Chapter 29: Dressing the Town

Clothes shopping was never Viralious' cup of tea… In fact, he tended to avoid most types of shopping … especially if it was for himself. With that in mind, it was surprising that Viralious wasn't making a snide or joking comment as he stood in the store looking at some slightly overpriced long sleeve shirt…(Sue him, it's cold in Atlas.)

His focus is suddenly broken by Winter placing a stack of multiple shirts and pants for Viralious to look at. Glancing over to them he raises an eyebrow, "These are a little more expensive than I'm used to." His tone is skeptical.

"The clothes are fairly priced and of good quality. I've heard a few of the servants in the Manor talk highly about their product." Winter responds.

"I don't doubt the quality, they seem a hell of a lot better than the stuff I would normally buy." Viralious says picking up a pair of navy pants from the stack and examining it before holding it against his body. "We also don't really have to spend that much on me. Besides, the stipend is meant to go to our mission supplies."

Winter crosses her arms, "Well, that might be true but you having an adequate amount of clothes is also important."

Viralious gives a small chuckle, "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from, but I can manage off of hand me downs or stuff from a thrift shop. No need to go to a high-end store like this one."

Winter raises an eyebrow and looks around the store… it's far from what anyone would call high end. Honestly, it's basically a chain store, "Viralious, if you're really worried about overspending on the stipend, I'm willing to pay for this. After all, you know I'm good for it." she says with a small smile.

"No, I'll be fine. Besides It doesn't feel right for me to use your Lien." Viralious says with a bit of irritation in his voice.

Winter blinks for a moment before speaking, "No really, Viralious, it's not that big of a dea-"

"Winter, if our situations were reversed, would you feel comfortable with me paying for your clothes?" Viralious says looking her straight in the eyes.

Winter steps back at the comment and thinks for a moment before lowering her head and turning away crestfallen, "No… I wouldn't."

Viralious stares at the crestfallen Schnee for a moment before sighing and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Winter turns and looks him in his eyes seeing remorse.

"Sorry if that seemed a little harsh, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't want it to seem like I'm taking advantage of you. Winter, I meant it when I said your name didn't matter, you're my partner and I do care about you. I just don't want to burden you with my issues. Besides, I've never really had the highest quality clothes."

Winter gives a slightly tired smile at his words before saying, "I know you've talked about your past before but… I'm still having a hard time imagining it."

Viralious chuckles, "Well money was always tight, didn't matter when and where. Truth is like I've said I only really had a permanent home about five years ago… well until you know." He says frowning.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Winter asks, placing her hand on top of his.

Viralious blushes slightly, pulling his hand away from hers before rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah sure…" He then grabs a few more pairs of pants to examine while telling the story. "So, the truth is Mom and I drifted around Remnant, though we mostly stayed in Mistralian or Valein towns or cities we never had a place to call home though we occasionally visited Zeliska in Vacuo after… Qrow tracked her down. Though occasionally for some holidays we would visit Patch… It was an odd hotel or home that we were allowed to stay in exchange for Mom helping the town guard or performing some huntsman mission." He says placing a pair of gray pants into the buy pile he's started to construct. "Well, about five or six years ago we got invited to a celebration for two of her teammates welcoming a daughter into this world." Viralious sighs before fishing into his pocket and pulling out his scroll. Flipping through his pictures he pulls up one of a small yellow haired girl, "Her name is Yang and she's my stepsister… Well, to celebrate we ended up going to Patch. Tai and Raven had this nice house, nicer than any I had seen up until that point… I'm getting off topic." Viralious says placing the scroll back in his pocket.

"What was so special about this meetup?" Winter asks.

"It was also a reunion for Team STRQ, that was my mother's team at Beacon." Viralious says shifting and looking at long sleeve shirts after finding about five pairs of pants that he deemed satisfactory. "Well, I'd only met Raven up until that point… or remember meeting her. I heard that Qrow had met me a little after I was born hence why he tracked Zeliska down. Anyhow it was interesting seeing them talk about the years. I knew mom was playing brave to not break down for the last eleven years." Viralious says with a sigh, "Truth is, I felt like my mother's life would have been better if I wasn't born. It's because of me that she had to stop going on as many missions, I'm the reason she didn't settle down and have a true family… I was the reason she was afraid to meet with her team again." Viralious says, sighing deeply.

