Here we are at Chapter 40. It's time to meet our favorite Atlas specialist (honestly, she's the only person in the Atlas military that I like). I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 40. Enjoy.
Chapter 40: Winter is coming
For some odd reason, Weiss could not stop as she runs out of the coliseum, with Ruby and Velvet right behind her.
"So, you have any idea why the Ice Queen is so happy?! Velvet asks.
"How should I know? She just sees that weird airship fly by, says 'she's here', and then she starts smiling like there's no tomorrow. She RARELY smiles this much!" Ruby replies.
They follow Weiss as they eventually make it back to Beacon, and then continue to follow her all the way to the landing pads as one airship lands in front of them.
"Weiss! What is the big deal?! Who is it?! Who is SHE?!" Ruby exclaims as she runs to keep up with Weiss before they stop in front of one of the platforms.
"…Winter," Weiss replies as she looks ahead.
They both look forward to see the airship from earlier had already landed on the platform, with Atlesian knight-200s lined up at the sides of the opened hatch and look to see a woman with two soldiers and two more robots walking out of the ship. The woman turns around to look back at the soldiers getting ready to unload the ship's cargo.
"Winter? You mean your older sister who joined the Atlas military?" Velvet asks.
The woman turns out to be Winter Schnee, Weiss' older sister. She is a tall young woman, with pale skin, white hair and medium-light blue eyes. Her hair is tied up in a bun at the back of her head, with the exception of her bangs, which are brushed off to the right side of her face, and a small lock of hair that reaches below her left ear. Her attire consists of a long white open jacket, with slits open on the sleeves going from her shoulders to her elbows. The jacket is buttoned only under her chest and has gray edging on the sides and around her shoulders. Under the jacket, is a dark blue buttoned up shirt that covers her chest, followed by what looks to be a white shirt above it covering the rest of her upper chest. Around her neck appears to be a gray, cross-pointed pendant with a red gem in the center. She is wearing black gloves that end before her elbows. She is wearing white pants with black vertical lines, and thigh-high high-heeled gray boots that appear to be made of metal. Under the tail of her long jacket is a white translucent piece of fabric that ends to where the tail of her long jacket ends.
"Winter!" Weiss calls out to her sister, surprising Ruby and Velvet. Winter turns around as Weiss and Ruby run up to her. "Winter, I'm so happy to see you!" Weiss happily exclaims before quickly calming herself and acting more appropriately. "Oh, your presence honors us," Weiss adds, politely bowing to Winter.
"Wait, what now?" Velvet mutters.
"…Beacon. It's been a long time," Winter begins as she walks up to them. "The air feels…different," she says as she looks around.
Whether it was the way she talked, or the way she held herself, either way, there was something about Winter…that Velvet just didn't like all that much.
"I mean it is fall, so…And it's probably colder," Ruby says as she rubs her head.
Weiss goes to try and smack Ruby on her head, but Velvet grabs her left arm before she can do so, giving her a look that says to back off, to which she does and focuses back on Winter.
"So, what are you doing here?" Weiss asks.
"Classified," Winter answers vaguely.
"Oh, right. Well, how long are you staying?" Weiss asks again.
"Classified," Winter repeats more sternly.
"Of course," Weiss says, seeming to be used to this.
Ruby looks between them, "…Well, this is nice…I think," she says, hands behind her back and unsure of what to do or say.
"Not if you ask me," Velvet thinks.
"You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! Vale too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it?! I-," Weiss suddenly goes nuts.
"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its…bureaucracy. That is not why I came," Winter interjects, starting to annoy Velvet a little bit.
"Right! I'm sorry," Weiss apologizes, lowering her head.
"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears I have no choice in the matter," Winter says.
"But, we won," Weiss retorts.
"Only a novice would refer to THAT as a victory. I counted at least THREE strikes missed," Winter criticizes Weiss' fighting in the first round, making her hang her head.
By this point, Velvet has had enough, "Okay, just where do you get off degrading your sister like that?!" Velvet says as she gets right in Winter's face.
