Chapter 24
Tundra
Day 6: Noon
Winter could feel the Hound's hot, putrid breath on her face as it strained towards her, its razor sharp teeth just inches from her neck. The only thing preventing it from tearing out her throat was her sword that she'd managed to wedge between the teeth in its upper jaw, just barely supported by her hands on either side of the blade; hands that were shaking and rapidly losing strength as the beast strained towards her throat with inhuman strength, pressing her shoulders even further into the snow.
She could hear wet thunks as bolts from Robyn's crossbow sunk deep into the thing's side, but the monstrosity completely ignored them, its focused determination to sink its teeth into her utterly unchanged.
It laughed cruelly as it pressed down harder, managing to press another inch closer and she knew she wouldn't be able to hold it off for much longer. The three Huntsmen were completely outmatched and Weiss wasn't in any shape to put up much of a fight. They'd never stood a chance.
"NO!" Weiss screamed from somewhere behind her, "NO ONE ELSE DIES!"
Both Winter and the hound snapped their heads towards the frantic voice. She looked over just in time to see a glyph slam into being right in front of Weiss' palm. She couldn't make out any details at the distance she was at. It was definitely a summoning glyph of some kind, but the symbols weren't ones she recognized, at least not from where she was.
Suddenly, with a deafening blast of sound, bright silver light blasted out of the glyph, blanketing the battlefield in light.
Winter was shocked. She had no idea what glyph Weiss could possibly be using, everything she knew about their shared semblance told her that what was happening here was impossible. Weiss turned the glyph and she heard the dying screams of the Beowolves that were attacking Robyn.
Above her, the hound huffed and dipped its head down at her, trying to use her distraction to finish her off. Winter brought her sword up again, cursing herself for losing focus. Her arms once again strained with the effort of keeping the monstrosity from sinking its teeth into her; she quickly realized that she wouldn't be able to hold it off. A deep growl of satisfaction rumbled from in its throat as it too realized that victory was inevitable.
Just as her arms began to buckle, blinding silver light washed over the two of them as well. The hound reared back, screaming in agony, relieving the weight from her arms. The gooey flesh around its face boiled and evaporated under the onslaught of pure light. Winter inhaled sharply as the rotting face of a silver-eyed man was revealed.
She was shocked, but didn't hesitate as she surged to her feet and stabbed her sword through the thing's heart. It screamed again and staggered backwards off of her blade, reeling from the assault. She planted her sword into the ground and a cluster of rock spikes sprang from the snow, impaling it through its thick torso from every direction she could, expending the last of her rock dust. It died with a gurgle, slumping onto the spikes, and began to evaporate. But Winter didn't have time to watch as a loud whistling sound pulled her attention away.
She looked up just in time to see a dozen black, glassy blurs streak by her face, headed straight towards Weiss. She watched in horror as the razor sharp blades hit Weiss' left leg, tearing right through her combat gear and into the vulnerable flesh and muscle below. Weiss' leg buckled and she fell to the ground, landing hard on her back, one of the blades clearly having sliced clean through a muscle. The glyph flickered and nearly went out; she saw Weiss stare at her leg in confusion.
Winter realized that Cinder had launched a barrage of fiery glass daggers at Weiss, clearly trying to kill her sister. She leveled a death-glare at the psychotic maiden, just long enough to see Qrow land a brutal haymaker on her face, sending her crashing to the ground. She turned towards her sister, watching in horror as she managed to leverage herself up on her elbow, her leg continuing to pour blood onto the snow. A strained scream tore from Weiss' throat and the glyph flared back to life, blasting bright light across the tundra again.
Winter took off sprinting towards Weiss, shielding her eyes from the blinding light emanating from the glyph. She heard the cries of more Beowolves behind her, no doubt another pack coming to kill them.
"Weiss!" she yelled, skidding to stop next to her sister. She caught a glimpse of the glyph and she had to do a double take, her breath catching in her throat as she finally got a good look at the intricate symbols. Even as she looked, the shining, white rose emblem in the center pulsed brightly and she heard the screams of the Beowolves as they died under the onslaught of light from the glyph. The glyph that could only belong to one person: Ruby. With the way their familial semblance worked, that could only mean one thing, but Winter didn't have time to contemplate the reality of that as she snapped her gaze down to her sister's injured form.
Looking down at Weiss' leg she gasped in horror. Blood poured onto the snow from the dozens of deep gashes in her shredded leg and she was certain she could see bone in several places. Weiss was bleeding out.
But Weiss' aura was supposed to be closing the wounds, or at least slowing the flow of blood. It suddenly dawned on her that Weiss was sustaining the glyph with the aura that was supposed to be healing her.
Winter whipped her head around, scanning the battlefield. She didn't see any Grimm anymore. Weiss had reduced them all to scattered ashes, all that was left of the Hound was a twisted skeleton, and she saw Cinder running towards her ship, her arm burned away to almost nothing, having disentangled herself from Qrow with a desperate blast of fire. Somehow, they'd managed to win the battle, thanks to Weiss.
