops sounded from her back as she twisted slightly getting a small satisfied groan.
Weiss nodded as she leaned back into her headboard, continuing to watch the panther go through her stretches, some of them seemed nearly impossible for a normal person. With a frown the Heiress spoke up, "Blake I have a question and please don't take this the wrong way but, are you so flexible because you're a panther Faunus?" The black haired girl stopped her stretched and amber eyes fixed with her blue ones.
After a moment of silence the panther sighed and went back to her stretching, "Sorta." She responded as she bent forward wrapping her arms around her legs and pulling herself slowly down. "Being a panther certainly helps for sure, but it's mostly because I've worked at it for a very long time." She noticed as Weiss looked sheepishly away before shaking her head, "Weiss it's fine to ask questions, I mean you're dating a Faunus so questions are bound to pop up."
"I know," Weiss nodded as she sighed, "It's just all of the things I was told about Faunus were nothing but straight up lies so I'm unfamiliar with what alright to ask and what isn't."
Blake nodded in understanding, it would be hard to know those especially when the questions were coming from a Schnee. "Well to answer you question a bit more thoroughly then, yes, my genes help me be more flexible than most, it's part of being a feline Faunus. And while it gave me a good place to start I had to slowly work my way up to being as flexible as I am now."
"So just like anything else you have to train and practice." Weiss nodded, "What about your hearing? I know Ruby's is extremely sensitive but she was also trained to use it."
Blake gave a so-so gesture, "Yeah I've had to train my hearing to be as sensitive as it is but for the most part a Faunus' hearing is sensitive from birth. It's the same way with night vision, some of us have train it to be better but for the most part its pretty good from the start."
Weiss smile at the panther, "Thank you Blake. I know it something I'm going to have to work on if I ever want to set the SDC right, so I really appreciate your help."
Blake nodded as she sat down, "Sure thing Weiss." A small frown formed at the corner of her lips as she looked up at Weiss, "Weiss I have to ask a question," The Heiress gave a hesitant nod, "There's no part of you that thinks of Ruby as a 'pet' right?"
Shock flowed through the Heiress quickly followed by heat as her eyes grew cold and narrowed in on the panther, "I can't believe you would even think about asking me that Blake." He voice was cold and hard as she glared at the girl. "I have never once thought of the girl that I love as just a 'pet'. She is everything to me and don't you dare every think other wise."
Blake quickly held up her hands in surrender, she had felt her Alpha's mate's irritation and anger through the air around her. "I just had to be sure Weiss," Blake said quickly, "It's just that I've seen you pet her and I've heard you call her 'my wolf'. I just wanted to make sure."
A small amount of heat bleed off as Weiss continued her glare, "While I don't think the ways I show my affection to my girlfriend should be of your concern I'll grant you that coming from a Schnee it could be easily misunderstood, but to not misunderstand me Blake, I care very deeply for Ruby in fact I can not see my life without her in it anymore." Weiss sighed and shook her head trying to pull the rest of her anger back, "As for the petting, I know Ruby enjoys it and it makes her relax and feel safe." Blake nodded as she looked away, she also enjoyed it when Yang ran her hand through her hair.
Blake decided to let Weiss cool down for a bit and grabbed one of her books and started to read while Weiss stood up and went into the bathroom. The panther felt slightly bad about what she had asked especially after Weiss had been so hesitant in asking her own question. When the Heiress returned Blake watched as she picked up her scroll and begin reading the small frown on her lips deepening the further she went. By the time the white haired girl had a grimace on her lips Blake decided to speak up.
"What are you reading?" The panther inquired.
Weiss' gaze snapped up from her scroll, she had just finished a particularly disturbing section of the JUPITER project. The project itself was sound but the electrical bolt couldn't always be directed. In the trail she had just finished reading the bolt had struck nearly everything but the target killing several of the assistants operating it before overheating and exploding killing anyone who had been lucky enough to avoid being struck by the electricity. Looking over at Blake Weiss realized she was frowning, "While we were at the research facility I found several files on the computer so I downloaded them and I've slowly been going through all of them. They don't paint a pretty picture."
Blake snorted slightly, "Well if that creature was anything to go by then no I highly doubt they would."
