Chapter 32: The Morning After


Character Change: Zeliska Rustivia -Winter Schnee.

Location: Atlas Academy: Team VIEW Dorm: VW Suite


As to be expected, the morning hit Winter like a truck… Opening her eyes, ignoring every call of her body to just close them again as she looks around her suite. Even though the lights are off, the small amount of natural light peeking through the window was enough to burn her eyes. Sighing, he focuses on the headache, which is very easy to focus on as it's possibly the most painful thing she's gone through this year. It feels as if someone was taking icepicks and driving them into her eyelids and pulling upwards. After the pain from that it is pounding like a drummer is being paid extra for each head he breaks. This was all made worse by the slight acidic taste that lingered in her mouth.

Groaning, Winter sits up and tries to take stock of the situation… starting with why she was experiencing the worst headache of her life? Thinking back to the previous night she comes to the scary realization… she doesn't remember anything after a round of beer die!

Breathe, Winter, your team isn't going to do anything to you while you were lushed. They aren't heartless nor overtly venereal.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she winces as a particular painful throb radiates through her head. Turning her head to the night stand she notices an odd pill bottle and water bottle sitting there. Reaching over she picks up the pill bottle to examine it, finding acetaminophen and a note underneath it. Adjusting her vision, she reads the note quickly.

Hopefully your headache isn't too bad but I'd recommend taking this and drinking a lot of water.

If you need anything just holler.

Hope you feel better.

-Viralious

Well that was nice of him. She thought quickly before unscrewing the cap of the pills bottle and shaking out two small pills. Placing the bottle back onto the nightstand she grabs the water and takes the pills. They go down with ease… until she starts coughing rapidly and takes a quick drink of the water. Finishing the bottle, she winces and looks for her scroll before finding it in her pocket. Fishing it out she scowled upon seeing the time.

11:38 AM

2 C Cloudy

One reminder Set for 12:30

Low Battery warning: 1h and 26m remaining.

It was already much much later than she was used to getting up even on weekends. Scowling, she places her scroll on the charger and shifts to get out of bed.

Everything hurt, her head still pounded, the dull light shining from the Windows hurt her eyes and the small sounds from the heat was exasperating the headache even more. Slowly, she made her way towards the bathroom of the suite trying her best to ignore the aches, jolts and flashes of pain throughout different parts of her body. Eventually she makes it to the bathroom and thankfully it's unoccupied. She's about to enter before she realizes she has no change of clothes with her. Groaning, she makes the painful trek back across her room and grabs a simple white sweater along with simple jeans from her dresser. Moving back into the bathroom she closes the door and locks it tight.

Placing the clothes on the tank of the toilet she looks to herself in the mirror.

I look like a mess. As the first thought she has, her normally perfect and pristine white hair was currently unkempt and tangled in odd places, most egregiously is one colic that was standing straight up almost making her look like a cockatiel. Breathing out slowly sighs and figures it'll be best to deal with the hair after the shower. Grabbing her toothbrush, she places her toothpaste on it and begins to try and wash that acidic taste from her mouth. While brushing she tries to piece together her night, from the little flashes of soberness she has.

We were playing beer die… then the next we were doing shots and shooters on the couch… I think Celica came to the door at one point, but the rest is a blur… How'd I end up in my bed? Did I get in normally? If so, why am I still in my outfit from last night, even inebriated? I should have changed into something more comfortable to sleep in… is it possible I blacked out? If so then one of them must have brought me to bed… Was it Viralious? He would make the most sense. We share a room, and he did write that note… but-

Her thought process is interrupted by the quickly multiplying foam in her mouth. Spitting it out she brushes for a bit longer before washing out her toothbrush and placing it back in its rightful spot on the sink. Looking in the mirror once again she frowns before removing her dirty outfit. Checking her body quickly for any odd bruises and finding none, she breathes a sigh of relief.

At least I didn't injure myself last night… I'm feeling slightly less embarrassed.

Sighing he makes note that her headache is slight, and she means slightly, better. Turning on the water in the shower, she waits a few moments for it to heat up before stepping into it.

The warm water causes her muscles to relax, and the small aches begin to recede. Feeling content, she stands there for a few moments and just lets the soothing water wash over her. After that short minute or so she reaches over and grabs her loofah and places a decent amount of body soap on it. What's next is an intense scrubbing session that one would consider overkill, but this time Winter felt like she needed to clean every inch. After all, cleanliness was second only to godliness.