"Viralious it's not your fault… I'm sure your mother would disagree." Winter says placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Raven said the same thing." He laughs out "Anyhow, eventually Headmaster Ozpin came… I don't know why but they asked if I could leave the room… they were going to discuss something… Something I couldn't hear." Viralious says placing a striped gray and purple shirt into his 'buy' pile of clothes. "So I went upstairs and read some books that Tai had up there. Eventually I hear someone run up the stairs and start crying. I glanced my head through the doorway and saw my mom… crying. I felt horrible." He says holding a dark blue and gray shirt to his chest, "How's this one look?" He says to Winter.

"It looks fine. Do you know why your mother was crying?" Winter says in remorse.

"I don't know but I have a feeling that Ozpin is a part of the reason… As I heard Raven say, 'Get the fuck out of my house.' or something along those lines." He says chuckling.

"Do you know what he said?" Winter asks.

"No, I don't." Viralious says grabbing a puke green and yellow shirt, "Who would even wear this?"

"I don't know. Russet?" Winter jokes.

"Not enough camo for him." Viralious responds, "Where was I?... Oh right, after a few moments Raven came up and ended up saying something to my mom… I couldn't really hear it but it calmed her down a bit… She then brought her into the room I was in… There, mom explained everything to her… she broke down a few times during it but Raven comforted her…"

"What happened then?" Winter asks.

"Raven ended up telling us about an old, abandoned house on the other side of Patch and told us to settle down there for a bit." Viralious says, placing a burgundy shirt into the 'buy' pile, "We ended up staying there for a few months before suddenly… Mom got a call." Viralious sighs, "Raven left in the middle of the night and basically divorced Tai… What made it weirder is that she showed up like five minutes later she showed up and talked to my mom… I don't know exactly what happened, but I heard Mom begging Raven to reconsider before she just disappeared…"

"Was that the last time you saw Raven?" Winter questions how someone could just disappear.

"No, she would pop in occasionally… but I'm getting ahead of myself… Mom eventually packed everything, and we moved in to comfort Tai… She became a mother to Yang and two years later… Tai Xiao Long and Summer Rose got married…" Viralious finishes placing the last shirt onto the pile, this one is a short sleeve tee with a bunch of rose petals scattering onto a pile of snow, "Like you asked… Raven popped in whenever Tai was out and would meet with my mother or look over Yang… I know that Mom always tried to get her to stay but it never stuck… She also made sure that Yang and Tai didn't know." He says sighing.

"Do you know why?"

"Imagine your ex-wife popping in when you're away, that would make you feel antsy… What's more is Yang believes that my mom IS her mother. If she found out the truth and learned that she would stop in… when she was asleep it would crush her."

"So, it was to protect them?" Winter asks.

"Maybe but I don't really know… I was trying to train to become a huntsman, so I was often busy or out of the house." Viralious shrugs.

Winter sighs, "Viralious if you ever want someone to talk to about this, remember I'm here."

"Thanks Winter. Anyhow I think we're all done here, we've got about 5 pairs of each, I've picked up a pack of undergarments and socks anyway." He says as he starts to pick up the pile.

Winter then glances at his hair, "Viralious, are you going to do anything with your hair?"

"What's wrong with my hair?" Viralious questions.

"It's longer than mine and Ifiral's, plus it's started to get in your way during combat." Winter says thinking back to how often he has to move it from his face after his aerial dodges or attacks.

Viralious thinks for a few moments before sighing, "Fine, you're right. Any ideas?"

Winter glances around the store before a certain section catches her eyes, "I have an idea, follow me."

Viralious follow behind and they end up in the section of the store that sells hats, "A hat might help a bit." Winter says.

Viralious glances around the section for a few moments before a simple dark gray military cap catches his eyes. "Would something like this work?" he asks timidly.

Winter places a finger on her cheek thinking before nodding and stepping forward, "Yeah that should work if you tie your hair into a ponytail and put it through the back. Here I have a hair tie you can use." As she speaks, she reaches over to grab Viralious' hair.

This action gets Viralious to jump slightly. Getting slightly flustered Viralious meekly spits out, "Sorry you surprised me is all… here can you please hold this for a minute?" he says, looking away and handing her the simple cap.

Winter blinks twice before taking the hat and quickly handing him the hair tie, "Yeah sure…"

Viralious quickly ties his hair into a messy ponytail and keeps it there with the simple hair tie, he then grabs the hat from Winter and places it onto his head, feeding the ponytail through the hole in the back. Shifting his head, he looks at the large mirror on the wall and examines himself, "It's nice but it feels like it's missing something." frowning as he finishes.