"Velvet, wait, it's not what you think!" Weiss tries to calm her down.
"Weiss, who is this?" Winter calmly asks, though the glare that she sends towards Velvet is anything but cool and collected.
"Um, well, this is Velvet. She's one of my teammates and friends. Velvet, please, it's okay," Weiss says as she tries to calm Velvet down.
"Velvet, please, we don't need to fight Weiss' sister," Ruby adds.
"Ah, so you're the new teammate that Weiss wrote about. I see what she meant by 'bold' as she described you," Winter says as she looks Velvet up and down.
Velvet glances at Weiss, "Bold?" she asks.
"Um, I'll explain later," Weis nervously replies.
"Velvet, please, calm down," Ruby pleads as she wraps her arms around Velvet.
Velvet looks back at Ruby, and seeing the begging look in her eyes, sighs and steps back from Winter, though she keeps her cold gaze on her.
"And you would be?" Winter asks Ruby.
"This is Ruby," Weiss introduces her.
"I see. So this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately…underwhelming," Winter notes as she inspects Ruby.
And just like that, Velvet's irritation at Winter is back with a vengeance.
"Okay, first you insult my friend, your sister, then you insult my leader; my girlfriend. You know, when Weiss came rushing to see you, I thought that maybe you weren't as bad as her father, since we all know how much of a bastard he is, but from what I am seeing, that's not the case," Velvet says.
"Excuse me?" Winter retorts, trying to maintain her calm, silently hating the idea of being compared to her father.
"Velvet please, she's nothing like my father!" Weiss tries to stop Velvet.
"Weiss fought well in the first round. I know your family strives on 'perfection', but the truth is that no one is perfect, especially not you. She fought with her team, and they won, so instead of criticizing her, maybe you should praise her on her victory," Velvet argues with her.
"Velvet please, this isn't the time," Ruby pleads.
"You shouldn't jump to conclusions, little girl. And you should show some respect to your superiors," Winter warns her.
Velvet just gets right in her face, "Why should I respect someone who doesn't seem to have any shred of affection for her younger sister?" she retorts.
"If you don't get out of my face, and apologize right now, you WILL regret it," Winter warns her again.
Velvet stand her ground, "…Make me," she challenges her.
At that moment, Winter conjures a black glyph behind Velvet and pushes her through it, sending her flying back into the school's courtyard. Winter draws her sword and charges at her while Ruby and Weiss can only watch on in worry at seeing their loved ones fight. Velvet quickly gets back on her feet and activates her arm blade as Winter closes in on her. Their blades clash as they stare each other down before Velvet activates her left foot blade and does a high kick, making Winter jump back. Taking the offensive, Velvet runs at her and thrusts her arm blade at her several times, though each time Winter deflects each strike with her sword. When Velvet takes a swing at her, Winter flips over her and lands behind her. Velvet then swings her right foot blade back at her, only for Winter to backflip over her while taking a swing at Velvet that gets blocked by her arm blade. When Winter lands back in front of her, Velvet swings her arm blade at her again, only for their blades to clash once more. However, Velvet fires off her arm gun, forcing Winter to jump back from the shots. Velvet takes a few more shots at her, but Winter deflects each shot while rushing back towards her.
Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss have no idea how to diffuse the situation.
"Ruby! Do something about Velvet! She's your girlfriend!" Weiss yells.
"Me?! Why don't you do something about Winter! She's your sister!" Ruby retorts.
"I'd say let them fight," they hear behind them and look to see Qrow Branwen standing behind them, taking a swig of his flask. "Hey there, kiddo," he greets his niece.
"Uncle Qrow! What are you doing here?!" Ruby asks, somewhat glad to see her uncle again if not for the current situation in front of them.
"What, I can't visit my favorite nieces? But anyway, why is your girlfriend fighting Winter Schnee?" he asks as he watches Velvet twirl over Winter while swinging her arm blade at her, only to get dodged.
"Well, we were talking with her, and-wait, how do you know my sister?" Weiss asks.