"Weiss, you can stop now, she's gone. She's running away!" she cried. If Weiss didn't let the glyph go, she'd bleed out for sure. But her sister almost seemed not to hear her, her eyes locked on the rose emblem hovering in the air in front of her, tears dripping down her cheeks.
"WEISS, STOP!" Winter screamed, shaking her sister slightly. Weiss seemed to snap out of whatever trance she had been in. Her hand dropped slowly to her side. The glyph began to evaporate, but seemed to linger, as if it didn't want to leave quite yet. Weiss whispered something but the noise of Cinder's craft taking off drowned out her already quiet voice.
Weiss' breathing was shallow and ragged, her eyes unfocused and staring at the sky, her skin gray. She hoped that Weiss had enough aura to at least stem the flow of blood. But even as she watched, Weiss' aura broke, blue particles drifting off her form, the injury too severe for the meager amount of aura she'd had left.
"Fuck…" she cursed, a deep pit forming in her stomach. There was only one option now, she hadn't come all this way just to lose Weiss now. She stripped one of Weiss' belts off her waist and quickly wrapped it around her leg, cinching it as tight as she could just above her left knee. The tourniquet would slow the flow of blood, but wouldn't stop it entirely and Weiss had lost too much blood as it was; she had to stop the bleeding now. She snatched a vial of dust from Myrtenaster's chamber.
"Weiss, I'm going to freeze your leg…this is going to hurt…"
Weiss' eyes drifted shut, and winter could swear she heard her whisper "Ruby…" but couldn't be certain.
Focusing her aura, she activated the dust and used it to freeze Weiss' injured leg, encasing it in a solid block of ice from the knee down. It would need to be reapplied once it melted enough, but there was enough ice dust left to get her sister home. Whether Ironwood would let them land was a different story entirely, but she'd worry about that later. Footsteps pounded up to her as Robyn arrived and surveyed the horrific scene.
"Is she alive?" the blonde woman asked breathlessly.
Winter nodded, "I've managed to stop the bleeding for now."
"Thank the Gods…" Robyn said, sighing in relief, "What the hell happened anyway? I just saw her drop, the Beowolves were rather distracting."
"Cinder was aiming a cloud of daggers right at Weiss' chest." Qrow said, joining them, "I pushed her and managed to knock her aim off at the last second." he stared at the swath of bloodstained snow and a look of guilt crossed his face, "but it looks like it wasn't enough."
"No," Winter said firmly, "You saved her. She'd be dead if it wasn't for you." she couldn't help but notice Qrow looking around the tundra as if searching for something. She sheathed Myrtenaster in her own belt for safekeeping.
"Looks like that semblance of yours is more helpful than you think." Robyn said, gently elbowing him in the ribs.
"As much as I appreciate the compliment," he said, still desperately scanning the snow around them, "it's not really important right now. Where is she?"
"Who?" Winter asked as she scooped up Weiss in her arms, "Cinder? She-"
"Ruby!" he shouted, "That was Ruby! That was her light! I'd know it anywhere!"
"Qrow…" Winter said sadly as she began to jog towards the Manta, "Ruby's gone."
"She isn't!" he retorted, quickly running to catch up with her, "I saw it! It was-"
"Qrow…" Robyn said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. She gestured into the open bay of the Manta, and there was Ruby's body, still wrapped in her red cloak, lying exactly where he'd placed her minutes before.
Qrow stopped in his tracks, unable to process what had transpired, "But…"
"Qrow, I think I know what happened, and I swear to you I will explain everything," Winter said, rapidly losing patience, "but if we don't leave now Weiss is going to die." He sighed and allowed Robyn to lead him into the Manta.
Winter quickly laid Weiss down on the deck next to Ruby's body. "Take care of her." she said over her shoulder as she headed towards the cockpit, "I'll get us in the air."
Robyn quickly ran to one of the storage compartments and pulled out a bunch of blankets and the first-aid kit. Her academy training kicked in and she began running through the first-aid checklist they'd been taught in her head. She ran back and began wrapping the blankets around Weiss' torso and good leg. She had to keep her warm, with the amount of blood she had lost she'd be going into shock soon if she wasn't already. The blankets would be able to stave off hypothermia, at least until they got back to Atlas.
As she was tucking a rolled up blanket under Weiss' ankles to elevate her feet, she noticed Qrow slowly unpin the cloak from Ruby's body. He gently unfolded her limbs, laying her out on the deck. With trembling hands, he folded her hands on her chest just as the ship lurched into the air and began to gain altitude.
Robyn made sure the blankets around Weiss were tight and dabbed some of the cold sweat off of the injured girl's forehead, there wasn't much else she could do for her at the moment.
She sat back and looked over at Ruby's body, her eyes immediately drawn to the wounds on her torso: the two holes punched through her corset on her stomach had been bandaged and cared for. But the wound on her chest was much fresher and clearly the source of the giant bloodstain on her clothes; this was the wound that had killed her. Thankfully, it appeared she hadn't died in agony, her face looked quite peaceful, almost happy even. Robyn shook her head, she really wasn't sure what to make of all this, and the only one who could shed some light on it wasn't in any state to share.