After what felt like an eternity, she moved on to apply some conditioner and let that thoroughly wash her hair, taking special notice of the errant colic that was annoying her this morning. Afterwards she gives it a quick rinse before repeating the process with her shampoo, making a mental note that she had about a third left in the bottle. Standing there washing her hair she allowed for her mind to wander.

I'm assuming that Viralious was the one who looked out for me. Ifiral seems like he would have just left me there as a joke, and Eckhart would have set me up on the couch…. Why did he help? Is it possible he felt pity? Is it possible he wanted to make sure I was safe?... Does he like me? No, it can't possibly be that Viralious sees me as a partner… I remind him of his sister. If he liked me, it would be weird… Right?

Too many questions and not enough answers is what Winter decided as she finished washing her hair. For a good minute or two she just stood there letting the warm water wash over her letting her body absorb the warmth and comfort. Eventually, she sighs and turns off the water instantly causing her body to tense from the cold of the bathroom.

Stepping out of the shower she quickly grabs her designated towel before using it to dry off. Wrapping it around her she grabs her second towel and begins to pat her hair down and brush it to allow it to look some semblance of tame.

I'm tempted to cut this cursed colic. She thought as she fought against said stray colic.

Eventually she managed to coax it down and shortly her hair looked in its normal prim and proper state that she was used to. Nodding she slips on the sweater and the jeans and looks over herself one more time in the mirror. After she's gotten herself to a 'presentable level,' she nods, picks up the dirty clothes from the floor and exits the bathroom. Making her way towards her bed, she throws the clothes into her nearly filled hamper and makes a mental note that she really should do laundry. Picking up her scroll, she double checks that it's reached a sufficient charge. Checking for any missed calls or records of last night she's happy to find that there are none. Breathing a sigh of relief, she closes her eyes and waits a few moments for her headache to start to subside. After a few minutes the acetaminophen seems to have kicked in and she's finally able to think straight. Slipping on a pair of her more comfortable pair of shoes, simple sneakers with the Schnee family crest embroidered on the side.

With her headache finally missing she gets up and walks out of the already open door to the common lounge. Noticing that none of her teammates are currently out there she walks towards the couch to get a seat… or she would have if she didn't see her partner sleeping on the couch in a frankly uncomfortable position. Half of his body was sprawled off the couch and from his neck position on the arm she could tell he'd have quite an annoying crick in the neck. But that raised the question as to why he was sleeping on the couch. There was the possibility that he had just collapsed there but the fact that he had his pillows and blankets from his bed meant this was a deliberate choice. Her mind runs rampant with questions as to why but are quickly interrupted when Viralious rolls over on the couch… falling on the floor with a thunk.

"I really should have just slept on the floor… would have fallen out a lot less." Viralious groans out, rubbing his arm and sitting up. His eyes catch the base of Winter's casual shoes, and he rubs his eyes before pushing up to stand. "Morning, Winter." he says casually sitting on the couch.

"Morning, Viralious. Why are you sleeping on the couch?" she asks in a calm and simple tone.

Viralious winces slightly from the pain of a headache, a feeling that Winter understands completely right now, "Well, I figured you would feel a bit safer and more comfortable sleeping in the room alone. Mostly because you were pretty intoxicated, I mean I wouldn't feel that comfortable sleeping in the same room as a stranger while drunk. Speaking of which, how are you feeling?" His tone is truthful and tired.

A spark of hurt flashes through Winter's chest. Strangers? They had been partners for almost two months and got along great! They were not strangers if anything they were friends, partners…

Lovers the Brothers' forsaken voice of Celica echoed in her mind. Granting her the most annoyance of the day so far. Barring Celica's annoying fanciful jokes… she and Viralious were not strangers… she didn't know why but the comment hurt…

"I'm fine, Viralious. Thank you for the acetaminophen. It was greatly appreciated." Winter says hiding how hurt she felt.

Viralious gave a weak smile, "No problem, just wanted to help you however I could. It's a lot more comfortable to pick a mission without a headache.

Comfort. The word rattled throughout Winter's head, Of course he just was looking out for me… he didn't know he probably based everything off an experience with his sister or mother…

"Thank you, Viralious, but you didn't need to sleep out here. I'm sure your bed would have been a lot more comfortable for you. Especially since you wouldn't have fallen onto the ground." She replies with a more genuine smile.

Viralious stands up, "Now if you don't mind I'm going to take a shower, no point in staying in dirty clothes for the rest of the day." He then checks the time on his scroll "Feel free to grab lunch as I don't know how long it's going to take for Ifiral and Eckhart to get up. You also know me. I tend to take… how did Russet put it? 'A non-pogger's amount of time in the shower'..." he finishes that last bit with air quotes getting a small laugh and shake of the head from Winter.