"We've met a few times. That's all I'm gonna say on the matter. Anyway, you were saying?" Qrow asks.
"Well, we were talking, and Velvet got mad with Winter after she said some things about our fight in the first round, and well…" Ruby explains.
"We tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. It's not what she thinks. Winter does care about me, she just has a way of doing things, but she accused Winter of being just like my father," Weiss explains.
"Well, it looks like the only thing to do now would be to let them blow off some steam. Best not to get in the middle of that unless you want your head getting sliced off," Qrow notes.
"But what about them? Won't they get really hurt?" Ruby asks.
"Truth be told, I've actually fought against both of them. They should be fine," Qrow says as he drinks his flask again, not really helping calm the two girls.
Weiss then realizes something, "Wait, when did you fight my sister?!" she yells at him.
Back in the fight, swings all three of her blades around at Winter, who backflips away from them a few times, avoiding Velvet's attacks. At one point, the two clash swords as they stare into each other's eyes.
"Well, I see why you had to step out of the first round, and it's not because you're the fifth member of Weiss' team," Winter says.
"I'm just getting started, Ice Queen!" Velvet growls.
Velvet then moves their blades around in order to angle her arm gun at Winter's face. She fires, but Winter moves her head to avoid the shot and then conjures up a glyph under her feet to propel her away from Velvet. Velvet charges at her while firing off a few shots at her. Winter blocks the shots, and gets ready to counter Velvet again. However, when she gets close, Velvet activates her demon claw and swings it at Winter. Initially surprised by it, Winter conjures up a glyph to block the claw strike. Velvet then conjures up a fire arte to blast through the glyph and proceeds to continue her swing at Winter. Winter ducks under the strike and counters with a swing of her sword, but it gets blocked by Velvet's arm blade. Velvet jumps up and encases her claw in fire, reeling it back for another attack. Winter conjures up another glyph from under her feet to propel her away while Velvet smashes her demon claw into the ground, leaving a small crater. She looks up and sees Winter land on one of the archways in front of the school. Not wanting to let her get away, Velvet runs up and, using her claw, she manages to quickly get up on top of the opposite archway in pursuit of her. The two fighters run along the archways, with Velvet using her claw to absorb an ice Dust crystal for an edge. She fires off some ice shards at Winter, who dodges each one. After using up her ice Dust, Velvet conjures up another fire arte and fires it at Winter. The attack seems to connect, engulfing her in smoke, and Velvet halts her advance as she waits for the next move.
A moment later, Winter shoots out from the smoke, and hits a switch on her handle, causing the center of her sword to shoot out as an estoc, giving her two swords. Velvet reels back her claw as she readies herself. Winter swings her swords at her, and Velvet retaliates with her demon claw, the attacks clashing, and the two crashing into the ground. However, they quickly jump out of the smoke, with Velvet's demon claw deactivated in favor of her arm blade. Velvet swings her arm blade at Winter, who parries it with her right sword and then thrusts her left blade at Velvet. Velvet counters by back-flipping with one of her foot blades engaged, deflecting Winter's sword and gaining some distance between them. Winter charges at her, swinging her swords while Velvet uses her blades to counter each of her strikes. The two do a dance of steel as onlookers watch from a safe distance. Ruby and Weiss watch, worried about their respective loved ones, while Qrow just watches with amusement while drinking his flask. At one point, Winter manages to force Velvet back, who back flips a few times to gain much distance between them before she stops. Winter twirls her right sword around before stabbing the ground and activating her summoning, sending out a flock of small Nevermores at Velvet.
The summoned birds swarm around Velvet, but she activates her demon claw again, absorbs a fire Dust crystal, and then smashes her claw into the ground, sending out a fiery shockwave that reduces all the summoned birds to ashes before she looks back to Winter. Winter conjures up another glyph behind her, while Velvet charges up the fire in her demon claw for another attack.
"Hey, kid," she hears behind her and glances back at Qrow, who motions to behind Winter before giving her a sign to end it right there.