She looked up at Qrow, who was staring at Ruby, his gaze unfocused. He was gripping the girl's cloak tightly, his knuckles bone-white.
"Qrow?" she asked softly. The man didn't respond, never breaking his gaze from his niece's body. She reached out and gently began to uncurl his fingers from the cloak, meeting almost no resistance from him, eventually freeing it from his grasp.
She gently spread the bloodstained cloak over Ruby's body, covering her from head to toe. Qrow finally blinked, snapping out of the miserable trance. He turned and looked at her with so much pain in his eyes; her heart twinged for him, she knew that look in his eyes all too well.
"Qrow, it's not your fault…" she said softly, "you couldn't have known about James, none of us could."
"I know…" he said sadly, "But I promised her dad that I'd take care of them…Take care of her…" he angrily slammed his fist into the deck, "She idolized me. I was her role model as a kid and I wasn't there when she needed me." his jaw trembled, "And now she's dead."
Robyn gently held his hand. "What was she like growing up?" she asked, trying to distract him.
After a moment a tiny smile crossed his lips. "Determined." he said fondly, "Determined to be exactly like her mom." he was silent for a few moments. "After Summer died, I stayed with Tai to help around the house. He didn't have enough of his shit together to take care of himself, much less two young kids. A few months into my stay I was in the backyard doing some drills with Harbinger to keep my skills up while I'm not actively on missions." He smiled, "I do a spin and catch some movement on the deck behind me. I stop and there's 4 year old Ruby, a big stick in her hand, trying to mimic my moves. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she wanted to be like me and her mom, to save people that needed help. Her dad tried to discourage her as best he could, but Yang's stories about how much of a hero their mom was had burrowed their way into her brain and wouldn't let go." he sighed slightly.
"So I trained her how to wield a scythe and eventually helped her to design Crescent Rose. It was just pointers really, but still." He gave an even deeper sigh. "Maybe if I'd listened to Tai and left it alone then maybe…" he trailed off.
"Honestly," Robyn said quietly, "I think she would have chosen this path whether you trained her or not.
"Yeah." he agreed softly, "I think you're right. Too much of Summer in her not to."
They felt the Manta level off at cruising altitude. A moment later Winter flipped a switch, turning on the autopilot, then came to the back to join them.
"How's she doing?" Winter asked as she came alongside Robyn.
"No change." she replied, looking at Weiss' shallowly breathing form, "She's not getting any worse, and I think that's all we can ask of her at this point."
Winter nodded, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. She looked over at the seats attached to the wall of the Manta, then briefly considered whether to just remain standing before sighing and opting to sit cross legged on the deck with everyone else. She winced slightly as her body protested, the injuries she'd incurred over the last several days making their presence known.
Qrow slowly looked up from Ruby's covered body, making intense eye contact with Winter.
She tiredly met his gaze and sighed. "I did promise to explain everything…Do you really want to know?"
"I really do." He replied, "Because unless you can pull another silver-eyed warrior out of your ass, that was Ruby's light. I wanna know how it got there while she was lying dead on the deck."
She sighed again, "You are, of course, aware of the Schnee family semblance." she stated, "I'm sure you've seen Weiss summon white Grimm to fight at her side during your travels." Qrow nodded. "So…It's…" Winter stumbled over her words, "When we push ourselves…Rather, when a foe…" Winter took a deep breath, composing herself.
"Simply put," she finally said, "sometimes Schnees can call upon enemies we have defeated to fight for us." she let that hang in the air for a moment, "It's more complicated than that, but that's the general gist."
Qrow was silent for a moment, his eyes darting around, thinking. He slowly lifted Ruby's cloak, looking right at the wound that passed right through her heart. "So what you're saying is that Weiss…she killed Ruby."
Winter hesitated, "...I am." she said slowly. Qrow's gaze shifted over to Weiss and Winter moved slightly closer to her sister, afraid Qrow might lash out. But instead of the anger she expected to see in his eyes, all she saw was pity and sadness. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that.
"But Ruby didn't appear like the rest of her summons." He said, not looking away from Weiss, "Just her light."
Winter shrugged tiredly, "I couldn't even begin to tell you how this kind of summoning works. As far as I'm aware, no Schnee has ever tried to summon a human before today. Hell, an hour ago I would have told you that it was outright impossible, but I saw the glyph with my own eyes and it was clearly Ruby's, Rose emblem and all."
Qrow shook his head, "I didn't actually believe Weiss earlier when she said that she'd killed her…I thought she was exaggerating…you know, blaming herself for causing Ruby's death when it had really been Tyrian who…" he trailed off with a shake of his head.
"I didn't believe her either," Winter replied, "but there seems to be no other explanation. The question remains as to why, my sister isn't a killer…maybe-"
"Mercy." Qrow interrupted, "It was mercy." he pointed at the purple veins on Ruby's skin. "She was poisoned by Tyrian. I know what it looks like from personal experience…" he seemed to sag a bit. "She was dying slowly as they made their way back. There was no help in sight and…I would bet that she asked Weiss to help her…leave." He looked over at Weiss, something close to admiration in his eyes. "She's a stronger person than me, I don't think I could have done it if Ruby asked me."