"Strangely I haven't found anything mentioning that thing." Weiss frowned again, "The ones I've gone through have been physical weapons or in one case a virus. But there have been a few mentions of genetic experiments." Blake narrowed her eyes in confusion as she went over and sat beside the Heiress, Weiss angled the screen so the panther could read it. "This one was called 'Jupiter' and was an electrical based weapon meant to be mounted on bullheads and the first generation of Paladins."
Blake nodded as she scanned through it, being trained in information gathering allowed her to quickly locate important sections in the report, "What else was there?"
"Well the first one was called 'Fear', I began to read that at the facility and it seemed that that was the one that was developed and tested there." Weiss started, as she tapped back to that file, "It was the viral weapon I mentioned and was meant to cause Grimm to attack each other while leaving humanity and the wildlife alone but it didn't work quite as planned because it also affected humanity and that's what killed everyone at the facility." Blake shuddered slightly as she remembered all of the skeletons in the infirmary they had found. "Then the other one I've decoded is called 'Hammerfall'. Its goal was to place weaponized platforms in orbit around the planet but they couldn't get them in to orbit with Dust or any alternative fuels."
"Not to mention the possible damage it could cause if it fell into the wrong hands." Blake muttered understanding the implications of just what damage could be caused by this weapon. "If this had been around during the Menagerie War then the Faunus wouldn't have stood a chance."
"Yeah my thoughts too." Weiss nodded in agreement, "While in theory these all would have worked the practicality of them is awful. I'm hesitant to go through the others, what if one of these projects actually succeeded?"
"Well that would be distressing if they were potentially harmful." Blake agreed as she flicked through the files, one in particular caught her eye, LEVIATHAN. She had seen it mentioned in the first file Weiss had shown her. Why wouldn't Weiss go for a project that was mentioned to be a genetic project if she already understood that the two she was reading were weapon projects? Surely the Heiress would want to follow the projects that might be connected to the SDC. "Weiss," Blake started as her curiosity bubbled over, "What's this one?" She asked pointing to the file.
Weiss glanced down at where the panther was pointing and froze. LEVIATHAN. The Heiress felt a lump in her throat as her breathing picked up slightly. She felt her palms grow clammy as her scar burned. That damned project had done so much damage. She could feel the heat lick around her as explosions rang in her ears. LEVIATHAN had cause her to loose the last bit of light she had the last bit of her family. LEVIATHAN was the reason Winter was like she was now. LEVIATHAN may have failed but not before it took everything.
Swallowing the tightness in her throat the Heiress looked up from her scroll and away from the panther, "You don't want to know."
Before Blake could respond the door to the dorm was once again opened and a red streak shot across the room and onto the bed as a hyper wolf pounced on the Heiress and quickly captured her lips. Once Ruby pulled back a large smile crossed her lips, "Missed you." She chirped.
Weiss blinked several times trying to get her thoughts back in order before realizing that Ruby was covered in sweat still making her sigh, "Ruby you forgot to shower after your sparing session with Nora."
"Well I didn't forget so much as want to get back here quicker." Ruby looked away from her girlfriend.
With another sigh Weiss pushed the wolf off the bed, "Shower, now." She said narrowing her eyes letting the wolf know that there was no room for argument. Ruby gave a small pout but Weiss just shook her head, "Go shower then come back and we can go get something to eat."
"Actually Yang's bringing back takeout after her match with Yatsu." Blake said as she chuckled at her leaders antics.
"Well that works too." Weiss nodded, but held up her hand towards the wolf who was currently trying to get back up on the bed, "But that doesn't mean you don't have to shower. I just washed these sheets and I will not have you sweating all over them." Ruby pouted again but went to get fresh pajamas and headed towards the showers. Once the wolf was in the other room the panther looked back at Weiss her eyes narrowing slightly, the Heiress looked away, "Blake please don't push it."
Shaking her head Blake responded, "Alright, I won't." As she stood up she couldn't help but chuckle again as she went back to her bed getting a mischievous glint in her amber eyes, "You know Weiss, at some point Ruby and you both might be sweating on those sheets." The panther didn't need to turn to know the Heiress had become a red as a tomato from the stuttering squeak the girl had let out.
Weiss was still trying to damp down her blush when Ruby exited the bathroom and quickly zipped back over to the Heiress and cuddling into her side. "Better?" she asked with a cheeky smile.
"Yes much better." Weiss smiled down at her wolf bushing a few stray strands of hair out of her face.