Velvet looks and sees what he means. Though not really her style, she decides to go along with his idea and deactivates her demon claw and holsters her blades. Winter looks confused at this, but then Velvet just smirks and gesturing with a finger for Winter to come at her. Angered by this, Winter falls for it and charges at Velvet, her right blade thrusted forth, aimed at Velvet.
"SCHNEE!" a voice suddenly calls out just as Winter's blade impales Velvet's face between the eyes, and she stops her attack.
They all look back to see Ironwood, with Penny behind him, walking towards them.
"General Ironwood, sir!" Winter says as she stands at attention for him.
"What do you think you are doing?" Ironwood asks her.
"She started the altercation sir," Winter claims.
"That's actually not true," they hear and look to the side to see Qrow walking up to them. "The truth is that Ice Queen here had a little argument with Velvet, and rather than hold herself up as an 'esteemed' Atlas Specialist, she attacked the kid first, and Velvet had to defend herself. It definitely doesn't help that a member of the Atlas military would attack a student in broad daylight when she had no reason to, am I right?" Qrow says, smirking at Winter.
Ironwood looks at Winter, "Is this true?" he asks. Winter can only look away in slight shame since it indeed was true. Ironwood then walks over to Qrow. "And you," he says.
"Who? Me?" Qrow asks with mock innocence.
"What are you doing here?" Ironwood asks lowly.
"I could ask you the same thing," Qrow retorts.
"I-," Ironwood begins.
"Now, now, everyone," they hear behind them and look to see Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch enter the scene. "I can assure you that there is a sanctioned fight in the coliseum that has better seats. And popcorn," Ozpin calmly suggest to them.
"Break it up everyone. We will clean up this mess," Glynda says.
"…Let's go," Ironwood orders Winter.
Winter looks back at Velvet one more time, who returns the gaze with narrowed eyes, before she leaves with the General. Ruby and Weiss walk over to join Velvet, and all three see Penny look back and wave to them with a smile. Ruby waves back while Weiss and Velvet show her simple smiles.
Qrow then joins them, "So, how have you kids been? Keeping out of trouble?" he asks.
"Um well-," Ruby begins.
"Qrow," they hear and look back at Ozpin. "A word, please," he says while Glynda cleans up the mess in the courtyard.
"I think I'm in trouble," Qrow whispers to Ruby.
"What did you do this time?" Ruby asks accusingly, hands on her hips.
"Hey, you make it sound like I'm a bad influence," Qrow jokes.
"Maybe if you weren't drunk all the time," Velvet deadpans.
"Well, catch you later, kid," Qrow says, fist-bumping Ruby before he leaves.
Weiss then gest right in Velvet's face, "What were you thinking?! My sister could have killed you!" she shouts.
"Hey, she started it when she insulted not only YOU, but also Ruby. What was I supposed to do, just stand there and do nothing?!" Velvet retorts.
"I told you, it's not what you think. Winter just has a way of doing things! She's not as bad as you think!" Weiss argues with her.
"Guys, please, calm down. This isn't helping anyone," Ruby tries to cool things down between them.
"I don't understand why you're defending her after she insulted you! And do you really expect me to just let her bad mouth Ruby without any repercussions?!" Velvet yells.
"Okay, maybe she as a little harsh, but she didn't mean it. I know my sister, and I know that she's a good person. She's the only one in my family that's actually cared about me!" Weiss retorts.
"If THAT'S what you call 'caring', then I'd hate to see what your family looks like when they are abusive with you!" Velvet yells back.
"Arggh! You are so stubborn!" Weiss replies.
"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Velvet says and then walks away.
"Velvet wait, where are you going?!" Ruby calls out.
"To get some fresh air!" Velvet replies without stopping.
"Fine, I'm returning to the dorm!" Weiss decides and leaves as well, equally angry.
Ruby watches both of them leave, and can only hang her head as she doesn't know what to do.
"Oh, what do I do now?" She wonders with worry.
And that's the chapter. A little trouble in paradise for our team. Hope the fight with Winter was good for you guys. Will Velvet and Weiss make up? Will Velvet and Winter ever get along? Until then, please Read and Review.