Weiss stirred slightly, speaking unintelligibly under her breath. Winter grabbed Weiss' hand and her sister latched on, with a surprisingly strong grip. Winter leaned down, trying to figure out what Weiss was saying but the only word she was able to make out was "Ruby" repeated every few moments. She looked up and saw Robyn gently squeeze Qrow's shoulder as the man gently covered Ruby's body with her cloak; he sat back and covered Robyn's hand with his own, clearly grateful for the comfort.
Winter looked at the deceased girl, covered in red, and thought back on Qrow's slip of the tongue on their flight out. Ruby had been more than just a friend and partner to Weiss. Much more. It genuinely hurt that Weiss hadn't trusted her enough to share that with her. She vowed that if they made it through this, she'd do her damndest to be there for Weiss, no matter what.
The next hour passed by quickly. Winter only had to reapply ice to Weiss' leg once as she listened to Qrow tell stories of Ruby's childhood. Fifteen minutes out from Atlas, the control console began beeping with an incoming message. Winter stood and strode over to the console before taking a deep breath and pressing the key to respond.
Ironwood's face promptly appeared on the screen, a cold anger smoldering behind his eyes. Winter could tell he was in the back of the Ops center, away from prying eyes and ears. "You three have a lot of nerve showing your faces back here." He snarled. Three blips appeared on their sensors, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have those fighters blow you out of the sky."
Winter opened her mouth to reply as the fighters pulled alongside their Manta, but Ironwood cut her off.
"No. on second thought, there's no reason to allow traitors back into this city." he turned to a microphone just to his left, "Commander, you may fir-"
Suddenly the picture on the monitor wavered and cut out entirely before resolving once again. The picture now showed the entirety of the Ops center, somehow their communication had been transferred to the main screen where everyone in the Ops center could hear and see them. In the back of the room Winter saw Pietro, who met her gaze and gave her a tiny nod. Ironwood looked shocked, his eyes going wide before quickly recovering and beginning to make his way towards the front of the room.
Winter thought fast, she needed to turn the situation in their favor, take the power out of his hands; she hadn't come all this way just to fail now. "Our mission was successful, sir." she said quickly.
There was a momentary pause as he registered what her gambit was, "You found them then…" he said slowly, only the slightest narrowing of his eyes betrayed what he felt about her trick. Winter almost breathed a sigh of relief, Ironwood didn't want to lose face in front of his officers.
"We did, sir." She said, and stepped slightly to the side. There were gasps and cries of shock from the officers in the control room as Ruby's cloak-covered body was revealed on their monitor.
There was sorrow on Ironwood's face, whether it was genuine or not Winter couldn't tell, "I'm sorry…" he said sadly, "They were good huntresses."
Winter stepped fully out of the camera frame revealing Weiss, pale and bloodied but still very much alive.
Shock passed over Ironwood's face for a much longer time before he sprang into action, "You're cleared for immediate landing, get them a landing pad!" He barked at the air traffic control officer. "I want EMS teams on the pad in five minutes." He turned back to Winter, "Bring our girls home."
It was all she could do to bite back the bitter response that he was the one who abandoned them in the first place. "Yes sir." Was her only reply.
"Oh and Specialist Schnee? As effective as it was, we need to discuss your unauthorized use of prisoners for rescue operations."
Winter nodded and cut the transmission. After a moment, she let out a frustrated cry at the blank screen, half-heartedly banging her fist against the control console.
The fighters pulled ahead of them into an escort formation and Atlas air traffic control sent them the coordinates of the landing pad they were to use. The remaining flight time was subdued as Winter focused on guiding them through the city towards the Academy. Behind her, Qrow and Robyn were quiet; she felt bad knowing that they would likely be taken back into custody when they finally touched down, hoping she hadn't made life for them worse.
Minutes later, the landing gear finally touched down on the pads in the front of the Academy and she immediately opened the side doors and dropped the ramps. Instantly, medical teams sprinted into the craft, most of them surrounding Weiss and three of them gathering around Ruby's body, uncovering her and starting to check for a pulse. She rapidly completed the Manta's shutdown sequence and joined them in the hold as they began to work on the two girls.
The medics around Weiss began to take her vitals with specialized scrolls. "Blood pressure eighty-over-sixty." one called out.
"Heart rate is elevated, holding at one-twenty BPM." said another.
"Alright," said the head medic, an older man who was clearly a veteran at this job, "Her aura is incredibly low…but she's stable for now. Let's get her ready to move." Another man brought out some fire dust, presumably to melt the ice on Weiss' leg, but the veteran slapped the man's hand away, "Don't. The ice is the only thing keeping her stable right now, surgeons can do that later."
The personnel surrounding Ruby finished their examination and motioned to personnel at the bottom of the ramp to bring a stretcher.