"Alright peeps I've got grub." Yang called out as the dorm door was thrown open, the brawler was holding a large brown bag in one hand and a plastic one in the other.
Weiss felt her eyes widen at the size of the bag, "Yang, did you by out the whole shop? I know you eat a lot but this is excessive."
"What?" Yang asked before looking down at the bag, "Oh this, no, the shop I went to just sells really, really big portions. Actually these are the smalls believe it or not."
"You're kidding." Blake looked just as shocked as Weiss as the blonde started to unload the bag.
"Nope." Yang shook her head as she popped her 'p'. "I got some chicken fried rice, some sweet and sour pork, lobster rolls, white rice, beef chow mein, moo shu beef, moo shu vegetables, and a lot of steamed and fried dumplings."
"Umm, Yang." Blake said slowly as she stood up to help the blonde as she started to pull out plate and chopsticks from the plastic bag, "That's still a lot of food."
"Well yeah sure it's a lot of food Kit Cat." Yang chuckled, "It's also really good food."
Weiss sighed as she started to get up but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her, looking do over she saw Ruby shaking her head, "Ruby?"
"You stay still, I'll get it." Ruby smiled as she pushed back a bit harder.
"Ruby I'm well enough to get up and walk around my own dorm." Weiss said firmly.
"Nope." Ruby shook her head still pushing the Heiress back, "You're still hurt so I'm still going to help."
"Weiss don't fight it," Yang laughed. "When Ruby wants to do something there's no way you're going to change her mind."
Weiss looked at her wolf, her eyes slightly narrowing only to for the crimson girl to smile back widely with silver eyes shinning. With a huff the Heiress finally leaned back and nodded. "Fine. But not too much."
"You got it, Princess." Ruby's smile widened as she went over to the containers of food and started to fix two plates.
Weiss thanked Ruby as the girl handed her the plate and chopsticks and the group settled down on their beds to eat their meal. Ruby had given her a bit of everything from the assortment that Yang had bought and she had to admit that the blonde was right it was really good.
Qrow groaned as he walked through the forest. He really should have approached Raven before she left the village and before he lost her in the trees. With another groan the man pulled out his flask and went to take a drink with the hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end.
Diving forward the Huntsman barely dodged the red blade that slashed through the air where he had been standing just moments ago. Rolling forward to a stop Qrow grabbed his scythe and trigged it to open to its sword form. "Well that's not quite the response I expected, but it's nice to see you too sis."
"What do you want Qrow?" Raven growled as glared out at him through her mask, sword still held at the ready.
"You're coming back with me Raven." Qrow replied, he spotted his flash in the undergrowth of the forest, the amber liquid spilling out. "Of course that's going to be after you buy me a drink."
"I am not going back." Raven growled, "And I am not buying you a drink you drunkard."
Qrow snorted, "Sticks and stones sis, sticks and stones." He raised his weapon, "And I don't really remember you coming back being up for debate."
Raven took a ready stance, sword held high one foot in front of the other. "You know you never could beat me in a fight Qrow."
"Well let's see if time's changed that." Qrow smirked and shot forward his sword swinging towards the masked woman. Sparks flew when the two swords met. Breaking the bind Raven pushed Qrow's sword up and slashed out at his exposed ribs. Qrow jumped up over the sword knowing that trying to dodge back would only result in him receiving a steel blade in his side. As he cleared the blade he felt the air below him ignite as Raven activated the Dust in the sword.
The explosion knocked Qrow back away from Raven and rolling to the ground. With a cough the man stood and shook his head clear, "You know if I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to actually kill me. You held back with that attack sis, I could still see the swing."
Raven clicked the release on the hilt of her sword allowing the spent blade to fall to the ground and shatter before pulling out a yellow blade, flicking it to its full length. "Go back Qrow or next time I won't slow down my attack." Channeling a bit of her Aura through the blade she caused a few sparks to shoot out to emphasize her point.
Qrow sighed and shook his head, "Just come back in and let us help you."
"You can't help me, no one can." Raven spat as she took her stance once again.
"You don't know that unless you tell us what you know." Qrow tried to reason with his sister. He really wasn't the one to make her see sense, that was Summer. "If you just told us the maybe we could help."
"Who's going to help?" Raven questioned her voice dripping with venom. "Ozpin? He's too concerned with the rest of the world and misses what's under his nose. James? He's a liar and can't do anything with an order. Would you or Tai help? You're a drunk and Tai's a coward to afraid to leave Patch. There is no one that can help me."