"What does that even mean?"

"No idea. But I'm going to shower.' Viralious says while standing up and collecting the belongings from the couch and walking back into their shared suite. In a moment or two she hears drawers open and close before the door to the bathroom could be heard shutting.

Winter sighs and takes a seat on the couch… she felt conflicted about last night. She had a good time… barring the hangover and quite frankly she felt closer to her team because of it. But… they had also broken multiple rules… First was underaged drinking and next was the curfew…

Sighing, she pulls out her scroll and figures that she might as well see what was happening in the other kingdoms.


Character Change: Winter Schnee - Kairi-Tsugumi Basil

Location: Atlas Academy: Professor Basil's office


Professor Basil… was already not having a great day. In fact, it had been a bit of a shitty week if she was being honest. But focusing on today she had woken up late… barely got to the meeting on time. Said meeting really should have just been an email seriously, why do the professors need to know that the cost of attendance was going to be increasing slightly next year! It wasn't as if she was getting a pay raise to match it! Annoying meetings aside… Basil was pissed because she found out that her, Kaine, Ironwood, and Beryl would not be going on missions. The other two professors had made sense because they specifically asked to not be placed on missions since they were going to be administering tests and such over the week... Ironwood was self-explanatory, he was a general, a headmaster. Did people really expect to see him on the front lines? No, but it had annoyed the hell out of Basil considering she had applied for going out on missions with the first years a while ago! Yet she was the only one not chosen to accompany them.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and placed the book of fairytales down. She knew that Ironwood was sidelining her because she was a Geist, she knew that if she hadn't gone to him to stupidly request to accompany Team VIEW on their mission! But the truth was she knew why she did it… she figured the General would be more open to recruiting highly skilled and promising huntsmen trainees into the Geists… That had been a bit of a fuck up on her part.

I can gather information on every kingdom and the criminal element… but I ignore the goddamn stupidity of my boss… It's fucking poetic if you ask me.

Sighing, she starts to pick up her book again when a ping from the burner scroll she has breaks her from her trance. She sprang into action quickly locking the door and getting behind her desk. Grabbing the scroll and the pair of headphones from her desk. That ping could only mean one thing… The General was meeting with Ozpin.

She slowly breathed in, ready for whatever revelations came from it.


Character Change: Kairi-Tsugumi Basil - James Ironwood.

Location: Atlas Academy: General Ironwoods office.


James rubbed the bridge of his nose… this meeting could have waited… but he sighed as he accepted the call.

"Ozpin, what do I owe the pleasure?" He asks in a fake smile.

"James now is not the time for idle pleasantries." the gray-haired headmaster of Beacon said. "In fact, you know why I'm calling you. I know you are searching for Winter."

"Winter Schnee is one of my students in fact she's currently doing very well-"

"It's not like you to make jokes like this old friend. What happened?" Ozpin asked sternly.

James grimaced and sighed, "The Winter Maiden fled from the team of huntsmen I sent to retrieve her. I'm sorry to say but Cherry and Oceania were killed in the blizzard and tornado she created in her escape."

Ozpin's frown deepened. "A shame they were important members of our little group… Qrow will have his work cut out for him from this point on."

"Yes, we'll need to find some new people we can trust to include them in this fanciful group… do you have any suggestions?" James asked.

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee before sighing, "I have three candidates in mind, though it saddens me. We haven't lost a member since Raven Branwen fled and abandoned the fight." he took another sip before continuing, "I'm considering Glynda, Ashley Peach and Kairi-Tsugumi Basil." he deadpans.

"I highly recommend against the last one, Oz." James spits out sternly.

"Hmm why is that? She has an spotless track record and if your reports are anything to go by… she's willing to do ANYTHING for Atlas." Ozpin says, twiddling with his glasses.

Ironwood started to sweat… he really couldn't reveal the existence of the Geists even to his friend Ozpin… they were an interkingdom spying and information gathering organization… they also tended to perform black ops and other… less than legal operations with little regard for kingdom policy… "She's a very skilled huntress and what you've said is true… but I believe she's not ready for this kind of responsibility. She's only twenty-five years old, Oz."

Ozpin didn't respond at first, he simply stared at the sweating general… after a long awkward silence, "I see… I'll take your considerations into account James… Now back to the Winter problem. Freya has been a bit too much of a free spirit, she doesn't understand that she's 65 and is much weaker… I believe it is a good idea to start considering the next maiden for Winter." Ozpin says grimly.