Even as the medics continued to work on Weiss, Winter could see her sister's lips moving. She couldn't hear any of it, but she could see her forming the word 'Ruby' every few moments. Whatever came next would be incredibly hard for Weiss. Winter made a snap decision. "Save the cloak." she said, turning to the medics that were now gently putting Ruby's body on the stretcher.
The one by Ruby's head looked surprised; he was young and clearly inexperienced, practically a kid. "I-it's soaked in b-blood Ma'am." he stammered out nervously, "Policy is to destroy it with the rest of her clothes."
A sudden rage blazed inside her, the bureaucracy in this place was infuriating. "I don't believe I stuttered, Private." she snarled in his face, startling the man who had bent back down to pick up the stretcher, "Save the fucking cloak, get it cleaned, get it back to me. That's an ORDER."
"Ma'am-" the kid started to say.
She was about a millisecond away from losing what little cool she had left when the head medic came over, putting a hand on the kid's shoulder. He took the cloak off the stretcher and gave her a sympathetic look. "We'll do our best Ma'am."
Winter took a breath and gave him a nod. He tucked the cloak into his bag and made his way back to Weiss, still under the care of the rest of the medics. The medics with Ruby gingerly lifted the stretcher and made their way down the ramp, heading back towards the Academy entrance.
She turned and saw Qrow staring off after the stretcher, a look of anguish on his face. He looked over at her and managed a tiny smile, "Thank you." he said quietly, having seen what she'd done, "I think it'll mean a lot to Weiss."
"You'd have done the same." she said, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. His eyes flicked to the open door over her shoulder and he sighed deeply. Turning, she saw Vine standing in the doorway, two pairs of cuffs dangling limply from his hand, an uncharacteristic look of sorrow on his face, no doubt having passed the stretcher on the way in.
Vine gently cleared his throat and addressed Qrow and Robyn, "The General would like to make it known that your service to Atlas today did not go unnoticed and will be reflected during your court martial."
She saw thoughts of running go through the heads of Robyn and Qrow both, but the squad of soldiers at the bottom of the ramp must have dissuaded them.
Qrow sighed again, "Good luck Schne- Winter." he said as he walked past her, "I really hope she pulls through."
Robyn gently put a hand on her shoulder, a sympathetic look in her eyes as she followed Qrow down the ramp, Winter gave the woman a nod of thanks.
"I'm so sorry Qrow. She'll be deeply missed around here." She heard Vine quietly say as he led the two fugitives down the ramp.
And then she was alone with the medics and her unconscious sister. She watched as they injected what must have been a sedative into the IV drip they had in her arm. Weiss' movements and murmuring stopped and she lay still, breathing shallowly. Winter hoped Weiss would have some peace, at least for a little while. She deserved that much, after what she'd been through.
"Ok." the head medic said, letting out a breath, "Let's move her."
Winter followed beside the gurney holding her sister as the team wheeled her quickly into the Academy, heading right for the hospital.
Day 6: Evening
Winter restlessly paced back and forth in front of the window of the operating theater. Weiss had been in surgery for almost two hours now. She was surrounded by doctors and surgeons as they worked on her, there was still no news on her prognosis. She turned on her heel, walking back the direction she had come; she was fairly certain that there would be an inch deep groove in the floor by the time she was done.
She hated the waiting most of all. It was endlessly frustrating that there was nothing she could do to help Weiss now, she had to leave her sister in the hands of strangers. Skilled strangers, but strangers nonetheless.
She jumped slightly as her scroll rang. She picked it up anyway, despite the screen showing an unknown number, she had a feeling she knew who was calling.
*I have to be quick.* Klein's voice said, confirming her hunch, *I got your mother and brother out of the manor just fine, a good deal ahead of Ironwood's men. The only thing they found when they got there was a very indignant Jaques.*
Winter couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of Jacques spluttering angrily at Ironwood's soldiers. "Good to hear." she said softly, "And thank you."
*Of course, Miss Winter. I'll be in touch if anything changes.*
"Thank you Klein." she was about to hang up the call when Klein's voice came back abruptly.
*I have to know…did you find her?*
She could hear the worry in his voice. She glanced at the busy operating room, checking on Weiss' vitals. "We did." she said softly, "She's in really bad shape, but she's hanging in there for now."
She could hear his sigh of relief, *Thank the gods. I'll let your family know the good news.*
"Thank you again, Klein." she said softly. The line went dead. She put her scroll back in her pocket and was about to resume pacing when someone cleared their throat from behind her. She sighed deeply and turned to see Elm standing there.
"I'm sorry to bother you specialist Schnee," she said, the large woman's voice uncharacteristically meek, "but the General wants to see you in his office."
Winter shook her head, "Later." she said simply, he could wait until she knew what Weiss' condition was.
Elm sighed as if she'd been expecting that response, "He made it clear that you could either come willingly, or in cuffs."
Winter said nothing, just stared at her coldly.
"Please, Winter." the muscular woman pleaded, "I don't want to hurt you." she glanced over Winter's shoulder into the operating room, a deep look of sadness appearing on her face, "Not after today. Please."