"Just tell us what you're after!" Qrow yelled.
"I'm after him!" Raven yelled back as she shot forward, electricity sparking around her as she slashed out quickly. Qrow could barely keep ahead of her swings as they came in faster than her could follow, the only thing keeping him alive was his years of training against her and instincts that had been honed from years in the field. Flipping out of the way of another strike Qrow flicked his sword and triggered it into its scythe form.
"Who?" Qrow yelled as he blocked a swing with the shaft of the scythe. Swinging the scythe to make Raven back off he triggered the shotguns to fire making her jump even further back. "Who are you after?"
Raven swung her blade smashing it into the ground causing a wave to lighting to lash out at Qrow, "It's the Doctor!"
Dodging to the side Qrow felt a few of the side bolts strike him in the side. Coming up he shook his head again and looked back at his sister in confusion as she left the other blade fall and shatter. "What do you mean Raven? The Doctor is dead. He died five years ago. Ironwood saw his body."
"James lied." Raven shook her head, "The Doctor is still alive and he's looking for 'Prometheus'."
Qrow shook his head, "Raven both the Doctor and 'Prometheus' are gone. Summer destroyed 'Prometheus' and the Doctor died when the White Fang caused that facility to explode. You need to come back so we can get you help."
"The Doctor is not dead." Raven growled out as she drew out a light blue blade. "He's alive."
"Where is your proof then?" Qrow questioned as he continued to stare at the woman; maybe, just maybe her could get her to see that she was wrong.
"Rare Faunus have been going missing all over Remnant with no trace." Raven growl, "Schnee is funneling money towards hidden projects, projects that should have been destroyed are being finished. You saw what his little puppet could do, do you really think Collodi is competent enough to finish it on his own? I've found abandoned facilities with 'chimera' remains, who else knew how to make them? Summer is dead and Ozpin would never create those monsters." Qrow swallowed slowly, that was pretty damming evidence but it still left many questions.
"James saw his body Raven." Qrow said slowly, "James would never lie about seeing that man dead. He hated him just as much as the rest of us, maybe even more with what he did to him."
"Ironwood asked to be turned into what he is now because he was afraid to die." Raven growled, "He asked the Doctor to turn him into what he is now."
"That may be but James saw his body." Qrow pressed again.
"Because James has never lied to us before." Raven gave a dark laugh. "Tell me has he told you yet as to why Sumer died?" Her voice hardened and became as sharp as her swords. After she had left Summer's grave she had gone back to the area where the Huntress had been killed looking for answers to what happened. She had questioned the people who had been in the area, asked why Summer had come there, why they needed a Huntress of her caliber for a small nest of Grimm. The answers she had gotten nearly sent her into a blind rage.
Seeing Qrow couldn't answer Raven decided to tell her brother, "James lied that it was a small nest. He lied that a lone Hunter could handle it. When Summer took the job he tired to talk her out of it because he knew it was a lie." Raven had to fight back a sob as she pushed through, "She walked into a nest of chimera alone because James lied. She wasn't equipped to fight those beasts and yet she still won in the end. James lied and she paid for it. And now he's lying again I will not allow anyone else to die because of his lies."
Raven took her stance again and her red eyes narrowed behind her mask. "Now leave Qrow or I will make you."
Qrow shook his head, he would deal with Ironwood later right now he had to bring Raven back in so she could get help. "I can't do that Raven. Now let-" Before Qrow could finish Raven struck moving so fast that he could barely react he felt the blow on the back of his neck then the world went dark.
Groaning Qrow slowly sat up holding his head, "Oh fuck I've had hangovers that didn't hurt this bad." Raven had knocked him out cold and left him in the middle of the forest against an outcropping of rocks. "Well at least she left me alive." Small miracles. With another groan he looked around and found his weapon folded up beside him, his flask sitting on top. With a slight frown he picked it up and felt the weight of it being full. With a smirk he uncapped it and took a small sip, it was good hooch. Pulling out his scroll Qrow leaned back against a rock and hit the dial button. It was picked up the second ring, "Oz, we might have a very large problem."
A/N: Well that happened... So... Actually I really don't have much to say about this one so... See you next week.
With that: A million thanks to all who read, drop a comment and say whats good, and may you have a great week that makes you smile.