Winter looks at Viralious head to toe before nodding her head, "I agree… Wait here while I look for something." Walking away from the hat section, Winter eventually finds herself mindlessly glancing around the store until she's near the jewelry section and something catches her eyes. Sitting there is a simple metal pin, its design is a purple rose with two green leaves sticking out. Reaching over she picks up the pin, "This should be perfect." Moving back to Viralious, she sees he's trying on a beanie before taking it off in frustration. Seeing the original hat sitting on top of his stack of clothes, Winter picks it up and places the pin on it (Not actually clipping it in case they decide not to buy it.)

She then hands it to Viralious who instantly ends up dropping the pin. Winter shakes her head before picking it up and places it back on the cap which is not located on Viralious' head. She then says, "How does that look?

Viralious carefully poses and moves his head to see it from multiple different angles he then smiles, "Yeah honestly this thing is perfect." He then takes the hat off and places it on top of his stack of clothes, "Just need to grab some hair ties then I'm ready."

Winter smiles and picks up the hat and starts moving towards the register, "Uh Winter what are you doing?" Viralious asks timidly.

"Buying this hat." She responds.

"Why?"

"Well, I figured it's the least I can do for you as you've been a great team leader and partner." Winter says smiling slightly.

Viralious blinks before sighing, "Alright… I doubt I'll be able to convince you that it's not necessary. I'll meet you outside."

Winter nods before getting in line and checking out quickly. She then sits outside on another uncomfortable bench. After what feels like an eternity Viralious emerges from the store with a large bag containing his clothes.

"Sorry, the line was long." He says stopping next to her.

"That's fine." She responds, handing him the hat, having already pinned the pin to the left side of the hat just above the brim.

Taking the hat, Viralious places it on his head before smiling, "How's it look?"

"Good, makes you look less disheveled." Winter jokes.

"Well, that's a good thing." Viralious chuckles before reaching into the bag and pulls out a small, long box, "Here, this is for you."

Winter raises an eyebrow before grabbing the box and opening it. Inside is a simple necklace which has a simple snowflake pattern with a red jewel in the dead center. Raising her head, she looks Viralious in the eye and sees he's smiling.

"It's a gift for being the best possible partner and putting up with my and well, let's be honest everyone's, bullshit." He chuckles slightly.

Winter returns his smile with one of her own before nodding, "Thank you, Viralious. I appreciate it." She then takes the necklace out of the box and starts to put it on. She struggles slightly with the clip.

"Here mind if I help?" Viralious asks.

Winter nods, "Sure."

Viralious moves behind her and helps clip the necklace in place. Stepping back in front of Winter he looks at the necklace and smiles, "It looks amazing on you." His tone is genuine.

"Thank you." Winter blushes.

The two simply stay still for a few moments unsure of what exactly to say before Viralious quickly says, "Well we should finish shopping, then why don't we get something to eat." His tone is fast and scattered.

Winter nods, "Sure, we just need camping supplies, right?"

"Yeah, I'm probably going to pick up a gift for Ruby, I saw something that she'll love." Viralious says smiling.

"Alright then lead the way." Winter says standing up.


"Pub brew pretzel sticks with… beer cheese? How does one put beer in cheese?" Winter says struggling to comprehend the menu.

The two had finished shopping quickly, buying a few quick fold sleeping bags and a portable cooking top. They were currently sitting at a chain restaurant that Viralious said was popular in Patch for good quality with relatively cheap prices.

"I don't know how it's made but can't say I'm really a fan. The pretzels are good though, Tai really likes them." Viralious jokes placing his menu down. By his feet sit everything that they had bought, his clothes, the camping equipment and in another bag a simple stuffed Corgi pillow for his sister, "I recommend the bourbon chicken and shrimp dish, it's pretty good."

Winter side eyes Viralious, "Viralious, aren't you lactose intolerant?" this earns a chuckle from him.

"Yep, sadly." he shoots back.

Shaking her head, Winter places the menu down, "I'll take your word for it. What are you planning on getting?"

"The endless boneless wings and fries, probably." Viralious responds, taking a sip of the soda he ordered.

"I'm surprised you're not going for the burger, you always seemed to get those for lunch." Winter jokes.