"Fine." Winter growled, stalking past the Ace Operative, "But if something happens to her while I'm gone, I swear…" she let the threat hang in the air as Elm walked behind her towards the elevator bank.
Winter stalked off the elevator, leaving a saddened looking Elm in her wake. She practically slammed the doors of Ironwood's office open and, as she'd predicted, saw Ironwood standing behind his desk, his hands clasped behind his back, staring out at the city.
She rolled her eyes, "Can we cut the dramatics?" she snapped, "Your 'I don't care' dramatic gazing loses its effect the thousandth time you see it."
He stiffened and turned away from the window, looking at her with a scowl. "Fine." he growled, "I'll get straight to the point. I should have you court martialed and shot for what you did."
She stared back impassively, this was the minimum she expected from him, he'd have to do better than that to scare her.
"But thanks to your little screen switching stunt," he continued, "I had to make your little impromptu expedition officially sanctioned by command."
"To be honest, sir, that really doesn't seem like my problem. You were the one who played along with my bending of the truth."
He waved dismissively, "Thanks to your selfishness, several technicians lost their lives in that tragic 'fuel incident' in the hangar. And everyone else who was there had to be transferred to other units because of the terrible trauma they suffered."
Winter kept her face passive. She had zero sympathy for Ironwood having to shuffle his personnel around to avoid them talking, but she had all the sympathy in the world for all the soldiers he'd just uprooted.
"And not only that," he said, still clearly trying to get a rise out of her, "In the chaos caused by your breakout, Arthur Watts escaped custody and fled the city in a stolen aircraft. A pack of Grimm seemingly escorted him all the way back to Salem."
Winter couldn't hide her surprise at the news. She genuinely hoped that wouldn't come back to bite them, Watts was a dangerous foe.
"Because of all of that, I absolutely cannot have someone like you in the chain of command, undermining my ability to protect Atlas, so I'm transferring you-"
"Demote me." she quickly said, before he'd even finished the sentence. "Demote me and keep me here at the Academy." She wouldn't let him take her away from Weiss. Not now, not ever again.
"Believe me, it was my first thought, other than putting you on trial." he said, tilting his head towards her, "But it wouldn't look good if I demoted one of my top officers right after she completed a very public rescue mission."
"We can spin it as me taking a reduction in responsibility to spend more time with Weiss as she recovers." Winter said simply.
"That…" Ironwood said thoughtfully, holding his chin, "will work, actually."
"Excellent." Winter said, clasping her hands behind her back, "I will draft a letter and send it up to your office later. Of course…that all hinges on whether Weiss survives." she said darkly, leaning forward and placing her hands on his desk. "If she dies, whether from her injuries or another attempt on her life, there is no force in Remnant that could stop me from killing you."
His eyes narrowed, "I don't respond particularly well to being threatened."
"And I don't respond particularly well to attempts on my sister's life." she retorted.
He sniffed, "I've always appreciated your directness. Because I feel sorry for you, you can tell your family that they can return to your manor. Honestly, living with Jacques is a worse punishment than what I had in mind."
Winter bit back the retort that she would love to have unleashed on him. "I will let them know. Also, if it's alright with you sir, I'd like to be the one to tell Yang and Blake of Ruby's death."
He looked thoughtful, then nodded in agreement. Winter doubted he had considered Yang and Blake in the decision, just how uncomfortable he could make her.
"If that's all sir, I'll be going back to the hospital to keep an eye on my sister."
His eyes narrowed and his mouth turned up slightly at the corners, "Unfortunately the nature of Miss Schnee's prognosis is reserved only for higher ranking officers…Sergeant." he let her new rank hang in the air for a moment. "Ordinarily we'd make an exception for family members but some of the medical staff have expressed discomfort with your presence. Rather understandable considering how you spoke to one of them when you landed."
She'd never hated anyone as much as she hated James Ironwood in that moment, not even Jacques. It was all she could do to keep from launching herself over the desk and strangling him to death right then and there. She just stood there for a moment shaking with rage.
Eventually, she took a deep breath and managed to force some words out through her clenched teeth, "My office will be cleaned out by the end of the day…sir. If anything changes with Weiss please let me know."
He nodded, looking all too pleased with himself, "Of course. You're dismissed, Sergeant."
She turned on her heel and rigidly strode out of his office and into the elevator. She waited until the elevator had descended several floors before releasing a feral scream that echoed down the elevator shaft.
After taking some time to regain her composure. She went down to the EMS offices in the hospital, trying to find the young medic that she had chewed out earlier. James Ironwood was a bastard of the highest caliber, but he was right about one thing, she'd been awful to the poor medic that had just been doing his job. Luckily she found the kid right away. He was at his desk, talking with the lead medic that she'd spoken to in the Manta, presumably his commanding officer.
The kid saw her coming and practically jumped out of his chair and stood at attention, "I'm sorry about earlier, Ma'am," he said quickly, "It's my first week and-"
"Actually," she said, gently cutting him off, "I came to apologize to you." she turned to the older man, "To both of you…Sergeant…?"
"Levi," he answered, "And this is Private Ross."