Ironwood sighed, "I have one person in mind… She's a bit popular and famous but I believe that will make her safer… she's also highly skilled and a first year meaning she'll have plenty of time-"

"Winter Schnee is an interesting choice." Ozpin interrupted.

"Sir how-"

"I'm not stupid James, I can tell… I can't say I agree but for now she'll be your candidate… BUT we will reexamine this at the next group meeting… for now do as you would." Ozpin answered before hanging up.

James stared at the blank screen before turning it off… Ozpin was a pain in the ass… but he knew it was for good reason. Glancing at the time he reaches under his desk and pulls out a bottle of whiskey, one labeled 'Emergency Spirits' and pours a good amount into the coffee sitting on his desk… He had two hours until he was supposed to be there for the First years to pick their assignments, a small drink couldn't hurt.


Character Change: James Ironwood - Kairi-Tsugumi Basil

Location: Atlas Academy: Professor Basil's office


"Fuck." Those were the first words to leave Basil's mouth after she finished listening in on the general and Ozpin… she glances down to her notes and grimaces.

look into Winter maiden _ ?

(°—°)

two members of the secret society are dead…

Ozpin wants me to join their Secret society (•̀•́ ) (¬¬) \(˚˚")/

They want something with Winter…

She read over her list to try and make sense of it all. Hell, she checked it twice, but she couldn't calm down… things were about to get a hell of a lot more complicated…

Character Change: Kairi-Tsgumi Basil- Viralious

Location: Atlas Academy: Auditorium.

This was it, they were going to be choosing their first mission… What's more is since they were the top of their class it meant they would have first pick!

Standing on stage was General Ironwood looking as stoic as possible. Shortly he began speaking.

"The duty of a huntsman is to protect those who are unable to. You are humanity's line of defense against the Grimm. Each and every one of you has trained hard to become the next protectors of humanity. I will be brief; these missions are live fire and you will be pushed to your limits at times. it's important that you work as a team and make it back alive." he paused for dramatic effect. "I believe that every single one of you will succeed. Now can team leaders please come up here and line up in order of rank." His tone was militaristic and cold.

Viralious took his spot at the front of the line. He was quickly moved to the front of a large terminal. On it were listed six possible missions. glancing through he instantly ignored guard duty on the walls of Mantle. Eventually one mission caught his eye.

Cargo Retrieval: Ansel.

Description: Parts of the defensive turret network were unfortunately forced to be abandoned in the forest. We are asking for a team to retrieve them as well as help defend Ansel until it is properly installed… The estimated time is 3 days.

Accept Mission?

Viralious looked at the terminal for a few moments… before selecting the mission and registering Team VIEW to it.

Moments later, his scroll went off as the details were forwarded to his teammates scrolls. He walked over and turned to his team. "It looks like Lute's accompanying us on this mission…"

"We've got medical care taken care of then." Eckhart jokes.

"True, but I doubt this mission is going to be that dangerous… it's literally cleaning up after the army's mess." Ifrial huffs.

"Well, it's the mission we are going on so might as well accept it." Winter sighs.

"Never said I didn't accept it, just pointing out the obvious." ifiral shoots back.

Winter is about to respond until she's interrupted by a familiarly turquoise fox faunus.

"What mission did you guys get?" Celica asks, wrapping an arm around Winter's waist. the rest of Team CARD, minus Delphi approach behind her.

Pulling free, Winter sends her a slight glare before Viralious answers her question." Cargo retrieval in Ansel."

"What?! Come on, could we switch? I'd love to see my family in Ansel!" Ariel remarks.

This gets a chuckle from everyone, "Sorry can't swap them after we've picked them." Viralious says with a shrug.

Team CARD's scroll gives a small ring meaning that Delphi picked their mission. Russet gave a slight fist pump upon reading it, "Yeah let's not switch this one is a hell of a lot more interesting. we're going to be clearing out some Grimm that are bothering a Shefira research outpost."

Ifiral leans over and whispers to Viralious, "Thank you for not picking that one."

Delphi joins the rest of them and smiles, "Well, we've got the rest of the day to ourselves…do… do you guys … want to hang out?"

"Sure, might as well do something before we all head out on missions." Viralious responds with a smile.

The eight of them then begin walking toward the dorms.

A/N

This chapter is mostly moving toward the first mission and dealing with the fallout of the previous chapters. So fun fact, I typed everything from the Ironwood section on my phone while on a plane… I don't recommend it. I'm keeping this author's note brief as I don't really want to type a ton on my phone.

AmoebaHewdraw's Note: Editing material that was written on a phone whilst riding a plane is also a bitch.