"That was more over to be impressed by how Murt could screw it up." Viralious jokes back.

"Honestly I'm glad the pay dispute is over." Winter says with a heavy sigh.

"Agreed. I doubt Eckhart would have actually eaten anything if not for those awful protein bars."

Just then their waitress comes back to the table, and they order their meal, including an appetizer of the pretzel sticks.

"So Viralious, I've been meaning to ask, why'd you pick a corgi pillow for your sister." Winter asks.

"Oh, well she loves corgis… I don't know why… okay their stubby legs are pretty cute. I guess I picked it as Mom would sometimes take her to the dog park to get some sun and there was this one corgi she always loved to pet." Viralious answers.

"So it's something to try and remember her Mother by?"

"Maybe, I also struggled to think of something she would have liked… she is pretty young after all." Viralious shrugs

Winter thinks for a few moments, "I guess you're right… Hey, Viralious when's your birthday?"

Viralious raises an eyebrow before answering, "November 18th how about you."

"December 15th."

"Well then, we'll have to do something when that comes up." Viralious says.

"Maybe… We're probably going to be busy studying for exams." Winter sighs.

"True but having some sort of break is good."

"Trying to get out of studying?" Winter jokes.

"Hey, a man can dream… Jokes aside, taking breaks is important, you shouldn't push yourself too hard." Viralious responds.

Winter chuckles, "I'll keep that in mind next time Ifiral falls asleep in Murt's class."

"Hey, at least he's getting better at sleeping with his eyes open." Viralious jokes

The two just end up chatting about nothing for the duration of their lunch. Winter did end up disagreeing with Viralious' assessment of the beer cheese dip but other than that it was simply two friends getting lunch.

After paying and leaving a generous tip the two made their way back to the Bullhead station eventually making it back around 2:30pm.

After placing everything into their dorm the two decide to get some last-minute training in before their mission. Gathering in the sparring classroom Viralious is currently trying to figure out how to properly use the "Aura Exhume" technique from his book. Winter on the other hand was having trouble figuring out a less dangerous technique.

A small glyph appeared on the ground when Winter stabs her saber into the ground closing her eyes she imagines her first ever combat scenario.

Winter breathed in slowly and readied her saber. Today was her first REAL combat training. Her father had managed to convince her instructor to gather a live beowolf for her to fight. This was meant to see if she had any skill as a huntsman after these few short months.

Breathing in slowly, she takes a fencer's stance. As the cage is brought up from the lower level. Through the bars she can see the glowing red eyes and snarling snout of the Grimm looking directly at her. The door opens with a loud snap, the Grimm immediately rushes forward swinging its large claws towards Winter.

Taken aback by her foe's sheer ferocity, Winter immediately shifts her legwork and dashes to meet her foe. Holding her blade in front of her she curves her forward upwards trying to deliver a slash to its midsection while blocking its claws coming down.

Instead, her blade bounces off of the claws on its left side before the right pair slash into her, sending her flying backwards. Barely able to catch herself, Winter uses her glyphs to center herself. Shaking her head, she shifts her approach and summons three glyphs using her ice dust.

After a few moments three icicles fly towards the beowolf intending to pierce its black oozing hide. Instead, all miss and embed themselves in the wall behind it as the beowolf swings and throws Winter back even further.

On the ground aura nearly broken, Winter sees the Grimm jumping to finish her. Holding her blade in front of her she catches it on her blade near the end of its jump. The Grimm fades away in a blackish dust.

Looking to the spectator's stands she sees her father's unapproving gaze. As well as hearing her instructor's voice.

"I told you she's only had three weeks of training, it's far too early for a 12-year-old to be fighting Grimm!"

"Then what am I paying you for? She's a Schnee, any daughter of mine should be the best at whatever they do!" Her father says in a cold tone.

"Sir, your daughter could have easily died at least show a little care."

"She wouldn't die… After all, it would disappoint me… My children should NEVER disappoint me." Her father's tone is harsh and bears no warmth.

Grimacing Winter refocuses herself on the spinning glyph in front of her. Trying to remember the face of the Beowolf and bring it forth…

After a few minutes of intense focus nothing happens.

"Care if I ask what you're doing?" Viralious casually asks walking up.

"Trying to summon a beowolf using my semblance." Winter responds, sighing and pulling her saber out of the ground.