"Private Ross," she turned back to the young medic, "I deeply apologize for how I spoke to you earlier. It was uncalled for and unprofessional."
He nodded, "It's alright Ma'am, I didn't take it too personally. I've been told it happens a lot in these circumstances, especially when it's your own family." Sergeant Levi nodded in agreement.
"All the same," she continued, "I am genuinely sorry for how I acted…um…The cloak…I…" she stumbled over her words, "My sister and Ruby, uh… the deceased were close…the cloak was her most prized possession…and…"
The Sergeant saw her struggling and waved a hand, "There's no need to explain, I've been doing this for a long time, Specialist. I've seen things like this many times, unfortunately."
"It's Sergeant, actually. I'm not a specialist anymore." she said quietly, "So I can't give you orders, but I would consider it a great personal favor if you could return that cloak to me."
Levi grinned slightly, "I'm not quite sure what you're talking about," he said slyly, "A cloak wasn't logged in with Ruby's belongings." he mimed thinking for a moment, "However, there was a large red blanket that someone left on our stretcher. It's currently at my house being cleaned by my wonderful wife."
"Thank you." she said softly, "I don't know how I can repay you."
"It's the least I could do." he said softly, his tone more somber, "Weiss and Ruby saved my life during the battle at Fort Arrowfell. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them." he looked genuinely sad, "It's a damn shame, Ruby was an amazing Huntress and a genuine pleasure to work with."
"She was." Winter agreed softly. "Do…do you know how my sister is doing? Ironwood has restricted my access."
He shook his head, "They're keeping it under wraps, even from us." He turned to his computer terminal, "Though, according to the room assignments, the operating theater is still in use. So they're still working on her, but that's about all I can tell you."
"Thank you."
"Again, it's the least I can do. I'll be sure to get you your 'blanket' when I can, and I'll let you know if I hear anything more about your sister, I'm friendly with a few of the Docs."
Winter nodded her thanks and turned to the young Private, "Apologies again for how I spoke to you."
He nodded, but Winter saw a faraway look in his eyes, clearly still shocked, traumatized even, from the day's events. "Training doesn't quite prepare you for reality," she said softly, "does it?"
"No Ma'am." he said shakily, "I-I always thought Huntresses were untouchable…I never thought I'd have to…" he trailed off.
"Unfortunately, they're fallible just like everyone else." she said quietly, "Just like you, sometimes all the training in the world doesn't prepare you for what's out there." His face fell even further, "But you have a fine mentor," she said, trying to put some reassurance in her voice, "follow his lead and I think you'll go far." he looked up at her, something akin to hope in his eyes, "I hope the rest of you first week is better than today."
"Thank you Ma'am."
"Try to get some rest, Sergeant." Levi said as she headed out the door, "and please give your sister our condolences."
Day 6: Late Night
Winter sighed as she placed the last of her personal effects into the single box she'd brought with her. She surveyed her empty office; she thought she would feel more right now, but honestly she just felt numb. She'd vented her rage at Ironwood in the elevator hours ago and she had just felt hollow since.
She sagged into the chair behind her desk, dimmed the lights, and swiveled to face the large window behind it. She supposed that if there was one thing she'd miss about this office, it was the view. She'd always thought the city was beautiful, especially at night. The view had always served to remind her of what she was fighting for many times in her career and tonight was no exception. Looking out at the towering skyscrapers filled with people, she knew Ironwood had to be stopped before more innocent blood was spilled in the name of 'protecting' Atlas.
Her Scroll chimed on the desk and she practically lunged for it, hoping for some news on Weiss. She sagged in mild disappointment as she saw that it was just a message from Clover.
Glad you're safe. the message read, Heard what happened to R via command channels. Y & B are safe with me in the city and we'll be hopping a manta back to the academy in the morning.
Then another message, I haven't told them yet. And a third a moment later, I can't
Understood. Winter messaged back, Glad you are uninjured as well. I will tell them myself in the morning.
I don't envy you. came Clover's reply, Give my condolences to Weiss when she wakes up.
She might not wake up. she messaged back, finally voicing the thought that had been lurking at the back of her head for hours.
She will. Clover's response was almost instantaneous, Schnee women are some of the strongest people I know. We'll get through this.
Thank you. she replied, a slight smile on her lips. It was nice to know that she had people in her corner, even if it didn't always feel like it.
She was about to type more, but there was a knock at her door. "Come in." she called. There was no response. "It's open." there was still no response. She sighed and got out of her chair, wincing as her body still protested from her injuries.
She opened the door, only to find an empty hallway, but she quickly noticed a cardboard box right by her feet. She shrugged tiredly and picked up the package, bringing it back inside and setting it on her desk. A brief thought that it might be a trap flitted through her mind, but she was beyond caring at this point and opened the box anyway.
She smiled sadly as she saw that the box contained the neatly folded red cloak. She took it out of the box and held it up; there was still evidence of bloodstains, but it looked much better than the last time she'd seen it, though the hole poked through the left side of the cloak was glaringly obvious.
She refolded it and set it down on the desk, noticing a note in the bottom of the box as she did so. She began to read.