Viralious raises an eyebrow, "First you can use different elemental effects, next you can create platforms and make people faster… Now you're telling me you can summon Grimm. You're sure the Schnee family semblance isn't magic?"

Winter chuckles, "Only as magic as I know exactly what my shortcomings with it are."

"Well from the looks of things you've got the basics down… I think…" Viralious says.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, comparing it to Zeliska's semblance, you've got the door there for lack of a better word." Viralious says pointing to the glyph on the ground.

"Your sister has a summoning semblance?" Winter responds raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's something she calls 'Skeith…' it's weird looking but she fights in a kind of tag system with it." Viralious says reminiscing to when Zeliska first showed it to him.

"Alright… what makes you think that I have the basics?" Winter asks.

"Hmmm…I guess the best way for me to explain it is I can sense it. Almost as if it's waiting for something to force it out." Viralious responds with a shrug.

"You can sense it? No offense, but I don't believe you." Winter sighs

"None taken, honestly, I know how much bullshit this sounds like. It's moreover just a hunch." He responds with a laugh.

Winter rolls her eyes before smirking, "How is your training going?"

"Not great honestly… I've gotten the timing down a bit more but it's still a bit too risky in my opinion." Viralious sighs out.

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually." Winter responds.

"Yeah sure. I'm going to call it a day. Good luck with your summoning." Viralious says waving goodbye and heading toward the locker room.

Winter sighed and looked back at the glyph on the ground. Sighing, she decides to make her way towards the women's locker room. Not noticing the small claw on the ground.


The rest of the day was honestly quite boring, not much happening. Viralious organized his new clothes into his drawers before going to meet with Basil for a last-minute review of his poisons. Eckhart got back around 7 PM while Winter studied for their midterms coming up.

Eckhart sat in the common area and sighed. "Hey Winter, does your mother obsess over every little detail of your classes?"

Winter looked up from the textbook and looked to Eckhart "No she honestly is quite hands off."

"Man, I wish."

The front door opens as Viralious enters carrying what looks like a chemistry set.

Winter raises an eyebrow, "Viralious, why do you have a chemistry set?"

"Makoto gave it to me in exchange for advice for talking to Basil." Viralious deadpans walking into his and Winter's suite and placing it on the ground. Reentering the common area, he looks to Eckhart, "Welcome back, Everything should be in that bag over by the fridge. Dust is arriving tomorrow. How was lunch with your mother?"

"Thanks Viralious, it was nice she is reminiscing about her first mission and told me to use her weapon. Nice hat by the way."

"Thanks, Winter picked it out." Viralious nods.

Eckhart gives a soft laugh before saying "I'm not surprised."

Winter rolls her eyes before asking "Has anyone seen Ifiral?"

Eckhart shakes his head while Viralious shrugs.

"Wonder what he's up to." Winter ponders.

She doesn't ponder for long as the front door opens again, this time Ifiral enters with a large duffel bag. Immediately this catches everyone's attention as there sounds like clinking glass from the bag.

"Nice hat, Viralious." Ifiral says nonchalantly.

"Thanks."

"Ifiral, what's in the bag?" Winter asks partially curious and partially scared.

Ifiral's smirk doesn't calm her nerves, after all it's quite a shit eating grin. Walking towards the table Winter is studying on, he says, "See for yourself." before placing it on the table.

A/N

The bag contains the remains of Ozpin's first life… JK, JK, you'll have to wait until next week to find out what's inside the bag. Overall, I think this chapter is a nice little bit of character building and gives a bit more insight into Viralious' past as well as some directions that the story is going to go in the future. There's not a lot for me to really talk about without spoiling things so for once this is going to be a short author's note.

When this chapter is posted Volume 9 should release the next day so enjoy, I guess.

Anyhow this is where I would like to thank my editor AmoebaHewdraw, for without him Viralious wouldn't have gotten his hat… JK.

AmoebaHewdraw's Note: Yes, I did specifically wait to question where the hat was the chapter before he got the hat… as far as you guys know, at least.

As a heads-up Team VIEW is going on a slight hiatus after this chapter is posted. The reasoning is a mix of life kicking my ass and burn out. I am hoping that this hiatus/ break is short, hopefully only a week or two. I just need a bit of time to get more chapters written as my chapter buffer has been since the interlude chapter. Now if for some reason this hiatus is going to be long, I'll post some short stories or interlude chapters to give you something. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me.

Until Next Time Xcom Out.