Sgt Schnee,
Here's your 'blanket' back. My wife did the best she could but she says that you'll need a professional cleaner to get all of it out. Weiss lost the leg but is expected to pull through. She was transferred to the ICU. If you ever need anything, let me know. Some people are paying more attention to command's decisions than others. You're not alone.
-Sgt Levi
Winter let out a massive breath and sagged into her chair, a few tears of relief trickling down her cheeks. Weiss would live. It was the best news she'd had all day.
But…
Weiss' body would heal, and prosthetic tech was getting better and better, if her teammate was any indication. Winter's ribs still ached where Yang had punched her during their fake fight that morning.
But Weiss' mind…that was a different story. She'd seen Weiss' eyes on the top of that hill. She'd looked…broken. Shattered. How does a person come back from killing someone they cared about that deeply?
Winter couldn't even begin to answer that, she'd been lucky enough to not have to go through a traumatic loss like that, at least so far. Regardless, she would be there for Weiss, to help her through the pain she was going to go through. She swore that Ironwood would pay for what he did. No one else would be made to suffer like her sister if she had anything to say about it. But…there were more immediate problems at the moment. She looked over at the cloak, and wondered how the hell she was going to tell Yang and Blake that Ruby was dead.
There was another knock at her door. "Come in." she called, honestly hoping there was no one there again. The door hissed open and Penny stepped inside. Winter's heart instantly dropped, despite the smile on Penny's face.
"I just heard that you were back." she said quickly, "No one will tell me anything so I decided to come straight to the source." she looked at Winter expectantly, "D-did you find-"
Penny's gaze fell on Ruby's cloak, still lying out in the open on Winter's desk. Her mouth opened and her eyes widened. She remained perfectly motionless for almost a whole minute. Winter could practically see her mind frantically working, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"Wh-Why do you have Ruby's cloak Winter?" she finally asked, slowly looking into Winter's eyes, "Why do you have her cloak? She never goes anywhere without her cloak…"
Winter saw tears begin to drip down Penny's face, but how that was even possible would have to wait until later.
"Winter?" Penny asked insistently. Winter opened her mouth but the words she wanted to say refused to come out. She didn't want to be the one to break Penny's heart, she knew how close the two of them had been.
"I'm so sorry Penny." she finally managed to choke out, her voice quivering, "I'm so, so sorry."
Penny's legs buckled and she collapsed to her knees on the floor, a cry of anguish escaping her throat, sobs beginning to shake her mechanical body.
Winter quickly ran to her, holding the robotic girl to her as Penny sobbed into her shoulder, tears of her own dripping down her cheeks. The two women stayed that way for a long time, sharing in each other's grief.
Winter envied the world outside her window. The citizens of Atlas were able to celebrate escaping the wrath of an immortal witch with little worry; but here in their supposedly impregnable fortress, Salem had inflicted a wound that would never truly heal. A wound that would no doubt shatter some of the strongest people she knew.
Another cry of anguish escaped Penny's mouth. Winter pulled her friend closer, bracing herself for what was to come.
A few levels below the crying women, a sympathetic guard had allowed two prisoners to share the same cell as a small modicum of comfort. A warrior for justice held a trembling man, marked by magic, as he cried, another member of his family taken from him. Her own thoughts quickly became dark and angry as she thought about the man who had caused this, the man that destroyed her home.
Eventually, sleep, albeit fitful, would claim the four of them that night, or at least as close to sleep as the robotic woman's programming could simulate; but not before each of them made a vow, a promise to make James Ironwood pay. For the pain he had caused them, for what he had done to their families, their homes and the people that they loved.
And with that, more than two years after I started writing this story, the first arc is finished! Writing from Winter's perspective was actually a lot of fun, hopefully I'll be able to write her again sometime soon. And now Weiss has yet another injury to add to her ongoing tally. I very briefly considered naming this series "the pincushion saga" for how many times I've stabbed Weiss and Ruby in these stories, but I thought that would be kinda crude.
I've mentioned it in past chapters, but as of right now, this story is going on temporary hiatus while I, well, write more of it lol. I've already got the next arc fully outlined and the entire first chapter handwritten. Let me tell you, y'all are not ready for the amount of angst you're going to get. I think you can expect this story to come back late this year or early 2024. The next arc will be nowhere near as long as the first one, and I'm expecting the chapters to be a little shorter.
Between now and then, I'll be posting several feel-good, incredibly fluffy and angst-free whiterose stories, including one that's basically an AU of this story. The first one you can look forward to is called "When I met you in the summer" where Ruby runs into the Schnee yacht party while on vacation. So if fluffy WR interests you, please feel free to give me a follow! You can also follow me on Twitter (It's X now, but I refuse to call it that on principle.) my handle is Strudol.
Leave a comment on the story letting me know what you thought! A special thanks to my wife V for being my beta/editor/medical consultant and endlessly indulging me in my hyperfixation. As always, I'd like to thank you all for reading and coming along on this journey with me. This story means a lot to me and I'm glad some other people love it too!